Monday, December 31, 2012

Why there will be no third Crossett

You see, all things considered, Scrumpy was a very good boy. He really didn't get into too much trouble and really never had ailments.

Baby on the other hand ....... We already know about his upcoming bionic teeth.

On Christmas Eve, we went to the doctors to have a look at something that was in his eye. We kept trying to remove it. Becca even tried removing it, but to no avail. Ethan kept telling us that it was nothing, but paint.

It is the dead of December and lets be honest, we don't do home improvement so I had no idea why he thought it was paint. But lest he go blind on my watch....The pediatrician confirmed the foreign body in his eye and sent us a referral to see the pediatric ophthalmologist ASAP. ( I will not go into the story about the extra strength ointment for his eczema that once again I never experienced with Scrumpy)

Calling the ophthalmologist, all I kept hearing was "foreign body in the eye"... So here we are on Christmas Eve seeing a pediatric ophthalmologist.  He confirmed that something needed to be removed immediately.  I am sitting with Ethan on my lap, pinning down his legs and arms, while a nurse holds his head still.  After the numbing cream is applied the doctor proceeds to remove the item from his eyeball.  I am surprised you all did not hear the wailing.  BOY WAS HE PISSED.

After it was extracted, the doctor confirmed that it was a paint chip.  How did that kid know?!

But you see, this is not a story about paint chips on Christmas Eve.  This is a story about December 30.

One of the things the boys love to do is eat popcorn and watch a movie on our bed.  It allows us dinner in peace.  Over this Christmas break, it was a ritual that was repeated several times.  This time, Ethan came downstairs to let us know he had something in his nose.

Our first thought, boogers.  They have both been sporting runny noses.  Remedy, boogie wipes.  He kept sticking his finger up there saying there was more.  After several attempts at blowing his nose, I finally took a flashlight and tilted his head back.  Yes, you have probably guessed where this was going, my industrious son stuck a popcorn kernal way up his nose!

I started yelling at him" did you stick popcorn up there?!" and he started crying and saying sorry.  I am yelling at Patrick, Patrick is yelling at me... you get the picture.

Well all I can say is, thank goodness for google and ipads.  You see, not only is this not the first time its happened to a kid before but other moms out there have blogged about it.  So just in case this happens to you...

1. Pinch the other nostril.
2. Open his mouth and blow strong and hard into his mouth.

I swear that popcorn kernal came barreling out at 50 miles an hour.

 
I love my little boy, but I tell you, if he does not constantly remind me that God is saying, no more kids for you....
 
To our credit, we successfully removed all foreign bodies from this little boy so he is good to go for 2013!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Photo with Santa

It is tradition to take a picture with Santa Thanksgiving weekend.  Usually we are much more on top of things, but Thanksgiving truly snuck up on us this year.  Christmas magic must have been working in our favor.  We went to the mall on Sunday afternoon and much to our surprise...THERE WAS NO LINE.

We quickly seized the opportunity, and took a photo.  Now, given that we didn't plan trip, I am amazed that we got such a decent shot.  Looking back at past years, we weren't so lucky.  Doesn't Scumpy look huge?!

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Holiday Card

Every year, this is one of my biggest challenges, photos for the holiday card.  I didn't realize that when you pay those people in the mall so much money to take photos, its not because of the photo per se, it's becuase getting more than one child at the same time to look at the camera, let alone smile is worth its weight in gold.

As such, every year, I dragged out the "good camera", place it on paparazzi mode and start clicking away.  After about 300 shots, I am sure to piece together something that is gramma approved. 

Best practice tips:

1. Explain the night before the expectations of Mama and the photo shoot.
2. Bring M&Ms- the big bag.  Show them shamelessly prior to the shoot.
3. Bring tech support (i.e. another adult to make sure you don't lose it completely and someone has to call child protective services).

While I am not displaying my final product, I'd like to share some of the outtakes this year.  I am not sure I have any semblance of "serious" in my children.  God willing, they will stay that way as long as possible.