SQUIRREL!

My ADD kicks in and I realize I haven’t gotten done anything I had planned on doing.  Hence, the blog has not been updated in almost 2 weeks.  And a LOT had has happened!   I just can’t seem to keep it all straight some days!  I have had it on my “To Do” list more than once, but, it just slips away…

Here we are, 2 weeks since Finn’s first birthday and the weekend of epic events, and I thought my season of busy would be over.  I was wrong.  While we are not knee deep in event planning like we were, this week we are knee deep in the sickies.  But, more on that later!  First, let’s get caught up on the past two weeks!

• ·         Finn: had a cold, went to the Dr – checked out fine (we still worry about those fragile lungs!).  2 days later, went back to the Dr for his 1 year well check.  He weighed in at 16 pounds 13 ounces and 28 inches tall.  Long and Lean!  He is right on track for between 9 and 12 months developmentally.  Got 6 injections – including the first half of his flu shot.  (I got my flu shot that morning as well!)  Our pediatrician recommended taking him off formula and starting whole milk – and a sippy cup.  2 weeks later we are all systems go on the milk, and about 50/50 on the cup.  Biggest stumbling block?  He refuses to HOLD the cup.  Or the bottle!  Silly baby!

• ·         Big Kids: Emma is in the middle of fall volleyball – practices and Saturday games keep us hopping!  Lara has her regular dance classes and Nutcracker rehearsals to keep her going, too.  Jake signed up to play Upward Basketball with Eagle Heights Baptist Church,  and we are looking forward to stating that soon.  All 3 kids got their first 9 week report cards and we had conferences with all of their teachers.  They are doing GREAT!  Emma and Lara are on the straight A Train, and Jake even got one of the highest grades for a Kindergartener in MUSIC!  Britt and I are rubbing off on him!  YAY!

• ·         Fall break for our school was last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.  The girls spent part of that time with their Other Dad, and we got to take Jake and Finn to the OSU Homecoming Harvest carnival to play games and gather up candy.  NEWSFLASH: Jake Weaver is an ACE at carnival games! LOL!  He had the time of his life out there!

And speaking of Homecoming, “America’s Greatest Homecoming Celebration” was in Stillwater this past weekend!  We started by wearing orange every day last week, as it a tradition for Britt and I!  We enjoying seeing the Library Fountain run orange, the sign competition on Library Lawn, the Residence Halls lit up in orange on Thursday night, and of course, WalkAround on Friday night!  We took the 4 kids, and along with my parents walked the entire route – even stopped for pictures with Pistol Pete!  Finn is such a relaxed baby – he did great being carted around in the Baby Bjorn carrier.  We even stopped at the Alpha Delta Pi house for refreshments.  We tried to go early to get out of there early, since the Sea of Orange Parade was to start at 8:00am on Saturday!  We got up and out the door early for that one – and really enjoyed that, too.  But for us, the best part was snuggling in at home as a family with some pizza to watch the game in our cozy living room.  What a great day for our family to watch OSU beat the Iowa State Cyclones!  SUCH a better feeling than homecoming last year when things were so unsettled for our family!  And to top off a fun day - Britt loaded us all up after the game and we went to the pumpkin patch!  SO MUCH FUN!

Which bring me back to the sickies at my house.  3 of 4 kids have had SOMETHING to deal with the last couple of weeks.  Lara ended up in the ER in the middle of the night several days ago with her first ever full blown asthma attack!  Her rescue inhaler didn’t change a thing, so I took her in to get a breathing treatment.  The whole experience was less than stellar, but I won’t go into that here.  Her follow up with our pediatrician was today, and I now have a script for the nebulizer machine and the meds to administer breathing treatments at home should the need arise, and she has been authorized by her doctor and her school to self-carry her rescue inhaler at all times.  We may have to see an allergy/asthma specialist in the future.  Emma has been diagnosed with strep throat.  AGAIN.  2^nd time since school started – 2^nd time in 8 weeks.  Not even 2 full months!  UGH!  She has always been my “susceptible” one, but never has it enough (5 times in 12 months) to get her tonsils removed by the ENT here in town.  Not that I want her to be sick, but I would really love to get to that point so we can remove them!  And poor baby Finn.  He was getting over that cold, and then it just came back and knocked him down again.  He had a rough weekend, a bad night last night, and I took him with us to see the doctor today.  He has the baby equivalent of a sinus infection.  This is his 2^nd round of antibiotics in 2 months.  I really just need to get everyone well and to STAY well!  Our nurse said something about how she hadn’t seen Jake in quite a while, and I told her to bite her tongue!  She knocked on wood so we would not have him get sick soon, too!  LOL!

