Happy Turkey Day & Blogging at 4:30am...

(best/only family pic from the day)

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Happy Thanksgiving!
We hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday. There is so much to be thankful for- our family, Brooks being amazing, healthy baby on the way, I could go on. We are very fortunate and had a wonderful holiday and yummy dinner if I do say so myself.
Although the holiday was great- the weekend was rough. I promise I am not always negative, but wow we can't catch a break lately. Thursday was a bit overwhelming since it was really the first holiday I have done all by myself without help- but it was great, exhausting, but fun & yummy. So we wake up freezing Friday morning- our thermostat blew. Great, call the HVAC, they come out- not only did our thermostat die, but apparently our circuit breaker was overloaded and charring/burning- aka: extreme electrical hazard. So Saturday we had emergency service- hard on the wallet and hard on us which means we were without heat and electricity all.day.long. But we were fortunate they could fit us in and get it done. Fast forward to Sunday- good day until B came down with a 103.2 fever which just escalated to 103.9 by Monday morning despite medicine. Now it is Tuesday at 4:35 am and I have been up with him for over 2 hrs. I think past a certain point he just became 'awake' and was not going back down. Right now he is happy (watching Baby Einstein as I type)- but we tried & cried (yes both of us) for almost 2 hrs to get him back down. Eric even came to help- probably b/c he heard me muttering since I was getting hit (B just wanted to get down and run and I wanted to sleep). Eric sleeps like the dead- so for him to hear while the monitor is off means it must have been loud.

So that is where we are right now- like I said, it has been a very tough few days. Hopefully whatever this bug is disappears ASAP b/c we have Santa plans later this week wtih Nana & Aunt Ali and I don't want to cancel.

PICTURES:
Thanksgiving. I don't have many pictures AT ALL from turkey day. In fact, once his shirt is washed I am going to put him back in it to get a pic. I spent most of the day in the kitchen prepping & cleaning so handed Eric the camera- but he's not into taking pics, he was distracted by playing with B and the nephews (no surprise there- I married a kid at heart).

6 months down, only 3 to go!



Table for 10!

Appetizers- waiting for people to arrive

my pretty, festive, mantle

Yummy turkey!


Eric's cache of pics from turkey day!

(that's not a white bra shining through- it's his jeans, that bugged me for a while until I realized LOL)


Hostessing with a toddler is HARD- he was into everything, everywhere and it was hard to keep an eye out.
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We had Grandma Barbara over for turkey day on Friday and B actually ate a Thanksgiving meal. On Thanksgiving itself he gorged on appetizers and ate a million pretzels so didn't eat much dinner. One thing I learned- the kid LOVES cranberries.



Here is our sicky baby relaxing with Ming... He never just 'sits' like this.



And my silly boys- the following is all courtesy of Eric LOL :)

YAWWWNNNNNN

Living up to his t-shirt :)




Not much to say this week, and sadly not many pictures. Last week was rough- and when I say rough, I mean hellish, terrible, and horrible. Why? Well apparently there was a gas leak 10 ft underground about 20 ft from our front door. This required emergency service by the gas company (totally understandable). However, this means that for all hours (and i mean ALL hours- 2 am, 4am, you name it) they were jackhammering apart the street directly outside of B's window. For days- DAYS!!! The poor kid did not get a good nap or full night's sleep from Sunday-Friday. It was awful. He was miserable. I was miserable. We were tired and cranky and it was just kind of survival mode week. It appears that on Friday they finally finished whatever the emergency part was and stopped working overnight (thank God!), but they are still out there bulldozing and paving. It should be done within a day or so.

On top of our street issues- B has been having some issues with Hives. This happened a month or so ago- B has been having weird hives/welts. I initially thought it was an allergic reaction, but it seems like they come up on his skin wherever he bumps/bruises himself. Or along his sock line, or on his face if I wipe it. So basically wherever an irritation occurs. I just don't know that an allergy would react that way. The hives take on the shape of the irritant too- for example, Ming paw'd him for some food, so her paw went down his face. She didn't hurt or scratch him, but he got hives that looked like scratch marks. And then of course there are random ones I don't know how go there but who knows. Ped doesn't have a clue- he is on benadryl and a wait and see prescription. I think I am going to go ahead and make an appt with both a dermatologist and an allergist to get him checked out. In the meantime I will be snapping pics to take along with me just in case he isn't having a flare up by the time the appointments come around.
The good news is- they bother me because I get worried, but he doesn't seem to notice or be bothered at all by them.

