Around the House

We have had some excitement around here in the last week...well excitement for me. We had the carpet pulled up on the stairs and hardwood put down. I love it! They even got rid of the squeaky stairs we had!

Before with carpet

After...beautiful!

Love it!

I also wanted to share some other pics from around the house.

Love my bunnies and Easter eggs outside. I had so much fun painting these!

This is over my buffet in the dining room. I was inspired by a wall in one of the houses on Modern Family. The picture with the date is our anniversary date. A little present to myself. The big platter I found at an antique store for $10. Rest came from Pier 1 and TJ Maxx.

To Grandma and Granddad's house we go!

We packed up and headed down to Dothan this past weekend! It was so much fun. The kids love going down there.

Saturday, we went and watched my nephew Jake's 1st baseball game of the season. He did so good. He is so fast!

After we had some lunch and then headed to Landmark Park for Spring Farm Days. All of us look forward to this all year long. As you can see from the pics below, a fun time was had by all.

The kids got to ride ponies. Nolan got scared and wouldn't do it. Maybe next year!

Got to see some pigs which you can tell from Nicholas's expression didn't smell to great!

Churned some butter!

Washed wool!

Cut some wood!

We on a walk on the nature boardwalk and got to see some cool animals

Best of all, got to send some time with our best friends...our cousins!

After all the fun at Spring Farm Days, we went back to Grandma and Granddaddy's and they put the kids to work. They all made $2 for picking up the sticks around the yard.

After yard work, we all headed to my sister Jamie's house for dinner and some more playtime. It was a wonderful weekend!

Sick little Nolan

This past week I've experienced something that I hope to never experience again. It all started Monday morning around 5am. Nolan started crying and I went upstairs to see what was wrong. I discovered he had thrown up. I cleaned him up and bought him downstairs to sleep with me. He seemed fine. Of course, I kept him home that day. Around 10, he asked for some waffles. He ended up eating about half of one. Still seemed fine, just not really hungry. He went down for his normal nap and got up around 2:30 and got sick again. He ended up throwing up 3 more times until he went to bed around 8. I gave him some pedialyte before he went to bed and again he seemed fine, just a little worn out. I fully expected him to wake up Tuesday and start mending. I couldn't have been more wrong.

Jason flew out to go to Kentucky around 8am. By 10:30, I knew something was wrong. He wouldn't drink and all he wanted to do was sleep. I called the doctor and they told me to take him to the ER at Children's Hospital. He was showing signs of dehydration. Not knowing what was going to happen, I checked Nicholas out of school and we headed to the hospital. 40 minutes later we were in a room at the ER and they started him on an IV. That was at 1:15. 6 hours later we were still in the ER. He was not bouncing back they way they thought he would once he got the fluids in him. So they decided to admit him. By this time, Jason had decided to fly back and my wonderful neighbor had come and gotten Nicholas and taken him home with her. We got into our room at 9:15 and Jason arrived at 10:15. One of the hardest things I have ever had to do was leave Nolan that night, even though Daddy was with him. I went home so someone would be there when Nicholas got up in the morning. He slept at my neighbor's house, but as soon as he woke up at 6:20 he was calling to come home.

Nicholas and I headed back to the hospital early Wednesday hoping our little Nolan was feeling better. He was! He actually ate breakfast! We waited around to see the doctor and didn't see her until after lunch. She decided to wanted to keep Nolan another night since he still wasn't really drinking and just to make sure the food stayed down. I stayed that night with him while Jason went home with Nicholas. Thank the lord, they let us come home the next day. We were back home Thursday by lunch. We were so glad to be home!

It is slowly hitting me now that we are back home. I never want to see one of my children laying in a hospital bed again. It was so sad to watch him all day Tuesday in the ER. Even Nicholas commented on it. I'm so glad my Nicholas was there with me. He was so good all day. At one point he came and hugged me and said the Our Father for Nolan. He was my rock that day and having him there kept me sane.

I keep looking at my boys tonight and realize how much I have to be thankful for. There are kids at the hospital whose parents may never get to bring them home. My child got to walk out on his own two legs. Thank you God for letting my little Nolan get better!

I also realize how blessed we are with such wonderful friends and family. My sister, Jamie, offered to come up for the moment I called her, before we were even at the ER. She is 4 hours away so it is not a simple trip for her. Both my mom and Jason's mom offered to take off from work to come over. Several friends in Atlanta offered up their help. My neighbor went above and beyond and not only let Nicholas spend the night the 1st night, but came and got him Wednesday afternoon as well to give him a break from the hospital. If you know anything about Atlanta, coming down 400 to get to hospital is not the easiest trip. Not one you would want to do.

Thank you for everything you offered your help and your prayers!

This is Nolan in the ER. This is how he was all day. He just laid there and slept. Always with teddy by him. He was so tired that he didn't even cry when they put his IV in.

The boys Wednesday in the playroom at the hospital. As you can see, he is feeling better.

This is just before we found out we were being discharged!

Phonics by Nicholas

The fun part of Kindergarten...Sight Words. A wonderful list of 220 words. We are going through them in lists, 5 words in each list. It is amazing how much he can read now thanks to these lists. I also applaud his teachers at his ability to sound words out. He is really good. He now reads the book at bedtime to me and Nolan. I am so proud of how far he has come! He even got to read to his class last week!

He had me laughing the other night as we were going through all the lists he had already passed at school. So here you go...phonics by Nicholas.

1) If the word has a long vowel instead of a short vowel, I need to let him know the vowel says its name

2) Silent "E"s...this is what really had me rolling. Take the word Goes. This is how Nicholas would explain the silent "e". The "O" is talking to the "S" saying "hey, come over and play with me"

3) We later decided to name the silent "E" the mean "E" or meanie. Get it, the E is mean because he is giving the other letters the silent treatment!

4) I love how he handles an exclamation point when reading. He raises his voice in excitement. So cute!

Out with the old...

We had an exciting day here at our house. The old swing set came down and a newer, better one went up. The best part...I didn't have to do anything!

Nolan enjoyed watching the men take down the old one

So sad....it took 10 minutes to take it down. Took Jason 2 weekends to put it up :(

New swing set

Fireman's pole...how cool!

Of course, both boys are beyond excited.

Nicholas ran in from school and went straight to the backyard.

The video below is Nicholas on the Monkey bars. They are his favorite!

Spa Day with the girls

Last weekend Jason let me get away and I met some of my old friends here.

It is the spa at Montgomery inside the Renaissance Hotel. It was beautiful! So relaxing! I had a facial and a pedicure and enjoyed relaxing (sweating) in the steam room. The best part was getting to see some of my Phi Mu sisters. Julie and Kara enjoyed the spa with me and then my real and phi mu sister, Jamie, met us later. I also got to see 3 other "sisters" at dinner. It was wonderful! Can't wait for the next spa day!