Thursday, August 28, 2008

we'll lel like H...E...L

in honor of the kickoff of the mississippi state football season this weekend, here is william at 22 months of age trying to get y'all fired up. (he's so little!!) so, y'all ring your cowbells and "lel like H...E...L!" go dawgs!


we're not sure where his imagination comes from...

for those of you that can't tell, this is wes' bed turned into a garbage truck. and, that's the garbage man hanging off the back of it riding around the neighborhood picking up garbage. he would walk around upstairs and pick up a stuffed animal or a shirt, and while tossing it into his truck you could hear him mumbling, "shoooo. that's some stinky garbage!"


and the handy dandy stethoscope attached to the end of the crib (truck) is his lever. he would lift up on it to "help the garbage get in and squish it up real good."

i think it's safe to say that he's been paying a little too much attention to our garbage pick up lately!

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

free entertainment

the neighbor's dog...
wes and his buddy, walt, watching intently as bailey goes from inside to outside and outside to inside. this would have kept them entertained for hours.


a stationary bike...
i finally gave up on trying to get him to not climb and play on this thing. (i may as well let him use it because the other man in this house that bought it sure doesn't get his money's worth out of it!!) i'm just waiting on the first round of stitches.


a box of wipes...
there were wipes everywhere. notice the one flung on the top of the changing table.


so...somebody tell me again why i have toys covering every square inch of my house when all of this stuff is just as entertaining?

Monday, August 25, 2008

end of summer fun

william's summer officially comes to an end this week as he heads back to school. of course, i guess a 3 year old's freedom never really ends. it's not like he does anything except play, eat and sleep every day...school or no school. nonetheless, we have been making the most of the last few days of summer vacation.

we ate lunch and spent the afternoon swimming at braxton and jack's house this week. after pizza, pb&j, capri-suns, and enough animal crackers to feed an army, they were more than ready to go. (bribing with cookies always helps to get the troops to sit still on the steps and look at the camera!)


this is wes' "i don't care how much fun this is...i'm hot and tired...take me to my comfy bed in that air-conditioned room of mine" look! luckily, daddy came and rescued him shortly after this picture!

a few days before, we went to the park to get outside because it was a beautiful 85 degrees! and, william wanted to feed the "ducks."



he wasn't too keen on the "ducks" once they jumped out of the water and started chasing him to get some more bread.


i say "ducks" because i'm not sure that these feathered animals are actually ducks. they look part duck, part goose, part turkey. and, they are super dooper ugly. except for this guy...he was kinda cute!


these guys were cute, too...



unfortunately, the sunny weather left us, and it has been raining here for days. we check the radar frequently and get out during breaks in the weather when we can.


the little people don't care. they are loving the puddles!


but, even if we don't get a break in the weather, we still play. william's new favorite obsession (and i do mean obsession) is Hi-Ho Cherry-O! he's actually quite good at it. he spins, counts, and puts his cherries where they are supposed to go.

he has won every game that we've played. of course, he may be sneaking cherries into his basket because while he is counting, i'm too busy to trying to get wes to not eat the little plastic balls so we don't have to take another trip to the ER.

bring on the school year! and a little sunny weather wouldn't hurt either!!

Friday, August 22, 2008

he may have inherited some ocd tendencies from his mama

i was in the kitchen cleaning up this morning, and william had been quiet for way too long. so i went to try to find what was being destroyed in my abscence and instead found this...


he was meticulously parking his cars and trucks in a perfect line on the couch, aka his parking garage.


he told me i could park my car in his garage if i wanted to, but "it will be $41 to park in my parking garage."

he should be a very wealthy man!

Monday, August 18, 2008

rain or shine...we party


william let me know a long time ago that he wanted a birthday party in his backyard this year. we have a rather large backyard, so i thought it was a great idea. we rented inflatable jumpy things and already have way too many toys back there for everyone to play with. so it was the perfect venue.

but a problem arose. i woke up at 6am on party day to the sound of a steady rain outside. i immediately got to the computer for a quick look at the radar and found a huge green blob that covered the entire state! of course, it's been a desert here this summer, and it hasn't rained a drop since april...but it decides to be rainy on this one day!! no big deal. with the help of some friends and our super sweet church secretary, we got the venue changed just in time. all of the kids showed up at our church with a riding toy, jumped in the jumpy things and ate cake for a sugar burst! it worked out perfectly!


even with several friends' help, it took a little extra to get all those candles blown out!

i didn't even come close to getting pictures of all of the kids at the party, but here are a few of them showing off their skills!

wes borrowing somebody's rocket

william and his new ride

upside down mont

backwards emma claire
charlie being cute

precious jack with his spikey hair

william going down feet first

mckenna getting her jump on
brooks giving the slide a workout
william on his other new ride
while everything worked out quite well this year, i think that i might be planning indoor venues for birthday parties from now on!! but, y'all are all welcome to come play in our birthday party-less backyard whenever you want to!

PS - we missed you, knox! but, we are so glad that your tonsils are finally out. hope you get to feeling better soon!!

Friday, August 15, 2008

he's 3!

