Christmas morning

Just wanted to share one of my favorite moments from this Christmas....more to come! We were blessed this year with so many memories!

Signs of the season....

Even reindeers need nourishment...



Snow...TWICE in December!



Christopher decorating the tree with his mini-me...




and me with MINE!




First Christmas in this house...had to be creative with stockings!




A house of boys needs a gingerbread TRAIN, not a house!

Nana likes to buy us matching pj's....

more Ammon TV

Here are a few moving pictures of our lives from the last couple of months...

Daddy's birthday:





some family time on Thanksgiving:


Crawling!!!!!


And then these are hands down going to be some of my all-time faves...

A Tale of Two Boys continued...

Thought I would update my post from a few months ago when I compared some pictures of our two boys. I think the differences are growing...


Elias with cousin Tommy- September 2006 and Ethan with Nana-September 2010



Elias at Eno River State Park - October 2006 and Ethan at West Point on the Eno- October 2010


Elias with Daddy- November 2006 and Ethan with Mommy-November 2010





Elias-December 12, 2006 and Ethan- November 26, 2010


Just HAD to include these last two, since they are wearing the same outfit! They are about 6 wks apart in age here, but I would like to point out that Ethan is quite ahead of the game in clothing size. However, Elias had like 100 teeth here and Ethan only has two!

Ethan is a couple weeks ahead of Elias as far as crawling goes...but they both started moving for good at Papa T's house over Thanksgiving. Maybe it's his carpet? = )

We sure have enjoyed the last couple months, but feel like we are grasping onto the weeks as they fly by. Just so hard to believe that the baby we brought home is already moving on his own and babbling up a storm. Someone at church recently commented, "The days are long, but the years are short." SO TRUE! Sometimes I wish I had a pause button (like when the boys are making each other laugh while playing) and other times I wish I had a fast forward button (like bedtime). Either way, it's best to live in the present and enjoy the good times...

Been there, done that...

Last night we paid a visit to a familiar place......

the Duke Emergency Department!!!!

While Christopher was getting dinner ready last night and I was upstairs changing clothes (had just gotten home after a LONG week and crazy day). Ethan was in his high chair and Elias was playing peek-a-boo with him. He was apparently under the high chair tray and jumped up, slicing his head open on the edge of the tray. He was just saying "Ow!" at first and looking down so Christopher was trying to find out what had happened. When he looked up, Christopher saw the huge gash and screamed at me to come downstairs, which I did, in my unbuttoned jeans and no shirt!

Sure enough, we could see a prety deep slice and we knew what was in our immediate future. Grandma came right over to take over with Ethan and we headed off with our firstborn to his 3rd ER visit (5th head injury...) He was pretty calm and the bleeding had pretty much stopped. The waiting room was pretty full at 7pm on a Friday night, but we didn't wait more than 20 minutes. Once the nurses and doctors took a look, they decided that he would need stitches and gave us the option of either local anesthetics or an IV with sedation. At this point I am sure some parents would be relieved that the doctors felt like they could repair something without major drugs, but we have BEEN THERE, DONE THAT and felt like the best scenario for all involved was for Elias to be sedate while they were messing with his head. We did not want him to experience any pain or traumatic memories AND wanted the doctors to be able to make a clean and neat closure.

Elias was AMAZING. So brave! They put LMX on his IV spots and Mommy was confident that with holding still and good breathing, there would be a successful IV. However, when two nurses came in, I quickly figured out that one of the nurses who would be poking her baby was new. Don't worry, I did not go crazy or go all "John Q" on anybody, but we'll just say that it took two pokes and Mommy had to instruct the nurse on proper aseptic technique.

They gave him a dose of anti-nausea medicine (Zofran) and then began to set up for the procedure. They put Elias on a bunch of wires, which to any healthy kid, looks so abnormal. And to me, who is used to doing all these things to other kids, it is just surreal. If nothing else, I come away from these experiences with so much gratitude that my boys are healthy. I do not know how the parents I know deal with these traumatic events every day.

Once they gave him the Ketamine, he faded into dreamland with his eyes open (so freaky no matter how many times I see that!!) and we sang to him while they cleaned the slice up and stitched him up. Thankfully, he only needed one dose of Ketamine and even though he began talking at the end, could not feel a thing. Six stitches, a few times vomiting and about 2 hrs later, we were ready to go home. I asked for another dose of Zofran before we left so that he could feel a little better to eat. He hadn't eaten in over 8 hrs at this point! Having been down this road before, we expected sedation and so did not feed him dinner as we were leaving. We are no rookies! = ) Elias was able to stomach a couple packs of crackers on the way home and then had a little homemade vanilla milkshake when we got home.

Kids are resilient and our little boy is no exception. As I write this, Elias is with Christopher at Waffle House and then on to the Farmer's Market. The next week will be interesting as his wound heals and we navigate getting the stitches out (in 5 days) and keeping antibiotic ointment on it. If you think about it, say a quick prayer for quick healing and no infection. Funny, but last time Elias busted his head, he was due for a haircut, as he is right now. Suspicious.....

