Christopher's Surgery

Christopher's surgery went well today.  Doc came out and told me that the front part of the labrum was completely torn off, so he repaired what he could and then had to kind of make him a new one.  The good news is that in about 5-6 months with a little luck, lots of healing, and tons of patience his shoulder should be back to 100%.  For those that are not familiar with what happened to Christopher, he suffered this labrum tear followed by a dislocated shoulder at his first wrestling match of the year... here is a shot of that night and one from today.

Mommy Reading to the Babies

So I walk upstairs last night and caught Mommy reading to the babies... cutest thing ever, so I ran to grab my video camera.  Drew seems to be very excited about the cookies!

Bubble Fun at the Doyle's

Last weekend we had a spend the night party at our friend's house Cat and Brandon.  Riley and Brody got into a little fun of their own making bubbles!

Their faces say it all!

I hope Nana and Papa are ready for us all to visit next month!

Riley changing Drew's Diaper

Man, I am on a video roll!  Here is some video of Riley attempting to change Drew's diaper... this attempt went south (no pun intended ;~) in a hurry!  Mommy had to rush in to help... then Mommy had to call in the big guns for help... Me! lol

Drew is Crawling

It started this morning... it's not much, really only a few tiny "steps" but this morning around 6:30am he started putting it all together... Erin talked me into running down and grabbing the video camera. He was already tired and ready for a nap by the time I got it rolling, but I was able to capture a tiny snipit.

Zoo Atlanta

We decided to utilize our season passes to the zoo yesterday. If you've never been, Zoo Atlanta is really a great place for kids and family to go on the weekends. They have a whole section geared just for kids called the Children's Zoo. Riley and Drew both did great during our trip out... believe it or not, Riley was asking to go home after only an hour. I'll add pictures in the next day or two, but here is a short video in the meantime.

Drew's first trip in the wagon...

Riley has loved it since Grandma got it for her last year, but a few days ago Drew took his first trip around the block in the wagon... check it out!

Drew Sat Up!

Drew sat up on his own for the first time this morning... well, that is not entirely true... Erin said he did it in the bed last night, but I'm not counting that one since the platform was concave giving him an unfair advantage, plus Daddy wasn't there to witness! ;)  He is still a few weeks behind Riley's schedule of sitting up and crawling, but Erin keeps reminding me that they all develop differently.  Actually, I thought he was going to start crawling a week and half ago as he was up on all fours doing a rocking motion. 

Also, Riley's bed came in last week.  She is absolutely in love with her bed!  I like it too as it is much more comfortable to lay in the bed reading books at night, than it was for me to lay in the crib... Pics of the new bed coming soon!

Christmas Video - Making Cookies for Santa

I found two videos on the video camera last week and decided to finally get them posted.

X-Sanity - My New Blog

I'm doing a new blog tracking my progress as I go through a 90 day workout plan.  I've taken the best of P90X and the best of a ridiculously hard cardio program called Insanity and I've combined them into one program.

Check it out:

X-Sanity (Click Here)

Spring Time in January!

This past weekend was awesome!  We had temperatures up in the low 70s and it felt great!  Erin and I got the kids out to Clinton Park on both Saturday and Sunday.  On Saturday, we found an easy walking trail... On Sunday, I found one bit more moderate... let's put it this way, there were several occasions that I had to help pick up the stroller to cover the terrain.  Drew slept through it all, as he was still fighting a nasty cold this weekend.  Here are some shots from the weekend.

Here is Drew's first adventure with an orange. 

He has been in the Jumper before, but this weekend he really figured out to work it!  He was jumping high and laughing the whole time... after a while he fell asleep, woke back up and jumped some more, then fell asleep again.

We played out on the deck some too... .seriously, the weather was crazy awesome and we couldn't get enough of it!

At one point Mommy pulled out the baby carrier to put Drew in... but little Miss Riley had other plans.  For the record, yes we know her boots are on the wrong feet, but she is the one who put them one. :)

Here are some shots from the trails that we found.

Catching up in Jan...

Goodness what happened to me?!?!  Sorry about the delay in photo and info postings, but I'll try and get better. 

Let's see... Drew has been doing great and just this morning had his second tooth break.  He has been a trooper b/c during the first tooth he ran a few fevers and was restless.  Still nothing compared to the nightmare little Miss Riley was as she was cutting teeth.  At Drew's 6 month checkup he weighed in at 17 lbs 10 ozs and was 25 inches tall.  This still has him in the 25% on the boys growth charts.  Developmentally he is also doing great.  He can now sit up perfectly and do the helicopter... that means he spins in circles on his tummy looking for things.  If they are out of his reach, then he just rolls over to get there.  No signs of crawling just yet, but I'm sure it will happen in the next 4 weeks or so. 

