Party Animal

Like every Mother, I had visions of my baby boy at his first birthday party. He would be happy and cute and loving every minute of it. Of course, being that this is my second child, I didn't cling to those visions too tightly. Lucky for me. Since he had been sick he was very crabby when he woke up and it was only after the party was over that he seemed to really calm downt. I guess he's not one for crowds. But, as they say, the show must go on. Crabby baby aside, I think the party turned out great and everyone had a lot of fun.

He spent most of the morning like this as it was the only thing that made him happy.

I guess we did get a few smiles in there!

Being that he's not really into anything in particular I thought it would be fun to capitalize on the wealth of seasonal stuff in the stores and decided to go with a snowman theme. I had so much fun putting it all together. These are the cupcakes that I made.

The snowman cake which I think was my quickest decorating job to-date! I was pretty happy with the way it turned out. I also did snowman treat bags with snowman chocolate and a snowman ornament inside but I didn't get a pic of those.

Sampling the cake. He seemed to like it a lot, which didn't really surprise me. He has a sweet tooth like his mama.

Is this a cute face or what?!

Cousin Danielle holding Baby Cash.

Cade doing what he does best--being cute!

He ended up skipping his nap despite my pleas with him. This is what he looked like as he ate his dinner that night.

Thanks to everyone who celebrated with us. We had a wonderful day!

And now, back to our show....

The ride to Chicago last weekend actually went surprisingly well with 2 kids and a dog that hates to travel. There were actually moments where we forgot Murphy was even in the car! All that worrying for nothing. ;) We had a good weekend and I'll be sure to post some pictures soon. But first, the long-overdue Christmas pics.

We had a very eventful Christmas in Murphysboro this year. Cash Eli (cousin Beth's baby) was born on December 20, Uncle Jay decided he wanted to take a little ride in a ambulance on Christmas Eve (he is completely fine now), Cameron got sick with a high fever on Christmas Day, and my cousin Matt and his wife Jess announced that they are expecting their first child! All that and presents too!

We went to Beth and Ryan's house for dinner a couple of nights while we were there. Yes, my dear cousin is the only woman I know who can give birth to a 10 pound baby and have her entire family over for dinner a few days later! We loved visiting with everyone and getting to see their beautiful new house. Owen especially loves the new house as it has a "loop" to run for hours on end.

Cade and Owen snuggling while watching a video in Cade's new big boy room.

Aunt Jess and her new nephew, Cash. I was so busy keeping track of my own kiddos that I hardly got to hold this little guy. You can be sure when I get there next week I will grab him and camp out on the couch with him. I hear he likes to be held while he sleeps and I am happy to oblige. ;)

Owen being Owen at Grandma and Grandpa's house. He piled a bunch of stuff on top of himself and sat there watching a movie.

He then asked Grandma to bring his lunch to him and sat there and ate it like this.

The long-awaited gift. I can't even remember what it's really called, but he calls it Thomas and the Waterfall and he loves it. It was one of the 4 things he asked Santa for.

The Stanley train and the Troublesome Trucks to go along with Thomas and the Waterfall.

Patiently waiting on Dad and Grandpa to put it all together. It was bigger than the coffee table! Thankfully we have room for it in our new basement. He loves it!

Mr. Cam is all smiles opening his first gift.

Owen and Cade on Christmas day in their matching "Polar Express" shirts.

Alas, I didn't get any pictures of our Glodo Christmas on Christmas Eve because I was just too busy visiting with everyone! There just never seems to be enough time to do it all! We enjoyed seeing everyone so much and have gone into 2009 feeling more blessed than ever!

We interrupt your previously scheduled programming....

I'm sure there are many of you who came to see fun pictures of the Muhs Christmas. And while I have every intention of posting those someday, you will not see them today. Instead, you get the joy of reading a vent from yours truly. Because sometimes you just have to.