Halloween is quickly approaching!  The 3 big kids are set – accessories and all.  Emma and Lara are going to be the most beautiful police women you have ever seen, and Jake is a ninja.  Finn was to be an adorable baby convict, but his costume is on back order- with no release date set.  After I panicked (and cried – this is a big deal to me!) last week, I bought a convict costume that would fit Jake, and I think my friend Gabi is going to help me make something work – in case the other one never shows up!  Emma and Lara are bummed, too!  They were looking forward to carting around their little prisoner!  We’ll find a way to make it work, I’m sure!

And remember this super fun Gender Reveal Party we went to over the summer?  Well, Baby B made his appearace this weekend!  Braxton Wayne was born on Thursday, October 18, 2012 at 7:46pm weighing in at 7 pounds 11 ounces.  3 weeks early, but doing very well!  So happy for our friends Jenny and Brian!

I am happy to say that after today, this week is a slow one.  We need it!  Of course with Halloween in the middle of next week, it will be a doozie!  Happy Spooking!

“Nobody can be uncheered with a balloon”

That is a quote from the incomparable Winnie the Pooh.  He loved balloons!  Come to think of it, I’ve had a few dogs that love balloons, too.  And all my kids seem to go crazy over them.  I distinctly remember Emma playing with her first balloon at about 10 months old.  Lara had one, too, but for some reason Emma’s reactions stick out in my mind.  But I digress.  All of that has nothing to do with my post today.  I got off on a tangent! Time to reign it back in…

This past weekend, Britt, Jake, Finn and I got to be a part of a very memorable time in some dear friends’ of ours lives.  (Emma and Lara were with their other dad at the time.)  Jenny and Brian are pregnant with their first child, and this weekend they had a little get together to see if “Baby B” as they were calling it would in fact be a boy or a girl.  You may recall that Britt and I had a similar gathering, and we cut a cake to reveal the batter color indicating if Shocker would be a girl or a boy.  Our friends too it to the next level – using BALLOONS filled with helium in a big cardboard box.  It was SO FUN to watch.  But first, I have to tell about the games we were subjected too.  She had a 3 stage “Daddy Olympics” of sorts that my fabulous husband got to participate in – and he survived the first 2 rounds!  Round one had 8 dads from the audience chugging water form a baby bottle (the first 6 finished moved on):

Notice Britt was the only man on team Pink.  Or at least the only one man enough to don a pink shirt!

Then, they had to CORRECTLY diaper and put a onsite on a baby doll.  There was some cheating going on here!  I knew Britt would excel at this one – he was the only dad with an infant on the panel!  He even cuddled and burped his baby when he was done!  The 4 fastest moved on…

Round 3 was a pacifier spitting contest.  (Think watermelon seeds…) This was pretty funny.  All 4 daddies had very different techniques, and I have to give my hubby props because he came in second!  And there are not any pictures of this event as my camera freaked out about this time, and really, what can possible be more attractive that the ones above from the bottle chugging… ;)

With our friend Darci (who was also on team PINK with me), I got to help MC a game of “Old Wives Tales” where Jenny was asked 15 questions related to old wives tales that “predicted” the gender of the baby.  As you can see from the board at the end of the game, it was VERY heavy on the “boy” side…

After everyone had voted pink or blue, cast a lot for the corresponding name they thought the parents had picked, consumed fun foods based on her cravings, cute blue and pink treats, and LOTS of bottled water to stave off the heat, and the games were all done, the time had FINALLY come.  A friend of Jenny’s had the dubious job of acquiring the balloons in the correct color and sealing them in the box.  The guests all gathered around Jenny’s mom’s side yard to watch the happy couple open the box.  Here is the video I took revealing the gender of Baby B:

It’s a BOY!  The look on Jenny’s face is priceless!  She has lots of little boys in her family, so I know she will get lots of good advice.  And of course, she can always ask me, too.  We are so excited for them and look forward to welcoming Braxton Wayne in November!  

Jenny and Brian – thanks for including us in your big day!  LOVE you guys!

And lastly, I have to mention the HEAT (previously alluded to in the party wrap-up)!  While it is oppressive, this week is the first week we’ve hit triple digits, and by this time last year, we had been in the thick of it for almost a month.  And, it still looks like this summer will be better than last summer.  I am trying to not complain about the heat, because NOTHING can compare to the misery I was in last summer with the record breaking heat, my complicated pregnancy, and an old home and air conditioner that simple could not keep up.  I am a million times better off this summer, and for that I HAVE to be grateful!  Thank you Lord, for providing!