What A Week

Boy oh boy has this been a week at our house. No longer do I wonder what it is like to be a mom of two boys. Now I know. It is wonderful most of the time. Double the laughs, kisses, hugs, smiles, and joy of my kids. However, when they get sick it is double the tissues, dr co pays, coughs, and now breathing treatments. Yes, Connor now has his own machine too. We are hoping he doesn't end up having asthma like Travis does, he is too young to diagnose that for now. I was told we need to "keep an eye on him." The good part is that we have been there and done that. We are prepared, or so we think.

Here is a picture showing how my boys are starting to find things they can do together. Connor loves the computer, he will probably pass us all up with his skills by the time he is 4! He is watching EVERYTHING Travis does, I can just see he is soaking it all up. It is amazing to watch him grow and change so quickly. He has two new molars in the back and there are more on the way. He is such a sweetheart and so laid back. Grandpa watched him on Wednesday morning while I took Travis to the ENT and again on Friday. They had so much fun, Grandpa said he would do it anytime! Connor is just so easy to take care of. To quote Grandpa, "Connor was an angel". Of course once in a while he does have an occasional melt down or temper tantrum (they only last about a minute, thank goodness!). He has these when you have to take something away from him or if Travis has done something to him. I have noticed I have to be careful not to jump to blame Travis, there have been times when Travis has actually been innocent! Another joy of being a mom of two. (Those of you with more than two, I marvel at how you do it!)


Here are a few pics showing how our week has progressed. First, Travis had to go back on the albuterol treatments for his cough, he is such a pro now! He can do it all on his own now.

By Tuesday night, Connor was so "lucky" to join big brother with his own albuterol treatments. He gets to use a little ducky for now. This was in the first few minutes, the happy face didn't last long though. Now I have figured out Connor needs to sit in his high chair with some toys for distraction while we do his treatments.

Here is Connor, all smiles!

Daryle has also been sick all week, he finally went to the dr today and has a sinus infection. I just hope and pray that by Monday all of my boys are feeling back to normal! Thank goodness sinus infections and asthma are not contagious, I think I am safe for now!

Yesterday we had to take Travis in for a CT scan of his sinuses. He continues to have issues. The dr wants to look in there and determine if he needs another surgery (he just did that in March 2008) or if we can try some steroids. I vote for the steroids. Although, I have no idea what kind of crazy child it might make him. Right now he is on some strong medicine and it has made him quite irritable. Anyway, the CT scan itself was a nightmare. We talked about it, how easy it would be, etc. He seemed like he would be fine. He is a 6 year old you know. (wink, wink) Once we walked in that room he didn't want anything to do with it. He just started to freak out, got really nervous and was being SOOO difficult. It took Daryle, me and the tech 50 minutes to finally get him to do it. I was so thankful he did it in the end. If we had to put him under anesthesia for this it would have cost me a fortune. (That is what we had to do the last two times when he was younger.) Near the end Daryle and I just walked out of the room, I told him let's let the tech try on her own. We had pulled out all of the stops, made every bribe and tried everything we had up our sleeves. (Wouldn't you think a phone call to Santa or a trip on the Polar Express would make you cooperate??) Our patience was depleted. Daryle stood there with his arms crossed (not feeling well mind you) and just kept saying, "He's not going to do this!" I took the other route. I quick said some prayers to my guardian angel and asked the angels to PLEASE get him to sit still and do this. Within a few minutes HE WAS LAYING THERE STILL AS COULD BE!! As far as I am concerned, that was an awesome early Christmas gift for me! (It's the little things in life!) ;-)

5 Years

This week it will be five years since we moved into our house here in Queen Creek. A lot has changed in this small town of ours. When we moved here there wasn't even one stop light, now there are MANY! I used to have to travel at least 30-40 minutes to the nearest Target, now I have Super Target and Super Wal-Mart less than 2 minutes away. Life here is great. Or so I thought. Today made me wonder... is 5 years the magic number when things start to fall apart?? Just today the garage door broke (we were so lucky to have this happen on a Saturday, we got to pay extra for that!), my kitchen faucet sprung a leak (literally, a mini-fountain in my kitchen) and I could have sworn I saw the dishwasher leaking some water on my floor. UGH!


Happy Birthday little house of ours! We really do love you!

Halloween 2009

Thank goodness I found a new cord and was able to upload my pictures! This was Connor's first Halloween, he didn't really understand but I do think he had fun. It was also extra special because Grandpa came in from California and Grammy and Grandpa came over too. We had Daryle's homemade chili and cornbread to start off the evening. It was delicious! As you can see, Connor was Lil' Frankenstein and Travis was Darth Vader. Connor would not sit still for anything, so his pictures are "on the move" ones. They both got way too much candy and had a blast! I think the evening was a success!
Here is Connor checking out my ceramic pumpkin.

Darth Vader!

Trying to get that annual pose with two kids doesn't work out too well when a 16 month old is involved!

We couldn't get him to keep on his head and hair, so this had to do!

