So this past weekend has been long and packed.

Thursday night we went an Indians game with Josh’s work. It was fun and we made it to the 7th inning before Jonah started to crash. Jonah had almost all of the ballpark necessities; hot dog, cotton candy, soda, french fries, sour gummy worms, and a cheeseburger. Aiden slept through the beginning of the game, woke up around the 5th inning and played before falling back asleep by the 7th inning. I guess that is one way to spend your first baseball game.

Friday, we went to the Marion County fair with some of our friends. Aiden was amazed by all the lights (when he was actually awake) and poor Jonah was not able to ride anything (everything was 36” or taller). It was a very nice night to be out and about. And I have officially decided that we need a double stroller.

Saturday, we went to the 20th anniversary celebration at our church. There were a lot more people there than I expected. Josh volunteered to help out with the bounce house and I spent the evening with Adrea and Alexa (who is a week younger than Aiden). Aiden was just enthralled by Alexa and just wanted to smile at her. Jonah managed to flip himself over in the stroller and had a good mouthful of grass. (note to Jonah: I would not try that again.) At the end of the evening, they had a great firework display. Aiden slept completely through it and Jonah just keep saying ooohhh. So I think he liked it.

Sunday, Grandma Julie watched Aiden while we spent the day with Jonah at the Brickyard 400. I was so impressed with how well Jonah did. When we got there we went to visit Grandma Cathy at work and Josh could get a hat. Then the boys played in the fountain outside of the museum to cool off. Our seats were in the stands left of the pagoda and about half way down. We were directly above Jeff Burton’s pit, so when they would go to green they would start to accelerate right in front of us. It was extremely LOUD and you could feel the stands rumble. Jonah was to funny, he would watch the cars go past us, follow them down the front stretch and then look at me like ok, where did they go. So I would point at the 4th turn and tell him watch (it takes about 1 ½ mins to get around) and he would wait for them, then follow them again. I really think he enjoyed it. He lasted until about lap 50 before he got too hot, so I took him for a little walk and got him a strawberry chill. Then we went back up and he lasted about another 25-30 laps before he was ready for a nap. He keep trying to lay down on the concrete underneath Josh to fall asleep, so I took him back to his stroller and walked to Gasoline Alley (which is just o n the other side of the pagoda) and he was asleep. So I went and sat behind the pagoda and watched the big screens while he slept. I was surprised with all the noise from the cars that he could sleep. But he woke up with about 10 laps to go, so we walked back down to meet Josh and watched the end of the race from the pits. Once Jonah got in the car and cooled off, he would not shut up about the cars. It was too funny.

The Sick Boy

Well for the past month, Aiden has had the persistent snotty nose, cough, and wheezing. He ped thinks that he might have asthma which is hard to diagnosis at this young of age and reflux (but not as bad as Jonah's). So we have been doing breathing treatments and an oral steroid with him for three weeks with a dr. appointment every week. Then on Tuesday this week, we went to a Pediatric Pulmonologist (lung dr.), she was extremely nice and informative. We have to continue his breathing treatments and she changed his reflux meds from Zantac to Prilosac (which is what Jonah was on). We also have to go get several tests done and of course they can not be done at the same hospital. On Mon., we go to Riley Children's hospital to have a sodium chloride sweat test to rule out Cystic Fibrosis, then on Thurs. we go to St. Vincent Children's hospital to have a Barium Espohogogram and a 3-phase espohogram, then Mon. the 11th we go for his 4 mth checkup and then back to the pulmonologist on Sept. 3rd. Then hopefully I will get a little break in dr. appointments until Oct.

So please keep us in your prays and that everything will come out ok.

Also, pray for my brother, him and his wife are having a boy in Oct but they think he might have downs syndrome or another genetic disorder.

A Boppy Tail

Aiden has been holding his head up so well lately that I decided to try him in the boppy. It was a success! He sat in it for about 10 mins and I think he enjoyed seeing the world from a different angle. And of course, I did have my camera ready for this. I seem to be slacking on the picture taking.

What's wrong with this ball, mom?

So on Thursday, I bought Jonah a Little Tikes Ultimate Beach Ball Sprinkler. (On Sale at Meijer) I have been waiting for it to go on sale, since it really is a beach ball and could pop, I did not want to spend $20 for it.

