I Don't Like the Letters E & R together...

So tonight we ended up in the ER because Gavin had an allergic reaction to something (who knows what) and it really freaked me out. It started after he had a little nap late this afternoon with one little white welt and redness near his ear. By the time we got to the hospital the entire right side of his face was beet red and it was on one of his legs and his torso. Of course when we finally saw a doctor it was starting to clear up a little and Gavin was laughing at Ben's in ER antics! But after 3 1/2 hours (gosh I hate that it takes that long), a few interesting other patient sightings (one guy with a NASTY cut above his eye), some benadryl and baby steriods and $100 we were on our way!

The doctor listed a ton of things that can cause such a reaction so I have been wracking my brain trying to figure out what may have caused it and the only thing I can come up with is.... nothing! He did have vaccinations 2 days ago but it was the same ones he's had before and it's been 48 hours plus since he had those so the dr. didn't seem to think that had anything to do with it either.

Anyway, it has cleared up now and he's passed out asleep (I am sure mostly due to his first EVER dose of benadryl). I have to say that it is quite frustrating to not be able to figure out what caused my baby to turn colors. And, since nothing like this ever happened when Ben was a baby it was my first time out with an allergic reaction of this sort. We came home with a prescription for a lose dose steroid and a couple of tired boys.

By the grace of God Ben was quite good about it all (Tim met us there but only after we'd been there for an hour) and behaved pretty well (well, until he hit a nurse in the leg with a wheely chair...) Anyway, let's keep our fingers crossed that this was a one time thing and that it doesn't reoccur. I really DO NOT like the ER but I especially don't like my baby being sick.

On the bright side, Gavin was the "hit" of the ER - but he's a cute little baby so why wouldn't he be? Ben and I left for a little bit after Gavin was first assessed b/c it was now 7:30 and we hadn't had anything to eat for dinner. While we were on a mad run to Wendy's he was apparently quite fussy. When we arrived back at the hospital I found my baby son completely passed out on a stranger and my husband engrossed in the Cowboy game that was on in the waiting room. I have to say she seemed to have the magic touch! She held him until we had to go back again to get the prescription and check out (talk about a grueling process - oh the paperwork!!). Anyway, there was also a grandmother in there who was quite enamored with Gavin and when she saw this other woman holding him she told Tim "I didn't know other people could hold him - I would have!" She saw me with him later and continued to go on about how her youngest grandchild is now 8 and she has a "yearning" to hold the babies again. But, I decided that I was going to keep him to myself this time! HA! It just goes to show, people do LOVE the babies and I am grateful to the woman who was able to calm him down for Tim so that Ben and I could eat. She was an ER angel. If there is such a thing. Ok, maybe it's not such a bad place but I really do not want to be a frequent visitor no matter how nice the other patients and their familes are!

Blog-a-versary

Can you believe it? I have been doing this blog thing for a year now. Last year one of my first posts was a picture of our Christmas tree, and this year we got a new one. We are staying in Arlington for Christmas this year (this will be the first time in my LIFE that I am not in Austin, Texas for the holiday) and we felt it only fitting that we have a new, beautiful tree during the inaguration of our own traditions. Not to mention our other one was total crap (sorry but that's the best way to say it!) and guess what - after posting it on craigslist last night it's already out of the house this morning!

But, I digress... So after a year of doing this, here are a few of the milestones since I started:

*My nephew Daniel has thrived after being born almost 3 months premature

*My first son Benjamin turned 3 and is (almost) potty trained

*My second son Gavin was born into the world and has filled it with even more joy

*We celebrated 90th Birthdays with 3 of Tim's Grandparents

*We got together with family and friends for many holidays and special occasions

Looking back we are so surrounded by wonderful family and friends that it is pretty overwhelming in itself. And I have to say that I am so glad that I have been doing this - it really is an excellent way to keep people up to date on the boys and just our life in general. It even keeps me up to date too! HA! Thanks to all of you who have let me know how much you like the blog and I always appreciate your comments. Also, I have gotten quite involved in this whole blogging world and look forward to honing my skills and having my own blog evolve even more this coming year. That's my "new year blog" resolution anyway! We shall see what the future holds! Oh, and here's a picture of the new Christmas tree (pre-lit rocks!). As Ben says "it is SO big and SO beautiful!" (His words, not mine)

Happy Holidays!

