Happy Leap Day!!

Happy Leap Day! Hope you are enjoying your extra day for the year =)! We haven't done anything super exciting yet, but we'll be heading to our small group's LeapDay party this evening for a fun time I'm sure. Unfortunately, Mike has class again tonight so he won't be joining in the fun - bummer. This morning I had a doctor's appointment so the boys stayed with Sandi and Elora for the morning and got to play a little bit. Joshua even played! Sandi took some pictures, I'll have to get her to email them to me to share with you guys. Then we went to the learning center to play - this time just Noah played as Joshua was sleeping. Then it was off to McDonald's for lunch with three of the girls who got to have extra ultrasounds done so some folks could get some "practice!" Boys and more boys are coming soon it seems, Joshua will have lots of buddies to play with! Then we went to BabiesRUs because we were up there, lol, but we did "need" a couple of things. Seems I will be having surgery April 16 - which means that for at least probably that day Joshua will have to take a bottle...he doesn't seem to be liking the ones we have so we're trying a new one to see if that will help so it's not such a struggle for whoever is feeding him. I'm not excited about it, but want to make it easier on whoever is dealing with that. Joshua and Noah were both so great on our adventures and are both napping. Happy day to all! I put some more pictures on Kodak too...in case you want to see even more pictures of these boys (I'll of course understand if you are overwhelmed with the number of pictures I take!)

Joshua's SMILE!

This is not Joshua's first smile, we saw that at about 6 weeks, but it was a small fleeting smile. This morning while holding Joshua and talking to him, he broke out into the biggest, cheesiest grin and I absolutely LOVE it. I tried to capture it on camera for you all (I am sure the grandmas really can't wait to see this gorgeous smile) but didn't quite get it at it's fullest. Still I think you can see Joshua is smiling quite big. I so hope this means we are turning the corner, the medicine is helping and he just feels good. Of course, it could also be that he remembers this morning while I was changing him he shot poop on me and just is still finding that amusing, but I'll take it either way. Couldn't wait to share these! We are not doing much today, cleaning and baking and maybe having some friends over to play later this afternoon. I'm sure if Jacob and Elora are here to play there will be lots of pictures taken!

Pictures

Just some pictures and videos from the past few days...not much more exciting going on here, just our normal Wed. stuff. Apparently none with Joshua the last couple days, that is horrible will have to fix that tomorrow! On a positive note, we've had 2 days with a fairly happy baby!! You do not know how excited I am that it looks like the medicine is helping and I get to keep cheese and other dairy in my diet (selfish yes but true). Happy Wed. though!

Quick hello...

Hello! Hope everyone's week is going well...ours is improving as it seems I'm still feeling better and all the boys are too - both the little ones and the big one =). Today was a pretty good day as we went to MOPS which is always so fun, ran a couple errands, went to the learning center to play. Mike of course had work, but said it wasn't too bad of a day though. He and Noah are out running to get dinner - ha we had a chicken that was suppose to be thawing out in the fridge since Sunday night - it's still frozen solid. So we are having mashed potatoes as planned but instead of a roasted chicken, we're having fried chicken from KFC because frankly we can't make good fried chicken in this house anyway. Noah seems to be in a super cuddly mood which I'm enjoying greatly. Oh - and I promise to post some pictures later after dinner, we had a good time at the learning center, it wasn't busy so one of the teachers took Joshua who was sleeping but wanting to be held so I could just play with Noah. How wonderful! I am still trying to get video of him walking backward though and hope to have it up soon if I can catch him. He's been doing it for about 2 weeks and I find it so amusing to see him walking around backward. He usually has a silly grin all over his face too.

Snowing again...sick again...ugh!

Well, technically I am feeling better today but spent Saturday night and Sunday sick again - seriously it stinks! I'm so sick of being sick or having sick kids, where oh where is spring when we can be free and play outside?? We are taking it easy today since I am feeling better but want to stay that way. Seems the sickness is going around though, everyone we know has someone in the family sick - except the Sattlers I think and they are having a baby soon so let's hope it stays that way! It is also snowing again after a very nice weekend. Oh well - I suppose we still have a few weeks of winter left. Not much exciting to share today as we didn't do much this weekend, Mike had class all weekend and I was sick. Joshua we thought was feeling better from the meds, but seems he still has a couple times of day of the highpitched crying...still about four more days before we evaluate though so keep your fingers crossed. We did manage a few pictures yesterday though and they are uploaded now. Noah was in such a goofy mood, thank goodness as it is so good to hear him laugh. This morning he played and grazed - he's napping now. Grazing seems to be the thing when he's growing, I am guessing he is growing now. He loves apples and cheese and even ate some brocolli and of course loves his mini-muffins. We made some for the baby shower a few weeks ago, and they were a huge hit with him so when I needed to make muffins for MOPS tomorrow I doubled up and made some minis for us at home. He gets so excited about them. Hope you enjoy the couple videos.

