Alphabitty Moments

Alphabitty Moments was created by Mama Bear to help us capture the little things in life that we might otherwise forget about our lives as mommies. Click here to see what everyone else is doing.

This week it is going to be more difficult to get mine up. I use Storybook by Creative Memories to create my post each week with my letter. Our old computer died...so I am using our new one but there is no software loaded on it yet...and it doesn't have a CD drive to even load it. It may be a couple of weeks before we can piece it all together.

Letter J:

J is for Aunt Jane! She is returning to missions work in Africa in May, but the boys got to spend time with her in the past few months while she was "home". We will miss her very much, but we know the Lord is using her there. You can be praying for her in the next couple of days as she finishes packing and for her trip back.

J is for Jumping! Snug loves to jump...and jump...and jump. I call him "Norma Jean, Jumping Bean" (a book I used to read to my first graders) as he is always running or jumping or moving. Snug was jumping before he was even born. He kicked a visible bruise on my stomach before he was born, and he has never stopped moving. This shot was last fall jumping into a pile of leaves.

Now, Baby J moves quite a bit these days, but I find it interesting that Snug was extremely active in the womb, and is very active still. Baby J I had to lay very still to ever feel him while I was pregnant and I don't think that #1 ever got to feel him kick from the outside. Interesting that he is a "low tone" baby and never (until quite recently) wanted to move or do much. I've heard it said that personalities are set by the time a child goes into kindergarten...I venture to say it is earlier than that :o)

10 Months and Counting *Update*

Look who was 10 months old on Monday! What a big boy! He weighed in (unofficially of course) at 17 lbs 2 oz. According to my "growth chart" that is in the back of "What to Expect The First Year" he is in the 5th percentile. YEAH! He goes in next Thursday for his official weight check. We are hoping for a green light on soldi foods. We of course have not given him any teething biscuits as he has gotten his four top teeth in at the same exact time. I had to dig out my "What to Expect" book as I had abandoned it a long time ago...at about 6 months...because it was just about depressing to read. I am still not going to read it though because he is on his own individualized plan and doing great. We're sticking to the positives. His EIS is coming today, and I will update this post after we meet with her.

This is what Baby J gets to eat right now in a day. (All bottles are BPA free) He has also been getting some rice cereal as he is still hungry after getting everything but his bedtime bottle. This is great news as it used to be he would drop 1-2 bottles when he had any solids. He takes that bedtime one kinda slow and doesn't finish all of it every time, but close. To put his calories in perspective, if I drank twice what is pictured above I would be over my daily calorie needs...and I don't weigh 17 lbs :o)

PEEK

-A-

BOO!

*Update* I forgot to mention before that Baby J pretty much skipped right through 6-9 month clothes and right into 9-12! He wore some 6-9 month outfits, but they ran small and he had been wearing them since before Christmas. He just zipped right up into big boy clothes. I loved opening up the new storage tub and remembering what Snug used to be like.

Today Baby J's EIS (early intervention specialist) and OT (occupational therapist) came to the house. They were so excited with me about his development. He is now at 7 months instead of 5 moving to 6 in large motor and 8 months instead of 6 moving to 7 in fine motor. His fine motor has always been his best area, which is good. Kids with low tone tend to not like things like handwriting and cutting when they get to school. His having decent fine motor skills says maybe that won't be the case for him. Speech is almost to 5 months, but that wasn't formally evaluated today. It still is his weakest area.
While they were here they wanted to know what the doctor is currently saying and I told them about her still being a bit baffled that he doesn't have Celiac after what she saw during his surgical procedure at the hospital. I shared with them that we believe that God has healed him. They smiled politely but they had not physically seen him yet because he was not awake from his nap. After we had a chance to talk he did wake up and spent time with them being evaluated (which looks like lots of fun play, but he slept almost 3.5 hours after taking a 2 hour morning nap...so you KNOW it tired him out). They were also shocked. He is "a different baby". They couldn't believe he was the same little guy they saw a month ago. They had lots of praise for us "doing such a great job with his therapy and very diligent". Nice to hear, because we are trying to be working through his exercizes each day...but we also know that his HUGE jump in development is God. I think they got a glimpse of how big our God is today too. :o)

Coming Soon...

