Halloween 2015

This is going to be a LONG post because because we did so many fun things during October to get ready for Halloween!  First up, decorations!  Over the past couple of years, I've gotten quite a few Halloween decorations because Pearce just LOVES Halloween!  When Pearce saw the first house in our neighborhood with decorations out, he begged and begged to get ours out.  Pearce had so much fun "helping" me decorate inside and outside.  It's so fun for me to decorate for holidays now that I have Pearce!  He loves looking at the Halloween decorations at the store, so each year, I just can't help but get him some new things...we later added a skeleton cat (thanks GG!), a strobe light for the skeleton in the ground, some more lights, light up pumpkins for the window, and a glowing skeleton.  In Pearce's room, I put a skeleton garland across his bookshelf, a small light up jack-o-lantern on another bookshelf, and he had two skeletons hanging on his door....he likes skeletons :)  

Pearce's friend who he would actually talk to at the grocery store :)

Later in the month, Pearce got to participate in a Costume Parade at school.  Of course, we had gotten his costume the first week of October.  He knew he wanted to be the Hulk and when we saw it at the Disney Store, he was set on getting that...so we did.  Pearce got to wear his costume to school that day.  It was so cute seeing all the 3 and 4 year olds in their costumes!  Pops and Mimi were here visiting, so they got to see the program, too.  We dropped Pearce off and then headed to the Chapel.  The classes all started walking in and as soon as Pearce saw us, he had the biggest smile on his face :)  We had a quick chapel service and then all the classes filed out and went to the gym to start the costume parade.  Pops, Mimi, and I found Pearce and stood behind them.  All of the kids were sitting in one big circle.  Their music teacher led the kids in singing several cute Halloween songs.  Then each class got to stand up and walk around the circle and wave to everyone.  Pearce just looked so cute!

Finally, it was time to pack up and head to Dallas for our Halloween weekend!  Chris had to go to London for work, so that's why we decided to go to Dallas.  It worked out so perfectly since Halloween was on a Saturday.  Pearce skipped school on Thursday and we got to Dallas just in time for Nay Nay to get out of school.  Pearce could not wait to see Nay Nay and Charlotte!  We got there in time to meet Nathan at school.  As soon as Pearce saw him, he ran as fast as he could to Nay Nay...it was so sweet.  The whole weekend, Pearce, Charlotte, and Nay Nay played and played together.  Pearce was in cousin Heaven!  He was happy to play with Nay Nay and do whatever he was doing AND he was happy playing babies with Charlotte.  In fact, it was Pearce who would ask Charlotte if she wanted to go play babies :)  They made pizzas together, made slime, and carved jack-o-lanterns.  While Nathan was in school, we took Pearce and Charlotte to see Grandma.  They had fun making her hair look nice, and of course, Grandma was a good sport!  Saturday was exciting because Nathan scored a touchdown during his flag football game, so Uncle Wayne took all the kids to 5 Below for a little prize....Pearce loved it.  Then it was time to start getting ready for trick or treating!  The kids all looked soooo cute!  I was a little disappointed that Pearce didn't want to wear his Hulk mask or Hulk hands.  Uncle Wayne finally convinced him to wear it just for a picture, but that was it.....so basically, he wore $25 worth of his costume!  Oh well.  It had been raining much of the weekend and that morning, but thankfully the rain stopped that afternoon.  Mama and Papa got back from their trip just in time to stop by for a bit to see the kids all dressed up.  Oh my gosh, they all looked sooooo cute!  We walked to a fall carnival Ashley's neighborhood always puts on.  It was really cute.  They had two bounce houses, a food trailer, balloon artist, costume contest, and several other fun games.  It was a really great way to gear up trick-or-treating!  We were several blocks away from Ashley's house, so after the carnival, the kids just trick-or-treated all the way back.  I LOVED watching them run up to the houses and yell "Trick-or-treat!"  Most of the time Pearce would say "thank you" and "Happy Halloween!"  They all filled their buckets up pretty quickly and just had the best time.  There was a haunted house in the neighborhood that was really fun for us to go through.  We stayed out for a couple of hours and then made it back to Ashley's house so they kids could eat their loot and answer the door for the older trick-or-treaters. 

