We survived the parental round of general grossness around here - thanks to some handy-dandy antibiotics.
We're enjoying a wonderful SNOW DAY at home today! We haven't been out to play in it yet, but we plan to when Caleb wakes up from his nap.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Update from the Infirmary
Life is so much better at our house these days. Caleb is feeling amazingly better. Rudy took him to Dr. Harmon on Friday for his 2nd round of rocephin shots and I took him in on Saturday for the 3rd round. The doctor that saw him on Saturday said that he still has 2 infected ears and is still wheezing. He wrote a prescription for augmentin and some eye drops. I think he's on the mend, but still isn't out of the woods just yet. We're keeping a close eye on everything.
The Lyons family came over for dinner last night. We enjoyed it so much. We love having friends over and we just haven't had the room to do that since we moved here. Now that we are in our house, we are looking forward to entertaining more.
The Lyons family came over for dinner last night. We enjoyed it so much. We love having friends over and we just haven't had the room to do that since we moved here. Now that we are in our house, we are looking forward to entertaining more.
Thursday, January 24, 2008
MUCH BETTER (video included)
NEWSFLASH AND HALLELUJAH: Caleb woke up from his afternoon nap a little groggy, but by dinnertime, he was almost back to his usual self. By bedtime, he was completely back to his usual self. He put on a show - dancing, singing, laughing and running around the house - that made Rudy and I laugh a much-needed laugh. Of course, Caleb is still sick - the ear infections and respiratory junk didn't go away miraculously - but I can handle all of that as long as he's not acting like a demon child. I am so glad to have my little boy back. See ya, orapred...may you never darken our doorstep again!
Multitasking: 
Say "cheese"...
My 100th Post and it's a long one
Forgive me if this post makes little or no sense. I'm writing on limited sleep, but writing helps me process information and is oddly therapeutic, so I'm putting this in words. Plus - I'm sure I'll need to look back on this post in a few weeks/months to remember this whole episode.
As I wrote in my last post, Caleb went to the pediatrician last Thursday. He was put on amoxicillin and xopenex (nebulizer) for a respiratory infection that was causing coughing, matted eyes and runny nose. The pediatrician also wrote a prescription for orapred and a stronger dosage of xopenex and said to have those filled if he didn't show improvement. Rudy stayed home with him Thursday and Friday. Saturday night, he had a fever of almost 103 degrees. On Sunday, we took it easy and stayed home all day and night. Monday, I had to go to work, but Rudy was off for the King holiday. He dropped off the extra prescriptions and I went to get them after work. Caleb took his first dose of orapred on Monday night with his dinner. We knew he was still too sick to go to school on Tuesday, so Rudy planned to stay home with him again. On Tuesday, the Caleb we all know and love was replaced by a monster. Rudy said that he spent the whole day crying about the smallest things and being aggressive for no reason at all. When I got home Tuesday, he was still being a pain. Rudy needed a break and I can't blame him one bit. He went to run an errand and I decided that maybe Caleb was just feeling cooped up and needed to get out of the house for the first time since Wednesday afternoon. I took him to the mall to get some dinner and read books at the bookstore. When we walked into the food court, he threw his first full-fledged tantrum. In addition to screaming bloody murder, he pulled my hair and pinched my cheek and flopped his whole upper body limp while kicking me. Looking back on it, this was pretty impressive body control. I certainly didn't see any positives to it at the time, though. I was just glad the mall wasn't crowded and there wasn't anybody there that I knew. I calmly (pat on the back) took him into the bathroom area and sat him down on the couch and very sternly told him "no scream, no kick, no hurt Mama." He got big tears in his eyes and gave me a hug. It was almost like he realized that he had just had an out-of-body experience. It was at that point that I realized that I was dealing with more than just a tantrum and that this had to be related to his medicine or to being sick or both. We got dinner from Subway and he hardly ate anything. He did, however, enjoy the echo of the empty food court and drinking water from a straw. At that point, whatever made him happy was fine with me. After dinner, we went to Borders, where my precious child proceeded to go up to a display of Cookie Monster books and say, "uh-oh" before pulling about 10 of them to the floor. He did manage to help me clean up his mess before heading off to the stairs, which he decided to climb. That was perfectly fine, except he didn't want to come back down once he got to the top and - again - threw a lovely fit in the store. I managed to get through the check-out with the help of a very kind store associate who played with Caleb while I paid. I got into the car and drove straight home, still wearing the mark on my face from where he had pinched me earlier.
