Happy Holloween!

Okay, this post is a month late, but I just downloaded the pics from the camera and I decided that the munchkins were too cute not to document.

X and E changed outfits from our trick or treating adventure at Huckleberry Railroad.  Thankfully, C didn't have such opinions.

 X got a couple of costumes from his birthday and decided he wanted to be 'Pirate Chica'...I didn't bother to tell him 'chica' is Spanish for girl.  He thought it sounded cool.  Sprout has a little chicken that was 'pirate chica' one day.  He thought it was a good name, I guess. Besides, he was still 2.  One can get away with a lot when you are two and cute.

Notice the sword that is as tall as he is...Thank you, Grandma.  What a wonderful birthday present that was...However, I do understand that pirates need swords.  I just wasn't thinking he needed a 3 foot long sword. 

E decided that she did not want to be a pioneer...after all she dresses up as that weekly.  She wanted to be a fairy princess.  It was quite the costume she concocted from all her dress up clothes.  Her outfit was only established the final minutes before we left because it kept changing.  Pay special attention to her footwear. It screams fairy princess.  Strawberry Shortcake socks and sparkly flats loaded with bling.  Unfortunately, it was cold.  So, E had to wear her coat and so most people didn't get to see the wings and the top half of her ensemble. 

  
The funniest thing of the night was that when we got to my folks' house, X was so exhausted he practically fell asleep standing up in the doorway.  My dad scooped him up and he soundly slept for our visit, the car ride home, and to the next morning.  He didn't even remember going out there.  Poor little guy that can't nap anymore can't handle being out after 7:30.  :)  But, one must admit, it is too exciting to nap on Halloween...you might miss the trick or treating!

Thankfully, C goes along for the ride and did well with all the excitement...but then again, Halloween didn't bother his napping habits.

First Snow

Last Sunday, we had our first snow of the season.  We didn't know it was coming.  It was a surprise.  X walked down the stairs in the morning and exclaimed, "Mom, its Christmas!" when he saw the ground covered in white.  E and X were beyond excited.  There is something magical about the first snow through a child's eyes.  Both kiddos just wanted to go outside and play, but it was Sunday and we had to get to church. 

As soon as we got home, X put on his hat and mittens.  E changed into her snow gear and out the door they flew.  They had so much fun playing in the snow.  There really wasn't very much...just enough to coat the grass but it was enough.

My pictures didn't turn out very well...I'm not sure what was going on with the camera, but they had fun.  It was nice because they weren't in the kitchen begging for food while we were cooking.  There was definitely an up side to this snow!!  :)

Hurricane Sandy

Hurricane Sandy gave us this amazing sunset at the end of October.  I didn't even get a picture at the peak of its color.  It was amazingly beautiful.  My pictures don't do it justice but it was phenomenal.

Happy Thanksgiving

I helped the kids make a Thanksgiving Turkey.  I thought I'd share.  I wrote X's thanksgivings on the left side of the turkey and E wrote her own on the right side.  X's list:  Thanksgiving food, Grandma Daron, Grandpa and Grandma, Home, Turkey and Healthy body.  E's list:  Mom and Dad, Food, Hand, God, Eyes and Grandpa and Grandma.

I love how their minds work.  I always find their thoughts interesting and sometimes they really surprise me what they come up with.   But, I am also thankful for everything on their list.

I am thankful for so many things.  I'm thankful for my husband and all the hard work he's doing to complete his Master's degree and his attempts to juggle family, school and work.   I'm thankful for my parents that are close by and support us with so many things.  I'm thankful for my kids that keep me on my toes every single day and keep me from getting bored.  I'm thankful for our church family that supports us financially and with prayers.  I'm thankful that the Lord has blessed our family with health.    God has so richly blessed us and I am so thankful for His mercy and grace.  Our blessings are too numerous to count...and for that I am thankful.

This one will go down in our family history books...

Tonight was a normal evening.  Kids got bathed.  Kids got on their pjs.  Kids got their teeth brushed.  Kids picked out books to read.  Then, the unusual happened...

Jut was downstairs with his mom and I was reading to the kids.  All of a sudden, C started screaming.  I looked and he had somehow opened my full bottle of Thieves blend essential oils and had it streaming out of his mouth.  There was a pool on the floor and he was screaming.  I rub a drop of it it under my nose when I have a cold and it burns my lips if it gets too close.  I can't imagine the pain he was in since he took a mouthful of the stuff.  I yell for Jut to call poison control...should he drink milk or water...drink or throw up?  All questions that poison control can answer. 

Since Jut didn't have the number for poison control on his phone, he calls 911.  The operator can't even figure out what essential oils are...let alone be much help.  As I can quickly see that his conversation isn't going anywhere, I run downstairs and call poison control.  C is screaming and thrashing.  I talk to poison control and he tells me that he'll be fine...it just really hurts him and he needs to drink something, anything to wash the stuff out of his mouth.  By the time I am done with poison control, we have a police officer in our house...then there's another police officer in our house...then the ambulance shows up and we have two EMTs in the house.  I guess when a child is involved in a 911 call, an ambulance is automatically dispatched to the scene.  Lovely.  So, C gets evaluated.  When the first cop showed up, he stopped screaming because this was all new and interesting and as each additional person showed up, he became more and more intrigued. 

