Independence Day 2010

We had a great Independence Day weekend at the Lake. Nana & Papa were of course there. And so were Jason & Mina along with their kids - Thomas, Ava & Piper. We did all of the Lake things and you can see a lot of pictures in the slideshow below.

First, you have to see this video. Raegan became more daring than usual. She did our homemade slip-n-slide and did the zipline for the first time! Part of it may have been Thomas & Ava being there. Another part of it is the self affirmation she has discovered in chanting "Go Raegan Go" from her fans as well as saying it herself.




Here is the slideshow from the weekend...

Pass!

Hudson did great at his hearing screening yesterday. The doctor gave us an overall "pass" which was great news! There was one test that measures the reflexes of his ear drum which we will need to retake in August when we go back for his speech evaluation. The doctor said that his ears look great, so maybe his speech is just delayed because of all the ear infections and fluid in his ears. Hudson kept a smile on his face for all the tests. I think he actually finds things in his ears to be humorous. Note to self.

This trip to Children's Healthcare made me extremely thankful for the health of our children. Seeing all the children with disabilities coming in for their rehabilitation made me remember that God has blessed us so greatly with health!

Happy Independence Day!

Raegan is very excited about Independence Day, and she remembers all the details from last year. She's ready to wear "glow necklaces and watch fireworks again." I think it's pretty neat that she has a real memory from when she was 2 years old, and I hope that with our pictures and documenting, she'll hold on to those memories! We didn't take many pictures last week, but I'm sure we'll make up for it with all the upcoming 4th of July celebrations. On Sunday, Raegan, Mimi, and I went to Camp Icthus for the day to help with registration. We made dinner for the staff and Mom (Mimi) put her nursing skills to work fixing someone's gash to the head and checking in medication for the campers. It was a fun day, but we were too busy to take any good pictures!

Hudson's hearing screening is today at Children's Healthcare, so I'll post results when I have them. He's getting so big!

Pool Party and Father's Day

We celebrated a fun Father's Day with the amazing Daddy of our family. Raegan said that she likes her Daddy because he "zergles" her, and he is special. I think Hudson's favorite thing to do with Daddy is wrestle. He loves knocking him down on the living room floor and climbing on him. We made a little video about how much we love Daddy.

We spent most of Father's Day at Mimi and Granddad's with MY Daddy, who is also very special!

Going backwards, we had our neighborhood pool party on Saturday, and the kids' first dentist appointments on Wednesday! Of course, I forgot the camera so I'll have to get pictures when we go back in 6mo. Both kids did great. They only looked at Hudson's mouth, but Raegan had a full cleaning and x-rays. No cavities! Yea!

Here are a couple of random shots from the week and then the slideshow:

The kids enjoying a snack at home and saying good-bye to each other at Hudson's class.

Tony found this beehive the hard way while trimming our bushes. Luckily, he outran a few of them!

Sullivan's Island trip while kids with Mimi & Granddad

This past weekend the kids stayed at Granddad & Mimi's house while Hannah & I went to the beach with our friends. Below are some shots that Granddad & Mimi took while we were away.

Hudson thought it was so funny to put his face in this collander.


They all went to Noah's Ark - a petting zoo type place. The kids really liked it. Raegan said it was her favorite thing.

Aunt Jennifer & Madi (sp?) came too

They filled-up a pool on their deck and the kids really liked it

While the kids were enjoying this, we went to Sullivan's Island with the Smiths & the Martins. We have had the privilege of going to Sullivan's for the past 7 years I think. The place we stay is incredible and we're so thankful to Todd & Ashley for inviting us! And so thankful to Hannah's parents for watching the kids so that it could be a responsibility-free trip.

Below is a slideshow with combined pictures from our camera, the Martin's camera and Todd's camera. Todd's camera is really nice and Todd takes really good pictures. So the really good shots are probably from him. Unfortunately he didn't make it into as many of these shots since he was the main photographer.

This slideshow captures a lot of the fun we had.

Curlers and Blocks

We had a nice, low-key week. Hudson's been frequenting the doctor lately for his breathing and ear/sinus infections, and we are trying a new antibiotic and steroid. We are hoping these drugs do the trick! Once the infection is cleared, we'll take him to a hearing and speech screening.

One night this week, I decided to put curlers in Raegan's hair, just like I used to do for my sisters when they were little. She was surprisingly excited about it, and I thought they looked pretty cute. I'm looking for the pics of my sisters b/c they are very similar.