When we got home, Rudy and I struggled with the decision of sending him to school on Wednesday or not. His nose and eyes had dried up and his cough was much better, but we were now looking at the major personality change that we figured out was from the orapred. We decided that since he hadn't had fever in 36 hours, we'd take a chance with the knowledge that I might have to drop everything and go get him. I dropped him off on Wednesday morning, checked in the nebulizer with instructions for dosing and talked to one of the directors about the decision we had made and asked her to please call me immediately if I needed to come get him. My phone rang at 3:00 and I left work 15 minutes early to go get him. His teacher said that he was just so obviously miserable and had coughed and cried all day. I don't know why they waited so long to call me, but I got to him as soon as I could. He coughed all the way home with the strangest cough I've ever heard. It was heartbreaking. When we got home, he cried for over an hour and I couldn't figure out why. I offered him milk and a graham cracker, but he threw them back at me. When Rudy made it home, Caleb just wanted to be held. His wonderful Daddy dropped everything and held him while I cancelled my students for today and made some mashed potatoes - one of Caleb's favorite foods. When we put him in his chair to eat, though - he wouldn't even take a bite. He just cried until we picked him back up and held him.
In the meantime...I called the doctor's office Wednesday afternoon to ask if we could please take him off the orapred if it wasn't absolutely necessary. Dr. Harmon's nurse, Noel, was wonderful and managed to get us off the orapred and got us a prescription for pulmicort - another nebulizer medication. When she called me back to tell me that she got the prescription, Caleb was standing right next to me, crying so loudly that I could hardly hear. Noel asked me if that was him and I told her, "Yes, and I have no idea why he's crying." She said, "Haley, he doesn't either." That made so much sense to me and put the whole thing in a much better perspective. Nurses are amazing that way.
Caleb took both of his nebulizer treatments like a champ, which is tough, because that means sitting still for a long time! We gave him his amoxicillin and put on his PJ's at 7:00, because he was just so lethargic. As soon as I picked him up from the changing table, he put his head on my shoulder and went to sleep. I sat down in the recliner and held my sleeping child for 2 hours last night. If it was the only comfort I could offer him, I was willing to sit for as long as he needed. I thought he would rest better in the bed, though, so I put him in the guest bed with me. He woke up off and on all night long, coughing so hard I thought he was going to be sick and crying out in pain. He tossed and turned and finally got into a restful sleep at about 4:30. We both slept hard from that point until about 7:30, when I got up to start getting ready to go to the doctor. I didn't want to wake him up since he was finally sleeping, so I waited as long as I could to get him ready. I gave him a cup of teddy grahams while I was packing his diaper bag and a backpack with some things to entertain him at the office. He managed to spill the grahams, which sent him into a screaming fit on the floor. I knew it was going to be a trying trip to the doctor.
We actually got in to see the doctor pretty quickly, which was a huge blessing. Morning appointments are the way to go! I was quite a sight at the office, though. I had my coat, Caleb's coat, Caleb's "bed" (his blanket that he suddenly wants all the time), a full-size backpack and a kid-size backpack that we use as our diaper bag. Oh...and a toddler with a mind of his own who wanted to go in the opposite direction of where we needed to be at all times and screamed horrifically when I suggested otherwise. I'm sure I was "that mom" that all of the others looked at and just shook their heads thinking that I was a complete disaster and needed to get it together. They were right, but I didn't care. When Dr. Harmon came into the exam room, I said, "I bet you hate to see our names on your daily schedule." He just smiled and patted me on the back. Don't think that I didn't notice the fact that he didn't deny it. He looked at Caleb's ears and said they were in bad shape. I asked if they were infected and he said yes. He listened to him breathe and watched his pulse-ox for about 30 seconds and then wrote a prescription for phenergan with codeine and ordered a shot of rocephin for today and another one for tomorrow. He said that he'll decide tomorrow whether or not he needs another shot on Saturday. He's off the amoxicillin, but still on both breathing treatments. The rocephin shots are apparently very painful for kids, so the nurses apologized over and over to me and to Caleb for giving them. I assured them that neither of us would hold a grudge as long as they made him feel better.
After the doctor's office, we stopped very quickly at my office so that I could get my therapy materials for tomorrow. After that, we headed for Walgreen's to drop off our new prescription. Caleb had fallen asleep in the car, so I ate some Chick-Fil-A in the car while I waited on the medicine. When I went to pick up the prescription, the pharmacist told me that she had called the doctor's office because the phenergan was not recommended for children. Apparently, it can cause respiratory distress in children. What?!?! Why in the world did my pediatrician write the script then???? I kept my cool and asked her to call me when she heard from the doctor. Shortly after I got home, she did call and said that they had come up with an alternative and it would be ready when we wanted it. Rudy is picking it up on his way home from work today.
I tried to put Caleb into his bed when we got home, but he didn't want anything to do with that idea. I asked him if he wanted to eat and he said, "eat" so I put him in his chair and gave him some chicken. He very s-l-o-w-l-y managed to eat 4 nuggets and drink 1/2 a cup of milk. I gave him his breathing treatments and we read a book, then watched some "Melmo" (Sesame Street) before I put him down for his nap. That was about an hour and a half ago and he's starting to wake up now. We'll see how the afternoon goes...
