The Tubes Are In!

Michael Dean had his ear tubes surgery this morning. Everything went well and he's back home, upstairs sleeping in his comfy bed.

I'll spare you all the details - but give you a few just to let you know how the morning went! We got to the surgery center at 7:45am and were headed back home at 9:35am. It really went quick. MD was a trooper. He wasn't happy, but really took it like a little man :)

After filling out all the piles of paperwork, they took us back to get MD in his tiny little gown and give him some happy juice. After the magic red liquid took effect, he couldn't stop laughing. It was so dang cute! But we really only got to enjoy giddy MD for about 5 minutes. The nurse came pretty quickly to take him back to the operating room. Then about 10 minutes later we had him back with us!

Everything really did go well. MD seemed to be back to his old self by the time we got home. The only thing, now, is he is sick again. He's been running a 100-ish fever all day and has been in bed since 6:30pm. He's miserable - but the fluid behind his ears is gone. Thank God!

Thanks to everyone who was praying for MD (and us!) We're glad it's over and are hopeful his new tubes will make a huge difference on his life. Oh, and Merry Christmas!

Oh Santa!

We've been working, for a few weeks now, on "Santa." Michael Dean will say "Ho, ho, ho" when I ask what Santa says. I've even got all these fun little Santas around the house - a bath towel with Santa on it that MD loves to talk about during his baths, a light-up Santa that hangs on our front door and sings Christmas songs and this cool, artsy Santa with a bell on his hat that sits under one of our Christmas trees. But, the real thing. No way! Michael Dean wanted absolutely NOTHING to do with the real Santa - as we found out last night.

But, hey, at least Santa was free. I had already decided I wasn't paying 40 or so bucks for the "cute" Santa picture with my kid in tears. So, when we walked up to the Bass Pro Santa and found out the bad-quality, fuzzy proof photos were free - I was thrilled! Because, as you see, I had the "cute" kid in tears picture.

Though, once back in mom's arms - with a yummy candy cane - he was better. 'Tis the season.

Merry Christmas from the Icenhours

(In case you can't read the fuzzy text above)

"Wishing you many blessings as we celebrate the love of God this Christmas season.
Love,
Donnie, Courtney & Michael Dean
2008"

First Kiss...and Tubes

A few nights ago some good friends of ours came over to enjoy some takeout Zaxby's and a movie, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. One of their kids is close to MD's size (but not age!) Maggie is a little over 2 years old and MD is now 17 months (as of Sunday.) Well, Maggie is a little lovebug! She loves to kiss and hug on Michael Dean. He doesn't seem to care too much for it, but he tolerates her. Especially since we were asking her to hug and kiss on him all night - you know, to get a good picture :)

And, on another note - we found out yesterday that we'll need to get tubes put in Michael Dean's ears. I see this is as a scary - yet exciting thing for him (and us.) See, ever since day 1 of daycare he's been sick. Runny nose. Cough. No appetite. Fussy. Bad sleep. You name it, he's had it. So, naturally with all the sickies from daycare came an ear infection that just won't go away. We've tried everything. Multiple antibiotics, steroids, shots. Nothing's worked. So, we're resorting to tubes. BUT I'm praying that these tubes take away all this mess - and he can be a happy toddler again. I know he's going to get the sniffles and such from daycare, but I really just want him to sleep (and feel) better. I'm sure his little ears are just so sore.

Anyway, his surgery is scheduled for Tuesday, December 23. So, please keep our sweet boy in your prayers. I hear it is a pretty easy surgery - but we'll see.

Teeeeeee!

Well, it's up. The largest, breakable toy in our house. Our Christmas tree. Or, as Michael Dean says, "Teeeeee!"


He's done OK so far with the 2 trees. Donnie put his traditional "Coca-Cola" tree up in the kitchen. The only thing that had to change this year, though, was all the breakable ornaments had to move up. All the plastic, not-so-special ones moved down. Same with our big tree. I didn't even bother with any "baaaaas!" ("ball," for those of you who don't speak MD yet). Too much of a temptation for little hands.

And, here's a few pics of our long Thanksgiving holiday. I was off for 5 days (including the weekend) so I have been soaking up every minute of my sweet little family. Besides the grumpiness that comes along with MD's ear infection, he is the most fun, sweetest little boy to be around. And he's such a good boy, too. He's even taken on sweeping our kitchen floor - only after making a few messes with Mila's food and some paper cups...



Donnie decided to tackle homemade, from-scratch apple pies for Thanksgiving. He made one, "plain" just for me. The other he threw in some raisins, walnuts and caramel. Grandma seemed to like it. The other was pretty tasty too.


Last, but not least, it was time to get rid of MD's first pumpkin. It was his very own special size. I drew a little face on it and it quickly became known as "Paa-paa!" So, we played just a little longer with it - then threw it in the trash. Oh, and something else that MD has picked up on - "say cheese!"