2 nights, 2 sick kids

Both of my boys are sick with colds. Almost everyone I know has a sick kid right now. Has anyone gone to the doctor? Do I need to take my kids in? About how long is this thing lasting for everyone?
Here are the stories of the last two nights if you want to know all of the boring details of our lives:
E-
Night before last Evan was up most of the night with a bad cold. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't sleep and he was just miserable. He would settle down if I would hold him and as soon as I laid him down to rest he would scream. I settled down on the couch with him on my belly and that only lasted a little while. He wouldn't nurse so I resigned to letting him cry, even though he was sick because everything I tried hadn't worked. Well, by that time it had been quite a while and he fell asleep rather quickly. I stayed on the couch until he woke up 2 hours later at 2am. I nursed him then and he slept until colin got up at 5:45. He went to the babysitters and was cranky until after his morning nap (2.5 hours!). Last night I gave the boys a bath and gave E some cold medicine and Tylenol, wrapped him up and put him to bed. He slept 12 hours! The longest he has ever slept in his life.
Ry-
Ryan went to bed just fine last night so it was an easy bedtime for both boys. At about 1:30am however, Ryan woke up and said, "Mommy, I think I'm sick like Evan." I mumbled to Colin that there was cold medicine on the counter. He didn't hear me so I got up and gave Ry a dose, I think. I made him a little bed on our floor because he had crawled in with Daddy. He slept there all night and kept waking up coughing and congested.
I decided we would skip preschool today, glad I was off track (today is day #1 off) and did not have to worry about sub-plans or any of that mess. I am trying to get the boys to drink as much as possible. Ryan is congested but seems otherwise pretty well. Evan is fussy and clingy but he's always that way when I'm home. My big hope is that everyone is better by the end of the week. We've got places to be and people to see if you know what I mean... small people who can get sick easily.

I think I'd like to organize a big playdate with those who are interested. Let me know if you have any suggestions for a good place to take small children in the dead of winter.

Below are some pictures from this past weekend.


This picture is for you, Audra. What is it with kids and the vacuum?

I do most of the bathing of the boys. Whenever Colin helps out, he thinks they are so cute and usually requests a photo. I don't post many because of the"graphic" nature. But his one was decent I thought.

This, as you can see, is Evan trying to get the camera from me.
All weekend long I tried to get a picture of Evan standing up on his own. He's learned that new trick very recently and it is so cute. He gets kind of nervous though when he realizes that there isn't anything supporting him and he'll fall down on his bum.

So here is Evan playing in the dishwasher. Ryan used to do that too.

Their Latest

Boys were messing around in the laundry basket the other day and I got this nice shot.

Ryan has been up to lots of fun things lately. His latest thing is that he's learned how to dress himself. He prefers certain shirts and pants to others, I guess we all do. I've had to do some mid-week laundry of the Spider-Man shirt and pants as well as the new "scotty-dog" shirt Colin brought back from Pittsburgh.

My big Christmas gift this year was an illustrated family edition of the Book of Mormon, Old Testament, and New Testament. I started reading it to Ryan one night not knowing how he would like it. He loves it! I tell him all about the pictures and he even listens to the verses really well. He likes to know who the good guys and bad guys are and thinks its just like any other story.

Evan, on the other hand, has been a bit fussy lately. Maybe because he's getting some new teeth. He's still lots of fun though and usually pretty happy, especially when he's eating. This kid could eat all day long! Some days it feels like that's all he does. He is certainly getting more of a personality. Laughing at the funny things his brother does, and even throwing little baby tantrums.

He had his 9 month appointment the other day. He's about 90th for height, 75th for weight (21 pounds), and his head has grown and is now like 75th percentile as well.

Here I am trying to get a picture of his two little teeth. It looks like I'm choking him in the last picture but don't worry, I'm not. He did not want me touching his teeth.

kinda hard to see but here they are- two bottom teeth

North American Museum of Ancient Life

On January 1st, we took the boys to the Thanksgiving Point Dinosaur Museum.

"The Museum of Ancient Life has the distinction of being the world's largest display of mounted dinosaurs. Not only will you meet our fierce prehistoric friends at the museum, though, you'll also become a part of their world. While you're weaving through the exhibits, chirps of insects and growls of ancient creatures greet you in each hall. Exhibits like the Erosion Table and the Fossil Dig give you an opportunity be a part of the science of paleontology. Needless to say, this is not an ordinary museum. "

We had a really great time and Ryan was a riot to watch. From the moment we walked through the door he was excited to check out all of the dinosaur bones. The museum was very kid-friendly and we stopped at nearly every exhibit to check things out and really get the whole experience.

At the entrance to the museum posing with a dino skeleton.


Ryan taking a picture of me with his toy camera.
Then me taking my turn and taking a picture of the boys next to this leg bone.
Ryan inside of a little tunnel.
Colin decided Evan wanted to go through the tunnel too so he crawled in and pushed the stroller through.
Hey, cool, a picture of Mommy!

This was a neat feature that they had set up for kids. I thought I had a better picture of the whole thing, but anyway, it was a build-a-dino station where you could take different body parts and attach them to the frame of the body.
Colin helping Ryan with a fossil rubbing.
Evan at a puzzle station.
Colin and Evan taking a break while Ry plays with some dino toys.
Evan coming after mommy.
At this other station they had some dinosaur toys, and books. They also had some little dinosaur costumes that the kids could put on. Like I said, we got the full experience at the museum.


Ryan was really unsure of the erosion table. He wanted to play with the toy dinosaurs but he wasn't happy that they were all covered in sand. Then he realized that the other kids were playing in the sand. At that point he asked me for a "suit" and I helped him put on one of the little aprons provided so that he didn't get his clothes all muddy. Eventually he got into it a little better and was playing for quite a while. He would walk his dinosaur around the inside of the station and make laps around the whole thing. Kind of funny.


Ryan took his toy camera into the museum and I noticed he stopped to "take a picture" of T-Rex. So, I took one for him on my camera so he'd actually have a picture of the skeleton when we got home.
They have this huge shark head and it's quite the display. Ryan was excited to see it but he wasn't too sure about turning his back on him to take a picture.

Another kid-friendly station was the digging for fossils. The kids could take off their shoes and get some "tools" to "dig" for fossils. Ryan thought this was pretty neat too.
All-in-all it was a great trip to the dinosaur museum. Ryan had a blast and I think Colin and I actually learned a few things too. Evan was really good the whole time and he fell asleep on the way home.