Eli update

After visiting with the doctors today, it was determined that Eli has coarculation which means his aorta is closed off. He is on some medication right now so depending on how he reacts to the medicine will determine when he has surgery. Possibly today, tomorrow or even on Friday. Please keep them in your prayers. Megan said the Dr. is optimistic, so that is a little bit comforting.

Michelle texted me today saying that he is having surgery and that she is scared, as she has every right to be.

Please specifically pray for Eli's health, Michelle and Jacob's comfort during this time, and knowledgeable doctors that are ready for surgery. Continue to pray for Eli's heart that it will grow strong and be healthy for a filled life!!

Eli is 8 days old today.

Thank you all!

Please Pray

My friend and fellow teacher, Michelle, gave birth to her sweet baby boy Eli exactly one month after Cade was born, on April 21st. Michelle and I teach right next door to each other and were very lucky to go through pregnancy together. There were many of morning sickness days between the both of us!!

Our other fellow teacher, Kortni, received the following information yesterday and passed it on to our school family:

Last night I received a phone call from Michelle's sister Megan. As of last night Eli was being flown to Texas Children's Hospital in Houston in critical condition. From the short amount of time that I was able to talk to her she said that he had too much acid in his blood and that he had an infection that could be affecting his heart. Megan texted me this morning and said that they are waiting to hear from the doctors. So please keep Eli, Michelle, and Jacob in your thoughts and prayers today. I will update you all as I get new information. Thanks and have a great day!

I ask that anyone reading this blog today to please send a special prayer for Eli, Michelle, and Jacob. This is such a special time for their family and I hate that Eli is sick. I wish I could explain to you the amount of excitement Michelle has had for Eli's arrival, as any first time mom would have. Here is a picture of Eli when he was born, such a sweet boy!! I will keep you updated.

Bye Bye Paula!!

As of last Friday, April 24th, Cameron no longer goes to Ms. Paula's house. It was a bitter sweet day for me. I am so excited that it is almost summer because Cameron and I had so much fun together last summer. I am excited that Cameron gets to spend more time at home with Cade and I. And, I am SUPER excited that I don't have to pay daycare for the next four months!! But, on the other hand, it is so hard to find someone you trust to take care of your baby, and that is what we found in Ms. Paula. She has been so great for Cameron. She taught him manners, how to eat with utensils, all about sharing and caring, and so much more that Josh and I wish we could take credit for! Cameron made two really good friends, Ty and Maddy while he was there. They have been there for the entire two years that Cameron went to Ms. Paula's house. Although he loves being at home, he keeps asking me if he can go back to Ms. Paula's to show her fun things (like the new jibbitz that he got for his crocs...)

Paula celebrated Cameron's 'graduation' all day. He got to play with the Thomas train set one last time, got to pick the movie for lunch time, and most importantly, got presents from all of his friends.

Cameron and I also made cupcakes for the celebration:

Reading the directions for the strawberry cupcakes that he had to have:
Time to put them in the oven:
Now we wait for them to bake:
Gather the rainbow sprinkles and icing:
And here is the finished product...and they were super yummy I might add!!

When Cameron got to Paula's house on Friday...there was a huge sign just for him.

And she made him a cap.On a side note...I have been really emotional about Cameron being a 'big boy'. Josh has seen numerous of tears in the last few weeks from me when people talk about how big he has gotten. When he walked in Friday morning and saw the sign, he almost asked Paula to take it down before I got there to pick him up in the afternoon. How sweet is that? Or maybe he just didn't want to deal with my tears anymore...

Cameron opened some wonderful presents and handed some out to his friends. He gave Ms. Paula one last hug and we were gone. It didn't feel like a 'final' goodbye because Cade will go to Ms. Paula's house in August when I return to work. Cameron will start preschool in August. Oh how the time is flying...

Maddy helping Cameron with his presents: (she got him this really neat tunnel for his Thomas train set)

I love Maddy's look in this picture. She looks happy and jealous at the same time!
One last trip around the train track...
A final goodbye:
Thank you Ms. Paula for being so wonderful to Cameron!! We love you like family and are so excited that you get to watch Cade in the fall!!

