Discovery Gateway

We went to Discovery Gateway (a really cool Children’s Museum) with some friends on Saturday. We met up with Morgan, Noah, Gabe, Abigail, & Zach (and their parents too :0). We were all surprised with how many exhibits were geared towards our kids. There were so many fun things for them to do. We played music, played in water, explored a child-sized house, and did some farming. Nicholas and his friends had a blast. It was great for the moms and dads to get out and have some fun too.

I took Nicholas to the doctor yesterday because we thought that he had yet another ear infection. And, he did. So, this makes 6 ear infections since October! Nick’s doctor decided it was time for him to see an ENT so we can set up a time for him to get tubes. Hopefully the tubes will take care of the ear infections for good. The poor little guy has been on so many antibiotics and in so much pain. The ENT couldn’t get us in until March 1st, but I am going to call again tomorrow to see if we can bump it up. If we wait that long, Nicholas will get at least 1 more ear infection the way things have been going. I will keep you updated on that for sure.
John likes his job at Spillman a lot. He is still playing in a basketball league on Mondays. Nicholas likes to go watch the early games. John has also gotten up boarding a few times. I am slowly getting back into my Pampered Chef business. I am so happy that we have met so many great friends through Nick’s classes. We are having so much fun getting to know them. I am having fun planning a Valentine’s Day party for the kids (what can I say; the Kindergarten teacher in me is coming out). I hope to get up boarding soon :0) More soon…

Driving a Jeep

Look what I can do!

Hey...where'd my ball go!?

Weeeeeeee!

Playing some tunes

Having fun playing in water

Snack break

Playing in the farm area

Family picture in a helicopter

Nicholas at His Finest!

Here is a step-by-step photo spread of Nicholas in the act of stealing! I was just trying to get a picture of Nick and his friend Morgan. Instead, this is what I got. Don't worry; John was taking care of the situation while I shot the evidence! HAHA

Notice Morgan has a ball

Hmmm...interesting. Now look who has the ball!


Poor Morgan!

UPDATE

Morgan and Nicholas made up and are still friends :0)

Now You Know What Nick Did Last Week ;0)

Here are some more pictures from last week :0)

Having spaghetti for the first time

Mmmm...interesting

Playing at MyGym

Riding the train

Bouncy, Bouncy

Shopping with Ara

Random Nick Pix

Here are some pretty recent pics of Nicholas.

Mom's boys napping

Our Piano Prodigy


Baby Bach

All worn out...fell asleep during dinner

The camera flash didn't even wake him up

SUCCESS!!!!!!!!!

I have been trying since Nicholas was 4 months to get him to drink out of a sippy cup! Our friend Nicole got him a special sippy cup with a straw from Japan. We had Ara show Nick how to drink out of it and within SECONDS he was drinking!!! Nicole & I cheered him on and he finished 4 ounces of juice. Then, I put his milk in it and he drank all of that too :0) WAHOOOOO! He's FINALLY drinking out of a cup :0) He even cries and points to his new cup for a drink. YES...another milestone achieved!

Thanks Nicole & Ara :0)

Nick & Ara

We went to lunch with our friends Nicole & Ara today. Steve (Ara’s Daddy) and John met us too. We all had a nice lunch at Café Rio. Nicholas ate an entire quesadilla (kid’s size, of course!). After lunch, Nicole & Ara came to our house to play. Jackson was very excited to have friends over as well. Ara just loved to chase and pet Jackson. Jackson loved the attention :0) The kids played well together and had a ton of fun. Of course, they wanted to play with the same toy at the same time. But, they were both very good at sharing. It is funny to watch babies share, they put it right up in the other one’s face. HAHA They don’t seem to mind. We gave the kids cookies for a treat. Nick was more interested in playing with Ara’s feet as she was sitting in his highchair than his cookie. After a while, Ara & Nick got worn out (they lasted much longer than Nicole & I thought they would!). Nicholas is still napping from his fun day! We can’t wait to do it again real soon :0)

I found Nick in my Pampered Chef box this morning.

Nick & Ara playing with the cookie puzzle

Jackson getting in on the fun!

Posing for the camera

Do you like my Fridge Farm?

Why is it when one child looks up and smiles, the other one looks away!?

Stick a fork in Ara, she's DONE!

Nick Pics

Here are a few recent pics of Nicholas :0)

This is how Nick prefers to nap. On the couch, not in his comfortable crib!

Ridin' a zebra :0)

Ara & Nicole opening presents at Ara's 1st Birthday party :0)

Nick & Ara

Coloring with Andy

Another haircut!

What Nick's Been Up To

We are starting to look for our family car, so we went to the Auto Show last Sunday. Nicholas loved getting in the driver’s seat and pretending to drive. He also liked to crawl around and stand on the back seats. I think he didn’t know cars came with that much room in them! HAHA We went with a few cars (3…maybe 4) in mind and left with over 10! John and I usually get the same car we already have, so we just need to pick the new color. This time we have a lot of work ahead of us.

