Good Times with the Ryans

Kate's 1st Day of Preschool

2012-09-04T22:43:00.002-04:00

Today was Kate's first day in the 3 year old class at preschool. Just about all of her friends from Ms. Edie's class last year are in Ms. Sharon's class, so she saw lots of familiar faces. And even though she has been sooooo excited to start, (mostly since Jackson has gone back to school) given her first couple of days last year, I was prepared for at least some hesitation.

Today was our first morning getting all three of us dressed, fed and out the door, so it was a little ~~crazy~~ rushed. Aside from simply going to school, Kate seemed most excited about having a 'present' for her teacher. We had several things to bring in this morning, but she only wanted to carry the present for Ms. Sharon. As soon as we walked through the door, she marched right over and gave it to her with a big hug. From there she moved on to the play kitchen and got to work. I stayed for a couple of minutes, gave her a big hug, and walked out. She never batted an eye, despite the craziness in the hallways. One little boy in Ms. Edie's class must have felt like Kate did last year b/c he was a mess!

My happy girl was all smiles for pictures before we left! Her outfit is pretty cute, huh? I got the skirt from Etsy seller ButterBeans&ChicPeas. She makes super cute skirts, dresses, and all kinds of fun stuff for moms and she's right down the road with kids who go to Jackson's school! I asked for a scrap of the fabric, so I put the little applique on an ON tank Kate already owned.

The scallop has her name in it, but it's hard to see in the picture. I'm still learning thread choices on fabric. I have a hard time visualizing before it's stitched. Oh well, I thought it turned out pretty good. :-)

Proudly walking into preschool with her 'present'. When Sean asked her this afternoon about her first day, she was most excited to tell him ALL about the present. I love that my little girl loves giving! Makes me so happy!

My Little Loves

2012-08-18T22:06:00.003-04:00

I have cute kids - I'm not denying it. But taking their picture together is not something I (or they) enjoy. Jackson is certainly no fan of a camera. Nevertheless, I wanted 5/3 year old pictures, so we adventured down to Fort Macon first thing this morning. It may not have been fun, but I did manage to get a couple of good shots....

Happy 1st Birthday, Parker!

2012-08-13T16:09:00.006-04:00

We spent the weekend in Columbia with our friends Matt and Beth. We celebrated sweet Parker's 1st birthday on Saturday. This little guy is more than our good friend's kid, he's also our godson, so we couldn't have missed his special day!

As is usual for Kate, the mama in her was in full effect with Parker. She wanted to be right there with him, taking care of him and holding his hand. So sweet!

Matt and Beth with their birthday boy!

The best part of any 1 year old's party is watching this smash into the birthday cake. Beth said Parker had never had a cupcake before, but he knew exactly what to do with it!

I'd say that's a pretty good cupcake, wouldn't you?

Kate absolutely couldn't get enough of Parker sitting in her lap. I'm glad I captured this, because I'm sure the next time we see them, he'll be interested in anything but sitting with a girl!

Let's not forget the other handsome little boy that we spent the weekend with! Mason has gotten so big and is all over the place. Jackson and Kate both had a blast hanging out with him. Is that smile not adorable?

Muddy the Mudcat

2012-08-06T22:59:00.003-04:00

We took in America's favorite past time on Sunday with Nana and Pa-Jack. The baseball was fun, but seeing the grounds crew cover the field in the pouring rain was pretty exciting too. Ole Muddy the Mudcat wasn't the only thing 'muddy' thing around after that! Haha!

First Day of Kindergarten!

2012-08-02T22:58:00.000-04:00

That's right - today was Jackson's 1st day of Kindergarten! If you need a moment to let that one sink in, I understand. I still can't get over the fact that I'm the parent of a school aged kid. Not a preschooler, but a school ager. In school all day, every day with big kids...5th graders! He couldn't have been more excited about today and it went great for all of us!

Today was actually Jackson's 'staggered entry' day, which is really more of an assessment day for the teachers and probably a sort of orientation for the kids. All of the kindergarteners were assigned one day this week, M-Th, then tomorrow they will all go to meet their teacher. So, in some respects, Jackson's first real day will be next Monday. That's when we'll drop him off in his classroom, with his teacher, at his desk, with his cubbie labeled with his name.

