Kayson - Teeth Extraction

Well this morning our little man had to have 3 baby teeth extracted.  Originally - the plan was the 2 'eye-teeth' in order to make room for the 4 permanent teeth that would come into their place (yeah - small mouth - large teeth = problems!!)  the plan stayed, but then diverted to get a back baby molar out as well...  it's been causing problems anyway, so the dentist just decided to take it. 

Kayson was nervous.  So was I (but when am I not?!)  He was quiet on the ride there... but once we were there, he seemed ok.  The dentist gave him the nitro to calm him, and it did (maybe not as well as it did with Cora), but it definitely helped!  The whole process took about 35 minutes - unbelievable!!  K did great...

Once we got home...  Kayson had a small meltdown.  Crying, super emotional...  I think he was just so scared and overwhelmed that once we were home (and it was all over), he just needed to let his emotions out.  SO MY CHILD!!!  :)  I let him cry... and he just rested for a little bit.  By 10 am, he was pretty good...  the numbing was starting to go away... I gave him a little ibuprofen to help with some achyness that he had...  and by 1:00 - he was great, back to normal. 

Before!

I'm so proud of him...  what a mess he'll have to go through with these teeth.  Just hoping we don't have to do this again!  :)

Look at those ginormous teeth!

Christmas #5 - Hardy family

Around 1:30 pm Christmas Day we got in the car... headed to Clarion.  Typically we stay home all day - just us...  and last year we realized we get a little bored, and I'm not a big cook - so I don't cook anything 'fun' for us 4!!  Oops...  so we decided to try going to Clarion on Christmas Day. 
I think it went well...  we got to the farm around 3:30...  and everyone was there (minus Eden - who's in Hawaii with her boyfriend and family).  

We hung out... visited... played...  hollered at Cora for being obnoxious (she was obviously feeling better!!)  We had soups for supper, which was super yummy.  Santa came to Papa's too... and then we do the cousin gift exchange too.  So the kiddos each got 2 gifts... perfect.  :)  Not much to bring home!!

We ended up spending the night...  which was actually ok.  The kids slept pretty well, thank god.  We got up this morning and just hung out a bit... then got on the road around 10:30 - stopped at the cemetery, and man the tears fell.  Gosh, it just hurts... all the time.  I wish Mom could have been with us. 

Overall, a really nice visit with my family.  Dad seemed good...  but I do wish my kiddos would 'love' on him more.  They never really have... and Dad really hasn't ever been that type.  So, I know it's ok - and I know they love him... so I guess that's all that matters.  

Birthday boy!

What would I do without my sisters?!

and Kayson LOVES Cocoa!

We made a calendar for Dad - he loved it.

Christmas #4 - Us

Christmas Day...  Cora was better, it was K's birthday...  I wasn't nearly as emotional as I was Sunday!!  We started the day with hugs... and Santa. 

Santa brought the kids Razors (scooters)... hopefully the kids actually use them!  Santa brought a few other random things... under ware, pjs...  not much!  (Cuz Santa does not rock!) :)

Then we went downstairs...  snuggled in, turned on The Christmas Story, and started on our gifts.  The kids seemed happy with their gifts... and I was thrilled with mine from Ryan.  Man, he went all out (I think!!!)... compared to what I got him!  ha. 

We just had a nice morning... totally took our time hanging out, playing, putting some things away... I did some laundry...  it was a great little morning. 

Then we did K's birthday gifts...  

Then got cleaned up... packed up... and drove up to Clarion.

Kayson's 9th Birthday

Christmas Day is always a blessing... but even more because of our handsome son.  Kayson is 9 now...  holy crap - next year he'll be in the double digits!

K had a great day...  woke around 8ish...  excited to see Santa came, but also knew it was his birthday.

I've never been so proud to be a Mom at times like this.  I know that boy can make me crazy... but man, he's special to us, and I love him so much.

True happiness - snow for his birthday!

Christmas Eve Stomach Flu

It was official...  by 9:30 am, Cora had thrown up a couple times (still only flem), but was pale, achy and not doing well.  She was confined to her room...  with a bucket, sippy of water, a towel and her bed.  That's it.  She didn't want to do anything... not even color. 

As the day went on... she threw up a total of about 4 times (again, only flem), which was a huge plus, but also frustrating to her.  She didn't have anything in her tummy, but it felt so icky.  She was a SUPER champ all day long... so brave in between the throwing up, and just spacing off...  and lots of rests.  I think she slept about 8 hours in a 12 hour period of time.  It exhausted her.  

About 5:00 pm, she perked up...  asked for a cracker.  She ate one saltine cracker (and took her about an hour to eat it!)... drank more water, and some 7up.  And it all stayed down.  She then took another hard snooze from about 6:15 til about 7:15... then she seemed MUCH better.  She was talking, wanting me to stay in her room and 'play' (which consisted of looking at some new playing cards she got... and just talking).  Again, so darn brave.  I was so proud of her...  cuz I know I would have been a mess (and was a mess just worrying about her... and everyone else!!!)

Sunday night (Christmas Eve), her and I obviously stayed home... the boys went to church for Christmas Eve service, which I was super bummed about missing.  Ryan Skyped me in tho, so that was nice...  I was able to hear most of it.  

Bedtime came for the kids... Cora had some cheerios before bed, and slept all night long.  She was a new person by Christmas morning (thank God).  She was a little quiet, and slow... but overall, we could tell she felt much better, and as the day went on, she was 100% attitude.  :)

So the stomach flu lasted about 14 hours-ish for her.  Poor thing. 

Christmas #3 - Taylor family

After checking out at the hotel Saturday morning... we headed to our house.  Mike, JeanAnn, Martina, Blair and the kiddos...  we decided to host Christmas this year...  Blair's would be here, and I guess just decided to do our Christmas this weekend instead of waiting til next weekend.  

