This morning Nicole went into the hospital for an outpatient procedure to get tubes put in her ears. Since she has been having frequent ear infections and due to an evaluation by Dr. Som, she was a candidate for ear tubes. We met up with Dr. Som on 19 August for an evaluation. He then had us come in on 24 August for a hearing test and her pre-op appointment. With the hearing test, Nicole sat on my lap while the tech played noises in different speakers in the room. If Nicole looked towards the speaker, a stuffed animal would start moving around and making noise. She had some trouble with the lower tones then with the higher/louder tones. When she would see one animal move, she would automatically turn to the animal on the other side to see if it was going to move too. I don't think she understood that it would only move if the sound was coming from that direction. They also did a test for the pressure that is in her ear. She had some negative pressure but that only means that there is fluid coming or going from her ears. This is normal for kids who are candidates for ear tubes. Dr. Som then had us schedule and appointment to get tubes put in today, 26 August.

We were all anxiously awaiting the surgery day. We had a 7:30am appointment which made it easy. Nicole wasn't able to eat anything past 12am the night before. We let her sleep until it was time to go to the hospital. She was great the entire way there. We met up with Pop (Chrissy's dad) at the hospital and he waited in the waiting room for us. Nicole, Mommy and Daddy all went into the first room. The nurse checked Nicole's vitals and talked to us about what to expect during, before and after the surgery. Dr. Som came in to talk to us as well as the anesthesiologist. The nurse that was going to be with Nicole during the surgery came in to talk to us too. She was a nice "grandmotherly" type woman and that made us feel very comfortable. Nicole just played with the toys and books in the room until it was time to go. She wanted Daddy to go back with her so he put on a gown and a hat and went back with Nicole. Mommy went back to the waiting room with Pop. Daddy said Nicole was a big girl and didn't cry or fuss when they put the mask on her to make her go to sleep. Before Mommy and Pop were back from getting a cup of coffee, Daddy had left Nicole and was looking for Mommy and Pop in the hallway. About 5 mins after that, Dr. Som came out saying that the procedure was over and everything went well. We were really surprised about how quick it was. He explained to us how he did the procedure as well and Mommy and Daddy thanked him. About 5 mins after that, the nurse came out to tell Mommy and Daddy to go back in the recovery room with Nicole. Nicole was laying in the arms of one of the other nurses with her blanket around her. Mommy sat up in the chair and held Nicole for a few minutes while we got instructions from the nurse. The Nurse said that Nicole didn't even cry when she got up...that was one of the things that they prepared us for. They told us that most kids cry up until the time they get to the car...not because they are in pain but because they are coming off the medicine. We carried Nicole out to see Pop, who was waiting in the hallway. Nicole kept asking for Pop while we were in the recovery room, so she was happy to see him. Then it was time to go home and rest for the day. Nicole did good on the ride home and the rest of the day. She was such a trooper and we are so proud of her. Mommy and Daddy took her to Walmart to get a new Barbie and to the mall to go on some rides. We are all glad that everything went well and that Nicole did so well today.

I can't believe how fast this summer has gone by. It's already the middle of August. We have been to two weddings this summer (Heather and Andrew and Matt and Melissa). Both weddings were outside and Nicole had a blast at both of them. Her favorite part, of course, was dancing! We couldn't get that girl off of the dance floor. Heather and Andrew's wedding was Nicole's very first wedding.  We also reconnected with some of our friends, Jessica, Rob, Camryn and baby Addison. Nicole got to go to Ocean City for the first time in July. We drove down to Ocean City after Matt and Melissa's wedding. She had so much fun playing in the water and the sand. We went to the boardwalk for a while and then headed home. She fell asleep in the car before we even pulled out of the parking lot. Another fun event we went to is our friend Zachary's 2nd birthday party at "Bounce Around". Nicole loved playing with her friends from day care and climbing on all of the different areas. Even Mommy went on some of the bouncing areas with Nicole. In August, Aunt Julie, Katie, Brittany, Mommy, Daddy and Nicole went to the Baltimore Zoo. This was our first time at this zoo...except for Daddy who went when he was a little kid. Nicole got to see all sorts of animals and got to feed a giraffe with Daddy and ride a camel with Aunt Julie. Before we left, we went on some rides and Nicole had a blast. Nicole is growing up so fast. She is talking in more sentences and learning so much. She has been going on the potty a lot lately both at school and at home. We also bought her a big girl bed and she has been sleeping in it by herself and through the night. She just loves to read her "Goodnight Moon" book and sleep with her babies. We have a couple of of other fun events planned for the summer now that Mommy is done with school for a couple of weeks.

