Saturday, February 23, 2013

David's Ears

Our sweet D-Man has been battling ear infections off & on since October. Mostly on. I think our pediatrician gave us a little extra time before sending us to the ENT, because of M's heart. So on Feb 7th we took D to the ENT & we scheduled tubes for the 11th. Andy & David left that morning at 5:30 & were home by 9! We could tell he was our 3rd child & that we recently had M's open heart surgery - I didn't even go with them! It was easier for me to stay home to get M & K ready for school, on the bus, etc. David did great & we can already tell, just 2 weeks later, that he is feeling so much better. Less crying (although he really didn't cry that much) & his nose has cleared up. One really cool thing is he has started to say more words, just since getting tubes. I took him for a follow-up on Friday, and the PA said this is common because the fluid build-up was most likely preventing him from hearing the sounds.  Yay David! 

Valentine's Day!

 I "mustache" you a question - "Will you be my Valentine?"

 These were such a hit last year that we did the same thing for the kids' school valentine cards. It was fun to see Kate be so excited about it. Last year she didn't really care about the mustache. But this year she saw me cutting them out & said excitedly, "I want the biggest mustache!" She loved it! David, not so much :) And I love this cute pic of them kissing David - although, to keep it real, it took me about 10 "not good" pics to get this one good one :)

 We had our 2nd annual Valentine family dinner - complete with heart shapped cinnamon toast, biscuits, X's & O's eggs & bacon & fruit salad. We read some Bible verses about love & shared around the table what we love most. Michael & Kate would answer for David when it was his turn - "food," "my puppy," "naptime," "milk." It was so cute :)

Michael's Lego Birthday!

Michael's favorite toy has been Lego's for a while now. So it just made sense to have a Lego party for him. We invited 12 kindergarteners from his class / our neighborhood. 10 came (the parents dropped them off!) - it was a very fun party & all the kids seemed to have a great time & were very well behaved!
 I had a lot of fun looking for Lego ideas on Etsy & Pinterest. I ordered the Lego cookies & thought they turned out so cute! I found the cupcake toppers (& his invitations) on Etsy!
 The kids did a Lego man color sheet
 sweet sibling picture
 Andy came up with this crazy game - the kids had to follow a piece of yarn to the end. Each yarn end was connected to a small Lego set. Then all the kids put their sets together & took them home as their party favor. 
 Amazing how quiet a room of 11 kinders can be when they are all focused on building with Legos!
 Opening presents!

 Aunt Manda & cousin Henry drove up to celebrate with us!
 Cupcake time!
 "Happy Birthday to you..." the kids added some new parts to the song that the adults had never heard before :)
 Not enough chairs for that many kids so we had a picnic :)
 Michael with Papa & BB 
 Michael with Grandma & Grandad
 Our big 6 year old!!

 He had been asking for the Lego fire station for several months - he was SO excited!! 

Michael's Open House

 Michael's open house at his school was the first week of February. It was fun to watch him show off his classroom & all their hard work. This month they've been studying fairy tales & nursery rhymes, so that was the theme of the open house - Mrs. Branch gave us a check-list when we walked in - We looked at Michael's journal at his desk (he looks WAY to old in this pic!! This boy has been growing non-stop since his heart surgery!)

We looked at his creative writing in the hall - love the prince/princess with their photos! So cute!
His says, If I saw a princess trapped in a tower, I would..."make a rope and go to the mountains." Hmmm...wondering how that would benefit the trapped princess :)
 Daddy & Michael tried to "estimate" how many magic beans were in the jar. All the kids had memorized a nursery rhyme of their choice & Mrs. Branch had them recite them for a video that was playing during the open house. 
 Our sweet boy with his teacher. He LOVES her - can you tell?! She is an amazing teacher & we will be sad to say goodbye in May! 

Michael is 6! 2-2-13

We wanted to do something special on the actual day of Michael's bday (since his party was another week away). We invited two couples from our life group to go bowling with us. It was a super fun time. It was M & K's first time to bowl & they loved it! 



 Michael hugging Averi - this sweet girl & her sister, Addi, walk Michael to his class from the bus every morning. Michael & Kate adore these girls!!
 Cookie cake from Eileen's! Icing in Thunder colors, of course!! 
 Addi, Averi, Ethan, Michael, Kate, Evelyn & Eden
and the Mommies :)

Christmas with Po & Nana!

Po & Nana came to visit in January & we celebrated Christmas! We loved them being here with us - we went out for Mexican food, played lots of Legos, colored, & opened presents! It was a great time & we love them so much!
 Michael got his own Bible! 

