So long Tonsils and Adenoids!

Being a daycare kid D has had his share of illnesses!  Tons of ear infections his first year, had back to back strep this fall.  I was told that when he starts school he will never be sick.  He did snore... as loud as Andy.  Even while awake he would snore and breathing out of his mouth so much he'd drool.  I mentioned it to our doctor who sent us to an ENT.  After a quick appointment we scheduled surgery for May 6.

The pre op appointment went ok.  You never know what D you are going to get, the one that is like velcro on my leg or the one that walks in like he owns the place.  Sadly Akron Children's Hospital experienced velcro Dylan.  The closer it came he would ask questions like, "Are they going to use tiny scissors?  Are they going to slam dunk my tonsils in the garbage?"

We were excited to be in the hospitals brand new building that opened the day before.  It was so new they were cutting zip ties off the cords in his room!  Dylan was very nervous, didn't even want to put on the PJs.  I instantly began to tear up, this was going to be a fight to the end!  The Child Life Specialist touched my arm, I said a prayer and tried to pull it together.  They ended up giving him medicine that calmed him and had an amnesia effect.  Andy asked him if the medicine made him toot, and he quickly blamed it on the anesthesiologist!  He was so loopy he insisted on riding the bed sitting up instead of laying like the nurses wanted.  As I watched him sway back and forth on that bed while the nurses tried to keep him on it, as soon as he was out of sight the tears poured out that I had held back earlier.          

The surgery was surprisingly fast and before we knew it we were headed back to recovery and could hear screaming...  This is where our sitcom like experience began, Dylan was hysterical!  (No surprise, I react the same way from anesthesia.  I mortified my mother when my wisdom teeth came out.  "WHERE AM I??  WHY AM I HERE??")  D's poor nurse looked relieved that backup arrived.  I tried to get him, he was kicking and thrashing with cords everywhere.  Shortly into Andy's attempt, he yells, "I'm sweating!"  My turn again while Andy walked out of the room to cool off.  Never had he used the word "ouchy" in his life that was all Dylan could say while trying to stick his fingers in his mouth!  That resulted in him throwing up and my screaming, "OH SH*%!"  While I'm assuming he was still fanning himself Andy yells from the hall, "LORI YOU NEED TO RELAX!"  The nurses quickly gave D some morphine and he fell asleep.  We left our mark on Akron Children's and I am sure there is now a "note" in our file.  

Dylan woke up asking if his tonsils were gone, they DELIVERED his meds to our room and we were gone.  He's been off and thought I could send him to daycare today.  Well, I'm home because just as the paperwork said, "Increased pain one week post op" came true as last night was the worst night we've had.  He wakes up crazed, not wanting to take his medicine, not wanting a drink, so when he wakes up its for a while and it's all night long!  I've been told we made the right decision and it'll be best in the long run.  So I am welcoming any advice to get us over the hump!  I come away from this experience: thankful for my healthy babies, thankful for Akron Children's being close when they are not, and praying for the families we passed in the halls that were dealing with much more than large tonsils.        

Kid-less in the Caribbean!

Who are these 2 crazy kid-less people??

Last New Years my in-laws announced they were taking all of us to Sandals Negril after Christmas with no kids.  Entering this family I quickly learned they love vacations!  This trip added to my list that included: Turks and Caicos (Beaches Resort), Hawaii, and Wyoming.  Needless to say we were shocked and panicked finding out we were pregnant the next week.  How are we going to leave a 3 month old and a 4 year old that had been experiencing separation anxiety.  But we did, thanks to my parents and other family that helped with caring for our children.

Years ago I read that Cindy Crawford says her marriage has survived all these years due to vacationing alone.  My parents use to leave us and go to the beach.  As we got closer panic really set in.  I cried when I had to go back to work, soon 8 hours away from them was going to be a week!  My plan was to pump enough so my mom wouldn't have to supplement.  It was bad enough I was leaving Parker, I felt this is the least I could do!  I did the oils, tea everything and successfully pumped her a weeks supply then had to go into overdrive because she actually needed 8 days worth.  D was another story.  He is way into the calendar we have in the kitchen and enjoys keeping up on our daily happenings.  He proudly told his doctor that we were leaving for Jamaica on the 27th and when he turned 27 he was allowed to go.  Knowing he was going to be hanging out with his cousin the whole week eased the pain.  We took them to my parents, celebrated Christmas, put them to bed then left!  I cried a lot.