As for today though, he was very eager to tell me all about it. The way I understand it, they had some kind of hunt around the school, looking for a raccoon, and the raccoon's mommy left them cookies. They went to playground and had lunch in the cafeteria. He did have a little mishap during lunch, but he didn't seem fazed by it. Knowing him, he probably thought it was just funny. In his lunch was a homemade frozen smoothie pop. I explained to him this morning that it would be thawed by lunch and it would actually be more like a drinkable yogurt. Well, apparently I should've been more clear in explaining that he would need to open it very carefully (not squeeze it!) as to avoid slinging smoothie all over the place. So yeah, he opened it and from what he described it made 'a big, BIG mess!' He said a teacher helped him clean it up, but I saw evidence of splattered smoothie in his lunchbox and on his shirt. Needless to say, we will be practicing opening thawed smoothie pops before I send him with another one. I sure do hope the teachers weren't too mad at me! :-)

My proudest moment of today was when I asked him what was his favorite part of the day. He replied, 'Meeting new friends!' I guess the Friendship Award that he received in pre-K is a quality that will stick with him. :-)

Summer Fun in the NC Mountains

2012-07-30T22:44:00.000-04:00

To mark the beginning of a new chapter around here, (Jackson is about to start KINDERGARTEN!) we decided to take a little trip to the mountains. Of course the main event was Jackson and Kate's first visit to Tweetsie Railroad, but we managed to pack a whole lot into our long weekend.

Sean took Friday off and we left bright and early which gave us all of the afternoon in Boone. On the way to Grandfather Mountain, we had lunch at Frontier Barbeque. Tricia recommended it and when we past right by it with rumbling tummies, we decided to check it out. After eating more than our fill of BBQ, brisket, mac & cheese and fried okra, we headed on over to Grandfather. I'm pretty sure Mildred here was disappointed that we didn't bring in our leftovers to share with her!

This rock was the perfect beginning to Jackson's mountain adventure. You say I can climb it? Okay!

Of course, what Jackson does, Kate does. Sean thought Kate climbing this rock was a terrible idea. She does have a history of being a little ~~careless~~ clumsy.

She thought it was great idea and was happy to climb right to the top with her big brother!

Jackson still hates having his picture taken, but Kate is always ready and smiling for the camera. Such a pretty girl!

At the top of Grandfather Mountain, the temperature dropped and the wind was a whippin'. The storm clouds were heading towards us, but since we weren't planning to hang out up there, it made for a nice view of Mother Nature.

Kate was happy to cross the bridge with me. Jackson, eh, not so much. He and Sean finally made it across, but I don't think he ever took his eyes off the storm clouds.

Not to worry, we were inside the Top Shop when it started raining and rain is all we saw or heard.

We spent all of Saturday at Tweetsie Railroad and the kids had a blast! We got there bright and early and were on the first train ride of the day. Maybe not our best move. The kids did fine, but I think they would've liked it more if they would've had a little time to get used to the cowboys and their antics. Jackson just seemed a little timid - not really sure about the whole gun fight thing.

Seeing the dynamite blow the walls off the outhouse was definitely Jackson's favorite part!

Life is good.

I do hope this picture is not foreshadowing...

Tweetsie was hosting the K9's in Flight - some pretty talented, frisbee catching dogs. They were cool to watch, but it was hot and Kate doesn't do 'sit and watch on bleachers', so I was glad it was a pretty quick show.

We decided to take a lunch break away from the park so we could still salvage a nap for Kate. It worked out pretty well and we were back at Tweetsie by 3. The afternoon was the first time we made it up the top of the mountain. As you can see, Kate loved the chair lifts!

The petting zoo was probably my favorite part of the day. There were tons and tons of goats - even a few smaller ones walking around with us. Jackson loved feeding them! We had to keep reminding him to save some of his food for the other animals.

It took Kate a little while to get the hang of feeding them. She went for more of the tease method, which I was afraid would result in a little nip.

She finally figured it out though, once we got to the goats that didn't have to try and fit through the fence to get to her.

This one especially liked her!

And when she ran out of food inside the cone, she just let him eat the cone!

