3/12 - Eli's surgery & a b-day party

It's been a busy week. We'll see how this blog turns out because blogger has re-done all their controls and it's taking some adjustment on my part. I tried coloring with Eli last Sunday but he thinks he has to put everything in his mouth (including markers). I didn't really have that problem with Aiden. I don't color with Eli much because it's no fun because he doesn't listen. I'm trying to do better though and not get so irritated with him.

Aiden decided to play on his big paper where Brad and I have drawn roads and gas stations for him.

We've been doing pretty well lately. Eli's ears have really been hurting him so I was so excited to get his surgery done. Aiden has also been having ear trouble and is feeling pretty yucky too.

We got a diaper shipment a few days ago and the boys are still playing with the boxes and the giant roll of paper in the box. I can truly see how a giant cardboard box would be the best present ever!

Little Eli is such a stinker. He knows he's not supposed to be on this table and I found him like this a few days ago. He loves to test me and push my buttons. I promptly corrected him .... after I took his picture.

Thursday morning was Eli's surgery. Our friend, Crystal, came over at 5:00am to be at the house for when Aiden woke up. Eli and I left at 5:20am. It was yucky and raining. I thought Eli would sleep in the car but he was giving me devilish smiles instead.

We got checked in okay and Eli was the first patient scheduled for the morning. We mainly did a lot of waiting. Everyone was really nice and they were very safe about making sure he was healthy enough for the surgery. He was pretty tired from getting woken up so early.

Once we got the pre-op, he was starting to wake up more and was trying to get in to the cabinet of stuff. Thankfully it was locked!

The actual surgery was really short. They let me walk him back to the OR area and right before we got to the room, I had to hand him off to one of the anesthesiologists. He got to take his blanket and paci with him. The dr came on got me about 25 min later. He said his ears were really bad and full of thick yucky stuff. He instructed me about the drops I needed to use and took me to the room. Eli did NOT like waking up. He cried for about 30 min straight. They had him on oxygen to try and get the gases out of his system but he was fighting being groggy and wanted to try and move around. After he finally calmed down some, they took us back upstairs to our room. The requirements were he had to eat and drink before we could leave. He drank some downstairs but wanted nothing to do with food.

It's amazing how right Eli can be about his body when he's still so small. The reason he didn't want food was because he tummy was upset. After he vomited all over himself and me twice, he felt much better and eventually ate and drank some more water. We were home by 10:30am. I picked up Aiden and Crystal and we all went to chik-fil-a for lunch. Eli was running around having a blast. I could already tell his ears were feeling better. He ate a ton of food too.

Eli is walking a ton better and I'm so glad we didn't do the MRI because I think it was his ears that were messing up his balance so much. He's been SO SO SO much happier. I love it.

This afternoon we got to go to Blaise's 1st birthday party (Blaise is son of my friend, Stephanie). He's so cute. The kids had fun playing in the tunnels and houses. 

Aiden even found it pretty funny to let Blaise pin him down. I wish he was this nice with Eli! :)

I got a picture tonight with Stephanie and myself too. I know Brad says I always post pictures of the kids and none of me .... here's to you Bradley. :) I've been so blessed to have Stephanie as a friend.

Eli ended the night by trying on Blaise's birthday present of a cowboy hat and boots. It was too funny to try and watch him walk in those. The boys had a great time tonight and so did I. 

This week is kinda of busy. Aiden has a doctor appt on Tues morning but he keeps asking to go earlier because he ears hurt so much. On Thursday, my mom and dad come in to town so I can go to the Ladies Retreat for church.

3/5 - Papa is gone

On Thursday, I took Aiden to daycare and then Eli had his pre-op. It was actually pretty fast so I took him to daycare too. When I picked them up in the afternoon, we drove into the driveway to papa playing with the little girl 2 houses down. It was too funny.

Obviously the boys wanted to get out of the van and play too. They blew bubbles from the back of Brad's truck. Eli tried to drink the bubbles and got pretty messy. He didn't like the taste of the bubbles either.
The even played with sidewalk chalk too. It was a great distraction and play time for the boys so that I could make some tacos. I realize I actually like cooking dinner but it's too hard when I'm by myself and the kids are cranky in the early evening. It was great to have papa to play with them.
Papa had to of known he was going to be playing lots of trains. If anyone comes to visit, you must be warned: train playing is required! Aiden had a blast playing trains with someone rather than by himself.

Eli was being a little goof-ball at breakfast on Friday. This is him smiling!

On Friday, I had to take Aiden to the doctor. We found out he has an ear infection too. He got some medicine and then we hurried home to get some lunch. Eli had fun playing with the binoculars. He actually uses them better than big brother, who insists on using them backwards and seeing things really small.

On Friday afternoon, we went to a local park and fed the ducks. The boys had a blast.

They also got to play on the playground for a bit.

The boys were running around naked last night and they were willing to give papa some loving. Eli wasn't ready to have a picture taken without his paci since it was getting close to his bedtime.

