I decided to surprise Howie for his 54th Birthday. I snuck over to the office in the middle of the night and decorated. I felt bad that he had to work on his Birthday so at least we can elebrate a little as well.
I hid around the corner and waited for him to come into the office.
SURPRISE!!!!!
I had bought this HUGE singing ballooon and when he entered the office it began. Howie decided to dance along with it. He is a goofball. I love him to pieces :)
Wish he coud have gotten the day off but he has a VERY STRICT boss and she NEVER gives him a break! NOT EVEN FOR HIS SPECIAL DAY
Chocolate makes it ALL GOOD though. Anyone can work on their birthday as long as there is CHOCOLATE to snack on through the day. It was DELICIOUS!
I also needed to give him LOTS of KISSES for his B-day~ but it needed to be the CHOCOLATE ones in PUBLIC!
Our patients LOVED the fact that we were celebrating. Everytime a new appointment came in~ the balloon began to sing Happy Birthday. They shared his cake and goodies and they all wished him a happy day. It was a fun, kicked back, day at Miracle Ear. Who knows.....Maybe his next birthday he can have it OFF! No promises but.....MAYBE!
Well the time has FINALLY come to get the hardware in my foot removed. Howie was not there with me and I was so dang scared. It ended up not being a big deal at all. It was NOTHING compared to the pain of getting the stitches out.
My beautifully colored screws.....
They were much bigger than I expected them to be. WOW!!!
It's crazy that I took so many pictures of these screws. I think I was just a bit amazed that these things kept my "little piggies" in tact for weeks as I healed. They became a "PART" of me :)
It seemed like my feet were FINALLY feeling better and then they took these out. Now I went back to icing it and keeping it dry for ANOTHER week or so. FUN TIMES!!!!
I was also back to wrapping it up each day to keep everything all aligned properly.
Good news though....I graduated from my huge "BOOT" to this little shoe brace. It felt much more comfortable but it took a while to get used to it. I had much more support with the "BeAST" that went all the way up to my knee. It seemed like EVERYTIME I was around my grandkids, I would get hurt with this boot on. I can't wait till I am back to barefoot and sandals.
I do feel EXTREMELY fortunate to have had an AMAZING doctor. He did a great job and he was always so very nice to me. He would often fit me into his schedule whenever I was in town. No matter how busy he was.... he made time for me.
I think one of my favorite things to do in life is watch Howie interact with our grandkids. It brings so much joy to my life to know that they are blessed with an AMAZING Papa who loves and adores them all.
I often wake up to the sound of their giggles as he is playing with them. Many times I stop and just listen to his words of advice, his songs he sings to them, or the wonderful stories he tells them. He often has them in the kitchen cooking a surprise breakfast for either me or their mom. I have overheard them talking together out on the porch (when they do not know that I am listening in on their conversation) and it just about melts my heart. He is so sweet and kind to each one of them.
I feel so blessed to be married to such a special person. I never imagined that being a grandparent could be so wonderful. I truly feel that it is due to the fact that I get to share this joy with my sweet Howie. He is the best and I KNOW that our grandkids ADORE him. Thanks Howie for making this time in our lives so darn wonderful! I love you!
Here is just a sample of the fun times, that I am convinced, our grandkids will cherish FOREVER! Cute video of him playing on the swings with the girls. I should have videotaped a bit earlier because he had them both giggling so hard that I was concerned that they would not be able to hold onto the swings. I love waking up in the mornng to the sound of joy!
This is just an example of what I get to wake up to on a daily basis. LOVE IT!
Steve headed back to work and allowed me to stay in Utah. What a great man is!!! I had a fabulous time vising and helping out Ash and the boys. Time spent with them was AWESOME!
It gave me a chance to bond with my newest little grandson, as well as spend time with my boys, Jack and Luke.
I think I could sit and hold this little man ALL DAY LONG!
I spent time teaching him how to say my name....Grandma "T" I had all of my other grandkids trained to say my name within the first few weeks. LOL
It also gave me a chance to listen to my grandsons sing songs to me.
Here is Brayden Jack singing
"There's a Hero"
Luke singing "Twinkle Twinkle" AGAIN. That is the ONLY song I have EVER heard him sing. It must be his favorite!!!
We also had fun playing together. The boys REALLY liked playing with the balloons.