This llama just looks sad. I mean, he actually looks pretty happy, but I think that may be because llamas don't have mirrors. He could really use a good bath and brush. Poor guy. I admire his confidence though!

The pot bellied pigs gave the crowd quite a show. Okay, maybe it was just one especially happy pig that had his eye on a lady. And I did not want to have to answer any questions, so we moved on. (Of course, Sean and I giggled like teenagers though.)

The rest of our afternoon was spent on the rides. They both had a blast and fortunately the lines were fairly short!

This is a real ferris wheel - a big one!

The view from the top...

Can you find Sean and Kate?

After packing up on Sunday morning, we stopped by Foggy Mountain Gem Mine for a little treasure hunt!

Then on our way out of town, we attempted to see one of the Linville Falls, but I read the directions wrong and we ended up at one of the longer trails to the falls. We stopped by the information center to look around and the folks there gave us directions to Linville Falls. They also told us that we were already about halfway up the mountain to Wiseman's View which overlooks the Linville Gorge. Since Kate was already on the verge of falling asleep, we decided to skip the waterfall and instead took the 3.5 mile drive up the gravel road to the top of the mountain. It ended up being perfect! We parked, walked a short ways along a paved trail that let right out to the overlook. It was a beautiful sight! I can only imagine how gorgeous it is in the fall!

Jackson was our photographer for this shot and he loved it! All he wanted to do was take pictures after this!

{photography by Jackson}

He was quite proud of this shot. He said, 'Mommy, I just took a picture of the clouds!' It is a pretty shot with the mountains in the distance. :-)

{photography by Jackson}

We took the parkway back to 421 and it was a beautiful Sunday afternoon ride. Quiet too! Both kids were fast asleep before we even made it down the mountain from Wiseman's View!

Hiatus

2012-07-30T22:39:00.001-04:00

I could name a million reasons why I've let 3 months go by without a single post, but I'll save that for all the updates I'm going to (make myself) catch up on. You see, I have this vision of having Good Times printed into one of those photo books and knowing that I've skipped some significant moments around here just doesn't seem right. And until I come up with a better way to chronicle all of our adventures, I have to make it a priority to update here. Wish me luck!

Meet Newman Yoda Ryan

2012-04-22T22:03:00.001-04:00

That's right, friends, we have a new baby! He is a tiny, 1 lb 2 oz, 7 week old, dachshund baby boy. Amy and I had been talking for a while about expanding our family's and agreed that we wanted to find littermates - a red male for me and a black and tan female for her. We wanted to find the 'right' ones, too. We actually thought it would take much longer, but on Thursday I found these little ones on a wral.com classified ad. We emailed back and forth Thursday night about them and both ended up emailing the guy (unbeknownst to the other) and by Friday morning I was calling to find out if the one red in the litter was a boy. Turns out he was and there were two female black and tans left. From that point on, the signs kept pointing in our direction. Everything from the fact that Amy was called off from work on Friday at the last minute, which meant she could take a short road trip to Oxford, to us finding out later that morning that the red male had been spoken for until the evening before. He was meant to come home with me! And seriously the signs kept on coming - everything was going our way. My mom had been sick for most of the week, but woke up Friday morning feeling great and decided to take a trip to Raleigh. That meant the kids could stay home with her, while Amy and I drove to pick up the puppies.

Amy had a tough time making a decision between the two sweet girls - one of them had really distinct tan markings, which reminded Amy of her Daisy, but the other one - the smaller one, was much, much more into Amy. Clearly, this little girl wanted Amy to choose her. So in the end, Amy had the owner put the two puppies on the ground and she waited to see which one came to her first. When the smaller one crawled up into her lap, the decision was done and we headed home with our new bundles of joy.

Newman and Ellie are both doing great and we can't wait to get them together again soon - definitely this week! The kids love them, although sometimes a little too much. :-) Puppy training has been especially difficult today, since it's been cold and rainy. When you spend your hours curled up under a blanket and you are only a few inches off the ground, going potty in the rain is no fun! Little Newman is a serious sleeper, until 3am or so. He'll perk up to play every once in a while, but after literally a minute or two, he's ready for another nap. And he is such a cuddler, something we are all loving!

