Happy Halloween!

Back to School!

We're back to the grind at our house.  The lazy days of summer will be missed, but I'm also ready for a little structure in my life. And I am oh so ready to be able to go running and do my grocery shopping with just one or two little ones hanging on my coat tails.  Camden starts pre-school next week and I'm not sure I'll know what to do with myself with only one little guy two mornings a week...probably go grocery shopping or  running.  Here are a few of our goofy pictures for back to school :)

Someone was feeling a little bit left out, so we got one with all of them.  He'll have his day in the spotlight next week :)

Meeting up with his buddies before school

Right before I said good-bye to Gage.  I'm going to miss my little lunch buddy...

The little guys that were left behind, they didn't seem to mind much :)

Gage was so excited to be a big 1st grader and get to eat lunch at school and go to spanish and art class etc.  The excitement lasted all of one day...he woke up this morning (day 2 of school) and said he wanted it to be summer again so he could sleep in.  We might have a long year ahead of us!

First Trip to the ER...Not For the Faint of Heart!

I knew that our run of no stitches, broken bones or ER trips would come to an end sooner or later.  And considering the adventurous group of boys I have I am actually surprised it wasn't sooner!  Well today was that day.  We were swimming at a friends house when Carter unsuccessfully attempted a back flip off the diving board resulting in a back flop.  My response, "Carter, let's not do any more back flips, they make me nervous and dad's not here to put you back together if you break."  JINX.  What happens next???  Carter does a front flip (which he has done hundreds of times mind you) and doesn't clear the diving board.  I'm not sure how it all happened, all I know is he came up out of the water with blood running down his face a little disoriented.  I swam over and grabbed him and helped him get to the stairs.  I SOOO did not want to look at it.  Thank goodness my good friend Amy is not as squeamish as I and looked at it for me.  She quickly responded, "How about I watch your kids for the afternoon!"
"He needs stitches?"
"Yep!"
At which point Carter started to fall apart.  We got out of the pool put a towel on Carter's head, I threw my dress over my suit and we were off.  I called Jared on the way to the hospital.  He asked how deep it was.  "I don't know."
"What? How do you not know?"
"I didn't look at it!"
"What?"
"I wouldn't be able to drive if I had looked at it."
"Just pull over and look at it."
"Amy looked at it and said it needed to be stitched and I trust her."  I didn't plan on looking at it...ever.

As soon as we got to the ER I realized Carter didn't have shoes or a shirt, oops.  Didn't think to grab his clothes.  They got him in pretty quick and while the nurse was getting his vitals and history he commented that if it was under the hair line they wouldn't do stitches but would staple it.  Carter's eyes got HUGE.  "Staples??"  I had the same reaction...in my head.  I don't think I would have been able to look at him if he had staples on his head.  Fortunately (or unfortunately) most of the gash was on his forehead rather than under his hairline so stitches it was.

Once we were in his room curtained area, they turned the TV on for Carter which was a lifesaver.  He went into that slightly frightening comatose stage my children enter while watching TV and stayed there until the lidocaine kicked in.  It was a beautiful thing.

When the doctors came in and took a look one of them commented that there was a hole in the galea, note to self - ask Jared what hole in the galea means.  Turns out it meant that the laceration was through the muscle, clear to his scalp...just in one small spot but still!  My stomach started doing somersaults.  The resident turned Carter towards me to show me the laceration and explain to me that it was a good cut (whatever that means).  I tried to quickly turn my head away but it was too late.  I had seen it.  I checked myself.  I wasn't lightheaded, I wasn't nauseous and I was still breathing and conscious.  I did however have to do a lot of self talk to keep my cool and not end up on the bed in the room next door (something that may or may not have happened when Gage got his tonsils out) or passed out on the floor (something else that may or may not have happened with a previous suture experience.

Jared showed up after a while (and brought a camera with him...it was killing me that I was there without a camera to document this experience!).  Carter was super brave and saw surprised at how easy it was.  Knock on wood but maybe next time he won't be so scared.  Although I have to admit, the idea of stitches is much worse than the actual thing!

3 hours, 4 deep tissue plus 13 surface sutures later and we're as good as new...with a little bit of a lingering headache to remind one to flip further away from the diving board next time!

It made me smile that my not so little boy still wanted to hold my hand.  And it may have made me feel better too... Love this kid!

