Will hates cottonballs!

First I want to thank you all for praying for Will's surgery. He had his tubes put in on March 25th. It all went so well.
We had to leave at 545 in the morning to drive an hour and a half to the hospital. The kids both did great being woken up so early. They didn't sleep on the way up, but they weren't cranky either, so we were ok with that. When we got to the hospital, they took Will back right away and gave him "sleepy" medicine that didn't make him to sleepy, just loopy. When they took him back to the operating room, we waited in another room where I fed Abby and then she went to sleep in her carseat. She slept until we had to leave, what a blessing - because she usually doesn't sleep that well outside of her crib.

When Will woke up from anesthesia, they called me back. He was CRAZY! Screaming, kicking, and crying. After it wore off, he was fine... but that was normal for anesthesia. We went home and Will was fine, his ears were a little sore, but other than that - he was his normal fun self. We had to put drops in his ears for several day and place cotton in after to keep the drops in the ear. He definately does not like cotton in his ears... but with the bribing of treats, he kept it in!
The doctor told us that he had a lot of think fluid on his ears and that we wouldn't notice a huge difference in how he hears.... but we always thought he heard us just fine? Maybe he was good at reading lips...Poor guy - hopefully he will feel much better and not always be scratching at his ears. We go for a follow up visit in a few weeks... we'll let you know how they are working.

Fun in the MUD

We had several truck loads of topsoil dropped off in our backyard to help level out our land and make it more "grass-growing friendly." (Hopefully) Will and I decided to make use of it before we spread it out. He was hesitant at first to climb, so mommy had to do it first! Once he got on top though, he didn't move around much. His cousins had fun jumping from pile to pile, while Will sat on one pile and filled up his trucks and buckets with dirt.

First climbing up

He made it! Those jeans didn't stay clean for long.

Content to play in the dirt for a WHILE - it was so cold out!

The cousins in action.

Annie loved it (in her hair and mouth too).

Abby watched from the window .... she didn't last long though before she fell asleep!

Easter 2008

HAPPY EASTER!
Will woke up and had an easter egg hung in our house first thing. He was so excited to have real candy in the eggs this time instead of raisins or crackers. (He wants to hide eggs about 10 times a day, so we usually put things inside that won't make him hyper!)

Can I really eat this?

Such a character! And yes, he did eat the candy in the morning!

Then we went to church and had a great sermon from our pastor. Really brought Christ's sacrifice for us to light in a different way. If you have time to listen to it you can download it here - http://www.victoryhighway.com/message-3-23-08.htm .

Then after naps we had another egg hunt.

This one was outside with Will's cousins, Aiden and Annie. Will found some money in these eggs... wasn't really sure what to do with that :)!

The kids with their loot!

We had to give Abby an egg!

We had a blessed day with family. We are so thankful that Jesus has risen!

Family photo shoot

Mimi took some pictures of the family dressed up to go to our Good Friday church service. Will can't sit still long enough to smile for the camera. We laughed through most of it, but got a couple good shots.

We love our MIMI!

Mimi came up to PA for her spring break. She surprised us and I was totally shocked. I'm usually not surprised much because I find things out pretty easily. Usually Josh acts weird also when he is trying to keep a secret. He did good this time though. Saturday we were heading up to the mall and Josh told me we were going to split up and find a gift for each other as something different to do. I didn't think anything of it and I reluctantly agreed to do it. I like to think for a while about what I would get him and he told me this last minute. So off I went with abby in the front pack. Little did I know that he left to go pick my mom up from the airport. So when I met him at the car later, with an Eagle's hat for him, he had my mom hiding in the back seat. WOW! I was so surprised! She stayed for a week and we had a blast. Will cried when she left, and when I got home from the airport he kept asking for her. We miss you already MIMI! Thanks for thinking of us. We were blessed by your visit!

One of the many things she did with Will was make easter eggs. He loved it. They hid plastic eggs around the house all week with all different surprises in them.

Sweetie!

Not a whole lot to say here. Just taking more pictures of Abby. She is 4 1/2 months old already. Time flies. She is always smiling or making raspberries with her lips.

MMMM.... more please mommy!

Will was such a great helper.

He helped me make some brownies and chocolate chip cookies for our friends that were coming over. I always love licking the batter, so I let him do it. He LOVED it! He has never had this much sugar, but I thought I would spoil him today.

He kept wanting more- like polishing off two mixers and several handfuls of chocolate chips weren't enough.

No, you can't eat all that :)!!!
All I can say is that he crashed after that sugar high!

That's My girl!

She doesn't want to miss a thing!

Abby loves anything that keeps her from laying down. She loves to stand in this baby bouncer and loves to sit in the bumbo. She doesn't want to lay back and relax... she is always on the go.

I keep thinking she is teething because she has to grab a hold of everything with her chompers. I don't think there are anything teeth coming in yet, but the girl loves to chew. I'm scared to see what she will be like when she is really teething.

Valentine's Day in March

For Valentine's Day Josh surprised me with a plane ticket for my sister Jen to fly up from VA to visit since I'm a little "family sick." (missing the fam) So she came up last week and what a week it was. The night she got here I came down with the stomach bug. Throwing up all through the night and not getting any sleep, I was so thankful she was here to watch the kids. I slept all day and felt awful, not only from my fever but for her having to deal with two fighting (non-sharing) toddlers and abby. What a blessing she was to me. Thats what sisters are for :)! Will and Lauren had a tough first couple of days, but got more used to each other as the time went on. They didn't want to share, but what toddler does? They really did enjoy each other's company! Will now asks for Lauren everyday. One thing that made us laugh was that Will couldn't seem to call my sister the right name. He called her Uncle Shaun more than Aunt Jen - which is funny since he hasn't been around his uncle much. :( Thanks Jen for coming! I had a great time just hanging with you. Can't wait till next time!

Here they are actually loving each other. So cute! My camera was foggy though from bringing it in from the cold outside.

Here is what Jen looked like ALL day that I couldn't move and help out!
Will got used to all the attention. When he wakes up from naps, his first words are Aunt Jen!

We attempted to take the kids out to sled. We could hardly pull them without slipping on the thick ice. Lauren wasn't so sure what to make of it, but she definately liked being pulled in the sled.

We miss you already!

A visit with Friends

My friend, Lindsey, just had a baby a few weeks ago - so I went over to meet the new one and give her a meal. After and hour drive to her house :), we met little Jude. They also have a daughter Lilly (who Will loves to play with) and a son Lucas.

Baby Jude

Lilly and Will

They really could pass for brother and sister!

A Walk to the Mailbox

So I decided to get Abby some fresh air the other day - so we took a walk to get the mail. Our mailbox is a ways away from the house. Ah, the country! Abby enjoyed her walk. 5 minutes outside, and she is dressed like this. It was COLD!