Tonsillitis x2

I'm thankful it waited til after vacation to pop up, but on Sunday night, I noticed E was a little warm... On Monday morning, I took his temp cuz it felt very high - and sure enough, 102.3.  Around 1130am, J was acting a little mopey, so I felt his head and he was burning up.  I didn't have a "big boy" thermometer... I had been checking Ethan rectally, so I don't know what Jackson's was, but I gave him some Motrin and both boys slept for 3 1/2 hours!  When Ethan woke up around 400p, I noticed he was super hot still - once again 102 temp.  Then at 700p, he was still at 102, even after more Tylenol!  So I gave him Motrin this time and put him to bed.  Upstairs, I noticed Jackson was feeling hot again.  DANG IT!  What the heck is going on!?  They don't have any other symptoms except fever and Ethan was pretty cranky.  They were eating, drinking, sleeping - no cough, runny nose, etc.   I gave J some more Motrin and decided to make an appointment to get it checked out.  Glad I did.  Doc said Jackson's tonsils were "extremely raw and red."  And Ethan - he said "I wish I could take a picture of his throat and show you.  He has white pussy blisters all over his throat and it's very red and inflamed."  POOR BABIES!  Thankfully, they tested negative for strep!  I'm glad kids have fevers to warn us moms that something is wrong!  J acted perfectly all day yesterday, but Ethan was super cranky.  I mean, that fever was the only indication I had that something was wrong!  Anyway, we got some "magic" mouthwash again and doc said to keep the IBU going, so today seemed much better.  They seem to feel a little better and E woke up with only 99 degree fever.  Thank goodness!
I did get some stats on my boys.  Ethan (13 mos) weighs 22 pounds, 9 oz (up 8oz in a month).  His length increased 1/2 inch to 30.5 inches!  Jackson (3yrs, 3mos) weighs 31 pounds, 7 oz (36th percentile) and is 38.75 inches (64th percentile!).  Jackson's blood pressure was 75/52 and his pulse was 115.  Can't believe he's old enough to check on those last 2 things. 
Quick story from the doctor's office.  They have some take-n-play Thomas trains there in the room.  Jackson loves to explore the new trains.  He was also very interested in the doctor.  Doc came in and Jackson asked him what his name was and introduced himself like this:  "Hi!  I'm Jackson.  Spelled J-A-C-K-S-O-N. That spells Jackson. This is Ethan.  He's a baby.  But I'm a big boy."  Doc said "oh, ok good, nice to meet you... " etc.... Well, then at the end he yells out as the doc is walking out the door, "Bye Doctor.  See you later.  I love you!"  Needless to say, all the nurses and the doc found this quite humorous.   Love love love my boy!!!!!!  I wish we could bottle up this sweet innocence and keep them that way forever.  Precious Jackson.

Destin, Friday (19th) - Sun (21st)

Yes, folks.  I took pictures.  Between Emily and I, we took almost 1700.  Yep.  Not a typo.  1700 pictures.  And video.  What fun!  So here's the whole scoop.  I've been counting down the days til Destin... since it was about 60 something days away.... about the time I got an iphone w/ a counter.  HA!  We planned this early in the year.  Our neighbors and good friends Emily and Jim planned the whole thing.  We took Ryan's truck and I tried to hard to pack lightly, but I had to pack for 4 people for 7 days!  I did the best I could! We decided to leave around 730am on Friday morning.  We met up with my friends Jeremy and Crystal and their little girl (and Jackson's future wife) Anna Kate.  We all caravan-ed and that made it a lot more fun for the kids.

We made several stops along the way - and one time we got to stop at this park and let the kids run crazy for a little while.  Then, we drove til Hattiesburg and stopped for the night.  We stayed in a hotel that had an indoor pool, so the kids got nice and tired before bed.  

The next morning, we had a yummy breakfast at Cracker Barrel and got back on the road.

We arrived in Destin at 400p - check-in time!  The kids were stoked to find this huge gorgeous house with a private pool out front and a private stretch of beach in the back!  Emily and I decided to let Jackson and Ben sleep in the same room, in twin beds.  Needless to say, they were pretty stoked about that.  In addition, the Burrows took the master and around the corner of the kitchen was another room with 2 sets of bunk beds (think 4 people could stay there!) where Emily's friend Bonnie stayed.  Upstairs was two more enormous guest rooms where we and the Paschall's stayed.  This house was really huge - and VERY accommodating to all our families.  Worked out perfectly!

The night we arrived, the kids visited the beach a little, but mostly, they wanted to play in the pool. Ethan, sadly, had to have a bath - but we didn't realize the only bathtub in the house was in the master, so the first night, he bathed in the utility tub. :-)  He didn't appreciate it, as you can see.

