Nativity Play

The boys have been enjoying our activities around the house lately. I'm glad, we're not really doing anything super duper focused but have decided to add a bit more structure/focus to what we're doing each week. I really feel like I have no excuse anymore...Addison is sleeping well (stretches of hours at a time at night - it is really quite amazing, I had heard such things were possible with babies, but had yet to experience it) and I'm not pregnant...so excuses not to plan and really just play and interact with the boys seemed lame to me. Last week we talked a lot about the wise men visiting baby Jesus and bringing him presents (because we celebrated our family Christmas and the kids all get 3 gifts just like Jesus...so it was a good week we thought to talk about it). Anyway, we made star cookies, painted presents, made star ornaments etc. It was pretty fun and I think the boys learned some. I was surprised tonight when I got out some nativity pieces for the flannel board (Mike made for the boys and I just before he left) and Noah started talking about the people and telling me about it. I'm so excited to see him getting so much of probably one of the most important stories ever! So here's a little video of him telling me about baby Jesus. Such a smart boy!

In other news and updates Noah was evaluated last week for his speech. Mike and I have been concerned about his articulation on and off since he was about a year and a half old. He actually has had his speech evaluated before, right before he was 3, and did not qualify because articulation was his only problem at that time and it is something that qualifies youngsters for speech until after they are 3. He was making progress so we just kind of waited it out, but still didn't feel he was quite where he should be. We do not officially have anything, but after speaking to the special education teacher who works with this age group (she's also working with us for Addison's IFSP she has for her hearing loss) he does qualify. We'll have an MDT meeting (multidisciplinary team)on January 8th to go over the testing results and set goals if appropriate. I am surprised that nothing was mentioned from preschool - but am glad we followed through and will get him the help he needs to catch up.

Addison is doing so well. She isn't much of a napper some days (only maybe 1.5 hours all day) and on those days is up til 11 or 1130 at night. It is a bit difficult as those are the days she has major cluster feedings in the evenings, so even after the boys are snug beds I don't get much accomplished except feeding her. I will not complain though, because like I said I get stretches of solid sleep. She is loving her brothers to pieces still! Josh got upset Sunday morning on our way into church, I had way too much to carry in and was struggling to say the least (imagine 3 children, 4 bags, the carrier, and 2 gifts...it wasn't great) and a gentlemen stopped after I set Addison's carrier down and picked it up to walk in with us, Josh was very grumpy and upset and not wanting to walk and when it is below 0 it is not time to sit out a fit and wait. As soon as Addison was picked up by the gentlemen Josh was yelling "no my Addy, stop!" So sweet, and a bit sad at the same time. He loves when Addison is awake and loves to make silly faces at her. She obliges often with lots of smiles and even this afternoon was giggling at Josh's antics. I love it! Noah is also protective of his little sister. This afternoon Josh was trying to talk to and hug Addison as she sat in her chair and Noah kept pushing Josh away. Finally I had enough of Noah pushing Josh without stopping and took Noah to the other room to talk and have a time out, Noah broke out in a sudden bursts of tears. I asked him what was wrong and he said "Josh will hurt Addy" He really thought that Josh would hurt Addison (earlier Josh hugged her while she was sleeping and woke her so she had cried).

We are doing well, we had a playdate at the mall play place this morning while Noah was at preschool and then came home to play - we played a card game, with magnets, colored our Jesse tree ornaments and built with blocks (a new favorite at our house!). There will be tons of pictures probably in the weeks to come so check out the sidebar for links.

Happy 2nd Birthday Josh!

We had a pretty good day celebrating Josh's 2nd birthday. It is so hard to believe that we've had 2 years with this amazing boy already. This morning, I kept thinking about how 2 years ago we were watching him in the NICU praying for his strength and healing, he had a tube down his throat and was connected to all kinds of monitors. Little did we know just how fiesty and stubborn he was going to be =) and we couldn't be happier about that! Josh is growing into an amazing little boy - strong willed for sure, but so compassionate and funny. He loves his little sister and his big brother to pieces and is always (well almost) willing and waiting to give them hugs and kisses. His determination will take him far in life I am sure and I know that he will be a joy to continue to be around. He definitely likes to joke and pretend, and finds himself quite amusing most of the time. We let him choose what he wanted for breakfast (I told myself ahead of time as long as it wasn't candy...cause boy oh boy did he get his daddy and his mommy's sweet tooth!...I would allow it) and he chose hotdogs and grapes. For lunch he chose to go to none other than McDonald's. We love you Josh and are so proud of you!

Blizzard!

Well, last night we ventured out - apparently two days of confinement were enough for us. We've all really enjoyed the time together and are very appreciative to have it - but the boys had been wanting to play in the snow. Who could blame them really? I certainly didn't have much interest in going out in the cold and we had to wait until the snow and wind were calmer. Somehow -10 windchills doesn't seem a good time to take young kids out. And we do not own a sled - not of any kind, I'm sure this is my protest somehow of living where it is this cold, I do not think I should live in such a cold climate...and no we are not buying one, I have hopes of being somewhere warmer by next winter (this may be in vain but I don't care). We have some friends who have a sled though and live near a nice park with a good hill. We all got bundled up and headed over there to mooch off of them. They were nice enough to keep Addison inside to be toasty and warm and Matt and Andrew joined us to sled - Sara even made us dinner and we all got to hang out after.

Noah really enjoyed sledding - he went down first with Mike and then wanted to go by himself. He loved it! He and Mike raced down and I think that was probably his favorite thing. Josh just watched for a little bit and then was okay to come inside a little earlier than the rest of the boys.

Christmas with Daddy

Today is a snow day...seriously, I am not sure I have seen this much snow (maybe once in college...) yikes and more yikes! However, with so much snow comes many cancelations - including the base! Whoohoo! Since we had decided to celebrate our family Christmas this week, we thought today would be the perfect day (all the gifts were already wrapped and waiting). So we did, we declared it a pj day (even Mike went along) and after getting ready for the day and into new pjs we read the Christmas story and exchanged gifts from us and the kids. The kids get 3 presents from Mike and I, we started that tradition last year as a way to remember that Jesus was given three gifts by the wisemen, and then they had a gift from their siblings. Both the boys got the concept of opening presents this year, though they kept calling them surprises =) which I loved. It was such a nice morning, we had bagels (don't worry mom we'll have waffles Christmas morning...I had picked up bagels last night though for this morning to have as a treat) and it really seemed that the number of gifts was perfect for the boys, as no one was overwhelmed with toys or got tired of opening presents. The boys were even excited about their clothes (they each get something educational/to foster their minds, something to wear, and a heart gift or something they really want).

In case anyone is wondering what the Lucas kiddos got today...Noah got jeans, a hot wheels stunt jump ramp, beanbags, an I Spy Bingo game, and moon sand. Josh got shirts, legos, beanbags, a Hungry Caterpillar game, and moon sand. Addison got a book, tag blanket, and shirts. We have enjoyed a game, some lunch and the boys are watching a movie and playing while the snow continues to hammer down on us. My only regret is that I was low on hot chocolate the last time I went to the commissary and was waiting to get some on the next trip (which would have been today...) so I'm out of hot chocolate, oh well. There are more pictures at the link in the sidebar in case you want more.

