Uncle Rob and Aunt Ana's wedding

Back in May, we traveled to Atlanta for Brad's brothers wedding. We were excited to be apart of the day but stressed about traveling with three kids. We debated for months about if we were going to bring the kids, should we bring all of them, etc. The weekend ended up going well. Our three were the only kids at the wedding and we were confident one of use would be standing in the back by the time the ceremony was over due to a child screaming, pitching a fit, etc. But they exceeded our expectations. All I can say is thank goodness for snacks, a pacifier, and my hair. Lincoln chomped on cheerios during the ceremony while Sawyer and Ainsley both attempted to eat my hair. We were exhausted by the time we got home but it was a good trip.

 

Yes, this is how much luggage we took for a Friday to Sunday trip. At one point, bags did fall on Lincoln and he did not appreciate that.

 

It took a lot of effort but we cleaned up pretty good!

 

 

These kids were worn out after the wedding and reception but they sure did look cute! Brad and I did not look near as cute when we crawled into bed any of those nights.

Camera is broken so all you get are IPhone pics....

Things have been busy around the Davenport Den as of late. Sawyer is literally into everything. He became mobile a couple of weeks ago and has been investigating every square inch of the house that he can. We had no idea how lucky we were with Lincoln not crawling. There is a huge part of me that wants Ainsley to crawl but there is also a decent percentage that doesn't want her to because things will get even more insane. You know they will never crawl in the same direction.

 

 

We went to my family's cabin the weekend of the fourth. We had a great time. Brad and I took Lincoln on two different hikes. The first was up to Grayson Highlands to feed the wild ponies (which is illegal I think) and then we went in search of a waterfall off the Blue Ridge Parkway. This kid loves to hike! We carried our hiking back pack but he never asked to be carried. The only time he rode in it was when we forced him to in order to climb up a pretty steep part of the trail.  Hoping the other two love being outside as much as Lincoln does.

 

 

 I think I might have actually given birth to a kid that will like to eat food. He can't get enough of the stuff!

 

 

 I think these two are gonna be best buds. Lincoln loves playing with him and Sawyer really responds well to him. Although I feel this dynamic may change once Sawyer starts trying to play with his toys....

Easter 2014 and the Zoo

We spend this Easter with a trip to the zoo then a trip to Memies' house. My parents were awesome enough to watch the twins for the day so Brad and I could take Lincoln to the zoo. We had a great time just the three of us and it reminded us how easy it was to just have one kid to take care of for the day!

 

Easter went well except for the fact that Lincoln didn't like the idea of being left in the children's area without me. I was paged not once but twice out of the service. I heard it was nice so maybe next year I can hear it!

 

 I am aware that Lincoln and Ainsley match but Sawyer doesn't. Blame it on Sawyer for being too small to fit in the outfit I had bought for him. We did the best we could but it was too cold for the shorts that went with the outfit so he had to wear jeans that day.

 

 

 Family pictures are a lot more difficult these days.....

 

Random but too cute not to include.....

Tummy time with the twins

Unlike their big brother, these two are pros at rolling over. So much that they learned how to roll over on the same day and proceeded to both roll to the other side of the room! Its not uncommon to leave the room for a moment and come back and find them either tangled up with each other or across the room. We are now looking for baby gates or more like a corral gate to contain these two! Something tells me its going to get really crazy within the next few months in this house....

 

 

Lincoln turns 3!

After three years, a boy deserves a birthday party. Yes, we are those parents that didn't throw a birthday party for our son when he turned one or two. In our defense, his birthday was around Easter both years and we he didn't really have an idea that it was his birthday. Nonetheless, we decided that this was the year. Brad came up with the awesome idea of renting a bouncy house for the afternoon. He of course found a good deal and we figured that would entertain the kids (and who are we kidding, the adults) that came. Lincoln had a blast. We ended up having a lot of people come and I am pretty sure a good time was had by all. Although the bouncy house was a big success, the biggest was that Lincoln took about three bites of a cupcake this time. Its baby steps but at least its progress! Brad and I cannot grasp the fact that we have a three year old now. He has grown up way too fast!

Third times a charm...or at least that is what we hope!

Things had seemed to be going good after Sawyer's surgery back in February. About two weeks after we had been discharged from the hospital, we went in for a routine follow up where we would begin to start dilations (stretching out his rectum). The appointment ended up not going well at all. As soon as Dr. Hoover started to dilate Sawyer, he could tell something wasn't right. There was some tightness there that made Dr. Hoover want to bring Sawyer to Wake Med the following morning for an exam under anesthesia. He thought there may be some scar tissue making it difficult to dilate him or there could be something else. He was only going to be out for half an hour under anesthesia and we would have to spend the night (because of his corrected gestational age). I told Brad to not take off work because I didn't think it was going to be too big of a deal. So we dealt with the no eating after midnight and I got Sawyer over to Wake Med bright and early at 6:00am. Shortly after they started the exam, Dr. Hoover came out and delivered some bad news. He discovered that there was some sort of blockage a little bit above where they had done the pull through procedure. Dr. Hoover was amazed that Sawyer had been able to go the bathroom as much as he had been going. "We are going to have to open him back up tomorrow to fix him," said Dr. Hoover. The morning took on a very different weight after that shock to my system.

Sawyer was admitted to the Peds floor again and we had to begin prepping him for surgery which meant an NG tube down his nose and he would been given GoLytely to clean out his system for a 12:00 surgery the following day. It was a rough night because Sawyer couldn't eat again and a pacifier is only going to work so much. As Friday morning started, surgery was still on time. Several hours later, we learned it would be pushed back to 5:00 due to several emergency surgeries that came in. Finally around 3:00, Brad and I decided to postpone his surgery to the next day so that his surgeon could go home and get a good nights sleep. The length of time the surgery was supposed to take was very open ended. We heard many times that it could take two hours or it could take five hours. It just depended on what it looked like once he got in there. Sawyer was also going to have a very nice scar this time. Before they were able to go in laparoscopic but since they didn't know where the blockage was or how bad it was, they were just going to cut him open and see.

They took him back around 8:00 on Saturday morning. This was the most difficult of all his surgeries for me. The fact that the issue was unknown and that it could take a long time scared me. He also was going to recover in the PICU this time and could possibly come back with a temporary colostomy bag and a breathing tube down his throat. In the end, his surgery went well. Dr. Hoover was easily able to find the stricture and remove it. He did end up removing his appendix just because there is a high correlation between kids with Hirschprungs and having an appendicitis.

Sawyer recovered well in the PICU and we were able to move back onto the Peds floor the following day after surgery. We went home on Tuesday morning and he has been recovering well. The coolest thing I can say that has happened in all of this is that Sawyer pooped out his appendix! Not sure why Dr. Hoover didn't just remove but you have to admit it is pretty funny. We hope and pray that this will be the last time we have to spend time at Wake Med for a very long time if ever again!