BIG NEWS!!!!

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There is something wonderful about a man with his children! Joe has to be the best father in the world! He is so good with our boys and it makes me love him even more! What a fantastic guy I have! :)

Daddy and his boys!

An A for Effort

We are letting Eli decide when he wants to begin potty training. For now, he just really likes to sit on his little potty. Nothing has made it in there yet, but it is very early for him to start potty training. I think he sees his big brother using the big potty and he wants to join in on the fun. I learned my lesson with Ben though, and I refuse to be aggressive with potty training. Ben started when he was just a smidge over 2 and was not fully potty trained until his 3rd birthday! UGH!!! I absolutely dread potty training!

And we're back....

I finally have my camera back in working order, so forgive me as I go crazy catching up on the fun things we have done over the last few weeks while my camera was in limbo.
On Fathers Day we headed to a Nationals baseball game in DC. We not only went to the game, but we snagged free tickets for the Boeing box seats. I have always loved going to any sort of professional sporting event, but this one took the prize. We walked in to a luxurious box complete with granite countertops, full kitchen, bar, private bathroom, and beautiful furniture. Not to mention the actual seats were hands down the most comfortable seats in all of baseball and directly behind home plate. I am pretty sure Joe and I are now spoiled and it will be really hard to go back to the nosebleed seats at Camden Yards.
Joe and I even got to watch a lot of the game while the boys were entertained in the suite by their little buddies that came to the game with us. It really was a perfect Fathers Day treat!

Say Cheese!

Eli is back to normal

After a long day at the hospital yesterday, Eli woke up this morning at his normal time (6:30 am....not quite sure why he wakes up that early, I am trying to convince him to change that) and was relatively happy. His surgery yesterday went very well. The doctor removed three cysts from his trachea. Dr. Preciado, who is absolutely wonderful, convinced me that this will put an end to our monthly bouts with croup and our monthly trips to the ER, and our ever so wonderful visits to Childrens Hospital in DC. Eli will need to have the same procedure done again in 4-6 months to make sure the cysts did not grow back, but if everything looks good after that procedure, Eli's surgery days are over (at least I hope so). Eli had a slight reaction to the anesthesia while he was waking up from it. He was not really awake, but he went into some sort of delirium and was shaking, screaming, kicking his legs everywhere and would not wake up. After the nurse waited for a half an hour to see if he would come out of it, they ended up giving him some medicine to calm him down. While all of this was happening, his heart rate was getting somewhat high. Nothing like what we experienced when he was an infant, but it was enough for all the heart alarms to go off. I was a bit...well, ok...a lot nervous for him and at one point I looked at his hand and it was blue. At that point, I was freaking out and calmly....well ok...not so calmly told the nurse he was turning blue. It was at that exact moment in time that the nurse calmly pointed out to me that the machine was taking his blood pressure and that was why his arm and hand were a bit blue. She tried to make me feel a little better by telling me what a great job I did pointing that out, but I still felt a little silly.
Eli was having a little breathing trouble so they told us we were going to need to spend the night. We were not excited about that prospect, but we knew we would do what the doctors told us was necessary. After a few hours, Eli calmed down and the breathing improved. We were monitored for a few more hours, and then sent home with one tired little boy.
We thank everyone for all their prayers, phone calls, and visits. We have such a wonderful circle of family and friends!
I will post some pictures soon....our computer was broken for a while and Joe needs to fix it before I can upload pictures.

Eli's ENT visit

Yesterday we headed back to Childrens Hospital in Washington DC to see a pediatric ENT for Eli's recurring croup and breathing problems. Unfortunately the news was not great. He will need to have an endoscopy procedure done on June 25th. At first I was not too worried about it, but as we got further into discussion with the doctor, I started to feel sick to my stomach. Since Eli has a heart condition, he has to be cleared to go under anesthesia by his cardiologist. He also has to be cleared by his pediatrician. The procedure itself is a minor one, but there is also a very slight chance that once the doctor looks at his trachea, he will need to have further extensive surgery. I know the doctor has to tell me worse case scenario, but it brought me back to the Eli that was 5 weeks old and in SVT. The doctor told us at that time that all he would need is a dose of medicine at the hospital and he would be fine. Eli seems to have a way of making the smallest things become ENORMOUS! It was a fluke that Eli ended up going into heart failure, needing to be intubated and sedated, and spent 2 weeks in the Cardiac ICU. He just has a way of falling into the worse case scenario category. Either way, I know Eli is a very strong boy and will be just fine and I also know there is no better place for Eli to be than at Childrens Hospital.
Please just keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

Benisms

This is just a taste of what my day is like with my Ben! He is hands down the funniest child I have ever heard. These were Benisms just from today...

