30 Years Ago...

Brian turned 30 on Saturday!!!

It was such a great weekend. My mom came into KC for the weekend to watch Colin while Brian and I (and a few of his family/friends) went out to the baseball stadium and did some tailgating. The weather was great while we were tailgating, around 65 with a nice breeze. We played washers, grilled some burgers, hotdogs, and sausages, and just enjoyed the relaxing morning. After we got to our seats, for some reason, all the clouds disappeared and the sun was out in full force. We all got a bit red from the sun, but it was a fun afternoon. And....the best part of it all.....the ROYALS WON!!!

We stayed after the game for a bit and watched a minor league team warm-up, and Brian got one of the baseballs. What a nice surprise!

Rob, Brian, Chad, and Matt

Marvin, Tiff, and Kathy

Caitlin and Chris

Chad, Tiff, Rob, Andrea, Matt, Caitlin, and Chris

Hot Dog Derby (Mustard won!)

The whole group (minus Marvin who was taking the picture). We had great seats!

After the game, back at our house. The boys played some home run derby and Colin just loved all the extra attention he was getting!

Aunt Tiffey with Colin (and the super cool push cart that she brought for him). He hasn't stopped pushing that thing all over (inside and outside of our house) since Saturday.

Chad and Meemaw comparing socks. I think it's a tie for who has the sexiest legs!

Watching some basketball on TV, just the guys...

Colin helping blow out Daddy's birthday candles

Happy Birthday Brian!!

Hope you had a great day (we were soooo tired after Saturday, we're not used to "partying" like that any more).

Closet organized...check

Project "Spring Cleaning plus Reorganization" is well underway at our house. Now that we have a very good chance of staying in our current house (we're only keeping the house on the market for another week or so), I am figuring out the best use of the space we have.

One of our issues is that we have been using the spare bedroom (soon to be nursery) closet and dresser for extra clothes storage for Brian and I. Well, it can no longer be used in this fashion. So on Saturday I headed out to Target, Michaels, Bed Bath and Beyond, and Home Depot in search of a closet organizing system that could be used in our master closet. Not only is our closet fairly small, it's laid out in the most bizarre way. I was shocked by how expensive the organizers are. Really, nothing was priced below $40 that looked well-built. But, I did manage to find a set of 3 cubes (I bought 3 of them) for around $12 each. Brian built them, stacked them up and bracketed them into our walls. What a cute handyman! :)

We never really used all of our hanging area anyway, so the cube sets didn't really cut back on our utilized closet space much. I really like the look of it. Brian does to. And, it was pretty cheap. Can't get too much better than that!

Now, I am even getting more excited to decorate the nursery. We purchased a very nice sage green color for the walls, and I am going to decorate one of the walls with pink and brown dots. I used the peel & stick wall decals in Colin's room and am hoping to find some great ones for the new nursery as well.

Colin, hard at work with Daddy's drill... in his pajamas of course!

I have 2 cute handymen!! (Daddy & Colin) :)

March Madness!

So glad that March is here. Brian and I love March Madness basketball (mainly just to have bragging rights about who had the better bracket), the weather is slowly changing to spring, and we get to open the windows to our house and let some fresh air in.

This year, it's a little different because we are continually working to prepare for our new addition in a couple months. This meant...Spring Cleaning! I get pretty excited about this because it allows me to re-organize and make sure we don't have a lot of extra junk laying around. Brian...well, he doesn't get so excited, but we get it done. We made a HUGE donation last week, probably 5 big boxes (lots of clothes), a TV, exercise stuff, kitchenware, etc. It's so nice getting that extra stuff out of the house. We don't have much storage space available to use at our house, so freeing up room is great!

Last weekend we visited a friend of mine that also works at Children's Mercy. She has 2 little girls and was very excited to have me "shop" in all of her clothes her girls have outgrown. They always look so stylish, and it was a lot of fun. I sure hope we end up having a girl! :)

Colin playing at the girls' house. He loved the kitchen set, but also managed to find a "boy toy" (notice the drill in his hand) to help balance things out.

