Finally...Tubes!

...yes, we are still behind.  Just prior to Halloween Jude had his adenoids removed and tubes put in his ears.  We hoped this would be the end to the at least 6 months of sickness he has had and the drastic weight loss due to his inability to eat.

He was such a good boy at the hospital.  It's never easy to take your child though something like this, but in the end we are happy to report that his hearing is perfect (prior to the surgery he had moderate hearing loss).

Now 2 months after the surgery, pneumonia, and subsequent ear infections we are realizing that all of this is likely the result of an old enemy...reflux.  Yes, we have determined that his year of sickness started once we took him off reflux meds last year and that all the upper respiratory stuff is actually a result of acid reflux.  We are just happy it's something we can easily handle and hopefully give him some days were he feels great. (And by that I mean days when his Ginny is not here where he feels great...if she is around he feels great regardless of how he is actually doing.)

Halloween

...being a little behind.  So what if it's December and I'm just now blogging about Halloween?  It's been a little crazy around here.  Jude has been sick since the dawn of creation and on the odd day that he seems to feel better Kate gets sick.  However, we are just so blessed to have these 2 tornadoes.

This year Kate wanted to be "Lady Bug Girl," not to be confused with an ordinary ladybug.  She was happy to correct everyone.  For Jude we went with his passion...fishing.  His non-costume turned out so cute.  We enjoyed dressing up for school and for our neighborhood.  Speaking of our neighborhood, they go all out here for Halloween.  Everyone decorates and hundreds of kids are out.  There was also a hayride and haunted house just for the neighborhood kids.  Have we mentioned lately how much we love it here?

I'm fairly certain she looks like she is in a Miss Oklahoma parade here.  The little boy behind her said his favorite part of the first day of school was the girl in the pink dress.  Yes, Kate was in the pink dress.

Jude thinks this little girl is his girlfriend.  If he sees her out at the playground or in her yard he starts yelling her name.  When he first did it we didn't even know he knew her name.  Well he does and he loves her.

California Adventure!

...one last day in California.  We talked about a lot of different options for what to do that last day, but the only thing everyone was excited about was going back to Disneyland.  We had been bummed that Cars Land was not in Magic Kingdom but in the other park--California Adventure.  So, when everyone wanted to go back to Disneyland we knew it was time to take Jude to see Cars Land.  Both kids love the Cars movie, but Jude is also currently obsessed with all things transportation related.  He was on "let me down I want to go everywhere" overload once we got to Cars Land.   It was definitely worth the trip back to Disney.

Even Ginny and Pop were excited about seeing the Disney version of the mother road.

Jude and mommy having fun with a strange tire hat from Luigi's.

Kate gettin' cozy at the cone.

These Cars characters drove around the park, talked, the eyes moved...it was pretty cool.  Jude and Kate were pumped to meet Lightning McQueen.

Silly face meeting Red.

For some reason Kate had been talking about getting to meet Donald at Disney.  He was actually out meeting people this day and the line was super short.  As you can tell, she was so excited she gave Donald a big hug.  Huge difference from the last time we were at a Disney park.

Kate may have been all about Donald, but Jude wasn't going to get any closer than he had to for the picture.

Pop made sure we took his picture with Red.

We had a great day at California Adventure.  Looking forward to our next trip!

Disneyland--Fairy Godmother Style

When we chose our children's godmothers we knew we were making awesome choices.  For one, they each devoutly follow God (kind of a prerequisite to be a "god"parent).  In addition, we knew they would eventually make their way back to Cali and we would always have a great place to visit.  Oh, and then there's the part where we know they really do love our kids.

What we didn't know is how perfectly matched our kids were with their respective godmothers.  Kate and Brandy are basically the same person, one is just younger.  Their personalities are ironically similar, down to the matter-of-fact way they talk which makes it hard to tell when they are joking.  They also both have a "special eye."  Then there is their posing for pictures, hand on hip with a hip cocked out to the side.  Jude and Stephanie are also very similar.  They both love to laugh, but appreciate quiet quality time snuggling on the couch under a quilt.  They are both kind and concerned for the well-being of others, but surprise you with a quirky side (both may or may not love to sport fabulous costumes).  Then, when we saw how excited Jude got for a new pair of shoes we knew they were perfect for each other.

Anyways, the second perk is what brought us to this point.  Guess what lies right in between their respective homes?  Why Disneyland just happens to be somewhat in the middle.  MAJOR PERK.

We went on a Saturday, which I don't really recommend, but it's what worked.  These 2 kids had not 1 but 6 adults following them around and doting on their reactions to everything.  Kate was sick as a dog with a 102 degree fever, but she made the best of it.

My parents love the girls too so it was fun to have everyone together (can you tell my dad is beyond excited about being at Disneyland about to ride Mr. Toad?)

The kids and their fairy godmothers

This picture is required when entering Disneyland.

The aforementioned hip cock.

Waiting on the train and having some quality face time.

Kate loves her TT too!

At about this point Kate asked if we could just ride the train all day (she was feeling terrible).

Michael and his favorite mother-in-law.  I'm really not joking here.  He loves her so much and is so appreciate to have her (and her cooking).

Dad was being silly, but if you know him you can actually tell he was enjoying himself.  

JUDE. TRAIN. LOVE.

Kate is in her happy spot, her Ginny's lap, on a train, at Disneyland

Kate got to meet some princesses who were clearly out-posed by a fabulous 4 year old.  She was most happy about meeting Arie (who, if you ask me, Steph, and Bran is clearly too tan to have been underwater very much)

Forget the princesses...these 3 are queens!

Bippity Boppity Boutiques is a MUST for any little girl at Disneyland.  And if they are sick it gives them a nice quiet place to relax.  Kate nearly fell asleep multiple times during her makeover.

The bluebirds were so helpful to hold her hair up

Finally, she smiles!!!!!  This was the coolest thing.  We all sat and watched and clapped and laughed and marveled at the instant-dry nail polish.

The princess and her Pop (what you can't see is that he is wearing a pink Bippity Boppity backpack.

Jude had some time too.  He was skeptical of Dumbo...until we flew!

The perfect end to a great day (Jude was already gone!)