The Cathcarts

Tonight was Beggar’s Night or Trick and Treakin’ night, as Jaxson calls it, in WDM and boy did a certain three-year-old score it big.  Despite the crappy weather, we still had fun.  We even had to empty his bucket once just to fit more candy in it.  We had several neighbors buy special treats just for Jaxson; he’s quite the popular guy on the block.  One of our neighbors asked him earlier this week what he wanted for Halloween and Jaxson told her cookies.  So she went to Panera today and bought him a giant chocolate chip cookie; however, her daughter didn’t know it was for Jaxson, so she ate it.  Oh well, that is just fine with me because he got way too much as it is. 

The prep work

The Cat in the Hat ready to get some candy.

Miah dressed up as Dorothy and Amisha was a little sheep.

Jaxson’s friends - Jack and Ben as Thing 1 and Thing 2 (also from The Cat in the Hat), Miah, Morgen as a pretty butterfly, and Baby Gavin as Thing 3.

Brad and Jaxson headed back to Gowrie Friday night so that Brad could go to the last regular season football game for Prairie Valley with his dad.  They were undefeated so far and already headed to the playoffs.  They pulled off another victory, so they have gone undefeated for the season, which would be the first time in school history.  So Brad got to bed pretty late that night at his parent’s house and was waken by Jaxson around 2 am with a horrible cough, which then turned into stridor and terrible retractions.  So in other words, he was not moving any air.  Luckily, Grandma Kris has been a pediatric nurse for more than 30 years, so Brad ran downstairs and got her.  She immediately said that it was croup and to get him into the bathroom with the shower on.  After the steam didn’t work to relax his airway, Brad took him outside to sit in the cold air.  In the meantime, Grandma was packing a bag to go to the hospital because she had never seen croup this bad before.  Brad suggested they wait a little longer.  After 45 minutes of sitting outside, his breathing improved.  Jaxson slept well the rest of the night, but I can’t say the same about Brad.  It was hard for him to go back to sleep and try to listen for Jaxson breathing at the same time.  I have to say that I am so glad that I was not there because I would have been freaking out.  I would have been right with Kris and going to the hospital.  I can stay calm at work in situations like this, but not when it’s my baby.  So I guess croup is the worst at night and continues to get worse unless they get started on steroids.  On the way home, Brad took him to our walk in clinic and he got a dose of a steroid and also an antibiotic for an ear infection.  He is on the mend now. . . . thank goodness.

Jaxson’s "prize" from Big Papa for eating his green beans.  Little does Big Papa know that Jaxson likes green beans and eats them all the time

A couple weeks ago, our family friends Nels and Cindy were in town from North Carolina.  Brad and Jaxson were able to meet up with them for lunch at Ruby Tuesdays.  I was bummed that I couldn’t make it, but it was my weekend to work.  They had a great time catching up and seeing all of the boys (Brad, Andy, Brady, and Jaxson).  Here’s some pics from the lunch.  Thanks for sending these to us Cindy, they are great!

Nels and Cindy’s visit to Gowrie: The Carlsons, Pastor Jim and Tammy Davis (Jim is the one who married Brad and I), Nels and Cindy, and Steve and Kris

On Wednesday, Jaxson and I went up to Gowrie to spend the day with Papa and Nana Cathcart.  Jaxson had fun making cupcakes with Grandma.  Eventhough the weather wasn’t ideal, we still played outside and had fun.  Jaxson was happy that he got to ride on his Big Wheels and the Cozy Coupe.  We are hoping that there is going to be some better weather coming soon so that we can get out a little more before winter sets in.  UGGHHH! not looking forward to that!

The best part about making cupcakes!

Gotta get it all.

Adding the final touch. . . sprinkles.

YUMMY!!!  Suprisingly, he only took two bites and was done.

Jaxson posing in Grandma’s sweatshirt that she made a LONG time ago.  Mommy didn’t bring a coat for him, so he got to wear this outside.

Riding his Big Wheels.

We ventured out to the Howell’s Tree Farm/Pumpkin Patch again this year.  It is such a fun and neat place.  This year we took the Barrons with us as they have never experienced Howell’s and I think it’s safe to say that they had a good time.  When we first got there, we loaded up on the hay rack for a ride out to the pumpkin patch to find our perfect pumpkins.  It didn’t take us very long, so we then headed back and the kids had a great time playing in the kid play area. 

Miah and Jaxson waiting to go get their pumpkins.

Matt & Amisha on the hay rack.

On the search for the perfect pumpkins.

Look at all of our pumpkins!

Big boy could pedal the tractor all by himself this year.

Going down the big slide.

Playing on the bales.

Well, I’m glad to finally say that I think we are all better.  The normal "cold" worked it’s way through our house and I’m glad that’s all it was.  I am still pretty stuffy, but other than that, we are good to go.  Let’s see, this past week was a pretty busy one.  Jaxson spent last weekend with my dad and Brenda.  Brenda, Dru, and Jaxson headed to the Amana Colonies on Saturday and visited a toy store. Jaxson came home with a bunch of goodies.  Dad didn’t get to go because the weather ended up holding out and not snowing in Hubbard like they had predicted, so he had to work.  While Jaxson was in Hubbard, Brad was at the Iowa/Michigan game and had a lot of fun.  The Hawks pulled off another big victory so he was happy.  I worked all weekend, nothing exciting to report there.  Then on Tuesday, Grandma Pam came down and spent the night with us.  We had a good time making a big supper, which Brandon even came down for.  We started our day off fabulously today with all of us sleeping in until 9:00!  Wow, did that feel good!  Then we had a great time watching the Iowa vs Wisconsin game, which Iowa was the underdogs in.  Oh well, we still managed to pull of another victory.  After that game, we headed to Valley Stadium to watch Kade play in the football playoffs.  His Ames team is undefeated this season and also managed to pull of a win in overtime.  So he plays again in the Super Bowl tomorrow.  Tomorrow we are heading to Howell’s pumpkin patch for some fun, so I’m sure I will have some good pics for tomorrow.  Here’s some pics from this past week.