All "three" of my boys loved dressing up for Halloween!

Travis is checking out his light saber.

This was perhaps the highlight of the evening! Daryle and Travis found this idea online. We told the trick-or-treaters that this was our first trick-or-treater, we had a hungry pumpkin this year! Some of them just stared and looked at it while others were really scared! It made for a lot of fun.

Happy Halloween!

Uh,oh!

Well, I have a little problem and I am hoping and praying it will be resolved by next weekend. For some reason I am not able to upload any pictures from my camera..... AAAHHHHH!!! With Halloween being next weekend I had better figure out what in the world has happened. I have shut down and restarted my computer several times today and it still isn't working. Did Connor push something on the computer? Is there a problem with my USB cable? Is there a problem with my brand new computer? Is it my camera? In camera years I guess it is getting old. Don't worry, I will figure something out. I will figure it out in between working, planning fun activities for the week at school, carving pumpkins, memorizing a story for my "storytelling assignment" for class, reading 5 more novels, writing up reviews for 20 more children's books, grading papers, yelling at the dog, keeping my husband in line, cleaning the house, chasing after my own children and doing homework. Don't worry, I will figure this camera thing out!!!

How many more days until another two weeks off from school????

Fun Times

Just as things finally seem to be settling down, we have to go back to "reality". Sometimes I look at going back to work as a "break". LOL Taking care of these two sweet boys can really wear a mom out! We have had a fabulous two weeks off, tomorrow we go back to alarm clocks, baby sitters, teachers and students. Last night the boys were wearing their matching pj's. I finally got a cute picture of them together in their matching clothes. Connor is already starting to look so grown up! They have been having fun making forts with blankets, finally they are finding some things they can do together.

Last Sunday was my Mom's 60th birthday. We were in Santa Rosa, so we missed being here in person. Daryle's dad and my mom have the same birthday, so this year we were with Grandpa for a change. My mom and dad were dog sitting for us while we were away. Rock is normally a very well-behaved dog, but every once in awhile he keeps us on our toes. Well, last Sunday he ate the little cake my parent's had bought to celebrate her birthday! He tried to hide it, but they found him out pretty quickly! To make up for it, Travis and I made Grammy a new cake, we lit candles and sang and celebrated together. Happy Birthday Mom/Grammy! (OK, I had a cute picture of my mom with the boys, it got deleted and I can't move it back here. Sorry mom!! Here is her cake anyway.)

Connor has discovered my beaters and was trying to stir something up in this big cup. He is so funny!

Last week we finally got a baby swing for the swing set in the backyard. Connor just loves it, both boys are enjoying the nice weather since they can spend more time outdoors without risking heat exhaustion!

Connor just loves his swing, he is such a happy guy. We are all so blessed!

Playing Catch-Up

Boy have we been busy over the last week or so. (Warning, this post is long with a lot of pictures!) Just as I finished up conferences and all the craziness associated with that, my brother came to town for a visit. He doesn't get down here much, so we are pretty excited when he decides to leave rainy Seattle for our dry climate. My mom and dad had a family get-together on Sunday, it was so much fun to see my aunts, uncles and multitude of cousins. I will start off with a few pictures from Rob's visit.
Here are Travis and Clara playing hide-and-seek with all of their cousins. Boy was it a house full! They played so well together, Travis enjoyed sort of "being in charge" of the 2 and 3 year old crowd! LOL

Here are Travis and Lilly, she is the older one of the bunch, Travis can't push her around. He adores her!

Here are my boys and I with Uncle Rob before we left for our trip to California to visit even more friends and family.

Ahh, we arrived in Santa Rosa!! Here is Travis with Grandma and of course Charles. It was amazing how Charles finally befriended Travis (we think it was due to old age and senility!). He let Travis take pictures of him and he actually came downstairs while my children were awake from time to time.
The boys in Oakland waiting for our rental car to take us in Santa Rosa.

We had a nice picnic lunch at the park. We had to eat fast, the yellow jackets were after us!

Connor loves to swing!

Even though Grandma bought all kinds of toys, what did Connor prefer to play with?? V8 juice cans and any other thing he could find in Grandma's cupboards. (Soup cans, boxes of pasta, cat food, coffee creamer, plastic containers, you get the picture!)

The following pictures are some of the funniest! Travis decided to play photographer and take some pictures of Charles. In the past years, Charles hides to keep away from Travis. This year I guess he gave up. Not only did Travis get about 20 pictures of Charles on this bed, as I looked closer I saw how Travis started arranging toys around poor Charles! Here are some of my favorite.

You never know when Charles will need a golf club!
Travis told us that Charles took this picture of Travis...we were rolling with laughter!! I am sure this is all Charles sees when Travis tramples into Grandma's house. All I can think of is the scene in Finding Nemo where the little girl is shaking up the poor fishy in the baggie...I am certain that is how most animals feel when my boys storm into a room!
Here is charles with a cat toy on his head, Travis was so proud of his work!

