Happy Year's Eve to us

Eric and I just got home from our night away. We left the kids at my Mom's house and spent the evening at the Anniversary Inn in Boise. It was great!

Yesterday, we took the kids to see Beverly Hills Chihuahua at the dollar theater. It was surprisingly cute. I was impressed that it didn't stoop to the disgusting dog jokes. The kids really liked it. Then we went out to dinner at McDonald's because they have 1/2 price Happy Meal night on Tuesdays here in Nampa. We put the kids to bed and ran away.

The vacation has been nice. The kids have really enjoyed the time with their cousins. I will post some pictures when I get them from my sister, since I forgot my camera.

Happy Year's Eve to you all!

Merry Christmas!

Just wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas (yes, a date late) and a Happy New Year!

The rest of the story

I blogged earlier today about Jon, then I heard water running. I ran upstairs to see Adam and Jon playing in the sink. Adam was drinking out of Emma's little teacup and Jon was drinking out of the bowl of the training potty. *sigh*

Makes it All worthwhile

When he falls asleep in our arms, it makes it ALL worthwhile. Now, gotta go and get him out of the sink.

Events of the Past Week

Last week was very busy. Emma had a choir concert and Braden had the Wax Museum project. In 5th grade, the student at his school are required to do a project on a famous dead American. Braden chose Alan Shepard, the astronaut. They have to do a 2 page report, create a poster, and come to school dressed as their person. (Braden took the picture of Emma's concert, she's the head at the top in the center, I think)

I just found some other cute pictures from my camera, so here goes the pictures of the kids with Santa.

At the edge of a breakdown

I went to the airport to pick up Eric and the kids. Since we got there early, we stopped at the Park & Wait lot. The sign said to turn off your engine so I did. Twenty minutes later, I tried to start the engine, but nothing.. just clicking. The kids thought this was funny at first but it wasn't long before Jon was screaming and Adam was getting really upset. Eric was trying to figure out where I was, and I was on the cell phone trying to figure out how to fix the solution. Eric's Dad mentioned that the airport security has a truck that goes around helping people. So Eric finally found them and they came and jumped the battery and we were off. Adam was so relieved that he said "Oh thank you, thank you, thank you" to the security guy. I can't even describe the relief in his voice.

Today, I am exhausted from all of the adventures of the last week.

Weekend in Review

On Friday, Eric took Braden and Emma to Arizona for the Willyerd Grandchildren Christmas Dinner. Jon and Adam stayed home with me. We watched Kung Fu Panda, until Jon and Adam started the karate chopping thing on Mom. Adam had a field trip to BYU to see a Christmas tree display. Karen invited to go with her to a living nativity in Alpine that night where we got to pet camels, sheep, goats and a donkey. Adam says that the best part was the real Baby Jesus. Karen got some really cute pictures which I will post as soon as she emails them to me.

Saturday, Rachel watched the kids and I went to the baptism of my friend's daughter. The three of us Ferrins went to McDonald's for dinner. After that we went home for baths and a round of Dr.Seuss DVDs. Karen then came over after the kids were in bed so we could watch "The Slipper and The Rose." We ate nachos and M&Ms and had a great time.

Church today was a little hectic... OK, I take that back. It was a lot hectic. The copier machine at the church didn't work so I had to run home after Primary started to make copies for my sharing time. Primary just seemed to be a little crazy. Now we are home and the two boys are playing downstairs while I have a time out. We leave for the airport soon to pick up Eric and the big kids.

The weekend turned out better than I supposed it would. Jon recovered so quickly, only the mornings were rough. He seemed to be in more pain first thing in the morning, but by today he wasn't complaining about "Owie Mouth" anymore. It will be nice to be together as a family again. I miss Eric, Braden and Emma.

Thanks

I do want to say thanks to everyone who helped out during the ER trip. Thanks especially to Mom and Dad Ferrin and Aunt Rachel for helping get the other children calmed down and in bed. Rachel was a dear to stay with them until we got home.

Jon's Latest Adventure

We spent Tuesday night at the ER. Jon had put a stick (the stick of his brother's Chinese Yo-Yo) in his mouth and ran into the wall. I heard the scream and turned around to see the blood start to well up on his lip. I ran him to the sink where the blood gushed out of his mouth. I called 911 when I saw the gaping hole in the back of his mouth. The ambulance came and took him to the hospital because they were really concerned about the location of the hole; it was too close to the base of the spinal cord. They had to put him in a baby backboard with head restraints and all. At the hospital we fought the battle of trying to get him calmed down. He would scream for an hour and then fall asleep just in time for another procedure.

Jon fell asleep on the ambulance, screamed for an hour after ER doctor examed him, fell asleep, then woke up when they put an IV in and screamed for another 40 minutes. He fell asleep right before they had to transport him to a CT scan, he screamed until they sedated him and he fell asleep for 15 minutes for the scan, then woke up screaming again. Thirty minutes later he was asleep again when the specialist came to check him for surgery. Screams echoed down the hall to Pre-Op where they gave him a relaxant. (he's screaming and the drug starts working and you can hear the pitch drop as the drug goes into effect.) On the way out of Post-Op, he waved goodnaturedly and said "goodbye" to all of the nurses, who all think he's the cutest thing ever.

He went into surgery and Mom and Dad have to sit in the Surgery Waiting room. An hour later the Doctor came in and told us that it went great. The hole was an inch deep and an inch wide. He was amazed at how big the hole was.

Then Jon was wheeled to Pediatrics unit for observation. He has to have an breathing treatment because the tube down his throat during the surgery has caused inflammation in his throat and he's struggling with stridor. Then of course, we have to wake him up and get him to drink something so that he can be discharged. About an hour later, they decide to take the IV out. He is so happy to be unplugged that he reaches for the bed. He stops crying when we lie him down on the hospital bed. He grabs the blanket and pulls it up and says with relief in his scratchy voice, "bed" and proceeds to go to sleep. Of course, he's not very happy when we are released from the hospital at 2:30 in the morning and we take him home.

By last night, he was running around the house, climbed shelves and driving Mom and Dad crazy. He woke up a little cranky this morning, but is doing GREAT today.

My favorite memories of this event were:
1. The EMT telling me how impressed she was with my calmness.
2. Jon waving and saying "goodbye" to the surgery staff.
3. Realizing again, what a great husband I have. He was stalwart.
4. Being grateful that we live where we can get great medical treatment.

My least favorite parts were:
1. Walking into the ER and having EVERYONE stop and watch the gurney with Jon on it go by.
2. The screaming.
3. Watching Jon's eyes close after they administer the sedative for the CT scan and then watching them spring wide open again. That was just disturbing.