Bye-Bye Antibiotic

Knox's urologist in Augusta e-mailed today after reviewing the most recent ultrasound. He is taking Knox off of the antibiotic which has caused Knox so much gastric distress! We are thrilled b/c our prayers have been answered! Our doc wants to see Knox in 3 months and run a test at that time to conclude if the problem has resolved. Thank you everyone for your continued and faithful prayers for our baby boy!

Off to grill some burgers with friends down at the park!

Shrinking...

Knox went for his follow-up ultrasound this week. While we haven't heard from the urologist in Augusta yet, our local pediatrician is very pleased with the findings. Knox's kidney is shrinking down to about the same size as his normal kidney, so fluid must be getting out. This is great news! Still not in the clear yet, but making progress!

I went back to work this week while Knox stayed at home with Ryan. Work began at a nice easy pace, but as the week went on, the caseload grew by leaps and bounds! It seems everyone in town needed their knees and hips replaced, backs and necks fused, oh and not to leave out the strokes... today being the busiest day of them all. I feel like I've run a marathon all over the hospital and lifted a lady about 3 times my size! It feels good to do my job again without being preggers, but it's a challenge getting out the door in the morning with two kids, rather than just the one. Coffee is my new best friend.

Ethan has been super sweet and affectionate lately. I found him earlier this week standing on his stool at my bathroom sink brushing his teeth with MY toothbrush! He says, "Mommy, I brush teeth!" Yay...thanks for giving me a reason to buy a new toothbrush. We are really loving the way our toddler is trying to imitate us and also loving the toothless smiles and coos of our baby. Life is good!

Playing With Photo Booth

Birthday Pictures

Ethan's 2nd Birthday pictures


Blowing out the candle

Riding his new John Deere tricycle while sporting a super awesome helmet!

Enjoying his new sand and water table

Just this week, after leaving a semi-messy Ethan to finish fingerpainting on the porch with his Daddy, my little boy comes to the door shirtless having painted his tummy blue and green. No doubt, his father encouraged him to do this.

For the record...

we named our kid Knox first! Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt copied us.

We went to the pediatrician today for Knox's 2-month check-up and for Ethan's 2 year check-up. Both kids are very healthy. Ethan weighs 28.5lbs and is 33.5 inches tall. Knox weighs 14lbs 8oz and measures 24 inches long. That's 95th percentile on weight and 90th percentile on height. The doctor said that if this trend continues, it is likely Knox will be like his daddy. Ethan's projected adult height is to be 5'10". Phew! I was afraid he might inherit my short stature!

In kidney news, MCG faxed over the documentation from our week spent there in which we were happy to read that the urologist thinks Knox's kidney is NOT obstructed. Instead, he documents it as having a unique presentation and just having stasis. Our pediatrician said this is much better news because the prognosis leans more in the direction of the problem going away on its own.

Ethan's party went well on Saturday. It was chaotic, but moved along nicely. Thank you everyone for all the gifts! I'll post the pictures later. Knox's baptism also went well, but it was difficult to hear or enjoy the moment with Ethan saying, "Get down. I want get down. No, no, no, no..." Yikes! Oh well!

Three Generations

Three generations of the G. men standing on top of Lookout Mountain

Knox opted to sit out of this photo due to being happily strapped to his mom in the Baby Bjorn.

Today we are cleaning up and preparing for a small family birthday party which will take place tomorrow to celebrate Ethan turning 2 years old! His birthday is actually Sunday at which time baby brother Knox will be baptized during the morning service. This weekend is definitely special!

A few fun things Ethan has said lately...

-During bathtime, he loves to shout to Ryan, "DADDY! I take baf!"
-At a restaurant in Chattanooga, he was given a juice box with Mott's apple juice (has picture of red apple on it). During lunch, he shouts out, "I DRINK MATO!" Yeah, we're having problems distinguishing between pictures of apples and tomatoes.
-Before bed each night, we sing several songs and pray the Lord's Prayer (which he is learning quite nicely). Ethan's song requests go something like this, "Teapot?" "Itty Bitty Pider?" and the one that had me baffled for about a week, "Jimmy?" Who is Jimmy? And what song do we sing that has to do with a Jimmy? Finally, it hit me... he's asking to sing "Jesus Loves Me"... ahhh... the joys of interpreting toddler language!

