{Thanksgiving & Daddy's Birthday}

The past few days have been very busy but very fun!  We celebrated Thanksgiving and also Chat's 33rd birthday this week with lots (and lots and lots) of family! 

 

Our celebrations started Tuesday.  We headed to Abbott, Texas for the day to see Chat's grandmother.  For the past several years, we always visit her the week of Thanksgiving and spent the night.  This year was a bit hard for us.  Since Chat is in school and has very minimal time off and also we have Ben who seems to always need to go to the ER due to injury or trouble breathing, we just didn't feel that it was good to make an overnight trip this year.  It is a town of 350 people and any major hospitals would be a couple hours away and it just didn't feel right.  So we got up early at 6:00 am on Tuesday and headed out.  When you get up that early, it is pretty much a necessity to stop for donuts.  Luckily about half way through our trip there was Top Donuts in Hearne, Texas.  It hit the spot and it helped the boys stretch their legs and get some wiggles out. 

 

We made it to Abbott around 10:30 am and got to visit with Chat's grandmother.  She is 92 so it is very special to spend time with her.  We had chicken and dumplings for lunch and the boys ran around her house.  Luke would pick of framed pictures of Chat when he was younger and yell, "Look, it is a picture of me!".  They look so much alike -- it is scary!  Luke also found her old exercise pedals and literally played on it for hours.  It kept him busy and in one place, so I was happy.   Ha!

 

Ben just wanted to be outside mooing at the cows.  The freezing temperatures and crazy wind didn't seem to bother him.  Just his mother who was freezing her tail off!!  Since Chat's grandmother's house is literally in fields, it has no protection from the wind -- no trees, buildings, nothing.  So what was probably 35 degrees felt more like 20 degrees and the wind would literally take your breath away it was so cold.  I must love this boy very much because I brought him out several times to moo at those darn cows (and to keep him from destroying the house!)!

We headed home about 3:00 pm and got home just in time for a late dinner and to see that our Christmas pajamas had arrived.  The boys loved that Santa was on them and so we broke our rule (can't celebrate Christmas till after Daddy's birthday) and wore them that night!  I got the best picture of the boys together.  Their expressions were priceless.  This might be one of my most favorite pictures of them together...

But let's be honest, this picture below probably represents a more accurate portrayal of the boys and our household these days.  Ha!

We woke up early Wednesday and headed to Avalon Diner for our annual birthday breakfast for Daddy.  Daddy got a tall stack of pancakes with candles in it and my three boys ate every bite of them.  And of course, they needed some piggy back rides when we got home!

 

What one dose, the other one has to do as well.  Having these two boys has brought the saying "Monkey see, monkey do" to a whole new level for me!

 

 

After showers, we headed to Chat's dad's house to celebrate his birthday and Thanksgiving with them.  We had lunch and then the boys got to paint pumpkin and turkey cookies.  They had a ball!

 

And of course, there were more candles to blow out for Daddy's birthday.  First Luke....

 

And then we had to relight the candles for Ben....

 

We headed home so Ben could nap (okay, I did too!) and then we headed back out that evening to go to Chat's stepdad's house for his birthday celebration and Thankstrimming (we celebrate Thanksgiving and trim the tree -- among lots of other things).  It was a full house and the boys loved every minute.  Luke always finds this horn and plays it there.  It is hysterical!

At some point in the evening, all the kids head outside and they put on their Christmas lights and the kids run around.  They have these three trees that light up in sequence with Christmas music and the kids LOVE them.  The kids dance and run and sing!  And Ben was in awe of all the lights.  It was so fun to watch him soak it all in.

 

After a long night, they boys headed to bed and so did we.  We spent actual Thanksgiving at my parent's house yesterday.  We didn't actually eat any turkey since my sister was in Dallas with my brother-in-law's family, so that will happen on Saturday.  I can't wait!  But we had a nice day with my parents.  The boys played and we went to the park.  We got home after dinner and we were all pooped.  So it was time for a family selfie...

 

 

The boys got to bed last night at a decent time for the first time all week and this was Luke this morning at 7:45 am.  This pretty much how we all felt this morning!  It is a sure sign of a great, but busy week. 

 

 

One more celebration tomorrow and then it is on to Christmas!!

 

{Fractured Foot}

Having boys I pretty much figured we would have broken bones, stitches and other injuries in our near future.  I wasn't quite expecting it to happen so soon and to my 23 month old.  Yep...Ben fractured his foot! 