Our Newest Godson

Not only are Tim and I blessed with 2 sons of our own, but we're also honored and blessed to have 3 Godsons. Our first Godson is Andrew Gibson, our second is Ethan Clark and now our nephew Daniel Jacob Hosek.

Because Daniel was born so premature he was baptized with water in the hospital but the rest of the sacrament had never been done. So, this last Saturday while we were in Austin we gathered at Larry and Kelley's church so that we could complete the ceremony. It was a small and intimate occasion and we consider ourselves very lucky to now be the "official" Godparents to such a special boy...one who overcame so much at the beginning of his life. Thank you Larry and Kelley for giving us this honor.

Godsons are great because you can have special time with them and then send them home with their mommy and daddy, you know like when it's time to fuss or potty train! Thank GOD that's not part of the deal! HA! ; )

But seriously, we love you Daniel and are looking forward to watching and helping you grow in your faith.

Thanksgiving Highlights

Well it surely felt like Thanksgiving this year with the cool front that came through! Even in Austin it was quite brisk enough for me. And then the rain started yesterday too. Geez, I am all for the weather being seasonal but did it have to get THAT seasonal?? Despite the fact that it cooled down considerably we had a nice and delicious time in Austin with family and lots of food! Here's my Thanksgiving plate... (round 1 anyway). Yes, I ate a lot, despite the fact that I have been trying to lose some weight, this being my only large meal of the day, I figured what the heck! And it was GOOD! I went back again, but only because I left off the potatoe casserole (oh the horror!) and I had to have a second helping of sweet potatoe casserole - ohhhh so good! Can we say "carbs" and "starch" anyone??

The day was full of food and football and we even a managed a LONG walk (not!) around the block with most of the kids, all bundled up. Tim watched much of his beloved Cowboys game before realizing that the sound was a little messed up somehow on my parents' t.v., but he managed anyway. He and Ben watched together.Here they are sitting in the chair that my husband steals from my father every time we visit, not just when there is football on... Look! I even let my son wear Cowboys regalia - what has become of me?? AHHHH!

And, without further delay, let me show you two of the cutest babies on the plantet! Okay, maybe I am a little biased!

Daniel and Gavin had fun "playing" together and are both quite active. It was cute to see them together.

We took pictures with my dad's camera all weekend because he has a MUCH better camera than we do (I kept threatening to steal it). Here is my father with my baby - aren't they cute too?

And here is Gavin with a little bit of each part of his Thanksgiving dinner on his face - a little cereal, canned pumpkin and green beans. Oh so tasty!

The big kids are still cute too. Here are my nephew Matthew and my niece Sarah "resting" on their mother, Carolyn. Looks like the triptophan is about to kick into high gear!

And here are my nieces Catherine and Grace picking out their Christmas gifts.

For hosting and for most of the delicious meal, I have to thank my parents. That was some good turkey, all 4 or 5 times I ate it! God Bless leftovers. Here are the cooks extraordinaire!

And I finally came out from behind the camera for one picture with my football finatic husband.
We had a great holiday and hope that you all did too. Tim bravely drove us back home last night in the cold rain. We were ready to come home as I don't think we could eat any more and let's just say that mommy is a much happier camper when we all sleep in our own rooms at home! It's just not right to share a room with a 3 year old in my humble opinion. But, anyway, I am so thankful for that 3 year old and all of our family and blessings. Happy Thanksgiving - AGAIN! Now on to Christmas...

Blogging about Blogging

So these days "blogging" isn't only about my own blog entries, it's also about reading other blogs, mostly of moms like me. And let me tell you - there are A LOT out there to read! I could be up all night - or day for that matter - reading them. I have one blog that I read and reference just because she has a great list of blogs done by moms quite like me. It's fun to write about yourself and your kids (of course!) but it's also fun to read about other people that are dealing with the same things you are (yeah - kids! HA!)