As I wrote in my last post, Caleb went to the pediatrician last Thursday. He was put on amoxicillin and xopenex (nebulizer) for a respiratory infection that was causing coughing, matted eyes and runny nose. The pediatrician also wrote a prescription for orapred and a stronger dosage of xopenex and said to have those filled if he didn't show improvement. Rudy stayed home with him Thursday and Friday. Saturday night, he had a fever of almost 103 degrees. On Sunday, we took it easy and stayed home all day and night. Monday, I had to go to work, but Rudy was off for the King holiday. He dropped off the extra prescriptions and I went to get them after work. Caleb took his first dose of orapred on Monday night with his dinner. We knew he was still too sick to go to school on Tuesday, so Rudy planned to stay home with him again. On Tuesday, the Caleb we all know and love was replaced by a monster. Rudy said that he spent the whole day crying about the smallest things and being aggressive for no reason at all. When I got home Tuesday, he was still being a pain. Rudy needed a break and I can't blame him one bit. He went to run an errand and I decided that maybe Caleb was just feeling cooped up and needed to get out of the house for the first time since Wednesday afternoon. I took him to the mall to get some dinner and read books at the bookstore. When we walked into the food court, he threw his first full-fledged tantrum. In addition to screaming bloody murder, he pulled my hair and pinched my cheek and flopped his whole upper body limp while kicking me. Looking back on it, this was pretty impressive body control. I certainly didn't see any positives to it at the time, though. I was just glad the mall wasn't crowded and there wasn't anybody there that I knew. I calmly (pat on the back) took him into the bathroom area and sat him down on the couch and very sternly told him "no scream, no kick, no hurt Mama." He got big tears in his eyes and gave me a hug. It was almost like he realized that he had just had an out-of-body experience. It was at that point that I realized that I was dealing with more than just a tantrum and that this had to be related to his medicine or to being sick or both. We got dinner from Subway and he hardly ate anything. He did, however, enjoy the echo of the empty food court and drinking water from a straw. At that point, whatever made him happy was fine with me. After dinner, we went to Borders, where my precious child proceeded to go up to a display of Cookie Monster books and say, "uh-oh" before pulling about 10 of them to the floor. He did manage to help me clean up his mess before heading off to the stairs, which he decided to climb. That was perfectly fine, except he didn't want to come back down once he got to the top and - again - threw a lovely fit in the store. I managed to get through the check-out with the help of a very kind store associate who played with Caleb while I paid. I got into the car and drove straight home, still wearing the mark on my face from where he had pinched me earlier.
When we got home, Rudy and I struggled with the decision of sending him to school on Wednesday or not. His nose and eyes had dried up and his cough was much better, but we were now looking at the major personality change that we figured out was from the orapred. We decided that since he hadn't had fever in 36 hours, we'd take a chance with the knowledge that I might have to drop everything and go get him. I dropped him off on Wednesday morning, checked in the nebulizer with instructions for dosing and talked to one of the directors about the decision we had made and asked her to please call me immediately if I needed to come get him. My phone rang at 3:00 and I left work 15 minutes early to go get him. His teacher said that he was just so obviously miserable and had coughed and cried all day. I don't know why they waited so long to call me, but I got to him as soon as I could. He coughed all the way home with the strangest cough I've ever heard. It was heartbreaking. When we got home, he cried for over an hour and I couldn't figure out why. I offered him milk and a graham cracker, but he threw them back at me. When Rudy made it home, Caleb just wanted to be held. His wonderful Daddy dropped everything and held him while I cancelled my students for today and made some mashed potatoes - one of Caleb's favorite foods. When we put him in his chair to eat, though - he wouldn't even take a bite. He just cried until we picked him back up and held him.
In the meantime...I called the doctor's office Wednesday afternoon to ask if we could please take him off the orapred if it wasn't absolutely necessary. Dr. Harmon's nurse, Noel, was wonderful and managed to get us off the orapred and got us a prescription for pulmicort - another nebulizer medication. When she called me back to tell me that she got the prescription, Caleb was standing right next to me, crying so loudly that I could hardly hear. Noel asked me if that was him and I told her, "Yes, and I have no idea why he's crying." She said, "Haley, he doesn't either." That made so much sense to me and put the whole thing in a much better perspective. Nurses are amazing that way.
