Happy Birthday Daddy

We had a nice family party for Steve tonight. We had McAlister's for dinner and then for dessert we had choclate cupcakes that Abby, Jacob and I made. The best thing about the cupcakes is they are egg, milk, and peanut/tree nut free!!! The kids were very excited for it to be Daddy's birthday and wondered where his party hat was.

Some More Nice Weather Pictures

Abby playing basketball...

Abby balancing on one foot with her "magic wands."

Some Nice Weather

Blake and Dad shootin' some hoops...

Jacob's new haircut...

Jacob about to make a shot...

Blake...

All About Abby (Almost)

Today was Abby's allergist and nutritionist appointment in Oklahoma City. It went really well. My good friend Kara came with me to help me with Abby since I am still not able to pick the kids up and am still on a recovery schedule (lots of rest). She was such a great help and kept Abby occupied while I spoke to the doctor and nutritionist.

Abby was especially nervous when we arrived. When the nurse took her vitals her heart rate was very high as was her blood pressure. She even had a fever... the nurse thought she had worked herself up to a fever. She is 3 foot 5 and weighs 37 pounds. When the doctor went to look in her nose, she would not let him until she had a Kleenex... it was too cute.

The doctor was wonderful and gave us lots of useful information about eczema. The new standard of care is 2-3 thirty minute baths daily (I don't know how we are going to find time for that), lots of moisturizing, and Elidel (which contrary to studies is supposed to be wonderful and safe). So, we will start both the kids on 2 thirty minute daily baths and see how that goes. He also recommended we get with our pediatrician here and discuss some options of some other drugs that will help the kids retain some moisture.

Abby was a real trooper. They had to do the skin test for allergies. They gave Abby 15 "markers" (needle sticks) and she did awesome. She was actually more afraid of the ink pen where they wrote which test was which than of the actual test. Once Nurse Tina explained everything she was fine. I was so proud of her. The good news is Abby only reacted to a few of the allergens... dust, corn, peanuts, and eggs. She had a mild reaction to milk and cocoa, but they have told us to go ahead and slowly introduce them. We are also allowed to slowly introduce soy, wheat, and malt. We still have to avoid oranges and tomatoes, but those are easy to avoid.

The nutritionist gave us lots of information including cards with details of what foods contain the various allergens. We have to monitor her closely when we introduce the foods and keep a diary of any adverse reactions. All in all it was a very good visit. They gave Abby some Winnie-the-Pooh reading cards, Tinkerbell stickers, purple latex gloves, a tongue depressor that the doctor drew a little man on, and a coloring book... it was like Christmas.

Blake and Jacob are doing great and Blake has been a wonderful help, as always!!!! We get to see Dylan in about a month and we are very excited to see him.

Happy Presidents' Day

Steve & Blake leaving to go 4-wheeling.

Blake resting with Ethan & Jacob.
Jillian putting Abby's hair up.

We've had a relaxing 3-day weekend. Last night the Parker's came over for pizza and wings. Steve and Travis went out for a bit and Jillian and Blake helped Kara and I watch the smaller kids.

Today, Blake, Steve, and Travis are going 4-wheeling. Kara, Abby, Jacob and I are going to do a little running around. The weather has been a lot warmer (but windy), so it will be nice to get out of the house.

Happy Valentine's Day

Jacob opening his stickers.

Daddy & Abby making their goodies.
Abby with her Valentine's box from school.

Today has been a nice day. My friend Nikki stopped by for a visit and gave me some Valentine's treats. Then, Steve and the kids came home and we had a family party. Steve gave me some beautiful roses and candy. The kids got movies, candy and stickers (well, Abby & Jacob got stickers) and Steve got candy! Steve also brought me some goodies from some of my co-workers... I will surely be a piggy by the time I get back to work. Blake received 15 candy-grams at school and I think he will be on a sugar high all night.

Abby and Steve are making Valentine's treats and Jacob and Blake are watching one of the new movies and playing barrel of monkeys.

Jacob had his 3 year well baby check yesterday. The doctor was impressed by his ability to hop across the room and said he is advanced for his age. He weighs 33 pounds and is 3 feet 2 inches tall. He's getting to be such a big boy!

