The 'Blizzard' of 2010

 

Tuesday night (2/9) the snow began to fall just before 5 pm. Thankfully, Shawn made it home safe and sound. It snowed all night and continued to fall all day Wednesday. This was the scene from our front door when I woke up on Wednesday morning. Notice that our mailbox is already almost completely buried.

Our neighbor, Paul, was up bright and early that morning and had already taken his mom to work, gone into work himself, come home and started to blow snow off our sidewalks before we had eaten breakfast or drank our coffee.

I made french toast (after all, that is the meal of choice in snow storms, right? You have to have your bread, milk and eggs...) and bacon for breakfast. Yum! After eating, Shawn went off to help our neighbor and begin cleaning off our cars. We also told the neighbors they could park in our driveway again. Here's the path Shawn shoveled to get out our door and to our car. And he's in the background next to my ride getting the snow blower out.

The snow continued to come down, but the real 'story' was the wind that went with it. It seemed like it was snowing sideways. I was extremely thankful that we didn't have to go anywhere. Calvary Preschool was closed, Millersville was closed, and Shawn was able to work from home. Here's the view of our backyard. All the trees and bushes were covered, and the deck that had just been cleared off was covered again.

Thankfully our roof hasn't leaked in this snowstorm (and pray that it won't!). The guy that fixed it said it was a 'tricky roof' in how it was made, combined with the fact that that's one of the coldest parts of the house because of the way the wind blows and the down-spouting, etc. Hopefully it's fixed now, or at least it will hopefully get us through until it's warmer!!!

 

I heard all the hoopla about this being a blizzard, but we didn't really feel the effects of it (thank the Lord!). We didn't have any emergencies, we didn't lose our power, we didn't have to be out driving, we didn't have any fires or buildings collapse. I would say we were very fortunate. I would have liked to have some sleds. We didn't take the kids out at all. For one, the snow is taller than Caleb and two the kids both seem to have runny noses again. When the weather is really cold, it seems to adversely affect Joshua's breathing. So we stayed in the warm house and played.

Above is our street this morning. People are still out and about. Yesterday we saw kids sledding from the snowbanks that the plows had built up down to the street. It looked like fun! Most of our neighborhood was out. Today it's a bit quieter (probably folks have gone back to work). We heard the school being dug out last night at 11 pm. We also saw our neighbor out snow-blowing that late. The snow had just stopped, and he was digging out snow by the light of his blower. I couldn't figure out what he was doing. He started attacking the snowbank next to the road sign. I knew his mailbox was closer to his driveway, so I was puzzled. This morning, I saw what it was and smiled:

He had dug out the fire hydrant in the middle of the night to make sure it was clear in case anyone needs it. I never noticed before the line above the fire hydrant. There was just the faintest little line sticking out of the snow to tell him where to dig. And dig he did! He used his shovel, snow blower and sheer muscle power to uncover it.

Shawn took some pictures this morning for me before leaving for work. We have tons of icicles coming off our roof as the sun is now shining. Look at how our fence is almost completely covered!

The icicles are dripping down, making our path a sheet of ice... watch your step!

 

We have a LOT of snow! Back to back snowstorms make for lots of white stuff. And they're calling for more this weekend. Since I haven't had to go out in it, I don't necessarily mind. But, I'd also be ready for summer, if given the opportunity. I miss running outside and getting out whenever we want to go for a walk, etc.

 

I think Shawn dug out our mailbox.

 

It's a winter wonderland! See the icicle from the view inside. Looks dangerous! Can they kill you if they fall from that height???

 Even the top of the light got some snow. It's still windy today, so they are saying that drifting is going to be a big issue. The wind chill is supposed to be 14 degrees. Shawn is back to work. :( :( :(

Maybe we'll get to play outside today? And then again, maybe not... I'd like to, but I also want to do what's best for the kiddos.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures from the 'Blizzard of 2010!'

Jump for Joy!

Caleb jumped today for the first time - both feet off the ground and in the air. Way to go!

Snow & Superbowl

This past weekend was filled with plans for us (originally). I was supposed to have a girl's night out on Friday night with my MOPS friends, then Saturday I was going to have my hair done and go to a baby shower followed by church in the evening. But, mother nature had something different intended for us for the first part of our weekend.

