See us play!

Eliot had a great check up today...he is 16 lbs 0.4 oz (74%), 28" long (99%). He is a tall boy! He did really well with his shots & is growing & developing so much & so well. Enjoy the cute video I took this afternoon of the kids & turn up the volume so you can hear the kids talking & laughing!!:)

Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'

Eliot is 4 mos old today and he is fully rolling...it is so cute!! He rolled from back to front to back at Auntie Amy's this morning and was trying to keep going. He is growing and changing so much...my kids are such a joy to watch. Tomorrow is his 4 mos check up but I took some totally cute photos of him today so I thought I would post a few of them.

What a handsome boy!!

I found my toes and like them a lot...

Back to Glasses

So, the other nite Nate & I noticed that Chloe began turning in her right eye just a very little. She would quickly self correct this, but, Nate & I were concerned that this meant that her eyes were reverting to crossing again. Fortunately, she had an eye doc app the very next morning. The doc was still very pleased with her eye alignment, but, said we should go back to having her wear the glasses because they can keep her right eye completely aligned. He also said that this slight turning in is not to be unexpected because of how severe her eyes crossed & flipped upwards before the surgery. Her eyes are so much better than before that we are still very pleased with the outcome, as well. It would have been nice to not need the glasses anymore, but, she looks so cute in them & likes wearing them so these are pluses. So, we were relieved to hear that the doc did not think another surgery was necessary & very relieved to hear that he was still very pleased with her eye alignment. He said that she will more than likely grow out of the need for glasses probably in the next few years at most. We will see, one day at a time, & we continually pray for the health of our children. We are so blessed.

Tootsie Roll

I went in to get Eliot up from his nap yesterday afternoon & found that he had rolled from his back to his belly. I can't believe that he is already rolling at 3 1/2 mos old. The above photo is a cute photo of him performing one of his new tricks...the spitting...:)

This outfit was Nate's when he was 2 (it was homemade by his mom & I love it & so does Chloe...she says "daddy's outfit" & is so proud to wear it...so cute). It has finally been cool enough for her to wear pants for her outside playtime so when she wore this for the first time I took a bunch of cute photos of her.

Still Lookin' So Good!

Chloe's post-op app went really well. Doc confirmed no more glasses for the time being. He was very pleased with how straight her eyes are now. He said her eyes are slightly over corrected but he said it was very minor with no more correction needed. We keep looking at her & think she looks so different (it has been almost a year that she has been wearing glasses & she has crossed her eyes since birth so to see her without her glasses on & not crossing her eyes is different for us but we love it!) God is so GOOD! We can not thank Him enough. Her eyes are no longer puffy & red, just a little pink still but she is healing beautifully. Eliot is doing very good, too. He is so close to rolling over & his newest ability is spitting (& it is pretty cute but not so cute when he does this in the middle of the pastors sermon in church...he, he, he). I snapped a few more cute photos of the kids today that I posted below.

I am not sure if you all can see how straight her eyes are but this is a pretty good photo of her eyes & how well they are healing. If you wish to see them better you can just click on the photos.

Our Pretty Princess

Papa D & Mawma Julie (Gpa & Gma Traxler) gave Chloe this dress & crown (& even some light up Cinderella shoes) as a post surgery present. She loves it! Auntie Amy gave her the tinker bell necklace (it lights up, too)...so cute!! I took this photo the day after her surgery so I know she is feeling better (her eyes were too sensitive on the day of the surgery to take any photos of her straight on). She is doing great & her eyes are so straight (so far no glasses needed). We have the post op app on Thursday so I am very interested to hear what her doc says. Her eyes are still a little red but the swelling is gone. Thanks again for all of your prayers.

Post Surgery

So, here is our baby girl after her eye surgery. This photo I took when we were back home again & she was sitting with daddy. The nurses let Chloe take her hospital gown home. I forgot my camera & so I did not get any photos of her at the eye surgery center (& I could have snapped some cute ones of her in the hospital bed all prepped & ready for surgery...:(...oh well). The doc said the surgery went really well. Chloe was very sad when she came out of the anesthesia & had a few bloody tears (completely normal but very sad to see). The photo of her above may look like it is camera red eye, but, it is just red & swollen eyes from the surgery (again completely normal). She slept really good last nite & is eating good. Her eyes look to be completely straight, but, we won't know how good they really are for awhile yet. It may be that she will not have to wear glasses anymore. Again this is something we won't know for awhile. But it looks really good even though she is still red and puffy (but oh so cute!!) She would not let me take a photo of her straight on...I think the flash hurt her little eyes so I did not want to push it, so this is the best photo I could get of her eyes. You can see her eyes a little bit better if you click on the photo to enlarge it. Thanks for all your prayers, we appreciate it so much.

Growing

Chloe's eye surgery will be around 9am on Friday morning. I took her in for her pre-op app this am. Please pray for her & us that all goes well and that the healing time is quick & that this surgery corrects her strabismus. Thank you. Our kids seem to grow & change on a daily basis. Enjoy some cute photos of the kids below!!

Chloe loves to get on the floor to play with & talk to her brother.

Cute kiddos!!

They have such funny conversations & they are constantly laughing!

Eliot rolling up on his sides. He can't make it over to his belly from his back yet, but, he is close.

You can see Chloe's hands in this photo...she is encouraging Eliot to "roll over" (she usually excitedly yells this at him & he just laughs & laughs:) ).