Happy Hearts Day!

Pictures

Abby playing with her clock from Grandma.

Jacob having a snack.

Blake being a goof... doing sit-ups on the ottoman.

First Week of February

This week has been much better than last! I am well on my way to recovery. One of my co-workers made us dinner, so it was really nice to have a prepared meal. Yesterday, Kara and the kids came over while the "boys" went 4-wheeling. She helped me with some chores around the house. Really, Steve and Blake have been awesome. Steve is the best "Mr. Mom" ever and I don't think this would be near as easy with out the biggest brother Blake.

Blake had his last basketball game of the season... he had a very good year with a total of 12 points scored (that doesn't sound like a whole bunch, but last year he only had 2 points). We are very proud of him. He also got his progress report and has all A's (again, we are very proud). He babysat for us today so Steve & I could run to the BX (it was my first outing since my surgery). It was nice to get out.

Abby is a math wiz! The other day she told me four threes are twelve... then she told me three threes are nine, two threes are six! I was so surprised. She also told me today that one hundred is a lot, one thousand is a very lot and one million is a very, very, very lot. She also is doing a great job writing her name. Blake (& Dora) are teaching her Spanish, too. She's a smart girl.

Jacob is as cute as ever. He loves to dance. He will dance to commercials, tv shows, and any song on my iPod. He has also been playing with the remote control car Dylan sent him for his birthday. He loves it. I think his favorite number is five because he always asks for five... 5 cookies, 5 crayons, etc.

Dylan is doing very well. He just got his progress report and he has all A's (we are proud of him, too). He and Blake just became big brothers again... their mom had a baby boy on 7 February. Congratulations to y'all and we know you will enjoy your newest family member.

A Looooooong Week

Monday night I had a terrible pain in my left side... long story short, I ended up having to have emergency surgery Tuesday afternoon (I won't bore you with the surgical details). I feel a lot better now, but it was a rough week. Poor Steve and Blake had to manage the household alone, not to mention cater to a "broken" Mommy. Steve brought Abby and Jacob up to see me at the hospital Wednesday and it was great to see them. Abby was a little nervous at first because she knew the doctor had cut Mommy. She thought it was neat to see the heplock and she even touched it. She also liked the adjustable bed. They got bored with me pretty quick and Steve took them home. My friends, family and co-workers were wonderful and spoiled me with flowers, cards, phone calls and visits. I was released on Thursday with orders not to drive for two weeks, pick up the kids for a month, and go back to work for six weeks. Wow, I really don't know what I will do while I am recovering.

Since I have been home everyone has been great. Abby and Jacob's skin has cleared up (thanks to some strong medicine), so they have been angels. I swear they grew while I was gone. Blake has made me dinner several times, cleaned the house and kept up with the little ones. Steve made a delicious dinner of chicken, fried potatoes and salad and has been Mr. Mom. I am supposed to take it easy, but today I cleaned the kitchen because I just could not stand sitting any longer. Of course, the simplest of tasks makes me tired.

Blake's last basketball game is tomorrow. Dylan sent Jacob a remote controlled car for his birthday and he loves it. He spent hours over the weekend chasing it around the house. Abby has been my little helper. She helps me get in and out of my chair or the bed. She also brings me drinks, Kleenexes or whatever else I need.

With all this spare time I will try not to post too many blogs. Take care everyone.

Another Cold Weekend

We have had cold weekends for the last three weeks. This weekend was much better than the last two, but still windy and overcast. Today the sun is out so that is nice.

Friday night Blake went to a birthday party that had been rescheduled three times due to the weather. He had fun and apparently there was a lot of delicious food there because he came home and wanted to make punch and chocolate covered pineapples.

Yesterday, I had to take Jacob to the doctor. He has an infection from scratching his eczema. It has made for a very long weekend. He and Abby have been a bit under the weather. Abby has been "scooting" everywhere because her legs hurt for her to walk. So, she has a dr's appointment in the morning. Steve and I are both exhausted from lack of sleep. It has been a long weekend.

