Flashback to November 14th

I am back in the blogging world. I won't go in to all of my excuses, but if you need to know why I've been out of the loop you can refer to my previous post. I am currently borrowing my mom's laptop and it is working like a charm! So....I'm back in business!

I am about 2 months behind on documenting Korben's life. I feel like I have missed out on writing so much, but I guess it is better late than never, right? I will briefly catch you up to speed through the past couple months, then, I promise to be a much better blogger, day-to-day (new year's resolution)!!

Let me take you back to November 14th. These pictures were taken just 4 days after his ear tube surgery. He was dying to go in the back yard and help his daddy rake leaves. My best judgment knows that leaves flare up allergies, which cause for a runny nose, which drains into ears, and cause ear infections. But for some crazy reason, I thought, well, he is dying for some father/son time, and now he has tubes and won't get an ear infection....WRONG. The very next day Korben woke up and sick and had an ear infection, just 5 days after surgery. We now actually believe that an ear infection prior to surgery just hadn't cleared up quite yet, but playing in the leaves was probably not the best idea for my little allergy-burdened boy. For the record, Korben has been relatively healthy since his tubes. Sure, he has had his share of runny noses, and currently has a cough (that his nurse called in an antibiotic for), but none of his symptoms have turned into ear infections or caused him to be cranky. That is evidence alone that his tubes are working. Before, one runny nose always turned into a full-blown double ear infection complete with insomnia and constant crying. Praise the Lord for tubes.


I thought all of these Father/Son pictures were sweet. Don't you love Korben's little mini-rake? He had such a good time. Aaron taught him how to pick up sticks and put them in a stick pile. Til this day, Korben will pick up sticks in the back yard and say "stick pile." So precious!

I'm still alive

I know it appears that I have neglected my blog. I haven't done it intentionally. Life has just HAPPENED the past month. One month ago today, I had a week of gallbladder issues that began with an all-nighter to the ER, and ended with lots and lots of tests. That was a very challenging week. Then it was Thanksgiving week, which was fabulous and busy. Then, I started and finished the twilight series (well, the last two books) in a matter of days. THEN, I had a week's worth of root canal/tooth infections/top lip the size of rhode island/dental drama and spent a lot of time snoozing in my spare time thanks to pain meds. Oh, and most detrimental to my blogging career, almost two weeks ago, my lap top pretty much bit the dust. I knew it had been coming. So, I only get to be on the computer when Aaron is at home with his work compter...and that is not that often. We are still deciding what to do about my computer crisis. I really miss blogging, and I can't even begin to sum up how many wonderful memories we have had with our precious son over the past month.

Every day I am full of stories of how SMART, SWEET, and HILARIOUS he is. Everyday I fall so much more deeply in love with our son. I can't believe he is not even two years old, and I already feel like we can have conversations and genuinely have fun together. I have always felt like being a mom was the most fun thing ever, but now it REALLY feels like it is getting more fun every day.

I promise I will come back to blogging soon...

Real kisses

I have to document this.

Tonight was so much fun. Korben, Aaron, and I were laying on the floor by the Christmas tree reading books before it was time for him to go to bed. Korben was pointing out all his favorite things in his books and telling us what they were. His absolute favorite book for us to read to him right now is "Hop on Pop." He likes the page that says "Up, Cup, Pup.." He will open it to the correct page everytime and say, "Up, Up." Then we were looking at his farm book. He was pointing at the animals, and then then he saw the picture of a girl and said "Guhl" in the sweetest little voice. We said, "Kiss the girl." He of course, kissed the girl...multiple times...then gave her a "hug" and said "AWWWW"....then proceeded to get up, grab my face, pucker up his lips and gave me his first REAL kiss. He even made the smack sound at the end. He has never done that! He has been giving us kisses for over a year, but they have been the open mouth slobbery kisses. This was the first real kiss, and let me say, it was the sweetest thing EVER! I made a huge deal out of it, so of course, I got a hundred more tonight. He was was so loving tonight. He hugged (just about) everything in the house saying "awwww."

Great memories were made at the Rodgers house today. I could not be more in love with Aaron or Korben. Thank you, Jesus.

Ear Tube Surgery...Mission Accomplished!

