St. Patrick's Day

My family is in town for Spring Break so we have been keeping busy.

For St. Patrick's Day I made the kids Green eggs and Pancakes

Cody sure enjoyed it

Andrew and Meghan

Cole enjoying his green formula

 You're a little too young buddy, maybe next year

Look forward to a ton more pictures from our eventful week

Updates

There has been so much going on and it doesn't look like it will be slowing down anytime soon!  I am exhausted, the kids are exhausted, and I just wish everyone would start feeling better soon.  There is so much to update on so here it goes...

Ty:

A few days after our first trip to the ER, we had to make a second trip because the pain in his knee was unbearable.  He cried for hours so at about midnight on a Thursday night, I carried him to the car and we headed back to the ER.  I guess the first doctor who looked at the x-rays of his knee on our first trip, forgot to mention that we needed to go see and Orthopedic doctor.  The doctor we saw on our second visit said his knee should have been looked at by now.

Gee, thanks!

They gave us some pain medicine and the next day, his mom took him to see the orthopedic doctor who, after an MRI, confirmed that yes, Ty had broken his leg.  It is the top of the tibia where, when his knee was bent, pushed up against another bone and broke on impact.  Since it is in such an awkward place, he has to wear a long brace and keep his leg straight at all times.  He is not allowed to put any weight on it what so ever.  In two weeks he goes back, gets another brace, and will wear that for another 4-6 weeks.  JOY!

He is doing pretty well with it though, he likes his crutches but is a little bummed he wont get to do soccer this season.

Cody and Cade:

Cody and Cade went for their two and four year old check ups last week.  Cade is still not on the charts for his weight.  He only weighs 22 pounds fully clothed.  Cole weighs 17 lbs. 10 oz.  It wont be long before Cole passes Cade up.  They will be able to share clothes in no time.  Cade already has an appointment with a gastrologist on April 1st for stomach issues so we'll have them check things out and see if they see anything.  He's happy and seems healthy...just small.  I did notice he can still fit in some of the same clothes he wore around his first birthday though!

They did a little bit more for Cody's check up since he's four.  He did all the normal routine stuff but he also did an eye exam.  You know the ones where they read off the letters of a chart.  Well, Cody didn't do so hot.  His left eye could make out the shapes but not the actual objects.  We will be going to an eye doctor on Wednesday to see if we need to do something.  The doctor said he should just get his eyes checked before he goes to school.  I'd rather get them checked now so he can make any adjustments, if he has to, before school starts.

And for the finale of that doctor's appointment, all three boys were diagnosed with double ear infections!  Oh how fun!  Cade and Cole were put on antibiotics and Cody was given nothing besides a referral to an ENT.  He has been on four different antibiotics since January and he is still sick.  The doctor did some extra tests on Cody's ears and said it looks like he will need a tube in his right ear.

Since everyone is still sick, our night time routine involves this while they're read their bedtime stories...

Some like it more than others!

T.J.

T.J. has been asked to speak at a few conferences now and even though it puts more work on his already busy schedule, I think it makes him feel really great that people want him to come speak.  He has already done one and has one coming up this Friday. 

 It has a lot to do with this...

I can't tell you how many people have called us and commented on his award.  One teacher said she has been trying to get that award for years!  There have also been a lot of people who have commented on the name of the award and said of course T.J. deserves it!

The start of this week isn't looking very promising either.  I didn't feel well at all yesterday and both Ty and Cole have been throwing up today.  Cole has only thrown up twice but Ty threw up all night long.  Just another virus that's going to pass through us all...again!

I think that is all for now.  My family comes in town this weekend for Spring Break.  I am very excited to have them all here.  It will be a crowded, busy house, but totally worth it.  What's an extra seven people when you already have seven living here??

Birthday Party Fun

I can't believe my little man is 4 today!  Unfortunately, he didn't have the happiest of birthdays.  He as been sick again, really sick.  We had already booked the bowling alley for Cody and Cade's party so Cody wanted to give it a try.  He had as much fun as his poor little body could take.

The theme of the party was bowling, obviously. 

