Great-Grandma Meyer's 90th Birthday Party

We are so blessed to be celebrating my Grandma Meyer's 90th birthday (Feb. 6th)  Grandma has been so courageous, brave, and inspiring as she was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer.  We are blessed for each day we get with her, and I continue to love our chats and her sense of humor (and goofiness :))  Grandma has such a sweet heart, she loves her family fiercely (almost as much as she loves her Huskers---I'll always remember her 'Mad Merrill' Husker shirt she wore on game days!!) 

Anyway, here are some 90th birthday pictures---we had such a great time celebrating with her and the Meyer family!  We love you Great-Grandma/Grandma/Merrill!

Will giving Great-Grandma Meyer a hug

Grandma feeling Tutu's kicks :)

Ashton and Avery brought Gma flowers

Seriously---90 candles!! It was so hot around that cake!!

Grandpa D and Will

Best buds

Love all three of these boys SO much!  All special to me in their own way :)

Daniel and Will are finally starting to interact/play together!  It's been really fun watching them both grow up---and now it's such a hoot to see them get excited to see each other (lots of squeals/screams, clapping, and Daniel pointing to Will and saying "bubba" (that's much easier to say than Will!)  Anyway, in January- Amy and Cody watched Will one night so Patrick and I could have a date night (and do our Christmas dinner, my bday dinner, and Valentine's all at once :))  We went to 801 Chophouse (awesome, awesome---highly recommend---great food and service, pretty pricey, but worth it if out for a rare night out!) and we also saw Zero Dark Thirty (intense movie, but good---I don't think we had seen a movie since before Will--so was nice to just be in the theater together!).  Anyway, the next weekend, Amy and Cody had a night out, and we had so much fun having Daniel here. Can't wait to watch these two grow up together, to continue to play together, and just be best friends. 

Happy birthday to Me/Mama!

I had a great birthday (a few weeks ago!)  I got spoiled by my work girls---we went out to lunch for sushi and they got me a sweet card and a Limited gift card to go shopping!!  They know me well :) (Actually, they know me well enough to ask Patrick my fav store and got it--good job babe!)

I enjoyed the night with P and Will--and Amy (and Tutu) came over too to help celebrate!  We had lasagna and carrot cake (my requests this year) and Patrick did an awesome job making it.  What a lucky gal I am!!

Feeling hot, hot, hot

I have realized that I typically update my blog when I'm feeling sentimental, happy, content, etc.  I rarely have time or care to update the 'rough' days of parenting, but thought I'd try while the memory is still fresh.

Just last Friday--Will woke up and I could tell his forehead felt warm - took his temperature and he had a 101 fever. We decided it was best for him to stay home from MiMi's and I was able to stay home with him and work from home.  That night, we were meeting my Mom/Amy/cody for a pre-birthday dinner for me, and we could tell he just didn't feel good---he wasn't even fussy, just looked like he was in a daze and was sitting so still and just out of it.  Took his temperature when we got home, and it was 103.4!! Oh my gosh!!  So, I called the on-call doctor line, and they said let the tylenol work, and bring him in in the morning.

Saturday morning- took him to see Dr. Espe--and he was just so fitful (and hadn't slept well that night), he did NOT appreciate the nurse or Dr. Espe messing with him, and it was confirmed he had a double ear infection.  We got some amoxicillin for that, and he said it should take about 24 hours.  He was kind of on and off feeling ok, and after a nap, he was still hot and having a fever.  I had a late work Christmas party that Patrick and Will were supposed to go to with me- but they ended up staying home since Will was not ok.  Sunday - more of the same---another rough night (and some tired parents too) and I was at a baby shower for my friend Katie in St. Joe---so Patrick was ready for a break after a long day with a sick, tired, and very clingy/fussy baby. 

By Monday morning, he still had a slight fever, he really did not sleep well, so Patrick stayed home in the morning and I came home for the afternoon.  By Tuesday morning, he was still not better, I called the dr. and brought him in (Patrick and I again split working 1/2 day on Tuesday also)  After taking him in again on Tuesday, (and again, NOT appreciating the nurse and doctor poking at him), they determined he also had RSV :(  So, poor guy was really sick.  She actually said he was doing really well considering what he was going through, and he was breathing fine (which is why we didn't really even know he had RSV)  So, anyway, by the rest of the day Tuesday, he was starting to act more like himself.  We went to daycare Wednesday (no fever for 24 hours, so it's safe to go to daycare--I called the doctor's office twice to confirm for sure!) -- they said he was fine, just seemed kind of 'out of it'-- but he ate pretty well, which he wasn't eating hardly anything for us. 

By this point, Patrick and I were SO worn out, we were frustrated/tired, and just wanted our normal boy back!!  I can gladly say that now (over a week since it first started) and over the weekend he was back to normal---fun, social, interactive, giggling, walking/toddling around, and just our normal sweet boy!  Thank goodness!! 

