Barf, Puke, Vomit 2012

This is an idea of the way things have been going around here the past few days.  It all started Monday (today is Friday).  Mark had to leave for Las Vegas Monday morning.  We had a good day Monday and Maddie had practice Monday night.  They boys stayed with Mimi and Papa while I took her to practice.  Came home, put the kids to bed, and settled in and watched some tv.  Unfortunately for me, I stayed up a little later than I should (about 12:30) and as soon as I got to bed, Mason started crying.  Sometimes if you ignore him for a minute, he will find his paci and settle himself down.  When it became apparent that he was not going to settle down, I went to check on him and found that he had vomited big time.  Thankfully, I have a couple of extra crib sheets so I quickly changed his clothes, cleaned him up, changed his sheets, and put him back to bed.  He was really not even awake for any of this and just kind of out of it.  I took his sheets and all the things in his bed (including his beloved "puppy" that he sleeps with) and started some middle of the night laundry.  I stayed awake long enough to move the things to the dryer then went back to bed.  Just crawled in bed again when I hear him crying again.  Went back to his room and guess what?  More puke.  Same routine all over again.  Thankfully his puppy is dry by now so he is very happy to have puppy to sleep with this time.  And unfortunately, the clean up is a little harder this time because the vomit is in his hair and everywhere.  But he goes right back to sleep and sleeps until morning.  Unfortunately though, the vomit is far from over.  He vomits more on Tuesday, and Wednesday.  Somewhere along the way, terrible nasty diarrhea starts as well.  And of course, Wednesday afternoon I start feeling sick and by that evening I am vomiting as well.  Thursday morning Micah starts in but thankfully only vomits one time because at this point, I am so, so incredibly sick it is unbelievable.  Late Thursday I start feeling better and I'm ready to take on a few household tasks - such as the incredible amount of laundry that continues to pile up, and other projects that arise from having kids puking all over your house.  Maddie went to school on Thursday as normal and seemed to feel fine.  At bedtime she was complaining about her stomach but I thought it was just to delay bedtime.  Should have known better.  Around 10:00, I hear her moving about in her room.  I just had a feeling so I headed in there and she was on her ladder, headed down.  But she stopped midway down and had a major, unbelievable, puke-fest.  It went EVERYWHERE.  Everywhere.  Seriously.  I had to give her a shower, settle her in on the couch with a trash can, then spent the next hour cleaning her room.  Puke was everywhere.  Oh my, was it every gross.  Anyway, other than a little diarrhea this morning, she is fine now.  And Mark came home last night, and was able to help me with Maddie's bedding and carpet, which needed major intervention.  As long as Mark stays healthy, we are officially on the road to recovery.  This is a week I will not forget for a long, long time!

Never able to get a good pic of the three of them together, but they were too sick to protest

TU Versus Houtson with a Little Bit of Dynamite

Today Maddie's softball team had the privilege of being the guest team at the TU girls softball game.  They were playing Houston and it was televised.  Since it fell right in the middle of naptime, Mark decided to stay home with the boys and just Maddie and I headed out to the game.

It was a fun day.  The girls got to go out on the field and were paired with one of the TU players.  They then stood on the third base line with their player while the national anthem played.  Afterwards, they turned around and gave the team high fives as they were being introduced.  Then they quickly ran off the field because it was game time.  Although the game started right away, most of us parents missed out on the first few minutes because in typical kid fashion, we had to supply the kids with Dippin' Dots, pops, sunflower seeds, candy, and whatever other concession snack they wanted.  After we got settled in with our snacks, we watched the game.  Maddie paid more attention to this game than she usually does, but still found time to play with her friends.  Today her and Sydney played together, as well as Abby. 

The game was a doubleheader, and Maddie wanted to stay for the second game, but I was pretty much ready to get back to my boys so we headed home.  We did stop at Schlotszky's (one of Maddie's favorites) on the way home for a quick dinner.

When we got home, the boys were playing outstide so we joined them for a while.  They had been out most of the afternoon though and Micah was ready to come in.  So we came in and played upstairs until bedtime. 

Fun times!

The Bixby Dynamites 

 Sweet girls in front of the field

 Watching the TU girls warm up



 On their way out to the field

 Maddie standing with her TU girl

Listening to the National Anthem

  She just high-fived the player running by

Happy 1st Birthday to Mason

Somebody, please tell me how in the world my baby that was just born could already be one year old?  Not sure how it has happened, but today is Mason's birthday.  It fell on a Saturday so we got to celebrate on his actual birthday which was fun. 

The day started at normal time for Mason - I wanted to keep him as close as possible to his schedule so that he would not be cranky or unhappy due to needing naps, etc.  So he got up, ate breakfast, played a little, took a morning nap, and then when he got up, we went out for lunch.  We also had some running around to do (pick up the cake and ice cream and buy some party supplies).  After we finished, we came home to give Mason his afternoon nap so he would be well-rested for his big party.  While he napped, I set up the table for his party.  I decided on a sports theme because he is very interested in balls - in fact, "ball" is one of his only words other than Mama and Dada. 

