Keeping up with Kal-el - November

   As you already know this month has been kind of a tough one. Most of it was spent fighting a virus or waiting on Dada to get home safely. Inspite of all this Super has managed to pick up a couple of new adorable traits for our observing pleasure!

- I have taken this sweet mans tempature so many times after him being sick that he knows how to take his own. He will even insert the ear thermometer in his little stuffed animal and make appropriate "BEEP" after he's got his reading. :)

-Kal-el has gone from calling Mimsy..Zee Zee to  refering to her as Bridget almost exclusively. It's so funny because he'll walk right up to her and say " Hey Hey Bridget!"

- His favorite word right now is "Apple" sounds like "Ab-bull" He loves them! He would eat on one all day if he could.

- Super is fiercely independent to the point where he gets angry and distraught if you try to help him out with anything he's working on..he wants to do it himself thank you!

- Kal-el knows all of his anatomy..ALL of it lol!

- Apparently he knows mine as well..bath time with Daddy from now on...because..he  walks over to our Christmas tree and takes the round ornaments off and sticks them under his little shirt and says "winkie". He thinks my boobs are winkies. Little people are so cute when they are trying to figure things out. Too funny.  :D

Book of the Month- Happy Thanksgiving Biscut!

  Even though it's been a terribly slow month for posting (due to Kal-el and I being under the weather) I did not forget about the book of the month! This month selection was perfect for November because it's about Thanksgiving! I tend to stay away from the books that talk about "the first thanksgiving" and the whole rewritting of history in a positive light to avoid facts (trust me you don't want that soap box)  so I looked for a simple book about being thankful for your blessings. Yay! I found just what I was looking for . It's about a child and her dog named Biscut. The best part is that Biscut looks alot like Ginger. Everytime Kal-el and I read the story he always points at the puppy and yells "good girl Ginger" It's beyond adorable. The pages fold out a little so it holds his attention. As of lately, we have had to hide all his real pop up books. He gets a little too excited and rips the shapes out. Love that sweet man :)

Happy Thanksgiving 2010!

   Yesterday we enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner with all of the family at Aunt Shane's house. We had such a great time.  It seems like just a few months ago that Chris's brothers spent Thanksgiving with us last year. It's hard to believe that it's the end of November all over again. We all have so much much to be Thankful for this year. I love each and every member of my family with all of my heart and consider myself very blessed to be able to share yet another holiday with my entire family. I was also so happy that Chris was off yesterday. His new schedule at the railroad is quite varied and we almost knew he would have to work but were pleasantly suprised when he was off with us! We are also so very grateful that Kal-el is back to his superhero self and has fully recuperated from his mean virus.
 The food was way too yummy and there was waay too much of it! I made a Chicken Divine casserole that was quite the hit. If you know me you know I'm rarely in the kitchen so the fact that people actually enjoyed what I made was a delightful treat! :) Zach and Lee Lee brought some wonderful asparagus. The eat from an all vegan menu so it's always interesting to see what they like and take a part in it. Jon- Thomas was also able to join in the festivities this year . I don't get to see him very often so it was a nice suprise. There was only one low point of the entire night. Kal-el took a tumble, landed right on the wood floor, face first, and busted his little lip :(   All the women had a complete come apart from seeing the blood and I  paced the floor over and over and asked repeatedly if stitches were needed. Luckily the bleeding stopped very quickly and after a little love tough man was running wide open all over again despite my constant cringing lol!  After we devoured our mini feast we wrapped up the night with some card games. Great fun. Great family! Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Yummy!

Zach and Lea's Fo-Tukey

The real meat :)

Mom, Nannie & Kal-el

Harold, Vicki, and JT

Chris & Raymond getting their chat on :)

My tummy is getting pudgy..must be a baby in there :)

Zach & Lea

Me & Chris Bear

Poppa & Super

Game time!

Wordless Wednesday- Sweet Super Checking his temperature last week :-)

An Eventful Arrival Home for Dada!

