HOT!

Wow, it has been disgustingly hot outside lately. While I do prefer warmth over cold, I hate this kind of heat. We have been spending alot of time inside and swimming. Jackson is crazy tan. Ellie has been trying very hard to get up on all 4's. She's getting very close!

On a positive note, her stitches have completely healed and her scar looks great. We just found out that her plastic surgeon is moving out of state at the end of July, so unfortunately he probably won't be able to do her 2nd surgery. I'm very bummed about that, seeing as he is one of the best in our state, but there is just no way we can do it in the next couple of weeks.

Next week we are going to the lake and camping with Grandma and Grandpa Jones, Aunt Kim, Uncle Brandon, and Great Grandma and Grandpa Powell. It should be fun!

I'm a bit picture crazy ;)

Appreciation

This week I found out that a co-worker of mine tragically lost his wife. A death that could have so easily been prevented, but due to medical error, this young wife and mother lost her life so suddenly. It really nauseated me, thinking how fragile life truly is. Life can come and go in the blink of an eye and there is nothing anyone can do to change that. So my advice, love your friends and family and always show them how much you care for them, because you really don't know how long you have them. Even if your mad, always say 'I love you'.

I love all of my friends and family so so much and I am so grateful that each and every one of them are in my life.

House of Sickies

Ugh. Billy, Jackson, Ellie and I all have colds right now. I think it started with Jackson, and then because he doesn't like to cover his mouth, Ellie caught it. And because it's hard for Billy and I to not give the kiddos kisses, we caught it. Jackson has a runny nose and cough but luckily Ellie just has the runny nose for now. I hope it stays that way.

At least she's still happy!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day!

Since Billy had to work today, we celebrated yesterday. We had a family bbq at the Jones house and my parents joined us. Swimming, games, and yummy food! I love spending time with our families and I am so lucky that we are able to do all of our holidays and events together!

I framed this picture for Billy

And  this one for my dad and Steve

5 months!

Amelia is 5 months today! It's crazy how fast time goes by. We have had a busy 5 months, but I feel so blessed to have her in our lives. She's the perfect fit for our little family.

What I love about you. I love how easy you are to please. You are such a happy girl, and when your being held you are so happy. You like to swing and bounce occasionally, but being held is your favorite. You love rocking in the rocking chair with daddy. You love when your brother makes silly faces and gives you kisses. You love to cuddle with mommy. And you love to eat! But your still a tiny little thing. 13 pounds and probably about 23 1/2 inches. You are my strong little girl and such a little trooper!

So far at 5 months:
~ You can sit in your bumbo for up to 30 minutes before you get bored
~ You can roll over from your back to your tummy
~ You are getting your bottom two teeth in. They haven't broke through quite yet, but they are close
~ You like to TRY and sit up
~ You are SO smiley
~ You like to giggle
~ You are beautiful
~ You are SO loved

May 2012

Here's an update on our little family~

Billy will start working at a new store in a couple months, so right now he's been floating around helping other stores. 

I started working as a CNA/ BHPP (Behavioral Health Para Professional) at a Behavioral Health Home in March. I love it! It's a change of pace and I like learning how to deal with different behaviors and issues that people have. I also get to administer meds to my residents, so another learning opportunity. I usually work 16-24 hours a week, and then also stay home with the kiddos. I am blessed to be able to do both, and the kiddos love hanging out with their grandparents when we are at work. I am also blessed to have such loving people in my life that care so much for my babies. I STILL need to go down to the community college and apply to the nursing program. I have been slacking in doing so, but I will definitely get it done in the next month. 

Jackson has had such a boom in his vocabulary. He has started speaking in sentences, and he also loves to repeat words. He has such a personality. He loves his baby sister and loves interacting with her and making her giggle. He loves to be outside, playing with Marlie, snacks, helping Daddy with the yard and his jeep, and basically anything that involves being with Daddy. He also loves the pool, and for the past few weeks loves swimming with his floaties in the pool. He also went down the slide all by himself! He also has quite the attitude at times. He gets easily frustrated when we can't understand what he is saying, or when he is told 'no'. Boys will be boys. 

