The State Fair Attracts All Kinds!

Last Thursday we finally took the boys to the Iowa State Fair.  Jackson was so excited to go and see...  The Butter Cow.  I think the commercials on TV and billboards with the large picture of the butter cow really got him curious about this creature. However, it wasn't until we got in line to see the cooler filled with butter cow that I realized that Jackson thought the cow was going to be real and that he could touch it.  LOL.  He handled the disappointment well, but I still thought it was pretty cute that he thought it was going to be a real cow made of butter. So we rode the ski lift, ate a corn dog, had a root beer float and then the rain started.  LOL.  We all still had a good time and I actually remembered to bring the umbrella with us.  Now, that NEVER happens that I'm caught in the rain and have the umbrella!  :-) Here are some fun pics I took...

Saturday night I went back to the fair with my best friend, Lisa and her sister Kari to see Reba McEntire in concert. Now I'm far from what you would call a country music fan, but I do love Reba and a lot of her music because of my grandmother who did listen to nothing but country.  A guy named Jerrod Niemann was her opening act and dang was he adorable!  Wow!  What an awesome concert!  I probably gained 10 lbs from the cheese curds, ribbon fries, mini donuts, jenny grinder, and deep fried snickers bar but I don't care.  It was a great night!

 

Reba during her encore singing "Fancy"

Last night, Daniel and I headed back for the final day of the fair and to see Janet Jackson in concert.  We got there early enough to eat some more fried food and walk around and check out the awesome crafts that local artists made and checked out the other vendors and exhibitors.  I even ran into the Obama's.  :-)

Janet put on an awesome concert and I loved the sweet tribute to Michael. I forgot about a lot of those songs by her that I grew up listening to and somehow remembered all of the words to at the concert.  :-)

Daniel and I before the concert started!

Janet was naughty!!  hehehehe

A Shot Glass... WTH?

This morning, Jackson and I ran out to get some groceries and finish gathering up some supplies for Peyton's birthday party next weekend.  Before we left, I gave Jackson 2 quarters for being a good boy the day before when we all went out to eat (we've had issues at restaurants in the past).  He was overjoyed and itching to spend his new fortune on something.   As we walked into Wal-mart we stopped at the prize machines.  3 machines had the mechanical claw and I told Jackson that if he spent his money in one of those machines, there was no guarantee for a prize.  He then saw the one gumball machine they had and wanted to spend his $0.50 there.  So I told him to go for it.  Guess what we got??  You would think he would get a ring, tattoo, or even a gum ball from the machine.  But NOOOO, he got a SHOT GLASS!  Seriously, Wal-mart?  What idiot put those in there because I must have missed the memo when that was a child's toy!  UGH!

Rub-A-Dub-Dub

As the days go by, I can't get over how quickly the boys are growing.  Jackson is going to be starting Kindergarten in less than two weeks, and Peyton is crawling and climbing everywhere!  He's even sitting up in the bathtub all by himself.  Here is my new favorite pictures of the boys from the other night as they were taking a bath together...

Does it get much better then this?  My heart is so full!

Diet is DIE with a T!

Guest blogging hubby here again...I had my tonsils out last Wednesday and let me tell you, that is not a fun adventure by any means! I have had some issues with sleep apnea over the past several months, and as my tonsils were engorged since birth the ENT recommended they be removed along with my uvula and part of a small section of soft palate--I felt like a bulldog with brachycephalic syndrome! So, last week was my scheduled surgery to get it over with. It was kinda cute when I checked in at the ambulatory surgery office....all these little kids getting their hospital bracelets with their little stuffed animals getting matching ones. I didn't bring mine, must've missed the memo :)

Anyway, surgery went well, even the pre-anesthetic IV catheterization which always creeps me out (even as a health professional myself, I can't stand my own blood or sharp objects of any kind coming towards me!). A little midazolam, a little propofol, some sevoflurane and I was well into happy joyful tonsillectomy land. And.....then.....pain. All I remember when waking up was intense burning/sharp pain in my throat like I was trying to swallow razor blades. And the really bad part is that my throat was reflexively swallowing on its' own as though I couldn't control it. Fast forward a week later and I'm still painful but in a much better zone of control that at this point---hydrocodone is my friend folks. It's worse in the mornings when I first wake up and kinda waxes and wanes through the day from there. It does create for a sleepy haze at times, so I'll admit I've had to take a few afternoon naps which is probably a good thing in and of itself. So far, I've been on a fabulous diet of jello, yogurt, and applesauce. I have had maybe 1/4 of a bowl of soup total and a small amount of egg salad--that's about as solid as I can handle it right now. Drinking tons of water which is nice. Great diet overall, but not one I'd volunteer for again!

