A Weekend Away

This past weekend I went to Pigeon Forge, TN with 9 of my friends from church. It ended up being a really good weekend but it was also hard. Ethan was sick and it was hard being away from him. I wanted to be the one to take care of him while he was sick and I think God had different plans for me. Tim did a great job taking care of both of our boys! Here on some pictures from the weekend.

Hello Spring!!!

Spring is officially 11 days away, but its finally beginning to feel like Spring! On Monday, we took our first walk of the year to the playground by our house.

The boys enjoyed getting out and it was great exercise for myself.

This was the first time Ethan was getting to go to the park since he's been walking. He didn't know what to do first.

They both loved playing in the sand.

Then we took a little walk. Aren't they the most precious brothers you've ever seen?

A visit from the Tooth Fairy

Back in Mid-October, Riley fell on our kitchen floor while he was trying to take his coat off. He busted his chin and we had to take him to the ER to get 4 stitches. After the accident, Riley's teeth were sore. Long story short... we took Riley to 3 dentists, a periodontist (children's dentist), and 2 oral surgeons in 4 months. We found out that Riley had a broken tooth and it had to be removed.

On Monday, we arrived at the Johnson City Medical Center a little after 6:00 am. Riley was in a good mood and knew that they would be taken out his "hurty tooth." At 7:45 they took Riley back to be sedated. He didn't cry so that definitely helped my nerves. By 8:10 he was finished with the procedure and his tooth had been removed! I couldn't believe how fast it went. Riley was crying a little and he wanted his IV out. At one point he almost pulled it out. It took us about an hour to get him to drink something but then we headed home by 9:30.

Once we were home, he laid around at first but an hour later he was playing in the floor with Ethan and helping his daddy with the dishwasher. He ate well, which was a huge relief to me! I think the worst part of his surgery was just the fear of the unknown. I was pleasantly surprised with how quickly he bounced back!

When we put him to bed, we put his tooth under his pillow and told him that the Tooth Fairy would come and take his tooth. Later that night, Tim and I went into his room to hunt for his tooth. We heard him stirring in his bed and both of us ducked. Then he said, "Mom, what are you doing in here?" Tim told him we were just checking on him. So then we took the tooth and left the money. The next morning he was excited to find that the Tooth Fairy had taken his tooth and even more excited to find $7.

He feels so much better now that his "hurty tooth" is gone. I feel so relieved now that we are finally done with this!

SNOW much fun!

I was supposed to be here this weekend

with some good friends from church on a women's retreat, but it snowed in East Tennessee and the retreat to Pigeon Forge was rescheduled for March. So this is what I ended up doing.

Saturday afternoon, we got Riley and Ethan all bundled up

and took them sledding!

We went to a nearby hill and borrowed our friends' sleds. We all had a great time! Riley and I had also been out earlier while Ethan was napping. Riley had so much fun sledding with his friend, Eva!

We got about 8 inches of snow early Saturday morning. The snow was perfect for sledding because it was hard and crunchy.

We all had a great time playing in the snow! I was disappointed that my trip got canceled but I'm glad I was able to play with my boys in the snow!!

Ethan's First Haircut

Ethan's hair has needed a hair cut for awhile now and I've been putting it off. It just was so cute!

Wednesday, I finally gave in and took him to a hair salon to have it trimmed.

He was such a good boy while Susan was cutting his har.

Ethan liked it!

Ta Da! No, she didn't cut much but at least its not in his eyes anymore.

What a handsome little boy!

Hands on museum

This past weekend we had my dad and stepmom come visit us. My dad just retired, so now he can come visit us anytime and we love it!!! On Friday afternoon we all went to the Hands On Museum.

The theme right now is "Treasure." Riley and my dad enjoy using metal dectectors to look for burried treasure in the sand.

Riley and Ethan with Big Daddy and Dee Dee

Riley and Big Dad had fun shooting cannon balls at ships in the ocean.

The boys had fun shopping the grocery store.

My little space cadets.

Ethan loved playing on the playground, now that he can walk.

We had a great time with them and we are looking forward to them visiting more often.

Ethan's first time in the snow

We have been cooped up inside the house for weeks now. It has been so cold this month and we've had snow on the ground for 11 days straight. So yesterday I bundled the kids up and we went for a walk. Riley and Ethan loved being outside.

Ethan has decided he's a "big boy" and he wanted to push his car himself.

Then we went to the backyard to play. This was the first time Ethan has played or touched the snow.

Then he decided he wanted to try to climb up the slide.

He did a lot of crawling in the snow.

Riley and I also made snow angels.

The snow has been pretty but its finally starting to melt. I have a feeling we may be in store for a very cold winter.