Happy Father's Day!

Caleb has to work until 8p today but we did go to the early church service and was able have a Father's Day Breakfast afterwards, even if it was McDonald's :). I made a photo collage from my iPhone and sent it to him while he was on his way to work. It makes his day better, especially since he's at work and not able to spend his day with us. I honestly don't know what I would do without him. I love him more than any words I could ever say and the boys kinda love him, too :)

I will Rejoice!

I've been going through a lot lately that has had me in a funk. I have been anxious, fearful, depressed, and downright unhappy. Although I won't go into deep detail here, just know that I went to a place emotionally that I hope to never go to again. I am digging myself out of this funk because I have to! Why be anxious, fearful, depressed, and unhappy? I'm suppose to rejoice and be thankful for the many blessings God has blessed us with.

"Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:4-7

"finally brother, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you." 2 Corinthians 13:11

Again, I know I have many blessings in my life that keeps my heart beating and my life happy!




Like Him

The love of my life My best friend
And Him The sweetest and funniest 6 year old I know Half of my Heart And HimPrecious and lovingOther Half of my Heart And ThemBest Parents EverAlways loving me unconditionally

 

Peace I leave you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14:27

Summertime Funtime :)

This may be a picture overload, but I need to catch up and start this bloggin' thing again. Especially since I suck at keeping up with both boys baby books. I will add, though, Noah's baby book was finished front to back before he even turned 3. Think I over did it a little? lol. To be fair, Toby's book has the important milestones recorded..Anyway I must post some pics of what we've been doing since summer break started a short two weeks ago :)

First, let me start out with T's first haircut!! I was a little upset because everyone kept hounding me about cutting his hair. He was continuously called a girl (Even by people related to him ugh!) and I got sick of it. I stupidly let peer pressure get the best of me and we had to cut the baby mullet. Here's the before. Note that this was a bad hair day - usually it was all curly and cute! sniffle

Here he is bravely sitting in Nana's lap getting his hair cut by our cousin, Lisa. My big boy!

Another first! Toby's first trip to Chuck E Cheese. Cousin McKinley's bday party.

T's very first time bowling and check it out! He got all the pins except for two! GO T!!

Noah and Zoe had a blast bowling - and Noah's ball went into the gutter as soon as I snapped the pic! haha! Love these kids!

Thanks to Pinterest, I just had to make the kids a car wash sprinkler! Well, I glued and my dad did all the work. lol - Too bad Caleb was at work and missed all the fun. baha!

Water hose fun. What kid doesn't like it? Well considering T is running for his life..I'm guessing he's not a fan. lol

    Zoe pouring a bowl of water over her head. She's so cute!

I have a cute story about the cute little dog above. It's my dad's beagle and he calls her "Girl". She gets so excited when she sees us that she whimpers and screams out like she's been hit by a car..oh, and she also throws herself on the ground as shown in the pic above. I've renamed her: Car Wreck, or C.W. when we have company LOL. I just love her and the boys go crazy everytime she's around. :)

Long Time No Blog!

I'm not very good on keeping up with the blog and I will have to try and do better. I keep up with quite a few blogs, just not my own. On June 1, Noah finished his last day of Kindergarten. I walked him to class that morning and gave the teachers a potted plant each that said "thank you for helping me grow" (thanks to Pinterest!) and as I walked in the door Mrs. Pitts gave Noah a huge hug and told him she loved him. Their relationship with Noah made this whole school year amazing. Once Mrs. Allen handed me all of Noah's things he has created during the school year, I lost it. I started bawling like a baby and the tears wouldn't stop. I was snorting and sniffing. Ugh, I wish I could contain my emotions sometimes, but I just can't. It was a bitter sweet day, really. I am so proud of Noah for completing Kindergarten and very excited about him going into the first grade, yet sad because this is where the "little" turns into "big". I don't think I was prepared for that emotion. The day before we (Me, Caleb, Toby, my mom, and grandmother) went to Noah's play. It was called The Hinky Dinky "DD" Farm. Noah was a rooster and his line was "All around the barnyard the animals are asleep. The cows, horses, pigs and sheep. Shh, don't make a peep. Here I come all bold and proud to sound my daily alarm: cock-a-doodle-doo cock-a-doodle-doo." It was the most precious play I think i've ever seen! Afterwards was the awards. He received the "Super Kid Award" and an award for excelling in Computer lab. I am a proud mama!

