A little bit of normalcy?

After several weeks of being cooped up, it's been SO nice to get back into our "normal" routine. This past week was especially fun - our museum outing and dinner with friends on Monday, being back at CBS on Tuesday, a beautiful and intense Bible study with dear friends Weds morning, dinner at church that evening followed by pre-marital counseling at our house with sweet friends whom Dave is marrying in April, a fun playdate with a friend and her daughter Thurs morning, mid-morning mimosa's with another dear friend Friday morning ;), movie and pizza night with the boys followed by hours of talking and playing games by the fire with friends that night, a super fun bridal shower with so many dear friends on Saturday, a large family gathering that evening for Grandpa Jerry's birthday full of good food, wine, and laughter, being with our sweet church family Sunday morning, and an O'Choi dinner before service that night. Whew - we're never this social. Oddly, no pictures of all the people time, but here's a few of life around the house.

Look at me smiling! Mommy finally got her act together and grabbed the camara.

Andrew's choice activity of the week - playing dominoes with puppy.

It's been so sweet to watch Andrew and Caden fall head over heels in love with their brother. This week Will has started responding to them with smiles, and even his first little laughs.

Dr. Andrew - I love how carefully he inspected Will's ear.

We broke out the bumbo this week (he's watching me make dinner). Andrew is all about activity/coloring books these days.

Terra Cotta Warrior (going tinkle)

So why am I writing about a Terra Cotta Warrior going tinkle? Well, let me back up to Monday. We went to the National Geographic museum that afternoon with the Choi's to see the Terra Cotta warrior exhibit (awesome). The boys absolutely loved it!

Well, we're currently in the process of applying to pre-K for this Fall at The Fourth Presbyterian School. On the application, they leave a space for the kids to draw a picture of themselves, their family, a pet, or something else they love. So what did Andrew draw a picture of? An anatomically correct male going to the bathroom. We had to ask them to describe the picture. Andrew's description? "A terra cotta warrior....going tinkle." Nice. This kids is going to rock his college applications.

Happy Valentines

Valentines day fell on a Sunday this year - a busy day for this OC fam. Mom and Dad took advantage of free babysitting (thanks ynm class!) Saturday night and went out on a fun date with Will. And come Sunday, it was wonderful to be back at church together as a family (it had been over a month...sick kids, crazy snow). I have to say that I was truly overwhelmed with how many people went out of their way to find us and tell us they'd been praying for Will - what a wonderful body of believers we belong to.
And then we ended the day playing Wii and eating pizza with some ycf friends at the college house. Happy Valentines (as Andrew would say) ;).

Opening presents (thanks Grandpa Jack and Grandma Kathy!), and our Valentine box. Baby Will, you were sleeping - we'll get you in these pics next year!

A very quick attempt at a Valentines day bfast for dinner before heading back to church for evening service.

and then came round 2

We hadn't really recovered from round 1, when round 2 moved in on Wednesday. It seemed we got at least another foot. We never measured - at this point it was all relative.

taking this picture was the only time we opened the front door all day.
lots of icicles - apparently we're not well insulated.

getting out to play on thursday

the mazes were re-dug - andrew enjoyed propping himself up. notice dave's head in the background.

on a mission to get daddy

caden wanted to sled, sled, sled.

daddy was tired. and no, andrew isn't on top of the car, just a snowbank next to the car.

playhouse buried. again.

playing in the snow = long naps

story time before bed. love andrew's hand on will's head - he loooves his baby brother.

snowmageddon, round 1

I have never in my life seen this much snow...aside from the mountains. It is seriously unreal (about 28 inches, we think). We were so thankful that we didn't lose power, especially since our neighborhood full of old wires is usually one of the first to go. Having just come home from the hospital, we knew a lot of people were praying about this specifically for us, so it was a huge answer to prayer. And now to think we could be getting another 10 inches tonight!! Dave has spent COUNTLESS hours shoveling the past few days- our walkway, an area for the kids to play/walk in, a MAZE in the front and backyard, and lastly a good portion of our street so we could get out to a doctor's appointment for Will. And then we ended up shoveling a flat portion of our roof last night because we were worried about it collapsing under the weight of another big storm. Our pictures don't even seem to capture just how much snow has accumulated, but here is our attempt.

watching it fall Saturday morning

the area Dave dug out so the boys could walk

walking through the maze

digging out Sunday morning

One big highlight - the Mascott family joined us Saturday afternoon and Sunday because they lost power. They walked about a mile to our house in the middle of the blizzard, and were completely covered in snow when they arrived. It was so fun to have them here! Andrew is still asking when they're coming back. :)

Will came out for just a few minutes

a whole new backyard to explore

snow cottage

Caden loooved crawling through the maze

sweet prayers

I am so happy to be home sweet home and watching the snow begin to fall. The last few days have been crazy, but amidst the challenges of having an extremely sick, hospitalized baby, the Lord has been so good to us. We have felt the prayers of so many, have experienced His perfect peace, while knowing that Will was not only in excellent human hands, but more importantly in the hands of a Father who created him, and loves him more than any of us can fathom.

Will made wonderful improvements through Wednesday night, and woke up a completely different baby Thursday morning - alert, smiling, fever free. He'll still be fighting the cough and chest congestion for the next week or so (and getting his appetite back), but it was such an answer to prayer to be able to get home and be together as a family before the big snow storm moved in.

I have to record one of my favorite moments. I came home for about an hour on Wednesday evening (thanks to a wonderful friend who was willing to sit with our babe) just so I could see my boys and pick up a few needed items. When Andrew asked when I was coming back again, I told him we were really praying that Will would be well enough to come home tomorrow, but we weren't sure yet. Immediately he grabbed Caden's hand and in his sweet voice asked if he wanted to pray with him. He knelt down on our stairs and very earnestly prayed "Dear Jesus, please help Will. be with the doctors, and help him get better soon. amen."

It was so sweet to see my boy turning to our Lord on his own, and praying so sincerely - there is nothing that will be more important for him to learn how to do in this life.

Will with a cookie bouquet that some dear friends sent

hotel georgetown

We've had a very unexpected turn of events this week. Will developed a cough on Saturday, started running a wee fever on Sunday, and then continued to get much sicker on Monday. We took him to the doctor first thing Tuesday morning, and ended up being admitted to Georgetown Univ. Hospital late that evening. His oxygen levels were a bit low, he was dehydrated from not eating, and they were worried to be seeing such labored breathing in a baby so young. We've had mixed developments today. His oxygen levels came up, and he's started eating better this afternoon (they took him off iv's to see if he can hold his own). However we also learned that he has developed a mild case of pneumonia. His fever has increased today, and his oxygen levels are a bit lower this evening. We're hoping for a good night, and that we'll be able to get home before the big snowstorm arrives Friday.

winter fun

what are you doing to me mama?

This now seems like forever ago, but here are few pics of our snow fun this past Saturday. Andrew couldn't have been more excited - we woke up to snow falling, ventured out to Krispy Kreme donuts with the cousins, and got to play in the snow that afternoon.

snow time with all my boys

with my slighly happier snowpuff