February in Pictures

Here are some pictures from our February -

Here is how the boys spend the first part of their morning. Every morning Braden wants to open the door to get Asher and then he crawls in Asher's crib. Now I just hope that Asher doesn't learn too soon how to crawl out -
Oh and the snow...we got lots and lots of snow this year. Here is Boo out in the snow -
Little Asher enjoying the snow. The mittens he is wearing are the ones that Austin wore when he was a baby...so sweet!

Sweet brothers -
Let's just be honest...who doesn't love the taste of freshly fallen snow -
Valentine's Day...the boys opening their little treat bags -
Enjoying some M&M's and some new Valentine's Day books -
A few Fridays ago, I took the boys on a breakfast date to Krispy Kreme and then to the bookstore. It was such a sweet morning and I could not believe how fascinated the boys were watching the donuts as they were being made. Here is little Asher loving his donut -

And then, when God brought us crazy beautiful weather in the month of February, we packed up and headed to the zoo. Austin and I laugh all the time because Asher loves animals...any and all kinds. He may be our next Dr. Doolittle. Anyway, he LOVED the zoo. In fact one of the workers at the zoo asked Braden if he wanted to feed the donkeys some carrots. Braden was a little timid, but Asher walked right up and handed the donkey it's carrot. Here is Asher giving us a tour of the zoo -
Brushing the goats -
Me and the boys -

This guy has spent a lot of time outdoors on these warm days. He always wants brother and I out there with him, but that's fine with me since I'm so ready to get outside these days. Braden's been riding his hot wheel and swinging his baseball bat a lot when he's not driving his cars. It's amazing to see how much more coordinated he right now then he was back in the fall.
Practicing wearing their shades. I assure them that the sun is coming out permanently very soon -
And finally, here is Dr. Braden checking his favorite patient.
Thankfully my mom has been here with me for a few of the days that Austin has been out of town this month. Good thing since this week alone we've had the stomach bug and Asher has had pink eye in both eyes and a terrible double ear infection all in a matter of days. Here is to good health and warmer weather next month!!!

ER Trip

So the breathing treatments didn't help so much and by Thursday evening, Asher's condition became worse. His head...hot, his body...lethargic, his breathing...labored and I started to panic as I watched my baby seem to slip into a very sick state. After a steam shower which did nothing, I decided to call my neighbor who is a Med-Peds physician. She came over and listened to Asher's breathing and sent me straight to the ER. Now keep in mind, Austin is in Dallas, TX, stuck in ice storms, (in fact the airports were completely shut down with no opening in sight), it's 9pm and Asher is getting worse. Thankfully my mom was here to take care of Braden, so off I go to the ER, thinking that they would give him a few breathing treatments and that we would be home by midnight. As I walk into the ER and I see frantic parents, restless kids and no empty seats, I realize it is going to be a long night. When I checked in, there were 20 people ahead of me, but due to Asher's worsening condition, they triaged me back to a room and within minutes, there were a team of doctors standing over Asher ordering all kinds of things. When the doctor began talking about chest x-rays, oxygen levels that were quickly dropping and high fever that at this point we haven't been able to break, I started to panic. They immediately put him on 4 hours of breathing treatments...yep, 4 hours of me sitting in a rocking chair, holding a face mask up to my poor baby as he lay helpless on my chest and praying that his little body would begin to work properly again. It was at that point, that I think I realized that this night was in fact going to be a very long one that I would have to face on my own. As the night drug on and hour, after hour passed the doctors discovered that Asher had some pneumonia settling in his chest. They x-rayed his chest, put him IV antibiotics, oxygen masks to help his body maintain proper oxygen levels, he received breathing treatments every 2 hours (after the initial 4 hour treatment) and then they stuck these huge tubes down his nasal cavity in hopes to suction some of the fluid out. As each procedure went on and they pulled Asher out of my arms and he locked eyes with me, screaming, I found myself helpless. As I turned my face each time from the nurses so they wouldn't see my fear and my tears, I longed for Austin. He was miles away, stuck in the airport. It really was such a hard night...one that I won't soon forget. I held Asher tight, hour after hour and finally at 4:30am, they brought me a cot to sleep in and told me to settle in because they were admitting us for the next 36-48 hours. Thankfully, Asher responded well to the treatments and we only had to stay in the hospital for a total of 36 hours...so thankful for modern medicine and nice, child friendly hospitals! Austin made it by 6pm Friday night and we were home by noon on Saturday morning. All in all, a long, scary couple of days, but I am so thankful that God looked over Asher and healed his body quickly.

Here is Asher all hooked up to his breathing machine (for some reason I cannot get this picture to blow up, maybe because it was taken from my phone) -
Sweet little boy in his Vandy Children's Hospital jammies -
Well, the good news in all of this is that this guy has decided that when he grows up he no longer wants to be just a fireman...now he wants to be a doctor and a fireman. He literally plays doctor every day now and wears his stethoscope around his neck for hours on end. Last week, Braden even went grocery shopping with me, wearing his stethoscope. Now if Dr. Braden could only figure out how to keep us healthy for a few weeks!

