Memorial Day Trip

We have a tradition of spending Memorial Day weekend with my parents.  We rent a house somewhere (when I say "we", I mean the grandparents - they are kind enough to let us tag along) and we spend a long weekend hanging out.  I look forward to it every time.  This Memorial Day, my parents picked a house right on the beach in Freeport, near Galveston. The boys and I are leaving tomorrow and Brian is going to finish out the work week (yes, I know you're all shocked he'll be working) and join us this weekend. I have a LONG list of things to get done today, so I'd better get started... but I'm sure I'll have plenty of funny stories and pictures to post from the beach, so stay tuned! 

More Shirts

We're going to a birthday party tonight and I decided to make the birthday girl some T-shirts like I made last week.  These shirts are easy to make, inexpensive and most of all, SUPER cute! 

I was at Dollar Tree (LOVE THAT PLACE) and I found a bin of T-shirts up front.  After digging through, I came home with a few and decided that my boys needed some shirts of their own...

Oh, seriously - how cute are those?  :)

We recently found the charging cable to Reed's Gator battery, so instead of the Gator sitting sadly in the yard, it's been on the run the last couple of days.  Reed loves driving Hudson around. This pic is before we had it fully charged - Hudson grabbed the wheel and you could tell he felt like a big man.

Here's Reed with a technique that he hopefully won't employ when he begins driving for real.  (Ugh - I'm going to be the worst mom of a newly driving teenage EVER.)

Sweet boys!

On a different note, I want to begin by saying that I had nothing to do with the following:

I was minding my own business and figured that Reed and Brian were "fixing" something because the pair of them had gotten awfully quiet.  But it didn't take long for me to hear Brian's laugh - the "I've done something really hilarious" one - followed by "Heather, come look at this!"  And yes, I laughed...hard.  :)
Never a dull moment with my 3 boys in the house...I wouldn't want it any other way!

Thankful Thursday

This week I am thankful for:

• My dishwasher.  I hosted bunco Tuesday night and ended up running the dishwasher twice just that day.  I need to wash more dishes this morning and am so glad I don't have to do it by hand!
• My washer & dryer.  Have a ton of laundry to do today - so glad that the biggest "issue" will be folding and putting away. :)
• My parents.  They kept the boys on Tuesday and I was able to cook for bunco and get ready in peace.  I was also able to go to the car wash on Wednesday (sans children) and get Reed's Dr. Pepper stains shampooed (sp?) out of the carpet!
• My husband. He is smart, hilarious, kind, a great daddy and I love him soooo much.  I'm so glad he picked me. :)

Exciting News!

We recently bought some acreage and are moving!  We've been looking for some land for quite a while and it's getting harder and harder to come by because of all the houses and developments that are popping up.  After looking and looking, Brian has found some beautiful acreage and we are so excited!  It has a house on it that we will be living in it until we begin the building process on our "forever" house - which could be a year from now or 10 years depending on if we decide to renovate this house or not.  Right now the plan is to be there for about a year to a year and a half, so I've started another blog (yes, this will be my third blog and I am not ashamed of that) to document the things we do to the house to spruce it up a little - for those interested, here it is. 

A conversation between myself and my oldest child today:

M: I love you, buddy.

R: I love you too, Mom.

M:  I love you better!

R: No, I love you better!

M:  How can that be? I love you the best!

R: Well....I love you 20 miles an hour.

:)

Thankful Thursday

Reed, today is your 5th birthday and I wanted to list a few of the many reasons we are so thankful for you and enjoy you so much.

• You are a funny, funny kid. You constantly have me, your Daddy and your grandparents in stitches. You have a great sense of humor and are always keeping us on our toes with your funny sayings and come-backs!
  
• You are a great big brother. You are so sweet to Hudson - with your hugs, how you share your toys with him and how you watch out for him. You are helpful, sweet and truly a protector for him!
  
• You have a tender heart. Things affect you in a way that show me how sensitive you are. You care about others and how they are feeling and you love very sweetly.
  
• You are smart. You pick things up quickly, want to figure out how things work and I know you will love all the learning that you'll do at school.
  
• You make good choices. Of course you make some bad ones too, but the good FAR outweigh the bad. You're going to grow up to be a very good man.
  

