Through the eyes of children

One of the best things about being a parent is getting to reexperience everything through the eyes of your children. Matthias is starting to get to the age where he is so curious and is learning so much. Today my mom was showing him the Nativity scene. He kept looking at the baby Jesus and saying 'baby, baby'. My mom said "That's baby Jesus". Matthias starting saying, "Baby Jesus, baby Jesus go night, night" over and over. It was so cute.

It was also so cute to watch the boys open presents. They really got spoiled this year. Each time they opened a gift, they were completely drawn to that particular present (especially Matthias). They insisted that mommy and grandma open each gift immediately and they needed to really check out each gift before they would even think about the next gift. They got a ton of Little People toys (lots of animals), Legos, and blocks. So spoiled. ;)

Christmas was great this year because all of us kids were home this year. Last year, Calvin, the boys, and I spent Christmas with Calvin's family in Canada. Andy (my brother) also brought his girlfriend along, so it was nice to get to know her a little bit. Unfortunately Katie's (my sister) boyfriend was unable to come. We also got spoiled because Andy cooked an amazing meal for us. He is in Le Cordon Bleu Culinary School and is becoming quite a chef.

We have such a wonderful time enjoying family and fellowship and remembering the true reason for Christmas, Jesus' birth.

Houdini has nothing on this kid!

Matthias can get through childproofing quicker than most adults. We have some pretty cool gates that we have had to teach adults how to open, but Matthias just opens them with ease. And boy is he quiet! Today, while he was supposed to be napping (and I was napping) he sneaked out the gate and into the basement and started playing. He even made it back to his room before I woke up! The only reason I know he was down there is that I heard him trying to sneak out again and then when I went downs stairs I found that he had lined up all the soda cans in rows across the basement floor.

He also learned how to take off the door knob covers, so all of the doors of the rooms we don't want him in now have latches. Some may ask why we don't just put a latch on his door. Well, that is probably the next step, but right now we are potty training and would like him to be able to leave his room and come tell us if he has to go potty in the middle of the night. But since having him wandering the house while the rest of us are sleeping is not the best idea, his room will probably be latched soon.

This kid is too smart for his own good.

I fought the knife,

and the knife won... So Saturday evening, I cutting up some veggies and I ended up cutting my hand. A slip of the knife and I have a nice slash across the webbing of my hand between the thumb and index finger. Which meant a couple hours in the ER and two pretty blue stiches. And of course this happened shortly after Leanne (my sister-in-law) and her boyfriend arrived and shortly before my mother-, father-, and brother-in-law showed up. It made for an interesting evening.

One year old!

Ezra is one year old now! We celebrated his birthday on Sunday with my parents and sister. It was just a simple cupcake and present party. Ezra seemed to like his cupcake, but ended up throwing it up afterwards. Apparently the sugar didn't sit so well on his stomach.

Today he had his one year appointment. He weighed 22 lbs, 6 oz. (50 percentile) and 30.5 inches (90 percentile). He weighs a whole four pounds less than Matthias did at one year, but the doctor is not concerned, because of his earlier issues and he is maintaining the curve he's been on since about 6 months.

He still isn't walking, but the doctor said not to worry. She says he looks good otherwise. Poor baby got three shots though, so he's been sleeping really well this afternoon.

He wanted to put out the flame with his fingers.

Yummy cupcake!

The boys were playing nicely together, because they each had a hammer.

Thanksgiving

Today was a great day. We got together with my mom's side of the family as usual. It was a great day of good food and conversation. And then after everyone left and we got the boys in bed, we got to play games together. It was a great time.

I love reading everyone's facebook messages about what they are thankful for. It reminds me what I am thankful for. There are so many things to thank God for that I could type forever, but I'll just give some highlights.

I am thankful that Calvin has a stable job. Although he has not received a raise in the last two years, he has not had a paycut or unpaid leave or anything.

I am thankful that my children are healthy and growing well. For a while, we didn't know how Ezra would do, but he is such a happy, healthy, even plumb little boy now! And for all of Matthias' climbing and just being a boy, he has had no serious injuries so far.

I am thankful that I have a supportive family.

I am thankful we have a warm home.

I could go on, but it's late. I am just so thankful that God has given me all these blessings and more in my life.

Calvin didn't escape.

Last week tuesday, Calvin came home from work with a fever, cough, and body aches. And it didn't break until early Friday morning. So he had to stay home Wednesday and Thursday. He should have should have stayed home Friday as well, but he woke up without a fever and was itching to go. I'm knocking on wood, but so far I have remained healthy! I have been dealing with some weird ear pain though. My left ear is plugged and hurts. But it's not an ear infection. It's kind of a mystery.

Calvin's dad also came to visit last weekend, which was fun.

This week, the boys and I are at my parent's house. I have a Pampered chef Open House/vendor fair, so we thought we'd come visit.

Matthias learned how to take the duct tape off his diaper. Which has made for some awful messes (poop fingerpainting on the walls). Our new solution is putthing him in pjs that have a zipper up the front and safetypinning the zipper shut. Hopefully that will work. Unfortunately it means buying new pjs, since most of his pjs are pants and a top. But it is a small price to pay for not having to scrub poop off the walls (did you know poop takes off paint?) and the carpet.

But the biggest news is that Matthias actually went pee on the potty! I know this is such a mom-thing to say, but this is great news. Hopefully, fully potty training will come soon!

Fever, Fever, Go Away!

So last Monday, Ezra came home from daycare with a fever. And along with it came stuffiness and congestion. Finally, Wednesday morning he woke up fever-free. So we took the boys to their appointments to get the H1N1 vaccine. Unfortunately when we got there we found out that the rules had changed and the boys couldn't get the vaccine. But Ezra was able to get checked by the doc and get his second dose of the seasonal vaccine. Fortunately, he checked out fine, but unfortunately the fever came back that afternoon. Thankfully it just lasted the evening. Now the congestion and stuffiness is gone and he's feeling great!

But, now Matthias is sick. It was kind of like deja vu this week. Matthias came home from daycare with a fever on Monday. His is much worse than Ezra's was though. He has also be having horrible chills (he shakes uncontrollably). So today we went back to the doctor. His fever had spiked to 104 degrees F! Thankfully, he tested negative for both H1N1 and seasonal flu. So now we are just on a regiment of tylenol and motrim to keep his fever under control.

So you probably don't want to come visit us for a while and we are under house arrest for now. Hopefully everyone will be well soon and Calvin and I can avoid getting sick!