Totally enthralled in the movie playing in Auntie Ashy's car :)

 

 

 

 

 On Sunday, we said our goodbyes and headed over to Mama and Papa's house to see them for a little bit before heading back to Austin.  Pearce was so happy to see them and then started making demands :)  The first demand was to help Mama make orange juliius for all of us and the second, third, and fourth demands were to go on a golf cart ride, feed the ducks, and go fishing!  Mama and Pearce made us a great breakfast and then Papa and Pearce were off to go do their thing.  Mom told me all about her trip and I loved FINALLY being able to talk to her!  They were gone for a week and I REALLY missed being able to talk to Mom!!  We had a great little visit and then it was time for Pearce and I to hit the road so that we could pick up Sissy in time.  Pearce fell asleep about 15 minutes after we left and slept the entire way home!  I woke him up when we pulled into the doggy day care place in Austin!  We had SUCH a fun Halloween weekend!  Thank you Auntie Ashy, Uncle Wayne, Nay Nay, and Charlotte for everything you did for us!  We love you!!!

GG's Visit...and Pearce gets sick :(

GG came to visit us last week and we had so much fun with her!  Pearce kept asking and asking when she was going to be here....next time we have a visitor, I think I won't tell him at all and let him be surprised because Pearce kept saying "It's so hard to wait!"  GG came on Sunday and after hugs and kisses, Pearce asked GG if she brought him anything....oh Pearce...he knows GG soooooo well :)  She brought Pearce two big Play Doh kits to which he said "I've always wanted this!"  So Pearce played with one of his play doh kits and then we went to eat lunch at La Madeleine....mine and GG's favorite!  Monday was Pearce's soccer class, so GG got to go with us to that which was fun!  We also had Pearce's friend, Claire, with us for the day, so it was really fun for GG to see them together.  Claire was so good at soccer.  I brought Pearce's iPad and just let her play his games while Pearce played soccer.  After soccer, we took them to Little Land to play.  All of my pics from Little Land are blurry because they were on the move non stop!  After Little Land we went to Chick Fil A for lunch and I have never seen Pearce eat so much, LOL!!  After soccer and Little Land, he was hungry!  We dropped Claire off at home after that and then we went to the outlet mall to do a little shopping.  Pearce was so good at the outlet mall.  We stopped at the Disney Store to just "look" around but GG got Pearce a couple sets of  small action figures which he just loves!  Pearce has gotten so good at using his imagination and playing by himself.  He loves any type of play people.  On Tuesday, Pearce skipped school and we went to the movies!  GG and Pearce saw Hotel Transylvania 2 and I saw The Walk.  We went to a theater where you can eat there and they have recliners to lay back in.  It's so comfy!  I got GG and Pearce all settled and then went to my movie.  We all enjoyed it!  Wednesday, Pearce picked Luby's for lunch and then we thought it would be fun to go to a park afterwards.  As soon as we walked in Luby's, Pearce said he was cold.  I normally get cold everywhere, but Luby's was definitely not cold.  This was my first hint that Pearce was getting sick.  He really didn't eat a lot....he did eat his Jello though :)  We went to the park and Pearce did play, but he didn't play as hard as he normally does.  Then he actually told me he didn't feel good and wanted to go home.  We got home and sure enough, he was starting to run a fever.  It had been almost exactly a month since his last fever episode, so I assumed this was another one of his fevers.  His fever got to 104.5 later that afternoon and he just wanted to sleep and lay on the couch.  Poor little guy!  Se we just took it easy that day.  By Thursday, he was feeling better and only had a low fever, but it stayed down with Motrin.  He was definitely more active and just seemed more like himself.  Since GG was leaving the next day and he spent the day before just sleeping, I wanted us to do something fun if he felt like it.  So we ended up going to Chuck E Cheese for lunch.  Pearce did eat a piece of pizza and had fun, but he still wasn't quite 100%.  We came back and played some more and even went on a Halloween Hunt that night.  Pearce sat in the back seat with GG and I drove us around to look for Halloween decorations.  Pearce LOVES doing this!  We played some more that evening and Pearce even slept with GG that night :)  The next morning, I was getting Pearce dressed for the day and GG was getting her things together to leave to go back to Little Rock.  I noticed Pearce had a bumpy, red rash all over his back and chest.  He has never gotten a rash like this before and he never gets anything other than just a fever when his fever syndrome starts.  So I made an appointment with his doctor for 2:00 that afternoon.  We said bye to GG and watched her leave.  As soon as she pulled away, Pearce just started crying and crying :(  It's always so fun when family comes to visit, but so hard when they have to leave.  By the time we left for the doctor, Pearce's rash had gotten more red and bumpy and had spread to his face and a little on his legs.  At the doctor, as soon as the nurse saw him, she wanted to do a strep test.  He was so good for that.  Finally, Dr. Sperling walked in and told us he had strep throat!  He has been tested for strep so many times when we were trying to figure out why he was getting fevers.  He never once tested positive for strep....until now.  So then Dr. Sperling looked at his rash which by now had spread to his arms and neck and she said "Oh my gosh, this is Scarlet Fever."  I was like, what????  She said it is somewhat rare, but that some kids just have a bad reaction to the strep bacteria.  So, he was prescribed an antibiotic and I was told he was extremely contagious and that he needs to stay inside until 24 hrs after he starts his antibiotic....SORRY CHUCK E CHEESE PEOPLE!!!  Pearce fell asleep on the way home from the doctor and after we got his medicine, we just took it easy that evening and all day Saturday.  What's funny is that other than not being a big eater, he never really acted like he felt all that bad...his only bad day was Wednesday when he came down with the fever.  So strange!  Thankfully now, Pearce is all better and always took his medicine like a champ....AND GG and I never got sick from him!  We had fun with you GG!!!!