We are in the process of getting to know our new computer and get it all set up. We did get it up and running (obviously) and the internet connected. Yeah! We have some errands to run and I have a fundraiser to attend...but then I will post Baby J's 10 month picture, update you on his progress, and let you know how much he weighs and what size clothing I got to get out yesterday...coming soon...

At Any Time

http://kayleighannefreeman.blogspot.com/2009/04/42509-gods-hand.html

I've written a few things in the past about Kayleigh and the other day I wrote that the doctors are sure she has very limited brain activity at this point. They still don't know exactly what happened and when, but something happened around the time of her latest surgery. The link above isn't easy to read, but it is an answer to prayer. They have wanted to take Kayleigh home since the day she was born. They are making the decision now to take her home to live out the rest of her life. She is four days older than Baby J.

It is hard to read about her just moments after my last post. We had such a nice day while the Freemans were mourning the certain passing of their little one. We are just praising the Lord for what he has done in Baby J's life and enjoying every moment we have with our children because you never know how much time you have. God can call any one of us home at any time. Are you ready?

Touch-A-Truck

Bobcat Skid

Our parks and recreation department hosts great community events, and this is a new favorite. I mean, beyond the Doggie Dash N' Splash of course :o) I think it was definitely Snug's favorite.

Bookmobile

Our friend Rachel used to work on this Bookmobile, but recently moved. We will miss her and her husband. Snug really enjoyed the Bookmobile which takes books to our local elementary schools.

Baby J spent the time sucking away at a four ounce bottle...it took him about 45 minutes because he was sitting straight up in the stroller and had to hold it way up to get anything out as it was a 9oz bottle. Lots of work, but it kept him quite entertained.

School Bus
I'd love to say which truck was Snug's favorite, but he loved them all. He was thrilled to sit in a school bus and honk the horn. The driver of this particular one I knew as she had driven for one of my special needs students when Snug was a baby.

School Bus

I took this picture so that when Snug starts kindergarten I can take another one and compare, but I realize he probably won't ride a bus until high school because we live too close to our elementary and middle school. Unless of course the city gets the money it needs (badly) to renovate.

What exactly is Scoop? A digger truck? Doesn't sound official...

LOOK! Scoop! Snug was thrilled to see his favorite Bob The Builder truck at the event.

I kept trying to include Baby J in some photos, but he wasn't very impressed with the trip. He just sipped away at his bottle and got annoyed with me for applying another layer of sunscreen. It was 90 today and SUNNY.

Ohio State Trooper Car

This picture makes me laugh. There were three different police vehicles at the event, and they were not his favorite. I guess when your daddy drives one home every night for supper and "woos" for you, these ones are not as cool. One guy cracked me up. He wasn't from our city, but they all kinda know each other around here. When I told him who #1 was he looked at Snug and said "um, I should have guessed that, look at him!" Anyway, this trooper was trying to get a picture with Snug and he wasn't super happy about it. He wanted to go see the garbage truck of course.

Ambulance

This is an ambulance that takes people from one hospital to the the airport to be transported by airplane to another hospital. This would be similar to the one Stellan took from his hospital to the airport and then airport to the hospital in Boston. It can also transport from one hospitals to another if they cannot be transported by helicopter.

Firetruck

If I had to make a guess, I'd say the firetruck was in a tie for favorite with "Scoop". He waves like crazy at them as they fly by our house to the hospital near us. He was really excited to sit in the cab but a little apprehensive when they turned on the siren with him in it...really loud.

Still sippin' away...

Firetruck

I tried to get W A Y back and take a picture of the entire ladder truck, but I couldn't. This ladder is huge! I asked #1 why on earth we have a truck that tall and he said because we have one apartment building that would need it. Honestly I don't think even that building is that big, but I guess we are covered. Talk about getting a kitten out of a tree...we could rescue one out of a redwood!