I really thought he would enjoy it, since he is enthralled with balls. NOPE! Absolutely hates it when it sprays. He loves it when it is off and will roll it everywhere, but as soon as the water is on he’s done.

Where's Grumpa?

Last night we decided to take the boys up to see John for the first time in 2 ½ months. John has finally been moved out of the ICU and into a “normal” room. He is still in quarantine (which I did not know until we got there), so we gowned-up and disinfected every part of us. Then I got scolded by the head nurse for bring the kids, but they all needed to see each other and there is nothing that cannot be washed or disinfected.

When we first got there, John was getting a pint of blood and was extremely tired. At first Jonah had a hard time with Grandpa not being himself, but after John smiled and waved Jonah began to warm up. I think it really helped Jonah to be able to see John. So we spent about an hour there and then went with Julie to dinner. I think we will not be taking the kids back to see him until he is out of quarantine, which hopefully is soon.

After dinner; we took the kids home and gave them baths, then Aiden his breathing treatments.

The new car

Well, we have finally gotten rid of our gas hogging Jeep and got a family car. It is a 2006 Ford Fusion. So far I have fallen in love with this car. We have been looking for a couple of months for a used one, but were having finding one. Then last Wednesday, we decided to look at getting a new one. On thursday, we went through all the financing and they wanted a lot for monthly payments. So we decided to go back to looking at used ones and found a dealer that had 10 used Fusions in stock. So we went to visit them and found almost the exact same car (same color inside and out with no moon roof and 26,500 miles) for $7000 less. So on Thursday, we did a test drive and did the paperwork. On Friday, we finalized everything and drove the car away. Since we were not able to check the pay-off value of the jeep, we are just going to sell it to the dealership tonight and we are getting more then the payoff for it.

I really believe that God had his hand in this. It was such an easy process and not stressful.

Oh, What A Gloriuos Fourth!

The 4th of July was great. We had a very peaceful day and then went to Conner Prairie for the Symphony on the Prairie and fireworks. It was a great evening to be outside, it was in the lower 70s and overcast. The last couple of years have been extremely hot.

We decided to stop at Culver’s for fried chicken and hamburgers. We packed soda, water, beer, and wine coolers in the cooler. We got everything situated and ate dinner. Jonah, of course, had no interest in eating and wanted to run around. Which was fine until he fell on some guy’s head laying on a blanket in front of us. He did was able to entertain himself until it the symphony started. He would open the cooler, take out an ice cube, lick it or drop it on the ground, then put the ice cube back in the cooler and closed the lids. This went on for about 10-15 mins. He then decided everyone needed a drink refill and passed out drinks to everyone. I think he gave Josh the same sprite like 10 times, he was sure that Josh needed that sprite (even though it was Julie’s).

Josh took Jonah down to see the canons which he just loved. I was surprised that he was not scared by them. His grandpa would be so proud of him. They spent a good 30 mins visiting with the guardsmen and came back to tell me all about it.

During intermission, a lady behind us came over to tell me how adorable the boys were and that you definitely knew Jonah was Josh’s. She loved that Aiden was wide awake and taking everything in.

The fireworks were great and last about 15 mins. There were some new fireworks that I have never seen before. They cascaded down and looked like waterfalls, it was just beautiful.

There once was a pork chop

Last week daycare was closed, so my mother in law, sister in law, and aunt in law watched the kids. Yes, it did take all three of them to watch two kids, but we won’t tell daycare that. :)

Jonah was definitely testing his boundaries for the first couple of days and had a hard time taking a nap. Overall they had a good week and Jonah mastered calling Jen- Aunt Jen and she absolutely loved it. He became her little shadow for the week and I became chop liver. But that is ok, truthfully I needed a little break.

Aiden gained his nickname from Aunt Peggy—her little pork chop. I am not sure how the name started but by the middle of the week I was calling him pork chop and he would smile from ear to ear. I truly think she just watched him this week and let the other two take care of Jonah. She has definitely mastered giving him a bottle. She needed a grandma fix and she spoiled both of them.

Daycare is probably loving them today, Aiden wanting to be held continually and Jonah running around like a mad man. Though I did tell them that my mother in law sends her condolences. We’ll see what the report is tonight when we pick them up.