Sunday, November 28, 2010

Santa 2010

The Sunday after Thanksgiving, we ventured out to meet Santa.  The trip didn't go exactly as imagined.  Keith woke up under the weather and was in no shape to tackle the Santa visit.  Since we had been talking it up with Oliver, he was fired up to chat with Santa and let him know what was on his Christmas list.  I asked Oliver if he could help me with Kellan and if so, we would head out to see Santa.  It was my first solo adventure with both boys and I must say, I mark it a huge success.

Oliver's plan was to ask Santa for "Handy Mandy and a firetruck puzzle with a fire truck that goes on it's own".  The first item we saw at Costco last weekend and the second we saw at the mall.  When we arrived at Santa's cottage, the line was quite long but Oliver insisted that he wanted to wait, so we did.  It was about 45 minutes until it was our turn and both boys were wonderful as we waited.  When Santa gave Oliver the signal, he ran right up to him and jumped in his lap but he wouldn't make a peep to tell Santa what he wanted for Christmas.  After a few minutes of me throwing hints Santa's way, I handed over Kellan.  I couldn't have asked for a better experience.  Then... everything fell apart.  As soon as we were done both boys had melt downs and were crying.  It must have looked bad since I had a random lady ask me if I wanted help and some little girl came up to ask why they were both crying.  (Kellan was hungry and that was quickly resolved)  Well, I discovered Oliver really had to pee.  Thankfully, the bathroom was right there and once he was done, he was much happier.  I wonder if he wouldn't have had to pee if he would have actually talked to Santa.  He was sad that he didn't talk to Santa but I guaranteed him that Santa knew what he wanted for Christmas.  Santa is magic and knows this stuff, you know.
Kellan was IN LOVE with Santa.  I think he could have stared at Santa all day and flashed his big blue eyes and dimple smile at him.  It was SO cute!   
See you Soon Santa!  Oliver is ready for you to arrive on Christmas Eve!

Littleton Light Festival

Saturday night we bundled up and went to downtown Littleton for their street lighting festival.  We had never been before and we thought it would be a nice way to bring in the Christmas season.

Keith strolling Oliver.
Kellan all bundled up in the Ergo. 
 Mommy and Kellan sportin' the Ergo.  Kellan LOVES the Ergo.  He falls right to sleep in it.  Thanks to Becky for the great suggestion!
 Jen and Parker
 Oliver, Keith and Craig; waiting for Santa.
Kellan soundly sleeping in the Ergo. 
 The family waiting for Santa.
 As Santa would come down Main Street they would light the trees.  When he got to the very end he lit the big tree.
 Oliver scoping out Santa's police escort.  This was moments before the police officer asked Oliver for knuckles, which he gladly offered up.
Of course, when Santa got to us, he was turned the other way.  Hey Santa, how about some love our direction?!
What a nice evening it was!  It wasn't too cold and it got Oliver really excited to meet Santa in person.

Thanksgiving 2010

Happy Thanksgiving!
We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with our friends, the Hess Family.  We ventured up to Longmont to spend the day with Geoff, Stephanie, Evelyn, Freddie and Jonathan.  Their friends Krista, Brent and Amelia were also there.  We had a great time!!
Before we left the house, I snapped a quick picture of the boys in their Thanksgiving best.
Turkey Time!
Geoff carving up his famous turkey.  It was MMM MMM Good!

Freddie
Oliver

Kellan
Amelia and Evelyn
Keith and Kellan observing the turkey carving.

Is there a Doctor in the house?
The newest Hess, Jonathan.  He is only four weeks old.
Keith and Carrie
The kids table.
Freddie, Evelyn, Amelia and Oliver
Keith having a chat with Kellan.


 For dessert, the kids had ice cream.  YUM!
Thanks to the Hess family for having us over for dinner.  We had a wonderful time and are very Thankful to have you in our lives.

This video is dark since I was on the sneak attack.  It is Oliver singing "Me and Kellan".  So cute!

Goofy Gator

Another fun evening at the Hamilton House.  Oliver was wearing his crazy alligator shirt and decided he needed to also wear his dinosaur slippers, which became alligator slippers for the evening.  He also discovered his Santa hat from last Christmas.  All of this, along with a wooden snake, his Goofy Gator outfit was complete.  As you can see from below, it was good times all around, running from the camera.

 Oliver with a snake mustache.
 Looking cute for the camera, complete with some dinner leftovers on his cheeks.  Good thing bath time was the next item on the agenda.

Saturday Night Snack

Recently, Oliver and I shared a Honey Crisp apple snack.  Who knew sharing an apple could be so much fun?!  If you have not had these apples, they are a MUST HAVE!  They are by far, the best apples I have ever had.  The added bonus, they too are from Washington.
 Keith took several pictures of us having fun.  I had to post this one.  It is so full of character that it makes me laugh.
 Mr Blue Eyes!
We are surrounded by amazing blue eyes in the Hamilton House!

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Following in Oliver's Footsteps

Kellan in the ER

It is hard to believe that twelve weeks flew by so fast after Kellan was born. Before I knew it, it was time to take him to school with Oliver and to head to work myself. Just like Oliver, Kellan wasn’t going to make this an easy task.

If you recall, I returned to work after eleven weeks with Oliver. The next week Oliver came down with RSV and was hospitalized for four days when he was twelve weeks old.