It happened last Saturday, November 16th.  I was playing outside in the backyard with the boys.  Ben walked off and headed to our old swing set around the back of the yard.  I was dealing with Luke on the driveway and all of a sudden I heard Ben crying.  I couldn't see him from where I was, so I walked over to him.  He was just standing by the slide (towards where he would go up the ladder) and was crying.  Nothing too major, but definitely seemed like he hurt himself.  He cried for maybe 2 minutes and then stopped.  Then about 20 minutes later I noticed he was limping.  It was his right foot.

Not knowing what happened or how he hurt it and the fact that he only cried for a couple of minutes, I figured it was something minor.  I decided I would just watch him over the next few days.  Well over the next five days, he continued to limp.  He started walking on the side of his right food, not putting any way on his big toe and the toe next it.  I thought maybe he broke a toe that Saturday.  Knowing you can't do much for a broken toe, I continued to watch it, but made an appointment for Thursday to go to the pediatrician just in case I felt like we needed to go.

By Thursday, I knew something was wrong.  He was not limping any less and I could just tell it was something more.  So we headed to see Dr. S that morning.  She thought it would be a good idea to get an x-ray.  She wasn't overly concerned that it was actually something more than maybe just a bad bruise, but with the Thanksgiving holiday coming up, she knew if he continued to limp and then we tried to figure it out later, we could run into offices that were closed.  So we headed to the Imaging Center.  I got a call from Dr. S within about 20 minutes of getting home and she confirmed that he fractured his right cuboid bone.  She referred us to an orthopedist.

Bad picture while he was getting his x-ray

(He was clenching an Ariel sticker to help distract)

By 1:00 pm, we were at ortho getting fitted for a boot.  Luckily he would only have to wear it for about 3 weeks and it should heal.  Ben did amazingly well all day.  At three different doctor's office and through a set of x-rays.  He smiled and was overall happy and content.

Entertaining himself by making a choo-choo train at the orthopedist appointment! 

Until the darn boot.  He went postal when we put it on him.  It took a few hours, but he finally started to accept it.  He has a few bad moments here and there with it and occasionally rips it off, but overall he is doing pretty well.  He walks, runs and climbs with it...so I am hoping it is doing its job even with all his activity!

This was before he went postal...

 

Absolutely worn out from the day's activities

So not even two years old and this boy has been in intubated and in the ICU, been to the ER for choking, another ER trip for breathing issues again and now has been the first to fracture/break a bone.  I am so nervous about what the next 16 years will bring to us while he is under our roof.  Thank goodness for wine and prayer!

{Halloween 2013}

We had a great Halloween season this year!  Unfortunately, we had to do a lot without Daddy since he was working and also in class during our different celebrations, but we still had a blast.  We first started out at our neighborhood Halloween party.  Luckily, Uncle David and Molly came too so Ben was in heaven (and I enjoyed having an extra pair of eyes and arms to help me with the boys!). 

Molly and Ben slid down the slide about 100 times

Uncle David stuck both in the swing and I think Ben's circulation got cut off in his legs because they were so tight in there together.  It was hysterical!  And short lived...

This kid ran around like crazy and had a ball!

Brothers...

Silly!

Ben loved the pumpkins and tried to carry this little one around for a while. 

Love the dirt all over his face!

He was trying to humor me and let me take a picture, but he just couldn't quite take his eyes off everything else to look at the camera.

Packed up in the wagon about to head home and showing me all the loot they got!

Now on to the actual night of Halloween!  Luke wasn't into wearing a costume this year, so instead of trying to fight it, I embraced it and got the boys matching Batman shirts.  They were super happy with these and there were no tears and fights trying to get into costumes.  I am thinking next year, Luke will be more into that part.  But this year was more about friends and candy!

This was me and the boys getting ready to head out on for the evening.  It was just us so we took a selfie before we left!  All smiles...

 

Before we headed out, I also bribed the kids with candy and a Thomas the Train episode if they would humor me and take some pictures!  I didn't get anything perfect, but I do think these little batmen were pretty cute!

And then there were a few bloopers....

 

 

 

We went to a friend's house for a fun party with lots of fabulous families, yummy food/drinks and a bounce house!  It was a zoo and the boys loved every minute of it.  We then all went trick-or-treating and after that I took the boy's to Chat's stepdad's where Daddy met us.  We headed home after 9:00 pm exhausted -- at least I was, not sure about the boys.  Ha!  Everyone slept all night without a peep though!

 

Another Halloween down and we are already into November!  I love this time of year...the day after Halloween until Christmas.  Let the holidays begin!