I guess I should have known how popular it is to blog when I saw a report on the Today show one morning about blogging and how many SAHMs are doing it (that stands for STAY AT HOME MOM, by the way). Or just moms and families in general.

This morning I was reading one that talked all about her ideal Thanksgiving dinner and what the menu items might be. She said something about how she never has had mashed potatoes with her T-Day dinner and she had over 100 comments (!) back about mashed potatoes!! People are all over the internet reading this stuff (and don't snicker 'cause it's me too). Of course I was one of the people who commented saying that it wasn't about the mashed potatoes but about the sweet potatoes or yams! YUMMY!

So, in the spirit of Thanksgiving and all the delicious foods we do get to sample on that day... think about your favorites and send me a comment on yours if you want. I won't tell "Big Mama" (I swear that is the name of her blog!) that I copied her, although just from how her personality comes out on her blog I don't think she would care at all. Besides, copying someone is the greatest form of flattery, right??

Okay, so here's a list of what foods I am sure are to be at my parents' house on the BIG day:

Baked Turkey (DUH!)
The BEST cornbread stuffing
Greenbean Casserole
Broccoli Rice Casserole
Yams (with lots of butter, brown sugar, etc.)
Potatoe Casserole (Tim's fav!)
Pumpkin Pie
Pecan Pie
Rolls
Gravy
Cranberry Sauce (yes, from a can - it's good!)

My taste buds can't wait!!

And since I am NOT a Cowboys fan, but I do like Tony Romo I say "GO TONY ROMO!" for Thanksgiving football. Don't get your hopes up my dear Tim...

Hope everyone has a relaxing, safe and yummy Thanksgiving surrounded by loved ones a plenty!

Half Birthday

Today is Gavin's "Half Birthday" also known as he's 6 months old! So at six months he has his 2 bottom teeth, can sit up really well by himself and can scoot around the room. He also seems to have started the separation anxiety thing a little when I walk out of a room and LOVES to laugh at his big brother!

I thought about making him a half birthday cake (saw the idea in a magazine) but he can't really eat cake yet so I didn't think it was very fair to make one and then he would have to watch the rest of us sit around and eat it in front of him. How rude is that?? Plus, I don't really need cake in my life right now anyway...

We met and visited with our new friend Graham Steckel today. Gavin and I drove out to Flower Mound while Ben was at school to meet our friends' Jennifer and Lance's little baby boy. He's so cute and tiny! I already don't remember Gavin being that small, maybe because he's pretty chunky these days. Here's Graham in all his sweet baby cuteness!

And here he is with his new friend Gavin He slept pretty much the entire time we were there, but we'll cut him some slack since he's only 5 weeks old!

On another subject, Ben gets a TON of art from his two days of school and one hour of Sunday school a week. These days they say you should take pictures of it and then discard it since you cannot keep it all. Of course not -my house would be overrun with kid art! But I digress... anyway, I have not really been doing that, but I could not resist taking a picture of this one today, mostly because it was so funny. See if you can tell what might be wrong with this one. I think perhaps the turkey's legs could use a little rearranging!

Lastly, I will be entered in a contest for free clothes for the kids if I put a link to this website on my blog, so here goes. They have a few cute ideas for Christmas gifts on their holiday "picks" list and who couldn't use free clothes, right? Check it out if you get a chance! Just click on the icon below.