Pajamas and Pancakes Day

2012-03-28T14:02:00.000-04:00

Jackson's preschool class learned all about the letter 'P' this week. And to celebrate today, all the kids wore their pajamas to school, they had pancakes and pink milk for their snack, and they read the book If You Give a Pig a Pancake. How fun?! Jackson has been so excited about this day all month long and has been going back and forth about whether to wear his Scooby Doo or Star Wars pajamas. I told him last night that it was going to be chilly, so he decided to go w/ Scooby since they are pants and long sleeves. Since he had already put them on for bed when we talked about it, he didn't even have to get dressed for school this morning! He also got to bring a bedtime buddy and a flashlight to the party and since he knew Mrs. Dana, his teacher, is a huge Tar Heels fan, he decided to bring his giant Mr. Wuf! And he may or may not have gotten Mrs. Dana to give Mr. Wuf a hug and kiss before he left today. ;-)

Yesterday they had their Easter party and he's star student all week, so this has been quite a fun week for him at school!

Pancakes with whipped cream and chocolate chips! Yummy!!

Jackson even asked for seconds of the special pink milk!

Each of the kids got to bring home a pink 'piggy' balloon! And if you notice in the back of this picture, sitting in the yellow chair, is their guest of honor for today -- Petunia Pig!

Wearin' O' the Green

2012-03-20T22:09:00.000-04:00

The beautiful weather made for a fun afternoon at Raleigh's St. Patrick's Day parade on Saturday. And since the parade fell on the date for St. Patrick's Day, it was the perfect celebration for one of my favorite holidays of the year!

The kids all had a great time and were all decked out in their green! They even had their own green beverage to keep them hydrated in the form of bright green Gatorade!

With temperatures in the high 70s and sun beating down on top of us, it was our first taste of summer for 2012. Good thing I came prepared with sunscreen to share!

We got a surprise Saturday morning when Jason and Sarah called to say they would be there, too! Yay for seeing good friends that we don't see nearly enough!

Kate was very intrigued by everything, happily clapping along to the music and waving to everyone.

Of course the cousins had a great time spending the afternoon together!

When the crowds crept up in front of our views of the parade, Don and Papa tried to make a point. It didn't work so well, but Don did look quite silly standing in front of everyone!

I was so disappointed that there was no leprechaun in last year's parade, so as soon as I saw this little guy coming, I got the kids ready for a picture with him. Since their Papa is such a festive Irishman, this one will certainly be a favorite! (BTW, check out the kiddos' shirts - I made them!)

Looks like Ryan is going to be silly just like his daddy!

And Emma, well, we already know all about her silliness!!

Downtown Raleigh made for a nice backdrop for this one of Kate and her Papa.

Jason came back with this horn during one his romps in Moore Square for a beer. Not sure who had more fun with it -- him, Don....or Jackson.

Check out this strange looking leprechaun(?). Not sure if his eyes were supposed to be hidden or not. Either way, to my surprise Jackson wasn't freaked out by him!

Happy St. Patty's Weekend!!!

2012-03-15T11:51:00.001-04:00

Knee Surgery - Take 2

2012-03-01T22:29:00.002-05:00

A little less than a year and a half ago, Sean went in for a fairly routine knee surgery that would result in weeks of INTENSE PAIN and a knee that never fully recovered. A few months after the surgery, Sean reached a plateau in his recovery. The pain was still there -- certainly not nearly as intense, but enough to make even walking uncomfortable. He'd spend an afternoon on his feet, only to come home to pain and even swelling. He continued to follow up with his orthopedic, Dr. Silver, and finally went in for another MRI to find out what was going on. The MRI turned out to be somewhat inconclusive. There was no clear indication of the problem. When Dr. Silver discussed the results of the MRI with Sean, they decided that the best option was to go in with a scope and look around to see what may be causing the problems. Only the scope this time. If what he found required open surgery, then Dr. Silver would complete the arthroscopy, then he and Sean would discuss the options. Because of the Complex Regional Pain Syndrome that Sean experienced after the original surgery, Dr. Silver set Sean up with a pain management specialist, Dr. Zimmerman. Together, they developed a plan of action to hopefully prevent any reoccurrence of the CRPS. This included starting gabapentin in the weeks leading up to the surgery and a nerve block the morning of the surgery. And, Dr. Silver had Sean meet with Flo and her team for a few pre-surgery workouts to obtain some baselines and work to build additional strength.