Toby is growing like a weed and has to do everything his big brother does. He's definitely the rough and tough one and isn't afraid of breaking anything..my poor house!! He still isn't talking but of course he says some things. His favorite thing to say is "yeah". I can ask him if he's ready for church and he'll enthusiastically say "yeah!" and then I can turn around and ask him if he wants a plate of onions for supper and he says the same thing! ha! I love it though so I am constantly coming up with off the wall questions for him, just to hear it :) We finally got his hair cut (Cousin Lisa cut it) and it does look a lot better, however, I miss the curls in the back. He still has some wavy parts in his hair and I hope it stays that way. It's too cute. I cannot believe he will be two years old in three months...where does the time go?

Caleb and I are still trying to find time for each other. It seems a little harder these days than we thought it would. We are super close and we're definitely each others best friend, but we never really get enough alone time. I think the last time we were out alone together was February 2011, and that was for just two hours. I miss our time together and I think not having that alone time really does affect the relationship. We don't have a babysitter and it gets hard sometimes..but we make do. Our children hate going places. When I say "hate", I really mean it. They pitch fits anytime we're in the car, especially if we start heading out of the town where we live. Toby is a little better than Noah..but once Noah pipes up, thats all she wrote. Our trips are miserable. Whether we're going to the grocery store, shopping, out for dinner, etc...nine times out of ten, it's miserable. I'm not sure why, but our boys would much rather stay at home and do nothing. It makes for hard weekends, that's for sure. Our nine year anniversary and my 29th birthday  (yep, on the same day) is coming up on the ninth and we're hoping for dinner without the kids. Not sure if it will happen, but here's to hoping!
I love him with all of my heart and I'm so thankful we met twelve years ago.

Holy Moly, I'm a slacker..

I cannot believe I haven't posted since early December. How lame am I? Ok, honestly...I have a valid excuse. Things have been pretty crazy since around January 6th. My husband got laid off from his job due to lack of sales. Since it was a new position he could not draw unemployment..which sucked. Hardcore. It's been a difficult month - not knowing what the future holds financially sorta sucks. Thankfully our bills were paid and we were on the constant look out for another job. Fast forward to yesterday - he got a really awesome job. In fact, he almost landed this job at this exact same time last year. Seriously. So maybe good things do come to those who wait. I never doubted that. I pray continuously and thank God for everything, no matter what. I'm thankful he has this new job/new position where he can climb the ladder pretty quickly. It's better pay than he has ever gotten and the bonuses are amazing that he will get. So many worries were washed away yesterday. Glory be to God!! Having a pretty good flow of income just relieves my fears of diminishing our little cushion we have. Just praying and hoping for the best!!

Noah is doing great in Kindergarten. He is reading small readers now. They are learning how to write 1-16 and yet he is writing past 100. He is also doing double digit addition and they haven't even started any math yet!! The teacher contacted me a couple of weeks ago because Noah is starting to have a wandering mind in class. He isn't acting like he's into it at all and she was getting concerned. Well..he's bored. This child was counting to 10 in English, Spanish and French when he was two years old!! He knew all his basic colors, numbers,and said his ABCs. I had to have a serious talk with him and I told him that he had to stay on the same page as his classmates..he cannot just whiz through it and then start getting distracted when he is suppose to sit still in his chair. They are given new readers (for and five word sentences per page) every week. He reads and learns every book and is usually given a new one every couple of days. The teacher stopped me at the Valentine Party today and said he is doing phenomenal. I'm so proud of him!! Hopefully first grade will be just as good in the learning department.