AJ and the boys have been very loving through this whole experience as has AJ's mom who brought me over a "sick sack" of ice cream and smoothie makings. My mom and her husband were also visiting up to the day after surgery, so it was really nice to have my mom visit me during recovery. There's nothing like some coddling from your parent, no matter how old you may get :) I did eat one of the Edy's Smoothy mixes today and it was good. Last night, however, AJ and Jackson couldn't hold back any longer and ordered Taco Pizza for dinner. And ate it in front of me. While I could smell it. And salivate, yet not taste it...pure torture, people! So, I promised them as soon as I could eat normal again I'd be ordering some really tasty food and eat it in front of them too! LOL

Anyway, this all reminds me of a Garfield magnet that AJ has had for years on our fridge, among many others. Diet my friends is only DIE with a T!

Daniel :)

Where's The Kangaroo?

Yesterday I picked up my mom and along with the boys we went to Blank Park Zoo to check out their new Australia Adventure area.  Jackson and I have been talking about it off and on for the last couple of weeks since it opened because we really wanted to see some Kangaroos.  So as we were walking through the area and looking at birds, avoiding a tantrum by walking past the $7 "make a boomerang" craft, and looking for Kangaroos...  at last we saw a Wallaby (a Wallaby?).  It was very cute.  But where the heck was the Kangaroo?  Finally, as we were walking out into the train station area, there was the Kangaroo carrying MY baby...

LOL.  We spent another few hours at the zoo feeding the fish and the goats (or camels as Jackson kept calling them) and walking around look at the Giraffes and such. 

After dropping off Nana and making a pit stop at home to feed Peyton, we then headed to Toys R Us so Jackson could spend the gift cards he got for his birthday last week.  I'm happy to report that Jackson now has the super deluxe Dinosaur Train set (to go with the smaller one he got from Santa) and it completely wiped out all of his gift cards.  LOL.  You should have seen him walking through the store carrying that giant box with such excitement.  It was like "A Christmas Story" when Ralphie finally got the bb gun.  Do you remember having those moments as a kid when you were so excited to get something that you really, really wanted.  I remember when my mom finally broke down and bought me a Barbie doll.  I can honestly remember getting lightheaded!

SPECIAL DELIVERY!

Guess who FINALLY slept through the night last night?  YEA!  Hopefully this wasn't a one time thing!

Take Me Out To The Ballgame

Last night, Iowa Veterinary Specialist sponsored a game at Principal Park for the Iowa Cubs.  Daniel has worked relief there a few times and was able to score some free tickets for us to go.  We had never been before and thought that would be a lot of fun for Jackson.  The night went well after we moved from the seats reserved for us to seats where we could actually see.  LOL.  I think Jackson had more fun eating peanuts and a hotdog and trying to catch flying hotdogs and t-shirts then anything else.  We all had a good time and definitely will do that again!  The best part of the evening was when I took Jackson to the restroom and we accidentially went into the WOMENS room.  LOL.  Well, the first sign said WOMENS so we kept walking and the next door didn't say anything (and I didn't see a MENS sign anywhere) so we went in.  I always take Jackson into a stall so I didn't notice the row of nothing but stalls and no urinals until we were washing our hands and a group of women walked in.  WHOOPS!  I have never laughed so hard!  A friend of mine said that since North Carolina listed me as the mother on Peyton's birth certificate I should have the right to use the women's room if I want.  I agree!  ;-)

Peyton has been waking up in the middle of the night for a diaper change and a bottle for the last few weeks.  Gosh, I sure do miss the the days of sleeping through the night.  :-(  Maybe once we make the transition to whole milk things will go back to normal.  <shrug> All I can say thought is he sure is precious when he wakes up in the morning.  Check out this little pose he was doing!

Daniel and I have started planning his first birthday party.  The date and location have been set and the theme will be Dinosaurs.  I can't wait to have those cute pictures of him covered in cake.  ;-)  Any advice for dealing with that experience would be appreciated.  We are having his party at a park and plan to bring a lot of wipes and such. 

Liar liar!

Well, along with being a year older (6 years old to be exact), Jackson has picked up a new habit...  lying!  Every time we catch him doing something wrong and question him about it, he says, "I didn't do it" or "I don't know how that happened" or my favorite "Well, I don't remember if I did that or not!"  LMAO!

I haven't really had a chance to update on here because Daniel (dad) had a tonsillectomy and uvulectomy on Wednesday and had to spend the night at the hospital.  That was an interesting experience as I had no idea what to expect waiting out in the waiting room for the doctor to come out and talk to me.  Everything went very smoothly and he's recovering now.  He's even hoping to lose some weight on his new liquid diet and I will be VERY jealous if he does!!

More later...