Pink and Green Party

Back in the day (early 80s), my aunt would always make fun of the tourists who came up to Harbor Springs for vacation as they always wore pink and green and would eat nothing but fudge and ice cream for a week straight.  My aunt complained about this enough that my mom and dad decided it would be hilarious to throw a surprise pink and green party and not tell her about it.  So they invited family and friends to come to the cottage in their best pink and green attire for the party.  My aunt showed up before most of the guests in her red pants and white shirt and finally realized the joke was on her when everyone else was in pink and green (as well as the plates, napkins, jelly bellys, etc).  The party became a yearly ritual while my parents owned the cottage, and it was a really fun party (so I hear- I was still very young and often didn't attend).

Since those years, whenever my entire family is together, we have held a family pink and green party.  Everyone loves dressing up for it, and it always makes the best family pictures!  This year just happened to be one of the years that almost everyone was up north for vacation, so the party was on!! 

Haley's pink sparkle Toms.  The perfect shoe for the party!

H, A, &B

Spencer in his helmet (it's rare that he doesn't have it on for something) and two of the three boy cousins that he hung out with all week.  Even though they are 12, 10, and 8, they really were great with both my boys and played with them constantly.

In the driveway as people were arriving.

Aunt MA and my mom wear Lilly well, don't they?

E- he is 3 and has the BEST hair!!

Sweaty Spence after riding his tricycle forever in the driveway.

The best family photo we took- blurry and horribly weird faces.  Again, this is NOT easy!!

The watermelon shark.  My cousin made this for the fruit salad.  It was amazing.  L (E's twin) thought it was hilarious and kept eating the eyes off it, sticking her hand and head in the teeth and then screaming as people would pretend to eat her.  Hysterical.

My brother and his girlfriend.  They're adorable together.

Cousin K.

B, E, and Spence

Yep, JFK Jr look alike.  J is my cousin's husband and he's just as sweet and smart as he is good looking.  They have a fabulous relationship and an adorable almost 1 year old.

K, S, and I

After dinner, drinks, croquet, and ladder golf, the family went down to Gram's beach to have a skipping stone contest.

Spence in his jammies throwing stones

My brother and uncle paddleboarding

Sweet L gets all wet in the lake.

The croquet champ of the night

The whole family.  Literally, this is my mom's entire family minus three cousins.  We were so lucky to all be there to play together, spend time together, eat together, and learn more and more about each other and how amazing it is to have a family like this.  I love my family even more than I love this party!!

He's smiling (and a kidney update)!!

These pictures were taken at 6 weeks old and he's now 7 weeks.  My how the time flies!!

Peter is happy to report that our first trip to the nephrologist's office went well.  The two tests we had last week showed that his left kidney is still abnormally small (below the 5th percentile) and has very little function.  The right kidney is growing well and functioning well.  The left kidney is growing though, so, at this point, we expect that it will continue to grow throughout his life, just on it's own growth curve.  It will always be small and it will probably always have some functionality to it (though not enough to take over for the other kidney if that kidney were damaged in any way). 

His ultrasound showed that he has mild (grade I) hydronephrosis in the good (right) kidney.  This can be normal up to age one, so we will get serial ultrasounds over the next year to watch it.  If it stays the same or gets smaller, then that is great.  If it worsens, then we will have to do another test (VCUG) to see if he is having backflow of urine up into his kidneys.  That can cause lots of infections and damage the good kidney which is why it is necessary to watch it so closely.  I'm content that it hasn't worsened in the first 6 weeks of life, so I'm not worried about the future.

Since my office is on the same floor as the nephrologist's, I was able to stop in and see all my coworkers after the apt.  It was wonderful to see everyone!

(Close ups of this sweet, sweet face)

We're so happy that he is doing well overall and glad that we really haven't been given anything to worry about.  I'm so thankful!

Peter is one month old (yesterday!)

I cannot believe Peter has already been with us a month.  The time has just flown by.  Perhaps because I am in such a sleep deprived state or perhaps because life just flies by more with two kiddos? I remember counting every day with Spencer because he was all that B and I had to focus on at the time.  Now, with two, it's hard to cherish every moment, but I'm doing the best I can to really enjoy this sweet time with baby Peter!

(working on head control during tummy time)

He is growing quickly.  I wouldn't be surprised if he was over 10 lbs now.  I think I'm going to put him on the scale at the grocery store tomorrow to check :)  He is a fabulous nurser and eats about every 3 hours during the day.  We are getting a 4 hour stretch every night with a rare, but wonderful, 5 or 6 hour stretch (really, really rare!).  It was at about 6.5 weeks when Spencer started giving us long stretches at night of 6-9 hours, so I'm hoping that in a few weeks time, we'll get there with Peter too.

Check out this adorable smile!!  They're rare, but we've seen a couple.  I can't wait for true "responsive" smiles.  They're the best!!

He is cooing on occasion which is so sweet.  He is a really noisy sleeper and grunts and groans after every feeding for at least 15 minutes.  Most of the time it's because he is trying to poop or struggling with reflux.  It's really loud in a very quiet, very dark room and it definitely is frustrating at times.  I've thought about moving him to his nursery, but I don't want to have to get up to feed him in the rocking chair when it's so much easier/more comfortable for me to just feed him in my warm, cozy bed.  Right now, it's still worth the distracting noises!

He hates getting into his car seat and fusses like crazy but settles down the minute the car starts moving.  He's been great about running errands with me and going out and about with Spencer and I.  He love, love, loves the Ergo carrier and will settle down from any crying fit the minute he is placed in the thing.  Since I have yet to buy a double stroller, my morning walks have been with Spencer in the stroller and Peter in the Ergo.  It's working well for now; we'll see how long that lasts once Peter gets bigger.  I know I'll need a double; I just have yet to decide which one to get and am being very, very, very indecisive about it.

