Thursday, December 27, 2012

How it All Turned Out

So my last post was a little busy, but I couldn't choose from all my favorite pictures and not have a 4 page blog post.  Christmas was fun this year...remember we had Christmas with a Twist?  It was all revealed to us on Christmas Eve when my sister and fam were going to be with us.  To reveal, we just went around and guessed who we thought had ours.  If you got it right, you got your present.  I don't think anyone but Justin got it right on the first go round. It ended up being:

Emily -> Justin from Harbor Freight
Clint -> my Dad from Dick's Sporting Goods
Justin -> Clint from Academy
Erin -> my Mom from TJ Maxx
Bob/Dad -> Erin from Home Depot
Darla/Mom -> Emily from Bath & Body Works

It actually turned out really well and everyone did a great job with their gift buying.  My dad got me this:


I love it!  I have it on my table right now but I might move it to my fireplace hearth and add some sticks or something...I need to search Pinterest for some fun ideas!

My grandparents are here from Indiana and we have been spending some time with them. They came to our house for dinner last night and we had a good time hosting them!

Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and are enjoying some good family time.  I have a feeling we'll be going to spend Haylie's Christmas money on a Mickey Mouse - since Santa failed and only brought Minnie. :)

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Christmas 2012


We had lots of fun with the Peterson gang this Christmas!  With love, from our family to yours.

Saturday, December 22, 2012

Christmas - Full Swing

We have been busy this holiday season.  We've gone to see lights, Santa, and have done lots of shopping.  Last Saturday, we went with the cousins to visit our friend Allison and the new Devon building (the realllllly tall one that doesn't even fit in my picture) for some more holiday cheer.


It was a beautiful day and we got to enjoy a little of Bricktown as well.  I love OKC and wish I spent more time downtown.

We've also had Christmas parties, been baking for neighbors and our mailman, mailed Christmas cards and done some wrapping!


The blue dress was made by my Gramma Peterson for my cousins girls who then passed it down to Haylie.  It looks adorable!



Jace has also been around for all of this but he mostly is working on feeling better.  His top teeth are coming through and I think we are mostly done with feeling poorly.  His spirits are so much brighter (except when he has to eat veggies) and I like being around him now!



And Miss Priss is now onto Phase 3 of her "loves."  First it was Elmo, then Dora (kind of still is) but now we have a new obsession.  Minnie Mouse.  She keeps asking to go to Target or Walmart to go get Minnie.  I told her that she needed to wait because Santa might bring it to her...



And thankfully, Santa knew right where to go.  Yup.  To Walmart.

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Hand-deer hat

Since this week we are home recovering from RSV (both kids) and an ear infection (Haylie), we have had lots of time to be together.  Which is wonderful - except this was a busy week full of errands, activities and Christmas shopping.  Ohhh well.  Life goes on.

So today instead of trying to entertain my kids by doing chores, I let Haylie get a little crafty.  I looked up on Pinterest a quick, easy craft and lo and behold we made this:


It's a reindeer hat..but she calls it a "hand-deer hat."  Fitting.

Then she was itching to paint so we decorated some Christmas trees made from construction paper.





She did a really great job! 

And this picture-gem is just for fun...because he is napping off his cranky-ness. 

 

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Photography Lessons

We got a new digital SLR camera and I'm still trying to figure out how the dang thing works.  We went to a Christmas parade the other night and about every other photo would take.  I guess I need to spend some QT with the manual...

So I was playing around with it the other day (using it for Jace's 10 month pics) and got some other gems.

This kid needs a hairbrush.  And some chapstick.  And maybe some tweezers...Pronto.
(but she is still beautiful.)



She LOVES her daddy. Super excited to watch him through the window, wishing she could be out helping.



Our furry child.  Love her, even though we had a recent scare of fleas.  All is right in the world again and she is still my sweet kitty.


And I couldn't resist one more of my Jacers.  


So, anyone want to come teach me how to use our camera?  I still have a long way to go.

Please and thanks.

Monday, December 10, 2012

10 months old and counting...

12.2.12 Jace turned 10 months!



Oh Jace.  Not only did he just survive a crazy rash, I also noticed that he has 4 (yes, 4) teeth about to pop through on the top.  I knew he was teething pretty bad but was not expecting a whole mouthful of teeth at once.  Since this is happening, he is just...well...cranky.  He does have good moments but most of the time he just doesn't like you. Or his position in life.

But we are making big changes!  With his teeth also comes pushing himself all around the floor.  He may go backwards, he may be crying the whole time, but he is moving. His appetite has changed a little in that he only eats a little bit and likes soft foods...but who can blame him? He really is into playing - with anything he can touch, pull, etc.  His hands are everywhere!  Haylie doesn't like his new interest in things (*her things*) and yells, "No Sir!" at him about 30 times a day.  Well, can't blame her for trying to be polite...but that often lends itself to a talk about sharing, or not putting your stuff in his face, or just leave him alone.  Oh, the joys of being a sibling.

In two short months I won't have a baby anymore.  Bring it on!

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

3 Going on 10

12.1.12.  Haylie turned the big 3.


I have been planning this party for awhile since I *thought* it was going to be cold and needed to find a place indoors for the gobs of friends she wanted to invite.  I didn't know it was going to be 75 degrees in December.  So we got our name on the calendar for Unpluggits back in September. 


We started the morning with a cupcake breakfast and opening of presents.  This girl was pretty excited.



Then we hauled it to the store to get balloons (party favors) and then to the place to set up.


