Camping at Carowinds! August 10, 2007

One of the hottest weeks of the summer and we take off to camp at Carowinds and ride the rides with 3 kids! We were up bright & early today to beat the crowd. It turned out that the crowd wasn't so bad - the temperature was a different story. But we managed to have a great time and even went back to the park that night and rode more rides. We ended up staying until almost closing time (10pm)! The carousel was our first stop and all 5 of us rode!
This was Preston's first time riding the carousel and he loved it.
Dora was fun to watch. Preston danced up and down in my lap.
Presley was just glad to be in a little shade and have an Icee!
Presley enjoyed the swings once she got on them. They had a huge stick to use to measure the children to see if they were tall enough to ride and she was scared to death of it. We took her to the gate twice to ride and she would walk away when she saw the stick. Finally a little girl about her size was in line and Presley let them measure her back to back with the little girl. So, they let her in the gate to ride and she couldn't look where she was going for checking out the ride operator to see if she had that stick again!

Daddy & Ryan are off riding the roller coaster while Presley plays in the water waiting for them.
Preston on the other hand just plays with his feet and smiles for the camera while he waits!

Riverbanks Zoo ~ August 4, 2007

Ryan went to the mountains this weekend with Linda & PaPa, so we took the babies to the zoo. They love seeing all of the animals, but this trip, Presley most enjoyed watching the elephants throw mud all over their bodies with their trunks (it's their sunscreen). She didn't want to leave!
Preston enjoyed peeking at the elephants while drinking his bottle. Look Mom, no hands!

Presley said, "This way to the carousel".

Preston fell asleep before we made it to ride the carousel.

A Good Sport - July 20,2007

It's nap time right now, but as you can see, Preston has decided to keep on playing. It's a good thing that Presley doesn't mind Preston crawling all over her. They loved playing with the big pillow at the beach house!

Tickle Monster! July 20, 2007

Who needs Disney when you can have this much fun at Grandma & Grandpa's beach house? I only wish these pictures had audio - for those of you that know my kids (Kevin included), you can only imagine how loud it was and I didn't think Preston was ever going to stop laughing!

Quack-Quack! July 19, 2007

Kevin & Ryan made it back from Ohio and found their way to the campground! This afternoon we took Presley & Preston to feed the ducks. We could never have enough bread for Presley. When she saw that the bag was empty, she stomped her feet and said "Want more, want more". Needless to say, she was not a happy camper when Kevin told her the bread was all gone and it was time to go!

Off to the beach! July 13, 2007

Our vacation plans to Fort Wilderness in Orlando this summer were put on hold because of Preston's surgery. He still hasn't healed completely, so we decided to come up with something different to do. Kevin & Ryan are off to Cedar Point in Ohio with Courtney & Katelyn to ride the rides! So, I packed up the house and the babies and headed to Ocean Lakes. I took them down to the beach the first night and we played in the sand - the water was for buckets only!

Cookie Monster - July 11, 2007

Preston saw the Doctor today and was given an OK to eat his baby food. I asked him if he could have butter cookies (his favorite) and he said he could because they do get so mushy. As soon as we got home, I gave him a cookie and I think he enjoyed it!
Presley couldn't stop laughing at the mess Preston made. It was just great to see him eat!

Preston playing - July 6, 2007

Today was Preston's first full day at home after surgery. He's still not taking his formula that well, but he is playing and seems to be pretty comfortable. He slept all night long last night! It seems that he knows his limits. He would get tired playing and just lay down on the floor and rest for a while!

Time to go home! July 5, 2007

We are finally ready to go home. Preston has his IV out (which he pulled out of his foot) and his dressing looks great. He has had some formula and kept it down. He's not a fan of his new formula and if it taste anything like it smells, then I can't blame him. We just have to keep trying and I'm hoping he'll do better once he's home.

I think he was happy to be strapped into his car seat today!

Shock for us all! Happy 4th of July!

Preston's surgeon came in today to talk to us about going home. At this point, Preston is sitting in Kevin's lap drinking Pedialyte (still haven't advanced to formula yet, but he hasn't spit up any). The surgeon removes his dressing and all I hear from that moment on is "we're going back to the operating room". We couldn't panic because we didn't have time. The usual question before surgery is "When was the last time you had anything to eat or drink?" - well that was thrown out, because he was drinking a bottle when all of this happened. I barely had time to put clothes on and was changing Preston's diaper when the Operating Room staff came in the room to take us to surgery, again. They took us down to the holding area, where the lights were turned off and there were no patients. We sat in a chair that they pulled over from a desk and waited while the staff got the operating room ready. In no time at all, they were telling us they were ready. Luck, or faith would have it, that the same nurse that took our baby down that long hall for his first surgery,was there to hold him again. He looked her straight in the face and never made a sound as she carried him off. We had to go to the same waiting room as Monday to wait for the surgeon to come get us after surgery. You can never imagine walking into a waiting room of a hospital that is closed, lights turned off, no one waiting. Well, Kevin and I did it and I must say that I hope I never have to do it again. It is the loneliest feeling in the world to know that you are there and your child is in surgery, once again not knowing what is happening. The two of us waited in that lonely waiting room until Dr. Camps came walking in and said that everything went well. He said that what happened to Preston "NEVER HAPPENS'! It's nothing that can be explained, but I truly think that he strained and fought so much after waking up from his first surgery, that it caused everything to push out through his belly button. The drainage only stopped after the fatty tissue had come through, which we didn't know because we had already changed his dressing and it remained dry after that. So, Dr. Camps said that he put stitches in places he's never stitched before to make sure he didn't have another hernia! Preston slept for about 4 hours after surgery. Around 5:30 pm, he came to life and seemed to be very comfortable. Now if he can only eat tomorrow!

A Little Cranky - July 3, 2007

Preston was a little cranky late today. His dressing has continued to drain a lot today, but the nurse called his surgeon and he felt sure it was from the local anesthetic that he had given him during surgery. He did finally say for them to change the dressing tonight - not looking forward to that. Uncle Bud & Aunt Kathy came earlier today and Preston left me so fast to go to Bud! They sang to him and actually were very entertaining. PaPa, Courtney & Brandon came to visit tonight. We had a window in our room that overlooked the entrance to the hospital and we watched as these three were walking in the parking lot (saw Brandon step off the curb and fall in the middle of the road - he could hardly walk after that - and was bleeding when he finally got to the room).



It's Daddy's turn to babysit tonight because tomorrow is the 4th of July and he doesn't have to work. I should have known that something would happen to keep him from having to lose his much needed sleep! Preston was restless and uncomfortable all night long. We changed his dressing around 8pm and through the night we kept checking it and there was no drainage at all.
I finally got him to lay down in the bed with me around 5:30 am. He slept for a couple of hours soundly after that.