Bleh!

What a weekend! And not in a good way.  Friday afternoon, I had just wrapped up a community service event from work and got a call from the daycare that Chase had the poopies. So, I get to the daycare about 2:30 and bring both boys home.  Hopefully it would stop at just the poopies, but we weren't so lucky.  After Chase napped at home, he got a bottle and then some snacks to munch on. As I was just about to pick him up from his high chair, he projectile-vomited all over himself, the kitchen, and Mommy.  Happy Friday. After stripping him down, I got him into the bath and cleaned up.  He played in my lap for a few minutes and then off to bed.  Surprisingly, he slept rather well, but I continuously checked on him in fear he would throw up in his crib.  After sleeping in til about 9am on Saturday, the boys and I got up.  Chase had just finished drinking his bottle, and I put him in his highchair to feed him some fruit, and deja vu. Ugh, more vomit.  Poor thing was just not feeling well.  Back to the bath for clean-up again.  After getting him dressed, I just held him in the glider in his room and he quickly drifted off to sleep.

The rest of the day, he just kinda laid around, munched on some snacks, and drank Pedialyte.  But you could tell he didn't feel well.  My biggest fear this whole time was that Austin would get this stomach bug, too.  I tried to keep him away from Chase as much as I could. Before going to bed, Austin said his tummy hurt. So, we caved and let him lay down in our bed with us.  Then, I wake up at 1:30 in the morning to him throwing up everywhere in our bed.  Not a pretty sight.  We stripped the bed, got Austin all washed up, and all moved to a pallet in the living room. After watching Shrek for about 20 minutes, we were back to sleep.  Austin tossed and turned most of the night, and I didn't sleep well. I heard him sit up, I grabbed the bucket, and he got sick again at 5:30am. I couldn't take much more.  Shrek again for 10 minutes, and then back to sleep again.  After sleeping in a little bit this morning, we got up and I feared another day of sickness.  We just laid around the house today, and neither one of them ate too much.  But I could tell this evening that both of them were mostly back to their playful selves.

Hopefully we've seen the last of it, and Mommy & Daddy won't get the next round.  My tummy has been a little queasy all day. But I can't decide if it's from cleaning up all the vomit or the bug getting me.  Knock on wood, I will be spared.

The Date is Set!

After Chase's consult with the ENT this morning, we have set a date for his ear tube surgery.....Oct. 3rd.  It was a quick meeting for him to review his history of chronic ear infections, noted he was a 'daycare kid', and woolah, we were a great candidate for the surgery.  I'm nervous about it, but ready to get it over with.  I can't imagine what cold/flu season will be like if we don't get this done before then.  And it's the same Dr. that did Austin's surgery, so we're familiar with him and the procedure.  Hopefully it will be a speedy recovery, and he will be a happier baby afterwards!

Daddy trying to entertain him as we waited

He looked like he was ready to take off running!

Happy baby!

Crazy Eight!

Happy 8 months to my little big boy, Chase Cooper!  I'm not even going to say that it's flying by, because I would just be repeating myself from last month. :)  He really is just a happy, mellow guy, and his personality is just shining through all the time now.  He cut 3 teeth on the top about two weeks ago, and the other top one is due to break through any minute now, which will make a total of 6.  He could practically eat a cheeseburger now, probably would if I let him!  He weighed in at a little over 21 lbs. yesterday at the Dr.'s office, and I feel the weight of every single pound while toting him around in my arms. 

He still loves to eat and devours all of the purees I've been making for him.  And he loves to munch on some Gerber puffs or yogurt melts in between meals.  Another accomplishment this month: he holds his bottle to feed himself.  I love this new development, because it allows me to have my hands free to do other tasks.  His favorite spot is leaned back in his high chair with his legs propped up while he drinks it.  This past weekend he has started to really put pressure on his legs and stand up and hold onto things.  The sight of this breaks my heart, knowing he will be fully mobile really soon.  Not sure I'm ready for my baby to grow up!  As far as being mobile right now, he does an army crawl, but really prefers to just roll across the room to get to where he needs to go; it's the funniest thing.

