Whatta Week

This past week has been absolutely CRAZY!! Saturday morning we headed to Chattanooga for my niece Emma's birthday party. The boys had a blast and rode the carousel at least 5 times! We hung out at Jen and Troy's and then headed to Tyler's baseball game. He started at catcher and had a couple of hits....makin' Aunt Meg proud. Keep up the hard work man! Our evening ended with Lupi's pizza (good call Troy) and some.....drum roll please......Baskin Robbins!! It was a long day, but good times, good food and QT with the fam makes it worth it:)

Wait, is Tyler grown?

Abigail, try to hang on to that wild man!

Jen with the birthday girl

Look at that lefty:)

Carson riding with the birthday girl


Monday morning we got an early wake up call and was at the hospital at 4:45am! That was early! BeBe stayed the night and took care of getting Carson ready and to school:) Parker had a great time in the waiting room, playing and climbing on everything.....but it all ended when they started the pre-op stuff (temp, bp, o2 stats). He calmed down once we were in the room and watching SpongeBob (thank goodness for cartoons, right?). After several rounds of questions....love that they were cautious, but do you really think I would forget to tell you if my family had a history of MD, seizures, or heart defects? Anyway, after a very short discussion about his ability to separate from his mama, we decided to give him Versed, to relieve his anxiety, or as Brad and I saw, make him drunk! He couldn't walk and when asked what an animal was in the Noah's Ark picture on the wall his response was, "It's rough....and tough.....I don't know mama." as he fell back and became dead weight. He went back with the nurse, no problem (since he was drunk!). It made it SOOOOOOOOO much easier on all parties involved:)

The doctor came out after about 30 minutes and told us that Parker's ears were "nasty" and his adenoids were filled with a "buttermilk looking" substance and pus....wow, thanks, I could have just stuck with "nasty" period! He suspects that we will see a completely different child now- with less nose, throat and breathing problems! Yea Parker! After about 30 more minutes he came back to us....coughing like crazy and super fussy (a side effect from the Versed that gave us an easy hand-off...there's ALWAYS a price, huh??). He wanted the IV out and kept telling us "My hand is not sick, it's my ears and my nose! Take it out!!" He drank some juice and ate a green popcicle and we were on our way home after about 45 minutes.

Parker post surgery

When we returned home, we all took a short nap, and then HE (Not mom and dad. We could have used a longer nap!) was ready to go and has been running strong ever since!

Tuesday I kept both boys home from school. Parker had to stay home one more day, even though he was WIDE OPEN all day, and Carson woke up snotty and coughing. I made Carson a doctor's appointment, which produced another referral to the ENT. He has yet another ear infection....or is it still has an ear infection? Who knows, but he's wheezing too:( I just wish we would have looked at Carson's chart last time so that we could have done it all at once! So after several hours of pouting (me, not Carson), I'm over it- and just hanging on until next Thursday's appointment to see what the ENT says....

Last night, I realized that Brad would be getting the boys ready for school for the first time in 7 weeks....so I ran through the list of morning meds.....these poor guys--
Carson- QVAR, Nasonex, Abuterol, Zyrtec, Singular, Azithromycin and Orapred (the last 3 are new from yesterday)
Parker- QVAR, Nasonex, Abuterol, Singular, Amoxicillin
Can I just say that I have made a great friend, sweet Kayla, that works at the CVS down the road. She knows me by name. "Hey Ms. Douglas, How are you? Which boy are you filling for today?" Really? I should get her a gift for taking such good care of me! Last month I made $28 in extra bucks from filling so many prescriptions!!

Today I got to go canoeing with the adapted PE department at work. It was fun. I was helping get the kids in and out of the canoes. I actually was ankle deep in muddy water in tennis shoes- yes folks, that is dedication....you know I wouldn't ruin a pair of shoes for just anyone;) One particular student was having a hard time getting in the boat, so I was "modeling" what he should do and I stepped in the canoe. He followed along and eventually sat down in the canoe. As I took my foot out of the canoe, he grabbed it and held it with a death grip. After a balancing act, in mud I might add, holding on to my last principal's shoulder and someone prying his fingers off my shoe I (and the principal) was spared from being drenched in mud and water. We all had a good time and I was able to catch up with some of the people I worked with at my last school.

