Our handsome little man.

Carter has had his helmet almost 3 weeks. We are getting more into the swing of things now. It is going pretty good. The only down side is it continues to rub the back side of left ear raw. We continue to work on it everyday to make it better for him.

For those that were unaware that he had a helmet, it started with a check up with Dr. Stuebben. She noticed Carter's head was not symmetrical and felt he needed to go see a plastic surgeon to ensure that his head had not begun to fuse. I called and made an appointment to see Dr. Muzaffar, a plastic surgeon at University Hospital. Dr. Muzaffar confirmed that Carter's head had not began to fuse, which was great news. but he did have Plagiocephaly or flat head syndrome.

Flat head syndrome is more and more common now that they promote "back to sleep" where they want all baby's to sleep on their back until they can roll over. It is also much more likely in boys then girls. After getting the news that Carter's head will not self correct. We had to make the decision to get him a helmet to correct it or the let it be. Tim and I both felt we needed to make every attempt to make him as handsome as possible (not that he is not handsome now). After leaving the hospital we were sent to the Hanger Prosthetics and Orthotics to meet Jason. Jason talked to us and educated us on the process of the helmet. It took a few weeks for them to get pre-approval with our insurance, but once that was complete, we took Carter back to have his head scanned to give them the measurements needed to make his helmet. We also got to pick out the print for his helmet. They had around 15 prints available, but we felt the trucks and planes one was the best for our little guy. When the helmet came in we took Carter to have it fitted. They had to trim it a little to keep it off his ears and eyes. He has had the helmet 3 weeks and has worked up to where he is wearing it 23 hours a day. Jason told us most kids have to wear the helmet between 3 and 5 months. At his first check up, day 10 of having the helmet, Carter's head had been corrected by 46%. Per Jason this is very common but the rest will require growth to correct, that is the reason for the 3-5 months.

Birthday weekend.

This weekend started Saturday morning, with a 2.5 mile run at 6am. I met Shyla and Silas, two of my good friends from work, at the trail. We hope to make this a weekly run, to ensure we are ready for our 10K race in October.


When I got home McKenzie was up and looking to go somewhere, anywhere. I took her and Carter to Stephens Lake park to play in the sprinklers. Of course she made several friends as soon as we got there.

Carter loved the water on his feet.

Playing in the sprinklers

Carter man hanging out waiting on Keke, while she played in the water.

Getting dried off

Tim had a pretty full day also. He and John went to Fulton to check on Tim's game cam and to put some more salt out for the deer. Then they went to Grandma Lou's to stake out her new deck.

Keke wanted to watch the boys drive off.

Saturday afternoon, while the boys were at Grandma's, McKenzie, Carter and I went to Yogo luv a yogurt bar in town. It is all fat free yogurt and they have about any topping you can think of to add to your yogurt - Shelly you will have to check it out the next time you are home.

Since the yogurt is fat free, I knew the cookie dough wouldn't add any fat either:-).

After Tim got home we went shopping at the mall, we got McKenzie's hair cut and then went to dinner at Applebee's for my birthday.

Sunday was a pretty typical Sunday. We went to church and then to Grandma Lou's for lunch. The boys started on Grandma's deck. They hope to have it done this week before she has company for the 4th of July.

McKenzie was a big help too

McKenzie was excited that she got to add the water to the quick-crete.

Another busy weekend

Happy Father's Day, babe. This weekend was the usual busy weekend but we had to get really creative this weekend due to only having one vehicle. Tim's truck is in the shop but we hope to get it back Tuesday. The weekend started with dinner Friday night at G&D Steakhouse for Tim, Carter and myself. McKenzie got to go to the pool with Reiche and Shelly and spend the night with them. Saturday morning Tim got up and went golfing with John in Moberly. I took Carter Saturday morning to Mom and Dad's because I had a wedding to go to that afternoon. Shyla picked me up at home. We went to lunch at Tellers and then to the wedding. Tim got the kids after golfing and brought them home.