Of course, I forgot to take a picture of the resulting curly hair, but it was cute! Next time.

Today, Raegan built this "doghouse with a lighthouse behind it."

She worked so hard to get it just right:

And then this happened:

But Raegan took it with a sense of humor:

I will leave you with a picture of Raegan from school. Water Play has started for the summer, and Raegan loves it! Water shoots up from the ground outside and the kids play in it. We think she lived in Europe in another life.

Memorial Day Weekend at the Lake

We had a fun weekend at the lake for Memorial Day, even though it rained most of the time.

Raegan is becoming quite the independent swimmer (with the help of water wings) and really loves being in the water. Hudson is still getting used to it, and it hasn't helped that the clouds are keeping the water cool. He does seem to be enjoying the boat more.

Tony was able to try out his new wakeboard that he bought with Christmas money from his parents. He's getting pretty good air!
See slideshow for more of the activities from the lake. Most of the pictures are from Nana's camera and the blurry ones are from ours (as usual)!


Finally, Hudson is really walking now...and climbing on everything. Tony compiled some footage of his adventurous behavior. Ignore his crazy big sister in the background. This "hyper after dinner time" in our house.

Wedding, the pool, & some videos...

This slideshow has some pictures from a wedding we went to on Saturday along with Mimi & Grandad. This wedding was for Valerie - who Hannah babysat years ago. This was Raegan's first attendance at a wedding. She has been excited for so long. Especially to see the tall tall cake. Anyway... it was good and I think Raegan really enjoyed herself.

Uncle Jacob stayed home with Hudson. Thank you Uncle Jacob - you're a great uncle!

We've also been going to the pool and Raegan is loving it! This is so great since last year she was just getting over her fears. So far this year, she is really brave with her swim wings on... and is swimming really well! We're not sure about Hudson yet. Generally, we think he loves water.

Hannah took Hudson to the doc today... and found out he has a sinus infection. He is on antibiotics now and a steroid. And we're doing breathing treatments for a little while. He seems to be doing pretty well now. Also he is still taking some steps but not really walking.

Here is the slideshow...



Also, here are a couple videos that I thought were interesting.

This is Hudson learning to play games...



This is Hudson taking some steps. Can't really call this fully walking but it's getting there! By-the-way... this video is kind of weird. Raegan was hitting buttons on the keyboard and dancing to weird music. And Aunt Jennifer was there taking the video.



This video is a public service announcement by Raegan. Actually Aunt Jennifer likes to teach Raegan how to say funny things - like "Sweeetaa...". Well this time, Aunt Jennifer was actually covering how she should stay away from cigarettes. None of us smoke... but for those of you who do... here are Raegan's thoughts. Sorry for it being choppy. Lots of clips put together...

Yea for Tony!!

Tony accomplished his personal best time in the triathlon on Saturday. He swam .93 miles, biked 25 miles, and ran 6.2 miles...all in 2 hours and 36 minutes!! Pretty amazing. His last time for this distance was somewhere around 2:50. We are so proud! After the race, my parents came up to stay with the kids while Tony and I went out with friends. Everyone had a great day. At the end of the day, Raegan said, "I had a very,very,very,very,very,very,very,very,very,very,very good time with Mimi and Granddad."
More pics from the race:



Another highlight of the week was "water play" at the Cohen's next door on Friday, and swimming in the pool on Sunday. It was nice to cool off a little and have fun with friends. We also had a great time at the zoo with Mina, Thomas, Ava, Piper, and their friend Hannah Jones. I didn't bring the camera, but maybe we'll post Mina's pictures when we get them.

More pics from the week:

Life is Good

We've had a good past few weeks...I had a fun girls' trip to the beach (thanks Tony!), we've had a lot of good weather (thanks God!), we enjoyed good family time on Mother's Day (thanks Mom!), and we're looking forward to a good week ahead. Raegan is really excited about our upcoming zoo trip with her cousins, and Tony's triathlon is this weekend. He's been doing a lot of training so we're expecting him to have his best time for the Olympic distance yet! No matter what the time, this race is a big accomplishment and we are proud.

See the slideshow below for some highlights of life with the Miley's. Notice the lizard - Raegan found the little guy in Hudson's bedroom and Tony captured it in a shoebox. I think this was really the highlight of Raegan's week.