Josh's Birthday Party

We celebrated Josh's 2nd birthday on Dec. 6th, a bit early but wanted to make sure there was time before Mike had to leave (funny, last year we waited so Mike could make it, ah). Anyway, we went with a dinosaur theme if you could call it a theme since only the cake, invitations and favors really followed a theme. It doesn't seem like the 2 and 3 year old crowd is ready for party games that are organized much! We had his party right after church and everyone seemed to have a great time. I really hope they did, I know that Josh did and wore himself out. We had lunch and then let the kids play until it was time for presents and then some more play and then cake. It was pretty simple, but quite enjoyable. I can't believe that he's going to be 2 so soon, time certainly does fly by! Josh got dinosaurs, books, cars, Batman things, and a game - all of his favorite things! Check out the link on the sidebar for the pictures from the day, we took lots of course!

Josh's 2nd Tube Surgery

We are home and doing well after Josh's second tube surgery (his first was Nov. 08). The surgery was quick and went really well. I am so thankful for the blessings we have in our life, Mike was home for this one, so while I took Josh and Addison to Boys Town, he took Noah to Sara's for the morning. We are truly so blessed to have such awesome friends who don't hesitate to lend us help when we need it as Mike had meetings today that he could not miss. Noah did great Sara said and had fun playing with Ethan, it's always a relieft when they are good at friends' houses. Things couldn't have gone smoother other than a slight delay for us at the hospital. Josh got the "funny medicine" at about 845, before that he had been playing happily and loved looking at the cars passing by through a little circle window close to the floor. A little bit after getting the funny medicine he was just a little cranky and really determined to leave. That was only a short time though and finally he just settled onto my lap and eventually fell asleep. His surgery was scheduled for 9:30, I think they came about 10 to get him and before 10:15 they had come back to tell me surgery was done and had gone well and he was doing well in recovery. Addison slept the whole morning until after Josh was in surgery and recovery, she woke up and ate and was content to sit in her carseat right after Josh was back in the room. The doctor said they sucked up a lot of gross stuff from his left ear (I am pretty sure it was infected from the sounds of it) and so he may need to use the ear drops for 6 days instead of the normal 3 but otherwise things looked great. We were heading out to the van by 1130 or so and he napped on the way home. We got Noah and by the time we got home Josh was rested enough and wanted to play with his "brodder"

Another Update...

Well there was no ABR this afternoon - which is what we expected. Mike and I did take Addison up to Boys Town though and talked to Chris, the lady who is working with us through the school system early intervention program (she works for Boys Town but is contracted through the schools). We also got to meet one of the newer speech pathologist at Boys Town who is going to kind of tag along and offer her input and shadow Chris (who is the deaf educator). We got to ask lots of questions and just talk about what will likely happen. Mostly it confirmed a lot of things we thought and felt were important. Based on the first ABR it seems that the hearing loss in the left ear will be permanent (there was no fluid in that ear at the time of the ABR). Addison probably is not hearing speech clearly, she will miss the finer parts of speech and subtle differences and for this reason will benefit from a hearing aid. A lot of the steps to help her will be things that we will wait and see what she needs, for now we'll do the same things we do with the boys and did with the boys at this age. Monday is the IFSP meeting and we'll have more of an understanding of home visits and such that they'll do, but for now it seems we're doing what we need to do following up on appointments.
We came home to a message from surgery to call back and schedule her surgery. Wow talk about quick...I thought it might be a few days before we scheduled. Addison's surgery is scheduled for the 17th of this month. It should be an outpatient procedure though, just a bit of a longer stay because she's so little. She'll have a follow up with ENT roughly 2 weeks after that and then we'll repeat the ABR and discuss the next steps to getting her hearing aid.
And just cause I thought it was interesting, in the last 44 months (from the time of Noah's birth) between me and the kids we'll have gone through 9 surgeries total (after Addison's tubes)...which averages to 1 about every 5 months. Seriously, that surprised me! I am hoping that 2009 brings the end of surgeries though and again ever thankful for insurance with good coverage.

Add another one to the list for Ear Infections...

Yep, we knew it was only a matter of time...Ms. Addison has her first ear infection. Seriously folks, I believe I should have gone to college to be an ENT - good grief! On a positive note, she slept all last night and is a pretty happy, content little girl for feeling so yucky. We had an appointment this morning with ENT for a follow-up and a hearing test. Of course, we did not do the hearing test this morning since she had fluid in both ears and one was infected. We will do it in probably a month because in about 2 or 3 weeks Addison will be getting her very own set of tubes, I mean she can't be out done by her big brothers, right? The doctor wants to wait until she is 50 weeks gestetational age because at 50 weeks or after having surgery does not mandate an over-night stay in the hospital. So surgery will call us in 2 weeks to schedule her surgery. Of course, Addison will have a much longer stay than her big brothers after her surgery since she'll be so little. I am guessing instead of the hour after surgery the boys have had we'll be there for four or five to make sure she is doing fine. I am having mixed emotions, mostly I am glad that we are getting this taken care of early because if she's had fluid since birth that hasn't gone anywhere and already has an infection and they say it's a family thing typically (and hello, tomorrow we're going for set number 2 for Josh and together the boys had I dunno probably 30 infections in 3 years) so I am glad we are taking care of it without having to have 5 or 6 ear infections first and because we want her hearing as best she can without any other things to complicate that. However, I'm a little sad because she is so tiny and will be having surgery. I think overall, Mike and I are calm and confident though in the decision to do it very early. We have complete faith in the doctor and the hospital that she'll be at. I'll update later after her audiology appointment - I am not sure they will be able to do the ABR repeat with the fluid/infection but we have lots of questions and hope to at least find some answers out at the appointment if we can. We'll see the audiologist and also the deaf educator (and no Addison is not deaf, she just is hard of hearing - that is simply the title) from Boys Town is meeting us for the appointment before the IFSP meeting on Monday. Again, I'm so grateful for wonderful friends here as the boys will get to go and play and have a good time while we are at the appointment.

More Ear News from our House...

I think posts will abound in the near future about little one's ears - so sorry if this is of no interest to you but family wants to know I think and this makes it easy to get the info out to everyone (well if they actually still read...hmm?). Anyway, Josh had an ENT appointment this morning because he's had 2 ear infections from the end of November through about 3 weeks ago and his left tube came out of his ear. Turns out his complaints the past couple of days of his ear hurting were spot on - he is on his way to another infection more than likely (he just finished almost 3 weeks of antibotics so this is way too early!). The tube is out, the typanagram was flat and the ENT felt it was worth putting another tube in his left, one that will be slightly bigger than the previous one and meant to last a little longer. They are going to replace the tube in the right ear at the same time, because likely it will do the same thing and since we'll already be having surgery it makes sense. I went to schedule the surgery guessing it would be toward the end of the month or maybe January with the holidays. They asked if I prefered Fridays or Mondays (the days this doc does surgery), I said Fridays and he said okay we'll get it scheduled for Friday. I was shocked - this Friday Josh will be having surgery again, his 3rd surgery in roughly 13 months, the poor baby. I know he will feel better though and needs this done. I have the best friends in the world here and already have someone who is going to take care of Noah for the morning - Addison will just come with me, she just eats and sleeps still so that will be easy enough. Boys Town is going to know us well...we'll be there probably four or five hours tomorrow for 3 appointments for Addison and now it seems probably about five hours on Friday for Josh - thank goodness for insurance! We have a 7:30 show time and 9:30 procedure scheduled - hopefully we'll be home by lunch!

