Wanna come play?

My sister in law called last night.  My baby nephew Bryce was admitted in the hospital for RSV.  Poor Boo.  They said he wasn't too bad, mostly just being observed overnight.  Since he's a Preemie, they don't mess around.   She wanted to know if I wanted to borrow Cole for the day.

Um, heck yeah!!

Cole arrived right before it was time for Jacob to go to school. 

Do you know that vintage Awesome shirt, used to belong to Eric and his brothers.   We're passing it down to the next generation.  And now it's Cole's favorite.  Doesn't matter that it barely fits him anymore, he doesn't care.  He's a goose. 

I offered him a snack at 10.  But he came up to me at 10:30 with this, and told me, "I need a spoon for my jar!"  Oh yeah, this kid fits into our family!   His cousin, uncle, Grandma, are all peanut butter addicts.  He comes by it honestly.   He was cracking me up.  We played Rescue Bots while watching Rescue Bots.  We watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.   Then we popped over to Trader Joe's where he enchanted everyone who saw him.  

Then it was time to go pick up Jacob from school. 

Jake's class wasn't ready, but Cole found some big kids playing, so he just grabbed a ball and joined right in. 

He thought Jacob's school was the Bee's Knees! 

Then Jacob got out of class, and the two of them took off riding tricycles.  

They had some energy to spend!

They were just the cutest things together in the car!

 I took the kids to Chick Fil-A where we met Eric for lunch after his back MRI.  As we pulled up, I got the biggest kick out of them saying Chick Fil-A.  So I recorded them saying it.  Jacob called it, "Chico Flay" and Cole called it, "Chief Away".  They kept trying to say it right, and practicing.  I hope they never quite get it, or at least, not for years.  This was too cute. 

Over and over and over again, they climbed up the tree tower at Chick Fil-A and came barreling down the slide, only to do it all over again.  They played so hard, and had a great time.  

This was my favorite picture. 

They held hands as we left the school.  But they were too fast for me to grab my phone, so when they did it again as we left Chick Fil-A.  That time I got the picture!   

Then we came home, and blissfully, everyone took a nice nap, Cole even slept longer than Jake and I.

Once they were awake and together, they had more energy to spend.  

They literally bounced all over the place.  

It was adorable, and I can't wait to do it again!

That one winter day was two

You know how every year we get that one winter day that it gets really warm?   This year it broke 60 degrees.  AND instead of just being one crazy day, it was 2.
What are the odds that we would get two days of 60 degree temperatures?!  In Indiana?!  In January?!
And my kids were so crazy, I was Mad enough to not leave the house.  I'm staying in today, I didn't even go to church.  The kids were up at 6, yelling and being all crazy.  I couldn't stand it.  By 8 I was over it.  So I stayed home, chilled out in the quiet.  Then I put them outdoors after lunch.  I figured it out.  They needed to run off some energy, I mean come on, it was 60 degrees outside all weekend!  So I let them go.  Some days kids just need to play.  Yesterday, I'd put Eric on bringing down the Christmas lights.  It's a rare day we get them down and put away before February.

It was a beautiful weekend for all three yahoos to break out all their scooters.  

Watch out!  It's Attack of the Sweetboys! 

This is my new favorite picture.  

And how groovy for them to be all sweet and stuff playing outside in January.  

I am not fast

It's Time to Catch up

No seriously, Jake and I are staying in this morning.  While he watches Big Hero 6 over my shoulder for the 4th time this week, I get some time on the computer.

This is my mantra. 

Baymax is my cartoon other half.  

So, I don't mind letting him have his own way, he's in underwear, he's dry.  He's getting better and better at going potty on his own.  He's a good boy.   I am however, going to try to catch up on Blogging.  No really, I am.

So I took this picture like two weeks ago, with the full intention of writing a post about my new year's goals.  But I just didn't get around to it.   Do you know what this is? It's a Fitbit.   

Aunt Teri gave me this on New Years'.  It was hers, and she had a couple accessory bracelets with it.  She had received a new fancier one for Christmas, and she thought I might like to try this.  

I'd never been one for counting my steps, frankly I don't use my phone or carry it around enough to have it do the counting, like Eric does.   And he'd gotten me a watch thing ages ago, but it didn't work for me.  E fixed it this past weekend, now he's using it, and figures, it works just fine for him, now that he tweaked it.  Anyway, so I started counting my steps.  

