Tryon Turkey Day '09

We're a little late posting this one, but here are some pics from this year's Thanksgiving. Grandma KK and Grandpa Wally hosted the feast at their house in Tryon. As always, much fun was had by all even though Maggie and Owen were battling colds. Good food and drink made it all ok!

Tree is go

The tree is up, and so far Maggie has not tried to dissassemble any of
it. I have a feeling that won't last too long though.

Maggie's 1st Birthday Party

Maggie celebrated her 1st birthday last weekend and a bunch of folks came out to help her enjoy her day. After a cold, rainy week it warmed up and sun came out so we could enjoy the outdoors. Both kids and adults seemed to have a good time, and we all feasted on some tasty BBQ from Cooper's and gourmet cupcakes from our friend Elenor of Lapin Blanc Cupcakery.

Thanks to everyone who partied with us, and also to those who couldn't make it but sent their well wishes for the Magpie.

Raleigh Wide Open 2009

After many busy weekends we finally got to one with nothing on our schedule so after a leisurely Saturday morning we decided to bypass the NC Sate Fair and head downtown to Raleigh Wide Open...a cool art, food and music festival that this year included Raleigh's latest attempts to revitalize downtown...huge art installments that look like giant Tonka Trucks!!! We had a great time but our time was cut short by rain. We sought refuge in a wine tasting tent (I know, she's my kid) where, strangely, Maggie was suddenly the center of attention and a flood of people decide they had to have their pic taken with her - cameras and video galore..fun for us all : )

Out for a nightime stroll

Fall lasts about two weeks here so we enjoy every minute. Mag's was bundled up for a quick walk around the block...we think she's channeling her inner ET...Ellliiioott

rum punch from dancing lady?

the boat was rockin' on the waves, and this lady was rockin' on the boat! and yes, that is a full tray of delicious beverages she is balancing on her head while getting down.

rum punch?

jamaican vacation 2009!!! last jamaican vacation... 2004.

jenny jumper in action

off to grandma's house

after a long year, mom and dad took a much needed vacation to the caribbean leaving the magpie to her first extended stay with the grandparents. grandma karen was awesome, went up in the attic and found all her momma's toys from the 70's. maggie had a retro-fabulous weekend filled with many personal appearances in the very small town her momma grew up in.

Schwing!

New swing for Maggie, new FlipVideo to capture it, and relief from the 90+ degree heat here in Raleigh. Good times! Notice the tools on the ground in the background, this is an authentic just-installed-swing video not to be missed!

Peas and Carrots in Action

Fun with Peas & Carrots at the Marbles Kids Museum

The East Coast findleys get a visit from the Louisiana Findleys!

Jean is through crazy tax season and we were fortunate enough to be first on the list for Grandbaby visits!!!! So much good food and good times were had in a too short weekend. We hit "Marbles" the kids museum of Raleigh, the State Fair grounds (a giant flea market with endless people-watching and stuff you know you never needed from 1918, awesome...we must say). Lunch at a great NC BBQ place, CPK and food, food, food at home...good times and we were all sappy sad when they left. We must say we had concerns on the impending visit due to Mag's current phase of not warming to "strangers"... worries unfounded when she smiled and crawled her way right to Grandma and Grandpa...she knows the good stuff when she sees it!

Maggie Kate and Sister Sadie Part 2

Sadie and the Magpie are like "peas and carrots"...and peas and carrots are just what Sadie was looking for... BFFs

Beans!

Untold dollars spent on toys, but current favorites include empty breadcrumb cylinder filled with rice, paper bag, and today's newest entry.... a bowlful of dried beans! After a few attempts we discovered a pacifier kept the beans from making their way directly into her mouth and instead they became a source of sensory amusement. Go beans! We are learning to take it back to when everything was new.

Beatin' the North Kackalacki heat

Yet another day of 95 + degree heat means Mom and Dad must find a cool way to entertain Miss Maggie. We opted for the Museum of Natural History downtown where we, and many other stroller wielding parents, found admission free refuge from the heat and plenty of space to walk with baby. Mags loved the fish tanks and bugs (especially the slimy salamander and...(ick) hissing cockroaches. We followed up the trip with lunch which she, nicely, slept through :) There is a kidz specific museum just down the street that we will head out to next..watch out for pics of that trip!

