My life as a Mommy of 4 little boys

Saturday, March 26, 2011

A very busy Saturday

Wow what a busy busy day!!!!  


This morning Hayden had his first soccer game!  Well, really it was the 2nd game but we didn't know about the first because we had missed the practice before it due to him being so sick.  But it was the first game he had been to.  He did pretty well.  I think he was intimidated by all the action.  Only 3 kids are on the field at a time, well 3 per team, but with all the whistle blowing and surprisingly Hayden is very shy around other kids and not at all aggressive so he didn't want to take the ball from anyone lol.  So since he wasn't just getting the ball without having to do that he was getting a bit discouraged and was walking picking his lip a lot of the game haha.  He would try and run but my poor shorty's legs just don't carry him as fast as the other kids, they are quite a bit bigger than him lol.  But he still enjoyed it which is the important thing and he got to kick off twice which he loved.  Hoping after a few more practices and games he'll get the idea that he is supposed to be aggressive...to a point...and take the ball from the other team and he'll get more into it.  When he has the ball he's pretty good, especially seeing it's his first year ever playing.  


Here are 2 videos from his practice this week






Then here are some pics from today's game :)
Mustangs!

Then after that we had to go and pick up the boys cake from Costco, which turned out GREAT!  We were really happy with it, yay!  We came home to get the pinatas filled and grab some stuff then realized we needed to get balloons filled up so we hurried and left and of course HEB was PACKED!!!  We ended up being late to the party lol.  Luckily we still made it before anyone else.  But while at HEB I got a call from a kid in Landon's class that he was going to come so I was really happy with that because I hadn't heard from any other kids in the class and it was a little boy he was really good friends with.  

We got the park and got everything set up and everyone started coming.  Not very many kids from class came but each of them had one of their very favorite friends from class that came so they had a great time!  We did the pinatas and all that, which was nuts, took forever for those things to bust.  But all in all they had a really great birthday and were so glad everyone that came did.  

A few pics :)
This would be where Mark thought it was a great idea to tie Dessa's key to the string to throw it over the branch...swore it wouldn't get stuck...he throws it once and YEP it got stuck hahaha it was hilarious.  We did eventually get it down but Dessa was ready to kill him






We went and had a really yummy dinner tonight, had a really good time with the boys.  Then came home and got those stinky kids showered and in bed!!!  I bet they sleep really good tonight!  Think I'm going to go take a nice relaxing bath now and get in bed myself.  Church tomorrow then we'll set up the boys trampoline they got from Grandma Gail and pool from Aunt Dessa :)



















Wednesday, March 23, 2011

He's 6yrs old!

To my sweet Casen on your 6th birthday, 


I can't believe that it has already been 6yrs since you came into this world.  Ever since before you were born that day you have been drama :)  I was induced, which you made it well known you were not ready for and you have never been one to do anything on anyone's time table but your own!  After giving us a few scares the dr took you by c-section and off to the NICU you went.  I wasn't able to see you for 3 very long hours.  Everyone was able to go into the NICU and see you, but me.  I was the last person to see you but the second you heard my voice you knew who mommy was.  You have been glued to me since that very moment.  You have been Mommy's boy since day one and here 6yrs later you still very much are.  You wouldn't even let Daddy touch you for about 7mo except the rare occasion you were in an excellent mood and even then it didn't last long.  No one was allowed to hold you but me.  You have eventually warmed up and you love everyone but you are still Mommy's boy.  I, of course, love you and each of your brothers equally but in very different ways.  We have this special bond, don't know what it is, but we have an amazing bond that I hope we will always share.  Maybe it's because we are so much alike.


You have grown so much over the past 6yrs and you are turning into an amazing little boy.  You are now about 45.5in and 41lbs.  You are soooo very smart and doing so well in school.   You are in the top reading group in your class and exceeding every expectation they have of kindergarteners.  You are in your 3rd season of baseball and love it, you are very good at it, too.  You are still very dramatic and make your opinion on things well known.  You question everything and you're constantly wanting to learn and know why everything is the way it is.  You are hilarious.  You can be a total sweetheart but the biggest grump, too.  :)


So happy birthday my sweet, amazing, loving, smart, handsome little boy.  You are THE most amazing 6yr old I know!  Every day I have had the pleasure of being your Mommy has been amazing and I love you more and more each day.  I know Daddy feels the exact same way!  We love you (and your brothers) more than anything in this world and we hope you have the best birthday ever!!!  

