Tubes

On Thursday morning we dropped Casey off with Ms. Amy and Isaac and headed to the Children's surgicenter for Caleb to get tubes in his ears. The purpose of placing the tubes in Caleb's ears would be so the fluid would be able to drain so he could hear better and that bacteria wouldn't grow in his ears and cause so many infections.

When we arrived we had to wait in the waiting area for awhile. Caleb kept himself entertained by playing with puzzles and some other little ones who were waiting for their procedures. He was in really good spirits considering he was not able to have any food or drink that morning.

After being put in our little waiting room we dressed Caleb in his cute purple gown. I think he liked it!

We had brief conversations with Dr. Martin as well as the anaesthesiologist. Then the nurse brought a little cup of silly juice for Caleb to drink. It was tylenol mixed with another type of drug that made him well...high. The point was so that he wouldn't remember being taken away from us. He was a totally different child. You can see the progression of stages below...

The surgery itself only took 5-10 minutes. The doctor came to talk to us right away. He shared that there was a glue like substance around his eardrums so he probably wasn't hearing very well. It reassured us that we made the right decision to have the tubes put in. We were in and out in under 2 hours.

Since Thursday Caleb has been so happy and has really started to speak more. Today he called me ma ma instead of da da for the first time! Yeah for tubes!

First haircut

Caleb finally got enough hair for a cut (at almost 20 months old). So I busted out the clippers and snapped on the 1 inch comb. I could tell he was very unsure of the whole thing, but he stood still and brave. Much different from his brother's first (or tenth) hair cut!





He sure looks handsome!

Fun with frieds

Last week Wednesday we had three showings on our home. To make it easy on me I thought I would just stay away the whole day instead of having to clean up after the boys. We spent the morning at the YMCA doing our usual swimming and playing. We stopped at our favorite restaurant for lunch, MacDonald's, and then headed to my friend Gretchen's for the afternoon. The plan was that Caleb would nap there. Things never go as planned...so we just played. After emptying a tote full of trains and tracks the kids decided to take a "boat ride". I also enjoyed when Casey gave Lilly's princess dolls a ride on his flying car. It is so funny to watch little boys and girls play together.


On Saturday Casey and I met Luke and his mommy Alyssa at The Children's Play Gallary. It was Casey's birthday present (great idea). The boys enjoyed painting, climbing on a ship, digging in moon sand and of course playing with trains. When we were finished playing we went to a cute coffee shop for lunch. Thanks Alyssa and Luke, we had a ton of fun!

Congrats Nikki and RJ!

What a beautiful wedding! I had never been to a destination wedding before, it was very romantic. There were somewhere between 50-60 people who flew out to Mexico for the big day which was on Thursday, February 25th.

After a beautiful morning spent sun bathing on the beach we came in to get ready to ensure we wouldn't miss the 1:50pm shuttle to the wedding. We met in the lobby and I snapped a shot of Matt and his soon to be brother-in-law RJ.

After a short bus ride to the marina where the wedding would be held we waited for the event to begin. Matt had the pleasure of escorting his mother and myself down the isle before the wedding party.

The ceremony was beautiful as well as the bride! The day was a perfect day for a wedding on a beach. We were so excited to be able to be there to share in such a beautiful day.





Following the ceremony their was cake and champaign to celebrate. Not to mention the pictures...what's a wedding without lots of pictures!






Once the photographer was done we all climbed aboard a catamaran for a sunset cruise! What a beautiful sunset that evening.


We returned to shore for a candlelit dinner on the beach. I can't believe I didn't take any pictures of this! It was out of a fairytale! Just imagine, white linen table clothes, the ocean waves, delicious food and a saxophone player serenading us. It was amazing.

Congrats to Nikki and RJ on your new marriage! We love you!

Hola from Dreams Riviera Cancun!

Matt and I had a WONDERFUL time on our trip to Mexico. We made memories that we will treasure for a lifetime!

Here is a link to the photo gallery from the Dreams resort.
http://www.dreamsresorts.com/drerc/photo-gallery.html

Our top ten memories from the trip:

1. Dinner at Himatsu (Asian food) with Matt's family the first night we got there. Matt's cousin Tom was the "head of the table". He would ask a question and we would all have to answer it. There was a lot of laughter and even a few tears shed.
   
