January Highlights

Here is our first recap of the year! Here are the highlights of our month :)

{Jillian starting off the year coloring in our messy house. What can I say? #reallifeyo}

{My favorite Christmas gift!}

{Phil and I before we went off to a birthday dinner for a friend of ours <3}

{I was the last one, but even I got hit with a cold. Some alka-seltzer, ken ken puzzles, and 7th Heaven on Hulu to the rescue!}

{Spending some time with my bud while Sissy is in preschool :)}

{The last (late) Christmas gift! We got it all setup and ready to go. Clearly they are expert sharers ;)}

{Well, we don't have to worry about him thinking medicine is yucky HAHA}

{Jillian wanted an astronaut helmet like on Daniel Tiger. I was able to make this, and it turned out pretty well! She stopped playing with it 5 minutes later, and has yet to play with it again :-/}

{I got to go to a short women's retreat in town. Nice to be close to home, yet able to get spiritually recharged :)}

{We went to a BBQ place we like, and decided David should try the blackberry cobbler. This was his first bite...}

{and this is his second bite! HAHAHA We have another cobbler lover in the house!}

{I was making Jillian's one-eyed penguin dance to Taylor Swift. Jillian was not amused}

{Davey testing out Jillian's new car seat. We bought a second one so that Phil could take her to school on his way to work 1 day a week. It makes my schedule much less hectic!}

{We were assigned snacks for preschool during Dinosaur Month, so I made these Dino Eggs! They are just homemade Rice Krispie treats with crushed up Oreos in the shape of eggs. They were a big hit!}

{This picture has a long story with it}

{The other day, I went to use the restroom in the master bathroom. Davey followed me, like he usually does. This time, he crawled into our shower instead of following me all the way to the toilet. I called for him to come out almost immediately. He was in there for about 10 seconds tops. As he crawled out of the shower, I noticed something on his hands. Turns out, he had picked up a discarded razor blade, and had cut his hand while he gripped it. I ran over and pried it away from his hand. There was blood everywhere like a cheap horror film! I called Phil in a panic, mostly because I was putting pressure on it, but his fingers just kept bleeding! It finally stopped, and we figured out that fingertips just bleed more than other body parts. I washed his hands off as best I could, and made a makeshift band aid for his whole hand. After the screaming and crying, (plus all the noises that David was making), everything settled down. I gave him an Oreo to see if that would make peace. So this is a picture of his terrible band aid, and his blood & Oreo covered face and pjs. I'm so glad he's ok, but now we have to be extremely careful about things like discarded razor blades}

{Taking a walk on a beautiful day :)}

{I went as an adult sponsor for a youth weekend retreat. The camp we went to was beautiful :)}

{Taking a group picture before heading home}

{Errbody in the Jeep gettin' sleepy}

{whisper: Errbody in the Jeep gettin' sleepy}

{Just a little Wild Kratts in the afternoon}

{Trying to make a simple lunch for the kiddos. Davey dumped this entire plate 15 seconds after the picture was taken}

{Laundry: The Chore the Never Ends}

{Tried a new recipe that was a family hit! Spaghetti and Meatball Soup is a winner :)}

{Finally finished Jillian's room! It's not perfect, but she loves it}

{Jillian has done this puzzle so many times that she just did it upside down!}

{We went to a high school carnival because the fundraising they are doing will benefit Jillian's hearing clinic! She got to bounce in a bounce house, got a glittery heart tattoo on her hand, got a sucker, and got a princess makeover with eyeshadow and lipgloss. Girlfriend has a great afternoon!}

{And thank goodness we didn't win a goldfish!}

{Me and my girl at the carnival!}

Dear Second-Born: {Why There is Less Photographic Evidence of Your Existence}

Dear Second-Born,

I feel like I will be owing you an explanation one day. Being the baby of my family, it was a big deal to me as well.