Thanksgiving Weekend Recap

I am finally sitting down to recap our Thanksgiving weekend - though I have typed this once and somehow blogger lost it - grr! So here's a shorter version!
We started our celebration early when Mike's parents and brother arrived in Omaha on Tuesday night. The boys were absolutely thrilled to see their Mema and Pepa and didn't leave poor Shane alone all night - apparently they realized quickly he was someone who would wrestle and play rough with them. Wed. Mike had to work most of the day, so our plans were changed slightly instead of heading out to the lunch we ordered pizza - which the boys only picked at. The other fun thing for the boys were the surprises that kept appearing every little bit from Grandma and Grandpa's suitcase! They thought that was pretty neat. I was glad they were not asking for surprises...not sure how we will curb that when it happens! We got some of the prep work done for dinner on Thursday on Wed. as well. We also got to decorate the Christmas tree and get decorations out and up. It was early even for me, but we'd be gone for the weekend and will celebrate our family Christmas a bit early this year. The boys loved their new ornaments from my parents Batman and Superman and had a hard time with the fact that they were ornaments and not to play. Mike and I really did most of the decorating, which was okay. We also were able to take our family Christmas picture Wed. night.
Thursday was a great day of family and friends. Matt and Sara joined us with their gang for dinner of our untraditional turkey (we deboned part of it and had it in a brine) and bread (we did garlic bread) though we did have homemade stuffing (a first and a good use for a bad batch of bread I had made a week before and stuff in the freezer with plans for breadcrumbs). Dinner was lots of fun and we had way too much food of course. Things were only slightly crazy with 2 babies, 2 toddlers and a preschooler to make life interesting.
Friday we headed to Halstad for the family gathering to celebrate Mike's grandparents' 50th anniversary. The drive up couldn't have gone better - even with the DVD player in the van not working all the kids did wonderful. We had dinner with the "immediate" family on Friday night and had a little room in the back of the restuarant that allowed the boys to play and get some wiggles out. Addison ate lots and otherwise was being held by all the family that had waited to meet her.
Saturday started with breakfast at the hotel and then some play time in the pool for the boys and us, Addison sat with Grandpa on the side of the pool and watched the fun until she'd had enough and fell asleep. We headed to the church in Halstad for lots of pictures and while I expected complete meltdowns by all three kids was surprised and the boys were able to be mostly cooperative for the first few sets of pictures they were in. After that we resorted to out and out bribery with Skittles for Josh. Noah when we were taking the "big" family picture decided he would rather sit on the pew then join us, and then playfully was being chased to join the rest of us when he met a pew head on - the pew did not budge at all. Mike rushed over to him and he wanted Daddy and then Mommy and Daddy again and the proclaimed he needed a doctor - which in fact he did. We made it to the ER and he ended up not requiring stitches but did need dermabond to glue the split on his head back together. After returning to the anniversary party he played like nothing had happened unless he was telling someone about his crash. We really did have a great time visiting and seeing family - though boy I never feel like I relax while in a setting like that, just wanting to make sure the kids are well and not under foot or bothering anyone. They were all very good though and enjoyed the playroom at the church for the day.

Happy 2 Months Addison!

Just a very short posts...it's late and there's a huge list of things to do that still won't get done tonight but we need sleep. Addison is 2 months old already which is hard to believe. She is proving to be such a calm and content baby, she only fusses when she is hungry, wet, dirty, or needs to burp. And goodness, this girl can put both her brothers to shame with her burps - they are quite big! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and time spent in MN with family and will try and post on that soon. For now though here is the latest month picture of Addison and also her stats! We have a busy week of appointments, Addison has 3 on Thursday and we should have some more information on her hearing loss and getting her a hearing aid. Other than dealing with congestion (actually they told us today it was RSV - basically just a cold in her lungs) she is doing great - oh well except the fluid in her ears...but the right ear has had fluid since birth...so overall we're doing well here - lol if you buy that ;-)

Weight: 10 lb 7 oz (she was 7 lb 10 oz at birth) 23 %

Height: 22.75 inches 45%

Head size: 15 inches 20%

Enjoying Fall

We have really been enjoying this past week - the weather has been awesome! Someone at church said it was like mother nature was making up for what we got in October. It couldn't be more true. The days have been warm and sunny and allowed for lots of time to play outside. It has been a pretty busy week in some regards though. Wednesday Mike had the day off and we didn't do a whole lot out and about but instead relaxed for the most part at home and took it slow. We did end up going to Lowe's - Mike wanted to go ahead and get the board we needed for MOPS that he cut for us; we are making travel boards at our next meeting so excited! Thursday Noah went on his very first field trip with his preschool class. His class went to the children's museum here. We walked him out to the bus and he said "bye mommy" and got on the bus like it was nothing. I was just a little bit sad, I love though that he's so confident and adventure loving that he's not hesitent or scared by new situations. That is definitely part of Noah's charm. He had a great time, though all we got out of him was that he played in the ball room and the playground - which are two of the rooms we spend lots of time in when we go as a family. He did great according to his teacher though. He's definitely growing up way too fast.

Josh, Addison and I went to the allergist for Josh's appointment. It was just a normal visit for him, though we still have some concerns on some of the spots on his skin and while he has improved overall since his first allergist appointment we are still having lots of the good and bad cycles and Josh just seems so itchy. We can't do a ton more for him medicine wise, the poor child has tried just about everything that should/could help and is pretty much maxed out on things lotion/cream wise. We are going to start doing one of the oral medicines twice a day that should help with his itchiness - which is why his skin looks so bad sometimes, he just digs at spots. It's only been two days of the morning routine but so far there seems to be some less itchiness. Also decided that it was best to increase his antibotic for his ear infection another 10 days because of some of the spots on his skin that look infected again - the skin infections take a bit longer to clear up we've learned from the past. We also were told it was definitely time to go back to dermotology for the spots on his stomach that seem to be different - they are not eczema flair ups but look like contact dermatitis. His allergist really would like to do a patch test on him but said he knew at his age it would be pointless since he has to have 2 big patches on his back for 48 hours without getting wet at all. So when we got home I called to find a new dermotologist since his last one changed practices and isn't in network. When we got that figured out I called to make him an appointment, we of course wanted the first available they had but had to turn down the first 2 appointments they offered us because Addison has specialists appointments those days. Crazy!

Addison is really starting to enjoy her play mat. She really just seems to like to lay down and have some freedom to kick and move her arms as much as she wants. I think she likes being able to have a different view, too. It's hard when the boys are up though to have her laying on the floor because of course Josh isn't quite old enough to get the don't jump near Addison or that's too hard. She also has been eating like a crazy girl lately - but thankfully these stretches are during the day and not at night so no complaints there, it just makes it a little more difficult to get everything accomplished.

Friday we all got to go to Mike's work and have lunch with him. It was such a treat for the boys to see Daddy's work and office and then to go and play air hockey in the break room with Daddy.

Picture Links...

Just to draw attention...finally got links up for pictures. I love Kodak's site, but don't order prints hardly ever and they are beginning restrictions on the number you can upload (which makes sense in so many ways!) but we just aren't ordering. I end up uploading the pictures to Facebook even if they get on Kodak it seems, so instead of posting them twice and/or looking for a new host for the millions of pictures we decided it was just easier to share the links via the blog and emails since they are already there. You don't have to have a Facebook account, just click on the links!

