Not quite sure...

Blake started swimming lessons this week and he's doing really well. There's a baby pool next to the big one that's a little over a foot deep for the little guys. Andy's still a little tentative, but I think he'll start to like the idea very soon! All the action shots I took of Blake during his lessons turned out fuzzy, but I'll try again tomorrow.

Piggy and Baby

Baby

Piggy

A guinea pig feast!

Each day that Blake has a good attitude and is helpful and polite, he earns a ticket that he saves up to get a big "prize" from Mom and Dad. When he finally saved up enough recently, he chose to get a companion for our guinea pig, Piggy. We went to the local animal shelter and he promptly fell in love with Baby, a sweet little brown girl pig (and already spayed, thank goodness!). Baby and Piggy really seem to like each other; they snuggle up together and "talk" to each other all the time. Boy, can these two little rodents go through a bag of carrots and a head of Romaine lettuce. It's a good thing Blake's growing some lettuce this year!

Golfing in Grand Junction

Jessica and I sent Rich and Thorsten on a "guys only" golf trip to Grand Junction last weekend as a Father's Day gift from both of us. They spent two nights and played three courses, which look like they were really beautiful. Have you ever seen two happier golfers?

Big T's an American!

That's right...after having lived in the U.S. since his teens, Thorsten is offically an American citizen as of last Wednesday! Rich, the boys and I all went to the ceremony to cheer him on. Now he can vote Democrat in the next election (hee hee, just kidding Thorsten).

When Andy Picks His Own Clothes....

...the title says it all!

A Watering Fool!

It's pretty amazing how quickly little guys start to feel better, even after a surgery. We've been trying to keep Andy relatively quiet today, but he wants none of that nonsense. He decided that helping me with the watering sounded like more fun than sitting around, so he used his very own little watering can to give the basil a drink. He soaked his PJs (which he'll wear for the next couple of days to keep his hands off his incision), but he sure had a good time!

This is kinda cool...

I came back from the grocery store today to see that Rich had been busy...I thought this was neat!

A Thomas Bonanza!

When we got home, Andy had lots of "sum-prises" waiting for him! He had a balloon bouquet complete with Thomas latex balloons and a giant mylar train balloon tied to a big bag of M&Ms from Mammo and Papa. They also gave him a neat magnetic puzzle with cars on it. Blake gave him some Thomas bathtub squirt toys and Dad picked up a new Gordon train for him. If getting surgery weren't so stinky, it might be a pretty good deal! He's doing very, very well now...you wouldn't even know that he'd had a procedure done earlier today. Thanks for all your prayers!

In the Recovery Room

Blake was just as good as he could be the whole time we were at the clinic, but he did get a little bored after a while. One of the nurses came and took him to pick out a few stickers and he came back with about 50, which he stuck all over himself. He then put all the Hot Wheels he had brought with him on display on two rolling carts. He became quite an attraction for the staff, between his car show and his "tattoos!"

After what seemed like a very long wait, we were very relieved to see his urologist come out and say that the surgery had gone beautifully. Andy was pretty upset when he came to after his anesthesia. He screamed and thrashed and fought to get the IV out of his foot, but eventually (with the help of a little Benadryl) he calmed down and had a long nap. After he woke up, he was in a much better mood, ready to have some juice and animal crackers. We got to go home shortly afterward, which was a big relief for everyone.

Andy's Surgery

Andy was born with a hydrocele, which is a small opening that allows fluid from the abdomen to collect in the scrotum. Most of the time these heal on their own, but since Andy coughed so much at such a young age, it prevented his from closing up. His doctors decided that it would be best to surgically fix it to prevent it from becoming herniated, so this morning we dragged the boys out of bed went to the surgery center bright and early.

They gave him the smallest gown they had, which still dragged the floor!

Not one to be still for very long, Andy took Daddy and his Kitty-friend for a walk down the hall.

Right before the operation, they gave him some oral medication that relaxed him and made him pretty loopy (they said it was like baby valium). It took a little while to take effect, but once it did he was pretty out of it. Instead of gurneys, they take the little guys to the O.R. in these adorable little wagons all made up like beds. Here, Andy's veeeeery relaxed from his medication, just hanging out!

The calm before the storm....

Blake's awesome homemade Hot Wheels shirt

In anticipation of the upcoming summer, I planned some crafty projects for Blake to work on. With just a little help from Mom, he made this shirt all by himself with iron-on Hot Wheels decals and fabric markers.

Very cool!

Before and After

Before his haircut....

...after his haircut. Much better!