GG made chicken chili for us one night and Pearce helped her cook :)

Poor sick baby :(

The rash that started Friday morning.

Going to get his medicine at the store....you would never guess he was just diagnosed with strep and Scarlet Fever!

Soccer

GG got Pearce soccer lessons and he is loving them!  He goes every Monday at 11:00 for 8 weeks.  I almost forgot about his first class, but thankfully did not!  Pearce doesn't have a lot of "athletic wear" so for soccer, he had to look the part!  I got him the cutest athletic shorts and t-shirt at Target, GG gave me money to get Pearce a soccer ball for home, and Daddy had already gotten him new tennis shoes, so he was ready!  GG was here visiting, so she got to see him at his first class, which was so fun for her!  His friend, Eli is in his class, so Pearce and Eli were very excited about that.  Pearce went right out onto the field and did so well listening to his coaches and following directions and can actually kick the ball really well!  GG and I loved watching Pearce run after the ball and do the warm ups and cool downs.  I'm thinking Pearce will be taking more soccer lessons in the future!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ghost Town and Boo at the Zoo

I'm a bit behind on the blog!  Several weeks ago, we went to a ghost town AND the zoo.  It was two different days, but a full weekend!  First, the ghost town.  I took Pearce here last year and he just loved exploring all the buildings, so I knew he would love it even more this year...and I was right!  We got there around 6:00 that evening and when I finally convinced him it was time to go, it was 9:00!  We did spend a good amount of time watching a kids' Halloween movie they had playing on a big screen outside and we ate dinner there, too.  Pearce loved being able to walk around and go inside all these old buildings and explore what was inside them.  I think his favorite building was the jail :)  It was such a fun night!

Next up,  Boo at the Zoo.  This was going to be our second time to go and I was so excited for Pearce!  He got his Hulk costume on and just looked adorable!  The zoo is so fun during this time because they have all kinds of neat Halloween decorations out plus lights strung up all over.  So it's fun to walk around while it's still light out to see the animals and then when it gets dark, everything is all lit up and just the right amount of spooky!  I'm so glad we got our tickets several weeks before because you have to reserve a train ride time and I wanted to be sure we got to ride when it was dark.  The zoo opened up that night from 6:30-9:00.  We got there right at 6:30 and the first thing Pearce wanted to do was go to the haunted house.  Our tickets gave us unlimited haunted house visits which is good because Pearce went through at least 5 times!  They would ask if you wanted to be a little scared or a lot scared...Pearce always said "a wot scared."  He loved it!  We walked around and saw all the animals and then it got dark and we just walked around and looked at all the lights and decorations and also ate a picnic dinner I brought.  At 8:20, it was time for our train ride.  Next year, I will get our train ride for 8:00 since by then we were pretty much done with everything and just waiting for the train.  The train ride was the perfect ending to our night at the zoo.  The ride had tons of lights and decorations along the way as well as spooky and fun characters that jumped out at us.  At one point the train stopped and pirates came to us and gave all the kids a bag of candy!  This is definitely something we will do every year!  

The Flu Shot

So today, Pearce had an appointment to get his flu shot.  He's old enough to get the flu mist this year, but he's a little stopped up from allergies and I just didn't trust that he would be able to sniff, so flu shot it was.  When I picked Pearce up from school, I decided to go ahead and tell him about it while we were in the car.  We had two hours before the appointment, so I just wanted to be honest and prepare him.  Well, he immediately started crying and got so upset.  I want to remember this conversation because at the end, I was so proud of how he worked through his feelings.