Bright and early yesterday morning, Sean and I headed to the NC Specialty Hospital in Durham. Sean's first appointment at 7am was with pain management for the nerve block. By 7:15 he was all decked out in his hospital gown. The only 'sedation' he received for the block was a small dose of Ativan and a lollipop (that's right, a lollipop. berry flavored) of Fentanyl. Before going back for the procedure, he commented that he didn't real feel much different...just really relaxed. Like he 'couldn't get mad if he wanted to'. :-) By 8:45 the nerve block was completed. The pain folks monitored his vitals for a few and by 9:30 we were in pre-op, ready for the 10:15 surgery. Things were going really smooth. Surprising for a hospital, especially given the coordination that was required from two different medical teams.

In pre-op, Sean was presented with a sweet party hat for the OR and got a shave job (over most of his leg!) from his nurse. Dr. Silver came in to ask if we had any questions and we all agreed that the questions were based around what he would soon see. We were told going in that the surgery would take about 45 minutes. When the pager they gave me went off a few minutes short of 45, for some reason, I immediately thought the worst. Surely he couldn't be done already! When Dr. Silver came out to greet me, I really don't think he could've had better news. Here's what he found: the original meniscus repair had healed wonderfully. There was some minor fraying on the meniscus (not tears) that he cleaned up. The cartilage all around the knee looked great. The biggest issue he found was an enormous amount of scar tissue that had developed around his knee. This was caused by immobility after the surgery, which was caused by the intense nerve pain (CRPS) that Sean experienced after the surgery. What a snow ball, right?? Dr. Silver was able to get all the scar tissue cleaned up and feels strongly that this is what was causing the ongoing pain and swelling. So all in all, the surgery couldn't have gone any better! There were no meniscus problems that need additional repair, there was no damage to cartilage, and all the scar tissue was cleaned out.

Sean is doing really well -- there is obviously some expected post-op pain, but according to him it's like 'night and day' from the last surgery. He walked in the house yesterday with no crutches and has been getting around fairly well. Tomorrow he has his first PT appointment, not with Flo, but with the therapist she hand-picked for him.

There is no reason not to expect a full recovery this go around, so there is no reason that Sean shouldn't be on the golf course later this year. Jackson has expectations, too. All he's been telling Sean is, 'I'm ready for you to run with me again!'

Today is going to be a great day for this...

2012-02-23T11:36:00.002-05:00

Jackson is in his happy place when he's outside. Give him some dirt and a few trucks and all is right in the world. With sunny skies and temps in the 70s today, I'm guessing he'll be in his happy place all afternoon. (The picture above is from his dirt hole at Nana and Pa-Jack's house. It's the first place he goes when he gets there!)

Melt

2012-02-22T20:21:00.000-05:00

This evening before bed, Jackson and I attempted a quick Pinterest project involving glow sticks and glitter. Unfortunately, ours didn't turn out quite as magical as the inspiration. It still glowed though, so we took it outside to see it light up in the darkness. He was shaking it around, watching it glow and I said, 'Sorry that it didn't turn out like we hoped.' He looked up at me and said, 'It's okay Mommy, I still love it!', then gave me the biggest hug. As he had his sweet little arms wrapped around me (and my heart was already melting) he said, 'And I love you, too, Mommy!'

Little Mommy

2012-02-21T22:09:00.001-05:00

Kate just cannot get enough of babies these days. Some have said this was a sign that she needed a little brother or sister. I disagree. Over the weekend, we went down to Columbia to see Matt & Beth and their sweet boys, Parker and Mason. Kate wanted to be right with Parker the entire time. Here she is feeding him his oatmeal AND cleaning him up - which she did after each bite she gave him. Too cute!

Happy Heart Day!

