Easter Morning

We were still at Eric and Katies for Easter morning and let me tell you...Easter could NOT come quick enough for these kiddos...Way too excited!
Connor found his right away:)
Caden's was in the dryer.
After they found their baskets it was time for the hunt outside...We have: Brent, Caden, Connor, Noah, Taylor and Peyton.
Connor just loved sucking on the plastic egg...he wasn't so sure about the grass he was sitting on...
Seriously...I think we have enough candy to last the rest of the year!
Hope everyone had a fabulous Easter! A huge Thank you to Eric and Katie for letting us stay with them! We had so much fun!

Albany, TX

Over Easter weekend we went to Abilene,TX to visit my Brother, Eric, and his family...my parents were also able to come! We had so much fun! It's so nice that we live so close to them!

On Saturday we went to the cutest little town called Albany...they have this quaint Main Street with tons of shops and this little Pharmacy/Soda Fountain for lunch. We LOVED it! AND they had the BEST Chicken Salad Sandwich...you know how I love Chicken Salad Sandwiches...I'm a total snob...it must be good!
The Soda Fountain...how fun is that!?
Caden...gotta love his expressions!
Me and my Man...
The kiddos picking out their ice cream...Blue Bell of course:)
Caden and Taylor
After lunch we found out that Albany was having an Easter Egg Hunt...so we went over there and let me tell you...Best idea EVER! These kids FILLED their baskets! There was so much candy and the good stuff too:) They even got a Gold Dollar.
Caden, Noah and Brent next to the Fire Truck.
Love this picture of Connor.

We had so much fun shopping (loved their cute boutiques), going to their museum and enjoying small town life.

Noah's Field Trip...at the Zoo!

Noah had his Field Trip with his Pre-School class at the Zoo. We had so much fun going around with our friends on such a beautiful day! Here are the highlights!
Noah and his best bud, Adam

Noah's sweet teacher, Ms. Kelly...She truely is the best!

Noah's class...

I spy with my little eye....a big, tall zoo animal with spots...

Sharla and Lilly feeding the birds....

Poor Noah was having the HARDEST time feeding the birds, he finally was able to climb on a rock, stretch out his arm as FAR as he could and a bird was up for the challange! Yeah Noah!!

The Ft. Worth Zoo just opened their new MOLA exhibit. It is absolutely AMAZING! It is so beautiful! So glad I was able to see it!

Connor - 9 Months Old!!

OK...for REALS...where has the time gone? I am so sad my baby is 9 months old! I can't even think about it!
I know...talk about the bluest eyes you have ever seen! They are beautiful!

Connor's Stats:

Weight: 17 lbs. = 5%

Length: 28" = 25-50%

Head: 13" = 5%

This 9 mo. visit was not so fun...he keeps dropping in his % of weight so we had to change up his food and force him onto formula and lots of other food. Basically I feed him food all day long. No joke. The Dr. said I have 1 month to fatten him up and if nothing happens then they have to do tests and what not on the poor guy. Thankfully we are about at the 1 month mark and you can see a HUGE difference. I guess I was just producing water:) So problem is solved! YEAH Connor!

Things Connor LOVES:

* to eat...can't get enough food! (Ironic, I know)

* pestering his brothers...wants to do what they do, especially if they play with Legos and Bakugans.

* Slowly starting to wave.

* Some days he will babble bababa, otherwise he just likes to babble randomly. But he LOVES to be heard!

* He goes to bed at about 8pm and wakes up at about 8am...such a sweetheart!

* Taking better naps...about 2 per day

* The fastest crawler EVER.

* Found his little friend...his reflection in the dishwasher. Hilarious watching him talk to himself!

* Loves his Mama! Which I totally love;)

* Such a sweet boy, doesn't cry very often, goes with the flow and loves being outside!

Houston RODEO

There is nothing more Texan than going to the HOUSTON Livestock Show and RODEO. Since it was in town during Spring Break, and we were in Houston during Spring Break...we went! So much fun! Although the weather was NOT on our side...Of course parking is NEVER fun...we had to park as far away as possible, take a train up to the entrance and then walk a ways...

