We're home

Laura did very well in recovery, and we are now at home. She's resting up some....

Everything went well

I just spoke with the surgeon. The surgery went well--no surprises. Laura will be in recovery for an hour and a half or so before I get to go see her.

All done

They just told me that Laura is in recovery...

Update

They are just about done. The surgeon will be down soon to talk to me.

Laura is in surgery

They just gave Laura her anesthesia and wheeled her to the operating room. They will give me updates as the surgery progreses.

Going to the Taylors'

The boys are spending the night at Aunt Kim and Uncle Allen's house tonight. I am having surgery in the morning and have to be at Spartanburg Regional by 5:30 AM. Lee will blog tomorrow to provide updates. He will have a pager and the surgeon will talk to him when the procedure is complete. I know that it is not a big deal. This surgery seems very minor compared to Graysen's open-heart (heart-lung bypass) surgeries. I am not sure when I will be back up to blogging. It will probably take a little while for me to recover.

Graysen, walk!

Caleb knows that we are trying to teach Graysen to walk. He likes to work with him. The first time caught me by surprise. My sister and I were hanging out at the beach house, and all of a sudden we heard Caleb say, "Graysen, walk." Caleb was making Graysen practice walking. He made him do about five sets of ten steps before I stopped him. I was worried that he would wear out his brother. I was able to catch a little bit of Caleb teaching Graysen to walk on video last night.

Dinner in the Rain

Lee and I enjoy eating dinner on the deck. Tonight we were halfway through dinner when it began to rain. Lee, Graysen, and I finished our meal and went inside. Caleb would not budge from the table. He insisted on finishing his meal, at his usual slow pace, at the table in the rain. It was really weird, especially since he freaked out when it started raining and he started getting wet.

Graysen Is Better

Graysen's fever is gone and he is back to his old self. Unexplained fevers are always worrisome because of Graysen's risk of endocarditis. However, it was just a random virus. I am glad that he is feeling better because he is a really fussy child when he isn't feeling well.

Poor Graysen

Poor Baby Gray has had a rough few days, especially today. We have been to the pediatrician two days in a row because he has had an unexplained fever. Today, they cathed him to get a clean urine sample and did blood work. All of the lab results are good, so it is probably just a virus that will run it course by Monday.

Caleb was very loving towards Graysen at the doctor's office. He rubbed his back and leg and was very concerned about how upset Graysen was. I think that he knew that his little brother was hurting. Lee and I have always been amazed at the amount of empathy that Caleb shows. It was really sweet to watch.

Favorite Toy

The Fisher Price garage is by far Caleb and Graysen's favorite toy. They will play with it for hours at a time.

Last Day

Today was our last day in the Outer Banks. We leave for home in the morning. We started the day with breakfast, some fort building, and then headed up to Nags Head for lunch. The boys went on their "designated activity." (I do not want to use the date word. They would not be happy with me.) They went to see the Star Trek movie while Erica and I kept the boys. Right now, Kevin and Lee are in the process of cooking a "Seafood Sampler" dinner of grilled fresh shrimp, scallops, crab legs, and tuna while Erica and I hang out.

We have had a great vacation and loved being in the Outer Banks.

Kevin at breakfast doing the "bird walk."
The fort. Kevin was the chief engineer on the project. The password to enter the fort was "trucks."
Kevin and Lee cooking dinner. They are trying to figure out how to grill four different items at once.
Lee consulting the "Grill Guide" ap on his I-Pod Touch.
As a note, I have been informed that there are several typos in my blog, most likely due to the fact that I blog while having a glass of wine. Please excuse any errors.

Beach Day and Date Night

We spent this morning at the beach with the boys. Caleb picked up right were he left off at our last beach trip--scared of the sand and of being dirty. He freaked out for about thirty minutes. We were able to calm him down by cleaning him up and putting him on a beach towel. After a while, he warmed up to playing in the sand... but only from the safety of the beach towel. Lee said that we need to get him a t-shirt that says "I hate the beach" on the front and "I love the beach" on the back.

Graysen LOVED the sand! He was right at home playing in it and crawling everywhere. He thought it was great.

This evening Lee and I went on a date while Auntie and Kevin watched the boys. Lee and I did some shopping and had a wonderful dinner at the Outer Banks Brewing Company. Auntie and Kevin had a lot of fun with the boys. I know that there was A LOT of intense jumping on the bed while we were gone. (I am not going to be happy when Caleb starts jumping on his bed at home.)

Spa Day

Every couple on the date (including Laura/Erica and Lee/Kevin) have a scheduled "date day." Yesterday my sister and I had our date. We spent the day at Spa Koru while Lee and Kevin watched the boys. The four boys played wild all day. They got some amazing video of Caleb running and doing somersaults. Lee will have to upload it if he gets time.

The salon was great. Erica, the stylist, and I were the only people in there. It was nice to have the entire place to ourselves. Erica got a mani and I had highlights and a cut. I loved the cut, but I really didn't like how the highlights turned out. So... I asked the stylist to redo them. I am not sure that she was happy about this, but she was very nice and didn't say anything. Also, Erica always knows how to relieve tension by bringing up some vitamin talk. (Amanda, the stylist, didn't seem enthused about Erica's vitamin talk.)

In the end, I love the highlights and the cut is great. It was nice to spend an entire day with my sis.

Laura's "Before" picture.
Erica's "Before" picture.
Erica picking out nailpolish.
Highlight treatment #1.
Erica getting hungry.
Laura's "After" picture (#1).
Erica and Amanda.
Erica's "After" picture.
Highlight Treatment #2.
Laura's "Final After" picture.
Graysen passed out in the floor after a big day of playing. (He never passes out in the floor!!!)

Trip to Okrakoke

Today we took a trip to Okrakoke Island. We stopped by the Cape Hatteras lighthouse on the way and had to take a ferry boat to the island. Caleb was fascinated by the ferry ride. What could be better than cars ON a boat?!?!

We were gone all day and SOMEONE left the sliding glass door all the way open all day long! We came home to a dead bird in the loft. Lee did a good job of disposing it into the woods with Graysen's beach shovel.
Kevin with the volunteer at the lighthouse. (She is not a park ranger. We identified her as that and she corrected us.)Erica starting the climb up the lighthouse. There are 257 stairs according to the sign, but only 256 according to Erica's audit.
Erica on stair #31.
View of Cape Hatteras from the top of the lighthouse.
Lee stayed at the bottom with the boys. They did not meet the height requirement to climb the lighthouse.
Here are a few pictures for all of Kevin's fans...
On the ferry boat.
At Okrakoke.
The dead bird.
Lee disposing of the dead bird.
Lee tossing the bird into the woods.

Roanoke Island

We spent today in Manteo on Roanoke Island. It turned out to be very cold, windy, and rainy. We had tea at a cozy coffee shop and then spent the afternoon at the NC Aquarium. Erica and I enjoyed the sting ray tank the most. We both got close to touching one, but didn't quite have the nerve to do it. Caleb loved the tank and splashed around in it. Graysen wanted to get into every tank at the aquarium. He became very angry when he couldn't muscle his way into the tanks.

Erica and Me enjoying our tea.
Each couple had their picture taken in front of the restrooms at the aquarium. (Lee did not understand why this had to be done.)
The sting ray tank.