Heartfelt Ramblings

I know I usually post things about the boys and just random life happenings, but today I feel a little more nostalgic and well...just plain lucky. We were at our friend's the Clark's this evening for the celebration of our Godson Ethan's birthday with their family. Unfortunately I didn't get to participate in the cake lighting and singing of "Happy Birthday" because I was in the back of the house nursing Gavin. It was perhaps my very first time to simply hear the tradition rather than see and fully encounter the event. However, it was actually quite nice to just listen to the ongoings and use only my one sense of hearing while the singing and the family celebration was happening. After they sang the family counted to "4" in Spanish (Claudia's family is Columbian) because that is how old Ethan is now. At that moment I felt so lucky to be included in the celebration and I was filled with warmth. I thought of my own family and the traditions that we've adopted and what I have and want to continue to carry on with my children. I thought about how there are families everywhere who celebrate these milestones and moments all the time but may never get a new perspective like I did today. Without the distraction of all the people and commotion that is associated with a kid's birthday cake, I almost felt more included than if I had been in the same room. All I could do was smile really big and look down at my beautiful son and consider myself blessed. Blessed to have the family, friends and life that I do. I guess I am "giving thanks" a little early this year for all the gifts the good Lord has given us. We should give thanks every day, no matter the time of year but sometimes daily life just gets in the way. But today daily life brought it all to the forefront of my mind. I hope we are all lucky enough to get these reminders every day of our lives.

Startin' 'Em Early

Last night Tim cleaned out a ton of computer "junk" so that he could recycle a lot of it through the city of Arlington today. He had an old keyboard that he was no longer using and I snagged it out of the box and we gave it to Gavin to play with. This child is all about anything electronic or computer oriented so we also gave him an old remote because he loves those too. Anyway, here's a little video of him "typing" away!!

Notice how well he is sitting! He's also been scooting around this week. He and Ben have been bonding more lately and these days Ben really likes for Gavin to play with him in the toy room while he is playing trains. I keep trying to reinforce the fact that someday Gavin will REALLY want to play with Ben's trains... uh oh! Anyway, at least Ben won't be able to say he wasn't warned!

I am trying to get a little "jump" on my Christmas shopping this year and ended up in Marshalls the other day. I just wanted to pass on that if you need to buy toys you should really look there or T.J. Maxx if you have one near you. I couldn't believe how much cool stuff they had and for good prices. I would rather give my money to them than Toys R Us, although I know I will probably have to go there for some stuff. Anyway, just a tip if you are looking for gifts.

8th Anni-BUR-sary!

Today is mine and Tim's 8th wedding anniversary and it's hard to believe that much time has already gone by. I often have memories of our dating days even now. It was a four year run though, so that's probably why! ; ) That makes 12 years together! The reason I called it our Anni-Bur-sary is because that is our nickname for each other - Bur. It's a long story as to why, but some of you know it and those of you who don't, well sorry, it just too convaluted to be conveyed well on here...

Any-who! Here we are on the big day 8 years ago (oh don't we look young!?). We celebrated tonight with a nice dinner at home and a very nice bottle of wine from the year we were married. This Saturday we will go to dinner by ourselves! What?! Our own dinner out, just the two of us - this is unheard of these days. Needless to say, I am MOST excited about that part. I might actually wear something that isn't condusive to nursing and some jewlery and perfume! Gettin' crazy!

Happy Anniversary my dear, sweet Tim!

A couple of other tid-bits - Gav got his other bottom tooth, it made it's "debut" yesterday. Also, I saw the other side of craigs list today, I actually sold something myself and it was SO easy. I posted the item yesterday it was out of my house with cash in my hand by this afternoon. LOVE IT!

Boys in Trailer

Have I said on here how much I like craigslist? If you haven't been there yet you should go and buy something! It's kind of like an on-line garage sale and I have bought two things on there recently including a Sit N Stand stroller so that I can cart Gavin and Ben around together, and a bike trailer. The bike trailer I actually got from a guy down in Austin and my parents were kind enough to get it from him and bring it up to us. It had it's maiden voyage around our neighborhood today, attached to Tim's bike, not mine. One of the main reasons I bought it was so that I could bike the boys to and from Ben's school at our church but after getting on the bike today by myself, no trailer behind me, I was worn out. So, I guess I will have to work up to it (it's been a while since I have done any exercise besides walking). Gavin is still a little too small for it, but he did pretty good for the 15 minutes that we were out. Here are the boys all snuggled inside together.
Happy Trails to you!