Spring is finally here....

We're finally seeing warmer temperatures and thankfully little rain. The boys have started Tball and this will be their second week. we'll upload video and pics soon. Andrew did really well and seemed to enjoy it. Matthew was busy running the bases over and over and never tired of it. They were all so cute with two of their little friends from the neighborhood playing with them on the same team. Their coaches are our neighbors along with Sean helping out as well as a few other parents. Coaching 3-5 year olds is pretty much impossible so it's basically teaching them the fundamentals and letting them have fun as a team.

So the March of Dimes March for Babies was a success. Our team raised almost $4000 again this year. We came really close to surpassing our goal of $4000. Thank you to everyone who contributed. Your donations are greatly appreciated and you should feel good that you made a difference. All babies should be born healthy and we'll keep walking and helping to raise money up until that happens. Unfortunately we know the heartache and pain of having a premature baby. We pray that there will come a day when all babies are born healthy AND full term.
We thank everyone who joined us and walked with us. You really showed your support and we are grateful to have you there with us.

Andrew's 5th birthday just passed. He is now 5 years old and is really becoming a grown up little boy. He's so smart and is still so bull headed! "He knows everything" and loves to make the rules. We celebrated his birthday at the March of Dimes March for Babies. We had a celebration after the walk. The kids had a blast on the playground and loved the Fantastic Four themed party fun. Of course the Pinata was a huge hit and they really loved wearing their party masks!. Wait till you see the pictures of some of the boys wearing them! We then celebrated ON his birthday as a family. Andrew wanted to go to Friendly's for dinner after school. So we went and had dinner and he got to choose his ice cream sundae! Then we came home and he opened gifts. His Favorite gift he got was his Tuxedo!! Believe it or not he really wanted one. He literally begged us for one. He wanted to put it on as soon as he got it. Now he says he's saving money for shiny shoes! He got into the tuxedo idea after watching the movie "Flushed Away" and wanted a tux like the mouse in the movie. He looks so handsome in it. Sean even ordered him a "lot" of like 40 character figurines from ebay... of course he LOVED them.

The boys' Nana & Grandpa got them a Cedar playhouse/cabin for their combined birthdays. I put it together in time for Andrew's Birthday and the boys got to see it as soon as we got home from dinner. They have been playing in it every day since. There's a little porch on it with 2 benches. There's 2 entrance doors and 2 windows with little shutters. There's even a little flower box. We plan to do some landscaping around it and have the boys plant their own flowers. The flowers they planted along the house last year have grow huge this year. They love watching them grow.

Mothers day was very nice. We had a great weekend all together. Saturday was the boys off to t-ball and I had lunch with 2 of my girlfriends. Then we went out for drinks. Mother's day we had a nice breakfast at our house with our parents and then PopPop took the boys so we could go golfing for the day with another couple. We had a beautiful day and it was just perfect.

It's Still Snowing!!!

Can you believe that we are officially in spring and it is April and it just snowed INCHES yeasterday and it is still on the ground!! The snow mostly melted a few days ago with 2 days of 40 degree weather, but then yesterday it snowed ALL DAY! There is still a few inches on the ground and hopefully it will melt by tomorrow. It's just so depressing and it feels like this weather will never end.

Today is mom's birthday so I want to wish her a HAPPY BIRTHDAY and hopefully she has a nice day!!! We love you mom/grandma!!

Jeremy's birthday is next week on the 13th and if I don't get on here next week, a HAPPY BIRTHDAY to him too!!

Be sure to check out Andrew's blog for an update on him and updates on Matthew's blog. With Kindergarten coming for Andrew, we have a lot of prepping to do and Matthew's blog is just typical things going on with him.

By the way, we've been SMOKE FREE since February 14th!!! Feels great not to have to rely on it anymore and have it rule our lives, but I personally don't miss it much. There are only a few times a week that i feel an urge, but it passes quickly. Thanks to Chantix and the little push it gave us!!

We're on YouTube!!