Caleb took both of his nebulizer treatments like a champ, which is tough, because that means sitting still for a long time! We gave him his amoxicillin and put on his PJ's at 7:00, because he was just so lethargic. As soon as I picked him up from the changing table, he put his head on my shoulder and went to sleep. I sat down in the recliner and held my sleeping child for 2 hours last night. If it was the only comfort I could offer him, I was willing to sit for as long as he needed. I thought he would rest better in the bed, though, so I put him in the guest bed with me. He woke up off and on all night long, coughing so hard I thought he was going to be sick and crying out in pain. He tossed and turned and finally got into a restful sleep at about 4:30. We both slept hard from that point until about 7:30, when I got up to start getting ready to go to the doctor. I didn't want to wake him up since he was finally sleeping, so I waited as long as I could to get him ready. I gave him a cup of teddy grahams while I was packing his diaper bag and a backpack with some things to entertain him at the office. He managed to spill the grahams, which sent him into a screaming fit on the floor. I knew it was going to be a trying trip to the doctor.
We actually got in to see the doctor pretty quickly, which was a huge blessing. Morning appointments are the way to go! I was quite a sight at the office, though. I had my coat, Caleb's coat, Caleb's "bed" (his blanket that he suddenly wants all the time), a full-size backpack and a kid-size backpack that we use as our diaper bag. Oh...and a toddler with a mind of his own who wanted to go in the opposite direction of where we needed to be at all times and screamed horrifically when I suggested otherwise. I'm sure I was "that mom" that all of the others looked at and just shook their heads thinking that I was a complete disaster and needed to get it together. They were right, but I didn't care. When Dr. Harmon came into the exam room, I said, "I bet you hate to see our names on your daily schedule." He just smiled and patted me on the back. Don't think that I didn't notice the fact that he didn't deny it. He looked at Caleb's ears and said they were in bad shape. I asked if they were infected and he said yes. He listened to him breathe and watched his pulse-ox for about 30 seconds and then wrote a prescription for phenergan with codeine and ordered a shot of rocephin for today and another one for tomorrow. He said that he'll decide tomorrow whether or not he needs another shot on Saturday. He's off the amoxicillin, but still on both breathing treatments. The rocephin shots are apparently very painful for kids, so the nurses apologized over and over to me and to Caleb for giving them. I assured them that neither of us would hold a grudge as long as they made him feel better.
After the doctor's office, we stopped very quickly at my office so that I could get my therapy materials for tomorrow. After that, we headed for Walgreen's to drop off our new prescription. Caleb had fallen asleep in the car, so I ate some Chick-Fil-A in the car while I waited on the medicine. When I went to pick up the prescription, the pharmacist told me that she had called the doctor's office because the phenergan was not recommended for children. Apparently, it can cause respiratory distress in children. What?!?! Why in the world did my pediatrician write the script then???? I kept my cool and asked her to call me when she heard from the doctor. Shortly after I got home, she did call and said that they had come up with an alternative and it would be ready when we wanted it. Rudy is picking it up on his way home from work today.
I tried to put Caleb into his bed when we got home, but he didn't want anything to do with that idea. I asked him if he wanted to eat and he said, "eat" so I put him in his chair and gave him some chicken. He very s-l-o-w-l-y managed to eat 4 nuggets and drink 1/2 a cup of milk. I gave him his breathing treatments and we read a book, then watched some "Melmo" (Sesame Street) before I put him down for his nap. That was about an hour and a half ago and he's starting to wake up now. We'll see how the afternoon goes...
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Baby, It's Cold Outside!
On Saturday, the 12th, Mom and Mr. L came up to bring us some odds and ends for the house and to visit. We had a wonderful time. Rudy cooked an amazing dinner Saturday night and we all sat around the table and laughed at Caleb as he learned to say, "Oh, no!" and a hilarious version of "Oh, man!" It was a great visit.
On Sunday, we took advantage of Mr. L's truck and followed them to Ft. Smith to give Jan an outdoor cabinet that we couldn't get to her on our own. We stayed and had lunch with her before leaving for home.
I woke up on Tuesday feeling like I had been run over by a fleet of trucks. I absolutely couldn't get up and make it through a day with 3, 4 and 5 year olds, so I called in sick. I ended up sleeping 20 of the 24 hours of Tuesday. It took a few days before I started feeling better, but I didn't really have much of a choice...
On Thursday morning, Caleb woke up with a matted eye, runny nose and a fever. He had been coughing a lot all week, but the fever was what really concerned me. Rudy took the day off and took him to the pediatrician. He was diagnosed with a bad respiratory infection. He's on a nebulizer for breathing treatments and also a round of antibiotics. The nurse said that he didn't need to go to daycare on Friday - or any day until he got better because his immune system was weak and he could end up with RSV. So, Rudy stayed home on Friday as well. It was miserable for me to go to work and leave them here. I was worried all day, but I was so busy that I didn't have time to do much about it. Besides, it was a crummy day at work and I really just wanted to get home to my boys.