Let the breathing treatments begin...

Sigh...we didn't make it too far before illness fell on us again! After a super fussy day Monday and a lingering cough that he's had for a few weeks now, Asher came down with a fever yesterday afternoon which rapidly turned into raspy breathing, wheezing and crazy coughing spells. After a very restless night last night, I called the doctor and they asked us to come in. So after a long visit at the pediatrician's office, they sent us home with strict orders to give breathing treatments every four hours for the next few days. Awesome huh?! Thankfully, Asher seems to enjoy the breathing treatments. He sits very quietly for them and if you ask him afterward to tell you about the treatments, he covers his mouth with his hands like he's putting on his mask, blows out lots of air and starts babbling away as he's trying to explain the process. Very cute!

So let me pause for a moment and say that it's been a long, hard season for me. Asher has been sick, almost continuously for the past 4 months...in fact I counted in my head the other day that he has been well for all of about 3 weeks since he turned one. And for all you Mommies that know, sick kids mean crying, crying, crying, sleepless naps, no appetite, restless nights and ENDLESS bouts of fussing. And then on top of that, add in a needy 3 year old who has suddenly decided that backtalk, attitude, aggression toward his younger brother and unkind words used on a regular basis are all appropriate ways to communicate and treat his family. All I know is that this Momma is worn thin these days. It's been hard...really, really hard! And I pray that this season (yes, I realize this is a season) will end soon, but I realize more then ever that God is molding me and refining me as I walk through some tough days. I realized just the other day, after yet another really frustrating, long day where all I did was pace and attempt to pacify a crying baby and CONSTANTLY yell at a little boy who seemed determined to beat me, that I had never realized my weakness as a human, as a mother, as a wife to the degree that I do now that I have kids. And by weakness, I mean that I have never needed Christ to make me whole and to rescue me from my continuous sinful nature like I do now. I keep failing and He keeps picking me up, showing me grace and giving me the courage to start again. As we stepped out of the car today to go get Asher's prescription for his breathing treatments, Braden looked at me and said, "Momma, I'm cold." Then without skipping a breath, he looked to the sky, folded his hands and said "Dear Jesus, please give us warm weather. Amen." His sweet, innocent, simple prayer brought such joy to my heart. Childlike faith is beautiful...truly beautiful! Children have a longing in their heart and they just ask. I found myself thinking today that I too need to look to the sky and expose my heart to the One who really cares. I mean, sure I pray all throughout the day but do I really stop, pour out my heart, expose my weakness and plead God for help to change the things that I cannot? For I am weak without Him.

One tired Momma, holding a sick, feverish little boy -

Let the breathing treatments begin...

January

It has been a COLD, SNOWY, January...in fact the snowiest (not sure if that is a word) January I can remember in many years. Of course for kiddos, this is fun times, for Mommies and Daddies, this means lots of creative planning for indoor activities. We have gotten out and enjoyed the snow a few times thanks to some wonderful sleds, provided by my in-laws, but on other snowy days, we've stayed inside watched movies, built lots and lots of tents, dressed up like firemen and baked way too many cookies. I've tried to do art projects with the boys on really long days, but I've found that at this age, it's way too much to manage because Asher is usually trying to eat the glue or swallow the pom poms and that usually results in some mini-tantrum as I'm trying to wrestle glue sticks out of my 16 month old's hand. Not fun! Plus, if you know Braden, you know he would rather read or use his imagination any day over sitting and coloring. Oh well...here is to being creative one day.

What else...we have tried to be a little more productive this month at breakfast time (one of my new years resolutions) and I have been helping Braden to memorize Scripture. Growing up, I had to memorize Scripture in High School and to this day, those verses still come to my mind in my moments of need. I hope I can help my boys "hide His word in their hearts" as the Psalms call us to. So far, Braden seems very interested in memorizing Scripture and it's quite rewarding when I see him randomly do something nice for Asher...if I ask him why he did that, he will say, "because that's what our Bible says...'be ye kind, one to another.'" Hooray...finally something is sinking in!

What else...we celebrated Austin's 32nd birthday a few weeks ago with a date night to Virago (our favorite sushi place). I love, love, love that after 8 years of marriage and 6 years of dating, that I still find myself giddy to spend time with this man. He truly is such an amazing husband and father and I am so thankful for him. Besides that, we ended the month with a round of runny noses, ear infections, deep coughs and high fevers. Here is to good health, warm weather and good times with family in the coming months. With that, I'm leaving you with some pictures of our January -

Braden, making a snow angel in the freshly fallen snow -
Asher, all cuddled up in his new sled. He seriously fell asleep in here at one point b/c he was so warm and tired from all the playing in the snow -
This was taken at Austin's parents house -
And on those crazy cold days when it was way too cold to be outside and school was cancelled for the nth time this month, we snuggled on the couch in our jammies and watched movies -
Celebrating Austin's birthday at home -
Braden, really, really excited when he found out that his birthday is the next birthday in our home -
Asher, post-ice cream cake. The kid LOVES ice cream!
My little firemen -
Sweet smile from my boy. If you ask Braden what he wants to be when he grows up, he undoubtedly says "a fireman." -
And little Asher dressed in his fire costume, playing with the fire house. Asher would wear this costume all day if I would let him. If he sees it in the closet, he stands at the door pointing and whining until I put it on him. It cracks me up!