Trench Digger

Tow Truck

Snug loved looking everywhere. I had a cute picture of him checking out the controls on one, but it didn't upload I guess. Here is is thrilled to see under the seat...and noticed the flashlight they kept there.

Garbage Truck

Garbage trucks were exciting because there were 2 steering wheels, one for sitting at one for standing at, and a place to stand on the back. Garbage trucks were also fun...but everything was. There were many many more trucks, but really unless you are Snug, no one wants to see all of these pictures. I will probably print them and label them for him in a small book.

Desperate Bored Housewives

Do you know what I am? I am a bored housewife! I know, I was shocked to hear it myself but alas it was said of me today. I know I am bored...I have been doing less physical therapy with Baby J now that he prefers his tummy to his back and spends way more than 81 minutes* a day on his stomach. I still do many of the exercises that were recommended of course to move him more and more towards crawling/creeping whatever it is called now and to help with his extension problems,...but seriously that boy is MOVING and ROLLING and almost ready to crawl...I mean creep...um, whatever. SO, with all of this extra time, approximately 34.6 minutes a day I have a new hobby. Ticking off dog walkers.

But I only fit it in between 10-15 diaper changes, 2+ baths, serving 15-20 individual meals, giving 6 bottles (along with the 5-10 minutes of left side time afterwards), 4-7 loads of laundry, watching 3-5 children under the age of 4 a day, keeping the house in some sort of decent shape, running children to preschool and kindergarten, joining the church softball team, volunteering at church, working on the Parks and Rec dog committee, kissing scrapes and bruises, breaking up disagreements, doing CILT, and reading everyone's blogs daily. But with those 34.6 minutes, I have my new hobby. (Did I forget anything? I think that is it...)

Are you a bored housewife? Want to know how it works? Need a new hobby?

Episode One:
As you have 8 children in your front yard enjoying a sunny afternoon and two parents picking up children you (and the parents) notice a lady walking her dog and letting it do its business ALL OVER the yard across the street. The dog is on a flexi lead and is half way up in their yard where she lets it continue for quite some time. Then, you ask the lady to please not do that in their yard because the homeowners wouldn't appreciate it. When she rolls her eyes and turns her back to you, you make a decision.

Keep in mind I have to pick up after other people's dogs in my front yard all the time. It is gross. It isn't nice. I'm tired of it. But this is of course for all you bored housewives, so you make your own decision.

SO, as she rolls her eyes and continues to watch her dog mess in your neighbor's yard, you try again. You politely but firmly this time tell her to move along because no one wants to clean up after her dog and that children do indeed play in these yards. She then turns around and informs you she is on private property (your neighbors...who do not know her and also are tired of the messes) and you can't do anything about it. When one of the mothers speaks up and says that is not even making sense she will then start using curse words in the presence of the children...very classy.

She then informs you that you can do NOTHING about her behavior and screams that you are a bored housewife. She also lets you know that she can let her dog _ _ _ _ wherever she wants. When you mention you can and will call the local officials (read:police) if she doesn't stop yelling and cussing and letting her dog doodle all over the yards (she is now another house down where that dog has not hit empty in his bladder nor bowel yet) she tells you they don't care and won't come. Wrong answer. Because the rest of the story is um... not for public blogging you will have to contact me personally if you'd like to know what would then happen if you decided to pick up my hobby.

There are rules though. You may not yell back at the person. You must remain polite. You must remember that you have 8 children in your presence...and that you don't want your house egged. Trust me, I was the picture of pose..and a little confused at how angry she was but I think the message came across clear enough. Don't let your dog doodle in my/my neighbors yard...don't tell me I won't call the authorities.

I didn't mean to start a huge incident. I probably should look the other way, but really no one wants to clean up after everyone else's dog. You must know that this was an EXCESSIVE amount of time she was spending in the neighbors yard, that the dog was WAY up on the property, and that she was clearly aware that the dog was doing what it was doing.

Bored Bored Bored.

