Friday, December 7, 2012

Trip to FL and my growing boys!

     We just got back from our 10 day vacation. We decided to surprise my family for Thanksgiving. We just showed up at their house Thanksgiving morning. It was so great to keep it a surprise. We got to spend three days in NC visiting with everyone. After that, we headed off to Florida! We went to Universal and Disney. Elijah had so much fun seeing all the characters and riding some rides. I hadn't been to Disney in years, so it was so much fun going back. Josh had never been to Universal or Disney, so it was really exciting to experience everything with him. We didn't feel like we should bring Noah since we would be around so many people and germs, so we left him with Josh's parents. That was the longest 10 days of my life! It was so hard being away from him for that long. I can't wait til we can take both boys!!


                                                Riding "It's a Small World."
                                                    His first ride, ever :)
                                               Passed out after supper.
                                                     Buzz is his favorite.
                                                   My cute alarm clock <3

                                               First taste of applesauce
    
     The boys have been growing so fast, I feel like I can hardly keep up. Since we got back from our trip, Elijah has been talking a lot more. He's adding new words everyday and it's so exciting to hear him! Noah is all over the place. He has been starting to babble a lot and is rolling over every time I lay him down. I think he'll start crawling within a month or two. He had his first taste of applesauce, which he absolutely loved! He even has his first tooth on the way. I can't believe how fast he's growing up. Everything seems to be going faster now that I have two little ones in the house.

Thursday, November 15, 2012

The craziness right now :)

     Noah is officially done with wearing his brace during the day!!! He still has to wear it at night (at least twelve hours a day) until he's four, but I am so excited to be done with another phase of treatment for his feet. He is having so much fun being brace free. He is constantly kicking and grabbing his feet. I love watching him have so much fun. He is growing so fast. He'll be 5 months old on the 27th. He absolutely loves Elijah! He stares at him and smiles so big. They love having bath together and just laying down playing together. I really think they're gonna be best, best friends :).
     Elijah is an absolute handful! This past Sunday, we got back from the zoo and shoe shopping and we knew Elijah was worn out, so we laid him down. Josh and I had to keep going in his room and lay him back down. but finally we didn't hear him anymore. Well about an hour later he came downstairs. It looked to me like he changed his pants, then I looked up and thought his shirt was inside out. Well then I looked at his face and it was completely white! I ran upstairs and his room was COVERED in baby powder!! It was such a mess. I couldn't help but laugh and think about how much fun he was probably having squirting it everywhere hahaha!! Well then the next day, I was taking a shower and came downstairs to him having black permament marker all over his lips. He is such a busy and strongwilled little guy, and he definitely keeps me on my toes :).
     Today Josh and I have been married for four years. I can't believe it has already been that long. It has been a crazy four years, but I love it. We are definitely never bored! I'm excited for the next four years. Right now, Josh is planning on getting out of the Marines after his contract is up and buying some land and building a house back in NC. We've been looking at some land online and trying to find floor plans that we like. I had expected us to be a military family til we were in our 40's, but with everything the government is changing about the retirement for the military, it just makes more sense to get out and settle down. Who knows what might change between now and 2016, but settling down is what we want to work towards right now. I am just so excited to think about our future and plan it all out together :).

Monday, October 8, 2012

Thankful

I have just been overwhelmed with thankfulness the past couple days. After my blood clots after I had Elijah, I was so nervous to be pregnant again. I said that if everything went smoothly with Noah, then I would gladly have more kids. Well I am well over 3 months postpartum and haven't had any complications. I am so thankful that nothing happened and that I am alive and healthy. Also, all the scares we had with Noah. He could've had a heart or brain/spine condition and he is perfectly healthy. I was so worried about his clubfeet, but now I almost forget he is different. The brace is just a part of Noah and a part of our lives. I have two healthy, happy little boys, an amazing husband, I am healthy, and get to share a life with all of them. What more could I ask for? Just wanted to share my overwhelming amount of joy and thankfulness :)

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Elijah is two!!