Things are much better around here

So glad that things are looking better around here!  


It was another long weekend with lots of sickness but everyone seems to be on the mend now. It started Friday, I dropped the big boys off with Grandma then took Hayden to dinner with some friends.  The food he ate made him very sick that night, he threw up twice and was just hurting.  Then late that night Mark got really sick and was up all night throwing up as well.  He was still sick in the morning but feeling a bit better.  We went and picked up the big boys and Casen thought he was going to puke on the way home, but luckily he didn't.  Mark finally started feeling better that afternoon, was weak that day but much better. 


Sunday we went to church, before service was a summer camp meeting for Landon.  We got him signed up and put down his deposit.  He is SO excited!  It's 3 nights and 4 days, I'm really nervous but I know he's gonna have a great time.  The camp sounds amazing and I think he'll get a lot out of it.  He is doing some fundraising to try and earn his way to camp, if anyone would like to help him out I know he'll really appreciate it.  He's going to go around trying to raise the money then we'll pay the rest :)  We then went to service and them to class and it was a really nice service, gave us a lot to think about it, I really enjoyed it and the boys had a good time too.  We ran into Casen's old coach on the way out and talked to them for awhile, apparently all tball coaches are bad this year, so we didn't just get unlucky.  He's going to practice with his old coach sometimes too to hopefully not fall too far behind so that's good.  


Sunday afternoon Landon had a baseball practice and he was playing really great at first.  His coach had him on 2nd base and he played really really awesome.  I'm hoping he keeps him there for games, I was really impressed by how well he did.  Then Landon started feeling really bad though so he sat out the rest of practice and we ended up leaving early.  We came home and the poor kid started throwing up too :(  He was sick all through the night.  So he stayed home from school on Monday.  


Monday Casen had his dentist appt to get his 2 fillings so when I was getting everyone ready to go Landon puked again so I had Mark come home from work to stay with him and I took Casen and Hayden with me.  Casen did great at his appt, yay!  I was feeling pretty crappy all morning, we stopped by to see Dessa and then headed home.  By the time I got home I was feeling worse.  Mark had to go back to work and luckily the kids let me lay in my room.  Then the stomach bug his me :(  I was really sick all afternoon and night.  I'm so lucky I have amazing kids that helped take care of each other, Landon was feeling better that afternoon so he helped get the other 2 something to eat and snack on until mark got home finally.  Then Mark took over and I was able to rest.  Thankfully I'm better today, so is Landon.  Hayden and Casen haven't gotten it yet, hoping they won't either.  


Casen had his 2nd practice today, he was supposed to have one last night but I was too sick to take him and mark didn't make it home in time.  This practice went much better, yay!  And casen is doing AWESOME this season!  He is the best one out there, 2 other kids are really good too but he's most consistent and all around good at all parts.  BUT his coach keeps putting him in the outfield to start, better not happen at games!  He should be playing infield at all times, he's earned his position over the past few seasons and this year is definitely good enough to be infield at all times.  


Hayden is finally eating though!!!!!!!!!  Yesterday he snuck into the fridge and got a leftover chicken cordon bleu and ate half of it cold lol, he ate a few other very small things through the day.  Then tonight he had 5 chicken nuggets for dinner!!!!!  Which is HUGE for him.  The rest of the day he just had little bites here and there but at least he is eating one decent amount a day then little snacks.  Hoping he continues to do better.  His tummy wasn't hurting him today either :)

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Worlds worst mother?? Yeah I "win"

First, I will vent.  I feel awful for even feeling this way but I NEED A BREAK!!!!   This has been a stressful, exhausting, long long week.  I have had Hayden attached to me since Monday, nonstop.  Then Tues night all 3 boys ended up in bed with us, Wed Landon and Hayden did and last night Landon was in our bed before I was even able to fall asleep and Hayden followed soon after.  Landon sleeps laying fully up against me too so I can't even have a minute to myself while sleeping.  I feel like I can't breathe!


