Ride of his life

Merrick's surgery is complete.  Surgeries I should say.  He went in for his first one at 7am and got out around 1pm.  They were able to repair his valve, which is still a temporary fix that should last a few years.  The repair was the first option over putting in an artificial valve or a mechanical valve.  After the first surgery he had some excess bleeding that had to be addressed.  So they opened him again and he was in surgery for about another hour and a half.  He is now off the ventilator and doing well.  I was relieved and overwhelmed when they took out the ventilator and his first words were in a raspy barely audible voice, "I want my Daddy." 

Good Weekend

I had another proud moment again with Gavin.  We started throwing around the football this weekend.  He was totally into it.  He got really good really fast too.  In the past he would get bored with it and go do something else.  Merrick joined in and we all had a blast.  Merrick is super talented when it comes to sports.  Then Gav wanted me to take off his training wheels on his bike so we did that.  He hasn't got that down yet but it was so much fun to teach him how to throw a football and ride his bike all in the same day. Now if had been able to potty train Merrick too, then I would have hit the trifecta.  I think I'll leave that for Andrea though.  : )

Sophia is also getting more and more mobile.  I have fallen hard for her, harder than I could have ever imagined.  She has me wrapped around each of her little fingers.  The funny thing is I think Gavin is her favorite.  He barely has to do anything and she just starts laughing at him.  She is totally entertained by him.  She really is the best baby I've ever seen, but then again I'm blinded by love for my little sweetheart.

Dad's and Doughnuts

So I took Gavin to his school this morning for "Dad's and Doughnuts" and I was surprised by what I witnessed.  Gavin is quite the lady's man already at age 5.  He had a ton of girls calling his name and saying "hi."  One even tugged at her dad to stop walking so she could show her dad who Gavin was.  Needless to say I was very proud of the attention Gavin was getting from all the "chicks."
Unfortunately I think he'll be like his old man an not really know what to do when it comes to girls/women.  I was so shy that the only school dances I went to were the girls choice.  I've never even asked a girl to dance let alone to a dance.  It's a miracle that I was even able to ask Andrea to marry me.  If you ask her she will definitely tell you about how it took me, lets say "a while", to ask her out for a second date.  Even then, if I remember correctly, she called me to give me an earful for not calling her and that's what led to the second and subsequent dates. 
His mother is definitely going to have to help him with the girl situation because I certainly cannot.  Fortunately for him his mother is the perfect person to help him with this situation.  We'd be lost without her; she's the best mom ever. 

Preop Photo Shoot

We thought we'd get some fall pictures of the kids in before Merrick has his surgery. The surgery is scheduled for Nov. 24, Happy Thanksgiving, right?