Last weekend we celebrated Elijah's second birthday. We had a pirate party for him. He threw a couple fits at first when everyone got there, but after a little while he had so much playing with everyone. We all had a great time, but I can't believe how fast this time has gone by. He has grown and changed so much. He just had his two year check up. Everything looked great, but the doctor wants him to see an early interventionist because his speech isn't as developed as it should be. We were concerned about that, so I'm kind of glad he's going to get help with it.
     Noah is almost three moths old! He is so big now. He is definitely bigger than Elijah was at his age. He moves so much! Elijah wasn't that active and and he's super active now, so I'm probably going to have my hands full when Noah starts walking too. Noah is such a happy baby! He smiles all the time. They're both growing up so fast. I'm trying to cherish every moment I have with them.

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Life as a family of four

     Today Noah is nine weeks old! Time has flown by faster than I ever thought possible. The past nine weeks have actually been a lot less stressful and busy than I thought they would be. Elijah has adjusted so well to having a little brother and Noah is an extremely easy baby. Elijah has always been able to keep himself occupied, so if I have to feed or tend to Noah, Elijah is perfectly content. He loves to give Noah hugs and kisses and help feed and change him. He is such a great brother and is really growing into a great little boy.
     Noah's feet are doing great! He got his first set of casts when he was one week old. He got new casts once a week until he was four weeks old. After those casts, he had his tenotomy done. After the doctor took his casts off, he didn't feel that Noah would need to tenotomy on both feet, just the left one. I was so excited that he was doing so well and correcting so fast. The morning we went in for his surgery, Dr. Waldron (Noah's orthopedic surgeon), decided that Noah would be better off having the surgery on both feet. A tenotomy is where they clip the Achilles tendon so that the foot can bend more easily to a more normal position. After the surgery, Noah had to get recasted and have those casts on for three weeks. When he was about seven weeks old, he got his brace put on. It took both of us some time to get used to it, but we both figured it our pretty quickly. He can wiggle out of it, so I'm always fixing his foot and trying to make sure it's tight enough. He has been such a trooper with all of this. He is such an easy going baby. He's always smiling and trying to talk. It's amazing how fast he seems to be growing and developing.
     Last week we had a hurricane coming towards Belle Chasse. Josh didn't want to stay, so we went to Georgie to stay with my grandparents. We ended up being there a week waiting for the power to be turned back on where we live. We had such a great time! Elijah really enjoyed their big house and running around everywhere. My parents were actually able to visit for a couple days. It was their first time meeting Noah. It was so great to see all of them and get away for a little while. We are now back in Belle Chasse and trying to get back into the swing of things. When we got back, we noticed our living room carpet and wall has mold. I've contacted our housing office about it, but no one has come to check it out yet. It was making Josh and I sick and Noah kept sneezing, so we are staying upstairs most of the day. We ended up sending Elijah to Josh's parents' house because he's too busy to keep blocked upstairs haha! So I keep Noah upstairs and usually only go downstairs to get food or clean up. We're hoping someone comes soon to take care of the mold. The downstairs smells pretty bad from not having any air circulation for a week and then growing mold. It's been an interesting past week, but I'm glad that is all we have to deal with. Some people lost everything they had due to flooding and fires.
     I feel so blessed to have my two cute lil boys and amazing husband! It's not exactly the journey I always imagined, but it has been amazing and I know it's the journey that God meant for me to have. I can't wait to see what other adventures God has in store for us :)

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Induction!