Thankfully Landon was feeling SO much better today so after another long day, granted a better one in many ways, I just couldn't take anymore and I called Grandma Gail and asked if she could take Landon and Casen for the night, thankfully she said yes!  THANK YOU SO MUCH GAIL!  The boys all felt much better today, even Hayden.  Hayden was up playing with them all day but still feeling pretty crappy (though nothing like what he has felt) but since he still felt bad he was very grumpy and was being a butt to the boys all day and anytime they'd do anything back he'd have a total meltdown.  So it was a rough day, it's almost easier to deal with him really sick than like this because he wants to play and do things but is so emotional it's even harder to deal with.  Landon and Casen were at each other all day too...I'm not sure who ever thought spring break was a good idea.....oh yeah probably the teachers......


But thankfully Gail said she'd take the boys so I got them all ready to go which was an event in itself, this house is a mess from not being able to do much of anything all week, I was searching everywhere for clothes for everyone, shoes were missing, it was a mess.  But we finally got out the door only to realize Mark had one of the boys boosters.  Thankfully I haven't sold my Nautilus yet so I pulled that back out and Casen still fits harnessed in it (at almost 6, not bad!), finally got the dang thing installed, the LATCH was all twisted just to annoy me I'm sure.  Then I realized $20 was missing from my wallet...or I say missing, I couldn't remember spending it, I later remembered where I spent it but it left me only $15 total and of course I needed gas.  Also, Heather had asked me to go to dinner with them after dropping the boys off...so needed more money.  Meet up with Mark which took forever but luckily he was able to leave work and an hour later than I expected we finally met up with Gail.  


After leaving the boys we took Hayden with us to meet up with Heather and everyone for dinner.  Ordered Hayden some food that would have been ok for him to eat but of course he decided he couldn't eat it, which I figured would happen.  He had felt much better all day but still had only managed a bit of food.  But then he really wanted my haystack onions (very very thin onions fried)...from my research on Crohn's so far onions are very bad...fried food also not very good for most people.  Well the mommy in me gave in to my 3yr old who hasn't eaten barely anything at all in a week and allowed him to have the one thing he was willing to eat even though I knew it was a bad idea.  He ate probably 5-6 of them, just small ones and then about 5 sweet potato fries.  We then topped it all off with some frozen yogurt. Could I have been more stupid???  Worst mother of the year right here!  


Since then he's gone right back downhill.  We got home and he was complaining of hurting worse, temp went to about 100-101 so not high but it was gone all day before this.  Then I put him to bed in my bed and I was about to head there myself and he called out to me and said he thought he'd throw up so I said hurry to the bathroom and he got as far as me, thankfully I had grabbed a bowl and he just started puking everywhere.  He threw up all over himself, tons and tons :(  It was awful.  So while Mark got it all cleaned up I jumped in the bath with him to get him clean.  He was just miserable, complaining of his stomach.   (oh and earlier right when we got home he had bad diarrhea again, makes 4x today).  Finally got him out and into pjs and laid him back down and he fell right to sleep.  :(  


Seriously have to be more careful about what I allow him to eat, I can't let him eat things I know will be bad in the long run just so he eats something, can't let him make himself miserable :(  


We are meeting with the guy selling us the Peptamen Jr, hoping Hayden likes it and will drink it and that it helps.


Tomorrow will be a better day.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Update on the sickies

Well today was a better day, not great, but better.  At 6:15 we got woken up by the boys (Landon and Hayden) both with high fevers so we got them more meds and went back to bed.  Took awhile for Landon to fall back asleep he was tossing and turning, keeping me awake.  Once he finally fell asleep though he slept until 12:30!  He woke up and his temp has been down all day but he has still been having headaches when his meds wear off.  I think tomorrow he should be much better.  


