Megan

It has been great to be home and to spend time with Megan again. We did everything together until I went to PNG, so these past 3 weeks together have been a blessing. Although we haven't done lots of specific things, we have just enjoyed the time together as we have cared for the boys and packed up her house. Yesterday we packed up a box trailer - we had lots of laughs as we were lifting the boxes, and having things fall. That is one thing I miss, laughing with Megan. We just laugh at things that only her and I can understand. It has been a lot of fun to be together, something I miss when I am in PNG, but am thankful that we are still able to keep in touch while I am in PNG.

Grahamster

Graham hasn't gotten much blog time since I have been home, probably because he just sleeps, eats, and cries, but he is cute. He is much bigger than Luke was at his age. Today we took him to be weighed, and despite being almost 12 lbs, we found out he is only 50th percentile for his age, so he is actually normal. I have continued my night time call duties for him, and so I have gotten to spend a lot of time with him during the hours of 8 pm to 6 am. I have been getting relieved by Megan around 6 am, and so have had the opportunity go back to bed for a few hours of sleep before I get up again. Graham is still up quite frequently at night, and doesn't like to go to asleep outside of someone's arms. He is smiling now, and makes some sounds. He also is like a little bobble head doll with his head at times. He is a keeper and I will miss him.

Swimming with Luke

Today Luke went swimming in his pool so I decided to join him. I figured even if it is only 5 inches of water, it would be cooler than just hanging out with him out there. We put our faces in the water and blew bubbles, dumped water on each other, went down the slide, and just had fun. I will miss these times.

Zoo with my Aunts

My aunts came to visit the boys and I today. I haven't seen them since I left, so it was nice to catch up on things. We took the boys to the little petting zoo that is nearby. Graham slept, but Luke enjoyed looking at the animals. He only fed the deer one time, said it tickled and wouldn't go near the animals after that, unless they were smaller than he was. We saw bears, tigers, lions, sheep, buffalo, camels, and more. Luke enjoys making the animal sounds, so he kept us entertained.

Children's Museum

It rained on Saturday, which cancelled our thoughts of going to a petting zoo, swimming, or miniature golfing, so instead Megan and I decided to take the boys on a road trip to the Children's Museum in Pittsburgh. She hadn't been there before, so we didn't really know what to expect, but heard good things about it.

Graham slept most of the time and ate, but did make one appearance in Bob the Builder land. Luke however, enjoyed playing with balls, cars, in the water, and more. He went down a slide in the Gravity Room with Megan, but wouldn't go again with me, so I didn't get to experience the fun. He also enjoyed lining up the toys around him when we were in the water area, asking for more boats and then lining them all up on the side of the little pool. We didn't stay long as Luke needed to nap, but it was a nice afternoon, and something the Nash Family will do again, I am sure.

Old Friends

Yesterday, the McMichael family came for a visit. Megan and I went to medschool with Bob and were good friends with him and Meghan throughout our 4 yrs at PCOM. They now live in Meadville, Pa, where Bob is an anesthesiologist, and Meghan takes care of Josh and Grace. Josh is 3 wks older than Luke, and Grace 4 months older than Graham. Luke and Josh enjoyed playing together and made both mom's thankful they didn't have twins. It was a nice evening together.

Family Time

This past weekend, my dad and Laurel came down to Megan's for a visit. It was the first time we got to be together as a family. We played some games, went to Strawberry Days in Grove City, went out to eat, and just hung out. It was nice.

Luke enjoyed Strawberry Days because he got to play on the playground. I figured he is 2, he will definitely need to go on the little playground, but not Luke. He took off and climbed up the stairs to the big slides and went down them without any problems. He also enjoyed seeing the firetruck and sitting in it. Graham wasn't as excited about these things, but that could change in a couple of years.

Golfing

The last time I was golfing was right before I left for PNG, but since I was home, my dad and I took the opportunity to go again. My dad loves to golf and would golf everyday, if able. I have found golf more enjoyable as I get older, but am not ready to pack up the tennis racket or basketball shoes yet. So we spent yesterday morning on the golf course. I had some nice shots and some not so nice shots, but it was fun just to be out there with my dad.