You will have to check us out on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/thefavilles
I've finally been convinced to join since we are addicted to YouTube. I get lost for hours there and find some quite interesting things that just suck us in deeper and deeper. Before you know it out Saturday afternoon is shot because we've spent all day laughing, crying, "Oh my God", "that's rediculous", "that's stupid", and whatever other emotion those millions of videos can do to you. But it is addicting and now we've just joined in the madness.

First, we posted a small "movie" of the boys that we had to create of their siliness. It could be much better, but it was just basically to get something up.

We also included a few videos of the boys at the Easter Egg hunt. It was quite comical since there was still a foot of ice covered snow on the ground and really no where to hide the eggs. Our local hospital sponsors the event and provides over 10,000 eggs for area kids to collect. Sadly there are more adults interested in this event than adults who bring kids for the fun of them collecting the eggs in their baskets. Unfortunatly we live in a community that has they typical "scrubs" and lots of them. I dont mean people that you feel sorry for because they've had a rough life for many reasons, I mean people who CHOOSE not to work and CHOOOSE to collect social services and have 15 kids just so they can collect more and who hav all day to just do nothing but make this community "dirty". I'm not sterotyping, but seriously... If you were at the Easter egg hunt you would know exactly what I mean. "Trash"!!! ANYWAY, if you watch the one video of the boys, I realized after videoing that I had gotten a woman in the video "scarffing up" tons of eggs.... I would assume not for her child....
So here's the story. As we waited in the BITTER 10 degree cold and wind for the announcer to count down till egg finding, this woman with her, what looked to be 2 year old, had a soft sided basket get blown out of her hands in the wind. I graciously ran to catch the bag so that she did not have to run across the icy snow to grab it with her tiny tot. I handed her that bag and gave her a smile. Sean said "OMG, you almost killed yourself on the ice getting the basket for her"... and the "nice" in me says "well I didnt want her to have to either leave her child standing there or have to run with her to get it. that poor little girl would have nothing to collect her eggs in" Sean says "whatever"

So they do the countdown and I moved into the center more portion of the "Toddler collection" area to take some pics and video. To my surprise I caught a lot of disturbing behavior on the video. before the countdown was actually finished, this 'woman' with the little 2 yo. girl scoops her up daughter up under her arm like a sack of potatos and kneels down on the ground with TWO baskets and starts raking the eggs in by the handfuls!!! NOT the little girl, but the WOMAN! I think she missed the whole point of the easter egg hunt. I think that she missed the fact that this event is a free event for CHILDREN! Not to mention that we were in the designated TODDLER area.... Meaning that ALL the children collecting eggs there were UNDER 5. Meaning that all those children had no chance in hell of getting any eggs if that woman continued to collect eggs. Thankfully her daughter was screaming so much that they left. Meanwhile I watch the video in utter disbelief that I just helped this woman with her "flyaway basket" earlier, only to contribute to her need to collect eggs... not her little 2 year old. Sean and I joked that maybe she "Borrowed" the littel girl so she could go and collect eggs. I mean, looking at the way she scrambled to pick up those eggs, you would think that she was on some kind of game show that had filled easter eggs with $100 bills and that as many eggs as you could collect would mean more money for you! LOL. But seriously, each egg had litteraly no more than 2 tiny chocolate pieces in them. The point is for kids to have fun collecting eggs. It just sickens me that people are just so disgraceful. That they just dont care. to me that is a "SCRUB" I hope that women ends up sick and with a mouth full of cavities with all those chocolate eggs she ate!

Anway, you need to check it out for yourself.
Otherwise, we had a nice easter and the boys had a great time searching OUR house on a little egg hunt of their own. They had to find all the eggs and find the "Golden" or "silver" eggs in order to find their baskets. The special eggs had money in them which Andrew announced that he is saving his money for a tuxedo. So if anyone wants Andrew to clean up their house and help with housework and chores for moeny, he is willing because he knows that he has to earn his money that he wants to use for his tuxedo. Matthew tells us that he is saving his money for a castle and a pirate ship. He makes maps every day so he can "bury" his treasure so no one will find it.

So check out our YouTube. Hope you all had a happy easter!!

Kindergarten Registration!!!