Here he is, probably doing some manly chore like fixing the stove or something :)

Colin and this dog...it was a love/hate relationship. The dog has a leash and you can press buttons on the leash and it will walk certain directions. If you don't press it, after a while, it will walk and bark without you. Colin loved pressing the buttons, but didn't like it when it would go off on its own. This led to a few meltdowns. We had to turn the dog off after a bit, it was just too much for him!

Being a good guy and taking his baby doll for a walk (dodging the dog, school bus, tons of other toys, etc). They had so much for him to do/play with. He had a blast!

Some updates on Colin:

He is now sleeping on a "nap mat" at daycare. Miss Robin simply swapped out his pack n' play crib for this mat, where he is not trapped in when he sleeps. We are doing this in anticipation of moving him to his big boy bed in a few more weeks.

Day 1: Didn't move at all, hardly even turned his head...

Day 2: Sat up 3 times in bed, Miss Robin had to remind him to lay down and he did...

Day 3: Walked to the door 3 times, Miss Robin had to take his hand and lead him back to bed, where he stayed the rest of his nap...

Day 4: No Problems!

We are really hoping he does this well for us when we change his bed sometime soon. He is such an easy kid!

While we were Spring Cleaning our garage yesterday, we came across this baseball set that Memaw got Colin for Christmas. We thought we would introduce him to it indoors and then let him loose outside. He had so much fun! Couldn't really get the whole "2 handed grip" idea, but that will come with time...

Colin on his slide. He has really enjoyed this playset recently. We have had it since his birthday last year, but he wasn't quite ready to use it back then. Now that he's gotten into climbing more, he's really having lots of fun. He yells "weeeeee" every time anything goes down the slide (himself, a ball, Daddy, etc).

Working hard to get up on the playset.

Made it!

Oh, and I had to take him to the tub twice yesterday after playing outside. The kid loves Dirt! He got it everywhere. So it begins...

Penguin Park

Well, it appeared as though everyone else in KC had our same idea, but we headed out to a nearby park on Saturday to run off some energy. The church we attend has an awesome park down the street (one that Brian used to go to when he was a kid).

It's so funny seeing Colin around other kids. He is so shy at first. He's the one standing in the corner just watching everyone else play. Eventually, he warms up to it all and starts playing, but very cautiously. I think seeing all those kids screaming and running around like crazy was strange for him to see, because he is so laid back, he doesn't ever act like that.

But, we got him on the toys and he had so much fun. Of course, we only planned on about 20 minutes at the park, so right about when he really was interacting with others, it was time to leave. Maybe next time he'll remember how much fun he had and get busy a little quicker!

Having fun on a tiger (while watching the other kids play)

We finally got a swing (there was a line for them), but he had a blast!

I LOVE SWINGING!

Finally, what Colin really loved, was going down the slide. It was meant for little kids, so none of the big kids were there to hurry him along. At first, he had Brian hold his hand on the way down, but after a few trips, he got a bit more brave.

Whenever another kid did come along, he just stood off to the side and let them go. He would just watch them and after they left, start sliding again.

Weeeeeeee!

He had so much fun! Hopefully we can do this more often before church. It wears him out a bit so church is easier, and he obviously had a great time.

Ash Wednesday Service

Well, I don't have any pictures for this blog post, but I do have a couple funny stories. We usually go to church on Satuday afternoons and sit in the cry room. Colin does great while there, we just like to be able to focus more on mass and let him loose rather than trying to keep him quiet and entertained.

The Ash Wednesday service started at 6:30 am (which meant an earlier wake-up call for Colin), but he did great. I brought along a few snacks and our usual books and things were going smoothly. Colin had wanted some fruit snacks and was eating them contently when he accidentally dropped one on the pew. He quickly picked it up, offered the already-been-chewed-but-accidentally-fell-out-of-Colin's-mouth fruit snack to Daddy, then to Mommy, then turned to Father Timothy and offered it to him, then turned to the framed pictures of Jesus on the wall beside us and offered it to him. I couldn't help but smile!

