Happy 3rd Birthday to the Twins!

OK, this time I mean it. I am so glad the boys have a summer birthday. It makes parties so much easier than when the weather is colder - and since our kiddos love, love, love being outside anyway - well, it is a perfect match. Of course, this year we are celebrating a little late because of Grayson's eye surgery two days before their birthday...which led to this year's party being the same weekend we had a hurricane all the way up the East Coast! Luckily, the rain held off until the very end of the party and didn't start until literally the last guests were leaving.

We set up the tents, blew up the bug bouncy house, left up the trampoline, and had a great time. This year the boys had some friends and their parents come from their preschool class, so there were more kids and little people for them to play with. It was just a bunch of backyard fun with food and cake and lots of little boys.

There were kids and parents on the trampoline at all times, the swings were almost always full (see Reece loving it?), and we managed to make it almost 3 hours with no fighting, pushing, shoving, etc.

When the last of the guests left and the rain backed off for a few minutes we too their presents inside and opened them. Lots of cars and car related toys were to be had, along with books (Mama Lama is now a new favorite) and a piano (favorite present of the day.)

As we cleaned up all the wrapping paper and leftover food we realized that now we need to start planning Reece's party - his birthday is in about 8 weeks!

Jiffy Pop

Tonight the boys got to experience Jiffy Pop for the first time. I couldn't help myself when I saw it in the store. I hate that they thing so much stuff comes out of the microwave! So we sat them up on the counter, started the stove, and shook that thing silly. It was just as cute as I thought it would be. They were so excited and kept telling me - look Mommy! It's POPPING!

Even funnier, they really didn't "get" that there was going to be popcorn inside it until we tore it open. Then it was exciting all over again :)

Simple things.

Happy 3rd Birthday!

OK, almost. Because Grayson had surgery scheduled for Friday, 8/12, we decided to postpone the celebration for two weeks.

Grayson's Eye Surgery

So the time has come for us to make a decision about Grayson's eyes. We patched for the better part of two years, but as of late he had become totally unwilling to keep the patch on. He had even taken to squeezing his other eye shut and laying on the floor crying the whole time he was patched while trying to rip it off. Very upsetting for everyone in the house. He has never been willing to wear his glasses - as every time he puts them on his weak eye (the left one) pulls and pulses to the center so hard you can tell it must be hard to see/focus on anything.

So the doctor said it was time to do the surgery to align his eyes better. He was starting to favor his right eye so much he was afraid he was telling his brain to ignore the left one. This is so scary for me (being that I am going progressively more blind every year), but it seems like this is the best chance he has for getting his vision to cooperate.

This photo was taken in the prep room as we got him in the gown and little hat. He loved the hat - thought it was the best thing ever. He was in great spirits and cooperated the whole time. They let me walk him back and hold him while they put him to sleep. I was really impressed with the anesthesiologist. He started telling Grayson a story and incorporated the gas mask into the story so when he put it on his face he wasn't scared at all.

Since he has been asleep for surgery's before we knew it would not be as nice when we woke up. He is prone to night terrors - and the 'twilight' sleep state is not good for this little boy. Our recovery room nurse was not so great - she actually raised her voice at him and told him to stop crying! (Hello lady, he's two!!!)

He eventually pulled it together and we headed home. By the time we got home he was starting to be himself again - and within a few hours he was on the trampoline with Gabe like nothing happened.

I continue to be amazed at how easy going this little man can be. He takes all these challenges in stride and just keeps on plugging along.