Mele Kalikimaka

Can you believe it?! I am doing two posts back-to-back!!! I am finally getting around to putting up Hawaii pictures, and I apologize that they are in reverse order (so start at the bottom, and work back to the top). The first picture (from bottom)is the day before we left, it snowed here...crazy to know that just a day later we landed in 80 degree weather in paradise. We had and intersting time getting there since our first plane out of Birmingham was delayed an hour. We ran through the DFW airport like the cast of "Home Alone", only we didn't make it. The sweet ladies booked us on the next flight which we then had to run again through LAX. Thankfully, they basically held the plane for us. We were exhausted and excited once we landed in Kauai at 9 pm (Hawaii time). Since it was dark when we got to our room we were thrilled the morning to wake up to the beautiful view awaiting us (picture 2 -from bottom). What a special time with my Pun! Most of it was spent being lazy and lounging by the pool and beach. We rented a Jeep (which was lots of fun) and drove as far north on the island as we could (the surf was pretty high 20ft. waves - on Oahu the surf at North Shore was 50 ft!). The next morning we ventured to the southern part of the island. It was like the Hawaii you see in post cards...we even saw some huge sea turtles swimming in the water, but they didn't really show up in the pictures. We enjoyed lots of yummy Hawaiian cuisine, especially a hole-in-wall place close to the Kilouea lighthouse. It was so small, there wasn't even a bathroom...delicious fish wraps though! It was so nice to get away, just the 2 of us, before this crazy busy season got started. A HUGE "thank you" to my sweet parents who kept our precious boys while we were gone. I think they were just as content playing with the boys as they would've been in Hawaii. Winston still talks about the things they did when he was in "Thelusia". Thanks to all who prayed for our saftey, and for us being away from our boys (I only cried on the way to the airport). And, Mahalo Wheel of Fortune!!!






Joseph's working on getting this as a new client :)

A Glimpse of Our Fall

Winston and his friends, Ellie and Thompson, at the "pumpkin patch" (minus the pumpkins)

Sam is pumped about being a lobster


Sam's baptism 11.15.09


Breakfast with Aubie!!!

It was WHAT?!?

Hello all. I have a lot to post (Halloween, Sam's Baptism, Hawaii, Christmas, etc.), but I will start with the eventful last couple of weeks we had. It all started the day we came home from Andalusia for Christmas (Sunday). Winston had a fever and threw up for real for the first time. He was very freaked out about it and asked what it was. After I explained as best I could, I told him to hold a bowl in case more needed to come up. He sadly exclaimed, "I don't want more to come!". Anyway, after a few more times, he was done, however, his fever spiked that night to 103 then dropped and lingered for a few days. I called the doctor, and the nurse said it sounded like he had a virus, and it was probably on its way out. Good...I didn't want to have to drag Sam along to the doctor and risk him getting sick too. The rest of that week and the next he seemed normal. Well, Friday afternoon after his nap he woke up walking a little funny, and I just thought he slept on his leg wrong - no big deal. He did the same thing the next morning, but still jumped and ran around like normal, until...he woke from his nap Saturday afternoon and said it hurt to stand up, and refused to walk. Well, after the Tylenol kicked in, he was walking very stiff, so I did what any calm mother would do...I called Dr. Bomp (Ben Compton) on the verge of tears and asked him to come over. He concluded that he probably had dome sort of virus that settled in his joints, and would go away eventually. On the way home from church Sunday morning, he cried out that his hand hurt. Same ordeal, it was stiff the rest of the day, and he couldn't use it that well. WHAT?! I definitely had a break-down at this point, but tried not to let my mind wander off to all the serious things that could be doing this.

I called the doctor first thing Monday morning, and we scheduled an appointment for that afternoon. Side note: Winston is never sick, so he is very anxious about going to the doctor. He heard me call them, and when I got off the phone he asked, "Are they going to check Sam?" I told him it was his turn, but that no shots would be involved. Therefore, he all day to build up his anxiety even more. Thankfully, Joseph was in the office that week, so he came to keep Sam while I took Winston. As soon as they called him back, he started crying and screaming "Nooooo!". After Dr. Amason listened to me explain things, and did an exam (while Winston kicked and cried) he wanted us to walk down the hall so he could observe his walk. He told me it was definitely something viral, and not something more serious like Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis. Anyway, he orderd a throat swab and blood test. (I thought he was crazy for the throat swab) Sure enough, he had strep. Since it was prolonged it made my baby temporarily crippled. WHO KNEW?!

Anyway, he has now been on the antibiotic for a week and is back to his old self...running, jumping, climbing, tackling. I never knew how glad I would be for him to do those things again. FYI...all the while, he never once mentioned his throat hurting...CRAZY, I know.

Sorry for the long post, I will be doing some pictures soon, I promise.