One might think he liked his little brother....

Christmas 2008

Christmas Eve marked the beginning of the annual Christmas whirlwind for us! Typically, we celebrate 5 Christmases within two days! But, this year events were consolidated, the number of presents for the boys decreased, and it made for a much less chaotic Christmas this year! (Although....to look at the boys' rooms right now, you can't really tell that the volume of presents decreased!!)

On Christmas Eve, the boys stayed home with Daddy while Mommy went to work. Daddy and the boys surprised Mommy by installing some finishing touches on the master bath, the kitchen, and the half-bath (and nearly electrocuted himself in the process. PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: When installing under the cabinet task lighting, please remember to shut off the power first.) Afterwards, we went to Nana and Papa's house for dinner and presents. Then, it was home to rush off to bed before Santa's impending arrival.

On Christmas morning, we were awakened by Cole (who couldn't wait to run downstairs to see if Santa came!) While Mommy, Daddy, and Chase got up, Cole snuck downstairs to check things out for himself! Next thing we knew, he was making the announcement that Santa had, in fact, been there and left snow boots for him!

When we finally all went downstairs, Cole ran straight to his Santa gifts. However, Chase didn't even seem to notice to pile of presents by the tree. Instead, he ran straight to the plate of cookies we had left for Santa, found a piece that Santa hadn't eaten, and popped it into his mouth!

Chase eating Santa's cookie (almost snapped this shot too late!)


Kids opening their Santa presents


After this, we headed over to Nonnie's and Granddad's house for breakfast and more presents! Cole helped pass out all the gifts to the family this year!

"Santa" Cole


And, finally, our Christmas celebration wound down with one final stop: MomMom's and Big Granddad's house! We had lunch and even more gifts. However, the boys had more fun playing in a large empty box that Herb brought over when he carried in all the gifts! Moral to the story....next year save your money and just get the boys a box!





Happy Holidays!

Our new friends

Each morning, we are greeted by our new friends, the turkeys! A family of 14 visits us several times a day and the boys just love them! Meet our new friends (who love to eat our crabapples!).



And, here is how I find the boys most mornings....

Why we've been scarce the last few months....

Cole "the worker"



















Someday our house will be finished.....

Chase's 18 month appointment

My Chunky Monkey has suddenly turned into a Skinny Minny! Here are his stats:

Height: 33 1/4" (75% percentile)
Weight: 22lbs. 14oz. (10-25% percentile)
Head: 47 cm (25% percentile)

Tall and skinny. How did that happen? Maybe its the fact that the kid never stops! Although Dr. T wasn't overly concerned about the fact that Chase really hasn't gained any weight at all in the last six months, she did suggest that we add some calories to his diet.

He had to get 3 shots, which he was not at all thrilled about. (Cole ended up being blindsided with a flu shot while we were there and he cried much more than Chase!) However, Chase handled his shots like a trooper and happliy left waiving his Christmas stickers!

December already?

Seriously? How did yet another month go by with no blog posts? *sigh* What a busy month November was and what a whirlwind we are on!

I am happy to announce that we are finally moved into our new home! The boys are thrilled with their new rooms and their toys they haven't seen in four months! Cole announces almost daily that he LOVES our new home and "could we please live here for 96 days?"

They love to eat breakfast in the morning while watching the turkey in our backyard. They love to pull in the driveway and see the deer eating the crabapples off of our trees. And, just this morning, Cole said, "Nice piece of land we have here, Mom." :)

There is still quite a bit of work to be done on the house, but at least for now it is "done enough" to live in. And, little by little, the details are being finished. (And, by details, I mean those little things, like, you know, countertops, plumbing in the kitchen, a working washer and dryer, a master bathroom.... The list goes on and on!) And, perhaps soon, we will even have a television hooked up. I can't believe we have survived nearly a week without a single episode of Spongebob or Handy Manny.

Yesterday, after the appliance repairman fixed our dryer, I was able to do my first load of laundry in nearly a week. And (this is how sad our lives have become), Chase and I sat on the floor and watched laundry wash!!!