Rick's Cafe

Jamaica is the place to be!!  The airport was packed.  We had a great bus driver that pointed out all the hot spots between the airport and our resort.  Spots from Cool Runnings, some golf course Oprah owns and what it really means when the sign on the door reads "Beer Joint".  Our room was something out of Crate and Barrel with a view of the ocean.  The vacation started with karaoke and dancing sealing the deal it was going to be a great trip.

The Kerr Crew

Much like the when we went to Sandal's sister resort Beaches the food was amazing!  We found out that the resort Hedonism was right next door, so that added endless jokes and laughs when their guests walked our beach.  We rented a boat to Rick's Cafe on New Year's Eve, dolphins swam next to the boat (which I yelled, "It's just like Sea World!", I'm working on getting out more), we watched the divers at Rick's, then watched the sunset over the ocean.  The resort threw a white party which was so much fun.  The band seemed a little off with the countdown to the New Year since we could see fireworks going off down the beach.  The party ended earlier than announced but not until Shelly begged the dj to play "Poison" for me!  We even found a couple from Columbus that we watched the National Championship game with.  One day my brother-in-law's family made the trip over for the day from Trelawny.  It was awesome to meet and get to visit with Ralston's family.  It was a great trip but like my brother-in-law said before we left he thought this would be the first vacation that he would be excited to get home and he was right!

Our View

Being away from the kids was very hard and I would not suggest it when you have a 3 month old.  It is possible even while nursing!  But with FaceTime and texting we were able to stay very connected.  Now a word of advice when you do FaceTime don't do it while there is a steel drum band playing on the beach that Andy felt our 4 year old needed to see only caused a meltdown with him crying saying, "I want to go there!"  We did enjoy our time alone and being able to relax!  We can't thank our parents enough for making this happen.

I enjoyed myself so much I'm taking another solo vacation to Florida soon to celebrate Andy's oldest sister's milestone birthday.  I'll be giving a full report on how that goes as well as how Andy does being Mr. Mom!  I'm sure it'll be reminiscent of Jack Butler.       

Our Daughter

Photo by:  Tessa Powell Photography

Parker Kay was born on September 25.  I didn't even notice until after the fact that both my kids were due on the 19th and both induced on the 25.  I stuck a hamburg bun in the oven with a toothpick flag sticking out of it that read #2.  It took Andy a minute to figure it out.  Just the week before, my father in law had told us he was taking us to Sandals Jamaica for New Years.  We quickly told my parents, we wanted to make sure they were up for keeping a 4 year old and 3 month old come December!  Andy's parents' we told by putting Dylan in his #1 brother tshirt when they picked us up for our Tucson visit.  We waited the "safe" 3 month waiting period to tell everyone else by naming our horse "Bun in the Oven" at the yearly WABL Night at the Races.

Holdin on to dada's finger tight!

Andy has 4 sisters so I figured this was a girl.  My mom swore I was carrying the same way she carried me.  Our 3 friends that were pregnant - only one boy, and my 3 coworkers all had girls.  My Court coworker kept me walking around downtown Akron like crazy!  People looked at us like we were unicorns, pregnant women must not walk together often.  I totally owe her for keeping me motivated.  Even though we found food on most our walks it helped with my weight and ability to get quickly back into my pre-pregnancy pants.  They don't look good but they are on!  My manager at JCrew had her daughter the day before me.  People were equally as shocked when they came in the store and we were working together.  They thought they came into Motherhood Maternity!  We were in the hospital at the same time and had the same delivery nurse.  GG and Parker will be fashionable friends for life.

My iv was more interesting than his sister

At the end of my pregnancy I was huge! I was beyond uncomfortable and the heartburn and snoring was out of control.  I told my doctor (who retired the week I was due!), "I think this baby is big..."  Two days before she was born the ultrasound tech guessed 8 pounds 6 ounces....they were a little off when she came out at 9 pounds 3 ounces!