Friday night (after lots of debate about what was the right thing to do), Rudy and I went to dinner and a movie. We got a babysitter and actually went on a date. Kelly is a junior in college and we've known her since she was in high school. She had our cell phone numbers, so we felt comfortable leaving Caleb in her care. He was only awake for about 2 hours while she was here. Our much-needed date was fantastic - great meal and great movie (Juno) - and we got back here by midnight.
Nothing really changed with Caleb on Saturday. We stayed home all day and night. During his bath, he got a funny look on his face and said, "Poo." I asked him if he had to poop and he nodded his head. I picked him up out of the tub and put him on the toilet, but that made him cry, so I put a diaper on him. After a few minutes, he said, "bath" and I put him back in the tub. He hadn't dirtied his diaper, but he had wet it. Right after his bath, he did dirty the diaper that I put on him. I'm hoping this means he's starting to realize the feeling of needing to go to the bathroom and that will make potty training a little easier next year. We'll see. He's been doing that more and more often lately. While Mom and Mr. L were here last weekend, he started pooping IN the tub and I said, "Caleb, are you pooping?" He nodded at me and said, "Yeah." Mom scooped him up out of the tub and I cleaned it out before running him a fresh bath. Only in a mother's world!
He went to bed just fine Saturday night. I had trouble getting to sleep and had dozed off at about 2:45, when I started to hear him moaning and crying. I thought maybe he was just unsettled and would get back to sleep in a few minutes. It just got worse, though and he eventually started calling for me. I went into his room and picked him up. That's when I realized that he was burning up with fever. I changed his diaper and wet PJ's and then gave him some ibuprofen. As I tried to get him to sleep, I took his temperature and it was 102.9. I took a deep breath and prayed that the ibuprofen would work quickly. Fortunately, it did and I felt his fever break a short time later. He tossed and turned for a while and finally went to sleep about 4:00. Needless to say, we both took long naps today. We stayed in again today and I'm about to go stir crazy. Not stir crazy enough to look forward to going to work tomorrow - that would just be crazy!
Rudy is off tomorrow for MLK, Jr. day, but I have to go to work. We're going to wait and see how Caleb does tonight before we decide about daycare tomorrow. He seems to feel fine, but he's still very congested. He has danced around and played a lot today, and we have followed him around with tissues. I think he is just as stir crazy as we are, but we can't chance him getting any sicker, so we'll be conservative about sending him back.
On Sunday, we took advantage of Mr. L's truck and followed them to Ft. Smith to give Jan an outdoor cabinet that we couldn't get to her on our own. We stayed and had lunch with her before leaving for home.
I woke up on Tuesday feeling like I had been run over by a fleet of trucks. I absolutely couldn't get up and make it through a day with 3, 4 and 5 year olds, so I called in sick. I ended up sleeping 20 of the 24 hours of Tuesday. It took a few days before I started feeling better, but I didn't really have much of a choice...
On Thursday morning, Caleb woke up with a matted eye, runny nose and a fever. He had been coughing a lot all week, but the fever was what really concerned me. Rudy took the day off and took him to the pediatrician. He was diagnosed with a bad respiratory infection. He's on a nebulizer for breathing treatments and also a round of antibiotics. The nurse said that he didn't need to go to daycare on Friday - or any day until he got better because his immune system was weak and he could end up with RSV. So, Rudy stayed home on Friday as well. It was miserable for me to go to work and leave them here. I was worried all day, but I was so busy that I didn't have time to do much about it. Besides, it was a crummy day at work and I really just wanted to get home to my boys.
Friday night (after lots of debate about what was the right thing to do), Rudy and I went to dinner and a movie. We got a babysitter and actually went on a date. Kelly is a junior in college and we've known her since she was in high school. She had our cell phone numbers, so we felt comfortable leaving Caleb in her care. He was only awake for about 2 hours while she was here. Our much-needed date was fantastic - great meal and great movie (Juno) - and we got back here by midnight.
Nothing really changed with Caleb on Saturday. We stayed home all day and night. During his bath, he got a funny look on his face and said, "Poo." I asked him if he had to poop and he nodded his head. I picked him up out of the tub and put him on the toilet, but that made him cry, so I put a diaper on him. After a few minutes, he said, "bath" and I put him back in the tub. He hadn't dirtied his diaper, but he had wet it. Right after his bath, he did dirty the diaper that I put on him. I'm hoping this means he's starting to realize the feeling of needing to go to the bathroom and that will make potty training a little easier next year. We'll see. He's been doing that more and more often lately. While Mom and Mr. L were here last weekend, he started pooping IN the tub and I said, "Caleb, are you pooping?" He nodded at me and said, "Yeah." Mom scooped him up out of the tub and I cleaned it out before running him a fresh bath. Only in a mother's world!
