Sip n' See

What a wonderful day!! On Saturday, August 4th, the ladies from Sunday School had a wonderful party for Miles. The Sip n' See was a wonderful celebration and a great time to "show off" Miles!! The party was absolutely beautiful and Miles did great! He smiled for everyone, looked like a little prince and fell asleep in Beppie's arms!

For the party, we took his Apnea monitor off! It didn't go with the outfit. But right after the party it went right back on. The monitor doesn't seem to bother him and gives us piece of mind!

Graham is still loving his little brother. He loves to hug and kiss him and always wants to make sure Miles is going with us! he tells me every day how much he loves his little brother.

On Monday (August 6th), Miles had his two month check up! He is a whopping 14 pounds. He did well with his shots. Graham had a lot of fun being at home with Alison! Alison will be with us for a few more days and then heads off to college! We sure will miss her.

Simpson Family Vacation

Wow, how time flies! It is time once again for the annual Simpson Family Vacation down at Perdido Key. This year, 16 of us (including our cousin Liz) had a wonderful time on Ono Island! From swimming, tubing, fishing and everything in between we all had a great time. The guys had an opportunity to go fishing, and so did the girls!

One day, we all (well minus Beppie and Miles) headed out to Waterville USA for waterpark fun!! Adam and I quickly discovered that Graham is an adrenoline junky! Graham quickly picked out the tallest and longest slide as the one he wanted to do--and he did it twice!

We always look forward to this vacation because it is a nice time for us all to catch up, cousins to play together and memories be made. While on the vacation, Miles turned two months. He is such a sweet baby, and loves to sleep on his stomach! He did, however, give us all a scare.

On Thursday, July 26th, Miles had an Accute Life Threatening Event. He was in Caroline's arms and quit breathing. Thankfully, Shannon heard the screams and got to the "scene" first. She was able to stimulate Miles back. After 24 hours in the hospital in Foley, Alabama it was determined that Miles aspirated while refluxing. He is now on an Apnea/Bradycardia machine that monitors his heart and breathing. Hopefully there will be no more events.

Happy Birthday

What a great time we all had! We celebrated Granddad's 60th birthday as a family at Lake Oconnee. The weekend was full of fishing, boating, swimming and tubing! It was a great time with family and celebrating how much Granddad means to us all!

Miles enjoyed his first boat ride and Graham had a blast tubing! All the kids loved swimming in the lake and playing "King of the Tube." We were all sad when the weekend ended, but the memories will last!

One Month Old

Wow, it is hard to believe that a month has already passed! Miles is doing great, he is now up to 9 lbs 8 oz. He still loves to eat and sleep but stays awake a little longer. We are enjoying adjusting to life with two precious little boys. Adam and I are constantly saying that God is so Good!

Graham is loving being the big brother. He likes to show Miles new tricks--especially in the pool. Graham can swim all the way across the pool by himself. In many ways, he reminds me of Kristin, my younger sister. That is, he spends more time under water and bobbing up and down! Graham said this morning that he thought he might turn into a fish because he's such a good swimmer!

We are getting ready for a fun weekend at the lake with the Whaley family. We are heading to the lake to celebrate Granddad's 60th birthday. We can't wait! Graham has a new fishing rod and his very own tackle box--filled with more lures than Adam and I know what to do with! Can't wait to report on the weekend.

Happy Father's Day

Well, what a great Father's Day! We decided to take our first road trip and made a visit to Beppie and Buddy's for Father's Day. Graham swam from the moment we arrived until the second that we pulled out to head back home. Miles enjoyed lounging by the pool and sleeping!

Graham and Miles gave Adam an icecream maker for Father's Day. Graham helped me pick it out a few weeks ago and was real excited about the gift for his Daddy. In fact, Graham managed to tell Adam almost every day, leading up to Father's Day, what his present was. Oh well, so much for surprises. Anyway, Adam made some delicious homemade icecream on Sunday and we all thoroughly enjoyed it!

Miles is now three weeks old. Still no real activity to report, but we can say that he is a wonderful baby. Tonight, he enjoyed story time with Graham. While Graham sat in my lap to read bedtime stories, Miles snoozed happily in Graham's bed. Graham thought it was so neat that Miles like his bed, and asked if he and Miles could sleep together! Thankfully, Graham prefers to sleep by himself, so there wasn't much discussion when the answer was "No"!

Graham is Home!

Graham came home on Friday night! After a great week with Beppie and Buddy he came back to reality! It has been a wonderful weekend and he could not have been better. Graham loves his baby Miles, and the other night thanked God for healthy bodies, his baby and his people!

We had a great weekend of swimming, playing frisbee, eating popsicles and swinging in the backyard. Graham is getting excited and continues to remind me that Father's Day is coming up! Thank goodness for the reminder!

Miles is doing great. He has enjoyed the activity with his brother home, and had his first outing on Friday night--we went out to eat! Then, on Saturday we all made it to the pool--of course Miles and I enjoyed a nice shady spot under the umbrellas and trees. However, we got a lot of laughs out of watching Graham do belly busters into the pool, and Adam tossing Graham into the air. It'll be a while before Miles gets to enjoy that kind of fun!

We are looking forward to a fun week!

Two Weeks Old

It is hard to believe that Miles was actually supposed to arrive tomorrow morning, June 8th, at 8:15 in the morning. Since May 25th, it has been made very clear that we are not in control of our calendar, but God is. How amazing and thank you God! It has been a fun two weeks with Miles here. We have loved getting to know our new son and we are so excited to have him here--healthy and a part of our family!!