Toby has grown so much. He is bigger than his brother was at this age and he is a total daddy's boy. Caleb has been home since losing his job and he has grown even more attached to him. He doesn't want me doing anything for him. At all. Matter of fact I can ask for a hug and he'll head butt me. lol, he's so cute but so rough!!! He is also destructive. He will tear up metal - no lie. He loves ripping into our books. Noah was never like this. Ever. He isn't really talking much other than the usual "mama, daddy, bubba, skysky (dog), Nana, Papa, Wes, huh, bite bite, bye bye, oww, here dough (here you go). He's a ham and so funny. He makes the cutest and funniest facial expressions I have ever seen. One thing that makes him JUST LIKE his brother - he screams and pitches horrible fits every single time he gets in the car. He never did this when he was tiny. Never! He was a total dream baby. I felt so relieved and lucky that I had a child that didn't scream in a car. Noah screamed bloody murder in a car from day one..well, till now. They HATE going anywhere. Toby must have picked up on it because about a month ago it started up. He screams until he loses his breath and pukes. He screams til I head a headache. I hate this. We can never go anywhere in our car without our boys acting crazy. They act like the car is a horrible torture chamber. ugh. Toby has also started making weird sounds with his mouth. He loves looking into his baby mirror in the car (he is still rear-facing) while he screams or makes sounds. He also gets into everything. He is very picky lately with food. He won't eat until he is ready to eat..and sometimes he goes to bed with nothing but a pop tart in his tummy. Must be his age because his brother eats like a pig!! Toby still pretty much sleeps through the night except for an occasional outburst at 5a. Not sure what that is about.

With everything we're doing on a daily basis I find myself with baby fever. I want a little girl so bad I can't see straight. While I love being a mom of boys, I feel as though I'm destined to also be a girl mom. I know it is totally up to God though. Honestly, I'd love another boy..but then I would know that would be my last. No trying for #4. C-sections aren't anything to look forward to. Trust me. So, not sure what we'll do. We want to try again maybe next yr..and hope for that little girl that I believe we are suppose to have :)

Thanksgiving

Noah made this Pilgrim hat at school and I thought it was so cute! He's normally into dressing up and I thought he would wear it during our Thanksgiving dinners but he didn't :( I think he's slowly but surely getting out of playing dress-up, which kills me! I absolutely loved it when he was a different character everyday. At least I have lots of pics for memories. I love my boys. So much.

Totally late..but here's our Halloween pictures :)

Why do I love being a Boy Mom? Because it's amazingly fun!

Here's my proof:

It melts my heart to see them hug each other. I pray they will always keep this loving bond that they share!

Some things I just never want to forget...

Noah calling us "Ferbers." I think he's meaning to call us 'fibbers' but it totally comes out as ferber. I think its hilarious.

Today I made Monkey Bread. So I asked Noah if he wanted some. His response? "Do monkeys have to die in order for you to make that?" He was so very serious, too!

Noah always offers me a seat and holds the door open anytime he knows I have my hands full...and I never even have to ask him.

Toby loves clapping and does it all the time. When he smiles, his whole face lights up and his eyes are a beautiful moon shape when he smiles :)

Toby has 8 teeth now. Four on top and four on bottom!

Toby says "yay" when he claps and when I go to hand him his Gerber puff snacks he gets so excited and smiles SO big and balls his little fists up!

He woke me up this morning saying "mama" in his sweet little baby voice. Melts me!

I will write more as I think of them...I just never want to forget.

Boys Update!

I got a letter a week or so ago & Noah did not get into the school of our choice. Although I was really upset over it at first, I'm ok with it now. He will go to the second best elementary (in our town) and it will be perfectly fine. I can save the $500 that was supposed to go to the other school. I cannot believe my Noah boy is already going into kindergarten! I know everyone says it, but time really flies! It seems like yesterday I was holding a tiny Noah baby in my arms and now he's a big boy. He weighs 50lbs now and he's about 48 inches tall!! My big boy. He just started sleeping in his own bed. Finally. We've been co-sleeping since day one and it has been challenging to say the least. Noah was never the type of baby that you could just leave in his crib. He would scream for hours and even vomit and turn blue because of it. I had to have him sleep with us or else. We should have had him in his bed a long time ago but he would always beg to stay in our bed and would start to cry. I don't like tears. Last night was his first night sleeping in his own bed and he did great. He was actually excited about it! Caleb was excited, too! He said it was the first time in five years that he's gotten to snuggle up against me. Bless his heart. I am not use to sleeping next to Caleb so I didn't sleep good at all. Caleb is like an inferno and I was sweating all night long and I figure it'll take a while to get use to him again. Sounds horrible, I know. I'm thankful Toby will sleep anywhere we put him. So now my husband has his wife back. I don't know why I feel so guilty though. Noah doesn't seem to mind and he's 5.5 yrs old for crying out loud! I just need to keep reminding myself of those things. Noah is so incredibly smart and can figure anything out. We can't get much past him without him knowing exactly what we're saying or doing. He can count to almost 100 without help and loves to sit while I read to him. He's very hyper but will sit still and let me read as many books as he has without even moving. I'm so proud of him. I love him more than words could ever express and those big blue eyes just make my heart melt. He's only lost his two bottom teeth but he's hoping to lose more soon..only because he wants money from the tooth fairy. He's all about saving money and when the time comes, he knows exactly how he's going to spend it. He is really hoping his new big boy teeth come in silver....