Now that the majority of the remodeling is behind us and we are moved into our house, I am hoping to be better about posting. I know there have been lots of things said and done by my boys that I should have written down! Come to think of it, here are a couple of Cole funnies from yesterday:

Cole: [holding his flashlight in the air and talking in his deepest voice] I am the Circus of Liberty. Every one waive your sinus!


Mom: Cole, how was your field trip to the food pantry today?
Cole: Good!
Mom: What food did you buy at the store with your money?
Cole: Candy!
Mom: Candy? Did you buy any vegetables or cereal?
Cole: Nope. We bought candy. All candy. The hungry people want SUGAR!!!!

Halloween Fun! *UPDATED*

I think this year was probably the best Halloween we have had in, oh...ever! Cole was dressed as a policeman, complete with his "handcups." While, Chase was an adorable little pumpkin!

We started off the festivities by taking Cole to school for his Fall Party. All the kids came dressed in their costumes. They trick-or-treated the church employees and then ate way too much sugar! Cole had a great time!

Later that evening, we dressed the boys in their costumes and headed out to do a little trick-or-treating! The first stop was MomMom and Big Grandad's house to practice. Then, it was next door to Nonnie and Baby Granddad's house. At that point, Chase was (still) fighting his costume and kept trying to take it off.

Cole the Police Officer:













Chase the Pumpkin:


















Then, we got brave and headed down to the Dennis and Rebecca's house (the neighbors). We walked to the door, rang the bell, and I kept telling Cole to say, "Trick or Treat!!!" As the door opened, the boys just stood there, not saying a word. Rebecca asked them, "Can I help you with something?" In typical Cole fashion, and always one to tell a story, he answers with, "Well.....you know it IS Halloween...." And, even though he didn't say "trick or treat," the boys were given candy anyway after we all finished laughing!

3 houses down, and Chase had the trick-or-treating business all figured out. CANDY! FOR ME! And, we hopped in the car and drove into town where the neighborhoods are to enjoy more Halloween fun. Along the way, I noticed Chase was pretty quiet, but didn't really think too much of it. However, when we parked the car and started to get him out, I noticed that he had somehow managed to grab ahold of a Hershey bar. He had melted chocolate all over both hands, his face, his car seat, and his pumpkin costume! He was grinning from ear to ear and literally licking the choclate from the palms of his hands. Thankfully I had baby wipes in the car to clean him up!

We trick-or-treated several blocks after that, with Chase practically running us over trying to get to the next house! Now, normally Chase isn't one for strangers. He freaks out of anyone he doesn't know even so much as looks his way. But, as long as they had a bowl full of yummy candy that he could get his little hands on, the 'stranger danger' factor was out the window. Stranger or not, if they had candy, he was there! He even walked right past an entire driveway full of scary costumes (someone having a Halloween party), sound effects, and smoke to get to the candy bowl! Cole saw that house and stopped dead in his tracks at the end of the driveway. Chase stopped, gave it a second thought, and took off right past the Grim Reaper to get to the Krackle bar! And, in between houses, Chase ran down the sidewalk whooping and yelling to hear his echo. When the neighborhood dogs barked, so did Chase. He was a wildman! And, we had more fun watching him! (And once he figured out what he was supposed to do, he never tried to take that costume off again!)

Halloween was so much fun this year! This was the first year that Mommy wasn't stuck at home passing out candy. The weather was just perfect! And, seeing the excitement of Halloween through the eyes of a 17-month old was hilarious!

Chase's first haircut!

I am incredibly late in posting this! In fact, Chase got his first haircut on October 2 (nearly 3 weeks ago!).

Cole got his haircut first in order to show his little brother how it is done. Though Chase has accompanied Cole to each and every haircut over the past 16 months, I still made a big production about what a big boy Cole was, explained what Leo was doing, and tried to really get Chase excited about what was in store for him. And, all in all, he didn't do bad! Chase wasn't excited about sitting in the barber chair and I had to hold him there. (As a result, I didn't get very many pictures to share.) But, for a first cut, he did very well! (And, certainly better than Cole did at this age!)