Can you believe it is already that time?? We had Andrew's Kindergarten registration on Monday and we can't believe he will be starting in the fall. He did pretty well on his screening given all of his delays. We will be having a meeting to decide what class he will be placed in and to coordinate his IEP services in his new school. Luckily they dont see any reason he cannot attend to a regular classroom in that school. But it is still possible that he may be sent to a school further away in the same district that may be more able to accomodate his needs. We will definitely keep steady on sending him to the closer elementary school since all the children on our street will be going to the same school including Matthew when he starts school there. We also found out that another boy from Andrew's preschool will likely be in his class.
The screening went welll except that Andrew did not want to go off on his own for the evaluations. I quietly sat aside behind him just to keep him at ease and he did very well in not looking to me for answers. He was VERY cooperative with the teachers and tried to answer all of their questions as best he could. Of course he had some problems with the motor skill testing but did extremely well on the problem solving and speech areas. Our little chatter box passed those areas with flying colors. They were actually amazed at his knowledge in certain areas but that is pretty much normal for him since he has had many learning experiences that most kids have not at this age. Given his ability to "absorb" pretty much anything said or done around him and the amount of questions he asks, basically moves him above his peers in those areas.
Andrew was very excited to see the little boy from his preschool class show up at the screening and immediately put him at ease. We wished he had been there earlier in the testing so he could relax a bit more.

So we'll keep you updated on his progress for kindergarten and where he will be placed. We have a CPSE meeting with the school district board in April and will have a CSE meeting following that to decide his services for the school year in the fall.

March Madness...

Well, it is March and it's STILL snowing. Last week we had an awful storm on Saturday. We had a light snow all night that turned to rain in the morning. Not your typical rain though. This rain turned to ice almost immediately... if not frozen little pebbles of ice falling out of the sky. Then it turned to an all out ice storm. Everything was covered with sheets of ice. Instead of being trapped in a house all day, we brought the boys to a birthday party and they had a blast. By the time we left the party, all the parent's cars were covered with about 1/2 inch of ice and we had to scrape our way in! We decided to spend the rest of the afternoon at the mall and the boys enjoyed running around the mall since it was pretty much empty. We've uploaded some photos of them at the party. Matthew and the piniata.
I also got some of my tests back. My ultrasound showed that I have a 4cm and 2 other 2-21/2 cm cysts on my ovary that they are keeping an eye on that will hopefully disolve on their own without actually bursting. They think that is what's causing the pain. Second, my blood work showed that I was not just low on iron but my TIBC (Total Iron Binding Capacity) was high which indicates an iron deficiency. Then the doctor called me yesterday to refer me to a gastrointerologist (sp) (GI). Se is concerned about the unexplained rapid weight gain, pain and other test results. She is wondering if it is "digestive" related. So more tests to come.

On a positive note, We are SMOKE FREE, One Month Today!!! Don't feel any different except in the wallet. Otherwise, our tension levels are of course elevated a bit but not too bad considering two "quitters" in the house! We are so proud of ourseleves. We all went out to a nice dinner tonight and the boys were great and on their best behavior! Kinda a little celebration! I know I barely think of it anymore and we've actually motivated a few other people we know to quit too. A total of 4 other people I work with are or have started quitting. Only one of them is doing it cold turkey! Good for her!

Another positive note, Matthew no longer snores!! IT's true, The surgery DID make a huge difference. Again, no snoring, sleeping better, no signs of apnea anymore and he seems like a much happier child. He no longer drools like he did, no more stuffy snotty noses, no more heavy breathing, no more bad breath, His voice is much clearer and understandable and no more chewing on things like he shirt collar and sleeves. Overall, having his tonsils and adenoids out was a great decision and His ENT dr is amazing. We're so glad he recommended it for Matthew.

Andrew is coming up on his Kindergarten Pre-Screening Next Tuesday. We'll let you all know how that goes. Ta Ta for now. Have a good weekend!

I hope you enjoyed the videos of the "walmart boys"!!

Is no news good news?