I am totally avoiding looking at this photo while I type.  It makes my stomach turn.  And according to Amy it looks a lot better washed out than it did at the pool.  So grateful for good, unsqueamish friends!

Finally got a smile out of him...after the lidocaine kicked in!

Yes, I let the resident stitch him up...it's hard to ask for someone else when your husband is a resident.  Hope he did a good job!

No shirt, no shoes...no problem.

Who's Who?

Because I will forget - and this made me laugh

Carter - "Mom, I'm exhausted!"
Me - "Well you better hurry and get those legos picked up so you can go to bed."
Carter - "Do you KNOW the meaning of exhausted!?!"

Gotta love that 3rd grade attitude...

Cam's 3rd Birthday Questionnaire

I saw this cute idea and decided to give it a whirl, we'll see if it sticks.  Here's Cam at 3!

A Winter Day at the Zoo

We've had a crazy mild Winter.  I keep waiting for it to really show itself.  While we have had some cold days it feels more like early Spring than Winter.  Every time we have a warm spell (where it gets up into the 50's) I seem to plan an outing somewhere outside because I am convinced it is going to be the last of the warm days before winter really hits.  It was supposed to be warmer on our planned trip to the zoo but the sun didn't quite make it out as the forecast had promised.  It wasn't too cold and we still had a great time viewing many of the forgotten indoor exhibits.  My favorite was the frogs.  We managed to see some them in the middle of their metamorphosis from tadpole to frog.  Half of the babies were still in the water with arms, legs and a tail and the other half had emerged from their tadpole days and were tiny little baby frogs, many of which still had a little bit of a tail that hadn't quite disappeared yet.  I was in awe.  The boys, not so much.  I think I stayed and watched those little baby frogs for 10 minutes and then realized Gage and Cam had since moved on.  Not something you get to see every day at the zoo!

The boys were much more enthralled by the tiger.  We don't see him moving around much.  He's usually taking a nap and sometimes we see him awake but he's usually laying down.  Today the boys gave their best "roars" to get him going and lo and behold he took off.  We stayed and watched him move around his enclosure for a good 20 minutes.  When we got home Cam was so excited to tell his daddy, "I scared the tiger today!"

Of all the animals at the zoo I think my little boys may have been the craziest.  They had many spectators as they trotted around roaring at animals in their crazy hats.  A guy even asked if he could take pictures of them. Like I said, the craziest of the zoo animals, and I got to take them home with me :)

Gage's scary face!

Here's to embracing the mild winter we're having now, instead of bracing myself for the March and April I am sure we are destined to have!

Three!

I can't believe my baby is three. {sigh}  Time really does fly.  Happy Birthday Cam!  You are the sweetest three year old out there.  I love that you love to cuddle, that you tell me you love me 100 times a day.   and that you say, "I love you bigger than an elephant," or "I love you to the moon!"  I love it when you give me a big bear hug around my neck and say, "I want to hold your head."  I love your dimples.  I love that you are so determined and such a hard worker, you're my big boy helper.  I love that you are talking so much more and can tell me what you want and how you feel, even when it's, "I want to punch you in the face."  I love the way you idolize your big brothers and want to be like them.  I love to hear the pitter-patter of your little feet as they run across the hard wood floors almost every single night as you sneak out of bed and run to the kitchen to sneak a string cheese out of the fridge.  You make me smile every day!  I wish you could stay small forever!  Thank you for being my best friend... even if it is just for now.

And I love that you sang "Happy Birthday to Me" all day long today :)

New Beginnings and a Happy New Year!

Last year was a bust when it came to blogging.  It makes me sad to look back at 2011 and realize that I didn't do a very good job at documenting it!  We did A LOT of fun stuff and I hope to go back and fill in the gaps, at least the big ones (like our 5600 mile road trip!).  Blogging became so overwhelming for me I had to let it go for a bit.  But, here's to new beginnings and better documentation of 2012!

We spent New Years Even in Utah with my sisters family.  We rang in the new year with our fellow Michiganders at 10:00 MST (which was midnight back home).  We had homemade party hats (my fave and only New Years Eve tradition), pans and spoons for banging, sparkling cider and egg nog.  The boys made a big fort out of the awesome fort kit Tiff made where they finally settled in for the night.  Here's to a fantastic 2012!!

Happy New Year!!