Couldn't do a post without a picture of this sweet big brother!!  Isn't he HUGE now??  It's amazing what turning two and getting a new baby brother will do to you!

Getting two in a picture together is borderline hysterical.  Not sure how many years it will be before a good family picture occurs :)

We're really loving our new family life, even in the most frustrating moments (and they're happening!).  I'm so glad we had a second baby, and I can't wait to enjoy the next month spending more time getting to bond with Peter!!

Almost 3 weeks old!

My 2nd little guy is doing soooo well at home!  Peter is 19 days old in these pictures.  So far we have discovered that he is fussy in the evening hours, he loves his pacifier (Spencer never took one), he's a great nurser, he is growing like a weed (already over 9 lbs and has grown an inch since birth), and he sleeps much better in his car seat than he does flat on his back in the cradle.

He does like to stretch out on his back for periods of awake time and doesn't like tummy time nearly as much as SYT did.  He's got some definite reflux, not a ton of spitting up, but lots and lots of gagging.  That is really hard to watch as a mom.  Ugggg..... 

He is blessing me with one 4-5 hour stretch at night most nights.  During the day, he'll eat anywhere from 2-3 hours (mostly 3 though).

We have some testing for his kidney in June.  He'll have an ultrasound and renalgram on the same day, and he has to be sedated for the renalgram which I am not excited about.  The next week he has an apt with the nephrologist whom I work with occasionally and love.  From what we learned from her in the hospital, we will be getting kidney ultrasounds every 3 months for the first 2 years of life and then every 6 months for a years after that.  Essentially his good kidney needs to be double the size of a normal kidney as it is doing the work of two.  There are a few things that we still don't know and have a little bit of worry about, but, for the most part, Peter should be one healthy kid!

Oh, and for reference, this

was Spencer at 18 days.  I don't think they look alike at all.  There noses are similar, but other than that, they're definitely different boys!! 

My amazing Christmas gift!!

On December 20th (last Tuesday) we were blessed with the best Christmas gift we could possibly get as expecting parents.  We went to our 20.5 week appointment, met with the OB, and had our ultrasound.  I am a paranoid freak when it comes to the *big* ultrasound as I know all the bad things that can happen.  Luckily, I am so, so, so happy to say that our little "Cletus the Fetus" (B's current nn for the baby.  Yes, I am being serious, and yes, it's awful) is as healthy and active as can be!!!  This baby is much more active than Spencer was, and it definitely proved it during the ultrasound by doing all kinds of gymnastics for us while we were watching!

Let me be the first to introduce to you our sweet new bundle of (a little over halfway there)love!!  Adorable, isn't it???  And let me also be the first to tell you that, in May, Spencer will be welcoming a baby...........

BROTHER!!!

Yep, it's another little boy for the T family.  While a small part of me is sad that bows, dresses, and 80% of children's clothing stores will not be a part of my life, I am thrilled that Spence will have playmate, a hockey partner, and a best friend for life.  B is thrilled that I just cut our costs by 90% (because Lord knows I would not be able to resist much in the world of girl's clothes!!).  But, in all seriousness, we are just beyond excited that this baby is healthy and growing as expected.  We realize how amazing a miracle this is and feel incredibly blessed.  Now we just have to be patient for 20 more weeks until we can meet him!

Oh, and let the naming begin!!!

Lobster Party 2011

Boy, oh boy, it was H-O-T when we arrived at the party.  We got down to the beach around 6 p.m., and most of us filled up a cocktail glass and headed down to the lake to put our feet in and chat while cooling ourselves off.  After about 20 minutes of feet cooling, we went up to take pictures on the dunes, refill our cocktails, have some appetizers, and chat it up with the fam.

Spencer, 15 months

Harbor Springs, MI

All the cousins together.  The three older ones were so delightful with the two babies.  It was lovely to see!  You can see the darling lobster bows in this picture.  The girls all loved them.

PGT and LGT

(different middle names though)

All smiles from my two amazing boys.  God in Heaven, thank you for these two blessings.  There isn't anything better than their happy smiles!!!!

A and his girlfriend, A came in from the East Coast for the party.

Family pic

About 8 p.m., my mom came up to get SYT and LGT to take them home for the night.  It was definitely night night time for the little ones.  We were then able to eat our lobster dinners and dance with the band.  Around 9:30 the other little ones left to go home as did B's parents and one of my SIL's.  The rest of us stayed to dance some more and then........the rain started!!!  Not the best thing to happen at an outside party :(

Sister-in-laws make life SO much better!!!!!!

It started pouring around 10 p.m.  The band had to stop playing early which was a bummer.  It did cool the weather off for the rest of the week, which was nice!!  We all had a wonderful, wonderful time as always!

Meeting our new niece!

Meet the newest member of B's side of the family, Miss LGT!

Born 10 days prior to these pictures, she was 9 lbs 1 oz, 20.5 inches long.  Obviously, picture perfect.

SYT loved her.  He kept giving her kisses (and/or head butts b/c that's what he thinks kisses are) and trying to pat her head.  We had to use the word "gentle" a lot last weekend!

Cousins!

Precious smile

We feel so blessed to have a new niece.  It was so wonderful of K&N to allow us to come stay with them for the weekend when they were already so overwhelmed with their first baby!  We just couldn't wait to love on her, and love on her we did!!  We will get to see them at least twice this summer, and we're already counting down the days.  LGT, we love you, little one!