Ok in the next episode of Bored Housewives we will discuss how to do a happy dance when your 10 month old has his first official babble session "wa wa wa AND ba ba ba" where he also was looking at you to confirm that you indeed noticing his new accomplishment. This babbling will continue all evening so you can continue dancing in your heart.
The episode will conclude with a story about how you are to react when someone gives your baby a paci that is not his but that they found under your stroller at the ballpark thinking it might be his. You have to be ok with it because this person was really REALLY nice to spur of the moment help with multiple children and it was a huge blessing to know your children were safe. But it wasn't his paci...or anyone else's...at a ballpark. *sigh* I am so bored.


*The "magic" number in tummy time these days...and amount of time he has to spend in physical therapy a day...does not include speech therapy.

Alphabitty Moments

Alphabitty Moments is brought to you by Mama Bear and the point is to remember the little things in life that count. "Whatever coaxes us out of hiding, to write, record, and express, is a revolutionary act. It says that we believe our lives count: our lives do count." ~SARK

Baby J has never had ice cream, so I will have to pass on him this week. I know that other people do one per kid, but I actually can't even think of what else to do. I will have to check everyone elses' out. Our first church softball practice is tonight and I am really excited. Hopefully I am not as terrible as I remember being...having a softball super-star husband doesn't help my complex out any. Happy Thursday everyone!

Happy Earth Day, Weight Gain, Prayer Needed

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Today is Earth Day and we like to celebrate it. Not the earth, we don't think that it has any special mystical power or significance other than that the Lord gave it to us to take care of and dwell on until He returns. And you know me. I love all things biodegradable, recyclable, and Earth-friendly. So, Earth Day is a great day to talk to the kids about things we can do to help preserve God's creation. I even had a great Dora book about Earth Day that Snug (who loves her...library DVDs have corrupted him) got in his Easter basket. However, the book is NO WHERE to be seen today. I even had #1 check at the library to see if we had accidentally returned it with the library books. Oh well.

Potato prints are always a hit. Take a potato, cut it in half, and carve a shape you want to print on each side.

Here is an up close. I score around the edge, about 1/4 inch. Then I kinda draw on top what I want and then carve away until I have the shape.

Snug painting the "ocean" on his paper plate.

Mother Hen and Little Miss E painting their "land". The paint is squirted onto things that would have hit the trash recycle bin. They are still headed there, but got one more use.

Do you like our Earths?

We also planted some 4 O'clocks today (flowers) in little pots with my friend Mindy and her daycare kids, but I forgot to take pictures, so you'll have to take my word for it. To see a picture of Snug last Earth Day, click here.

Baby J had a weight check (at home) today and he weighs 16 lbs 14 oz! That is up 7 oz from last week (and the week before, when he'd had no gain). Praise the Lord. We also think that he is beginning to recognize his name! YEAH

This is Kayleigh, and she is four days older than Baby J. She has never been home from the hospital because she was born three months early. She weighed 1 lb 1 oz and was 10.5 inches long. She has had a hard battle to live, and every time they are about to send her home, something else happens. I asked via Twitter for people to pray for her last week as she underwent a surgery that was going to allow her to be cared for at home. She was recovering nicely until last night.

You'll have to click here to get the specifics, but it appears that something during/after the surgery has made her brain dead. Before that she was growing (approaching 9 lbs) and batting at toys and reacting to everything around her. The picture above was on her blog a few days ago showing off the first thing her parents bought when they found out they were having a girl. It fits now.

Please pray that they will get to take this little girl home, and that they will have the strength to deal with everything that is going on. We know God can heal. Our family knows this firsthand.

Kayleigh's story was brought to my attention by my mom. My husband told me I was not allowed to read one more "sick baby" blog, but being that she and Baby J are so close in age, and that Snug was a preemie, it struck close to home for both of us. She has older siblings at home, her mom's name is Aimee and her dad is Adam.

Updates

My boys, along with probably 10,000 others wore orange today for Stellan. He is out of surgery, but have no additional updates at this time besides that it was long, and hard. #1 and I also wore orange, but we didn't get photographed. I look awfuler than awful having spent the day in bed. Daddy dressed the boys, didn't he do a nice job?