The kids really wanted to enjoy the rides and make their parents spend loads of money on dinky rides...so I don't know if its a good thing or a bad thing that as we were about to buy tickets it started to DOWNPOUR! I mean the skies just let loose. (Thankfully I had time to get my camera in the bag...) Just look at the skies! Black!
I just thought this was funny...Fried WHAT?? They fry everything here! We of course had to try a few things out: Fried Oatmeal Cream Pie (our favorite), Fried Twinkie (NASTY), and Fried Snickers (Really good). Lets just say I felt really bad about myself after trying them all:)
WOW! Way to go Connor!
Love this of all the kids...they LOOK so sweet and innocent, staying put, not running around and watching a bunch of cows take their walk of shame...Check out how wet my boys pants are...we were drenched from the downpour...
OK...come on! Look at this Hereford! He is ENORMOUS! I couldn't stop staring at him!
All the cuties...Brent, Caden, Noah and Taylor.
Aunt Whitney and Connor
We learned how to milk a cow. Lets just say...being a milk cow would not be fun...check out the contraption on those utters!
We went to the petting zoo and Noah was freaking out because all the goats were trying to eat him the second we walked through the gate. (I must say...I was a little freaked out also). He got over it though.
This would be my germ-a-phobe not wanting to touch the animals. He was so not digging this! I had to make him pet a few animals! He washed his hands SEVERAL times after this!

We had so much fun at the Rodeo...even with the rain:) Getting back to the car was a whole other story that includes a serious downpour, umbrellas that were flipping inside out because of the wind, clothes dripping with rain, FREEZING weather and thankfully...Connor falling asleep despite what was going on.

Appendicitis, Pneumonia, Constipation??

Pretend that today is Monday, March 15 and also pretend that I'm on top of things:) Here is our sad little story about my poor, helpless little man:(

It all started on Sunday at church...Connor was just grunting and acting a little weird. So I took him out and went to feed him some food. He ate it, but was just staring at me with this look of, "MOM!! Help me, it HURTS!" So I was pressing his tummy and it was hard as a rock and he was grunting even more. I grabbed Ben and told him I'm taking him home and calling the Dr.

I called the Dr. and the Nurse told me he was probably gassy and to give him Mylacon Drops, Tylenol and stick a thermometer up his booty...poor kid. So we do this. He passed gas, pooped and was all better. The Dr. called the next day to check up on him and he was normal Connor...YEAH!

However...8pm that night (Monday), he got a fever, his tummy was even harder and he was having a HARD time breathing and was doing his grunting thing. I called the Dr, they said take him to the ER right away.

I took the little guy in and thankfully they saw him right away and I didn't have to wait in the waiting room...it had a 6 hour wait at the time!! So they check his vitals and all that stuff and then they put him in his little curtained room.

The Dr. comes in and gives him a little check and says he thinks he has an Appendicitis. WHAT!? He is too little for that!! So he orders all these tests: Sonogram, X-rays, has to have IV, catheter, etc...

We started with the X-ray...that was the most painful thing to see him do. They were so not gentle with him and were tossing him around like a doll...they made me stand behind some glass and he just kept staring at me and screaming. It was terrible. When we got back to the room they had to put in an IV and a catheter...this kid is very stubborn and STRONG!! He did not want that thing in him!!

Then they did the sonogram. They were looking at his appendix to see if it was an appendicitis. The guy doing it kept saying...wow! That is a lot of stool! (very important detail:) So we finished that and then we went back to our room and we waited.

Some pictures while we waited...this is what they do for babies when they have to have an IV...looks like a cast. He kept trying to suck on it. By now it is after midnight and we are all beyond tired. (You may be wondering what happened to the other boys...my friend Sharla spent the night at our house so we could be with Connor...Thank you Sharla!!)
So after we waited awhile the Dr. came back to tell us that Connor did NOT have an Appendicitis, but he has Pneumonia. WHAT!?? He takes Ben out in the hall to show him the X-rays and why he has Pneumonia. I kept asking the Nurse, are you sure its not Constipation? Why is his stomach hard as a rock? The answer? The pneumonia was settling into his stomach and thats just what happens. Alrighty then!

They tell us that he needs to be kept overnight for observation and that he will be in isolation...meaning when nurses and Dr. come in they will be wearing masks and covering their scrubs and he has to stay in the room. So this is our new room for the night:
Even not feeling well he still manages a sweet little smile...
This would be his cage...it was the sadest thing EVER. Totally broke my heart. (See the cute white hoodie I'm wearing?? Yeah...they "accidentally" threw it away)

We finally got to this room at about 2 am Tuesday morning. All night long people kept coming in and checking this and checking that, pounding his back to break up mucous, changing diapers, etc. Poor kid did not get ANY sleep what so ever. Oh...did I mention that after the 4th person looking in his ears they FINALLY told me he has an ear infection on top of everything else??

At about 6 am we got a new batch of Dr. and Nurses and we were awoken to the new that Connor DID NOT have Pneumonia...he was just CONSTIPATED!! Yeah, thats right...after all that he was just plugged up with poop.

So after my shock wore off I asked how this happened?? The Nurse said that when she was looking at his file and at the X-ray, it just didn't look like Pneumonia. So she asked the Nurse Practitioner and they agreed that he was just "FOS", which means "Full of Stool". Yes...the ER Dr. got it wrong and the sweet Nurse got it right. WOW.