Hayden woke up at 1pm!  First thing he said this morning was he wanted to eat and wanted a gogurt..he ate about 3/4 of it.  Then I gave him a pediasure and over the next hour or 2 he actually drank it all!  It really filled him up which is great, for the first time in a couple weeks he wasn't hungry.  He only napped a couple of times today for really short times, maybe an hour or so total and he went to bed at 9:30 tonight.  He was up moving around a lot today, playing with his brothers some...mostly fighting with them because he is really emotional and grumpy today.  Landon and Casen have been fighting all day too....it hasn't been a very fun day for me, they are driving me up the wall arguing lol.  Hayden's temp stayed down at 102 or lower all day even without meds.  He said his tummy was hurting but not severe pain like it has been.  Finally about 6:30 I had to give him more tylenol because he was hurting worse and his temp was 103.4.  After the meds had time to work he decided he was hungry and ate a slice of bread with just a little butter on it, well almost the entire slice, a couple of small bites of the crust off Casen's pizza and the other half of the yogurt he didn't finish the night before.  We had told Casen earlier if he ate dinner he could have a popsicle so he had one and Hayden wanted one too and was able to eat the entire thing.  Oh and he had a pouch of the baby food stuff, pear and mango, today too.  So he did pretty well, mostly liquid stuff but a bit of solid food.


TMI alert:


A lot of this is so I can keep track of things happening day to day so when we go for our appt I have it all where I can remember it to tell the dr.  So, today the diarrhea hit Hayden bad.  He has also felt like he was going to puke most of the day but hasn't actually.  


But all in all, it's been a better day, despite the new things happening he is eating a touch more and isn't in as bad of pain so that's good for sure.  I'm hoping this is maybe starting to pass and he can get back to his normal until the appt.  I've been talking to a lot of people that have Crohn's and getting some really good advice and making me feel a lot better about this whole thing.  The best thing said to me so far is that once we get a diagnosis and treatment we can keep things from ever getting as bad as they are today.  So thanks to the mama that said that and I will have to keep reminding myself of that, things will get better and we WILL be able to keep him from being in this much pain again.  So tonight I'm praying for a better day tomorrow for Hayden, less pain for him and hoping he can eat some more.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

My sick Haydy

It has been a long few days around here.  I'll start from the beginning though.  


Over the past few weeks Hayden has been complaining of his stomach hurting, it seemed to be cramping by how it would come and go and come on so suddenly.  He was also having random fevers but at the time it didn't seem to be due to the stomach issues because they weren't worse when the fever was there, they would just come and go.   He has been eating less and less, too.  It has progressively gotten worse and he was barely eating at all.  So on Monday I took him in to see his pediatrician and they took blood to check for food allergies, celiac and just a general blood work up.  On Tues it hit it's peak where he wasn't able to eat at all, he was crying in pain and had a fever.  I decided we couldn't wait around for those blood results, he was down to 26lbs...he is normally 29lbs which is already small for a 3.5yr old.  So we took him into Mansfield Methodist ER to have him seen to see if they could figure anything out.  


Luckily we were seen right away and they immediately started an IV which was absolutely horrible.  I was the only one there with him and they wrapped him with a blanket so he couldn't move and I had him look at me and put my head on his holding him and he was just screaming in my ear.  I was crying too, but he couldn't see.  They took some blood too to run some tests.  They gave him a bag of fluids and also some nausea medicine because he had thrown up that morning and they needed him to drink some contrast for a CT scan and they didn't want him to throw that up.  They then brought in the contrast which was mixed with apple juice...it was quite a bit too, probably about 1.5cups of liquid.  So I kept trying to get him to drink it...was really hard but we got him to drink about 3/4 of it which they said was enough.  After the first bag of fluids he was crying in pain still about his stomach and also about the IV too.  They gave him another bag of fluids to get him to pee because they wanted to test that too and also put some morphine in his IV so he wouldn't hurt anymore.  That took effect right away and he calmed down and went to sleep on my chest.  After he woke up Mark was there, he had dropped the boys with Aunt Dessa and Hayden wasn't hurting anymore so he was really hungry and wanted to eat something finally.  But he wasn't allowed to until the results from the CT scan came back and he couldn't go to the CT Scan until he peed.  They were worried about his appendix so in case he needed surgery he couldn't eat or drink anything other than that contrast.  After a lot of convincing and 2 full bags of fluid we finally got him to pee just a tiny bit, luckily it was enough for the test.  They finally came and Mark took him down for the CT scan since I couldn't being pregnant.  It didn't take very long but it really scared him since it's such a big machine.  They came back and we had to wait a little over an hour for them to bring the results.  Luckily his appendix was fine and most other organs, nothing emergent.  But they found "significant thickening of the ileocecal valve.  Enlarged lymph nodes measuring up to 1cm in right lower quadrant."  also "thickening of the terminal ileum and ileocecal valve".  We talked to a dr who said these are signs of an auto immune disease, more specifically crohn's and that's what they are thinking is going on but they can't say for sure until he has a biopsy and to do that he has to see a GI Specialist.  So they gave us a referral and some pain medication and let him go home.  Taking out the IV was almost as bad as putting it in :(  But after about 5hrs at the ER we finally were able to leave and he asked for Chickfila chicken nuggets...so that's what he got.  He managed to eat 2 1/2 which is great!  Then we came home and he went to bed.  


