Mommy and Me Weekend

Happy Monday!

How was your weekend?  Mine was fun - the hubby went away on retreat, so the little guy and I had some quality one-on-one time together.  On Saturday, we took my mom to the zoo.  This is our second year being members, but the first time that almost all of the animals we went to see were out and about.

John's favorite animal, as of right now anyway, are the giraffes.  He loved watching one of them try to reach a leaf with his tongue.  He's STILL talking about how cool it was!

Yesterday, I took the little guy out to the diner.  He loves breakfast food and going to a restaurant, so I thought this would be something special for just the two of us to do.  I was a little concerned how he would be with just me, but he behaved so much better than I could have ever dreamed.

He's got the "saying cheese" part of picture-taking down, but looking into the camera is a whole other ordeal.

After our breakfast date, we went to Target for a shopping spree some much needed items, came home and called it a day.

Before we knew it, the hubby was home and our weekend went like normal  - make pizza, give John a bath and get ready for another Monday.

Question of the Day:
What was the highlight of your weekend?

Until next time!
~Anne Marie

Thankful Thursday

Happy Thursday!
This is probably going to be a TMI post, so consider this your warning.  The little guy?  He kinda has a problem - he will only go to the bathroom at the babysitter's house.  No joke.  We're not sure why this is going on, but it makes weekends tough when he....well...has to go.

The babysitter went on vacation last week and my hubby and I were piggybacking time off with John.  I spoke to my doctor, who recommended giving him 2oz of apple juice mixed with 2oz of prune juice.  Sounds like a winning combination, right?

The thing is - I can't just give my son juice for no reason - he wants to know why he has to drink it, what's in it- all of that fun stuff - before he'll even try it.

In an attempt to be clever, I told him it was muscle juice and that every time he drank it, he'd grow stronger. Thank God he bought it hook, line and sinker.  He gets so excited to drink it and then he'll run around the house flexing his muscles and doing his latest thing.....push ups.

I caught him on video doing his push ups and if you want a laugh - check out his form.  He thinks he can do them because he's been drinking so much muscle juice.  He cracks me up!



So today, I'm thankful that I got this moment on video.  It makes me laugh every time.  Oh, and by the way? The muscle juice is working wonders....haha

Question of the Day:
What are you thankful for today?

Until next time!
~Anne Marie

Triangle Pretzels

Happy Wednesday!

I've been obsessed with my bread machine lately.  Something I'd been wanting to try was the recipe for soft pretzels.  John and I mixed these up when he wasn't feeling well.  I think he loves the bread machine almost as much as I do!

Once the dough was ready for rolling, John and I got to work.  I started making more traditional shaped pretzels.....

but once again, John thought outside the box and wanted to make a triangle pretzel.  I love the way this kid thinks.

After taking these pictures, I realized how desperately I need new baking sheets.  I never notice how stained they are until I'm ready to use them.  Oops!

The pretzels came out wonderfully, and I'm pretty sure John liked the triangle-shaped one the best.  Is there anything better than a warm soft pretzel straight out of the oven?

Question of the Day:

Have you ever made soft pretzels?

Until next time!

~Anne Marie

Weekend Recap

Happy Monday!

How was your weekend?

Mine was great!  We celebrated Mother's Day on Saturday with my mom.  It's so awesome to get all of the kids together and have a chance to hang out with my brothers.  Sure we've gotten older, but whenever we're together, I realize that we're the same bunch of immature kids we were when we all lived under one roof.  Now that John and my nephew are a little bit older, they are playing together - catch, Thomas the Tank Engine trains and dancing are some of their favorite things to do together.  My son follows my nephew around so much and my nephew goes right along with it.  It's really very sweet.  My niece?  She doesn't miss a beat either and is right up there with the boys running around and having a good time.  I've said it once and I'll say it again, she's a girl after my own heart.

All the kiddos with my mom

On Sunday after Church, the hubby, little guy and I headed over to my sister-in-laws house for brunch.  It was nice to catch up with my husband's side of the family for a little bit and for John to hang out with his cousins.  We came home around 2:30, the little guy went up for his nap and then by the time he woke up, it was time for dinner.  We ordered Chinese food (my favorite!) and enjoyed each other's company.  All in all, it was a great weekend!

