Our newest addition!

The doggie situation at our house changed a lot this summer, and we weren't really looking to add any new members to our family, but that all changed a few weeks ago. When Colby was born we got to know another family with a little girl in the ICN. We've stayed in touch, and a couple months ago found out that the female dog they rescued was pregnant. She had 8 puppies that all needed homes. We went back and forth about the idea of getting a new puppy, but in the end decided to bring 8 week old Nicki home with us. She is a mutt, but has little brown eyebrows like Hershey had. She is wild and crazy, and no where near house broken yet. Shelby tolerates her, but would much rather lie on her bed and sleep than have a pesky little puppy nipping at her. Colby does pretty well with her, and is getting really good at saying, "no Nicki!"

Fall pictures

Fall fun

Pumpkins! Pumpkins! Fall is such a fun time! The weather finally cools off and there are so many fun things to do. We went to the fair, a wedding in Maryland, welcomed a new cousin to the family, dressed up lots of times, and got a new puppy! Colby got to pick his pumpkin out of a real pumpkin patch this year, and he had multiple opportunities to dress up in multiple Halloween costumes. He even won a prize for his Chewbacca costume (even though the judges thought he was an ewok). He also thought it was pretty neat that mommy came to his school to do crafts for his class Halloween party (we decorated treat bags, and made spiders with egg cartons and pipe cleaners). He was a cowboy for "trunk or treat" at the church where his pre-school is, and for trick-or-treating with the neighbors. Trick-or-treat was fun after he figured out we didn't get to eat each piece of candy as it was handed out; eventually he was OK with saving it for later in the pumpkin mommy carried for him!

Colby's Second Birthday

We had a smaller celebration for Colby's second birthday, but Colby still had a blast. It was an Old MacDonald theme, complete with a cow cake : )

Bye-Bye Annie

It's been a tough doggie year for us. First, in January, Annie bit Colby after he fell on her. The decision to take her out of our home was an easy one, but we wanted to try to find her a new home. We were super lucky and very fortunate that our friend Heather took Annie in as a foster dog. She worked hard to find her a home and we were soooo lucky that Jeff Z took her in. They got along really well, and Annie was very at home with Jeff. Unfortunately, Annie started getting sick a couple weeks ago, and was not able to recover. She was back at home with us for her last week, and Steve tried really, really hard to nurse her back to health. She was just so sick that she was not able to bounce back. So on Friday night we took her in to put her at peace. She fought a hard fight, and was such a sweet dog. We will all miss her.

The end of summer...

It was a busy summer! We all enjoyed lots of fresh veggies from the garden (that Steve kept going through the hot, hot summer), swimming at the pool, and road trips, but did not enjoy the super hot temperatures! We are looking forward to fall, the state fair, halloween, and the holidays!

Colby is talking up a storm, and coming up with all kinds of new phrases every day. He says "back in a minute," "my turn," "sorry Shelby," and "try it" for a few examples. He repeats just about everything we say, and just talks non-stop. The other day he even told me to buckle my seatbelt as we were backing out of the driveway! He eats just about anything, including green peppers straight out of the garden. He's quite the two-year-old : )

more road trip pictures

Road Trip Pictures

Can you believe Colby's two?

What a fast two years it has been! This week is a bittersweet week for the Guy family as we celebrate Colby's birthday and remember and miss Gavin. We had a small celebration/cookout for Colby this past Saturday with some family members, and today Jennifer and I are taking the afternoon off to spend time with our busy two year old. He will get his two year check up today, and then we plan on visiting Wakemed (to show him off to some of the intensive care nursery staff/doctors as we did a year ago, the staff loves to see their former little patients), and then a brief visit to the cemetery. We may head to the pool after that (weather pending), he loves to play in the water and "swim" (he spent two hours at the pool last night as well). Colby continues to be very healthy and happy, and is using more and more words each week, and can even place some simple sentences together.

Road trip summer 2010

One of our friends in Raleigh moved back home to Illinois this spring after getting engaged last fall. We miss her, but were excited to go to her wedding on July 2nd in Danville, IL. When we looked on a map to see where Danville is (how many people know where Danville is??) we saw that it was not far from Cincinnati so thought we should drive to the wedding, and stop in Cincinnati on our way. It was only a 13 hour drive - no problem!

We left Saturday morning, and drove to Beckley, WV. Beckley and the surrounding area is a great place to be outdoors, if you are 8 or older. Rafting, biking, and hiking are big in this area, and we found that there was not as much to do for an almost 2 year old as we thought there would be. We made the best of it and hiked in the New River Gorge where we saw lots of rafters on the river below. We all went on a helicopter ride - a first for the whole family, and we toured a coal mine. Colby was a little scared at first on the helicopter, but after a minute or two we were looking at the cows and trees on the ground below. Steve had a much more exciting ride at higher speeds, and with wind gusts. Colby handled the coal mine really well too. I thought he might get a little scared of the dark, but he enjoyed riding the "train" and looking at the rocks. But Colby's favorite part of WV was probably the hotel pool and sleeping with mom and dad since he wanted nothing to do with the pack and play.

After two nights in WV we drove to Cincinnati. We wanted to go back to visit Cincinnati Children's hospital where I had surgery to correct the TTTS in May, 2008. It was hard to be back since the last time we were there we had so much hope for both baby boys. The staff was super sweet, and very glad that we stopped in for a visit. Colby is the picture of health, and a happy, active almost 2 year old which was fun for them to see. While in Cincy we went to the zoo, a Red's game, spent time at the riverfront park, and took a riverboat cruise. Again, Colby's sleep was a challenge, and we spent some time on the highways during nap time, but it was a fun place to visit.

After three nights in Cincy we drove to Danville for the wedding. What a fun weekend. We got to visit with some friends who also moved away from Raleigh, to Oregon. They have a son who is the same age as Colby so it was sweet to see them play together. We miss them too! Again, the hotel pool was a big hit with Colby, while the bar was a bit more fun for mom and dad ; ) The bride and groom not only had a beautiful wedding, and fun reception, but also organized a tennis tournament, which Steve won! Sadly, we had to leave the festivities and drive 13 hours home. We made it back to Beckley, WV for the 4th where we attended sort of a mini fair. It was pretty interesting, and I'll just leave it at that. Colby watched his first fireworks that night, but I don't think he enjoyed them. He was a bit scared and kept wanting to go "back" to the car. Monday was back to home sweet home, and Colby's crib!

Lake 2010

We celebrated Grandpa Dale's birthday, Jennifer's birthday, Laura's homecoming, Father's day and Flag day at Lake Wateree. Colby loves to be in motion while he sleeps! Boat rides around nap time were the best! We even got to peek in on some baby blue birds.