One of his goodies from the toy store.  It sure came in handy this week.

Laundry day.  If he keeps it up, he will be able to do laundry all by himself by the times he’s 5.

The t-shirt that Grandma Pam brought back from New Mexico.  I think it’s pretty funny.

Trying to stay warm and be silly at Kade’s game.

This week has been just that. . . laying low. We kept Jaxson home from daycare on Monday because he had a terrible barking cough. I was worried that it might turn into something more, but luckily it didn’t and he is now sounding/feeling better. So of course he then had to be so generous to pass it on to his parents. Brad and I haven’t had the cough, but we have the sneezes, runny noses, and terrible congestion. But again, we’re thankful that it hasn’t turned into something more.

On a brighter note, I had another prenatal appointment today. It’s hard to believe that I am now going to have appointments every two weeks. My jaw dropped when they told me that. I still can’t believe how fast this is going. I talked to the midwife today about the whole plan for birth and possible induction. All she could tell me was that when it gets closer to the time, they will be "checking" me more often and keeping a close eye on things and then with a probable induction on January 2nd if nothing has happened before then. There goes my plans for a December/tax rebate baby. Oh well, it’s not in my hands and I’m not going to push it. I have been nesting a lot lately, just ask Brad. We got Jaxson all moved into his big boy room (the old office/spare bedroom) and he LOVES it. He thinks he’s pretty cool now with having the big room and having his train set in there. Much to my surprise once again, he’s adjusted very well and is sleeping well. We also have the nursery pretty much done . . . again. Although, it didn’t take much. Just took Jaxson’s stuff off the walls, touched up the paint here and there and put all of the nursery stuff back on the walls and put the crib up. 

On this weekend’s agenda. . . We are meeting my dad in Ames this evening so that Jaxson can spend the weekend with him and Brenda.  They plan on taking him to the Amana Colonies for the day tomorrow.  He’ll have so much fun, he won’t want to come home.  Brad is going to the big Iowa vs Michigan game and Heath is going with him as a Michigan fan.  Hopefully they can stay warm.  It should be a great game.  As for me, I’m working Sat. and Sun. night and then it’s my two weeks off again. 

Jaxson working on his preschool book.  He can recognize all of his letters and even write a "J"

Brad and I were supposed to be watching Grey’s Anatomy together last night when I heard snoring and looked over and saw this.  Serious!  I was laughing quietly to myself as I ran upstairs and grabbed the camera. 

Another great weekend has come and gone.  On Saturday, Brad had another neuro conference that he had to attend since he arranged most of it.  Luckily this one was in town, so not much traveling involved.  That evening, we had some friends and neighbors over to watch the Iowa game.  Sadly, I couldn’t stick around to have any fun because I had to head off to work. . . duty calls.  It sure would have been a fun game to see as the Hawks pulled off a huge victory against Penn State.  On Sunday, Brad took Jaxson back to Gowrie for the day.  Papa, Nana, Brad, and Jaxson all took the boat to Twin Lakes for a little boat ride.  From the stories that I hear, Jaxson got to drive the boat and boy has that made his year!  When I picked him up from the Kid’s Room today, the girls that work there were telling me how they heard all about how Jaxson got to drive the boat and how he drove it through waves and splashed.  It was also the first thing that Cy (our neighbor) heard about when coming home today.  I think he had some fun.

The end to a fun weekend.

We left Monday evening to go to Iowa City so that Brad could attend a neuro conference on Tues. and Wed.  We weren’t quite sure how Jaxson was going to do considering he was already asking where the hotel was when we hit Altoona.  It was totally one of those "Are we there yet?" moments.  Then we got to our exit and he says, "Jaxson want to go home."  Oh boy, this might be a long couple of days.  He was excited when we got to the hotel.  On Tuesday, Jaxson and I started off our day at the hotel pool.  It wasn’t that exciting because we were the only ones there, so that only lasted about an hour.  Then we got ready and took off for the mall, where we spent the remaining of the afternoon.  Jaxson enjoyed riding on the toys and the carousel and playing in the play area.  That evening, after Brad got out of his conference, we went to Clint and Rachel Hinderaker’s house.  Clint and I graduated HS together and Rachel was just a year younger than us.  They have two little girls, Rebecca is 3 and Hadley is 1.  They lived within walking distance of our hotel.  Rachel made us an awesome supper of chicken parmesan and the kids had a great time playing together.  Jaxson and Rebecca got along very well and Hadley just liked watching the two of them.  We had a great time visiting and talking about past times.  Then on Wednesday, once Jaxson and I got everything loaded up, we headed back over to Rachel’s house to play some more.  We took the kids to McDonald’s for lunch and then to a park afterwards.  We let the kids burn off their lunch.  After Brad’s conference, we stopped by the hotel and picked him up and headed for home.  Jaxson was so tired that I think he only said maybe five words on the whole way home.  We had a great time, but as always, it was nice to be home.  Thanks to Clint and Rachel for being a great host and hostess to us while in Iowa City.  We had a great time!

We had to get a picture with Herkie for Daddy.

Riding with Bob the Builder at the mall.

Jaxson and Rebecca getting ready for supper.

Watching the ducks at the park.