Chase....after the cut!



Here's the money, Leo!

Has it been a month already?

Bad Mommy.... A whole month has gone by without a single post! In my defense, however, things have been hectic! We're still smack dab in the middle of remodeling our house! The second floor is coming along nicely: the new walls are built, the plumbing ran, including a new tub/shower for the boys' bathroom, the electrical work is complete, which includes new outlets and the addition of several smoke detectors, and the painting/trim work is underway. Mommy and Daddy were able to hang the new doors, prime/paint the ceilings, prime the walls, get a first coat of paint in the boys' bathroom, and get started on crown molding just over this past weekend!

The first floor isn't seeing the same amount of progress yet. But, we're hoping the pace picks up down there soon. The kitchen addition is completed, the electrical work is being completed this week, the plumbing is completed, and the kitchen has been designed and ordered. Though it sounds like a lot, there are still many more things to be done: stone work for the fireplace, hardwood floor selection, painting, trim work, etc. But, we're hopeful that we can get everything completed in approximately 6 weeks or so.

In the meantime, we're still driving MomMom and Big Granddad completely nuts living with MomMom and Big Granddad. The boys are doing good! Cole is really enjoying preschool this year! We have had quite a struggle both at school and at home with getting him to write and color. But, we're continuing to practice as often as we can and his writing is coming along nicely. He writes his name very well now, and as of last night, showed some interest in writing letters he hasn't even learned in school yet! So, I'm hoping that things are looking up. For awhile there, I really thought he might flunk out of preschool! Now, if we can just get him interested in coloring....

Chase continues to show improvement each week at physical therapy! We are doing a taping technique with his neck that seems to be helping somewhat. Ms. Jenn (his physical therapist) is awesome and has shown Mommy some new ways to encourage Chase to strengthen his neck muscles that we hadn't previously tried. His neck rotation is almost 100% now and the tilt is starting to see some improvement as well. We will continue to work hard over the next couple of months and hopefully when the Botox wears off, he will retain the progress we've made!

Sorry for the lack of posting over the past month! I'll try to do better!

A month in pictures

We have lived at MomMom's and Big Granddad's house for just over a month now. And, let me tell you, it has been interesting. Never a dull moment around here, that's for sure! I think the boys are a little more than they bargained for at times, but we're all hanging in there! And, overall, the boys really enjoy living here...Cole especially. He loves all the freedom of having 30 acres to roam around on. And, he likes it that he can just walk next door to visit Nonnie and Baby Granddad whenever he likes. Combine that with the constructions site that is soon to be our home, and you've got a 4-year-old-boy-heaven right here!

Here are a few pics of what the boys have been up to over the last few weeks:

Cole riding his tractor down the hill:




Cole's artwork on the sliding glass door (Don't worry...they were special markers designed for window drawing!)




Chase getting cleaned up after eating dirt:



Mmmmmmm....strawberry shortcake!

More physical therapy

Chase started physical therapy once again! After taking a break for several months while waiting for the Botox injections, he is now in weekly physical therapy again at Children's Mercy Hospital.

He is seeing a different therapist this time, Ms. Jen, who is very enthusiastic and Mommy really liked her! Chase had a great time playing with the other children and the toys! But, when Ms. Jen tried to work with him, he either cried or high-tailed it back to Mommy! But, hopefully he will be a little less scared when we go back next week.

Ms. Jen evaluated Chase and was pleased that the Botox was doing its job and has loosened up the tight muscles on the left side of his neck. His head rotation has improved as a result and he now turning his head nearly equally to both sides! He still has the same degree of tilt as he has always had. And, we're going to work really hard over the next 3 months (while the Botox is in his system) to build up the muscles on the right side of his neck and also keep working on the rotation so he doesn't lose it. So, its lots and lots of daily stretching and exercises for the little guy for awhile.