Toby is a little over 20lbs and he's such a sweet and laid back baby. He hardly ever cries and he still sleeps through the night. Every now and then he'll wake up and be grunting. I'll either give him his passy or go ahead and feed him. He normally only takes a couple of ounces and he's right back to sleep. He has seven teeth. Four on top and three on bottom and I never even knew he was teething. He's such a happy baby! He isn't crawling yet but he will get up on his hands and knees and rock..then sit back down and continue playing. He doesn't really have the drive to crawl or I think he would be. He would rather sit back and watch his big brother. He will stand and hold onto things but he hasn't taken any steps yet and he will not stand without holding onto something. He says uh-oh, mama, dada, Oah (Noah) and he's only said that a few times. He signs for milk when he wants it and will wave and say bye bye...but only when he wants to, never when I want him to. He smiles constantly and you can see it in his eyes. I also love him more than words could ever express.

A few people I know are expecting and it really does give me the fever. I honestly would get pregnant right now if I knew it was the "right" thing to do. I almost wish it would just happen so I wouldn't have to worry about planning it. I have been on the pill since I've had Toby so I doubt it will "just happen" lol, unless I miss some pills! I always forget to take them so maybe it will. I'd probably panic if I did get pregnant because of the whole c-section thing. I am still not over that. I will never understand why things could not have gone smoother during delivery with Noah. Makes me sad. I labored 12-14 hrs with no pain meds..nothing. .trying to have a drug-free/natural delivery. Noah's heartrate was starting to drop so a c-section was a must. I don't regret it because Noah was born healthy and happy, thank God!! I just know c-sections can be dangerous and they're not easy to recover from. I actually recovered alot faster after Toby & was able to walk around Home Depot just a few days after Toby was born. It took me weeks after Noah. Of course I had pneumonia, too. Ugh. I just want to make sure it will be ok for me and baby if I decide to get pregnant again. It bothers me that I have to get permission (not really, but feels that way) from my doctor. Buuut, I would love to have a daughter. A little Natalie Rose. LOL. If God has other plans then I guess we'll be studying boy names again :) As long as our babies are healthy!

New pics!

We went to Stone Mountain last weekend and had a great time. Noah did have tummy issues while we were there but he started feeling better after he ate. I was worried the issues with his swollen lymph nodes were coming back, but nope! So glad. Noah has been to Stone Mt before and loves it but this was Toby's first time and he did great! Loved every moment of it. We also went to a place called Funopolis, which was cool. They had bumper cars, bumper boats, and other inside games. Noah and his dad had a ball!! It was such an amazing time that we got to spend together! I got tons of pics but figured I would only share a few on here. I realized when we got home that I did not get a single picture with the boys :( I'm always behind the camera. I don't like pics taken of myself, but memories with my boys is most important. The last picture, of Toby's feet, was taken at TC Thompson's Childrens Hospital last night. We had to take him because he had a 102.8 temp and we had no idea what was going on. Come to find out it's a viral infection. He seems alot better this afternoon, thankfully!

Very Scary Moment..

