14 months on 2.19.09

As good as we could get for the day...

The mood he was in most of the day... :(

Being sick is no fun!

On a more fun note... Austin really is still a happy child with a mild personality who loves to explore the house, has discovered the outdoors, and loves to hang with his family! Love you baby boy...get better soon!

what a week

This is going to be a very boring post, so bow out now if you don't want to waste your time. I just have to record this for my own memory and write the craziness down before I forget :) I posted a lovely Valentine post last Saturday and within a couple hours of that, chaos began at the Hansen house. It all started with Austin spiking a random fever Saturday night, but with really no other symptoms I put him to bed as usual and prepared for a nights sleep myself. That night was interrupted with a couple crying episodes from the babe, but nothing I figured a little Tylenol couldn't fix.
Well, by Sunday mid-morning I was starting to feel feverish and when Dave & Jaxon left for Denver for the afternoon I was holding a very hot baby with my own case of the fever shakes coming on. I thought we'd just take a nice nap together and be able to rest while the house was quiet. Not so much. By mid-afternoon Austin's fever had reached 105.1 and I couldn't get it to come down with Tylenol or ibuprofen. Neither of us had been drinking fluids very well and when Dave called to check in on us we made an evaluation of our very lethargic, shaky, and very hot baby. One call to the Ask-A Nurse lady and we were headed to the emergency room. I always thought my first ER visit with a child would be a broken arm or cut open forehead or broken hand or something from my rambuncious boy, not a high fever from my calm and very mild baby. Anyways, 5 hours later and after 400ml of IV fluids, tests, and x-rays we knew Austin and myself had a bad case of strep. Yup, good ole strep. Austin's fever finally started to drop and we were able to go home with a 101.4 baby, instead of the 105.2 baby we arrived with. The staff was wonderful at the Sartori ER and they didn't even laugh when mom here fainted in the x-ray room...did I mention I hadn't eaten since Saturday early evening, hadn't really drank much, had a 103 temp myself, and was wearing a very heavy lead cover for the x-ray machine? I think the combo of it all just did me in! I quickly recovered of course and we ventured home to get comfy for the long night ahead.
Monday came and the doctor called back with Jaxon's strep test results...positive too. 3 for 4...not so bad. Dave was dodging us as much as he could, yet still doing what he could to care for his unhealthy gang at home. When mama is sick and both children are sick I have found that days will run like this...countless hours of cartoon watching, a 12 hour nap really of in and out state of minds, all 'living room rules" go out the window (much drinks and crackers will be on the couch these days), shower time will turn into a bath time with at least 1 or both children in there with you, a personal pharmacy located on your dining room table where you used to eat as a family...and so on. You get the idea.
Anyways, I really thought after 24 hours on antibiotics that we'd be feeling much better. This fever lasted for Austin and myself for 3 1/2 days... and not just little fever stuff. High fevers with cold sweats and shakiness and hot flashes and waking up in a puddle of sweat at least 2-4 times a day and rashes and very heavy dreaming and just yuckiness (is that a word?). Oh, man was I glad for the first night of sleep this week without getting up to change my pajamas because I had sweat so much through every piece of clothing I was wearing. Ew, gross.
Finally Thursday came and I was feeling ready to tackle the things all left undone during the week, but Austin was still just "not right". I noticed when he woke up his eyes were swollen but I thought it was from crying SO MUCH the last couple days. I also noticed a little bit of a rash on his back and tummy... a trip back to the doctor again confirmed what I thought MIGHT be happening. Of course. He's allergic to penicillin!!! Great! I felt so bad...no wonder he was so uncomfortable and crying constantly. (which is just not him at all- did I mention barely walking either?) Poor baby. Today we have him on a new antibiotic and benedryl and he's starting to smile again. Yay for good doctors and little smiles and new days and for our ultimate Healer in life. Here's to having kids when you are sick! :) These are the days I want to remember!

Together Again

Gabe & Jaxon in 2006 (above, maybe 2 years old...Jaxon trying to cope without his binky!)

Gabe & Jaxon TODAY! Estatic to be together again!

For those of you who have known our family for at least the last 5 years you also know about our little family friend, Gabriel....aka...Gabe. When I started daycare back in 2004 Gabe was 6 months old when he came to our home... him and Jaxon are 2 months apart and have pretty much grown up together. The more I tune into their relationship the more I see they have a special bond that has formed between good buddies over the last 5 years. Even after I stopped doing full daycare I kept Gabe because we just couldn't part with him. He had grown in all our hearts in a special way and well...just felt like part of the gang here :) Once I had Austin I took a little break which turned into a year break. During this time both boys asked when they would be back together again... well, the time has come! Gabe is coming back to start just 3 days a week (preschool in the afternoon of these days) and the boys couldn't have been more excited! They jumped into each other's arms when we opened the door this morning and while they were playing I heard Jaxon say "Are we still best friends?" All it took was Gabe's simple "yeah"... and they are right where they left off! So cheers to our good buddy back in the house! Two friends together again!

"The ornaments of a house are the friends who frequent it."
Ralph Waldo Emerson

our changing valentine's

Our Valentine boys today...