Kate loved her princess dress-up clothes!

Sunday, February 10, 2013

things to remember

Michael -
*one morning he said very seriously, "Mommy, do I have a watch?" I told him no. He said, "Well, I would like to have my own watch. That way I can know what time it is without having to find a clock."
*"Mommy! I am SOOOOO behind on my calendar. I need to go work on it & get it caught up." (He has a little calendar that hangs in his room & he marks off each day :)
*One evening he was really wired & didn't want to go to bed. I had closed his door & was in the kitchen when I heard him fake-crying. I opened his door & said, "Michael, why are you fake-crying?" He said very dramatically, "Mommy, I am not fake-crying. I need to get out of bed because my body needs a little bit of water." ha. reminded me of a certain incident this summer at Candice's house :)
*K & M were playing in his room & she was singing. I heard M say to her, "Kate, I love your singing. But can you please lower it?"
*He's gained 2 pounds & grown 1 inch since his surgery on 12/7. So awesome! 

Kate - 
*picked her up from school last week & she talked my ear off the entire way home - "the clouds are white, and snow is white & my socks are white! White is my favorite color! and pink. and purple. and yellow!! There's a school bus Mommy! When I get 5 like Michael, I will be in Kindergarten & I can ride the bus!" When we got home I opened her folder & her teacher had written, "Kate is becoming quite the conversationalist." :) 
*one night she was also really wired & having trouble going to bed (same night as M - I am sure it was a Wedn night because we get home late from life group & they are always so wired because they are so tired :) I had caught her out of bed so I firmly told her to get back in bed & go to sleep. I shut the door & she started fake-crying. I opened her door & she said, "My feelings hurt! You make me sad!" such a hard life :)
*She is ALWAYS singing a song - we love listening to her sing. Her favorite right now is "Hosanna" (the one by Israel Houghton) - she always wants me to play it on spotify. She also still loves & requests the "Morning Song" & "Joy to the World." But then she will say, "But Christmas is over. Because it's not snowing anymore."
*a 3 yr old's logic at nap time - sobbing hysterically - "But I don't want to take a nap!!" me - "Well, I'm sorry, but you need to rest. If you sleep it will go by faster & then you can play!" K - "But I don't want it to go by fast!!!!"
*K was drawing & asked me to help her draw a fish. She said, "Draw me a fish please. But fish don't have eyebrows. But let's pretend fish do have eyebrows!" I drew her a fish with eyebrows. She says, "Look! You drew me a fish! It has eyebrows!" Then she laughed hysterically :) 

David -
*He engulfs his food - he uses both hands to eat so the time it takes him to eat a whole banana & a hard-boiled egg for breakfast - 2 minutes :)
*He sees me with my phone getting ready to take a picture & he will sit down, pose & say, "cheeeeese."
*He continues to be our little dancer. It doesn't matter where the music is coming from - a commercial on tv, a toy that plays music, my phone, etc...he drops everything & starts jamming. It is the funniest thing. ever. It will break my heart when he stops doing it.
*When I ask if he is ready to go night night, he always starts blowing kisses.
*Some of his words / signs - all done, more, eat, milk, banana, diaper, night night, hi, bye, mama, dada, puppy

this & that

1. What our kitchen table often looks like these days - M & K painting or drawing & David eating-ha :) 2. M K & D love the cd player/microphone that Mommom & Papa George gave them for Christmas 
3. M's kinder teacher brought this sign by our house after his surgery - M was so proud of it! So sweet of his teacher & his classmates. 4. M & K had all their 'friends' lined up for school :)



Life Group Christmas Party

A year ago, in January, we visited this life group through our new church, Life Church. We had no idea how much this amazing group of people would change our lives. We adore these people & are so thankful for them. They were so supportive during Michael's ordeal (2 of the couples even drove to Dallas to be with us!) & they did the sweetest thing - our Christmas party was supposed to be Dec 9th. Once we knew that M would have surgery on the 7th, they cancelled the party & moved it to the end of Dec so we could be there. Love these guys!! 
 Erin gave all the girls these cute Loft scarves! 
the silly boys felt the need to try them on too - haha :)


 

Christmas Day

We had a pretty quiet Christmas day - just our family & Uncle Steven. The kids opened gifts from Santa - they had to be patient because David is such a late sleeper :) Michael got his taxi (which is what he told his surgeon right before his surgery that he wanted for Christmas). We also got some snow - not  as much as we were hoping for, but enough to say it was a White Christmas :)