Thursday Noah woke up complaining with his tummy hurting. He vomited a few times and then felt better. I chalked it up to being a little stomach bug and we went on about our evening. Woke up Friday morning feeling great. We played with colored bubbles, he jumped off the high end of our carport, and was his normal active self. Woke up this morning extremely pale and was doubled over in pain. His stomach was hurting him so badly that he threw up..twice. Caleb was getting ready for work (go figure, but he ended up calling in which i'm thankful for) and I was going to jump in the shower so I could get ready and take Noah to the doctor. As I was taking the quickest shower of my life, I heard a thud. I yelled out to Caleb and he told me that Noah collapsed in his bathroom and couldn't get up. I jumped out of the shower and ran in there to him. Caleb had him in his arms and he was pitiful. I got dressed, threw a few things in a bag for Toby and we loaded the boys up. It didn't even take 3 minutes to do all this yet it felt like eternity. I was going to all an ambulance but since we live in the boonies, I figured I could get him to the ER quicker myself. I quickly dropped Toby off at my grandmothers and off we went to the ER. We drove 70 mph. Unsafe? Yes. But I was so worried. He would barely talk to us and his eyes kept closing. Very unlike Noah. He was doubled over in pain and crying. We got there and NOONE was in there. Thank God! They sent us straight back to a room. PA came in the room and asked what the problem was. Told him everything. He said "it's probably strep". I said absolutely not!! There is no way this is strep throat because he hasn't even had a sore throat!!! I told him this was abnormal and I wanted tests asap! He kept on saying how it was going to be time consuming and that we'll be there for hours. I said "OH WELL!" My peace of mind and my son's well being is much more important to me and we'd stay there however long it takes to find out what's going on. So he agreed to order a CT. They also did labs.

While Noah was drinking his Sprite w/ contrast, the PA comes in the door and says "Just got his bloodwork back and I agree with the CT, his white count is extremely high and that is most definitely not normal". YA THINK?! He was very nice and was good to Noah, but come on! Where's a real doctor?! Long story short, Noah has Mesenteric Adenitis. It's where his lymph nodes in his belly are extremely inflammed and swollen. It can be mistaken for Appendicitis, which I was almost convinced that's what was wrong with him. It has to run it's course and he will be on clear liquids for two days. I'm just thankful it wasn't anything requiring surgery or anything serious. I was a nervous wreck. Seeing your child doubled over in pain is the absolute worst feeling. Not being able to help him or take the pain away was almost unbearable. They have him 2mg of Morphine while we were there and sent him home on Lortab. So far I haven't had to give him any and hope I don't have to! He hasn't complained too much tonight so I'm hoping the pain is leaving for good. He got IV fluids for quite a few hours plus I've been hydrating him here at home. From what I understand that's the best thing you can do while dealing with this condition. I'm just thankful he's ok!

New pics of the boys!

I took the boys out for a little photo shoot last week. Took a few good pics but on the way to the car I dropped and broke our Kodak. I was so upset because it's my only camera other than the pics I can take with my Droid. .and those are grainy. I've been eyeballing a camera for quite sometime but becuase of the cost & because I had the Kodak, I never even thought twice. Once I let my camera rip, I started online shopping. I've been interested in photography for a few years and I've studied up on a couple of different cameras. My top fave ended up being the new Nikon DSLR. So I took the plunge and bought it. I also got a case for it so hopefully I can keep it safe LOL. I also bought an extended 2 yr warranty - I'll fo sho need that! Anyway, enough rambing...here are some new pics of the boys!

Yay!

We found Max a home! I'm so excited because a lady that works in the office at UGA is the perfect match for Max. She lives alone with her little dog and she really wants to give Max the home he deserves to have. My in-laws are from Athens, GA and they are coming up this week to celebrate my birthday and mind & Calebs 8 yr anniversary, so they will take Max back with them and then to his new home. I'm very happy and feel that this is the right choice.

Took Toby to his 9 month check-up and he is still slightly above average in height and weight. 21lbs and 28in long. I love my big baby :) For a couple of weeks, Toby has been spitting up his puree food. Every single time he eats, it comes right back up. His formula stays down though. I mentioned it to the ped and just as I thought, he has mild reflux. He will be on liquid Zantac until he's one, then the dr will evaluate and see if it has gotten better. Hopefully it does. He has been doing great the last few days and has kept all of his food down, thank goodness. I also asked the dr why he thinks Toby hasn't even started to crawl. Noah was pulling up and trying to walk at 7 mo! Dr says there is nothing to worry about and babies all do things on their own time. I agree. I just felt better if I mentioned it. Toby does everything else he is "suppose" to be doing. He sits up, grabs at everything, rolls around all over the floor, tries to talk, and he just learned how to drink from a straw!! He is also trying to sing when we play pat-a-cake. He jibbers but its so cute. Noah has been doing a little bit better today as far as his energy is concerned. He's just board and has noone to play with. He's been getting irritated at Toby when he squeals or cries out..he he even popped Toby on the leg today! I was so upset by that and Noah got into big trouble. I have a problem with discipline, I'm too easy! Time to buckle down. I figured swimming would help Noah burn off some energy, but the whole time we're in the pool he constantly wants to hang on us and he's very loud. He doesn't even want to talk - just any type of loud noise he can make, he will make it. It's so frustrating. So pool time hasn't been as fun as I thought. The first day we got it, we had a blast...ugh. I'm inviting my little cousin over this week to hang out with us and I think that will help Noah alot. He needs someone to play with and to splash around in the pool with. I hope it works!

