Puppy Shirt Tuesday

Birthday Weekend!

What a fun birthday weekend Don had! In spite of the fact that I was off in Charleston for a good chunk of his day.  I think he got lots of fun gifts, and his Dad visited for a manly shopping trip at Northern Tool. We certainly love him and are so glad he's on the mend.  It's also never bad to have an excuse to eat cake!

Kate was a sweetie. She picked out a card for Don that was pretty sappy. "Because I want to be Daddy's little girl." Don't worry kiddo.

Nan and Pop provided the cake. Kate already had cake (and cookies) earlier in the day at Courtney's wedding shower. Here she is proving she's always up for icing cake.

Mmmm... Someone asked if it was possible that she loves cake more than me. Well, I guess anything is possible. I think she's just a little more outward in expressing her love for cake. Either way, it's clear she takes after me.

Our fun continued on Sunday. Don set up his newest tarp. He's planning a mega trip. More on that later. Right now he's healing, remember?

Kate drew this great picture of a whale with 100 legs.

Mason watched from the stroller.

He's such a cutie.

And can be pretty silly.

And Kate? She loves being silly.

We had a great time, in spite of the cold!

Blurry

It's nice and warm here, and you know what that means! Morning porch pictures!!!

Unfortunately, 20 out of 21 pictures turned out blurry. This one survived the cut.
 

There was also a lot of this. Oddly enough she didn't even complain.

Go Speed Racer

It's cold out.... relatively speaking, of course.  So Kate has taken to riding her tricycle inside. Fast. Most times she pretends she's racing someone.  I think Don is proud. None of us told her to do this, just something she dreamed up on her own. Oh, and she wears a tutu or a princess dress at all times now, when she's home. And ballet slippers. And her new hat that we purchased at REI today along with those awesome streamers that have little spinner flowers on the ends.

She always has a very enthusiastic audience.

Too fun, this girl.

More Fun Times with Kate and Mason

I don't want to speak too soon, but if I didn't know better, I'd say Kate is starting to like Mason.

 

  

 

Eight Months!

This little cutie is 8 months old today! 

But don't let his age fool you. These clothes? 12 months. Yeah, they're a little long, but you gotta go big to get over that belly.

He is one sweet, laid back little guy.  And boy, does he love his sis.

And Kate? Well, she likes him most days.  Today on the way to Target I was playing some kid's music.  She was singing along and kept saying: "Come on Mace, clap with me." or "Mace, sing with me." This made him squeal. Anytime Kate has anything to do with him, he squeals. Loves that sister.

Recovery

                                         Before                                                         After

Well, surgery went off without any apparent hitches.  The terrible pain was gone right away. Now for the surgery pain.  Day 2 of recovery has been rough, with Don catching my nasty cold. Doesn't seem like coughing after you just had a disc removed from your neck, and 2 vertebrae fused would be a good thing. I feel pretty bad that I shared my cold at such and inopportune time. Prayers still appreciated.

In other news. The weather was nice today, so K and I escaped to do some swinging. 

Playing in the playhouse.

 

Princesses in her shoes.

 Flower girl.

Down, but not Out (yet)

I don't know if I mentioned in the last post that I could use a vacation from my vacation, or that we've been battling sickness in our house.  Well... both of these things have kind of magnified themselves in the last 4 days.  I could still use a vacation. Mostly because Don has been out of commission the past few days with what we determined today to be a herniated disc at the C6-C7 level.

Last night he couldn't take it anymore and we ended up in the ER.  This turned into an overnight stay so he could get the first MRI this morning. Voila! Diagnosis before lunch.

 This photo was taken during one of the rare moments that the pain meds were still working.

Surgery was definitely NOT the way he wanted to go, but I think the pain and loss of muscle strength in his arm (not to mention the tingly fingers) have convinced him otherwise.  This should make for an interesting beginning to our year, no?  And so, surgery Friday. Please keep Don in your prayers. 

Since Don can't lift the kids with the screwy neck, I'm in charge for most all activities that might involve lifting. So it was Mommy bathtime tonight.  Mason got this cute little octopus for Christmas. He plays music and blows bubbles.  And because Mason loves to share... ahem.... Because Kate loves for Mason to share, K has been playing with it in the tub.  Really, M did get to play with it a few times.

Apparently the bubbles we had in the cabinet are very sticky. Kate spent most of this evening trying to get them to stick to every part of her body.

And Mason? He watched from the bouncy.  He must have really been tired since he didn't try to escape.

 

The kids, thankfully, went to bed with relative ease, and now, the Tigers are losing miserably in the Orange Bowl. I might go to bed (and if I fall asleep, oh well). I promise I'm not a fairweather fan. Really, I'm just exhausted. And Don is recording it so if they come back from being down by 42, I won't miss a thing.