thanks and giving and shopping and santa

Thanksgiving this year was simply wonderful. Our first stop was Grandma Patty's, where we were given Bears clothes for our little ones to grow into by Casey and Carter. They are my Aunt Darcy's boys who are about the same number of months apart as mine, only 13 years older! They are also a pair of Bears fanatics. :)

Looking a little rabid in these pics, poor Unlce Colt was the rear of a few jokes this Thanksgiving. The day before he was bitten by a racoon! He was coon hunting with my cousin Austin and Austin shot one in the foot (you are suppose to shoot them in the head to preserve the fur, to be sold later). The racoon was ticked and bit Colt in the knee. When I asked Colt why he just didn't shoot it, he replied, "I didn't want to waste the fur." :) Oh brother.

As of Thanksgiving Day the brain of the racoon had been sent to a nearby university to be tested for rabies.  We joked that we had a loaded gun in case he started to foam at the mouth.

The results did not come in soon enough, so Colt got the series of rabies shots, just to be safe. :)

Dixon went into a turkey induced coma and slept through much of Grandma Gayle's thanksgiving. The food was awesome and we even got to see Grandpa Louie and Grandma Nancy at their dinner.

We rounded off the day at Grandma Wendy's where we ate yummy hamballs and cheesey potatoes. Aunties Tasha and Madi were waiting there to create our game plan for the Annual Black Friday Extravaganza.

The boys went back to Grandma Gayle and Grandpa Dan's where they had a slumber party with Uncle Nate and Aunt Natalie.

And at 11 pm the three shopateers headed to the big city for a little rough and tumble Black Friday fun...

After sleeping for much of the day on Friday, that night was the lighting of the courthouse in our little town. They had a Santa at the courthouse and you better believe we were the second in line. ;)

Ok...shwooo...now that I have the Thanksgiving post off my back I can get ready for CHRISTMAS! I have lots of cute random pics to post as we curl up at home and wait for this guy to come! 

top ten.

1.     Tttt ( trigger thumb take two) was a success. Adam was in training, so my dad, Dixon and I headed to the big city at 5:30 in the morning for the big surgery. Dixon did very well until they called our name to go back. Then he knew just were he was and what was about to happen. Needless to say Dixon was very upset, but it was nothing a “valium like medication” could not take care of. ;) This time they also gave him an IV (after he was put out) to take care of the nausea post op. They were also able to put medication in the IV for pain. With these medications and still having the use of his left hand, the recovery has been much more manageable than last time.

2.     Mr. Breckin, who is about to turn ONE!, had a mean bout with the flu. I will not go into many details other than to say it was the first time I have had throw up in my mouth that was not mine. He was sick for about 6 days and for 6 days after that was suffering from mom diagnosed RAD (reactive attachment disorder). Now that I can set him down, I am back to chasing him around the house!

3.     Adam has been working days for the past two weeks and we have ALL enjoyed spending our nights at home with him. Just last night we met at the mall so Dixon could ride the train 3 times and I could do a little shopping.

4.     Christmas is 3 days. I feel nowhere near being ready. I still have much shopping to do and presents to wrap. Up until Christmas Eve night when all the stores are closed I will always feel the need to get just one more thing…

5.     Wisdom teeth. They need to come out ASAP. I have been in so much pain and taking super prescription pain meds all day and night! Last night at 4 am if I could have located the pliers, I would have performed my own dirty dental surgery, right in my bathroom. The magic day is December 27^th. This will be an awesome way to spend my Christmas break and my money from Santa. ;)

6.     I have yet to blog about our awesome Thanksgiving and sweet Santa visit at the courthouse.

7.     Christmas cards. Ugg. They will be the death of me (if my wisdom teeth aren’t). However, last night I discovered that they technically say “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas” so I have decided they just need to go out before New Years.

8.     I think we are the only school in the entire state world that has to go to school tomorrow. I will be a glad when summer roll around, but I am dying to snuggle up with my little elves.

9.     We had the first of 5 Christmas celebrations last weekend; it was an awesome way to start off our Christmas season.

10.   Promise there will be a post with actual pictures tomorrow. My computer has been at school while my personal technician a very computer savvy student has been working on it.