The boys and I

I am enjoying my time with the boys. I get to spend a lot of quality time, at night, with Graham as we do his night time feedings. I have found I am having a hard time getting back to sleep after his first feeding, so have spent that time reading the Bible and praying about the future. Luke is constantly on the go, playing with one thing and then another, and always running and jumping. His favorite word seems to be "sure," as this is his response to wanting to do just about anything except hold his brother. He doesn't seem to really realize Graham is around and just conducts his life as normal. Hopefully, he will start to interact with him more, especially as Graham gets a little older.

Nash family gets a tractor

Yesterday, Joe and a friend traveled to Ohio to pick up a tractor. They are building a new house and decided that a tractor was needed to help mow the lawn, plow the driveway, and carry the garbage down the long driveway every week. They got a free cart for behind the tractor, so the kids can enjoy hay rides in the fall. While Joe was getting the tractor, Megan, Daly, the boys and I were going through their property trying to make a trail that they can use with the strollers to go for walks. I won't be here to help with the move to the new house, but have enjoyed getting to see it and am helping do some packing.

Going to lunch

I used to think that eating lunch was an easy thing to do, I have now realized doing about anything with 2 boys is never easy. We went out to get pictures taken today and went for lunch at Panera. I was feeding Graham and Megan was trying to eat and feed Luke at the same time. When Luke finished eating Megan's food, he decided he would use the fork and put it in my soup to eat. It was working well, until Megan suggests he uses a spoon, but getting more was not a good thing for him. He only spilled it all over the table. He quickly went back to the fork. In one bite he got a piece of broccoli - that got spit out. He did manage to eat quite a bit, but he also spilled a bunch on his shirt and the table. As he is eating, Graham is screaming because his bottle was done, but he wasn't. Megan and I just start laughing as we survey the situation and see everyone in the nearby tables looking at us. We certainly got some stares, but it could have been worse. We were able to clean things up and settle Graham down enough so I could eat and Megan could finish eating before we headed home for much needed naps.

Safely home

After a long flight, I safely arrived in PA at my sister's house late Sunday night. Graham was kind enough to get up and meet me as he wanted fed at that time, so I got to feed him before we both went to bed. I got a few hours of sleep before I got to see Luke again. Luke was cute. At one point he said "2 mommies." We explained that I wasn't his mommy, just his aunt, who looks like his mommy. After his nap, he wanted some milk, which Megan was getting, but he came to me to be held. I picked him up, but then he saw Megan and realized I wasn't her, so he reached out to her, but didn't cry. So I am making progress. I am enjoying my time with them. I wasn't on call for feedings last night as I was still not fully recovered from my trip, but now I will be on call every night while I am here for the Grahamster.

William

William came to us last November with a pericardial effusion and stayed in the hospital for about 6-8 wks over Christmas. He underwent 2 surgeries, a chest tube, multiple pericardiocentesis, had spontaneous drainage of his effusion on 2 occasions, received lots of antibiotics and tuberculosis medicines. There were days when I didn't think he would live, or at least didn't think he would ever get rid of his infection and lead a normal life without coming to the hospital or staying in the hospital a lot. Thankfully, I was wrong. I saw William this week after he finished his TB meds. He is doing great. He is in school, he runs and plays with his classmates, has no pain, no sob, no complaints. He has no swelling of his legs or abdomen, and other than the scar on his chest, his scalebook with gives his medical history, and the camo shirt he got at Christmas while in the hospital, you wouldn't know he was ever sick. I told them this last visit, how thankful I was that God had helped and strengthened William throughout his illness, and how I was concerned at times that he wouldn't make it, but God was able. His dad, Joe, is very thankful that William is doing well. He was faithfully at William's bedside throughout his hospitalization, and we often prayed together for William's health. He expressed his appreciation for the care that we gave his son on numerous occasions, and thanked God for saving him. What a blessing to be apart of restoring health to a patient and his family.

New Internet Cafe

We have had a lot of internet issues on our station since I have been here. At times the internet works great, but most of the time it doesn't. I can't complain as I am still able to get on and talk with my family, and email, and post blogs, but it often is slower than we would like. Within the past few weeks though, things have gotten worse, especially for the North side of the station. The north side's connection somehow has been interrupted and now they are without internet into their houses. So now, they have to go to the field office, or someone else's house to use their internet. Those of us with internet are happy to host those without, but an internet cafe has also developed - the McCoy's porch. I have a wireless router that the McCoys are able to use and that works on their porch, so before and after the graduation party folks were using the internet. Some asked me if I served coffee, I don't. They thought it would be a nice touch, but since I don't drink coffee I don't see it happening in the near future.