Cory's three year stats!

Cory had his three year well-check yesterday. We went to a new pediatrician this time. I liked our old pedi well enough, she was just very "energetic" and frankly, she made both Cory and I edgy with her over-zealousness. So, we tried this new pedi and I liked her very, very much. Dr. G was very calm, cool and collected, very laid-back and soft spoken. I enjoy that. :) She was awesome with Cory, asking him questions and taking the time to talk to him about stuff other than the things she was doing to him. I've been very nervous about this appointment; doctors in general make me nervous so it was a huge weight lifted off my shoulders to have it done and over with and to have it go well!

Cory was a super star! He let the nurse and the doctor do everything they needed to do. He was so well behaved. Unfortunately, he was rewarded with four shots. :( It sucked. For him...and for mommy. Thankfully he stopped crying as soon as the nurse was done and then he got five stickers and a lollipop. All was well once again for the toddler. I was still traumatized, but that's OK.

I asked Dr. G about Cory's new stuttering habit. He mostly does it when he's excited, although he sometimes does it just because...but not always. She said not to worry too much about it now but to keep an eye on it. I truly believe it's something he'll grow out of. His brain is working so fast right now I think his mouth is having a hard time keeping up.

In the end, Cory is perfectly healthy and growing just as he should. He is 31 lbs. (42%), 37 1/2 inches tall (50%) and his blood pressure was perfect. Sean and I know how blessed we are to have such a healthy boy, especially after such an interesting start. We are very thankful. Dr. G said she doesn't need to see us again until Cory turns 4! Wow. I don't even want to think about 4 yet!! Lol. :) I'm still getting used to the fact that he's three...

Happy Birthday, Cory!

Today we celebrated Cory's third day of life! It just so happened that his actual birthday fell on a Saturday this year so his party is on his actual day of birth - pretty cool!

We allowed him to open mom/dad presents as soon as he woke up. He happened to open his Rescue Squad Mater first and that's pretty much all he cared about, lol. He talked about Rescue Squad Mater all.day.long. It was so funny! I knew he'd like it but I had no idea he'd be quite so excited about it!

Waking up a three-year-old!

Opening presents (Rescue Squad Mater) with Daddy.

More presents...

A "grappler"!! :)

A gift from Baba.

Showing Pace his new birthday toys.

A little help from Kara...

The Lightning McQueen cake and cupcakes.

Blowing out candles with some help from Daddy.

The party went very well. We had about 23 guests, tons of food and a lot of fun! We decided to do a Cars theme this year since Cory is all about the Car movie! It's definitely his "thing" right now. Cory totally cried when we started to sing "Happy Birthday" (noooo idea why?!) so Daddy stepped in to help out a bit, lol.

When all was said and done we had successfully pulled off a fabulous party with lots of thanks to my Mom and Gram for all of their help. It's been so nice having them here and it's going to be so sad to see them leave tomorrow.

What we've been up to...

I realized I haven't posted many pictures lately (read: "lazy") so I thought I'd give a quick snapshot of what we've been up to this month with just a few photos! :)

This is a little worm we found - Cory was really excited about it!

Just being cute.

It's been a HOT month - lots of water play!

"Zoom!" (as Cory would say).

This month is quickly coming to an end and Cory will turn three in less than 48 hours! We're headed to the airport tomorrow to pick up Mom and Gram and Cory is SO excited...so am I. There's also that little part of the next week where I turn 30 - YIKES! So weird. I still have a hard time considering myself an adult, say nothing about being 30.

There's gonna be a party!

It's been a busy week of shopping, planning, cooking, wrapping and cleaning...all prep work for Cory's birthday party Saturday! I told him about his party Monday night during our snuggle time before bed. It was so much fun to hear him talk about it and get excited. The next day when I went to wake him up from his nap the first sleepy words he mumbled (I'm pretty sure he was dreaming?) as he was waking were something about a birthday. I really wish I had been able to understand the two words he said before the word "birthday" but then as he woke up some more he said, "It's alllllmost MY party!". So cute. :)

Mom and Gram are flying in on Friday and we're excited to see them too! Cory's pretty thrilled to be able to go to the airport to pick them up. We haven't been there in awhile!

