Pumpkin Carving and Halloween!

This is a two part posts - the first of our pumpkin carving a few weeks back.  It was the first time Micah's been able to fully participate in the process, and it was definitely a fun Daddy-son moment!  Christian had printed off 2-3 options, and Micah chose Mickey, of course :)

I love his interest here...

and his face here, trying to process what's coming out of the pumpkin :)

Our little clean freak was not too sure of the pumpkin guts!

I love his face here - purely in awe in looking at the full face! 

Even Reid was able to get in on the fun!

Mickey!!

Halloween came on our week of sick - and to top it off, it was a dreary, rainy day.  I honestly didn't think that we were going to be able to go out at all, but around 5pm, the rain let up for a little bit and thankfully Grandpa was willing to take Micah out.  We hurried through dinner, got dressed and decided to just go around our neighborhood.  Unfortunately by the time we went out it was raining again, but that didn't phase the pair.  They were excited to go out, and I was grateful!

Micah, the chef!

Happy Grandpa and grandson.

Poor Reidees that night.  He did not make it out :(

Micah (with Reid and Grandma) checking out his candy stash!

Skittles!

Grandpa and Micah - looking at Daddy on the phone as we were face timing so he could be a part of the experience as well!

I love the below pictures, Grandpa trying to explain something to Christian while Micah is engrossed with his candy.

Reid just loved dumping the candy on the ground :)

An out of the ordinary Halloween experience, but a memorable one nonetheless.  Thanks again Grandpa for your willingness to take Micah trick-or-treating!  No doubt he loved it!!

Sickies :(

It was a rough week and a half in the Lauffer household!!  Thankfully we are, pretty much, over it now...but it was very touch and go there for awhile.

Micah came down with the sickness first.  As you can see from the first picture, poor little guy was miserable.  He started off with crazy coughing, then went in to his nose running and his eyes having puss coming out of them:(  Gross, I know.  Turns out he had pink eye in addition to the other crazy cold that was going on.  That was two weeks ago Monday.  Tuesday night Reid started coughing and had the runny nose, and my throat was starting to feel sore.  That's when I texted Christian (who was in London, England!) and said "I can't make it.  I need your parents."  It was more out of desperation than anything, but thankfully Christian took me seriously, and even more thankfully, Christian's parents were able to drop what they were doing and come out and help me for a couple of days even though they live outside of Detroit.

We woke up Wednesday morning, eagerly anticipating Grandma and Grandpa's arrival, and Reid was down for the count.  Turns out he came down with croup in addition to his runny nose, and he was in sad condition.  He laid on me from about 10:30am - 7pm that evening...with maybe only 30 minutes of a break while trying to eat something.  He lasted in his crib for a couple hours before being pulled in to my bed for the remainder of the night.  Combine that with the fact that I'm not feeling well either at this point, and I am SO grateful for Grandma and Grandpa's help.  I seriously don't think I would have survived!

Sick baby boy and a sick Momma.

Where we spend much of the day.

The next day, more of the same.

Me and my two boys.  Life of a momma :)

We are somehow surviving, and as if we weren't dealing with enough, poor Micah broke out in hives Thursday.  And again on Friday. And Saturday, Sunday and Monday.  Below is a pic from one of those break-outs.  I felt so bad for him!  It's so tough seeing your kiddo miserably uncomfortable and not be able to help him or stop it from coming again.  He was MISERABLE.  A trip to the doctor's office the following Monday and it was predicted it was a viral reaction to the crazy cold Micah had, so a prescription of Zyrtec for two weeks after the last hive and we'll see what happens.

Not a great picture of Reid, but you can see the redness under his eyes.  Because he, too, came down with the dreaded pink eye.

Micah with Zrytec in hand, starting to feel a little better.  You can see the redness on his face, which was from constant nose wiping in addition to constant nose blowing!  'Tis the season, right?  Except it seems to be starting a bit early...

Here we are, two weeks later, and both boys are finally on the mend!  Their coughs are still there, but the nose running is slight, pink eye is gone, hives are seemed to be kept at bay, and we are making progress.  Hopefully we'll stay well for awhile before a winter bug hits us again!

Tree Climber

These picture are a bit dated, but actually go along with the theme I've had with Micah the past two posts...

A month or so ago we met my friend Betsy and her kiddos at a park and Micah decided to climb a tree that was there.  I was super impressed with how high he got up with no help from me, and only a little help in order to get down without falling.

After the tree climbing the kiddos decided to walk around the park holding hands for a little bit - so, so cute ;)

Big Boy!

Last post I mentioned about Micah's new found ability to conquer new situations without fear.  This particular situation actually scared his Momma quite a bit :)  The video doesn't do it justice, but there were about 40 elementary kids at this park and Micah just joined in like he was in 2nd grade and not a mere 3 years old.  Mama Bear had to step in the time he did fall and the kids didn't stop for him, but he got back up and went back at it after.  Proud (albeit a bit scared) of my big boy :)

Pumpkin Patch

A couple of weeks back we went to a pumpkin patch with some of our small group, and despite the blistery, chilly day that brought in rain and cut our time short, we had a good time.

Reid was loving the wagon!

Love this sweet picture of Micah pulling Reid.  

Hard to grasp how tall this slide it, but it was TALL!  And Micah went up it like a pro with all the big kids.  He's really conquered his timidity with new intimidating situations, and it's fun to see!

Love this smile!!

This maybe gives a little clearer picture of the slide's height...

After the pumpkin patch, we headed over to the Koss' house for some yummy black bean soup and fellowship before making it home for bed.

Brown Bear, Brown Bear

This video doesn't quite capture it all, but Reid has an obsession with Brown Bear right now, and Micah was reading the entire book to him.  So, so sweet!

Sweet moments

The moments are rare, as Reid is way too active to sit and watch anything, but I caught both boys sitting still and smiling at something on the tv and it made me smile.  Love my boys.