I hope all of the  mommas had a fantastic Mother's Day!

Question of the Day:
What was the highlight of your weekend?

Until next time!
~Anne Marie

My Little Super Why

Happy Wednesday!

Just to explain my absence a little bit further than Monday's post, last Monday when I came home from work, John's upper and lower eyelids were swollen and his eye was oozing mucus.  If you think it's a lovely mental image, you should've seen it in person.

He was also running a fever of almost 104, which is very unusual for him.  I took him to the doctor Tuesday morning and she informed me he had allergy-related pink eye.  Essentially, since the pollen count has been so high in our area, his must have had something on his hands when he scratched his itchy eyes, which turned into an infection.  She prescribed some medicine and we were on our way.  Despite having no fever for the morning and afternoon on Tuesday, on Tuesday night, his fever again spiked in the 103 range.  I made another phone call to my doctor who told me that he was probably fighting a viral infection on top of the eye infection, that it was normal, and that if his fever continued on Friday to bring him back into the office.

I love my pediatrician and she has never steered me wrong, however, I know my kid and something just wasn't right.  The only time he would act remotely like himself was when I gave him Motrin   I felt so bad for my little guy.  Finally, on Friday, he woke up with a fever of 102.7 and his congestion had gone from bad to much, much worse.  The plus side?  His pink eye seemed to be fine.

When the doctor checked him out on Friday, she couldn't hear anything "off" when he took deep breaths, his sinuses won't swollen, his throat wasn't red and he ears were clear.  She told me to go and get a chest x-ray and to come right back to the office.  At this point she thought he had a small case of pneumonia.  Thankfully, my pediatrician's office is attached to a hospital, so within about a half hour or so, we were back in her office waiting for the results.

There was no signs of pneumonia but his lungs were inflamed, which signaled to her that he was in the beginning stages of bronchitis.  She gave him an antibiotic, we had a follow-up appointment with her yesterday, and now he's on the mend.  Thank goodness!!

The highlight of my time home with the little guy?  I had tickets for Super Why Live, a show he absolutely loves, and with the "ok" from my doctor, we were able to go and enjoy the show.  It was awesome to see John dancing in the aisle and having a ball.

Dressed as Super Why and feeling all better!

Please ignore the newspaper on the wall - we're in the process of redoing my living room and we're holding place-markers for where the pictures are going to go!

If there's anything I learned through this experience, it's that I know my son and I know when something isn't right.  When he gets sicks, sometimes it feels like I over-analyze things, but when it comes right down to it, I think my mother's instinct is pretty spot-on.

Question of the Day:
Do you suffer from allergies?

Until next time!
~Anne Marie

Quick Update

Hi All!

I've missed blogging over the last week, but I've had good reason to be away - within the past week, the little guy had allergy-related pink eye and then bronchitis.  He's definitely on the mend, though, and once I get my head out of the sand with work-related stuff, I'll be back to my regular blogging schedule.

Until next time!
~Anne Marie

A Birthday Celebration!

Happy Monday!

How was your weekend?  Mine was very busy but so much fun!

On Saturday, John and I went to watch my nephew's t-ball game.  I'm not sure which was funnier - the fact that my older brother is the assistant coach or watching the kids run around trying to get the ball to first base.  They were so cute!  Of course all John wanted to do was be on the field with his cousin - I mean who could blame him?

After the game we headed back to my brother's house to celebrate my  niece's second birthday.  I still can't believe she's two years old already!

My nephew and John enjoyed some time out on the deck during the party.  John pretty much followed him around the entire time. He just loves him so much!

The big hit of the night was a present Sophia received from my uncle - a broom set.  John and Sophia ran around sweeping the house - maybe we can rent them out to clean other people's houses....haha

Before we knew it, it was time to sing happy birthday.  Aiden was all about smiling for a picture and Sophia?  She was interested in cake.  She's a girl after my own heart!

Question of the Day:
What was the highlight of your weekend?

Until next time!
~Anne Marie