Ms. Jen also suggested trying a taping technique that may also help him. This is really the last option to try since we have gone through everything else with no luck thus far. The taping involves applying a stretchy tape from his neck to his shoulder on his right side. With the taped stretched as it is applied, the theory is that he won't want to drop his head to the left as it he would be pulling against the already-stretched tape. It should serve as a subtle reminder to hold his head up straight rather than letting to fall back to the left.

Please keep your fingers crossed that our work over the next 3 months helps to cure Chase's torticollis!

Chase had Botox today!

After months of agonizing over whether or night Botox was the right decision for Chase's torticollis, we finally made the decision to do it. Because the physical therapy wasn't working on the tilt (though it did help correct the rotation problem some), we felt the next logical step was Botox injections. The only alternative was surgery to lengthen the muscle at 3-4 years of age.

We were at the hospital bright and early this morning. A numbing cream was put on the injection site and had to sit for 40 minutes or so. While we were waiting, Chase had fun playing with all the other babies who were there waiting their turns for Botox. (The Botox clinic is held once each month.) After waiting around awhile, the doctor came in to do the injection. I think the worst part of it for Chase was being held down on the table with his neck stretched out on his painful side. I don't think he was able to feel the 4 injections he received. After it was over, he immediately came to me for some hugs and kisses. And, a few tears later, we were out the door.

According to the doctor, it takes approximately 3-4 days before we will begin to see the effects. And, he said not to be surprised if he suddenly tips his head to the right rather than the left we're used to seeing. Once the muscle loosens up (he likened it to having a constant charley horse), the right side muscles of his neck will suddenly have to learn to hold the weight of his head.

We are going to begin weekly physical therapy again, with lots and lots of stretches and exercises at home in between appointments. The Botox will wear off in about 3 months, so let's hope that we can get those right side muscles strengthened up in that time!

Move #2 complete!

Two moves down and just one more to go....hopefully!

We are happy to announce that we are officially homeowners again! (Although we technically own it, we can't really LIVE in it!) Last Thursday drew the close of our exhausting ordeal with the short sale. We're happy to have it all behind us now! However, the house is in such a state that we cannot live in it. Its filthy, been neglected, and every inch drenched in dog pee. However, when have Mommy and Daddy ever walked away from a challenge? (We just never do anything the easy way!)

And, since we cannot live in our new house, we have moved into MomMom and Big Granddad's house. (Aunt Mary is going to be selling her condo soon, so those accomodations are not really an option any longer.) Poor MomMom and Big Granddad are putting up with the 4 of us and all of our junk, while we remodel the new house. I'm sure they are already counting down the days until we move out! And, who could blame them....their little quiet household of 2 just turned into 6 overnight! (And, need I mention Mr. Temper (aka Cole) and Mr. Messy (aka Chase or "The Walking Accdent Waiting To Happen?")?

What we purchased is this:



It doesn't look TOO awful from the picture. But, believe me, the picture just doesn't do it justice. Its smelly, its filty, and just plain ugly. But, its going to be a great house in a few short months. Its in the town we wanted to live in, it is on 5 acres and it has a great outbuilding for Daddy's hot rods! And, once we remodel, the house will be just fine!

Over the weekend, Daddy, Mommy, and Baby Granddad worked really hard pulling out all of the carpet, tearing out bathrooms, and removing walls. The upstairs is pretty bare now and nearly ready for the construction phase. We're hoping to expand out a few feet in the back, create a new master bedroom/bath, new hall bath, and new office upstairs. And, we will also be getting a new kitchen downstairs, along with a face lift on the existing rooms. And, next year, the outside of the house will get a facelift as well.

I hope the next pictures I post of the house look better than this one!

Look who's walking!!!

Er...uh, I mean trying not to get run over!

Worlds of Fun!

Daddy and Mommy took Cole to Worlds of Fun for the very first time today! We were invited to bring out one of our old cars to display at the park in exchange for 3 free passes and a boxed lunch. Who could turn that down???