Dear Aunt Darcy,

Don't worry...we are all alive and well...

And I am working on a post about trigger thumbs, thanksgiving, turning one and much more...

:)

trigger thumb, take two.

Yes. You heard me right. 

I think I knew from the moment, right before surgery, when I asked the doctor if this would make him all better. 

Dr. L just smiled and told me that he has had 100% success with trigger thumbs, "but there always has to be a first."

Boy, those words stuck with me. 

About a month ago I noticed that only one of Dixon's thumbs was bending as it should. I quickly made an appointment to see Dr. L, who was in disbelief. The took one look at Dixon's thumb and said, "You made a liar out of me." :)

I ensured him that it was not his fault, Dixon just has his mother's luck. ;)

He determined that Dixon had too much scar tissue built up on his thumb for it to work properly. He told us that we could massage the scar tissue to break it up, but he would most likely need additional surgery. Dixon screamed his bloody brains out each time we even looked at his thumb did not tolerate the massage well. I have still been working with the massage, but I have heard that it needs to be a deep massage to really be effective. So it looks like we will be going in for our scheduled surgery next Friday the 10th. 

This surgery will be better in that they will only be operating on one thumb. However the surgery is more invasive than the first time, so his arm will be in a splint and recovery time will be longer. 

We wish that we did not have to put Dixon through this again, but we are VERY thankful our biggest health concerns are Trigger Thumbs. Still we would love your prayers and positive thoughts next Friday as we head back to the big city for trigger thumb, take two.

llap

Before I blog about our FIVE fantastic Thanksgiving dinners I thought I better blog about our Halloween.

You see...

I think I may have attempted to block it all out...

Everyone involved had the best of intentions.

Dixon just did not want to wear a costume. He was not having it. Period. Against our better judgement, we loaded up Buzz and the alien and headed to a trick or treat at our local zoo, the weekend before Halloween. 

Laid back Breckie was pleased as pie, that is, as long as he was not wearing his head piece. Even though minus the head piece he looked like a Star Trek member, we were picking our battles.

Thankfully Dixon was able to pull it together for about 15 minutes at the zoo. After that however, it was all downhill. We were thankful for those few peaceful minutes and few photo ops. I mean there were many Buzzes, but ours was by far the best, especially with his alien trekie side kick.

live long and prosper.

wordless wednesday.

because

sometimes 

in life

but especially in parenthood

there are 

no words...

just giggles.

wordless wednesday: he's got the joy.

{For more joyful images go to Libby Asay's website. :) }

da boys.

To say that Adam is a Bears fan would be an understatement. 

He loves the Bears, although not as much as his dad who flys multiple flags from their garage on gamedays.

His first car (the Bearsmobile) was an 80 something Escort wagon covered with Bears memorabilia.

It even had a decal on the front that said "Da Bears."

 

So, I knew that when we had little ones they would of course be Bears fans. 

Third genreation Bears fanatics, that is.

a confession of a teaching mom.

As I have been preparing to present to our School Board

I have typed 

dada

when I meant to type 

data

an embarrassing number of times. 

{grin}

these are a few of my favorite things.

bright colors, stripes, and strawberry blonde hair.

buckets of army guys, wubbas, and sleepers that zip.

blue eyes, tv trays, and dixon's red monster blankie.

 

brotherly love, toy story 3, and  puma tennies 

 

long lashes, big smiles, and background stealers.

confessions of a teaching mom

This past week 

I have told my 10th grade students that

"Mommy needs a calculator." 

More times than I would like to admit. 

On the flip side...

Last night I told D and B that

"Mrs. Alexander has to go potty."

Is it Christmas break yet?

this picture...

Kills me. 

Shows Dixon having a little attitude...I think this is what my kids at school would call my teacher face. :)

Includes what you get at the Alexander house on the day you break your arm. 

Was taken over a month ago and still features the red mickey crocs, which have been hidden retired.

Probably started with Breckin attempting to take an army guy and ended with Dixon screaming like a banche.

Makes me wish I was sitting on the hardwood playing with my best buddies right now.

guys

I don't think that I have mentioned before of Dixon's love for army guys.
He will not leave the house without them.
All of them. 

The entire bucket, plus more.
He carries them around everywhere.
He will not take a shower without his bucket of army guys. 