"Mommy, some people think you can't dance. You need to show them your moves"

"Mommy, if you make me eat more lunch you will have to go to jail"

"I am so excited to go hiking today! Mommy, what is hiking?"

There were more, but I just can't remember them. I definitely need to start writing them down more often. He is one great kid!

Summer is here...

We know summer has arrived when Ben's soccer season is over and we bring out the slip and slide!
Ben finished his third season of soccer with Coach Joe (aka Daddy) and many of his friends. It was a great season and everyone on the team played very well together for being 3 and 4 year old children. The final game consisted of a quick game, huge moon bounces, and trophy presentations. Ben was quick to say that this was his third trophy!
A few days ago on one of the nice hot days we pulled out the slip and slide. I always had one of these when I was younger and I loved playing on it! The boys absolutely loved it! Ben is still a little hesitant of sliding on his stomach, but he does a mean slide on his knees that is so much fun to watch. Eli loved it as well, but he mostly just played in the water. He did try to slide a few times and that mostly resulted in him falling backwards and crying. It was still so much fun and the boys love playing on it.
We are headed off to Patapsco State Park today with the boys for a picnic dinner and some hiking. Ben is so excited to go hiking and Eli is excited to eat a picnic dinner! :) I will post pictures soon if I can remember to bring my camera.

Supraventriculat Tachycardia, Benign Nocturnal Paroxsysmal Hemeturia, Tracheal Stenosis......

No, I have not gone back to school to be a doctor....this is the medical terminology that is used in relation to my Eli. He is one strong child!!
I have a feeling Eli will grow up to be a doctor. I say this because of all the time he continues to spend in hospitals and his pediatricians office. Last week Eli woke up with his 7th bout with Croup since late November. I quickly took him to his doctors office and he was placed on steroids to open up his airway. A few days later he was feeling great and back to normal. We had a great weekend and then on Monday he developed another small cough. By 4:00am on Tuesday morning he woke up with another croup sounding cough. This round of croup quickly turned into serious breathing problems and Eli's pediatrician sent us to the ER to get chest X-rays and further treatment for his breathing. At the ER he was given a stronger steroid and we were told we would be sent home with breathing treatments to do twice a day. It was finally decided that Eli was not getting croup, but rather having breathing issues related to his intubations he had when he was 5 weeks old and in the hospital on breathing tubes. Apparently the breathing tubes had caused scar tissue and any slight cold would turn into serious breathing problems for Eli. We were then told Eli needed to have an endoscopy procedure done to look at his trachea and would need to be under anesthesia to have the procedure. The ER pediatrician spent about an house on the phone trying to find an ENT at Childrens Hospital that could fit him in, but she could not. So, we were sent home with breathing treatments and one worried Mommy!
Side note: while in the ER we had the pediatrician that was on Eli's case when he was 5 weeks old and in SVT. The doctor was so excited to see Eli and was amazed at how big he was. She definitely spent some extra quality time with us and was giving us hugs. It was pretty neat to see how much it meant for her to see Eli.
We did the breathing treatments and laid Eli down for the night. He pretty much woke up every 10-15 minutes coughing and having respitory issues. It was a long night and in the morning he was still the same as he was in the ER. I went back to his pediatricians office and she said to see how the rest of the day goes and if there is any change in his condition for the worse, then I would need to go to the ER at Childrens Hospital in DC so he could be seen by the pediatric ENT. We went home and later that night when Eli was trying to sleep he woke up every 5 minutes coughing and had labored breathing, but this time he had a very high fever. I was in panic mode and called my sister to come watch Ben and Joe and I headed off to Childrens Hospital ER. We were there and they gave him another dose of the strong steroids and we stayed the night there with Eli. In the morning the ENT came and told us he had scheduled an appointment for a consultation for the scope procedure for this Wednesday. So, now we will go on Wednesday back to Childrens and they will schedule his procedure. If they do find anything when they do the scope they will likely laser it off and then we will have this whole mess behind us.
My little Eli likes to keep us on our toes! Please keep him in your prayers that the procedure will be easy on him and will heal him. While I am extremely nervous that he will have to be put under, I am extremely confident in the doctors at Childrens Hospital. They are the ones who saved his life and I know they will take great care of him.