After he was in bed I started researching and Dessa also helped while I was driving home and everything we found is exactly Hayden.  Crohn's sounds VERY VERY likely down to almost every single thing about it.  And while it's not something I want him to have it's a relief that it isn't worse, that it's something that is treatable and manageable and he can live a pretty normal life playing sports, being active and just being a kid.  So it sounds like right now he's having a flare-up and that's why he's so miserable, he has every single symptom of one.  


I got up and called the GI clinic they referred us too, unfortunately the soonest they can get him in is April 21st.  That's at Cook's Children's in Ft. Worth, so I called Children's in Dallas and they won't even see him with our referral it has to come directly from a pediatrician so they can have his history from them.  Problem is he's never seen his pediatrician besides for that blood work that had nothing to do with Crohn's testing, he has no history there and his first appt isn't until April 28th.  It really made me mad they were being like that when the files they would have gotten from the ER would have been a lot more than any pediatrician would have given them, they can't do a CT scan there like they did last night, but whatever we will go to Cook's.  I'm going to call daily to see if they have any cancellations to get him in earlier and hopefully it won't really be April 21st before he's seen.   


He didn't wake up until noon today and by 4 had already fallen back to sleep a good 7x, he just couldn't stay awake today he was in pain, had a high fever and just weak from not eating.  We took his temp and it was 105.6 but he absolutely refused meds so I had to call Mark home from work to help me get them in him..that was miserable for all of us.  Afterwards he immediately fell asleep on my chest and the fever started coming down right away thankfully.  His fever is never fully going away but dropping down to the 100-102 range with meds so much better than the high temps they are going up to.  The meds we gave him that time were the ones from the ER (Tylenol with Codeine) and it really helped his pain and after he woke up he wanted to eat.  In total today he has managed


1/2 fig newton
1 mandarin orange segment
3 chicken nuggets
1/2 yo toddler yogurt with apples and cereal


Really good in comparison to what it's been.  His temp tonight came back up over 104 but we just gave him ibuprofen and it came down and he's gone to bed now.  


Also today I talked with his pediatrician's office, they called with his blood results from Monday which all came back normal except glucose and 2 other things which she said are very likely from him not eating right prior to the test.  I told her about the ER visit and they had already sent over the paperwork for it and she looked through the notes and agreed with the Crohn's probability and for now we are to assume that's what it is and do everything we can to get him to eat and keep him nourished and comfortable until his appt.  She gave me some ideas of things to give him to help so I went to Target tonight and bought some Pediasure, hoping he can tolerate it he usually can't have dairy but these are lactose free and from everything I'm reading it appears it's the lactose that usually effects Crohn's patients so hopefully that's what it is for him since he isn't truly allergic and it's not the milk proteins that bother him.  I also bought him some of the pouch baby food that have veggies and fruit because he's drinking fine so thinking he'll probably take those and it's more substantial.  Got him some V8 splash, again more substantial than just regular fruit juice.  I have contacted someone about buying some Peptamen Jr which is a supplemental drink that our pedi agreed would be great for him if he'll take it but it's very expensive at $165.99 a case but I found someone on craigslist whose daughter can no longer take it and she's selling her unopened cases for $36 a piece.  Hopefully she gets back to me tomorrow and we can buy a couple cases from her and he'll drink that too.  If we can get him out of pain and through this he will hopefully go back to eating normally and be ok to wait until April for that appt.  I just want to get him in and get an official diagnosis, see the GI and nutritionist and get started doing whatever we can to prevent these flare-ups or at least make them not as bad for him in the future.  


