Happy birthday, Grandma!

All I Want for Christmas.....

.....are my 4 big molars! Four molars times three boys....that's a lot of teeth coming in! Ian is getting all of his 6 year molars, and Caleb and Levi are both getting at least their bottom two (I can't get a good enough look to see the top). They don't seem to be bothering Ian, but Caleb and Levi haven't been eating much and Caleb has been pretty grumpy - his tooth has been red and bothering him. But maybe they'll get them all at once and be done!

The NICU has a Christmas party every year and this is how much Caleb and Levi liked it! They didn't even want to sit on the chair by Santa. Ian, on the other hand, was very excited to see him and gave Santa a letter he wrote him and had a nice little visit. They also had some crafts at the party and everyone was happier by the time we left.

I just like this one :)

Caleb loves the vacuum attachment - he uses it to take pictures - with his nose :)

We decorated "trees" - a lot of fun!

Caleb was watching Ian and Daddy shovel snow - we've had enough snow and cold temperatures that the snow has stuck around for over a week!

Ian was a shepherd one day (he has three blankets tied around him), and Levi saw, and for days afterward needed his blanket tied around his head too.





Just thought it was cute! Caleb likes the antlers around his waist, since they won't stay on his head :)

I love how versatile toys are for toddlers! The missionaries can drive/ride in the tractor, and the wise man can catch the bus driven by the angel, with Joseph, Mary, and another wise man as passengers :)

November 2008

Looking back at pictures I took last month, I'm actually surprised at all that happened during November! Really all I remember is sickness and recovery. Levi had a hard recovery from getting his tonsils out, we all had the stomach flu (John even missed two days of work - the first sick days he's taken since I've known him!), and I had the real flu over Thanksgiving. But we're all back to normal, and we did actually do a few fun things along the way.

It took Levi until the 11th day after surgery that he finally looked like he might return to normal. The 12th day I tried to get him to eat but he wouldn't; we went to Grandpa and Grandma's house that night and they had ice cream...Levi went running into the kitchen, sat down, and ate more than his brothers did! So after that he slowly ate more and more until now he's back to eating what he was before (still mushy food) but he's eating much more of it! It took him 2 weeks before he drank anything on his own (so for 2 weeks he was force fed with a syringe, while watching hours and hours of Winnie the Pooh!). He lost at least 2 pounds (10% of his body weight) but now, 5 weeks after surgery, 3 weeks after starting eating again, he's gained back those 2 plus 2 more!! He's passed up Caleb on weight by about a pound (it's easier to add higher calorie things to his mushy food than it is to Caleb's "real people" food).

Here's Levi about 1.5 weeks after surgery, when he wasn't eating yet, and then a picture of him at the end of November, much happier!

Levi did feel good enough to play a little, he and Caleb took turns giving each other hair cuts :)

Enjoying a little "snack" - they usually pretend to eat ice cream....could it be because daily ice cream is what is helping them gain their weight??

I'm not sure how Aunt Deb knew when she made these blankets (before they were born) that they would be Winnie the Pooh fans....notice the blankets, toys, and book.....Winnie the Pooh and friends are all they talk about!

Since I was sick, we didn't go out of town for Thanksgiving. But that gave some time to work and play with Daddy! Ian loved being on the roof helping him clean out the gutters.

In their "one-horse open sleigh, singing "Jingle Bells", their favorite song.

Of course, as soon as Thanksgiving was over Ian was ready to put up the tree! There was a lot of help this year, and the tree is heavily decorated on the bottom few feet :)

Caleb with his hat and antlers.

And, I can't get it to let me write below the picture, but Ian made this belt out of paper and found his boots to be Santa. He was a little sad he didn't have a red coat. Last year, he didn't like the idea that Santa came to people's houses. For some reason, this year he's all excited about Santa coming.

Funny Sayings

I have pictures I need to put up about November, but I need to write down some of the funny things Caleb and Levi have been saying. It's great to be two!

Levi, "I gonna drive the blue car." Me, "where are you going to drive to?" Levi, "to Grandpa's house. Caleb sit in the back seat. Pooh Bear coming too."

Levi, "Mom! We're baking (raking) the leaves!"

Levi, after getting a tissue, "I blowing up my nose."

Caleb, after I said I had a head ache, "Mom, you got a hair ache?"

Caleb, "Mom, you making a milkshaker?"

Caleb, "Daddy's moving (mowing) the lawn."

Caleb, after taking Ian to the bus stop, "no neighbors to talk."

And Ian, until just a few weeks ago, has needed to look at the "destructions" (instructions) to see how things are supposed to go :)

Hospitals and Halloween

Levi got his tonsils out Thursday morning. We knew he had to stay overnight, and if he was doing well could go home the next morning. He had to show he would drink at least 16 oz of liquid in a day before they'd let him go home. Right after surgery he drank about a cup of juice - since then, none. The doctor said she hoped I wouldn't be getting my mail at the hospital, and she told me her weekend plans, thinking we'd be there forever. She said I'd have to just make him do it, using a syringe to get liquid down him. It actually worked, and he was okay with it. So they let us go home Friday evening. He has only drank about an ounce on his own since, and so he's getting it all by syringe. He's really not all that happy about it, but if he can be distracted watching Winnie the Pooh on TV, then he'll at least tolerate it. We've watched Winnie the Pooh almost constantly for days now! Keeping him medicated with his pain medication has helped a lot, and he actually wants to play some. He's acting better than I thought he would. He's not himself yet, but talking and playing sometimes. After we got home he was excited to see Caleb, and they said hi to each other and Levi gave Caleb a hug. It was really sweet. Then they went on to fight over toys, just like always :)

I started this a few days ago but haven't finished yet, so I can update - Levi was doing better every day, Sunday he had a really good day. Then came Monday. Ian and Caleb both caught the stomach bug I had, and after trying to keep Levi from it, he still got it by afternoon. So Monday evening he was back to the hospital to get re-hydrated. Tuesday I think he must have hurt a lot, he wouldn't swallow hardly, but hopefully every day hereafter will get better!

A few hours after surgery.

Friday morning the Child Life Specialists took all the children who were able trick-or-treating around to the nurses stations on each floor of the hospital. Levi actually had just taken his medication and was kind of out of it, we didn't make it to all the floors, but he held in to the things he was given - especially these two little boxes he fell asleep with later on - and it was nice to get out of his room for a little while.

Friday afternoon Levi was feeling pretty good. We went to the playroom and then brought some toys back. He was playing with this toy that plays music and after a while he laid down and played with it, and in a few more minutes the music stopped and he was sound asleep, his hands still on it.

Since we knew Levi would be sick on Halloween, and grandparents wouldn't be home that night, we went trick-or-treating to their house on Monday. That way I could still make Caleb and Levi the costumes I wanted (I didn't think it would be nearly as much fun to have a Thing 1 without his Thing 2). Plus I got to make Caleb another one for Friday. Ian was excited to be a train engineer, that's what he wants to be when he grows up. On Friday Ian and Caleb had a great time trick-or-treating and both kept wanting to go to more and more houses.

Thing 1, aka Caleb, Ian the train engineer, and Thing 2, Levi.


Ian the train engineer, Caleb the doctor, and Levi the patient. He got this bear at the hospital and has fallen asleep many times since then with it in his arms.




The excitement of trick-or-treating and Levi coming home was somewhat subdued this year, with the still-birth of our sweet little baby niece on Halloween morning. It was really a shock to everyone, and we're saddened greatly by it. It's so nice to know there is a plan for each of us, that sometimes sad things are part of that plan, and that we can have faith it will all work out for our good in the end.