Finally.... Fence

Almost 1.5 years after moving in, we finally have the fence we wanted for our backyard here in Raleigh. The small dog-run chain link fence is gone, and now we can enjoy the whole yard with Sadie and Maggie. There's still a lot of cleanup and landscaping to do, but we have a clean slate to start with.

I had contemplated the idea of doing the work myself, but after seeing some pros in action I'm glad I decided against it. Removing the old dog-run took two guys almost 3 hours, and they had a giant drill to help. I was going to do it all by hand.

Laughing/Funny noise contest

Maggie was obviously the winner of this contest because her creative use of the razberry with and without pacifier. Make sure sound is on for this one.



This video was taken pre-strabimus surgery, so eyes are still crossed a bit. She's recovering well and we hope to have some new pictures or video of her freshly aligned eyes soon.

Maggie's First Beach Trip

We just returned from a successful first mini-vacation w/ the whole family including Ms. Sadie. Our inclinations on Maggie as a true water baby were confirmed. She LOVED the water, the sand and the attention she received from everyone admiring her cool hat and glasses. We also ventured out for our first "nice" dinner with baby. Both Owen and I are ex-food service who declared we would not take a baby to a nice restaurant. Well, we did...but we went early and sat on the patio where Maggie learned the joys of packs of crackers, napkins and sticking her hand in raw oysters, very funny. We had a great time, stayed in a beautiful 1916 Bungalow in historic Wilmington and cannot wait to plan the next trip!

Summer fun at the local pool

Mom, Dad and Miss Maggie decided to beat the heat with a trip to the local pool. Maggie's first trip to a real pool was a success. She impressed those around with her excellent kicking and splashing. She impressed us with her fearless conquering of the grown up pool where the deep water was an endless source of amusement. We think we have a true water baby in our midst.

Vogue

She's a pretty lady

Catchin' Water

Mag's aka "the professor" loves bathtime. Her latest experiment is trying to harness water out of the tap

New Contacts!

After weeks (seems longer) of contact issues with Maggie that ended in red eyes, crying, and difficult contact removal, we got a fresh pair of lenses today and Maggie seems to be accepting them so far. The last few days she has been wearing only glasses because it became completely impossible to keep the old set of lenses in her eyes without causing her a lot of discomfort. We hope new lenses will solve the problem, and at over $500 per set we hope our insurance continues to pay for them if we need a new set every 2-3 months :)

Maggie's prescription is +26. To give you something to compare to, her dad (who can hardly walk from one side of the house to the other without glasses or contacts) wears -5.

Summer is here!

We spent Father's Day weekend @ Grandma and Grandpa Killough's home in the mountains. Summer has arrived in the south so we let Maggie beat the heat on "Maggie Beach" set up for her by the grandparents. As you can see she is a true water baby with a powerful kick in her step. If you want to check out live action Maggie video, click HERE.

Grandparents Visit

Julia's parents came to visit last weekend, for a dual purpose of getting in some Maggie-time and also allowing us to step out for an evening. We hit The Pit downtown for some BBQ, Fried Sweet Potatoes, Onion Rings, and other delicious grub on Saturday. Maggie particularly enjoyed her tastes of the mac&cheese, but that's no surprise considering she's my daughter. Then we headed to Cameron Village (near our old house) where the grandparents spoiled Maggie with some new toys from one of the cool shops there.

Later that evening we left Maggie with Karen and Wally, and headed back downtown for a benefit concert with The Rosebuds and our old neighbors Chatham County Line. It was a great show, and then we headed to Poole's Diner with friends for more food and drinks, including an awesome bowl of $10 mac&cheese. It was a great weekend of good times with family and friends that went by way too quickly.

Patching Progress

Maggie has been wearing a patch over her right eye for two hours each day (or least we try!) for the last month to build vision in her left eye. As you might be able to see in some of her other pictures, she still crosses the left eye inward most of the time. Today's eye doctor visit proved that its been working, and while she still crosses it she is seeing better with the left eye.