I ordered the boys little bowling shirts with their names embroidered on them 

and bowling designs on the back

The cake was made by the same lady who made McKinly's cake (she does an awesome job)

Cody tried to have a good time, he really did

Cade had fun for the both of them

He decided he needed to keep score

Tasha came in town for the boys' birthday since she's about to move to China and we wont get to see her very often in the next two years :(

Tasha pointed out how cute it was that T.J. and I matched Cole...it wasn't planned

Cole was a real party animal

Cody's wish was probably to stop feeling so crummy.  The poor kid has been sick for two months.

The kids are all in bed now and hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.  Cody deserved a good birthday.  I just hate that he was so sick.

Happy 4th Birthday big guy, hopefully next year you'll be able to enjoy it more!

My sweet TWO year old!

Today my little man turns 2!

I can't believe it has been two years since our little guy was born.

A lot has happened in the two short years of your life.

Not only have you grown up way too fast

You have also welcomed a little sibling into this world who you absolutely adore.

Sometimes you can have an attitude like no other

But your cuteness makes up for all the hard times

We sure love you little man!  We couldn't have asked for a better two years!

Happy 2nd Birthday Cade!

Ty's Accident

I'm a little late posting this but it has been a long week so far.  And this...is going to be a long post!

Sunday afternoon, Ty was outside riding his bike.  He wanted to ride over to his friend's house who lives in our neighborhood.  He has rode his bike over there many times.  It's not far from our house, takes about three minutes to get there on bike.

He left our house around noon.  At 12:40 a stranger came knocking on our door holding Ty like a baby.  He was crying (Ty, not the nice stranger).  Apparently, the family who brought Ty home had come home from church and saw Ty sitting by his bike.  They didn't think anything of it and went inside to change their clothes for lunch.  When they came outside a good ten minutes later, they saw Ty trying to crawl home.  That is when they knew something was wrong and they brought him to us.

At first we couldn't see anything physically wrong with him.  Ty was crying so hard and we couldn't get what happened out of him.  All we knew was he was in a lot of pain.  After a few minutes, he finally calmed him down enough to tell the story.

Ty had been riding his bike on the side walk.  He said he was riding pretty fast when all the sudden he was thrown off his bike with severe pain in his knee.  After a lot of talking we discovered that Ty had actually been knocked off his bike by a trailer hitch.  There was a truck in it's driveway with a trailer hitch sticking pretty far out the back.  Ty noticed the truck but not the hitch and was stopped by his knee hitting the hitch at full force.

No skin was broken but there was starting to be severe swelling.  I loaded the screaming boy up in the car and headed to the ER.  Test confirmed nothing was broken but he is still in a lot of pain.  He can not put any weight on his left knee what so ever and he screams if you come close to it.  He has now sat on my couch for almost 80 hours.  I carry him to the bathroom when he needs to go and that is the only time he gets off the couch.  Yesterday, Cathy came over and together we stripped him down and gave him a bath while he screamed, at the top of his lungs, the whole time.  It's not easy seeing him in this much pain.  If you know him, you know it's really hard for him to sit still longer than a few minutes.  So the fact he is bound to the couch says a lot.

Tomorrow he has an appointment with his pediatrician.  Hopefully they will refer him out somewhere where more tests can be run.  The swelling as yet to go down and the pain, it seems, is getting worse.  I can't help but keep picturing the poor guy crawling home.  He is in such pain and there is nothing I can do for him.

Our daily routine...

Notice the swelling in his left knee

Cody's Basketball Game and T.J.'s Big Award

Cody had his last basketball game of the season on Saturday and I realized I hadn't posted any pictures all season long.  

Here is a little video I took of him practicing before his game.

And here he is during his game. He is #35!

Obviously, traveling is not a penalty at this age!

Oh, and if you come across a USA Today tomorrow (Monday, February 23) go ahead and buy it.  My husband won an award and his name will be printed in this addition.  He was granted the Siemens Award which is given to one teacher from each state for their dedication to the Advanced Placement program.  We are very proud of him!  You can also see his name on their website.  Just scroll down until you see the list of teachers by state.

Happy Belated Valentine's Day

This is going to be NO surprise, but I was late getting our Valentine's Day cards out this year.  In fact, I ran out of stamps once again, so half the cards are still sitting next to me as I type this.  Rest assured though, I will get them mailed out...even if they are a little late.

So, if you haven't received yours yet, don't worry...it's on its way.

I know you're all dying of anticipation so I'll go ahead and post the boys Valentine's Day card...

Go ahead, tell me how cute and adorable they are...