The Saga Continues...

Since the boys have been sick, we have been spending a lot of time in the house. We have come up with a lot of different things to keep us busy and entertained... playing in the sink, playing in the laundry basket, building snowmen and whales out of play foam, playing any and all kinds of games with balls in the house that we can think of (Samuel loves balls!), and enjoying long baths. A lot of days spend in pajamas!

Somewhere in there Benjamin was actually feeling pretty well for a day or two. The two of us went to church and Don and Samuel stayed home and rested. We got out of the house and I was actually thrilled to just go to Target. It felt like such a big outing after being housebound for what seemed like eternity!

Then we made a trip to urgent care this past Monday. First I took Samuel for his cough, fever, irritability, restlessness, etc. then Don met me there with Benjamin after realizing his temperature was almost 102. They have been on antibiotics all week; however, the boys are still miserable. Samuel is whiny as can be and Benjamin is feverish and has fallen asleep by 7:00 p.m. for three nights in a row. They are both still coughing. It looks like we will be making another trip to the doctor's tomorrow. I just want them both to feel better and life to get back to normal around here. It's been a lil draining and some nights bedtime cannot come fast enough!

Hopefully, they will be on the mend soon. They have to get better soon, right? That's what I keep telling myself. In the mean time, we are all going to bed earlier than normal and trying to rest up as much as possible.

Our Sicky Icky Saga

Again... a huge delay between blog posts. What is up with that? Well, I had good intentions to keep at least posting pictures frequently but it seems as if we have been battling some sort of illness since the start of the year. ugh.

We have had other things going on; however, besides a few days at work and trips to the doctors, I don't really remember leaving the house much. So, the photos I'm posting are all of the boys being sick!

Our first week back we got motivated to move Samuel into his toddler bed pretty quick since he was making the process of climbing out of his crib into an artform and discovering new crib dismount techniques daily. There were a few restless nights but after a couple of nights he adjusted pretty well. Although, he occasionally likes to hop out of bed at nap time (or even in the middle of the night) and explore his room, books, toys, piggy bank, hats, etc. But overall, I think we have made the adjustment. There is no turning back now!

On Wednesday the 7th, I took Don to Walter Reed Medical Center for his Lasik PRK eye surgery. He had been waiting to have this for years and was pretty pumped about getting it done. The surgery went well and after about five days of limiting himself to mostly dark rooms, he reappeared without glasses or contacts and feeling pretty well. He's almost done with the eye drops he's been on since and his vision is great.

On Thursday the 8th, the boys went to their sitters, while I went back to work and Don recovered from surgery. When we got home that night Benjamin was not himself. He ended up having a stomach bug that lasted about 24 hours and kept me doing laundry well into the night that night. Thankfully, he was pretty much back to himself on Friday although he did spend the day at home with Daddy as to not expose his friends.

We survived that weekend... and Sunday, Benjamin and I went to see "The Tale of Desperaux" with good friends, Aunt Nelly and Brooke. When we came home, Benjamin was not himself again and ended up going to bed pretty early. I noticed Samuel had a lil bit of gunk in his eye that night and wiped it clean (hoping it was nothing more).

Come Monday morning, Benjamin was feeling fine but Samuel was definitely not himself. After his morning nap it became apparent that he most likely had pink eye. I made a doctor's appointment for Tuesday morning and took Benjamin to school hoping that he did NOT have pink eye too.

When I picked Benjamin up from school a few hours later he too looked as if he was getting pink eye. So, Tuesday morning the boys and I were all off to the doctors. They were both completely miserable and looked awful... flushed cheeks on pale skin, red teary eyes... ick! The doctor confirmed that they both had pink eye and we fled the clinic to head for their prescriptions. This was our first encounter with pink eye and I pray it is our last. I have no idea where they contracted it because I feel like we have barely been out of the house this year! But we are almost done with the antibiotic ointment that treats them and every dose seems to become more of a struggle. We are all anxious for this to be out of our home and be done with it. We are thankful that Don nor I have come down with any pink eye symptoms. (Although Don is already on the antibiotic ointment for his eyes due to his recent surgery so chances of him contracting it are slim).