The table, all ready for the party

Mason's Cake

The "Smash" cake

His Presents

 Nana and Grandpa had to come in from OKC so they arrived a little early and Mason was still sleeping.  The party was supposed to start at 4:00 and we had to wake him up a few minutes before.  He was cranky for just a minute but cheered up quickly and was ready to party!

We decided to do presents first since we anticipated cake-eating might be a messy endeavor for Mason.  He didn't seem to be too excited about OPENING the presents, but he certainly got excited about playing with them.

 

After opening all his presents, we moved on to the cake.  We did all the usual birthday traditions; lit the candle, sang happy birthday, helped him blow out the candle, etc.  Then we undressed him, put him in his high chair, and gave him his smash cake.  I was remembering back when Maddie turned one and my memory was something like this:

Maddie's 1st birthday

So I was expecting him to go crazy and make a big mess with his cake.  But no.  He wanted nothing to do with the cake.  He ate a bite or two when Mimi gave him some bites on the fork but would not use his hands.

Not into the cake

All in all, I think that it was a great first birthday.  Mason, you were most definitely an unexpected gift to Daddy and I, but I am so incredibly thankful for you.  What a sweet, precious little boy that you are.  We all love you so much and life would not be the same without my sweet little guy!

Next to his giant baseball - a gift from Uncle G, Aunt Lisa, Hannah, and Noah

He's telling somebody something - probably about his ball!

Serious work on the computer

Awana Grand Prix

Fun night for the kids - the Awana Grand Prix.  This is Maddie's third race, but Micah's very first time to race.  They worked very hard on getting their cars ready.  Maddie always has a big plan for her car and she did not disappoint this year - she wanted to make it look like a shoe, specificially a pink Converse.  Micah did not care so much about the design as long as it was yellow, his eternal favorite color. 

We began the cars by taking them to our neighbor to cut them out with his saw.  This speeds up the process greatly.  After that, they have to be sanded and then they are ready to paint.  Daddy took care of the cutting and the sanding, but the painting and decorating is my job.

Maddie painting her car

Micah painting

They both did a great job with the painting.  I wanted them to do as much of the decorating themselves as possible, and I knew they could do the base coats entirely on their own.  After they finished a couple of coats, we were ready to start adding some details.  Maddie's big plan for the shoe design was going to require lots more work, so we started working on that right away.  For Micah's car, we just added some leopard stripes and called it good - but it turned out extremely cute!  Maddie's took a little more work - painting the stitching and attaching the shoelace.  And after the decorating was completely done, Daddy added the weights.  Uncle G put the wheels on for us and the cars were ready to go! 

Unfortuantely, we seem to be better at decorating cars than building them.  We didn't win.  In fact, Maddie didn't even win a single race.  Micah won a few heats but not enough to progress very far.  However, Maddie did win a prize for best design, which thrilled her little heart!  And I think that they both greatly enjoyed the night and the experience and that is all that matters to me.

Micah with his cool yellow car

Maddie with her Converse car and her award for best design

Happy Easter

This seems kind of quirky to me, but Mason is not yet a year old, yet this is his second Easter.  Not sure how that worked out.  Anyway, we had a good Easter.  The kids looked cute as can be, of course!

We began our Easter celebration on Saturday by coloring eggs.  In the past, Micah has been only interested for a minute or two and then Maddie and I finish the rest.  But this year, he was really into it and stuck with it until we were finished.  They did a great job and the eggs turned out colorful and festive.

All ready to go

Doing the old "white crayon" trick

Eggs are in the dye - waiting on them to be done!

The finished product!

Saturday evening, Maddie took a bath (although she usually showers in the morning) so that we could curl her hair in the infamous sponge curlers for a fancy Easter 'do.  First thing Easter morning, they got to check out their Easter Baskets before getting dressed.

Their baskets

Maddie (still in her curlers) checking out her basket

Micah looking his over

Mason is not quite sure what to think

After they got a quick look at their baskets, it was time to get dressed and ready for church.  For the first time, Maddie's hair was not dry when I took it out of the rollers, even after sleeping on it all night long.  Fortunately, it was still pretty curly and I was able to use the curling iron on any hair that needed it and her hair turned out fine. 

Our best effort at a family picture

Love this pretty girl

My handsome little Micah

Our sweet baby Mason

My three sweethearts

After church, we headed over to Mimi and Papa's for lunch and the big egg hunt.  Lunch was good but obviously not a big priority for the kids, who just wanted to hunt eggs!  Hunting eggs was a pretty big hit with Mason - he seemed to enjoy.  Of course, Maddie and Micah loved it as well. 

Her basket is pretty full

He's on the run

Papa Riggs is helping them out

He's shaking his eggs!

The whole crew

Checking out his loot

He put the egg right in the basket . . . he catches on quick

Right there Micah!

I can't believe another Easter has come and gone!  It was a busy weekend filled with fun traditions, lots of cooking, getting dressed up, and other precious time with family.  However, it warms my heart the most to hear my kids sing about the real reason that we have Easter - to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.  The April hymn of the month for Children's Choir is "He Lives" and they both can sing it out.