Early on, I noticed a significant difference between the number of photos of my older brother as a baby and myself as a baby. From that point on, I found every reason to conclude that my brother was the favorite. No matter what my parents said, their actions, or lack of photos of me, spoke louder than their words. It wasn't until I was a parent of multiple children that I truly understood their point of view.

I can guarantee that you too will find less photos of you as a baby. This is my way of telling you why.

It's not a carpe diem thing. It is definitely not a YOLO thing.

It does has a small something to do with your sister wanting to crash the photos of you so you're not always alone. It does have a little to do with my post-partum depression, but not enough to make that an excuse.

Honestly, it's a good and valid reason. It has more to do with me than you.

When your sister was born, having a baby was new. I thought I would forget everything about her. The way she curled up in my arms. The way she would have her eyes half open as she slept in case she missed the action. The way her arm moved two centimeters from the original position. I was on a mission to document her existence for ever hour of her life. Surely I would forget every little thing about having a newborn.

Then, you came along almost 2 years to the day after her.  I started to feel that same urgency. I obviously was going to forget everything about you as a baby. I would miss it so much, and I must therefore document it all!

Then a change happened. A new voice in my mind started to emerge and clear its throat. It reminded me that I was going to miss things. If I concentrated so much on getting the best pictures, I would miss the best pictures of all, mental pictures.

In the time it took to get the perfect shot of you resting on my chest without my photo including my quadruple chin, you would wake up. In the time it took for you to look at the camera while getting the focus just right, your sister would rush in and it would turn into a picture of you both instead of just you.

After a few months of realizing that I was missing out on the best memory joggers, I decided to take less photos. Don't get me wrong; when I took some, I would take plenty. However, we possess fewer photos of you as a young baby than we do for your sister.

My love for you is not less. My admiration for you is not less. Your baby book is still being filled out like sister's. We are putting money in an education fund for you, just like your sister. We are spending time with you. We will help you with your homework. We kiss your boo-boos. We give you big hugs. We pray for you.

From one baby of the family to another, I can understand how that might sound like an easy out, but I can promise that you'll finally understand if or when you have multiple children yourself :)

I love you!

Catching Up

Here it is, the next to last day of January. This entire month ran away with me, but that is partially due to our new schedule. I wanted to update a few times, but the few moments of peace I had, I was way too tired. Here are some of the highlights of the month:

- I am back on Metformin after an appointment with my doctor. Even though it hasn't been that long since I went off of it, my body is taking some time to adjust to it. I forgot how hard it can be.
- That being said, Phil and I did officially decide that, if we are able to, we would like to have more children. I am going on a mission trip again this summer, so ideally we have some time. I do know we will NOT be having another December child. As much as I love my Advent babies, I would go crazy throwing in another birthday that time of year. So unless we have a preemie, there will be no new babies in December for us! We also decided that, if we do not have any more children by the time I turn 32, (2018), then we will be done at that point. I do want to eventually have a career, so I don't want to have children past that age for that reason.
- Jillian had an assessment for speech and scored really well! We would like her to stay in the preschool program through her hearing clinic, so instead of testing out of therapy now, we will do the official paperwork at the end of the school year.
- A fundraising project at one of the high schools in town, (that a good portion of our youth group attends), will benefit Jillian's hearing clinic! I was beyond excited to see that! I spoke with the kids at youth the other day just to give them a face to have in mind when doing their activities.
- I went to an overnight women's retreat the 2nd weekend of the month. It was fun to hang out with my friends, but my refreshed spirit went away about 5 hours after I got home. Motherhood is rough sometimes.
- I also went as an adult sponsor to a youth retreat at a summer camp campus the 3rd weekend. It was fun, but it was a) REALLY cold, and b) an eye-opening experience in that I felt so old ;)
- Phil and I were asked to participate in a special choir for a service for the 20th anniversary of the Murrah Building Bombing. It is an honor to do so, and Phil even gets to be interviewed on the phone for a newspaper article!
- I got the CD for VBS this year, and already got a head start on picking and learning the songs I will lead. Jillian already likes the songs too! She's been requesting them in the car. I guess we'll be listening to these VBS songs until Christmas, just like last year ;)
- My mom bought me this diary for Christmas. I've really enjoyed having it, but I do have to make up a few days here and there. Some days I just crash at bedtime!
- I made calendars for both sets of grandparents at the beginning of the month so they could have pictures of the grand kids. Side note: If I make them for Christmas, then there would be no Christmas pictures for the year. I'm also trying to create some family yearbooks, and fill out the kids' baby books since those fell by the wayside too. Lots of catch up going on over here!
- I tried carb cycling as a way to drop a few pounds, but it didn't work out with our schedule. I even carted a cooler with my for an entire day since I was home for all of 45 minutes. After that, I just knew this wouldn't work. I know I'll find something that will work with our lifestyle, but for now I know it is not carb cycling!