Naptime = Sanity

Ah - the sweet sound of silence, followed by something on TV that is not cartoons or no crying. Rough morning here, Joshua of course has just been a bit needy and upset all morning and Noah wants to play and do things. I think he would have been happy watching cartoons all morning, but I just feel so guilty as he needs some quality time too. We did a little painting this morning, playing with balloons, cars, drawing a bit and played with some ABC cards. It does seem that Noah enjoys painting much more with a paint brush. After he was done painting he wanted to color with his markers though, still seems to prefer them over other things but at least he's getting some exposure to different things. The whole time though Joshua was either eating or crying. I think by 1215 Noah was ready for his nap, we went to read a story and not even half way through he closed the book, took it from my hand, hopped down from my lap, put the book away and got in bed. Poor guy, at least he didn't fight a nap. I'm guessing any moment Joshua will wake up from his cat nap too.

Just a note

It is late on Friday and while we aren't quite ready for bed it is still late so excuse any misspellings or other typos! We have had a good day here today, it was warmer too which is so so nice - come on spring! The boys and I ran some errands in the morning, went to the learning center to play, and the commissary. Exciting stuff huh? LOL - the boys both seemed to have a good time playing at the learning center. Noah was climbing in and out of tunnels, playing with cars and trains and the kitchen area. We were there during the organized song time too, they had wands for the kids (paint sticks with ribbons on them painted of course - may be making some of these cause he had a great time waving it around and making shapes) so Noah had a great time playing with them. Joshua was awake for the most part and while he didn't respond a whole lot to reading stories, he loved all the colors everywhere. Mike was home early and got a ride (yeah!) and just in time to help carry groceries in, what a nice surprise. Tonight Mike had class (this will be his last one) and I had our Friday night Bible study. Noah apparently was great for Sandy & Alan, Sandy said Noah seemed exceptionally happy tonight and loved the rocking horse Elora has. She also told me he knew the "cars" movie as he said "ka chow" as soon as they took it out - LOL yeah we knew that we have it memorized almost! And speaking of "Cars" - one more find today for his party - the Dollar Store had "Cars" shelf liner. At first I thought that's neat but what would I do with it? Of course of course, I'll have to cover the cardboard for the cake, what would be better? So far we have favors, cups, and something to cover the cakeboard...not too bad since we still have 3 months. No new pictures today, sorry, we'll take some tomorrow!

Photobucket Album

A "Cold" Day?

Ah the joys of the midwest...yesterday wasn't a snow day but school was closed because of the cold. Do you call those "Cold Days"? I'm not sure but the temperatures were well into the negatives and the windshield colder. Not complaining, it was colder other places, but wow it was cold. So the boys and I spent a day at home. Joshua seemed to not sleep well the night before so slept a bit in the morning. It was nice to get some things done and play with Noah. We tried finger paints - no luck still he still doesn't want them touching him. We did have lots of fun playing with cars and balloons though. Mike even joined the fun when he got home. Joshua got a bath after he got very dirty and this towel that we got at the shower was just too darn cute. I want to say he was some better yesterday with the medicine, but I don't think so as he was quite fussy in the evening and afternoon and really was just mostly sleeping in the morning. I'm not sure, still hopeful or trying to be that it is just reflux. He is a bit hoarse again though...poor kid. Noah was so chatty yesterday! He seemed to have so much he wanted to say and was in such a great mood. He still doesn't have very many words that are at least clear and I'm not sure if it makes sense but he's getting to talking with lots more sounds lately. I'm waiting for the day that the flood gates open so to speak and suddenly he can be understood better. This morning when he was getting up, I asked him how he slept and it really sounded a lot like he said "I slept good" though not quite that perfect of course...I thought I was still half dreaming but Mike said it sounded that way to him too. Mind you I'm not saying he has these words clearly yet, but sounds are getting closer to words I guess which is good. He was playing with his balloon again this morning, why we didn't think of balloons before for a fun indoor activity is beyond me - thankfully we have some smart friends =) Cheap entertainment is always good when it is so cold. That's about it for us, here is a link to the videos from yesterday that are on photobucket - couldn't upload videos here this morning for some reason oh well! If you click on the picture/video on the above post you should get back to our photobucket album and be able to see all of them.

