We Have A Crawler!!!

The video is a little dark...but still cute!! It's a slow go on the wood floor, but he perseveres.

Signs of Spring...

You know it's spring when....we are planting veggies with the girls...this is our first year starting seeds inside. At our previous house (prior to kids) we had a garden, but I bought starter plants. The girls enjoyed getting their hands dirty and planting the seeds this year. We have carrots, cucumbers, squash, zuchinni, peppers, onion, lettuce, green beans and peas. Now we wait and see what happens. If it is a bust, we will buy some starter plants and go that route. Either way, we had a fun time doing it. :)

the girls even have their own garden gloves

Soccer started yesterday... it was 40 and VERY windy, Hence the winter coats and mittens. Melia did great out on the field.

Play dates at the park...you know it's Michigan when these and the above pics were taken two days apart. Shorts, T's, and 82 one day and winter coats and gloves two days later.

And finally...

What signs of Spring have you stopped to notice lately?

10 Months

2 months away from being 1 year old. Can't believe it. For Parker half of this month was spent battling RSV. Glad to report that he is back to complete health. He is sleeping through the night again and happy during the day. He is weighing 20 1/2 pounds. He lost a little bit of weight being sick, and is now working to gain it back. He has been at 20 pounds for the last two months. He is picking up new little noises and tricks every day. He is trying to imitate everything we do. If the girls are yelling and making noise he is yelling and making noise. He is waving, singing more, and clapping almost every second of the day. His laugh is contagous and make everyone around him smile. His eyes are as blue as the sky on a clear day. They draw people to him when we are walking through a store, that and his smile, which is still a challenge to capture in a picture.

I usually get a version of this serious look...

His cousin Sydney gave us her Leap Frog Activity Table and he LOVES it. He really enjoys standing to play and gets frustrated when he lets go and falls to the ground. He hasn't figured out that he is not stable enough to stand all by himself. :) He works really hard at pulling himself right back up to the table, sometimes accomplishing the goal, sometimes not. If the later happens, then yelling begins until someone comes to help him out. There is always a sister who is willing to stand him back up to the table. :)


It always amazes me how much he takes in and is learning. I love when we ask where someone is and he looks around the room to catch their gaze. He has a love for all things with buttons...cell phones, remotes, laptops etc. He still loves food too, except green beans, which have to be mixed with fruit to get them down. His diet is becoming more solid and less puree every day. He had a can of veggie soup this week and polished off a bread stick at dinner the other night with no problem. Graham crackers are still one of his favorites.

Or the occasional wood bench :)

He is still napping 2 times a day and sleeping 11-12 hours at night. When I lay him in his crib, his arm reaches out until he finds the corner of his blanket, he pulls it in close to his face, and off to dreamland he goes. I find this to be one of the most precious things I have ever seen. I enjoy just watching him as he drifts to sleep. He wakes up happy and will lay in his crib talking until we come and get him. Just love that boy.

Speaking of firsts...getting through the RSV required the first trip to the ER, first x-ray, and first IV. I will be fine if this is the frist and last time we have to experience these events.

He can't be any closer to crawling unless he was actually doing it. He is getting on all fours, rocking, and picking up hands as if to go forward, but has yet to move forward. Now backwards, he is doing that. He is also scooting on his bottom to get where he needs to go. I am sure it is only a matter of days before we will offcially have a crawler in the house. Three moving kids...busy, busy, busy :)

RSV

On Thursday night Parker woke up in the middle of the night fussing. I was able to settle him down pretty quickly and he went back to sleep. Chris mentioned that he felt a little warm, but when he woke up in the morning, he felt okay and we went about our day. When I picked up the kids from Grandma's house on Friday morning, she mentioned that he was a little fussy and took a short morning nap. When we got home I took his temp and it was 102. I gave him Motrin and kept an eye on it. He had a rough night sleep Friday and by Saturday afternoon his fever was 104. I took him to an urgent care clinic by our house and he was diagnosed with an ear infection in one ear and fluid in the other. He was prescribed antibiotics and we went on our way. Saturday night was really rough. He was up from 1am-5am fussing and very uncomfortable. He was getting more and more congested and starting with a couch on top of everything else. I wanted to give him time on the antibiotics, so Sunday we just stayed home and tried to keep him comfortable and cool.

Monday, Chris stayed home with him in the morning and I took the afternoon off. When I got home he tried to nurse, which had been pretty unsuccessful because he was so congested. Eating proves diffucult when you have to breathe through your mouth. :) He had not eaten or drank much since Friday and I was concerned he was getting dehydrated. His temp was still high and he seemed to be getting worse instead of better. I called our ped. and he told me to bring him in. He checked him out and then I heard these words,

"I want you to take him to the ER for tests and IV fluids"

I immediately called Chris (who had only been at work a few hours), to tell him the news. He said, "I will meet you there, go now". So that is what I did. I called Teri to tell her the news and ask her to keep the girls, which she so graciously did. My mom came out later to take them home and get them ready for bed. We are blessed with the most amazing friends and family!!!

Our doc called the ER and told them we were on our way. They got us in right away. I was so impressed with all of the staff at Beaumont. They treated us so well. His temp was back up to 103 when we got there. He was so lethargic when we arrived. He had this little whimper cry when they did his IV and I knew he was not well. He was not even strong enough to let out a real cry. They did some blood work and got the IV started, and the wait began.

Here are some pics from our time in the ER. They are from my phone, so excuse the quality.

When we first arrived...his cheeks were so red.