I have spent the last 3 days with him attached to me, he won't let me leave his sight or even put him down...I'm exhausted.  On top of that Landon woke up in the middle of the night sick too.  He's having bad headaches, high fever and congested...thinking possibly the flu.  So he's been miserable all day too.  And Casen is bored from being on spring break and us not doing much of anything the past few days.  Hoping tomorrow Landon is better and it's not the flu so he can go to his baseball practice and that will at least get us out of the house for a little bit and get some fresh air.  Hayden had to miss his 2nd soccer practice tonight since he's so sick...hopefully by next week things will be better.  

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Landon's dentist appt

Today Landon had his first appt to get his fillings done on his teeth.  We went on Monday and he needs 4 done total but they are doing it in 2 different appts.  They said that on his 6yr molars the enamel didn't fully form therefore making them really prone to cavities and that is why they are there, not because of "bad habits" or too much candy like the other dentist accused.  I was really nervous but didn't talk to him much about it because I didn't want him to start to worry about it or get nervous.  They took him back and gave him the nitrous and were done in about 20min.  He did really well.  The dentist came out and told me everything went great and they weren't quite as deep as they looked.  I'm so glad we found this dentist, he is really really awesome, the boys already love them and even after this Landon said he isn't at all nervous to go back for the other 2 fillings.  Which is GREAT!  Me and mark thought that this might ruin the dentist for him but nope, he's actually excited to go back and get the rest done to pick another toy from the treasure box hahaha.  The only thing he didn't like was feeling numb for awhile after they were done, but it has worn off now of course and he's just fine :)  


I hope Casen's appt goes as well!  His are just surface ones though and don't need drilling so he should be ok

Hayden's first soccer practice

Last night Hayden had his first soccer practice :)  He had so much fun!  He was listening really well which impressed me and he was actually pretty good!  Especially for his first ever practice, he did really well. His coach seems really nice and so are the moms on the team so that's always nice for me, meet more people.  I think he's really going to enjoy the season.  He has practice again next Wed, he can't wait to go back!  Here are some pics I took


Ready to go


#1
His coach would yell go and they had to dribble the ball and then when he blew his whistle they would have to put their foot on the ball and hold their arms out.  He was on it too, immediately stopping and doing it when he heard the whistle
On the way home after practice :)


















Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Getting ready for sports and birthdays

I think one of my favorite parts of being a mom of kids this age is sports.  Maybe I'm weird, but I love carting them around to their practices and watching the practices and games!  They really enjoy it too, so of course that makes it even more worth doing.  I'm so ready for spring season to start!!


On Saturday Landon and Casen had their baseball evaluations.  We got up that morning and a cold front had come through and man it was cold!!  It's been so nice so it was unexpected, but the cold wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't insanely windy.  Poor Landon forgot his jacket too so he was out for over an hour without one, he was frozen.  I went with Casen to his field and he fielded the ball, threw it and then went through the line to bat.  He did really really well, yay!  Then we gave Landon his jacket and I took Casen back to the car, since Landon's was taking longer that way he could be warmer.  Landon did really well on his too, yay!!  He threw it really well and he even got a hit, granted it ended up being a foul but still for first time batting since fall Mark said he was swinging tons better than last season and then he got that hit.  We already know he'll be on the Cubs again with his same coach but we are waiting to hear what team Casen will be on.  We are REALLY hoping for Rangers again, though it will be a new coach, but we'll see what he gets.  