   So I went to the doctor this morning for my weekly check-up on Noah, and my doc told me I am already 4 cm dilated! I've been having some painful contractions, so I'm glad to know they've been helping me progress. The doctor wants to make sure that I don't go into labor on the weekend or late at night because Noah is going to have to be evaluated by the cardiologist since they couldn't get a clear look at his aortic arch. They just want to make sure that all the doctors that he might need to be seen by are available. He also stripped my membranes, so I'm really hoping I'm progressed even more when we get to the hospital. We're supposed to check in at 9 tonight. Everyone is starting to make their guess on when Noah is going to be born. I'm hoping it'll be around 3-4 in the morning. I really don't want to be in labor long. I was really wanting to not get an epidural, but I'm not sure I can do it since they'll be giving me Pitocin. The contractions that Pitocin brings on are horrible! I'm still leaving the option open for an epidural, but I'm going to try to hold out as long as possible.
   I'm pretty nervous about Noah coming. We've had so many unclear answers about his health and I'm just ready to know that everything is ok. We know that he has the clubfeet, that part was pretty clear. We still aren't sure about his heart. They told us that everything look good with his spine, but the MRI might have found something wrong with his brain. They didn't give us much detail, just that it's probably nothing to worry about. I hate the vague answers and am praying sooo hard that the only thing wrong is the clubfeet. I'm also nervous about how Elijah is going to react. He's very attached to me. He even gets jealous if I'm paying Josh attention and not him. I'm sure he'll adjust eventually. I just know it's going to be hard for all of us at first.
   Elijah is already of to his MawMaw and PawPaw's. Josh's grandparents and cousins are down for a few weeks, so I know Elijah will have plenty of people to keep him busy. I do miss him! I almost started crying when he left. It's going to be hard being away from him. Since he is gone, that gives me time to make sure we have everything for the hospital and probably take a nap. It feels like a lot at once, but I know everything will fall into place :)

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

36 weeks and settling down in Belle Chasse

     We've been back "home" for almost a week. The adjustment hasn't been too bad. Elijah has been sleeping through the night (he had a hard time sleeping when we first got down here). Josh was NOT happy when we first got down here, but now he said he feels more adjusted and like this is home now. I'm still adjusting, but I know this will feel like home soon enough. It is definitely different living in a neighborhood rather than in a house in the middle of nowhere. I was going to start supper tonight and when I went to turn the gas on, I realized that the gas was out. There was a gas leak in the neighborhood so they had to shut everyone's gas off. So I made a trip to Popeye's for some supper. I tried not to get annoyed at the situation, but they have leaks all the time and are constantly cutting the gas off, so it does get a lil annoying. We don't have a microwave (we'd rather not use one) so if the gas is out, then we don't really have a way to cook or heat up any food. It's going to be an interesting 3 years adjusting to city life, but we're trying to make the best of it.
   I am now 36 weeks and cannot wait for this pregnancy to be over with and to finally meet my sweet lil Noah. I had my 36 week check up yesterday. They did another ultrasound and he is already weighing in at 6 lbs 5 oz! Hopefully he won't plump up too much more or we're gonna have a pretty big baby, haha. Because he has the bilateral clubfeet, they like to be extra cautious when checking everything on the ultrasound. We've already done a fetal echo cardiogram to check his heart, but my new doc said something looks a little off and wants us to have another one done. She also couldn't get a good look at the bottom of his spine, so she's also sending us too get a fetal MRI done. Dr. Longo, my new doc, said she feels everything will come back normal, but she doesn't want any surprises at delivery. I'm glad she's being so thorough, but it is scary. I thought it was scary when I was pregnant with Elijah and had to have all the Non-Stress tests and was on the Lovenox, but now having to have an ultrasound every month and fetal echos and fetal mri's makes things with Elijah seem like a piece of cake. I'm just praying that everything comes back normal and we won't have to deal with anything more than his feet. Monday, we have a consultation to meet with the Pediatric Orthopedic doctor. From what I read, this doctor specializes in the best method out there for clubfeet. It's going to be a whole different world having to deal with the casts and braces. Despite all the craziness, I am VERY excited to meet this sweet lil guy. Hopefully we won't have to wait 3 more weeks to meet him. I really don't want to have to be induced again, so we started walking tonight and I hope that will get things going soon :). Please keep us in your prayers. I will post again after we get the results from all the tests on Friday.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Some pics

I thought I would post some pics from our stay so far in NC. I can't believe we only have two more weeks here :(. We've been having a blast and are really going to miss everyone!

 32 weeks pregnant <3
 Do you think he's getting spoiled here?? Hehe
 Date night!