They grow up way too fast!

We were at the park not too long ago and Ben decided to climb on the monkey bars. He is getting so big, so fast! I get sad because he is not my little boy anymore, but on the other hand, it is so much fun to watch him try new things and to learn from them. At least Eli still likes to cuddle with me! :)

Not the best blogger...

Ok, so I am not the greatest at keeping up with this blog. I blame it on being a busy mom of 2 very acitve, yet wonderful boys! I guess I have a lot to catch up on, so I will give try to do a few posts in the next few days.

To begin, we had a fantastic time in North Carolina visiting Nonny, Grandad, Aaron, & Melissa. There is just something wonderful about the Carolinas and I tell Joe every time we visit that I could move there in a heartbeat! Everyone is friendly...they say hello, how are you?, nice to meet you, have a great day, and have great southern accents to boot!
Our trip consisted of many fun activities, but the ones that really stood out were the strawberry picking...which I forgot my camera for :( and taking the berries home to make homemade strawberry jam. Ben had the greatest time mashing all the berries and he earned the nickname, "THE CRUSHER" while doing his job. We made 6 batches of jam (which is 36 jars of the most delicious homemade jam you have ever tasted) and we split the jars between a few different groups. I never knew it could be so much fun to make jam, but we had a blast!
We also played some golf. That was not a typo! I actually played golf for the first time in about 3 years! Joe and I went out together and played the practice course, so I didn't have to pay any money to be terrible! It was still a great way to spend time with my husband, so I had a blast! Ben got really into hitting golf balls again on this visit. He can actually make pretty good contact when he pays attention to what he is doing.
We took many walks, fed turtles and fish in the ponds, and we went fishing too! We all caught fish...it was pretty fun! Eli even had his hands on a fishing pole after Joe snagged a fish. All in all, it was a great mini vacation!

Crazy days!

It is a sad day when I am too tired to post pictures onto this blog. The Knights have been way too busy with soccer, work, traveling, working on the townhouse (which had the fire in it), and just trying to get to bed earlier than midnight every night.
Poor Joe has been going to work for 8 hours a day and then promptly heads over to the townhouse to get more work done on it. We are in the home stretch and our tenants are back in the house, so there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
We leave tomorrow for a long weekend at Joe's grandparents home in North Carolina. We are so excited to enjoy the laid back ways of Pinehurst and eat delicious food, all while being surrounded by family. Good Times! I am sure I will post some pictures of my boys playing golf, so stay tuned!

It has been a while...

Sorry for the long pause on the blogging. We actually went on vacation to Disney World and I didn't check email, facebook, or anything else for a whole week! It was wonderful!
So much happened the week we were gone, but I will start with out trip! It was amazing! We definitely have become Disney World addicts and might need to get into some sort of rehab for it. Ben is 4 years old and has already been there 4 times! GEEZE!! Eli is only 18 months old and this was his second visit! It will definitely be a while before we go back, so that made this trip even more special!
We spent 5 nights and 6 days in Disney and visited all the parks except the water parks. The boys had the time of their lives and Joe and I had a great time as well. There is something about that place that just makes you happy! Everyone there was happy! People say hello, please, thank you, nice to meet you, have a great day, and are just overall happy people! Joe and I said the world would be a much better place if it were filled with people that go to Disney! :)
I got to meet up with Amie, a friend from college while we were there as well. She came with her son and daughter and we had such a great time hanging out with them in the Magic Kingdom. Unfortunately her husband and older son were not able to make it because of school and work! It was still so much fun to see the three of them. Thanks Amie for braving Disney with two small children! It is always fantastic to see you!
On Wednesday we got the wonderful news that our dear friends Justin and Sara welcomed their second child into the world. Arabella Jun joined her sister Adelaide Rose. I am pretty sure my sons are betrothed to their daughters now! :) We are so happy for them and look forward to having many play dates when they move back from the PI!
On Thursday we got a call from our tenant that the townhouse we own had caught on fire. The dryer had caught fire and our tenant was unable to put it out so she grabbed her three children and left the house and called the fire department. We are so happy that everyone got out of the house and are safe! The house is repairable, but the whole second floor needs to be redone. The ceiling also collapsed in on the first floor from all the water on the second floor. The fire restoration people are saying in about a month the house will be good as new! Joe is hard at work taking care of everything...what a wonderful husband!!
I think that about catches you up! I will post again soon!