Starting around 3 pm, it looked like it was sleeting ice and snow, which quickly turned to snow. Shawn stopped to get us some water (dangit! I thought we were good since we had all the milk, eggs and bread we needed, but alas, there was something we missed). Then we got a knock on our door around 7ish or so. It was our neighbor Karen asking if they could park in our driveway. They have three generations of drivers who live there, and not enough off-street parking for all the cars. We said sure (they are terrific neighbors, so we'd probably do just about anything they asked within reason), and they parked Shawn's car in and we left my SUV not blocked. Shawn backed it in, just in case we'd have an emergency. And we watched the white stuff continue to fall. We talked to Karen quite a while as we caught up on Ian's college plans (their oldest son) and where they're looking into churches and financial aid. She said that we should have a winter gathering of some sort since we don't get to see folks as often when it's cold out vs. the summer when we see each other all the time since we're outside. I agreed.

The next morning Karen's husband Paul got up bright and early and used his snow blower to clean all of our sidewalks off (God bless him!). Shawn went out later and dug out our cars and shoveled the rest of the drive and sidewalks and used our snow blower to help clear out where the snow plow had plowed us in again from clearing the roads. One nice thing I must say about living in our location is that with the school behind us, our road is one of the first ones to get cleared and stay cleared. And we love our neighbors. :)

By Saturday night, we were (or I should say I was) feeling a bit claustrophobic. Shawn offered to take me out to dinner, and I accepted. Once again I called Grandma and asked if we could bring the kids over for an hour. I had called the Olive Garden, which is right down the street from her house, and they said they were open with no wait. She said okay, but their driveway hadn't been plowed yet. We replied okay, not realizing the extent of what she was saying. We pulled up and gasped. Shawn put his four-ways on, and he took both kids to her open garage door. The snow was up beyond his thighs as he waded to take the kids to Grandma. Then we got to the Olive Garden and the wait was obnoxious. Our server was worse. It took forever, and we didn't get half of what we asked for (like more drinks!). But, we still felt bad for the kid who had driven in this stuff to wait tables. We finally made it back to Grandma's and took our sleepy kiddos home.

Earlier in the day, we had done our normal play activities, which I often forget to blog about. But, in enjoying the 'ordinary' moments, we 'wrestled' the kids on the ground (not really a great word - we lay on the ground and the kids come up to us and slide down our knees and then we lift them in the air like an airplane and they love it). We read books, played puzzles, colored, watched TV while Joshua got a breathing treatment, etc. (Caleb & Joshua are both really into Curious George right now, and I feel like that Caleb could be called Curious George - into everything, makes a mess, but fun-loving and likeable that you can't get upset).

Sunday night was Life Group (the lesson was on compliant vs. defiant or strong-willed children) and then we all ate dinner (thanks, Don & Melanie) and watched the first half of the Superbowl game together. I had my pen and paper to take notes on the commercials. Here's my hottie husband wearing his Green Bay Packers Jersey. Caleb was sporting his Redskins outfit from Brian & Gayle (thanks!). And Don & Melanie were both wearing Patriots apparel, along with their daughter Abby (all pictured below).

Joshua had success in their potty (yeah!!!) and I think both kiddos had fun playing. Caleb took a spill at the end of the night, and it was bed time for the boys anyway. So, we piled back into our SUV and headed home to catch the second half of the game, missing "the Who" (and I kept saying "Who?" since I had no clue!) half time show. In my classes the next day, I discussed the various commercials and some strategies related to the textbook and also showed a couple of the funny ones that entertained the class before going into the day's lesson. Here's Becca holding her daughter Kyla (left) and Don & Melanie's daughter Emma(right).