2012-02-14T21:15:00.000-05:00

Date Night

2012-02-07T22:44:00.001-05:00

That's right, date night, but not for Sean and me. It was Daddy/Kate and Mommy/Jackson date night. The idea came about when Ashely sent me a link to reserve a spot for a special Father-Daughter event at Chick-fil-A. Since Sean and Kate were going on a date, I asked Jackson if he would go on a date with me. I was excited b/c I've wanted to take him to a movie for the longest time, but it's just never been planned right.

Kate was super excited about a special night with Daddy. Chick-fil-A was turned into a fancy restaurant for the evening, with tablecloths on the tables, flowers for the little girls, waiters coming around to take your order, and a princess handing out balloons! Kate even got to make a card to give to her special Valentine. So sweet!

Jackson's movie night was pretty exciting, too! When I asked what he wanted to have for dinner, he confidently said, 'a spicy sandwich from Bojangles'. So that's what he got! He took one bite of the sandwich then said, 'Whew, this is spicy! Couldn't they cool it off some?' I told him that's how they made their chicken and the next thing I knew he had already eaten pretty much the entire thing. A couple of bites later, he handed me his empty sandwich wrapper! (He's apparently going through a growth spurt, b/c he's had the appetite of a man lately!) We didn't have a whole lot of movie choices, but Happy Feet 2 seemed like a good option. Of course we had to stop in for some popcorn and in honor of Valentine's Day, I let Jackson get the pink, cherry flavored popcorn (ew!) that he asked for. It was a good day for a 4 year old! The movie was only okay - not all that exciting, especially for a 'first experience'. He hung in there pretty good, but was antsy to leave with about 20 minutes left in the movie. We barely made it to the end, but at least he had popcorn (and fruit snacks) to keep him entertained through all the slow parts!

All in all, it was a good date night for us all! So fun to do something different with the kids every now and again!

Meeting Ady!

2012-01-17T21:53:00.002-05:00

We finally made it over to Matt & Jenn's to meet little Ady! She is already 5 weeks old, but still very much a cuddly newborn, so I was able to get in my fix for a while. :-) As expected, Kate was fascinated and wanted to be with the her the entire time. Well, except when her fascination turned to the cats who kept eluding her with their stealth-like moves. We talked about it, and realized that Kate had never been around a cat like that before. She'd seen cats, but definitely not inside cats. She was quite intrigued.

Back to Ady... Kate wanted to hold her as soon as we got there, but thanks to me startling her a bit, she wasn't really having it. But once Ady was settled, Kate was quick to remind me that she wanted to 'hold baby'. She absolutely loved every minute of it and loved even more that we were taking her picture with the baby!

Even when I held Ady, Kate was right there with me, keeping a very close eye on her.

Of course it took some convincing to get Jackson to get in the picture with us. When I told him he didn't even have to take his eyes off of The Incredibles, he somewhat agreed.

Sean had his turn with sweet Ady, too. She seemed quite comfy napping with him!

It was so good to finally meet the little angel! We're starting to have quite a team of babies in our circle of friends. Let the good times continue!

Christmas Adventures - Part 3

2012-01-09T14:04:00.002-05:00

We were all on Santa's nice list this year -- even though some in this house may have been closer to borderline naughty than others. Since it was a busy couple of days, it was no surprise that Jackson was a little sleepyhead Christmas morning. But once Kate woke up, we all went in to his room and it didn't take long for him to be racing down the stairs to see all the loot Santa left behind!

Jackson needed about 3 and a half minutes before all his presents were opened and he was surrounded by a mountain of torn wrapping paper.

Kate, on the other hand, needed a few minutes to enjoy each gift before moving on to the next. She was so excited about her coloring table and would've been happy spending the rest of the morning with a coloring book and some markers!

Jackson got a Playmobil police station along with a few other Playmobil pieces, including fire and rescue teams. According to Jackson, Santa was 'AWESOME!'.

No, these aren't pictures from Halloween. They just couldn't wait to try on their new dress-up clothes!

Jackson was super excited about the gift he picked out for Sean. It was village-type figurine for him to put with the train set under the tree of a man on a riding lawn mower! He was so proud of his gift!

And Kate gave him a little girl building a snowman -- she was pretty proud, too!

Jackson and Kate gave me a squirrel feeder. We love watching the birds out back every morning and now we can watch the squirrels, too!