3 years ago today, i woke up in the wee hours of the morning because my water broke. after i convinced chase that it was for real, he got up, drank coffee, and made himself some breakfast. i paced as i waited on my ride to the hospital to finish his breakfast, but we made it there. and, shortly after lunch william joined our family.

today, instead of nervously hurrying along somebody's breakfast, i gladly handed over a birthday cake with bright orange icing. then, i sat back and relaxed while william dug in.


then, he opened a present and was thrilled to find a fireman sleeping bag.

he climbed right in...kitchen floor and all! and, soon afterwards he requested to watch diego while lounging in his underwear in his new sleeping bag. typical man, but who am i turn down such a request on his birthday?!


it's been a great 3 years, william. we can't imagine where we'd be today without you....a little less frazzled and well-rested, i'm sure....but, we wouldn't trade it for anything in the world! can't wait to see what you have in store for us in the future! happy 3rd birthday, bud!

Thursday, August 14, 2008

the magic mushroom

it has been so dry here this summer, so we were very happy to see the rain at the beginning of the week. as a result of all the wet stuff, however, our yard became a dangerous playground. who would have thought this little thing could cause so much trouble?


late monday afternoon, we were out in the backyard playing. william and wes sat down in the backyard facing each other. they were laughing and having some sort of conversation. it was keeping them very busy, so i started picking up toys and cleaning up the backyard a little. a few seconds later, i look over to see wes chewing on something. this is not anything new, but he usually doesn't chew on things that could possibly be poisonous! so, i run over to him and stick my finger in his mouth to rake out whatever it is. it's at this point i realize that he is chowing down on a mushroom. both of his hands are clinched tightly around other mushrooms as well. so, i get them both inside, and get everybody's hands washed. at this point, chase walks in. i tell him that wes ate a mushroom. his response,"that's not good. call the pediatrician and see what we should do." i was not expecting what came next.

of course it was after hours, so my ped call got transfered to nurselink. i talked to some lady who told me to take him to the ER. i wasn't really feeling the need to sit in the germ-filled ER, so i called poison control for a second opinion. they told me to take him to the ER. so....i went for a third opinion. i called uncle zeb who spoke to the ER at UMC, and they said that we should take him to the ER. not ready to give in just yet, i make chase call the ER here and talk to a doctor up there. ER doctor says that we really need to bring him in. (the problem is that nobody can tell if they are poisonous or not, so they have to treat it like it is.)

i give in, grab wes' puppy, stuff his bag full of snacks and sippy cups and off we go. we wait around in a room in the ER for quite a while. wes and daddy flipped through the channels on the tv a countless number of times!


they finally came in and brought wes some charcoal to drink. it was about 2 hours past his suppertime, and he was starving. so intead of putting in an NG tube, we decided to try it orally first. i thought he might suck it down since he was so hungry. and i was right! he put that straw in his mouth and went to town. he drank about half of the glass before he took a breath and realized how bad it tasted! then, he started spitting and drooling, and the tar-looking stuff spilled right out of his mouth, down his chin, and onto his clothes. he would have no more charcoal, but he had already sucked enough down that it didn't matter.

while wes was drinking charcoal, william was eating suckers. he thought the ER was so much fun. aside from suckers and all the buttons to push in the room, they had an automatic paper towel dispenser above the sink. he waved his little hand in front of the sensor enough times to kill at least 800 trees. but he was happy, and i wasn't about to stop him!!


after the charcoal, the ER doctor came in and told us that he spoke to the pediatrician on call who said that we needed to get in ambulance and go to labonheur's for observation overnight. my jaw and chase's jaw simultaneously hit the ground, and i know we both looked at that poor man like, "you've got to be kidding me!" so, chase left with william to take him home and put him to bed. sweet amy came over to stay with him. (she is definitely at the top of my list of favorite people!) my parents were on their way to rescue her because we all thought that we were on our way to memphis!!

then, they came in to get bloodwork. this took 3 people. me...to lay on top of wes and pin him down, a nurse to hold his arm still, and another nurse to do the bloodwork. it took 4 sticks for them to find a vein. and as you can imagine, wes was screaming, tear-stained, sweaty, and not at all happy!!

after that, the ER doctor came back in and said that he had talked to lahonheur's and the only thing they were going to do was monitor him. thankfully, the ped on call said that we could stay here for him to monitor wes. memphis is only an hour away, so if things got bad there was an ambulance and a helicopter right out the door to get us there quickly.

so, we got to go upstairs to a room. before he could go to sleep, he had to get an iv. it took them 2 sticks this time. of course, as soon as i laid down on top of him he knew was what was coming and began screaming. by the second time they started digging around in his little arm with that needle, he was red and shaking. and, we were both crying!! it was about 3 hours past his bedtime, so that exhausted little guy fell asleep immediately back in the room.

they came in every 2 hours to wake him up and check vitals. he had an oxygen monitor taped to his foot and he kept getting tangled up in the cord. mama didn't sleep at all. wes didn't sleep much, but we made it through the night...despite the lady from the lab bounding through the door at 5:45am, turning on the light, and hollering, "good morning!" if i hadn't been cuddling my 15 month old in my arms, i may have jumped up and strangled her. anyway, his LFTs were fine in the morning, and he was eating well, so we got to come home!