Last night Blake was sweet and played Memory with Abby. She had a really nice time playing with her "biggest" brother. Oh, Abby's allergist appointment has been rescheduled for 6 February. I will let everyone know the outcome of that. I am off to sit in front of the fire... I am freezing (and I love it).

Happy Birthday to Me!

Yesterday was Jacob's third birthday! I can't believe our baby is three years old. He ran around all day singing "Happy Birthday to me!" It was so cute. Friday night we met the Parker's and our friend Cooper at Chuck E. Cheeses to start Jacob's birthday celebration. The kids had so much fun running around. Blake and Steve played skee ball and must have won 600 tickets each. We all had a nice time.

Yesterday we were expecting snow and all we got was rain. Blake and I were very upset about that. We just had a small family party here with cake, ice cream and presents. Jacob stayed in his jammies all day because he was so itchy (He and Abby have been having a very hard time with their eczema... I think it might be this cold snap we are having.). Unfortunately, my camera was dead and so was the video camera so I was only able to take a few pictures.

Friday Abby and I are going to Oklahoma City for her allergist appointment. I am really looking forward to the visit and hope we will come home with some useful info.

Iced In

Our frozen tree and icicles on the house.

Jacob and Blake in front of the fire.
Abby and Jacob watching Mickey Mouse on iTunes.

Friday morning when we left for work/school it was 60 degrees outside. By lunchtime the temps had dropped to the 40's and by the time we headed home it was sleeting and the temps were right at freezing. It sleeted all night and into Saturday. We even had some thunder. We have been lucky because about 40 miles north of us in Lawton they lost their power. Needless to say, we have been stuck inside all weekend. I don't think the roads are too bad, but we decided to stay home just to be safe. We've had a fire all weekend, had too many cups of hot chocolate and eaten lots of chicken chili. Blake and I have enjoyed watching movies and Monk. Abby and Jacob have played hide and seek, watched movies and helped with the chores. Steve has been able to watch some football, too. We've had a pretty relaxing weekend trying to stay warm.

The Four Kids

Blake got his report card yesterday and he has all A's! Dylan got his report card and he has all A's and one B in keyboarding. We are very proud of both of them. We know they have worked very hard to receive such good grades!

This morning as I was getting ready for work Abby asked me if it was a school day. I told her yes because it is Thursday. She then exclaimed "Thursday!!!! That means Grey's Anatomy!!" I could not stop laughing. I am a die hard Grey's Anatomy fan and I guess I was a little excited about the season starting up and she must have heard me talking about it... too funny!

Jacob will be three next weekend and he continues to amaze us. He has the coolest personality. He is always pretending to be a shark (he likes "Shark Tale"), dancing and making silly faces, or tumbling around the house. The funny thing about Jacob is there is no in between... he is either extremely happy or extremely MAD!!!

Some Holiday Pictures

Blake and Dylan at the Jalapeno Tree.
Daddy and Jacob
Meemaw, Grandpa, Steve and the boys playing Upwords.
The candy mice that Meemaw and Blake made together... yummy! The ear-less ones are for Abby and Jacob.

Stop the Car and other stuff

The other day Jacob, Abby and I were on our way to school/work. The kids were watching "Barney" on the DVD player. Jacob was mad because he did not want to watch "Barney." So, he was yelling and I tried to tell him he could choose the DVD on the way home. Well, he said to me "I don't want to watch this. STOP THE CAR!" It was so funny that it was difficult for me to scold him for yelling at me. He has really been coming up with some cute stuff lately. One day Steve picked him up from school and when Steve asked him what he was doing he said "Playing with my boys." Too funny.

Things here are good. Blake is at the hockey game tonight with some friends. Steve, Abby, Jacob and I went to the Parker's for some of Kara's famous white chili. It was nice to spend some time with them because they were out of town over the holidays. Other than that there is not too much to tell. Happy New Year.

Dylan's plate

Here is the plate Dylan made me... isn't it beautiful?