The weather forecast is calling for more snow today - upwards of 18" with blizzard-like conditions, including high winds and drifting. Please pray that Shawn makes it home safely from work - it would be great to be snowed in together tomorrow! The only other bummer is that our brand new roof started leaking. We had a guy come out yesterday who took the snow and ice off our roof (with a heat gun, no less, since it's 20 degrees). He said he was coming back this morning to try and fix the flashing and replace a few shingles and then re-work the down-spouting. Good grief! That roof is only two years old, if that! But, hopefully he does it right. Water was pouring into our kitchen yesterday morning, which I noticed as I was making the kids french toast. UGH! It is always something. Pray that our roof is fixed before this next storm (which is to start this afternoon at 1 pm, so he's got three hours and he's not here yet!).

Here's to snow!

Caleb Luke at 19 Months

Caleb has recently begun speaking in 3-word sentences. His first time was this past Friday, when he said (and I quote): "Daddy hone? No!" He also says "la you, too." Another sentence I can remember is "more ice-keen pwease." While we know a lot of his words, I'm not sure they would be clear to just everyone yet. For example, yesterday as I was making their peanut-butter and jelly dinosaurs (thanks to a new sandwich 'cookie' cutter that de-crusts the bread and makes two dinosaurs from one sandwich from Grandma), Caleb cried "tuck, tuck!" I thought he was talking about the fact that Joshua had two trucks in his hand and Caleb didn't have any. So, I asked Joshua to share, and the Bean did. Only Caleb said "No! Tuck!" I then realized that his foot was stuck between the back and the seat of the chair. Whoops! He didn't seem in pain, but he was trying to tell me he was "STUCK" not "truck." I think the mispronunciations are cute at this age, but they sometimes make it difficult to guess the real meaning of the word.

Caleb also loves to talk on the phone. He says "hi-eee" and a little more, but he speaks so quietly that the person on the other end can't really hear him. He has a soft and gentle voice vs. Joshua's boisterous and emotion-filled voice.

Caleb's latest interest is puzzles. Before he would dump them out and could do some of the smaller puzzles, but now he's accomplishing some of the ages 2-4 puzzles with more complicated pieces all by himself. He loves to see how things work and fit in.

As I said before from Caleb's well-check, he is developing normally. I'd say he's above average (but then again, every mom feels that way about her kiddos). He loves books, and right now one of his favorites is "I Am a Puppy" and he says a big "YUCK!" to the skunk toward the back of the book, as well as points out the other animals. On one of the pages, the 'puppy' runs into some bigger dogs, and Caleb always says "Daddy" when he points to the biggest. Haaa!!!

Caleb is a mess, and I think he enjoys it that way. He's doing pretty well with silverware, but he doesn't mind if something occasionally falls on him (or all the time). While Joshua would beg to be clean, Caleb likes to dump and test and feel sticky things. It's amazing how different they are.

Yesterday, poor lil' Caleb took a spill and banged his 'noogen-noggen' on our friend's entertainment center during the Superbowl. He's got quite the goose-egg but seems to be okay otherwise.

Happy 19-month birthday, Caleb Luke!

No Snaps

To start where I left off, I think it was Thursday that I took Joshua to the doctor's office. I called Grandma to see if she would be willing to watch Caleb so I didn't have to take him into any more germ-infested areas. She agreed, and I dropped Caleb off before Joshua & I went "adventuring" to the doctor's office. He told me he didn't want to get snapped (his expression for getting shots), and I told him that there were no shots coming - they would just listen to his breathing and try to make him feel better. He said okay. I promised him he'd be fine. But, he told the receptionist, then the nurse and finally the doctors that there would be "NO SHOTS TODAY! I JUST WANT MEDICINE TO FEEL BETTER." Everyone giggled when he said it and assured him that he would not get any shots. The doctor didn't give him medicine, though, and just told me to increase his breathing treatments. He sounded okay to her and not wheezing deeply like before. So, that was a good thing. We went back to Grandma's house and ate lunch together and played some more before going home for naps. He also told Grandma that he wasn't going to get any shots. He was scared! The nurse commented about how articulate he was. I didn't need to take out any toys while we were waiting for the pediatrician - Joshua talked my ear off the whole time, much to the amusement of the nurse who must have been listening outside our door.