 Mother's Day :)

My lovely husband painted my toes for me :)

We have two more weeks, so I'm sure there will be plenty more pics to come. I'll try to update more when we get back to New Orleans.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

32 weeks!

     Well things with our lil family have been very crazy so far. We moved to New Orleans March 23rd, had a few weeks to try to get settled, then April 23rd we came back to North Carolina. Josh had to report to MOS school on April 24th, and Elijah and I didn't want to stay in New Orleans without him, so we decided to come along :). Elijah and I have been staying with my parents, and Josh gets to come back on the weekends and visit with us. I am so glad we decided to come up! It's nice being with my family and being somewhere that I actually know how to get around haha! We're staying here until June 2nd, which seemed like a long time, but it is flying by!
     So I am now 32 weeks along in this pregnancy! I cannot believe how fast it has gone by! Elijah keeps me so busy that sometimes I forget that I'm pregnant. It's kind of hard to imagine that I'm going to have two lil boys in about 7 weeks. I have been very tired with this pregnancy, but I believe that has something to do with having a toddler, ha! Elijah seriously never stops! He is ALWAYS on the go. I am soo worn out by the time he goes to bed. Sometimes I worry that we didn't space them out enough, but I know God wouldn't give us anything we couldn't handle and we'll all be just fine. I'm always getting some indigestion with Noah. I didn't have that with Elijah and the old wives' tale is that means he'll have hair. I'm hoping that's true! At the last ultrasound, I asked if they could see hair and we could see a little bit of fuzziness on his head, soo cute!! We still haven't seen a doctor about his clubfeet yet. I've found someone that I want to meet with, but we'll have to do all that when we get back to New Orleans. I feel so blessed to have such a great husband and two healthy little boys! I can't wait to see what else our future holds!!

Friday, March 2, 2012

Update on our lil family

  Well I haven't posted lately and a LOT has been going on with our family. Elijah is almost 18 months old and cannot believe it has already been that long! He is such a little handful! He is all over the place and definitely has his daddy's hard head ;). He's still not talking much, but he understands so much! I'm not really concerned about him not talking. I'll think he'll talk when he's ready. He really keeps me busy, and I seem to have a harder time keeping up with him as the pregnancy progresses. I am now 22 weeks, so I'm not too uncomfortable yet, but definitely getting there. I try to tell him there's a little baby in there, but he just pokes my belly and then runs off lol.
 Like I said before, I am now 22 weeks pregnant. We found out at 18 weeks that we are expecting another little boy! We are so excited for Elijah to have a little brother to play with. I know he will love having a little playmate.  After the 18 week ultrasound, Noah's (we have decided on the name Noah William for this lil guy) feet looked a little funny, but he wouldn't stay still to get a good look, so they made another appointment for us to come back and have another look. We went back last week and they confirmed that he has bilateral clubfoot, which means that both his feet are turned in instead of being straight. They didn't find any other health problems, which is a relief, but they referred us to a pediatric cardiologist to make sure that everything is good with his heart since he does have a defect. This has been a lot to process. No mom wants to hear that her little baby isn't perfect, but I know it could be waaay worse. I've been doing a lot of research and that made me feel a lot better. He'll have to wear casts for a couple months and a brace full time for a couple months and then part time for a few years. It's going to be a long road, but I know that God is with us throughout this journey and we will be just fine.
 To add to all the craziness, Josh just found out that he got accepted into the Active Reserve program for the Marines. It's basically the same as active duty, but he'll work at reserve bases. He got orders this past weekend and we are moving to New Orleans, LA and have to be there March 24th. Josh's parents and brothers live down there, so I know he's excited about being close to them now. I have been pretty overwhelmed the past week with the news about Noah and the move. We have a lot to get done in a short amount of time. Josh moved his whole life, so this isn't really a big deal for him, but it's a different story for me. All my family is up here, so I'm definitely sad to be leaving everyone. I know this is a good opportunity for Josh, and it's nice that we're still going to be close to family, so I'm trying not to stress too much. Well that's pretty much all for now, and I'll try to post after we get settled after the move.