By mid-morning, Kate still had unopened presents. Maybe that was her strategy -- extend the unwrapping so she can enjoy the fun for longer!

And then it was finally time for stockings, which to Jackson meant the possibility of some CANDY!

Chocolate! Oh yeah! Just what he was looking for!

Kate was pretty stoked about some candy, too, but I think she was equally excited about her new toothbrush and toothpaste. Hey, I'm not complaining - the kids may love candy, but they also love brushing their teeth. I'll take it!

So, that was about all the celebrating we did on Christmas Day. For the first time in my 30 years, I missed Christmas lunch with my Grandma. It was a very hard decision to make, but my sweet Kate was still not back to herself and we needed to give her some much needed rest. I know we did the right thing, but it was still tough not being there to celebrate with the Jackson crowd!

Christmas Adventures - Part 2

2011-12-30T11:02:00.001-05:00

After getting home around 3:30 am Saturday morning, we all three crawled in the bed together with the hopes of sleeping as long as possible. Kate did wake up around 8 and we thought that would be it for her, but to our surprise she fell back to sleep and we all slept til around 10. We met Nana in Clayton to get Jackson and finally made it to Wilson around 1. A little later than we planned, but there none the less. Kate looked so pretty in her Christmas dress, but her sweet little eyes still looked so pitiful.

As is usual, Jackson did his best to avoid the camera, so we got a shot of just the girls.

But once we told him no presents til we took a picture, he was all smiles!

Look at our all our stockings hung by the chimney with care -- Mom-Mom, Pop-Pop, Mamma, Papa, Aunt Amy, Uncle Stevie, Ryley, Emma, Sean, me, Jackson & Kate. :-)

One of the few things on Ryley's Christmas list was a pottery wheel, and guess who hooked her up - her favorite Nini!! I can't wait to see what our new potter creates!

Emma seemed to get equally excited about everything she opened -- evened the clothes!

Jackson didn't even have to wait on Santa for the Buzz Lightyear shooter he asked for! MM & PP hooked him up!

Amy may not look too excited about this here gift, but she was. It was only the name that weirded her out a little - it's called a g-spout and it's an attachable spout that supposedly makes draining grease from browned meat easy peasy. We had both seen it on Pinterest, but it took quite a bit of googling to find it. And yes, I did have some fun with the name...mostly because it was so hard to find. :-)

Christmas Adventures - Part 1

2011-12-28T22:37:00.000-05:00

Our Christmas week got off to a rather rough start. Kate started running a fever on Sunday that continued for SEVEN DAYS! On Tuesday, we decided to go ahead and get her checked out. Dr. Chip (our pediatrician) said she looked fine and that she likely had a stomach bug that was hitting the area pretty hard. She had only had a couple of relatively minor tummy troubles, but it was enough to explain what was likely going on. He told us that the fever would likely last 24-48 more hours, but by the weekend she should be fine. Well, Friday came around and she was still feeling lousy and running a fever. We went on as planned and left for Bladenboro mid-morning on Friday for Christmas with Nana and Pa-Jack and then Nana's side of the family Friday evening.

She may looks like she feels good, and as long as the fever was under control w/ ibuprofen she was, but you can see in her eyes that she just wasn't herself.

Jackson totally knew what was in store for the next couple of days and he could hardly contain his excitement!

The first present he opened was the one that he had been talking about for a while, but never actually seen in a store as far as I know. An 'army car' complete with 'army men' and lots of guns! Sadly one of his men has already suffered a casualty that is currently being treated w/ super glue. Hopefully he'll recover.

Kate got her first Cabbage Patch doll and a sweet new stroller for her babies. The stroller has a buckle that she insists be unbuckled every time she puts a baby in and a storage basket underneath for whatever else she can cram in there. She even pushes it around with a little bag hanging on the handle -- just like a little mommy. :-)

Look at Kate waiting so patiently on Pa-Jack to retrieve a toy from vicious packaging! He did get the stroller assembled in no time at all -- and under pressure from us all to get it done quick!

After the kiddos tore open their loot, us adults joined in on the fun.

Sean got some hedgetrimmers....

Pa-Jack got some new shoes...