When we first got to the doctor's office, I told Joshua we were walking to the second nurse's station at Roseville. He first went into an office where nurses were meeting before I yanked on his hand (not hard, but to give him further direction) and then he darted in another door where a nurse's office was. Then he tried to go in a room that a little girl was coming out of until finally we made it to the end of the hall. I've never seen him do anything like that before! The nurses ate him up, though. He made everyone smile and laugh.

Friday I had a hair appointment (well, it was supposed to be Saturday morning, but with the blizzard coming, I called and Christine got me in Friday), so Grandma agreed to watch the boys for me again (thanks, Mom!). Then the hairdresser called that morning to move it my appointment to noon, and Mom was still watching Jen's kiddos while my sister was volunteering at her daughter's school. So Grandma asked me to bring them there and switch cars with her so she could bring them home. That worked for me! Joshua LOVED playing there, and they stayed for lunch. That night when I asked him what he enjoyed about his day, he said he liked playing with trains. I asked, which one is your favorite... assuming we were still talking about trains and knowing the answer coming would be Thomas. But, he surprised me and said "Daniel." He had fun playing with his cousin that day. :) And I beat Grandma back to my house - I love how quick my hairdresser is!

I read "The Cat in the Hat" by Dr. Seuss to Joshua two nights ago, and he said "Now that is a great book!" Haaa!!! When I asked if he'd like to shake hands with "Thing One and Thing Two" (from the book), he replied, "YES!" Joshua loves books and movies and stories.

He also likes to go through 'the plan' with us of what's coming next, which makes me giggle since I'm a planned person. If it's going to be lunch, potty-time then naps, he goes over the 'plan' with us. And, so long as he agrees with the plan (which isn't normally any problem), he does everything right in order with no argument. I think he likes being prepared for what's coming next.

 Joshua also tried to convince me the other day that if he once lived in my belly that Caleb must have come from Daddy's belly. It didn't seem right to him that I got to live with both kiddos first. Haaaa!!! I swear he says something silly everyday. :)

He & Daddy played follow-the-leader yesterday afternoon, putting a hand up then tucking it behind their backs then stepping wide, etc. He was doing well for awhile, but then he decided he ought to be the leader. That's my Bean for ya!

I'd say we're all on the mend. Joshua still has a little residual cough with his asthma, but I'm thinking it's on its way out, hopefully. We're all done with our medications and feeling better, I think. Both boys ate really well today, so I'm thinking they're feeling good.

Enjoy the Ordinary Days

I cried my eyes out watching this video; hope you enjoy it, too.

Happy Birthday!!!

 

Happy birthday, Grandma Ginder! Hope you have a super special day and year!

 

And also happy birthday wishes to our niece Jenavieve, who celebrated the big number 2 yesterday!

Six More Weeks of Winter

Happy Belated Groundhog Day. Looks like good ol' Punxsutaney Phil predicted six more weeks of winter... we could have all guessed that, seeing as it's only the beginning of February. However, we're just praying it's not six more MONTHS of winter like last year. I can barely stand it! We need fresh air and sunshine to not feel down, I think.

On Tuesday, 2/2, Caleb had is 18-month well check-up. They asked me lots of questions about his progress and said he's doing just fine. These questions check for early signs of autism, and the pediatrician said it looks like he's developing very well. But, strangely enough, his weight was less than what it was when he was vomiting and dehydrated. His stats are below:

Height: 33" (63.27%)

Weight: 24 lbs 7 oz (26.6%)

Head Circumference: 19.02" (61.44%)

So, the doctor told me he's long and lean and that's his normal growth pattern. He's thin. But, with his weight still being down from what it was in January (when he was over 25 pounds), they want him to come back in for a weight check. She told me to continue to push calories. That's hard when he hasn't been wanting to eat anything. I've been thrilled that he's wanted to drink. She also said that sometimes after sickness, kids have a hard time digesting lactose. I knew that from when Joshua was sick around that same age. She said Caleb's belly sounded "gurgly" and that he's likely still not feeling well. I asked about the possibility of it not being viral because again, no one else in our family got sick. She said if he's not feeling better in a week, they might do an ultrasound. But, all the symptoms lead them to believe it's simply a virus. I want it to be a virus, so I'm okay with that. I just don't want to miss anything. She said it is, in fact, going around. I guess we'll take it. She also said that the rash looks now like dry skin. I agree. It was red and humped up before but it turned into severely dry skin, so maybe that came from being irritated by the hospital outfits & diapers. His skin is really sensitive. Caleb's ears looked healed already, so they went ahead and gave him all the vaccines, including his second round of H1N1 that he missed from being in the hospital.