Our weekly schedule looked like this in January, (it'll be different in February which is another post entirely):

Mondays - J - Hearts for Hearing Preschool from 9:30 - 11:30 a.m.
Tuesdays - J - Peace Preschool from 9 a.m. - 2:15 p.m.
Wednesdays {1st and 3rd of the month} - J - Hearts for Hearing Preschool from 9:30 - 11:30 a.m.
                  CD - WEB Bible Study 9:15 - 11 a.m.
                  J - Little Angels Choir 5:15 - 5:45 p.m.
                  PC - LOFT and LUFF youth group class (we volunteer with the youth) 6 - 7 p.m.
                  PC - Choir Practice 7:15 - 8:30 p.m.
                  PCJD - Home by 9 or 9:15 p.m.
Wednesdays {2nd and 4th of the month} - J - Hearts for Hearing Preschool from 9:30 - 11:30 a.m.
                  CD - WEB Bible Study 9:15 - 11 a.m.
                  J - Speech Therapy 3 - 4 p.m.
                  J - Little Angels Choir 5:15 - 5:45 p.m.
                  PC - LOFT and LUFF youth group class (we volunteer with the youth) 6 - 7 p.m.
                  PC - Choir Practice 7:15 - 8:30 p.m.
                  PCJD - Home by 9 or 9:15 p.m.Thursdays - J - Peace Preschool 9 - 11:15 a.m.
                    CJD - Handbells 6 - 7 p.m.
Fridays - CJD - Errands or Play Dates as scheduled

This does not include any extra appointments, or even reflect that Phil has had to go to collect his own blood for experiments 4 days out of the work week most of the month. We even had to buy a third car seat so that he could take Jillian to preschool on his way to work as needed. Also, Jillian's preschools, speech therapy, and church are all at least 15 minutes drives from the house. I'm in the car an awful lot, especially Wednesdays!

That is why I haven't had energy. More than anything, I wanted to remember what life looked like for us :)

Was January crazy for you? Are you enjoying 2015 so far? Anyone else watching Pretty Little Liars?!

2015 Word and Verse

Like most of the country, we fell victim to illness the first week of 2015. Fortunately, we only had colds to deal with! A few of us are still a little stuffed up, but we're in much better shape than before :)

I've been giving 2015 a lot of thought lately. Things I'm hopeful for, things I want to avoid, traditions I'd love to start, and other similar things. As I mentioned at the end of the year, 2014 was not an easy one for our family. Some wonderful things happened, but some not so great things happened as well. Although my word for the year was "Treasure," I know I didn't treasure much. In fact, I thought about changing my word to "Survive" because that's how I felt. I just did everything in my power to make it through the year. This year, no matter what happens, I'm choosing to do more than survive. I also decided on having a personal word and verse of the year, as well as a family word and verse for the year.

Deciding on a word for myself was relatively easy. However, I did have an issue with the word that kept popping up. I don't like to be cliché. It is an annoyance of mine if everyone is doing the same thing for the same reasons. I get annoyed because it seems insincere. The interesting thing is that the word continued to enter my mind. Even though a few others have the same word, or general idea of my chosen word, here it is:

Live

For two years, one of the things I have done at the beginning of the year is create a calendar for both sets of parents. It's a Christmas gift, but I wait so that I can include pictures from Christmas. When doing so, I noticed 2014 had a definite pattern. A handful of months had too many pictures for me to choose from. Other months, I had a hard time picking any because they were so few in number.

