Mason and TUBES!

So before you all are in shock that you haven't heard from me in a bit, I'm going to try to get you updated. Let me start with one of the more recent events... Mason getting tubes.
Mason has had over 8 ear infections and at least 4 ruptured eardrums all in less than year resulting in every drug given to the poor the kid from the easy "pink stuff" amoxocillin, to a shot with over a 90% rate of getting his ears cleared up called Rocefin?. Anway, for only being one, it seems like he's been sick as much as he's been well. So when he got his last ear infection, mean mommy came out and said, "I'M DONE!" (i really didn't, but doing tubes with Parker, I knew i wasn't going to do this any longer... and went proactive!) So I called the ENT, Dr. Park (not to be confused with my son, Park) and got him an appointment the next day. Sure enough, he agreed to tubes and a week later, we went for tubes.
This past Thursday, December 18th, we took our 14 month old for MINOR surgery. We had Evan sleepover a friends house (Thanks, Carlton's) and figured Tan and Park were big enough to get up and to the bus on their own. We had to be there by 6:30a.m. so we were out the door by 6. We got there, filled out the paper work and then went back to get ready. The following pictures are OUT OF ORDER, but i wasn't going to try to fix it (sorry).
Mason and I walking laps. He was all rigged up with what he needed, but is like his mom in that he doesn't want to just sit in one place to long...always has to be on the go! Plus you can tell it's an early morning as he's still in jammies and I'm sporting the glasses and hat.... before 6 is just too early!!!

I love this shot! We just kept lapping the nurses station and the poor kid had all these wires poking out everywhere that we were trying to hide them so they were "out of sight, out of mind." That is the true joy of a 14 month old. Easily distracted.

One of his favorite toys was the bell. They had a bell in there in case we would need a nurse for something, but he just loved it!!! He would concentrate so hard on getting his cute litte finger on just the littlest part...PRICELESS!

This is a pic where you can see a few of cords poking out and one he kept tripping on (that we had to hide). They also put his ID badge on his ankle so he wouldn't fidget with it.

Trying to keep him occupied and not bored while we wait.... and wait.... and wait!!!

More cords! He had 3 pads taped to his chest, a pulse monitor taped to his toe, and a blood pressure cuff on his arm by the time he left... too much confinment for a Condiff boy!!!

His pulse monitor taped to one of his toes. We put the sock on it to cover help keep it off his mind.

As you can see he did really good and the surgery was successful. He cried and cried when he was done, but after we took off the sheet, the two blankets, the BP cuff, the toe monitor and chest pads, he was happy to go to sleep, slept about 2 hours and been great ever since! We are so glad we have this over with now!!! We hope for a much easier winter and happy, happy baby!!!

Cardinals Baseball Game with the boys

We took the boys to a Cardinals Baseball game the end of September and I forgot to post about it. We had a great time. Although we spent a lot of money by the time the night was over, the kiddos had a blast! We were on the 13th row between home and first base (closer to home plate though). Parker thought for sure he'd catch a fly ball :) (didn't) and Evan was infatuated with breaking the peanuts out of the shell and getting them all ready to eat for us in his cotton candy bucket. The night was awesome.... perfect weather, perfect seats, no baby to hold and fight the whole time, it was GREAT!!!! I hope the link will connect you to a few of the pics from the night. Click on each picture to get the full view or do a slide show :)

http://picasaweb.google.com/CondiffCrew/CardinalsBaseballGame#

You and me goin' fishin' in the dark

One of our boys favorite things to do is hit a pond by our friend's home and go fishing. Our friends had said they hadn't had much luck lately, but like days of old... the Condiff boys come and there WILL be some fish to catch. :) I didn't get any pics of Mason hanging out in the stroller or Tanner and all the little tiny crappies he was catching, but tried to get the majority of Evan because he was having a blast!

His poor little Pirates of the Carribean fishin' pole wasn't sure if it could handle this "BIG FISH". (Total man with his hands as far as they could when he told you he caught a fish "this big".) His award winning fish. The pole just couldn't hold the weight of this "big fish" so Chris was teaching him to hold the line.
Evan's award winning bass! Way to go, Evan!!!

Parker with a cute little one on his pole and Tanner was getting about a 5 incher off his line. It was fun and as always the boys had a blast. As you can sort of tell from the picture it was getting dark. They fished until they couldn't see anymore and until lines started to get crossed and we called it good. We're glad we've got some great friends we can call and say "WE'RE COMIN' OVER" and they're flexible enough they can roll with the punches! Thanks, guys!!!

At the carwash...

What a nice man I have to wash AND wax my van... with a lot of help from Evan and little help from Mason. (And yes, I'm sure this was his unconscious effort to get out of the dog house :) haha) It was BEAUTIFUL weather on Saturday that it was screaming water and fun. I don't know that washing the car was fun, but Evan loved it. Mason, OF COURSE, loved the bubbles and was just as happy to play in the bucket of suds. It was so clean when Chris was done, he said "Let's go sell it and get you a new one!" I laughed and said, "Are you ready to start the INSIDE?!" So, YEP! I'm still the owner of one certified M3 Vehicle.... (Mormon Mommy Minivan).

A Relationship Tag... really??? Fine.

So I don't totally understand these things, but I'll give it a try. I got "tagged" to do this, so I'll fill out and don't worry, you're safe. I will not be "tagging" you, but will uphold my obligation?!

