Will's ear tube sugery

October 27th was Will's bilateral ear tube surgery.

I was thankful in some ways that we had been through a minor surgery before with Chase's trigger thumbs and knew a little about what to expect.

 I was still a nervous wreck and tried to focus on the fact that he would be feeling so much better after it was done!

 

We had to be at the surgery center at 6:45 that morning, so we let the boys sleep until the last possible second and then put them in the car. We went into a private little waiting room while we talked to the nurse, got Will changed and waited for the doctor to come in and take Will. (That was a very difficult thing to see as a parent.)

 

He was very leery of the anesthesiologist and nurses. As he should be - he has been in for so many ear checks, etc lately that anyone who comes near him scares him.

 

The surgery went great - and was so fast! I think he was gone a total of 12 minutes. They called the room phone after 6 minutes to tell us they were done and he was in recovery. When he came in he was very out of it. Once he was around us and nursed he started to come out of it. Then he wanted to eat some cereal and a banana while he watched Curious George. :)

We were home and he was acting fine in no time. He took a good 2 1/2 hour nap that day and so far seems great!

loved his Elmo balloon he got from the surgery center!

 

We have to do 3 ear drops 3 times a day for 3 days and those aren't too fun - but short lived. We do have to place putty in his ears during baths from now on - so we haven't had to do that yet.

Hoping they heal well and stay in!

Playing in the leaves the night of his surgery - what a brave boy you are!



Great Wolf Lodge

We surprised Chase after school last week and told him we were taking him to Great Wolf Lodge for a few nights for fall break.

 It was our first visit there, and we had such a great time!

 

Upon arrival, all the kiddos get cute little wolf ears!

 

The boys loved the little bedtime show and story each night.

Will's favorite was the talking moose.

 Character meet and greet. This is Violet :)

My college friend/sorority sister Jenni, who lives close by, stopped by for a drink one of the nights we were there.

It was so nice to catch up!

Grandma joined us for our 2nd night at the lodge and surprised the boys!

Someone had fun!

This guy just tried to keep up, and he did a good job of it!

 

 first juice box, Magi fun, brothers

Both boys fell asleep at the SAME TIME on the drive home, for the 2nd time ever.

For parents who have kids who don't sleep easily in cars, that is like winning the lottery!

 

It was an awesome family getaway!

 

Zoo Boo

We took the boys to Zoo Boo on Sunday - we had beautiful weather and Mimi and Greg stayed and went with us! It was fun seeing a lot of the animals so active.

And more importantly (according to Chase) getting the CANDY!

 Posing with our rock star and storm trooper

 

With this hair, how could you NOT do a Mohawk?!?!



Abby Girl

My Mom's sweet dog Abby girl went to the rainbow bridge this past week.

She was such a sweetheart and will be so missed.

 

She was so gentle with all the kiddos, loved to chase the bunnies and squirrels and go for walks.

Mom also brought her to work a lot and she will be missed by the therapy department as well.

She brought a lot of smiles to many people!

One of my favorite pictures of Abby

 Look at that sweet face.

 I'm sure she and Lilly are up in heaven complaining about all the silly outfits we made them wear. :)

Fall Fun with the Cousins

Chase has been COUNTING down the days until his cousins came to visit. How many more days? How many more HOURS?

At last, the day arrived!

 

These two are little momma birds to Will!

                        Will was saying "Bre Bre" and "Ava" so clearly, they loved it!

We had big plans to go to the pumpkin patch on Saturday but it RAINED and was cold and windy. So - we bought our pumpkins, came home and painted and decorated them instead!

 

They had a ton of fun playing, having a pizza picnic and eating pumpkin chocolate chip cookies!

 Working hard at a Star Wars R2D2 design!

 DANCE PARTY!

 

What a great visit! Can't wait to hang out again soon.

 It is so fun watching the cousins together.



Shining Star!

Chase is the Shining Star at school this week!

He got to bring home a large cutout "person" to decorate as himself with all of his favorite things about him on it.

He worked so hard choosing photos and coloring, drawing, etc.

We practiced what he would say and then he got to present it to his class.

 Working Hard!

 Chase shared his love of swimming, Star Wars, Lemon Basil Chicken Pasta, the color Blue, Purdue, Colts, his brother and family, stuffed animals, Cars 2, the beach, Disney World, ninja turtles, his Bat Cave, Jesus, school, drawing, coloring, super heroes and being outside!

Our Shining Star!



Wave of Light

Yesterday was Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day, so we lit a candle in memory of Christian and all the babies gone too soon. A part of our family and our hearts will always be missing, so we honor him whenever we can and remember that although his life was short, it was meaningful and is such a part of us as a family.

 Thank you to All That Love Can Do for this beautiful photo in memory of Christian

Missing you so much sweet boy.



Haunted House

We took the boys to the Children's Museum last night to the Creepy Carnival themed haunted house. Before you think we are crazy, it was the lights on, no scaring option.

BUT - there were clowns.

I mean seriously, Stephen King's IT has nothing on this guy. The crazy part was the kiddos could climb into his MOUTH.

 I can't even.

Chase loved walking through and trick-or-treating!