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Friday, December 14, 2012
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.
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 :).
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 :)
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 :)
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 :)
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