Last night I got a call from Hayden's coach for soccer.  He seemed really nice and said he has grown up playing soccer, he has an 18yr old, 14yr old and 12yr old..then one on the team so a 4yr old.  He said all of them have played soccer since they were old enough so they are a soccer family and he has a lot of experience so I think that will be really good for Hayden, hopefully he'll really learn a lot about the game.  I think he's going to really love it.  He has his first practice on Wed, I can't wait to get him all dressed in his gear, pics to come of course.  It actually is going to work out really well if they keep practices on Wed, he's doing it from 5:45 to about 6:30 so that gives us time still to get to church and Landon and Casen don't practice on Wed.  Hayden's games are on Sat, Landon and Casen's teams don't have games on Sat so it works out perfectly.  It will probably mean we are at sports though 6 days a week, no one should have anything on Sunday so that will be our only real day off, but of course we have church that day :D


We have decided on a date and place for the boys party.  We are doing combined again because they both wanted it at the park so since it's an open space I'm fine with there being a lot of kids at once.  They are both inviting their entire class, some kids from baseball, church and then family friends....someone help me, what am I thinking?  lol  They both wanted different themes but after talking to some friends last night I have changed it and they'll have to get over it haha.  We are doing a baseball theme and will serve hot dogs, chips and of course cake.  Really hoping they like the idea, they are pretty easy going so I think they'll be fine with it.  Will make things sooo much easier than having 2 different themes.  

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Mommy Meetup 3/3

Awhile back I started attending Mommy Meetups with some ladies from church.  I've only been able to attend a few since I didn't have a car.  But Alishia, the lady that organizes them, is so nice and has come and picked us up a few times to go.  The first one I went to happened to be the day I found out I was expecting JuneBug <3  They meet the first Thursday of the month. Today was the first I've been able to drive to...have I mentioned how much I LOVE having my van???  


It started out bad because I left a note for Mark to call and wake me at 9:30, it started at 10.  I figured Hayden would still be asleep because last night he was up until about 11, his normal bedtime lately is 10 and he sleeps until between 9-10 with that, no naps anymore...well almost no naps.  Since he went to bed so late I figured he'd sleep in..and he did.  Mark got busy at work and forgot to call, I happened to wake up at 9:52 on my own and freaked out because I was so late.  Hayden was still sleeping so I hurried and got myself dressed then grabbed his clothes and woke him up and got him dressed.  We got out of the house about 10:15.  So this place is supposed to be about a 10min drive from my house...I didn't get there until 10:38...yeah I got lost!!  Ughhh so not a good start to the morning.  


We got inside and Hayden was being super shy so I was sitting on the couch with him in my lap and a lady walked over wearing her baby in an ergo carrier and sat next to me and took him out to nurse him.  Now I don't know if it's weird but I love seeing moms nurse in public...or in this case another person's house surrounded by moms that never batted an eye!  I'm tired of seeing people act like breastfeeding is weird or shouldn't be done, but no one cared at all that she sat there and nursed him surrounded by them and their kids..just one more reason I love the ladies from our church.  We got to talking about our births and they were very similar, even to the reason we had our "necessary" emergency c-sections and she had had 2 VBACs, she already has 4 kids.  We were talking about midwives and other stuff and we had a lot of the same beliefs on it all.  She was great, really glad we went even with the rough start, I think I found someone I could become really good friends with.  


Hayden had a lot of fun playing, the lady that hosted the meetup this time has horses and she put a saddle on one and brought him out for the kids to ride.  Most of them were very excited about the thought of riding but realizing how far up it was backed out of riding him.  In the end 4 kids rode...including Hayden!  He did so well too, he held on all by himself and she took him around 3x, he absolutely loved it.  He says he's a real cowboy now :)  I was really proud of him getting up there and riding all by himself (well with Mrs. Cindy leading Sarge of course) and when his turn was over he got down willingly, no fits at all!  The other kids got really upset when their turns were over so I was just really proud of Hayden, he can definitely be a little terror at times but he has been so much better lately and was a total sweetheart today, so well behaved.  Someone took pics for me since I didn't have my camera and she will email them to me later, I can't wait to see.  


I'm so glad we decided to go even after getting lost haha, we both had a really good time, I can't wait for next month!  Alishia said she thinks we are going to do a picnic lunch at another mom's house and an Easter egg hunt, he will really like that

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Alright let's try this again

I've been so horrible at keeping up with this, I'm sorry.  But I'm going to try and put in more effort now, hopefully I can really keep up with it this time.  


