Playing At the Farm With My Boys

Alan and I took the boys with us out to Lone Pine Farm to do some grocery shopping. After we were done, we played at the farm for a little while before going home.

 

These boys are definitely "wanted" at this house!!

Robert had a lot of fun just running around and being free.  He even hid from us at one point!  He was hiding behind the leg of the water tower behind him in the picture.  I thought we had lost him.  When Benjamin found him, Robert ran out smiling and laughing.  The little imp :)

 

Both boys enjoyed petting and feeding the goats.

They also had fun playing on the tractor.

The slides were their favorite thing at the playground.  They went by themselves and they went together...over and over and over. 

We also took pictures in some of the cutouts.  My kids are always good sports about that.  I guess they have been trained since birth!  :)

 

It was a fun evening, and it was nice to have some fresh produce around the house.  We love corn on the cob, stuffed green peppers, pears and apples.  Mmmmmmmm

My Baby's Surgery

Robert had surgery on Monday morning, to try and correct an undescended testicle.  I don't know who it was harder on - the baby or the mom! It was really hard to see my little guy go into the operating room, and then wait for hours to have him come out.  But everything went well, and he is recovering great so far.  We are so thankful for that blessing!

 Here he is getting ready for the surgery.  He was not very cooperative. He got his leg band off three times, so they had to get another one and put it on tighter.  He would not keep the monitor on his finger or toe.  The gown he got was way too big for him, and he tried to get out of it several times.

 He did not like the bed, the room, the nurses or anything going on.

 He wanted us to take off his gown, and when we wouldn't, he decided to try and get it off himself.

 He was tired (because we had to be there at 6:30 am) and hungry (because he wasn't supposed to eat or drink after midnight the night before).

He just kept going back and forth between Mom and Dad, looking for someone to comfort him.

They wanted me to go in the operating room and hold him while they sedated him.  I had to wear scrubs, booties, a hair net and mask.  I hated it, because they made me hold him down on the operating table while they held a mask over his nose and mouth.  He was frantically crying and squirming, and it about broke my heart.  Luckily he went to sleep quickly, or I might have grabbed him and run out!  :(

He did NOT wake up happy in the recovery room.  When Alan and I were out in the waiting area, we heard him screaming and crying.  Then no one came to get us, so we wondered what was going on.  Doctor Carson eventually came out to talk to us, and we asked him about hearing Robert crying.  He said he didn't know what we were talking about, because he had just checked on him and he was still sound asleep.  When the nurses finally came to take us back, I asked them about it, and they said he had woken up hysterical while they were still cleaning up - trying to pull out the IV and fighting them, so the anesthesiologist had to re-sedate him.  Poor baby!  When he woke up the second time, he was in my arms pretty quick.  I nursed him, and held him still while they took the IV out of his foot.  He was very happy to go home.

 When we got home, I just held him most of the day.  He slept for hours, watched a little tv, and made us walk around outside with him. (He loves to be outside.  It has a great calming effect on him)  By night time, he was getting more energy.  He wanted me to take him to Grandma's house, and he decided Grandpa's food looked good while we were there.  So he shared with Grandpa, and then we took a plate home for him to eat too.  Alan brought his prescription home (Tylenol with Codeine), but we have only given it to him a few times. Turns out that he is in the small percentage of kids who get hyperactive instead of sleepy when they take that drug.  Since he is supposed to stay down and quiet (yeah, right!) for three days, and doesn't seem to be in much pain anymore, I decided not to give it to him unless he gets worse.  It  really makes him bounce off the walls!  He doesn't want to stay quiet anyway.  My instructions were to have him lay around and read books and watch tv for three days.  We have to chase him around and try and distract him to get him to sit and watch tv or read books - and then it is only for small amounts of time.  He is not supposed to climb, lift heavy toys, ride on anything, straddle anything (no high chair or car seat - if we can stay home), or bathe for two weeks.  We are just doing the best we can, as he is an energetic little kid.  Thankfully there are six of us to corral him. 

He doesn't seem to have any pain, except when we change his diaper.  Then it takes two or three of us to hold him down.  It seems to hurt when we apply the antibiotic cream.  Otherwise, he is happy and almost acts like normal.  I am so thankful that he is doing well, and that I have my baby home safe with me!  My heart goes out to all those moms who have little ones in the hospital and are waiting to take them home again.  I am going to try and remember them in my prayers.

Trip to the Lava Fields

We took a Saturday and went hiking up the old Mckenzie Highway.  That section of road is only open in the summer, so we took advantage of the nice weather and went exploring.  My dad went with us, and we hiked around waterfalls and lava beds all day.

 Our first hike was to Proxy Falls.  The trail wound through forests and through lava fields.

 

 

The kids were climbing on everything as we went along.

 

 

When we got down to the bottom of the falls, we played around for a while.

 

 

 

Always the gymnast!

It was really pretty, and cool with the water spray.

Our next stop was the lookout tower in the lava fields.  It has a great view of all the surrounding mountains.

 The windows are all cut to frame a mountain as you look out, to help identify each one.

You can see for miles up on top the tower.

You could see two of the Three Sisters mountain group - the big and middle sister.  So, of course, we had our own big and middle sister pose with them!

 

Ben loves to pose!

 Next we went to Clear Lake.  The water is so clear that you can see all the way to the bottom of the lake.  It is also the headwaters of the McKenzie river.

 Robert enjoyed being out of the backpack and playing in the rocks.

I stuck this picture in just to show that the boys had matching shirts on :)

We stopped at Sahalie Falls on the way home.

 

 It took us a while to do the hikes, because my family climbs every rock and tree!

 They get this from their dad.  He loves to climb, and I have to convince him to leave the baby at the bottom when he goes climbing - for my peace of mind.  Sometimes I do not catch him soon enough (see the picture above).

 

Robert is going through a phase where he loves to take people's hats off.

We stopped at this one last waterfall on the way home, but I can't remember its name...starts with a "p" I think.  It was very pretty.  We were tired when we got home, but it was a great day!