Right away they put him out of "isolation", quit pounding his back to break up mucous and instead made a concoction of molasses and milk...they put this in a IV pack and ran a tube to his booty and let it drain. Then they put an ENORMOUS diaper on the poor kid, came back in 10 minutes and that was that...all better and a VERY HAPPY baby. Lets just say that it might be awhile before I eat any Gingerbread anything:) We went home shortly after that.

Yes, I did ask a million questions on how this happened and why...but I never really got a straight answer. So I talked to his pediatrition and she is pretty confused on how this happened also so she is investigating it for me and will let me know in about 2 weeks. Let's just say when I got the bill from the hospital saying that with everything that they did it cost $8700...I was shocked. Then I started to do the math on how much I will have to pay...$1500 for a molasses and milk enema??? Yeah, I don't think so! I called my insurance and THANKFULLY we are only going to have to pay $150 as of now. If I have to pay one penny more, they will be hearing from me!!

Connor is doing great now. We slept all day on Tuesday and Wed since we got no sleep that night. I am just going to say that it changed so much because of all the prayers from family and friends. So thank you!!

1st Grade Musical...BUGZ

Caden was in the production BUGZ on March 9th. He has been practicing and practicing. I kept asking him what his part was and he just told me he sang. No elaboration WHAT-SO-EVER. (I literally have to drag information out of the boy...) Anyway. Myself and several other Mom's came to the school to make all the costumes...which took FOREVER!! But it was fun:) The best part was getting all 80 of them dressed 2 different times. I think I had a migraine after that!!
Here is part of the stage...Caden is a MOTH and he is on the far right, brown shirt, next to the bug with the shield.
Now...remember how I kept asking Caden what his part was??? Well SURPRISE to me...he had a little solo! He was up at the microphone during the whole last song and sang and danced! He had one little solo line. I was so proud:) I think I even cried a bit:)
Here he is dancing.
and singing...
So proud of you Caden! You did a FABULOUS job!
Caden and his class...aren't the costumes darling??

The Wait Is OVER!!

I had so much fun reading everyone's guess on what my big news is!! There is no moving involved and no pets involved:) I also loved getting tons of phone calls from people begging me to tell them... My friend Kristen was the closest with the guess of starting my own company...close enough!! My other friend Ambyr was also close with guessing an Etsy shop...that will be coming soon enough!!

I have decided to start a new blog...Swanky Pear. I am putting all my crafts, recipes and other tidbits to this blog and keeping family events on The Crooked Curve. Eventually everything will be moved over there, but its takes FOREVER to get things moved over!!

Please go visit the new blog, swankypear.com or swankypear.blogspot.com. There may even be a little GIVEAWAY!!

This is BIG!! HUGE!

Make sure you visit me on Monday for a BIG announcement!! And NO, I'm not preggers...I know that was the first thing that came to mind:) Quickly...get it out of your mind!! NOW!

Do I have any guesses?? Unless you already know, and you can't guess!!

It's NEVER Good When....

Your 4 year old...(yes Noah...no surprises there...) says...

"Mom...look what I did", and shows you his hand, which is filled hair.

It took me a minute to grasp exactly what he did, because I wouldn't think my 4 year old would do that!! Have a looksy at the pictures, which don't do his piece of work any justice..

He is covering his face because we were all laughing and he got embarrassed:) He took several chunks of hair out...He looks AWESOME:)

We had 3 choices...

1. Buzz his head

2. Fix the damage he did

3. Leave it

We did option 3 because with some gel and a little spike, you can't even tell...HOWEVER, when it warms up...I think I will have to buzz it to even it out:)

Connor-8 mo.

Yup!! It's true! My baby is now 8 months old!! Crazy how time flies when your a mom!!

Connor started crawling on February 22, and is loving his independence! He now knows he can go anywhere he wants! The boys are finding out the hard way that they have to keep all toys away from him...including all the Legos they like to leave around the house.

He has also figured out how to poke his cute little head up in his crib...I think its safe to say the crib will be lowered ASAP...

Some of his awsomeness:

* Got his 1st and only tooth

* Crawling

* Sleeping through the night 7:30 pm-8ish am

* Hates naps...he takes like 2, 30 min. naps a day

* Is a total Mama's boy...LOVE that!! He is my permanent accessory

* Loves to eat all of his yummy snacks and foods!

* Hates it when the boys scream in his ear...can you blame him?

* When the boys make him laugh to hard he throws up

* Smiles all the time!!

* Is looking more and more like his Daddy:)

* Fabulous baby...only cries when he wants some food!!

* Has had a never ending ear infection since Christmas...finally went away with 2 rounds of antibiotics...1st child to have an ear infection.

* Weighs 17 lbs. 5 oz