Korben's Ear Tube Surgery was a success. We arrived at St. Edwards at 7:40 this morning and we were home by 9:30. I was most nervous this morning about him not being able to drink anything when he woke up. Every morning, he gets out of bed and starts asking for his cup. He did ask for his cup about 500 times this morning, but he never threw a fit when he didn't get it. That made me very glad! He was so sweet when we were getting checked in with the nurse. He thought the device she put on his finger to watch his heart was so cool!
















































They gave Korben some medicine to calm him down before he went back for surgery. They said he would be pretty much "out" in about 5 minutes. All it did was make him more hyper. Even after 25 minutes of the medicine in his system, he was still able to kick and scream when the anesthesiologist and nurse took him back. I was worried about them being able to put him to sleep, but as the nurse told me, "The anesthesiologist always wins." I guess he did! Here is a little video clip showing a revved up little boy.





The surgery was over quickly, and they paged us to come back to see Korben in recovery. They didn't even have to tell us which room he was in because we could hear him screaming down the hall. I'm so glad I had been warned at how crazy they are coming out of anesthesia. It was like he was asleep with his eyes open, and responding to a nightmare. He wanted us to hold him, but he was pushing us away at the same time. We felt so bad for him! The only time he stopped crying was when we were finally able to give him his cup of juice!
















































When we got home at 9:30, I tried to feed him breakfast, but he had no interest. He was just very restless and cranky. I tried to put him down for a nap, but he wasn't having that either. So, we just hung out until 12:30, when he normally takes a nap. The little angel slept for 3 hours, and I was able to get a good nap too. I did NOT sleep well last night. I was having panic dreams that I had overslept, or accidentally woke up and gave Korben something to eat or drink before surgery. So glad none of those dreams were true!

After he woke up from his 3 hour nap, he was back to his happy self! Here is a video of our happy boy. The giggling you hear in the background is a Christmas stocking that hangs in his room. He kept wanting me to push the button "again..again."







So, as you can see...he is doing great! We are praying that we have no complications with the tubes, and they will be just what he needs to avoid constant ear infections. Even today, the doctor said there was still fluid behind his ear drum, so he would have ended up with another infection in no time. I'm so thankful we were able to have this done.

First School Pictures

Okay, maybe they are not his first "school" pictures, but a real photographer came and took pictures of the children at Mother's Day Out a couple weeks ago. My baby is growing up!

I was pleasantly surprised at how they turned out. They told me that he wouldn't pose for the picture without his blankie, and a few tears were shed...so I was expecting the worst. I was thrilled with how cute they were. I just took pictures of the actual proofs, so these are terrible quality. I just couldn't wait to share though! Click on the picture if you want to enlarge it to see it better. I need to place my order soon!

Christmas Decorations

I don't have much time to write tonight, but I wanted to post a few pictures of some of our Christmas decorations. I am so behind on blogging. When I get some extra time, I will blog about our fun trip to Branson this past weekend.

The most exciting thing we did this year was get Korben his own little tree. We bought some of his favorite "character" ornaments. We couldn't find an Elmo ornament, but Big Bird and Cookie have made Korben's Christmas tree their home.

Oh, and the close up picture of Aaron and Me was taken our first Christmas together in 2003. It is hard to believe that this will be our seventh Christmas together...and yet, I can't remember live without him!

Halloween Weekend

We had a fun-filled weekend. It all started on Friday morning when Aaron and I got up early to get in the drive-thru line for Korben to get his h1n1 shot. Nine hours later we returned home. Yes..that's right, we were in our car with a toddler for a full work day. I am only writing this for documentation purposes. I don't walk to talk about that day anymore. All I do have to say about it is that Korben was the best little boy you have ever seen, and I KNOW his ear infections are better solely based on his behavior this entire weekend. PRAISE the Lord.

So, On to the FUN times from our weekend...


Korben wore Momma's boots around the house on Saturday Morning,



























Then he wore his Elmo costume on Saturday night! We went to our church fall festival. There were over 1,000 kids in attendance, not including their parents. It was awesome!



























We saw our friend Owen, dressed as the cutest panda bear ever!

























We saw Junie!


























We saw some Dr. Seuss characters!


























Korben mostly had this expression on his face all night...


























Until he got in the "bounce-around." Then he was all smiles!






































Then on Sunday at church we had "Grand Fam" day, where we all dressed western, and then had a picnic in the park. Korben had fun playing outside with the kids.





























































My adorable, fellow pig-tail friend, Madison.




















Just to prove that my husband no longer has the monk hair cut. Can't say that I'm missing it very much!























Hope you all had a great weekend! Thanks for reading!