I started on the 3rd. I went about 5000 steps without any extra effort.  Hmmm... 

That got me thinking that the 10,000 steps most people are going for, was gonna take me a while.  

So I opted to set a goal that week of 6000 steps. And I met it! 

Then last week, I started scheming about our Spring Break trip.  We are hoping to go to Washington DC. So I looked up how many steps on average, someone walks while in Washington DC. 

17,000!

 I looked up on the calendar as to how many weeks there were going to be between Right That Moment and our Estimated Time of Departure.  So I figured out, if I increased my steps per week by 1000, then by the time we go to DC, we'll be at 17,000.   So I increased to 7000, and that wasn't too hard.  But this week, I'm up to 8000, and though I do take one day a week off, I'm starting to feel it.  

And though I haven't lost a ton of weight, I'm down 5 pounds so far this year, which is extra great, considering post surgery, and my sprained ankle, I haven't moved much since Summer, and pretty much gained almost everything back I'd lost last year.  It kind of stinks, but it truly does take exercise and a healthy diet to get fit.  

I'm working on that too.  This month, I'm leading a Ningxia Red challenge with some Young Living team members and crossline members, with my Gold leader Val.  I've hosted this class before, and I drink Ningxia Red every day.  But this year, all 5 of us are drinking it, every day.  And so far, so good.  We're staying healthy, and getting healthier every day! 

So if you are among those who are in this challenge with me, and reading this... Cheers! 

Borrowing a sweetboy

I got to borrow my nephew Cole today.  I did actually say hi to Bryce, who was being fed, and fussing when I arrived.  I thought I'd gotten a pic of the two boys together, but it didn't work.  Truly my purpose and joy today was to kidnap Cole.  He's been homebound, being stuck inside with a slightly high maintenance baby brother.  Oh my goodness, I know how that goes!  I don't think we left the house for more than Dr. appts for the first 5 months of Christopher's life.  Well, that's not true, there was one time, Amy invited us over, and let me take a nap.  It was the best nap I'd had in 4 months! I remember it well.  Anyway, so after I took Jacob to school, I tootled up to Fishers to borrow my freshly 3 year old nephew.

I had plans to take him to Chick Fil-A, and to go to the Car Wash.  But he greeted me in his pajamas, nearly knocking me down, saying "Aunt Cathy, I want to go to the Library with you!"   Um, OK.
Yes, Aunt Cathy is a big sucker for anyone who calls her Aunt Cathy, particularly if there is a hug accompanying it.  Whatever you want sweetheart.  I was just happy we were going on an Adventure together.

But my car was gross.  So I kidnapped him and we went to the Car Wash.  He wasn't a fan.  We were about halfway through, and he asked, Are we done now?   Can we be done?   By the time we pulled away, he was saying, that it had scared him... a little.  

Pretty brave boy.

And then we got to the library!  Turns out Fishers has a groovy library, with a nifty kids section.

I asked him to pick out a book. 

He was not interested, until I found a Batman book.  

Then we 'read' it, mostly, and he was up and off again.  

This was a cool contraption, it's attached by magnets to something like a magnetized white board, and he could roll these puffballs down the path he'd set up.  

We spent a lot of time at this contraption. 

It was pretty cool.  

Science!  Maybe he'll be an engineer.  We don't have one of those in the family yet.  

But we weren't able to stay long.  I had to zip him back to his mom's so I could hightail it back to the Burg to pick Jacob up at noon.  And as it turns out Fishers has a Lunch Rush Hour. It took me twice as long to get back to the Burg as it had to get up there.  I called and begged Eric to meet me, fetch Jake.  As a perk, we used the last of the petty cash and went out to China's Best Buffet for lunch together as soon as we grabbed Jacob.   

Psych Icepalooza

We expected an Ice Storm.  They kept saying we were going to get lots of ice.  I'd gone to the store and stocked up on stuff.  We had plans, but I cancelled them. Saturday morning we were supposed to have gymnastics.  Nope, Mama is not driving that far.  Saturday evening, it was the Scout Campout at the War Memorial - Night at the Museum.  Nope.  Not getting stranded downtown, thank you very much.
We got to stay home all weekend, mostly in our pajamas.  We watched the rest of Season 1 of Star Wars Rebels, which is the kids new favorite show, and we watch it for Family Movie Time and the kids played on their ipads, sanded and their painted a couple coats on their Pinewood Derby cars.