Waiting to get a chest x-ray and drinking a bottle of pedialite. Starting to perk up

Check out my IV

Sweet boy

After a few hours the test results were back. He has RSV (Respitory Syncytial Virus). His chest x-ray came back great and blood work too. Unfortunately, with a virus there is not much we can do except wait for it to run it's course and treat the fever with Motrin and Tylenol. He is still on the antibiotic for the ear infection too.

I am very happy to report today that we had many small victories. Parker is still running a fever, but ate and nursed this morning better than he has in five days. He is beginning to play a little bit and even taking naps without screaming. He has been sleeping now for 1 hr and 15 min (his longest nap in five days). Yea for small victories and feeling better. He was a real trooper. Thanks to all those who prayed for our sweet boy. We praise the Lord that it was nothing more serious and that healing is ours. Love you sweet boy.

Remebering My Nephew...

Seven years ago on March 31st our families lives were changed forever. My twin brother and his wife were pregnant with a sweet baby boy. He was the first baby to be born into the family. On a cold March day, the unthinkable happened. He was born 9 weeks early and went to be with Jesus, all in the same day. I will never forget that day. We got a call that Carly was going to the hospital for some tests and that they may deliver early. Both families sat waiting with anticipation for this sweet boy to be born, expecting that he would have to spend time in the NICU, but be fine. I will never forget how the next moments unfolded. We saw my brother walking down the hall with a tear soaked face and stricken with grief, as he broke the news that shortly after birth, David, their son went to be with Jesus. I remember falling to the floor and sitting on the ground overwhelmed with sadness. I am so thankful that our entire family could be together to support each other through this tragedy.

My sister-in-law and David's mom, Carly is doing something really special to honor David and continue his legacy on earth. It has been seven years since he went to be with Jesus, but he continues to live in our memories and hearts. You can read about the David Project below (copied from her blog), and you can read more from Carly and David's complete story HERE.

Dear Family and Friends,
As you all know, David’s birthday, March 31st, is quickly approaching. Believe it or not, our little boy would be seven this year. Since his death, I have always wanted to make “good” of his death and felt it was important to honor David’s memory by helping our community in some way.
I have pondered many ideas and never seemed to come up with one that would not require a huge undertaking or large sums of money. One day, a dear friend suggested I check out a blog of a mother who had lost her son and at that time she was doing something called The Brenham Project in her son’s honor. I loved how she chose to give back by donating items to the hospital where her child was during his time in the NICU. After our precious Emma’s surgery last year, I knew I wanted to do something that involved children of all ages during their stay in the hospital. I then realized that David’s life could touch so many more people. And that was when this idea was born!
I am asking that you participate in The David Project and donate one dollar for a great cause. I would like to buy books for children who are in hospital to help brighten up their stay by knowing someone cares about them and give them something to do. I will be buying the books from a company called Scholastic, which not only offers books for $1.00 but the project will also get bonus points for each dollar spent. That means with your dollar donation, you will be helping get FREE books for the project.
So, please participate in The David Project and donate one dollar to buy a book for a child in the hospital. The pediatric unit at St. Joseph Mercy-Oakland in Bloomfield is so excited to receive the books and the woman I talked to was so honored to be the recipient of such generosity. Every book will have a label inside telling the recipient that the book was donated lovingly in David’s honor by family and friends. You can mail your donations to 1820 Worcester, Oxford, Michigan 48371. Please join us as we honor David’s life by helping others. Thank you!!!

Play dates

We've had two really fun play dates this week. Our friends Ms. Laura, Maddy, and Gabe came over today. We enjoyed the sunshine and fellowship. Eva had Maddy all to herself this morning while Melia was at preschool. She loved every min. of the attention. When M got home from school, we packed lunches and headed to the park for a picnic and playtime. Good bye time was filled with kisses, hugs, and I love you and even a few tears. It was a precious time.

Say Cheese...

Silly faces...

Park Fun

A girl helping her friend

The boys...born just a few days apart...

Gabe was very tired and shortly after this picture was snapped, he fell asleep in the swing.

You wont see Eva in any pictues on the swings..........swings make her nervous these days.

Parker, on the other hand, loves every second of it.

Over the weekend we got together with a long time friend from youth group/high school days. Ms. Heidi, Allison, Abby, and Jacob came over for a visit. It's been 5 or 6 years since we've seen each other. Her kids are the same ages as ours. We spent the day playing, jumping, laughing and talking.

Melia and Eva will go on for weeks about these play dates. "Remember when..." Thanks girls for the great play dates. Unfortunately, neither of these friends live right around the corner, so it is fun to reconnect when they are in town. Already looking forward to the next time. :)

9 Months Old

Parker is 9 months old. 9...that sounds so old.

We headed to the park this week to enjoy the tease of Spring that we are getting. It was a great place to take some adorable shots of our little guy.

What a charmer...

He is wondering why in the world he is sitting in the tree...

Look at those eyes...beautiful. He is always getting complimented on them.

Parker tried many new foods this month. He had pureed taco chicken and spaghetti with ground turkey, which he seemed to enjoy (although he did gag a little). He loves mac n' cheese and has moved to Cheerios and graham crackers instead of puffs.

Yes he is eating a stick. He is putting everything in his mouth these days. From food to the littlest fuzz on the carpet, if he can pick it up he tries to put it in his mouth.

He still weighs 20 pounds; he has not grown much this month. He is turning into such a little man, with so much personality. He is always laughing, squealing, and babbling (with his favorite sound being mama, sorry daddy :). He has figured out how to turn on his mobile in his crib, is getting very close to getting into sitting position from laying flat on the floor, and rolling everywhere. He seems to have little interest in crawling, but will stand and play for short periods of time.

He is moving into crawling position more and more, but is not moving anywhere yet. He is still wearing some 6-9 month clothes, but all his 9-12 month clothes are out and being worn.