Busy Times

We have successfully survived Christmas's number 2, 3, 4 and yes 5, with a bonus dinner. #2 was Christmas Eve with the Freeman's. We all enjoyed a nice prime rib dinner before the kids (and us) tore into presents. The kids received lots of very cool things, the Bilbo seems to be one of the top gifts as the days pass. Kevin attempted the same trick that my sister did at the last party.


#3 was Santa's presents. We opted to spend the night in the boro as the weather wasn't looking good (and it was a late night). The next morning the kids were delighted to see that Santa managed to find them. Mason was thrilled that Santa brought him socks.


#4 was Christmas dinner with the Freeman side of the family. It was a long day of hanging out with multiple relatives that we don't get the chance to see all that often. Everyone looked and is doing well. Sophie (Anna's baby) was adorable and Colby LOVED being able to play with a baby. We managed to get a decent picture of all the kids being super cute.

After these 3 parties, we left the boro with a VERY full trunk. =)

#5 was the kids getting presents from us. It was a much smaller party with fewer presents. Mason received a Star Wars book from Colby that was very impressive. Neither were real impressed with their new PJ's, hopefully they'll appreciate them more later. =) As the Christmas season winds down, I hope that everyone had a good Christmas. Thank-you all for the wonderful presents. We love you all! Also, I want to put in a quick Congrats to the Marsman's- you know why!! =)

As for my knee, the colors continue to get more impressive. Tomorrow is my first follow up appt. Hopefully he'll have good things to share. I miss being able to walk like a normal person!! I'm also going a little stir crazy. I am getting around a lot better and can move around well without crutches as long as I'm wearing my brace. I accidently pulled the glue out of one of my incision sites, thank goodness I had some steri-strips around! I wonder what a normal person does?? (I'm told that a normal person wouldn't have pulled the glue out.) At any rate, the incision looks better then the others so I'm thinking about trying in on the other two small ones. =) The color really started to show up in the back. Currently the front is fading and the back continues to look prettier. I am amused that the bruising seems to have started with yellow and ended with bluish purple tones. I always thought it was the other way. My dad asked that I post some updated color shots...

Ooooh...

Pretty colors

Christmas Party #1

Today was Christmas party #1 with my side of the family at our place. Colby looked adorable in her new sweater.

Mason sported his "justice nipples". (Yeah, I don't know either.)

My sister won for best use of a new gift.


It turned out to be a lovely party with close family and PLENTY of gifts for everyone. Kevin put together our new rug this evening. Colby loved her new baby with stroller accessory. My knee was not happy with hosting a party. I do have updated knee pics though...

On a plus, I do think the size of the knee really makes my calf look smaller.
For comparison:

Alive

I made it thru alive and well. I don't have pictures of my "new" knee to show off as of yet. I'd like to keep the bandages on for a bit. My surgeon was running a couple of hours behind so things started late and then I didn't get out of the hospital till after 7p. I think because of the lateness, I felt kind of rushed out of there (or they gave me the option of spending the night). I was nauseous for quite some time. However, I seemed to have waken in good spirits today and am currently enjoying my coffee WITH creamer. Mmmmm.... so much better. I have a brace to wear when I'm walking around that goes pretty much the entire length of my leg. The most soreness I have is in the hamstring area where they stole part of my tendon. Otherwise, nothing my perocet can't handle. =)

For all those that want to visit, I have pictures that I can show off that the surgeon sent home with us. I'd post them, but that's more than I can manage from the couch.

A moment

As I sit here and try to drink in my two allowed cups of black coffee (argh!), i just want to take a moment to reflect on my knee. In a few hours, it will never be the same. Godspeed knee.

Child Labor

The Tree

Last week we bought a Christmas tree and soon followed with decorating. If you can tell, there are a lot of ornaments right around Mason/Colby height. It currently still lacks a star at the top as our star (passed down from my grandmother) broke a year or more ago and I can't seem to find a suitable replacement. It might another starless year. I did have the idea of maybe letting Mason make a tree topper. I feel this plan is best saved for a rainy, whiney day.

A couple days ago I also added a few presents and am amazed that they are still unharmed and not even asked about. It makes me wonder if the children are feeling well.

Success!!