 And in general, it was awesome to just be home.  

Meeting Bryce

I got to hold my newest nephew tonight, and I am on a high.

I took only Jacob with me, because the big boys had a Scout thing.  But we'd gotten a message from Karl saying we could come by in small groups.  So I asked if it was ok for Jacob to meet him tonight. I brought Food.   Because there was no way I was going to but in, without at least feeding them.  It's so hard having a newborn, let alone a high maintenance one!
On the way up there, Jacob and I had a serious discussion.  Only Toes.  I didn't want him touching his face or hands.   He was surprisingly obedient. Before we even got there, he was chanting, "Boys don't touch Baby Bryce's face, only his toes. Mommies can touch his face."  He had gotten the main idea.

This was my first sight of him at home.  

He was Just finishing up a feeding.  He prefers to have his head on the side as he gets fed.   He drinks about half of it by bottle, then gets the rest dumped in via feeding tube.  When they first brought him home, it was taking them an hour and a half, because the tube was so tiny.  They upgraded shortly before I arrived, and the next feeding only took a half an hour.  Woohoo!  

I picked him up to hold him, and he had blown out his outfit.  Isn't that just like a baby?!

Aunt Cathy volunteered to burp and change a diaper. It's so much easier on a newborn than on full grown bottoms on big baby boys. 

Oh this face! He knew I was someone different.  And he was so curious, checking me out, lifting that giant melon and moving around to get a better look.  I'm in Love. 

This was my Favorite shot.  

As he was focusing on me, he worked so hard his eyes were crossing.  

Enchanting. 

Remember that one time, when Jacob and Cole actually got along, and played together? 

Yeah, it didn't last long.  But there for a moment they were getting along. 

It's tricky to take a selfie with all this Cuteness!

But I am one Proud Auntie! 

He reminds me so much of Christopher, so tough, with a strong will, yet at the same time, mellow and loving.  They have the same chin.  

Jacob had gotten distracted by Cole and his toys.  But eventually, he'd made it over to Bryce and I.  And he was very careful about only touching Bryce's feet.   

Bryce was practically asleep when Jacob got to him, and he was snoring.  Jacob said, "Baby Bryce snores!... and is crazy!" as he ran back to play some more with Cole.  It's true.  He snores like all my boys did, big snoochy snores like Eric.  He fits right into this family.  

 He probably has some nasal inflammation due to the feeding tube being threaded through his nose.  He keeps pulling it out, so they had to learn how to put it in.  But with Erica's medical background, she used to give Cardiac Stress Tests, and had some high maintenance patience.  Let me just say, she's a superchamp.  And Karl learned it first, he is rocking this whole gig.  They are such perfect parents for this child, God always knows exactly what He's doing.  

And Bryce, he fits right in.  

As Jacob says, he's Crazy.  Just like all of us.  He's so slick, he reaches back, gently puts his hand on his cheek, pretending he's gonna doze off, but then at the last second, BAM! He goes for the tube. Like he's gonna rub his cheek, or push hair out of his face (if he had any) and boom, grab the tube.  They've gotta be fast keeping an eye on this Sneaky Pete! 

Yes, he fits right in.

The Best Earrings for Flannel

My sister in law and I got to run away on Monday.   She recently had a baby, but my nephew Bryce has been in the NICU at Riley North.  She has been threatening to take me to a place, called Charming Charlie's.  She said I NEEDED to go.  For a couple years.   Then on Cole's Birthday Party on Friday, we were talking about Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream.  Turns out that 's her favorite flavor too, and there's a place called Grater's around the corner, that is her favorite.   She thought I needed to try that too.
I got the idea, that perhaps, as a distraction, we may need to take some Girl Time and run away to these places.   Too bad we never seem to have time, like say when husbands are around to watch kids.  Oh Wait!  It's Christmas Break, and our husbands were around to watch kids.  Bam!