Pictures continued

Hmmm... to be a dentist like Papa...

Or to be a doctor like Daddy...

Playing music

Digging for dinosaur bones

Sitting in the pulley chair

I caught it! Knox has a great smile which has yet to be photographed... until now!

Catching up with photos

The hard-drive is finally up and running again which means the pictures are uploaded from the camera! Yay! Hope everyone enjoys!
Ethan at the park in Augusta

Knox at the park

When we arrived to Chattanooga, they had their big 4th of July celebration on the 3rd. Ryan and I watched the fireworks from our hotel window. We tried to wake Ethan up to watch them too, but he was passed out!

The Aquarium

Playing in the water outside the aquarium

The Creative Discovery Museum
The water exhibit was really popular with Ethan

Rained out! And some other fun stories...

Still no pictures to post yet. I messed up our external hard-drive and I need to have Ryan fix it before I can upload our pictures.

This past Saturday, Ethan and Chase had a joint birthday party to celebrate turning 2! Ethan still has a week and a half to go before he actually turns 2, but Chase had his birthday at the beginning of June. We decided to get together and throw a party for their classmates at school. The party took place at our park where we came prepared with sidewalk chalk, bubbles, balloons, wagon rides, a soccer ball, and of course the playground equipment. It was breezy when we arrived and began setting up, but unfortunately, 30 minutes into the party the thunder and lightning began to accumulate in our direction. The rain began pouring pretty heavily as the kids devoured their pizza while the parents passed looks back and forth about what we were going to do with the weather being so nasty. I guess we forgot these kids are 2 year olds! Ethan started the "rain" party by holding his arm out in the downpour only to be joined by his friends. Soon, Ethan and Chase were standing in the rain getting completely soaked and laughing hysterically. When the rain passed, there was a nice puddle left along the path which was perfect for the 2 year olds to jump and splash in... and they did!!! They were all in heaven jumping in and out of the puddle. Ethan even sat in it like he was at the pool. Gross, I know...but it was his party and if he was having fun, I wasn't about to interrupt. The kids had a blast!

Another story which took place last night before bedtime...
I'm holding Knox and Ethan decided to climb up on the couch next to me. He begins pointing out "baby brother hair?" "baby brother ears?" "baby brother butt?" (not sure where he learned that word... I'm going to blame school!). Anyway, I asked Ethan if he would like to hold his brother. He's always refused before, but last night he said "yes" followed by reaching out his arms to grab the baby from me while saying, "come here." So, I help Ethan hold his baby brother. Ethan gave Knox a kiss on the cheek and sat there looking pretty proud to be holding a baby! I take Knox back into my arms telling Ethan how proud I am of him being such a great big brother when Ethan tells me, "I hold him" reaching out his arms yet again to hold his baby brother. I think we did this about 5 times before Ethan shouted, "I did it! I hold him!" So sweet! I guess he likes his baby afterall.

Tomorrow, we are leaving for a trip to Tennessee! I can't wait! We lived in Chattanooga for about 6 months back in 2004 so I could do my rotations for therapy. Ryan and I absolutely loved it! We filled our days with backpacking/hiking, running the riverwalk downtown, frequenting the walking bridge and Coolidge park, and becoming regular customers at Clumpie's ice cream. Mmmm! Oh, and of course we frequented the mountains. On return trips, we talked about how we would one day bring our children to Chattanooga to show them the sites... even better, we would like to raise our children there, but we have med school to complete first! So, finally, before Ethan's 2nd birthday, we are going to take he and Knox to all the places we love! Papa and Memaw are coming too! What a great way to spend the 4th of July!