Bowling

Saturday night Alex stayed with his grandparents so we could prepare for the party the next morning. Since we just had Aurora for the evening, we decided to do something special with her. So we took her Cosmic Bowling! She had a blast, especially with the black lights and music jamming, and we had our friends Megan and MP with us as well, so she kept calling it a Bowling Party. This bowling alley has automatic bumpers that only come up for individual people on their turn, so she was able to have bumpers without us having to use them too. She did a great job, and even bowled close to 100 with her little 6 pound ball! It was a fun night!

Alex 2 Year WCV

Alex had his two year Well Child Visit yesterday and he did great! He really loves our pediatrician and is so happy and cooperative when we go. He's 30 pounds and 35 inches tall and is doing fine. His ear tubes are still in, which is great news since they were put in last December! Developmentally he is doing fine, although he is a little behind in speech, which we already knew and he is doing weekly sessions with EI for that.

I also talked to the pediatrician about his sinus problems. I don't think I posted it, but we met with the ENT last week, and he said that Alex's sinuses look fine and wants us to go get another x-ray done to check his adenoids. I think he is grasping at straws now for three reasons: He didn't even check Alex out physically during the appt, Alex doesn't have any other symptoms of enlarged adenoids, and several months ago he told us that if his adenoids were a problem it would bother him to suck on a pacifier. So anyway, I went over all of this with the pediatrician, and told him I didn't want to do anymore testing and would just like to see how Alex does this winter. He agreed with me and said that often their sinuses are just underdeveloped and they grow out of the problem, and said my approach was fine. Our primary concern is the constant sinus infections...the ped said that I could either put him on a preventative antibiotic (a low daily dose) or just bring him in every time I suspect one. He gave me a prescription for chewable amoxicillan to fill if I chose to do the preventative, which I haven't decided on yet.

Anyway overall he is doing well, and the best part was he didn't have to get any shots! It was too soon to do the Hepatitis (his 18 mo appt was late and it has to be 6 months in between) and he got the FluMist instead of the shot. He was a pretty happy camper when we left. :-)

Halloween Fair

The kids had a Halloween Fair at their school on Friday. They got to wear their costumes and had a blast. Alex is a Little Devil this year and Aurora is a dragon. Alex won a cake on the cake walk! Aurora had her face painted (as a kitty, to match her teacher). Each room had games or crafts and candy. It was past Alex's bedtime but he was a trooper...and he kept looking at his teachers (in costume) like, "I think I know you...."


All dressed up

Aurora and one of her "boyfriends" Steven


Aurora and her teacher

Alex and his teacher

Birthday Party!

Today was Alex's birthday party! The theme was Little Einsteins since he is OBSESSED with Rocket! He just loved seeing all the Rockets everywhere! My grandparents happened to be in town and were able to make it, so we just did family (and those considered family) so it wouldn't be overwhelming. It was a great party and Alex loved all of his gifts. He got quite a selection of vehicles to play with, and of course some Mickey Mouse stuff and Little Einsteins stuff. He also got a basketball hoop! He really made out. And my best friend Megan did a great job on the cake! All in all it was great day, even though it ended with Alex having a meltdown because he couldn't take all of his Rockets in the crib with him! Birthday Banner Birthday Boy in his birthday shirt Aurora with friends Chris and Emily Momma and Aurora Gramps showing Alex how to use a party favor Pull string pinata Alex's cake

Two Years Ago Today.....

I was in tremendous pain with back labor, just wanting to get this baby out!!!! Alexander Joshua was born around 7pm after 29 hours of labor. He was 8 pounds, 11 ounces, and 21 inches long. I won't lie; it was a rough labor and it's been a rough two years. But it was definitely worth it in the end. Alex is smart, funny, and handsome and he makes our family complete. He loves to give hugs and kisses, dance, and wrestle with his sister. He is starting to talk a lot more now, and he picks things up quickly; you only have to show him how to do something once and he's got it. He has overcome constant health problems and you would never know he was in pain. I am so proud of him. Happy Birthday Alex!

3 Days Old One year old
Now

Pumpkin Patch!