This morning the boys had fun with boxes. Yes, empty boxes. They sat inside and papa pushed them around. They were loving it and laughing. They were even willing to take turn and let papa "park" their box while he pushed the other one around.

Papa got to enjoy Gymboree this morning. The boys had fun as usual. It was a new set-up this week so it was extra fun. Aiden was instantly attracted to the mountain as he called it. Under the picture is also a video of Aiden climbing up the mountain. You can't see the video if you are viewing this as a note in facebook so you'll have to go to the direct website at: http://thehoytfamilyhappenings.blogspot.com.

Papa helped out and is rolling Aiden down a cheese mat. Eli totally loved rolling down the mat and kept going back to do it.
In this last Gymboree picture, Papa was helping Eli on the rocking horse.
The receptionist snapped a pictures of all of us before we left. The boys didn't really want to participate because they wanted their snack but it's still a pretty good picture.

We went to get my oil changed and tires rotated and walked over to Pizza Hut for an early lunch. The boys had fun. Aiden didn't eat anything really because he doesn't like pizza but Eli loved everything. That includes papa's pizza with green peppers and mushrooms. The video I included is Eli being a little stinker and trying to not let me take his picture. He was moving the picture book in his hand in front of where the camera goes.

Once we got home, I put the boys down and then my dad left for St. Pete. It was a great visit with him and the boys had a blast with him. He helped out so much around the house with cleaning the awnings, pressure washing our back patio, taking care of the grass and trimming, and even washing the cars. After the boys woke up from naps we went outside to play and enjoy the nice weather. Eli enjoyed eating chalk and Aiden somehow got all the neighborhood kids to push him around in the stroller or wagon.
They did get a surprise. The ice cream truck drove down our block and the neighbor bought ice cream for all the kids. It was sweet of him. Aiden and Eli shared a banana popsicle. They loved it.

While I was bathing Eli tonight, Aiden decided to put all his blankets in the box and then sit on them to watch Berenstain bears. We got to skype with both grandparents tonight so that was fun too.

I enjoyed having my dad here. He was fun company and I already miss him. I did nothing useful tonight except to post to the blog. There's always hoping I accomplish more tomorrow night.

2/2 - Eli's ears & Papa comes

Eli has had a rough weekend with lots of crying which is why there aren't too many pictures of him right now. He's been throwing himself around and throwing tantrums that are worthy of an oscar. I took him to the dr last Thur and she said his ears looked okay so I've just been really frustrated with him.

On Monday, I met my friend Stephanie at the Museum of Science and History. It was our first time there and Aiden very much enjoyed it. He's a sponge and loves learning. I left Eli at daycare because he's been so unhappy lately that I didn't want him to ruin our time.

They had a really neat play area (we are in the tree house in the first picture) and a water table with all sorts of toys too. It was pretty neat.
After a while inside, we went outside and found a spot on the river to have a picnic. It was a beautiful day and we sat by the river. We were also blessed with an awesome phone call about scheduling Eli's ear tube surgery for next week and train that came over a bridge pretty close to us.
Aiden had a blast at the museum and the picnic outside was perfect. Being a bad mommy, I completely didn't have a drink for Eli so he got *gasp* a sip of my soda and LOVED it as you can see.

Eli has had more trouble with his ears so on Tuesday morning I took him to the doctor. She said his ears looked pretty bad and gave him some antibiotics. She's very glad they are going to be doing the surgery soon. She actually works up on the pediatric floor the day the surgery is going to happen so she's going to try and stop by. Also on Tuesday, papa come to join us in the late afternoon. When I came home from daycare with the boys, he was there. It was great to see him again.

Today Aiden stayed home while Eli went to daycare. I went to bible study in the morning and my dad watched Aiden. They had a blast and played lots of trains. They then went on a search outside for a loose cat that Aiden said was "my cat." My dad wasn't sure (and it does look like Twix) so they went searching. Twix is safe at home and stray cat got a laugh watching them look for it. I did some work after Aiden woke up from his nap and the boys continued to play. Aiden got a treat to play Candyland with papa. We then went to the library and got new books and then picked up Eli and went to dinner.

We went to Chik-fil-a tonight for dinner. We let the boys play for a bit at first. There were lots of big kids in there making lots of noise and going up the slide. I said a few things to them and some of them left because they didn't like me telling them no yelling and to go down the slide. It amazes me that parents let their big kids go in there and go crazy when the sign clearly says ages 3 and under. I don't have a problem with older kids in there if they behave but goodness, that's not what happens usually.

The boys are really enjoying papa visiting and I think he's having fun too.

Dinner was yummy as always. For some reason I was completely stuffed halfway through my dinner so I didn't finish it but those leftovers will be delicious tomorrow.

Eli actually wasn't that hungry. He hasn't been eating as much lately since his ears are bothering him so much. He loved having a real cup and straw to drink out of since he drank all his milk.

Tomorrow Eli goes to the doctor for his pre-op stuff (I'm not sure exactly what that entails but they said I needed to plan to be there for 2-3 hours). I'm praying it all goes well and we are still on schedule for surgery next Thur on his ears.