Your Dad and I are so very thankful for you! We love you so much and wish you a very, very Happy Birthday!

(I know there are a lot of pictures, but trust me, these are pared down!)

Sometimes he's not the brightest crayon in the box...

...but I love him to pieces.  :)  I heard crying coming from our dining area earlier today.  It was the type of cry that said "I need some help and I need it NOW!"  I run in and come upon this little scene:

After watching me laugh for quite a bit, he decided that I wasn't going to help him and that he would just duck down and watch the TV under the table and through the chairs.
He soon decided that he would go ahead and cry about it until I did something.  So I pulled him out of the box, walked away and the crying began again in about 15 seconds...Yep, you guessed it...

Reed's 5th Birthday Party

Reed's birthday is on Thursday, but we celebrated this morning at Chuck E. Cheese. The party started at 10:00. (Ten o'clock in the morning? Isn't that early for pizza, you ask? Well, yes, but if I booked the party at 10:00, each party guest got 20 extra game tokens and when it comes down to it, it's ALL about the tokens, right? And we really didn't eat until about 11:00 which is our lunch time anyway, so it worked out great.) Reed is really into planets and the solar system right now, so we decided to go with that theme (well, as much as you can have a "theme" at Chuck E. Cheese.) They supplied all the stuff we needed for lunch, so I just got a few extras like rocket napkins and outerspace/alien themed favors. I made his cake to look like a planet with a little alien on the border. The inside of the cake was a fun rainbow color - the kids (and adults) loved it. Reed had a great time and is already planning his "Six Birthday" as he calls it. Here some fun shots from the day...

Reed trying his luck at ski-ball

Even Uncle Eric, Aunt Sara and Grace joined in for game time!

Cousin Sarah & the boys

Our little "Birthday Star"
Reed with his cake

Getting ready to blow out the candles

The inside of the cake - it's colorific!

Opening one of the many awesome presents

Reed and the cousins - he was so glad they came!

Thankful Thursday

This morning I had a root canal, so you wouldn't think this title would fit with this post, but it does!  Today I am thankful for...

• Drugs!  Numbing medication, pain medication and the like - all VERY awesome.
• A great dentist.  As I have mentioned before, I DO NOT care to be in the dentist's chair.  The process is much easier when I have a good dentist like Dr. Martin - very patient, very gentle and always asking me how I'm feeling and if I'm doing okay.  He even called me tonight to see how I was - a GREAT dentist.
• Grandparents.  One set kept the kids today while I had my tooth done and the other set is watching them tomorrow while I work on Reed's birthday cake.  
• Netflix.  I was able to catch up on some movies today while I laid in bed resting.  Grown up movies without any talking animals, aliens, characters with super powers or sponges who live in pineapples under the sea.
• Weight loss.  I am on Week 7 of my couch potato to 5k. This morning when I ran, it was a little harder than usual for some reason, but I'm still so proud I've stuck with it.  Did I think I would make it this far?  Not really.  Am I proud of my self? You bet.  The best part?  I've shed another 7 pounds because of the running  for a grand total of 22 pounds. Woo-hoo! 

Ear Update

I have had inquiries as to how Hudson is doing after having his tubes.  It has by no means been a "saga", but this could be a SUPER long post if I let it, so I'll give you the Reader's Digest version.

Friday: Drainage from the left ear...it was the most infected, so not unexpected.

Friday night: Still drainage from left ear.

Saturday morning: Crusty left ear when waking...followed by oozing.  Ewwww.

Saturday afternoon: Left ear ceases oozing.  Yay!

Saturday night: Crying around 10:30...get him out of bed...drainage running down his cheek from left ear.  EWWWW.  Give tylenol, clean up ear, goes back to sleep.

Sunday morning: Crusty left ear, but no drainage.

Sunday afternoon: Left ear is great!  Uh oh...drainage from right ear. 

Monday morning: Left ear still just fine..right ear crusty. Figures.

Monday: Right ear drains a little.

Tuesday Morning: Right ear crusty - no drainage!  We must be finished!  Yay!

Wednesday Morning: Right ear a tiny bit crusty...looking good!

