Riding MY bicycle feeling so free.....

He was a late peddler, it was never something that came easy to him.  He would struggle and struggle, and just had a hard time of it.  It probably didn't help that our driveway way very hilly and there are quite a few cracks in it posing as obstacles to learning.  But over the summer Jackson finally got really confident and fast with riding on his big wheel. He would fly up hills, down hills and would swirl out when turning corners.  Made me miss my big wheel days, actually! Remember those?   But as the summer turned into fall our little man was having one growth spurt after another.  After a while he would have to position his legs just right so his boney little knees wouldn't hit the handle bars.  It was time to trade up!

Grammy and Pop made this happen for Jackson's birthday when they got him his very first big boy real bike and helmet.  What a special way to ring in the big 5!  Jackson has rode on it every single day since he got it, minus a few rainy ones.  Every night we go out on a family bike ride (Jackson rides while we walk quickly behind trying to keep up!) He has gotten SO FAST!

It is an amazing way for our wild man to burn off some of that energy of his.  But it is also an incredibly cool (and incredibly cute for us) way for him to play pretend.  While he is riding his bike waaaaaayyyyy ahead of us (a few driveways) he plays pretend doing his super heros, different voices and all.  He feels he is alone, and no one can hear him.  Oh how we love being able to eavesdrop every now and then.  It is so stinking cute!

Now that he has had the bike about a month, he is definitely braver and loves to try peddling as fast as he can.  Now we just need to work on braking.  He refuses to try using the real brakes and just runs into the grass to stop himself. One of these days he will wipe out- yes I know, I know.  Wipe outs- and lot of them are going to be plentiful in our future.  I just hate for it to happen.  I am such a mom.

The $70 Shampoo.

I took Owen for his allergy test on Wednesday and wouldn't you know it, his skin is in such poor condition the doctor didn't want to do any testing on it.  So he looked him over and sent us home with a handful of prescriptions, a page full of directions and a follow up appointment to come back in one month to do the testing then.  The allergist is giving Owen a hardcore 1 month treatment to hopefully knock this all out of his system.  I'm missing that beautiful baby soft skin that we should be snuggling on right now!   Aw, my sweet angel.

So off we went to our Pharmacy for the 500th time this year- seriously at this rate we will be making our deductible by June.  Well after a little gasp and an "Oh Boy"from Larry the Pharmacist, he gave me a slight heads up that Owen's shampoo was pretty expensive.  By that comment I was guessing it was at least $25- maybe as high as $40.  Never in a million years would I expect $70.90!  And that was with insurance.  If we weren't insured this would have cost us $287.  For shampoo!!  CRAZY.  All of this stuff better work. Total pharmacy bill= $89.70.

Oh, and did I mention that we also need to give Owen a bath twice a day so we can butter him up with his steroid lotion at every bath.  Use his shampoo 3x a week and then give him an oral steroid for the next 20 days.  It is going to be a long 30 days.  But we will get through it.

It is just too bad it costs so much for a baby to feel better.  But you know what, I would go to the moon and back for him if it meant healing.

Whenever I begin to feel overwhelmed I try to remind myself that things could be so much worse.  Through it all he is so happy.  Itchy and scaly- but happy.

Day by day.

My baby just can't catch a break.

The poor little guy.  Thank goodness he is the happiest little kid, because for some this crap could really get you down in the dumps!  Over a month ago Owen had a virus and broke out in a tiny bumpy little rash.  It wasn't too big of a deal, but what the rash did was.  It gave him a full on excema flare up.  He had big dry, itchy patches of it all over his body. I did everything I could to get ride of it.  We tried the prescribed steroid cream, which helped for a while but the itchy excema would come right back. I would try the cream again and again it would work for a few days and then come right back.  I couldn't keep using the steroids on his little 15 month old body so lotion and lots of it was our next course of action.

Everyone in this house has sensitive skin so nothing but Cetephil for lotions and body washes and for laundry detergents it was free and clear all the way.  No pretty lavenders or fresh mountian air in our house...  It couldn't possibly be topical- but then again who knows.

Owen was happy, just super duper dry and itchy.

