Thanksgiving......very thankful this year

Things have been rocking and rolling here at the Kalasek household. Even though some days I feel like I don't do much besides pump, feed Paxton, clean bottles and tubing, and change diapers the hours sure fly by. The boys are still IN LOVE with their little brother. They cant keep their hands off of him. Since its cold and flu season we try to direct their kisses and touches to the top of his head rather than his face. Paxton is making a lot more noises now and wiggling around so they are loving that (and so are mom and dad :) 

big smiles

lots of brotherly chats

 Mid-November we took a trip to Gainesville, FL to meet with the leading specialist for PWS. Her name is Dr. Jennifer Miller and she is nothing less than incredible. She spent around 4 hours with us and we left feeling like we were on cloud 9. Obviously know one chooses to deal with a lifelong genetic condition, but she is so hopeful for a "cure" to come out way before Paxton would "need" it and she just gave us so much hope as far as how life will go for us from here on out. She said by kindergarten we won't be able to tell Paxton apart from anyone else in his class. Yes he will always face certain challenges but with her on our team those challenges will be met and dealt with easily.

ready for our first flight to see Dr Miller. Awesome onesie made by the Rivard family for us

the incredible Dr.Miller

happy hour...party of 3!

airplane snuggles.....heading back home

 Everyone is doing well adjusting to a new baby at home. It can get chaotic at times but we seem to manage very well. Brian is super busy with traveling so most weeks its just me and the 3 dudes for a couple days. Easton and Ben are big helps (when they aren't fighting) and my moms been helping out a ton as far as carting the boys to Mary Pat's in the mornings.

Easton LOVES pre-school this year. He runs through the door to sing me the new song they learned that day, ask to do his homework (practicing writing skills), and tells me all about his day. Benjamin always asks "mom how was your day today" when we sit around the dinner table. Ben likes to tell me who got in time out and who was naughty that day.

that face! 

loving on their Paxton

Walgreens run with dad

 A few weekends ago we took Baylor with us to the Amazing Pizza Machine. We were all so excited to go out and do something as a family. I strapped Paxton to me and couldn't wait to get in on some arcade action. Of course halfway through lunch Ben started saying his tummy hurt and crying. He would fake gag so we got nervous and definitely didn't want a public puke incident to occur. Eventually Paxton, Ben, and I headed out early so no arcades for me :( Ben woke up from his nap good as can be and Easton and Baylor came home exhausted!

  Paxton continues to have doctor appointments and in home weight checks weekly. He is getting stronger every day and his eating skills are definitely improving. Thankfully the hair on the top of his head is also coming in :)

Mary Pat took the kids to the Xmas light store for "Fun Friday" a few weeks ago

I cant believe that Paxton has been here for over two months now.  We spent more time in the NICU than we have at home so far, but it still seems like we've been home as a family of five for a lot longer than we really have. Things are getting easier and less crazy so the level of anxiety over a new baby at home has gone way down for me at least. There are still moments of worry as always with an infant, but I feel like he's progressed so much since we have brought him home. Easton and Benjamin are excellent big brothers. They both dote on him 24/7 and never get jealous if I cant help them bc I am feeling or changing Paxton.

 Since Brian has been traveling so much I have tried to have projects for the boys each night to keep them occupied. Our house is decorated for Xmas (and has been for a few weeks). The tree is up and decorated.....Easton did all the ornaments except for the breakable ones so I have had to slowly re-distribute them around the tree while he's at daycare or pre-school. The first couple of days our tree was very bottom heavy :) Ben started to help but he lost interest very quickly.

 We also made turkey treats for Mary Pat's and a gingerbread house last week. I really set aside my OCD during the gingerbread house construction. I let them do the entire thing. Easton is so proud of it and Ben mostly ate the decorations before they made it on the house.

We also spent a day at Pump It Up one of the days Brian was gone. It wore the boys out and allowed me to sit with Paxton and watch them have fun! Ive never seen Easton be so brave! 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJ-D_uZW8tQ

We had a fantastic Thanksgiving. We spent time with both families and the boys got to see both sets of cousins. We were so grateful that my brother and sis in law braved the 3 hour drive to come spend time with us. Its been so hard not having them here while everything was going on with Paxton, and so hard for us not to be able to go to KC and meet their sweet new addition Mila. It felt great to hug them and let everyone meet the new little ones. My kids did a great job of destroying both sets of grandparents homes which was quite the accomplishment. My nephew Grayson is about 6 1/2 months younger than Benjamin so they played well but are both in the "mine" stage. Easton LOVED playing with Grayson. He had a blast ordering someone smaller around and actually having that little person follow along :) 

Mary Pat's Turkey Crew

Kalasek Cousins

newest French cousins....Pax and Mila

ready for the worst Husker game of the season yet. 

hanging with Aunt Hal

chilling babies

French Cousins

the big boys....always going in three different directions

Brian getting a double dose of babies :) 

a glimpse at what our children can do when given enough toys

I go back to work in a week and a half. I am still working my part-time hours (26 hours a week Mon-Thursday). I am so blessed that my work is allowing me to work all those days/hours from home right now. With Paxton being fed via G-tube and having weight checks and doctors appointments frequently this was the only way I was going to go back. I really didn't want to quit my job, but I don't want anyone caring for Paxton besides me right now. Hopefully in the future he can go to Mary Pat's but for the present time home is best. Between the flexibility of Brian's job and all our family nearby I have plenty of people willing to stay with him if there is ever a day I need to go in. 

Yesterday we went up to the NICU to visit our favorite nurses and give them some gift baskets for their break room. 

It was so bazaar walking back onto the hospital. I spent over half my maternity leave there. They all couldn't believe how strong Paxton seems and loved that he was getting more hair lol. 

I cant believe that Christmas is right around the corner. I have been shopping non-stop for about a week now so I feel like I need to take a breather and wait for majority of the items to arrive before I jump back on the retail bandwagon. Our Elf on the Shelf, Chippy has returned so that has been great for Brian and I. He is a great bargaining tool to keep the boys on their best behavior. I don't do the whole deal where he brings them gifts or does naughty things for them to find the next morning. All we do is hide him someplace new each day. Instead of our mornings being a battle on getting dressed, teeth brushed, and shoes on its a race. They jump out of bed and do everything asked of them so that they can find where Chippy landed. Its always a sad day on December 26th when that is gone and the routine of "I don't want to wear those pants" starts up again. We will enjoy this while we can though. Hope you all had a blessed Thanksgiving and are staying warm now that the weather has turned a switch on us.