12:45 pm - Flash Floods 04/28/09

For more photos of Houston area flooding check out Channel 2's slideshow.

Water flowing over the gully bridge - it didn't do this during Hurricane Ike!

Police barricaded the bridge off while I was outside taking photos. They also put a barricade up at the opposite street corner.

12:30 PM - Flash Floods 04/28/09

By 12:30 pm the water had already begun to recede - see below for pics from only 1 hour earlier.

street corner (Candlecreek and Candlebrook)

view of street/end of our driveway

view of street

a car stalled across the street

11:30 am - Flash Floods 4/28/09

For those of you not currently residing in the Houston area we were hit with flash floods overnight and today. I had been working in the kitchen and watching the ran pour in the backyard, and I had no idea that it was this bad out front. Mason and Ian were watching the rainfall out one of the front windows, and I went to see what they were seeing and I was shocked to see this! We were completely flooded in.

View from front porch of the end of the driveway

front yard

front yard

view from top of driveway

What is this mysterious rash?

I just got home from the pediatrician's office for the 2nd time this week. Even the lady at the check out desk was like, "We've been seeing a lot of you guys lately." My response, "We obviously just can't get enough of you people!" So yesterday afternoon Mason began complaining about a "boo-boo" on his foot that I couldn't see. I did notice that his knees were getting red but I thought it was from playing on the carpet. By the time I began getting him ready for his bath, he had broken out with blisters on his knees and hives all over his legs. The tops of his feet had raised red bumps and the soles of his feet were red and splotchy and he was complaining that it itched. I immediately called the doctor's office to speak to the nurse on call. I was concerned because his prescription information warns, "CONTACT YOUR DOCTOR IMMEDIATELY if you experience skin rash or blisters . . ." It goes on to discuss a potentially serious "even fatal" peeling skin rash. Needless to say, I was sorta freaking out. He wasn't running fever, and he was behaving completely normal aside from the itching. The nurse advised me to give him some benedryl every four hours throughout the night, and to call back in the morning if it wasn't any better.

This morning the hives were gone but he still had the blisters on his knees and feet and a few other spots had popped up. He still wasn't running fever but just to be safe, I called back and they wanted to see him. Mason, of course, was freaking out when he realized that we were going back to the doctor's office, but he held it together pretty well. That is until Dr. Schaffer decided he wanted to go ahead and check his ears too since we were already there! Yeah! Anyway, Dr. Schaffer checked out his legs, and then advised that he wanted his partner to check it out too. I'm thinking, "what's going on with my child." But I'm maintaining my composure because this isn't the first mysterious rash Mason has had and the doc had already ruled out a drug reaction. After seeing both docs and reviewing his recent medical history, the fact that he's had upper respiratory issues for the past month, he was diagnosed with a post viral rash. I was sent home with a steroid cream and told to continue administering benedryl as needed for the itchiness. Hopefully, we'll be on the mend in no time.

We met Drew for lunch, which is always fun, and now both boys are napping. Well, Ian is napping, and Mason is playing in his bed. (He had his power nap in the car). Of course!

Round 2 of antibiotics

So I took the boys back in for their follow up appointment today to have their ears re-checked. Both boys still have ear infections. Ian, particularly, has a "large amount" of fluid built up. So we're trying a different antibiotic, and we go back to the doctor again in a couple of weeks. Yeah! I must admit that both seem to be in remarkable spirits now though.

Mason has been dreading going back to the doctor ever since I told him about the appointment. I was trying to prepare him for it, but he's been crying, "Don't want doctor to check ears. Mama check my ears!" I've been reassuring him that it will be okay. Well, he threw a fit the minute Dr. Schaffer walked into the room today, and cried the entire time he was being examined. I thought the poor kid was going to make himself puke he was crying so hard. After we were all done and he calmed down he (honest to God) said, "Not so bad." The kid cracks me up.

