Happy 4th Birthday Will, Max and Levi!

I am sure I say this every year, but I cannot believe the boys are already 4.  They are getting so big and are turning into such little men.  They are challenging, but we are very blessed and so proud of them every day.  Will was the first to wake up.  He came to my room and I said "Happy Birthday".  He said "Am I four now?"  I said yes, then he said "We can take the training wheels of my bike now!"  (Dale told them a long time ago that they could learn to ride their bike with no training wheels when they were 4 so that they could learn to ride a dirt bike when they were 5.  Thanks Dale!!!)  He then went to wake Max and Levi by shaking them and saying "Hey Levi, we are 4 now!"  It was so cute!  They had school, but since it was so nice we took them for a picnic in Forest Park after we picked them up.  We played baseball, soccer and just ran around.  At one point I was watching Will play baseball and my back was to Levi, I turned around and he was peeing in the middle of Art Hill.  Oh my, I was so embarrassed, but somehow I didn't see anyone noticing.  We had to give him a lecture on where it's appropriate to use the bathroom outside!  After we left Forest Park we went across the highway to Turtle Park since the kids were dying to go there.  When we finally got home they opened their presents from Dale and I and then immediately Dale had to take the training wheels off their bikes.  Max and Levi both tried and then gave up for a while, but Will was determined and practiced for over an hour until he finally just took off!  Finally to end the evening we went to Mexican for dinner.  When we asked them what they wanted to do for their birthday all three of them said "Mexican"!  They are Hackmann boys!  We had a great day celebrating Will, Max and Levi's 4th birthday!

Will 

Max 

Levi 

Max, Levi and Will racing down Art Hill 

Will and Levi 

Max 

Levi 

Will, Levi and Max 

Will 

Will 

Max 

Levi 

Huck and Dale 

Max 

Me and Huck 

Will, Levi and Max 

Levi

Boys Birthday Party!

We had our immediate family over yesterday to celebrate the boy's 4th birthday.  Although it was raining, they had lots of fun with everyone.  We had BBQ, cake and ice cream and of course opened presents.  They each chose a super hero for their cake so I was busy all week making them, but it was fun.  We sang Happy Birthday to each of them individually.  It seems tedious, but the looks on their faces when we say only their name is priceless and something I will always treasure! 

Will's Iron Man Cake 

Max's Spider Man Cake 

Levi's Hulk Cake 

Will 

Max 

Levi 

Eating with all of their cousins!

Max, Will, Levi, Baby Jacob, Baylen, Hunter and Colton 

Will, Max and Levi 

Levi 

Will 

Max 

Max, Will and Levi 

Will 

Will 

Will 

Levi (He stole a sample before we sang which is why his mouth has a green tint!) 

Levi 

Levi 

Max 

Max 

Max 

Max, Levi, GG and Will 

Mama Weber, Max, Levi, Papa Great and Will 

Max, Grandma, Will, Grandpa and Levi

A rough few months!