at home, if i wake up in the middle of the night i just start praying for whatever pops into my mind. that night, i was awake the entire night....so lots of prayers were said. of course i prayed for wes, but there was so much more. that kid next door that was screaming. the nurse out in the hall talking too loud. all the parents in hospital rooms with their children at that very moment. and basically every single person that i know!

there's a little boy here in town fighting cancer right now, and i get updates every day on how he and his family are doing. recently a neighbor had to take her little boy to the ER for some stitches, and she said that it was just a blessing to know that she got to pick her son up and take him home. i couldn't help but feel the same way. as i sat there watching my little man sleep with all the wires and beeps around him, i felt so blessed that he wasn't fighting for his life. all he did was eat a mushroom. a stinkin' little mushroom!

God is good, my friends!

Monday, August 11, 2008

whole lots of learnin' going on

yesterday as we were eating lunch, chase and i were trying to discuss with william the topic of his sunday school lesson.

me: what did you learn about in sunday school?

william: um, i don't know.

me: did you learn about moses?

william: yes.

chase: (as he picks up william's sunday school papers) this looks like you learned about jonah.

william: oh yeah. it was jonah.

me: what did you learn about jonah?

william: that big whale swallowed him.

me: and then what?

william: um, i don't know.

me: did jonah cry?

william: no. he said HELP!

me: did god help him?

william: naw. he just threw him out in the water.

me: and then what?

william: and then i got to chew some gum.

me: no, i mean, and then what happened next?

william: oh, then i got dirty in the little potty at church.

*sigh*

dear miss marty,
i very much appreciate you wiping my kid's rear end yesterday. i realize that was not in the job description when you signed up to be a sunday school teacher. but, just consider it good practice for your future! maybe y'all should go over jonah again next week, so i can hear the end of the story! or, at least send me home a piece of gum!
sincerely,
laura

Sunday, August 10, 2008

he's gone rail-less

william has been begging me since the beginning of the summer to take the rails off of his bed. we weren't at home for any length of time this summer, and i didn't want to mess up his sleeping while we were away, so i delayed it.

it wasn't a big transition at all, though. for the past week and a half, william has been sleeping like a big boy. in his words, "i don't got no rails anymore!" (we'll work on the double negatives later.) he fell off the first time he took a nap in there, but that is the only time he has hit the floor. didn't take long for him to figure that one out!

he was more than happy to pose in his rail-less bed for the camera!

Friday, August 8, 2008

fun at emma claire's

today, we went over to emma claire's to swim and release some energy since we were cooped up yesterday because of the rain. while we were on the way over, william asked me if emma claire had a slide at her pool. when i said no, he suggested that we go back to our house and bring the one from our backyard to put beside her pool. good thing i did....it was a hit!


william taught emma claire a few bad habits while we were there. (you can thank me later, jim.)

here he is showing off for the ladies.

graci had to think about the diving board. it was fun to sit on, but she wasn't too sure she wanted to jump off of it.


our day at the pool ended when william decided to bust his chin on the pool wall. it was apparently very traumatic!! he wouldn't let me look at it, wouldn't let me put a band-aid on it, wouldn't quit screaming at me to get the band-aid away from him. when we got home, i finally got a glimpse of it. it was fairly small but there was still a gash, and i didn't have a clue if he needed stitches or not. it is under his chin and not in a very obvious place, so chase and i decided to skip the ER. if it leaves a funky scar, nobody will be able to see it anyway unless he shows them. so we tried the liquid bandage. he hated it. tried the butterfly bandage. too big. so we went with three small band-aids. and, of course, a mater band-aid to top it all off and make it look cool. (please excuse the mustard on his face.)


this was from a few days earlier, but here i present to you the future dr. and mrs. william henson.

ok, so maybe we have high aspirations for the future occupation. but, if he doesn't want to follow in his daddy's footsteps that will be just fine. i hear that the UPS man gets great benefits!

Thursday, August 7, 2008

one, two buckle my shoe

lately, wes has become obsessed with shoes. he will go to the shoe basket and dig through it until he finds his shoes. then, he'll bring them to whoever happens to the be closest, sit down, and stick his feet in the air until you put them on him. poor kid...he has only had one pair of shoes. a pair of brown sandals that he wears with everything. but it doesn't even have to be his shoes. he'll go get my shoes or chase's shoes and try to walk around in them.

well, on sunday i went in the attic and got out william's old shoes and found a pair of sandals that he could wear to church. they are still too big, but it was like christmas for wes. he was lovin' showing off his new shoes. he had no clue what to do now that he has 2 pair of shoes!!


it doesn't matter if he has on pjs...still wanna wear those shoes!


william was still asleep one afternoon, so wes had a blast walking around in his big brother's shoes.

when i figured out how much i've been depriving him with only one pair of shoes, i went back into the attic and got out william's first pair of crocs. they are still a little big, but he thinks he's hot stuff being just like his brother.

i guess i could think of worse people to imitate!! :)