My hula hooper

For a 48 squared kid hooping with an adult sized hoop - he's really good! :) I love the faces he's making in the first two pictures below.

Davis Family Photo Shoot

We went with some friends to a cute little nearby town called Mt. Laurel to take their Christmas pictures. They've always gone to a photo studio in the past but wanted something a little different this year.

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the shoot.

My child, the president, who is interested in anatomy

Tonight David said "I'm Joe Biden".

Brad said - "Oh, no you are not."

David said - "Okay, then I'm Barack Obama."

Uh, why couldn't he choose to be Abraham Lincoln (since he and I do share a birthday, ya know?).

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At dinner David opened his mouth wide (thankfully it was empty and not full of queso and chips) and said "Look I have two holes in my mouth". He then proceeded to tell us that food went down one hole and drinks went down the other. I know I don't remember much from my 9th grade anatomy class....other than how cool it was to dissect a pregnant cat and how awful it smelled...but I do know that he's not exactly right.

So I told him that he does have two holes (so I may not remember the anatomy terminology) but that one hole is used for food and drinks and the other hole is used to breathe. So then he took a bite and then asked which side the food was going down - the left or the right? He proceeded to point from left to right over and over again trying to make us tell him which side his food goes down. Finally Brad said left or right (I can't remember which) and David seemed happy with that answer.

This was one of those times that I wish we had a video camera....to record his utter cuteness

5 year check up

Two weeks ago David had has 5 year check up. He did FANTASTIC!

First he did the hearing and eye exam. He passed with flying colors.

Then we had to wait for the doctor for about 20 minutes. I noticed a full box of crayons on the counter so we grabbed them and started drawing on the paper that covers the exam table. David is a great artist but especially enjoyed drawing his entire alphabet a couple of times.

Here he is being a little ham.The doctor came in and gave David a great report. He got 4 huge shots in his legs...but he was a champ. I held him between my legs so he'd be still while the nurse gave him the shots. He seriously didn't move a muscle...he didn't even flinch. Sometimes I want to cry when I get shots...he defintely didn't get his pain tolerance from me! David is almost 48 squared. He's 48 pounds and 48 1/8 inches tall. He's growing up way too fast. Where has the time gone?

Harvest Apple Squares

At a recent ladies club social in my neighborhood these Harvest Apple Squares were served. They were delicious and the woman who made them emailed the recipe out.

Considering I still have a lot of apples from our trip to NC left over I went ahead a made them tonight. It took about 20 minutes from start to finish. They are baking now and my house smells divine. I LOVE fall.

Here's the recipe:

Harvest Apple Squares
Makes: 32 bars

2 cups flour
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
3/4 cup granulated sugar, divided
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold butter
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
2 tbs milk
1 egg, beaten
1/2 tsp vanilla
3 1/2 cups chopped apples

PREHEAT oven to 350 degrees. Mix flour, brown sugar, 1/2 cup of the granulated sugar and the cinnamon. Cut in the cold butter using a pastry blender or two knives (using knives will take forever) until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in walnuts. Reserve 2 cups of the crumb mixture for topping. Spread remaining crumb mixture firmly onto the bottom of 13x9 inch baking pan.

BEAT cream cheese and milk with electric mixer of medium speed until well blended. Add remaining 1/4 granulated sugar, the egg and vanilla. Mix well. Pour over crust. Top with apples; sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture.

BAKE 30 minutes. Cool completely. Cut into 32 bars to serve. Store in tightly covered container in refrigerator.

A 6 mile run and a visit to the ER

This morning started out by me waking up at 6 a.m. to get up and ready to run a local 10k (the Vulcan Run - Birmingham's longest running 10k). I picked up my friend, Cara, and we got to downtown early enough to basically freeze. We both wore shorts and t-shirts because we knew as the race went on we'd get hot, but to start it was a bit chilly. We took our Team Vulcan picture and stood around for a while waiting for the race to start. Other folks were actually running BEFORE the race. Seriously? Why would you waste any energy before the race? Seems like a waste to me. Of course they were warm while I was freezing.