Today we had his two week check up, yes a day early! Miles is doing great, he is up to 7 pounds 12 ounces! Way to go little boy. He is starting to wake up a little more, but he still prefers to eat and sleep.

Graham will be coming home tomorrow. After a fun week with Beppie and Buddy, it is time to start the fun at home. He enjoyed swimming, spending time with his cousins, fishing, running, watching Scooby Doo and much more. We look forward to his return and hearing all the tales of his time on vacation!

We are so thankful for our family and friends. From the day the Miles was born, and even before, we have been so blessed with the love, support and encouragement from our families. Each member of our family has touched us in a special way during the exciting and amazing time.

Still Having Fun

Graham and Miles continue to do great! Miles is still sleeping most of the time, which is wonderful for us! He likes to be cuddled, fed and sleep.

Adam returned to work yesterday. Miles and I missed having him around the house. He has done so much for this family over the past days--well for the 8 almost 9 years that we have been married--I just can't tell you how lucky we all are!

Graham is in Birmingham having a great time with Beppie and Buddy and his cousins. After night fishing, they had a spend the night party the next night. I am told that he has become the master water gun shooter. We are so glad he is having such a good time.

One Amazing Dad

Well, it is my first entry into our blog!! It is amazing that Miles is 9 days old. All seems to be going well in the Whaley household. Graham is currently with Beppie and Buddy, they went night fishing last night.

Miles, Adam and I have had a relaxing weekend. Thanks to Adam, I have had such a wonderful recovery time. Since Friday, May 25th, Adam has been up with Miles around the clock. At the same time, he has been taking care of me and making sure that everything is o.k. Wow, I sure do have one amazing husband!!! And, Graham and Miles have one amazing dad! We sure are lucky.

One Week Old

This week has flown by so far and we have succesfully made it through 3 nights at home.

Dad has been pulling the night shift so that Mom can sleep and recover before I have to head back to work. The trick is keeping Miles quiet during the diaper change portion, well at least quiet enough not to wake the whole house.Miles has really been sleeping a lot, but he has had a few awake moments to have some fun with us, including his first bath at home (although he didn't enjoy at as much as he will in the future). :)

Graham has spent much of the week with Nana and Granddad and had a fabulous time. We are so thankful they got to meet him before they went to Hawaii. He will have changed considerably by the time they get back.

We were glad to have Graham for a night. He was able to help out with several diaper changes and feedings, and even got to entertain Miles with his new and amazing feat of being able to curl his tongue. What great talents we have passed along. He is such a proud big brother and is very conscious of where Miles is at all times and what he is up to. He is looking forward to being able to rock and hold Miles more in the very near future.

He is now going to Beppie & Buddy's house for a little time with them.

We have been so thankful for the amazing help we have gotten, from helping take care of Graham, to getting the house cleaned up from our ongoing renovation project, to delicious meals at the house, and everything else. It has made the experience so very enjoyable and feasible.

Graham was able to go to his cousin Alex's 5th birthday party--a pirate theme. It was truly a great time and he and Alex were able to spend some time working on their swordsmanship and a host of jumping. Thankfully no toddlers were hurt in the posing of this picture.

We're Home

After a little delay, we made it home today at around 2:30.



Miles did very well on the car ride home and is adjusting to life in the new surroundings. Now we'll have to wait and see if Mommy and Daddy adjust to not having the night nursery anymore :).

My sister provided a lovely meal this evening and we are looking forward to what tomorrow brings!

Coming Home

After an actually enjoyable stay in the hospital, we will be coming home on Tuesday.

Miles has been doing well, gaining strength, and enjoying getting visited by big brother Graham and a lot more of his immediate family.

We are hoping that the move home will be uneventful and that our final days of remodeling/construction will be completed this week and we can have a few peaceful days at home!

Now if we can all just be as peaceful as Miles in this picture.

We are still trying to figure out who he looks like. I think he looks a lot like his older brother, but he does have some more of Mom's coloring and so his features may lean that way in the long run too. Only time will tell.

Graham has truly fallen in love with his new baby brother. He enjoys holding him, feeding him (although not the whole time) and singing to him.

He tore at our heartstrings yesterday when he said, "Mommy, thank you for my new baby brother". He is going to be a very good big brother.

Miles has arrived!

Miles decided that things still operate on his schedule, so after several weeks of keeping Mom up at night he decided to give us all as surprise and show up 3 weeks early (or 2 weeks from his scheduled date of June 8th).

Caroline's water broke on Friday morning and Miles arrived via C-section at 12:39 pm. He weighed in at a healthy 7 lbs., 4 oz. and was 20 1/2 inches long. After a short stay at the Transitions nursery to get his blood sugar up and his breathing slowed down he has adjusted nicely to our room and the Well Nursery.

He's a bit of a slow eater, but he has been sleeping like a champ (let's hope he keeps that up!).

Graham got to meet Miles today and absolutely loved it. He was very proud of his new brother and sang Miles several songs. He was very excited to be a big brother.

We will be home in a few days and will pass along more updates.

Here's Graham and Caroline at the "Farm" in Louisville earlier this year. Graham loves running around the "Farm", especially when he gets to see the cows and goats and chickens.

Getting Started

With the day approaching for the addition of Miles to the family Caroline, Graham and I wanted to create a space where family and friends far and wide can get updates on how things are going and see pictures and videos of the expanding family.

Look for more updates soon!