The Dust Has Finally Settled!

Well, it is the beginning of a new year and where have we been? The better question is where have we NOT been! Our holidays were once again full of hustle and bustle but we tried to keep things as simple as possible. We celebrated with family and friends all over the place. We finally took the boys to see Santa but it was different than before. We went to a neighborhood in Apex where a couple decorates and partitions off their garage to be like a living room. Santa comes out and sits with the kids, poses for pictures and just has a generally good time. His wife dresses like an elf and hands out gifts to the kids (Austin got a bookmark and candy cane while Caleb got a cute little stocking with tissues!). Caleb was not a big fan of the guy in red so he went around back and stood behind the chair so that we could get a picture with both of them (and unfortunately me). Christmas Eve we were at home and we decided to pick someone in the rest home to visit. I picked one of my patients who would be there on Christmas Eve. She has dementia and I knew she would probably not remember the next day so I called her daughter to ask if it would be ok for us to go. She was so excited to see the kids. Austin talked with her and we gave her some little gifts that we brought. We only spent about 45 minutes but she was so happy and I think it taught Austin a good lesson. Of course Santa came and the boys got way too much stuff. All in all it was a good and relaxing time.

Shane went to the bowl game in Memphis for New Year's. The boys and I went to Greenville. It sounds like Memphis was a good time, except for the game and we had fun getting in bed well before midnight to get a good night's rest. Shane went on his annual golf trip this weekend and the boys spent time with Nana and Grandpa. That left me all alone. I must admit that it was not so bad!

Austin is doing well in school. He is really learning a lot in Pre-K. He does great with his sight words but is resistant when it comes to math. He is going to sign up for more sports for the Spring and is excited to get involved. He is working on his inside voice and just being a good listener. He has really started to talk back and has become a real pain at times.

Caleb is all over the place. He is running everywhere and wants to be involved in whatever his brother is doing. He is starting to be very mischievous and will do something only to look over with this huge grin on his face. He has been cutting some teeth, ever so slowly. He has started to wake in the middle of the night and has become very hard to get back to sleep. If we let him cry, he will wake up Austin. We are hoping it is just the teeth because he seems fine otherwise. Who knows what is going on in that little head. He has had many tumbles resulting in numerous bruises on the head and scratches here or there. He seems to weather them all without difficulty!

We hope this new year brings more fun to our house as the boys continue to grow. Until next time, stay safe and keep warm!

Ear tubes, Turkey, and Trees, Oh My!

We have been pretty busy over the past month. At the top of our list has been the health of poor little Caleb. He had his 5th ear infection in early November and we headed to the ENT. After 4 days of antibiotics, the ENT asked me if I had been giving him his medicine because his ears still looked horrible. We went the following week for ear tubes. The following Monday he was supposed to get vaccinations and they assured me to just bring him on unless he had a fever. Being the great PA/mom that I am, I never thought to check his ears. When we arrived, the ever-so-wonderful nurse practitioner asked very nicely if I had not noticed the gobs of gook coming into his ear canals. He went back on antibiotics. By Thanksgiving day, he had hand, foot and mouth. I was sure that was what it was but we went back to the doctor on Monday. We seem to be in the clear so far this week, but then again it is only just beginning!!

We spent Thanksgiving at home and ate with our wonderful neighbors who we might as well call family. It was a relaxing day since I had to work on Friday. Austin tried to cause a little commotion by falling into the outside firepit. Gasp, sigh, and wonder if this is for real! You know it is the truth. I had gone to take leftovers home and Austin was not sitting in the chair as he should. From what I understand he fell forward into the firepit and then was pulled out by Andy, his trusty wing man if you will. He was more upset that he was pulled out by his hoodie hat than about falling. He had one little scratch and some black soot under his eyes but otherwise weathered another storm just fine!

We put up our tree the weekend after Thanksgiving. I got a burst of energy so Austin and I put up all of the inside decorations at once. He was a lot of help and was excited to be involved. We tried several times to get a picture for the Christmas card in front of the tree but were never successful at getting the two of them to smile at the same time. Caleb is on his own terms but is cute as can be when he decides to smile.

Well, it is back to battling the Christmas crowds. I do believe I might just do it from my computer! Until next time...

Halloween and More!

So I did not get a chance to post pictures from Caleb's birthday party so they are included in the slide show above. He had a good time walking around and looking at his gifts. The cake was not so much on his to do list this time around. He just was not interested. He did eat a piece of cake when I fed it to him from a fork. Next on our whirlwind of events (actually this begins Friday night and we ended with the birthday party on Sunday) was the Fall Festival at school. Both boys had a really great time. Caleb enjoyed the bean bag toss, hay pile, and making his own pumpkin with stickers. Austin enjoyed just being the social butterfly that we all know and love! It seems like he knows everyone. Saturday we headed to Henderson for Dad's class reunion. We had a nice time seeing some people Shane had not seen since graduation while the kids stayed with grandparents. Then Sunday was Caleb's party.

This past weekend was Halloween and we had some birthday parties mixed in there. Our neighbor, Ashley, turned one on Halloween and we had a great time celebrating with her. That night we all went Trick Or Treating together. Yes, the babies were in charge of the cooler as we went around the neighborhood. Austin did a great job despite worrying about the dogs as he went. The cemetery picture is from one of my patient's houses in the next subdivision over. They have an impressive display both inside and out! From the pictures you will see that the little ones tired quickly and we were back home by about 8:15. We finished the weekend Sunday with pictures for the boys' birthdays and Christmas. They both did a fabulous job and the pictures turned out great.

We are going for several more ECU games before the holidays and who knows what else we will get in to. Until next time ...

The Big One Year Old!

This past Saturday was Caleb's first birthday! He has had many firsts over the past week. The Monday before his birthday, he took off walking! He has not looked back since. He is all over the place but most enjoys following Austin. Friday before our trip to Greenville, we turned his car seat around and he had his first forward facing ride. It was much more eventful for us than him. He slept the entire way! Saturday he went tailgating and to his first Pirate football game. It was so cold and needless to say he was unimpressed. He did clap several times but wanted to get down and walk through the bleachers. He and I spent the 2nd half in the Pirate Club building where he took a nap. He also has had his first taste of whole milk and has decided that he does not like it cold out of the fridge. We will have to conquer this along with his protest of the sippy cup in the next week or so. He will be having his official birthday party this Sunday and we will post more pictures after that.

Austin has been doing well too. He has learned how to ride a bike without training wheels. It is kind of hard to teach him in our neighborhood due to lack of open area so he took his bike to Nana and Grandpa's for the wide open space. It did not take long at all. He also saw a baby calf pretty much right after being born. We were thankful we did not ride by several minutes earlier!

We have the costumes in place for Halloween and have lots of plans for next weekend. We will post more pictures after the party Sunday so stay tuned!