Wednesday afternoon:  Call doctor because right ear resumes oozing. They call in some $35 ear drops and I am instructed to put in right ear (also in left if drainage resumes) until our check-up.

Wednesday evening: Pick up drops and put in ears because they are now BOTH draining.

Thursday morning: Both ears crusty, left ear draining.  

Check-up a week from Monday.  Expensive ear drops better last that long...

Surgery Day

Today Hudson had his tubes put in.  His surgery was set for 9:10, but the nurse said that the doctor is almost always running ahead, so we should be there at 7:10.  We left the house a little after 6:00 (yikes!) to head to the hospital.  Hudson was super tired but he stayed awake and watched WALL-E all the way. He started to get fussy around 8:45 or so - I'm sure because of hunger and thirst. He finally went in at 9:15 and they doctor came out at 9:20 and said he did great.  He said there was a lot of fluid in both ears and there may be more leakage over the weekend.  He also told us not to worry about swimming or baths, that water won't go through the tubes.  All I can say is YAY!!  I was not looking forward to all that with the summer coming up and all the swimming we are planning on doing!  :)  It was a full morning, but not much crying and a fairly happy baby most of the time.  God is good!

Running Update

Yesterday morning my alarm went off and I got up, pulled on my running clothes and walked out the front door.  I took approximately three steps, turned, went back in the house and got back in bed.  The temperature was in the 30's and I don't do the 30's.  So when Brian got home last night, dinner was already in the oven, so I threw on my running clothes and headed out the door.  (Little backstory- I am still on the end of week 5 because I missed one day last week.  The routine had been as such - Day One - 5 minute runs with a couple of minutes rests in between, Day Two - 8 minutes runs with a couple of minute rests between and Day Three - a twenty minute run.  Ummm, WHAT?  I'm very curious how we skipped from 8 minutes to 20 minutes!  The whole week was on one podcast, so my "running boss" would tell me when to run, when to walk depending on the day I was on. So I left the house thinking that I would go for at least 10 minutes for the first running increment and play it by ear from there.) So I'm cruising on getting to almost the 10 minutes mark, fully thinking that I'm going to take a break to walk.  A car approaches and the driver is an older lady - I would guess in her 60's.  As she gets closer, I see a huge smile on her face and she begins to pump her fist in the air as to say "You go girl!"  I cracked up laughing because it was really funny, but at the same time, it lit a fire under me.  I forgot all about my plan and decided that I was going to run until I couldn't anymore.  Low and behold, I made it the whole 20 minutes.  So to the lady in the tan car - You made my day!!

Bouncy Birthday Party

Tonight we attended a fun birthday party for one of Reed's sweet friends, Grae.  It was at the bounce house and Reed had a blast.  He spent most of his time on the big slide and even Hudson took a couple of turns (he wasn't too fond of it, but it was quite funny to see his face on the way down.) They had a little area for kids 2 and under - Hudson stayed only a few minutes and then had to get out where the action was.  And yes, I made the cake.  It is by far my favorite one I've done so far.  Here are a few pictures from the party...

First Teeth Cleaning

Today I took Reed to the dentist to get his teeth cleaned.  Yes, he is almost five and this was his first trip to the dentist.  I'm sure the reason I have put it off is because of my hate of dental appointments and the pain that I associate with them.  I know that all dental appointments do not involve pain, but I inadvertently associate the dentist chair with discomfort/pain. Because of all the drama I have had lately because of my teeth, I knew that I needed to get Reed on a good cleaning schedule and show him that if he goes to the dentist when he should, things won't get out of hand like in my situation.  About three weeks ago, Reed said "My tooth hurts."  Uh-oh. I asked him to open up and sure enough one of his molars had a tiny piece out of it.  I called right then and scheduled today's appointment.  We went in this morning and they did a couple of X-rays and started to clean his teeth. Some of the things were a little weird and uncomfortable to him in the beginning, but he ended up saying "That wasn't that bad!"  Turns out, he does have to go back to have that tooth fixed (hopefully a filling, but possibly a "pulpotomy" which is fancy talk for a root canal on a baby tooth.  Sweet deal.)  The good news is that he didn't have any other cavities or issues. He was a very brave boy and I was so proud of him!