Then, we went up to get our ashes. Colin was very confused as to what was on our face when we sat back down. He kept pointing to Brian and I's forehead and saying "Uh Oh!" really loudly. He must've thought we rolled in the mud or something. The rest of service he wanted to get his hands on our forehead to wipe them off. Maybe he has his my "neatness" gene after all...

One week later...

It's pretty amazing how quickly kids can rebound from illnesses. We got home from the hospital on Monday afternoon and I think Colin got one more dose of Ibuprofen that night, and he hasn't had one since. His cough really stopped quickly (thanks to the antibiotics, I'm sure) and he spent all week catching up on his sleep. I spent Tuesday at home with him before sending him back to daycare on Wednesday. We really had a fun time on Tuesday, especially since Brian got home from Vegas that night. It's so nice having our routine back to normal.

We had a check up with our primary care doctor on Thursday and she was really pleased with how Colin looked. She said his lungs sounded almost completely clear and that is only good news for his pneumonia. She said he pretty much maintained his weight, which is great considering he really didn't eat or drink for about 3-4 days. Brian and I think Colin really looks slimmed out, he must be going through a growth spurt, getting taller. A lot of his pants are fitting on him more loosely and he is looking more like a little boy than a "baby". It's sad to think about, but great, in that we are adding a new "baby" to our family and are needing Colin to be that awesome big brother we know he will be.

After his check up, we headed out to dinner. Partly because of his doctors appointment, but also due to us having another showing on our house. Yes, I hate to say it, our house is still on the market. We are getting TONS of showings (we're up to 30 showings so far), just no real offers. I guess it's just a sign of the economy, but hard for those of us trying to move houses. We are getting really great feedback, we just need to find the right buyers I guess. Please keep your fingers crossed and say a few prayers for us, we are going to take it off the market in a few weeks if it hasn't sold by then. I just don't want to mess with all of this while trying to prepare for a baby or get adjusted to a newborn at the house.

Colin has been very interested in hats lately. This is unexpected to me because he doesn't seem to like things on his face/head usually. Sunglasses usually last for about 3 seconds before they get ripped off. Oh well...

Here's Daddy and Colin, sporting their Kansas City Royals hats. Too bad they will probably be terrible again this year. I still think you're looking good boys!

Eating out at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants for dinner. It's a little hole-in-the-wall place in downtown Liberty, but we love it. We don't go out to dinner very often, probably once every few weeks, but Colin always does such a great job. We were really pleased with how he is getting to be less messy when he eats and how he can just eat bites of whatever we order for dinner. It really is fun getting him out and about, especially since he behaves so nicely...

Enjoying his soft taco and rice dinner. He even loved to dip his chips in the salsa, just like Mommy and Daddy.

Oh, but this is what happened on the way home. I think Colin has become very interested in his nose lately, mainly due to us having to wipe/blow his nose constantly for about 2 weeks now. He has discovered that his finger fits perfectly up his nostrils. Well, at least he has only done this in his car seat in the privacy of our car. He thought it was pretty funny (and so did Daddy!)

Sick little boy in the hospital

Well, it finally happened, and at the worst time possible. The winter got the best of us and Colin ended up in the hospital. He was diagnosed with RSV (respiratory syncytial virus infection) and pneumonia. Colin started to get a bit of a cough on Monday and by Thursday he was refusing to eat or drink, coughing so much he was gagging and throwing up, running a constant fever that no Tylenol or Motrin could kick, and was the most lethargic, pathetic looking kid I've ever seen. He wasn't sleeping good at night because of his cough and was so puny and miserable during the day he would just crawl up on the couch at daycare and try to fall asleep.

I stalled on taking him into the doctor. Brian kept telling me we should take him in, but I resisted. His drainage from his nose was clear, his cough wasn't productive, and I thought he just had some crud that was going around. However, Brian was going to Las Vegas on Saturday morning and really wanted to make sure both Colin and myself would be taken care of while he was gone. So, I made a doctors appointment.