We are gearing up for a couples shower at our house for Leah and Aaron this weekend. Leah has officially made it to 30 weeks- which was when I was delivering (30 wks +5 days actually)- so we're happy to be hosting a shower for a baby that's not here yet! It's a couples shower, and we all know how fun guys and babies can be, so Aaron, consider yourself warned. It's gonna be fun!
Please continue to keep my granny and our family in your thoughts and prayers- we'll be heading to Illinois late next week for the services for GGpa.

Tough Week

Since my last post my Grandpa JR, better known as GGpa passed away. Dad went to Texas to be with Granny for a few days and we will be traveling to Illinois sometime in the next few weeks for the memorial service. I've posted a few pictures from the last time we were all together....Carson and Parker couldn't get enough of this Little Einstein sticker book (although GGma could....it was driving her crazy, but she'd never tell them no!)....GGpa sat and watched everytime that book was taken out. Parker must have shown him those tools 50 times, naming them each time, determined to teach GGpa about Handy Manny. We also had a marathon Phase 10 game that brought lots of laughs and good times for all. All I'll elaborate on is that I'd be willing to bet Phase 10 was not the first game he wanted to play when he got to heaven! He'll be greatly missed by all....We love you GGpa!





We did dodge the virus from last week....it ended up only getting Parker--he did ran 102 fever that night, but was good to go Tuesday morning when Ms. Angie came to keep them. I didn't get to sleep, but at least it ended there! We went to watch Spain Park play Hoover in softball and the boys got to play with my friend Cj's little girl Emma....who they love. They also learned a new "game" from her daddy...."Give me a pound....lock it down.....break the pickle.....tickle, tickle!" Thanks Kevin....they are doing it all the time now! It's fun to watch them do it though....it never gets old to them- they crack up everytime!

We had a fun weekend. My mom was in town for Emma's birthday, so she and the kids came down for the day on Saturday. We stayed moving the whole time they were here. We went to a fundraiser for Mitchell's Place/Autism Society of Alabama called the Funky Fish Fry. The little kids probably enjoyed it the most....moonwalks,live music (Parker mostly, once he figured out where the music was coming from), and making slime....although Brad and Tyler did tear up some catfish! Tyler was bummed that he didn't get carded for a wrist band....too bad son...you're only 15! The boys kept calling it the "Funky French Fry" which just made me smile:) We also shopped at the mall, ate at WIngs and then finished the night with some ice cream at Treat Yourself. We love having visitors!

Our weekend finished up with the completion of the Rocky Mountain Retreat....Brad worked most of the day Saturday and even passed up on Indy Race tickets and pit passes (thanks to cousin Andy for the offer!) to finish it on Sunday. Also, thanks Doug for helping with the roof- I was done helping after that side bar whacked me up side the head! The boys love it....We're sure to be Play Central this summer. The boys love having their friends come over to play! Yesterday my friend Monica and her kids came by to play....and the boys went nuts- running around, screaming, jumping off slides and climbing fences! The Harbarger's are more than just our lawn service, they are rockstars! (They aren't our lawn service either, but they did mow our grass this week because they wonderful friends that take care of us) Thanks guys:)

Sorry for the dark pictures....I'm too tired to re-take them tonight!!




I took Parker to the pulmonologist this week and he was cleared for surgery. We report to Children's Hospital Monday morning at 530AM....what's up with having to be up THAT early when I'm off work?!?!?! I know we'll be thankful, since he won't be able to eat or drink after midnight- although he's not much of a breakfast eater anyway! Brad is going to get to be home, which we are extremely grateful for....

Happy Birthday to my niece Emma, who turned 3 this week. We are headed to Chattanooga this weekend for her party and get the 2 for 1 special because we'll get to catch Tyler's ball game too!