November Already!

Time is just flying by, I can't believe how quickly it is passing! I keep telling myself that I will start posting regularly but haven't quite gotten there yet. So, I figure it is mostly family reading and they would at least like a bit of an update...hope you excuse the rushed/short hand versions for awhile!

- November 1st was Parent-Baby Dedication at church. Addison was dedicated along with several other babies and parents. It is always such a special day, reminding us of just how important our call as parents is, I feel so blessed that we have a wonderful church family to continue to encourage us and help us grow through this crazy journey as parents.
-Tuesday night, Nov. 3rd we decided to put Addison in her crib in her own room because the week before she had slept so awesome! We were getting five or seven hours of sleep for a few nights there, it was wonderful! It was also very short lived. Tuesday night she did great, since then not so much. Addison was sleeping five hours straight, only it was from 8 am til 1 pm - not quite what we wanted.
-Josh had a bit of a rough week, he was simply up and down emotionally it seemed and a complete rollercoaster. Things that normally aren't fights/arguements/tantrums were suddenly all of those things. It was exhausting trying to balance what he needed and remaining consistent on discipline and behavior expectations. By the end of the week we really thought there had to be more going on, something had to be wrong with this child! On Monday he had said his mouth hurt, pointed at his ear when you asked what hurt, but after that wasn't complaining so much about it. We decided to try and wait to see if it was just him getting over his cold completely. Well Saturday was another very rough and roller coaster day for Josh, Sunday he seemed more himself and less moody but I wasn't convinced. Today we took him in to the doctor and sure enough the poor guy has another ear infection. I feel awful, I should have taken him in sooner. This is number 2 in the past 2 months, both in his left ear. In September we were told his tube in the left ear was out - we would wait and see if it mean constent ear infections before seeing ENT again. Well today, the tech said he saw the tube in his ear and I was completely confused. After talking to the doctor I understood better, the tube was present in his ear but not in his ear drum placed correctly - so basically it had "come out" and he definitely had an infection. This afternoon he had lots of puss/mucos/blood tinged discharge and after seeming to be in a lot of pain for half an hour and finally having got all the stuff out he seemed to feel better. We are on 10 more days of antibotics and have an appointment with ENT the first part of December, pretty sure we'll redo that tube. The tube came completely out tonight before bed so hopefully the worst of it is over for Josh now.
-Wed. of last week we spent playing at the gym and the learning center while Mike was at work. The boys had a great time, Addison slept the entire time basically. It is amazing to see how much the boys grow in just months. Josh was really enjoying puzzles (the ones with knobs) while we were there and Noah enjoyed the songs, even sharing a spider with Addison during one song.
-Friday Mike took the day off, so nice after such a long week at home for us. The weather was gorgeous and the boys enjoyed playing outside for much of the day, insisting that Mike go out and play with them. They played turtles for a bit, as in TMNT now that's a throw back. Mike and I got the chance to go out for a date with some good friends - Sara & Matt and Alexis & Ken to Zio's a pizza place downtown. It was delicious and I got to surprise Mike with Sara's help with his birthday cake (we are now a peanut free house because of Josh's allergies). The church had a Parents Night Out to raise money for a mission trip to Africa - so we couldn't not help out!
-Noah continues to amaze me and surprise me. His imagination has just taken off in leaps and bounds. We are seeing him grow up a little too fast I think! It just makes me sad at times when he says things and sounds like a little kid not a toddler. I of course know he hasn't been a toddler for a while, but he seems more like "a big little kid" if that makes sense. He's very helpful when he's not zoned out watching a show helping Josh reach things or open doors and making sure that Addison is not being rocked too hard. Tonight at dinner, Mike was asking him how his day was today and he answered it was good and that Josh went to the doctor because his ear and mouth hurt. Now at the doctor Josh said he hurt once, when I asked him where, Josh told me "he hurt me" pointing to the tech who had just looked in his ears. Noah said "No he not hurt you he a doctor, he helps you feel better." Amazing! But after Noah told Mike about his day, he looked across the table and said "what about you Daddy, how was work?" Really? When oh when did that happen?
That brings you about up to speed on us for this week. Josh and I and Addison will take Noah to preschool and hang out at home since he had abit of a fever with his ear infection today we'll have to miss MOPS - which is a bummer!

Addison's 1 month old (a few days late...)

Addison's Halloween costume

Well I haven't been as good about getting updates to the blog as I want to be - I will try but make absolutely no promises because life is just plain crazy some days! However, I wanted to add a quick update since Addison turned 1 month old a few days ago. It doesn't seem possible!

So here is what the little princess has been up to...

-she is still sleeping fairly well, the first half of the month she would get up once or twice but stay up for 1 - 2 hours or more each time so that was exhausting for Mike and I both. The past week (I'm almost afraid to say this for fear I will jinx it and it will end) she's been up once a night and last night not til 5 (which I count as sleeping thru the night!). She was also getting back to sleep more quickly! It has been awesome.

-Addison is also definitely starting to regard faces so much more, she will just stare and stare at you while you hold her and talk to her.

-She's also smiling throughout the day, she's quite expressive most of the time and makes some pretty funny faces at times too.

-Addison still has quite a good appetite and continues to be a good eater - but the burps she needs to let out after eating she will hold on to sometimes for a long time (that is why we think she would be up for so long some nights)
-We've been to lots of places to play and she's traveled well and seemed to enjoy her time out with the family. We've been to the park on a nice day, to a pumpkin farm to pick out pumpkins, the children's museum, the learning center, and even a birthday party!

We had a great time for Halloween. Noah was Superman, Josh was Batman and Addison was Superwoman. We got to trick or treat at the learning center and then spent Saturday night at the fall festival at church it was a great time! Addison slept in her sling the whole time, but seemed pretty content nonetheless.

On some medical updates - we've had a full and busy day of appointments. All the previous week I had felt that Addison's tongue looked more white and thicker than it should, but all of the symptoms for thrush said that it would be on their gums and/or cheeks as well as the tongue so I waited. Sunday morning her mouth was still clear except her tongue but by Sunday afternoon there were spots all over her poor little mouth. A trip to the peds office this morning confirmed it, she definitely has thrush so we are starting her on medicine for that and hopefully it will clear up in a week or so. Uncomfortable for her and I but nothing serious or anything to really worry about. Addison also had her ENT appointment this morning. The initial office visit was for an over view of her ears, nose, and throat and it seems that everything seems to have developed just fine and there isn't a big concern there. However, there is more fluid in her right ear (the ear that doesn't have hearing loss). So we go back to ENT on Dec. 3rd, we'll see ENT that morning and then her audiology appointment for more hearing test and probably the fitting for the ear mold for her hearing aid that afternoon. Fun times! I will try to post pictures really soon, or at least a link to pictures! Here are her pictures with her pig for comparison!

Sept. 30, 2009 Just Arrived!

Oct. 30, 2009 - 1 month old

Our Crazy Day...