Other than that we're going over to a friend's house today to play for a bit later this morning.

A couple pictures tonight

Just some of the pictures from today...Mike & Noah looked so cute on the couch when we got home today I couldn't resist taking a picture. Then tonight trying to do a photo shoot of sorts with Joshua during a calm spell - ah! The other ones from the photo shoot are Kodak

Another Update for You

Well we were back to the doctor today and thankfully got in to see Joshua's PCM - Dr. Toth - who I absolutely have loved so far! The waiting was not fun as Joshua is just usually fussy and Noah was a bit tired and cranky himself. (It didn't help that he had a nightmare and was up at 430 this morning so he napped earlier in the morning but not quite enough for the whole day). At least I wouldn't have to convince them of Joshua's fussiness or as it should probably be called screaming spells. Oh - and if you're keeping track of weight, Joshua weighed in today at 11lb 11 oz (about half a pound more than last week) Anyway, saw a PA (forgot her name, which I feel really badly about as she was very nice and seemed good) who then went and confered with Dr. Toth and then they both came in to see us. By this point Mike had called and was on his way to meet us. So Dr. Toth was very compassionate about the situation and wanted to help us figure out what solutions could be out there. The good news is that the ears are great, the chest is still clear as is Joshua's nose. So one hurdle down. That meant that really we were probably looking at 3 situations or a combination of any of them. Situation 1 - collic - which is bad because you honestly can't do much about it but good because there is nothing "wrong" and it should get worse until about 3 months and then get better. Situation 2 - reflux issues, immature digestive system this is not untypical, this is the easiest to test and see if it is the problem and the medicine is very safe. Situation 3 - allergy which is something that is still a fairly "easy" fix, I just eliminate all dairy and soy from my diet. So we are trying medicine for reflux, prevacid, that is a once a day dose. We are going to try this for a week and a half and see how things are going. I guess there are other medicines for reflux that work more quickly but aren't as effective in the long run, he didn't see the point in playing around and wanted to go for the one that was sure to work if reflux was the issue. So after 4 days or so it should be into Joshua's system and working and then we'll see if helps. If it does, we'll continue this for a couple of months until he's a little more mature. If it doesn't help then we'll eliminate all dairy and soy from my diet and give that about 2 weeks or so as it takes about a week for all the protein to get out of my system and then a week to see if Joshua is feeling better. By this point if it is collic, we should be at the peak and then it should be getting better - or so we hope. The doc didn't seem hopefully that the prevacid would really help as it often isn't a reflux issue. Apparently about 5 or 10% of babies have an issue with the protien in dairy and soy and so that could be it as well. At least we are trying some things, at least the doctor wasn't just like deal with it...I'm so thankful for that. He told us to make sure we both get lots of breaks because it is frustrating to deal with this and if we needed to come back and see him once or twice a week just to reassure ourselves that it wasn't anything to be more concerned about that we could do that, he was there to reassure us. That in itself makes me so glad that he is the boys' PCM - feeling like he's on our side and wants what is best for the boys and for a happy/healthy family. So if you hear a screaming baby when you come or call, don't be alarmed =) We're managing and trying to figure out how to make poor little Josh more comfy.

A Small Favor to Ask

Well Joshua is feeling better, his ears are good and his nose is no longer closed. This is such great news and we are so thankful for that. While he's seemed happier some, there are still so many times throughout the day that he is just not happy, he doesn't seem comfortable and certainly not content. His cries at these times seem more like he is in pain or is hurting. It is absolutely breaking our hearts as we can't figure out what it is. We thought at first it was that he didn't feel good, stomach bug, then a cold/broncolli infection/ear infection - who could blame him? But now even though it has been a couple days without symptoms of the other things we are still having these crying spells and they are almost always accompanied by gas and his body being stiff and legs being pulled up. We have of course tried the gas drops and even tummy massage and of course burping him. So I think tomorrow we will make yet another appointment (they will be sick of seeing us) because I just can't believe that this is nothing but gas - if it was mild gas from eating I would think the drops would help. I am reading everything I can find - there are many things it could be...mostly just allergies/intolerances to foods and supposedly they can test for this by examining diapers...but I want to make sure there isn't something else going on and get a doctor's opinion as to where to start eliminating foods from my diet if it could be something like allergies or a food intolerance. So just pray that Joshua finds comfort and contentness so he can enjoy being a baby and we can enjoy playing with him and not simply trying to make him feel better and also that we see a doctor who is willing to hear our concerns and helping us figure out how to make him comfortable. I know it could be collic - we can deal with that if it is, but as it seems to be on and off all day (not like most cases of collic I have heard) and always with the gas I'm afraid to just say that is it and not at least try to figure out if there is something we can do to help this little guy. We appreciate all the prayers...we just want to make sure that all is well with Joshua and he can be a happy a little boy to join his very happy brother. By the way check out the video of him and Daddy jumping =) Mike and Noah had so much fun.