I remember thinking --so, this is what they mean by saying being a parent is hard?!!  It broke my heart to see him sick, and I just wanted to do something to make it better!!  So thankful this was his first ear infection and that he is feeling like himself again :) 

Whew, we made it!!

Still smiling even though he's sick!

So excited....to start feeling better

This was a rough night :(

Christmas

What a wonderful Christmas Will had this year!  It was SO much fun - we got to spend lots of good time with family and enjoyed just being together.  Will decided to really start taking off walking over Christmas - it was so fun to watch him try to conquer walking across the room.  We called him the 'drunken sailor' as that's exactly how he looks as he unsteadily tried to walk, with his arms out in front of him, with a goofy/sweet little smile on his face :) 

Our Christmas:

• Christmas was on a Tuesday this year- we went up to NE the Saturday before and stayed until Wed.
• Saturday - we got to spend time with Lindsay, Chad and Sadie - was so much fun to see the kids (kind of) interact, play, and loved seeing how much energy Sadie has and hear all her words and new tricks!!  We love getting to spend time with them and wish it happened more, but we'll take what we can get---so excited to find out what Baby K #2 will be in late Feb.
• Sunday - Mack family Christmas at my Mom's
• Monday - Celebrated with Mom, Don, Amy, Cody, Daniel - my 2 step-sisters - Erin, Erica, and their spouses.  We got to meet Baby Malcolm, and Erica will be having a girl this spring.  With my sister also due in early March-- there will be lots of babies!! In fact, 5 grandkids for Mom and Don all under the age of 2!! AHH---so much fun!
• Tuesday - went to Mass in the morning, and then to Grandma Meyer's for the afternoon.  Enjoyed getting to meet my cousin Kim's baby Elise for the first time---she is such a beautiful little girl, and so sweet!!  Always very special to get to spend time with my Grandma Meyer - as she is soon approaching her 90th birthday, and has been living with Stage 4 cancer for the past 1 1/2 years.
• Wednesday - drive home, unpack, enjoy our time together at home
• Thursday - had lunch with some of my good friends from college and met their boys (so fun that many of my good college friends are all having boys!! Love that mama/son connection!)  Was so wonderful to catch up with them!!  Got to meet Baby Miller and Baby Beckham-- and time with my girls is so precious---I just enjoy it so much!
• Friday - Celebrated Christmas with the Altenhofen's---so nice to have everyone together at Bill and Marilee's
• Saturday - Christmas with all the Altenhofen's in Seneca.

We are so blessed---what a wonderful, beautiful Christmas we had this year!! 2012 was such a great year!

Will and his girlfriend Sadie






ALL the Mack cousins---and Grandpa Mack!






Will- Christmas 2012 - 13 months






The Altenhofen 3






Sweet Bubba Bear - Christmas morning








Miller Man






My girls!! --and their boys :)






Love hanging with the Riley's!!  And loved meeting Beckham!!






Altenhofen Cousins :)  Love this pic!!

Our 1 year old!

Can't believe it's been a year since our sweet boy joined us!  It has been such an amazing, crazy, wild and fun ride :)  We have learned so much together as a couple, and hard to imagine I could love Patrick anymore---until I have seen what a great Dad he is, and such a supportive spouse.  Everyday I count my blessings and do my best not to take for granted how blessed we have been. 

Will continues to be such a sweet, and loving little boy.  He has started repeating a few words that we say- mostly 'uh-oh', 'yeah', and 'whoops'.  It's so funny to hear him reply 'yep' after ANY question we ask him!

His 1-year appointment with Dr. Espe went well---Will is growing right on track he is 24 lbs and 30" - both in the 75%. The biggest change is NO MORE BOTTLES!  They recommend cold-turkey, going straight to all sippy cups, and reducing the amount of milk he drinks.  (still on lactose-free milk, but we have been adding in dairy in his diet and he has done well, so we will try the whole milk soon)  Anyway, at first I thought it would be so hard on me (I have always loved that snuggle time in the morning and during his bottles...but we still snuggle, it's just him drinking out of his sippy cup, and actually is somewhat nice to have a little extra time in the morning, and way less running of the dishwasher to clean up bottles!)  So, we have all adjusted well :)

For Will's 1st birthday party- we just had our immediate families over--and it was a great day!! We did a football theme, and everyone in attendance was to wear their favorite sports team appearal.  It was fun to see, and it was close NU vs .KU---but with the kiddos, KU was the winner!  Will was a great birthday boy---he tore into his presents, and with some encouragement dug into his cake (he was more concerned with why everyone was staring at him around his high chair with cameras, but then once we helped him, he kept going!)

Patrick and I also made a slideshow of Will's first year, it was so fun to make and of course I got sentimental through it all, and know I will love looking back at it over the years and giving to him someday!  Here's to your first year Bubba, and can't wait to see what the next year has in store for you! :)

Halloween pics

This is slightly overdue, but wanted to post the pictures of our little lion from Halloween: