Emerson Ear Update

Well, we just took Emerson to see his ear doctor this morning and found out that both of his tubes have fallen out already. The doctor said that both ears are still filled with fluid causing an infection. He gave us a prescription for an antibiotic to see if it clears up his infection, but since he is allergic to penicillins and cephalosporins (2 of the big 3), he thinks we need to have tubes put into Emerson's ears again. He also thinks his adenoids should be taken out at the same time to try and stop him from getting so many infections. The adenoid removal will add approximately 10 minutes onto the surgery, so that won’t be so bad, but he’ll be in a lot more pain than if the surgery was just for inserting the tubes. He will have to be on a narcotic pain reliever for a few days. We see the doctor again in three weeks to further discuss all this and see if the infection has cleared up, but we are pretty sure we will proceed with the surgery at that point. Emerson is quite the trooper!

Rob's Birthday

Rob's birthday was the last of the month long celebration of numerous birthdays. His birthday is New Year's Day. We went over to Mom and Dad's house to open presents for Rob around 5:00 and then proceeded to Murphy's for birthday dinner. Mom made a delicious cake and brought that to the restaurant as well. The menu is always spectacular and we went home feeling like we'd eaten enough for three weeks worth of meals. It was awesome!


Emerson ate the most gourmet burger and fries that I had ever seen and he enjoyed it immensely as you can tell from the expression on his face and the way he's stuffing it into his very full mouth.

Brent and Dad's Birthday

Brent and his dad share a birthday on New Year's Eve. I had a deadline at work so I had to work all day, but Brent only worked until lunch. He went home and took a nap! Well, the power went out at work and I think some people in my office learned some new obsenities from me. I was quite upset with losing so much and being under pressure of a deadline. Anyway, I left work at 4:30 because with the power out there was nothing I could do. Brent and Emerson picked me up and Emerson was in such a good mood that I had to take a picture of him in the car.

After the boys picked me up, we drove to Brent's parents for some presents and some good eats. Brent got lots of great loot. He received an ipod radio dock, a portable generator for BSU tailgates, soccer supplies and an itunes gift card. All in all, he made out quite well.

We got calls from both Tanzia and Dierdre in Australia while we were opening presents and eating escargot. It was so nice to talk to family so far away on such a special day. We put them on speaker phone so we could all chime in. Even Emerson had a few things to say.

Well, Emerson was in a great mood all night so I had to take another picture of him laughing in his high chair. How cute is the little man?!

Here is a picture of our empty escargot trays. I didn't think to take a picture until they were all eaten. Oh well.

Here is mom in the kitchen fixing a most fabulous feast.

Emerson and Spike got into some fetch in the hallway. Spike is starting to really love Emerson now that he can play with him. When Emerson was a baby, Spike avoided him altogether.

I told Rob to take a nice picture and this is what I got... nice tongue Rob...

Dad is cutting up our roast for dinner. Yummy.

The happy family at dinner.

Don't Mom and Dad look so cute together?! I LOVE this picture!

Well, we had a fantastic dinner and red velvet cake a la Mom then went home and were asleep before the big ball even started dropping. I guess that's what happens when you have a crazy rambunctious two year old. There's always next year...

Deborah and Orlando visit Boise

Last winter we went to San Francisco to spread Nana's ashes and were able to see Deborah and Orlando. This year, they made the long journey to Boise to see us! Here are some pictures from thier visit.

Emerson building towers of legos


The Weiss family at Mom and Dad's house for dinner

Brent, Emerson, and Orlando enjoying Chili on a cold, cold night

Deborah and Orlando hamming it up for the camera

Jason being very enthusiastic about his most fabulous chili. Don't worry, he always looks like that...

We had a great time while they were here. They got to do lots of skiing and we ate lots of great food. They even got to see our tiny house in the north end.

