Hello Baseball!

Well, since he never announced it anywhere, I decided I'd take this opportunity to congratulate my amazing husband for his big promotion to Director of Sales at Rawlings, Walmart Division - as of January 5th.  He will still be carrying on his Coleman duties until they hire someone else, and Jarden is still the parent company he works for. This is quite a big step up - even surprising him, so I'm very very proud of him!  He's always been a HUGE baseball fan, so this is kind of a dream job for him.  Rawlings' headquarters are in St. Louis so he'll be making some regular trips up there and said we may be able to go with him sometimes! 

We're proud of you honey!!!  Bring on the baseball work trips! :-)

The last few days...

Well, it's just THAT time of year - that time where you just can't avoid your kids getting sick unless you quarantine them to the house for the whole month of February (which I've considered before.)  So both of the boys finished their antibiotics today but sadly, Jackson is the only one who seems better.  Ethan started coughing on Thursday night - and on Friday he was fussy and warm all day... didn't want to eat breakfast.  SUPER fussy.  By that evening, his fever was 101.7 and so I laid him down for bed at 6p and he was restless all night - Checked him again at 230am and his fever was 102.8 or so.  Gave him more Tylenol and he went back to sleep.  I was worried he may get dehydrated cuz he wouldn't drink much at all - just obviously not feeling well.  Tried to get him in at NW Pediatrics but since he isn't an "established" patient, they wouldn't see him... our pediatrician's office is closed on the weekends - so we took him to Wellquest.  Checked for flu, strep and did a chest x-ray.   This doc said his tubes were fully in place (huh!?) and clear - so infection was gone.  His swabs and scans came out clean so it's something "viral" and needs to "run its course."  So I left there feeling very helpless and wanting something to help my baby feel better but apparently, time is the only thing that will help right now.  So I'm trying to get him to drink and sleep as much as possible.  I took these pics of them the other morning - They love to pick on each other!  E was poking J in the face and J clipped a chip clip onto E's shirt.  Goofy boys.  I just hope they feel better soon - I miss my happy, smiley stinkers.

Quality Time.

Last week, my grandma was visiting for the week.  We got to spend some quality time with her - which I LOVE and the boys love too!  I love that we get to see her so much.  Ethan always reaches for her when he sees her, which makes even this great-grandma of 8 - smile.  :)

Two Sick Boys.

Took the boys to the doc today.... I made the appointment after a few too many things grabbed my attention.  Sunday morning, while at my mom's - E woke up screaming loudly - my mom ran in and he had a bloody nose and just was extra fussy - nothing calming him down except her holding him and rocking him.  He's had a nasty green crud nose for a long time now but these things always seem worse after we visit the doc (which we did a week and half ago).  Jackson - he's been coughing for several days now and having trouble sleeping cuz he's coughing so much.  Monday morning, he had a low-grade fever so I decided to just take them both in.  Doc confirmed my suspicions.  Both of Ethan's tubes have fallen out (just in the last week) and he's got a full blown ear infection on one side and a very red dull one on the other side - plus an obvious sinus infection.  J has the same sinus infection and a touch of bronchitis too.  Lovely.  Good news is that Ethan's lab results came back and he's not allergic to any foods and not allergic to cat or dog dander either!  So I have my standing appt w/ the dermatologist to find out why his eczema is so bad. It may be due to this bad infection he's got.  Anyway, so they are both on antibiotics and cough syrup.  I also asked that they both take probiotics to try to not have the bad reactions from the antibiotics.  SO glad I took them to the doc. Doc says that they aren't contagious as long as they don't get their snot on anyone.  Ugh. In the meantime, today and tomorrow are going to be what J and I like to call our "lazy days."

ps:  The boys lay like this together all the time now.  In this pic on the left, Ethan just rested his little head this way - his version of hugging and loving on his brother.  I love how J grabbed him back for the hug - totally unprovoked.  They just love each other so much.... Melts my heart.

 

Stats today:  Jackson (3 yrs, 8 mos) weighs 33 pounds,9oz and is 40.25" tall (super tall as he told the nurse.)

Ethan (18 mos) weighs 25 pounds, 2.1oz and is 33" tall (basically same as a week and half ago!)

The Big W!!!

 Last night, Ryan and I hosted our community group for a Super Bowl Party! 

We had so much fun and I was ELATED that the Giants won again!!!!  The Giants are the only professional team that I root for - so it was a GREAT day for us - and even better company!  :) Special thanks to my mom for keeping my semi-sick boys overnight on a Sunday night - you rock!

Ryan and I may have goofed off a little - no, not us?  :)
GOOOOOOOOO GIANTS!!!!!!!!

Park It.

This unseasonably warm weather means more park playdates!  We got invited to join my friend Jennifer and her kiddos at the park the other day and the boys had SO much fun!  Ethan had his 2nd trip down the slide by himself (my brave child) and Jackson and Ethan W were inseperable... Unfortunately, for most of the time we were there MY Ethan kept running away from me - without looking back - just walks away and keeps walking and I finally have to chase him cuz he ignores me...  I don't think he'd ever look back and would just keep walking forever if I let him.  Too bad E - I'm not gonna let you get away from me!  :)

Jackson's Headstand!

Jackson absolutely adores gymnastics!  

I'm so glad he still loves it cuz it's fun for me to see him doing things like this!  He held this for quite awhile too - I'd say over a minute!  I didn't even know he could do this!

Pretty cool! (my iPhone pics are always so grainy!)

January Phone Dump

Quite a variety here in January!

Cute boy smiles.

 An embarrassing amount of candy eaten all by myself, in one sitting. Ugh.

 Razorback Game Face - totally worked.

 Poppy's little man!

 At a Razorback Basketball Game - where we beat Miss St!

 Daddy and his favorite boys.

 Rearranged Playroom (again).

 Ethan, the cuteness.

Chair Switch?

 

Best Buds (Ethan Winant and Jackson)

 Eating a whole slice of pizza, by himself. Yep, my child.

 

Neighbors, Friends, Hungry Kids!

My sweet little gymnast (in red).

 My new favorite red wine.

 Hugs with Daddy before bed (seriously - doesn't get sweeter than this!)

 Ethan's New Cozy Coupe and Jackson's New Hex Bugs!

 Oh - and my dad's new "house!"

 Pet Store Fun!

 GRRRRR - Blue Screen Of Death.

 Safari Man!

Safari Saturday

Last weekend, we made plans to go to Little Rock for the weekend, but when those plans didn't work out, we decided to have a fun weekend anyway!  So we drove to Gentry on that beautiful sunshiny day and had the absolute BEST time!  We drove slowly through the safari drive through and just really enjoyed it!  Ethan is really into animals right now and Jackson is the life of any party so we just had a blast!  It took us an hour and half to get all the way through it and we saw so many animals - they were all out and playing!  After, we walked around the exhibits and saw some more cool animals like a white tiger cub and a baby monkey!  When we were leaving, we asked Jackson what his favorite thing was and he said "chasing those chickens!"  Yep, that WAS funny - almost as good as the zebra taking a bite out of my mirror... A perfect family outing!