YOUR RELATIONSHIP
What is his name? Chris
Who eats more? Chris
Who said “I love you” first? Chris... it took a long time and a lot of me saying "I'm in great like with you", until he caved and finally said the "L" word.
Who is taller? Me...sorry honey :(
Who is smarter? Me...sorry honey :(.... JUST KIDDING! Actually...street smart and the smarts to just take stuff apart and put them back together and things like that... Chris for sure (and history...he creams me in history)! But I think I've got him on book smarts... teenagers and homework will tell the test of time.
Who is more sensitive? Sensitive??? really??? There is no sensitivity in this house. Okay. Me. Chris is NOT sensitive. He might be aware, but he's not sensitive.
Who does the laundry? Me (and now the 2 older boys help out and fold and put their own up)
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? laying in and looking up at the ceiling, he does.
Who pays the bills? I pay the bills.
Who cooks more? Domino's I guess. Seriously, I suck at cooking and he's awesome at BBQin' so I'd say it's probably about even. I guess I would cook more, but he's good to always do the grill and we do that A LOT! He's also great with tacos and spaghetti and makes some mean guacamole.
Who is more stubborn? lol...I would love to say me and I can be pretty stubborn (he says I get it from my mother), but I think again it would be a tie. He can hold his own pretty good too.
Who is the first to admit when they’re wrong? Well since we're both so stubborn it usually ends in Chris saying one of his favorite line from "Everybody Loves Raymond" when Ray finally gives in and says, "You're right, I'm wrong. I'd like to take this opportunity to go to my room and think about what I've done." He loves to "give in" because he knows it makes me more mad! He doesn't "give in" to be sweet or nice, he's doing it totally sarcastic and to piss me off.
Who has more siblings? I DO! I have 5 siblings (1 sister and 4 brothers) and he has 3 (1 sister and 2 brothers).
Who wears the pants in the family? He does...as he should! I would say I wear capris :)...very long capris.
What do you like to do together? watch TV/Movies, eat out... A LOT, spend time with the kids doing anything, time at the lake...with the kids, vacations...with the kids, play sports....with the kids and just being adventurous. I love it when we're just spontaneous and just do it rather than figure out if it "works" in the schedule or not. I'm anal enough that I like things planned out, but LOVE surprises and spontaneity.
Who eats more sweets? ME FOR SURE! I'm a sweet tooth, choco-candy-cookie-brownie-holic! Doesn't matter... just give it to me! Chris could care less...take it or leave it.
Guilty pleasures? the above list of sweets, Pepsi, Mt. Dew, DP, chocolate, etc!
How did you meet? this can be found early on in the blog, but we met when I was teaching Chris' roommate from Switzerland how to swim. We all hung out and later on it went from 3 to 2 and eventually Chris and I got married.
Who proposed? Chris (remember...he wears the pants!)
What is his best feature? his HANDS! No that's not what first attracted him to me me (although my roommates made fun of me when I noticed them...EJ). Yes he has nice eyes and a cute smile, but I love his hands. They are so knobby and scarred, but they can fix ANYTHING and they work hard for what he has and although can be rough and tough with the kids in sports or things, can be gentle and kind in upholding his Priesthood to performing ordinances such as a Father's Blessings or a blessing to the sick. I really just love his hands!
What is his best quality? Determination. If Chris gets any idea in his head what-so-ever whether it's something he wants or whether it's something that just broke and needs to be fixed, it will bug him so bad until he either gets it or fixes it... if it's important to him. If it's just something I say needs to fixed or done, he might get around to it, but when he decides it needs to happen, I am 100% sure it will get done (or bought).


Babe, I love ya! We have somethings that will always need work on, but you're awesome! Thanks for being so great and for being so handsome and making it so we have 4 handsome boys who look like their daddy (even though they don't look alike, everyone thinks they all look like you).

This "relationship" tag seemed more like a Father's day thing, but oh well, it's done. I have kept my end of the bargain. If any of you feel like doing this or being "tagged", let me know. I'd love to read about you!

Evan helping wash Jet

Evan has decided that washing our dog Jet is "fun" because he's soft and he has lots of bubbles and feels good. I don't think it's fun... at all! It's worth my $20 to take him down to Petsmart and get him washed up. Please don't be offended (actually be offended, I don't care), but I don't really care for pets. Don't get me wrong, Jet is an AWESOME dog with the kids and is well behaved, I just hate having the responsibility of a dog. So before you judge me and say, "Then why did you get a dog?" please remember I have 5 boys in my life. THEY feed him, THEY play with him, THEY clean up his crap, THEY get to do everything. Let me define "THEY" as Chris and a little help from the boys. When Chris is out of town, yes I am nice and feed him, let him sit by me (after I've taken him to Petsmart :), let him in and out to potty, but the boys are in charge of the poop. We will have had Jet for 4 years in November and I can honestly say, I'VE NEVER SCOOPED POOP! (Nor will I!) But don't worry Jet, you have a 5/6 approval rating and that's good enough to stay around a little bit longer.

PS. I don't know how I underlined or how to take it off (no control U doesn't work), so I apologize :)

Mason's 1st trip to the POOL

So I was a bad mom and forgot the whole camera thing, but at the end I remember this was Mason's first official summertime trip to the pool (besides Great Wolf Lodge in KS in February). So it's not the best picture, but wanted to get them on the blog. The reflection of the water isn't helping Mason, but if you compare and look at Chris' size and Mason's size, you can see he's a big boy :) With all his crawling around and climbing up things, he's maintaining weight (and could even be loosing weight!) Wait til our first trip to the lake with the Jet Skiis... that will be fun!!!! Stay tuned!!!

MaSOn anD DAdDy TiMe!

Mason loves to stand at the back door and try to get the attention of whomever is outside. He sit and hit the glass and try to get Jet to care. When Chris BBQ's he'll sit and play with him at the door the whole time. It's cute to see them play for what seems to be forever as Mason will be totally content just standing and pounding away. He makes the best voices as he gets so excited. Way to be an awesome dad! (Plus I figured this was one to get Chris on the blog :)