Mommy:  "Pearce, remember when you went with me to get my flu shot?  Remember how I was a little scared, but you held my hand and told me to close my eyes and think of something happy like how Daniel Tiger always says?
Pearce:  "Yep, and it just felt like a wittle pinch!"
Mommy:  "Yes, that's right!  It felt like a little pinch and then I got a cool bandaid and that was it.  So, we're going to go home for a little bit and then Mommy is going to take you to the doctor to get your flu shot, ok?"
          ------------------------------HYSTERICAL CRYING---------------------------
Pearce:  "I don't want to get a shot!  I don't wike shots!"
Mommy:  "Pearce, I know you don't want to get a shot, but you also don't want to get the flu because the flu can make you very sick.  I promise the nurse will do it really fast and it will only pinch a little and then be over."
Pearce (Still crying and so upset):  "I don't wike that nurse.  She is terrible!"  (I've never heard him use the word terrible before!)
Mommy:  "Pearce, the nurse is not terrible.  Terrible means something is bad.  The nurse is going to give you the flu shot so that you don't get the flu.  The flu is what's terrible." 
Pearce (Still crying):  "Well, she is terrible!  I'm not getting a shot!  Nope I'm not!"
Mommy:  "Pearce, is Dr. Sperling terrible?"
Pearce:  "No, she's my friend."
Mommy:  "Well, the nurse works with Dr. Sperling and Dr. Sperling only lets nice people work with her."
Pearce:  "Well, ok, the nurse is my friend, but I still don't want a shot!"
Mommy:  "Pearce, if you are brave and get your shot like a big boy, then after that I'll take you to get any toy you want at the Dollar Store, ok?"
Pearce (Still crying, but not hysterical):  "Ok, thanks Mommy."
Mommy:  "Hey, I know!  Why don't you take Woody with you?"
Pearce:  "And Woody can get a shot first?"
Mommy:  "Sure!  Woody can get a shot first and you can help him to be brave and then you get your shot and Woody will help you, ok?"
Pearce:  "Ok Mommy."
Mommy:  "When we get home, let's watch Daniel Tiger when he gets a shot, ok?"
Pearce:  "Ok Mommy."

So this whole conversation happened in the span of about 20 minutes while we were driving home.  By the time we got home, Pearce was happy and talking about how he and Woody were going to be brace.  We watched  Daniel Tiger together plus a few other shows and then it was time to go.  The whole entire time, Pearce wasn't scared at all....even when we got to the doctor's office, even when we were called back, even when we were in the exam room.  The nurse came in and Pearce immediately told her that Woody was going to get a shot first.  Thank goodness the nurse totally played along!  She could not have been sweeter about it!  So she went to get the shot and came back in and asked Pearce to sit on the table with Woody.  She asked him to hold his hand and told Pearce to tell Woody to be brave, which he did.  Then she got an empty syringe and gave Woody the shot and said "Oh wow, Woody was so brave, wasn't he Pearce?  Now help me put a bandaid on Woody."  So Pearce and the nurse put a bandaid on Woody's leg and now it was Pearce's turn.  The nurse told Pearce it was going to go in his leg just like Woody, so I pulled Pearce's pants down and secretly, I was so happy Pearce had cute undies on :)  So I laid Pearce down and the nurse told Pearce to hold Woody's hand and she was so fast...it was over!  Pearce winced and almost started to cry, but then he sat up and said, "That was fun!  I wike shots!"  The nurse just praised Pearce and told him he was her best patient ever!  She gave Pearce a high five and then gave me a high five and then gave Pearce a token to get a prize out of the prize machine.  She took Pearce's hand and led him out to get his prize.  She was absolutely the sweetest woman and I was so proud of my brave boy!!  We went next door to the Dollar Store so that Pearce could pick out any toy he wanted.  He looked and looked and at first wanted to get a toy axe which was part of a Halloween costume....I told him he should pick something he could actually play with :)  So he finally decided on silly putty because "I've always wanted silly putty!"  I told Pearce I was so proud of him and that now when he goes for his check up when he turns 4 and has to get shots, he knows they're no big deal! :)

Waiting for the nurse...

Woody getting his shot...

 Woody getting his bandaid...

Thumbs up after his shot!