A beautiful weekend

I was so fortunate to have this past weekend off work, and be able to enjoy some time outside with my family.  The sun was out and the temps were up, and we soaked it all in.  Saturday morning we took the kids to the park near our house.  This is after Grant escaped the house and attempted to walk to the park by himself.  One of the scariest 1 1/2 minutes of my life when I came downstairs and realized that he was not in the house.  I then noticed the garage door open, and went to the garage to get him.  It was then that I noticed that Nate had left the big garage door open since he wouldn't be gone long.  I ran to the front of the house searching the streets and yard and yelling his name.  I got no response.  I ran inside to get my shoes and tell Ava to stay inside.  I then ran to the back of the house, which is where I saw this messy haired little boy in his pjs and snow boots on the wrong feet, walking down the path about 3 houses down.  I ran to him and asked him what he was doing.  His response, "I going to the park".  Duh, where else would he be going besides across the street to the park near the lake?!?  My goodness!!!  We had a little chat about not going outside with mommy or daddy. 

Anyway, we spent the morning at the park, and then down by the lake throwing rocks.  That was obviously Nate's idea...it involved mud.  After nap we packed up and headed to Minneapolis for the Gopher spring game.  Ava enjoyed running up and down the stairs, and eating.  Grant on the other hand Loved playing catch, kicking the ball, and watching the game.  Our little man even made it on TV on the Big Ten Network.  He was in heaven there.  By the time we got home that night, they were both disasters and ready for bed. 

Sunday was another beautiful and low key day.  We went to church that morning, and spent another afternoon at the park with many of our neighbor friends.  We couldn't ask for better neighbors!  Monday morning the kids and I headed to the zoo with some of our neighbor friends.  They enjoyed seeing the baby farm animals.  I think feeding the goats was definitely the highlight though.

Grant continues to recover from his surgery.  He has been good during the daytime hours for a couple of days now.  He still needs his ibuprofen at night, or he wakes up crying.  Poor little man.  That adenoidectomy kicked our butt.  At least the fevers are now gone, and I think that his breath may be improving at least a little bit.  Hopefully we can get back to restful nights where I don't have to get up twice a night with these kiddos. 

Throwing rocks into the lake 

 

Down on the field at the Gopher spring game 

 

Grant, Boppa, & Goldy 

 

Daddy & Grant

Ava (Anna) & Avery (Elsa)

Grant talking to the goat

Grant & Avery feeding the goats

Avery, Cailyn, Grant, & Ava

I seriously laugh every time I see this picture.  Her facial expression cracks me up!

Grant recovers

Our week started off with a bang with Grant having his surgery on Monday morning.  His surgery went well.  I'm very grateful to have his tubes back in.  The surgeon said that both of his ears were filled with thick, infected fluid in spite of him being on antibiotics for the past 6 weeks.  I got called back to recovery to help calm the little guy.  His breathing was a bit "squeaky" and I think that they were concerned about his airway as he got more upset.  As soon as I got him in my arms I started to sing to him and he settled right in and fell back to sleep.  Poor little man!  The staff there was great, and we were home by 3 that afternoon.  He had a great night, and a really good day on Tuesday.  Wednesday was a different story.  He woke up twice in the middle of the night, and woke up screaming from his naps.  When he woke up Wednesday morning he had a temp of 104.1 and crying.  We quickly got his temp down, but he just had a rough day overall.  Today has been better.  I'm hoping that he does well tomorrow, as Nate and I will both be back to work and he'll be at daycare.

Today is a gloomy, rainy day so we decided to make it a pajama and movie day here at home.  It's actually quite nice to just lay low and hang out.  Sometimes I have to remember that one day of movies is ok, and will most likely not rot my children's brains or have any long term effects.

The weather looks nice for Saturday, so we're hoping to make it out for the Gopher spring football game.  The kids are very excited, especially Grant!

Hoping you all have a fabulous weekend!     

Ava has mastered her scooter, and can fly around the neighborhood on it.  Grant has not quite mastered the balance bike yet.  He pretty much walks it down the sidewalk at a snail's pace. 

I was upstairs with Ava a couple of weeks ago and realized that Grant was very quiet so thought I should go and check on him.  I came downstairs to him standing next to the candy opening a peanut butter cup, with wrappers on the floor.  That little turkey!!!

It was a monumental moment on the way home from Easter when the Camry hit 200,000 miles.  What a great car it's been!  We'll see if we make it to 300,000.

Out of all the cars in the pre-op waiting room, Grant wanted to drive the pink one.  He actually wanted Nate and I to drive it, but we couldn't quite fit. 

This was Grant before surgery.  He had no clue what was coming, as he snuggled on my lap watching Frozen with Nemo.

Grant feeling better with his football, juice, and food in recovery. 

Happy Easter!

We hope that you all had a blessed Easter, and were able to enjoy time with family and/or friends.  We traveled to Grandma & Grandpa's house Friday morning to spend the weekend.  I'm enjoying how much easier it is to travel as the kids get older.  We still have to stop to eat (they're not quite old enough to eat in the car yet), but there aren't long stops to breastfeed, timing every departure/arrival time around feedings.  And I don't have to worry about them crying for 5 hours straight.  I just throw in a movie and we're good. 

Friday was a pretty low key day.  Saturday morning we got up, and Ava got her pink pancakes before we all headed to "the farm" to see the animals.  We went up to a local dairy farm thinking that the kids would love to see the cows, especially the new ones that were only 3 days old.  Nate loved the cows and learning about the milking process.  The kids loved the cats.  Really?!?  As if they have never seen cats before.  We then stopped at Grandma Great's to see her new kitchen which is very nice.  Then it was back to Grandma & Grandpa's for tractor rides.  We spent the afternoon dying Easter eggs, playing with family that stopped by, and watching basketball. 

Sunday morning the kids were up to find their Easter baskets and then we headed off to church.  Everybody came over to Grandma & Grandpa's for the big egg hunt and lunch.  It was great to see all the aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents.  Unfortunately, we had to head home today, so we left right after lunch.  Two things that made me laugh at church.  As the priest was on the alter he drank out of the glass and Grant asked Nate if he was drinking coffee.  Not sure where he came up with that.  Then there was a Eucharistic minister at the back of the church near us holding a chalice.  Ava asked why he was holding a trophy.  Ha!  Never thought of it that way.  

We had to head home because tomorrow morning we are heading to Children's Hospital for Grant's surgery.  He'll be having his adenoids out, ear tubes in, and his umbilical hernia repaired.  Hopefully the popsicles will help him forgive us.  We'll hopefully have time to give you an update soon.  Please say an extra prayer for our little man as he goes under tomorrow, and for a quick recovery!

Grant helping Grandma make homemade pizza dough

Dying Easter eggs with Aunt Lori and cousin Reece

It would have been an Easter miracle to get all of these kids to look at the camera at the same time and smile with Grandma Great.

Easter morning

Thank you for cooperating Grant

Funny faces

Great Grandma

Hunting for eggs

On my goodness...it's working!!!

So, it's 6 AM and I'm getting ready to leave for work and thought I'd randomly see if the blog would let me download pictures...and it did!!!  Unfortunately I have to leave for work now so I can't update, but thought I'd leave you with pictures from February when Ava turned 5.  More updates to come shortly I hope!