Evening on the farm

Wow the weather has been really nice! I forgot what it was like to be able to sit outside for more than two seconds and not be drenched with sweat! Tonight after work we went to HR so Jarrod could get his boat that was at Uncle Doug & Aunt Kay's house. We stopped and chatted with them for a little while before heading over to my mom and dad's for supper. Stratton had a big time playing in their yard. They got him a swing a few months back that he loves and my dad had set up the baby pool and got out his wagon. Their house is pretty much a toddler's dream. Lots of room to play and run around and lots of things to get into! And a couple of people who do whatever he wants!!

 

Then we walked over to my grandparents house (well, Stratton rode in the wagon) and visited with them, and Stratton had his first encounter with a frog. It's gross, but when I was little I loved frogs. Especially the baby frogs, I liked to catch them and carry them around in my pockets! Ewww- right??  One night, while picking up and cleaning up, my mom opened my drawer in our bathroom and out jumped a bunch of baby frogs! Haha-I remember the beating I got for that! Anyway, Stratton at first tried to eat it, then he squeezed it (it was actually still alive when we left!) and eventually decided he was scared of it and didn't want to touch it anymore! Can you see his bloody toe on his left foot? He stumped it and it didn't even phase him!

Climb n' slide!

Stratton got this neat climb n' slide from Terry and Margie for his birthday. Last week Jarrod decided to put it together one night. Stratton likes to play on it but he hasn't caught on to climbing up one side and sliding down. He prefers to climb up the slide and jump off the other side. We have kept it in the house since it's been so miserably hot outside!

 

Helping Jarrod put it together. . .

 

Oh, this is fun!

 

 

 

 

Bloggy Blues!

I have heard the cry of the masses!! It's been too long since the last time I posted!! And it's only been 2 weeks!! Time flies. . .when you're busy!! We have been a blowin' and a goin', as Jarrod would say! Stratton has gotten much better at daycare! He has quit crying when we leave him! Yay! BUT on the downside, he did get his first disciplinary form for biting another kid!! Ugh!! He does have a little temper and he has been showing it alot more lately . . .more about that in another post. . .

Here are a few random pics of (what else?) Stratton I have taken in the last 2 weeks. . . .

Oh, I think he might have started his terrible 2's a year early?? He has started throwing a fit and bucking and screaming sometimes when I put him in his car seat! A spat on the leg usually will get him to straighten up, but I am worried that he might be a little more strong willed than I thought.

Don't send me dirty emails. This was just going from my mom and dad's house across the gravel road to my grandparents house! Stratton thought he was big stuff!! He kept his hand on the shifter- haha!

Sunday night after church we went to eat with my parents at Cracker Barrel, where my mom gave him a biscuit with jelly! I don't know if he will ever eat plain bread again- thanks, mom. If you didn't know Stratton had my parents wrapped around his fingers, take a look at this. . .

Last night it was actually tolerable to be outside, so we played in the yard for awhile. We have a pretty nice size front yard, but where does my son want to play. In the flowerbeds on on the sidewalk. Here is Stratton sitting in the flower bed- eating mulch. I don't get the allure of eating pieces of dirty wood? Boys!?!

Ahhh. . .washing that mulch down with some juice! Do you see his poor knees?? He needs to figure out the walking by himself thing to relieve those red knees!!

A busy day

Jarrod, Archer and Stratton. . .

Saturday afternoon we went to Searcy to have a birthday dinner with Jarrod's family for his dad. Stratton had spent the night with his "Nan & Pa" Friday night and most of the day Saturday Aunt Jennifer and cousin Archer had been at their house, too. They had a garage sale Saturday morning so he had a big day! We got there about 4pm and ran to the new Hays Kid's store- which was really nice, if you haven't been you should go! We made it out without buying anything, too! But I have made a mental list for Stratton's fall and winter wear. One thing includes little Merrell Mocs and Georgia boots (just like Jarrod's- sooo cute)!! I almost had to buy them but managed to convince myself that he wouldn't be able to wear them for a couple of months anyway so I should just wait! haha! I really didn't even look at the women's stuff! That's what happens I guess when you become a mom?!! It's so sad and I never thought it would happen to me, but it has! Margie and Terry grilled burgers and hot dogs for dinner and we brought Gigi's cupcakes for dessert! It was late when we left, and Stratton was sooo tired. When we got home he didn't even wake up! We put his right in his crib and he didn't wake up till morning! I was surprised, most of the time he wakes up when we get home and wants some milk. He did wake up at 5 am, though. So I guess not having that last cup of milk did eventually catch up with him. Sunday was pretty laid back. I actually got to take about an hour nap! I guess the days of my 3 hour Sunday afternoon naps are over!