The morning I was induced my Judge and the social workers from my department were at the hospital for a meeting and stopped in to see me.  (When the meds started, no one cut the cord or anything!)  My new doctor actually had Andy deliver Parker.  He is the first person to hold our little girl, while it seemed weird and shocking at first it ended up to be a very sweet moment.  I just couldn't believe I had a little girl and such a big one at that!

Parker Kay, a name that confuses old people because she's a girl but at least everyone can spell and pronounce easily.  My dad's grandpa was named Park, I always loved the name, which my cousin's cute son carries on.  I'm a Parker Posey (AIR RAID!) fan and my mom's middle name is Kay.  She also has the same (maiden) initials as Andy's aunt Paula Kay.  She immediately carried on the Sissy nickname, which I have been called by my entire family for the last 31 years.  She's been called Parkey, Park, Sissy, Sis, PK - she is a woman of many names!  

Much like when you are first married the question is when are you having kids, after you birth a child people are quick to ask when is the next coming?  My dad let me know they don't make any other kinds so we can stop.  I heard you just "know" when you are done.  Well my motherly instinct is giving me the silent treatment.  Right now we seem perfect, but I thought it was pretty perfect when it was just Dylan...

Where did 2014 go??

There are 4 of us now!

Sorry for the hiatus!  I'm sure the 2 of you that read this have been wondering what's been going on.  I had left you with our trip to Arizona last year, my favorite April Fools story then left you hanging.  We were busy to say the least!

Spring:

Easter

"Hey what's papa doing down there?!"

We had tons of people that were pregnant last year along with us!  3 of our friends and 3 people I worked with, it was a cold winter!  So I attended multiple baby showers.  Nothing like a pregnant lady getting the chance to slip away for the afternoon, eat good food and get an idea on all the latest baby gear.

Dylan had his 4th opening day!  This one was extra special because his Papa threw out the first pitch. We extended our love of baseball into the minor leagues.  The AA affiliate to the Indians, the Rubber Ducks made a bobble head of my mother in law!  They did a special on women in baseball and she was the guest of honor.  Sadly due to her brother passing away she was unable to make it so my father in law asked me and my sister in law to speak with him.  It was neat to hear new stories of their life in baseball and tell of a few of my own from Andy's time in the minors.

Shelly graduated from Xavier with her Masters.  We made the trip down to celebrate, not only for dinner but also a trip to Ikea!  We started remodeling our master bath and we were super excited Andy's oldest sister moved her family back to the Midwest and we love seeing them more often.

On the Farm with his Great Grandpa

Summer:
We attended endless Indians games and two weddings.  I tried to still bring it on the dance floor, big belly and all!  A member of the band told me, "I've never seen a pregnant woman move like you!"  I took it as a compliment.  It was almost as nice as when a coworker peeked in my office during my third trimester to tell me, "You look exhausted, but your hair has never looked better."

Note to Parents:  Take your picture BEFORE entering the park, not at the end when your child is napless.
Please see above example...

VBS - Making up moves as he goes!

My very generous sister in law kept D so he could go to vacation bible school.  I was a little nervous, his daycare provider runs a tight ship but not in a school like setting.  He did well (after they had to put a sticker reward system into play) and much to our surprise brought it 110% to the performance they did at church.  He was singing his heart out, had moves we've never seen and was so expressive. We were shocked, especially since he didn't even want to sit with the VBS group when we walked in!  I laughed and cried.  It was hard to believe my baby was growing up, making me think it couldn't be a better time to have a second child!


Fall:
The highlight was definitely the birth of Parker Kay on September 25!  We did a lot with Dylan trying to ease the pain of getting a sibling.  Between the summer and fall we took him to Hollow Rock, Cedar Point, the Akron Zoo and squeezed in one last Indians game right before she was born.  I'll talk more about PK later, she deserves her own post!

Parker Kay and Bonita Kay (aka grandma)

Picture by: Tessa Powell

Holidays:
 Thanksgiving was extra special since Andy's grandma Kack, aunt and cousin came into town from Texas.  Within about a week after visiting Kack passed away.  It was one of those amazing end of life stories!  She had seen her Texas family recently, came up the Ohio to visit us and meet Parker, then went home to pass pretty quick.  I think it was all part of her and God's great plan.  She was a woman who had seen a lot of loss in her 88 year life, most recent her son this past spring.  She always had a spark in her and could make us laugh!  We are so grateful for the care Andy's cousin Tessa gave her as well as accompanying her up to Ohio and taking wonderful pictures of our family that we will cherish forever.