Stay tuned for birthday pictures and a party recap! Hopefully we have some good (COOL) weather and everyone has a great time!

My three year old and I like to...

Drive around and look for construction vehicles!! :) Yep. That's what Cory and I do for fun when the weather is so scorching hot that you'd literally melt being outside, or if it's stormy and raining. We usually make a swing into Starbucks first. One iced vanilla latte for mommy, one apple juice box for the boy. It's "our thing" and I LOVE it.

There is a ton of road construction going on near our house along with a bunch of houses going up in a newer development so between the two we have a wide array of all things construction. No matter how many times we drive by Cory gets just as excited as he did the time before...and the time before that...and the time before that. :) We have some of the best conversations, just him and I, about all kinds of things we see while driving. I love driving and enjoying the alone time with my boy. No radio. No TV. No whining and fussing. Just me and my three year old having "real" conversation and learning about the world around it.

It's just one of those things, one of those special memories that I will treasure forever. I hope that he enjoys it as much as I do and will remember it when he's 18, or 25, or even almost 30 years old and has a child of his own.

A small wrinkle in progress...

Last week at my regular appointment with Dr. A he informed me that I had an extremely low white blood cell count which ended me up back in the hospital. For an entire 24 hours. I'm not going to lie. It was hell. But - it's over now, I'm home and I'm praying for the best. I just need to be extremely careful of germs and sick people...and I'm not allowed to eat fresh fruits and veggies. Total bummer. There's a lot of things I'm not supposed to eat right now. It's frustrating but I'm taking it one day at a time.

Tomorrow is finally the weekend again. Cory has his three year old pictures in the morning and I'm so nervous! I'm really hoping he'll cooperate and I'm gonna let y'all know right now that this momma is NOT above bribery when it comes to getting some good pics of my kiddo, lol. There will totally be lollipops involved (or chocolate, or candy, or whatever else his little heart desires).

After pictures I have a baby shower to attend. I'm looking forward to some socializing and adult interaction other than with my doctors, lol.

Sunday is pretty much open other than the normal groceries/cleaning/laundry routine that seems to play out at some point every weekend.

Cory and I had a great day today. We dropped Pumpkin off at the vet for a grooming appointment bright and early, followed by an early morning trip (read: cooler and less sun for this sun-sensitive momma) to the park and then a little jaunt over to the mall for some new picture clothes, a pretzel and some time at the indoor playground. Cory was perfectly behaved and we really enjoyed out time together. I missed our time out and about so much while I was down and out (or at the hospital, whichever...). He is so special and growing so fast. He'll never be the same tomorrow as he was today and I'm so afraid to miss something fantastic. I love that boy.

I did more running around today than I have in a while and I'm praying I don't pay for it tomorrow, especially since we have things to do. Since I have the world's most fabulous husband he is letting me put my feet up and relax (i.e. blog) while he straightens up before our nightly cuddle/TV time on the couch. He truly is the sweetest. He got home from work before Cory and I did today (we had to go pick up Pumpkin) and when we got back there were fresh roses from our flower garden in a vase on the counter will a Starbucks iced vanilla latte sitting next to it. Love him. :)

Memorial Day 2010

We had a fantastic three day weekend, perfectly ended with a small cookout with some great friends. Cory had a blast playing with three other kiddos and the grown-ups had a good time having grown-up conversations and watching the little ones play.

Lily enjoying her cupcake.

Lily, Owen, Brielle and Cory.

Lily, Owen and Brielle cruising in the jeep.

The next few weekends around here are going to be kind of busy. Not "pull your hair out" busy, but we have plans each Saturday and Sunday for the next month or so. I'm excited. I like feeling like I have stuff to do, although I like not having stuff to do to. What can I say? I can be hard to please. :) At least I can admit it?!

We bought tickets to a Dayton Dragon's game last night. I'm really excited. We're going to take Cory and sit on the lawn. I'm hoping we'll all have a great time. I'm not a huge baseball fan (no booing, please) but I've heard these games are pretty entertaining and very family friendly. We shall see! If it's a disaster, we'll know and we won't go again. If it's tons of fun, we have some place new (and relatively inexpensive) to spend some quality family time together. I'll be sure to take pictures and blog about our experience...stay tuned in July. :)

Happy Memorial Day!