On 29 May, the three of us headed down to Virginia Beach for the weekend. David Cook, the 7th American Idol winner, was performing at the Patriotic Festival on Virginia Beach. It was our first time down there and decided to make it a mini-vacation. We drove down, stopping a few times to get snacks and to stretch our legs. We were staying at a hotel right across from a big mall and only about 15 minutes away from the beach. We checked into the hotel and called it a night. Nicole wasn't fond of going to the room for some reason. Everytime we would walk back to the hotel room she would cry and fall to the floor. Guess she wanted to be out and running around. Saturday morning we packed up our stuff and headed down to the beach to see what was going on at the festival. It was a HOT day and not much cloud coverage so we covered ourselves with sun block! We found a great parking spot and walked the boardwalk. It's so much different then Ocean City but really nice. We took Nicole to the playground and she played with a bunch of the kids there. We then walked all the way down to where the concert was going to be at. We wished we would have brought our tickets with us because we should have just stayed down at the beach all day, but figured we should take Nicole back for a nap. We stopped by a local pizza place to grab some lunch to take back to the hotel and then just hung out in our room for a couple hours.

We got ready for the concert and headed out a little early to make sure we could have a good seat. We paid for a seat but it was first come first server for the seating. We found the PERFECT seats. They were close to the back but it gave us room to put her stroller and she had room to play in the sand. Daddy went out to get us some drinks and snacks while Nicole and Mommy sat and watched some of the opening acts. They brought out some troops that did a bike ride from D.C. to VA Beach (I think) and David Cook came out to sing Happy Birthday to one of them. We also saw another girl that was on American Idol but didn't make it to the top 24. She was pretty good and I definitely remembered her. One of the songs that she sang was Alicia Keys "No One". When Daddy got back, Matt Nathanson came on and performed for a while. Nicole was dancing around and "singing" to the music. Everyone else was just sitting in their seats so it wasn't like she was copying anyone. :) She had a BLAST!! By the time David Cook came on it was getting dark and she was getting a little tired. There were so many people there and Nicole wanted to walk around which made it really hard. Daddy and Mommy took turns walking with Nicole while the other watched the show. Nicole put on Mommy's David Cook T-shirt and danced with Mommy a little. Since we were all so tired from the concert the night before, we decided to just hang out at the hotel on Sunday. We were going to go to Busch Gardens but Nicole was so tired and ended up taking a 3 hour nap! That gave Mommy time to do homework and Daddy could watch the NASCAR race. After Nicole got up, we all went to dinner at Captain George's for dinner, a really good seafood buffet. After dinner, we drove back down to the beach to let Nicole play in the water. It was pretty cold but she had fun. We then walked the boardwalk and got some ice cream at Dairy Queen. Monday morning came quickly and we had a quick breakfast and headed home. We had such a great time at the beach and the concert. We can't wait to back there again!

It's hard to believe it's Easter already. Seems like we just celebrated Christmas. We ended up coloring Easter eggs on Friday night. Daddy and Nicole had a good time coloring the eggs.  She acted like she had been doing it for years. That Saturday we all drove down to Grandma's house to have brunch with the family. We had bacon, sausage, eggs, bagels, biscuts and much more. Since it was wet from the morning rain, we had an Easter egg hunt in Grandma's basement. Nicole wore her Easter dress and went looking for eggs with Mommy. Then we went upstairs so Nicole could open her gifts. She got a Barbie, a Barbie car, a Barbie pool, clothes, books, money, cookies/snacks and Pez! The Pez was her favorite treat of the day. Aunt Julie put some water in the Barbie pool so that Nicole could play with her Barbie in it. Nicole loved it! On Easter morning we got up and had a nice breakfast together. Then Nicole got to go through her Easter basket. She got two new movies, some snacks and a plastic baseball bat and ball. We got ready to go over Nana and Pops house for dinner. When we got there, we played outside at the playground for a while. Nicole loved going down the slides. We visited with Uncle Ricci and Hope and had a nice dinner together. Nicole opened her gifts from Nana and Pops. She got clothes, a stuffed bunny and a book. We had a really great day!