The funniest thing was that Cole (who is normally Mr. Wimpy about most things) wasn't content to ride the "baby rides" in Camp Snoopy. He kept asking over and over to ride the big adult roller coasters! Of course, he wasn't quite tall enough to ride them yet, but we rode every big ride in the park that he was tall enough for! And, the faster and scarier, the better! Go figure!

Cole had a great time...almost too much fun! We decided to skip his nap and let him play as long as he could make it. Around 4pm, Mommy decided that he was just too tired to stay any longer and we left. Although, it took both Mommy and Daddy to wrestle a kicking and screaming Cole from the park and hike a mile to the car!

Cole in the puddle before the park opened:


The 1955 Chevy at the car show:


Cole flying an airplane:


Cole in the Camp Snoopy ball house:


Daddy and Cole on the Scrambler:


Mommy and Cole on the Wacky Worm:


Daddy and Cole on the Flying Dutchman:

A day at the fair

Today we went to the Cass County Fair! Cole and Daddy participated in the parade and drove the 1955 Chevy while Chase and Mommy watched from the sidelines!

Cole and Daddy driving in the parade:



Lots of old tractors in this parade (Daddy's favorite):



Chase all decked out in his political flair. (The politicians were handing out lots of flyers, stickers and buttons.)



After the parade, we walked all around town looking at the booths and displays, saw the local car show, and ran into a a few friends along the way. Cole even got to take a "train" ride around town. Afterward, Mommy drove two tired boys home for their naps!

Cole on the little train:


Chase...always smiling (even if he is hot and tired!):


Cole's grumpy face:


Passed out from exhaustion:

Move No. 1 complete

Sorry for the lack of posting these days. Our lives have been turned upside down lately! However, we seem to be no worse for the wear (so far)! Move #1 is officially complete! We sold our home, moved all of our belongings into storage, and are now living in Aunt Mary's condo! The boys are sharing a room and it has (surprisingly!) gone very smoothly. We've only had one night where Cole decided it would be fun to wake up Chase and the two of them squealed, giggled, spit, and made obnoxious noises until 11:30pm! (And, it was so hard to get after them when they were finally bonding and having fun together!)

The next night we threatened Cole with sleeping in the garage (with the granddaddy long legs that he is so terrified of) if he couldn't be quiet, and we've had no problems since! In fact, last night when I told him it was bedtime, he shouted, "Race ya!!!" and ran up the stairs ahead of me. That's certainly a first!!! The boys really enjoy sharing a room! (Go figure!)

We're still working on trying to buy the home that went into foreclosure. Keep your fingers crossed that it happens quickly!

Happy 4th of July!

We celebrated the 4th of July with dinner with dinner at Big Grandad's and MomMom's house (Big Grandad fired up his smoker and made some yummy ribs) and by watching the local city fireworks display! No smoke bombs, snakes, sparklers or pops for us this year (much to Cole's dismay). But, we still had a great time anyway!

Prior to dinner and fireworks, we spent the morning disassembling the boys' swing set and moving it to Nonnie's house (temporarily*). *See story below...

Our celebration spirits were dampened a little when we found out that the house we were buying in just a few days has been put into pre-foreclosure and that we now will NOT able to close and move as planned. Since we have already sold our house and will be moving out in just a few short days, it has been a scramble to figure out where in the heck we are going to live and where in the world we are going to store all of our belongings while we wait this out. We're anticipating a short sale with the seller's mortgage company, which is a 60-90 process.

For awhile, it looked like we were going to go from this this:




to this:




However, family came to the rescue!!!! And, we will be storing everything we own at MomMom and Big Grandad's house, with an overflow at Nonnie's and Baby Grandad's house next door. Nana and Papa may help out too. And, we're going to take our clothes, food, and a few of the kids' toys and move to Aunt Mary's fully-furnished condo (which she is moving out of) to wait this thing out! I'm not sure how thing is going to work out with very little storage space, very few toys, and the boys sharing a bedroom for the first time in their lives. But, hopefully it will all be just fine! (And, did I mention, its definately better than living in a box?!?!?)