Just some video and pics to share tonight

Noah seems to really enjoy NASCAR...interesting but boy he did have fun watching for a bit - guess when the Carlsons visit in March we'll have to make sure we have some on for everyone! I don't think that Grandpa Lucas will mind too much either that Noah is liking NASCAR! It's cars and they crash sometimes though what's not to like right?

There are new pictuers uploaded on Kodak now too, sorry this past week we haven't had a ton but as I've been complaining about the fact that life isn't fair (yes I realize I'm being completely selfish and whining because honestly we are all home and fairly healthy and things could be so much worse and at least when we were sick we could go to the doctor without thinking twice) so hopefully we will have more varied pictures of more fun things this coming week. But why we are talking about life not being fair...I get a picture message from my sister today (remember I got pink eye today? I shouldn't have to have bad news!) of her new "baby" seems she got a new car. I of course am thrilled because she totally deserves a new car and as hers wasn't doing well it was a great time to get one and I love her to pieces - BUT - our next car is likely to be a (gasp here) minivan and she gets a MUSTANG?? Life is not fair! Oh and it's a convertable? Are you kidding? Oh well at least now I know that I will get to drive one before I'm 50. Here's Justice with the new ride (oh and how come he's already thinking of picking up girls with it??? when did he decide to grow up too fast?)

And here's a little video of Joshua enjoying his new crib toy - he really seems to like it, though you can't tell that quite so much in the video!

6 out of 9 and 3 out of 4

So what do these numbers mean?? Well let's see 6 out of the past 9 days we have been to the doctor in some form...today it was my turn again. Now the 3 out of 4 represents that 3 out of the 4 of us here are on antibotics now...ugh! I was feeling much better yesterday, we had a good date and enjoyed our dinner. We went to church this morning and then Noah & Mike came home and I went to lunch and to get pedicures with the girls along with Joshua. All was going well but as lunch wore on I was feeling a little worse and my eye started to feel funny. During the pedicure...Sara sitting next to me told me she thought maybe we should go to Urgent Care on the way home...she thought my eye looked like it was pink eye. Sure enough by the time we were done (how do you leave in the middle of a pedicure when your toes are wet?) I could feel my eye hurting and being junky. A trip to the UCC confirmed it and off I went to Target to antibotics. Lots more hand washing for us (how is that possible?) and hopefully since the boys are already on antibotics they won't catch this. I also have a sinus infection yucky stuff! Oh well - such is life, eventually I hope we will all be well. Continue to pray that we can shake this stuff soon, Mike hasn't felt his best but seems to be feeling better already so hopefully he missed getting really sick at least.
On a positive note, Joshua has seemed happier today and yesterday...we are really hoping that continues. Found out last night that he loved the little Waterfall Peek-a-Boo Soother, Simon has one and Josh was napping in Simon's crib yesterday. So since we needed something for his crib anyway we decided since he already seems to like that one we would get that one for him. He's been sleeping longer lately, so soon he will probably be moving into his crib. Today we even had to take out the little head support in his carseat. He is definitely growing.
Another note about Noah though, he seems to be growing lately too. Today while getting ready for church we noticed that his pants were a bit short. Mind you a couple weeks ago we moved his shirts up to the next size in 3T but he was still wearing 18 month pants. Today we put on a pair of 2T pants and the fit was much better, still a bit long but not so tight in the waist and not so long that he is stepping on them. Guess we'll get those switched soon.

Date Night...

Yeah we get to go on a date tonight! What a great day today has already been and that will just be even better. This morning Mike helped me get the house ready for Sara's shower - it was going to be at another friend's but they are all still pretty sick there so we moved here (we are less sick here!) The shower was a great time, a little crowded with 21 women in our upstairs - but everyone seemed to have a good time. Got to get out the pretty glasses too, always love using our nice dishes/serving ware stuff - and what a better excuse than celebrating another baby on the way! Sara got lots of good stuff too! Oh - and my scrapbooking stuff got to double today, used bits of ribbon to tie to the stemware so everyone could tell their glasses apart since we don't have any of those little thingies. Noah and Mike hung out with a couple of the other dads and kids. Noah is napping now and Mike and I and Joshua are hanging out for a bit before our date. Funny story though (okay so those with kids under 3 will probably find it funnier than the rest of you but oh well) So Joshua is sitting with Mike and suddenly he gets really red in the face and grunts - yep it was that kind of grunt. Mike went to change Joshua, then I hear "uhoh we're going to need a new outfit" so I go to get a new onsies for Josh and as Mike is cleaning him up, realizes all up his back is dirty too and Mike says "I'm going to have to clean behind your ears if you keep this up" Okay so really you had to be here, but it cracked me up and I so needed a good laugh. Joshua is truly a wonderful baby, but he's not always a very easy baby and the last couple days just seems to be either sleeping, eating or crying, not much else.

