What a week

The past week can be summed up in a few short words: injured daddy, sick baby, sick mama, doctors, surgery, lack of sleep. As the saying goes, when it rains, it pours!

Gib's surgery went really well, and my tough guy is now rockin' a camo cast:

He has battled this injury well - he really has. I know it's been frustrating for him to be out of commission while recovering from surgery, but he has remained so patient and kind.

The littlest member of our family has had a hard week, too. What began as a little congestion became the croup, and I haven't experienced many scarier things than to hear my little guy upset and trying to catch his breath in the middle of the night. It's obvious by looking at him that he doesn't feel well at all, but like his father, he has remained good-natured.

And, lest I be left out of the fun, I've been battling my sinuses. I hadn't had a sinus infection in more than a year, and this one hit me hard.

I can say that our family has shared some cuddly moments in the last week that have added sweetness to our situation. I was reminded today of Psalm 91, that we find rest in abiding in our Heavenly Father. He is our Refuge, and I'm so thankful that no matter what pesky health issues come our way, He is ever-present.

I'm also continually thankful for my two guys. They make life so much better, even when they aren't feeling 100 percent. But I think I speak for all of us when I say that full recovery all around is a very welcome concept!

The chair

Gib and I aren't really sentimental about much "stuff," especially as it pertains to baby gear. Our Little Blaze has plenty of toys and clothes, etc. but we try to stay on the minimalistic side of that world.

However, this chair is an exception:

When Gib's aunt and uncle gave it to us at a shower a few months ago, I thought it was cute, but I didn't realize that it came with a story.

This chair was actually Gib's when he was a wee boy. A family friend made it for him, and the bottom of the chair still has the gift date painted on it.

Apparently, the chair was circulated around extended family, and it's now made its way back to our family.

I have to imagine that Gib loved this chair when he was little because he son loves this chair. He bangs on it, crawls to it, climbs on it, sits in it and has fun tipping it over. It's the perfect size for him.

This little chair is a keeper.

Eleven eleven eleven

While thousands of people were getting married today, our 11/11/11 was spent admiring Gib in a hair net!

This guy was a trooper. Surgery went well, and he's home recovering.

The past week has been a little nutty at our place. In the same weekend that Gib broke his finger, I had two full days of class. Our amazing friends stepped in to babysit, and in some cases, "Gibbysit." Some made us food and all of them offered lots of encouragement. A big ol' thanks to all of you for being your awesome selves. Thanks to my parents for taking Levi this weekend while I finish up class. And, thanks to the man of the hour, the injured one, The Gibster, for being way more patient, entertaining and joyful than I ever would be in your situation!

A POPS date

Gib's parents recently relocated back to Kansas from western Colorado, and we are excited because this means it's actually realistic to meet up somewhat spontaneously! A few weekends ago, they were visiting Gib's sister and decided to head our direction for a late lunch.

We met up at POPS Restaurant on historic Route 66, which is, as the name suggests, a place with lots and lots of sodas. It was a beautiful day, so we spread out on a blanket while waiting for a table.

We were fortunate to get a table outside, where Levi had his first taste of pickle, thanks to his grandpa. I think he liked it!

We loved getting to catch up in person, and Levi loved getting some grandparent attention.

We're looking forward to the next time!

Orange

You may recall that our son was captivated by pumpkins while in North Carolina. When we visited Grammy a few weeks ago, she remembered and was so kind as to supply him with his own little pumpkin patch.

A few weeks after Grammy's house, we went to a birthday party for one of Levi's buddies, where his attention was immediately drawn to… you guessed it… a pumpkin!

Then, he spied the balloon:

Hey! Don't take my balloon away!

Seriously! Give it back!

Our little guy either loves all things resembling pumpkins or he really loves orange. Either way, Happy Fall to him, to us and to you!

Injuries on the homefront

Gib, along with several of his friends, has been playing on a softball team on Thursday nights for the past few months. It's been fun for the guys to get to have "guy time" and play ball together, and although they play in a city church league, sometimes things on the field get a little… ahem… competitive.

