Year In Pictures

Ahhh, the end of another year.  Let's see what's happened in 365 days, shall we?

Ingrid the Photographer

My inlaws got Ingrid a really cool digital camera for Christmas.  It was the favorite thing she's gotten, by far!!  Today she kept going around the house taking pictures, and I have to say, I really love seeing life through her eyes.

Today she played fabric store with my scraps, and then took pictures for a couple hours.  She is totally my daughter...

Here are a couple shots from her little camera.  Who knows, someday maybe she'll get one of my old ones to use for real!

Happy Christmas!

We drove five hours to Gramma's house for Christmas this year.  It could not have gone much better, except the fact that Ingrid got sick and Otis refused to sleep.  But other than that, it was awesome!  It snowed so we got a white Christmas!

We got to see lots of family.

 We got some fun stuff (like a Dustbuster for me, seriously the highlight of my day!) 

My siblings and I chipped in for a Kindle Fire for my mom.  She was amazed, although she cried at getting a calendar with pictures of her grandkids, so I guess family wins out over technology.

It was just so cozy, sitting by the fire, watching the kids go sledding, eating crap food, and relaxing.  Thank you to my mom for letting us all crash and for feeding us.  It was fun!

Whew!

What a long, draining week or so it's been!  I'm glad that it's officially Christmas vacation, no more school runs for a couple weeks, and we leave for my mom's on Friday.  I am so ready to relax and eat junk food!

So the Fat Man turned one.  He is a year old, it's amazing.  He started out so wee and quiet.

And now he is huge, hard to hold for too long without a carrier, as loud as his sister (LOUD) and he is the biggest flirt.  Seriously, this kid turns on the charm for anyone and everyone.  All the nurses in the hospital were in love with him.  We were at the fabric store the other day and he was waving and smiling and clapping his hands for all the people in line at the cutting counter.  He is a ham. 

He is still around the 21lb mark, he is cruising on furniture and will walk with anything that moves.  He still loves his sister, although she is starting to get sick of him following her around.  Get used to it, Ingrid, he isn't going anywhere...He now models my bibs for Applesauce Crafts, and look how well he does it!  Of course, when I actually feed him, I never put a bib on him, despite the drawer full of them.  It never crosses my mind.

As the year comes to a close, I think back to what our life was like last year and how much has changed in a year.  We are back in Milwaukee, our son is not a tiny little thing we're scared to hold, Ingrid is in school full time (her choosing-she can go half days but doesn't want to!) Brendan is in a job that is stable and not a two year thing.  We have come a long way this year!  Can't wait to see what next year brings!

The Party, and the Hospital.

I posted more pictures of the party here on my Applesauce Crafts blog.  Feel free to check them out.  The party was a hit, I think it looked cute, Otis had fun and got some really cute books for presents :)  We got a music/play table for him and he loves it. 

But, to overshadow a party, Otis ended up in the hospital a couple days ago with pneumonia.  Boo!  I took him to the doctor Tuesday morning because he was having a hard time breathing.  They sent us home with a nebulizer but he didn't get any better and was really laboring to breathe.  So we went to the ER and were admitted right away.

That poor little guy, he has had such a rough start to the world.  To think of how much he's been in the hospital in a year just breaks my heart.  He was put on oxygen, had an iv of fluids and antibiotics, has a monitor to check his pulse ox.  It was all so reminiscent of the NICU and all the wires hanging from him.  He really was conked out and didn't do much but lay on me all through the first night.  He had to get suctioned, which is horrible to watch.  And horrible to hear him scream and watch his little legs flail around as he fights the nurse holding him.  I hate it.

Yesterday he did better.  Brendan was with him all day so I could come home and shower and sleep.  Funny, but being in a hard rocking chair with a wheezy kid laying on you and nurses and doctors coming in every twenty minutes does not make for a restful night of slumber...He was up playing and flirting with all the ladies yesterday, though, so he seems to be on the mend.  He got his oxygen down to almost nothing, and when I left this morning he was on room air, yay!  They'd unhooked his IV but he has to go back on more fluids because he's not eating.  He is getting steroids and nebulizer treatments and an inhaler every three or four hours, so his airways are opening and he's coughing up some lung junk. 

It is so hard to see your child this way.  I absolutely hate thinking of him being sick.  But what really got me was bringing Ingrid to see him yesterday and she was so nonchalant about it, it didn't scare her at all, she was so used to it.  Gah!  She got so used to being in the hospital with me being there and then visiting Otis in the NICU.  I think that's enough hospital time for us, except my upcoming throat surgery.  Then 2012 is going to be hospital free!!

The Weekend is OVER!

Oh my god, this weekend has taken forever to get done!  I am exhausted.  My mom came yesterday, dear lord, was that only yesterday??  She got here just before Ingrid got home from ballet, and it was a non-stop play fest until bedtime. 

I've been putting these bandanas on Otis to catch all the droooooool he's been producing.  I think one year molars are starting their trek upward.  Joy.  He looks like such a little bandit with this on!  And a lot like Ingrid did when she wore them :)

And then today was the gnome and toadstool party.  It was super fun, and super crazy, and we all had fun.  But it's been a long day and I'll get to that tomorrow.

Crazy Hair Day

Otis woke up with a crazy do going on yesterday.  The whole day was a bit crazy--lots of wheezing, snot, chapped cheeks, whining and crying.  I am already over winter and it hasn't even started yet.