I'll close with a funny story of the week....
Carson says he has to potty....he proceeds to go into the bathroom where he sees a bug in the toilet. He immediately starts screaming, crying....literally shaking. I run in there where he says, "It's a bug mama, get it!" I proceed to tell him that it's dead because it drown in the water and he continues to scream, cry and shake. I'm later telling Brad that he had a "complete meltdown" when he saw a bug in the toilet. The next night Carson says, "Hey mama, last night I had a complete meltdown when I saw that bug in the potty, right?" Really?? Did I teach my 3 year old the term "complete meltdown"? It's just been that kind of week I guess!

Airshow, Easter, Daddy still in GA

We've been staying busy since my last post. Last weekend, was our anniversary (6 years). Happy Anniversary to us! We headed down to Montgomery for the Air show with our friends Chad and Kayla and their two girls. The boys had a great time. We had beautiful weather and great company:) According to Parker, we saw "helicockters and fire (in a beavis and butthead type voice)." They enjoyed all the tricks and the parachuters....and the playground on the base while the adults watched the Thunderbirds. I've never been to an airshow so I was impressed! We spent some time playing and the boys roasted marshmallows and ate smores for the first time! They loved it! Thanks to Chad for the great fire (using an old Christmas tree, which was a bit disturbing for all of us) and Kayla for a good dinner! We ended our weekend with a lunch for Leah's birthday and then Brad packed up and headed back to Georgia for the week.




Last week was pretty uneventful (stay tuned, we are paying for that already this week). Tuesday morning before school, we had a visit from Granny and Gramp who were headed to the beach. The boys were pumped up, and even got some candy from their Easter basket before school! We went to the Mountain Brook vs. Thompson softball game on Wednesday to see a couple of my pitchers play- and they won! The boys were covered in dirt from head to toe when we left, but they had fun. Friday the boys had an Easter egg hunt at school. Carson is quite the hunter and Parker kind of hung back and waited for Carson to spot them and then try to race him to it! It was funny to watch- and they both had a great time!



This weekend started off with a bang by us buying the boys a new "playground" as they call it. We have been planning on getting one, and intended for it to be their birthday present, but with Brad out of town so much we just haven't gotten around to it. We also intended to hire someone to set it up....but 6 boxes and about 472 screws, nuts and blots later here it is...Phase I of the Rocky Mountain Retreat...we still need a roof and some swings, but Brad's goal was for it to be "playable" before he left and that it is! The boys told him it was "awesome."

We had a nice Easter. The boys woke up to their baskets-which they eagerly went through and then told us that "we already have THIS car (it really was a different one, but too close to tell for the boys I guess), I don't think we need another one. Ha! We played with play-doh, ate candy for breakfast and then headed out for church. We ate lunch with Brad's parents and then headed back home to finish Phase I of the playset. It was a long day-with the weather being so pretty it's hard to get the boys to come inside- I've always liked "springing forward" for daylight savings time, but this year with 2, 3 year olds, I'm already re-evaluating my stand on that!





Grandpa JR was put in the hospital this weekend. Having some trouble with his heart. He remains there tonight and will begin a new drug to help his heart function. Keeping him and Granny in our thoughts and prayers....it's been very hard on them and us because we are so far away.

This week is already proving to be filled with good story telling. Around 11, I got a call from Mitchell's Place (the boys' preschool) that Parker was throwing up:( When I got there to pick him up he was pitiful. Meanwhile, Carson was be-boppin down the hall asking why Pop didn't pick them up! One of their teacher's handed me a bag with some towels in it....a puke bag for the road? It must have been bad! Special thanks to Ms. Bry- we used it (at least the towels). We made it to the driveway, where I mistakenly got overly confident that we had made it. I stopped to tell my neighbor that he was sick and he got "that look." By the time I could get him out he had already done it again- and then again once he was on the driveway. This provided me with a great learning opportunity. 1- You're not home til you're out of the carseat. You can spray off a driveway- you have to completely dismantle a car seat 2- Love my Britax carseat....but reassembling it was a pain in my rear. I did figure it out eventually, but realized that Brad has pretty much done the reassembly every other time! He slept for over 3 hours, but now he seems to be feeling a little better, but they will stay with Ms. Angie tomorrow just to make sure we're good to go!