As we told folks before, the first two surgeries were only the beginning for Maggie. Dr. Enyedi is thrilled with her progress, but believes the time for eye muscle surgery to correct the crossing is here. We're tentatively scheduled to head back to Duke on July 31 for another procedure, which will involve weakening the muscle of the strong eye and strengthening the muscle of the weak eye to help balance them out. Uncrossing her eyes is necessary to develop proper vision and also will help remove some of the social stigma she will face as she begins to interact with other children more. We are thrilled and scared at the same time.

The surgery is known as Strabismus Surgery. Strabismus is the medical term for eye misalignment.

Some links:
Strabismus
Strabismus surgery
Matt Leinart, NFL Quarterback, pediatric strabismus spokesperson

Maggie Kate and Sister Sadie

They should form a band!!! They are total BFFs and we love that Sadie has finally gotten over her fear of cameras if it involves her little sister Maggie...cutie pies!

Picnic at the lake!

Maggie experienced her first picnic today! Julia, Maggie, Wendy, Sadie and I trekked over to Cary for an afternoon at the park. Tasty food (or formula) was enjoyed and then we took a hike around the lake to let Sadie do some long overdue swimming. Maggie seemed to have a great time, until we got home and found the extended outdoor playing had been a little too much for her sensitive eyes. We popped her contacts out and after a good long nap she was back to normal. We can't wait until her glasses are ready so we can give her a vision alternative when we know there will be lots of pollen, dust, and bright light. Regardless, it was a great day and Maggie's first real outdoor playtime post-surgery can be considered a success.

oh yeah, and I got stung on the toe by a yellow jacket. damn bees.

Spring Jays

While working from home on Thursday, I got to watch two young bluejays learning how to fly and hunt for food in the backyard. Pics aren't great because my zoom isn't so hot and the parents wouldn't let me get very close. Was neat to watch though, parents would drop by and give them some food and a nudge to get moving every once and a while. Pics were taken while they were at edge of the yard, but as the day went on they moved right out into the middle where I had a great view out the french doors of our basement office. At one point a squirrel chased a rabbit right past past them, and I thought there might be an animal world altercation. Luckily everyone was chill.

Sleep-tastic

Maggie's first weekend of unrestrained sleeping was a success. After months in a swaddle wrap ( aka straight jacket) her eyes were finally healed up enough to let her try a night sans arm restraints. She did great, sleeping through the night and making mom and dad very relieved.

Mother's Day 2009

4 generations of ladies turned up to enjoy Mom's Day '09. Bucket o'chicken, sweet tea, and mimosas were enjoyed by all. Gimma (Margaret) and her namesake Maggie had a wonderful afternoon as did we all. Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there.

Shout out to my ladies Jean, Aarin, and Jessa!

First day back at Nan's

Maggie's first day back at Nan's daycare (part-time) was a success. Nan was surprised by all the progress Maggie made in her 2 month absence, and Maggie was happy to show her all her new tricks. Even after an exhausting day with her nursery pals, she still found time to chat with Mr. Purple Elefunt on the couch.

Laundry Day!!!

Who says it's a chore? This is great!!!

Did someone say this sweet pillow is for the dog?

Mags did finally let Sadie enjoy her new bed

Alfie Findley 2002-2009

He was a good boy, a sweet boy, lover of people and a lover of water. For about a week we had noticed Alfie becoming increasingly lethargic and lingering in strange places. We took him and his 1/2 brother Jasper to the vet for a check up last Tuesday and all seemed to be fine. By the time the tests came back for Alfie showing extremely low red and white blood cell counts it was too late and despite being rushed to the vet he passed away quickly Wednesday afternoon.

Too soon my friend, too soon. We only hope you are in kitty heaven with your brother Nemo knocking over vases full of water and sleeping in a field of cool, calm bathroom sinks. We miss you...the petting zoo is no longer a zoo without you...Love, Mom, Dad, Jasper, Sadie and baby Maggie.

Recent pics

Just some recent pics of Maggie....

Happy 1/2 B'day Maggie!!!

April 17th was Maggie's 6 Month Birthday

For all you stat lovers out there...here goes...