Christmas was great this year with D being so aware of what was going!  I thought he knew last year but it keeps getting better.  He kept his list light again this year only asking for a blower and snackeez!  My parents came up a lot helping with the kids and painting our basement.  I took my mom to Deck the Hall at Stan Hywet.  It was fun to finally do something for her and she said it was the best gift I could have given her!  Then my parents made the ultimate sacrifice keeping our kids for 8 days while we went to Jamaica  for the new year!  More on that trip later as that too deserves a post of its own.  Hopefully I will be around here more this year, if not I have two pretty cute excuses!  Happy New Year to you!!

My April Fool's at the Field of Dreams - 2007

In 2007 when we were first married Andy played his final year of baseball in the Seattle minor league system and I like a crazy gypsy woman followed him everywhere he went.  We drove all the way to Arizona to Spring Training in hopes he would be sent to California and of course he was sent to Wisconsin.  My mother in law who had spent her entire life chasing her own baseball husband offered to ride with her only favorite daughter in law back across the country to the cheese capital of the world.  After joking with my father in law about going up through Montana to get to Wisconsin he promptly went out and bought us the nicest atlas he could find.  It was an amazing one that helped me multiple times while lost during the season.  (Who would think Michigan City was in Indiana??)  I was excited to take this cross-country adventure with Sharon I had one concerned: it was rumored with all the traveling she had done in her day she was a sucker for those brown tourist signs.  I laid it down early, no stops along the way, except to see family in Texas.  We had to make it to Wisconsin before Andy, get settled in, find me a job and we had no time for detours.

Magical!!  

 We had stayed in Perryton to see family and then took off for the second leg of our adventure.  It was April Fool's Day and we decided it would be hilarious to call people and tell them Andy got called up and they are sending him to California and we were turning around to drive back out west!  While we thought it was a great joke, Andy did not, since it shed light on his misfortune of being sent to low A instead of high A.  But people bought it and we all had a good laugh.  Sharon was studying the atlas while we were driving through Iowa,  "LORI!  Look we're close to the Field of Dreams!"  I could hardly believe it, having no idea it was a real place in Iowa.  Sure enough in the tiniest print possible next to little red triangle read, "Field of Dreams" in Dyersville.  Now this is a stop these two baseball wives had to make.  They did not make it easy, thank goodness we had our atlas, since there were no brown signs whatsoever.  

That smile was froze to my face

I had left my camera in Arizona and I had always laughed at Sharon's fun saver she kept in her purse at all times (But I did take one with me to New Orleans last year!), I was thrilled she had it with her for this trip.  April 1 was even the fields opening day!  We were the first visitors of the season, the person working the souvenir barn seemed surprised and confused to see us.  It was amazing, we sat on the bleachers, Sharon insisted I take the mound and we literally bought everything in the souvenir barn.  Of course with it being April there wasn't any corn and it was freezing, it still was one of the neatest things I have done and much to my surprise my mother in law agrees.  That coming from a woman that lived all over the country in 35 years of baseball I feel pretty special that she claims that to be one of her best trips!  They built it, we came and had the best April Fool's Day ever.               

Our Arizona / Spring Training Trip

3 generations of Grovers at Spring Training

A couple weeks ago we went to Arizona for vacation.  Not for any particular reason but we noticed we've been going out every 2 years.  With #2 due this fall and our Christmas trip looks like we are going to keep with this pattern.  Thanks to American Airlines new plane that had touch screens with Disney, it made one part of the flight much easier.  We arrived in Tucson at midnight (2am our time) D didn't sleep at ALL on the plane and was a delight, much to our surprise.  We excitedly forced him into his "#1 big brother" shirt to surprise his Nana and Papa when they came to pick us up.  They arrived and then he decided to act up!  As a friend pointed out grandparents are much more forgiving than co passengers on a plane.

