November in a Nutshell

I have taken a little break from blogging since life has been so crazy around here but wanted to catch up, mostly with pictures. November was a really rough month, one of the hardest of our marriage I think. It can be summed up in one word "pleurisy". What is that you may ask, well it's inflammation of the lungs caused by a virus and so painful. It hurt to breath, cough, sneeze, even move at times. There were days I couldn't pick up Mikey without bursting into tears from pain. There was nothing the doctors could do for me since it was a virus. Neil became Mr. Mom and took care of the boys. Most days after getting Conner to school I would just lay in bed and the boys would bring their books and toys in my room and play there. It took 6 weeks to be completely over it but now I'm better. Part of what made the month so hard was of course sickness, on top of being pregnant, being called as new young women's president and trying to figure everything out for that, watching kids plus trying to take care of my own. Although it was rough, we were able to have some fun, mostly with Neil and on my good days so here goes.

The boys inherited this bunk bed from Grandma and Grandpa Hibbert. It's the same bunkbed that Neil slept on as a kid. They love it, especially playing on the top. Mikey is the one you got to watch. He climbs up and down himself. It just worries me that he'll try to jump off the top like he jumps off everything else but after two months there has been no accidents.
This was the day the pleurisy started. I had raked some of the leaves in the back yard up and there were a ton. Later that night I began to feel sore in the right side of my chest but figured I had just pulled a muscle from all the raking but each day the pain got worse until I eventually was sent to the ER to figure out what was going on.
Neil finished the raking and the boys had a ball playing it. It was the first time we'd raked the whole season so there were a ton of leaves. That was Neil's plan--to make the biggest pile ever for his little boys.

Just some of the goofiness that can't be helped aroud here.
This is a new puzzle Sam picked out at the DI. He loves puzzles. He did the puzzle instead of eating dinner with the rest of us.
The kindergarten kids put on a Fall program and Conner was dressed as a Pilgrim. It was so cute. They sang some songs and recited a couple poems. There was one song Conner really liked and would just yell the chorus. We could hear him above everyone and we laughed so hard. We happened to be in the back because we had Mikey and Sam with us and afterwards Conner asked if we could hear him singing. Well of course and he said he had to sing loud so could hear him since we were so far away.
With getting sick I did very little cooking if any. It was a lot of cereal, oatmeal, nuggets, whatever Neil could throw together. I was determined to make my family a Thanksgiving meal. I made it on the Monday before Thanksgiving since we were going to the Smarts on Thanksgiving. That was a huge blessing. There is no way I would have been able to do a big Thanksgiving dinner and the food at the Smarts was to die for. I couldn't get enough of the shrimp dip and turkey. There was so much food I wasn't able to eat as many seconds as I had hoped. Look how happy all these kids are to have real food. I think Neil was the happiest and savored every bite. We had Allison, Jaxson and Presley over to enjoy it with us.


The day before going off track for 6 weeks the kindergarteners had a Thanksgiving feast and this time Conner got to dress up as an Indian. I got to go and watch and it was too cute.
Mikey turned two on November 25th. He has come along way in the looks department in those two years. He had a rough start but is such a cutie now. I have to say he's been our hardest child to raise so far. He's got a temper and is so stubborn but with all the bad comes so much good. He can be the sweetest little guy. He absolutely loves trains and has them with him wherever he goes.
He is also our little artist so we got him this easel that he enjoys coloring on. He colors better than Conner and can be very meticulous when it comes to his coloring.
A new mini electric train set from Nana and Poppa.
Grandma and Grandpa got him a take-a-long Thomas train set which he loves. He is able to put the pieces together by himself. Hours every day are spent playing trains. I don't get the fascination but they make Sam and him so happy.
We made it to the zoo for free Wild Wednesday. Neil came with me since I couldn't push the stroller. It was really cold but the boys didn't care so much. It was nice because it wasn't crowded and we saw a lot of animals. I think because they were so cold they had to keep moving to stay warm.

We put up the tree the day after Thanksgiving. I made the boys wear their Santa hats since they were being little elves.
We had Christmas music playing and it was a lot of fun. I love how Sam would put tons of ornaments in one spot since he could only reach so high.
I just think Mikey looks cute in these jammies and slippers.

I think one of the hardest lessons to learn is that I'm not superwoman and that at times like these you can't be everything to everyone and I have put myself and family first and that it's okay to ask for help.