Oh... I'm not done yet! Wednesday night as Don and I went to bed he said he wasn't feeling right. He went into work on Thursday but came home early and has been in bed with some sort of stomach bug since. He is miserable and we're hoping we can make it though the weekend without a visit to the ER. Today he seems to be feeling a touch better but has been in bed hoping to fend it off most of the day.

And Samuel is coughing and seems to have yet another cold! Will this ever end?

I am just ready for everyone to start feeling better! The boys were so sweet to each other during their sickness. I guess it proves that misery does truly love company because they snuggled up with each other, held hands and would just hug each other on several occasions.

Hopefully, this post about our ongoing saga of illness has not put you all to sleep by now! I plan on having a more uplifting post in the near future!!!

Back before Christmas...

Well, here we go... finally ready to catch up on my blog a bit. Sorry for neglecting the blog during the month of December. With our trip to Illinois, Benjamin's Christmas programs, my girls weekend in Colorado, Christmas shopping and all the other events during the month of December, somehow the blog entries fell to the lower end of my priorities!

On that note, I am not quite ready to start posting the tons of photos from or awesome trip and visit with family and friends in Illinois. Instead, I am posting a few photos from the days that led up to our trip...

The night before we left we attended Don's Holiday Ball in Maryland. We had a pretty nice time although we didn't eat dinner there until 9 p.m. and the thought of leaving the ball early so we could get an early start on our voyage to Illinois the following morning quickly fled. I'm including a couple of photos of us from that evening.

The boys truly got into the holiday spirit this year... although Samuel did not take an immediate fondness to Santa. They enjoyed the decorations, holiday treats, Christmas songs and, of course, loved the gifts! Samuel really didn't care what was in a wrapped present or who the gift was intended for, he just truly enjoyed the unwrapping! Although, he has been enjoying the many gifts he did receive (especially the new Nerf football from the O'Neill family!).

A few years back my good friend, Lea Ann, had given me a set of wooden snowmen that nest within each other and Samuel has been completely fascinated by them this year. He has occupied much of his busy time stacking and re-stacking them. It's been a joy to watch him discover and rediscover them, almost daily.

Benjamin participated in two Christmas programs this year. As a four year old, it was his first chance to participate in our church's Christmas program. They sang "Oh Come All Ye Faithful" and he did a great job. He is the youngest one in the small group of kids that got up to sing it and I was so proud of how nicely he stood up there and belted out the words.

He also participated in his preschools Christmas program for the first time (he missed it last year due to the fact that we traveled to Illinois earlier than this year). They sang a few songs and his class was right in the front row (unfortunately, my camera battery was not charged so I didn't get any photos!). He did a great job and has been singing the songs a whole bunch since (and before the program as well). He loves to sing and we love to hear his singing. He has a knack for making up songs and I love to hear the stuff that he comes up with! But it has really been delightful to hear him sing his beloved Christmas carols.

Overall, we had a good month of December, albeit busy, somehow we made it to Illinois just in time for one of their lovely snowstorms and spells of below freezing temperatures. We were just thankful to arrive safely; however, it has made us appreciate living in Northern Virginia, enjoying our relatively mild winters. And, of course, we all loved spending the holidays together again as a family. There are so many little exciting things that can be taken for granted during the holidays but I'd like to think that this year we took the time to appreciate those things.

More on our wonderful trip to Illinois to come soon!

Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from Illinois! We are enjoying every minute visiting with family and friends. And are so very thankful to be spending time together this holiday as a family unit again. We have been keeping busy spending time with everyone we can!

Today we spend a wonderful Christmas Eve with my immediate family which ends up being somewhat of a circus with 7 boys and 1 girl ranging in ages from 22 months - 17 years old! Plus all us rowdy adults. We had a fabulous time laughing and enjoying each others company.

