Mason's got it covered

Today was Andrew's last day with his soccer team. No pictures of Andrew, but here's Mason enjoying the game.

And today is also my dad's birthday. He's old enough to get senior discounts now!! : ) Sorry, no pictures of him, but Mason has this one covered too, with his attempt to say happy birthday. I love how pleased with himself he looks.

ready for kindergarten!

** WARNING ** I'm kinda proud of Andrew. It shows in this post. You've been warned.

Andrew had his 5 year well-child visit today. Poor guy had to get 4 shots, but he took it like a champ! They asked me to hold his hands and whispered that age 5 is the age they dread because they tend to flail and scream and try to escape. Andrew just sat there, flinched a little and then they (there were 2 - one for each arm) were done. No tears. They were very impressed. Of course. : ) He now has all the shots needed to start kindergarten!

He's 3' 9" and weighs 49lbs, both in about the 90th percentile.

I was so proud of him during his eye exam because he knew so many letters!! The nurse asked him to tell her if there was one he didn't know, rather than guessing, or if it was too small to read. He did both. She was impressed because a lot of kids try to just guess. She said that's a sign he's ready for kindergarten. (I know - Andrew is perfect, it's crazy right?) : )

The little gowns get me every time! So stinkin' cute!

Another good thing (I hope) that came out of this appt is that his doctor finally found a bump that he could scrape and get to the lab. I'm hoping that will be a clue to the never ending rashes. That, plus the derm appt we have on Thursday has to lead to getting this figured out!!

well, that's cute

invite

This is the invitation I sent out for Andrew's party. I finally got the PDF turned into a JPG so I could get it on here. I stole the idea fair and square and I love it! : )

Christmastime is here

We decorated for Christmas today!! I love it!

Ornaments from grandma ... They make me laugh, because it's true! : )

happy birthday, etc

We went to Bellingham on Saturday to celebrate Andrew and my dad's birthdays. We also threw in a little Thanksgiving dinner and a tree branch cleaning up party.

success!

Melanie, Melissa and I headed out for black Friday shopping this morning at 5:00. And for the second year in a row, it was totally worth it!!

We had a slumber party at Melissa's place to make the 4:30 a.m. wake up time not quite as painful. Melissa even got us these fun socks to get us in the Christmas shopping spirit. : )

This picture was totally worth the weird looks we got. : )

This is the loot! It was such a successful trip for me that I only have a few more gifts to buy and I'll be done!!

happy thanksgiving

After the birthday breakfast we watched the parade (and the football game, then the parade...). Mason was really loving it - he sat in my lap and watched it, got up to dance every once in a while and then sat back down. He also likes football, so he was pretty happy with whatever was on.

Then we headed to the Miller's for a wonderful feast!

They had such a cute table set up for us all. It turns out Madisyn and Alli were in charge of it and found all the ideas on Pinterest! : )

We also celebrated Andrew and Uncle Ed's birthdays.

And we ended with a serious round of Pit! Happy Thanksgiving!

I asked Andrew what he was thankful for almost every day this month and he tried really hard to come up with something new every time. A few of my favorites for the Thanksgiving record... My whole family, soccer, Ice skating with all of my very best friends, God, all my money, bees (because he likes honey), spiders & bats (purposefully the two things I don't so much care for) and the Lego store.

five. seriously, five.

Andrew turned five on Thanksgiving day. Five. Kids start kindergarten when they're five. Actually, I'm not ready to talk about that yet, so ignore that last line. : )

We started out day out with presents, of course. Then headed out for our birthday breakfast.

I really don't have words for this one. I'm so proud of the little guy he is, and although getting older is sad, it's also pretty rad. I'm looking forward to a fun year with some pretty big changes on the way. And I plan to enjoy all the cute little things that happen along the way.