Riley just talks up a storm now.  Seriously, she'll drive you bonkers.  Her comprehension is crazy as she understands so much and remembers what you told her.  I thought she ran the house before, but now that she can really tells us all what to do it has gotten much worse. lol

Christopher is waiting for an MRI on his shoulder.  He popped it out of socket during the recent ice storm trying to play in the snow.  Since we were trapped (roads were too iced to try and leave) I googled how to pop it back in place.  30 seconds later... it was back in!  The vibrations of feeling the joint pop back into socket was something I'll never forget, but when you're watching your son squirm in pain you'll try anything.  This time it worked.

During the snow/ice storm we had to get creative during our 4 day lockdown... here is a shot of Riley playing with the playdough with her daddy.

Here is Riley and Mommy making a homemade pizza... seriously, best pizza ever!

We had a few art sessions also... here is Riley doing a Rembrandt impression...

Drew just hanging out...

This is one of the first few times he was standing on his own... don't worry, Mommy was just outside the picture.

OK, enough of the inside... lets go sledding!  On Christopher's skimboard!

Here is a rare shot of Christopher actually standing long enough for me to snap a shot...

Christmas Time!

Christmas was great this year!  For the first time since starting our family, we decided to stay home so that Santa can visit Riley at home.  Of course, we missed spending it with the rest of the family, but we had a great time hanging with each other.  Also, this was the first White Christmas in the ATL area in many decades, so that was awesome!  It snowed ALL DAY long!  Sipping on some hot Irish Coffees helped to keep us warm! lol

Here is Riley and Mommy making the dough for Santa's cookies.

Opening gifts on Christmas morning was great!  Riley did a great job of handing gifts to everyone... of course this was done between jumping on her new toy! 

After opening presents, we went outside to play in the snow...

Camera Down

Just wanted to let everyone know that we haven't updated the site lately b/c Miss Riley dropped the camera from the table.  I know that it is my fault for putting the camera on the table to begin with, but in my defense we were packing up to travel and I always place items on the table during packing... oh well, it is being repaired now.  That is a $170 lesson that I shall not repeat. 

In the meantime, everyone is doing well aside from Christopher.  He dislocated his shoulder during a wrestling match this past weekend.  He had to wait for over an hour until he could get to the ER and have a doc put in back in place.  Pain level appeared to be very high. 

Here are the matches.  In the first match, he does a pretty good job of handling a game opponent (who went on to place 3rd in the 12 team tournament the next day) and Chris goes on to win the match 18-11.


Wrestling Videos on Flowrestling

In this match, Chris injures his shoulder around the 2:10 mark.  You can see him taking down his opponent and both guys landing on this left shoulder.  This is where the damage was done.  Chris goes on to win this match by a score of 20-10.


Wrestling Videos on Flowrestling

In this third video you can see just after Chris does a takedown he does a random posting of his left arm (for leverage) during this post his shoulder dislocates.  Chris was winning 2-0 before the injury occurred. 


Wrestling Videos on Flowrestling

Centennial Park

It has been over a week since baby Drew has thrown up!  We are not sure if it is the new formula or the baby food or the combination that helped him get better along with the reflux medicine.  We are so thankful that he is back to gaining weight!  Now that Drew is feeling better, we are ready to get out of the house.  Yesterday we went to Centennial Park to meet up with Uncle Mike and Aunt Margo and family.  The weather was perfect for being outside.

Riley and Drew watching the fountain show. 

Riley wanted to be down playing in the water! 

North Georgia Cabin

Two weekends ago, we headed to the Blue Ridge Mountians in North Georgia for the weekend with The Doyle's.  It was a great weekend except for baby Drew and Mommy getting the stomach virus.  There was a light snow Friday night, so Drew got to see his first snow!  The cabin was literally on top of the mountain.  The views were awesome!  Here are a few pictures from the weekend!

The kids checking out the snow! 

 Riley and Camryn in matching coats!

Daddy and Riley making a fire 

Mommy and Drew checking out the view! 

 Brandon, Cat, Brody and Camryn



Riley and Camryn loved playing with their baby dolls!

Christopher Hitting Pads

Here is a video that I didn't know existed until a few days ago, but it shows Christopher hitting some pads a few months ago. 

Happy 2nd Birthday to Riley Erin!!!

Our beautiful Riley Erin turns 2 today!  As the saying goes, time goes by too fast.  Our house may be a mess, but our children know we love them.  We make sure to spend lots of time with our kids.  We love every second of it.  Here are a few pictures of our Riley growing!  Slow down, Mommy wants you to stay a little girl!

Riley right after she was born.

 Riley 1 day old



Riley 1 month old

Riley 3 months old

Riley 6 months old

Riley 9 months old

Riley 13 months old

Riley 18 months old

Riley 23 months old!

Happy Birthday to Riley Erin!