A nasal swab positive for RSV, a nasty looking chest xray, a respiratory rate in the 60's, and hearing rattling in his lungs got us admitted to Liberty Hospital. I was so scared. I burst into tears multiple times, thinking about how I could've gotten Colin help much sooner. It is also so hard for me to figure out when Colin's symptoms are bad enough to warrant a doctor visit. I guess I'll just get better at that as he gets older!

We arrived at the hospital on Friday night around 4:30 pm. The nurses immediately got an IV started on him (after 3 attempts they got one started on his foot, and I would've preferred one in his arm because he couldn't walk with the IV in). He got blood drawn (another stick in his arm) and got oxygen started in his nose. Surprisingly, the oxygen didn't bother him too much because I really think it made him feel better. The pediatric floor wasn't busy at all, which was such a blessing. We were in total isolation because RSV is a highly contagious virus. The nurses and doctors had to wear masks and gowns whenever they came in the room. I'm sure that was a bit scary for Colin as well, they didn't even look like people because of all the protective gear they had on.

Unfortunately I didn't have my good camera with me, but I did sneak a couple of pics with my phone camera. Here's Colin on Saturday morning playing with some of the hospital's toys. He had such a rough night on Friday. Waking up coughing and gagging about every 20-30 minutes. I guess once the IV fluids started to get into his body, all of the mucus in his lungs started to "fluff out" as the doctor called it. It needed to come out and Colin was working so hard at coughing it up, but RSV is known for having such thick mucus. He had to get deep suctioned (where they put a catheter down his nose and into his lungs to get some of that mucus out deep in his lungs) as well as having multiple breathing treatments to help loosen the muscles in his lungs. Poor kid!

Saturday night was a lot better (considering how Friday night went) and I got a little more sleep. Remember, Brian had to leave on Saturday morning. I can't imagine how difficult it was for him to leave Colin and myself at the hospital, but we were in good hands and I would update him constantly as the weekend went on. But, it really would've been nice to have him there, for sure. I think Colin got tired of seeing just me all the time, but we made it through okay with the help of Grammie coming to bring Colin some familiar toys and a fun balloon.
Sunday, Colin started to act a little bit more like Colin. He still had his oxygen in (but as you can see from the picture, he took it out when he got annoyed with it in his nose).

He still didn't have much of an appetite, but he did manage to eat a few bites of Orange Serbert ice cream for breakfast on Sunday. I would've given him anything to eat if it tasted good to him. They weren't going to discharge him home until he was able to keep his saturation levels high while off the oxygen. The nurses attempted this on Saturday night, but the saturation levels kept dropping into the 80s. He was getting IV antibiotics his entire time as well as fluids. By Saturday afternoon, he was looking quite puffy, but well-hydrated finally.

Staying all cooped-up in that hospital room was quite a challenge. We had to get creative to pass the time, which included blowing up gloves, watching multiple cartoon videos, playing with all sorts of toys that the hospital provided, throwing a ball around the room. Remember, Colin couldn't walk so he had to be carried or be sitting for all activities. But we managed!

Colin and I played with these cars quite a bit. Racing them around the rails on the crib (which really resembled a little jail cell to me) and crashing them into each other. He really did a great job for being there 3 days and feeling very badly for the majority of that time.
Sunday afternoon they took the oxygen off Colin to see what would happen to his saturations during his nap. Well, they stayed up!! We were so excited! So, he slept all night on Sunday without oxygen and things went fine. The doctor came in on Monday morning around 10:30 am and we were home by 11:45, just in time to settle into our normal routine at home.

Colin was such a trooper! We missed having Daddy around (Colin kept asking "where daddy" the whole weekend), but we survived. It wasn't easy though! So glad to have our happy little boy back. Winter really hit us hard this year, and I guess it did to others as well, they reported having an RSV outbreak in the area, as well as pneumonia, bronchitis, strep throat, croup, etc. The docs think it's because of the intense cold temperatures, mixed in with days of warmer weather where kids were playing outside (like Colin did).

Thanks for all the prayers and well-wishes. We really appreciated them!!