2. "Buntrock Boot camp" on the beach (almost every morning). Matt and I would power walk, jog and sprint between two piers. At each pier we would do things like push-ups, planks, dips, lunges, etc. Only a couple of brave souls joined us for the fun.
   
3. Relaxing on the beach listening to the waves of the ocean.
4. Eating breakfast at the Seaside Grill. As we ate we had a view of the beautiful pool and ocean side. It was awesome.
5. Our walk down the beach with Matt's folks to a small village called Porto Marino (I think).
6. Date night at El Patio an authentic Mexican restaurant.
7. Matt really enjoyed sailing with his cousin Tom (even though they tipped the boat).
   
8. Laying on the "ploppa beds" (we called them this because you just plopped right on them) in the afternoon taking a siesta (nap)
9. My Spa Pedicure and Manicure were such a treat. Rosie even gave me a neck massage while the parrifin wax was drying on my hands. She got a nice tip!
10. The reason we went...RJ and Nikki's Wedding. It was such a big event I decided to have a separate post just for the occasion!

Random pictures

The walls on our home have really begun to cave in on me this month as we have been home sick quite a bit. Poor Caleb and his cold sore (herpes) breakout kept us home for about 2 weeks. So we got creative and made Lego cities and race tracks, animals out of play dough, played with games and puzzles, and so many other fun things. Here are some random pictures from the month.

Poor baby...

Here's Casey with our "rainbow city"

Caleb wearing his monkey hat and playing with the candy dish he got out of the drawer

Casey wearing daddy's favorite (and mommy's least favorite) hat

My precious boy sleeping

Once Caleb's sores were no longer contagious we began to adventure out a bit more.
Here they are at the domes train show. I love this picture because Casey is holding on to Caleb's hand...melts a mother's heart

We went to Flabbergast this past Friday and Casey really enjoyed teaching
Caleb how to race cars. I didn't even have to put any money in!

For those of you who don't know...Matt is a Saint's fan. He has been one as long as I have know him (at least since high school). So I had to get him a championship t-shirt!

The next time I blog it will be about our trip to Mexico!!! I can't wait!

Princesses on Ice!

On Sunday I got to be a part of a special princess day! My sister invited my mom and I to join her and her girls (the oldest three) to go out for lunch and see Disney's Princesses on Ice.

We started our fun adventure at Applebees. I got to sit in between Riley and Hannah (Snow White and Cinderella). They were dressed up so cute and had their lip gloss and all.

When we got to the US Cellular Arena my sister realized she had left the tickets in the car. So my mom offered to jog back to get them. While we were waiting they got to pick out a souvenir. Hailey got a princess purse and Riley and Hannah picked out blinking crowns.

At the show I was blessed to sit between Riley and Hannah again (I don't think Hailey is an aunt Joy fan). The girls really enjoyed the show...so did I. Hannah had a lot to say about the characters and who was naughty and nice!


On our way home the girls crashed in the backseat. What a fun day! Thanks for inviting me along sis! Feel free to come along on any of our "boy adventures".

Happy 4th Birthday Casey!

Casey turned 4 years old on Sunday, January 31st! He was so excited to celebrate his birthday. For the past several months he has been talking about how he wanted to have a football cake. When anyone asked him what he wanted for his birthday he would say, "a football cake". Occasionally he might mention a train...


This past fall I was able to get a new bike from someone off of Craig's list for $10. So we added some training wheels and a horn and gave it to Casey for his birthday. He wasn't very excited, but we know he will love it once he can get outside and ride it!

To celebrate his birthday we invited some of his closest family and friends to a pizza/sports themed party. The kids played a few games, we ate pizza and football cake and enjoyed a really fun time together. Casey is so blessed to have so many people in his life that love him so much.

Here he is with his favorite person, cousin Hannah. He wants her to be his Valentine, how cute is that!

On Monday Casey got to stand in front of his school at music class while the kids sang "Happy Birthday" to him. Then he got to lead them in the song of his choice. He choose "The Wheels on the Bus". I was so proud of him as he ran up there and stood like such a big boy, he didn't even get stage fright!


I can't wait to see what is in store for Casey this year. He has grown into such a smart, loving, polite little boy. I am bettin' that he may be the next Doogie Howser M.D (remember that show?). Time will tell!