So far this was the easiest party I've done - especially since I didn't have to clean my house.

Jace got to hang out with Mimi & Umpy for most of the party...until he was about to pass out from sleepiness.


Haylie and her friends played for awhile, then we ate cupcakes and snacks and then opened presents!


Unpluggits is great.  There is a huge room of indoor play equipment, with other things like a pirate ship with plastic balls, an air hockey table, sand table, a smaller play area for toddlers, etc.  Lots to do!

Then out in the main room, there is play-doh, painting, foosball, crafting, etc.  You could be busy for hours.


 Do you remember the Bible Study babies?  Yes, we get them together every once in awhile.  It's getting harder to do, but I truly love that we can see all 4 of these kids grow together.

Haylie and her friends - she had a blast with each of them!  Glad they all came...thanks for helping us celebrate our sweet little girl...who keeps asking when she'll be 10.  *sigh*

Sunday, December 2, 2012

The Rash Attacks

Remember when Jace got an ear infection over Thanksgiving and we started him on antibiotics?  Well, that antibiotic was amoxicillin and we started him on that Friday- 11/23.  We gave it to him twice a day for about 5 days.  He started acting much better the day after his first two doses and kept getting better...until he just started to decline in his attitude again.  I was starting to wonder if the meds weren't working for some reason.

Wednesday night, 11/28, I saw a faint rash on his back and tummy.  I was a little nervous about it and even asked a friend (who is a pediatrician)  at church what she thought it was.  She asked me if I had given him anything new and at that point  - no, I hadn't.  Didn't think about the medicine he was on since he had been on it for almost a week!

The next day, I go get him from his bed since he is sobbing and this is what I find...

Face, body, arms, legs, ears, head...you name it, it was covered in a red rash.  I freaked out and called Justin crying.  Then I emailed Jace's doctor with these pictures...not knowing what the heck it was!  Then I came to my senses and had to send him a second email telling him that Jace was on the amoxicillin. 

Our doctor is awesome and emailed me right back.  Said it was an allergic reaction to the drug and to stop it immediately.  Thankfully I had forgotten to give it to him the night before!



Since I thought Jace still might have an ear infection, I asked for an appointment that morning and got in an hour later.



At this point, the rash was at it's worst.  Jace screamed the entire appointment, but he was given a steroid shot and we were on our miserable way.

He slept hard from about 10 am - 1:30 pm.  Then he woke up...still miserable.  Gave him some Benadryl and tried to get him happy.  He just wasn't. The rest of the day I have no idea what happened because I was trying to get him to fall asleep or eat or just be calm.  He was miserable - I was exhausted.  So thankful Justin came home when he did. We gave Jace a bath and put him to bed.  We hoped we were in the clear.  About 10pm, Jace woke up screaming and we tried to calm him down...for the rest of the night until about 1am was him falling asleep in our arms, waking up immediately and squirming, crying & fighting against us. Finally I grabbed him and put him in the car so we could drive around Oklahoma City for awhile.  Convinced he was asleep, I drove home and he fell asleep back in his crib. About an hour later, he woke up again screaming and acting crazy again.  I wanted to cry - I was just so exhausted.  We wrestled with him again and finally gave him some Tylenol.  About 3:45 am is when he finally calmed down and about 4 is when he fell back asleep in his crib.  

I'm not sure how Justin functioned the next day.  Haylie woke up at some point that morning and I let her watch Dora in bed with me until Jace woke up around 9:30.  Ugh.

He looked a little better, but still had lots of red spots on him...and it seemed like they were spreading out all over him.  But he didn't seem to mind the rash as much.



On Saturday, he looked MUCH better and on Sunday you could barely tell he just had a major rash attack.

It was just a sickening experience.  We knew there was a possibility that he could be allergic with him never taking this drug before, but never thought it would take almost 5 days to see the reaction.  I am thankful our doctor ROCKS and is so responsive. I am thankful nothing serious happened to my baby boy and we only had one rough night. But most of all, I'm thankful he is feeling so much better and his skin looks normal again.

And now we know never to give him any type of penicillin again.  Because neither one of us can handle it!

Thanksgiving

I'm more than a week behind, but I still want to document Thanksgiving.  We took a roadtrip to Missouri to see Justin's family.  The ride there was crazy for the first 4 hours.  Jace would not stop crying and acting cranky so I finally climbed in the back to try to keep him happy and ended up with major car sickness.  Didn't throw up but wanted to.  I was never so happy as to get to Emporia, KS so we could have a pit stop.  After that he finally fell asleep so it was smooth sailing for the next 3 or so hours.
Thanksgiving Day:

Haylie wanted to help make a cherry pie.

A rare smile from Jace on this day...he was not very happy.



The boy cousins!


If you thought H looked like Justin...


Ok, I lied.  Another happy picture of Jace - but only because he is eating.

Friday was a busy day.  Jace was acting weird...not normal, screaming a lot.  After Justin *tried* to look at his ears and was unsuccessful since Jace FREAKED out, we went to see a friend who was an ENT to get Jace's ears checked out.  Quick (screaming) check later and it was confirmed that his ear looked concerning and likely to have an ear infection.  Poor baby - no wonder he was screaming - he was in pain!  So a quick trip to get some antibiotics and we felt like we were set.  Next day, he seemed so much better!  I had my baby back.  Or so I thought...

The rest of the trip was fun!  We celebrated Christmas with the fam since we wouldn't see them again until 2013!  It was a great, relaxing weekend. Lots to be thankful for!