Enjoy your weekend...seems it's going to be a super girls' weekend here with the baby shower this morning, a date tonight, then out to lunch for one of the girl's birthdays and then to get pedicures tomorrow after church. Oh yeah- the picture with the cupcake was our Valentine's Day treat - Noah enjoyed the frosting most on his cupcake (smart boy!)

Happy Valentine's Day

Just a quick note to say Happy Heart Day!! We are not doing anything too special until Saturday when Mike & I are goinig to dinner - yeah dinner by ourselves!! Tonight we're watching a friend's little one and then swapping Sat. I can't wait, as Simon and Noah always have so much fun together so I know it will be a fun night. Not too much more here going on, Joshua is still super fussy/needy from his shots yesterday so it's making doing much else today almost impossible. I have cupcakes done at least and part of dinner started since we're taking dinner to some folks from Mike's work and also some friends from church who are all very under the weather...let's hope I get 20 minutes every now and again today to get things done...I'm not sure cupcakes qualify as dinner to anyone but me =)

Happy 2 Months to Joshua

Where oh where does the time go? I can't believe that Joshua turns 2 months old today. WOW! He is such a good boy, not always the easiest baby on the block - but hey can you blame him since he's had to fight off so many viruses and infections in his short 2 months on this earth?? I would want some extra TLC too! Here are his pictures from 1 month and 2 months for comparing...

Here is Joshua at 1 month

Here is Joshua at 2 months

Joshua is now 11lb 3oz and 22 1/2 inches long. His head circumfrence is 44cm - so that puts him in the 50% for weight, 30% for height, and 50% for head circumfrence. He is growing so well and checked off on doing all the things he should for 2 months - he has a social smile, coos, responds to faces and voices, grasps things near his hand (watch your hair!). Joshua also got his shots today and an oral vaccine - he took them fairly well, just a short scream for each shot and then he settled right back done. Hopefully he is comfortable, he had tylenol about an hour before the shots to hopefully help. Noah was such a great trooper during the appointment and shots, just talked to anyone around and was pretty content in the stroller - yeah for no whining. The only other thing of note from Joshua's appointment is that he also seems to have a heart murmur. The doc was examining him and I was sitting thinking how nice that we didn't have that come up again, when the doc redid the chest listening part of the examine. As soon as he was done he looked at me and said well - I must have had a look because he asked me about it - I said I was just thinking we weren't going to have a murmur and it was nice but now I guess you're going to say otherwise. It's really nothing to be concerned about right now...just something that we will watch as he gets bigger. Funny thing is that just like Noah's it's a little high and that is the thing that is most "concerning" to the docs...but he said it isn't harsh sounding and Joshua is growing great so right now it's not a problem. Must be a thing with these Lucas boys...Mike has an irregular heart beat - they just have extra special hearts I think =)

Hmm...guess we get to be though

Well it is official - Noah has an ear infection too and probably a sinus infection on top of it (well they said it probably started in his sinuses). Ah - it stinks but could be worse so I'm trying not to complain (notice trying is in there). Noah is on ear drops and antibotics now as well. The good news is that the ear is draining, both tubes are in place and open still...that is good. Though the doc didn't seem to think it was a good sign that Joshua already has an ear infection - her words were well at least you know what to look for but unfortunately it doesn't bode well for him in the future to start so early. Apparently though we are doing all we can for the boys, vaporizers, saline and suctioning etc. That is good to hear, but then not so good since they are both still sick and I want to make them better. Noah still isn't acting like he is sick - unless you try to look at his ear and I think Joshua must be feeling better, he's so wiggly today and seems to be smiling more - it's so nice to see him look happy and content and wanting to move around and see the world! So here's hoping for a speedy recovery and a quick next few days as we will be either at home or at the doctor's....