Tuesday night we ate at Friendly's. Shawn's cousin Don's wife Jess had emailed that for a donation to Easter Seals, you get 5 'Valentines' for $1 and each one is a voucher for a free ice cream cone for a child. Since Joshua's preschool is having a little party next week for Valentine's Day, I thought these might be worthwhile to get. Caleb was not thrilled at the restaurant and didn't eat anything but ice cream, but Joshua was an angel. He said 'please' and 'thank you' to the waitress, and she seemed impressed by his charm and smile. That night when I went tanning, I ran into Angie from small group. Small world!

Yesterday at preschool, Joshua got his eyes examined as part of a free screening that they do for all children. He had a big sticker that he was proud of that said "I got my eyes checked" and the paper said there were no problems to report, which I had assumed. He told me that he saw Thomas in the machine, and he was thrilled. He told me that Ethan (S, since there are two Ethan's in his class) is his best buddy and he also likes to play trains with Liam, another little boy in his class. :)

For me yesterday included waking up with my left ear still being slightly sore. It hasn't been ungodly painful like when you have an ear infection, so I hadn't called the doctor. Still, every once in awhile it popped and felt a little ouchy. Not unbearably, but enough that I finally broke down and called the new doctor's office that's down the street. They got me in after my class, and the doctor said that neither ear was infected but they were 'red.' He asked about any other symptoms and I told him how I had lost my voice over the weekend, but I assumed it was from lack of sleep, explaining that Caleb had been vomiting and in the hospital. Hearing that we had been in the hospital, he told me that most likely I had a bacterial infection. While my lungs sounded fine and I felt fine, the sheer amount of time led him to believe that we picked something up in the hospital, which is a hotbed of germs. UGH!!! He said that the voice/throat is connected to the ears so when my vocal cords were gone, likely that was putting pressure on my ears... or something to that effect. So, I picked up a pack of 5-day antibiotics just to be preemptive 'in case.'

Last night Joshua started to cough, and this morning he woke up barely able to breathe. We're going to the pediatrician at 11:45 for him. I also called the doctor for Shawn who woke up with a sore throat. If we all got germs from the hospital, I want everyone to get healed up and all better at once. But, I must admit, I'm glad we're not all vomiting like Caleb was. There's nothing worse (well, I guess asthma attacks are worse because they're more life-threatening...but you know what I mean.) While I could use to lose the pounds, I'd rather do it the healthy way.

But, that said, we finally found something that Caleb will eat: chocolate chip cookies. So, last night I baked a half batch for him, and we ended up eating some too. Doh! But, he eats them like they're the best thing he ever tasted and they're high calorie. So, hopefully this is helpful. The doctor told me to put cheese, peanut butter, butter, eggs, etc on and in everything he eats. He doesn't like cheese, doesn't like eggs, etc. so that's a tall order. Please pray that he feels better, eats and gains enough weight to be healthy.

I have some funny moment baby stories to tell from this week, like Caleb always picking up the tiger in his little animals and saying "roar" and then finding the baby one and saying "baby...  momma" and Joshua telling us that getting to watch TV before bed was a "good deal." There are many times we've chuckled over the past few days, but alas it's time for me to run. So, more soon! Enjoy the pictures of the boys in their new sweaters that Grandma made. :)

A Weekend to Remember

I think the name of this post is an upcoming marriage conference. Anyway, I didn't figure I should post about this past weekend until I posted about last weekend. I already posted about our mall experience last Friday night. Then, on Saturday morning we decided to go to Gabriel Brother's since I had been itching to go there for awhile now. They have really cheap clothes, some of them name brands, but you have to be really careful and try everything on because many times there are rips, missing buttons, stains, etc. But, you can find really great deals on really nice things if you're careful and depending on when you go. We always find it hit or miss. So, we drove up to York since I need some blazers/dressier clothes for work. Unfortunately, I didn't find any dress clothes; however, I found two bikinis for our upcoming vacation that were really cheap and fit well. While I wouldn't wear a bikini in 'public' per se, I'm hoping we go somewhere semi-secluded and get to enjoy the beach just the two of us.