He went to bed just fine Saturday night. I had trouble getting to sleep and had dozed off at about 2:45, when I started to hear him moaning and crying. I thought maybe he was just unsettled and would get back to sleep in a few minutes. It just got worse, though and he eventually started calling for me. I went into his room and picked him up. That's when I realized that he was burning up with fever. I changed his diaper and wet PJ's and then gave him some ibuprofen. As I tried to get him to sleep, I took his temperature and it was 102.9. I took a deep breath and prayed that the ibuprofen would work quickly. Fortunately, it did and I felt his fever break a short time later. He tossed and turned for a while and finally went to sleep about 4:00. Needless to say, we both took long naps today. We stayed in again today and I'm about to go stir crazy. Not stir crazy enough to look forward to going to work tomorrow - that would just be crazy!
Rudy is off tomorrow for MLK, Jr. day, but I have to go to work. We're going to wait and see how Caleb does tonight before we decide about daycare tomorrow. He seems to feel fine, but he's still very congested. He has danced around and played a lot today, and we have followed him around with tissues. I think he is just as stir crazy as we are, but we can't chance him getting any sicker, so we'll be conservative about sending him back.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Christmas and All Settled In
We're finally HOME! We could not possibly be happier with our new home and we are thrilled to be settled in and unpacked. Everyone keeps saying that they are amazed that I already have pictures hung on the wall and boxes unpacked. Well, it's me and that's how I do things. I can't stand to live in a place where I have to sidestep boxes and the walls are bare. I want it done so I can relax and enjoy my life.
The morning of the 21st, Rudy got up and took Caleb to Jan's in Ft. Smith. She kept him all weekend for us, which we greatly appreciate. We closed on the house at 2:00 and went straight home to start moving stuff. We moved the entire contents of the kitchen that night. On Saturday, we got up bright and early to get a head start on the moving truck. We hauled a couple of loads of stuff in our cars before the truck ever showed up. We had 2 guys helping us move and they were pretty good. They had all the right equipment to make even the heavy stuff easy to maneuver. They were gone by 4:00 and we were left with a big huge mess. At times, we looked around and had no idea where to even begin to work. But - we jumped in there and got it done. We made sure that Caleb's room was ready for him when he got home on Sunday. The basics were all done by the end of the weekend.
On Sunday, we met the Villines family for lunch in Fayetteville. Todd, Tammy and Elle brought Caleb to meet us. We enjoyed our time with the family. Jerry and Sherry, Rebecca and Derek and Tom came back with us to see the house after lunch. We were so proud to show it off, even though it wasn't finished yet.
On Christmas Eve, we spent the morning waiting for the cable guy and the delivery of our new dryer. (Our old one had almost caught fire and we didn't know it!) Once all of that was done, we went to Jan's in Ft. Smith. The Voise family had a wonderful dinner there and it was good to see everyone. The best part was watching Caleb and Elle play together.
Christmas Day (Rudy's 32nd birthday), we came back home. After Caleb's nap, he opened his Christmas presents from us and then we went over to the Voises for dinner and to visit some more. Jan and Chris came back to the house and spent the night. We were all exhausted when we got home! We had been on a whirlwind adventure for several days...and it was only just starting.
On the 26th, Mom came up to help me with decorating/unpacking and watching Caleb while I did those fun things. It was wonderful having her here. I don't know how I ever would've gotten all of those boxes unpacked without her! Rudy left for Fordyce (deer camp) on the afternoon of the 26th and met Mr. L. down there. Mom and I worked ourselves to the bone for 2 days and then packed up on the 28th and went to Hot Springs.
After Caleb's nap on the 28th, we went over to Aunt Harolyn's to see everyone. Becca, Jimmy and Maddox hadn't been there long and we were so glad to see them! Caleb and Maddox played and had a Goldfish cracker picnic in the floor with Aunt H. Caleb taught Maddox how to call the Hogs, which was almost enough to give Jimmy a stroke. Of course, all of the Arkansas fans in the group loved it! The two boys had a great time playing with cars and trucks, dancing and soaking up the spotlight. That evening, we went to Pepapa and Anna Joyce's house to see them and I helped Pepapa set up his new high-speed internet. It was quite an ordeal, but we got it done and got home just in time to put Caleb to bed.
On the 29th, Rudy and Mr. L. came back from Fordyce and Rudy had killed a deer. He was so excited! That afternoon, we went back over to Pepapa and Anna Joyce's for our big family Christmas. We had a great time seeing everyone. It was a very special Christmas this year. We were so glad to have the little boys running around and playing. It was the first time we've had 2 little ones at Christmas in a very long time! In addition to that, we were all glad to be together for the first time since Kim's breast cancer diagnosis. It made the meaning of Christmas and the feeling of family a lot more important than usual. She is doing fantastic and I was so glad to see her smiling face! Please continue to pray for her and for Jimmy.
