Case of the Sickies

Teething is not good in our house. When Case cuts teeth, he ALWAYS cuts two at a time, gets snotty and congested, acts ill for a minimum of three days, and spikes a fever. Pair teething with five shots at his one year check-up last week, and you have TROUBLE!!! Matt was off work Wednesday and Thursday with Case, and I was off work on Friday. We both agreed that we would have preferred to have been at work! Case was that ill! He finally began feeling better on Saturday, but he still had bouts of Dr. Jekyll and Baby Hyde all day. The kids and I stayed home from church over the weekend ( I could just see Case rubbing his snotty nose all over the purple pews before I could get to him), and Matt went Saturday and Sunday nights.

Saturday evening, when Case was being Dr. Jekyll, Matt and I gave he and Kennedy a bath. Case suddenly loves to get in the garden tub with Sissy. He plays with her foam Barbie surfboards. He also smacks Kennedy's shoulders and back, which I find quite amusing, knowing all of the times she has tormented him by taking away his toys.

Look at that sweet face. We took pictures of Kennedy too, but I didn't think they were appropriate since she is six.

Here he is all dolled up after the bath. He walks ALL of the time, and his favorite game is Hide and Seek!

Case is headed back to daycare tomorrow. Please say a prayer that his congestion fades quickly. He can hardly even drink his juice or bottle. It's times like these that we have to lean on the Lord, and count our blessings! Case could be so much worse. Now if only he would cut six teeth instead of two at a time....

What's Gray and Red and Soon to be Recycled?

It's not a can of Coke!!!

It's Matt's 1992 Dodge Dakota, aka Kody (We name ALL family vehicles.). Matt inherited Kody from his dad back around the time we got married. When we got married, I drove an '88 Toyota Camry, so the Dakota was the good vehicle. I even started driving it when I was expecting Kennedy, until we got the 4Runner (aka Runell) when Kennedy was just about a year old.

Over the last few years, Kody has seen some rough days. Matt and I decided we should probably take advantage of the Clunkers for Cash rebate, seeing as though we would NEVER get that much money towards a regular trade-in. Have you seen Kody? Please, allow me to share some of his features.

Do you see that nice dent at the tail? That's courtesy of moi! As far as the body goes, that is the only bang that I can think of. Now, the transmission, that's a different story!

Check out those seats! How do you like the white thread? How about the holes? You can't even see the best feature of the seats: the specks of lint that stick to your clothes after sitting!

This is the back of the seat. The headrests looked so bad that Matt took them off a few years ago!

The steering wheel had some sort of sticky substance on it. I had to drive Kody to work one day a few weeks ago, and I steered with my palms, not letting my fingers touch the wheel!

How do you like the wood panelling?

So, now you may be asking, what is Matt driving these days and how could a newer vehicle ever live up to Kody's standards? I will share pictures of his new ride later (it was raining today when I went to take pics), but here's the odometer when he picked it up from the dealership.

How do you like that?

I am so glad that my Hub has a nice, safe vehicle to drive. Case is now in the backseat, and I don't have to worry about Kody dying while they are headed up or down Monte Sano!!!

Bug's First Day of First Grade

Kennedy began first grade on August 10! I can not believe how much she has grown! When she started kindergarten last year, she was still the only child (Case was born two day later.). She has matured so much since last year at this time. Kennedy has a great teacher, and I get so excited each time that I see her during the day. I love my job, and I love working, but I do miss my babies for sure, so when I get to hug her and talk to her, it makes me SO happy! As a first grade teacher, I know how much those sweet babies mature and grow up over the course of first grade, so it's breaking my heart daily to realize that by the end of first grade Kennedy is going to be half grown (not really, but it seems that way). Kennedy is a good first grade reader. She should be reading way higher than she is, but it's just not her thing. She's an artist who prefers to listen to Mommy read than to read for herself! Kennedy is definitely a pleaser at school. She is a terrific writer, and she's a friend to everyone! After reading a book last week, her teacher told the class to write about a time they were worried. Kennedy wrote (to the best of my memory) I was worried insiners win I askt Leah for help becos Ms. O'Connor said nottodothat. That was her invented spelling! I love invented spelling!!!! Parents get worried about that, but it shows that children are practicing their phonics skills! Now, if they're still spelling that way in fourth grade.... It's been a challenge to get homework completed because we forget about it. She has done homework at church and in the morning before school! At least it's getting done before it's due. Here are some pictures from the big day.

Matt always reports late to work on Kennedy's first day of school, so every year he has on scrubs in the pictures! haha

How cute are these faces!?!

Kennedy and her First Grade Teacher

A Day at Sci-Quest

A few weeks before school started, I took Kennedy and her friend E to Sci-Quest. They loved the play house! I did not so much love the price. I've been before, but it was on a school field trip, so I went for free. I did try to get in this time for free with my teacher ID, but they refused. I was baffled by the facts that they charge more for adults than for children and that there was a donation box by the exit door. I just donated $25! Trust me, we did not use or destroy anything that added up to $25, so they definitely made a profit off of our visit! Overall, I think Sci-Quest is geared towards children over 8 or 9, so we'll visit EarlyWorks next time. Kennedy has always loved going there, though I got tired of it the year we bought the membership. I think our most fun part of the day at Sci-Quest was going to the McDonald's on Whitesburg and going through their treehouse. Yes, I even crawled through there with Case!

Happy 1st Birthday, Case

It seems like just yesterday that our boy was born, but he is now a toddling one year old!  Case was born on 08-08-08 at 5:08 pm!  He was born on what would have been his great Mawmaw's birthday.  For the last month of the pregnancy (and even during labor) the docs kept saying that he would be an 8 pound baby.  When he was FINALLY born and put on my chest, I remember thinking, "This is 8 pounds?"  Case was only 6 pounds, 13 ounces!  He was a tiny fellow and SO beautiful!  He and Kennedy were the most beautiful newborns ever !  I'm not partial or anything!  We could not get enough of holding him and just staring at this beautiful creature that God had entrusted to us.  How fortunate we are!  

It seems as though it has been a whirlwind year, but all of the ups and downs have been times of growth for all of us.  Kennedy has matured into such a doting (sometimes jealous) big sister. Matt and I have relished our new roles as parents to a boy.  I even like (nay, love) dinosaur stuff now!  When Case yells "Omm Omm" it makes every dirty diaper, every new tooth, every cholicy fit, every tear worth all of the heartache.  No doubt there has been MUCH more JOY than heartache in our home since Case has arrived, and we so thankful for that!  Case suits our family perfectly.  We can not even imagine life without him!  

We had family, cake, and ice cream for his party.  He refused to take his early nap, so the birthday boy was quite ill during the party.  He did not feed himself any cake.  We'll have to try again next year.  Case also did not open any presents.  Kennedy got to open them, which made her happy!  Case got several new toys that he seems to love!We can't wait for the joys ahead in the next year!

      

Case's True Birthday

I've always loved this picture of me holding his sleeping body in the air.

Case's First Birthday

It was a dinosaur theme.  The decorations said, "The Big 1."

Case and Omm Omm

Case and Daaa

Case walking to Pawpaw.