Next update...we think we know what we are going to do about a computer and after begging it, our current one is working...for now.

I am feeling much better after a day of rest, soup, and ibuprofen.

If you would like to see the 10,000 or so people wearing orange, go to www.mycharmingkids.net and scroll down until you see 10,000 some pictures :o) I don't know if mine made it yet or not.

NO COMPUTER

I have exactly 18 minutes left of battery on my computer. It is about dead for life. I got it to charge for a few minutes this morning as I really wanted to check on STELLAN. Please pray for him as he is on his way to surgery right now for a heart ablation. This is rarely done on infants and is very risky.
Please also pray for Kaleigh as she recovers from her surgery (same age as Baby J, has never been home from the hospital in her life). You can click her button on my sidebar for updates on her.
I think that is the hardest part about not having a computer/internet at my disposal right now...I have been praying for these babies, and Abby, and all the things that many of you mention in your blogs daily and I have NO way now to see what is happening, or how I can pray better.
I have TWITTER, and you can read that on my sidebar as I will be updating what is happening with us.
Today I have no voice as I am in bed sick with a really sore throat...so I am letting my fingers do my talking. Anyway, we are all wearing orange here today and praying for baby Stellan.
We are going to price out computers and find one we can afford (using our emergency fund, I know, maybe not technically an emergency) but it is really hard withouth the internet. We actually have to DRIVE and LOOK...but I am sick, so #1 will get to do it with kids in tow.
We use the internet to run our daycare, pay bills, donate money to missions, and communicate with family out of town and mirads of other things. We hope we find one quickly.

I'm So Not Cool

This post is part of "Laughter Lives! Tuesday" on the Riggs Family Blog. Check our their blog to read everyone else's "Laughter Lives!" posts.

I know I wrote this over the weekend, but some people thought it was funny so I thought I'd let other people laugh at with me as well, because now that I think about it, humor can be found. *sigh*



I am in the good state Michigan for the weekend as I had my last CILT* meeting before summer camp starts. The girls have one more meeting with the other leaders (one who will be completely done after that meeting, one who just started today) in May, but I think you will agree that I sit around and eat bon-bons have enough to do and really can't fit in another 5 hour trip one way with children in tow for a weekend where I leave them for 5+ hours with my mom who truly is a saint. Just can't. It was a good meeting, and I enjoy being with the girls. I am so sad to see my comrade in crime "retire" as we've had a few good summers together (were even campers and CILTS* together) and are good friends. However, the new comrade coming on is also a great person and I look very much forward to getting to know her better.

Anyway, my mom had come down last Tuesday to help with the kids as I was taking baby J to his appointment on Wednesday. She drove us up here, and then will return us tomorrow. I then had no car here with which to drive to my meeting. My dad was up at camp getting it ready for the summer, but told me I could use his really cool Suburban (which technically isn't his, it belongs where he used to work but he is still using it-legally, I assure you) to get to my meeting.

Well, I climbed up a flight of stairs up into the Suburban and discovered that that it had no gas. I was already running barely on time. I stopped at the gas station, went in and paid the lady, and then tried to pump the gas. Only I couldn't figure out how to get the gas cap off. I looked for about 10 minutes for some sort of fancy button to open it but had to call my dad. All I was supposed to do was push on it in a certain place and it would POP out. I can only imagine what the gas station attendant thought I was up to. Here I am with this B-E-A-U-tiful car and I can't seem to pump gas. I am so cool.

Next I had to think really hard about how I was to get to the meeting because I haven't driven it myself in about 3 years. I called and double checked with my mom, and confirmed that I do know how to get there. The radio was on, but I am not familiar with how everything works in that particular car and I didn't want to mess with it until...

...I tried to get onto the 696 exit and it was CLOSED. As in barricaded up. The radio still was on to something I didn't want to listen to and then the car started yelling at me "CONSTRUCTION AHEAD". Well no duh. So here I am stopped in the road so I don't go through a barricade, people swerving around me (there was another road to the side that was not closed, but was not the road I needed either) honking as the car yells "CONSTRUCTION AHEAD". So I turned on the other road. I looked very cool.