Sunday, November 14 at 5:00 PM we heard the first bark. In shock I asked Keith if the noise came from Kellan and it had. We hoped it was nothing serious and nervously went about our evening. At midnight, Kellan woke up to eat. He was congested, which has been the norm since the day he was born. However, he was also barking like a seal when he would inhale. We quickly called the doctor and they suspected he had croup. By 1:00, Kellan and I were headed to the ER and Keith stayed home with our soundly sleeping Oliver. The doctor had asked if Kellan was blue and we knew if that was the next step we weren’t going to sit around the house waiting for it to happen. The ER staff was excellent and they took great care of Kellan. He received a breathing treatment and steroids to reduce the swelling in his vocal chords and larynx. They also took chest x-rays and nasal cultures to eliminate the possibility of pneumonia, RSV, influenza and a few other things that slip my mind. He was diagnosed with Croup. Kellan was a perfect patient and enjoyed an evening of sleeping in his Mommy’s arms while a cool ventilator moistened the air he was breathing. Several hours later he had shown great improvement but they kept him for further observation since he was so young. Keith was up an at ‘em bright and early Monday morning and had Oliver at school when they opened at 6:30 AM. Oliver thought that it was odd that Kellan and Mommy were no where to be found but that didn’t delay his quest to see meet his friends at school for breakfast. With a quick Starbucks stop, Keith was at the hospital in no time. The rest of the morning was uneventful, fortunately. The nursing staff was great and they even brought us breakfast. They released Kellan at 10:30 AM with a prescription for an oral steroid for him to take that night. Through the day he continued to improve and the bark was long gone. It truly does sound like a seal barking, just as I had heard of. I would be perfectly fine not hearing that noise again, ever. The ER doctor said that he had the worst case of Croup that he had ever seen in such a young child. The nurse said that it was good that we came in when we did or it may have gotten much worse and he would have had to be admitted into the hospital.

Just like Oliver, Kellan is proving to be a crowd pleaser. He smiled and charmed the nurses and staff and they all commented on how cute and calm he was. I knew that he must have been the talk of the ER when the daytime nurse commented that she heard he arrived in cute yellow ducky PJ’s. This amazed me since she was the third nurse with us and he had only worn those PJ’s for the first 15 minutes we were there before we had him stripped down for tests.

It has now been over a week since our trip to the ER. Kellan was good as new by Tuesday morning and he tackled his first at school and I tackled my first day back to work. Every day he seems to enjoy school more and more and he is winning over his teachers with his smile and giggles. We are so very thankful that he is OK and it wasn’t worse than it was. We are also thankful that Oliver has taught us the ways of parenting and we are much more seasoned, relaxed, and appropriately reactive. Here’s to hoping for an uneventful winter with healthy kids and no more hospital visits.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Cup of Tea

As Nana would say, she needs a cup of tea for this blog update.  We are finally up to date and there is so much to see and read.  With the long posts, some of the updates were kicked to the next page.  Be sure to click Older Posts at the bottom to see the additional posts I put up yesterday.  Happy reading!

Hamiltons are Here

 This past week was my last week of maternity leave and we had a visit from some of the Wyoming Hamiltons.  They had made a trip to Texas and stopped by to see us on their way home.  It was Stephanie, Lauren and Kaden's first time to meet Kellan.  We had a great time and really enjoyed their visit.  Oliver even got to stay home from school 2.5 days to be with them.  What a lucky boy!

Aunt Stephanie meets Kellan and his chubby cheeks.
 Kaden, Oliver and Lauren having a fireside chat.
 Kaden, Lauren and Oliver playing with Oliver's laptop.
 Nana and Kellan
 Lauren, Nana and Kellan
On the second day they were here (Wednesday) we went to the Science and Nature Museum.  It was great to see, but once again, we didn't make it through most of the museum.  Someday we will see it all, but probably not in one day.
Kaden and Lauren in front of some dinosaurs.
Exploring some fossils. 

 Kellan and Oliver after lunch, ready to see space!
 One of Oliver's favorite exhibits, the Mars mud.  It demonstrates how erosion occurs on Mars (or Earth for that matter) due to water.
 Oliver and Lauren learning why we have four season.
Oliver learning about infra-red 
Oliver demonstrating infra-red to Lauren and Kaden.  The gun Oliver has blew hot air like a hair dryer and he was warming up Lauren and Kaden's hands so they turned colors under the infra-red camera.
 Oliver picking up space rocks
 Team effort with Lauren and Oliver picking up space rocks.
 When the pincher's don't work, bend over and use your hands.
 Nothing is safe from the pincher's.  Not bear the astronaut or...
... Lauren's NOSE!


 Kellan after an afternoon milk shake.  Often times he rests his head on his crossed arms.  I've always wanted a picture and Stephanie helped me out.
 On the third day (Thursday) we were suppose to get snow and it was cold so we stayed home for some rest and relaxation.
Aunt Stephanie and Kellan having a cuddle on the couch.
 Kaden, Madalyn and Lauren resting with Toy Story 3 during Oliver's nap time.
Oliver playing by the fire after his nap.
Lauren cuddling Kellan.
 Kellan's patience was very short and we barely got a picture with all four cousins.  We are just missing William in Texas.
 That night we went to White Fence Farm for dinner.  MMMM... YUM!
The first stop, the OK Coral to feed the farm animals.


 Kellan, Keith and Bill (Papa) hanging out while the kids play after dinner at the White Fence Farm.
What a great visit!  We look forward to seeing you again!!
Related Posts with Thumbnails