Coming home from AZ

This week I am working at Nativity.... Ok, so only 3 hours a day....  but! It has been hard with this going on at home-- (I very much cherish my time at home!!)

While we were in AZ, SJ seemed to be coming down with something.  He had a fever, was a little fussy and wasn't sleeping well.  I took him to the Dr. on Monday morning.  Yep! Double ear infection.  Stephen's first one-
The Dr. thought his lungs seemed "crackly" and he was maybe wheezing.  She did a Whooping cough test and told me to come back in 48 hours if he wasn't better.  We left with a Rx for Omnicef and I was pretty confident we were golden.
Well, I got home and started thinking about how long SJ has had a lingering cough, a low fever.... it has been over 3 weeks!!  EEk, I called the Dr and let her know this.  So, we went back today.
Well, 4 hours, a chest x-ray and lots of meds later.... my little boo is SICK.
He has whooping cough, pneumonia, a fever, double ear infection (which was looking much better today) and teething. 
Stephen is such a trooper!! He is now on Azithromycin and Albuterol (on top of the Omnicef).  :'(  Poor baby. 

SJ doing his Neb tonight before bed- BTW, how cool!? a Tootsie for the baby! Brilliant!!

Thanksgiving in Arizona!!!

We had such a great time!!!!!!!   ......We are Thankful!

On the Airplane at 7am..... Dad and I had pretty much pulled an all nighter... TIRED! :D

We did a great job getting through the airport with two little ones.  My dad dropped us off, we checked our one bag and car seats, used our stroller until we got to the gate.  We had some time to spare once trough security, so we made a pit stop at the Golden Arches-- "yum-yum" if you ask John.  (like father like son...)

The boys did an excellent job on the plane!! I went to the dollar store before we left and spent a small fortune on (trash) toys for John to play with.  Each toy lasted about 30 seconds.... good thing we had tons!  John started melting with 20 minutes until landing.  We rallied and pushed through! :)  Stephen, well, SJ you slept the whole time!! YAY!

After renting our car, we headed to the Phoenix Zoo for lunch and to meet up with our family!  Who came?

Nana Jana, Auntie Lauren, (Great) Aunt Julie, Cousin Chrissy (and her lovely kids) Christian, Isabelle, Katie, and Abby.  We had a great time looking at the animals!!  The weather was perfect for the zoo, about 60 and sunny- bliss!

Gotta love father-son bonding.  LOVE LOVE LOVE it! <3

The Patrick boys!!  Grandpa Steve, Ryan, John and Stephen

(John 23 months, Stephen days short of 6 months)

Ryan and John swimming in the hot tub- Nana Jana warmed it so it would be the perfect temp for John.  Thanks Nana!!!  ;D 

Momma and her crazy kids! It was so much fun to have all that family time- I wouldn't trade it for the world! 

John and Auntie Alana-  Alana flew in on Thanksgiving morning with Steve.  Just in the nick of time! ;)

Auntie Lauren at the zoo with Stephen.  So Happy!!

On Black Friday Ryan and I took the boys to the park.  They both had a lovely time-  John made friends with the other kids there.  They make sand castles, tried out all the slides, and chatted about life! hehe After the park, we went and had lunch at Grimaldi’s in Scottsdale.... Our new favorite!!!!

http://www.grimaldispizzeria.com/

Ryan and SJ at the park.  Watching John play with his new buddy, making "birthday cakes" in the sand.

At the Airport .... time to go home!  :'(  We had so much fun!!!! 

This is what it is ALL about--  John is giving Stephen a hug.  It is so sweet to see them together- John really loves SJ and Stephen loves JR. 

I really didn't take enough pictures!!  I have NONE of Thanksgiving....

Jana and Julie cooked an amazing meal: turkey, rosemary sauteed carrots, garlic mashed potatoes, Julie's famous stuffing, corn, and (to die for) sweet potatoes that Mac and Neil brought. 

Oooohh, how could I forget..... GRAVY!  Yummy!

It was a great meal, fun company and lots of laughs! We have so much to be thankful for- we are a blessed family. :)

On Saturday, the Beach family, cousin Lisa, Aunt Jackie and cousin Willie came over to the house to swim and hang out.  We had a homemade pizza lunch, the kids swam and the adults chatted.  It was wonderful to get to catch up with our AZ rellies! :D  We miss you here in MN!! XO

Thank you Steve and Jana for making it possible for us to come to AZ.  We had such a great time- it had been a loooong time since Ryan had been on vacation.  We loved it!

Some of Stephen's highlights:

He ROLLED OVER!!!  from back to front!  Yay! (Saturday, 11/27)

He also is cutting his bottom 2 front teeth.

John's new words:

Yellow

Blue

Alana

Neil

Please

Bubble

(and now I'm drawing a blank on others he said....oops)

I know I'm missing a lot..... I will update as I remember more.  My brain is fried tonight!



Ryan's BIG accomplishments !

Can I brag about Ryan!? ....being the proud wife that I am!! :D

Ryan is one determined, hard working, humble dad, husband and employee. 
I can't believe in the past (almost) 3 years all he has accomplished!
The past 7 months he diligently spent every chance he got studying for his CPA exams.  It was a long 5 weeks to wait to hear the news; he passed-  November 12th will always be a date Ryan remembers. :) 
And, Ryan was offered a job with 3M!  He is very excited to start the next chapter in his career life.  His first day will be December 13th-- can't come soon enough!  He will be doing the accountant work for the Display and Graphic division. 

I love you Ryan, you amaze me with all you have accomplished!  It makes it possible for me to be a SAHM- Thank you!