Family picture!


Our Christmas card picture



Mason with his orange belt (and cute instructor!)




Hi-ya!

Mason had his taekwondo graduation this weekend. He showed off his cool ninja moves and got his orange belt. Now he's decided he's done with martial arts and wants to play baseball in the spring!
We went to my parent's house to take the annual Christmas card picture on Sunday. Matt shot several pictures of the boys before we left, which was pretty much impossible. Since the twins aren't sitting on their own all that well, Mason had to support them, which wasn't easy. So he's complaining, the twins are crying and falling over. Yeah, it was fun. After all that, there was not a single picture in which all three kids were smiling! If both babies were smiling, Mason had a goofy look on his face. But we got one with two kids smiling and the other looking cute, if a bit solemn. And we managed to get a halfway decent family picture at my parent's house. So, all in all, it was a success.

Will's appointment went perfectly today. The doctor thought he looked great, and his only advice was to watch Will closely and let our pediatrician know if he started doing anything out of the ordinary. (I was kind of like, "Duh," but whatever.) One of the nurses hadn't seen Will since our last visit and didn't know that he no longer had his trach. When we told her the story of how he made the executive decision to remove it, she said "Oh my gosh, I'm getting goosebumps!" We swung by the TICU while we were there to show Will off. They were all thrilled to see him and couldn't get over how big he is.
I was dreading the trip there and back, but Will was an angel. And since our appointment took all of 15 minutes, we were on the road before traffic got bad. The downside was that we were on the road for a total of 2 1/2 hours for a fifteen minute appointment, but such is life. It certainly could have been worse.
Mason had his Christmas show at preschool this morning. He did a great job! He stood where he was supposed to, and sang the songs perfectly. No running around the stage and falling on the floor like last year! Matt's mom took him for the afternoon and he had a great time. When he came home, he gave me this little silver heart with a bell inside of it that had the word "joy" engraved on it. He said, "Mommy, this is for you because you are in my heart and I love you." We put it on my dresser so I can see it before I go to bed and right when I wake up. He told me to pick it up before I go to sleep so the bell will remind me that he loves me. How sweet and beautiful is that? Being his mother is such a blessing (most of the time!).

It was Mason's turn to get four shots. He had his check up today, complete with four year old immunizations. Matt had to take him because I honestly didn't think I was strong enough to hold him through the shots! He cried, but he got over it. As a reward, his daddy took him to the toy store and bought him a Transformer that requires a degree in rocket science to put together, but Mason likes it. I thought maybe he would be pitiful and sleepy after all those shots, but no such luck!
Hays was pitiful yesterday after all of his immunizations. He ran a fever and slept a lot. Will ran a fever in the afternoon, but was not so keen on the sleeping thing. If anything, he slept less than he usually does. But they were both fine and fever-free.
Tomorrow is going to be loooong. Mason's Christmas show at preschool is tomorrow morning, then Matt and I have to head to Egleston for Will's appointment with the pulmonologist. His appointment is at two, and as long as they take us right away, we'll be on the road home before traffic gets too bad. But I'm not optimistic since we had to wait well over an hour to see the doctor last time. If that happens we'll get stuck in rush hour traffic on a Friday afternoon. Yuck.

Poor Will and Hays had to get their nine month immunizations today- four shots! They didn't think much of that, but their checkup went well. The doctor thought that they were growing well and doing all the things that they ought to be doing for their adjusted age. Hays is of course not even on the growth chart for a nine month old, but Will is in the 10th percentile of height and the 3rd percentile for weight. That's not bad considering how tiny he was at birth. Hays is 12 lbs, and 25 1/2 in. long and Will is 15 lbs. and 27 1/2 in. The pediatrician took Will off of his prevacid since he's showing any signs of reflux, and said that we don't need to use the pulse ox at night since he's doing so well!!!
The physical therapist came out yesterday and she was pleased with the boy's progress as well. They have come such a long way in the short time that she's been working with them. It's amazing how on track they are considering everything that they've had to deal with.
Now we just have to get through the remaining doctor's appointments this week. Mason has a check-up on Thursday (and four shots- boo!!!!) then Will has an appointment with the pulmonologist on Friday. I can't wait for him to see my amazing boy! We might even run by the TICU to show off our little miracle. They don't get too many miracls in there, and we are awfully glad that our baby is one of them.

Mason had a fun morning. We went on a field trip with his preschool class to see a ballet of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." Now, I'll freely admit, when I heard about this field trip I thought, trying to keep a bunch of four year olds still and quiet to watch a ballet? Worst. trip. ever. But I was wrong! Mason sat with two of his little buddies, and I figured they'd cut up through the whole thing, but from the moment the lights went down, they were completely transfixed. Seriously, they did not even move! Now, the same could not be said for after the show ended. Those little boys ran around the lobby of the civic center like wild little hooligans. But they weren't being bad, just wild, silly boys.
My sister was in town today doing grad school stuff, so she stopped by to see the boys. They were all very happy to see their Aunt Ninny! Mason does not like having to share her attention with his brothers. He used to having her at his mercy whenever she comes for a visit!
Tonight was our family movie night, so we watched "The Polar Express" with Mason. He really liked it, and it gave some great explanations for how things work at the North Pole. Especially when it comes to Santa keeping an eye on the little boys and girls. Mason's been a handful over the past couple of weeks, and I've been using that whole "You'd better behave because Santa's watching, and if you're bad he won't bring you any presents!" thing a lot lately. So it was good to have the "he knows if you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake" idea reinforced!

Mason woke up this morning with the croup. He came into our room a little before six wheezing and barking like a seal. For some reason, he gets it every year. The upside of that is the pediatrician called in the medicine for me rather than making me bring him in. One trip to the doctor avoided- yay!! So we got his steroids, and hopefully he'll have an easier time tonight.
While Mason started the day very early, Hays didn't wake up until 9 am!!! I had to check on him a few times to make sure he was still breathing! I guess the past couple of weeks of practially nonexistant naps and waking up every few hours during the night finally caught up to him. Maybe he'll continue to make up for lost sleep over the next few days. One can always hope!

Well, the twins are playing happily on the floor rather than napping like they're supposed to be. Will woke up after a very short nap and then proceeded to wake his brother up with his yelling. Add this to the morning nap they refused to take, and you have two tired babies. I don't know what's up with the no sleep, but I'm getting pretty tired of it! At least Mason is asleep. Of course, that completely screws up my plan to take our down comforter to the cleaners this afternoon (our stupid cat peed on it for some unknown reason) since the twins will be ready to lay down when Mason gets up.
In spite of the lack of morning nap, I managed to get a ton of baby food made this morning. I pureed apples, avocados, mangos, sweet potaoes, acorn squash and mixed veggies. I still have strawberries, kiwi, peas and bananas left to do, but I ran out of ice cube trays. The homemade baby food has been a success. The boys love it, and they'll eat pretty much anything. The only down side is that it takes up a TON of freezer space, so that limits what I can put in there for the rest of the family. Of course, at this point, the twins are eating better than any of us!