Ellie. What can I say about this little girl, besides the fact that I love her soooooooooooooo much. She is my baby girl, my little miracle. She is such a happy girl, especially when she's being held and/or nursing. Sometimes she likes to swing, or sit in her bumbo, or play in her jumperoo. I love her smiles, and she is so stinking cute! She has started teething and tried sweet potatoes for the first time the other day (loved them!). She has been through alot so far in her 5 months, but she is such a trooper and I just love having her in our family.

Ellie's surgery

So, as mentioned in the previous post, Ellie had surgery on May 31st to remove part of her amniotic band. From the beginning, we knew that it would have to be a two part surgery. Because there are so many nerves and tendons, it's best to not do it all at once. We went in that morning at 8:30. Her surgery was at 9:30. I last fed her at 5:30 because they needed her to have an empty stomach. Luckily, she didn't get fussy or hungry before the procedure. When we went to the pre-op area, the nurse explained to me that handing her off was going to be tough, so the best thing would be to hand her off and just walk back to the waiting room, instead of watching them take her to the OR. I of course didn't listen, and got a little emotional watching them take her away, with her little face peeking back at me over the nurse's shoulder. I was sick with worry that something would happen, mainly with the anesthesia. But I had faith that everything would be ok. I had Billy with there with me, and my closest friends praying for her. It was a long 1 1/2 hours, but finally around 11:30 they came and got us and took us to the post-op area. They handed her to me, all wrapped up in blankets, with a big bandage on her arm. I thought that she would want to nurse right away, but she was still somewhat out of it and was crying, so after many failed attempts to get her to nurse, Billy picked her up and she calmed down. Finally after about 30 minutes she was ready to nurse. We let her eat for about 15 min, and then left to head home. She was sleepy for most of the day, but finally around 4 or 5 pm she started to wake up more and was her happy self again.

The doctor had told us to keep the bandage on for 24-48 hours, and to put vaseline on twice a day. I chose to keep it covered longer because I was really paranoid of it getting infected.

Unfortunately, it still got infected...I took her to Urgent Care and they gave me an antibiotic and a cream to apply to the stitches. I asked if there was anything that could be done to have prevented it, and the doctor said that because she is so young, she doesn't have her full immune system yet, so it could have happened regardless.

Here are some pictures

And this is when it got infected

Luckily we got the meds we needed, and she has a follow-up with her plastic surgeon tomorrow morning.

Busy busy!

Ok, to start, I really need to keep this more updated. From here on out I am going to update at least once a week! Or at least I will try!

So the past couple of months have been busy. When Ellie joined our family, I thought it would be quite the adjustment trying to satisfy the needs of two kids. However, I quickly learned that Ellie is the easy one! It's my 2 year old crazy boy that is more of a hassle! Ellie is happy as long as she's fed, changed, and being held. Jackson is a busy little dude. He loves playing outside constantly, but he's also at the stage where he is trying to communicate but easily gets frustrated if we don't know what he is saying. Therefore, he screams and whines ALOT. He LOVES to play with his cars, play with the water hose outside, have snacks and his best friend is our dog Marlie. Anytime he goes outside, he wants her to come too, and gets mad if she doesn't want to. However, I can say that he is great with Ellie. He loves her so much, and she loves him. It's amazing how they can develop a relationship so fast.

When Ellie was about 6 weeks old she had to start wearing a Pavlov harness because she had a very mild form of hip dysplasia in her left hip. So she's been wearing that for the last 3 months and now she's finally out of it. She just has to wear it at night, but that's just to phase it out. She's also been seeing a plastic surgeon for her amniotic band, and she had surgery on May 31st to remove that. She'll have one more surgery and then i'm hoping things calm down for awhile. I'm sick of doctor visits!