Pretty tired of the car yelling at me and whatever I was listening to under diress I started hitting buttons and everything got louder and worse. Some gangster music about "making love" was blaring and I immediatly worried about my 2 year old parrot son singing it in Sunday School tomorrow, when I realized he was not in the car. WHEW. But neither could I get it to turn off. After trying not to smash anything I was hitting wildly at the dashboard controls. I finally got it off. Then I realized along with it went my compass so when my mom and friend were trying to help me with directions I no longer knew which way I was headed. I bet I looked so cool.

After making several phone calls and discovering that at least three other roads that I could have taken to get where I was going were also CLOSED, I stopped at a small cafe to ask a local for directions. As I got out to go in, I forgot I wasn't in my van and all but fell on my face getting out of the Suburban. I am so cool.

I mentioned that I finally got the radio/large dashboard display to turn off...instead of shouting directions to me it made a funny 'sip sip sip' sound whenever I made a turn-something to do with the little GPS system in it, I'm sure.

I finally got some directions that would seem to work, but guess what? The road was closed. I know you are shocked. My mom looked on the internet at home as I drove over a median and went the wrong way on a one way street and she guided me through a neighborhood. Some people were flipping me off as I drove by because I looked so cool.

I finally made it to the meeting. Want to know why I KNOW I looked so cool? Because during one of the many turn-arounds with a car (that I don't normally drive and is way bigger than what I have) and as the car was yelling "WATCH YOUR SURROUNDINGS" as I backed up, two very cool looking gangster people drove up and looked at me over their steering wheel and bling and clearly looked impressed at my mad driving skills. Clearly I am so cool. Or not.

So what did I learn today?
1. That there is way too much "gangster" in the metro Detroit area for me.
2. Suburbans are too big for me.
3. I don't want a car that talks to me-ever.
4. I am not cool.

*Campers In Leadership Training

Alphabitty Moments

Please join Alphabitty moments and record those little moments in life that sometimes go unnoticed, and might be forgotten. Or, use moments that you will never forget but want to share with others anyway! Go to http://www.4loveoffamily.blogspot.com/ to join in!

I didn't post last week, but here it is!

And this week's too!

GI Appointment *INTERRUPTION*

I am interrupting my original post with breaking news. The baby pictured above is Stellan, the one I've been asking you to pray for. They are leaving shortly for Boston to be with some highly specialized heart doctors. He is going to have a risky operation. Please pray for Baby Stellan and his parents, also his three siblings. Click HERE to get updates.
I am also interrupting to ask you to pray for Kaleigh. She is the same age as Baby J, but was born really premature. She is having a surgery to fix multiple problems. Click HERE to get her updates.
Our baby is getting better, and we are so thankful. But there are so many other families out there getting bad and scary news on theirs. Thanks for praying for them too.

Hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to Children's we go
Doot do doot doo doot
Doot do doot doo doot
Hi-ho, hi-ho hi-ho hi-ho

I just read on someone's blog that they sing/whistle this song as they get all of their children into their van. I had it in my head as we drove off to yet another appointment. Ready, Set, GO!

I dropped M off at kindergarten on the way to Baby J's appointment today and as I looked at the building (rather this was one of the buildings)I worked at at one time, I was ever so thankful that I am facing these challenges as a stay-at-home mom (with a full time job IN the house) rather than working full time out of the house and trying to fit all of this in. When Snug was a baby we spent the first 6 months in and out of specialist's due to "preemie stuff", but most of the time #1 took him as I taught 25 first graders half-heartedly wishing I was there to know what was going on. It is nice to be able to dedicate myself 100% as much as possible this time.