Here a few pictures I snapped with my cell phone...we even had the foresight to think about taking the actual camera this time, but forgot in the effort to get out the door quickly!

a couple of head shots...the cut is actually in his hair. The stuff on his forehead is dried blood.

Here he has the topical medicine on...the cotton balls are soaked in "LET" which is Lidocaine, Epinephrine and Tarcaine (?) to help numb the area and cause the blood vessels to constrict in the area. He had this the last time as well.

Reading their chapter book they've been reading every night...The Rats of Nimh. Glad we brought this because all that was on the Disney channel was Hanna Montana (though I'll admit we did end up watching quite a bit)!



Gettin' wired up for the procedure!

Healthcare costs...some real numbers

This time of year is "Open Enrollment" at Duke, which indicates the time of year you have to make decisions on health care insurance stuff for 2011. It always seems to sneak up on me, but today, since little E is taking a good nap and big E is content to watch a movie, I am taking a stab at it.
For the past few years, we have invested in a healthcare reimbursement account, which takes pre-tax dollars out of my check and allows us to "save" for our healthcare costs. I LOVE the system and though it requires a lot of time each year, it works so well for us. Through the system, I was able to reduce our monthly plan to something more basic and therefore reduce our monthly premiums. Yeah!
As I began to crunch numbers, I was astounded by how much money we spent this last year on healthcare! And we have insurance! I wanted to share and was hoping to hear from you all on whether or not your costs are similar...
Co-pays for myself and both boys this year: $222

Over-the-counter meds/contact solutions: $134
Dental co-pays: $408.78
Ethan's birth hospital costs (we paid 20% with the lower benefit plan): $1493.00

And then, of course, monthly, we pay $225 for all 4 of us.

Anybody else feel like sharing and comparing? Of course, every dollar I spend is soooo worth it. Just look at this family who was healthy enough to get out and vote early today!

If you need a laugh...

...there's nobody like big brother!

pumpkin

30 something

Just a few weeks ago, I entered my 30's with a weekend of celebration planned by my sweet and amazing husband. Everything was a secret, beginning with dinner with the Reimer family, a surprise shopping trip with my mom and ending in a surprise party here at the house. It was so great and the best way I could think of to leave my 20s behind.

My actual birthday was even more special because as I turned 30, my baby boy turned 7 months and we dedicated him at church. It meant so much to me to do that, since we had Elias dedicated on Christopher's 30th. We had a pew full of guests, including the other Ammon family, Guy and Nana. Thanks to everyone for being there for us and being part of my special day!

a Tale of Two Boys

We get asked a lot if Ethan looks like Elias. The jury is still out for me, but I thought I would post some side-by-side comparisons and let you all decide!


Elias: 2/6/06; Ethan: 2/19/10



Elias: 1 month; Ethan: 1 month

Elias: 3 months; Ethan: 4 months




Elias: @ Eno River Festival 2006; Ethan: @ Eno River Festival 2010



Elias: August 2006; Ethan: August 2010

Ammon TV

Here are some LIVE moving pictures of some happenings around the Ammon household...

Some reading...


some eating...


some train playing...


some swinging/sleeping...


some annoying (REALLY annoying)...


and my personal favorite...some singing and dancing.
PLEASE NOTE: The following video contains our oldest son singing a highly inappropriate song. Before you report us to Social Services, please note that he only knows the phrase he is singing and not any other part of the song.

P-H-A-T baby!

learning to eat...



check out that double (triple?) chin!



check out those thighs!


PHAT baby!!!

I'll tell you what, man....

Tonight after dinner, Elias was eating his vanilla ice cream with a few mini chocolate chips and a few drips of Hershey's syrup (which he got because he had eaten such a good dinner, taken his plate over and washed his hands) and told us:

"I'll tell you what, man, this is REALLY good."


And if that doesn't make you smile, maybe these latest pictures of the boys will...

My friend Chelse is famous!

Click on the picture to see her band's website. They are playing at the Festival for the Eno this weekend. I couldn't be more proud!!!!!

Winston-Salem fun

This past weekend we spent some time in good ol' Winston-Salem with our sweet Ammon family members. Miss TG's dance recital was the occasion, but we extended our visit with a little pool time. What fun! If someone could please donate about $800 to our family, we could join a pool close to our house and have so many days of fun in the sun! Check is in the mail, right?! = )

Here are some pics and video....

the infamous TG

Trying to get a picture is not so easy these days...

Olivia is not impressed with Brian.

swimmin'

My bro-in-law

Seriously, Dad? This hat?




Smiley Riley

so tired...

Super Dad!!!!!

Riley and his cereal

We had so much fun at the Ammon house, that neither child wanted to leave. Here is a video of both Elias and Ethan crying. We have spared you the entire experience, as they both cried for almost 30 minutes and this video is less than a minute long. But you get the idea. Uncle B and Aunt Katie...do you need two more children???!!!!