I Don't Want to be an Expert

Really...I promise, I don't want to be an expert on ear infections! I said this jokingly but I take it back...really I do. What are we going to do? So yesterday morning Noah woke up with a bit of junk coming from his nose, his eyes were a little junky too. We stayed home and kept an eye on him, he acted fine all day and his nose was no longer running. Great I thought - we'll be able to go to MOPS on Tuesday and not worry about him spreading germs or feeling bad (though he acted completely normal). Joshua seems to be feeling much better, he is even sleeping well at night. Yeah so we woke up this morning and Noah still had a junky nose, seemed a little worse. Mike & I were cleaning it out (yes it takes two of us if we are both here, it is much easier with two) and I noticed there was junk on his ear, I asked Mike quickly if that was from his eye or what, oh no of course not - it's coming out of his ear! EEEWW! So least to say we are not going to MOPS today, we are going to the doctor AGAIN! His ear still is draining, I hope that means it doesn't hurt as much as it used to when he got ear infections. This is his first ear infection since he got his tubes in (I'm assusming its an ear infection - we'll know for sure this afternoon) so I suppose it is improvement on how often he had been getting them. He acts completely like himself though - he's been running around and playing with cars. The doctor's office is going to be sick of us, I went yesterday for allergy medicine, Noah will go today for his ear, Joshua has a well baby visit tomorrow. I'll update again this afternoon after we know what is going on for sure, but I promise Noah seems okay and is playing well so at least that is something.

Noah was reading this afternoon. He was trying to hold the book inbetween his toes though! Such a funny boy!

Finally have a couple pictures uploaded

So for days I have said we would have new pictures, I finally got the few we had taken this week uploaded on the Kodak sight...sorry it took so long. We honestly were just busy running around this week and then with Joshua needing to be seen last night it didn't happen. At least though with Noah in bed while we were at the ER Mike got to get a good bit of studying for his class coming up - that was one good thing that came out of it.
Today we are just having a semi-normal Sunday. Mike and Noah went to church and Joshua and I stayed home since this morning he was still running a little hot. He's sleeping now and has most of the morning, unless he's been up to eat or woken up and needed lots of loving to get back to sleep. I'm so thankful that they gave us ear numbing drops for him last night, without a fever I don't want to do the tylenol every 4 hours but don't want Joshua to be in pain and would have to otherwise to stay on top of his ear pain but the drops work in about 1 - 2 minutes so we can wait until he's fussy to give them to him again. Mike said that the teachers in Noah's Sunday school room mentioned he was more tired it seemed and wanted to be held a bit more...this morning I said I thought he didn't feel well - hopefully he's not getting the virus that Joshua had last week and will get over this quickly. While they were at church I got all the toys cleaned and the carpet shampooed in between taking care of Joshua so hopefully we have banished the germs for a bit.

Another Update on Joshua

Well - our poor little guy was back in the ER tonight...he's OKAY, but he was very fussy all day, he just didn't seem comfortable to me and felt slightly warm. By the time we had dinner and were getting things cleaned up after that and Noah in the tub, he felt hot to me and Mike even noticed he was warm (I'm always a little more paranoid of course) so I decided to take his temp and sure enough he was running a fever, not quite as high as they say it needs to be to go to the ER (not urgent care since he's still so little) but close enough to make me want to go. By the time Joshua & I got checked in to Children's and were being evaluated at the triage place his temp was 100.6. The nurse warned me once we were in a room that with a fever that high in someone so young they would probably do a full work up of labs, urine sample, and possibly a spinal fluid check. It sounds strange to say thank goodness he just has an ear infection because with that the doctor was comfortable not checking his spinal fluids since his blood work and urine sample were what was expected with an ear infection. Thank goodness, I'm not sure I could have handled a spinal tap on my baby without someone else there. Mike stayed home with Noah because well there was no need to have him out with us in the night or dropped off with someone else and just not a normal night - I was fairly certain it wasn't too serious and knew if it was we would figure out a way for Mike to get to us. So our poor little guy is on antibotics already, but they also gave us some numbing drops for his ears and he seems much more comfortable. We already are going to the doc on Wed. for his well baby so we'll follow up more than and then a couple weeks after the medicine is finished. I think Mike & I may end up being experts on ear infections...let's hope we don't have more to learn in the future. On a happier note though from the visit, well two things - it is so nice to be somewhere and have everyone treat you so kindly and be so sincere about their care/concern for your child - the staff at Children's was great! and also Joshua was 10 lb 8 oz on Tuesday - well tonight he was 11 lbs (that was with his diaper on so maybe he's really like 10lb 14 oz but still) he's gaining weight like a champ it seems despite his struggles with all these bugs and such. We are off to give Joshua some more tylenol and ear drops and get ourselves to bed. Hope everyone else had a great day - oh and we have a few p ictures that need to be uploaded but of course we didn't quite get that done tonight like planned...soon I promise, I'm sorry.