We are headed out to Bolingbrook today to visit with Cody's family, as we did not get to see them over the holidays. I am looking forward to it and will be so glad when we are there. However, the last few hours, and the next few hours to come, are draining on me. Given the economic state of the Muhs Household, we have decided to take Murphy along this trip rather than pay to board him. He is a horrible traveler and we have not traveled with him in at least a year, maybe even 2 or 3. He is so bad that we actually have to tranquilize him. However, I agreed that we should save the money and grit our teeth and bear the 4 hour car ride with him. The first sign to abort this plan should have been when I went to get the tranquilizers the other day to make sure we still had some and saw that they had expired 2 years ago. I trudged on with the plan, though, and called the vet and asked for some more. I figured they would only cost a few bucks and we'd still be saving money. Well....today I picked them up and they are $26. It cost $13.25/day to board him. That means for just a few dollars more (we have to pay for Sunday night, too, since they aren't open) we could have just boarded him and had a much more peaceful trip. Argh!

To top things off, Cameron is in a very whiny mood today. I am pretty used to his temperament by now and normally, these days don't bother me all that much. But today it is proving to be too much! And if that weren't enough, he fell on a toy and hit his head and now has a big scratch/bruise on his forehead. For which, I'm certain, his father will come home and notice immediately upon entering the door and question me as to what I have been doing to this child.

If things don't get much better, I might just have to dip into Murphy's tranquilizers. Have a good weekend, all!

Let the Christmas posts begin!

Ok, so it's almost February and I'm just now getting around to the Christmas pictures. But you all know my blogging personality by now so it should really be no surprise. I would like to clarify though that I am NOT, in fact, pregnant. Cody's mom mentioned to him that a posting hiatus for me sometimes means that I am pregnant and sick, so she was a little concerned. Not only did it give me a good laugh, I was also impressed by the fact that she pays such close attention to my blogging habits! Anyway, so here are the first of our Christmas photos. These were actually taken on Cameron's birthday. Grandma Lynn mailed her gifts to us, which also included a birthday gift for Cameron. It was all a little chaotic because Owen was so excited that we were opening gifts early so it was hard to get some good pictures.

The sweet birthday boy

It took him a while to figure out what to do with the colorful box in front of him.

I think he got a little piece off and decided to hand it off to big brother

Not sure what they were clapping about here but I thought it was pretty cute.

We finally had to enlist big brother's help, otherwise we'd have been sitting there the entire day waiting on Cameron!

He got the cutest set of 4 cars. They are big and kind of rubbery and he just loves them!

Owen waited as long as he could and had to get in on the action.

Grandma made him a train ornament, which he LOVED. He is definitely my child because he loves Christmas tree ornaments just like I do. Cameron got the cutest race car ornament, also made by Grandma.

A big thank you to Grandma Lynn for getting our Christmas and Cam's b-day started with a big! We loved all our gifts! Stay tuned for lots more Christmas pics!

Pardon me while I take a look back...

Since I've become a mother I have lost more memory cells than I ever thought possible. But there are still a few dates that will forever remain etched on my brain. Those days that I could recite almost verbatum exactly how events unfolded, and will probably be able to do so until I am old and wrinkly. Today is one of those dates. It was one year ago today that I had to take my baby boy to the emergency room. One year ago that my world was turned completely upside-down. I don't think I have ever been so scared in my entire life. When you see your child, only a month old, in a hospital bed, looking like this:

Words really can't capture that feeling. There were moments when I thought I might be leaving that hopsital without him. I remember sitting at his bedside at night, talking to him, praying for him, willing him to get out of there in tact. The times that Cody would come we sat next to him, looking at him and talking about how we wished we could just fast forward 1 year, 2 years, and have a healthy toddler bouncing around our house. At that time, it seemed so far away. It seemed like a dream as far fetched as the nightmare we were currently living. I think those 9 days were the longest in my life. And now, as I sit here typing this, I have exactly what I dreamed of. There is a little boy standing next to me, babbling at me, and trying to type along with me. He is crawling all over our house, playing with toys, laughing, and even has a clever, mischevious side. (He is Cody's son, after all. ;) )

While it was probably the hardest thing I've ever had to go through in my life, I sometimes don't think I'd ever take it back. For one, it bonded Cameron and I in a way that we never would have bonded. I often felt like it was he and I against the world in that hospital room. And we made it out...together. At only a month old it showed me what a little fighter my son truly is. And he has showed me that time and time again over the last year. He may be one little dude, but has more strength than many men. It also allowed me to see so many things in a different light. I no longer sweat the small stuff quite as much, keeping in mind that I have a loving, happy, and healthy family, and that is really what is important in life.