Nicholas felt well enough to go to gymnastics this week. He didn’t want to be held back, so he screamed when I tried to contain him. Luckily, it is so nice and baby-proofed that he can explore on his own. He also had his follow up appointment with his doctor yesterday. He gets so excited when Dr. Kelly comes in now. Then, he pretends to by shy…it is pretty cute. Nicholas got a clean bill of health. We are going to hold off on the GI specialist for now to see if Nick is over his illness. I hope that he is done with being sick and going to the hospital! We went to Bouncin’ off the Walls with some friends today. Nicholas had much more fun today than he did on his birthday (remember…he cried and screamed the whole time!?). He was laughing and squealing as we went down the slides and bounced in the bounce house. All the kids had fun :0) Nick is getting his 4th haircut tomorrow. I am sure that I will take pictures and share them with you all.

Nick & Daddy at the Auto Show

Playing during gymnastics

Waiting for Dr. Kelly to come in

First ride in the big boy seat

Bouncin' off the Walls

Look at me!

Sharing snacks

I like Nick in this one...he looks chubby :0)

What Do Ya Mean

...we need a bigger car!?

Can you find Nicholas!?

...Nick needs a bigger car seat!?

Look at those legs haning out! Nicholas FINALLY hit 20 lbs and got his new car seat!!

Checkin' out his big boy seat.

Jinxed Us AGAIN!!!

I thought this picture went with this entry...Nick looks so seroius!

Well…you’d think I would have learned my lesson last time! Nicholas and I spent most of our day at Primary Children’s Hospital yesterday! John met us up there after work. Nick started refusing to eat or drink yesterday afternoon. He did this last time before we took him in to the hospital, so I immediately called the doctor. I talked with Donna Lee (the nurse), my new best friend, about what was going on. She was concerned that Nicholas was still throwing up. She hadn’t heard from me over the weekend (which is unusual!!) that he was still throwing up, so she thought he was better. Donna Lee spoke with the doctor and they were both concerned that he had been sick so many times in such a short period of time. So, they told me to go right to Primary Children’s. They said for me to tell them to call them because they wanted X-rays and a few other tests done. I asked if I should wait until John got home, which would be a few hours. They said no, so I packed Nick and headed on the familiar route up to the Primary Children’s Hospital.

When we got to Primary I told them what was going on and that we had been in several times already for the same symptoms in less than 2 months. They looked us up in the computer and looked a bit concerned. That was OH SO reassuring! The waiting room was slammed, so they told me that they’d get a room ready ASAP. We sat there as everyone else was called back. Finally, we were called. I started to head to the ER doors that I know so well, but they waved me to another set of doors. Immediately panic started to set in. As we walked through the “other” doors, I noticed that they said “RTU” which stands for Rapid Treatment Unit. Ah yes, the RTU, I have heard about it every time we have been in to Primary. The doctors always warned me that Nicholas may have to go there overnight to fully recover. I started to prepare myself that this might be the night that Nicholas had to stay over. We were taken to a room that much nicer (for a hospital room that is!) and bigger than our ER rooms. We even had our own bathroom. As we walked in, a doctor and 2 nurses followed us in. From there it was a whirlwind. They asked tons of questions and ordered TONS of tests (much more than usual). I didn’t even have to tell them to call Dr. Kelly; they ordered X-rays, etc. on their own. Within minutes, Nick had a catheter, IV, blood tests, and X-rays. He was such a good little guy, he didn’t cry too much when he was being poked and prodded. He even seemed to know that he was getting an IV (how sad!). He just watched the nurses get the things ready on the table and stuck his hand right out when they came to him. The nurses were amazed…they had never had a baby just put out his hand for them to poke (he pulled it away a few times, but didn’t put up a fight at all. It was almost a game to him.). Nick’s main nurse, Kim, could tell that I was a bit anxious. She explained everything that they were doing and warned me that depending on the test results, we may have to stay overnight. She reassured me that she would be there all night and that Nicholas would be very well taken care of. Kim helped a lot, but I still did not want him to have to stay overnight.

Nicholas was happy to see his Daddy when John got there. After a while, the doctor came in and told us that most of the tests came back good, but they saw something on the X-ray that they wanted to check out. He thought Nick might have Intussusception (where a part of the intestine folds inward and into itself likes a telescope). Unfortunately, we knew what this was already because our friend’s son Brennan went through this not too long ago :0( The doc ordered an ultrasound so they could get a better look. Luckily, the technician told us while the test was going on that he did not see anything. But, the doctor said that Nicholas could still have Intermittent Intussusceptions where it could be unfolding itself. GREAT! Then, the doc wanted to see if Nick could keep anything down, so they brought in a popsicle, apple juice, and crackers. He gobbled everything down and kept it down, so that was good. The doctor said that since Nicholas was able to eat and drink, we could go home. But, he wanted us to get Nick into his doctor ASAP and to have an Upper GI test done again (this is the test where he was strapped to a board and had to drink Barium when he was only a few days old...remember that trauma!?). I was happy that Nick did not have to stay overnight, but frustrated that we still have no idea what is causing him to throw up all the time!! We’re going into the doctor tomorrow (we decided to give him a day off from medical testing!) so I will let you know what we find out then! Poor Nicholas :0( Hopefully we’ll get a diagnosis soon!!! More soon…