...and 1 year ago today!

I hope you all had a fun Valentine day today!!! We kind of think this day is a bit cheezy and definitely over commercialized...but we have fun with it in quirky ways and traditional ways...depending on our moods for the year :) The boys and I started the day by surprising dad at work with balloons (thanks to the Dollar Tree) and donuts for the office crew (thanks to Casey's). Dave surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of many roses (thanks to the Farmers Wife Shop...nice work Katie on your creation!)! After nap time today we had a treasure hunt for a prize. Jaxon loves pirates and ate this up! At the end was a little basket with random little things. It made the afternoon go by quick and then we made homemade pizza and ended with a movie. Ah, it was a good year this year! :) It was a good day!! Thanks for the flowers honey...the best gift of all is that I get to wake up and end my days with this amazing group of boys. Love and Friendship to you all tonight... Happy Valentine's Day!!!!

my husband the vacation king!!!

If I haven't mentioned it before I love my husband for his ability to plan some really great family vacations for really cheap prices!! Dave really values taking vacation each year in some way or shape or form. I also really love it and always look forward to this week. Once we had Jaxon, Dave wanted to start this tradition for our kids to always look forward to and for us to get away from "life" for uninterrupted family togetherness. It is always a wonderful time and I'm always so impressed with what he pulls off for not very much money. Seriously, take a guess at how much you think this last vacation cost and then cut your guess in half and that is probably much closer to what we actually spent. Frugal, yet fun! We don't ever look for a week packed with a million different activities and stimulating places to fill our minds for 5 days. We always want a place that is nice, relaxing, includes a kitchen so we don't have to eat out, two bedrooms, and some sort of "fun" thing for the kids. We usually get naps in, books read, and movies watched too... I love vacation!

In early January we went to the Wisconsin Dells for a week. Dave found a great condo suite to stay in and we swam it up at the indoor water parks. It was wonderful and we're already thinking about our next vacation spot! Thanks honey for making this happen for us... we ALL love it!!

relaxing between swim shifts :)

One glance of our room...it was so cozy and nice. I always love the big jetted tub we get in our rooms and the fireplace was used every day too!

The wave pool... they were battling!

Austin loved the water once he got used to it.

Our friends, the Reisetter's, joined us for one night... Mason & Jaxon had so much fun swimming and playing together.

one of the indoor water parks we spent a lot of time at

This was the "dry park". The boys climbed and crawled all over! Their germ-a-phobic mother soaked them in soapy baths right after this! Ha!

Jaxon posing before he tackled the tube slide with dad...

Ah, mom got in one picture! Austin and me in the lazy river.

Now I am not exaggerating but Jaxon rode down this purple slide at LEAST 50 times!! He loved this thing and Austin loved to watch him!

One more family vacation down in the books... can't wait for the next one!

snow, snow, snow

I've been meaning to post some snow pictures, so I'd remember what the winter has been like. Then a friend from Texas emailed me to brag that they get to stay home from work today due to: yup, snow. So, this is for me and you down in Texas who may have forgotten what a real snow day looked like :) The pic above is out our back office window into the open lots behind our house... our two season porch has been covered in snow and the walkway to get to that ladder left out this fall is at least 3 feet deep. Therefore, it will stay until spring I'm sure :)

One of our back decks off the season porch...

This is the first steps out of our front door, before shoveling after a "light" snow one Saturday night. I'm getting kind of used to the Sunday morning shovelings!

This is the first step out of our back sliding doors off the dining room onto another deck. It is at least 2 feet deep. We haven't used this door all winter!!! The grill is covered too!

Our outdoor table set may be a little chilly for evening meals right now :)

Believe it or not, there are two decks under this snow... you would never know it right now and would probably fall down the steps leading to them if you tried!

There is a little flower garden and a pond next to these stairs... I think I forgot to get the fish out again this fall. Poor little guys never knew what hit them. Good thing they are only 29 cents at Walmart to replace.

Of course, snow can be wonderful and fun at times too! Mason & Jaxon sledding in the backyard!

Making forts and tunnels in our front yard....

The boys relaxing after some serious fort making!

So...Happy Snow Day to you down south! What a pretty picture it does make this time of year!

a typical Monday...really

Today was a pretty typical day at the Hansen house...eating, playing, napping, dancing, reading, playing, laundry (of course), bathroom cleaning, and cooking and playing!! We did spice our day up a bit with a little documenting of Austin's 13 month mark on life and by ending the day with a last minute sleep-over!

Jaxon and his good buddy Mason below... they enjoy each others company so much! I surprised Jaxon by just bringing Mason home with me after a hair-cut. (Jaxon had NO CLUE he was coming over!) Mason loved walking through the door and surprising Jaxon. Jaxon fell to the floor he was so happy and then bounced off the walls for the next 20 minutes of pure excitment!!

And, Austin is 13 months old today! It's so funny how I can already see differences in my two son's perosnalities. Jaxon rarely played with trucks as a young toddler. Jaxon always had a ball in his hand. Austin loves to play with trucks already and will push one around for a pretty long time before moving onto another thing! Boys... so fun to watch these little guys grow up!