When we got back to Mom and Mr. L's after dinner, we went ahead and opened all of our Christmas gifts with them so that packing up the car would be an easier task the next morning. Not that it was easy with all of the stuff that we had to take home!
Caleb made a major haul on the Christmas gifts this year. He got a wagon, lots of Little People stuff, some movies, some books, a 3-in-1 tricycle/rocker, cars and trucks and even a Lightening McQueen car that he can ride on and make lots of noise! He loves it! I even cleaned out his toy box when we got home from Hot Springs to make room for the new things.
We spent the last couple of days of the year finishing up the house and getting our lives back in order after the move. We didn't do anything at all on New Year's Eve. In fact, we were sound asleep when the clock struck 12. We were completely disappointed in the Hogs' performance in the Cotton Bowl. I even managed to sleep through the entire 3rd quarter. It was THAT bad!
I had to go back to work on the 2nd, so Rudy took Caleb to school and came home to work on the remaining "to-do" list. On Friday night, Chris came up and spent the weekend with us. He and Rudy did some lawnwork for the Voises on Saturday, then went to see a movie Saturday night. Saturday and Sunday were beautiful days, so we spent a lot of time outside playing. Rudy went back to work on the 7th and some sense of routine has returned to our lives. We're looking forward to the weekend. Mom and Mr. L. are coming up on Saturday morning. They are bringing some fantastic hand-me-down furniture and taking our old refrigerator back with them. They are looking forward to seeing the finished product of our new home...and looking forward to seeing Caleb too.
As for Caleb's milestones...I couldn't be more excited! He's talking so much now that I can't even keep up with all of his words. He has even started putting 2 words together occasionally. A couple of days ago, he said, "Hi, Daddy." He loves to play with his Little People and with anything that has wheels or plays music. He asks for Elmo, movies ("moobee") and TV ("teebee") more than I'd like for him to, but we monitor what he watches, so I guess it's okay. He loves Monsters, Inc. and Cars. He also loves Sesame Street and pretty much anything on Sprout. I was amazed a couple of days ago when I realized that he can identify a star...and says that word "star" anytime he sees one. He also says, "Wow!" when something really amazes him. Oh...and he dances. It is pretty much the funniest thing he's ever done. I've tried to catch him doing it on video, but he loves the camera, so when I get it out - that's all he focuses on. He will go to Rudy's clock-radio on his nightstand and press the button that turns on the radio. Then he starts grooving with his shoulders and turns around in circles. This lasts about 15 seconds before he turns off the music, then turns it back on and does it all over again. It never fails to make me laugh! His other favorite thing right now is opening and closing doors. This is enough to make me crazy sometimes, but I figure it's a passing phase. It'll get old after a while and we'll move on to something else that makes me nuts. Other than wanting to be "side" (outside) all the time and throwing a holy fit when he doesn't get to go, he's a pretty easy-going little man. He loves his school, his teachers and his mama and daddy. My favorite thing in the world is to walk into his classroom in the afternoons and hear, "Mama!" and see that smiling child come running towards me. What more could I ask for?
The morning of the 21st, Rudy got up and took Caleb to Jan's in Ft. Smith. She kept him all weekend for us, which we greatly appreciate. We closed on the house at 2:00 and went straight home to start moving stuff. We moved the entire contents of the kitchen that night. On Saturday, we got up bright and early to get a head start on the moving truck. We hauled a couple of loads of stuff in our cars before the truck ever showed up. We had 2 guys helping us move and they were pretty good. They had all the right equipment to make even the heavy stuff easy to maneuver. They were gone by 4:00 and we were left with a big huge mess. At times, we looked around and had no idea where to even begin to work. But - we jumped in there and got it done. We made sure that Caleb's room was ready for him when he got home on Sunday. The basics were all done by the end of the weekend.
On Sunday, we met the Villines family for lunch in Fayetteville. Todd, Tammy and Elle brought Caleb to meet us. We enjoyed our time with the family. Jerry and Sherry, Rebecca and Derek and Tom came back with us to see the house after lunch. We were so proud to show it off, even though it wasn't finished yet.
On Christmas Eve, we spent the morning waiting for the cable guy and the delivery of our new dryer. (Our old one had almost caught fire and we didn't know it!) Once all of that was done, we went to Jan's in Ft. Smith. The Voise family had a wonderful dinner there and it was good to see everyone. The best part was watching Caleb and Elle play together.
Christmas Day (Rudy's 32nd birthday), we came back home. After Caleb's nap, he opened his Christmas presents from us and then we went over to the Voises for dinner and to visit some more. Jan and Chris came back to the house and spent the night. We were all exhausted when we got home! We had been on a whirlwind adventure for several days...and it was only just starting.
