Who Made You?

Today Lucas's Sunbeams teacher at church mentioned that he is the "know it all" of the class and always answers all the questions. He makes my heart happy - I'm glad that he's not afraid to speak up in class, and I'm also glad we've managed to teach him a few things.
Then I remembered something he said before his surgery:
But, Mom, Heavenly Father made my tonsils. He wants me to keep them.
I thought it was really sweet that he would even think about that at such a time. Most of us don't often think about what amazing gifts our bodies are and how we should treat them. It also meant that (hopefully) he values gifts he is given. I'm glad that at a time in our lives when we're so focused on teaching Lucas, he turns around and teaches us every now and then.

'Tis the Season

Just so you know, we are enjoying this wonderful time of year, thinking of our many blessings, and loving our family, despite the whole tonsil thing.
We put up our Christmas tree, saw the big tree at Macy's, looked at Christmas lights, saw Santa, and have made treats... with hopefully more to come.

Lucas and The Great Tonsil Escape

First off: Hershey's Syrup, I love you. More about that later, but here is the story of our great tonsil adventure.
Tuesday morning I was getting ready to leave, putting on my pink J Crew comfy pants and jacket. Lucas came in and said, "Wow, Mom, you look great!" He has a great sense of style, you know. I nervously packed my baby into the car and we got to the hospital at 8:15. At about 8:45 they called us back to the Pre Op room to get dressed and answer all the questions about fasting, allergies, and medical conditions for 4 different people. Lucas had a lot of fun playing with his teddy bear, Teddy, whom we brought, but he was definitely starting to lose it because he was hungry and bored. I tried to occupy him with my excellent dancing skills for a while, which was fun. I think they took him away at about 9:30. He didn't want to sit on the gurney, so he walked and the nurse let him push the button to open the fancy doors. They said he was talking a lot, cracking them up and that he was the sweetest thing ever. He did great "blowing up the balloon" at the end of the mask, which eventually put him to sleep. After he was asleep they put in the IV and did the surgery. I went immediately to our recovery room where we stayed the night.

The doctor was reporting to me by 10:00. She said Lucas did great and that his tonsils were huge and his adenoids were enlarged, but not as big. They came out too, though.

He was in with me by 10:45 or 10:30. And he was happy and sweet. He ate popcicles like it was his job - 7 in an hour or so. Ben and Evan came while we were playing in the toy room. Lucas had blue/green/orange stained lips/shirt and was quite the pitiful site for Ben to see when he walked in, especially since he had to pull his IV stand with him everywhere he went. We played a couple games. Lucas was a little out of it, but managed.

He ate a decent dinner and then when I thought he was ready for bed, chowed down on 3 more popsicles, a jello and half of a pudding. He fell asleep finally around 10:00, woke up in pain in the night right before his pain meds. He wouldn't take his meds, started crying, coughing, had some pink saliva, but luckily not bad bleeding. Finally the nurses wrapped him in a blanket, hugging his bear, and had to force the medicine down. The next time he woke up and started coughing and wheezing. He was having trouble breathing, which was a little freaky and had the nurses in a slight tizzy, but eventually he calmed down and took his meds. We also got up two times during the night to go potty, which was really fun - especially with the IV stand (which we finally figured out was just easier to ride than pull). I'm guessing I got a couple hours of sleep. Lucas got more, but was being woken up a lot. He was up at 5:30 ready to watch Veggie Tales. We were set free by 6:30 and left at about 7:00.

I was really worried about surviving Wednesday on hardly any sleep, but we did. Lucas resisted his medicine, but I managed to get it down him twice. Once plain, once mixed with chocolate syrup and a bit of ice cream. That night Ben went to basketball and I went to sleep in Lucas's room on the floor at 9:30. It was rad. I woke up at 10:30 for medicine time, which I gave to him mixed with chocolate syrup and a little water... with a spoon. It took forever once I finally convinced him.The second time at 2:30 he was so tired and out of it. We didn't get it in his mouth until 3:10 and we had to hold him down.

From the top: Lucas in Pre Op, our dance party, riding the IV stand, 2:45 am, family dinner, nappy nap.