It's already Friday??

Where has the week gone?? I can't believe it's already Friday. Wednesday was a busy day with the gym and Bible study and lunch. We also made an unproductive trip to Hobby Lobby - oh well, in search of a couple things that weren't found but Alexis & Sara found things they were looking for and the company is always great. Mike was done a little early and then I had AWANA that night - Thursday we stayed home. Amazing it seems. Mike again had an early day and we enjoyed some time together in the afternoon amdist the chaos of 3 little ones since Elora was over in the afternoon. Now Friday is here and while everyone seems to be continuing to feel better I think we are a bit tired. We had a great day though, just the gym and then the learning center. Joshua was awake this time, he has always been asleep until today. Noah of course had a blast, he was playing with some older boys and the cars. He even joined in for two songs during song time, he waved an American flag during one song so nicely! Joshua smiled at the baby in the mirror and got a special book from one of the teachers to look at - it was black and white and you could see Joshua's eyes seem to focus on all the pictures. We had lunch and ran to Target for a few quick things and then the commissary. It is getting easier with two of them, though Noah was a bit whiny for part of the trip. Now it's time to get ready for our small group and start the weekend. Mike will be studying lots this weekend for work and of course getting ready for his next class - his LAST class too! It's still a few weeks away but he likes to be ready. I haven't posted pictures in a while...I will tomorrow afternoon I promise, we haven't taken too many but I'm sure there will be at least a few to post by tomorrow!

Update on Joshua

Well, Joshua got to visit with his doc again today. Nothing too serious, he has been congested for about two weeks or so and just the past couple days has developed a cough again. After a few days of it not going away and some strange little bumps we thought it best to try and have him seen. First - just in case anyone was wondering, taking two little ones to the doctor during inthe cold and snowy weather, during the older's naptime alone isn't so much fun =) LOL! It really could have been much worse. Noah was slightly whiney and of course took his shoes off during our visit but considering he's normally napping at this time I wasn't too surprised/bothered. So the good news is the little bumps are just baby acne coming back again and Joshua doesn't need any new treatment - just continuing what we have been doing at home, vaporizer at night and lots of saline spray and suctioning as often as possible. He does have some kind of bronchili (spelling??) virus - which isn't good but at least he is weathering it well and fighting it off. The doc he sees I absolutely love and was very thorough in his examine and listened to all of my concerns/statements about changes in behavior etc. and then gave me the warning signs to look for if Joshua needs to be seen sooner than his well baby visit next week. So it looks like we will have at least another week of a fussier baby and hopefully then we'll stay well a bit. Oh - we did get a weight on the little man today - 10 lb 8 oz...he's still gaining weight like a champ and right on track for everything he should be doing at 2 months despite him being early. Oh and also got a weight on Noah today at the gym - he stepped on the scale himself actually - he's 29.8 lbs, no wonder he's in 3T shirts already.
Oh and on our trip to Target for yet more saline spray for poor Joshua, I found perfect stuff for Noah's birthday party (yes it's early I know that, but you all should know I like to be prepared well in advance) - Noah and Joshua were both napping, so we walked around to let them sleep and the $1 spot had sticker albums and sticker packs with "Cars" and then they had Take-N-Toss cups (toddler disposable cups with nonleaking lids) that were also "Cars" and also on sale this week...so it's been decided, we are doing not just cars, but "Cars" for his party. I'll still do a race track cake and get some "Cars" vehicles for the racetrack..though I think that for paper products we may just do red and blue, unless I can find some napkins for cheap. The checkout lady even asked me why I had so many sticker albums and packs - I told her for party favors and she was like what a great idea. I didn't mention that I bought all of the ones this Target had out that were "Cars" and of course 3 princess ones in case one of the girls wants that. Oh well, we are having a snowy evening and hopefully a relaxed night here, hope you are all doing well. Enjoy that 70 degree weather I hear is in VA...we're definitely not liking you for your weather right now...I'm so jealous!

Bath Night

So these pictures were just too cute not to share! Joshua and Noah both had baths tonight...Joshua had his first bath without the little sling in the tub. He seemed to enjoy this much more and sat up pretty well for it. Noah of course LOVES his baths! You can hear him throughout the whole house talking and splashing in the tub.

