It's that time of the year....

For our annual Christmas Traditions!

Last week we took a nice visit to the Children's Museum to visit Santa and Jolly Days....the boys had so much fun.

Mimi and Caleb

Caleb is finally big enough to play in the playscape!

We rode the carousel twice, and Luke got to ride the ones that go up and down for the first time too! He loved it.

We also went down the Jolly Slide too...twice! Auntie Emily with Caleb...

And mommy with Luke....

and the trip isn't complete until you get to talk to Santa! Doesn't Caleb look so thrilled??

not what we thought...

Caleb does not have a Strawberry Hemangioma.

He has a Pyogenic Granuloma. (click on it and it will give you more info on what it is exactly).

It can follow a minor injury and can grow up to half an inch in size. And of course, he's did that before he ripped it off. His plastic surgeon said the best option is removal because he couldn't tell us it would go away on it's own. But he has removed several of these, and is more common than you would think. He will have to be put out for the surgery since he is such a wiggle worm these days.

We are thinking this came about when he was about 4 months old because that is when we noticed it growing above his eye. He had several scratches on his face around that time (and I remember I noticed them a lot because he had gotten his face pretty good with his nails) and the doctor agreed with us, that is probably when one of his scratches got infected and became this.

We do not have a surgery date set yet. But I am going to guess it will take place sometime in February. We have to wait to hear back from insurance to see what is covered. Our insurance does not cover plastic surgery unless it is deemed "medically necessary" so we will see if this falls under that category. I am guessing yes, since they usually don't go away on their own.

We will keep you updated when we hear of anything and we have a date set.

Thanks for the prayers. We got quick answers from the doctor, and he seems to really know what he is doing.

On a side note:

We have been keeping very busy these past weeks, and cannot believe that Christmas is here in 2 days! We've done all of our annual Christmas festivities so far, so be looking back for pictures!

how to get what you want 101 (and an update)

This is his new "I will try to look cute to get what I want" face.

How precious is it? and then usually in the midst of him tilting that sweet baby head to his shoulder, um, about 5 times or so, he will give one goofy cheesy little grin. By far the cutest thing this kid has done yet.

How can you resist?

Tomorrow this sweet face has an appointment with a plastic surgeon. Yes. You read that right. He has a strawberry hemangioma on his face right above his right eye. Usually something like this causes no problems and goes away on it's on in a matter of years, and it's fairly more common than you think. However, Caleb's bleeds. A lot. And actually if you look back on some of his pictures (like his 6 month photo shoot) you can see how big it really got. About a little less then the size of a dime.

However, just 3 days after that little photo shoot, our son, pulled his hemangioma off. YES. OFF. He bled and bled, and after about 20 minutes we got it to stop bleeding. But as you can tell from the top picture it is growing back. Just not as fast as it did before, and not as blood filled looking either.

We thought it was getting better, we were able to keep a bandage off of it for a few weeks, until this week. He hit it again yesterday, and it bled. Again. So, unfortunately he has a bandaid on again. (And even yesterday with it on, he made it bleed again.)

So, tomorrow we are heading over to Clarian North to meet with a plastic surgeon our pediatrician told us about.

Why a plastic surgeon and not a dermatologist you ask? ( I know you were thinking it!) because he will probably be able to remove it better than a dermatologist with less of a scar.

So, if you think about us tomorrow, please pray that things go well, that we like this guy, that he can give us the answers we need, and the advice on what to do next. We are really thinking removal will be best right now, just because of all the bleeding.

Hopefully we will know more tomorrow. Keep ya posted!

He doesn't stop!!

Do you see that sweet face? OH. MY. GOSH. I know a while back I blogged about how rough the "3" year is going. But, we are just loving this age. He is really becoming his own little man and it's quite fun to see him figure life out.

But the thing that has taken off the most is his speech! HOLY. MOLY. This kid doesn't stop talking!!! This time last year we were so worried he wouldn't be able to communicate his needs with us, and now he is not only communicating them, he is demanding them! :)

It really is great and some of the things he says are sooooooo hilarious. We were just talking the other day how we never want to forget his little voice and the things that he says. We have had our video camera out a lot lately capturing him and his non-stop talking.


There are some phrases he says most of the time and when in any situation. It makes us giggle everytime we hear them.

When he is really excited about something he'll say, "I like *insert whatever we are talking about here* ALL THE TIME!" Like, I will say, "Luke what would you like for lunch today?" and he will always respond with "I want Mac N Cheese. I like Mac N Cheese ALL THE TIME!" and with a little eye roll and head nod. We have heard that he likes, "mac n cheese, basketball, playdough, pictures, Diego, books, santa, baby doggies, candy, boom boom pow and many many many many more things ALL THE TIME. That is how you know he really loves something.


Anytime he messes something up on accident, or puts something in the wrong place, or forgets to do something he will always say, "uh, sorry" under his breath. sooooooo cute! and even if you have asked him repeatedly a gazillion times (okay, just a few times) to do something, he says that, and you just can't help but giggle and brush it off.


He is just talking sooo much and says a new word everyday I didn't even know he could say, (Like yesterday he said "see, I put my hands on my hip" When has he ever said hip?? I don't even know if I taught him where his hip was!)

His speech therapist at his new school (who we just love by the way, and the program seems to fit him soooo much better here than at our old school) told me last week that, and I quote, " He won't be in speech much longer." YAY!!!!

What a difference a year can make and we just love listening to his voice....even if it is the loudest, most non-stop voice you have ever heard!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

and we are feeling so blessed......