Days were filled of Andy and his dad golfing while me and my mother-in-law laid out, playing catch with D on the patio.  Evenings filled with trips to the pool, the putting green and of course LOTS of delicious food.  We hit up all our favorites: Sunday brunch, In N Out for a family date night to give Nana and Papa a break (where D had to remove his fries from his father's reach), and date night at Lindy's on 4th.  Saturday I went for a walk with Sharon's friends (she's the youngest by a landslide).   They walk for a 1/2 hour then eat at the club for a hour - my kind of exercise.   After I was excited to tell them we ran into Havianna's!  Confusing everyone because Havianna's are sandals we sell at JCrew and what I actually saw were havalinas.  D was fearless in the pool.  Jumping, going under water, but don't dare put water wings on him, he screamed like crazy.  It wore us out having to hold him the entire time, we hope he'll be a better swimmer because of this!

Yan Gomes

Swisher, Brantley, & Bourn 

Spring Training - Goodyear, Arizona 
The best part was our day trip up to Spring Training.  It was their first game, we got up early to get there in time to see BP and hopefully meet some players.  Right off the bat he met Jason Kipnis, one of his many favorites.  With someone in the way and the quickness of it all, sadly I missed this photo opportunity.  When we got on the BP field D yelled out, "Look there's #10 Yan Gomes!"  Impressing the front office crowd that this 3 year old knew the names and numbers of his beloved Indians.  Papa grabbed Gomes so D could meet him.  D was shy and stood about 6 feet away from him, but answered most of his questions.  He went in the clubhouse with papa and daddy and met manager Mr. Terry.  We were then on the hunt for his FAVORITE player Nick Swisher.  We had to wait while they finished up practice.  When the guys came out and Mike called them over to meet D, it was one the most surreal moment I've had as a mother watching my baby get to meet his heroes.  I'm assuming its what Disney is like but so much better!  Michael Bourn wanted to see what kind of arm Grover's grandson had.  D sailed one right past him, the next he caught and D yelled, "Nice catch!"  He met Carlos Santana, Michael Brantley, then came Swisher.  He talked as if we've known him for years, took pictures with D, even let him carry his bat into the clubhouse while yelling out, "Big guy coming through, he's coming for your spot!"  D will tell you that he, "threw him up in the sky!!"  We introduced D to Nick's dad, Steve Swisher and he very seriously told him, "I love him."  Mr. Swisher assured him Nick loves him too.  Fox Sports Ohio was filming a lot of D getting to meet these guys, I'm hopeful he makes the cut because I was too busy taking pictures.

For the game Papa got us seats right behind the dugout.  D loved being so close to the action!  He waved at Justin Masterson and yelled at all the players while they were on deck.  He got to chitchat with Charlie Nagy who played for Papa in-between innings.  Contrary to what Tom Hanks says there was a lot of crying in baseball when we made him leave before the game was over.  It was the most amazing experience not just for D but for Andy and I.  I don't know how any other vacation will top this one.  I cannot thank my in laws enough for giving D this opportunity.  D is so baseball obsessed and we are so blessed that he is able to have these amazing experiences in the world of baseball.  He'll remember this forever, he ask daily to see the pictures of him and Swisher.  I hope he remembers these sweet memories of the 3 of us even after we turn his world upside-down this fall with a brother or sister!  

Up in the Sky!

Not wanting to leave...

Dreams do come true!!

 

Our Year in Review -2013

Jump into 2014 

Now that the holidays are over, I have a moment to look back on this quick very quick year!

Kisses at the corner of Carnegie and Ontario 

Winter -  We had a low key winter, I think in preparation for our crazy summer.  William-Sonoma sadly closed but my new judge took office and it was an amazing and easy transition.  Of course D's first Elmo Live was defiantly the highlight!

Spring - D attended his 3rd opening day.  Starting the season he was scared to go outside and cried whenever everyone cheered.  His fear quickly turned into love and he now cannot wait until Spring!  I turned 30, which was uneventful.  The wedding festivities began with  Shelly's shower, my big trip to New Orleans for Megan's bachelorette and our first wedding of the season.  I also started my new retail venture at J.Crew or as D calls it "Mama's store."