Last night Benjamin was already upset about the idea of leaving his grandparents and cousins here... but we will just make a short jaunt to central Illinios to visit with Don's side of family with whom most he hasn't seen in about two years. We are so looking forward to enjoying Christmas with them.

Merry Christmas everyone! We hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas day.

Weekend Away

This past weekend I went to Breckenridge, Colorado, to visit with some of my best girl friends from high school. We planned this girls' trip before Don was even back from Iraq and I have been looking forward to it for a long time!

We went skiing, snowshoeing, had a Hawaiian themed party, and got massages. Overall, it was a great trip even though we eventually nicknamed the trip "Breckenridge Bootcamp" due to the fact that Lea Ann, who lives there had some pretty intense activities planned for us. I loved seeing my long-time friends and catching up with them. On several occasions I laughed until I cried. We made some memories that will last a lifetime and we enjoyed chatting about anything and everything (without any kids interruptions!).

All was good at home until Sunday afternoon. Don called and they all had the stomach flu. Don was miserable and he and Benjamin stayed up much of that night with their heads in buckets. Part of me didn't want to return! But the other part of me couldn't wait to get home and help, nurture and love my family!

I returned late Monday and everyone was in bed for the night. Things were better by then and we all took it easy Tuesday and caught up on some household chores. The best part was when the boys woke up Tuesday morning and realized I was home. They were ecstatic. I loved it! I wished I could pack some of that excitement away and keep it for a rainy day. But I just enjoyed the moment and love being back home with my boys-- who I'm happy to report are all feeling better.

Our Anniversary Trip

On November 20, we celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary. We took a family trip to Williamsburg to the Great Wolf Lodge there. It is hotel with an indoor waterpark that we've visited a few times now (and actually have spent 3 anniversaries there!). I think Benjamin enjoyed the fact that he got to sleep in bunk beds there almost as much as he enjoyed the water slides! And Samuel had his first experience sleeping in a big bed and did great.

Our trip was off to a bit of a rough start when Benjamin got sick in the car en route to Williamsburg then he cracked his lip open on the bunk bed later five minutes after we checked in. We weren't sure what would come our way next but the trip continued without any further hiccups and we all had a fabulous time.

Samuel even went solo down some of the larger water slides.

In addition to the water park feature of the hotel, it has so many great family friendly activities. They have a story time every night where guests can come together in their pajamas and enjoy an interactive show with characters in their lobby, then a hotel employee reads a couple of books. One night during our stay they also had a magician and the boys enjoyed that as well. They also have an arcade that compares to Chucky Cheese (minus the pizza) which we all had fun in.

Benjamin also enjoyed walking throughout the hotel and activating things with a magic wand... it is called "Magic Quest" and kids are all over the hotel making things light up, talk, etc. This was something new to him and he and Daddy really enjoyed it. A great activity for them to do while Mommy and Samuel enjoyed naptime!

Overall, we all had a great time and Benjamin actually began to cry a bit on the way home saying he didn't want to leave Great Wolf Lodge.

Our Helpful Boys

A couple of weeks ago we were getting ready to go out of town. Don casually said "We need to wipe down the stove top."

Then we went on with our chores and busyness of getting ready to go. I went downstairs for a minute to grab something and I could hear Samuel in the kitchen dragging the kitchen chair across the wood floor (a sound that is oh so familiar to me these days).

When I came upstairs there was Samuel at the stove top with dish rag in hand wiping down the stove top just as Daddy had said we needed to do. Somehow he put it all together and decided he was going to help! It was so cute. Then, when Benjamin saw me taking pictures of Samuel and praising him for being a good helper, he too jumped in and started wiping off the stove top too. Who knew this chore could be so much fun! (Although, I think you can tell by the photos, one brother was taking this job a lot more seriously than the other).

I hope they continue to enjoy helping out as they grow up but somehow I know this is probably too good to last and that I better appreciate their eagerness to help now while they're young!