Not Again!

So Chance started coughing again pretty bad on Wednesday so we took him back to the doctor, he was actually already going for a follow-up for his last round of pneumonia. Doctor Joe was not happy with the sound of his lungs and sent me over Stat for a chest x-ray. For anyone who has had to put their little ones through one of these procedures they know how heartbreaking it is. They sit the babies up in this horrible plastic brace and squeeze it around them as tight as they can get it. My son who rarely cries, let me know right then and there how well his lungs worked, pneumonia or not. The look on his face tore my heart right out of my chest. He looked at me as if to say, "Mommy, why are you letting them do this to me?"

Here is a picture I found online of a poor baby (who looks remarkably happier than Chance did) in the x-ray brace.

After the x-ray I headed back to the doctor and waited for the results. Sure enough, it was pneumonia round two. We thought we had kicked it's butt but low and behold we were wrong. The doc gave Chance a shot of steroids to open up his lungs and back we went on the Antibiotics, Steroids and Nebulizer treatments.

Disney On Ice - Happy Birthday Cooper

The kiddos were invited to Coleman's buddy Cooper's birthday party at Disney on Ice. It was so much fun to take in such a great show with so many friends. The kids were all mesmerized by everyone dancing around on the ice and could hardly be disturbed by my comments of oohs and ahs.

This was one of my favorite act, "The Lion King". The costumes were awesome. I have wanted to take them to see the Broadway show, "The Lion King", but am waiting till they are old enough to actually appreciate it. I imagined that these costumes probably somewhat resembled the costumes in the Broadway show.

Cole loved the "Cars" performance of the show and just couldn't understand how a car was driving around on the ice!

The finale was great and everyone was showered with confetti.A not so great picture of Kadee and Cole in their seats. I was holding Chance at the time and he is quite the wiggle worm now so I did the best I could to get a pic of them.

I Love the Bellagio

While visiting with Kelly we headed over to the Bellagio one night. I love the Bellagio! I love the fountains out front and I LOVE the conservatory! I love the fact that they completely decorate an entire garden based on a theme that changes so often! So before we left Bellagio for the evening I drug Charlie with me to go check it outq. It was decorated for the Chinese New Year, the year of the dragon. As always, it was a sight to see. Absolutely beautiful!

I loved this red lantern tree! Red is my favorite color so I had to get a picture of me and Charlie in front of this beautiful sight. We luckily found a nice tourist to snap our picture!

Kelly Came to Visit

My dear friend Kelly came to town for a work conference. We got to meet up with her on Friday night for a drink at Paris. Well it was a hell of a day at work, I hadn't had a chance to eat anything so I was ill-prepared to consume any alcohol. Me and Charlie headed over to Paris to meet her and some of her work colleagues. Low and behold it was HAPPY HOUR! Buy one get one free...a dirty, I mean two dirty martinis please. Well, I am not much of a drinker. If I drink one drink completely gone it is usually an accomplishment. Well, these two martinis were just so yummy and down they went! Did I mention I hadn't eaten anything all day? Did I mention I am not much of a drinker. These two libations knocked me on my @$$! Charlie had one drink and then headed out to relieve my mom who had watched the kids that day. I was on my own and by no means ready to drive home! First things first, get something in my belly. Well luckily the Paris has the best bakery so I took a gander at the selection and decided a nice buttery croissant should soak up some of this alcohol. After that it was off to watch everyone do what they do when they come to Vegas...gamble. We hit the slots and tables at Bally's and all I did was lose, lose, lose. Not very much fun. From there we headed over to O'Shea's and continued on our losing streak! After a few hours of catching up on all my vices (drinking, gambling...my goodness, what got into me?) it was definitely time to head home.

The next night me and Charlie met back up with Kelly and a couple of her friends. We headed to Diablos for dinner where we chatted about anything and everything. After dinner we headed over to Bellagio to hang out at one of the bars there. We enjoyed the people watching thoroughly! We had so much fun catching up, before we knew it, it was getting pretty late and time to head home. It was wonderful just hanging out with Kelly and catching up on everything. Our busy lives leave little time to visit one another so I treasure the few times we do get to see each other! I miss her so and I so wish she lived closer!

And I Spend How Much on Toys?

It never fails. You can spend all you want on toys but the things they really enjoy playing with always seem to be whatever they find around the house. Cole is entertained for hours by just stacking plastic cups. Let's see. A Wii = $200, extra controllers = $80, Wii game = $30...so about $310

A bag of plastic cups = $5.00

I really need to rethink my gift giving :)

Ready or Not Here I Come...