Since I haven't been able to train (due to a continual problem from two recent surgeries) I thought I'd have to walk the entire race, however, I ran a good bit. I ran S.L.O.W. but ran nonetheless. I was pretty sure Cara would take off and leave me in the dust, but between her shin pain and my slow running we stuck together for most of the race. I think she finished about 20 seconds before me. I'm not sure about my time, but I finished in around 1:30. That's 15 minutes per mile (which sucks) but at least I did it!

I came home with just enough time to shower and head out to a birthday party. On the way to the party Brad was doubled over in extreme pain. He has a pretty high pain tolerance so I knew something was really wrong. Thankfully, a friend of ours was also going to the party....so I asked her if David could stay with her and if I could pick him up from her house later in the day. She didn't hesistate (thankfully)!

I asked Brad which ER to take him to and he said "I don't care". Uh, really? I didn't know the area. At all. So luckily KC told me that the closest one was about 15 miles away. I drove 100 miles an hour down the interstate rushing to get him to the ER. Shhhh, don't tell.

We got to the ER and the security guard checked him in. This guy was slower than Christmas and immediately tried to diagnose Brad's symptoms. I was so irritated with him. But after waiting about 10 minutes they called him back and the ER staff was wonderful. Shout out to Shelby County ER. I was pleasantly surprised by everything (once we got passed the darn security guard).

They almost immediately started an IV of morphine, antibiotics and anti-nausea medicine (after trying 3 times to get the IV in his hand) and within 5-10 minutes he began to get a bit of relief. A cat scan proved that Brad has a kidney stone. He has had one before...about 8 years ago...but the last one felt much different to him...so that's why we were so worried about this unusual pain. The stone moved it's way along the 'path' and he should pass it soon (less than a few days, hopefully).

Brad is now laying on the couch relaxing. He's on some pain meds to help with the pain and it seems to be working.

KC called me this afternoon and offered to let David spend the night with them. I hesitated, but then took her up on the offer....to give both Brad and I a night to relax and recoup (me from my 6 mile race and him from his kidney stone pain). I KNOW my 6 miles don't compare, but I am awfully sore. Poor Bethany.

It's definitely been an interesting day...and now I need to finish this post so I can go take care of my sweet Brad.

Halloween 2009

Last night we had about 30 people over for a Halloween Party. Really we were just the house that everyone congregated at before heading out to trick or treat. I had great plans to come up with a prize for the best costume, but that never happened. Probably for the best since the non-winners would have been sad.

We had a cowboy (my precious David), a wolverine, 3 Auburn football players, a pumpkin, a ninja, a sniper, Hewitt-Trussville football player, a ballerina, minnie mouse, a cheerleader, and some scary thing. It was much fun.

We provided some mini caramel apples, hot dogs and drinks....and everyone else brought snacks to share. That made it really easy on us! I'm all about the ease of a party.

Unfortunately, I didn't get any good pictures of David in his costume. But here are some taken from last night.

Brad helping David get ready...

Ray, Trevor (the ninja) and Emma (she was supposed to be a flower, but her costume was a bit too big)...Aspen (this is the best picture taken all night...how cute is that face?)...
Brad in his typical fashion (hand in front of his face)...
Eating hot dogs and snacks...
Emily (aka Punky Brewster) and her precious babe, Ava (the ballerina). Props to Emily for dressing up. She was the only adult costume wearer of the bunch. She looked GREAT...
The Spruiell boys (minus Jacob, the oldest who didn't dress up) - the sniper, scrary guy and football player)...
The rest of the gang (almost)...
Vicki, Aspen, Ava and Emily...
MY COWBOY...ain't he cute?
So, now it's November and our neighbors were putting up their CHRISTMAS lights tonight. Yeah, baby! :)