The weather was beautiful while we were there. This day we went to another park while Connor took a nap. We found lots of leaves and started our collection.Another day Daddy and Uncle Billy took Travis to his first trip to Scandia! Word is that Travis scored 3 hole in ones... and yes, they were all legitamate!!

Connor loves being outside, but we have to keep a very close eye on him at all times. He is FAST! Here is Uncle Billy helping Connor out while he explores the yard.

We had to snap a quick family shot because on Monday I got a call from our agency that we need to do our post placement on Wednesday (now that is TODAY!) and I need to supply 2 pictures of all four of us together. Hmmm, not sure how many of those we have! Here is one, "just in case". I didn't think we would need to meet with her until November, well, I guess the agency merged with another agency so things are changing again. Thank goodness our little guy is home!

Grandpa with his two favorite grandsons.

Last Sunday was Grandpa's birthday (also my mom's birthday...hers was a milestone, we won't say which one though! I think it is around 40... lol) We put in a candle and sang, Grandpa was embarrassed.... I told him, when you have kids around it is all about the cake and candles! We had these cupcakes left over from the party the day before, they workd out pretty well.

Here is "Messy Marvin" aka Connor, eating some chocolate cake. He sure loves it!

My cheerful baby riding in the car on the way to the airport. HOME here we come!

Travis making himself comfy in the car on the way to the airport, it was a lovely rainy and stormy day. That made for some adventures returning the rental car and making it all in one piece inside the actual airport. By the time we made it there, we were soaked!

Daddy driving us cheerfully to the airport, if he had to drive in this daily I don't think he would be so cheerful!

This is how we all felt once we got home ... TIRED!

We had a great time. I fogot to get out my camera on Saturday, we had a nice party with lots of friends and family. I am so sad that I didn't get any pictures. That is so unlike me! Several people drove quite a ways to come visit with us. That sure made us feel special! Thanks so much to all who came, it was great seeing you and Connor loved meeting you too. Although we had fun and LOVED the weather, we were all so glad to be home in our own beds last night.

Busy, Busy Week

I am so glad we made it through this week, all of us alive and well. The week of conferences is always hectic for me, throw in Spirit Week, late night conferences, report cards, three early release days, an awards assembly (with three of four grandparents represented along with Mom, Dad and Connor) and a dr appointment on Friday afternoon (nobody was sick, just a check up for Connor) and you can see why I am happy we all made it through with flying colors. Plus, this afternoon my brother flew in from Seattle. Phew... I am tired just writing about it all! Thank goodness Grandpa aka "The Nanny" came in from CA to help me out. He watched Connor for two days (he changed poopy diapers and all!). Then he watched Travis for two afternoons since school got out early yet I had to stay for conferences. Daryle took off on Friday because...drum roll please... Travis got the Student of the Month Award for September!!! Yes, you read that right! We are just so proud of him. If ever a student truly earned an award like that it was Travis. His behavior at school has been stellar to say the least. I really do think we have turned a corner, at least where school is concerned. Really, we are SOOO proud of him. It helps that he LOVES his teacher...and I really mean that. He even tells her he loves her and calls her "Sweet Pea" (gee, wonder where he gets these things!). I had to tell him that wasn't exactly appropriate, we will continue to work on that one.
Here he is waiting to go up to get his award. Our cafeteria does not have the best lighting, this was the best one!

This afternoon we had an appointment for Connor, just a check up with his eye doctor. Things are going well, we just have to monitor him for glaucoma due to the location of his birthmark. However, the next check up in December we will have to put him under anesthesia because they can't get a valid assessment of his eyes when he is awake. He is TOUGH and STUBBORN and EXTREMELY STRONG! I kid you not, he squeezes his eyes so tight it is nearly impossible for them to check the pressure. So, just to make sure we are not missing anything they will put him under for a few minutes, do a thorough examination and hopefully everything will be ok. As the dr says, it is important to be very paranoid right now, to cross all the "t's" and dot all the "i's" because if there is a problem it can be treated. However, if we miss something we run the risk of Connor becoming blind at some point. Well, you won't hear me complaining about that! Sometimes being paranoid for just a little bit can be ok. I am just glad we were able to schedule the appointment before the end of the year since we have already met his deductible for this year.

I will leave with some pictures of our week. Hopefully I will have pictures of our visit with Uncle Rob before we leave for California on Tuesday. We are so ready for our two weeks off. We are looking forward to spending a week in Santa Rosa with family and friends.

Here we are on Crazy Hair Day.

This is Travis on Career Day. He dressed up like an Oakland Raider. He later told me, "Mom, I don't really want to be a football player when I grow up, I just want to dress like one today!" He is so funny sometimes.

I kept looking at the date today and thinking it was special for some reason. Well, tonight it hit me that exactly 6 years ago today we got our first picture of Travis. This was the day we first head about him and we have never looked back since. Amazing how time flies, isn't it?

That's all for now...look out Santa Rosa, the Hawes Family is about to descend! (Those of you in the neighborhood may want to lock up your cats, my boys are on the loose! LOL)