My Lovies..

Since Noah has been out of school (just one week), he has been so rowdy and full of energy. Anytime I need him to be quiet or ask him to, it seems as if he gets louder! Never fails, as soon as Toby goes to sleep..Noah does something on purpose to wake him up. I'm afraid this is going to be a long summer! I bought some card games and I thought if we played board games/card games throughout the day, it would keep Noah busy so he wouldn't feel the need to crawl the walls. Boy was I wrong. He will sit and play a couple of games and then its back to doing whatever it was he was doing. Toby just stares at him LOL. He's so laid back and he doesn't understand the energy Noah has I don't think. I've been signing "milk" to Toby at almost every feeding and he's finally picked up on it. He has signed it several times and its so cute. He still likes pat-a-cake but would rather "roll em up" and I just melt! I'm going to video it and put it on my blog. Mine and Caleb's 8 year wedding anniversary is coming up and I think we're going to plan a small staycation. LOL, we have many staycations only because we don't have the time nor the energy to go on a vacation. Of course our kids will have to go with us, but it will still be time away from home, which we all need. Honestly, I'd love to have a babysitter for a few hours one night. My mom and grandmother said they would babysit the boys once a month for a few hours but they haven't kept their word. lol, must not be meant for mommy and daddy to have a date!

Did I mention in my last post about getting another dog? I did. Why you ask? I do not know but I could kick myself. Why I keep piling my plate up I will never know. We got a female chihuahua..and even though I shouldn't have gotten her..she's the sweetest and cutest puppy ever. She is two months old and already potty trained. The only issue as with all puppies..teething. She chews up our toilet paper and anything else she will find laying around. Annoying. We've been trying to find Max a home. Our little cripple chihuahua. He lives in a playpen because he doesn't have any legs and it's pitiful. Although he lives the good life..he gets loved, carried around, fed, playpen cleaned ALL during the day,etc..it is wearing me out. My cousin said she may try to take him into her home but I seriously doubt she will. I don't know what I'm going to do if she doesn't. I need to just say no to dogs!

Bye Pre-k, Hello Kindergarten!

Today was Noah's last day of preschool and boy was it a hard day for me. I walked him into his pre-k class for the very last time this morning at 7:40 and walked into his classroom full of smiling faces. The innocence of children. One of Noah's teachers had tears in her eyes and I almost lost it but was able to keep it together. At least until I got to my car. Then came 2:40 and it was time to pick him up for the very last time. I walked down their little hallway to get to the classroom and the walls were empty. No pictures of smiling faces, no sticker charts on how many books they've read, no charts on their growth, nothing. I get into the classroom and they are all sitting at their little tables, name-tags still taped to their "spots" & they were having their last laughs and cupcakes together. I stood there and tried taking in every moment because in a few years, these little babes won't even remember each other. Truth is, it bothers me more than it does them. Why? I don't know. There was a banner with each child's name and handprint along with "Class of 2024" and I asked if I could have it & they gave it to me! I was so thankful noone else had claimed it because I had been keeping my eye on it for a while now. I got a large giftbag full of all of the little things he has created since August of last year. Memories I will hold onto forever. I am so proud of Noah & the little boy he has become and I thank God every single day that he has blessed me with two wonderful little boys.