After we were done shopping, the kiddos were hungry and it was lunch time. So, we headed to the pizza buffet named 'Daddy's.' I think it used to be Stevie B's. The first time we ever went there was with the youth group a looong time ago. The kids ate well, and they gave us four free tokens for the arcade room. Joshua LOVED it! The first game we played was toss the balls into the trash can. Then we played one that you pushed the lit buttons to make the frog go up and the first one to go won. Then the next machine ate our tokens. So, Daddy bought a few more, and the last game we played was ski ball. The kids won enough tickets to get a small dinosaur each. :) We had fun.

When we got home, the kids took a short nap that we ended up having to wake them up from to go to church. While they were sleeping, I tried to go for a jog again, only to experience the same side pain I've been having. Ugh! I walked home and got ready for church with the kiddos. We heard a good sermon from the book of Proverbs on speaking the truth. Tips included not talking as much (which leads to less lying) and being more careful about what we say.

When we got home from church, even though it was earlyish in the evening, the kids were pretty beat. So, we changed them into jammies and watched the movie Ratatouille, which was adorable. Caleb pretty much just played the entire time, but Joshua loved the movie, and we thought it was cute too.

The next day was Sunday. We agreed to help lead Life Group since the typical leader couldn't be there. Angel & Becca hosted and had tacos and all the fixings. It was scrumptious. The discussion was on discipline via spanking from Dr. Dobson's study on raising kids. All the pictures from this post were taken by Becca at their house. The top picture is of their daughter Alayna and Caleb & Joshua in the toy box. The picture above is of Angel & Kyla, and below is Shawn, Angel & Abby (Don & Melanie's oldest daughter).

 

The rest of the looong week, I already posted about. I'm glad none of those days were groundhog day (from the movie where his day repeated over and over again). This weekend started out a bit better. Since I had been at the doctor's office on Friday getting Caleb's antibiotics for his ear infection, I didn't have dinner ready that night. What I had gotten out of the freezer hadn't defrosted yet (doh!) so when Shawn called on his way home, he offered to grab a couple slices of pizza for us. It was perfect. :) Here's a picture of Chris & Isabella.

  

Saturday morning Grandpa Georgia treated us out to breakfast. Originally I was going to go with the boys to allow Shawn some time to work, but I woke up with no voice. And helping direct kiddos requires one, we found. So, he came along to Bridgeport. From there we went and saw Dad's new furniture before heading home. The boys napped shortly after we got home, and Nonie & Poppy came that evening. They brought an amazing spread of Chinese food with them, and it was awesome! We feasted and caught up. Then they played with the boys before heading back to Reading.

  

Saturday night, Caleb threw up at dinner. Then as I was changing him, I noticed a rash on his belly. Not sure if it was hives or a viral rash. I called the pediatrician who told me to stop the antibiotic for now and give him Benadryl and call back in the morning when someone was in the office unless Caleb experienced shortness of breath, extreme vomiting or coughing or inability to swallow. Then we were to rush him to the ER. Thankfully none of that happened. I called the next morning, and they told me to give him the antibiotic again and monitor him. If it got worse, go to the ER. Otherwise, he could be seen Monday. It doesn't look any worse, and I already have an appointment for him Tuesday morning, so I'm going to wait and see what the doctor thinks tomorrow. This poor kid has been through enough already!!! He still looks pretty pale and is still not himself. Poor little guy. The picture above is of Don & Abby, and below are his wife Melanie & Emma, their youngest daughter.

  

Last night we had our friends Becca & Angel and their daughters Alayna & Kyla over for dinner before we all headed to a church service at Liberty Street. LCBC is opening a new campus in Lancaster City that is really close to our house. They're goal is to introduce more people to Jesus Christ. We're really excited! And we're looking forward to a smaller, more intimate campus (at least at first!). Grandma watched Caleb so we could go check it out, and we took Joshua who enjoyed the 'new church.' We got home in time to give the kids a snack, change them into jammies, allow them to unwind a little and get them to bed just before 9 pm. And thus ended not only our weekend but also January!

