Beach, 2 ER Trips, Sno-Cones, and a Picnic

We had a very interesting weekend to say the least.

Matt and I took off work on Friday to have a Jennifer & Matt Day O Fun (any Friends fans out there - Joey & Janice Day Of Fun). We went down to Galveston and walked the strand (had some Pina Coladas and Margaritas), then went and had a nice lunch at the Spot with more Pina Coladas and Margaritas, then we went down to the beach for a few hours. Then back to the strand for a few more drinks :). It was a very nice day, not too hot, hardly and clouds in the sky. It was nice to relax on the beach, we even both fell asleep out there listening to the ocean, something we can't do when we take the kids. The kids spent the night with my parents (they got to swim at the pool and BBQ), while Matt and I FINALLY watched Avatar.

We were woken up at 12:30pm with my mom ringing the doorbell (my phone was in our room, but for some reason the ringer was off), my dad took Colin to the ER, he was wheezing and grasping for air. I went up there and they had given him the steroid shot and breathing treatment. His sats were in the high 70's when they got there, but by the time I got there his sats were close to 90 and he wasn't wheezing anymore. They wanted to transfer to Texas Children's, but I told them no need, his sats where on track, no more croup, so I had my dad take him back home. I am going to call Colin's pediatrician to see why Colin is prone to "Croup" and if it is really croup at all and have him tested for asthma.
Saturday were getting ready to go to Morgan's softball games, when Matt stubbed his toe and broke it (pinky toe) so he went to the ER to make sure it was broken and not dislocated. He just has to tape it to the next toe to help it heal. We finally make it out to the north side of Houston and catch part of Morgan's softball game. Katherine and Colin enjoyed cheering for Morgan, eating sno-cones (Katherine had 2), and playing at the playground. Then we went to Matt's parents to hang out and have dinner. Sunday was my company's annual picnic. They had a petty zoo, moonwalk, more sno-cones, volleyball court, and baseball field. Katherine of course had a blast at all of it, especially the three sno-cones she had (Colin had one). Katherine had fun bouncing and running around. Colin had fun for about an hour, then I think he was hot and tired (he only took a short nap before we went). We tried to get him to play, but after awhile we decided he was just too hot & tired and we needed to go. Katherine was bummed, but when we got in the car, they both fell asleep for 2 hours. I think they were both so exhausted from Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, they just crashed when it was over.

Last night we stayed up late to watch the series finale of Lost. I have been a BIG fan since day one, have never missed an episode. I was happy with the ending of the series. But it ran late into the night and I am pretty tired today!

Walking and Fun in the Sun

Friday afternoon Colin took 32 steps all by himself, yes I did actually count them all! He is getting better at walking, still prefers to crawl as he is faster and more efficent at it. But we are moving in the right direction. Friday eveing Matt and I went out for an adults only dinner, something we rarely ever do.


Saturday it rained from the time we got up to 5pm! So we just did somethings around the house. The children played a lot in their playroom and destoryed the house! When it finally stopped raining, Matt wanted to go get ice cream. We asked Katherine if she wanted to get ice cream, she said no, she wanted to go to the "library" (AkA - Barnes & Nobles). She went and sat in the kids section and read books, and she picked her book to buy - Scooby Doo of course. Matt still wanted ice cream, so Katherine got the best of both worlds, she got to go to the "library" and get her ice cream too!

Sunday we ran errands, then Matt mowed the yard, while I took the kids to the pool for a couple of hours. It was nice to enjoy the sun after a full day of rain. When we came back home, Matt did a little more yard work, while the kids played in the backyard, and Matt and I enjoyed some Pina Colodas. It was a nice realxing weekend.

Katherine is getting excited that her birthday is next month. She wants a Scooby Doo party and wants to dress up as Daphne - so now I have a project to get all of it together. I asked is she wanted to dress as Velma, she said no, because Velma is a boy, I told her that Velma is a girl, and her response was, "Well she looks like a boy, that's not a good costume". I think a have a "priss" on my hands ;) But she sais I could be Scooby or Shaggy - huh?, those are both boys, don't try to resason with a soon to be 4 year old!

Colin's 1st steps, Baseball Game, and Mother's Day

What an exciting and wonderful weekend, except for the overcast cloudy weather!

Saturday we were getting ready to run to the grocery store and Colin was standing up holding onto me and I let go and he took FOUR steps all by himself. The great thing is that Matt, Katherine, and I were all there to see it! Through out the weekend he would stand up take 2-4 steps on his own, then sit back down! Now that he knows how, it shouldn't be too long before we are chasing after him! Not that we are not already, he is a VERY fast crawler!

Saturday evening we took the kids to the Astro's baseball game. We met up with Matt's parents and had a nice evening at the ballpark. This was Katherine's 3rd or 4th time going and it was Colin's 1st. Colin sat most of the game and just looked around, people watched, and snacked on ballpark food! Katherine was really well behaved too. She got to go play at Squeeze Play, an inside playground, she watched part of the game, and really enjoyed her ballpark food (pretzel and cotton candy)! When the crowd was doing the wave, Katherine turned to me, and said " Mommy look at that, that's magic!" Ahh to be that age where people raising their arms in unison is magic!