We just hung out Saturday... pretty good day.  The girls took nice rests, the boys played really well... and there was just a lot of hanging out.  

Saturday afternoon we had the kiddos open their gifts from Papa and Grandma... always spoiled!  Good times.  

That again, was the extent of our day... just hanging out.  

This morning, Sunday, we woke... and Cora instantly got sick.  She had coughed pretty hard, and threw up some flem. We kind of took it easy, she actually seemed fine...  but the rest of the day has been confirmed - stomach flu.  :(

Pics of the Taylor Xmas:

Christmas #2 - Taylor extended

The Taylor extended Christmas this year was Friday night... at the same hotel again...  most people had to work some of the day, so we arrived late afternoon (except for Todd's who couldn't get up to DSM til about 8pm)...  but we just gathered and started hanging out.  The kiddos were excited to see each other, as always, and us adults just sat around and chatted.  We had a nice time. 

JeanAnn always puts together some great games... so we did some games, ate supper, and then had a few gifts...  we opted out of the gift card exchange, and did a $3 gift exchange that was pretty fun.  There were a lot of candy and liters of pop being tossed around.  

Bedtime came... and that was the extent of the night. 
The kids swam in the morning, then got all cleaned up and said our goodbyes to everyone.  It seemed to be a really quick visit...  

Some pics from the night. 

VTO - Wrapping gifts

I've lost count of how many years I've done this...  so it really doesn't matter.  :) 
Yesterday was my VTO with a fabulous group of gals...  and we were busy.  It's always (typically) slow from 8 til about 10 - then wow, we got slammed!  Super busy... a lot of tips made, it was a successful day I think.

Me, Nikki, Renee, Kelly & Colleen

Weekend

Friday:
Ryan got home from being in NE all week...  it had been an ok week without him, but like normal, by Thursday I was kind of checked out, overwhelmed, and ready for another adult to be in the house.   Friday night we just stayed in.

Saturday:
K had basketball practice.  Cora and I stuck around home... cleaned, played and just did this and that.  I was an anxiety mess...  woke up missing Mom, woke up thinking and worrying about Christmas and hosting and having my kids get sick.  (Kayson's had a terrible head cold...  hoping it stays just as that, as Influenza A is rapidly spreading around here/his school).  Insert nervous Momma.
Anyway...  we grabbed lunch out, then headed to Simpson College to watch Jenna play some bball.  Good time... good game.

Saturday night we just stayed in again...  totally what I needed.  I just like my house.  ha. 

Sunday:
Church.
Then we attended The Nutcracker at the Civic Center.  Brittlyn was one of the dancers in the performance... and did an amazing job!!  It was fun to do something like that... even though it's totally different for our family...  but I think it was good.  The kids seemed to like it too (Cora did get a little antsy, but overall, did well).

Sunday night was just another normal Sunday night...  laundry, picking up, getting ready for our super busy week/Christmas weekend. 

Kayson's head cold is still hanging on...  I did a full blown prayer about it last night, hoping we just stay in the cold section, and no fever develops.  Once the fever is here, it's probably for sure Influenza A.  I worry about our busy week/weekend coming up... it'll only make things more worse if he gets worn out.  Ugh. 

Anyway...  it was a nice weekend.  I have a few things to get this week yet, and then getting my house ready for company. 

 

 

 

Rotten Wednesday... and weekend

Prior to the weekend... and prior to the MN trip, last week was a doozy...  it was one of those weeks where things just didn't go right.  
Monday we started our day out with no hot water.  Cold showers in the morning are NOT fun.  Our water heater wasn't 'lit'... Ryan messed with it, got it working...  good to go, so we thought!  Skip to Wednesday night - we just thought we would check the water heater again... not 'lit'.  Damn.  The kids took a bath together in order to 'save water' (holy crap!)...  Ryan messed with it again, for awhile...  and it finally lit late that night.  With all of that back and forth - we just decided it needed to be replaced.  It's 8 years old - we've put money into it already (thinking 3 times already!)... and when it acts up, it's at the most inopportune times!!!  Thursday afternoon (while we were in MN) - we got a new water heater.  Merry Christmas to us.  :(

In addition to Wednesday's water issue...  
I got a phone call from daycare (I seem to be on speed dial lately) - Cora accidentally had a teacher step on her hair while Cora was resting (or attempting to rest)... and pulled a chunk of hair out.  OMG.  Seriously??  She was fine... 
Then we got home Wednesday night from work/school - completely expecting to have my crock pot meal ready to go, smelling amazing... nope.  It didn't cook!!!  Crock pot didn't work...  and we've checked it again, I can't get it to stay on.  Again - OMG.  What a freaking day. 

So... moving on to the weekend. 
Ryan and I got home Friday afternoon... Cora got her hairs trimmed up, and home we stayed Friday night.  

Saturday:
Kayson started his basketball season with a practice... 
Cora complained of her ear hurting.  Great.  But survived all day... and she seemed fine?!  
I was crabby.  Tired.  Emotional.  All.day.long... which continued into Sunday.  

Sunday:
Church.
Kayson played at a friends house. 
Cora rested.
I did an errand, as well as grocery shopped.
More crabby Janelle - extremely emotional as well.  
I worry about Christmas - as expected, we don't have much for our kids (or at least Kayson), as he didn't have a big list - and other ideas went out to the rest of the family.  Just irritated.  Stressed.  Anxious.  I miss Mom.  You name it - I'm kind of a mess!!

Here are a few pics of the weekend...  it was nice just being home...  now onto a new week with Ryan traveling, and praying the kids are good and healthy this week!

Snowflake & Hawkeye have arrived!

Kids like to play football now...  they do pretty well too!