We took the kids to McCall's Pumpkin Patch today...wow what a day! The place has a corn maze, corn box (equivalent of a sand box but with corn kernels), hay pyramid, cow train, giant pumpkin bounce house, pedal kart racing course, pumpkin catapult, bunnyville, petting zoo, a giant jumping pillow, and you get to take a hay ride out to the HUGE pumpkin patch to pick your pumpkins! We do this every year and this time Alex was really into it - the kids had a blast! The weather was perfect and they both picked out cute little pumpkins at the patch. It was such a busy day, we got home at 2:00 and EVERYONE took a nap! Here's a slideshow of our day:

Halloween Craft

The kids and I made some foam Jack-O-Lanterns this weekend for Halloween; I thought I would share some pictures!



Aurora's

Alex's

Balloon Fiesta

The International Balloon Fiesta is one of the highlights of living here. For ten days in October our skies are filled with hot air balloons. It's quite a sight. Unfortunately, this year we have had a lot of bad weather this week with rain and high winds. We tried to make it to the Fiesta twice this year - to a Mass Ascension (where they all go up at once first thing in the morning) and to a Glowdeo (where they all light up in the dark in the evening) and we were rained out of the first one and the wind was too high for the second one. :-( Big bummer for Aurora. Despite that, the kids still had fun at Balloon Fiesta park eating pizza and funnel cake, seeing the sights, and dancing to the bands. And at least we were lucky enough to see some balloons as they came by our house this week!

New Arrivals

Aurora's new baby blue-tongued skinks arrived this weekend! We had a little scare because they were shipped overnight and were supposed to be here Saturday morning by 10am. Noon rolls around and still nothing. We called the post office and all the info they had from the tracking number was that it had left Alabama. Not good. Finally, at about 6pm we get a call from a postal guy that had tracked us down - the lizards were at the hub downtown. He did quite the work to find us because Josh's grandma had written down our address completely wrong - thank goodness for nice, dedicated people! So Josh went to get them and they made it home safely, but were not too happy about being in a dark box for 2 days straight - they were hissing when we took them out.

They are calm now and seem to be doing fine. Aurora has pet them but we are giving them a little more time to adjust before picking them up. The cats are very interested, of course, and the lizards go right up to the glass to check the cats out! We have no idea if they are male or female. She has named them "Rex" and "Tops" - after T-Rex and Triceratops. Right now they are about 8-10 inches long and will grow to be about 2 feet. And they eat dog food, crickets, and various fruits and veggies - yum!


The cats are very interested...

Close up of "Rex" - the more active one

They appear yellow from the heat/UVA lamp

Hamster Ball Derby

The local Petco held a Hamster Ball Derby today. The flyer said, "Is your hamster built for speed? Bring your fast, furry friend and a ball and let the good times roll! Gerbils, mice, and rats may also participate." So Aurora and I loaded up Ratatouille and her big purple ball and headed over! There were about 15 participants, ranging from Guinea pigs and hamsters to gerbils. Ratatouille was the only rat there! People were very interested to see a rat in a ball, I guess that's not normal or something? They let the kids do a bunch of practice rounds on the tracks. I am not sure why kids brought guinea pigs, because none of them moved an INCH in those balls LOL!

So the guy in charge tried his best to pair everyone up fairly. The first round Ratatouille raced against a large hamster. She started out great and then she turned around and started going the wrong way! She lost the first round. But luckily, there was an uneven number of contestants and he allowed her to race the last contestant as well. She rolled down the track like a champ and won that one! For the second heat she raced the tiniest contestant, a little tiny hamster in a little tiny ball. Man that hamster could book it, he was a pro!! But it didn't matter, because once again Ratatouille turned around and went the wrong way. :-( That tiny hamster went on to 3 more races and was the winner of the derby, he was fast!

Poor Aurora has not learned how to be a good sport yet (one of the reasons we do these things). She was pretty sad and started crying and told me, "I'm not gonna clap for them because I didn't win!" LOL That gave us a good opportunity to talk about being a good sport and not always winning but having fun anyway...and how this was Ratatouille's first time and maybe needs more practice. She was fine after that but said she was "very disappointed in Ratatouille's performance, she should have known better than to go the wrong way."


Getting ready for the race!

Practice Round

Go go go!


Aurora visiting with "Blue Mews"

Not so happy about losing.

Bye, Daddy

"Bye, Daddy!" OMG this is what Alex said this morning as we were leaving. The first time he has put 2 words together!! I was shocked to hear it, and he said it so clearly! He is really starting to say words now, which is so good to hear. He's getting so big!