Austin and Chase play together often and we've been working with Austin on sharing his toys with his little brother.  Some days are better than others. :) But I love to watch them in the bath together.  A friend at work brought me a bath seat to use for him and he loves it!

We had a rough weekend, especially Monday night.  He slept all of about three hours all night.  It was our roughest night as parents to date.  Took him to the pediatrician yesterday, and what-do-you-know; another ear infection.  We were referred to an ENT and will meet with him next Wednesday.  He was the same doctor that put Austin's tubes in, so we pretty much know the process from here.  Most likely we'll get them put in before the end of the month.  The thought of putting him under scares me, but I know it's necessary to make him feel better in the long run.  Especially before we get into cold and flu season where he'd be more likely to have ear infections. So, if you can spare some, we'd appreciate any prayers you can send our way. I'm sure I'll have an update next week after we meet with the ENT. 

Here are a few pics from the past month.  The first two are from my fancy new camera, with a little editing by Photoshop.  Photography is one of my new hobbies. :)

 Daddy and Chase

Love those beautiful blue eyes! 

All smiles (and muscles!)

Foot propped up and chilling while Mommy cooks dinner

 Growing up too fast!

Playing cars with big brother

Austin showing Chase how to color in the bath 

Loooooove those cheeks!

Slightly Addicted

Okay, 'slightly' may not be the correct adjective here. Truly addicted, probably, to the greatest internet idea ever (well, at least one of the top).  Pinterest.  My neighbor mentioned it to me a few weeks ago, when she was looking for ideas for her son's 1st birthday. So, I created an account, started following people, and woolah! I was in heaven! For those of you who aren't aware of the greatness, it's basically 'pinning' recipes, DIY, gift ideas, etc. into categories on my board, and all my friends can see.  Okay, well, that didn't make it sound all that wonderful, you have to look it up yourself.  I have found some amazing recipes, ideas for the boys' birthday parties, easy & cheap holiday decor to make, and lots more!  Last night, I made some s'mores cookies I found on Pinterest and they were YUMMY!

And then tonight, I made a creamy pasta w/chicken, too. I'm in love.

I'm sure you'll see many more creations in the upcoming months with the holidays and both boys' birthdays.  If you're not on Pinterest, get on it!  Especially you crafty mommies! :)

Maybe I Should Think Twice.....

About the activities in which I let Austin participate in.  But let's face it, he spends alot of time with Mommy, so he's bound to do more girly things right now.  Here are some of our recent activities, that Jordan just shakes his head at when he sees the pictures.

1. This morning he helped me unpack all of my new jewelry from the jewelry party, and I didn't fight with him when he wanted to wear some of it.

2. A few weeks ago, Jordan was home on a rare Saturday, so I went to run some errands. Austin insisted on coming with me, and he certainly enjoyed being my helper at Ulta.

3.  When Meow-Meow was getting ready to start back to school, she wanted my help in decoupaging some wooden letters for her classroom.  Austin's never one to pass up some arts & crafts!

4.  Speaking of arts & crafts, since Austin does so much cooking/baking with me, I decided to let him decorate an apron for him to wear a few weeks ago.

5. And well, this last one I can't be blamed for.  A month or so ago at Austin's school, they were having dress-up/costume day where they had lots of outfits for the kids to try on.  I'm almost certain that they had manly ones like a policeman, fireman, etc.  But, obviously, those didn't fit his style. 

I know he can do some girly things sometimes, but he can certainly do some manly things too. Maybe I should do a post on those next time. :)  

FINALLY!

                                           
No more secrets, no more lies!  The cat is out of the bag!  Logan proposed to Katrina yesterday, and she said yes (of course)! Ahh, the suspense, excitement, and anticipation have been killing me over the past few weeks! And they said I wouldn't be able to keep a secret! :)  When Logan called me a few weeks ago to tell me he was picking out a ring for her and was going to propose before school went back, I was beyond ecstatic. 