The future...

"The Magic Pill"---Priceless!

So, it all started with shingles, then thrush, then acid reflux, a two year old who is teething....and I am sure we aren't done there.

A run down of our medical expenses in the past month:

Shingles medicine-$5
Viacadin for after delivery-$5
Thrush medicine for Cade-$5
Thrush medicine for Dawn-$5
Second round of thrush medicine for Dawn-$5
Two week check up for Cade-$25
Tagamet medicine for reflux-$5
Acid reflux doctor's appointment-$25
Ibprofen for Cameron-$5
and finally (and I am sure there will be more this month...)
Prevacid for Cade (or as Dr. Ransom says 'The Magic Pill' or 'A sleeping pill for mommy and daddy)-$74.11

Yes, you read that right, $74.11 for a two month supply of acid reflux medicine. If it works, it will be TOTALLY worth it!! The tagamet was working, but I could tell it was slowly tapering off, so Josh and I decided to take him to the doc again. He started spitting up again, you know, the yucky cottage cheese stuff. We start our first dose of Prevacid this morning (and just for the record...it is 8:15 and he is still sleeping).

Our grand total:
$159.11 (and that doesn't include the hospital bill from the birth our little angel!)

Happy One Month Cade!!

I can't believe that Cade is one month old. Seriously...where does the time go? It is so weird to think that we were celebrating Cade's arrival one short month ago!! One month of getting up every night, one month of lots of feedings, one month of diaper changes, one month of changing his outfit 100 times a day... and yet we still have so many more months to go!!

Although he is still so little, I thought I would list some of Cade's milestones. I feel so bad that I didn't do this for Cameron. It would have helped a little with Cade's first month. I think I remember things that Cameron did at this age, but most of the time Josh remembers it a little differently. If I only would of written it down...sorry Cameron!

**Cade is still growing like a weed. I haven't weighed him since his two week check up, but I would guess he is over 10 lbs!!

**He is still on medicine for his acid reflux. He takes .8 ml every eight hours. If he misses a dose, I can guarantee you that I will have to change him because he will spit up and then I will have to change my shirt also. I don't want to be that mom that smells like spit up!!

**He slept in his room, by himself, the day after his three week birthday. Thank you Lord for the mom that invented video monitors!!

**Since we got him on his medication, he has become a great sleeper. He gives me one 5 hour stretch and then another 3 hour stretch. We put him down between 9:30-10:00 every night and he usually gets up around 3:00 for his first feeding and goes right back to sleep.

**He is getting better with the swaddle, not fighting it too much. I realized he has to be 75% asleep to stay in the swaddle, anything less and he will fight it.

**He hates his swing, but loves his bouncy chair (which is totally opposite from Son #1)

**He is beginning to like his play mat and will give mommy about 20 minutes of playtime each morning.

**He is slowly growing out of his 0-3 months clothes!! Slow down buddy!

**He is a real trooper with all of mommy's errands during the day. He hates the first five minutes in the car, but after that, we are good to go!!

**His big brother keeps him entertained when he wants to. It is actually pretty nice for mommy!

On a side note, everyone keeps asking me what it is like to have two kiddos. I feel like I can't answer anyone honestly because Cameron is still going to Ms. Paula's house during the day. That being said, this Friday is his last day. I am a little nervous about next week, but I know we will get through it. It has been really nice to have this time to bond with Cade. I have really enjoyed our one on one time together. I don't think he realizes how loud it is about to get during the day!!

I think we have...

ACID REFLUX!?!?

I spoke with Cade's doctor's office yesterday because Josh and I were finally at our wits end. Poor Cade has been spitting up on average 4-5 times after each feeding. My poor couch has never been cleaned so much and I never knew I would go through more outfits than him in one day!! When he burps, it just sounds painful and unfortunately for mommy (and daddy too) he isn't sleeping much at all during the day and is giving us about hour to hour and half stretches at night.

Dr. Ransom went ahead and called in a prescription for Tagamet, for acid reflux. Already he seems to be more comfy after feedings. He hasn't spit up as much and he is loving his paci a little more...which is good for soothing himself back to sleep.