So while I do remember those moments captured in the photos above, I am grateful that I also have this one to remember:

And I pray that there are many more for years to come, just like this one.

Happy Birthday, Baby Boy!

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Surgery was a success!!

We awoke this morning at 4:30am to -2 degrees and a wind chill of -27. What a way to start the day! Cameron woke up a happy little guy and we put him right in the car and headed over to Des Moines. I noticed a Serta Sleep Sheep truck on the road as we were on our way. The sheep seemed to stare straight at me as if they were in on some sort of joke aimed directly at me. But we trudged on and were the first to arrive at the Surgery Center at 5:45am. Every thing went exactly as scheduled, which I was amazed at. They took Cameron back at exactly 7am. He screamed when they took him away from me. :( The doctors were done by 7:30am and both said that everything went extremely well. Cameron was not a happy camper when he woke up from his lovely drug-induced sleep. He nursed a bit but still wasn't very happy. We left there by 9am and with a stop at the pharmacy we were home by 10am. He watched a Baby Einstein video in the car and clapped the whole way through it. He ate some breakfast when he got home and is doing pretty well overall, though he has his moments of being crabby, which is definitely to be expected. He's still in some pain so I'm sure it will be a trying day but nothing we can't handle. Here are a few pics I took this morning:

In the waiting room when we first arrived, happy as can be.

In pre-op after he just got his fancy gown on.

Look how sleepy!


And here he is at home enjoying his breakfast.

Cheering that it's all over!

Thank you so much for all the prayers and well-wishes sent our way. They were definitely helpful and never go unnoticed. We hope and pray that this is the end of a trying year for our little guy and we look forward to the all good that 2009 has to offer him!

Boys Will Be Boys

A few weeks ago after Daddy came home from work he was playing on the floor with the boys. They both decided it would be fun to use him as their own personal jungle gym. They had a pretty enjoyable time but Daddy took quite a beating!

In other news, we are taking Cameron in early Monday morning to have a couple of small procedures done. He's getting tubes put it his ears as well as another procedure. I'm terrified since our track record with him isn't that great, but I'm trying to stay positive and tell myself that everything will turn out great. Please keep us all in your prayers!

First Snow

I don't think November can come to a close in Iowa without a little snow. We got a few inches over the last weekend of the month.

Cam loves to stand at the back door and look at all the pretty snow.

Of course, you can't have all that beautiful white goodness out there and not head out to play in it! Owen was so excited to head out with his Daddy. I was excited because I actually shopped early enough this year to find snow bibs in his size! Alas, I didn't get the right sized boots. Ya win some, ya lose some.

All geared up and ready to go! He informed when he came in that all that stuff made him hot! I guess that means I did my job as a Mom.

Christmas is in full swing at the Muhses!

It was later than I had hoped but we finally got our Christmas tree up last weekend. It's a little harder to work in now that Owen gets to help. He got to stay up late on Saturday night and help us decorate it, which he thought was pretty cool. He was surprisingly gentle with the ornaments, though he kept hanging them on the little light bulbs rather than actual branches. So I basically had to go behind him and re-hang every one that he did. But he didn't seem to mind! Of course, we listened to the "Sesame Street" Christmas album, which I have listened to while decorating my tree for longer than I can remember. My husband lovingly obliges to my quirky traditions. ;) Reminiscent of last year, Owen now listens to the CD at least 5 times a day. However, he does it while watching TV, playing, or even like now, while singing, "The Wheels on the Bus." His favorite Christmas song is, however, "Jingle Bells." "Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way. How much fun it is to ride in a sleigh, sleigh, sleigh...HEY!" He has his father's lyrical skils.

Putting on the first ornament

When it was all done he went up to it and said, "Christmas tree, I love you," while giving it a big hug.

He sat in my lap as we looked at it and talked about how pretty it was. Then he said, "We did a great job, Mommy!" I asked him what he thought Cameron would think when he woke up in the morning and saw it and he said very excitedly, "Cameron will be so surprised!" Cameron reacted much like his daddy predicted. He crawled up to, stared at it, touched it, and quickly pulled his hand away. He touched it one more time and he hasn't been near it since. Let's hope curiosity doesn't get the best of him in the days to come.