He holds the bucket while riding in his carseat.
Dixon once almost pushed a one year old girl down the bleachers for knocking them over. 
He sleeps with the bucket next to his pillow. 
If Breckin so much as glances at one of his "guys" Dixon swipes it away with cat like speed.

Dixon will not eat a meal without the army guys sitting on the tray of his highchair.

If you even think of taking Dixon's bucket of guys he will scream like a wild banche.

Dixon loves his army guys almost as much as we love our biggest guy.

d and b meet r.

An eternity ago the last time we were all healthy, we had the pleasure of a visit from Tasha, Eric and their sweet baby girl Reese! Dixon was smitten with her. He loved to touch her little face and toes. He also loved her girl wubba! 

This picture below just kills me. It's like he is saying "Oh man, down another spot on the totem poll." 

;)

Mr. Breckies had much of the same reaction that Dixon did to his new sweet cousin. However he did just not want to touch her. He wanted to grab her and not let go. :)

 These guys are going to have a blast together in the years to come.

No blog post with family would be complete without a picture of cousin Dani, hamming it up. ;)

of trigger thumbs and bailey buttons.

Last Tuesday as I was scurrying to get to the volleyball game I was suppose to score, I stopped to fix pick up Dixon's favorite meal, Subway meatballs. Dixon was trying to get my attention in the back seat and I thought he was pointing at something. So I tried to give him every.single.thing I could get my hands on. He wouldn't take any of it. Then I noticed he was showing me his hand.

When we got to Grandma Wendy's I inspected his hands and I noticed that neither of his thumbs would go straight. They were both stuck in the bent position right at his knuckle. I was paniced. I didn't know if I should take him to the ER or make an appointment for the next day. Well, I did neither. I knew that Mr. C would let me have it if I was late for the volleyball game, so I dropped off the boys and forgot about the non bending thumbs until Wednesday night when I told Adam.

His worry was enough for me to make an appointment with our good old friend, Dr. L (Dixon's arm dr.). Between the time I made the appointment and when we went in on Friday I had already self-diagnosed Dixon as Trigger Thumb. I had researched all possibilities, read studies and cried. I know Trigger Thumb is a minimal issue, but it is hard to think that something is wrong with your child and I was so worried about surgery.

So it was back to Dr. L's office we went last Friday and he confirmed my diagnosis suspisions, that Dixon did indeed have Trigger Thumb and would be operated on Friday to release his tendons.

Dr. L explained it by saying that Dixon has a size 6 tendon and a size 4 tunnel for the tendon to fit through. He would go in and make the tunnel bigger so the tendon could glide in and out with ease. He also told me that he does a procedure that would require no incision. He said that with the little fingers and tendons he can use a VERY small knife to go in and clip the tunnel and he would only need band aids.

This was a lot for this mama to take in, all in a matter of days...

The next logical step for me was Von Maur. So I lugged my boys into the shoe section and bought these beauties that I have been drooling over eyeing for the past two years.Without even trying them on.

Ahhhhhhh, retail therapy.

Fast forward one week.

We dropped Breckie off this morning at Grandma Gayle's and Adam and I took Dixon into the big city for his minor surgery. Dixon did really well. He was not happy when they took him from us to the operating room. I must say that I wasn't either. I wasn't sure that he would forgive me for that. Luckily he has. ;)

When he woke up from the anestesia he was crying very hard, they said that this was normal for little ones. He got some good medicine and has been doing well at home, minus throwing up on Daddy.

And don't worry Dixon is not one bit upset about missing trick or treat, for reasons I will outline in a future post. ;)

my punkin heads

Pumpkin patch adventures 2010.

The perfect pumpkin.

Dixon's favorite part was playing in the corn...he refused to get out so I had to climb in there an get him. ;)

How dare I try to get a picture with both boys!

Dixon LOVED the hay rack ride...looking at the camera...not so much.

 

Adam insisted on picking out the LARGEST mum available. I pleaded to get a mum that would not make our house look like a doll house, but he insisted on the mumasaurus. 

On our way out, at least five people stopped us to tell us how beautiful our mum was. 

Let's just say, now the mumasaurus is his pride and joy. :)