So, I have some prayers to ask for. Please pray that this medicine takes the pain away from Cade and maybe in return will give us some relief also. Please pray that Cade can become a better sleeper. I am perfectly fine with getting up with him at night, but every hour or so is getting to be a bit much for this momma!! Josh has been great and always is there to help!! I couldn't do it without him!

No parent wants to see their baby in pain! I am ready for him to feel better!

Mommy sees a lot of these eyes during the day (aren't they pretty though?):

I think I would rather see more of this during the day:

Hoppy Easter!

Well, Easter has come and gone and all of the chocolate candy sitting on my counter is not making loosing weight any easier! But, there is no way I am letting my 2 1/2 year old eat all of that candy...someone has to do it right?

We were quite disappointed to see the weather for Easter Sunday (70% chance of heavy thunderstorms) so our Easter plans changed a little this year. Usually, we go to my family's annual Easter reunion. I have been going since I was a wee little one and haven't missed one since I can remember. With the travel to San Antonio, a 3 week old, and possible chance of rain, we knew that this year was out.

We did however enjoy some super fun Easter activities here in College Station. It started Friday evening at Mamma and Daddy Mike's house. Sharon cooked up some super yummy hamburgers (with the help of Daddy Mike at the grill). She had all sorts of Easter activities planned, which of course included games with prizes! Even the adults got to participate!! Cameron enjoyed his eater egg hunting with Riley and Jace, but enjoyed opening the eggs a little more. I mean what is more exciting than hunting eggs in the front yard and opening them to find candy and money!! Cade was a little to young for hunting, but as you can tell from the picture, enjoyed the festivities as much as everyone else. Thank you Sharon and Mike for a super fun Easter evening!


Saturday morning, Josh headed off to play golf. I was left alone with two kids for the first time! I was so proud of myself, because I managed to shower, play Thomas with Cameron, feed Cade, and even made a quick trip to Wal-Mart for some last minute Easter items. Go me!! My mom and dad (Mimi and Pops) came to Aggieland to share Easter with Cameron. We had a nice lunch at my house (chicken salad stuff avocados...what can get better?!?) and during Cameron's nap, the Easter bunny made a stop in our front yard!! At first he wanted nothing to do with another easter egg hunt (I think because there was no competition, just him), but he soon got right in to it and found all 56 eggs that were hidden. I left my camera and Mamma and Daddy Mike's house, so unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of this event!

Overall, we had a great Easter despite the rain on Sunday. Cameron is getting to be a big boy and really is starting to get the idea of these special holidays. It is so neat to see how excited he gets! I always loved Easter and hunting eggs and I love seeing that he loves it too!

Enjoy our pics from Easter weekend!

The kiddos before the big hunt:

And he's off:
He knew exactly where to find them!
He was so proud of his eggs!
Two super cute cousins:
Time to see what is inside!!
Enjoying a little treat:

All of the cousins:
Time for games! Here is the egg on a spoon race...
Cameron didn't care too much for the attention (definitely his daddy's son):
And now on to water balloons. (the camera woman had to take cover, so this is the only pic): Cameron loved it as did the 'big' boys!

We hope everyone had a great Easter!!

Got milk?

Disclaimer: If you have tried this before, I apologize for making fun of it...just not my cup of tea!

I have been reading up on Thrush since Cade and I were diagnosed on Tuesday. During my search, I came across an article on babycenter.com titled:

"My husband wants to taste my breastmilk, is it o.k. if he does.?"

Weird question I think to myself. Then, I read on...and things get even more weird!!

Here is the response from the expert:

It's fine to offer him a taste. If he wants to suckle, though, make sure that you, he, and/or the baby don't have a communicable virus or infection such as thrush or herpes that can pass easily among the three of you.

Remarkably, the immunological properties of breast milk benefit humans at any age. Human milk has even been used in some cases to treat various illnesses in adults. Many breastfeeding mothers tell me that their husbands and older siblings want to try Mom's milk. If you're comfortable with this request, what you do in the privacy of your home is up to you.