Dinner Fun!

One of the only nice things about Joe being on a business trip is I don't cook while he is gone. I don't have to worry about what to make, and I don't have to go to the grocery store except for essentials. I love it! Tonight we had Chinese take out. Ben and Eli are HUGE fans of Chicken and Broccoli (emphasis on the broccoli). We had yummy strawberry shortcake for dessert with whipped cream on top. It was a wonderful evening!

Ben the Acrobat

Ben is very athletic! He loves soccer, swimming, golf, running, and being a ninja! At our recent trip to the circus there were acrobats that performed. He now is in training to be an acrobat that travels around the world with the circus!

Easter Weekend

I made the daring drive to Pittsburgh alone with both boys. I was a bit hesitant and worried about how the boys would do in the car, but they actually did remarkably well. There were just a few moments of Eli being very upset with his car seat. Other than that, they both watched movies and listened to Kids Place Live on XM! Thank God for technology!
We had so much fun with my family for the weekend. It is always nice to get everyone together. Ben and Eli played with their cousins for hours at a time. In fact, I had to chase Ben down to feed him meals. Eli fell instantly in love with my sisters dog, Hoffman. I really am in trouble now. Both of my boys LOVE LOVE LOVE dogs! I would much rather have another baby than a dog!
The first day we were in PA, we went to one of our favorite places called Fun Fore All. It is pretty much a kids dream. They have games, outdoor rides, putt putt, go carts, yummy food, and a new three story tall jungle gym called Ballocity. I had to escort Eli into ballocity and I think I had more fun than the kids!
The next day was Easter. Ben woke up that morning saying he heard the Easter Bunny hopping around the house, but he knew if he woke up to catch the bunny he would disappear. So, Ben waited patiently in his bed until 7:00 and then he went searching for his basket. The Eater Bunny treated my boys extra special since their daddy was on a trip. It was almost like Christmas! We then headed to church and came back to Thea's house for an early Easter dinner that was scrumptious! After dinner we had an egg hunt for the kids. Pop Pop and Grammy had placed some money in a few of the eggs. When Ben found his money egg, he said, "It's MONEY...just what I always wanted!" I was hoping Pop Pop and Grammy had money eggs for the adults too, but no such luck!
The egg hunt turned out to be the highlight of Eli's day. He just kept finding egg after egg and was elated when he shook them and threw them in his basket. We had to drag him inside after all the eggs were found.
We had a great Holiday, but we sure did miss Daddy! Joe comes home around midnight on Thursday and the three of us are so excited! We hate when he is gone, but the reunion is always the best part!

To Pittsburgh We Go!

We are off to visit Uncle Joe, Aunt Thea, Taylar, & Cohen. Ben woke up this morning so excited and ready to go. He always has a fantastic time with his cousins.
Eli has been fighting a little stomach bug since Monday, which has made my days very interesting. We are hoping he is over it, but I am putting a towel in to cover his car seat just in case! Gotta love kids! :)

Easter Egg Fun

Ben was so excited to color Easter eggs this year. He wanted to help me get the dye ready, he counted out the eggs so he knew how many he got and how many were for Eli, and he had to decorate them just right. He picked superhero decorations for his eggs, so he had Spiderman, Iron Man, and Superman. Eli on the other hand had Elmo and Sesame Street decorations. We got to hear Cookie Monster and Ernie's laugh a few times while we were decorating. It was a lot of fun.

A day in DC

Joe and I both love going to museums. When we were in high school and I would come up for a weekend visit that would be one of our favorite places to go. Living so close to Washington DC is wonderful. Not only is there so much history there, but it is all free! We met up with Aunt Ruby and Uncle Isaac and some other friends and took the boys to the American History, Natural History, and the Air & Space museums. Both boys loved every second.