So, the EMTs evaluated it.  The area around his mouth was fiery red.  He sounded extremely phlegmy. He was drooling like crazy.  The EMTs recommended that he take a precautionary trip to the ER based on those symptoms...plus he had really started thrashing and carrying on again.  They were worried about his breathing and potential reactions like tongue swelling or throat closing.  I told them that poison control said it really wasn't a big deal but they still cautioned that a trip to ER would be the safe thing to do based on his presented symptoms.  So, C and I headed out to the ambulance and went for a ride.  They buckled him in and gave him a little stuffed animal.  He was wide-eyed at the new experience.

Now, the funny thing about it was...C was extremely odoriferous.  All the responders mentioned how much the house smelled of eucalyptus.  We got in the ambulance and they turned on the vents.  We walked in the hospital and the nurses commented on how nice he smelled...and how overpowering it was.  They quickly got me a gown for C so that we could take off his oil soaked pjs and sealed them up in a bag.  When Mom and Dad arrived, they said that they could smell it when they walked into the ER.  At least we gave the ER a pleasant smell.

The nurses gave us pedilite and formula...I think C drank about 6 ozs of each...maybe even 8 of the pedilite.  He calmed down.  They called poison control and shockingly they told the hospital the exact same thing that they told me.  That it wasn't anything serious and that he needed to drink some fluids.  They sent us home in about an hour or so.  Moral of the story:  Listen to poison control.  They know what they are talking about.  Don't let the EMTs scare you into worse case scenarios.  However, our EMTs were great and I'm thankful that they were thorough.  Better to be safe than sorry.

C was quite the charmer at the hospital.  He visited the nurses station and made lots of new friends.  He giggled and laughed and threw himself around enough to make the nurses nervous that he was going to hurt himself.  Fun times.

He does have a bit of a double ear infection the PA told me.  It isn't bad enough to warrant antibiotics yet but if he becomes inconsolable in the next few days...that would be her number one suspicion.  Fun, fun.

Now to get the smell out of our house...that might take a few days.  :)

X is 3!

X celebrated his 3rd birthday today.  It is hard to believe he is three.  I can't pretend he's still a toddler.  He's now a 'preschooler'.  Crazy.  Where did my little guy go?

Well, if we are speaking of physical stature, he still is my little guy.  His 2T clothes fit him perfectly now.  He grew his typical 1.5 inches for the past six months but no more.  It doesn't appear that he inherited the tall genes from our families.  C is already taller than X was at 18 months.  But, he is growing and hopefully the dr doesn't have too many concerns next week at his checkup.

Speaking of doctors, we visited the allergist last month.  We didn't get him retested but did confer with the dr about how all the food allergies of dairy, wheat, soy and eggs seemed to have dissipated.  The nut allergy is severe. X falls asleep when he has one and the dr told me that was his body shutting down, and that nuts will kill him if we don't keep him away from them.  It was a bit of a reality check for me about the severity of his allergy.  He's gotten into them 4 times since his diagnosis and hopefully will not again!  Our vigilance has been heightened. 

Listening to X play is one of my favorite things.  He's so imaginative and fun.  He uses different voices and facial expressions.  He's adorable.  He and E play together so well (most of the time).  Its great.  He mimics E and what she says.  They both pretend play like they are characters in a storybook and will say things like, "'blah, blah, blah,' said the farmer."  It cracks me up  They like to dress up too.  E is constantly dressing X up in her various princess or fairy costumes.  Consequently, X got some 'boy' dress up clothes for his birthday.  But, he loves dressing up and playing.  He has a great imagination.

X still LOVES Thomas but not as much.  We don't always have to watch Thomas movies or Thomas on the television.  He plays with other things.  Playing in the dirt with his construction trucks is one of his favorite things.  We made him an indoor sandbox for his birthday and he's been playing non-stop with it since Sunday.  So, he does play with things that are NOT Thomas sometimes.  But, he still plays with his motorized track and engines quite a bit.

I love listening to X.  He has a the cutiest little voice...at age 5 it might be annoying if it doesn't change but at age 3, it is just adorable.  His "th" sound is missing at the beginning of words...so he says "fank you" instead of 'thank you', but otherwise he does pretty well with his sounds.  I don't always understand him because he talks fast or quietly but if he speaks up, I can usually understand him. 

He's a ball of energy that goes and goes.  He loves riding his balance bike.  Everyone comments on it when we are out and about.  He loves zooming around.  He only had one accident on it this summer when he kissed the sidewalk after nearly colliding with our neighbors car.  He can balance so well when riding that I think a 'real' bike will be a cake-walk for him when the time is right.

 

Naps are a thing of the past but bedtime comes earlier.  So, that's good.  On Halloween, he was so tired that upon arrival to G'pa and G'ma's house (just before 8), he promptly fell asleep in G'pa's arms and when he woke up the next morning, he didn't even remember going out to their house.

Age 2 was fun.  I can't wait to see how my little guy changes in the next year.  I'm sure it will be filled with lots of laughter!

We are blessed.