Oh Happy Day!

It's been an interesting couple of days around here. Yesterday- I found out that TWO contracts that have been pending (for playground sales) went thru... on the same day! That was pretty darn exciting and the money can be used. But it's been crazy getting the orders thru and all the details set.

Tim's ankle is healing nicely and he is getting around a little easier. But much to his (our) dismay- he developed blisters on two of his toes (from the boot)- and they became infected. His foot was still real swollen- because of the infection. Poor guy- can finally move around w/out pain and now this... ugh! He's on antibiotics and goes back on Tuesday so hopefully real relief is coming.

Today- Timmy & I went to a playdate w/ the Oak Lawn mom's group. I'm attaching one of the pics that another mom took. He just LOVES these playdates- he just loves being surrounded by kids. He had a smile on his face the whole time.

FIRST PUBLIC PEE!!

I have no pictures of the event- but thought this was a fun thing to put in the blog.

This evening- we went downtown to swim at the Northernly Island beach. When we got to the beach, I took off Timmy's diaper to put on a swimmer. While we was "free" and naked- he suddenly started to pee- right there on the beach! He thought it was so funny. :) No one seemed to notice but what a laugh we got. :)

Oshkosh/New London Visit

After we left Devil's Lake we drove over to Oshkosh and then on Saturday to New London. On Friday afternoon, we took Timmy to Menominee Park (oshkosh) to ride the train. The kid is obsessed with trains so it was a good time! We also went on the carosel- which appeared to be in dire need of some WD-40.

Saturday we headed to our friend's Leslie & Mike's for their big annual laua party. Timmy loved seeing Colby & Jordan (Mike & Leslie's boys-my god sons!) and was pretty much smiling from ear to ear the entire day. We had a really good time- it was great to see everyone and to meet some new people. Timmy's favorite things were busting the pinata, getting rides from Colby & Jordan in their John Deer gator and going in their pool. Lucky Dog also had a good time- all the little kids would come over and say hi to him. I'm including a picture of Jordan & Colby- Jordan put a lei on Lucky and it was so cute!

Sunday my aunt & uncle had everyone from the family over for a picnic. What a blast this was! It was great to see aunts/uncles and cousins I normally see only at weddings and funerals. There was a train track near by so Timmy had a great time watching the trains go by. He also loved going in my uncle's garage where the model train set was (but it was way to hot in there to spend quality time looking at them). It was a beautiful day and a wonderful time. Hopefully we can keep this up every year! I'm including the picture of me holding "Charlie" my second cousin's 4 months old baby girl. Timmy was enthrawled with her.

A short/quick visit to the homeland but one that was an absolute delight!!

Walk the Lake or Bust

We went camping with Tim's parents (Nancy & Tom- or Gammy & Papa to Timmy) from Monday thru Friday. The weather was pretty much perfect the entire time- except it did drizzle while we were packing up our tent. We camped at Devil's Lake State Park in Baraboo, WI. It was an absolute wonderful time.

The lake itself was 6 feet higher than normal (at one time is was 10 feet higher!) so there was no beach- the sand was covered. Timmy still had a great time playing in the water. Nancy & I decided to hike around the lake. We took our water shoes knowing we would have to go thru some water-but little did we know at certain parts it was VERY flooded- up to Nancy's thigh's must above my knees). For some dumb reason I had capri's on too. But we made it around and felt proud aftewards. During our walk Nancy came blurted out "Walk the lake or bust" which totally made me laugh. I thought it was a good motto for the day :)

A trip to Millenium Park

We made our way downtown to visit Milenium Park today. It was 93 degrees so Timmy had a GREAT time in the water fountains (two large towers about 50 ft from eachother and each one has a video screen on it- with peoples faces smiling and looking goofy- they are great!). It was a great way to cool off. We also cam across this water stream (that we'd never seen during our 100 times there!) that we could sit and put our feet in.

We had a fun picnic lunch too. (thank goodness for shade!)

The wheel chair came in handy as there was no way Tim could have used his crutches to get to our free (secret) parking spot over to where we pick up the free trollys.

New Family Wheels

To help Tim get around a little easier (for those days we like to do things that require a lot of walking- like the zoo or going downtown)- I bought him his very own wheelchair. Thank goodness for Craiglist- I ended purchasing this one for less than it would have cost to rent one for a week!

Now we get to go out and do more things during the day... which is making everyone happy (this is summer vacation after all... more than 1/2 done!)

Some Updates...

The other day Timmy was playing w/ my camera so I took it from him and "hid" it. Now I can't find it. So no pictures to post but here are some updates...
Tim's ankle is still healing. He is still 100% on crutches not able to put pressure on it. It's hurts less during the day but by night he tends to feel it.
Tim is also busy working on our next business venture... vending machines. He started something that we have named "Hydrate for Hydro" in which we would sell bottles of water (froma vending machine) and part of the proceeds would go to the Hydrocephalus Association. There is still much work to do w/ it but we are under way for sure.
Timmy is doing great! We just got done w/ another speech therapy appointment w/ Miss Nicole (whom he LOVES and gets very excited to see). She is impressed with the increase in vocabulary. We are working on his mouth muscles so he can start saying more sounds and the words will be a little clearer. Otherwise- lately his favorite thing is jumping and hopping like a frog, dancing, and reading books.
I'm (Sherry) doing swell. I have a Chicago Hydro support group meeting coming up on Saturday. The baby is doing well- kicks a lot (especially between 12a-5a). My diet and exercise program has been working- the baby is right on track for growth but I've only gained 9 lbs!!

Hope to be able to post pictures soon! Take care everyone!

Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July!!!

Hope everyone had a great day. Ours was a little low key- but absolutely wonderful! We met Nancy & Tom (aka Gammy & Papa) at a Forrest Preserve that had a big lake in it. After a picnic lunch- Tom & Tim took Timmy on his first canoe ride... Timmy loved it!! Nancy & I attempted a canoe ride after the guys got back but mostly did circles :) We are both used to kayaks so our paddling talents weren't there.

On top of the boat ride- Timmy also got to play with a puppy (even held the leash!!) and throw rock... lots of rocks in the lake. He didn't get much of a nap so our evening festivities were changed- as he fell asleep at about 7:45pm.

No surgery needed & we are keeping busy

We had another doc appt for Tim today- the orthorpedic surgeron took some more xrays and has officially stated that Tim will not need surgery on his ankle... yahoo!! He will be in a cast for about 6-8 weeks but should be okay by the time he needs to go back to teaching school full time.

In the meantime- we've been figuring out ways to stay busy. A couple of times we have gone to the mall and rented a wheel chair and Tim got some exercise by wheeling himself around for an hour or so (as I try to keep up pushing Timmy in a stroller... a hopeless effort :)

We have also gotten Timmy's pool out and made sure he is staying healthy, active & happy :)