So I got my blood work back yesterday... and apparently all is well with my blood. Unfortunately, that does not answer why I feel so horrible and why there is still billiruben in my urine. Not just that, but the increase in pain not just abdomonally but my back and right side is in pain too. My dr sent me to have a CT Scan done right away wondering if there was appendicitis brewing or if there might be some other thing like a kidney or gall stone.. but there was nothing. Although the dr did not have the complete report, it was good there were no stones or apendicitis. She did say that when she examined me that the it was as if my abdomen was filled with fluid, but she cant say for sure since she did not see the full CT scan report. Until she gets that and has the Ultrasound report done on Monday, she may be able to give me some more answers. She said that if there were anything like simple abdomonal fluid floating around or something like an ovarian cyst, that they may not translate that in the preliminary report to her since fluid and cysts are considered normal since they are so common. Any of those things may be causing the pain and bloating feelings, but still may not be explaining the billiruben in my urine. So, we'll find out more on Monday. For now I will be just taking it easy with some pain meds and just trying to relax. Maybe it is just a long strange viral thing happening.... but otherwise I feel fine. No other signs of the "flu". Actually, no one in the house has even been sick this winter *** Knock on wood ***
Although Andrew had a really rough day today. He was so touchy and "sad" today. He fell asleep in the shopping cart while we were out doing groceries. And was just completely miserable today. He almost couldnt wait to go to bed tonight and relax. We got the kids some new movies that they got to choose, but they both zonked out tonite. Matthew on the other hand was pretty much a complete angel today. We got Andrew a few new clothes for school and Matthew a new Leapster since he is always stealing Andrew's and they fight over it all the time. I wish they came in different colors though. (other than pink or green) But I guess we'll have to find another way to distinguish them.

WEll our movie is starting . bye bye!
We'll see on Monday!

"Strange" NEWS..

Ok so the weather is acting up again. We had a beautiful 40+ degree day yesterday and it looked as if spring was on it's way... but wouldn't you know they are calling for MORE SNOW!!! This time the snow started this morning and is expected to continue until tomorrow around 7pm. In our area they are expecting up to 36 inches of snow!! It started this morning as a light snow and continued all day and was melting as it reached the roads but made walkways slippery. By the time we were home from work it has now started to get colder and now it is snowing pretty steady and starting to accumulate now. I think we have about 4 inches now that has not melted. So we will be watching for the school closings in the morning. Hopefully they will stay on top of the plowing and keep the roads clear. No matter what, Sean & I have to work. Heaven forbid someone didn't get their newspaper or packages! Why couldn't one of us be a teacher!?!?!

So on to some more news....
After taking the Chantix for a month now, Sean & I Have quit Smoking! We even had a true test this weekend since we went to a casino, gambled, had a drink or two and dealt with all the smokers around us without even having so much as one puff! We did it!! And all without really "craving" one! :) :)

But the downside is that I have been EXTREMELY tired lately. To the point where I have slept entire days only to get up to go to the bathroom~ Sean, a bit worried, mentioned to me that there should be some reason. I just kept saying the the Chantix says it may cause drowsiness. Sean says "drowsiness" not "Comotose" (sp?) I called the dr and made an appointment after realizing that I've been having very strange feelings the last few weeks. Extreme fatigue, frequent urination, achiness, headaches and just a sense of "daze". The last few days I've had a strange pelvic pain and decided it was time to get a dr opinion. I explained the pelvic pain as a sort of mild pressure like ones I would have when I had "braxton hicks contractions" during my pregnancies. When I got there the dr immediately did a urine test. One for pregnancy and one for a Urinary tract infection and guess what.... Pregancy was negative!! (ha ha, thought I would say positive didn't you??! LOL) no, all joking aside, no pregnancy and no UTI, but the test did show billirubin in my urine which is an indicator of liver function problems. Meaning that the Chantix needs to be stopped immediately. Dr said this could explain the fatigue, the achiness, pelvic pain etc. So she sent me for more blood work and will be scheduling an ultrasound also. With my history of ovarian cysts, they want to rule out anything like that also. They will also be looking for gall stones, polyps etc. But she is really thinking it is the Chantix causing some liver dysfunction and that stopping it will clear it up on it's own. I had planned on having my cholesterol re checked but she told me to hold off till this comes back first. So now I will have to go it alone without the Chantix while Sean happily takes his "magic pill". Hopefully it will have been long enough to stay smoke free and do it on my own now since cravings are all gone anyway. It really does get easier every day and pretty soon we will have no idea what we were thinking. But it does make it easier that I have done it on my own without meds before and I can do it now. But before it was different. And it was really hard not to start again when Sean was still smoking. So the trick is to keep him smoke free! Any advice to us greatly appreciated.