Cole has discovered the game of hide and seek. He asks me every single night after dinner if we can play. Sometimes I am tired and just play one quick game with him but other nights I find myself totally enthralled with the game like I did when I was a little girl. The best nights are when we all play, Charlie, me, Kadence and Cole (Chance sits in the middle of the living room watching us all run around). For some reason Cole always want to count and find us. He is adorable counting to ten in super fast mode, we have to keep telling him to slow down so we have a chance to hide.

I have come up with some pretty clever hiding spots that has taken Kadee and Cole (and sometimes even Charlie) a while to find me. My favorites include:

• In my tub behind the shower curtain.
• Underneath a blanket on the living room floor. I was so surprised how long it took them to find me here. I couldn't believe they didn't see the blanket shake as I tried to hold in my laughter.
• On top of the dryer with the laundry room door wide open but hiding me. This one was hilarious. Because the door was wide open they would come peak in and not bother looking on top of the dryer. I hid here for about a good 15 minutes until KD and Cole finally got so mad that they solicited Charlie's help (he even took a couple of minutes to find me!)

I hope this game brings us many more days and nights filled with giggles and fun!

Chance Has Pneumonia

On Friday Chance started coughing a little bit, no big deal, probably just a little cold. Well Saturday rolled around and the coughing persisted along with a fever! After a sleepless night we contemplated taking him to Urgent Care. I just switched insurance and couldn't find one on Blue Cross's website that was open. My calls to Blue Cross were answered with "We are currently closed..." Okay, we thought we would make it through the day until we could get to the doctor on Monday. After another sleepless night, literally screaming about every hour and a half, our first call in the morning was to Dr. Joe. Charlie took him in and discovered he had a double ear infection and severe bronchitis (possibly on the verge of pneumonia). The doc ordered a chest x-ray just to be safe. About an hour later I got a call from the doctor's office confirming that he did in fact have pneumonia in both lungs! My poor little man. Well after three shots of respiratory antibiotics, two oral antibiotics and breathing treatments in 3, 4, 6, then 8 hour increments I am happy to report that he is feeling much better!

Happy Birthday Julie - 2010

My sister's birthday was January 14. I think all that know her would agree she has the biggest heart on the planet and is probably the most caring person out there! Whether it is taking in the neighborhood stray cat or picking me up a couple groceries so I don't have to drag all three kids out of the house. She is amazing! She still takes such good care of her baby sister and my family! My kids love their auntie and love the fact that she is only a couple doors down from us. She is ALWAYS there when we need her and I honestly do not know what I would do without her!

Happy Birthday Sis! I hope you have a wonderful day and an even better year! I so hope you win the lottery or something cuz you so DESERVE it!

A Day Off With the Kids

I didn't get to take any time off during Christmas time. I know I have weekends off but they usually fly right on by and are filled with grocery shopping, errands, laundry, etc...I was starting to miss my kids. I see them everyday but with everything going on I wasn't really seeing my kids, if you get my drift. I decided to take Friday off of work to just spend the day with the kiddos. My mom also joined us which was nice because it was starting to feel like the only time I talked to her was when I needed something, and I had really been needing her and my dad a lot lately!

We started our afternoon off with a matinee of Disney's new movie, "The Princess and the Frog". It was super cute and the kids loved it. This was Chance's first movie experience and he was awesome. The first half hour he spent wide-eyed in awe of the scenes on the screen. Then he really started getting into things and was dancing and singing every time a song came on. About a half hour prior to the movie ending all of the excitement finally got to him and he crashed!

After the movie we headed to the Park to wear off some pent up energy.My day was made when on the walk to the car in the parking lot Cole told me, "Mommy, that was a GREAT, GREAT movie and a FUN, FUN park!" I know when he says it twice he really means it. I was thankful for the extra time I got to spend with them. It really was a FUN, FUN day!

Happy Birthday Nicci - 2010!

Today is my good friend Nicci's birthday. I miss her so. She and I went to high school together but didn't really become close until College. We have had some great times. My favorite was when we lived across the apartment complex courtyard from her. There were many fun BBQs and Pool Parties! Her hubby and my hubby are very good friends and very much a like so there have been many times we spent laughing our butts off at them one minute and then wanting to kill them the next.

She is a great mother to her two boys and a great wife. She never ceases to amaze me with her creative and resourceful way to stretch a meal. On their last visit to Vegas she used leftovers to make the best chip dip ever!

Happy Birthday Nicci! I miss ya a ton!