So I drove up there and we ran away to Charming Charlie's.
Oh my goodness.  I love this place!  It's the Mecca of Accessories!  It was mostly artificial jewelry, but of a higher quality than say Claire's.   They also had some cute clothes, hats, scarves, purses.  All the Girly Things!   I'd forgotten how much fun it is to be girly.  Most of the time, I tend to refrain for lack of money.  But my parents had given me Christmas money, and I had yet to spend any of it on frivolity for myself.   So I had my budget and I went.  We spent two hours just moseying, shopping, looking at things, and most important of all... Laughing.

There were moments I laughed so hard my stomach hurt.  And it felt so good.  I mean, what new Mama doesn't need a Tiara or Mask?!

And when we left, I pulled out my bag, to put something on myself.  I had picked Erica up a birthday present when she admired a ring I thought would look stellar on her.   I gave it to her immediately when we got to the car, so I wouldn't forget.  And it looked Really Good on her!   So then I thought about which of my goodies would look best on me.   I asked, her, "Which earrings look best with flannel?"   It didn't occur to me before I said it how ridiculous that sounds.  I had dressed for shopping comfort not style.   And I was in jeans and flannel.  That saved me, I'm sure, for some crazy purchases.  Bling doesn't really work with flannel.

She laughed at me.  And I laughed.  And we laughed and laughed.  So hard my tummy hurt.
It was so good for both of us to laugh that hard.   When you're baby is in NICU,  you don't get a chance to laugh that hard, but it gave both of us all kinds of energy.  We had amazing ice cream for lunch, and yapped each other's ears off, and it was Wonderful.   We really should play more often.

And with that good news, we found out that Bryce may be coming home this week.  Sure, he'll still have his N/G tube, and Karl and Erica are going to have to learn how to put it back in, because he's so feisty that he keeps yanking on it.  But that's the Last Thing keeping him there.  Now he can come home and snuggle and grow big with his fam!   Best News!   And it means we'll be able to see him soon.  He's been in lockdown at the Hospital for 4 weeks, because RSV season started.  I can't wait to see him.  His face has filled out, he's got a little buddah belly, and he weighs just over 7 pounds, he looks more like Jacob than Cole now.  It does my heart such good.

Oh, and for the record, we decided gold hoops go best with flannel. ;)

Happy New Year!

To start the New Year off with a Bang, my Dad was able to get two extra tickets to the Colts Game on New Year's Day.  I got to go with Christopher on Thanksgiving and Eric had taken Sam to his First Football Game earlier in the season.  And now we had to choose again. I chose to take Sam, since it was his turn and I hadn't gotten to go with him.  Technically, it was Eric's turn to attend, but his back and legs have been acting up, and he just didn't feel like he could go that far.  It meant getting up at a reasonable hour, to be at Opa's by 10 am.  Oy.

But this kid has Spirit early in the morning on New Year's Day.  

As we were walking, my stepmom pointed out how cute my Dad and Sam were.  

I agreed.  It was a Perfect Day for a Football Game!  

We took this pic "with the football guy" on our way in. 

I posted it to Instagram, and tagged it with the hashtag for the game, #JaxVsIndyand by the time we were having lunch, it was being flashed over the big screen with some of the other pictures.   

Neither Sam or my Dad had ever made the big screen.  They thought it was really cool! 

My Dad took this pic of Sam and I before things got underway.  You can see that they were giving out T-shirts to everyone, they were laying on the seats.  It really was a sea of blue.  

I love these new T-shirts.  My Dad let Eric and I have 2!

Here's a pic I  took of my Dad, and I posted this one too. 

By the second half, it was showing up on the big screen.  

It was pretty Awesome to see him up there.  

He was thrilled, and I was proud.   

He doesn't do Instagram, but I do.  So I was happy to actually give this gift to him.

This ended up being my favorite picture of the game.  

Sam and I doing our "Make Some Noise" selfie.  

We're silly, but kind of fabulous.  

Sam got kind of bored by halftime, he was playing on his ipad.  We weren't doing well.  And he continued during the 3rd quarter.  But the team started was losing.  So we stopped, and they caught up.  He grabbed it again, and played into the 4th quarter, at which point, we tied it up.  But then Jax got the lead.   I made him put it down, and with a minute and a half, we plowed the field, and got the touchdown to win the game! It was the Best End of Game Ever!  I just wish the rest of the season could've been so awesome.  It was the last game of our season.