A long 2 weeks!

We've had quite a long 2 weeks. Other than Mason's birth/NICU, it's been the time with most medical attention needed at our house ever!
Two weeks ago, Cole started it all off! He fell on the cement stairs at my mom's house and bruised his cheek. Then that evening, he fell through a broken floor board on our neighborhood playground and caught himself by his head, dangling there for a minute before I got to him to pull him out. That warranted an ER visit which turned out fine but he came out with a big goose-egg over his eye and 2 shiners! A couple days after that he came down with a cold and had a nose that wouldn't stop running and a cough that would make anyone without 10 feet cringe. He was quite a site! (the pictures don't do it justice)

Once he started feeling better, he decided to share. Mason started in with a stuffy nose and cough. Adam and I started to feel it too. For Mason though, it kept getting worse and worse. His little airway couldn't handle all the congestion and he started wheezing and really struggling to breathe! I took him to our doctor on Tuesday and they admitted him to the hospital. He was started on some oxygen and needed nebulized medication to decrease the inflammation in his airways and deep suctioning (tube down the nose to his lungs). It also took them 5 pokes before they were able to draw his labs! He was not happy to say the least. Thankfully though, God answered our prayers in getting him well quickly. We got to come home last night after just 2 1/2 days in the hospital. He's still got a nasty cough and will for a few more days most likely but he can at least cough productively and I can get stuff out with a bulb syringe vs. the suction at the hospital. Poor little guy, he's had way more than his share of medical stuff in his short life!

So, now that we're all on the mend, I feel like I need to totally disinfect my house and get things back in order before I work this weekend... good luck Adam:-)

Cute pics

Just a couple Mason pics that I thought were cute! Sorry Cole, I'll get you in next time:-)

Toasted Marshmallows

With warmer evenings here, we decided to use our firepit that we built last summer. It's so nice to sit out in the evening and watch the fire crackle and enjoy the sun going down a bit later! Cole talked us into roasting some marshmallows, which we had to try a few ourselves! Mason even got to try one, just kidding, Adam faked him out:-) I'm sure he would have loved it!

Easter

This is a long overdue post but I didn't want to miss sharing about Easter with everyone! We had a really fun day and enjoyed beautiful weather! After a great message at church, we headed to my parent's house where my family, including Missy and Jason, Jenny, Chad and Troy, Chad's mom, Adam's family minus Keith and Michelle, my Grandpa, and my aunt and uncle and 2 cousins gathered for a yummy dinner and some Easter fun! After stuffing ourself we went out and had an Easter egg hunt. Most of you are thinking easily hidden eggs and young children! Oh no, the first egg hunt included children from the age of 16 to 30, we just can't give it up:-) There is always a golden egg that my dad hides and has a cash value to entice us! When no one finds it, he gives clues by telling us who is closest and everyone rushes to that person, madly looking everywhere within a 2 foot radius, and then this is repeated when he says, "Now so and so is hottest."! This year, Neil, who wasn't too keen on participating, started meandering around the "hottest" person and found the egg tucked deep within a pine tree. Next time maybe he'll be a little more eager to defend his title as this year's golden egg finder:-) Then we had the usual little kid egg hunt which was just Cole this year! Next year Troy and Mason will be giving him a run for his money but he got them all to himself for one last time. He proceeded to pick up and egg, open it, and eat the candy before going to the next one. Cute, but after about 3 eggs we were ready to speed him up! We had a great time though!!! It's so much fun to have our families get together and be able to spend these special times with both sides! And once more, we are so very thankful for what God did for us in sending Jesus to die for our sins and be raised again so we can go to heaven! How awesome is it to know that God loves us that much, what a blessing!!! Hope you all had a great Easter too!

Trying to get 3 little boys to look at the camera and sit in a tree is challenging!

Jumperoo!

We added a new activity to Mason's list - A Johnny Jump Up! I've been keeping an eye out for one and found one at the second hand store. He really seems to like it... for a few minutes at least! He is sooooooo much fun these days. He smiles at absolutely anyone who will talk to him or even look at him. He is cooing and gooing lots and loves to play patty-cake.

Cole is a rambunctious as ever. He loves to play with his friends and can hardly contain himself when they come over to our house. He is potty training now and is doing so well! Although he'd rather go naked, we're working on keeping the big boy underwear on and dry:-) It's been WONDERFUL to have not changed one of his poopy diapers in over 3 weeks!!! In the picture he is imitating Adam by putting a pen "in his ear".

Adam made me so happy this week too! I've been wanting a "mudroom" bench by our back door for quite a while and he suddenly decided to build me one! He did an incredible job and I'm so excited to have an organized place for our shoes, jackets, etc. Thanks honey!!!

Spring is finally peeking around the corner and we're in for some 70ish temperatures in the next couple of days. We have a play date at the park planned and I'm hoping to get out in the yard and start getting things spruced up! I can't wait to see some flowers coming up and as usual, I'm kicking myself for not planting any daffodils or tulips last fall!

Pictures

Here's some pictures of just hanging out at home over the last couple weeks.

Maternity leave no more:-(

Well, yesterday was my first day back to work after 3 months of maternity leave. I slept very lightly thinking I might not wake up in time but in fact, I had a very good alarm clock. Mason decided he was hungry a little earlier than normal and woke me up around 5am. Oh well, it got me out of bed on time!

The day went well and wasn't a terribly hectic day at work which was good because I had a nursing student and found myself having to remember what screens to click into for charting on the computer and just having to figure out how to organzie my time again at work! Adam was able to get both boys to my mom's house before work and she said they had a great day! Actually, I think she told Adam that "there's a little more going on with two of them!" or something to that affect:-) Yes, there definitely is! I'm so thankful for my mom and mother-in-law who have watched my boys routinely for me while I work! They are more of a blessing than I could ever express!!!

I was beat by the end of a 12 hour day of work and it was so nice to get home to my family and a garlic chicken pizza in the oven too:-) MMMMMmmm, I love Papa Murphy's! I have such a great husband and kids and it's so nice to have Cole run up to me yelling, "Mommy!" when I get home!

Though staying at home full time would be fabulous, I'm blessed to have a job I love, especially just a job right now with benefits! My co-workers and boss are great too so it makes it easy to work there. (finding time to pump every 3-4 hours is a little tricky!) I only work two 12 hour shifts per week, one weekday and every other weekend so it makes childcare easy and still allows me to be home the majority of the time to raise our kids and take care of our home. My feet were a little achy but I slept good and was happy that I remembered how to be a nurse:-)

Here's a picture and video clip of Cole helping Adam feed Mason a bottle, he's such a good little helper!