Just a quick post before we all head to bed. It has been quite the day at our house. Noah had a cough last night and by this morning you could tell he didn't feel well at all. By late morning he was running a temp, coughing and wasn't able to keep anything down. Poor baby has the flu - the swab came back negative but the doctor was pretty confident it is the flu. He is on medicine and we were told what to watch for if he needs to be seen back immediately. He's doing some better this evening, though still not keeping much down; the fever is down though and that is huge I think. We'll be keeping him home for a week at least. I think he's enjoying all the TV he's getting to watch. They dont' think it's the seasonal flu as that hasn't seemed to hit our area and instead that its the H1N1 strand. Not fun for any of us. I'm so glad Mike is home, he's been taking care of Noah and handling all that it involves so that I can try and keep from getting it since I'm nursing Addison and have to be close to her. Of course, we are also keeping her away from Noah and trying to keep Josh away from her as much as we can too. Lots of handwashing - lots of cleaning - lots of praying. Unfortunately they said that Josh most likely will also get it and didn't seem confident that we could keep Addison from getting it - that is scary as if she gets it they may want to hospitalize her since she's so little...just scary stuff. I hate not being able to snuggle and cuddle Noah - I am missing taking care of him so much, breaks my heart because every ounce of me just wants to make him better but I know that I have to do all I can to keep myself healthy so Addison stays healthy because it would be much worse on her tiny body.

Addison also had 2 appointments today - her 2 week well-baby check up and a hearing rescreening at Boys' Town this afternoon since she failed her hearing test at the hospital in both ears. Her 2 week well-baby check went great, she's doing well and meeting most of the goals (she doesn't always respond to noises but we were having that checked in the afternoon so the doc didn't stress over it too much). She now weighs 7 lb 14 oz and is 20.5 inches long - she's growing great. The doctor was very excited that she was above her birth weight already, the way she eats it's no surprise though. I was a bit surprised though that she had grown half an inch in length already. Her rescreening in the afternoon was a long appointment but it was very thorough. It turns out that she has mild and moderate hearing loss in her left ear, depending on the frequency. Her right ear has normal hearing, however, it was on the borderline of mild hearing loss. I think I was in a bit of shock at the end of the appointment and didn't ask the good questions I should have. What we do know right now is that they would like to retest her hearing in both ears when she's 2 months old and fit her left ear for a hearing aid. We got a portfolio type folder that had lots of information in it that Mike and I are sorting through and making a list of questions for the next appointment. I am very thankful that this was caught so early and that we are some place that has access to great doctors who specialize in hearing loss especially in patients so young. We will see what this will entail - right now we are just going to make sure to have her right ear uncovered (meaning not leaning against us when we hold her) if she's awake so we can talk to her and we'll also make sure she knows that she was made just how God wanted her to be, she is absolutely wonderfully and fearfully made!
We are hoping this next week passes by quickly without much more sickness and surprise medical needs - keep us in your prayers, specifically that Noah recovers quickly and that Addison can manage to stay well and not get this nasty bug that is going around like wildfire it seems.

Welcome Addison!

Well this is a tad late - I guess I should just used to the idea that things like posts to the blog are going to be late - but here's our newest news!

Addison Marie arrived Sept. 30 at 7:47 at 20 inches and weighing in at 7 lb 10 oz! She is absolutely perfect and beautiful (yep I'm the mom I can say that...). Addison decided to wait until her scheduled C-section after all and Mike and I got to the hospital around 530 that morning. What a difference this was from our previous deliveries; Noah was an emergency c-section after hours and hours of labor and Josh was a repeat because of that but almost 4 weeks early and had complications and a stay in the NICU afterward. The morning was smooth, we got there and hung out in preop for a bit while they monitored stuff and had all the right people come in. My mom got to the hospital a bit before they started surgery and we hung out a bit longer til they wheeled me back, I got my spinal and Mike came in. We joked with the doctors throughout the procedure and everything went very smoothly! Addison came out screaming her head off - I loved hearing every second of that screaming too after not hearing Josh cry much it was a huge relief! After Addison was born I got to see her and then as she was getting cleaned up some and weighed and measured nurses were making sure Mike got plenty of pictures. We even got one in the OR of all 3 of us. After that, Mike went with Addison to the nursery while I talked some football and got sewn up. A little bit after surgery I was in the recovery room and then into our room shortly after that. Addison came to the room right away and was able to stay with us throughout the hospital stay.
The boys came to meet Addison around lunch time. My mom picked them up and got lunch for them to have while they visited. They were both very excited to meet her and hold her. They each had a gift from Addison to open and after opening presents and having lunch went home. The boys came up to visit one more time while we were in the hospital - that visit they had more fun playing hide and seek with Daddy than really seeing Addison, though Noah wanted to hold her again and just looked amazed with her. I was able to come home on Friday, a nice surprise since I didn't think they would let me come home til Saturday at the earliest, but Addison was doing wonderful and I wasn't having any complications - so that was awesome!! It was great to get to sleep in our own bed and not hear the sounds of the hospital all night - I do not sleep well in hospitals.
The past week and some have been very good at home, though we are still all adjusting to a new normal. The boys both absolutely adore Addison. Josh especially wants turns holding her and is constantly giving her kisses. Noah seems more aware of the differences in size - he talks all the time about her little toes and little hands. My mom was able to stay for the whole next week and it was a HUGE help. Mike went back to work last week and is able to be off this week and next. I started feeling much better after last Wed. when the staples finally came out and the last couple of days am feeling more like myself and moving better. Now I just have to remember that I'm still healing and can't do too much even though I'm feeling better. Addison has made the transition to 3 kids a bit smoother than it could have been, she seems to mostly have night and day straight and is a "good" sleeper most nights going 2 - 3 hours or so at a time. She's nursing like a champ and when she's awake seems very alert. Tomorrow is her 2 week check up already! She also is having her hearing screening redone as she failed the one at the hospital. We're not too worried about that - it seems pretty common for newborns to fail and not have real hearing loss. I will post a link to pictures soon - we seem to have a TON of pictures and I need to find a way to share them a bit better...it also seems that Kodak wants you to order from them to keep your photos stored there - which is fine but we don't tend to order prints too often so it may be time to switch storage places...we'll see!

