Davis Family Summer Fun

At the end of July, we headed to Iowa for a Davis Family Pool Party. We had so much fun! Yummy food, fun in the pool and even better company!!! They had a family slide show at the end of the evening which I missed due to Ben's bedtime but I hear it was awesome! Maybe I will be able to see it next time!

After watching his daddy and the older kids jump into the pool a few times, Ben was fearless and started jumping in too. He is a crazy kiddo! We had to keep a close watch on him and lock him out of the pool. He also tried to break free from us and "swim" on his own a few times.

Family photo time!

Ben playing with Riley and Elise. He had so much fun with the older kids!

Four Generations

Elizabeth Comes to Visit

Elizabeth had a show in Chicago a the beginning of July so she came to visit us on the 4th. Cary and Brenda came over and we had a lot of fun! We missed Chris and wish he could have been here too! Ben loves his Aunt Elizabeth and its really cute when he says her name. Ben really enjoyed playing with the easel that Aunt Elizabeth got him for his birthday. Here are a few pictures from Elizabeth's visit.

Ben's Birthday Party

We had Ben's 2nd birthday party on Saturday, June 11. He loves anything to do with sports and he is so coordinated, so we decided to go with a sports theme. We had a small party with just family and some close friends. Of course, Ben got way more presents than he needed. We enjoyed good food and had a great time!

Zoo

While Nate was in Kentucky for a boys' weekend motorcycle ride, Ben and I met up with Doug, Amanda and Elyse at the Peoria Zoo. We had a lot of fun even though Ben was kind of cranky. We finished with a picnic at the park. The day before, Ben and I met with them and went to the Children's Discovery Museum in Bloomington, which the kids loved and had a blast! Unfortunately, I forgot my camera for that outing.

Our Home

I thought I should give a brief update since I haven't updated the blog since we moved. We have been busy, busy, busy!!! We have been working on our house quite a bit and Nate and Doug have been busy brewing beer for Doug and Amanda's wedding this coming Saturday, May 7. So far, we have painted the downstairs half bath and Ben's bedroom. We spent an entire weekend, with the help of Cary, Brenda, Doug and Amanda, tearing out carpet and flooring in our living room, hallway, master bedroom, kitchen, dining room and stairs and had new flooring put in. The existing flooring was pretty stained and dirty and we are super pleased with our new flooring! It is awesome! We have a ton left to do but we will get there slowly but surely! I started a new job at Children's Home of Illinois as a therapist working with children and families in crisis and I really enjoy it so far. I started work full-time 2 weeks after we moved, so it has been an adjustment to say the least! Nate loves his new job at Caterpillar too! Ben is now in an in-home daycare and loves it so much!!! They have two dogs and there are some kids that are older than him and some are younger than him and he is always happy there! Ben has changed quite a bit in the past few months. He now says so many words that I lost count and he will count 1,2,3 and say A,B,C. He will repeat anything we say and he talks in sentences. He is very independent, smart, funny, loving, and headstrong. He has been sleeping through the night since we moved to our new home and I am forever grateful to sleep all night long! We love our new home and the fact that we are close to so many family and friends!!! We have been busy and had company almost every weekend since we moved here and wouldn't have it any other way!

Good News

I am happy to report that after Nathan made several phone calls yesterday, it sounds very promising and likely that they will get the work completed on our house in time for closing! This is a huge relief! The mortgage lender said that the work can be done the same day as closing even if necessary, which is awesome. We previously thought it had to be completed 5 days prior to closing. The company that will be repairing the septic system said that they are confident that they will be able to get it done before the 18th. I can't believe we close in 10 days and move in a little over 2 weeks! Time is going so quickly! It is a little overwhelming to think that I am going to be unemployed two weeks from today! Meanwhile, we have been working on cleaning the house in preparation for the big move! So exciting!

Sickly Winter

It has been a sickly winter in the DeVore household. Between traveling, stress, moving, and a toddler, we have all been sick a lot this winter! And we are tired of it! This week I took Ben to the doctor because he has been sick again with a bad cough, fever, restlessness when sleeping, fussy, wheezing, etc. It turns out he has a virus, ear infection and mild asthmatic symptoms. The doctor said that they are reluctant to call it asthma in children Ben's age but he wheezes quite a bit when he is sick or if he runs around for any length of time. So, he got put on amoxicillan for his ear infection and prednizone and albuterol for his cough and wheezing. The albuterol is administered using a nebulizer, which blows the medicine out as a mist. Benjamin was definitely not a fan of the nebulizer at first and he screamed almost the whole time it was going. We have a very intense child and let's just say he is a little over the top dramatic when he is unhappy just like his momma. I tell ya, parents really need to stop wishing that their children have children just like them! It's really not nice at all! Anyway, he is getting used to the nebulizer now and I think he is starting to realize that it helps him feel better. He sat on his beanbag chair this morning and did the treatment with not a lot of protest. I don't think we will ever get him to wear the mask because he is scared of it, but I know when to choose my battles! I am hoping that the meds and nebulizer treatments will help Ben feel better and sleep better! He slept great from 12 to 7 this morning, which I am taking as a good sign and he woke up in a fantastic mood! As of today, we are feeling well and hoping that we stay well until after our move!