Monday, January 24, 2011

A Day at the Aquarium

 On Saturday, we decided to make the 2.5 hour trip to Chatanooga so the boys could explore the aquarium there.  It turned out to be a wonderful trip!  As you can see, both boys took a nice long nap on the way down so they were well rested and in a wonderful mood while we made our way through the aquarium.  Grammy went with us and of course the kids loved having her along!  We had so much fun that we spent over 4 hours in the aquarium and were a lot later getting home than we had planned :) 
Landen really loved the fish.  He would get SO excited when he was standing at the tank and a fish would swim by right in front of him.  He also enjoyed touching a stingray.  He was very gentle and didn't try to grab it!  Ethan on the other hand, wasn't so fond of touching the fish.  He was perfectly happy just looking at them.  It was so cute....there was a stingray that was shaped like a shark and every time it would come near Landen, his big brother would pull his hand up out of the water because he was scared Landen might get bit.




Ethan's favorite animals at the aquarium were the turtles and the butterflies!  He was amazed by all of the different kinds. 








Ethan is such a great big brother.  He was showing Landen everything and telling him everything he knew about it all.  The boys had a great time and we can't wait to visit again soon! 





What A Week!

Ethan finally fully recovered from Strep and low and behold on Sunday (1/16) after church, Landen started running a fever.  We were up most of the night with his temp at 102.6.  So, we went straight to the doctor on Monday morning!  Thankfully, Nana was able to come stay with Ethan (they were out of school for MLK day) so he didn't have to tag along to the doctor's office and risk getting sick all over again.  It turned out Landen just had an upper respiratory infection but he did have to have an x-ray of his lungs to rule out pneumonia.  He barely had a cough and there was no wheezing or congestion so Josh is convinced that this was just a tactic on the doc's part to "line their pockets".  Either way, once Landen started his antibiotic he was feeling much better by late Monday.

Unfortunately though, that wasn't the end of our troubles.  Monday evening Ethan began to complain that he was hurting between his legs.  Thinking that he had probably hit himself playing I told him to sit down a rest for a bit.  I didn't hear anymore about it until he was getting out of his bath that night and he started crying and saying again that it hurt.  After, his dad and I examined him and saw nothing abnormal we had him lay on the couch and he wanted to put ice on it.  The next morning he was walking odd so Josh went ahead and took him to the doctor (our home away from home).  After an examination, they were afraid that his testicle had turned and if that condition isn't repaired (with surgery) within 24 hours of the time it began the patient won't ever be able to have children.  So, they sent him to a urologist at GGC to have an ultrasound.  Even though I was going crazy with worry, Josh was persistent that I keep Landen at home and just wait for the ultrasound results.  After much praying and worrying, Josh called and told me that Ethan's testicle was just infected and an antibiotic would clear it up.  Thank God....no surgery! 

After an eventful morning, we took it pretty easy on Tuesday afternoon just to give Landen and Ethan a chance to recuperate from their illnesses and then on Wednesday I was a woman on a mission.  Due to Ethan being sick and home all of the week before because of snow I hadn't touched my house in almost 2 weeks!  So on Wednesday, I did laundry, cleaned out my closet, vacuumed out my furniture, scrubbed bathrooms, and mopped floors.  I also had to run errands in town before picking Ethan up from school (they had actually went an entire 2 days!), so Landen was ready for a nice long nap by the time we got home for the evening. 