So a lot has gone on in the last week, so I thought I'd give a quick update. Last Friday night, Nicole got Pink Eye. Luckily I had some medicine from last time she had it so I started it right away. Then we noticed she kept putting her fingers in her ears so we took her to the doctors on Monday. She indeed had an ear infection and possible sinus infection. Doctor Gibson thought her pink eye was looking better and commended us for catching it early. He gave her an antibiotic to hopefully get rid of the infections but she ended up having an allergic reaction to it. She woke up Tuesday morning with red blotches and bumps all over her. She was miserable Monday night into Tuesday and we tried everything to make her feel better and nothing worked. Little did we know that she was probably itching like crazy! The doctor gave her another medicine that day and she's been doing so much better.

Nicole has been picking up on things so quickly lately. One of her favorite things to do now is dance. Whenever she hears music she's shaking her butt and dancing all around. Just the other day, when I was home with her, she found 4 different chapsticks/lip glosses from my purse and other places around the house. She would not let them go. She even started to pretend to put them on. Evertime she sees me put chapstick on, she wants me to pretend to put some on her too. It's just too cute. Tonight, she wanted to play with Gordon's Ipod. She even let him put the headphones on her ears and she was listening and watching Wall-E. We even got her to say Wall-E for the first time. She even started to walk backwards...figures it was just a couple days after the doctor asked us if she could do it :) She also surprised us by picking up the correct remote and hitting the right button to turn the DVD player on in our bedroom. I tell you this child is technologically savvy!

She just loves to be at day care with all of her friends too. She makes sure to give out hugs to everyone and greets everyone that walks in the door...at least that is what they tell me. She's become attached to Ms. Amanda, Haydn's mom. Haydn and Nicole are in the same day care room now so she gets to see Ms. Amanda just about everyday. If Ms. Amanda is in the room when I am, Nicole would rather go to Ms. Amanda then me. She's just gotten really attached to her and her day care teachers. It makes me feel good to know that she is comfortable around other people. Well so much for this being a quick update. I guess I had more to talk about then I thought!

It is hard to believe that Christmas and New Years has already passed. Our holiday celebrations started on 20 December when we went over Grandma Hampton's house to exchange gifts with all of her aunts, uncles, cousins, her grandma and great grandma. Nicole got lots of toys including a tea set, a giant coloring book with crayons, an Elmo Laptop, clothes and some Fisher Price Little People playsets. She enjoyed coloring in her coloring book with her cousins before we went home for the night. The next day Pop, Nana and Uncle Willie came over our house along with Uncle Angelo and Mary. We all had a nice dinner together and then opened more presents. Nicole got more Little People, a baby doll that cries and grows teeth, lots of clothes, and Mrs. Potato Head. Uncle Angelo and Mary got Nicole "The Christmas Toy" movie...a movie that Uncle Angelo and Mommy used to watch when we were kids. She will appreciate it when she's older I'm sure. Mommy and Daddy had to go to work so Grammy watched Nicole at the house since Day Care was closed.

On 22 December our community lost power. It was one of the coldest nights in a long time...it got down to 17 degrees at night. Nicole, Mommy and Daddy all slept together on the floor by the fireplace. Nicole got a kick out of laying on all of the blankets that we put on the floor. We were happy that she slept so good under these circumstances. On the 23rd, Grammy took Nicole to spend the night over her house so she would be there when we celebrated Christmas at Grammy's on Christmas Eve. After work, Daddy and Mommy arrived at Grammy's along with Uncle Angelo. We all had dinner together and then opened more gifts. Nicole got more clothes, a Wall-e robot learning toy, Handy Manny's talking Tool Box, VSmile baby computer games, and more Little People toys. We hurried home so we were all in bed before Santa came.