So, we'll see what the snow brings for us tomorrow and pray that all my aches and pains will subside soon!

We'll keep you updated!

SMOKE FREE....

So we have been smoke free for almost 1 week!! Feeling a little sluggish but we're sure it will pass and it is all worth it. The withdrawal was minimal, but the "habits" are hard to break. Sometimes it just feels like you are forgetting something especially when you leave the house. It has even become so much of a habit to have a lighter in our pockets, that we find them end up there all the time. It's all just a reminder of how our lives were ruled by them. So our official quit date was February 14th, Valentines day. A day that will be easier to remember. We do not celebrate Valentine's day since we both agree that there should not have to be a holiday to remind each other to say "I love you". We feel it should be a part of EVERY day life. It's receiving flowers or a card on the random days that makes us awwe even more. The unexpected signs of love to keep us going. Those are the best reminders, not some silly holiday that some believe has nothing to do with love, but of death. here's an interesting link... http://www.crewsnest.vispa.com/valentine.htm
So anyway, so we will be celebrating "quit day" from now on!
It's a lot of work but it's worth hearing something like Andrew just said to me this morning "mommy, you smell like the laundry" I laughed and he said, "no like the dryer".... It's nice to know that I smell like the fabric softener in our clothes than the smoke from cigarettes! We have noticed that certain piecies of clothing and jackets still smell, so we will have to get them cleaned and rid them of that nastiness!

Aside from that, we've been trying to eat healthier and rid our bodies of toxins. I know, a long stretch in this day in age... but we are really going to try to eat more sensible. It's been hard with all the temptations, and having the boys who love their "snacks"... but we've been trying to encourage the healthier snacks which Andrew does not have an issue with... he just loves any food, but Matthew is a junk food junkie and will do anything to get a piece of chocolate, cookie or candy. But we're trying to stand our ground and detest the junk.

This weather has got to stop!

Ok, so we've been snowed in AGAIN!!! Our weather man screwed up the weather last night!! Last Friday they predicted a HUGE Ice Storm. If anyone remembers there was an awful icestorm about 10 years ago that shut down the area with fallen trees and power lines for weeks. So with the prediction and cautions from state officials and weatherpeople, everyone got nervous. Last week was much warmer than it has been in months and just about all of our snow melted. We were finally seeing some tips of grass here and there in areas of the yard that we shoveled. Spring seemed to finally be on the way... then Thursday night got cold. It snowed through the night a little and was mixed with rain, then it started to rain and semi-freeze as it struck. But we saw no school closing for the boys and it seemed as though it would be a typical day. We dropped the boys off and slid our way to work... but it seemed to be turning to more rain as time passed. Then I got a call from the boys' school... they were sending them home and closing all local schools and that local businesses would be closing also. Even the Newspaper were sending people home... that NEVER happens. Even without power, there somehow has to be a newspaper or people freak out! So the boys' Nana & Grandpa picked them up at school. Unfortunately since I lived the closest of all my co-workers other than someone who walks to work, I agreed to stay longer to finish things up so that the others could make their way home before it got too bad out. We made our way home safely and watched as the rain turned to ice on everything. It still did not warrant school closing halfway through the day though! The worst of the storm was overnight and we were prepared if the power went out. We had our flashlights, gas stove and TONS of cereal (anyone with a child knows that you have lots of cereal!) Of course we had the essentials like bottled water, bread, etc. So we would be fine. I actually thought it would be some fun to be without power and be "unplugged" for a day. But it didnt happen and come morning all was fine.
The rest of the weekend warmed up and the ice melted. The beginning of this week was normal except for the occasional snow fall. But last night we were expected to have accumulated about 4 inches... BIG NO THERE... We woke up to about 6 inches and had to shovel and snow blow our way out this morning. Of course all the public schools were closed, but the boys' school was thankfuly open. It took us about an hour to get them there and they only go to school a block away from us. It woudl have been faster to walk... maybe not safer though since there was nowhere to walk with so much snow. They hadn't even plowed our road. I got stuck in the road by our driveway and again at the end of the road going onto the main road to school. Only about 6 houses down! When we finally got on the main road we were fine. So we dropped the kids at school and had a fairly normal day. But it snowed ALL Day!! I think we just got dumped another foot of snow and it is finally tapering off now a 10pm. They predict more snow on & off until next week. ughh. I am so ready for spring.