They kept them entertained for HOURS....
They loved climbing in the corner and having me PILE the balloons on top of them. We did this OVER and OVER and OVER and OVER. They did NOT get tired or bored of this game. They played so well together. They were on their BEST BEHAVIOR with their Grandma T.
They weren't too thrilled when it was time to clean up. They wanted the fun to last FOREVER!
Popping Balloons with their BUMS
One last video before Nate heads off to see the doctor. We are trying to get him to smile. Ususally young babies do not really smile until they are older but Nate has been the happiest baby EVER! He just about smiles on demand. So darling.
Well, I enjoyed my time at the Veenendaals home. Thanks for letting me crash your place. LOVED IT and LOVE you all!!!
Here is another funny story I would like to share before I start this post.
Steve was heading home from Montana to see our new grandbaby. It was EARLY Saturday morning so he thought that he would grab a bite to eat on the way. He grabbed a bag of bagels from off our kitchen counter and headed out to hit the road. REMINDER....it was still dark outside. As he was driving he reached over and grabbed a bagel to munch on. He thought it tasted a bit strange but continued to eat it anyway! A few hours later when the sun had come up he decided to eat another bagel. When he reached for it....THIS IS WHAT HE FOUND!!!! I can't believe he reached for ANOTHER one! Didn't he feel the FUZZZZZ in his mouth the FIRST go round????
YUCK!
When he showed me what he had eaten I was so grossed out. I am just glad he did not get sick from the darn thing. YMMMMY!
OK, back to the blog......
Howie was FINALLY able to come home to SLC to meet his newest little grandson!
Can't believe how much I miss this man! It was GREAT to have him here with the family.
It was fun watching Howie "check out" this little guy...
Awwwww......he found a new sleeping buddy!
Comfy cozy in his Papa's arms....
It is hard to tell in this picture but....Nate was smiling soooo big. As Howie snoozed with Nate, they both had a smile on their faces. It was adorable! Both were having sweeeet dreams I guess.
My turn to hold him while Papa heads upstairs to play with the boys
I had to go up and check out the fun the boys were having. I could hear the giggles and screams from all the way downstairs. Howie sure knows how to have fun with the boys. Here in this video he is giving them BRONCO rides.
Baby Nate does not want to miss out on the fun. Be gentle Papa Howie!!!
The girls came over for a visit and the BRONCO rides continued. Poor Howie! This went on for almost an hour. He is such a great sport. Fun memories for all of the grandkids. He's the BEST Papa EVER!!!!!
Life is GOOOOOD! I just sit around and snuggle with my new little angel while I watch Howie play with the kids. Can't get better than this! I love more than ANYTHING to hear the sound of laughter in our homes. Howie certainly knows how to create a FUN atmosphere around here. It doesn't matter how tired he is.....He has FUN with the kids.
Papa Howie took a break and the kids went upstairs to play for a while. Not long after they left, I heard SCREAMING coming from upstairs. Papa Howie was sitting next to me so I know that he was not the one RESPONSIBLE for their squeals......WHAT WAS GOING ON UPSTAIRS????
This video shows what I found when I got upstairs! Tyson was HILARIOUS! He had the kids bouncing off this bed so far that I was actually afraid they would flop off of it. The kids were giggling soooo hard. Between Howie and Tyson....these kids are TRULY entertained!!! FUN TIMES!
Tyson took a break.... but not for too long. This is what I found him doing with the kids a short time later.
He was upstairs building a SPECIAL fort out of the bunk beds. He has the best imagination EVER! He has a very creative mind and the kids LOVE it!!!
He built a very cool fort with dividers in it to create separate rooms. Very NEAT!!!
Alyssa hiding in the top section of the fort....
Boo Bear enjoying her time here with her cousins
Brayden settling down holding his little brother during family scripture time. I love to watch Brayden with Nate. He has such a tender side to him. He seems so proud to be his BIG brother.
We have enjoyed our time together as a family, celebrating the birth of this new sweet spirit. NOTHING is better than being a grandparent!
Before I continue with "Our visit to see Nate" I thought I would insert this funny little story about what happened yesterday as we frantically drove to the hospital to see Nate born.
I drove the boys over to the hospital to see their new brother. When we arrived I decided to put some "chap stick" on my dried out lips. You know how you slather it on up around the outside of your lip line where it is so sore and chapped.
