#270 - Boat Show

The Boat Show was in Jacksonville this past weekend, so we loaded up the boys and headed south to check it out.  And, the bonus was that Dad (Grandfather) was in Jacksonville too, so the boys and us got to spend some much needed time with him.  He works so hard, and so far away, that it's a rare treat to see him!

The Boat Show was fun.  We got to "dream" a bit, and picked out three or four boats that would work just perfectly for our family....  Ha!  I distinctly remember saying in 2007 that if we were still living in Savannah in five years, we'd have a house on the water and a boat on the dock. It was easier said than done!  That was before kids and before real estate values dropped.  The reality is that right now, it's hard to find the time to rightfully enjoy a boat.  One day soon, though!  (Lou, this is now in writing)

Aunt Kay, Papa and baby Joey also went to the Boat Show with us.  Baby Joey slept through the entire thing.  What a good baby he is!

After the Boat Show, we went back to Aunt Kay's boat at The Landing, and hung out there for the afternoon.  My mom and Jen were able to meet us there, so the boys had an extra dose of family time.  It is a real blessing that our boys have such a close relationship with all of their family.  We don't take that for granted.  

We got to play with baby Joey:

And, Owen got to fish off the back of the boat.  He even caught a fish!

Meanwhile, Benjamin was passed out on the bed!  Ha ha!

#269 - A Typical Photo Shoot

So, this is what really happens in the thirty seconds it takes for me to get a picture taken of the two boys.  (And, in this case, I was bribing them both with mini marshmallows to get them to pay attention).

#268 - The Letter "Z"

For Owen's Alphabet City project at school, he had the letter Z.  (Remember in the fall he had letter M?)

Here's the big guy showing off a Zipper and a Zebra.

#267 - Christmas 2012

Despite the boys being sick much of Christmas week, we still had a wonderful Christmas celebration with the Tylutkis and Abuela Isa.  And, Santa Clause was obviously able to locate the Saez boys in Grosse Ile, Michigan!  The living room was full of presents when we came downstairs Christmas morning.  It didn't take long for the kids to dive in....

Legos!

A toolbox!

The little guy and me

Detroit Tigers baseball and bat!

Owen insisted on helping everyone else open their gifts!

The very last present of the morning....

It's the Remote Controlled Toy Helicopter!  (He was so excited to get it - told everyone that he wanted a Remote Controlled Toy Helicopter from Santa.  The amount of play it's gotten has dropped exponentially since we've returned to Savannah.  Ha!)

Silly Benjamin!

The one and only family picture we took on Christmas Day!  It's hard to coordinate nice pictures when we're not feeling well.

The next day, we got SNOW!!!  Owen was so excited to go outside and play in it.  Grace and Owen spent hours outside that week.  

Meanwhile, Tita Susan brought the snow INSIDE so that Benjamin could play with it!  So Sweet!!

And, of course, Owen got plenty of time with Abuela Isa.  He sure does love his Abuela!

#266 - Another Saez Family Vacation

As seems to be typical for a Saez family vacation, our boys got sick while in Michigan for Christmas.  Both boys got the bad stomach bug that's been going around, but it took us a little while to figure that out, partly because Owen was getting over a nasty ear infection.

It all started the day we arrived in Michigan with pretty much non-stop vomiting from Owen.  By Sunday morning, we knew we needed to get him in front of a doctor.  It being the Sunday before Christmas in a town far from home, the best option for us was Detroit's Childrens Hospital.

They were great with us, and it didn't take long for them get us into a room and determine that he was pretty dehydrated and that IV fluids were in order.

The very best Child Life Specialist came into our room and talked Owen through the IV process (she was amazing).  He was so brave, and even though we knew it hurt him, he hardly cried.

The doctors initially thought all the vomiting was a side-effect of the new antibiotics he was on for the ear infection.  So, in addition to some anti-nausea/vomiting drugs, they gave him new antiobiotics through the IV (which also meant we had to return the next day, Christmas Eve, for the follow-up dose).

Unfortunately, Owen's blood pressure was low, and they wanted him to stick around until we could get it back up to a normal level.

After about four hours of IV fluids, Owen was ready to get the heck out of there, and we thought we were past the vomiting nightmare....

Until Monday morning when Benjamin started throwing up!  Uh!!  So, we pretty quickly determined that Owen had a stomach virus since his brother was now exhibiting the same symptoms.

To make a long story semi-short.  Benjamin continued to throw up until Sunday the 30th.  Yes, a full 7-days later.

On Tuesday, Christmas Day, Isabel and Noah started to get sick.  Thank God that both of their sicknesses only seemed to last about 24-hours.  Unfortunately, it was right on Christmas day.

And, the best blessing of all was how understanding, patient and kind Susan, Mark and the kids were while we and our germs took over their home during Christmas week.  Not one single complaint or frustration from them.  They are truly remarkable family.

Now that the crappy part of our Christmas break has been shared.... the next post will be the wonderful part of our Christmas vacation!  Stay tuned!

#265 - Spider-Man

Grandfather and Grandmother sent Owen Spider-Man stuff for Christmas.  His reaction was priceless.  And, now, he practices his Spider-Man web-throw all day...

Spider-Man pajamas

Throwing spiderwebs while eating dinner on his Spider-Man plate

#264 - An Early Christmas

On the 16th of December, Mom, Leighton, Jen and Kaylin drove to Savannah to celebrate an early Christmas with us.  Their car was loaded down with presents and the boys couldn't wait for them to get here.  The weather was beautiful (80 degrees), so we spent much of the day outside playing with their new toys.  It was a great start to the Christmas season!

Kaylin (4) and Owen (4)

Two out of three smiling...

All smiling, but only one looking at the camera.  ha!

Benjamin checking out the loot

Nana and Benjamin

My beautiful sister

Nana's new bag

Christmas 2012