Yesterday, Thursday, went better. He took his chocolaty meds in the morning by himself after several minutes of coaxing. He watched movies and played games with me most of the day. His lunch time dose of medicine was a tough one, finally I got the delicious batch of chocolate hydrocodone ice cream down his throat. Afterward I was exhausted and we both took a much needed nap later. The medicine battle really takes it out of me and makes me want to cry. The exhaustion I have felt the past few days has been almost as bad as having a brand new baby.

BUT, finally, FINALLY, last night Lucas turned a corner. He took his chocolaty medicine all by himself in the bath tub. We celebrated, hooted, hollered and danced for several minutes making him feel like the champ of chocolate. He managed to take his meds both times in the night w/o much resistance. It was great. I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders!

Lucas seems to be doing great today. He's not eating a ton, but he's pretty happy. Tomorrow is day 5. Days 5-7 are supposed to be the most painful because the scabs start coming off and earaches are also expected. This is also when bleeding is most risky, so we have to watch for that. Hopefully we'll be ok and manage a little weekend fun.

Evan has been surviving all the chaos like a champ. He plays in the toy room while I cuddle Lucas and doesn't complain. He's sleeping better at night, thanks to Ben's intervention, and he's still cute as ever. Evan can crawl like a big man, but still scoots if he's in a big hurry. He has also started to cruise around a little, which means I could have a running maniac before too long. Evan also loves to clap.



I love my boys.

So long tonsils...

Tonight is (hopefully) the last night I will go in Lukie's room and hear his snoring to know he's fast asleep. I'll miss it a little, but I know he'll be a happier and healthier boy.
Wish us luck tomorrow and say a prayer for my little man. Surgery starts at 9:15.

check those things out! (Sorry about the grossness... and the chocolate in his teeth).

BTW, Lucas is kind of excited for this big adventure, mostly because of the unlimited movies, ice cream, and popsicles during recovery. We went on a tour on Friday and he was so cute. He asked so many questions, many regarding the toys and popsicles. He's planning on a strawberry scent in his mask to put him to sleep...(or blow up a balloon as they call it).

Sweet Things - Lucas

Some funny Lucasisms:

I made a real Thankgiving dinner last Sunday since we didn't get the traditional dinner on Thanksgiving. Lucas was really excited about Thankgiving dinner; although, he only ate cranberry sauce and turkey.
At dinner I asked Lucas what he was thankful for and he listed every family member he could think of. Then he asked Ben what he was thankful for. Ben started to talk and Lucas said in a little whisper, "pick me, pick me!" Ben pretended he was thinking really hard and listed off things/people, all the while Lucas is kept hinting (pointing to himself) to Ben. Finally Ben got a clue and said he was thankful for Lucas. It was pretty adorable.

While we were driving home from church on Sunday Lucas got mad that we were playing a song too loud, so we turned it down. Then this Avett Brothers song came on and he requested we turn it up. Louder. And Louder. When it was over he simply stated, "That was a great song."

The other day we were headed out the door. I was still barefoot and he looked down at my red painted toes: "Mom, where did you get those beautiful toes?"

Lately when we ask Lucas a question like, "Do you want a sandwich for lunch?" Instead of a simple yes, it's always "I do." But he says it in a really cute way.

Lucas lives with me, so of course he is going to be a fan of dessert. He thinks there ought to be dessert after every meal, so he often asks if he can have something for his breakfast dessert, lunch dessert, dinner dessert, and today he jokingly mentioned something about dessert dessert.

Today at breakfast and again in the car, Lucas said, "Let's try to have a good day today." I'm all for that idea!

When Ben gets home from work and comes to give me a smooch Lucas comes running to jump in the middle for Family Hug Time. He loves it. Poor Evan never gets to participate in FHT, but when he's big enough to withstand the pressure, he can.

I make a dang good edamame dip. Sometimes when it's just me and the kids we have it for dinner with yummy pita flat bread. Lucas loves the stuff and has declared himself Edamame King. I love the fact that he takes edamame roll ups (dip rolled into a tortilla) to school and thinks it's rad.

In other news, we are going to an ENT on Thursday to see if Lucas should have his tonsils out. The sleep specialist thought he should, but we'll see what the surgeon thinks. Here's a little picture of the day after his sleep study when he was taking off all the weird stickers. He's so cute.

