Easton's Birthday Recap

Okay, here I am finally...sorry, it's been busy and the thought of sitting here to edit and upload photos and movies, not to mention writing the actual post was slightly overwhelming. But, I've got two boys napping right now so here I go...

Jason continued with his tradition of taking off work on Easton's birthday. I love that he's willing to do this, even if it does require a little bit of coaching from me he's always glad he did it. So, when the clock turned to "7" Easton was rearing to go on his birthday morning, Jason took him potty and down for his juice where he got to take down this last ring of his birthday advent chain and tried to put it on Woody's head, but it broke...oops!


He came up for some birthday snuggles with me and Dad in the big bed, watching Noggin on TV and waiting for Dalton to wake up. When he did, we all got ready and the boys checked themselves out in the mirror...




We then headed to McDonald's for breakfast, Eastie's choice. I offered him doughnuts AT the doughnut store, McDonald's, or Mommy make pancakes. This was a few days before his birthday. He picked, "hash brown and a drink at McDonald's". So that's where we went and we had the place to ourselves...








We couldn't stay as long as Easton probably wanted because we had to go home and open a specific present and then head out for his annual birthday portraits. So, yes, the present was something for him to wear in his photos. He knew it came from the Disney store and was so excited about the Toy Story bag that I had to put the wrapped present back inside because the bag was all he'd been talking about since I bought it.

He didn't know what was inside, though. Even when he unwrapped it, because it was clothes, he just set it aside like it was part of the wrapping and looked for the actual present he thought should be inside. Like a Buzz toy or something. But, no, it was just Buzz on a shirt...with Woody too. Which he got more excited about...


And yes, I know that too large sweatshirt is not what most people would pick when having official portraits done. But, we're (I'm) strange and I like the idea of having their pictures done in their casual party attire. The first year he had a sports ball themed party and wore a shirt with a football on it. The second year...Elmo. So this year, the Toy Story shirt. Hey, they just had photos done right before Christmas. I think the casual approach is just fine.

The photo session went GREAT and there were sooooo many good pictures...partly because they were just of him. Not needing to get two or more people to cooperate. We had a hard time narrowing it down but eventually did. You'll see them at some point. They don't even come back till the 22nd or something.

Anyhoo, after that (and we were there for a LONG time) it was back home for the rest of the presents...






At some point he was unwrapping something from Dalton and exclaimed, "Oh! It's for kids!" Well, duh!




The Alabamaws were even sweet enough to send Dalton a little something...


Easton scored a bunch more cool stuff, even though we just had Christmas. Jason wanted him to have a Spiderman costume...




And I wanted him to have a camera...


The camera has been fun, but even though it's a cheap kids camera we're pretty disappointed with the quality. A camera phone takes better pictures but Easton still loves it and doesn't mind a bit. Here's his first few photos...well, some of them...he's taking pictures of EVERYTHING...




Some of his gifts...


At that point Dalton went down for a nap and the rest of us played toys and had refreshments. Easton only wanted a Roarin' Waters (fruit flavored water by CapriSun) and what amounted to maybe half a piece of bread.


Since Dalton wasn't around to choke on marbles we also played some Hungry, Hungry Hippos...a birthday present along with CandyLand.


Then Eastie helped me to make his birthday brownies. He picked them out at Wal-Mart the other day and when you're 3, you like to help make your own birthday treats.




Once Dalton woke up we got in the car (it was snowing) and headed towards our next destination. Easton fell asleep in the car...

He's still needing to get caught up from our late night at Urgent Care on Monday. Anyway, he got a few pictures in before falling asleep...his chin...


His litte shoes dangling off the carseat...


And then I took the camera off my sleeping birthday boy because I wanted to review some of the images he had captured. There was about 20 pictures of his jeans. Goober. But there's some cool "vignettes" you can add to your photos so I took this of him:


There's also funny things to add to pictures. Easton did this one of Dalton...needs a little work on the aim...


Finally we ended up at our fun destination in an old warehouse. It was kind of ghetto but whatever. It cost a mere $7 for the 4 of us. Score! We had that place to ourselves as well (till the very end) but it's a huge warehouse full of space walk/bounce house inflatable type things. Good times! Seriously! Much climbing, bouncing, chasing, and sliding fun was had by all.
