Hopefully our Last False Alarm

Well, from the start of this pregnancy it seems that Addison has enjoyed a bit of drama and making sure she got the attention she wanted. Again last night, she proved we had to shift our focus to her. Background - contractions have been almost daily for 1 - 2 hours close together for probably the last 3 weeks. I think the last 2 months I have had some at least throughout the day but typically they hadn't been uncomfortable or consistent. After our last trip to L&D just after 36 weeks I really didn't want to go back unless it was really really time. We have been waiting a bit longer and longer and typically it would seem after an hour or hour and a half of painful contractions about every 5 - 8 minutes things would ease up. Kind of a pain in the rear in my opinion cause I would have to basically stop what I was doing and just rest...but oh well. Yesterday we went out to Mahoney to see friends who had been camping and grill hotdogs and let the boys play and such. 4:30 contractions started and quickly I was getting very uncomfortable with them. We decided to head home to see if that would help and I could get more comfortable. By 7:30 the boys had had haircuts and baths and I was still getting very irritable contractions that made it hard to want to talk or walk about every 5 minutes. I was so cynical that this was just a false alarm, but it had been 3 hours so we called my OB - who of course wanted to make sure I wasn't in active labor even though I was doubtful since they weren't stopping. The boys were dropped off with some friends, poor Josh was tired and itchy and not the happiest, we prayed he'd have a decent night! We got to L&D and sure enough there were steady contractions - not huge spikes but very constant and now every 3 - 5 minutes it seemed. IV fluids were started, blood taken, forms filled out, a check to see how things were and then waiting. They told me they would check me again at 1030 to see if things had changed and it was indeed active labor - Mike and I were both very doubtful because there was no change from our last trip and the contractions never really spiked they just stayed constant. So at 1030, another check - only progress was a little thinning (hey it's something at this point I guess). So we got to go home. Finally at 1130 it seemed the contractions were less often and less painful and suddenly I was starving! Of course I woke up this morning with a swollen throat and feeling like I'm going to choke everytime I sneeze or cough - so probably a good thing she didn't come last night just for that reason. I'll be off to acute care later today to get something to help the throat feel better - hopefully very quickly!
Addison is scheduled to arrive via C-section Sept. 30th at 730 am...we do not have much longer! I can't wait to meet her but as ready as I am to be done being pregnant, I am glad she seems to want to wait. My mom will be out Tuesday evening late and be able to finally be here for the birth of one of her grandchildren and then the boys can have either Daddy or MeMaMa with them and Addison and I can have some company for the most part while we stay in the hospital too. I also am glad for a few extra days to get the house ready and clean - all those little things you do for spring/fall cleaning we're still working on. I'm pretty sure for 6 - 8 weeks after she's here we won't to focus on scrubbing the fronts of cabinets and dusting fans and vents, something tells me life is about to get pretty crazy around here! Now to just make it 3 more days without any more false alarms! (oh our new strategy is to wait out contractions 4 hours and I don't want to be able to talk through them at all...we'll see, Mike's not sure its quite wise to wait that long though).

Josh Update...

I just wanted to update on how the little man is doing. It seems that his left tube is out and with the cold and the tube being out his ear is all inflamed. The doctor thinks it is just viral and wants us to wait another day or so before we begin antibotics since if it is viral he should be feeling better by tomorrow or Friday morning. However, we were fortunate to see his PCM who knows us well and Josh's history so we have the antibotic ready and waiting if it doesn't get better by Thursday. Just lots of cuddling and a steady dose of tylenol and motrin for the pain that we are sure he's in. We'll see how he does without a tube in the left ear, if it ends up that we start repeating rounds of ear infections we'll go back to ENT and go from there.

Just a quick Update

Well, it seems that I have posted less and less - sorry! I'm sure we'll try and make it more regular once Addison arrives so everyone can be updated. I am also hoping that the physical pains will be a bit less for me and I'll not be so whiney - making it better to posts once she is here. Anyway, just a quick update on us all. This past weekend we went to the AppleJack Festival in NE City which was lots of fun. The boys had a great time last year and we hoped would enjoy it again. Noah certainly loved it, Josh was a bit off at first for the morning and quieter but perked up in the afternoon so that was good. We went to the Arbor Day Farm and there were lots of things for the kids to do, a trail to walk on and look for various animal tracks that are in the concrete path. Amazing to note the difference in Noah's reaction from last year to this year. Last year he looked at them and liked them, this year though he was searching for them and wanted to use his map to find out where we should go next. There are lots of outdoor play areas and a nature classroom. We had a bit of lunch and then picked some apples. Both the boys enjoyed picking apples straight from the tree. We still need to get the apple pies and apple crisps made up - hopefully today!
Mike took a couple days off to spend at home with us and help make sure things were even more ready for Addison's arrival. It was great to have a four day weekend with him home! Our hope was to go to the zoo or a park on Monday but it was dreary and cloudy so instead we went to a mall in the area that has a play place. Both the boys enjoyed running around and Noah really loves to play with his "new friends" wherever we go. Tuesday was preschool for Noah and MOPS for Josh and I. Tuesday evening it was getting obvious that Josh's cold wasn't getting better and in fact he seemed to be getting worse. He hasn't been himself and is having a hard time breathing from his nose. We have an appointment later this afternoon to check him out, hopefully he'll be feeling better really soon!
Addison continues to "bake" and other than the hour or two of daily contractions and discomfort things are going very well. I am pretty sure she's just going to wait until our scheduled c-section on the 30th. I am very much ready to be done being pregnant and finally hold her, but at the same time can't believe that it will be in less than a week!! We should be holding her this time next week. This morning I went for my last OB appointment and once again my doc tried to get a good profile shot of her on ultrasound...but again Addison was not cooperative at all and had her hand in her face again, then put her arm over her eyes in true drama queen fashion. She's been slightly less active the past few days and though she looked fantastic on the ultrasound and there was still plenty of fluid they opted to have me on the NST monitors for a bit. I love that my doctor always errs on the side of caution and playing it safe. For once Addison was cooperative and stayed on the monitors for the 30 - 40 minutes and we got a textbook perfect read out. She also was moving around a lot during the NST.
So that is what is going on with us for the past few days. Sewing projects are almost done for a bit and some cleaning and organizing finished, boys are doing fairly well - hopefully we'll have everyone feeling much better really soon and then we'll really let the chaos begin!

Noah's First Day of Preschool

Noah was so excited this weekend when we told him he was starting preschool today. He wanted to go immediately...forget about waiting, he was ready right now to go. Monday night we went over how the morning would go so he wasn't surprised and told him that at first he'd go to church with mommy and Josh and then daddy would come and get him to take him to preschool (first MOPS meeting and the orientation for preschool wasn't until this morning so it didn't really work well for mommy to take him...which made me sad!) Monday he got out his Veggies' Tales Bible and read from it for a bit and then told us that he had done church and was ready to go to school. So sweet, but he was so sad when we told him that no it wasn't time just yet!

Tuesday morning went quickly as we got ready to head out the door. We got to church really early to make sure there was time to get last minute details done for MOPS - Noah played and ran with his two buddies that were there. He must have worn himself out, Mike got there at 830 and he was laying down from all his running!
Mike said that there were no problems when they got to preschool. The orientation was short, the director and teacher went over the curriculum and talked about how at this age they learn through playing and that everything in the room was there for a purpose though it might seem just like a toy, how stacking blocks was an early math skill, etc. (I think Mike must have been thinking "yeah yeah yeah I hear this all the time from my wife..." honestly!). Then there was time to look around the room and explore a little bit. Noah I guess acted a little bit shy, but when Mike left he was quite happy eating his cookie. Josh and I picked Noah up after MOPS, Josh was yelling for Noah as we walked into the building, I think he missed him a bit! We got to the room and I asked how Noah did, of course! The teacher told me that he did really great and there weren't any problems at all. Noah I guess didn't want to have his picture taken, even while he was playing. Not a big shock, when he's shy he doesn't always like to have his picture taken. However, when she asked him if he wanted to go outside at one point he immediately said yes. The teacher told him he had to have his picture taken first and she said he ran right over to the wall where they had been taking pictures and stood and smiled and said cheese - so she knows what will work for him! Yep, he definitely loves to go outside and most of the time is fairly cooperative!

After picking Noah up, we went and had lunch with Mike - Mike and I both asked Noah how preschool was and if he had met new friends. At this point he has refused to acknowledge he's been to school or made new friends, but he also was thoroughly exhausted so I'm sure we'll hear all about school tonight at dinner. Noah was definitely happy and playing when I picked him up, so I'm pretty sure he had a great time.