Wow

So much has gone on since my last post. A couple of weeks ago Noah had his tonsils and adenoids removed. I was so nervous and I couldn't wait for it to all be over for him. I dressed him in his cute little St Patty's Day pjs and off to the hospital we went. We got there and was called back into a room. Noah played his Nintendo DS while we were waiting, poor guy had no idea what was fixing to take place. I tried to prepare him, but how do you get a 5 year old to fully understand all things medical? You can't. They came in to draw blood and the tears started flowing. He was so scared but he actually did better than he did when he got his flu shot this year! I was proud of him. Then they came in with two little cups of "sleepy drink". He drank those down and kept playing DS. We were then moved to the recovery area right before we met with the surgeon. Then Noah started acting goofy. It was the funniest thing ever and I could not stop laughing. He all of a sudden looked up and said "hey, what DID they do to me?"...Then he tried hanging off the foot of the bed, kept flailing his arms and laughing hysterically. Good thing Caleb caught it all on video! The surgeon then came in and they were wheeling Noah out (Noah didn't care by the way - he was smiling and laughing). I gave him a hug and he said "hey, there's two of you". LOL!! It was cute. Once they wheeled him away I was a basket case. I cried the whole way down the hall and back into his room. I prayed continuously for God to take care of my little guy & He did. I had no doubts about that anyway. Not even 12 minutes later the surgeon was calling me telling me Noah did great and it was over! Whew. I was allowed to go back to recovery (just one parent allowed) and a small child was also back there waking up from surgery and he was screaming at the top of his lungs. Noah was just waking up and became extremely upset because of the kid next to him - so we were moved to another room. Noah was spitting up a little bit of blood and then started gagging nonstop, even trying to dig toward the back of his throat with his hand. It took two nurses to help calm him down and get everything under control. I was crying and all upset because I wasn't expecting that. Not sure what I was expecting really. I just didn't want to see my baby in pain. The next week was horrible. He ran a low grade temp, which is normal, refused to drink or swallow his saliva. We had it rough. He did have a small tinge of blood a few days after his surgery but the nurse told me that was normal, especially if one of the scabs (i cringe at that word) on the back of his throat came off. It scared me because sometimes the bleeding doesn't stop and they have to go back into emergency surgery. Thank God nothing like that happened! Noah's first day back to school was yesterday and he had a rough time with it, but only because he was so use to being home for two weeks. I'm taking him to an eye specialist on Thursday because he's been having light sensitivity and complains about his eyes watering. I'm hoping he doesn't need glasses because he will pitch. a. fit. He doesn' take to change too well.

As for Toby, he's growing like a weed! I took him to his 6 month check-up and he weighed 18lbs and was 27 inches long. Big boy! I made his first batch of baby food the other day and he loves carrots! It's only the second time he's ever had baby food and this was much better. Apparently he hates apples. Everything checked out well at the dr except for a slight ear infection. He's on antibiotics for the next week or so. He's the most chilled out baby I've ever seen in my life! He hardly ever cries, he rarely gets fussy and I never even know when something is bothering him because he's so content. He also jut cut his very first tooth YESTERDAY!! I was so excited I squealed! I'm excited yet I'm sad because I'll miss his little gums. Sounds crazy I know. I still have baby fever even though I know it wouldn't be wise to have another baby right now. I'm giving myself two years to think about it. In the mean time I have to remember to take my birth control pills because I can sometimes go days without taking one...I forget. Not good. Luckily, Calebs work and school schedule forbids us to have sex. LOL.

Snow!

We've had so much snow the past week and it's finally starting to melt. We ended up getting around 7-8 inches, which is more than we've gotten since 1993. I'll be glad when it's all cleared out. It would be ok if Caleb didn't have to drive to work everytime the roads ice over. I finally got a call from the specialist and Noah's appointment is Jan 20th (rescheduled because of snow). I'm fairly certain the surgery will be scheduled then. Noah hasn't been complaining with his throat or anything and I've tried keeping him inside as much as I could, even though I let him play in the snow a few times. I couldn't resist! He's been such a good boy and I've enjoyed having him out of school for the past week. Toby has finally found his feet and he constantly grabs onto them - he's such a ham! I've noticed that I'm seeing more and more green in his eyes and I'm wondering if he might end up with hazel. Time will tell I suppose. He smiles all the time and laughs when he sees Noah jumping around or talking to him. Toby thinks everything is funny. I am absolutely in love with my boys. I would love to have another baby before Toby turns two - its a while away but something that Caleb and I are already talking about. I'm not sure if we'll have fertility issues again, but if we do I'm prepared and content with my two boys. God has blessed us so much. Here's a few pics :)