On the 26th, Mom came up to help me with decorating/unpacking and watching Caleb while I did those fun things. It was wonderful having her here. I don't know how I ever would've gotten all of those boxes unpacked without her! Rudy left for Fordyce (deer camp) on the afternoon of the 26th and met Mr. L. down there. Mom and I worked ourselves to the bone for 2 days and then packed up on the 28th and went to Hot Springs.
After Caleb's nap on the 28th, we went over to Aunt Harolyn's to see everyone. Becca, Jimmy and Maddox hadn't been there long and we were so glad to see them! Caleb and Maddox played and had a Goldfish cracker picnic in the floor with Aunt H. Caleb taught Maddox how to call the Hogs, which was almost enough to give Jimmy a stroke. Of course, all of the Arkansas fans in the group loved it! The two boys had a great time playing with cars and trucks, dancing and soaking up the spotlight. That evening, we went to Pepapa and Anna Joyce's house to see them and I helped Pepapa set up his new high-speed internet. It was quite an ordeal, but we got it done and got home just in time to put Caleb to bed.
On the 29th, Rudy and Mr. L. came back from Fordyce and Rudy had killed a deer. He was so excited! That afternoon, we went back over to Pepapa and Anna Joyce's for our big family Christmas. We had a great time seeing everyone. It was a very special Christmas this year. We were so glad to have the little boys running around and playing. It was the first time we've had 2 little ones at Christmas in a very long time! In addition to that, we were all glad to be together for the first time since Kim's breast cancer diagnosis. It made the meaning of Christmas and the feeling of family a lot more important than usual. She is doing fantastic and I was so glad to see her smiling face! Please continue to pray for her and for Jimmy.
When we got back to Mom and Mr. L's after dinner, we went ahead and opened all of our Christmas gifts with them so that packing up the car would be an easier task the next morning. Not that it was easy with all of the stuff that we had to take home!
Caleb made a major haul on the Christmas gifts this year. He got a wagon, lots of Little People stuff, some movies, some books, a 3-in-1 tricycle/rocker, cars and trucks and even a Lightening McQueen car that he can ride on and make lots of noise! He loves it! I even cleaned out his toy box when we got home from Hot Springs to make room for the new things.
We spent the last couple of days of the year finishing up the house and getting our lives back in order after the move. We didn't do anything at all on New Year's Eve. In fact, we were sound asleep when the clock struck 12. We were completely disappointed in the Hogs' performance in the Cotton Bowl. I even managed to sleep through the entire 3rd quarter. It was THAT bad!
I had to go back to work on the 2nd, so Rudy took Caleb to school and came home to work on the remaining "to-do" list. On Friday night, Chris came up and spent the weekend with us. He and Rudy did some lawnwork for the Voises on Saturday, then went to see a movie Saturday night. Saturday and Sunday were beautiful days, so we spent a lot of time outside playing. Rudy went back to work on the 7th and some sense of routine has returned to our lives. We're looking forward to the weekend. Mom and Mr. L. are coming up on Saturday morning. They are bringing some fantastic hand-me-down furniture and taking our old refrigerator back with them. They are looking forward to seeing the finished product of our new home...and looking forward to seeing Caleb too.
As for Caleb's milestones...I couldn't be more excited! He's talking so much now that I can't even keep up with all of his words. He has even started putting 2 words together occasionally. A couple of days ago, he said, "Hi, Daddy." He loves to play with his Little People and with anything that has wheels or plays music. He asks for Elmo, movies ("moobee") and TV ("teebee") more than I'd like for him to, but we monitor what he watches, so I guess it's okay. He loves Monsters, Inc. and Cars. He also loves Sesame Street and pretty much anything on Sprout. I was amazed a couple of days ago when I realized that he can identify a star...and says that word "star" anytime he sees one. He also says, "Wow!" when something really amazes him. Oh...and he dances. It is pretty much the funniest thing he's ever done. I've tried to catch him doing it on video, but he loves the camera, so when I get it out - that's all he focuses on. He will go to Rudy's clock-radio on his nightstand and press the button that turns on the radio. Then he starts grooving with his shoulders and turns around in circles. This lasts about 15 seconds before he turns off the music, then turns it back on and does it all over again. It never fails to make me laugh! His other favorite thing right now is opening and closing doors. This is enough to make me crazy sometimes, but I figure it's a passing phase. It'll get old after a while and we'll move on to something else that makes me nuts. Other than wanting to be "side" (outside) all the time and throwing a holy fit when he doesn't get to go, he's a pretty easy-going little man. He loves his school, his teachers and his mama and daddy. My favorite thing in the world is to walk into his classroom in the afternoons and hear, "Mama!" and see that smiling child come running towards me. What more could I ask for?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)