Cole-isms

Its been awhile since I posted some of Cole's funny sayings. So, I thought I'd share a couple today:

Yesterday, at Nonnie's house, while going potty:

Cole: If my potty comes out yellow, then my Daddy likes mustard. If my potty comes out red, then my Mommy likes ketchup.
Nonnie: Really? [Laughing]
Cole: Welp, I guess my Daddy likes mustard!!!!

This morning, in the car, on the way to Nonnie's house:

Mom: [adjusting the temperature] Cole, are you hot? Cold? Or, just right?
Cole: I'm fine. Oh, wait!!! I'm a crumb cold.


EDIT: Had to add one more that he threw out tonight on the way home. Chase was fussing in his car seat and Cole was holding his ears:

Cole: I'm going to have to wash out my brain with apples now!!!!!
Mom: Wash out your brain?!?!
Cole: Yes, so I can get all that hollering out.
Mom: Well, what are the apples going to do?
Cole: They're just tasty!

Happy First Day of Summer!

It was a beautiful day and we decided to try out the new sprinkler Chase got for his birthday! (Thanks, Aunt Robyn!!) Cole loved it! Chase? Not so much. He didn't like his feet touching the grass, nor did he like standing in the puddle of cold water that was on the mat. So, the only way he would play in it is if I held him off the ground so he could get his hands and feet wet! (However, that resulted in Mommy wearing wet clothes, so that was short-lived!)

I did manage to convince Chase to sit for about 2.5 seconds, which was just long enough to snap a few pics before he started crying! Ah well...at least Cole had a good time!

Haircut!

Chase needed a haircut soooo badly! (See the spaghetti post if you want to see just how long his hair was getting!) Daddy kept commenting that he was starting to look like a girl. (And, he really was!)

So, after lunch, while Chase was still sitting in his highchair, Mommy whipped out the scissors and went to work! Ok, so its an ameteur job for sure! But, at least he looks better! I'm sure it won't be long before he is sitting in Leo's barber chair just like Cole does. But, for a temporary fix, a home haircut did the trick! And, a container full of spare keys kept him entertained the entire time! Doesn't he look so grown up now???

I love me some spaghetti!

Chase's 12-month checkup

Chase had his one year check up today with Dr. Trites! Here are his stats:

Height: 30 1/2" (75th percentile)
Weight: 23 lbs. (50th percentile)
Head: 46 cm. (25-50% percetile)

I was truly amazed that his weight was ONLY 23 lbs. and that he was smack dab in the "average" category! I thought for sure he was chunkier than that!!!! I guess all of his adventure crawling has really slimmed him down lately.

He is now officially off of his bottles and we've moved onto sippy cups of whole milk. He doesn't miss the bottle at all, so it was a very easy transition. And, he is about 95% on table food at this point. Again, he doesn't miss baby food at all. In fact, Mr. Independent gets mad if we try to help him eat. And, the bigger the mess he can make, the better! (Unlike Cole who would still let me feed him if I would. He wouldn't want to get a drop of food on him!!!)

Dr. T read the doctor's report from Children's Mercy while I was there. And, was pretty much in agreement that Botox was probably going to be our best bet for treating the torticollis. (Otherwise, our options are to do nothing or wait until 3-4 years old and have surgery to lengthen the short neck muscle.) So, we're now leaning towards the Botox injections and LOTS of physical therapy at home. But, for now, I haven't made that appointment just yet...

Chase was right on track, hitting all of his developmental milestones. I guess that broken leg and hip didn't slow him down one bit. And, he received 3 shots which he wasn't very happy about. All in all, everything was good and we'll go back again at 18 months.

An afternoon at the park

While the realtors were showing our house this afternoon, Mommy and the boys headed off to the park for some fun!



Chase watching and wishing he were big enough!


Cole climbing.


Crazy hair!!!!


Talk to the hand!