Happy birthday to the coolest 5 years old I know!

this is what a bad day looks like

Andrew has not had one day without a rash in over two months. It has been beyond frustrating. It hasn't been just one rash - it has been one after another, on top of another, in a new spot, with a new look... I have seen a couple doctors and talked to a few nurses, but never our pediatrician because he hasn't been available on the short notice that come with rashes. Today I finally had a nervous breakdown. Not only did Andrew not sleep well last night because they were itching (for the first time) but it was also on his face (for the first time). I talked to a nurse again and decided I'd wait for his 5 year checkup to get it looked at, but then he woke up from his nap and it was worse. I called the doctor back and told them I needed to have him looked at and started to cry. For the record, that gets you listened to - I had no idea. : ) I got an appointment with our pediatrician after the office was closed! It was just what I needed. Every time I get worked up, all it takes is a meeting with him and I'm back to being a normal person again. I love our pediatrician for that. Anyway, to make a really long story a tiny bit shorter, I'll stick to the key points. Below is what sent me over the edge. Don't look at it if you don't like gross things.

This is the worst spot but it's everywhere on his body, including his face, which you can kind of see in the first picture. We're starting with Benidryl (which of course has to be on recall the first time we ever need it!) and if that works we'll move to Clariton until we're able to get in with a dermatologist. Long story why we're starting with a dermatologist instead of an allergist, but we are. If the Benidryl doesn't work, we'll move to a high dose steroid ointment. By then, we should have an appointment with the dermatologist and we can at least let them know what we've tried. He did reassure me that it's not one of the 5 or 6 rashes that are bad news and then whispered "he's not going to die from this" ... I'm telling you, he knows exactly what I need to hear. : )

Also included in our bad day...

Mason refused to sit down in his stroller. : ) Not really bad, more funny than bad.

And this part wasn't bad at all. It was actually very, very cute.

lego parties rock

Andrew had his fifth birthday party today. It was the first time we've ever done a drop-your-kid off party, but that was Andrew's request and it turned out to be a great idea!

These are the fun Lego cake pops for the goodie bags, thanks to aunt Melanie!

I change out the pictures in this frame for every birthday. I think it's fun to see a collage of the birthday kid!

Mason waiting for the fun to start... : )

Our friend Ivor had his birthday party last weekend and had two themes. After the party Andrew asked me what his other theme should be. : ) I already had an alien Lego set to put in their goodie bags, so I asked if he wanted to make it a Lego/outer space party and he went for it.

They spent a good amount of time building. And thanks to the massive tub of Legos (thanks again to Matt's mom for keeping all of theirs!) there was plenty to go around.

I added an extra 30 minutes to the party since they'd be eating lunch. What I didn't realize is that a group of 5 year old boys can eat a whole meal in about 45 seconds, if they eat at all...

I stole an idea I found on Pinterest (along with the invitation and silverware holder) for a craft project for them all to do. It was a cute idea but I used the wrong glue so a couple kids needed theirs fixed before they even left our house... but whatever.

I made the base with the red and yellow Legos and they all had a stack of random Legos to add to it. Andrew picked out the pieces on our trip to the Lego store.

We did a scavenger hunt to collect all the pieces to make a Lego person. They loved it! And it was so cute to see how excited they got when they figured out the clue and again when they found the pieces. In the end, they all had a person that they then built a ship for. They didn't get to take the guy home though, so Matt came up with a great idea to take a picture of their creation and print it for the frames they made.

Genius! : )

Since Andrew doesn't really like cake, he chose a cookie & ice cream for his treat. And because I'm crazy theme lady, I had to add a few pieces of the lego candies on there too. It was a hit!

Matt made this "Happy Bday" sign and a bunch of 5's out of Legos. I think he was having even more fun than I was with the theme. : )

The crew! (Laughing at Matt being silly). Thanks for making the party so much fun!

On the couch: Ivor, Andrew, Sam, Mason, Kai, Logan and Cameron.

handsome

It's expensive keeping these boys lookin' so good! : ) On top of the haircuts, I got talked into some gel so we can spike Andrew's hair. And I even paid an extra $1.50 for a little tube of blue. Luckily my boys do just fine at a regular salon rather than the twice-as-expensive kid salons.

I couldn't really get a great a picture, but Andrew's hair is blue and Mason's looks super hip. I'd say these boys are ready for the holidays!!