That Fuksa Family

This was just too cute not to share. Teamwork! :)

Nathan and Daddy took a trip to Game Stop this afternoon while Mommy and aunt Angela went shopping. Jeremy has some Wii games that we haven’t played in quite a while, so they went to trade those in. They received store credit and bought a few games and accessories. Nathan picked out Lego Rock Band, mostly because it contains songs from Cars, Kung Fu Panda and Ghostbusters. They also picked out a game for Mommy, which Nathan is playing in this picture. Nathan is having fun both learning how to use the Wii and watching Mommy and Daddy play. We’ve had some great family time this afternoon, and I’m sure there will be much more to come.

3rdmartini:

Mouse practice. (Taken with instagram)

Nathan is learning how to use the computer. He’s doing a great job with the mouse and is having a lot of fun playing games on PBS.com.

Here is one of Nathan’s latest doodles. He loves to draw and is very deliberate in his creations. And, interestingly, he only uses 1 color even though he has many colors at his disposal.

Can you tell what this is? Yeah, us either. This is a Transformer, Mumblebee (not to be confused with Bumblebee). If you look on the upper left side you will see his weapon of choice, a hammer. Mumblebee transforms into a pink and purple motorcycle, which Jeremy and I thought was quite fitting.

We’ve amassed quite a collection of drawings and doodles, mostly because I can’t bring myself to throw out something that Nathan worked so hard on. However, the older he becomes the more he does, so unless I intend to turn our spare bedroom into an art gallery I need to start being more discriminate. It’s hard to do why my boy is a creative genius, at least in the eyes of his mommy!

3rdmartini:

Nathan helped me do a little bit of art direction on the Skype set tonight. The new LED sign is a win from the United Way silent auction we held at work last week. So many potential uses for that bad boy.

Love my handsome boys!

Nathan and mommy hung out at Crown Center this afternoon while daddy did an interview for his show. We did a little shopping, enjoyed some ice cream and walked across the street to see the ice rink. We also got to see the mayor’s Christmas tree being erected. It’s really cool to see. The giant tree is brought in on a flat bed truck by police escort, which was done on Thursday. Then workers use a chain saw and cut all of the branches off of the tree. Lights are wrapped around the branches and they are put back on the tree. Nathan was absolutely fascinated by this, so we sat outside and watched for quite a while. It would be fun to take him back down there for the lighting. We’ll have to see when that is.

Here is a glimpse of Nathan’s Halloween costume. More to come soon.

Happy Halloween, everyone!

Introducing Night Night Bear 2.0

For about a week after he lost NNB Nathan didn’t mention a word about him. However, on our way to school on Tuesday Nathan became very sad and said he missed his friend. Then that night at bedtime Nathan got the saddest look on his face and said he missed his best friend. That sad look was then followed by one of the saddest cries I had ever heard. It was so sad it made mommy cry. Daddy ran back to see what was going on and I explained that the loss of NNB had finally set in. I asked Nathan what we could do to make him feel better and he said he would like another Night-Night Bear. Jeremy was so upset that we were sad that he set out to find a replacement. Nathan had spent so much time with NNB that he knew exactly what he looked like, down to the tiny pieces of grass around the giraffe, so we knew it had to be exact. We had no idea of the brand or where he was purchased, but since daddy is an Internet genius he was able to find the exact same Night-Night Bear! And, not only was he exactly the same but he was coming from Richmond,Mo, which is about 30 east of Kansas City. What good fortune!!!

NNB 2.0 arrived this evening and I don’t think I’ve ever seen Nathan so happy. We gave him a bath (both Nathan and NNB) and he’s currently snuggling with Nathan and watching Thomas Train, just like old times.

All is right with the world.

RIP Night-Night Bear

This past weekend we took a trip with grandma and grandpa to St. Louis via the Amtrak Missouri River Flyer. We had a great trip, I’m sure we’ll post some pictures later in the week. As you all know, Nathan rarely goes anywhere without his best friend, Night-Night Bear (aka NNB). All was well until we realized on the train on the way back to KC that NNB was not in Nathan’s backpack. He was also not in our suitcase. He was gone, nowhere to be found. I immediately called the hotel and the guy at the front desk said no one had turned anything in, but to call back in the morning and speak with someone in housekeeping. At this point we asked Nathan a lot of questions about where he last saw NNB. Nathan said that he left him at the hotel so he wouldn’t get lost. I don’t think he realized that he left him there and he didn’t realize the we weren’t going back to the hotel. We had to break the news that NNB was probably gone forever. It broke my heart to watch that little lower lip quiver and then begin crying. He cried for a good 2-3 minutes and then he was all better. He hasn’t asked about NNB since. I think mommy was more upset that he’s gone, but mostly for sentimental reasons.

When Nathan was around a year old we bought Night-Night Elephant just in case NNB ever got lost. Boy are we glad we did that! Elephant (aka Elle) has slept in bed with Nathan, so he stepped right in to his new role. Nathan snuggled up with him last night and tonight just like he did with NNB. Thank goodness we didn’t have to endure a long, drawn out mourning period. Jeremy and I have agreed not to speak about NNB unless Nathan brings it up.

Goodbye Night-Night Bear. You were a special friend and there for Nathan during 2 surgeries and his first trip away from mommy and daddy. He went to school with Nathan everyday and provided so much comfort. Elle has some big shoes to fill, but I think he’s up for the challenge. He’s already filling his role quite nicely.

A sick boy and his dog.

Mommy stayed home with Nathan on Thursday because he woke up and complained that he couldn’t swallow. He had been exposed to strep throat at school, so I decided to take him into the doctor to be on the safe side. Oh, and he also had a terrible case of conjunctivitis (pink eye) and would have been sent home from school anyway. The rapid strep test came back negative, so after a flu shot and a change in allergy meds we were on our way. Nathan’s allergies have been terrible this fall. He’s now taking big boy pills that he has to swallow. It took a couple tries the first time, but he got the hang of it. Since the strep test was negative and he didn’t have a fever we sent him back to school on Friday. This morning he woke up and was very warm. He was also a fussy little bear. We didn’t think anything about it until I received a call from his pediatrician’s office saying that his strep culture came back positive from the lab. So…off to Walgreens I went to pick up amoxicillin and he’s currently under quarantine in the house until tomorrow as he’s considered contagious. It’s been a long day and he finally calmed down and fell asleep late this afternoon. When Nathan is well Stella really doesn’t want much to do with him, but when he’s sick she is pretty protective and sticks close to him.

Hopefully he’ll feel better tomorrow and we can get outside. We’re planning on going to the pumpkin patch to pick out the perfect pumpkin for carving. Check back for pictures!