Not too long ago we were able to get all the Little Knight cousins together. It was a great time over at Pops & Mimi's house. All the kids played so well together that it makes me wish we all lived in the same area. Ben and Eli both had a fantastic time with everyone.

A boy and his shoes...

Eli got his first pair of Crocs about a week ago. Since then he has been wearing them every chance he can. I think Ben is a huge influence of this since Ben wears them a lot! Eli is so proud of his new shoes and gets very excited that he can put them on himself (often on the wrong foot, but it is still quite adorable). Yesterday both boys wore their Puma track suits and Crocs. I never thought I would be one to dress my boys somewhat the same, but even Joe thinks it is cute!

Bye Bye Daddy

Joe left early this morning for a 10 day business trip. We always miss him when he is gone, but I get some good mommy time with my boys! It also makes me realize just how much Joe does for us when he is here. I do always manage to get in some sort of shopping trip while he is gone though! :)

A busy weekend...

I used to think weekends were for relaxing and unwinding from a busy work week...not anymore. We always seem to pack our weekends full of activities with the kids or time spent with family and friends. This weekend was no different.
Saturday morning started with Ben's second soccer game of the season. He did a great job, and is now focused on playing defense! He gets so excited just to say the word "defense". It is very cute! He always does a great job, and had some great moves on the soccer field!
Later that day we took the boys, along with our good friends and their kids to the circus in Baltimore. We were sure Ben would love it, but we were not expecting much from Eli (we were just hoping he would sit through it). Both boys ended up loving it! Ben was amazed at the elephants, tigers, and most of all 7 motorcycles riding around in loops inside a small metal globe...Joe and I were even impressed with that! Eli was standing on my lap jumping up and down, clapping, and dancing. Everyone had a good time.
Sunday was spent playing outside as much as possible. The weather was a perfect 65 and sunny! Our backyard became a hub of action as some of the neighborhood kids were playing on the playset for a while.

Eli Update

So many people ask me about our little guy Eli, especially those of you we have not seen in a while. Let me just tell you, that boy is FANTASTIC! We have been so lucky to have a healthy, happy, and normal 17 month old boy. Joe and I sometimes look at each other and just shake our heads when we think about what he went through at just 5 weeks old. The helicopter ride, the tubes, the monitors, the crash carts, the code blues, everything. We are just thankful we live so close to a top notch children's hospital!
We see his cardiologist every other month now and she is continuing to let him outgrow the Flecainide, which controls his heart rhythm. It has not been adjusted in almost a year. The Digoxin, which keeps his heart rate normal, will continue to be adjusted based on his weight for probably a few more years. Joe and I are hoping in the next year or so, Eli will be able to be off of the Flecainide completely. We will have so much more freedom from his medications when he does, since this is the one we wake up at 5:15 every morning for and we have to carry around in a cooler bag if we want to go out in the afternoon for more than an hour or so. We never mind dosing the medicine, but we just look forward to the day when he no longer needs it. If he needs to remain on the medication then when he is 5 years old, he will have a procedure done, called an ablation, which will fix the electrical pathways of his heart. Either way, by the time he blows out the candles on his 6th birthday cake...he will be completely healthy and medication free! :)

Disney World Here We Come...

It has been 6 months since our last Disney trip, and you all know the Knights can't go that long without seeing Mickey and all his Friends. We are headed back for a week of fun April 26th and we decided to surprise Ben with the trip. He knows we are going on an airplane, but he has no idea where we are going.
With the economy being the way it is, Disney World is offering some major deals on vacations and it was too hard for us to pass up. We only had to pay for Joe and I, and the boys get to stay for free, eat for free, and go to the parks for free...how could we not go?

Hokie Family

As most of you know, we are a loyal Virginia Tech Family. Ben & Eli were both saying "GO HOKIES" five minutes after being born. We are not saying we will force our children to attend VT, but they are extremely intelligent boys and we are confident they will make the right decision!

Keeping up with the times...

I registered for this blog almost a year ago, but have yet to do anything with it. Today I decided I am going to try my best to keep up with it. We have so many friends and family spread out all over the country and the world and it is time they can keep up with this busy Knight Family. Plus, it is a great way for me to show off my wonderful family! :)
--Stay tuned for recent pictures and activities from us