Pee Pee on the Potty... Pee Pee on the Potty... Pee Pee on the potty!!!! (And some pooh, but I think that might have been hanging there before she sat down.)

For clarification, that's Colby. The rest of us also poohed and peed on the potty today, but it's just not as exciting when we do it.

Let me back up a little here. She's really starting to take an interest in the potty again this last week or so, with a much greater interest the last couple of days. (Of course this all happens right after I stock up on diapers.) I just kept thinking that if she'd just go once on it she'd put it together. We'll see what happens tomorrow as the pee pee on the potty was right before bed time. Also, yesterday she even had "baby" sit on it.


Update on the eye:
The next day

Today


As I reread thru this post I realize that I probably have too much time on my hands and too much time on the couch. I am happy to say that I am making some good progress and have even started some rehab stuff that I found online. (Yes, my ortho MD asked me to increase ROM in the knee, but didn't tell me how.)

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving day started with a little sleeping in as both kids had gone to bed late the previous night. (Doesn't always lead to sleeping in, but man are we excited when we get those extra 20 minutes!) Then it was a late breakfast followed by much cooking. Kevin made some wonderful chipotle sweet potatoes and the kids (and I) made two apple pear pies. Then lunch and naps. Too bad only one person actually napped. Thanksgiving dinner at the Freeman's was to start around 2 or 3, so around 5 we sat down to eat. It was a wonderful spread of turkey, ham and all things casseroled. Not to be the only ones eating the wonderful food, we dropped some off at the hospital for Jeff and Marie. Then, another late night for the kids, and another sleeping in AM. (Odd) Back to Ann Arbor for breakfast and window hanging. Then a brief visit home and off to Grand Rapids. The thought was that at least Colby would nap on the way there as it was already past her nap time. Yeah... no such luck. The next day was dinner with my family. Also very yummy. After dinner the kids ran around a bit outside, Colby took a late nap and dinner and off we left for home. Another late night for the kids, but they both had such a wonderful time playing with Caleb! They were all just constantly playing and running around together. It was kind of nice, they all just played and didn't require much adult interaction; well, aside from the occasional loud noise investigation.

On the way home, Mason slept.

And again Colby was wide awake the whole trip.

It didn't take long for the kids to adjust back to schedules. Thankfully they are still both sleeping in a bit. (Doesn't work as well on school days as we found out this AM.) Mason's first day back to school was a little rough as we forgot to put some shoes in his bag and he had to wear socks all day, which in turn lead to him having to sit out for gym class. Kevin also had an interesting day at work and lost a small fight with the ambulance door.

(Some of the identifying features have been carefully cut out in order to protect Kevin's HIPPA rights.)

It's official...

I have an acl tear and a possible meniscus tear as well. After much talk and a referral to another MD, the MD stated if you are an athlete, we'd do surgery, a couch potato and we'd just fit you for a brace and do physical therapy. I of course didn't want to officially admit to my couch potato status, so surgery is scheduled for Dec 18th. =) Ok, so there's more to it than that, but the other parts just aren't as funny.

As a side note, my ortho MD just stated an acl tear and didn't specify any further. I also had the MRI results sent to my primary MD office. They told me that the results showed a complete acl tear. I feel better about making the surgery decision.

Knee

So... nothing exciting from the ortho MD. We wait for an MRI, then another week to get back in to see the MD for results and the plan. This did buy me another wonderful, fun-filled week on the couch. yay?

Updates

Looking back I noticed that it's been a little while since I've updated ya'll on life in the Freeman household. Lately I'm finding myself with a lot of free time on the couch (more on that later) so here we go!

Mason: He's reading up a storm! It's been great. We've gone to him reading us a book at night. With increased reading also comes the increase in writing words. Funny moment, Mason insisted that love was actually spelled "luv" as that is how it sounds; he told Kevin that he was wrong. =) Conferences with his teacher went very well, no complaints and he's transitioning into life as a school kid well. His bus driver asked me the other day if he was always this good natured. He still has a bit of a cough, but it does seem to be better after antibiotics... still toying with this asthma diagnosis.

