August 2 = Vacation Day 3

We started off our last day of vacation by going to the Buffalo Zoo.  It started off okay... We took pictures in these cutouts:

But the good moods didn't last for long.  I love the zoo.  So.  Much.  But it just doesn't usually work out for us- which is why I went by myself when Zachary and I went down to Jacksonville for the Navy/Notre Dame game.

Thankfully, they napped in the car as we headed to Cooperstown, NY.  We stopped at this adorable diner before we headed to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

By this time in the day, we weren't expecting a lot out of the kids so we just went with an open mind and hoped to be able to read a few things.  That made things go pretty well!

Then one of the funniest stories ever happened.  We were on our way either home or to a hotel, depending on how we felt... when we stopped for gas.  Zachary was on the phone with his dad and pumping gas.  I ran inside to get a bottle of water and take a quick bathroom break.  I came out of the convenience store and the van was nowhere to be found.  I walked around the building... I looked up and down the street- we were in the middle of nowhere so it wasn't like he ran to a fast food place real quick and was coming right back.  I stood outside for a while thinking of any other explanation besides- my husband just abandoned me at a gas station.  So I went inside and asked to use their phone- I had left mine in the car... and explained what happened.  They looked at me with the saddest eyes when I told them I'm sure he just didn't notice I wasn't in the car.  Well- Zachary doesn't typically answer phone calls from unknown numbers so he didn't take my call.  So I called back twice in a row to make him maybe consider this was a call he should take. Well he was finishing up his conversation with his dad so he wasn't paying attention to the multitude of rings coming in.  He got off the phone and was telling me that his dad really was encouraging him to stop at a hotel and even offered to pay for it.  When he didn't get a response from me he did a double take and realized I was not in the car.  He made a quick u-turn and called the number that had called him several times.  It took about fifteen minutes but I was eventually rescued from the gas station.  I think the attendants in the convenience store were relieved he came back- I don't think they were convinced he would.

But back to pictures- here's one of Miss Kayleigh at the hotel we did end up stopping at:

It was a good call because the kids did go to sleep and we all got a good night's rest!

June 13 = Hospital Day

Just kidding about being home sweet home :)

At the hospital we saw Kayleigh have some episodes- I thought they were acid reflux episodes like Liam and Malia had both had but Zachary thought they were seizures.  We told several nurses and the doctor- no one seemed upset and I didn't push it because I really didn't think they were seizures.  The doctor recommended trying to get her seen the next day so I did make an appointment and Zachary took her to see Dr. Modi this morning.  Well- she had a seizure right in front of him so he was going to send her to Anne Arundel but since we had just left there and they didn't seem concerned about what was going on, Zachary asked if he could take Kayleigh to Walter Reed instead.  Dr. Modi said he wouldn't have let just any family do that- we were probably the only ones he would- so Zachary headed straight for Bethesda.  Here's some pictures from the hospital:

When visiting hours were over, we came home and Zachary took me out to get one of these:

September 8 = Chickfila Day

I wonder how many blog posts are titled "Chickfila Day."  More than I'm comfortable with.

Anyway- when I picked Liam up today from the bus (which was supposed to drop him off but went to a place they didn't tell me they were going and then acted like I was crazy because I didn't know to go to an undisclosed location) at school... as we were walking to the car he started requesting lunch at chickfila.  I have a problem and now I've passed it on to my son.  Oops.

September 5 = Liam's Birthday

So I feel really guilty.  It's Liam's birthday and I have virtually no pictures.  We celebrated more last weekend than on his actual birthday but today started with Chickfila, duh.

And then we did all the normal things we do except Zachary was with us.  We went to the gym.  Played with some toys.  Went for a walk.  Took a nap.  But one exception was watching a movie and eating popcorn.  Both the kids were into it:

April 19 = Go Back Home Day

We got good night's rest last night and woke up at a decent hour to go back home today!

... but we forgot one of our suitcases.  Stay tuned to see if we get it back!

January 19 = Shot Day

Since Dr. Modi went ahead and did Malia's 18 month well visit last week, today we just had to run in for one quick shot.  Here we are waiting:

She took it like a champ- she's such a tough girl- and this was the last shot she'll have to get until she's four!  Today's Tuesday so Zachary has class... this week is going to be crazy.  Tomorrow night, he's required to go to a women's basketball game and Thursday night he has a meeting at 6:00- he's not going to be able to come home before any of these nighttime commitments so it's going to be me and the babies on our own for basically three straight days.  But he's taking Friday off so ... there's a light at the end of the tunnel!  Also I have a cute story.  Liam's developed a new habit of finding any cup and filling it with water from the refrigerator.  Today, he brought a pretty full cup in the living room and spilled it in my lap.  He immediately went to the kitchen and got a towel and started drying me off.  Such a sweet boy!