I feel like, if I am truly living life, I would be able to recall something from every month of the year. Sure some months will be quieter than others, but I know that I can make some memories every month if I'm really trying. So I will be focusing on living my life with my loved ones and making an effort to make memories. {Even if I have to plan a special trip for ice cream or something once a month, that is that type of "sacrifice" I will make ;)}

"God has delivered me from going down to the pit, and I shall live to enjoy the light of life" - Job 33:28 NIV {via}

After a few discussions with Phil about other matters, we feel like we both need to really make an effort to connect with those we care about. I know that I am personally guilty of reading messages of all types that I sincerely enjoy without responding back. By the time I remember to respond, it's been long enough that I worry about offending the person. Instead of letting other things get in the way, we are going to do our best to respond in a timely manner :) With this in mind our family word is:

Connect

If we are connecting with those around us, and keeping Christ in the center of our lives, then we will be able to praise him together. Whether that is with words of praise, or by our actions we praise the God who is supporting the relationship.


"O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together" - Psalm 34:3 NRSV {via}

I'm still deciding if I want a To-Do List for 2015 or not. If I do, I'll post it this week :)

What are your hopes and desires for 2015? Any resolutions?

And A Happy New Year

I planned on having a post similar to last year where I went through the year. It was really fun to put together, and I loved reflecting on 2013.

Honestly, the reason I did not this year is two-fold: 1) I did not blog about everything that happened this year. Let's face it, I was very sporadic this year. 2) I am so thankful for the good things from this year, but I am saying "Peace Out Hombre!" to 2014.

The year started with trying to get used to being a family of four. Things were a little rocky at first, but we were hopeful.

Then I was diagnosed with postpartum depression.

Then Phil hurt his knee so badly that he needed surgery to correct it.

{Keep in mind, this all happened before May 1st}

Several other things came up throughout the year. My parents moved. We had still have a financial crisis we would not have even realized without the help of a finanacial class at church. We had to buy a new car. David was hospitalized.

All in all, it was quite a year.

There were some really awesome things too! The Royals made it to the World Series. My brother got engaged. We had an amazing holiday season with my family. I went on another fulfilling mission trip as a youth sponsor.

I feel like I really grew up this year. For the most part, I have a positive attitude towards 2015. Phil and I agree that, as long as we can make it to May 1st without any major issues popping up, we'll be able to handle it with no problem :)

Happy New Year my sweet friends!

Our First Hospital Stay {Part Three: Waiting and The Conclusion}

The story left off where we were admitted into the hospital.

I can't speak for Phil, but I slept horribly. I woke up with every beep of David's monitor. I would sleep for maybe 45 minutes at a time. I was just so nervous and worried, and so many other things. I was so thankful to be in a great hospital with sweet nurses who really took care of us.

Around 6 am, we were visited by a group of surgical residents. We were basically told they had David on the list of surgeries for later in the day, but that they were still going over the x-rays from the procedure they did the night before. It wasn't a guarantee that David would have surgery, but he was on the list just in case. {We were told later that, of the 10 children admitted to the hospital the same night, 7 of them were appendicitis!}

After getting some breakfast, Phil and I agreed that it was ok for him to go to work for a bit. If David needed surgery, we needed him to work and make some money to pay the bills! My FIL Jim stayed with me for part of the day, and my MIL Darla stayed with Jillian at home. I don't think Jillian had her normal preschool class that day or not, but she was in good hands regardless. {Side note: I know my parents would have given anything to be there with us. With it being so close to Christmas and the winter weather up in Wisconsin, they just had no way of getting here. Their support, even from 800 miles away, was felt, and I'm so thankful to have them as my parents!} David's fever was finally coming down a little, but he was not eating anything. He was hooked to an IV and that's about all he could muster. He slept most of the day. Even if I talked to him, he didn't really want to sit up. I don't know how other parents do the hospital thing day in and day out. I was afraid to use the bathroom just in case something happened!