See what I mean by "ghetto"?


But I'm telling you, we had fun, especially the birthday boy...


I made a montage of some more pictures and videos...

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Jason and I were hungry towards the end and told Easton we were going to go to a cool restaurant soon. A few minutes later Easton told us he was done bouncing and ready to go to the restaurant. Well, that was easy!

The boys both fell asleep in the car. At one point, Easton woke up and did a few rounds of dry heaving. Great. If he hadn't been starving himself all day I'm sure his Clifford quilt on his lap would be wearing whatever he had eaten. We were nervous about dinner and the possiblity that E was sick but when asked, he said he still wanted to go to the restaurant. And then he fell back asleep.

We got to Casa Bonita (certainly not known for their food, ick) and Easton took in the sights and tried to act happy...

That tortilla chip, a bite of granola bar, a few Goldfish, and a lot of water was all the poor boy had. He even refused sopapillas! Not to mention the entire kids meal they make you buy. But again, you go there for the ambience. It's a fun place and I've been going there since I was a kid.

Dalton really enjoyed the entertainment and cracked us up by clapping randomly...


The wandering mariachi band came to serenade the birthday boy with a chours of "Easton cha cha cha". He got so shy and hid in my hands...




They wandered off to another table and Jason and I recognized the tune and even asked the waiter what song it was. Later we realized it was something we'd heard on Backyardigans! Ha! We're so cultured. Not.

We watched the cliff divers and picked up Tootsie Rolls from the pinata. Easton started doing better as we were heading out. He really wanted to check out their fountain outside.



His friend Ellis recently fell in the fountain, apparently! Poor guy.

Anyway, we made it home for some birthday brownies and singing...


And two very tired boys had baths and bed to gear up for our busy day the next day. That will come another time.

Clean and Shiney Hiney

This morning I was upstairs briefly to get Dalton up for the day. I came downstairs and Easton was in the bathroom having just had a "movement". :)

Instead of T.P. sometimes we use a flushable wipe, because well...you know...

Anyway, he was trying to take care of business himself and already had a little wipe in hand. It wasn't until I had already helped him clean his tush that I noticed he had grabbed a Clean & Shine Household Cleaning Wipe (Dollar Store version of a Lysol or Clorox wipe) from under the sink vs. a Flushable Butt Wipe or whatever it's called. Whoops! He's got such sensitive skin I really hope this doesn't cause any issues.

Silly Mr. Independent.

And I reminded him where the right ones to use are.

Not sure when I'm going to do a birthday recap just yet.

It was a great day, tons of pictures to weed through...but it's getting late and I'm not going to do it tonight.

And tomorrow is going to be crazy busy with both boys having doctor's appointments in Boulder in the a.m. and then Easton has his dentist appointment in the early afternoon in Denver. PLUS we plan to make our "annual" January 10th trip to Children's Hospital to be nice to them because they were nice to us that day 3 years ago. And we donate a few gifts. We did it last year and hope to do it again tomorrow.

So, anyway...I'll be a bit busy. Oh yeah...and I think Dalton might be coming down with mild croup. He sounds like a little seal and is way stuffed up but that's about the worst of it.

Talk to you when I talk to you!

Three Years Ago Today...

January 9, 2005
I woke up this morning at 3:30 with an excruciating headache. I had J get me some Tylenol and the blood pressure cuff. It was a little higher than it’s been lately but not as high as it was when I was admitted to the hospital a few days ago. I was so uncomfortable with my head, plus I had what felt like horrible indigestion. I shouldn’t have eaten Outback. But, I couldn’t hold still. I hurt too badly. I tried to wait an hour like I was supposed to before checking my BP again but I couldn’t wait longer than 45 minutes. We took it again and it was still high so I called L&D. They told me to come in.

