??Stitches??

Well-It happened-Lane had his first set of stitches (five to be exact) and his first trip to the emergency doctor on Wednesday night. We were getting dinner ready (and I was looking forward to it) and Lane was playing on Luke's high chair as if it were a jungle gym. Per Jeff, he had all his weight on the tray and it gave way. Lane then hit his head directly on the tray and cut his eyelid. I of course flipped out when I saw the blood (as I have had experience with stitches in this area) and knew that he would need to go to the doctor. Jeff stayed calm and was not so sure that he needed to be taken to the doctor. I then preceded to get very sick to my stomach and almost PASSED OUT. This made me feel like a great mother ;0! Lane cried at first but then it really did not seem to bother him. We all ate dinner as usual. Jeff then started to look at Lane's eye and decided it was cut pretty bad and not sure if it would "heal back the right way". We finally decided he should probably see someone in case he needed stitches. Thank goodness there was an after hours pediactrics clinic close by that accepted our insurance. The three of us loaded up and took off. Our experience there was GREAT! All the nurses and the doctors were so nice. They first cleaned up his eye and decided he would need to be stitched up. They then came in and had to put numbing gel on his eyelid w/o actually getting it in his eye-boy was this ever fun b/c they had to bandage up his head and cover one eye! Trust me he did not like this. We then had to wait for about 30 min until it was numbed so that they could then do the stitches. The nurse told us that he would have to be put in a papoose? What is this you ask? Well I wonder if I can order these somewhere b/c it would come in handy. (I kid) A papoose is a board that they can strap down their arms and legs so that they cannot move. After the initial shock of it all, he did pretty good. Jeff and I were very proud of him. All in all this was a very pleasant experience (in spite of what happened)

I know that these types of things will happen, esp with boys, but I am not so sure that I am ready for all of them. I felt really bad that I almost passed out from the blood-but it really is not something I have control over!! I can tell you that I will have to start praying for a little more protection over both my boys!!!!

It's Been a While

Well- Its been a while since I have last posted here, actually March 3rd, and I apologize. Jeff and I have been trying to do a lot with the boys to get them out of the house since the weather here has been WONDERFUL! It has been around 85 and sunny every day. We bought the boys a kiddie pool and they are lovin' it! (I love it to b/c I have an excuse to lay out in the sun ;)
The boys had tons of Chucky Cheese tokens left over from Christmas, so Jeff and I decided to take them one day in the middle of the afternoon. This is the absolute best time to take your kids b/c older kids are in school and the whole place was practically empty! It was as if we had run of the whole place. Luke likes to put tokens in the "kiddie" rides, sit for about 10 sec and then go to another one-so some other kid practically gets a free ride. Try to explain this to a 2 year old-NOT EASY! Lane really likes to play the basketball machine with daddy (Jeff likes this one too) The boys had a really fun time-but the best part of the Chucky Cheese visit was Jeff dancing with the singing animals-HILARIOUS!

That weekend we took the boys to the beach on Sunday. It was a beautiful sunny day and the tide was not in so the water was VERY SHALLOW! When the tide is not in it makes it easy for the boys to really enjoy the water. It allows us to walk out in the water and see what is on the bottom of the ocean. There are tons of little tiny "snails" with shells that crawl in the sand under the water. It is really cool to sit down and watch them and Lane loved putting them in his hand to experience them up close. Lane is a real water baby-he loves to "swim" and is not afraid to venture out at all, but Luke is a little more reserved and wants someone to hold his hand while he is in the water.
This last Sunday we decided to have some family time. We first took the boys to Petland. They really love this pet store b/c there are tons of animals and you can look and pet most of them. The sales people are so nice and will ask you about 100 times if you want them to get an animal out to pet. There are individual stalls that allow you to have some one on one time with a dog or cat. Well after looking at mice, hamsters, ferrets, gerbils, parrots, parakeets, fish, snakes, spiders, and lizards, the boys decided they wanted to pet a dog. Lane picked out a Golden Retriever that was asleep-but let me assure you he was no dud. When we got him in the stall he let us know he was all puppy. He started to "chew" on the boys shorts, which kind of scared them. Thank goodness the sales person gave us some toys for him to chew on. He was a really cute puppy-but I am not so sure this is the kind of dog for us. Next we took the kids to the park to drive their John Deere Gator and play baseball. Lane has so much fun playing ball with daddy-and he is really good. If it is sports related-the kid picks it up really fast. He hits the ball about 95% of the time.

Anyway-we had a great time together and I am so blessed that I have a beautiful family to spend time with. I am so thankful that I have this time with my boys-they are growing so fast and I cant even hardly think about it w/o crying. I cant believe that my baby boy Luke will be 2 on Friday-it makes me sad! He is such a Godsend and God knew exactly what I needed when he sent him to me! Precious!

Happy Trails To You

As most of you know Jeff took up running the January before Luke was born-and let me tell you how wonderful it was to be HUGE AND PREGNANT with Jeff looking all slim and trim. My sister in law-Jen was the inspiration for me to finally start running (thanks Jen). I really enjoy the benefits from it-physically, mentally, and ect....One of the perks to living here in the big city is a really cool paved trail that runs all over Tampa. Jeff and I go quite a bit and take the kids so that we can both run. I have not been able to convey how cool this trail really is-so yesterday I decided to take the camera along to take pics and blog (my new found favorite past time) about it. There are no cars allowed on the trail, only skates, running, bikes, ect. One of my favorite reasons to go is b/c it reminds me of being in the country ;) and we get to look for the alligator that lives in the land fill pond. Don't worry he really cannot get to where we are and there is no real threat being there. I thought he might be out sunning when we got there-but he was a no show :(
I know that I am posting a lot of pics of the kids and talking about some ordinary everyday things-but I hope that my parents are able to feel a little closer to Lane and Luke b/c they miss them! I have also been told that journaling about everyday ordinary life with the kids will be special when they are older :'(

Mohawk Madness

The name of this post is pretty self-explanatory-I gave the boys mohawks for some fun and decided to take some pics! Some of the pics turned out really good and we even got daddy involved (check out his faux hawk) Hope you enjoy the pics!
This weekend was pretty good! Friday night Jeff and I watched "Conversations with God". If you have not seen this movie, please rent it. Of course I ended up crying at the end-but is was so powerful to me! Now I have another book to add to my "want to read list".

Saturday Jeff and I went fishing on the causeway (on the way to Clearwater) It was a BEAUTIFUL day-the sun was shining, blue skies, and about 75 degrees. Sue watched the kids so it was a very nice time. I am not sure why we have not taken advantage of being so close to the ocean since we have been here, b/c all I could think was how awesome it is to live this close to such a beautiful place. As far as the fishing, I caught 1 Snook-a very skinny but shiny fish. The Snook season opened today-but it really was not an issue since he got loose right as he got to the bank. Still had a great time and all I could think of was how beautiful this world really is and how awesome God's creation is! I love being outside b/c I really see God in everything-I only had a thankful heart and still have a hard time imagining that Heaven could be better (but know that it is).

I suppose I can stop gushing about my wonderful life here in FL ;), but I can say that one thing is missing-my family. I really miss my parents and it is heartbraking that they cannot be closer to the kids! I have been so through so many changes in my life the last year and a half, some seemed unbearable and impossible, some were very hard and took courage, but mostly they all required one thing-FAITH! I never really thought of myself as having much of it, and I am not sure that I have what I need- but I do know that it is growing. Every day I realize that I am where I am suppose to be and God does have a plan for my life- I am mostly just so thankful for all the people in my life as I have been so blessed. (I love you mom and dad) Lane and Luke say hello and they love you too!