November 13 = Memory Day

I love this Timehop app!  Today it reminded me that we learned I was pregnant with Malia two years ago today!  We had taken Liam to get an EEG and he had to be sleep deprived for it, meaning we had to wake him up at like 5am and keep him up all day so that he would sleep for the EEG.  I remember telling the nurse that called to give us the instructions that when he is sleep deprived, he does not sleep and that he doesn't sleep anywhere but his crib so no matter what we do to him, he's not going to sleep for the EEG but she insisted we follow the rules and we did.  But like I predicted, he didn't sleep during the EEG so it was all for nothing.  We also had a guy that was new to the ship check in and he needed somewhere to stay so instead of giving him a hotel recommendation like he asked for, Zachary told him he was welcome at our house.  We took him to a Mexican restaurant and because I'm not a fan of being up at 5am myself, I decided to have a margarita.  Oops.  We got home that night and I took a pregnancy test and it was positive.  It was so very faint that we took another one out and compared and asked ourselves a million times- is this just wishful thinking?  But I took another one the next day and it was clearly there. 

And fast forward two year and here Liam and Malia are, hiding behind the curtain, looking out the window together.  I'm so grateful that they love each other so much- I can already see the protectiveness and loyalty they feel for each other in their eyes- and the jealousy and the annoyance... but mostly the love!

September 18 = Sprint Football Game Day

Today's title is a bit misleading.  There was a sprint football game today, but we didn't see it.  We got there over an hour early and didn't make it to the end.  There was some miscommunication somewhere and we got there thinking we were right on time but were nowhere close.  But we had lots of fun letting the kids run around and do what they felt like doing.  Liam pointed out the numbers one and two on the seats and said them to us without any help- we were super impressed!

August 24 = Sick Day

Monday is CDC day!  I took Liam this morning and then took Malia to Babies in Bloom at the library.  A girl sitting near her had an identical doll to one Malia has so obviously, she thought it was hers and didn't like that I didn't let her play with it.  That resulted in us having to leave the room but I found some cool magazines and we got home a little earlier than we had planned which allowed me to get more stuff done!  I then had to take Malia to the CDC so I could go to my therapy appointment alone this time since last week didn't work out so well.  As I was leaving, this was on our doorstep: Liam's new tablet!

I dropped Malia off without any incidents!  And then I went to my appointment.  I brought several magazines so I didn't notice it was 17 minutes past my appointment- I texted my therapist but didn't hear back from her so after 40 minutes I left and went back to the library to kill time.  She texted me and reminded me she told me last week she had to cancel today's appointment.  Oops.  So then I picked the kids up and we headed home.  Liam was a little sluggish and fell asleep in the playroom.  I woke him up to go to the gym but he was not excited about it- which was weird.  I dropped both kids off in the kids club and went to my core class which I haven't been to in weeks!  Zachary got to the gym a few minutes later and as I was setting up, I looked up at the window beside me and he was creepily staring at me trying to freak me out- we got a good laugh out of it.  About ten minutes later, as I was doing some intense squats, I felt him staring at me again but this time it was because he needed the keys- Liam had thrown up in the kids club.  So we headed home and boy was he in a mood.  He was pushing, throwing, kicking, yelling- it was a rough evening.  He did love the tablet though!

August 20 = Parade Day

We had leftover spaghetti for lunch- can you tell?!

I canceled all of Liam's therapy appointments this week because I didn't know if he would be feeling up to them so I was super excited today when we got to go somewhere- I'd been having a little cabin fever.  Zachary asked us to come out to a parade and I gladly said yes!  I asked my friend Amy if she and Evie were coming too and they met us there so I got to talk to her a little bit but as the actual parade neared, the kids got restless so Zachary walked Liam to a playground and I followed with Malia.  After we let them get some energy out we thought maybe they'd watch the parade...

But after a few minutes we decided it was time for me to take the kids home- it was nice to get out but we didn't last too long.  The good part was Zachary got home a little after nine so I did put the kids down but he got home soon after.  Liam was still awake when he got home so Zachary went in to say good night and found that he'd been having a little too much fun with a peekaboo book from the library:

July 28 = Overdue Picture Day

Another thing I forgot during Malia's birthday party was to take a picture of the birthday girl with this sign I made listing her favorite foods, her abilities, her favorite things and her height and weight.  So ten days later, I did a mini photo shoot- we didn't get any pictures where she's smiling and the information is 100% visible in the background but we got some good ones all the same:

July 18 = Party Day!

Malia's birthday celebration continues!  Grandma and Pops got to Maryland late last night so we went to an early breakfast with them this morning- Liam was still asleep but Malia was ready for some good breakfast.  Here she is chomping down on some bacon. 

Everyone was asleep when we left but everyone was awake when we got back and Liam even had a new diaper and a new outfit- woo hoo!  Liam was excited to see his Grandma & Pops and Malia was still in her pajamas:

And then it was time for our ladybug party!  My dad and brother made the chicken, my mom made the baked beans, we had fruit and rice and cupcakes and punch- I must say, it was pretty good!

And then it was time for the cake.  Here, again, is my sad excuse for a cake.

And Malia destroyed it!  We are two for two with our babies doing great first birthday cake demolitions.

So Zachary and I ran her upstairs and got her a quick bath and then she was ready for presents!

Opening so many gifts is hard work!

Birthday love for Miss Malia:

And finally, after the party was over, Zachary headed to the gym and my family and I headed to the mall with the kids and we got Malia her first pair of shoes!

Later that night, I went to get a bag of milk from the freezer to thaw out and saw my cute ladybug pops that I completely forgot to put out for the party.  Oops!  At least they turned out well.

My dad and I took the kids out for our last nightly walk and we stopped by the playground so Liam could get out some energy since it wasn't too hot- he had fun showing Gramps how well he does on the slide!