It seemed to take forever today, but it was the normal 2 hours from arrival at the office until we left. My mom came to help #1 with the Draycare kids while I was at the appointment. I guess I was just so excited to show Dr. K my new fat chubbier baby that I was a bit impatient! She was indeed impressed! Here are his new stats:

Length- 26 3/4 inches 5th % He had been at 26" for MONTHS, except the "we think he may have grown almost 1/4 inch" report at his last appointment 3 weeks ago. Today there was no doubt, he is getting longer.
Head-can't remember size, but 3rd%
Weight- 16 lbs 7 oz, not yet on the percentile chart, but close! This is the same weight for those of you who have kept track that our family doctor had him at last week...they are not concerned about it not having changed in the last two weeks because a) they are different scales b) he is still WAY up from the 13 # 12.5 oz we were sitting at for MONTHS. He has gained 1 lb 5 oz on his own since we left the hospital March 19, almost 4 weeks ago.

What does this mean? Well, for starters it means we continue to PRAISE GOD that he is growing :o) Ok, even if he wasn't growing we would still need to praise Him, but it is a lot easier when things are looking up, isn't it? It also means that within a few weeks (we go back in 3 again) he may be on the low-normal end of growth for kids his age!

It doesn't mean that anything has changed in his diagnosis or his treatment. He is still labeled "failure to thrive" (although my cousin and I discussed that they HAVE to put something in the blank on the computer and there really isn't anything else to "call" it) and is still on the same diet. Although clearly he is thriving he is not ON the growth chart so he is not out of the dark yet. he does have his own "growth line" now...and it doesn't go straight across and then down :o)
Baby J will continue to get a 75% PediaSure, 25% breastmilk mix. The doctor said again today that he simply cannot make it on breastmilk or formula alone. His caloric needs are still REALLY high. Why? Your guess is as good as theirs. As long as he grows and continues to develop physically he doesn't need an answer.

Just answered the phone and it was Children's scheduling department. We are practically on a first name basis now. J/K Baby J has an audiologist appointment on May 21. His speech therapist suspects he isn't hearing everything he should. I personally rack it up to MSH* that everyone else, including one of our dogs, in this house has. *Male Selective Hearing

I was so thankful for my sling today. Waiting that long to see people in a tiny room, albeit they have new and interesting toys, gets long for both of us. After he had seen everyone who needed to actually SEE him, I put Sir Cranky Diaper him back up in the sling and he immediatly fell asleep. The dietiation/nutritionalist doesn't have to see him, as much as discuss what the doctor found and then go from there. I was also thankful to not have to lug the entire carseat with me. Now that Baby J is getting bigger, that thing is getting HEAVY. It is kinda nasty out so I made sure that he had a hat on and warm clothes, but being up against my body he's getting quite a bit of warmth too.

SOOOOO, I was really happy to see the doctors really happy...I was really expecting to get to start him on solids again, but not yet. They have tested him for food allergies, which I wasn't aware of. I thought they did it with a skin test and then blood test. apparently while he was in the hospital they ran the necessary blood tests, and went a step further in testing his biopsies from his EGD for Celiac and food allergies. No worries, they found nothing!. He can still have 2 tbs rice cereal approx. 3 days a week. Poor kid is going to go to kindergarten and be eating Gerber 3rd foods. Who am I kidding? I would make it myself, it wouldn't be Gerber. Ok, I exaggerate.

Thank you for your prayers!

P.S. here is a funny for you. I tweeted it last night, but want to share it here also.

Snug "I pay"
#1 "OK"
Snug "Jesus fank you fow fooood, and fank you fow Krogers, amen."
I would normally thank Jesus for Aldi because of their prices, but the free cookie and "car" cart must be higher on Snug's list.

Some of my tweets are not coming through, so my "stories" I send out don't always make sense. I had said "Where was I? In the bathroom." yesterday not just randomly to confuse everyone. I had FIRST typed "Snug dumped the entire laundry basket of clean clothes on top of Baby J". THEN I typed "Where was I? In the bathroom." Seriously, Snug is going to kill him one of these days. First the sucker, then the laundry. Good thing Grandmommy is here to hold down the fort, huh?

Better Late Than Never?