Colby: She decided 3-4wks ago that she was no longer going to sit on the potty AT ALL. Not that she was using it or anything before that, but she would at least briefly sit on it. No longer. However, her vocabulary just took off!! She has new words consistently and will repeat most of what she hears. Also, she is putting many words together and really working on speaking in sentences. Just amazing how they regress in one area to jump so far ahead in another. As for potty stuff... the last couple of days she's told us as she's pooping and has requested to go on the potty. Daddy had a fab time cleaning the carpet yesterday. Apparently Colby sat on the potty mushing pooh on her bum, then got up and ran down the hall and tripped smearing pooh on the carpet. Ahhhh... gotta love kids.

And as for Kevin and I, we continue to work on maintaining our sanity. Kevin is still doing some computer stuff for a local company on a VERY part-time basis, but hey it's a start! Me, I'm stuck on the couch for a bit as I've injured my knee playing volleyball. We'll learn the extent of injury on Tues after I visit with the ortho MD.

My dad continues to hang out with us during the week which has really been a great help with kitchen cleaning and babysitting. And this week, we'll be doing dinner at both families. Busy times ensue! I would post some pics but I am in the process of picking out Christmas card and don't want to ruin the surprise.

Happy Halloween

Halloween went wonderfully. Both kids were on best behaviors and looked adorable as we trick or treated through Dixboro. Colby even walked the whole way! Kevin and I are totally ok that 6 houses still seem like enough for the kids and, we had to drag them to the last two. After walking up and down the street, we settled at Dick and Glynda's for some warm cider and a small bonfire. All in all, a very pleasant evening.

Pumpkin carving

Tonight was pumpkin carving night. After throwing out one pumpkin, we got started. Colby's strong suit was clearing the guts out.


Mason's was the actual carving.

I did the carving for Colby, though she did try very hard to help. I grabbed the wrong type of pen so there's a little outlining that we can't get off. All in all, very cute pumpkins! (The orange ones and the little ones.)


As a side note, do you know how hard it is to get a picture of an almost 2yr old in low light without a flash???? Let alone getting the other one to hold still, smile and look at the camera at the same time??

Birthday party

Mason's birthday party turned out wonderfully. Most people dressed up...




All the food was yummy, though Mason's favorite ended up being the marshmellow ghost and monsters. Of course there was a pinata because what's a party without a pinata??

Just watch out for the after party, it was rough

Potty Training??

For the past week or so Colby has been grabbing herself and saying "potty". We then sit on the little potty, very briefly. Now the fact that she's grabbing herself and saying potty is super cute; I think she picked it up from Mason. The last couple of days she's been saying "poop" when she has a poopy diaper. Again still asking mutiple times throughout the day to sit on the potty. Are we really ready for potty training??? I mean she's not even 2! Mason was content to run around in a diaper so full that it was at his knees until he was almost 3. Just odd, not sure where to go from here.

Official party plans

It's official... Mason's b-day party is Oct 4th, our place with food to be served sometime between noon and 1p. We should be up partying all afternoon, so feel free to come whenever. Like always, no gift necessary we're just excited to have people over. Per Mason, this is a Halloween themed party and though not necessary, we will brand, tar and feather all who come without a costume. If you need help putting something together, Mason has a wide assortment in his dress up bin.

Hope to see you there!

Best ribs ever!

Mmmmm.... they were soooo yummy! Even the kids ate them. Of course they used a bit of ketchup with theirs, but I think that was good for them as it helped to qualm the little kick they had. My first attempt at baby back ribs... Success!! Thanks to Alton Brown.

Also, keep the date open... Sat Oct 4th at 1230ish will be Mason's 5th b-day party. He would like a Halloween taco party, so have your costumes ready!

Pigtails

Ahhh... my baby is growing up and looks like a kid. (tear, tear) I had to capture the pic before she pulled them out of her hair. Hair accessories are like games with her. I put it in, she takes it out and then comes to me to put it back in, repeat.

Kindergarten

Yesterday marked a very important day, the first day of kindergarten. All in all things went well. We had a few issues with the school bus and milk money. Mason claims he had a good time and was willing to go back today. I think that's a good sign.

Long Lake

We'll start the lengthy updates with the Long Lake trip....