We're Still Here...Promise

Yikes! So it's been over 2 months since I posted? Seriously? Talk about slacking off, sorry. I'm going to do a very short & sweet update at the moment that's all I've got time for - Mike's finally out on the golf course and the boys are playing and dinner soon needs started. So just some high points for you from the last 2 months (and a couple of low points thrown in there too)

- July was awesome! We got to go up to Maple Lake for the 4th of July and spend a great couple of days with family and celebrate with Katie & Shawn as they got ready for their soon-to-be wedding (it's in Oct.). Grandma Lucas was there too! The boys had a blast, Noah loved the water, hated the boat because it was too loud and Josh refused to get in the water but liked the sand and entertaining everyone with kongfu poses.

- We also had a camping trip this summer - which proved to be a great weekend, though the boys did not do well sleeping in a tent and none of us got much sleep at all. We only ended up staying 1 night instead of 2 and have decided for the moment that is probably the limit for us. Still it was a good time with lots of our NE family here =)

- We spent a weekend in St. Louis visiting with Kristin and her boys toward the end of July. Ohmygoodness that was long overdue! We miss them like crazy, Corby wasn't able to be there because of his work. Kristin and her boys were visiting their family so we hung out, saw a "homecoming parade" (for those unaware this is not like in high school but rather a festival to celebrate the small town).

- Unfortunately we discovered that Josh's skin was not getting any better at all. This has been a very long and frustrating battle, we are still not completely over the hump but with short trips away from Kasey saw drastic improvement for him. That meant that we had no choice but to find Kasey a new home. I can't tell you how difficult that was, the decision was easy of course because Josh's health comes first but it was very emotional on us all. The boys did surprisingly well with the adjustment though still talk about Kasey or "Batman dog" as Noah always called her. We found her a very loving home that is very close and are welcome to visit if we wish, though we haven't decided if that will be something we do. I am just finally coming to terms with it, seems I took it the hardest.

-Other than that Mike has been super busy at work but seems to be enjoying it (minus probably paperwork aspects of the job of course) and getting things done around the house. I am not sure he knows how to sit still unless he doesn't feel well. We have a new closet downstairs that is awesome, I love it's functionalness. He also is almost done drywalling the laundry room so that it has a more finished look. We are on the hunt for cabinets that aren't too expensive to put in there, but seem to be coming up short in that department. Addison's nursery is looking good and ready for her arrival. She's proven to already be a bit of a drama queen Mike says, we have had a couple of trips to L&D for monitoring, I can't do nearly as much as I want without having contractions like crazy and have had to slow down and sit. Thank goodness Mike is home and able to help with all the things around the house that need done - I can't even grocery shop alone at the moment...frustrating for me! So there's the quick update...now off for dinner prep!

Did You Know We Live with a Super Hero?

Did you know? Seriously, we have a super hero living with us, the boys call him Daddy, I just call him Mike but truly he is our super hero. It has been a long week, a very wonderful, but long and tiring week. The week before last was a bit draining on me too, something about crazy pregnancy hormones, exhuastion, and Josh's skin flaring up, oh yeah and not having the boys nap - it just well drained me. It drained me emotionally and physically. This past week we had VBS at church during the day and I had the privelage of helping 5 other wonderful ladies teach the 3 year old - preK kids - 20 of them! It was a blast, but it was tiring. Throw in a doctor's appointment for another bad flair up, mom worry about not doing it all, staying on top of the baking and cleaning and I was pooped. Last night, we had the end celebration for VBS - it was fun, then there was clean up. Lots of hard work, important but tiring again. Mike stayed home with the boys - no naps remember, that would have made sitting for an hour very hard! I came home, having plans for this morning to go to a Creative Memories party and visit a friend in the hospital with another friend - Mike has the boys bathed and in bed and is working on the new closet he's building. He tells me I should make a day of it, come home for dinner but make a day of it. So this morning I left a bit after 9 and got home around 5 - I had fun at the Creative Memories party (of course) and got a few goodies, then we had lunch just 2 grown adults with no children (priceless!), went to visit our friend, then stopped to get huge drinks at Sonic for their "happy hour" and then after dropping her off I went to shop for little girl clothes and a new cookbook. Holy smokes! Talk about refreshing! Mike had dinner almost done when I walked in the door, the boys both had good naps, he had picked up, he had made me tea, and even started the hamburger roll recipe (that is ridiculous in lenght/time but oh so good). So you see, he's really my super hero. I don't think he'll like my bragging on him - but he deserves it. He works so hard every day for us, he works hard at work and at home and playing with the boys and making sure that we are all well taken care of. And now, he's off with the boys and Kasey for a walk - so I can rest some since I am coming down with a cold. Truly a blessing to me, one that I am ever grateful for. Oh and as for dinner - he's an amazing cook - it was delicious!

Boys' New Room

We have been super busy since we have been back from vacation - sorry for the LONG lapse in posting! The boys are doing great, they are really enjoying their new "playground" which phase 1 has been completed - slide, rock wall, rope ladder, steps. Phase 2 will be added later this summer with the swing arm, a chalkboard and a roof over the towers. Mike has been so busy, building tons of things and working around the house as well as being busy at work. He wanted to use a rainy evening to get started on repainting the nursery for the boys' new room, so we put Josh in the pack-n-play in Noah's room. They did super great together and I was afraid that if we split them up again they'd hate being in the same room when they had to be. So we moved up the move and today was that day. Beds were picked up, bedding put on, all the allergy blockers used on pillows and mattresses and we even got stuff hung on the walls. Mike worked so hard, I am afraid I wasn't a lot of use with the heavy lifting and I think Mike prefers the hanging himself. The boys are snuggly tucked in now though and doing great for the night!

The boys sleeping in the red room together while the bigger room is being painted (the red room will be the new nursery)

It's a Girl!

I am pretty sure everyone in the family already knows - but we are having a little girl! We are so very excited, though I must admit the thought of doing hair, having bows and needing more shoes to match outfits will scare me on occassion!
We really have known for several weeks, while we were in VA on vacation visiting family we decided to have a 3D ultrasound done for our moms for Mother's Day - what a great time we had. It was really quite neat to be able to experience seeing her move (well at least a little she was stubborn!) with our moms, Chrystal, and Sandy. The lady that did the ultrasound was very nice and seemed to know her stuff - Mike even asked her what her track record was - so far she's never been wrong she said. Well this past Tuesday I had my 20 week ultrasound with my OB and this little girl was determined to be difficult. Mike wasn't able to get away from work so I was there by myself and it probably worked out better as after 30 - 40 minutes of try one they had me leave and go walk around for about an hour and come back. The first time the doctor was able to get the measurements for most of the top of her head, saw her kidneys, and a few measurements of her spine - that was all. She refused to show her face at all and was facing toward my spine so we couldn't see her heart either. The second try there were better measurements of her limbs and we were able to see her face though it wasn't clear. We also got confirmation that it's a girl (though it was very quick and then legs crossed again). I have to go back in a couple weeks to repeat the ultrasound since the doctor wasn't able to get all the measurements still. Mike says that she was not being difficult, just cooperative with him since he couldn't be there and the next time will be able to - already a daddy's girl I guess. We also didn't get any pictures from the 20 week ultrasound, she was not moving all over but was moving constantly and it was hard to get a shot that wasn't blurry and of course she refused to do a nice profile shot. Here are some from the 3D ultrasound though that was done at 18 1/2 weeks.