And then yesterday came.  I got him out of his crib to start the day, lay him down to change his diaper and Holy Moly! My boy was covered in bright red spots!  It looked like measles, but of course I knew it wasn't that.  It looked similar to when he had an allergic reaction to the flu shot, only this time the bumps were raised.  They were very itchy and you could tell he was just uncomfortable.  They were mostly on his belly and moving up his chest.  By the afternoon his entire truck was covered and they were moving around to his back.  By this morning his whole head, face, neck, belly, back and arms are covered in these itchy, raised red bumps.

Back to the doctors office we go.  Yes, they ALL know us by name now.  This is getting ridiculous.

Dr. Drazdik believes that he has a food allergy.  This was something I suspected but really, really hoped wasn't the case.  But add in him being affected by the flu shot.  Then the case of excema flare up that wouldn't go away and now this head to toe rash. The location of the rash indicates that it is most likely something he ate, not topical.  So guess what.  Owen is now off milk (and dairy), eggs, peanuts and strawberries until he visits an allergist.  The poor little guy needs to get an allergy test done.  I am so sad.  I know how uncomfortable those can be.

He also has a yeast infection, and is teething.  All in all he isn't a happy camper.

So much has been happening to my little boy in his short life already!  Thank you Lord that none of it has been life threatening, or all that serious.  But it still puts stress on his body and on his worrisome parents.

So now I ask all of you out there that deal with these particular allergies, any suggestions for alternative food products (so far he has taken to Soy Milk in place of the Whole Cows Milk).  Places for good, and yummy recipes, etc?  This will be a whole new way of me cooking for him so any advice will be helpful!  What are some good dairy free  substitutions that still taste good?  He LOVES his yogurt, I feel so bad that he can't have it anymore.  Or are there soy or dairy free ones?  Blah.  None of this is for sure until his allergy test, but I figure it won't hurt for me to start looking around.

The Sick.

What in the world? I thought we all shook this thing a week ago, but it is back. I have had a horrible stomach ache and nausea since yesterday afternoon, but had to quickly forget about it so I could take care Jackson. The poor little guy has been throwing up all night long- just about every hour or if lucky, two. This was the first time I ever had to spend the night sleeping on his floor so I could help him. Watching my baby wreathe in pain with dry heaves is not something I ever want to see again. His tiny little body shaking from the violent heaves his stomach was throwing on him. And each time, in a little voice he would say to me "Mommy, I don't like this. Why do I have to be sick?"  I wish I had a good enough answer for you my sweet boy.  Instead I would rub his back, kiss his forehead, and give him sips of water.

It was a night of constant bedding changes....over and over and over- unfortunately the bathroom is so far away from his bedroom he would never make it in time.  So puking on his bed was the best option.  Yuck, I know.  But I got a system of towels, that made it not nearly as bad.

And after the hard work his body put him through, he was back to sleep in minutes.  I on the other hand laid on the floor, in my makeshift bed and tried to quiet the thoughts in my head.  I would pray, sing praise songs, and just try and get my eyes to sleep for I knew in just a short time we would be doing it all over again.  19 times to be exact.  Wow, what a long night and now a long day for a mommy needing to care for a sick little boy, myself and a baby.

At 6 am it seemed impossible. I am embarrassed that I was crying to Scott about him leaving me for work.  I asked (ok, maybe begged for him to stay home).  At that hour after being up all night, I couldn't imagine being able to care for my Littles, plus do all the cleaning and disinfecting my household needed, and get the sleep my body desperately craved.  But of course it was an important work day full of meetings for the hubby, so I was on my own.  Jackson was already in a deep sleep so I moved to my own bed and luckily was able to get another hour and a half of hard, hard sleep before everyone awoke.

And surprisingly Jackson seems to be doing much better.  The worst seems to be past him and I am feeling brighter and more positive.  I still have a yucky stomach, but I pray that it doesn't get any worse- and most importantly, that little Owen doesn't get it.

This is the song that kept me company last night.  I heard it last week and now can't seem to get it out of my head.  I have already ordered it from the library so I can listen to it on repeat as often as I like :)  I have a strong feeling this is an album I will be purchasing for sure.  LOVE.

Cutest. Patient. EVER.

Last Thursday Owen went in to have surgery on his left tear duct to finally get the goop all cleared up.  The poor little guy was born with both tear ducts completely blocked.  After a sinus infection around 7 months the right side cleared up on its own, but this left side has remained pesky.  At his 1 year doctor's appointment they strongly suggested we have it taken care of.  She said that they don't like them to persist after one year of age because it can lead to further issues down the road.  Boo.  The thought of my little baby being put under was a scary one.  But we braved it together and now he is goop free!  Yay!