Height 27 1/2 " 90%

Weight 16 1/2 lbs 70%

Head 16 1/2 " 45% (The cheeks easily add another 4 ")

She's all vaccinated up w/ only one left for her 9 month visit (yay!) and she loves apple juice, pears, peas...and HATES sweet potato & avocado...we're working on it...

Maggie's Eyes

Its been a while since we posted anything, we've certainly been busy. Things won't go back to what was "normal" for a while still, but we're at least beginning to get our bearings.

One month ago today, our 5 month old daughter Maggie was diagnosed with bilateral congenital cataracts on what we thought was a fairly routine visit to an opthamologist to check on a slightly lazy eye. Without surgery to remove the completely clouded lenses in both her eyes, her vision would quickly deteriorate until she was completely blind. Within 48 hours, the first surgery to remove the lens from her right eye was complete and we were at home with Maggie learning how to keep a 5 month old from touching her eye.

Luckily, the surgery was a success and Maggie recovered quickly. A week later she got a contact lens that served as a replacement for the real lens they removed from her eye. With the contact lens, Maggie could see clearly from her right eye for the first time in months. She was ecstatic!

Mom and dad struggled with putting the lens in and taking it out, but finally got the hang of it by the time surgery #2 for the left eye came around. So far, the left eye surgery seems to be a success as well and Maggie was back to her old self the next day. She'll get a contact lens for the left eye after a week or so, at which point we hope her vision and eye alignment start making real progress.

We have another month of constant supervision for Maggie ahead of us, which means she won't be returning to daycare until May. A million thanks to Julia's mom, Karen, for traveling to Raleigh for several days every week to take care of Maggie so we can both go to work at the same time. We are both lucky enough to have the ability to work from home as well, so on days when Karen isn't here we split the time so one of us can go to the office and the other works remotely with Maggie as an assistant.

We also have to send big thanks to Dr. Enyedi and the entire staff at the Duke Eye Center. Everyone has been great to us and so far the results are amazing. We are very lucky to be only 30 minutes away from such a great facility, we've read online of folks traveling from as far away as Seattle to work with the Pediatric Opthamologists/Surgeons at Duke.

The condition that Maggie's doctor believes is responsible for her cataracts is Posterior Lenticonus. The cause is thus far unknown in Maggie's case, as is common with this condition (many cases are "sporadic"). It can be inherited, but we haven't identified anyone in either family that has a similar condition so we're in the "sporadic" category for now. Infant cataracts can also be connected with serious metabolic diseases, so the doctors ran numerous blood tests. They all came back negative!

Feel free to do your own search if you're interested, there is a lot of information available on the web but most of it is clinical and difficult to sift through. Here are two links that give some info for the curious.

Brief description of Posterior Lenticonus
Overview of Congenital Cataracts

Everyone says it...

Maggie is a little Owen...everyone keeps telling me. Here he is with his little mini me..well, almost...she is a girl ya know

Mags First Valentines Day

Miss Maggie enjoyed sporting her pink attire on Valentine's Day '09. Thanks Aunt Aarin & Uncle Drew for the rockin top!

70 degrees in February

Didn't it just snow? What the ??? Maggie got to enjoy her first spring day earlier than anticipated.

Monkey Wrangler

Mysterio says... I will be a Monkey Wrangler

Snow Day!

A historic day... a new president and snow in Raleigh! Maggie's first winter gets the first decent snow in Capital City in years, so we all got to stay home and watch the inauguration and then go play in the winter wonderland.

Ready for school

....well, daycare really for a few hours in the morning. Thanks for the stylin' threads Aunt Jessa and Uncle BFin.

Maggie is ready for this wet, southern winter weather to be over so she can enjoy her new mode of transportation.

Random holiday pics

Some random holiday pics. Enjoy.


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Christmas visit from SoCal Fins

Finally getting around to posting some pics from Drew, Aarin, and Ellie's visit in December. A good time was had by all, but unfortunately they didn't bring the SoCal weather so we were stuck inside most of the time. We did make it out to Raleigh Times for some tasty fried pickles though, not to be missed.


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