Did she seriously use the word 'suckle'? Now, moving on for the more disturbing part...yes, it gets more disturbing...there were 162 replies to this article. Rather than making you read all 162 responses, I thought I would do the work for you and share with you the best ones...

"I personally don't find anything wrong with this, my husband has been drinking my milk off and on for almost 6 years now and let me tell you he has never once gotten sick.... we all got food poisoning and he didn't get sick its amazing how breast milk works :) Good luck and have fun :)"



"after i had my 2nd-(he was adopted)..i pumped my milk and drank it myself.... i didn't get sick in any way for nearly 3 years!!!so yeah,if you wanna share-go for it!! it will benefit you both...."



"Ok, so my hubby didnt ever ask. But, I have a 13yr old cat that sat next to me when I pumped. One day I wasnt paying attention and the bottle filled. She lapped it up and ever since when she hears me sit down with the pump, she is right there and she loves on the pump while I am pumping and purrrrrrs. So, the other day I had filled 1 bottle and only pumped about a 1/4 oz after that, not enough to save. So I put it in a bowl and she drank it. My hubby thinks its gross, but I told him that we drink cows milk, in thought how gross is that. But now my cat is addicted and has tried to grab at the pump while I am pumping. I only give her a tiny bit in a bowl once in a blue moon, but she is super addicted, lol. I don't think there is anything wrong with it. I say do what is comfortable."



"We made ice cream with mine! "


And just in case any of you want to read it all, click here.

I just can't believe that some woman would be producing milk for her husband SIX YEARS LATER!! WHAT?!?! And, I love animals and all...but seriously why in the world would you pump milk for your cat? And ice cream? Are these people joking? I really hope so...

Now...off to give some milk...TO MY SON!!

Meet Mr. Porker

Cade and I visited Dr. Ransom's office today for his two week check-up. I thought I would have it all together as a 'second time mom' but apparently I don't, because this doc's appointment could not of come at a more perfect time! I had so many questions:

1. Why does he spit up so much? Is it reflux? Is he gaining weight?
2. Why is his skin peeling?
3. Why is his tongue all white?
4. Why do my boobs itch so much? (sorry if you have never breast fed or are a boy and are reading this question)
5. Is he sick? (Cameron had a fever and was throwing up all weekend)
6. Are my shingles still contagious and are they affecting him in anyway?
7. Why does he continue to break out of his swaddle each night?

Most of my questions were prefaced with "I don't remember this with Cameron, but..."

Before I give the answers to my questions, I must dedicate this post to our most awesome pediatrician, Dr. Ransom. He always keeps me calm (I have a tendency to over analyze EVERYTHING) and I trust him 100%!! I never knew how important it was to pick a good pediatrician!! My advice to new moms...pick a doctor you love...the most important questions and fears you have are answered by them, so make sure you trust them 100%!!

O.k...back to the questions...he does not have reflux (hint hint...my over analyzing!) and now weighs a whopping 9 lbs 2oz!! GO CADE GO!! I see a job in his future:I think the 9.2 lbs. has something to do with why he breaks out of the swaddle each night...the boy is so strong!! I may have to take my friend Courtney and Sam's advice...use duck tape!! (Just kidding of course!) As for the skin peeling...totally normal (and I knew this, but had to ask!) And, no, he isn't sick!! According to Dr. Ransom he is a very healthy little boy!!

Now, for the white tongue and itchy boobs...lucky us...we have THRUSH!! First shingles, now thrush...will my body every be normal? Basically it is a yeast infection that we are passing back and forth to each other and should be cured in a week with some medicine he prescribed. It makes for two painful boobies, but luckily as of now, it doesn't seem to be bothering Cade at all. And the shingles are getting better, but I am ready for them to be GONE!!

That is all for now, oh except I must take Dr. Ransom's advice and take lots of pictures...so here are a few for you to enjoy:


Not a great pic, but he is still a cutie!!
My boys...Cameron loves to give Cade hugs!

Daddy + Brush = NO GOOD!!

This is what happens when I leave Josh alone in the room with a newborn and a freshly washed head of hair:

Cade at 12 days after Daddy combs his hair:

Cameron at 2 months after Daddy combs his hair:

Thank you Josh for stylin' our boys!