Jason and I got up and packed a little. We were completely unprepared and had to use all the hospital issued stuff (toiletries) last time. He asked if he should bring the camera. I was glad he thought of that. I hated to admit it, but yeah, I told him he should bring the camera just in case. He had to empty Blitz’s litter box too before we could leave. I was in agony and SO annoyed that I had to wait for that. The drive to the hospital was hard. I was just hurting so much. Plus, it took, like 25 minutes to get there.

We arrived at, like, 5:30 and Heather, a nurse pal, ushered us into room 329. They had me change into a hospital gown this time. Last time I stayed in my own clothes. I got strapped up to all the monitors as usual. I was still hurting really badly: my head and my indigestion. Mako was the doctor on call and she ordered me some Fentanyl as the Tylenol I had taken early wasn’t even TOUCHING the pain. They drew a bunch of blood work to send to the lab to check my liver function, mostly. Because of how much pain I was in, my blood pressure, and how poorly I seemed to be doing Mako ordered the nurses to start Mag (Magnesium Sulfate) to keep me from seizing. She didn’t even have the lab work back yet but made the decision anyway.

They started an IV to give me the Fentanyl and Mag. Luckily the Fentanyl started taking effect rather quickly. A different nurse came in to take over my care. She had to put in a catheter. Once they put you on Mag for seizure precautions you’re not allowed to get up anymore, even to the bathroom. It was so surreal being the “patient” this time. I had seen so many others go through this but never really imagined what it would be like.

Mako came back in before too long and told me she had gotten my lab results back. My pre-eclampsia was too bad and on the way to HELLP syndrome (meaning my liver was involved in a bad way...that would explain the pain I thought was indigestion). The only cure is delivery. To keep me from getting any sicker I need to have the baby out today. Mako explained how since it’s so early in the pregnancy, my cervix isn’t really ready for a vaginal delivery. Plus, I’m not doing too hot and likely wouldn’t make it through what would be a long induction of labor so she recommends a C-section. We are going to be parents today! It hasn’t sunk in quite yet just what is in store for us. I don’t really even think about how it going to affect the baby at this point. The Fentanyl is preventing me from being too reasonable. Jason knows to call everyone, thank goodness. Before I know it I was wheeling past my hospital pals into the O.R.

I am 33 weeks and 1 day pregnant.

Clearly this was written a bit after the fact (a few months later, I believe). I was not scribbling in our pregnancy journal, drugged, while they shaved and prepped me. :)

Oh...and that above layout is totally scraplifted from someone, but it's been so long of course I don't remember who. :( I'm so bad.

Happy 3rd to Easton!!!

Easton Eve

That's what my friend Kelli always used to call the day before her birthday. Well, she didn't call it Easton Eve, obviously... You get what I'm saying...

Oh, my sweet, Eassie Bug is turning 3.

We've been practicing...




That little dude who had such a rough start in life has turned into this amazing little man.


He's gentle (mostly) and polite.


He's an awesome big brother...




He's funny...



(You have to remember he answered the door for both Gramoo and Ellis wearing this!)

He's imaginative...




He's athletic...




A talented musician...

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A budding photographer...

(Let's hope he improves with the camera he'll be getting for his birthday!)

He's one of the best behaved 2 year olds I've ever been around. I hope that continues with 3 but I hear it can be even more challenging than 2. Eek! I'd say we got pretty lucky with this little cutie...


Seriously, how cute is he?




Now that beautiful Dalton is around he is getting so much of the "Oh he's so beautiful/cute!" comments from strangers. This makes me sad for Easton. He'll be helping me load groceries onto the conveyor belt at Wal-Mart when the people behind us start raving over Dalton. Then my little helper will peek his head around to hear a weak, "Oh, you're cute too" comment. I hope he knows he really is a total cutie pie too. It got a little hard for me growing up with my sister: "the pretty one". But I think both my boys are totally adorable and it's just that Dalton's the baby that he gets so much more of the "cute" attention.

But, I think Eastie's little looks and all his other assets make him a total winner. Wouldn't trade him for the world!

I thank God every day that I have this little dude with a heart that just won't quit.




Oh, and for those of you who only read this through Bloglines or whatever...I've updated my sidebar with "This Time __ Years Ago" pics and "footage". :)

"The Day Before" Journal Entry

January 8, 2005
Mom did a little laundry for us today. I sat on the couch while they served me—ha ha! J and Mom drove into Boulder to pick up the other car. We had to leave it there when Jason came up to be with me after my breastfeeding class. She went home after that.