Hives: (this makes me want to cry)

hip & arm


arm


Ming's scratches! Don't be concerned- 2 hrs later his face was perfectly clear with not a single mark.




My loves


Jekyll & Hyde. Happy as can be one moment, then when he can't have what he wants (strawberries in this case- which yes are healthy and not normally denied, but dinner was in 5 minutes) it is a whole different story.




Ming needs to learn her place- B has no problem flopping on her while she is there though.


Update from last week- apparently the shopping cart is no longer the best place for the ziplocs. I have found this on MORE than one occassion.

A fresh cut...

Brooks got a haircut this past week! As I was updating the blog last week, and putting in the pictures from the fountain, I realized how scruffy he really was beginning to look. This time went worse than the first time- he cried the entire time and there wasn't even a buzzer. I think that is my fault for going before his nap rather than after- but it was not fun.


Once we got home and he napped, he was good as new. I tried to get a picture of the cut, but he was a complete ham.



Brooks has been into everything BUT his toys lately. And if he is playing with his toys- usually they are being put to a new use.

His favorite thing to do is stand on the chair- which he KNOWS he is not allowed to do, get my attention, and laugh about breaking the rules. Then he will sit down, and do it all over again.

Here he is using his toy broom to play peekaboo.


He found this bell in our hutch when he figured out how to open the cabinets and now loves to walk around ringing it. I also think he looks super handsome in this new shirt from Gap's sale rack and think I need to buy it in a bigger size for next year.





For some reason- the ziploc bags have become a favorite of his. He empties the box and carries them all over the house.



This is what happened when I asked him if he could clean up and put them away.






And in keeping with the theme, another fun thing to do is drag the toilet paper around. Not fun if you are left stranded in there!

"look mom, isn't this cool!?!"

"But I don't want to put it back"


"Fine, I'll put it back"





And of course- we always try to get outside for some fun and to break the day up :)

2 cribs & Neighborhood hangouts

So- I showed off B's big boy room in my last post- but since then we got a new crib delivered. I was really unsure of how it would fit in after all the furniture was in the room, but knew B couldn't go to that full bed right away (especially since it is set so high with the drawers underneath). So the only negative about the arrangement is that the nightstand is no longer next to the bed (it is between the bed and desk now), and I had to put the chest up against the window- but I actually think it still looks pretty good and most importantly, we preserved the floor space for play that was there. The crib matches everything very well- and it came with a crib mattress- however it is so soft that I need to get a new one for my peace of mind (the whole firmer the better because of SIDs concern and all)

You can scroll down to last week's post to compare if you want :)





In other news- Brooks is into everything still and learning every day. His newest thing is to give his stuffed animals hugs. I still don't get one- but hopefully they are on the way since he is learning how to give them.


He is OBSESSED with shoes- poor Eric's sneakers can be found all over the 2nd floor of our house because he takes them out of the closet (in pairs) and brings them places. My Uggs are too soft to resist and he likes wearing them- he gets mad if I don't help him put them on, then just giggles and giggles at his 'big' feet.



As I was snapping shoe pics- Ming came by- perfect example of how he tortures her and how tolerant she has been.


I bought B a big set of blocks and he loooves them. He is really into stacking them (clapping at himself after he gets each one on). Then he knocks them over and says boom (boop- he says this whenever something, including himself, falls)




It has been really chilly lately, but not to cold to get outside. We still go to the park a lot- but unfortunately for Ming, I have been bringing her less. There are a couple local moms with kids about the same age who go sometimes and we hang out while the babies play. And even when they are not there, Brooks is not content to stay in one spot and it is too hard to chase them both around the whole place.
Residents call this the 'rock' park because it has rock structures in the middle. B looves to play on them.



Like I said- Brooks is not content to stay- he likes to leave the park and walk down the sidewalk to who knows where. This is also teh age of tantrums, and man can he throw them. These pictures were taken right after I stopped him from leaving the park and brought him back to our little car that we ride around in in lieu of a stroller.





And we also hang out at 'the fountain'. If you have ever been to teh Franklin Institute you have seen the fountain across the way- this is a couple blocks away from us and B LOOOVES to watch the fountain. We went there with the dog and daddy

Looking at the water



Chilling in front of the Franklin Institute