The surgery itself was crazy fast.  When they were taking him away from me for surgery, the nurse told me to go have a cup of coffee.  By the time I was done, he would be too.  And she was right!  Wow!  They warned me ahead of time that children, especially babies when they come out of anesthesia, they will cry and be pretty hysterical. It is normal and not to worry.  They will calm down as it wears off.  Sure enough when they called me back to see him after surgery a nurse was holding him and he was crying like I never heard him before.  They handed him over to me and I thought to myself- Oh my goodness, what did I do to my baby.  His eye was completely swollen shut.  It looked as though he was hit in the eye with a baseball.  I did NOT expect to see that, and the tears came to my eyes.  But I knew that wouldn't help anything and pulled myself together.  I had a baby that needed me.  So I just held him tight, rocking and singing Jesus Loves Me, You are My Sunshine and Trust in the Lord over and over again in between kisses, just so he knew he wasn't alone.

After a bit, when I noticed he was starting to settle down a bit and I was able to start seeing his eye through the puffiness I remembered I brought my laptop along.  The nurses said it was OK, so I put on his beloved Elmo and all was alright with the world.  He started to giggle more then cry, and his thrashes turned into snuggles.  We were able to get him to nibble on a few graham crackers and he had a few sips of juice.  Pretty soon the nurse told me that I could get him dressed that he was ready to go home.  I was shocked.  The entire thing took less then 2 hours!  The doctor assured me that his swelling would go down and that he would look and act more himself by later in the day if not by tomorrow.  I was a little doubtful, but OK.

Sure enough, by evening the swelling was almost all gone and we had to stop him from wrestling with Jackson.  The following day there was zero swelling, only the under of his eye was a bit red.  It looked as though he may have bumped it on something while playing.  By Saturday, only 2 days after surgery he looked 100% like himself.  No swelling, no redness, no nothing.  Just a runny nose and a cough from all the drainage of fluids they had to pump into his eye and nasal cavity to clear out the blockages.  Amazing.  I am so, so, so happy it went as well as it did.  I seriously had my doubts, especially after seeing him immediately after surgery.  But he is a tough little guy and came right through with no problems.  Thank you Lord.

I just love that cute little diaper butt hanging out the back of the gown :)

Oh how afraid I was.  I felt so helpless and scared that something terrible was going to happen to my baby.  So I decided to hand it over to God and to trust in Him to hold my baby when I couldn't.  I asked all the Prayer Warriors I knew of to keep Owen lifted up (and for a brave mommy too.)  Thank you to everyone who prayed with us that day and the days leading up to his surgery.  I truly felt your comforting prayers! As scared as I was, I knew God was in control.  Oh how Great He Is!

This is the song that played in the car on the way to the hospital. No way was this an accident. 




Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? -Luke 12:25 


 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. -Philippians 4:6

Brothers

Jackson is halfway done with his first year of preschool and just LOVES it. He will be 5 next month and will be in kindergarten (gasp) in the fall. I can't believe it!!! Such a big boy! How did it happen already?!! I honestly have no idea where the last 5 years have gone. I can remember carrying him in my belly as though it was yesterday. He made me fall in love with being pregnant. I just told Scott yesterday that I would make the perfect serogate (except of the handing over your baby to another family part...) He is our mighty super hero. Always planning who's going to fight whom- Spiderman vs. Dr. Octopus or The Fantastic Four against Dr. Doom..... we live and breath superheros. lol. It is his great passion right now, and thus I get to learn anything and everything about them as well. I must admit I am pretty well versed these days. haahha.  He is such a wonderful big brother with Owen, always has been I guess.  But it is even more apparent when you can see them play together.  Did you know that there was a such thing as gentle wrestling?  Me neither, but Jackson has somehow figured it out with Owen.  For the most part anyways.  Jackson HATES to hear Owen cry.  When he is upset he immediately runs over to him and tries to distract him with reading him a book, showing him a favorite toy or being silly for him.  It is so sweet and warms my heart every single time.