Welcome to the Village Doyle's!

We welcome Trevor, Amy (Nate's sis) & Aidan Doyle to Lake Camanche Village!! They moved here from Huntington Beach, CA (Trevor now teaches for Amador County Unified). We are so happy for them! They lived with us for about a week & a half until their home closed & yesterday they were able to move in to their new home. We are about an 1/8 of a mile down the street from each other. We are so happy to have them here & are excited to see all our kids grow up together (Eliot & Aidan are only 4 1/2 mos apart). Chloe will probably lead the pack.

We visited Uncle Trevor's classroom while he was setting it up.

Nate is now in the photo.

A student already. Chloe is praying in this photo...Dear Jesus...

The boys enjoying the gym.

The kids watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (Chloe's absolute favorite!!)

Tummy to Back

Not even 12 weeks old yet & Eliot rolled from his tummy to his back (this was last Thursday). Amazing!! I wouldn't have believed it but Auntie Amy saw it &, later, so did daddy & Uncle Trevor. This is the easiest way for a baby to roll, but, I am still totally amazed by how early he hit this milestone. Chloe didn't roll until she was 4 1/2 months old. Now Eliot rolls from tummy to back just about every time he is on his tummy.

Dedication

We had our kids dedicated at church on Sunday. It was a beautiful service & an awesome experience! We are truly blessed to be the parents of these two kiddos & are so thankful for them. We were given two candles & two red roses (one for each child). The candles represent how we are to be guiding lights for our kids. It also represents our commitment to raise our children in a loving Christian home where we pray they, too, will come to know & love our Lord & Savior, Jesus Christ.

A prayer of dedication over Chloe

A prayer of dedication over Eliot

Pastor Mark, me, Eliot, Chloe & Nate

War Wound

Chloe was outside playing with Daddy & next thing I know she comes inside asking me to "Kiss it, Mommy." She was more proud of it than sad about it even though she kept saying "hurts" while pointing at her war wound. Our rough & tumble girl who just loves to play hard outside. Oh, & I did kiss it.:)

I Can Lift My Head!

Our strong boy lifting his head...we are so in love with our kids!!

2 months & lots of Outside Fun!

Eliot had his 2 month check up yesterday & he is doing great! He now weighs 13 lbs 4 oz (81%), & is 25 1/4" tall (98%...his doc had he is off the chart tall). He had his first set of shots & a brand new oral vaccine & only cried just a little. We were still able to go play at the water park & have fun after the app. I did better this time around with Eliot's shots than with Chloe's first set of shots, but I still think that I took it worse than he did (my kids are such troopers!!) He smiles a lot & is very interactive. He is very strong, too. I saw him put his legs under him & lift his bottom fully in the air yesterday evening. Not to mention that he sleeps over 12 hrs at nite now. My kids amaze me!! We are outside all the time & Eliot is taking after his sister & really likes being outside. Soon he will be able to join his sister in the water. Chloe & I are getting in as much water play as we can; she loves it even when she is freezing!! I posted a few photos below of Chloe playing outside in the little pool, too.

The Patch

Chloe has to wear a patch over her left eye for a few hours daily to help strengthen her right eye before the surgery. She will have the surgery on her right eye on Aug 31st. The doc is going to correct her strabismus to avoid amblyopia in the future. She has this ballerina slippers patch you see here in the above photo & she has a tulip patch, as well. She looks very cute in them!!

Fingers

Eliot likes those 2 fingers!!

Prayer Request

We took Chloe to another eye doc app today & the doc confirmed what we thought to be true; our baby girl needs surgery. After discussing our options with the doc, we agreed that she truly does need the surgery to correct her eye alignment. So, we are asking for lots of prayer. We have a few more apps with her eye doc & her pediatrician before the surgery. The surgery will most likely take place towards the end of August. Chloe will be placed under general anesthesia for the surgery with a breathing tube put down her throat (doesn't that sound awful...snif, snif). Her doc is going to be working on four of the six muscles that control her right eye. It is an outpatient surgery which means we can take her home for her recovery pretty quickly after the surgery is done (such a blessing). The photo below shows Chloe in her "cool shades" as she calls them. Her eyes were dilated for sometime after the doc app today so it felt nice to her to keep the sunglasses on that her doc gave her to wear home (not to mention that she looks so cute in them & is so proud of them!!) We thank you for your prayers & take comfort in the fact that our Lord is in control.

Great Grandma's House

We celebrated my mom's 60th birthday on Saturday at Grt Gma Marge's house. Here is a photo of Grt Gma & the grandkids. Hope is the only one looking at the camera. It was hard to get all the kids in one general area with Grt Gma to get a shot of them all. Chloe is going through a stage where she does not like to have her picture taken at all (really shy) so I was glad just to get her sitting still & sorta looking up. I think it is pretty cute. It is more candid than posed but I like those best.

Here is my dad having a very deep conversation with Eliot. They were talking about ATV's & motorcycles & playing with trucks in the dirt. Eli is very responsive now & really seems to listen when you speak to him & he responds with coos & some giggling. So cute!

More Smilin'

What a happy boy! And sleeping 11 1/2 hrs at nite now...yippee!!

My daughter is such a doll...I love to brag about my kids!

Smile :)

Chloe & I were making Eliot smile & giggle so much the other day that I was finally able to catch a great smile on camera. I love the way the smile just lights up his face.