Ok, probably not. Part of the deal when you sign up to have your blog listed in Serious.Life Magazine is that you'll help them advertise by telling your readers when they have a new (free) issue out. Um, it's been out for like a week and I didn't post. I always read (most) of it before I post about it for you. Today I finally had 3 seconds to sit down and check it out! It is getting kinda long, so I don't read all of it. Hey, I am lucky to finish "Parents" magazine before the next issue hits my mailbox and it is sitting right in front of me!
Anyway, Serious.Life April is out, and you should check it out. I liked:
The excerpt from 4 Little Men & Girly Twins
The article by Ken Hamm
My blog being listed

Happy reading!

I ♥ faces Spring

I absolutely have fallen in love with this photography blog. It gives me something to work towards as I take pictures of our family each week. It is also nice to see what other people have entered. I know I am not a photographer, but I can try, right? I do take a photography class! This week there is an amateur category, and I am definitely an amateur. Do you like to take photographs? Go to http://www.iheartfaces.blogspot.com/ and join in!

This week's entry, aside from being amateur, is supposed to be Easter/spring.

This is Snug in his Easter suit standing by his "hide and seek" tree. This tree is where he covers his mouth and counts "one, two, free, here I tum duys!" His eyes show all the excitement he sees in life. Always ready to play, always has something funny to say, always ready for action.

Please leave any polite critisim you have, and please join in this fun photography contest!

I Couldn't Have Said It Better...AND Easter Pictures *UPDATED*

I was all ready to post about what Easter really means...and then I read this and really, I couldn't agree more. So please read this and then come back and finish this post.

I wanted you all to read that because, at our house, we do enjoy Easter eggs and handsome outfits, and time with friends, and big fancy dinners. BUT we know first and foremost that Easter is about Jesus and his sacrifice on the cross. Our Good Friday service and Easter services at church were so good, and really really hit home for me this year. Please enjoy our pictures, but please know that "the bunny" is NOT the reason we have a "Happy Easter". Snug loved decorating Easter eggs with our next door neighbors at their house.Dipping the spoon was probably his favorite part.

Snug and I are planting a garden this year. We are starting some seeds inside. He had fun with the soil more than anything.

These pictures capture so much personality. Snug is quite the comedian and loves to make people laugh. I only hope that he keeps his big personality in check as he grows up so that he does not come off as obnoxious. He is truly the sunshine in our home.

Our project gave me the idea of this dessert for our Easter dinner. It is layers of chocolate pudding and brownie, topped with crushed Oreo (off-brand for me of course!) cookies, dyed coconut, and gummy worms. It was very yummy!

Our boys got their Easter baskets buckets earlier in the week, but still enjoyed showing them off to our neighbors after our shared lunch today. Look who is getting some chub to his cheeks!Snug got this outfit from one of the familys I sit for. Their son wore it in a wedding last year. He didn't want to wear the tie...he wanted to wear a necklace instead. We compromised and he has a necklace on UNDER the shirt :o)Baby J is wearing a 'suit' that Snug wore two years ago. If I remember later I'll post some pics of him wearing it. My power cord isn't working and my battery is dying fast. *Update* wiggled and jiggled and got the cord working...for now. Here is Snug in the same outfit (below). He was like 2 days shy of being 7 months old when these were taken on his first Easter. Look at those cheeks! These pictures give Baby J a little more perspective. Snug was a preemie and always on the low end of the growth chart. He is a month and a half younger than Baby J when I took these pictures and definatly bigger than Baby J is today. The great news was that a little over a week ago when I tried it on him it was too big and I wasn't sure if we'd even bother using it. Due to his recent 'unofficial' growth spurt, he got to wear it! Unofficial is because Wednesday is his official at the GI specialist growth check. I can't WAIT to see her reaction :o)

.

Baby J is not as um...as much as a show off (?) as his brother. More the serious type! This picture captures him! (Notice how in many of his pictures his mouth is open a bit? That is part of what we are working on in speech therapy with his muscles...but he is always looking and thinking and watching.)

The boys dressed and ready for church.Mom and dad, see our hardwood floors? I took pictures of the demo but haven't posted them. For our IRL friends, check our Flickr page later if I can get the power source working. This floor was under our carpet.

From our family to yours, HAPPY EASTER!