On Thursday, I had my afternoon all planned out.  See, Josh's grandmother comes over most every Thursday afternoon to visit with the boys.......so, I was going to go to Ethan's school and catch up on my PTO officer duties, go by the pharmacy, and run to WalMart for a few things all BEFORE picking E up from school.......WRONG!  They dismissed school at 1:30 due to a forecast of snow beginning in the early afternoon.  Since Nannie doesn't get here until 1:00 I dashed out the door and headed straight to the school to deliver b-day treats to a few teachers and pick up some things from the office.  Man, do I pity the people who work in the office at the school on snow days.....the phones were ringing off the hook, parents were flooding into the office to get their kids.....it was CRAZY!  Once I escaped that havoc, I drove around and got in the pickup line to get Ethan and once he was on board we went to the pharmacy where they were convinced that someone had already picked up my prescription.  I don't know who picked it up but I hope they enjoy my birth control, LoL!  It's kind of scary that the pharmacy doesn't know who they gave your prescription to but at least it wasn't a narcotic!!  After, they RE-filled it we were on our way to WalMart.  It was barely snowing when we went in but when we came back out 45 minutes later the snow was falling HARD!  Once we got home, Nannie went on home, much to Ethan's dismay,  to avoid dangerous roads.  That evening Josh left work in Nashville at 4:30 and arrived home at 7pm!  Bad weather definitely makes you realize the disadvantages of working out of town but thank God he made it home safely as many people didn't....Josh said there were at least 10 or 12 cars off of the road from work to home. 

On Friday, of course there was no school due to the several inches of snow.  So, I took the boys for much needed haircuts and then we just played for the rest of the afternoon. It was a nice laid back day after the couple of weeks of madness we have had.  Although, I must admit.....a few good things did happen this week.  1. Obviously, things could have turned out MUCH worse in all of the above situations and we thank God that he was watching over us and taking care of us in each situation.  2. Ethan brought home a PERFECT report card this week. 3. Landen is now nodding "yes" (previously he would only shake his head "no" to everything, he is standing on his own for a minute or so at a time but then when he realizes it he grabs the nearest thing, and he can show us where his nose and mouth are (plus he has started saying "Mama" more often than he was....hehe). 4. We began our weekly family Bible study this week.  We all learned a lot and Ethan loved it! 5.We have eaten dinner at the table as a family every night this week.  This may not sound like a big deal to most but it is something that we have really had to work on and I am proud to say that we have really improved! 6. We had a wonderful time at the aquarium on Saturday (I will do a separate post later on our trip).

I do have one prayer request, I noticed a small very round knot behind Landen's right ear a couple of day's ago.  I am praying that it is nothing and goes away, but if not we will be heading to the doctor to have it checked out soon.  Please pray that it isn't anything to worry about.  I just have to remind myself often that God loves my children more than I ever could even though I love them with every fiber of my being!

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Week Full of Snow Days

So, as you all know it snowed last weekend and even though it was a little snow it made a big mess!  As I mentioned in Landen's birthday party post, Ethan had strep last weekend.  So, I was thankful for school being closed on Monday so that he could have an extra day to fully recover.  Well, they ended up being out of school all week and they were already scheduled to be out on Friday and this coming Monday for MLK day!  Even though, I have heard "Mom" atleast 500 times a day and feel like I have suddenly become a full time waitress, maid, and entertainer we truly have enjoyed our week together.  We have just had to work on several things since Ethan seems to not apply when he has free days out of school, such as: our manners (please and thank you), sharing (with his brother), doing some things for ourself (picking up after we are finished, throwing trash in the appropriate place, dressing/undressing), and entertaining ourselves with the many, MANY toys we just received for Christmas not to mention a birthday two months before!  It's like he thought that a week of staying at home gave him a free pass to do whatever his little heart desired.  Don't worry though, he is back on track and well aware that the free pass is null and void!!  Once we got that under control we have had a wonderful week of reading books, cooking on his play kitchen, building many train tracks, pushing his brother around in his toy car, cooking in the real kitchen, playing cars, dancing, and MORE!  We stayed home most of the week and Ethan LOVES staying in his pj's all day so most days I just let him.  On Thursday we HAD to go to the grocery and then to Ethan's appointment with his dermatologist.  He has a mole on his leg that he has had since birth and we have to keep it checked just to make sure that it doesn't turn into any kind of trouble for him.  It checked out fine, thankfully.  Last night, Josh took us out to eat at Longhorn and we stopped at Toys R' Us to let Ethan spend the money that he had earned and to get Landen some peach yogurt melts because he LOVES them and Walmart was out.  After that , we called it a night because Josh had to work today until 1pm.  Once he gets home we have BIG plans for tonight ..... we are going to watch "Despicable Me" and Disney's "Alpha and Omega", eat popcorn and cookies, and play board games!  Ethan got a couple of new games for Christmas that we haven't played yet.....we can't wait, Ethan is taking his bath early for church in the morning so that bathtime doesn't take away from movie time tonight, lol.  Well, I am going to put Landen down for his nap so he doesn't miss out on the fun tonight either =)