BTW Andrew LOVES the snow and was SOOO excited to see it this morning. Matthew all of a sudden does NOT like the snow because he gets cold. He's always had cold hands and feet even as a baby... he turns blue after a bath or changing his clothes. So he is really ready for spring. Although we're not looking forward to the mud!

Sean doesnt care either way. He doesnt mind the snow but just hates when his truck gets stuck. He goes to work no matter what and so do I. Unfortunately neither of us has a job that would close if there was bad weather. Everyone needs their morning newspaper and their UPS packages delivered. Those customers expect their service even if it were dangerous for us to make that happen.

Chantix....

Just a little note to let you all know that we both started taking Chantix... the stop smoking medicine. It is suppose to be a "wonder" drug to assist with quitting smoking. We have both gotten to the place in our lives that we know it's time to quit. I've quit a few times in the past and have just not been able to get over that hump. It makes it especially hard that Sean smokes and it's difficult to stick with it on my own. At this point it is actually really embarrasing that we smoke and have children. Years ago it was so common that no one batted an eye. But now, you are looked at as a bad parent if you smoke and they assume that you smoke in your house and car and are blowing it in their face. But we gave up smoking in the car and house before we even had kids or were even married. We did that when we had friends that had kids and when my nephew Kamden was on the way to being born.

So here's hoping this will work. So far it seems to be helping. We were told that when we start taking the pills that it will be about 2 weeks before the full dose kicks in and does what it is suppose to. Right now we are on week 2 and have a quit date set for next Monday, February 11th. Hopefully it will be a monumental day for us. A day we will remember forever as the day we took our lives back. For a $10 copay prescription a month for 2 months... it's worth a try.

We've heard good and bad about the drug but our doctors are monitoring us and we feel that it really is helping only a week & a half into it. It seems to help curb the nicotine craving for real. It's almost as if you forgot that you haven't had a cigarette until you look at the clock and hours have past and you havent even though about it. The hardest thing really is trying to break the habits. Today at work I didn't even really want a cigarette until I poured myself a cup of coffee this afternoon and realized how much I loved my coffee and cigarette... but then I looked outside and saw all that blustering snow and sleet and then found myslef not even wanting to bother... instead I made my way back to my desk and went back to work. Suddenly I found the day was over and I hadnt had a cigarette. It's amazing... so far.

So we will update our progress and hopefully you all could offer us some encouraging words to help us along. Wish us luck and strength. Now maybe we can afford to go to Disney next year with all the money we will save!!

Baby it's cold!!

It was a long week for us. The temperatures have dropped and the wind chill has kicked in. Last week it was warm enough to melt most of the snow along with some rain... but this week was downright cold with temperatures dipping into the single digits. Matthew went back to school for the full week and is pretty much back to normal now... although his voice has changed, we are happy so far with the results of his surgery. He has barely snorred since the mucous that was caused by the surgery has gone away. He has been sleeping much better this week, hardley waking up at all except when he had the 24 hour stomach bug. Ughhh, spaghetti & meatballs on cream carpet... not easy to get out.

Sean froze his buns off this week at work delivering in the extreme cold in Lake Placid. I had a long week at work since a co-worker had surgery, so I had to fill in the evening shifts that he normally works along with my regular hours. Lots of overtime this week and I feel like I've barely seen Sean or the boys.