Today has been pretty good, minus the crying and fits this afternoon trying to get Noah down for a nap, he wanted mom to just sit and read for apparently much longer than our normal 10 - 15 minutes...I hate saying no to that but at the same time know he needs to learn to take his nap himself and well Joshua was upset. Joshua is having fussy periods frequently throughout the day, causing concern for me, though it could just be his is fussy. Tomorrow I think we'll go back to the doctor, what we thought was just baby acne now seems more like a rash and he still is coughing. Reassurance that the cough and stuffiness is nothing to worry about is good. He is relaxed on my lap right now, after having some down time with Daddy too...I think he is a very happy, content baby we just have to figure out how to bring that out in him more =)

Oh - and Noah is no longer just jumping up and down, he's hopping! It is the funniest thing and makes us smile so much when he does it. He also is wanting to share with Joshua, today it was goldfish he really thought Joshua should eat...now to hope it last until they really can share with each other =)

Super Bowl...

Just a quick update on this SuperBowl Sunday before the game starts. We are doing well here, yesterday morning I went to a "stamp-a-stack" with a friend, basically you go through different stations to make homemade cards. Always a good time and after a couple days of crying from Joshua for reasons we couldn't figure out, I was so appreciative of the break and for Mike for not thinking twice about telling me to go and he'd take the boys for the morning. Saturday afternoon we spent at one of the malls here, again on a search for a couple shirts for me and to get out of the house for a bit. Noah and Joshua both napped for the first part of the shopping trip and then after being awake for some time and sitting in his stroller Noah was definitely ready for a change. Thankfully there's an indoor play area there so Noah went and played there while Mike & I watched him run around like crazy and have an absolute ball. He did great with all the other kids there, no pushing and he wouldn't run into the other kids. So nice to see him have a good time. A quiet evening at home after that was nice for baths and bedtimes. Today we have been to church and are ready for some Super Bowl fun with a couple friends. Joshua is growing like a weed. He is also doing great in the nusery at church. He's starting to smile socially now and I think we even heard a giggle of sorts today. Is it too early for that? I can't remember, but it sounded like a giggle. He's been up for most of today too - amazing how suddenly he is awake so much more. Noah continues to run around in circles, spin in circles and just entertain us all. Hope you guys all have a great time watching the game...oh and the Feb. picture link was emailed out so you should have that by now.

TGIF!

Well it's been a few days since we posted. I feel like we have been busy but really don't have too much to tell, guess the things we have been busy with are not all that exciting. Thursday was another day of staying home for the boys and I. It was not a bad day persay but certainly a bit tiring I think on us all. Joshua on Wed. night only was up once!! Whoohoo...Mike keeps saying it was twice because the second time was about 6:00 and the alarm was set for 6:45...I told him to give Joshua a little credit though. So with that things are definitely seeming up and that is wonderful. However, Thursday Joshua just was needy, he wanted to be held and carried around the house (sitting wasn't okay it seemed). Poor fellow, it was hard to know what he wanted when the normal things that are upsetting to him weren't fixing it. Today I thought was going smoother until we were almost done at Walmart. LOL. We took Mike to work, went to the gym where Noah played on the playground they have at the gym with some friends from church who were also there with their mom. So after that I thought we would go to the Learning Center to play some before Walmart. So Noah sortof threwup while we were there...he acts perfectly fine now and it wasn't hardly anything, mostly on his sleeve like he was covering his mouth when it happened but of course it happened while I'm nursing Joshua =) Go figure! So anyway we left and just headed to Walmart because diapers and wipes must be bought. So as I'm getting the diapers onto the cart (mind you for Noah so it's the huge box) Joshua starts screaming...won't take his pacifer. Some lady comes and says she wanted to make sure the baby was okay ??? So about 10 minutes later of trying to comfort and give Joshua his pacifer and walking around and patting his butt, he finally goes to sleep. This is when he was upset yesterday, right before he went to sleep like he is fighting sleep...Mike says he's taught me sleeping in is a good thing, Noah that sleep is good that Joshua will learn but boy I hope it's soon. So now we are home and relaxing until we go get Mike who is getting off a bit early (YEAH!) and then to the commissary and then home to straighten up before all the kiddos are here tonight. It's our turn for the kids for our Friday night Bible study, there are 4 couples who need childcare and we have opted to just swap as it saves 2 major things, trying to find consistent sitters (we've have to have 2 because of the age of the kids and the church policy) for a Friday night since we are all committed to being there there's never a problem with canceling last minute and also of course it saves us all a little money. So I'm sure we'll take lots of pictures today and we have some video from last night that I promise I will try and get up tonight sometime. Noah was "go go going" ( which of course in our house means running in circles) and even demonstrated some jumping.