 

Do Pink Jammies Lead to Pink Eye...Maybe!

Caleb woke up on Friday morning with a fever of 101. Our discharge paperwork said call the pediatrician with any recurrence of vomiting, dehydration or fever. So, I called, and they said come in. Since Dr. Hoshauer had seen him before, I picked her to go to again. She was running nearly an hour behind, but I like how she takes her time with each patient. So, we waited. Thankfully Grandpa Georgia came to stay with Joshua so we could go in. I learned that goopy eyes are a sign of pink eye. His eyes didn't look pink, but they were running almost like a nose would. And, they ran right into his ear, which caused an ear infection. Goopy eye + fever = ear infection 99.9% of the time. Now I know, and I'm sharing the info with other mommas out there. She asked when his eyes started to be goopy, and I said in the hospital. Now I'm wondering why someone (like one of the many doctors and nurses who saw him with that nastiness) didn't say that this was pink eye and should be treated right away ???? So, I left straight from there to get his antibiotics. Thankfully he doesn't mind taking the medicine one bit. Dr. Hoshauer also said, though, that his weight is still down and she needs to see him back to check that he gained the weight back and that his ears look okay. Poor little guy! This morning I put on hit 12-month baby pants that look like capris and they were still falling off his waist. :(

A funny moment was when Dr. Hoshauer said "Oh my gosh! I think his ear already ruptured, look at the side of his face!" followed quickly by "Or, wait a minute, that could be some lunch. What did he have?" When I responded yogurt, she said "Nope, it's yogurt!" and then confirmed by looking in his ears that there was no drainage from his ear even though it was indeed infected. I had wiped his face, hands, outfit (where the bib didn't cover), but must have missed the fact that he put a little near his ear. Haaaa!!! Silly Caleb Luke! She said yogurt was really good at making sure the medicine didn't give him diarrhea. Excellent, because my boy loves it! All day yesterday he told me his toes hurt. Hopefully that's just misplaced pain from his ear - cause his feet are already gi-normous to keep growing!

Dr. Hoshauer explained that pink eye and ear infections have NOTHING to do with the stomach bug. So, he either picked them up in the same place, or my guess is that maybe he got it in the hospital? It's hard to say. Thankfully, Joshua is still healthy; and hopefully Caleb is heading that direction!

The last two pictures in this post are of a bouquet of flowers Shawn thoughtfully bought for me at the supermarket last weekend. What a husband! The first picture was me & the boys at the Farm Show, taken by my friend Julie on the bus.

In other 'Good news,' both boys keep amusing me with how their little minds work. I asked Joshua his full name yesterday, how old he was, and his address. He answered everything to a T. While I'll be reinforcing the address (and not posting it for the public), I think someone could tell what he was saying if he got lost (which should never happen since we pray for our boys and try to look after them as best we can). So, it looks like we'll be moving on to learning his phone number next!

Caleb & I were looking at a lift-the-flap book, and I asked him where the triangle was. He pointed right to it. Then I asked him where the star was. And he pointed right to it! Now, the other shapes were hidden pretty well under the flaps and he didn't get those right, but I was surprised that he knew any. Shawn said he's sharp so we need to keep working with him. If he picks it up, great! If not, no problem. He's already observed more than I realized from hanging out with his older brother. :)

Lastly, here's a story that made me smile. I asked Caleb, "Who am I?" and he replied "Mama." I then asked "Who's that?" and he replied "Josh." Then I asked him who he was. His answer? "Brother." He thinks that's his name! He'll point to Caleb in pictures when we say "And where's Caleb?" but when we ask him his name, he quickly responds "Brother." Sooo funny! He knows the names of Elmo, Big Bird and Cookie Monster even without watching TV (Joshua thought it was a treat at this age to sit in front of the TV; Caleb is not interested in the slightest) but not his own name. Last night I asked Shawn to ask Caleb his name, and he got the same response. I guess it's great to be a brother. :)