At one point that afternoon, we had another doctor come in and say that they are pretty confident the procedure they did before worked, but they wanted to leave him on the surgery list just in case. Plus, they wanted him to be able to eat and keep things down before they discharged him. This all made sense to me, and I was only slightly relieved. Knowing he was on the surgery list "just in case" made me think he still needed surgery. That night, Phil's folks left to head home, so Phil stayed with Jillian at our house. It was another long night for me, but we made it through.

The next day, we had a few visitors! Phil took the day off of work to help with Jillian, but they came up for a little while. We had about 3 visitors from church come over and check in on us, which was so nice! Plus, one of them works at that hospital, and she was able to get someone in to explain the situation a little more with us. That doctor told us that they no longer had David on the surgery list, and at this point, he just needed to keep food and liquids down for a few hours before they felt comfortable discharging him. I started giving him plain Pedialyte, and ordered a breakfast tray with scrambled eggs for him. He ate pretty well, and seemed to perk up once he got some food! His fever was all but gone too. I was so glad to finally relax about the whole situation. He got checked over, and we were told we could go home that evening.

So to make a long story somewhat short: David had a really bad stomach virus. This virus caused his intestines to fold in on themselves, causing his intense abdominal pain and fever. They were not folded up enough to warrant surgery to repair it, and it was mild enough that it took us a few days to figure it out. The enemas they did allowed his intestines to go back in place. He then needed to eat, drink, and poop normally before he could leave the hospital. By that point, his fever had gone down too.

I had no idea this could even happen to anybody, let alone my baby! It is common in babies, and especially boys. It can happen to girls or even adults, but that is rare. I could never say thank you enough to all of the hospital workers, doctors, nurses, family, friends, church family, and prayer partners for all the help and support we were shown. It was a scary situation, and I know God sent his helpers to us. God is so good!

I hope we don't have to be at the hospital again for a long time!

Our First Hospital Stay {Part Two: Diagnosis and Getting Admitted}

The story left off where I was taking the kiddos to the after hours clinic* to confirm my suspicion that David had a double ear infection.

I drove to the location near our home, but there was a single parking spot left, so it was incredibly busy. I didn't think I had time for that, so I drove to the other location. It is across town, but it was closer to our church, which is where Phil was. By the time I got to that location, it had two parking spots left. Knowing I certainly didn't have time to go back, I just took the kids inside anyways. I made Jillian sit and stay in the stroller. There were so many people, and the words "flu" and "strep" were floating around the room as much as the rosy cheeks and coughs. I did NOT let Jillian get out of the stroller since she was my well child! We settled down to wait. After one hour, we still had about 10 people ahead of us in line. Luckily, David slept the whole time.

By the two hour mark of waiting, Phil was done with church and offered to sit with us in the waiting room.

At the three hour mark, David suddenly felt cooler to me. Phil even confirmed that he was much cooler than he had been all weekend. Did his fever really break while we were waiting? How ridiculous. I almost just suggested that we leave. We still had about 3 people ahead of us. Thankfully, my stubbornness worked in my favor. Between being there for hours and the fact that I had paid $20, I wanted him to be seen before we left. Phil said that was fine, so we stayed.

We ended up waiting a little over three hours before we were called back. They took his vitals, then took us to the exam room. The doctor came in, we told our story, and then she looked him over. She touched his tummy on the lower right side and he got really upset. She paused a moment, then touched his legs. He fussed a little, but not as much. She had Phil calm him down, then touched his tummy again, and again he cried out loudly. The Dr. told us that the clinic had made a small note about his tummy, so she wanted to do a quick x-ray of his abs to see if something was wrong. After the x-ray, Dr. B told us that he needed an ultrasound to confirm, but she was suspecting he had an intussusception, or some other type of inflammation in his tummy. She offered to call ahead to the ER to let them know we were on our way.

