Little Climber

Josiah is ready to climb a mountain. 

He has conquered the kitchen stool.

 

                                  

Toys are for standing on, not for playing with.

His dream is to be as tall as Dadda.

Thumb

Poor Caleb has had a rough week.  After having a fever for 6 days, he finally has recovered with the help of antibiotics.   Today topped it off.  We went to Tim's cousin's graduation party, and Joel, Caleb, and cousin Jake were playing with some bocce balls.  Next thing we know, Caleb is screaming and holding his finger.  His thumb was smashed between two of the balls.  They were heavy and I know it was quite painful.

Not sure if there is much we can do besides put ice on it.  Even thought it is only his thumb, he is now unable to use his left hand at all. He cannot wash his hands, take a shower, get dressed, take off his shoes.....

Thankfully, he has quite a pitiful sad face that aids him in time of neediness.

Momma can always get a smile out of him though.

Hayes Pharmacy

Between Josiah, Caleb, and me, we have created our own little pharmacy - humidifiers, thermometer, Vicks on the feet, kleenex galore, saline drops, sore throat lozenges, glasses, 2 different kinds of antibiotics, ibuprofen, and tylenol.  It has been exhausting just trying to keep up with it all!
 

It all started last Monday after getting back from St. Louis.  Josiah started running a high fever around lunchtime.  It lasted for 72 hours and then disappeared with no other apparent symptoms.  Then on Friday afternoon, my eyes started bothering me.  Then my throat started hurting.  Then Caleb started running a high fever.  By Monday, I visited my doctor for pink eye and started on antibiotics.  On Tuesday, I took Caleb in because he was still running a fever.  He tested negative for strep so they sent us home.  After 2 more days of high fever and chills, I took him in this morning.  When nothing else seemed to pan out, they tested his blood levels and his WBC count and some other ratio (that I can't remember) were high indicating a bacterial infection, so now he is on an antibiotic.  If his fever is not gone by Saturday, we will go in for some more testing. Whew!  I am one tired momma.  

Caleb has been so sweet over this long week.  He is a little more sensitive, but he seems happy as long as his fever is below 101.  He tells me how "happy" Popsicles make him and how much he loves me.  I couldn't ask for a better patient.

I hate being sick but even worse, I hate when my boys are sick.  I try not to worry, but I do.  I pray constantly - for healing and that my imagination doesn't get the best of me.  We are great at imagining the worst, right?  God has to constantly remind me that He loves my sweet boys more than I do! 

Bedtime for Joel

Every night before I leave Joel 's room I tell him that I will answer one question. For the last 100 nights or so Joel has asked me the same question: "What are you going to do after I go to sleep?" This should give you a hint to his personality with just this one story. Going to sleep is the worst when you can't stand to miss a single thing.

Tonight I said, " Joel, I always answer the same thing every night, When are you going to ask me a new question?"
Joel said, "Dad someday when we go to God's, I will ask a new question, but while we are still in this house I will ask you that question."

I will leave it to you all you philosophical thinkers to explore the psychological and theological depths of this answer...I will only say that it looks like I could be answering this question a lot longer then I thought. Apparently, we either have to move or die before I get a new question.

Meet Me in St Louie

We went to St Louis this past weekend for Tim's cousin's wedding.  Since it is pretty much in the middle of Nashville and KC, we managed to get Tim's entire family there.  We went to the Magic House on Saturday morning.  I highly recommend it - it is awesome!  We didn't even get halfway through the place.

We stayed at a hotel downtown so we could be close to the wedding reception and trade off the babysitting duties.  Downtown St Louis has a bunch of fountain areas that the kids are allowed to play in so we took advantage of them.  Just so you know, Caleb is missing from these pics due to an untimely nature call. :)

Josiah seemed surprised each time the water spouted out from the hole, but he couldn't resist going back to look in it again.  He also was very thirsty...he tried to drink the water at every opportunity.

We had a Mother's Day Brunch at the hotel on Sunday morning and then went to the St Louis Zoo.

Not sure why we have only 1 of our boys and are standing in front of a camel, but that is what happens when you have a group of 17 adults and 12 kids (we added some people to our already large party) attempting to stay together at a crowded zoo.  :)

Hot, tired, and happy to have had another fun trip with family, we headed back home!

Mother's Day Birdhouse

Joel came home from preschool last week and told me that he had a secret.  Actually, 2 secrets.  He said "I am not going to tell you about the birdhouse secret.  I am going to tell you about the other secret.  I made a bird that you can hang outside."
So this is my first Mother's Day present actually made by one of my kids.  I love it.  It even is signed by Joel.

Ultra Scientific Comparison of Formula

Unfortunately, with each of my boys, I have had to move to formula around 10-11 months.  My milk supply drops so low once they start eating table food that they are not interested in nursing anymore.

I don't have a moral issue with formula.  It is more of a cheapskate issue.  I hate buying it - it is expensive.  

Josiah has one more month on the stuff before he can switch over to regular milk, so I have been buying different brands depending on whatever is cheapest or what I have coupons for.  "They" say they are nutritionally the same.   Maybe so, but below is a picture of a bottle of Similac and a bottle of Parent's Choice.

Can you tell a difference between the two?

Parent's Choice is on the left - the nasty streaks coat the inside of the bottle as soon as you mix it.  I'm not sure why that bothers me so much.  I think I imagine the inside of the baby's mouth or stomach getting coated with that.  Now that I know the difference, I am forking over the extra bucks.  :)

Run for Mercy, BBQ, and Papa's Birthday

Yesterday morning, we walk/ran the 5K Run for Mercy.  I love this race - it is for a great cause, and we always see a lot of people we know.  Tim and I pushed Caleb and Josiah in jogging strollers.  Joel ran the start and the end, but hitched a ride on top of one of the strollers for the rest of the race.  We walked the first half and then jogged the last half.  It was a good decision....the last half was mostly downhill.  

After we finished, they had a kid's fun run.  This was the best part, and I am disappointed that I forgot my camera.  I lined up Joel and Caleb at the starting line behind the rest of the kids.  I told them to look for me straight ahead.  When they said "GO!" all the kids took off, and I look for mine.  They are at the start line.  On the ground.  Crying.  I think they panicked, tripped, and fell.  

I don't think they are quite ready to begin their running careers yet.  Thankfully, they still have some time to practice their starting skills so they can follow in the "McMillen Sisters" footsteps.... 

After recovering from the traumatic start, I ran the loop with Caleb.  All the kids received medals...and Caleb was exceptionally proud of his.  He even insisted sleeping with it during his naptime!

Saturday evening, we had a family picnic with the MOPS steering team.  After spending the past year serving with these ladies, it was fun to finally meet all their spouses and kiddos.  We wrapped the evening up with smores....always a favorite!

Today was Papa's 50-something birthday.  The boys love to jump on their trampoline with their cousin Jake.  We celebrated with a cookout, apple pie, cake, and ice cream!