Summer - The highlight being Shelly and Patrick's wedding!  I find myself looking back through the photos reliving the day.  It was just so perfect, our family did the last wedding right!  The week after Andy was in his high school friend Tom's wedding.  They had a live band and it was the BEST.  If I could do it all over, I'd get a band all the way.  They also had the best food EVER, the short rib literally melted in my mouth.  Then we closed summer the best way possible with a road trip to Wilmington for Megan's wedding.  I loved meeting her friends in New Orleans, reuniting for the wedding was a blast.  Even though I am insanely jealous they get to see Megan all year long.

Fall - After such an exciting summer I thought fall would be boring, I was wrong!  I attended my first playoff game!  It was as amazing as Andy said it would be, he described it as Opening Day times 100.  Even though we didn't win, it was the experience of a lifetime and hope I get to do it again soon!  I sat on my first event committee for Child Guidance and Family Solutions.  My father-in-law was inducted into the Greater Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame and I got to meet Bob Costas!  D turned 3 and we took him trick or treating for the first time in my brother-in-law's parents' neighborhood.  They do it up right and go all out, even jello shots for parents.  My cousin Luke brought his family up from Lancaster and stayed with us.  It was so fun to see these long distance cousins play.  On Thanksgiving we celebrated my parent's 40th year of marriage!  

Missy and I with playoff nails!

D's first laptop!  

Holidays - D was slightly confused about Santa and it being Jesus's birthday, at one point thinking they were BOTH coming to the house.  He kept things real simple by only asking for a map and a flashlight.  Christmas morning he did not disappoint, opening each gift and saying, "WOW!  What is it?"  He LOVED Christmas music, so I dusted off my "Santa's Toasty Tunes" I made in college.  By the end of the season he knew most the words and definitely had his favorites (All I Want for Christmas and Run Run Rudolph topping the list).  He loves all kinds of music.  At a Christmas party while my cousin played "Jingle Bells" on the piano while my nephew sang, D kept screaming, "Play John Deer Green!!"  New Years Eve was a blast with the annual theme party and my father-in-law made it even better by telling us he's taking us on vacation this year!  We are headed to Arizona next month, we received the save the date for our friends' July wedding and have multiple friends that will become parents this year.  Needless to say 2014 is looking to be pretty awesome!  Happy New Year!  

Santa brought D a shave kit, just like daddy.

A Christmas duel in matching jammies.

Another year another themed New Years party - SNL

Am I Raising a Meathead?

Am I raising a meathead?  This question has been running through my head for the last 8+ months.  D's personality has really developed this past year and it is AWESOME.  He was always fun but now he's like really fun.  I finally have a backup singer for Journey's - Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'.  There is nothing better than picking him up from daycare and hearing about his day.  Examples: "All my friends are mad at me" and "I got put in timeout". You never know what is going to come out of his mouth, like asking loudly who the woman is behind us in line at Marc's.

Here is a current list of his favorite things: working out, baseball and cars.  He was my right hand man during my Insanity workout: doing suicide drills, taking his shirt off and constantly bugging me when was I going to workout next.  Then came the car obsession.  He wanted to know what everyone drives and now he knows every make on the road.  It keeps him very busy in the backseat screaming out the make of every car that passes and if it matches anyone in our family.  "That's a Volkswagen like Uncle Pat!"

Workin' out

I married into a baseball family and D has put meaning into the phrase, "It's in his blood."  He is obsessed with baseball.  He knew all the players, their numbers, and their batting routines.  He does Nick Swisher better than Nick Swisher!  I walked into his room one night and found him standing next to his clock radio.  I heard Tom Hamilton...He had found the Indians on the radio!!  Needless to say he's going through withdraw now that the season is over.

His first laptop!  

Today was his 3rd birthday and it was so much fun!  He finally got it.  The last 2 years he clearly had no idea what was going on, but today he knew it was all about him.  We had a low key party with my side of the family, with plans with Andy's later this weekend.  I went to Dollar Tree and bought every Mickey Mouse thing they had, offically turning into my mother-in-law who is a Dollar Tree fanatic.  He was so excited for every part of it.  Tomorrow he is going to be real disappointed that things are back to normal.  Meathead or not, he is pretty awesome and I can't wait to see what this next year brings.

Happy 3rd birthday big D!!

Go Tribe - I'd like to say he shares my enthusiasm for life!