Cake for Breakfast

My sweet boys let me sleep in this morning. I awoke to a delicious aroma downstairs. Lucas had me close my eyes all the way down the stairs and when I got to the kitchen there was a beautiful birthday cake waiting for me. Lucas made it all by himself, with Ben's assistance for egg cracking, oven using, and beating, I'm sure. But he iced, wrote, sprinkled and candled all by himself. It was strawberry - because girls like pink. The boys picked up all the fixins last night when they snuck off at Wal-mart. Such sweet boys!

Tonight the biggest sweet boy (Ben) fixed the Playstation that the middle sweet boy (Lucas) broke a few weeks ago when he stuck a piece of pool noodle foam into the Bluray drive. Ben took it apart like a champ and removed the offending piece of green foam. If Lucas ever sticks another piece of foam or a string cheese wrapper in a movie viewing or gaming device again... so help me.

After an eventful morning at Costco and Sam Moon, the littlest sweet boy went to bed tonight with a fever. Hopefully he'll feel better soon. He's so sweet.

Love those boys.

A Thanksgiving to Remember

We wanted to do something different this year on Thanksgiving. I didn't really feel like cooking... we thought it might be fun to go out with friends. But in the end, Ben declared in a last minute attempt at originality that we would go to Enchanted Rock for Thanksgiving. We would just eat at some random place and have a grand time, by golly.

And so we did... kind of (I mean about the grand time). We woke up and got ready to leave. Ben may or may not have been hounding me to hurry, and I may or may not have been fed up with his hounding. After all, I had already cooked breakfast, vacuumed up broken glass downstairs, and turned 32. What else did he want from me? Around 10:00 we were loading up to go. I told Ben we needed coats because a cold front was moving in and he rolled his eyes or something. This made an upset Suzy more upseterer. So, I grabbed the coats for everyone. Everyone except Ben. I didn't really think much of it, but figured manly man Ben would be fine if it was a bit chilly.

As we were driving away some rain started falling and clouds rolled in. Ben asked me if I got his coat. "Nope." So we went back and got it. Later I confessed that I was trying to teach him a lesson. Both of us were a little amazed at my hoochiness, but I still thought it was kind of funny. I am, however, really glad that we got his coat. It was FREEZING at Enchanted Rock. Freezing. We hiked up to the tippity top, looked around, played a quick game of "rattle snake" that Lucas invented. (I was the rattle snake attacking Lucas). And as quickly as possible we headed down the giant rock to the warmth of our car.

We decided to head to Fredricksburg for dinner. Lucas was hungry and insane by the time we got there so he was ultra-annoying. It was also ultra-annoying that we couldn't find any restaurants that were open except for one--and it was fancy. So, you know what we did? We went to Wal-mart. Yes, Wal-mart. I stayed in the car and fed Evan some baby food while Lucas and Ben went in to look for some food. They came back with quite a Thanksgiving spread consisting of a corn dog, macaroni and cheese, General Tso's chicken, a Coke, and some cookies. The grand total for our feast was less than $11. Lucas and Ben sat in the front while I sat in the back and let Evan play in the very back of the car for a bit.

After our feast we stopped in Johnson City, where Lucas and Ben got out to look at some Christmas lights. They also stumbled upon a little maze. Ben suggested I do the maze with Lucas, so I did. When Lucas and I finished, there was a guy walking up to Ben in the car. He explained that the maze wasn't quite finished, there were nails everywhere, and that they charge for that maze. Everyone had a good laugh and hoped that we didn't get a flat tire from parking by the maze and the piles of nails. We'll see...

When we pulled into Austin we hit up the Wal-mart again for some shopping and finally came home. Both kids are in bed in their new Christmas jammies from Grandma. And Mom and Dad are gonna watch a movie. Mom has been forgiven for trying to freeze Dad and Dad has been forgiven for thinking this was all a good idea in the first place. (really, it wasn't that bad... it was kind of fun, and better than sitting around all day).
Happy Thanksgiving!

eight

This is what happened eight years ago today.

And this is what happened one year ago today:

TODAY - although I'm sad I didn't buy cooler shoes for my wedding, and I'm more sad we're not at the beach, I'm ecstatic to be married to this dude and have two awesome kids. And also to not be so fat.
Happy Anniversary, Baby. I heart you.

20 days in the 505

WAY back on September 30th, I headed to Albuquerque for a nice 12-day visit. We got to see hot air balloons, ride wiggle cars, visit with BOTH sets of grandparents, and even buy freshly roasted green chile. Before we knew it, our 12 days had turned into 20 days. We had a great time!