The kids and I went up (and over) to the lake on Sunday as Saturday had been busy in A2 with Colby's 18m appt, the Dixboro fair and Hannah's birthday party. (Hmmm... maybe I should have started with those things. In-laws have the cute fair pics on their camera.) The trip took 3.5hrs and we made it into town right around lunch time with no stops! Yes, three and a half hours in the car with the kids, no stops. They overall did a good job with minimal screaming; the use of snacks is always helpful. The kids and I stayed in one room, my parents in another and Linds, Steve, Caleb and Shannon (Steve's girlfriend) all stayed in the attic space. Though small, it was a true cottage feel. The "best" part of our sleeping arrangements, we had the room right next to the bathroom.... the walls were a bit thin. =) The first week was spent at this smaller cottage. I had the whole week off, Kevin joined us on Tuesday and left again Friday night. My brother Steve worked most days, but was at the cottage as often as he could. (Something about a girlfriend.) I also have to say that I enjoyed hanging out with Steve's girlfriend and if he cares- I approve. During this first week we went to Sleeping Bear Dunes (more on that in another post and I have a ton of pics from that one) and Kevin and I spent a night, just the two of us, at Black Star Farms B&B. The B&B was a fab time alone with some drinking. If we had more money we would have loved to have done 2 nights. At the B&B there were a couple of women that apparently won a week stay there on a game show. How ideal! For us anyway, we heard that they weren't big wine fans. Such a waste!! Yes the food was incredibly yummy, but the wine!! Anyway, we found it somewhat amusing.

The second week was at a bigger "cottage". I use the term cottage VERY loosely as it was a big modern house. My other brother Jon joined us for this week and we lost Shannon. Sleeping arrangements for this week lent us to the master suite as it was the only room big enough for the four of us. We had a private bathroom and a walk out porch... ahhhh... if only the kids didn't go to be so early we could have enjoyed the features more. The house did leave us a lot more room to stretch out. 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 5 porches... lots of room to hide if you wanted. Though the size was nice, I did miss the cottage feel. I also didn't find the beach area as nice for hanging with little ones. The house was on the other side of the peninsula from the first cottage so we had a longer time to swim in the sun in the afternoon. Kevin joined us on Monday eve and I had to leave Thurs eve for work. This week we went to the drive-in a couple of times and my dad, Jon, Linds, Caleb, Kevin and Mason all went to South Manitou island for a day.

Overall the trip was nice. I personally didn't find it very restful. Colby decided for the whole 2 weeks that she was going to be mommy's girl and only mommy could take her into the water, push a stroller, push a grocery cart, pick her up, etc. This alleviated a little when Kevin was around, but she still had a mommy preference. She was happy to play with other people as long as they didn't try to pick her up. Also, she usually is the one who sleeps in, but all during vacation she was up early yelling for us to play with her. In order to help keep things quiet enough to make sure that Mason got more sleep and everyone else as well, we were up early with her reading books, rocking, whatever we could to keep her somewhat quiet. I fear that everyone was up a little earlier than they planned. Mason and Caleb were inseparable. They played and hung out like best friends/brothers. The did just about everything together, swimming, boating, golfing... if it could be done together, they did it. Kevin finally got the opportunity to break in the sailboat. He sailed it many times, the longest being the second week when he forgot to put on sunscreen. He sailed from one end of the lake to the other and was gone around 4hrs. He still has a sunburn left. I think that we forgot to take a lot of cute pics of the kids swimming and such. Oddly enough we didn't do much tubing or skiing either.

And some pics....

Caleb reading to Mason


Colby in her bikini. This was not her favorite suit as she didn't understand the concept; she keep trying to pull the top down or the bottom up.


Kevin and his birthday sailboat


Caleb and Colby eating at the kitchen peninsula at the second cottage


Morning hair


Colby in Aunt Lindsey's sunglasses

3 weeks of craziness

We have survived! The first two weeks the family was doing our annual Long lake trip. Then the kids were off to one night with the Freeman's and then 2 night with my sister while Kevin and I worked. Then kids got to hang out at home for a day before a trip to KY for Kelly's wedding. Amazing... both kids happily walked down the aisle! As the kids were already messed up and well we didn't know when we get to see them again, we spent a night visiting the balcerski's in Cleveland. Then Sunday it was back home. The kids and us, seem to be adjusting to home life slowly, but well. Colby is hit and miss with good naps, but is back to sleeping in the AM. Mason is still a bit grumpy but has adjusted well back to his late to fall asleep and early to rise schedule from before.