Christmas #2

Yesterday Blake and Dylan got in from S.C. Abby & Jacob were so excited to see them. When they saw them get off the plane they both started jumping up and down and screaming "Hey you!" It was hysterical. It was great to see both of them. Meemaw, Grandpa, and Uncle Dustin got here around 6 o'clock and we began our second Christmas shortly after their arrival.

Abby and Jacob were really excited to have ANOTHER Christmas. Abby loved her cd player and books with cds to go along with it. She quickly retreated to her room to play teacher and read to us. Jacob liked his xylophone. Dylan and Blake had lots of presents and I am not sure if they had a favorite gift, but Dylan liked his Legos (and has already finished building two sets) and his cube people. Blake got 20 Questions from Granddaddy Jim and Granola and none of us can put it down. Dylan made Steve a really nice mug and made me a beautiful decorative Christmas plate.

We had a really nice evening and today we are going to lunch and spending time with Meemaw, Grandpa, Uncle Dustin and the kids!

Christmas #1

We had a very nice Christmas. Abby was very excited about Santa's visit. She asked how Santa would get in the house, how he would get down the chimney, up the chimney, etc. On Christmas Eve Abby decorated cookies with Grandma. We then put out four cookies and milk (which Abby poured). Jacob did not anticipate Santa's visit as much as his big sister.

We actually slept in Christmas morning and had to wake Jacob up to open presents. Abby was scared to come out of the room because she thought Santa would still be out in the living room. I had to carry her out to see what Santa had left. When they emptied their stockings Jacob wanted to eat the jelly beans Santa left for his Daddy. Abby loved digging into her stocking and pulling out each item one by one. Abby was very excited to see the Dora cash register, microwave and tea set that Santa left her. Jacob just wanted to play with Abby's cash register microphone. Abby passed the gifts out to their recipients and helped Jacob open his when all of hers were gone. We all got really great gifts and had a wonderful Christmas morning (with yummy Cinnabon for breakfast). Grandma made pork roast for dinner and it was delicious. Abby could not get enough of the pork and gravy. Jacob spent most of the day pushing around his new tractor with his basketball along for the ride. We had a relaxing Christmas afternoon.

Blake and Dylan will fly in Thursday and Meemaw, Grandpa and Uncle Dustin will drive in from Arkansas. We will have Christmas #2 when they get here. We are all looking forward to Dylan's visit. We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.

Blake's Birthday

Tomorrow Blake will be 14 years old. He will also be on a plane flying to S.C. for Christmas. So, I took half the day off of work to take him to the movies to see "Casino Royale." Well, when we looked up the time for the movie it said 2:40. We had planned to watch the movie and then meet Steve, Abby & Jacob for dinner at Olive Garden. When we got to the theater the time we thought the movie was playing was not listed. We could not go to the later movie because we already had plans for 5 o'clock. We ended up seeing "Happy Feet" which was cute, but no James Bond.

We met Steve and the kiddos for dinner, but both of them were misbehaving, especially Jacob. So, Jacob and I left Olive Garden and headed home. When Steve, Blake & Abby returned the Parker's came over and we had cake, ice cream and opened presents. Everything didn't turn out as planned but we had a nice day. It is always fun spending time with Blake.

Like I mentioned, Blake leaves tomorrow for S.C. My mom comes in on the 22nd for a Christmas visit. Blake & Dylan come back on the 28th and Steve's folks are coming down as well. We will have two Christmas celebrations in our house. We are looking forward to all of our company and getting some good, quality time and FUN in with Dylan.

Merry Christmas and please remember all of our service men and women who are fighting overseas and aren't able to be home for the holidays.

Christmas is Coming

We had a really nice weekend. Blake did lots of babysitting for us. Steve and I went to our squadron Christmas party and had a really nice time. We even won an Olive Garden gift card. Saturday I went to a wrapping party. It was fun to get together with the girls and talk, eat, and wrap. When I came home with the gifts, Abby and Jacob helped me put them under the tree. Jacob liked to put his gifts IN the tree. It was very cute.

Sunday, Steve and I went downtown and did some last minute Christmas shopping. Blake was a great help and watched the kiddos for us.

We are really excited to see Dylan (who just earned his next belt in Tae Kwon Do). Merry week before Christmas!