I hadn't been to the Balloon Fiesta since 2005, so it was great to be able to go again. Ben's parents even came for the weekend, and so did Ben. Lucas loved the balloons. We didn't make it to a balloon glow because of weather, but every morning the balloons went up, which is a treat. Lucas got to go two days. Each balloon has a collector card, so Lucas worked really hard to collect the cards. He got about 20 the first day, and only a few the second day. The first day we went not too many balloons went up because of wind, but they all blew up and stayed on the ground. That gave us a lot of time to get cards. The second day was on the weekend - it was a complete madhouse. We decided it's best to go in the beginning of the week before too many balloonists go home. Lucas's favorite balloon was the space shuttle. I can't wait to take him back again some year.
Aside from balloons we had a great time visiting with family. Both boys were, of course, spoiled rotten by having access to 4 grandparents and their aunts, cousins and uncle. Lucas got to go up the tram again, to the zoo, and the aquarium. That awesome hat he's wearing is what he chose at the aquarium with Lisa. She wanted to get him a baseball hat for the sun, but he thought the crab hat was more appropriate. It has actually come in quite handy. I put it on him for the Balloon Fiesta so I could find him - AND it happened to be crazy hat day, so he got lots of attention. I also wore it for Halloween this year. And he'll get to wear it in a couple weeks for crazy hat day at school. He was right - it was a great find.
I ended up staying so long because Ben had a lot of work to do at home. So, Ben suggested I stay in ABQ where I would have help with kids (and he could work like a mad man guilt free).
Thanks for a great trip, everyone!

Sympathy Points - sleep study

Guess who will have Mom and Dad eating out of his hands this week? Or at least for a couple days...

Lucas had his sleep study last night. Ben got him there at 8:00. Lucas was a total trooper. He was excited and brave. Then they sat him down to get him hooked up to all the junk and he freaked out. It almost didn't happen. Ben started attaching himself to the wires to show that it wasn't scary, and they turned on their friend Mr. TV and were able to get him all hooked up. He watched a cartoon and then Iron Chef, which Lucas likes. I guess he fell asleep during Iron Chef because he was so exhausted. He woke up after 10:00 freaking out because he couldn't move. The wires are so short that you can't roll over. He ripped them off his face and called for Mommy, but I wasn't there. Finally they got him to settle down and got everything back on except for the thing in his nose. He woke up a little during the night, but eventually 5:00 came and they woke him up to go home. Ben said he was so happy when he woke up. The guy came in and said, "Ok, I'm going to take all the cords off of you now." And Lucas happily said, "Don't forget this one!" pointing to one on his chest.
I heard the garage door open while it was still the middle of the night to me. Lucas was wide awake and ready for action. We let him watch some movies while Ben went to sleep and I cuddled Lucas on the LoveSac.
I asked him if it was scary and he said it was fun. Silly kid... We're very proud of him.
I'll get the results on the 23rd. Then we'll know the fate of his tonsils and adenoids.

We headed to the children's museum for his reward, but they were closed, so instead we went to Zilker Park. He fell asleep on the way, so I let him sleep for 45 minutes while Evan played with the steering wheel, etc. At the park he had a wonderful time playing with an older kid and his brother. They played firefighters, lifeguards and superheroes. (FYI, according to Lucas, Firefighters are superheroes on the ground, Lifeguards are superheroes in the water, and Superheroes are in the sky). After the park, we headed to the sleep doctor to pick up the pillow the boys forgot. A guy told me Lucas was the first pediatric patient there. His doctor is new to that practice, but specializes in kids. So, they are planning on buying smaller beds, longer wires, etc. They will also bring all the wires to a point at the top of the head instead of the nape of the neck. That way the kid can roll over easier. Too bad they didn't tell the people working on Lucas to do that.
On the way home Evan answered my prayers by falling asleep so I could take Lucas to Sonic for a strawberry shake. He was a happy boy. Love that kid.

Shiver Me Timbers

I hope you all had a wonderful Halloween! My little pirate had a great time. My littlest pirate didn't know why the heck we put that thing on his head, but he lasted a few minutes. (The guest starring baby girl is Katelyn - a neighborhood celebrity)