Today Sean went to pick up our treadmill for Andrew to do therapy on, so he was gone all day 2 hours south of us to pick it up. He and a friend visited a furniture store while there so it took longer than expected. (imagine two men furniture shopping together! LOL) Anyway, Andrew loved getting onto the treadmill at full incline and even attempted to run on it. He did really well and hopefully I can find the time to get on it myself. With all this cold weather outside it is not very motivating to get out and get some exercise. With my Cholesterol through the roof, my doctor is looking to me to get it down with diet and get some exercise (real exercise... not chasing kids around) to help keep my heart healthy. I've turned to eating honey nut cheerios and granola as snacks instead of chips, and am trying the new smoothie by "Promise" that says it will help lower cholesterol. So we'll see how it goes at my follow up visit in February. If it does not come down with diet & exercise they will try some meds.

Speaking of meds, we'll be starting on Chantix this week.... things may be a bit rough for a while around here but in our hearts we know that it will be worth it! Sean smokes about 2 packs a day and it is time to quit! We're looking for all the support we can get and pray that this will be something that actually works for us. We're in this together and have a lot of support from co-workers & friends but anyone else out there that can offer up some advice, feel free to leave a message.

He's BAAACK

So Matthew is back! It's amazing how kids can bounce back so fast! He's on an eating frenzy and his energy is back. He seems to not be having any side effects of the surgery at all. Over the weekend we went to his friend Owen's birthday party and ate a whole plate of pancakes after eating a bowl of cereal before we left. He basically munched all day long and enjoyed apples, bananans and peaches as his afternoon snack... then ate a full dinner! Even though he is still a little picky eater (only wanting Michellini's Wheels & Cheese, Chicken Nuggets and Peanut Butter, Jelly & Fluff) he is at least eating in quantity. Hopefully he will change his eating behaviors soon. I'm sure it will all pass eventually, but he does enjoy the healthier snacks like fruit and yogurt. So I guess it's not all bad. He does eat healthy at school, so that is a plus.... we dont feel as bad knowing that he eats the organic foods and veggies at school.
His voice has changed since the surgery and for the first time he has slept 2 nights in a row without waking up for one reason or another and has (so far) not snored in 2 nights! He seems much happier in the morning the last few days...up until this morning when it was time to go to school. Unfortunately, Andrew & Matthew have seemed to switch bodies! Andrew is happy to go to school without many complaints and is so much easier going than Matthew. Matthew used to love school but ever since his surgery, he does not want to go to school. Hopefully this will pass. But over the last few months he has been a little brat complaining about everything and has showed signs of separation anxiety... something that has NEVER bothered him before. Maybe it's just a little late coming on than most kids. The preschool teachers note that a lot of children go through this at this age. I guess it is age appropriate for him to be feeling this way, but he was always so easy going before, that it has taken us by a bit of a surprise since we had no idea that it would happen to him. I guess it is normal and healthy, so we'll just grit our teeth and chug on through this just like all the other obstacles of parenting!

Andrew apparently only had a little bug. After throwing up that night, he has been fine since. He is feeling fine now but started with the sniffles over the weekend. I guess it's to be expected this time of year and we've been lucky with the both of them since they have not been sick at all this winter so far. So, I guess that this is to be expected now. Sean's not feeling well either with a bit of a cold coming on and with the weather being below zero or teetering on it, he is freezing his buns off today at work. So we've been running the humidifier all day and night and are hoping to get through this with out any missed school or work. It's about to be a busy week for me since I will have to cover for someone that will be out of work due to his surgery and have to stay late a few nights this week along with being on call.

Otherwise, we had a great weekend... Friday night, my parents came to watch the boys and we enjoyed a night out for a change. We went to a local pub and had munchies and drinks, played some pool and then went bowling. It's been a long time since we've been bowling and I must say... For everyone who knows Sean, he is very competitive... I OUT BOWLED HIM!! He'll hate me for this but his first game he only bowled 86!!! I bowled a 175 (somewhere around there)!! It's amazing I cant remember exactly the score but all I know is that I beat him and he'll never live it down now! He did beat me the second game but overall total... I still WON! LOL.
Anyone reading this will have to help me rub it in!