Josh's Allergies

So we went yesterday for a second opinion . I am so very happy that I insisted on a second opinion. I was thrilled to have answers, fuming at the other allergist for stupidity, and bummed cause well the list was long...
first of all apparently since Josh was tested within 2 weeks of an anphalytic episode for what we were suspicious about it could have resulted in a false negative. The new allergist was very respectful of the first allergist, saying that normally 2 weeks is long enough but sometimes it is not....well that may be but I would expect for the first allergist to take me seriously and not say unless Josh has another severe reaction that we should just live. His eczema has gotten worse in cycles of about 10 days only to be helped with oral steriods (otherwise we were doing 2 doses of Zyrtec and 2 of Benedrayl and steroid ointment every day!) Part of me wants to go take these new findings/results to the first guy and shove them in his face...grrr but that wno't do any good and is not nice so I won't.
So Josh had to have skin test done this time, they tested him for about 16 or 22 things I believe there were 3 sets of tests and each had I think 6 or 8 things on them and there are 2 controls one he should not react to and one he should. His poor back looked awful! he was negative for strawberry, coconut, egg, milk thankfully though. Positives included a severe reaction to cashews, substantial to peanuts (both of which had been negative on the blood work previously...), mild positive to some other tree nuts, severe to cats, substantial for several types of mold (indoor/outdoor) and also to dustmites, and mild to dog.
I just loved this allergist - he listened and seemed to really care about getting to the bottom of things. I can't tell you how nice that was alone. We are doing oral steriods for 5 days to clear up his current outbreak of hives/eczema. On top of that he will be taking a higher dose of Zyrtec in the morning and Singular at night, he also will do what I guess is called a "soak and seal" 2 or 3 times a week (1/8 c bleach in his bath water followed by a 50/50 mix of steriod ointment/Vanicream)
Other things we will have to do at home are keep Kasey out of his bedroom, wash all sheets/linens in hot water at least once a week (which we do now anyway), shampoo carpets every week or 2 to help with dander, brush/bath Kasey much more often, dust often, vacuum daily, keep clutter/dust collectors to a minimum. He also suggested looking into a hepa air filter for the bedroom and keeping the humidity in the house below 50%. Josh goes back in a month to see him, at that time if the eczema is still severe we will also be doing more thorough testing for auto-immune diseases. I did ask if we needed to consider finding a new home for Kasey (eyes full of tears I'm sure) and was told that right now I was not even to consider that, dog allergy was mild and dogs are good for kids! So for now we are just taking steps to keep dander low.
We are keeping soy out still as that is still an allergy but also will have to be very diligent about peanuts and tree nuts. I asked about items that are produced in a factory or on equipment that produced peanuts/nuts if good practices were used to make sure they were clean etc. He was very immediate in his response that no Josh could not/should not have those items either.
We are now looking into getting a medical alert bracelet for Josh (no ammox., soy, nuts, peanuts - you know just a few!) but most of the ones I have found say for children 3 and over. I think we may just go with some dishwasher safe labels for his cups and putting labels on his diaper bag and the little lunch tote we have. I know that cooking from scratch is best for us...we have been doing more and really wanted to do it most, but looks like now it is definitely something we will be doing much more of! As one small vent too can I just say that soy, nuts, peanuts, or produced in a factory that also makes those things seriously consumes I would guess 90% of processed foods (okay so that number just came out of my head...don't quote me) geez, no more easy peezy snacks for us (well except the ones that are more difficult to find I suppose and allergy free since poor Josh has 3 of the top 8...thankfully it is just 3).

Confessions...

Just because I haven't done much today but feel like I should be adding to the blog regularly and because lately the blog has been all too serious for my taste! So since I think some of you may find it amusing to hear of our adventures today - here are my confessions...

-the boys ate breakfast in the living room (it was homemade, nut and soy free that helps right?)
-the boys had leftover breakfast food from yesterday for lunch
-I didn't take a shower til almost 1100
-I put on pjs after said shower
-we've watched Roli Poli Oli twice already
-I didn't make Noah take a nap hoping he'd go to bed a little early (so I can watch my shows before it's too late)
-we're having a different leftover breakfast for dinner I think with mac & cheese
-neither of the boys got dressed today - into clean pjs
-when Noah wanted to take off his pjs I let him
-there are toys all over the living room floor and they are going to stay there until tomorrow

So - we are taking a mini vacation today. The boys have loved it - I think a laid back attitude has done them both some good. They both love pancakes and french toast and banana bread so the menu options today probably seem like a rare treat (a very carb heavy treat). Hope you are all having a laid back day and able to relax at least mentally if only for a day or an hour until the reality of things to get done sets in again!

Josh is a Mystery

Seriously - the child is baffling even the allergist (who thankfully I feel comfortable with and have had several people tell me how much he helped/they liked him)
We are right now playing a game of theories and guessing basically which I don't like but at this point I do not know what else can be done. I went in with my list
So I had my list of reactions - when they happened, what he had eaten, where he had been etc.
Good news - we have noticed taht the eczema definitely flairs up when he has soy (or green beans or peas) so we are still keeping all soy out of his diet (and green beans and peas)
Bad news - his eczema is not completely gone even though he is on his second round of oral steroids; this is odd and concerning given that we are aggressively treating the eczema (when he isn't taking the oral steroids he gets steroid ointment all over twice a day, between those he is slathered 2 - 3 times a day in a heavy cream and gets daily long baths) So the thing here is that it could be a bacterial infection on the skin (we all have bacteria on our skin I guess, but you can be more sensitive to it when you have eczema) but to treat that you take an antibotic in the pencilin family - Josh is allergic; the next set of antibotics is often a cross-reactive drug and I just can't see without knowing that this is defintiely the cause see risking it given how he has reacted to so much lately. Plus an infection on the skin does not explain the wheezing/swelling of the face. But it could also be that he has a mild allergy to something else that he is getting regularly that is just keeping the eczema flaired
Josh just does not fit into any of the normal areas of reactions. The food allergy that causes anphaltytic (sorry about the spelling) typically shows happens 5 - 15 minutes after eating said food. However, if it is a mild allergy and he ate a higher amount than normal, the delayed reaction could have made more sense - so we are looking at all nuts right now and keeping them out. He had blood test done today for nuts (16 different kinds) and also for apples and strawberries (the strawberries were because they couldn't test on grapes/cranberries and these are two berries he eats often...then I guess we'll see if that needs explored further, he eats raisins/craisins often and hasn't had any swelling/breathing issues with them); apples are a fruit he eats/drinks regularly as well and we are wondering if that is causing the eczema to increase and never really clear up. It will be about a week for these results. He did have skin test today done for bananas and rice (two foods common to the two ER visits) and both were very negative - that was good to know.
I was also told that we need to avoid nuts, peanuts and shellfish. Josh is a "very allergic" child and these are ones that can be learned so to speak by early exposure to them and so it is probably best to just keep these out of his diet for a year to 3. We had no intention of introducing shell fish til at least 2, so we are going to hold off and cut nuts and peanuts (which are in the legume family with soy go figure) for at least a couple of years.