Soon hopefully there will be actual lengthy updates. If I was thinking, I would have updated while on vaca. If only my mom didn't have a no technology rule!

Way late updates

In reading other's blogs, I realize that I am WAY behind in keeping people updated. I mean, even Laura's blog had updates!! So, while the children do quiet time, I'll try to see what I can remember from the past month.

We'll start with the 4th of July. We spent the day with my family in Grandville while Kevin worked out at the South Lyon station. The kids and I arrived in town just in time to see the parade. Thank goodness that people are soo good about letting kids sneak in front as the streets were lined with saved seating hours before the parade started. At the parade, the boys grabbed lots of candy while Colby and I hung out with Scott and Laura. From there we went back to the house for nap time, swimming time and a little shopping. Dinner was spent with my grandparents as we celebrated my mom's b-day. Finally, we found some cushy seats out in the driveway and watched the city's fireworks. Fab event and amazingly, Colby slept thru them all! I think she might have been tired, Mason almost feel asleep during them. This was the first year that he actually got to stay up to watch them. Sorry, no pics of this event as I forgot to grab the camera on my way out the door.

The next day we hung out with Jeff and Marie at their house. The house looks amazing! Also, I am continually impressed that you all fit in there. =) The kids seemed to have a great time playing together out in the yard. I believe the favorite toy was the riding lawn mower. (For those of you who are insanely worried, we took the keys away.)


The next day (yes, insanely busy weekend) was Sophia's baptism out at the compound. The baby was beautiful! And, my kids actually remained mostly quiet through the whole service. I think it helped that we sat in the balcony and that we brought lots of snacks. =) The party afterward was also great and it was a lot of fun to hang out with the family again especially the out-of-towners.

The guest of honor


Sophia, mom Anna, grandma Cathy

Just for fun, after the baptism gathering we all went over to the in-laws so Colby could try on a dress for Kelly's wedding (Patsy's daughter, Colby is going to be the flower girl). This was a funny experience as Colby really did not enjoy getting changed and attempted to take the dress off. I'm sure the no nap and busy day had nothing to do with it. =)


After that weekend, things did slow down a bit. I've had the last week or so off from UM so Kevin could work the art fair. The check will be nice, but it put him at working 11 days in a row. Not sure how his sanity is going to be. =) His b-day was spent at art fair where he made a brief appearance on Fox news. When he got home, his b-day present from us and all the parents was waiting for him in the garage... a sailboat! Hopefully we'll actually find some time that he can use it. The kids and I spent all day at the lake getting it ready to bring home. Of course, we had to play in the water a bit while out there. The water was so warm! It was great. The kids and I even went canoeing for a bit. Once again, slacker mom has no pics of the first canoeing experience.

General updates: Colby is climbing everything like mad. Her vocabulary is growing with the addition of some body parts. She is also becoming very good at using the word "no". It tends to comes out when she doesn't want her brother to do something. This is then often accompanied by a push, pinch or bite if the brother does not comply. Yesterday I learned that she does not like finger painting. She tends to be a little compulsive with being clean at times and I think that's why she's not into the finger paints. She's down to one nap a day and sleeps well at night. If everything goes well at bedtime, she'll go down with hardly a peep, however, mess up her routine or don't do something that she feels needs to be done, and there's a bit of crying/screaming. She is also getting into doing things for herself including buckling her seatbelt and getting dressed.

Mason is eating everything like mad this past week. I'm pretty sure that he has a growth spurt coming. The kid is still tall and solid and has outgrown a few items of clothing without even wearing them. He prefer to wears pants and long-sleeves and it's sometimes a small battle to try to convince him that it's 90 degrees outside and he's going to be warm. Of course, I don't think he cares. He's the kind of kid that likes to wrap up in blankets and such no matter the temp. Lately he's been very into making up songs for every and any occasion. He continues to learn new words and has learned how to sound words out in order to spell them. Also, for some reason he has little bruises on his arm and a bite mark on his back. =) Eventually they will have to learn how to respect each other's space, right?

Well, the kids are starting to rouse from quiet time. I will try to get some cute pics of the kids just being kids. I need to learn to bring the camera with me when I go places, or even just for hanging outside. However, here a couple...



(Reminds me a bit of Indiana Jones)