J and I took it easy. He called his family and filled them in. The baby will probably come early. We think they won’t let me go past 37 weeks with having pre-eclampsia.

My blood pressure has been fine while sitting around at home: 128/75, 137/76. He went and got Outback take-out for us tonight. Right before dinner I started feeling a little strange so I took my blood pressure. It was okay so I allowed myself to eat my salad. But, I kept feeling weird so I went up to bed. I felt better and J brought me my potato and half my steak. I’m going to go to bed pretty early because I still don’t feel quite right. Good thing my BP is okay.

I am 33 weeks today!

"We think they won’t let me go past 37 weeks with having pre-eclampsia." Ha ha ha! We thought I'd be induced after 4 weeks of bedrest. That's what we told our families! Weren't they surprised to get a call the next morning saying "Kristin's going for a C-section right now!!!"

Geaux Tigers!

LSU has won it all for the second time since I've known Jason.


I put the boys in their purple gear today and tried to take festive pictures but my camera has been misbehaving a bit lately. I take, like, 100 pictures and get, maybe 5 so so ones.


Okay, so that one is just downright BAD.







We even ate dinner in front of the game tonight.




But I didn't get to watch much.

I had to take Eastie to Urgent Care instead...

He was running around with a blanket over his head (we have since instituted a new house rule of NOT doing such things, not that we were fans before...). Anyway, he was being foolish with the blanket on his head, tripped on a pillow and slammed his mouth into the coffee table.

He was bleeding quite a lot...mixed with the spit it probably made it look worse. I finally got him calmed down enough to take a look and discovered that he had completely torn his frenulum in addition to a cut above one of his teeth.

Ugh.

I'm not an overreactor. We've never taken either kid to the E.R. Yet. I don't just jump to take them to the doctor anytime they're sick. I don't call the doctor for every little thing. But because his frenulum was friggin' torn I did put in a call to our on-call doctor. Just to see. He wasn't really bleeding anymore but if it's not something that could heal on it's own...well...I suppose it should get fixed, right?

The doctor called back and kept stressing to me, "Well, since I can't see it I can't say for sure..." blah blah blah. She gave me the option to go or not go to the E.R. Uh thanks. Then said, "But, if it doesn't heal properly and it leaves excess tissue then it could cause issues with his permanent teeth later or speech or..."

Jason and I talked it over, we have good insurance. Great insurance, really. The neighborhood branch of Children's Hosptial Urgent Care was open till midnight, so I nursed D and handed him to J to put to bed then Easton and I took off for Urgent Care.

First I had to put him in new jammies, the other ones had blood on them. And these ones could almost pass for clothes. Plus they're warmer and snow is on the way...


We got there to a completely empty waiting room. We walked up and Easton quickly began to win over every single staff member starting with telling the receptionist that we needed to have a doctor check his lip because he bonked it on the coffee table.

Then he invited the nurse to his Chuck E. Cheese party.

The resident we saw and her attending physician were also wowed by my little charmer. He was a total prince. The bravest kid you ever saw. Never once acted even a tiny bit timid or afraid. Even with 3 different people listening to his parts and peeling back his injured lip. He was awesome and so talkative and they (mostly) understood him. I was so proud. So proud.

Waiting for the doctor...




The doctors both concluded that his frenulum didn't need stitching but the attending physician noticed he had chipped his tooth. So, she did say we needed to go see a dentist about that. As it was hard enough of a "bonk" to chip the tooth she says we want to make sure no damage was done to the adult tooth waiting on top of it. And the nerve...or root...or something.

Dang it.

We walked out with a syringe to irrigate the wounds to make sure no food bits get stuck in there. Eew. And also instructions to dab it with hydrogen peroxide.

Easton totally conked out on the way home.

He was even snoring on my shoulder as I carried him up. Didn't even flinch till I went to put a diaper on him (over his underwear!). He asked to see J and then went to sleep.