Shelly was given tickets to the Cardinal's game, on Sunday, and she asked if I wanted to go. It was Father's Day but Tim was sweet enough to let me go. I got up Sunday morning and headed to St Louis. Our tickets were in the green seats, right behind home plate. When we got to the stadium. We got to park free in the VIP parking across the street. We went in, walked into the Cardinals Club, to a complementary buffet lunch. When we got to our seats, we were 5 rows from the field. Seconds after sitting down, we were greeted by our hostess who brought us all the food and drinks we wanted throughout the game, it was all complementary also. The temperature was in the 90's so we sat outside and baked for the first 5 innings. Then we went back into the Cardinal's Club to watch a few innings in the A/C. When we went back out, enough people had left the game early that we were able to watch the rest of the game from the first row. I could not have asked for more perfect weather. Everyone else would have liked it to be a little cooler but I loved it HOT!!! When I got home Tim was so sweet. He had both kids in bed the dishes done and the house picked up. I owe him big time.

Jill's wedding. The guy in the back was in the live band that played, they were amazing.

Outside the stadium

Our seats

Look how close I was was to Pujols.

Shelly, Me and Grandma Lou (the true Cardinals fan)

Katie's wedding

Last weekend Tim's cousin Katie got married. All of Tim's family came to town to help her celebrate. Tim's brother Jason came in from Omaha and stayed with us for the weekend. It was great getting to see and visit with everyone. My family was there also. My mom ran the sound for the wedding. The wedding was a small but beautiful wedding with a dinner reception following. McKenzie had a great time getting to dance at the wedding along with playing with her cousins, Jayden and Isabelle.

Uncle Jason and McKenzie at the church

Isabelle - is this not the cutest picture

Jayen and McKenzie

Uncle Tuck and Aunt Kay loving on Carter

Katie dancing with Carter

Grandma Mertie, McKenzie and myselfMom and Dad

Jason and Tim

Kay is the old Preacher at Perche's wife and one of McKenzie's friends (mom's friend also but not if you ask McKenzie) Kay and McKenzie even have a lunch date planned in the next few weeks. :-)

McKenzie and Kay

Summer School

McKenzie is getting more and more prepared for Kindergarten. Monday she started summer school. She is going to Two Mile Prairie, there was a mix up at Shepard Blvd which is the school where she will go to Kindergarten (The school lost her registration form, but we will not go there). We were able to get McKenzie into a summer school program, so we were thankful for that. Summer School is an all day program that helps get kids ready for school. They work on following directions, the routine of the day, their personal identification code which is what she will use to eat/pay for her meals, and a little bit on reading and other "school work". McKenzie has met a lot of new friends and has even been able to reconnect with one of the girls from Green Meadow Preschool.

Before and after school McKenzie goes to Adventure Club. It is put on by the University and is held at the school. They feed them breakfast and an afternoon snack. They play games with the kids and help them with their homework, if they have any. McKenzie will go to Adventure Club during the school year also. She is really enjoying it. She asked me last night why I came to get her so early. The only issue we are having is McKenzie is not getting an afternoon nap. By the time she gets home we usually have at least one melt down because she is so tired. She goes from slap happy to melt down in seconds. We are trying to compensate for the lost sleep by making her go to bed around 7 every night. She doesn't argue, she is ready for bed. This is pretty hard on us because we don't feel like we get to see her, but she needs the sleep.

Vero Beach, FL

It is hard to believe we have been home from Florida for a week, already. June 3rd - 7th we stayed at Disney's Vero Beach Resort. Cathy, Tim's mom, took us, along with Tim's brothers and their families, for a family vacation. The resort offered so many activities. While we were there we swam at the pool, which had a huge spiral slide, we played on the beach, building sand castles and swam in the ocean. Cathy rented a jet ski, one afternoon, which was a blast to get out on the open water at full speed. We ate some great food; we got to have breakfast with Donald and Goofy and one night Bruce and Cathy watched all of the kids so Tim, Scott, Jason, Lina and I could have a formal dinner with no kids:-) it was such a great evening. At the resort they also had a putt putt golf course and an arcade. Some of the guys even played basketball (in the Hot Hot sun). Saturday night they had a campfire where we sang songs and made smores. It was such a great time.

I took over 300 pictures on our trip so this only scratches the surface but maybe you can see how great of a trip it was.

Isabelle and Carter

McKenzie playing in the ocean

Carter

McKenzie - We ate at Mr. Manatee's, a restaurant in Vero Beach

Tim walking on the beach with McKenzie and Carter

Donald and McKenzie

Carter - what a handsome little man!!

Jayden, Uncle Jason and McKenzie

Swimming at the pool

The whole family

I love palm trees

I got up early one morning to watch the sun rise. It was AMAZING! There was not a person in sight and the waves would lap up on the sand. I could have sat there all day.