The Happenings

So...what's been going on around here?  Hannah has been practicing sewing...sort of.  She's been weaving the string to our blinds in and out of the afghan my grandma made her. 

Nicole has been doing a lot of this lately.

I scared her for life a few year ago when burnt toast set off our smoke detectors.  Then, a few weeks ago, she had just fallen asleep at Gramps' house when his smoke detectors started beeping for a batter change.  She woke up screaming...and shaking in fear.  She is terrified of all things loud and/or beepy.  Lately she's been seen with her ears covered, in anticipation of another smoke detector going off.  We have had many...many talks (including from a fire man) about how smoke detectors are good...but it's not helped yet.  So, for now...she has her ears covered.

And, the girls were caught playing in the pack n play a few days ago.  Nate was a bit confused when he saw them in there.  They were having a great time together though.  I love to watch my children play together.

Nathan's first birthday party

Noooo....it's not really his birthday, yet....but because of the how busy the next few days are, we celebrated his birthday tonight.

Both grandpas were out of town, so we had Yaya and Mimi, Grammy, and of course The Hale family over to celebrate Nate's first birthday.

Sweet little London.  She is 14 months.

While hamburgers and hotdogs were on the grill, we hung out by the fire and on the swing set.

Nicole enjoyed coloring outside

After dinner, we opened gifts.  Since I was sitting behind Nathan, I couldn't see his face, and didn't realize how much fun he was having.

The "big" kids were into it as well (actually...they kept trying to take the toys away from Nate)

Nathan and mommy with all of his loot:)

Of course, the big moment came...the birthday cake!  He was a slow start...but he came through with a messy face.

Notice the piece of cake flying to the floor on the left.  He started throwing the pieces that didn't have icing left on them.

Of course, like his mommy..he had to make sure he go ALL of the cake and lick the plate clean.

We had a fun evening of celebrating Nate's first year.  We look forward to many many more years of celebration.

Hair in a place it doesn't belong

***UPDATED AT THE BOTTOM***

Did you know

That a piece of Hair

Could do 

THIS!!!!

I spent 6 hours today between the pediatrian's office and the ER trying to get whatever what wrapped about Nathan's toe, cut off.  What we are assuming was hair, was found this morning about 11am.  I went to the Dr. office after I couldn't get the hair cut...even with the help of Valerie.  The doctor was able to get a portion of it off, but it broke, while there was still a piece wrapped around his toe.
So, she told us we needed to go the Emergency Room, because they would have more tools available to help cut the hair out. Poor little Nate.

The hair was wound SO tight...it was SO deeply embedded in his skin, his toe was SO super swollen that it took 4 tries, 5 hours, countless tears...and we still are not 100% sure that the hair is gone.  We left the ER around 6:00 and decided to watch his toe tonight and see how it looked in the morning. We are hoping that the swelling will go down and his skin color will return to normal.  If the swelling is worse and his color is still really red, then I'll have to take him to another doctor.

Crazy...isn't it?  I seriously NEVER knew this could be such a difficult thing to fix!  I am almost positive that we got the hair the last time the doctor worked on it this afternoon.  His toe looked much better just before bed time...however...I found another piece of hair starting to wrap it's way around.  Obviously, I got that one removed...but it's crazy.  That's the only word I can think of...crazy!

***Update***
I feel like Nathan's toe is better this morning.  He has a laceration around his toe from the hair and from the hair removal process.  But, I don't think there is anymore hair wrapped around his toe.  His color looks better and although it is still swollen...it looks like it is decreasing.  He has let me touch his toe today without screaming and he is playing, crawling, and standing just fine.  Whew....what a crazy day!

This picture was this morning in the car.  I feel like the picture makes it look worse than it is.  But, oh well....it's still better than it was.

Six....five and under

Jeremy's friend Bryan is helping Jeremy this week...in a BIG way!  Jeremy hurt something playing softball Monday night.  We think he either tore a rib ligament (the same injury at Michael Vick), or that he very badly pulled an oblique muscle.  It's been difficult for him to lift heavy items, twist his body and do some typical work he does every day.  So...he asked his friend Bryan to help at work (because there were several large item installations this week, including a very large and heavy screen). 

However, Bryan needed someone to watch his children while he worked.  I am always looking for ways I can serve my husband...and this was probably one of the biggest things I could have done for him in a long long time.  So...today and tomorrow, my house and hands are full. And, do you know what....we actually had a lot of fun today!

I had Peyton who is 5
Nicole who is 4
Caulder who is 3 1/2,
Hannah who is 2 1/2,
London who is 1
and Nathan who is almost 1.

Yep...6 very energetic, but smart and sweet children all under one roof all day long (OK, Peyton is at pre-school until 11:30).



Today went W.A.Y. better than I expected it to.  We really had a great time.  We went for a bike ride/walk in the park, we ate lunch,

played with slime,

took naps (can you believe that I had 5 of the six asleep or resting all at the same time????),



did some Thanksgiving crafts,




 (Yep...they made these turkeys out of candy...aren't they cute?  They were pretty hard and required a lot of help.  I would say this is an age 7 and older craft)

and played outside.  We watched 5 minutes of TV just before Bryan came.  Woohoo!  We made it!

Now, for day #2.  I hope everyone (including myself) is in the same great mood today as they were yesterday.

Funny pictures

I was looking for a specific picture tonight and I stumbled upon these two funny ones of Nathan.

This was just after he was born.  I don't remember seeing this picture before...isn't it funny?

And, I love this one because it is pre-teeth...and I just love "gummy" smiles.

"I am Thankful for..." Turkeys

This morning, we made Thankfulness turkeys.  Nicole did hers almost entirely by herself.  I drew a few of the shapes but she did all the cutting and glueing (um, when did my baby get big enough to be able to cut REAL shapes and designs?  Oh...yesterday, she was outside playing with a neighbor, and she told me I could go inside because I didn't need to watch her.  Um...no no little one.  You are still to young to be through with me:-)

Hannah did some of the cutting, and most of the gluing.  Obviously, i wrote what they were thankful for.  Did you notice that Candy was one of the things that Hannah is thankful for....cute!  And Crayons too, and the alphabet and her food. 

I was so overjoyed when the first thing out of both of their mouths was "That Jesus Loves me" OK...it was the first thing out of Nicole's mouth, and I'm pretty sure Hannah just copied Nicole.

This is Nicole's turkey.  She is thankful for her friend Alex, her doggies and that God made the world...and of course for each member of her family.  Sweet girl.

Hannah's friend

This is one of Hannah's very own friends.  Her name is Aleya, isn't she adorable!

These two look forward to playing together at church on Sundays and during MOPS.  They have similar personalities and dispositions.