I don’t even know where to begin with this post.  It’s long and boring, but about how hectic things have been around here.  It all started about in the beginning of March when Will started running a fever on a Sunday night.  A kid in his class had strep so I assumed he was getting it, but he never once complained of a sore throat, even when I asked.  By the next night Will was covered in a red rash.  I knew immediately it was Scarlet Fever, which of course is from Strep.  I took him to the pediatrician and his throat was so nasty.  The poor kid never even complained of it.  So we started antibiotics and he had to stay home from school again on Wednesday.  By Thursday Levi started with a fever and sore throat.  I called the doctor and she called out antibiotics for him right away.  Friday I started with a sore throat a fever.  I went to the doctor and it was not strep so I had to just let it run its course.  By Sunday I was so miserable.  I had a constant fever that wouldn’t break even with meds and I hadn’t eaten anything because I was in so much pain.   I finally went to urgent care.  I still didn’t have strep but I did have an ear infection.  I was happy to get antibiotics.  By Tuesday I still was not better.  I called my doctor and they had to call out a stronger antibiotic.  I finally broke my fever and started feeling a little better every day.  And not that we haven’t missed school and work enough already it was conveniently Spring Break.  I had a sitter lined up and it decided to snow a foot, but otherwise the week went pretty well.  Monday comes around and I woke up at 2:30 a.m. vomiting which continued throughout the day.  Uggh!  But then it was over.  However the following day Will and Levi had their tonsils and adenoids removed so it was back to taking care of sick kids.  It takes a good 10 days for them to recover from this.  They are miserable, uncomfortable, and very needy.  I was finally ready to send them back to school for a short day the following Wednesday.  But guess what happens?  Will started vomiting.  As if his healing throat wasn’t bad enough for him.  By Friday all seems well.  I pick the boys up from school and we went to my grandparent’s house.  Levi was extremely crabby which is unlike him, especially at Gmama and Gpapa’s.  I thought it was from his first full day back at school and he was just worn out.  As we were leaving Levi projectile vomited all over my grandparent’s house.  No wonder he was so crabby.  Now this poor guy with a sore throat has the flu as well.  He continued this through the night when Max decided to join him.  The next morning Max was fine, but Levi had diarrhea and went through 5 pairs of pants before lunch.  But he is a big boy so we can’t dare convince him to put a pull up on!  We think all is well on Monday.  Levi was whining that his stomach hurt and he didn’t want to go to school.  I didn’t think anything of it because he still was a bit needy from his surgery and being sick.  Before I knew it Levi was vomiting all over the kitchen floor.  I kept him home from school again although he seemed fine after that.  The rest of the week seemed to go well except Levi was still hardly eating.  I was getting worried because he hadn’t really eaten for over 2 weeks now, but thought I would see how the rest of the week went.  Thursday night he seemed to eat pretty well so I was reassured.  Friday morning about 1:30 a.m. Levi started vomiting again.  I decided something was wrong and made him a doctor’s appointment the next morning.  It turns out that it was all just the flu, but that some kid’s stomachs take longer to be able to handle solid food.  And since he had a poor appetite already from his surgery his stomach just couldn’t handle it.  So he received some anti-nausea medicine which seemed to solve the problem.  (Knock on wood!)  So I thought we were in the clear, but very early Saturday morning Will came in our room with a fever and wheezing.  We had to give him a breathing treatment and once I finally got him to take his Tylenol he was ok the rest of the night.  So now that all sickness (hopefully) and surgeries are out of the way we are bombarded with allergy season!  Max has a terrible cough at night and Will is miserable with watery eyes and runny nose and Dale is always miserable this time of year.  So now everyone is taking allergy meds twice a day.  All this illness along with spring being our most busy time at work is why our past 2 months have been hell!  It seems like every time I call my mom she says “what happened now?”  I just want everyone to be healthy!   

Surgery

Will and Levi had been acting like they weren't feeling good for a few months.  Once I looked at their throats and their tonsils were so large and their uvula was stuck to them.  I took them to the doctor and they were fine.  They just had big tonsils and she said that they may eventually need removed, but otherwise they had no infection.  A few weeks passed and they still acted as if their throat hurt and something just wasn't right.  I took them to the ENT and along with their huge tonsils  their adenoids were so big that he didn't even need his special tool to see them.  So Will and Levi had their tonsils and adenoids removed on Tuesday morning. The surgery itself went well.  Levi acted how we expected to.  He is very dramatic and although I know he was in a lot of pain, we couldn't help but laugh at some of his drama.  When they took his IV out he kept wailing out.  When the nurse put a band-aid on the spot where the IV came out he started having another fit. There was an indention in his arm from the IV tube that he insisted was a bad wound, so another band-aid went on!  Little did he know that was the least of his pain.  Will was as we expected as well.  He doesn't complain much when he doesn't feel good so he just kind of hung out.  Finally when we were getting ready to leave Will said "I had fun."  They brought a wheelchair up for the boys, but Levi wanted me to carry him instead.  They have been doing pretty good since.  They have had a few good days and a few bad, but the worst is during the night and first thing in the morning.  I hate seeing them in so much pain.  I keep praying that it will start feeling better any second.  Hopefully their pain will go away very very soon and they can start feeling better than ever now that they no longer have their big nasty tonsils and adenoids.

Levi with "Hospital Monkey" pre-surgery.

(Max got a monkey when he had surgery and he reminded me that we needed to get Will and Levi one for their surgery too, which was so sweet.  So the night before their surgery Max gave them both a "Hospital Monkey" that got to have surgery with them.)

Will with "Hospital Monkey" pre-surgery.

Levi post surgery.  He was content watching "Bubble Guppies" and that was it.  We dared not move the TV an inch!

Will post surgery still giving me a smile!  What a champ!

Will riding the wheelchair to the car!