Let's do some updating first....


Things around here have been really good, crazy, but good.  It's going to start getting even more crazy around here very soon!  We are expecting our FOURTH boy!!!!  He is due June 18th and will be named Preston Blake Jackson <3  We are very excited and can't wait to meet him.  The boys are thrilled to have another baby around here and have been loving helping us choose his name, pick out things for him and feeling him move.  After a really rough start to the pregnancy, tons of horrible morning sickness it finally passed about 16wks, I'm 24wks now and things are going really well.  I finally have my energy back for the most part, no more sickness and generally feeling really well.   We also recently bought me a van that I love!!  It's a really nice 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan SXT.  It's absolutely perfect for us and I couldn't be happier.  Plus finally having a vehicle at all to just get out of the house during the day is awesome!!!  I've been taking advantage of it and went to eat lunch with the boys at school last week, been doing some shopping and me and Hayden have a playdate on Thurs.  It will really come in handy when spring sports start up...which should be in the next week or 2!  It will be really nuts around here then.  Landon and Casen are playing baseball again and Hayden is going to do be doing soccer.  They are all really excited about it, especially Hayden since he's never done it before.  Baseball is crazy enough, between Landon and Casen we have practices or games 5-7 days a week so adding in another kids practices and games we will be nonstop but I can't wait, I love watching them play.


Landon is doing really well, he is almost through 2nd grade already!  He will be 8 in a little over a month, I can't believe it.  Time really does fly by when you have kids.  He is doing great in school but is having some reading issues so he's doing an extra reading group with a student from SAGU (Southwestern Assemblies of God University) once a week to help and he's also being tested for dyslexia...we are hoping to hear the results from that soon.  But overall he's still doing really well, he isn't really behind just 2 levels (which isn't much at this point) but he's still able to do everything he should with the class.  He's been doing SO much better on his spelling tests the past few weeks, he's really proud of himself.  Math is definitely his strong subject and he's really great at it.   He's growing so much and is now 50in and 51lbs!!!!  Getting so big!  


Casen is absolutely loving school.  He is almost done with kindergarten now and has had the absolute best 1st year, I couldn't ask for more.  His teacher is amazing and he is so in love with her.  He has made great friends, and even has a little girlfriend.  He has done awesome on everything and excels in everything in school.  He is in the top reading group in his class and has already finished everything he needs to for kindergarten, awhile back actually.  He is going to be so sad when kindergarten is over and he has to be out for summer for a couple months...plus just leaving Mrs. Nutt will be really hard for him. He's already hoping he gets Mr. Bruce for 1st grade, he already knows and likes him and he also goes to our church so he thinks that's pretty cool...I'm hoping he gets him too.  He can't wait for baseball to start but he's going to be on a different team with a different coach this time so we are hoping he gets someone we really like and that knows what he's doing.  He has grown so much too and is now 45.5in and 41lbs!!!  He will be 6 in less than a month, I can't believe it!!!!  We really need to figure out what we are going to do for his party this year


Hayden is also doing great, he has come so far over the past few months.  He has finally given up his pacifier and is talking SO much more it's amazing.  He's also listening better, he still has his moments and has such a temper on him but overall he's so much better behaved.  He is thrilled about soccer, he's actually really good at it, he's good at anything physical lol so I can't wait to watch him play I think he'll be really good.  We are going to start looking for preschools for next year for him, he'll love that.  He loves Sundays because he gets to go to his own class at Sunday School, he loves having his own thing to do.  We had some major potty training regression for awhile but he's doing so much better now...thankfully!  We've been meeting with some moms from our church once a month for a Mommy Meetup for awhile and he really loves that, we have our next one on Thurs so he's really excited.  Now that I have the car I can get him out of the house it helps us both a lot.  We are going to start doing story time and story hour on Tues and Fridays every week at the library.  My tiny man is finally growing too and has actually grown a lot in height since I last checked!  He's now 37.75in and 29lbs!  He's already about to be 3 1/2yrs.  


Anyway, so things are going great around here!!!  Hopefully I'll really keep this up...