WELL....I grabbed the "chapstick" and proceeded to smear this on HEAVILY! Awww it felt soooo good! Felt so good in fact, that I put on WAY more than I usually do.Then I got out of the car and headed into the hospital with the boys. For some unknown reason I decided to go back to the car to grab my laptop. I reached into the car and got my computer and as I was getting ready to shut the door something prompted me to look in the mirror! To my HORROR I found that this was NOT clear chapstick- but rather HOT PINK LIPSTICK!!!!!
I very rarely wear lipstick so I don't know how it got in my car or who it belongs to. I grabbed the white end and didn't even notice the pink lid. Then I didn't look at what I was doing. Oh man! I am soooooo glad that I went back to my car before entering the hospital. That would have been so embarrasing. I am surprised that my grandsons didn't mention anything to me. Their grandma looked like a clown from Ringling Bro. Circus!
I was WAY freaked out because there was SO MUCH smeared on and I didn't think it would come off. Ash was ready to have the baby any moment and I was going to miss out on it because I had BRIGHT pink lipstick all over my face. LUCKILY it came right off. I don't know what I would have done if it wouldn't have. I would have probably SUCKED IT UP and walked in the hospital anyway. Nothing would stop me from seeing my new grandson.
I later showed my family what I had done and demostrated how I applied it, with the actual lipstick. They were ROLLING on the floor in laughter. Someone wanted me to take a picture of my face that way and post it on FB. I REFUSED! I looked like a TOTAL idiot! I can't imagine what my new grandson would have thought of me when he first laid eyes on me. WHAT KIND of GRANDMA am I going to be STUCK with???? A CRAZY CLOWN :)
Okay....back to my blog about Nate.
I took the boys up to the hospital to visit Nate one more time.
When we arrived he was sleeping so peacefully.....
The boys thought it was great that they could take their brother on a walk around the halls....In his BED! They also loved the fact that they could get goodies and drinks from the snack area.
My ROBOT boys.....
Time with Daddy and Nate...
Now Nate has CLOTHES on but Brayden wonders why they are NOT on the right body parts! Why are his SOCKS on his HANDS when they should be on his FEET!!!
Tyson explaining Nate's SOFT SPOT to the boys
Luke singing to his little Bro
Sleep tight, Nate.
We'll see you at home tomorrow :)
I took the boys home early to get them in bed. They settled down and fell asleep really FAST because I BRIBED them! he he he he :) I told them that if they went straight to bed, then as soon as they woke up in the morning, we would DECORATE the house for their baby brother's homecoming. IT WORkED!!! YAY!
February 2, 2011
As soon as the boys woke up the decorating began...
They both worked really hard on a poster to hang in their front window.
Video of the boys at work....
Brayden explaining his Dragon drawing.....
We blew up balloons.....
To put in the windows.....
They thought it was SO COOL that we put the balloons in the windows. Brayden kept saying that it looked like the whole house was filled ALL THE WAY UP with balloons!
Luke was drawing pictures for his baby brother as a gift.
I had him practice his handwriting at the same time. He did a great job and worked soooo hard on writing his letters. He kept saying that his brother was gonna be so proud of him (because he was doing such a good job) :) He was being so dang cute.
Time to go HOME....
All bundled up and ready to go....
Welcome home Nate!!!
Happy family together at last....
The boys were sure happy to have their mom and dad home again....
Luke helping out with Baby Nate....
He is such a great helper...
Nate is finally home and trying out his new crib. Not too sure he likes it. It is not as comfy and cozy as his mommy's arms.
Pick me up mom!!!!!
Ashlee decorated Nate's room up really cute...
Nate is going to be our sports stud!
Nate likes the soft comfy fouton instead of his crib.
I loved spending a week or so with Ash and the boys. I had the opportunity to spend some quality time with this little angel. I love how newborn babies tend to smile while they are sleeping. They are having SWEET DREAMS! He is such a doll!!!
I love this little man! I can't tell you how many times Nate would just lay there - for the longest time- and stare straight into my eyes as I talked to him. It seems like he was understanding EVERY word I was telling him. I am so excited for Steve to get here in a few more days so he can meet our newest grandchild.
Welcome home little guy! We love you so much and feel blessed to have you in our family!
.jpg)