The boys can take a bath together now, as you can see!  Do I really need to tell you how much they love it and the fun they have?  It is a crazyfest in there!  But there is no fighting baths anymore (Jackson) and the two guys love being silly together for sure.  Water adds a whole new level of excitement and fun, for sure.  They got a ton of brand new bath toys at Christmas, and out with the nast-o old ones.  I have decided I never want a squish and squirt bath toy in my house again.  Those things are the worst!  I don't care how carefully you squeeze out the water the horrid "black stuff" still gets inside.  I know that you can soak them in bleach water and all that to be rid of it. I did it.  One time was all it took for me to learn very quickly I am never doing THAT again.  Hard, plastic bath toys from here on out.  hahaha.  

Owen is our comedian, even though he is only just over a year old, he knows when he is being silly and loves every second of it. He is also showing that he is becoming quite sneaky and quite the trouble maker. We are going ot have to watch out for him I think. He is quickly reminding me of the antics of Sneaky Sophie when she was his age. If this keeps up we are in some trouble! hahaha.  Second Child syndrome maybe?  Is there such a thing?  If not, there really should be!

Owen still isn't talking much with actual words.  The same ones as before, but not a whole lot of new ones.  The new ones will pop out here and there, but then we don't hear them again for months and months.  But he has started this new babble that is very conversation like. He just wanders around, "talking" up a storm.  I remember that when Jackson started this, he began talking with actual words very soon after.  I hope so because I love his little voice when he does say something.  I never taught any sign language with Jackson when he was a baby, but i did try a few signs this time with Owen.  He picked up "More" really fast.  The actual sign is hitting your two fists against each other in front of yourself.  He says "More" by clapping.  When he starts getting upset because there is no more food on his try at first he will scream at us.  But all we have to say is "Owen, how do you say more?" and Right away he claps.  Last night the boys were snacking on Nilla Wafers and clear as day we hear clapping and a tiny "More" come from the other side of the kitchen island.  Of course we got all excited and told him good job and asked him to say it again.  He didn't and now probably wont for another month.  The stinker.

The poor little guy has this itchy bothersome rash all over his body.  We are guessing it is an allergic reaction to something, but have no idea what that "something" could be.  I just hope it isn't one of the biggies like dairy or wheat.  I take him to see the doctor this wednesday, so we shall see.  Fingers crossed.....

Speaking of doctors,

Both of my kids had always gone to a different doctor but at the same family practice as me. The one they usually see has always made me crazy. I always got the feeling that she and I could be maybe friends if I never met her in the office. But as a doctor of my kids I never really liked her. She just kinda rubbed me the wrong way. I mean, how many doctor's that deal with children don't know how to put a diaper on a kid?! Or never ask about milestones. Or really just seem flighty in general.  OK, maybe we wouldn't be friends..... Anyways, I was in the process of looking for a new pediatrician at the same time I was going to start searching for a new GP for myself. Low and behold that is when Dr. D arrived at the office. She not only specializes in women's health, but children as well. If that isn't a sign I don't know what is. I officially moved myself and both of my kids to her today. *two checks off the BIG list!

Oh, I am so tired of going to the doctors office.  We are there so often these days.  Between all the kids Well visits, keeping up with their shots, random illnesses, and my headache disorder I feel as though they should come up with a Frequent Visitors Swipe Card, like at the grocery store.  We could start collecting points and then use them for things like a "No CoPay Day" or a free box of Band-Aids.... Oh goodness. What am I saying?!  lol. Either way, what I am saying is I am sick of the office!  But that is a conversation for a whole new blog....

Nice thoughts for the day

The greatest oak was once a little nut who held its ground. 

-Author Unknown

A mother's love for her child is like nothing else in the world. it knows no law, no pity, it dates all things and crushes down remorselessly all that stands in its path.
-Agatha Christie


The greatest achievements were at first and for a time dreams.
-James Allen


Thank you, God, for this good life and forgive us if we do not love it enough.
-Garrison Keillor


Have courage for the great sorrows of life and patience for the small ones; and when you have laboriously accomplished your daily task, go to sleep in peace. God is awake.
-Victor Hugo


Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, 'I will try again tomorrow.'
-Mary Anne Radmacher


There is a garden in every childhood, an enchanted place where colors are brighter, the air softer, and the morning more fragrant than ever again.
-Elizabeth Lawrence