So what has happened in the past month? One of the most noteworthy events was a business trip to San Francisco, with Ruthie, my mom, my friend Lindsey, and her son Nolan. It was meant to be work trip mainly for me, and a fun trip for the babies, along with a sprinkling of visiting with old California friends. Well it was NOT to be! Ruthie ended up coming down with a cold on our day of travel, and by the next morning she was feverish and coughing, with a terrible runny nose. My mom and Lindsey did their best to nurse while I was at work, however she began vomiting anything she ate or drank, and we finally made the call the take her to the local hospital ER. I honestly haven't been that scared in awhile about a health problem. She was just lethargic and burning up, and we were so far from home. The ER was amazing and prompt and wonderful, and diagnosed her with bronchitis, along with ear infections, probably caused by RSV. We left there armed with anti-nausea pills and a tylenol supository to reduce her fever. The next few days were still pretty miserable for everyone involved, however by the time we made it the airport for our flight home, she was finally in good spirits haha! Despite having one last bout of throw-up on the plane (for which my mom suffered a change of clothes and bottle of wine bought for her by me in return!), she was on the re-bound. We also managed to fit in a few trips to some local San Fran sights, and I got to spend some time with my best friend from college who lives there, so the trip wasn't a total bust, but it was definitely a reminder that nothing really goes smoothly when traveling with small children, and you always have to be prepared for any situation that arises! But Lindsey, Nolan, and my mom were all troopers and such lifesavers so I could still be productive at work. Here are a few photos from "San Fran 2012" as Lindsey and I affectionately call it :)
In other news, we just got back from a fantastic weekend trip to the woods and hills of Broken Bow, Oklahoma, with 10 other families! We rented 5 big, beautiful log cabins, and spent the weekend playing on the swing sets, taking nature walks, hot-tubbing, roasting smores, and drinking probably more than our far share of Irish Coffees (only to keep warm!) :) The kids were in Heaven with all of their best friends, and despite there being 22 kids on the trip, it managed to be both relaxing and enjoyable. Valentines were exchanged, birthdays were celebrated (Nolan and Ruthie), faces were painted, guitars were played around a roaring campfire, copious amounts of food were consumed, and all in all it was a weekend I will always remember fondly! I adore my friends and count myself very lucky that we can take trips like this together, with our kiddos.
The Mickey and Minnie Birthday party extravaganza!
Campfire Fun!
The kids enjoying themselves with their friends!
So on to my lovely, fabulous, perfect little children. Hayden is a rock-star lately with learning to read, and for that I am so proud of him. He is sounding out letters, and beginning to be able to spell simple words (tree, car, run, bus, van, etc), and he is starting to enjoy reading some beginner books. I can tell he enjoys it and has a natural curiosity about reading, which makes me hopeful that it will continue to come easily to him. His writing amazes me. His teacher at preschool requested that the kids write out their Valentines themselves this year - not only their own name signed to the cards, but also addressing them to their friends. I sat Hayden down at my desk and gave him a written list of his classmates. After completing a card, he could cross that name off the list. I left him to cook dinner and get some things done, and came back 10 minutes later expecting to see him maybe having ticked off 2 or 3. Instead, he had nearly finished, and was so proud to show me his hard-work. And they were legible (well for 4 year old standards)! He continues to enjoy a somewhat unusual taste in television programs and books. Currently his favorite series is "Most Extreme", which typically chronicles some kind of cool and interesting animal or machine (and is not meant for children!). He also loves any National Geographic show about animals (especially sea animals like sharks and whales), or volcanoes. And my friend introduced me to a great series of books about science, written for kids, and he is obsessed with the ones about clouds and blood haha. As always, he is the sweetest, most cuddly, most endearing child ever. He strives to please Nathan and I, and gets his heart broken far too easily.
Piercey J just had his very first surgery. It was enough to throw me into a total panicking tailspin, but he made it through happily and healthily. He's been battling ear and sinus infections for several months now, and after taking pretty much every antibiotic on the shelf (much to my dismay), we decided to see an ENT. His doctor explained all sorts of fancy medical things to me that I can't repeat, and we agreed it was time to put ear tubes in, and have his adenoids removed. Similarly plagued by ear infections, we also decided to get tubes only for Ruthie. Ugh talk about stressful! I felt like I was doing the right thing, but my goodness it was hard to watch my children get walked away by a nurse for surgery! It goes against every fiber in my body to expose them to pain and danger, but I really felt like the minimal risks of the surgery were worth the gains we would see in their health and well-being. There was even some comic relief during the whole experience, as they gave both kids "silly juice" to ease their transition away from mom and dad, and into the operating room. Ruthie just kind of smiled and giggled a lot, but Pierce was very looped up and happy. He kept staring at his hands in wonder and moving them all around, and licking his lips and laughing, with his head bobbing all around. In hindsight, it's pretty funny, although at the time it was kind of scary! Our doctor told us to think of it as a preview for his personality in college. Lord I hope not! But I thank God that both procedures went off with out a hitch, and hope for improved health all around for our little family.
Otherwise, Pierce is awesome. Just awesome. He continues to be our daily comic relief; entertaining us constantly with his silly little humor and twinkling eyes. He is frustrating as can be, and his current favorite thing to do is scold all of us. "Mommy, don't scream at me, take a deep breath!", or "Hayden, that's rude, go to time out!". He always tells me he is "super mad and angry" at me if he doesn't get his way. Obviously he is mimicking Nathan and I, and if it weren't so funny I'd be embarrassed :) But he is a champ at cleaning up his toys (he'll sing the tune "Clean Up, Clean Up, Everybody Clean Up!" with gusto, and he is also very proud to take his plate to the sink like big brother, and put his clothes in hamper. In fact, he's very much in a phase where he wants to do everything himself! And he's starting to grow into a little boy instead of a toddler....time flies. Thank God he still has his sweet baby voice. He is just a bundle of energy, fun, and joie de vivre!
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