Thanksgiving 2012

So sad this is what our Thanksgiving will consist of this year - Tamiflu, Cough Medicine, Nose Syring, etc.  Kids have been sick since Saturday and Bobby is now sick in bed.  I sure feel like a sitting duck over here. . . .

Here Is How It All Went Down. . . .

Here is what led up to my two sweet kids getting the flu . . . . sniff!  sniff!

TUESDAY Afternoon:  Gracie told me that she wasn't feeling well.  She was telling me that she can't seem to stay warm and that her body ached all over.  I let her go early that day and told her to get some rest while simutaneouly popping some Vitamin C into my mouth.

WEDNESDAY:  Gracie calls at 6:30am and tells me that she's really sick . . she sounded awful.  Dr confirmed that afternoon that she had the flu.  At that point, I hadn't completely freaked out because Emma had already gotten her flu shot and Ryan was scheduled to get his on Saturday.  Bobby and I tag team and watch the kids that day while "trying" to work.

THURSDAY:  Kids feeling great.  Ryan has a Thanksgiving celebration at school.  Emma Kate and I enjoy Gymboree class.  Here are pictures of my sweet "healthy" Emma Kate before the "you know what" hits the fan. . . . .

Notice Emma is the only child sitting in the middle of the parachute - has to be in the middle of ALL the action!

Emma is smaller than all the kids but she has a mighty push.

FRIDAY:  All is well.  Mommy goes to her eye doctor for one final visit before her Lasik Surgery (surgery is on November 26th).  As part of my visit, I had extensive tests done which included a heavy duty dilation drop.  It was so heavy duty that I was dilated from 12pm that day to around 5pm on Saturday - miserable!  Here Ryan is sporting Mommy's cool new sunglasses that were much needed that day and next.

FRIDAY EVENING:  We have plans to take the kids out to eat.  As we are driving down 121 around 5pm, I look in the backseat and Ryan looks like he's about to be sick.  Poor baby had this glazed over look and you clearly could tell something was wrong.  He complained of an upset stomach so we turned back and headed home.  Took his temperature shortly after getting home and it was 102.9!  Holy smokes!  He was burning up!

SATURDAY MORNING:  Both kids are running fevers now.  So, I call the Pediatrician and cancel the flu shot appt for Ryan (can't get the flu shot if you're running a fever within 24 hours before the shot).  Made appts for both kids to see the Dr that morning.  This is when we heard the dreaded news that both kiddos have flu like symptoms.  For the record, we opted not to do the flu test because it's a very painful swab stuck up their noses.  Never confirmed if they have the flu but Dr went ahead and treated them like they do have it.  And I am so glad he did!  We were sent home with 2 prescriptions of Tamiflu.

SATURDAY MORNING - MONDAY NITE:  Kids are still running fevers like a crazy roller coaster.  Both have extremely runny noses and gnarly coughs.  Emma is definitely the worst between the two.  Amazing how both keep their awesome personalities even though they feel crummy.  This picture was of Emma in the thick of the illness - she insisted on wearing this rubber ring on her head.  If it fell off for any reason, she would immediately put it back on.  Cracked me up all weekend. . . .

Desperate for some fresh air - I bundled her up for a quick swing in the backyard.

Thankful to have Gracie back at work so Bobby and I can feel human again.  She missed the kids like crazy and I think I told her today about 10x how much WE missed her!  Hoping these kids will wake up tomorrow and feel better. . . now I am off to get some much needed sleep.  And yes, I do realize it's only 8:30pm!

Fully Potty Trained!

Bobby and I are happy announce that Ryan is now officially potty trained!!  He's been potty trained during the day for almost a year but we've still been working on getting him potty trained at night.  FYI - Most toddlers get potty trained at night between ages 3 years old - 5 years old.  We are so proud of him - no accidents as of Friday when we started putting him in underwear during naps and at night.  It's a little bitter sweet - no more diapers, no more changing table, etc for this little guy!!

Tried to get a picture of him in his underwear to use for this blog post.  But he told me "Mommy, it's too cold for that".  I agree, honey!

Emma "Little Explorer"

As I've mentioned in my previous post, Emma Kate is exploring nonstop.  If it's not the dogs bowl, then she's "rearranging" the pantry, when she's not in the kitchen she's in the living room crawling under tables and getting stuck in random places.  Here are just a few examples of our little explorer. . . .

This is one of my favorites because you can't see Ryan on the other side but he's there.  I can just imagine him egging her on "Come on sissy, climb up on the stroller, it'll be fun"

All in all, we love her adventurous ways.  We also love how happy this baby is. . . . ALL THE TIME!  Check out this cute video of her after waking up from her nap this weekend. . . and yes the girl has some dance moves!

Bye-Bye Halloween, Hello Christmas!

So now that Halloween is behind us, Ryan has taken up a new hobby - he loves sitting at the kitchen table with a handful of toy catalogues (they are coming in fast and furious!) and he circles the toys that he wants to put on his list to Santa.  For those who are counting, Christmas is 51 days away!  Oh my!

EMMA: 11 months old

Our darling, Emma Kate, turns 11 months old today!  Wow, time sure flies by!  This little girl has been such a blessing to our family.  Everyone who has seen her over the last month knows she loves to explore - crawls faster and faster, opens every cabinet, closes every door and does all of this with a smile on her face.  We are looking forward to celebrating her 1st birthday in just a few weeks . . . lots to be thankful for!

Happy Halloween 2012!

Hope everyone had a HAPPY HALLOWEEN!  Ryan and Emma had a great time walking with some friends in the neighborhood and trick-or-treating.  Ryan had so much fun that he stayed out with Daddy after Emma and I went home and continued to go house to house with his buddy Ethan for another hour - total trick-or-treating time was 2 hours!  The kid sure loved getting candy!  Thankfully and very suprisingly, he has not asked what I did with his candy (hidden in the kitchen).  I wonder how much time it will take for him to realize he's missing a huge bucket of candy!

Ryan was "Alex" from Madagascar. 

Mommy drew whiskers on his face - they looked cute in person but in pictures they looked smudged - oh well!  

Our sweet owl. . . who happens to be pink!

Emma looked a bit "out of it" in most of the pictures because she is cutting her two upper front teeth - ouch!

My sweet family!