Gymnastics

On Saturdays, Emerson attends gymnastics at Wings where his Auntie Charlotte is his teacher. He has a great time and releases a much needed amount of energy. He loves the trampoline and doing forward rolls, otherwise known as somersaults. Here are some pictures of him getting some help from his daddy. He was so busy concentrating that he never even looked at the camera and that boy is usually quite the ham!

This particular Saturday, we experienced snow, snow, then some more snow. I think Brent was shoveling constantly. Here is a picture from out our front door and then a picture looking at our house.

Christmas

Ok, so this post will be mostly pictures, but here's how Christmas went for us. We had a great time and received way too many generous presents.

Here is our Christmas tree. We thoroughly enjoyed it and Emerson had so much fun this year looking at all the decorations and picked out his very own new Sponge Bob tree ornament.

We all went to the Weiss' house for dinner on Christmas Eve. Brent and I both worked until lunch time, then took the afternoon off to run errands and get ready for dinner. I made a chocolate torte that went over very well and I had to sneak the leftovers out of the house!!!

Here is Brent taking something Dad is saying with a bit of scepticism and Mom and Dana laughing about something.

Bill, Emerson and Kaia are watching "Cars" of course.

Alex decided to partake in the "Cars" action.

On Christmas day, Emerson woke us up at his usual time of 6:15 and even though we were all a bit blurry eyed, we opened presents together. Emerson received a tricycle, Diego action figures, a Boise State Football Mr. Potato Head and lots of clothes. I gave Brent a new wetsuit for waterskiiing in the summer, but he won't let me post the picture of him after he tried it on.

After we had our own little Christmas at home in the morning, we went over to my parents' house for our annual traditional brunch. The egg sausage soufflé was to die for and we opened even more presents. Emerson got a Lightning McQueen laptop from his grandma and grandpa that he loves! He isn't quite old enough to use it fully yet, but he loves the sound effects anyway. One of the wheels is the mouse!!!

After brunch, we went to Brent's parents house and opened even more presents and had dinner. Emerson got some oh so cute Lightning McQueen pajamas (find the theme yet?) from his granny and oupa that he can't live without.

Since Christmas was on a Thursday, Brent and I took Friday off and the three of us and Spike just goofed off all day, as you can tell from the pictures below...

Well that is our Christmas in pictures. I hope everyone else had a wonderful holiday as well!!!

Late Updates...

Ok, so I haven't updated in a while so I'll be posting a few things here and there for your viewing and reading pleasure. December 21st was my (Elizabeth's) birthday. I wrote about the lovely brunch we had in a previous post, but what you didn't know is that I received a fancy schmancy digital camera from Brent's parents for my birthday. It is my very first personal digital camera all to myself. I was so excited to open it and start using it right away. Well, I most certainly did so here are some pictures from my birthday brunch. As you can plainly see, I need more practice in the art of photography.

Later that night, Brent made me dinner and we had a lovely fire. Here are some pictures of Emerson learning how to use the Blackberry from his daddy after dinner and our fire. Please excuse the very messy house.

School Pictures

A photographer comes to Emerson's preschool once a year to take pictures. This was the first year they turned out, so we bought the entire package of pictures and the digital prints as well. Enjoy!

Birthday

Well, yesterday was my (Elizabeth's) birthday. We woke up to snow on the ground and more snow falling. Then we went and had brunch at Brent's parents' house. It was wonderful! We had lasagna, salad, bread, ham, and potato casserole. It was all so good and I'm afraid that I ate too much. After brunch, we went home and took a very long nap since Emerson had been up since 2 am. He didn't pick the best day to be a pill, but oh well. Such is life with a 2 year old. When we all woke up from our nap, Brent went to the store and bought some t-bone steak, ceasar salad, and bread. He made me a most fabulous dinner. Even though Emerson had made it a tiresome day, we ate very well and that made it all worth it.

Thank you so much for everyone calling, emailing, and texting to wish me a happy birthday. It meant so me!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!