     Friday was such a happy day for Super and I! After 3 long weeks Chris finally made it home. He even arrived early. I went to pick him up at about 3pm. I don't know if I've ever been so glad/relieved/excited to see him. Once we got home, Kal-el was thrilled that the wait was over for him to. He followed his Daddy around like a little duck. Haha a little Oregon duck :) We just laid around the house for the afternoon and enjoyed each others company. When Mimsy got home from work she offered to watch Kal-el for us so we could go grab a bite to eat. We really wanted to take Super however we ended up at the ER the very night before with a high fever and a mild rash. They really couldn't say whether it was an allergic reaction to his antibotic or viral rash. We decided it best, even though he had cleared up almost completely that he stay at home to be on the safe side. Chris and I opted to stay close to home as well and eat at Fiesta. We obviously missed each other alot. We usually sit across from one another to talk but we found ourselves scrunched in a booth side by side. :) After dinner we headed home to our little boy who had just started getting a fever. Oh no. Fever is just not viewed the same after the seizure for us. It's very worrisome and scary. By the time night had set in his fever was maintainig around 101. Not a terribly high reading for the average person but Super had his seizure when his was only 102. I set my alarm for every three hours Friday night to maker sure I gave him alternating fever reducer throughout the night. When my 3am alarm went off I checked his fever again. Dear God. 102.3 and thats WITH fever reducer. Almost spontanously the evil rash came back with a vengeance. It was EVERYWHERE and easily 10x worse than before. His little face looked like he just stepped out of a boxing ring and his right eye was almost swollen shut. Chris and I threw on clothes as fast as we could and made our way to the ER. I didn't know what to worry about more...the high fever or the rash..I just prayed the whole ride over that our baby boy wouldn't have to suffer another seizure. When we arrived the nurse didn't even  recognize Kal-el from the previous night..needless to say we were rushed back right away. His oxygen saturation was normal and that was a huge relief because you always worry about breathing when a rash is so severe. Several hours, tears, and medications later everything calmed down and the rash slowly subsided. I have to say Kal-el is so STRONG. It took 5 people to hold him down. He was sick and tired of the ER, medicines, and needles. I don't blame him. The doctor still suspected a virus but told us to discontinue antibotics and no more Motrin as a fever reducer just incase either so happend to be the culprit. It ends up being alot of guess work. Kal-el was perfectly normal by the time lunch rolled around. No fever and rash almost gone.
 Chris and I had booked a hotel at Bridgestreet in Huntsville and decided to go ahead and go since Super wasn't running any tempature and the worst seemed to be behind us. We really needed to get away. I had some trouble trying to relax at first but I knew Kal-el was in good hands with the ladies in my family. I had a wonderful time with my sweet hubby. We watched Unstoppable at the Monoaco Theater. It was a great movie and is the exact job that Chris will be doing at Norfolk Southern. We had a lovely night but as soon as morning came we were ready to get back home. We made it just in time to help set up the Christmas tree. We had a great night with no fever!
   We saw Dr Melvin this morning and he confirmed that what Kal-el had has without a doubt viral and he reassured us the worst was over and he didn't anticipate anymore fever. Chris started his first offical day as a conductor with Norfolk Southern today. We all got up bright and early and Daddy cooked us breakfest. I love my little family. I'm so greatful that my husband is back and my baby is well! We have much to be thankful for this year!

Together at last!

Mimsy baked Dada's favorite blueberry cream cheese cake!

While Daddy Has Been Away....

  I can't believe that Chris Bear will be home in just 2 days!!! Kal-el and I could not be any more happy about his  upcoming arrival. Although 3 weeks may not seem that long there were several days that it certainly felt like it. I've always praised Chris for being a wonderful father and husband but the last 3 weeks have really shown me how supportive he is of me and how much I depend on him. We are truely a team and I couldn't do it without him.  Most of this month I have been too tired to do much of anything...including blog....so sorry and this will improve soon! I forgot how exhausting the first trimester really is. This is especially true when trying to keep up with a very active toddler! Whew..it's not for the weak!
   Kal-el has faired much better than Chris and I imagined with him being gone. I thought for sure he would be a tad distraught. We even tried to avoid saying "Dada" outloud opting instead to spell it out in the event that Super might just have a melt down. We soon discovered that the mention of Dada only made Kal-el squeal with sheer excitement and run to look out a window or grab a phone so he could "talk" to him. He never really cried. The thought of Dada only made him very happy. He was so precious with his reactions..almost like he knew he would be coming back soon. This positive emotional response was such a huge relief for me since Kal-el is such a Daddy's boy. Any other reaction would of made for an even longer 3 weeks!
  Although not much has changed while Chris has been gone there are just a few things that I wanted to document While Daddy Has Been Away..........

You see this face? While it's true that Kal-el hasn't been sad ..he has been WILD

Acting out has been the name of the game for him...he was literally in EVERYTHING..

Not a fun copeing mechanizm for Mom's here!

Climbing on everything constantly!

And always trying to escape...lol

On more than one morning we had cake for breakfest...oh hush I'm worn out :)

-Super has also managed to wear Nannie and Poppa daily while I'm at work. They are so good with him and I am so grateful they have been able to keep him until I start part time next week. They are a blessing to all of us and we sure are lucky to have them!

-He has a new found fondness of being naked and has effectively learned to remove ALL articles of clothing when the mood strikes...lol oh boy!

And finally....I told you that I'd be showing a little by the time you got back home....well I think I was correct! :-)

We love you and you will be all ours again in 48 hours!!! xoxoxo

Wordless Wednesday- Dessert and Dinner with Mommy & Mimsy