Christmas Morning 2010...Santa Came!!! (Landen's 1st Christmas)


I finally found the memory card with my pictures of Christmas morning when Santa came and I thought I would share....




"He REALLY came!!!"


"I'm not sure what's going on but I could get used to waking up to this!"



"Please Dad, can we go outside and try it out?"

"Gitty Up"


Ethan whipped us up some tasty breakfast!


Landen wasn't too sure about the dino at 1st but now he LOVES it!

Opening his stocking

He convinced Dad, lol.

Shooting Nannie and Landen through the window.




"Oh Brother, please stop!"



Uncle Derek showing Landen how to play it.



He just didn't know what to do with himself and refused to take a nap.

Sweet Boy, worn out from his first Christmas!


The boys helped Nannie open her "grandmother" bracelet.


Of all of the toys he just opened, he chose to play with his brother's toy :)

Monday, January 10, 2011

Landen's 1st Birthday Party

The welcome sign

On Saturday, we celebrated Landen's first birthday with a small party here at our house.  We had family and a few good

The monkey cupcakes and smash cake
friends over to celebrate with us.  The party was monkey-themed and I was so excited about the decorations that I had ordered from Etsy and the monkey cupcakes that my mom and I made.  I was a little sad on his actual birthday because it hit me hard that my baby was a whole year old but the day of his party I let all of that leave my mind and we just celebrated our precious, funny, sweet, loving baby becoming a precious, funny, sweet, loving one year old!
Landen's highchair decorations

  We started off the party by snacking on
Cute monkey plates
Subway sandwiches, chips, fruit kabobs, and a vege tray while everyone chatted and played.  Then we all sang "Happy Birthday" to Landen while some of the bigger kiddos helped him blow out his candles.  To our suprise he does NOT like chocolate icing.  He took one bite and spit it out!  He just wanted to get down and play with the other kids and wasn't happy when we tried to convince him to dig into his smash cake or take pictures with his birthday hat on.  He was a good sport about it all but just kept reaching for someone to get him out of the highchair, LoL! 




We love you so much Landen and are so thankful that you are our son!  You make us smile non-stop and you are such a joy to everyone around you.  We thank God for this wonderful first year with you and can't wait to spend many more exciting years watching you grow into the amazing man that you are sure to be.
                                                                                                                    Love,
                                                                                                                         Daddy & Mommy
Ethan had came home sick from school Friday morning and after a trip to the doctor we found out that he had strep. They gave him a shot and sent him home with antibiotics in hopes that he would feel better for the party on Saturday but no such luck. Thankfully, he is now feeling much better but Saturday he was a zombie. His fever was up, he wasn't eating, and even though he tried to play with our guests for a little while he ended up curled up in the middle of his bed and then later back on the couch. I felt so bad for him because he had been so excited about his little brother's birthday party and he didnt even really get to enjoy it. I would have just rescheduled if it hadn't been so last minute....plus, he pleaded with me not to.

 

After everyone had cupcakes we gathered around to watch Landen open his gifts.  He received so many nice toys and some money to add to his savings account.  He loved all of his presents and his guests.  He entertained them by dancing to his singing Mickey Mouse clubhouse card :)  He is such a riot! 

Later after the party had ended and things settled down, Landen found a nice comfy spot in Jennifer's lap and passed out!     What a perfect ending to a perfect day! 