And sometimes that extends to the stands where I get… ahem…competitive.

Because so many of their games this fall have been late in the evening, Levi and I haven't attended more than a handful. Last Thursday, the games began early, so there we were, all bundled up with the other team wives and kids. I looked up to see Gib round second base, where he found himself in "a pickle," as I have always heard it called. He was caught in the middle between second and third base, and the other team was throwing the ball back and forth trying to tag him out.

As he sprinted back to second base, the third baseman chasing him down not only tagged him out, but also gave him, in my objective opinion (ha!), a harder shove than was needed, which sent him flying to the ground.

I was livid. How rude! How dare he! THAT'S MY HUSBAND THERE, BUDDY. But Gib got up, so I settled down. Until I heard my husband ask for a medic. A medic. A MEDIC?!

I won't post a photo of his finger because it was gruesome. It bent in directions that a finger was never meant to bend. And my anger flared. Where was that heartless, ruthless third baseman who attacked my husband? Where was he?! (Can you tell that I tend to overreact sometimes?) Could I punch him while holding my baby?

But you know who wasn't mad? This guy:

He remained calm and cool all the way to the hospital, and laughed while in the waiting room. He was polite to the nurses, even conversational. When the doctor yanked his finger straight, he didn't utter so much as a yelp, even though the grimace on his face showed me that he was in some serious pain.

As you can see from the photos, he is currently in a temporary cast until we see a hand specialist this week. We are definitely praying that no surgery is needed.

I want to brag on my husband. It is taking him twice as long to do things, and there are lots of things he can't do right now with only one working hand. In the face of difficulty, he has been so patient and so kind. I am not surprised, for that is who he is and has always been.

When I let my flesh rise up and get angry within seconds, my husband, the injured one, had no trouble finding joy even in the midst of his circumstances. How blessed am I to have him as the head of our family! I certainly have some things to learn from him.

We're not in summer anymore

This fall season has often felt more like a continuation of summer than a changing of seasons. I'm not complaining because it's felt like a nice summer, not like the 100+ temperatures we actually had during the summer season.

Today was a reminder that fall is here! It was rainy, cold and one of those days where I wanted to sit on the couch, drink tea and read a book. Levi's nap time actually afforded me that opportunity for a while, and it was wonderful.

But later, when we ventured out, I was reminded of this picture (sorry, I can't figure out how to rotate it!).

I won't tell you which aunt this is because I love her and I want to continue to be invited to family gatherings. Haha! This just happened to be a cold, blistery day in Chicago, several years ago, during a trip that was so much fun! We gave her a hard time about resembling the Unabomber here.

I thought this picture expressed visually how I felt out in the elements today. I suppose I had better get used to it! It's practically November, after all.

Birthday, birthday!

In my family, our birthdays are evenly split - two in June and two in October. My sister brought in the month of October in birthday celebration, and my dad will send the month out in style!

The card I got for my dad this year talked about a dad that's down-to-earth, but also out to save the world, and that's my daddy. He loves our family and is one of the most thoughtful men I know. It was wonderful to celebrate him tonight with a steak dinner and gelato. I couldn't believe that I'd never introduced my father to gelato until today!

Our little dude was worn out from all of the celebrating, and found a nice little napping place on Grammy's lap.

Happy, happy birthday, Dad/Grandy! We love you!

North Carolina!

This last weekend, we had a somewhat spontaneous opportunity to fly out to visit my sister and brother-in-law in North Carolina, and I'll begin by saying that it was one of the most fun weekends we've had this year! We took tons of photos, so I'll let them tell the story of the trip:

Levi's first plane ride, and he was fascinated:

How he spent the first flight:

How he spent the second flight:

The time difference threw him off a bit in the beginning, and we weren't quite ready to get up yet. So, we let him cuddle with us for the last hour. He started out in the middle, and before I knew it, he had moved in on my pillow space. I can confirm that he is an excellent snuggle buddy!