Mommy got up first on Christmas Day at 7am and waited for Nicole and Daddy to get up. We walked out into the living room where Santa left many gifts for Nicole. I guess she was a good girl this year. We let Nicole open her gifts from Uncle Ritchie, Aunt Deanna, Jordyn and Danni, and the gifts from Nanny and Pop Pop. Then she opened all of the presents from Mommy and Daddy and then the ones from Santa. She got some Disney Princess dolls, more Little People, puzzles, books, new Dale Jr. Sippy Cups and many other nice things. She stayed at home with Mommy and Daddy and we played all day.

The weekend after Christmas we packed up the car and headed out to Deep Creek Lake. Joy, Steve, Jeremy, Jordan and Andrew and Heather were there with us.  Unfortunately, there wasn't much snow out there so we just stayed inside and relaxed. Nicole had a good time looking and talking to all of the bear and other animal statues that were in the house. She also liked running up and down the hallway and walking up the steps from the basement. It was a nice relaxing weekend and we all enjoyed getting away for a while.

2008 was a great year...it was our first full year with our little girl. I sure hope that 2009 will be just as good if not better.

So today is the big day...we are taking Nicole to see Santa at Annapolis Mall. Last year she was so small and he just held her in his arms. This year will be different. She will be sitting on his lap like a big girls. Nicole's godmother, Brittany, bought her a Christmas dress and was going to meet me and Grammy at the mall with Aunt Julie, Aunt Sheila, Uncle Stephen, Justin, Brandon and Andrew.  We got Nicole dressed in the JC Penny's bathroom and headed down to see Santa. Uncle Stephen was holding a place for us inline and he told us that the line was pretty long. Nicole waited patiently, taking turns walking with Brittany, Grammy and I. Aunt Julie even gave her some coins to throw in the water fountain to keep her busy. Nicole decided it would be more fun to hold on to the coins then to throw them. I think she wanted to touch the water rather then just throw the coins in it.  We finally got her to drop the coins and clapped for her so that she wouldn't get upset that she dropped them. It soon became time for her to go on Santa's lap. I walked her up to Santa and he asked what her name was. Then I sat her on his lap and she raised her arms up to me as if she wanted me to pick her up. As I walked away, we all started to try and get her to smile. She soon lost interest in coming back to me and just sat on Santa's lap like she had been doing it for years.  The people working there got her to smile so good. I couldn't ask for a better picture.  When I went to take Nicole off Santa's lap she acted like she didn't want to get up. She didn't reach her arms out to me right away; she just kinda sat there as relaxed as can be and finally she let me pick her up. It was if she didn't want to get up off his lap. We took a couple of pictures of Nicole with her cousins and with her Uncle Stephen shopping.  I still can't believe that she didn't cry or fuss at all while she was with Santa. I just hope next year she is just as good! I am so proud of my little girl.

I feel bad that it's been a while since my last journal. I've been so busy with work and school that I haven't had much time to write. We are out in Missouri visiting Gordon's parents for Thanksgiving.  We took an early evening flight on the day before Thanksgiving to St. Louis, Missouri. While we were waiting to go on the plane, we got some food from McDonald's. We got Nicole some chicken nuggests but she was more interested in eating my cheeseburger (as you can see in the picture).  As soon as the plane started to take off, Nicole was fast asleep.  We were wondering how she was going to do on the plane but she did excellent. She slept for about 3/4 of the trip and just hung out on our laps the rest of the time.  She loved the hotel...especially the mirror on the closet door. The hotel had a pack and play for us to let her sleep in but she only stayed in that for part of the night. Around midnight, she was in our bed taking things over. She kept kicking poor Gordon in the head and moving all around last night. At least one out of the three of us got some sleep.

We got up somewhat early and headed towards Gordon's parents house. We got there around 11:15 am and were able to unwind a bit before Jenn, Mike, Jessica and Makenzie came. There was a big surprise for Gordon's mom:  Ritchie, DeAnna, Jordyn and Danni were coming. Barbara was so surprised that she let out a big scream when she opened the door and saw everyone. We all hung out together and the girls played until dinner was ready. The food was great and it was so nice being able to spend time with everyone. Nicole could have cared less about the turkey or mashed potatoes....she LOVED the pumpkin pie the best. She spit out her pacifier, dropped her bottle and pretty much ran over to me as soon as she saw me sit down with a slice. I think she ate more of it then I did :) Nicole is now fast asleep on the bed and we're not far behind. We're going to get up tomorrow to go shopping but just not sure how early. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.