Christmas

Okay, better late then never. We spent Christmas Eve morning at our house celebrating Christmas as a family. It was such a wonderful morning! When the boys stepped out of Braden's room and saw the tree, Braden said "Asher look!" They were both so excited to see their new toys and lots of new gifts under the Christmas tree. We spent the entire morning opening gifts. It was so relaxing and so much fun. Braden would open one gift and literally sit for 30 minutes and play with it before moving on. We'd have to beg him to open another gift because he was enjoying his new stuff so much. Little Asher just wandered around all morning playing. He loved digging in his stocking and pulling out various things, but didn't quite get the whole opening presents thing. At one point Braden looked at us as he was playing with his new fireman and firehouse and said "This is the best present I ever had." We paused for a few minutes to eat some homemade cinnamon rolls and egg casserole. On a side note, this recipe is stinkin' delicious...it's lots of work, makes a ridiculous amount of cinnamon rolls, but it is my new Christmas tradition. It was a perfect day with my family. It's amazing how much more you enjoy Christmas as an adult watching your children filled with excitement and awe. Around 1:00pm, we called Austin's parents to check on the weather report since we were supposed to be driving to Lexington the next morning and they told us that snow was in the forecast and that we should come on today. Now at this point it was naptime and it looked like a bomb had gone off in my house...wrapping paper strewn on the floor, toys scattered everywhere, a kitchen covered in flour and sugar and cinnamon, but we frantically cleaned the house, packed everyone's suitcases and three hours and no naps later got in the car and made the three hour drive back to Lexington. All in all a great day! More pictures to come from Christmas with our extended families, for now, here are some pictures of our little family.

The tree all lit up and ready for the little boys -

The boys digging in their stockings -


Asher, trying out his new ride. Now before you judge me on letting my baby have a paci in his mouth during the day, just remember that he had a double ear infection, a super snotty nose and a bad cough so the paci was quite necessary -

Braden playing with his new firehouse. Let's just later that morning, he looked at us and said, "This is the best present I ever had." So sweet -
Sweet smiles from the boys (Braden had some crazy bed head that morning). Never could get a good picture of them together-
Okay, this picture just makes me laugh. Austin had gotten each of the boys a small bag of gummy candy to put in their stockings. So here is Austin opening Asher's little bag and as you can see, Asher was VERY interested in getting in that bag. Ash has MAJOR sweet tooth and Austin seems to love to feed it -

Asher's Big Week

Well, Asher had a big week this past week. On Tuesday, he got tubes put in his ears. After 3 months of ear infections, hour after hour of fussiness, sleepless nights, early wakings and short naps, we finally got tubes put in. The surgery was only 10 minutes long, but did include anesthesia. It was awful handing my baby over to the surgeon, unsure of how his body would react to the anesthesia and it was even more awful holding a crying, disoriented baby as he was waking out of the anesthesia. After a 3 hour nap and lots of snacks, my little boy awoke a new man. He was finally happy, finally napping, finally sleeping at night and finally eating. It was amazing the difference in his personality. Of course three nights ago he started this ridiculous night waking thing where he now wakes for 2-3 hours in the wee hours of the night, wallowing and crying. We are currently praying for wisdom on how to handle it, but his days are enjoyable and for this I am thankful. The night waking thing has been hard, REALLY, REALLY HARD. Austin and I have not slept for more then 4-5 hours in 3 days. In some ways it feels like this is how it is going to be for the rest of my life...dramatic I know, but it really does feel this way, especially at 3am when there seems to be no end in sight. I find myself fearful when I hear him awake at 3am...anxious of when/if/how he will finally go back to sleep. I'm sure (okay, I hope this is just a phase), but I just don't know what to do about it. He is getting his molars in and that could be the culprit, but who knows. His ears were checked yesterday and the doctor assures me they look perfect...no fluid, no infection, nothing! Anyway, if you are reading this, pray for sleep in our home and for wisdom on how to handle a tiny, unhappy baby in the wee hours of the night. In other news, Asher got his first haircut this week. He desperately needed his wings over his ears trimmed and so after some good snacks and some entertainment by Braden, I got him to sit still long enough for a trim. He looks like such a little man these days. Here he is before his big haircut.
And here he is post, haircut eating a Christmas ball and sitting in a plastic bag. We really do practice safe parenting around here, even though it doesn't appear that way :)
Christmas pictures to come soon, for now it's time to wake some little boys from their slumber.