Nana got a new pair of slippers. (And promptly disposed of her old ones in the trash.)

Jackson AND Sean got Nerf guns! Oh the fun we've been having with those!

The kids gave a Nana a framed picture of her and them that said, 'Nana - another name for love'. Aww...

By mid-afternoon the crowd began arriving and noise level increased. ;-) It was so good to see my family and those that couldn't make it were missed. Everyone had a great time catching up and Jackson, Easton and Maddie had lots of fun together. Except this one time when the boys hurt Maddie's feelings. :-( My cousin Brooks was chosen as the honored one to read the Christmas story. It's my favorite tradition from our gathering every year.

After dinner, Jackson (once again) could hardly wait to see if there were any presents for him. Oh that boy! He stayed up wayyyy past his bedtime and couldn't have been anymore thrilled.

Jackson's late bedtime is about where our night took a slight turn. As I said earlier, Kate's fever had still been going strong throughout the day and she felt especially lousy that evening. When she woke up around 10:30, I checked her temp and it was 105.1. Admittedly, I panicked and called the doctor's office which forwarded to WakeMed triage answering service. When a nurse called back and I explained the situation, she said that with a fever that high, they wanted to check the child out. I was already beginning to be more concerned, since the fever had lasted longer than expected, so we didn't hesitate to take her in. We did discuss for a minute on where to take her, but eventually agreed to come back to Raleigh to take her to the pediatric ED at WakeMed. At least there we wouldn't have to wait in a waiting room filled with all kinds of folks.

After a couple of hours hanging out in the hospital, with one wide awake Kate, the doctor said her urine was clear, her lungs sounded fine, and that the high fever was the virus our pediatrician had suspected earlier in the week. Only she said the fever could last 7-10 days! But all in all that was the best news we could have gotten. Just a nasty virus and nothing more serious. But it's Christmas and when the fever went up, my sweet girl crashed.

A visit with Santa

2011-12-28T22:23:00.000-05:00

The Christmas frenzy that was the past four weeks has finally slowed down. Our tree is still up, but only for a couple more days. By the weekend, it'll just look like winter around here. I have lots to share and am going to try and get it all posted (even our annual Tree Hunt weekend) by the New Year. How's that for a resolution?!

Let's start with our visit to see Santa. Jackson was super excited to sit with the guy and as per usual with Kate, she just followed right along with her big brother. If Jackson does it, she's gonna do it. I'm not sure if she actually spoke any words to him, or just stared, but she told us she told him she wanted babies. As for Jackson, he asked for a Buzz Lightyear 'shooter'.

As for Jackson, he asked for a Buzz Lightyear 'shooter'.

I'm not sure if either of their smiles could be any faker.

Christmas crafting and wrapping

2011-12-18T22:26:00.000-05:00

The countdown is on! By next week at this time our Christmas weekend frenzy will be coming to a close. Last night Ashely and I had some holiday fun in my craft room -- she got all of her wrapping done and I worked on some of my sewing projects I have to finish by the weekend. We even took a break from crafting to make some yummy Oreo truffles topped with crushed candy cane. Every craft night needs a sweet treat, right!

My favorite part of our fun together was the lovely turtlenecks that Ashely bought for us to wear. I mean, clearly a Christmas turtleneck (that's right, turtleneck) is a must-have for any Christmas craft night! :-)

It's been a dress up kinda day!

2011-12-09T17:11:00.001-05:00

This morning she was dressed up with a tutu dress, a fire hat and cowboy chaps. Later she was dressed up with 3 tutus on at the same time and Jackson affectionately told her she 'had a big butt'. This afternoon, she put this ensemble together...

Hyena Ride

2011-12-05T20:24:00.001-05:00

As is usual, when things get busy, Good Times takes a back seat. While I work on Christmas cards and getting ready for Christmas in general, here's a video to hold you over....

Backstory: Jackson and Cara Beth play this 'game' often -- they've called it the Hyena Ride. Cara Beth ties the jump rope around her waist and the other end to the dump truck. Jackson hangs on for a ride across the yard. As you'll see here, this ride is an accident waiting to happen. Fortunately though, the only injured party was the popsicle. Quite the tragedy when you are 4!