Eric Bus Arbon

November 7, 2014 at 2:55 PM

Our precious little Eric arrived, safe and sound.

8 pounds 8 ounces, 21.5 inches long

It's Happy Halloween Time

The title of this post is a reference to a really amazing song that Mason made up on the fly to send in a video to his Uncle Ryan, who is still living in Texas and missing his nieces and nephews. "It's Happy Halloween time. Boo. Boo! Pumpkins all around!." Nothing better.

Mason had been planning all year on being Iron Man for Halloween again. Just a week or two before the big day we found a Wolverine costume at Target and he immediately changed his mind. Brielle also changed her mind and decided to get an Elsa costume, but the she opted to stick with the Rapunzel costume that she has been wearing every day for the last month or so. Ava didn't get to choose. They all looked perfectly adorable.

I spent the morning making Halloween cookies and doing other Halloween related things with the most well-behaved, excited beyond belief children. Then we went to Tim's parents house for Halloween bread bowls and went trick or treating in their neighborhood. Their cousin, Beau, joined us, and it was so much fun watching them RUN from house to house. They couldn't contain the happiness, it was just spilling out everywhere all day. It was probably one of the best days I've ever had. Tim and I just kept saying to each other, "Isn't this the best? This is the best."

Diseased

A few days after we got home from Bear Lake, our little nephew, Friedrich, got chicken pox from the vaccine he had a couple weeks before. It is very rare for this to happen, and we were feeling pretty bad for the little guy. While we were on our trip, Mason's throat glands were swollen like little golf balls, but he didn't complain about a sore throat and didn't have a fever, so we didn't worry too much. (I didn't worry too much, Tim thought he might suffocate in his sleep.) Then about a week after we got back, he broke out in a little rash, too.

I figured he caught chicken pox from Friedrich. Then Brielle spiked a fever. Then I started thinking it was very strange that three kids would get a disease that they had all been immunized against. So I googled! Possibly chicken pox - probably hand, foot and mouth disease. Turns out they are very similar and neither can really be treated, so no need to get a doctor involved.

When Ava caught it, I got a little concerned. She got sores all over her body, not just in her mouth and a couple on her hands like the other two kids. She was inconsolable one minute and happy to run and play the next, like kids often are when they're sick. She didn't want to walk much and was obviously itchy and uncomfortable. She kept pointing at her spots and saying, "bug!" Since our neighbor is our pediatric physicians assistant, I ran her down there and it turns out the internet knows a thing or two about diseases. Definitely hand, foot and mouth... and that's what Friedrich must have had, too.

Once Ava started to feel a little better, Tim got a terrible sore throat and a fever and was down for a couple of days. As soon as the sores in his throat healed, they turned up all over his hands and feet. The doctor told me that it is actually a lot more painful than itchy and evidently that was the truth. Tim was on the couch for three days and said it felt like someone just shaved all the skin off his hands and feet. He couldn't even lift the lid of the toilet without severe pain in his fingertips. Otherwise he felt fine, and I thought he was going to go crazy being out of commission for almost a week.

I also thought I was going to go crazy. It is one thing to have your husband home sick and be the caretaker - I've never minded it. It is a whole other thing to be completely home-bound because the kids are still contagious. I had two awesome friends (Karalee Kidd and Nicole Watkins) bring me treats out of pity, without even hearing me complain! It was so sweet that they realized that its kind of hard taking care of a whole house of sick people while you're pregnant.

Now that Tim's sores have healed the skin is all peeling off to reveal nice, pink, baby fresh skin underneath. Meaning, his hands and feet are sore and sensitive again. It has been terrible for him and for Ava. Not being able to do anything to make it better for them is the worst. And here are some wonderful pictures to walk you through the horror.

 

Preschool 2014

Mason and Brielle both started preschool the first week of September. Technically, Mason is in a home-school kindergarten and Brielle is in a joy school. But they're both preschool around our house. I was pretty worried that I wouldn't be able to find anything for Brielle, because I wanted to do mornings and everything was full. Luckily, my mom hooked me up with some of the girls in her ward and we put a group together last minute.

They both love it. It has been really good for Mason to have more structure to his day. He is all-around calmer and happier when there is a schedule. It has been really good for Brielle, too. We were so worried that Mason wouldn't want to go in on his first day last year, and it wasn't even an issue. Same with Bri. I taught the class her first day, and it went smoothly, all the kids had fun, and Brielle was in heaven. Then when she had to go to someone else's house a couple of weeks later (she missed one week because of hand, foot and mouth disease, that story is coming) she ran right up to the door and wouldn't even turn around to say good-bye.

Mason still gives me lots of loves and an "I love you, Mom! Good-bye, Mom!" before he goes in. It's one of my favorite things. Brielle runs in without a second thought, takes her shoes off, and gets down to business. While they are gone, I have a little more one-on-one time with Ava, which I love, but she also spends a good chunk of the morning in the car, which is she does not love. 

Last week we got home from a ward party just before bedtime and while Mason was taking off his shoes he pulled this off on me...

"Um, Mommy, I got in trouble at school today." Said with a shy, kind of half-smile.

"Oh, buddy, what happened?"

"I don't want to say."

"It's OK, just tell me."

Pause

"Well, I pooped on the floor."

"What?! Why would you do that? What even made you think to do that?"

"I don't know."

"Mason, why would you poop on the floor?!"

"JUST KIDDING!"

Dude. Kid is five. We are in for it if he is already setting up his jokes like this.

Bear Lake 2014

I think the last time Tim and I spent more than one night with our kids somewhere other than our own house was when Mason was 10 months old? Maybe we did two nights at Bear Lake a couple of years ago. Either way, we are kind of still rookies at the whole vacationing with children thing. One night has always seemed like enough. More than enough.

So we planned a four day getaway to Bear Lake with my family, and then realized that four days means three nights. 

We weren't super optimistic about the sleeping part. We almost went up late to avoid one extra night. I'm glad we didn't. The kids were wonderful and adjusted really well to the different sleeping arrangements. Missed naps weren't the end of the world that they sometimes are. Everyone got along, and it was so nice to spend a few days away from home with the people that I love.

We tried out North Beach at the suggestion of some friends and it made all the difference, too. There was so much wet sand for the kids to build with and shallow, warm water to play and swim in. It was a seriously dreamy 70 degrees of sunshine. The beaches were all but abandoned because everyone else had to be back in school already. I don't think we could have asked for a better little trip to end the summer.

We started out with a hike/tour through the Minnetonka Cave. I dislike caves. I watched a documentary about spelunkers with my dad when I was a kid and watching those crazy explorers crawl through tiny caverns opened a whole new world of fear for me. It was a very cool cave and I'm glad I did it, but I think it was probably my last. Mason was a total trooper and took all 888 steps like a champ. Brielle got carried the entire way and complained that it was too cold. You win some, you lose some.

Then an afternoon at the beach, followed by another afternoon at the beach the next day. We rented a boat and everyone (except Ava and Friedrich, of course) got to go tubing. Mason went several times and laughed and laughed. Ava slept on the boat for nearly two hours. Brielle went once, kept a straight face the whole time, bawled after getting dumped in the water, and declared it her favorite part of the trip.