Dinosaurs and more fun.

We've been into dinosaurs lately. Beware... they are loud roars!

The last 3 pills! Yippee!

The "kid table."

Opening his present. He spotted the train and that's what he's saying in this picture.

Braden loves Taylor.

Yeah, I said I wasn't crafty. This is supposed to say "Happy Birthday Hunter!" I felt bad at the last minute that he had a plain, homemade cake and tried to add this little frosting decoration. Should have just left it alone. But thankfully I have good enough friends that I knew I wouldn't be judged when I served this! I saw a picture of my cousin's little boys 2nd birthday cake... poor Hunter. :-)

As you can see... he didn't mind! Plus, it was his 3rd cake anyway!

Nicole is getting worked on by the doctors in residence!

He's enjoying his little remote control train. He likes to make it go backward and say "wrong way."

He's a happy little guy!

Two!

Well, Hunter is two. It's kind of seemed like he's been 2 for awhile now because anytime anyone asked how old our kids are I would say three and almost two. I really didn't relate to him as being one anymore. So now it's official! All I can say is I love this kid a ton. He is such a blessing and brings so much joy to our family. It just continues to grow as he learns how to express himself more and more. He's truly a funny little boy with a heart of gold and just a smidge of little devil in him to make you just shake your head (I'm his Mom... I can say that!). Thanks so much for blessing our lives with him, God!

 I'm not "one" anymore!

 Birthday crown (for the non-crafty mom!)

 Opening his present from Nanny Leah!

 This is birthday cake number 2. We had one when my Mom was here although we didn't do a candle. He's got the blowing out the candle thing down! It was nice to have a little celebration with Nanny Leah here because she's such an important part of the kids' lives.

I think he liked the cake!

And they both liked "Hunter's" new toy!

Good Report!

Braden has his weekly visit to see Dr. Hrasky today and got a good report! No extension on the antibiotics and the blood work was looking great! He had to go yesterday morning to do blood work again and he handled it like a champ - no crying, no moving around... so proud of how he's handled all this. He knew we were going to see Dr. Hrasky today and when he woke up this morning he said, "I just don't want Dr Hrasky to ask for anymore blood work." He was a happy camper when we left and there was no more! Plus next visit isn't for 2-weeks!

Hunter has been going along for moral support.

He does have to start wearing the boot that he was fitted for in the hospital whenever he's going to be doing any substantial walking. There was a little trauma with the boot in the hospital as his little foot was not ready to be shoved it in at that time (plus they were also trying to get his IV working at the same time - not good!). But he got it on and started moving along with no problems! Didn't want to take it off actually. 

We went to the Train Park yesterday for the last ride of the day. It was getting dark when we were leaving and now whenever we're outside when it's getting dark he likes to say, "It's getting monster-y!"

I was trimming his nails the other day and pushed down one of his cuticles. He said, "Mommy, stop pushing down my tentacles!" So cute.

 This weekend, Anthony and I randomly decided to get rid of the railroad ties in our backyard that were a bit of a retaining wall. Let's just say we found a new world of lizards, worms, bugs... all kinds of things when they came out. Braden thought it was "amazing." We just wanted to have something to put out at the curb for bulk pickup!

 We scavenged a bunch of rocks from our yard for the new temporary wall! It never rains here... we don't have to worry about our non-technical fix!

Hiking and Climbing!

We went for a hike today... and Braden hiked! Anthony and I were saying to each other that 3-weeks ago he was in the hospital getting morphine because he was in so much pain. We were very glad to be outside enjoying the beautiful day on this Saturday!

Both of the boys hiked. 

 Checking out the lizard sunning himself.

 Not only did he hike, but he also climbed to the top of this climber at the park.

 I told you this kid loved dirt. Even his diaper was full.

We went swimming with the Minnick's tonight and Kyndal decided to come over for a sleep over! Happiness all around.

Spring

If we would ever move from Arizona, I would absolutely miss the smell of orange blossoms in Spring. It fills the air and is one of my favorite smells. I wish you could smell them through this picture.

 Tonight at bed I was reading Braden a Curious George story. He pretty much has every one of them memorized, so I change out the words when I read to him and he catches me every time. I kept calling George, Tom. Finally, after about 10 times, he stopped me by putting his hands over the words, pointing at George and saying incredulously, "This is George. He is a monkey. He does not look like a Tom!" It was hilarious.