Sunday, Matt made us French Toast for breakfast, yummy! Katherine and Colin got me a very sweet Mother's Day card and flowers (thank you Matt!). We went and BBQ'ed at my parents for lunch, then went to the pool, but it was overcast and the water was freezing, so we enjoyed the hot tub for a little while, then went back home. We all curled up on the couch and watched Princess and Frog!

This weekend we decided not to wake Colin up for his early morning bottle, he is drinking more than enough milk, and can go down a bottle. So no alarms set, BESIDES Colin's eternal one. We used to get him up at 4:30am to have a bottle, on Saturday he woke up at 4:50 SCREAMING, drank 7 ounces in 5 minutes, then back to bed! Sunday he wake up at 4:15 crying to eat, ate his bottle in 5 minutes, then STAYED up ALL morning! No sleeping in on Mother's Day for me! All that being said, I really can't complain after the countless months of BEGGING Colin to eat and sitting in the rocking chair crying because my child refuses to eat, then when he did eat, he would spit up half of it due to severe reflux! I rather get less sleep and him be loving his food, than go through all that!

Colin's Procedures

Colin's procedures went well on Tuesday, both were a success. The ENT did find fluid behind both ears, the tubes will help keep that fluid out, helping minimize the ear infections, help him hear and talk better, and even walk better. His circumcision went well also. Poor kid, that's a lot in one day!

We got up to the hospital at 6:30am, we had to wait on all the different teams to get ready, then he was off at a little before 8:00am. I was still a little nervous to hand him over, but it was much easier than handing him over for heart surgery.
We were able to see Colin about 10:00am. He was in a little bit of pain, but was HUNGRY. He gulped down 8 ounces of Pedalyte and 2 ounces of milk, they stopped him after that so he wouldn't get sick. Colin was wheezing and coughing (sounded a lot like croup) in recovery, so they did two breathing treatments and steriod shot and held him overnight for observation, cardiology wanted to make sure it was not in his chest. Once we got up to our room, he was breathing fine, but they wanted to make sure he was alright. Matt came up and spent the night with us and we ordered pizza and watched Lost. All three of us slept in the pull out bed, a little tight, but cozy! Katherine stayed with my parents and went swimming and found out she was having a cousin! I hadn't told her yet, but Lara and Russell showed her pictures, she told them the baby looked like a fish.
We were released the next morning. Hated having to spend the night but with Colin it's better to be safe than sorry.

Colin looking out the window waitng to go home

Colin has acted 100% normal since the surgeries, we haven't even had to fill his pain meds. After he was home for 5 minutes, he was already climbing up the stairs to the playroom, with no problems. Yesterday I took him and Katherine to get ice cream to celebrate, Colin LOVED the cheesecake flavored ice cream, he was very upset when it was gone. And Katherine got to play in the fountains for a little while.

Last night I told Katherine we were going to go see the Astros play baseball this weekend, she told me she could not go because she would get sick and throw up on me! (She got sick the other weekend when my parents took her and threw up all over Uncle Russell). I explained to her that it was not the baseball game that made her sick, and reminded her that there is a playground at the ballpark and she then decided it was OK to go to the baseball game.

Sorry about picture quality, all were taken from my iPhone.

13 months & Story Telling

Today Colin is 13 months old! The last month Colin has been eating so much better and learning lots of new things! I feel we are finally in the "normal" track for a child his age.

Helping with yard work

Milestones:
- Has 5 teeth with two more breaking through right now
- Drinking anywhere from 6-9 ounces of milk a bottle
- Weights a little over 19 lbs
- Loves food and trying new food - actually get hungry and cries and reaches out for food! Just a few months ago, he could have cared less about table foods.
- If you tell him to give you kisses, he gives you a big wide open mouth slobbery kiss on the lips
- If you tell him "night, night" he will lay his head down on the pillow
- Blows kisses
- Likes to brush his hair all by himself
- Still walks holding on a pinky, can stand on own for about 30 seconds
- Climbs up the stairs really well and fast!
- Words: mama, dada, up, look, see, outside (ouse side), daddy
- Loves to dance - yesterday was rocking out to Fergie :)
- Loves being outside, crawling on the grass or patio, climbing up his slide, and sliding down. Even if his sister IS shooting him with a water gun!

Colin will be going into Texas Children's tomorrow for two small procedures, he is getting tubes in his ear and is getting circumcised. We had to wait on the circumcision until after his heart surgeries, then we found out he was getting tubes, we organized the two procedures together so he will only have to go under once. It will be out patient, so we should be home in the afternoon. With both procedures, he is expected to have minimal discomfort.

We had a nice relaxing weekend. Went swimming, played in the back yard, did yard work, and had a picnic on the back patio.

Colin taking a nap after swimming

We have come to realize the Katherine will be our sneaky kid we have to keep an eye on. Friday night she got caught drawing on her leg with a sharpie and told us that her friend Jessica "jumped" in the window, drew on her leg, then "jumped" back out the window. After telling her several times to tell the truth, she finally confessed, it was her! Bad for lying, but the kid has an imagination and will try hard to sell her story! Poor Colin, soon it will be.. Colin did it! Which he is no angel either!

Katherine "made" Colin some "Soup". Think he was a little mad when he realized nothing was on the spoon!