 

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

The Holidays 2010

So, I feel absolutely AWFUL that I haven't blogged in almost a full two months!!!  The holidays were just crazy busy for us and I let blogging fall to the "back burner".  Anyway, I am just going to jump right in and try to catch you up to speed....our Thanksgiving was wonderful!  More of my family was able to get together than usual and some family who had never laid eyes on Landen got to meet him.  Both of my boys tried some new foods at their Thanksgiving meal.....dressed eggs and turkey.  Ethan is very picky about his food and really surprised me by trying these foods!  I honestly thought I was going to have to take the plate of eggs away to keep him from making himself sick!  It was no surprise that Landen tried them though, he will eat ANYTHING! He now eats 2 containers of baby food twice a day and usually cries for more.  He loves table food of any kind and every time he sees you eating he thinks he should have some.  That's not even mentioning his snacks such as yogurt melts, vege sticks, etc.  He is now taking mostly whole milk.  We still put formula in 1/4 of his bottle but will stop doing that soon. 







We couldn't have asked for a better Christmas!  It was Landen's first Christmas and we got a lot of snow!  On Christmas Eve we go to Cracker Barrel for breakfast with my dad's side of the family.  Ethan was so excited for the Christmas festivities to begin that he could barely sleep.  Landen was a little more laid back about the whole thing but still really enjoyed tearing the paper off of his gifts.  After breakfast we went back to my grandparents house and spent time with cousins that we don't get to see very often.  On Christmas Eve night we go to my mom's parent's house and spend time with more cousins.  By the end of Christmas Eve both boys were exhausted and it didn't take long for them to go down so that Santa could come.  My parents and Josh's grandmother came over to stay the night so that they would be here when the boys found their gifts from Santa.  Santa brought Ethan a kitchen (it was a blue kitchen at Josh's request), a snowball gun (Ethan's odd request), a telescope, a Nintendo DSi, and a remote control Lego train.  Ethan cooked us food on the kitchen all day and really enjoyed going out and playing in the snow with his new snowball gun!  Santa brought Landen a rocking horse, a dinosaur, a bat and wobble penguin, and a few other small things.  He loves his horse as long as someone else will sit in front of him and rock him on it, lol!  I can tell you this much, finding places to store Christmas toys after Christmas for one child is MUCH easier than finding room to store toys for two!!!  I still have a few things that just don't have a home! 





My Monkey
Three days after Christmas, Landen turned one!  It seemed surreal because it seems like he was born just a few months ago.  We could NOT imagine our lives without him!  He is such a joy to each of us.  Landen is such a wonderful little boy.  He smiles constantly and subsequently keeps us smiling constantly :)  He is crawling and cruising like a pro but hasn't yet took that first step.  He loves to waive bye bye, say "uh oh", and give fives.  He dances anytime he hears anything resembling music.  Our sweet boy loves to be read to and he loves to take puzzles apart......we are working on the putting them back together part.  He adores his big brother and thinks that Ethan should play with him at all times.  He is wearing 18-24 months clothes and size 4 in shoes.  We went for his one year checkup last week and he weighed 27 pounds and was 32 inches long.  Everyone is amazed by what a "great eater" he is.  We will be celebrating his 1st birthday with a party here at home this Saturday and I will do a post on it soon. 




We had a pretty quiet New Years Eve here at home.  My parents came over and a friend of mine came over with her two kiddos.  The kids all had a blast playing and Landen was right in there with all the bigger kids.  He was so excited that he stayed up until 12:30am!!!  We are so blessed with wonderful friends and family who made the holidays wonderful for us!  We are so thankful to God for a new year in which we are all healthy and happy.  We can't wait to see what 2011 holds for us and to spend another wonderful year growing, laughing, and learning with our two precious boys!!!! 
Ethan, Landen, and Alera bringing in the New Year

He was SO sleepy you can tell he is forcing his eyes to stay open, LOL!