Another night he asked me a few times in a row for a glass of water. He didn't say please, so I wasn't responding to see if he would catch on. Finally I said, "I hear you Braden." His response, "Yes, but do you understand what I am saying?"

 You can find apples around our house with little bites out of them... wonder who does that?

 We went to Josh's baseball game. Unfortunately there were M&Ms under the bleachers... he would have eaten all of them if I would have let him get them.

 Braden wore his sneakers for the first time today! He's getting there!

This child LOVES dirt. He will literally role in it, eat it... anything to feel close to it. And tonight we were walking at the park and he walked up to a tree, hugged it and said "treeeeee." Oh my.

Winter Storm and update.

We had a winter storm this weekend. It was quite nice (70-80 degrees and sunny gets boring after 3 straight months :-))! Good solid rain, a drop in weather and a beautiful rainbow! Braden also made a lot of progress through the weekend. He even tried running a bit... although he got frustrated as soon as he realized he couldn't catch Hunter!

 View from our backyard.

The 3x's daily routine. Anthony said he feels like a drug dealer. On a positive note, Braden has mastered taking the awful stuff and actually asks for it now because he gets some chocolate after. Anthony also told him it's his army going to fight the infection. He's realized that gagging and spitting it out just prolongs the problem and actually took the spoon and took it himself last night and this morning. Thanks to everyone who was praying for that one!

On a similar note, I thought I would share a link to an article I read about antibiotic resistance just this week. Definitely took more of an interest in it after our ordeal. I hope the problem is addressed. http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/antibiotic-resistance-could-bring-end-modern-medicine-150406532--abc-news.html 

Braden is getting back to the things he loves - walking (yeah, don't realize we love that one 'til you can't do it for 2-weeks!), swinging, driving his tractor, being outside, looking for bugs... Maybe by next week he'll be back at t-ball! Very thankful for no cast to deal with through this ordeal!

This doctor kit that the kids got for Christmas has become the toy of the moment. Braden definitely has been doing some role playing of his adventure. Someone asked him his favorite and least favorite parts of the hospital. He said the least favorite was when they "flushed" him. This is the term they used when they tried to get his IV to work and, although I didn't realize he knew the term, I wasn't surprised that was his answer because the IV ordeal was by far the worst of the whole thing. He also said his favorite part of the hospital was leaving! Mimi has endured about 100 blood draws and flushes since he's been home. 

Braden has been interested in "doctor stuff" though since before this. Awhile back he told me, "Mommy, I want to be a doctor when I grow up. I'm going to go to really sick people's houses and take my stuff, like my heart thing, medicines and music and make them feel better." 

He also asked me one time, "What are germs." My response, "Oh, they are just germs." Braden's response, "No, they are little creatures that fight against our body and get in there and make you sick." My response, "Yeah, that's a pretty good description!"

Here they are looking under rocks for bugs. We did ask the doctor's about Braden's infection being from an insect or scorpion bite. They said it would have had a different response, so I've ruled that one out although I'm not sure Anthony has.

Hunter's glad things are getting back to normal, too. He's ready for some one-on-one with Braden. Sweet little guy, every time he sees basketball on TV he says, "Go Duke!" He doesn't know the knife tear that causes these days...

Our flowers are blooming!

Hunter's favorite food in the whole wide world is popcorn!

I realized there were some pics of things that happened pre-hospital that I never posted, so thought I would include them here.

Lots of crafts were done during Mimi's visit. I wish I would have inherited some of her talent and interest in all things crafty... but I honestly got zero. 

Hunter started soccer. Let's just say we probably won't register for a second session...

Pre-hospital Spring Training fun!

Enjoying the weather.

We had a couple of backyard fires.

Braden loves them!

And Hunter loves the marshmallows!

Getting back to normal... slowly.

 Toby came over for a visit and he and Braden played iPad games together. 

 Hunter loves throwing all the shoes on the floor and playing "night, night" on the shelf.

 So glad to see that smile at home and in the sunshine!

 Oh, this child... He feel on a rock and chipped his front tooth awhile ago. Harmon's and teeth... :-)

 We've figured out immobile games and it was chalk drawing today. He was trying to turn into Elphaba from Wicked!

 Jeanine always knows the right way to Braden's heart!

We finished our last jug of whole milk! Hunter will be 2 in less than 2-weeks and we sure don't have to worry about him getting enough nutrients! He can join the rest of the family and drink skim. Yippee! Rosie, the Shamrock Farms cow, has been good to us over the years! And this change has to save us at least $15 a month. :-)