 The next morning, it was a great beach day!  But not before the boys found the powdered donuts!!

Ryan got to play with some of his toys and Jackson, Ben and Anna Kate played with their toys.  And of course, Ethan learned about sand... and about wiping your eyes after you have sand on your hands.  Good times. 

Our daily beach set up.

Baby Noel love.  This precious little 2 mos old had 4 ladies loving on him all week - and we never tired of it!! I love this pic of Noel and Bonnie!

Jackson and Mommy toes.

I took this pic of Emily and Ben, and I LOVE it.  And she took this pic of me and J, which I also love.

 

These boys had no idea how many more fun days they had left!

Train Tickets, Check.

Upon going through 4 feet of mail today, I was excited to find these!!  Jackson's Christmas gift this year is a trip to visit Thomas, himself in Oklahoma City.  Very exciting!

Back to Reality...

Well folks, we're back from our incredible week-long trip to Destin!  I have a ton of pics to post, but first I must unpack and get adjusted to life without an ocean again.  We had the BEST time with some of the BEST friends in the world... I'll post more tomorrow... Now, onto laundry.  :)

My girls.

The Lord knows how much I love my friends.  I've always been one of those types that would absolutely do anything for my friends... I may a little extreme, but my friends - all of them, you know who you are - have gotten me through so much in my life.  I'm very thankful.  Every month, my calendar (and Ryan's) is firmly marked for my monthly girls' night.  I cherish these dates with some of the best girlfriends in the world.

Love these munchkins!

"Half the time when boys wrestle, it's just an excuse to hug each other."  James Patterson

Jackson's Mini Me

For Jackson's 3rd birthday, he got his first set of Power Wheels.  Mimi and Poppie didn't think Ethan should have to suffer on the sidelines, so they got Ethan a smaller version of his own.  It's the perfect size for him and he really likes it!  He doesn't really know how to make it go yet - but I think he knows he looks pretty cute sitting on it.  At least I think so.

 Watch out neighborhood!  We've added yet another set of wheels to the streets!!!

at least he's only 31 pounds...

It's routine... It's what we do.  Daddy gives the boys baths.  Mommy then dresses Ethan and takes him down and puts him to bed.  Finally, what Jackson dreams of all day long - some one-on-one Daddy time.  So after I put E to bed the other day, I walked up and saw my sweet boys reading and playing with stickers.  So precious.  Good times.  I had no idea what was to come...

 

ALL OF A SUDDEN!!!!  Jackson decides it's "tackle daddy" time and the beast was unleashed!  Poor Daddy didn't know it was coming the first time... He braced himself for the others... Luckily, my handy camera caught some funny action.

 Jackson, of course, feeling no sympathy for big bad strong ruler-of-the-world daddy.. he just kept doing it again and again... probably feeding off my laughter.

Good times.  For Jackson and I anyway.  :)

I'll have some cheese, peas.

Ethan's favorite meal right now is cheese and peas.  Could be worse... I guess.... Like Jackson, for instance... He wants "chocolate" sandwiches every day... (ie: Nutela Sandwiches).  To each his own.  :)

my beautiful brown eyed boy.

Can you say no to these eyes?  Man, it's hard!

love love love..... them.

My heart melts. And melts and melts and melts.

He's the #1 Engine, We Adore...

I always smile when people ask me if Jackson is "still" "into" Thomas.... HA!!!!!  His addiction has grown much more so than ever before.  He never stops talking about Thomas - we never stop pretending to be Thomas - he even dreams about Thomas!  Before bed, we have to make up a new Thomas story - which we have to get pretty creative to do this every night.  And in the morning, he wakes up with "PEEP PEEP" and waits... waits.... "PEEP PEEP!"  waits... waits... "PEEEEEP PEEEEEP!!!" Til we finally grab the monitor and say "Toot Toot, Thomas."  That's his way of saying "I'm awake, come up and get me."  It's actually quite cute and fun that he has something like this that he's so passionate about.  I know a ton of moms who tell me "I am so glad my boy isn't into trains" or "I'm glad i have girls so I don't have to play like that..." but ya know, to those people, I say - I didn't want to be "into" it either but Jackson fell in love with Thomas.  And since I'm in love with him, I love Thomas too.  It's actually fun to watch his eyes sparkle when we "pretend" - (I'm always Percy - Thomas's best friend.  He's always Thomas.)  I don't mind this addiction one little bit and if I'm really honest, I totally love it.  And I totally love him.  A lot.  Peep Peep!!!