Ian is 9 months old

Our "Ian Bug" turned 9 months on April 5th. Can you believe it? He is an absolute delight, and the apple of his big brother's eye. He is on the move these days - usually trying to follow Mason throughout the house. He especially likes to follow Mason into the bathroom - I think he likes the cool tile floor. He loves to hear his own voice, and we've called it channeling his inner Fonzie because he'll just say, "Ey! Ey!" He's starting to pull up on stuff, and he will laugh hysterically when he can do it, but when he can't he gets so frustrated. The kiddo still doesn't have any teeth. He currently weighs 18 lbs. 3 oz. (25th percentile) and measured 29.5 inches (90th percentile). I expressed some concern about him being so thin, and the doctor stated that he has been consistently "slender" so he isn't overly concerned about it. He is still nursing, and I've began giving him one formula bottle a day. He also eats his solids three times a day with a snack (puffs) in the afternoon.

He and Mason have both been battling colds/allergies since early March. The week before his scheduled well baby appointment he developed a really nasty cough with wheezing so I called got him in early, and he was diagnosed with upper respiratory issues and I had to begin administering breathing treatments. The doc couldn't say for sure if it was allergy related or a virus because Mason also had a URI at this time and I had to give him a prescription antihistamine. Neither of them was doing much better the following week (in fact, Mason was worse) so I got the doc to examine Mason too at Ian's appointment. Both boys were diagnosed with ear infections, and prescribed different antibiotics. Plus, Mason had to begin breathing treatments. We're still on the antibiotics but they're both doing much better! They go back next week for a follow up.

Toothless smile

Taken at the Children's Museum

Easter 2009

We spent Easter weekend at home in Houston. The boys did participate in an egg hunt at church, and then Mason did some arts and crafts. They had a ton of fun, but we've had to hide the candy because Mason was behaving like a crazed candy addict. "I need candy!"

Happy Easter

Hunting for eggs

Let me see.

Bunny face

Bunny face - 30 seconds later

Potty Training

Mason is virtually potty trained - we rarely have an accident now. It's taken a few months, but he's been doing great. He's in cotton underwear most of the time now. I still put him in a pull up for nap and bedtime, but he wakes up from both dry most times. We took our first road trip a couple of weekends ago, and our driving time home increased by a full hour and a half but when he says he has to go we try to take him seriously. Many people have asked if he goes #2 on the potty, and he does. He gets a special treat (marshmellow or M&M) when he does, and he only gets special treats for #2. Notice in the pic below that while he's taking care of business he is also reading a Diesel magazine and eating a tortilla. Classic!

Taken with Drew's cell phone

Spring Time

I want to pet a pig, NOW!

After our last trip to the livestock show, Mason wanted to go back to pet more animals. He walked around saying, "I want to pet a pig. I want to pet a pig now!" He woke up talking about petting pigs on this day. We went back to the Livestock Show and Rodeo on this day with the intention of seeing Brooks and Dunn perform. We managed to make it through the 3 hours of rodeo, but that was all the boys could take. So Drew and I took them back to the Reliant Arena to ride the tractors, visit the petting zoo, and, of course, ride the ponies! Mom and Jordan stayed for the concert, and they said it was very good. We'll just take their word for it.

Children's Museum

Over Spring Break we decided to visit Children's Museum of Houston. My mother, Jordan, and her friend had come into town for a few days. We had a blast but it was so crowded. When Jordan was much younger we would go to the museum, and she always loved. It is SOOOO much nicer since they completely the expansion. Because it was so crowded we (the boys and I) spent most of our time there in the Tot Spot - Mason and Ian both could move about freely. Mason also immensely enjoyed Water Works.

Learning about pulleys

Will it float?

Tea time in the Tot Spot

Ian had a blast in the tot spot - crawling through a tunnel

Hello, handsome!

Livestock Show - March 7th

On March 7th Drew was working the Livestock Show so the boys and I decided to tag along. I had no idea we would be out there ALL day, but the boys were great. We only left Reliant Arena to go outside for Kids Country exhibits. Mason had a blast at the petting zoo, and seeing all the baby animals in the birthing center. I used to love going to all the shops, but a double stroller made that pretty difficult this year!

Trying to feed his egg to a cow

This was as close as he was getting

Ian was VERY good all day

We had to end the evening driving ALL the tractors on display