Gentlemen, Start Your Engines!

What do you do when it's too cold to play outside, but your three-year-old is going stir crazy?

An indoor race track (thanks Pinterest!)

It was a pretty smooth course except for one little bump in the road

We left the course up for a few days and it was lots of fun!

Castasaurus Rex

On Monday we got the official word - Asher needed a cast on his leg.  The cast wasn't to help the bone heal (baby bones are cool enough to do that on their own, especially since he's non-weight bearing), but it was to protect his leg from further injury.  Monday afternoon JZ, Asher, and I headed down to The Children's Hospital to get a teeny-tiny cast on his leg.

Dude had no idea what was coming.

We had to wait awhile, so Ashy cruised up and down the hallway

Doesn't he look like a guy with a broken leg?!?

We thought for sure that he would go nutso while they put the cast on.  Our appointment was at 1:30  (nap time), they were late, and his leg was being wrapped in fiber glass.  Sounds like a recipe for disaster, right?!?

Wrong!

Dude giggled through the whole thing.  I gave him his pacifier because I assumed he would need it.  Nope!  He just laughed behind it.

Seriously, who else would be this cute and sweet while getting a cast?  Not me!

Earlier that morning, Caden and I had been looking at pictures of casts on the Internet so I could explain what was going to happen to Bash.  Caden noticed that the casts were different colors and asked if Ashy could have a green one.  Sure, I'm sure Ash loves green too!

So, now we're home with our Castasaurus Rex.  His little cast goes from his toes all the way over his knee.  He's absolutely amazing and is adapting so well!  He's still crawling at lightning speed and is figuring out how to pull up onto his knee and feet too.  In fact, he pulled up onto his feet in his crib for the first time while casted.  It must feel secure for him, because if we stand him up he will start to jump.  He hasn't done that since the accident!

And he's still smiling as much as he ever was!

Only two weeks, buddy.  Then you'll be chasing that big brother of yours even faster than you are now!

Ski Bum

It was almost exactly a year ago that we took Caden skiing for the first time. We had such a great time and decided to try again! We went up to Breckenridge for a few days with Papa and GaGa.  We arrived Wednesday around dinner time and then tried to smoosh as many fun things as we could into one day.  We started out by taking CP over to the magic carpet so he could really feel what skiing is like.

It was a beautiful day in Breck!

Caden got all his gear on...

...and then we headed over to the slopes with the world's teeniest-tiniest skis

He headed up the magic carpet...

...and then headed down the hill like a super champ!

Back up the magic carpet (and a high five for the operator!)

and then down again!

Over and over and over...

For an hour.  

Than his goggles were bothering him, he couldn't get his skis turned the right way, he wanted a snack...

So we quit!

But we were able to get one more of our ski bum before we left!

We think he's just about ready for a 1/2 day lesson.  Mark my words, this kid is going to be racing his daddy down the hill before we know it!

Mommy's Sickie Car

It was a sad day for me.  My car had to be towed into the shop for a fixin'

But, it was an AWESOME day for CP...

Who insisted on sitting outside in the freezing cold air and then came inside and played tow truck with his own toys!

I guess this is what they mean when they say "One man's junk is another man's treasure."

P.S. My car was fine and we were able to get it back a couple of days later

Peace Out, 2012

As I look back on 2012, the year was filled with some amazing highs and lows and a lot of deep contrasts.  

We went through a stressful few months after JZ was laid off, but then celebrated the brand new adventure he began in December.  

Of course our highest high was welcoming sweet Asher Basher into our family in March

He has blessed our family more than we could have ever anticipated.

And then just after Christmas we lost my sweet Grandma.  She was a lovely lady who adored my boys and enjoyed watching them grow - even if it was long distance. I am even more grateful than I was before of the wonderful visit we had with her in October and for these pictures.  

I can't say enough good things about my grandma.  We were not able to go to the service that was held in her honor, so I wrote something for the pastor to read.  

My grandma was a sweet, kind, generous spirit with some witty one liners and a serious sweet tooth!  Caden was almost 2 when she introduced him to one of his favorite treats, Vanilla Wafers, which he has affectionately named “Mimi cookies.”  Caden says, “I like Mimi.  She gives me cookies.  Loooots of cookies!”  

When I finally got up the courage to explain to Caden (now 3 1/2) that Mimi had gone to Heaven to play with Jesus, he said, “In an airplane?”

“No.  I guess she kind of flew.”

“Like a superhero?”

“Sort of.”

“Maybe they have garbage trucks and recycle trucks there.  Maybe she’s playing trucks with Jesus.”

Although we already miss her terribly, we are so grateful that her pain is over.  We can only hope that she is eating lots of cous cous and Mexican pizzas, dancing with Grandpa again, and playing trucks with Jesus.  We will always have a heart full of memories and a pantry full of “Mimi cookies” to remember her by.  We love you, Mimi!

So, after a bummer end to 2012, we decided we needed to ring in 2013 with a little fun!  So, we put on our Spiderman underoos...

I'm totally saving this picture for his High School yearbook!

..and headed down the the Children's Museum for "Noon Year's Eve."  It was our first and last trip to Noon Year's Eve.  It. Was. CRAZY!!  There were so many people there that we couldn't even play with Caden's favorite toys!  Luckily, we had left Bashy at home with GaGa. There's no WAY I could have gotten a stroller through there!  

Every hour they had a countdown to a ball drop outside.  That part was awesome!

Did I mention it was RIDICULOUSLY cold?  Doesn't Caden look miserable?  He was...until the ball drop!

They counted down from 10 as the ball was lowered.  

Then they shot off confetti and the kids all jumped on a big piece of bubble wrap they had laid out to simulate fireworks

That made him forget the cold and lack of playing in the grocery store and we got a smile out of him

After that we decided to abandon the Children's Museum and we went to lunch at Gunther Toody's instead.

That evening the boys went to bed at their regular time, and JZ and I were asleep by 10!  Ha ha, welcome to New Year's as a parent!  

The next day we (sadly) took down our Christmas decorations.   That made CP REALLY sad, but he got over it when he realized he could help.

So that's how we ended 2012 and brought in 2013.  I've heard a lot of people say that they'd like to just forget about 2012, but luckily for us 2012 had at least one redeeming quality for us to remember.

Peace out, 2012!  Bring it on 2013!