The North Carolina air agreed with this cutie:

Once he discovered the pumpkins, the front steps became his favorite place to hang out:

Pumpkin love:

Aunt Leigh love:

Aunt Leigh got some Ergo experience:

One of the many reasons that I can see why Leigh and J.J. love NC:

Isn't their house adorable?

We woke up one morning to the sound of a 5K race right outside of their house, so we had a watch party:

More pumpkin love:

Supporting the Sooners in preparation of the OU/Texas game:

Aunt Leigh AND a pumpkin! What could be better?

One evening, we carved pumpkins. I didn't get the memo that we were going with a certain theme, so my pumpkin was sent to its own side of the porch:

Uncle J.J. introduced Batman to a big-boy Batmobile:

We walked around Old Salem with Leigh in her imaginary Ergo:

On our last night, we stayed in Charlotte. Leigh and our little dude had bedtime reading together:

One last shot before Aunt Leigh headed back to work:

Hanging with dad in the hotel room:

One of my favorite shots of the trip! Waking up from nap time:

Our first return flight. If our kiddo looks a little wild-eyed, that would be because we sat on the tarmac for more than an hour. Being "overtired" is real, people. We have proof!

Gearing up for the last flight by watching Thomas the Train on a portable DVD player (thank you, Taylor and David!). He'd never seen the show or a DVD player, so he was quite entertained until he fell asleep:

All in all, it was an amazing time with the Peeks! They were the most generous hosts - we ate well, played well and slept well. We had high expectations for Levi on an airplane, and our little wonder exceeded them all. He is a born traveler!

Thanks, Leigh and J.J.! We are already counting down the days until we get to see you both again.

Celebrating the Drs. Peek!

Today, I celebrate one of my favorite people! Over the last 27 years, we have played Barbies together, shared some bad haircuts together, learned how to do back flips on the trampoline together, sang duets in church together, sang duets in the bathroom mirror together, invented and played the "mine" game together, learned pig latin together, raised countless kittens together, traveled Europe together, and on and on. We've shared a lot of life together!

Feliz cumpleanos to my sister!

As it happens, J.J.'s birthday was during their honeymoon, and I failed to give him a proper birthday shout-out. I've already given myself a resounding "boooooooooooo" for that. So, in the spirit of birthday love, here's hoping that belated is better than never!

Feliz cumpleanos to my sister AND my BIL!

Leigh's Wedding

On September 3, our family had a fun, momentous, sentimental, special, beautiful event in that my sister got married! She and I are not too far apart in age, but it still seemed surreal that my little sister was old enough to be embarking on this new season of life.

Both she and her husband live in North Carolina, but since they are both from Oklahoma, they held the wedding here at one of the state's neatest venues, The Harn Homestead.

I know every bride is beautiful, and I know she's my sister, but I have to say, Leigh was stunning that day. She had this ethereal glow about her, in part due to her gorgeous dress/hair/veil/make-up and in large part due to the fact that she was marrying the love of her life. When she came down that aisle, she took MY breath away! There is just something so sweet about watching your little sister get married.

She and J.J. are perfect for each other, and I'm excited to have gained a second brother (the first being Gib's brother).

The weekend festivities began with the rehearsal and dinner, where J.J. revealed their honeymoon destination to his bride via a little game. She opened photos and had to guess where they were taken and then put them in order of their honeymoon itinerary. His thoughtfulness in planning the honeymoon and the big reveal was so sweet, and Leigh was too cute when she realized what was ahead of her. She correctly guessed Athens, a Mediterranean cruise and the grand finale of Santorini.

On the wedding day itself, I was amazed at how calm, yet excited, my sister was. No nerves, no stress, just happiness. The guys looked dapper in their suspenders and bow ties, and even Levi had a mini-version of their outfits. It was a somewhat last-minute decision to have Levi pulled down the aisle in a wagon, and oh my goodness was it adorable!

Unfortunately, I didn't take many pictures of my own that day, but you can see their photo slideshow (photos by Sarah at HolliB Photography) here! Congratulations, Leigh and J.J.!