At this point, the play I was in charge of was meeting at the church in 15 minutes. None of us had had lunch, and I didn't even put deodorant on that morning because I thought it was an in and out situation at the clinic. Phil gave me a choice, he could take David to the hospital for the ultrasound, or I could and Phil would be in charge of the play for me. I knew I couldn't leave my baby without knowing what was wrong. After a quick cry in the parking lot, Phil gave me a hug, and he took Jillian with him while David and I drove to the hospital. I called my folks to tell them what was happening. I'm sure it was hard to understand me since I was just crying. I also called my brother and his fiancé since she is a recent med school graduate. She was able to give me a little insight into what they would be looking for, and gave me peace of mind by telling me the hospital we were going to was a really good one.

I ended up missing the parking area and had to circle around the hospital before we got to the ER. They actually got us checked in and seen very quickly. My friend Angie quickly came to be with me so I wouldn't have to be alone. They got an ultrasound in, and then another x-ray to confirm, but they did see an intussusception. This is basically when part of the intestines folds into another part, causing a blockage in the intestines. {They explained that it's like when you take your sock off, and part of the sock rolls up into itself.} There are different treatments for this, one of them being surgery. That option made me the most nervous. However, in order to not just open him up if it is unnecessary, they wanted to try another treatment. Sometimes doing a barium enema can correct this blockage. Being the less evasive option, (that's right), that's what the doctor wanted to do.

By this time, Phil's folks were on their way from Tulsa in case he did need surgery. Also, as a "fun" side note, there was a tornado warning in our county. Luckily, it was not near us, and it wasn't even a strong tornado. I would have had no idea since the ER was in the basement of the hospital. I was also told there was an earthquake as well. Good grief!

I knew I couldn't be in the room while they did the treatment, so I stayed with him until the started to get him ready. I was told they try 3 times to fix the intussusception via enema before they have to look at other options. Occasionally they try a 4th time, but those are special cases. During each attempt, they take x-rays to see if it was successful or not. After an excruciating time of hearing him crying, the radiological resident came out to tell us that they were having a hard time pushing the enema into the small intestines. Not sure what that exactly meant, he contacted his supervisor who said they could attempt a 4th time after giving him some rest. I was allowed to hold him, and he slept pretty well while they set up for a 4th try. They promised me that his stats were great and that he was doing really well for such a stressful procedure. Before I knew it, it was time to hand him over for the final try. Thankfully, Phil and Jillian showed up while we were waiting. I gave Jill a big hug, and she started acting a little pitiful. I thought she felt warm, but Phil was convinced she was just tired from running around at the Christmas program.

After the 4th attempt, we were told that they still couldn't get to the small intestines. They discussed it and decided to turn him over to the pediatric surgery team to determine how they wanted to proceed. They handed him to me, and he was fast asleep. The radiology team was really great though, and they even gave both kiddos a bear to keep. {Jill is still really attached to hers!} We went back to the ER bay, and Phil's folks showed up shortly thereafter. Then, a pediatric surgeon came by. We were told they would be reviewing his case. It didn't seem to be an emergency situation, but they would admit him anyways while they determined the next course of action. If he would need surgery, he would have it in the morning. My friend Angie excused herself, and Phil and his dad took Jillian home. Phil's mom, Darla, stayed with me, and we were taken to his room about 45 minutes later. We got him settled in his room, and hooked up to all the monitors and an IV. Eventually, Darla went back to the house to watch over Jillian, and Phil stayed overnight with me in the hospital. Now we were just waiting to hear what would be next for our little bug.

To be continued...

*We go to this particular after hours clinic because it is run by the doctors at our pediatrician's office, and a few other doctors around town. We have never seen our actual pediatrician there, but I'm sure he's only there a few times a week. It is a good clinic, but I think all the yuckiness going around is making it impossible to go anywhere in a timely manner :-/