Finally, I got word that the ring (actual picture above) was ordered and that plans for the big day were coming together.  Every time I was with Katrina, I was trying to be so careful not to act suspicious.  When she would talk about how he was never going to propose, I went along with it and chimed in my opinion, all the while giddy inside.  The four of us had already planned to go out last night, before the big plans were in place. So Logan and I rounded up about 20 people to surprise her when we were out to help celebrate the big news. 

I remember when I met Logan for the first time at Katrina's 23rd birthday.  He was such a friendly guy and got along well with all of us instantly.  And he was great on the drums in our Guitar Hero band. :)

He popped the question at the Dallas Arboretum yesterday afternoon. After that, he whisked her away to a delicious fancy dinner at Morton's Steakhouse.  They had customized menus for them saying Congratulations and let them take them home as a momento.  He did such a great job!  After they arrived at our house, we got ready, headed out, and surprised her with everyone.  It was a great night and I'm sooooo excited for them!  So glad that all of the important people in their lives could be there to help celebrate the big news!  Let the wedding planning begin! :)

The four of us!

Logan's parents came out to celebrate!

Me, Mom, and Katrina

Melissa, Katrina, & Jessica

Randy, Genni, Katrina, & Logan

Me, Allen, & Katrina

LegoLand!

We took advantage of Jordan's Friday off, and I took a day off and we kept the boys out of school for a family fun day!  We debated on what to do.  It was wayyyyyy too hot to go to Hawaiian Falls, like we had originally planned.  So, we decided to visit LegoLand Discovery Center to see what all the hype was about.  And hopefully we could eat lunch at the Rainforest Cafe or go to the Seaquarium while we were there. 

I never imagined it would be this crowded!  It opened at 10am, and we got there at 10:45.  After getting our place in line, we were told the wait from that point was an hour and a half! OMG!  Are you kidding me?  What was I supposed to do with a 7 month old and a crazy little boy for that long?!  Thankfully, Katrina and Logan tagged along with us on the trip, so we took turns holding our place in line, and keeping Austin entertained and feeding both him and Chase.  Finally, it was our turn to get in! (And leave it to me to leave my camera at home, so all I had was my BlackBerry for pics.)

When we first entered, it was the 'factory' where they demonstrated how the Legos were made.  Leave it up to my kid to be the one to run past 'the red line' and start pulling on a lever.  Ahhhh, Austin!  After finally getting ahold of him, we ventured into the main area and he went immediately to the big play zone, with lots of things to climb on, slide down, etc.  There were sooooo many kids in there, I was really nervous when alot of the bigger kids started running into him and knocking him over.  My blood pressure definitely started to rise a little bit.  We also walked through the 'MiniLand', which is a miniature construction (of Legos, of course!) of major landmarks/attractions in the DFW area: Texas Rangers Ballpark, Cowboys Stadium, Great Wolf Lodge, Gaylor Texan, Fort Worth Stockyards, DFW Airport, State Fair, and Downtown Dallas.  It was so awesome!  They also had a life-size Lego sculpture of Dirk Nowitzki and the NBA Championship Trophy.  But Austin's highlight was definitely seeing Buzz Lightyear when we first arrived!

We watched a short 15-minutes 4-D movie while were there.  It was so neat, especially when fake snow started falling from the ceiling!  Austin enjoyed it, but didn't get the full effect because he kept pulling his glasses off.  We had good intentions of riding the two rides there, but the lines were just too long.

I had planned it so that Chase would be awake when we arrived to participate in the fun, but our hour and a half wait messed that all up!  He slept the majority of the time in the stroller. :(  Honestly, I don't know how he slept in there with all those kids screaming and stuff!

Overall, it was a fun place, but way too crowded for my liking.  I would hate to see that place on a weekend!  Maybe in a few months it will die down a little bit.

Great Wolf Lodge

Cowboys Stadium

Texas Rangers Ballpark

Family pic w/Dirk!

Daddy, Chase, & Dirk

Chase sleeping away!

The highlight of Austin's trip!

Going down the slide