I got home in time to watch LSU clench the national championships and now I'm writing this to you. But it's my bedtime...

Night!

You've Got a Friend In Me

Nope, not an early birthday present.

Easton's newest companion is a potty trained reward. Even though we've said he's basically trained for quite a while now there was still the occasional accident. Or needing to remind him to potty when he got fidgety. It hasn't been all that long that he would still dribble a bit in his underpants before deciding to stop and head to the potty.

But not anymore.

No more dribbling. No more reminders. No more worrying if he'd go to the potty himself if I was upstairs briefly with Dalton.

He is pretty much an independent pottier now. We still have him go just out of routine when he wakes up in the morning and before he goes to bed at night. In addition to just before his quiet time and if we're leaving the house. That might sound like there's not a whole lot of room left for him to initiate things, but trust me. There is. He's a pro now.

Both functions...woo hoo!

This only applies to daytime.

Nighttimes are going to be harder. First of all, while we don't tell Easton's he's not allowed to get out of bed himself in the night, we also don't want to put that idea in his head. He calls for us every morning when he wakes up to come get him. Rarely is he dry in the mornings these days. It happens a few times a week, if that, at this point.

But, if we expect him to keep dry then that also means we'll probably have to let/encourage him to get up out of his bed himself.

This scares me a little.

Anyway, for now he's got his new pal Woody and he was instantly smitten. Just like Andy in the Toy Story movie.





It is pretty darn cute. Last night Woody laid on E's pillow while Easton was in the tub. When the two were reunited Easton told him, "Hi Woody! I missed you! I was having a bath." And he snuggled up with him for the night.

He's upstairs having his quiet time now talking to Woody. I heard him tell him, "I got you 'cause I go poo poo." Which is really only partly true. But whatever. It's not like Woody's going to correct him or anything.

Woody came to the "cool special grocery store" (Wild Oats) with us today and Easton told 3 different people about, "This is my friend Woody. I got him 'cause I go poo poo." I don't think a single person understood him, though. Whew. :)

Here's some cute footage from yesterday. As he's hard to understand, especially if you're not around him (or other 3 year olds) much I'll offer a transcript to follow.

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"I can't see his eye....hi partner...I see you...Woody...I'm you best friend and I saw you in the box when I go poo poo...Woody...Yee haw!...What he gots? Is he got jeans? What's...what's Jessie gots? Jeans. Yeah."

And speaking of friends, Easton filled the favor bags yesterday for his upcoming party...


We also went to Wal-Mart just me and him to pick out his cake flavor (boxed mix). He picked lemon which he is calling "lemmade" (lemonade). We went with a white butter cream frosting...just like the picture on the box.

He's too cute. We're so proud of him. Immensely proud of him. Daily.

What About D?

Just a quick post so we don't forget about Baby Dalton in the midst of all the birthday hoopla and reminiscing for his big bro...

Still as cute as ever pre-haircut...




Getting pretty good with a cup although that's not quite clear here...


Knows to push his brother out of the way if he's being too annoying...


Can do half of the "Home Alone" face...


Quite the percussive prodigy...


Except for when he falls off the stool...

(It was a guided--by me--fall, by the way)

And he's got some rockin' dance moves...

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But still not sleeping through the night. I'm not ready to make him...yet.

I have to see how he's doing at his weight check in a few days.

Just 2 More Links in Our Chain...

Easton and I made a birthday advent chain about a week or so ago...


Every day we rip off a link...


Today there is just two links left. And it is now time for our next journal entry...
January 7, 2005
Mom came to hang out with me while Jason went to work. I got moved back to Mom/Baby for the day because things looked okay on the monitor overnight and I think they needed the room. Mom and I looked through her cookbooks and planned things she could help us out with by making while I am on bed rest. I was able to go home tonight once they got the results back on my 24 hour urine. It is “mild” pre-eclampsia according to the numbers. Mako (Dr. Shimoda) discharged me home but I’m on official bed rest now. Jason has a gig tonight so it was good Mom is with me to take me home. She is going to spend the night tonight and help out a little around the house tomorrow. We are so lucky to have her.

I am 32 weeks and 6 days.