Not so happy birthday :0(

Last Sunday was my big 30, but a poor sick little boy put a damper on things.  And right when we thought things were getting better it took a turn for the worse.  Last Friday Dan and I had plans to go out for my birthday, we had a sitter all lined up but Rafe had been coughing quite a bit the night before and didn't seem real great that day so we decided to stay home.  Dan had something else planned for Saturday (not sure still exactly what that was) but we ended taking Rafe into Community Care and he had croup.  Later on that night we were concerned with his breathing and took him into the ER.  They gave him a stronger steroid, a different kind of breathing treatment (than we normally do at home in the past), and a chest x-ray and he seemed much better and we were on our way back home.  Sunday my actual birthday he seemed much better and much more active.  However, that night things took a dive, we were up all night with him...he was coughing like crazy (but not a croup cough anymore) and had REALLY rapid breathing.  That morning we got him right into his pediatrician, he sent us over for another chest x-ray and we went back a few hours later to see if he had improved, but he hadn't and the doctor was really concerned with how fast he was breathing.  So we were admitted to the hospital, eventually that night he was put on oxygen and the next morning was diagnosed with RSV.  What a week!   Hands down scariest time in my life.  But once they put him on the oxygen each day he continued to improve and then they slowly weened him off the oxygen once he was maintaining his oxygen levels on his own and we were able to come home Friday afternoon.  Let's just say it was a very long, emotional week.  But we are home now and he is doing much better and we are so blessed and grateful for that.

breathing treatment at community care

This is after we first admitted him.  He was exhausted because he hasn't slept in three days and because he was breathing so hard (he was literally panting).

Monitoring his heart rate and is oxygen levels.

Tuesday, much better, starting to actual talk again.

We watched a lot of TV!  And ate a lot of popsicles!

He pulled it off his finger so we moved it to his toe.

I think this was Wednesday, again doing much better and was playing with toys and was getting an appetite.

Finally home Friday afternoon.  Boy was he excited to be back home.  And big brother was just as excited to have his little buddy back!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas was so much fun!  The boys were so excited for Santa to come.  We did a few things as a family through December.  We went to the Museum of Idaho and looked at the Christmas display, another night we drove around and looked at the Christmas lights...we stopped at the house in Iona that is a seizure just waiting to happen (they have tons of lights playing to music), decorated a gingerbread train, went to a live Nativity, made way too many goodies (I may or may not have put on a little holiday weight :0)), watched classic Christmas shows, and enjoyed hanging out with friends and family.  We spent Christmas Eve at our house with  some of Dan's family.  We missed not having everybody there this year, but we still had a lot of fun eating lots, playing games and just chatting.  The boys got to decorate some sugar cookies for Santa and we left him a note, it was so cute.  Bekam could barely contain his excitement when he was going to bed that night, it is so fun to see the excitement and anticipation on their faces.  Christmas day we woke up, not too early, and opened presents.  The boys had a ball opening up all their packages and playing with everything.  We finally got some breakfast at like 11, we got ready and then had to pry the boys away from their toys to head down to my parents house.  This was the first time being at my house on Christmas day since we moved back and it was crazy.  With 19 people all in my parents living room all opening presents at the same time, their was paper flying everywhere, but it was so much fun to have everybody together.  So needless to say Christmas was great!

This is Chippy our Christmas Elf.  I love this tradition, the boys loved waking up every morning searching the house for Chippy.  It was cute I even overheard Bekam a few times talking to him and telling him things he wanted him to pass onto Santa.

Getting ready to make our gingerbread train.

We got popcorn, we're good to go!

Mommies little helper.

And it's not Christmas with out Elf!

You can bet Khloe didn't venture too far away, in hopes of some food falling down close enough for her to grab.

Bekam is my little engineer, very particular of where everything should be placed.

Rafe just wanted to eat the candy more than anything.

The finished product!  Bekam was pretending to be a gingerbread man :0).

Towards the end we got sloppy and just started putting frosting all over it, yeah I know we should be professional.

Last year Bekam wore a Santa hat to his preschool Christmas party.  So this year I found him some antlers to wear.  A few days before he informed me that he wanted to dress up like Rudolph for his party...he said he needed a brown shirt and pants, a red nose and a brown face.  Luckily he already has a brown shirt and pants.  And we improvised with the makeup I had.  He was pretty excited.

Frosting sugar cookies for Santa.

I think the frosting made it to Rafe's mouth for than the cookies :0).

Yep he's in heaven.

I was amazed at how good Bekam was at frosting, I though it would have been all over.  But he did a great job.

Opening presents from G and G Stevens

Rafe got a Shake n Go Lightning McQueen that he loves!

Oh the beloved Skylanders.  He doesn't have the game, but he has been obsessed with these guys.  And I still to this day have know idea how he knows so much about them.  He would only see them at the stores and in the ads from the paper.  But he could not stop talking about them.  So the Grandparents made his night when he opened those.

What a little stud!  Christmas morning in his new PJs, slippers, and Heat Wave.

The Batman House!!  He has been asking for this since his birthday back in April.

He doesn't know what to play with first!

Seriously I just what to kiss him all over.  Woody hat, Woody doll, and slippers...check!   He was in heaven with all of his Woody stuff.  He keeps wanting to carry him around by the string, like it's a dog :0).

I made him a pillow case for his new pillow.  He loves Thomas!

They played all morning!

We didn't go to bed until like 2:30 that night, so we were a bit tired.

Playing his space angry birds game, he loves it.  He has gotten it out everyday since Christmas to play it.  We have a system going, I build them and he knocks it down :0).

He loves playing with Bekam, he wants to be doing whatever he is doing.  It's so cute.

One of my presents, seriously love this movie.

This was my present from Bekam :0).  I was putting him to bed Christmas Eve and I bent down to give him a kiss on the head right as he sat up to tell him something.  The picture doesn't do it justice, my lip was huge and it was bruised on the outside as well.

Man they are so cute!  New clothes from G and G Stevens, new slippers, and their rescue bots.

Opening presents from G and G Hess.  Rafe wanted to open everything right away.

Bekam was so excited about his bat mobile to go with his batman house!

Happy Birthday Rafe!!!

Rafe turned two on the 20th.  This is very cliche, but I can't believe he's two!!  He is such a big boy now, he talks like crazy!  He has such a big personality and some serious attitude.  He is cracking us up all the time with the new words and phrases that he says.  He loves his "woobie" (blanket), his stuffed Elmo, and playing with Bekam.  First thing he says when he wakes up in the morning is "where's buba" (Bekam).  We had a fun day together.  We went to lunch at Pizza Pie Cafe and opened presents and the boys played and played, then G and G Hess and G and G Stevens came over for cake and ice cream.  It was low key, but fun to be together and make our big guy feel special.

Rafe woke up to balloons all over his floor.  He loved it!  He woke up at 1 am and noticed them so he had to play with them for a few minutes and I was able to get him to go back to bed.  Then when he woke up that morning he played with them forever.

Playing with his favorite thing of all...trains!

Look at that handsome boy!

Big brother showing him how it's done.

Trying to pick up his new puzzles, it was a little heavy.

His very own train tracks!

And this is where he spent the entire rest of the day, except when we had to fight him to break away for a nap.  We had planned to take him swimming, but he was so entertained with these trains and wouldn't leave them we decided to just let him play.

When I asked him what he wanted on his Bday cake he said, "Toodee, Plex".  Watch Yo Gabba Gabba and you'll know who these guys are.

Getting ready to blow out candles!