My new "do"

I decided to try something different and get a body wave! It normally takes so long to blow dry my hair and when it's 100 degrees and you have a one year old that gets into everything, not only do I not want to stand there and have heat blowing on me for 40 minutes, but it's almost impossible unless Jarrod is at home to be able to spend that much time on my hair anyway! My thought was if I got a body wave I could just scrunch it and go- no blow drying! It's working ok. I mean I am definitely saving time, but it doesn't look the way I thought it would. It's much tighter than I thought it would be. I hate posting pictures of myself, but due to insistent demand, I am giving in.

I got a body wave one summer in college, but it was before I met Jarrod so he has never seen my hair even remotely curly-since normally my hair is straight as a board. I didn't tell him what I was doing either! I love to get my hair cut, or colored and surprise him! He liked it, but Stratton didn't want anything to do with me for a little while! So far it's been nice with all this heat and humidity. I am curious to see how long it lasts. If my memory serves me correctly I don't think the one I had before lasted very long, and I probably won't make this my new permanent hairstyle!

Little Dare Devil

He actually has two shirts that are quite befitting of him these days. . .one says "I do my own stunts" and the other says "Dare Devil". Don't leave him alone for more than a few seconds, because you never know what you are going to find him doing! Like trying to stand on his new fire truck or anything with a little height that he can crawl on, trying to climb in the bath tub, pulling things off tables, chasing {terrorizing} the cat around and pulling her tail, banging and pulling on the blinds and curtains, eating the cat food (or anything food like on the floor), basically wreaking havoc on our house!!

Oh no, he can't just ride things like a normal kid would. I have actually caught him STANDING on this fire truck with hands on the handle bars. But when I run to get the camera out he gets down. I have gotten over trying to make him stop, it's a lost cause. It's not like he can fall very far! We have nick- named him "bruiser" he is always crawling up on something and falling off or running into/over stuff- I know it's just him being a boy, but he looks awful! His little legs are so bummed up! Yesterday a kid at day care accidentally scratched him right across his nose! He looked just awful, I almost hated to take him to church!! People probably think horrible things about us!!

 

And he doesn't "ride" the fire truck, he is either standing on top of it or pushing it while crawling or walking. I keep putting him on it the "right" way but he doesn't know what to do to make it go yet. [Just a note: Can you see Taki in the very back of this picture? She sits by the front door until we let her out. Normally this time of year she doesn't want to be outside since it's so hot, but she will stay out for hours! I guess she just needs some alone time!]

Stratton moved up to the 1 year old class at church last night. They have "real" chairs and not the ones that are mounted into the table, so I was worried that he wouldn't sit in it.  But our good friends Amy and Alicia are teaching so I knew if he got fussy or tired they wouldn't mind "babysitting" him a little. I think he was getting bored in the other class because he always cried, but last night- No tears!! Yay! Amy did have to hold him for a little while but she put him back in his chair after a few minutes and he was fine again!

In other news he is eating SO good! And I am so happy to be buying regular food and milk instead of baby food and formula!

Surgery update

Sorry I have taken so long to update! It has been really busy around here! Last Thursday I had an appointment with Dr. Degges, the surgeon I have been seeing recently. He filled us in on the details of the test results. Basically that "harmless" lipoma in my colon is causing the intussusception (making the intestine telescope in on itself). And intussusception in adults is rare, but when it does occur it is because of an underlying problem, which in my case is the lipoma. It showed up much larger in the CT scan than he originally thought it was and he feels like it needs to be removed before it causes even more problems, like a full blockage or ulceration and bleeding. He wants to do surgery to remove the lipoma that is in my colon and correct the intussusception. I am not going to go into all the details but, he said that this is something that is really rare in adults and there aren't many surgeons with experience doing this procedure for this reason. However, the procedure itself is relatively common and he is confident that he will be able to do it with no problems. He welcomed me to get a second opinion if I felt like I needed to, and I might still but I don't feel like it's necessary after talking to him. When I told him how great I have been feeling the last few weeks he was shocked. He said there is a chance the intussusception could have corrected itself, but he still wants to take that section of my colon out. But, he said I do have some time. This isn't something I have to have done right now. Soon- but not immediately. I asked him if there was any risk of waiting and he said no. There is a chance that the lipoma could cause a blockage anytime, but I will feel it and know it and they will just have to do emergency surgery right then, but there is no way of predicting when or if that will happen. When he told me about the recovery I was stunned- 5 days in the hospital if there are no complications and 4-6 weeks off work! Wow. That info helped my decision to wait awhile. I have a major project at work that is due at the end of September and there is no way I can be off work for 6 weeks right now! But that is the least of my worries. I am worried about not being able to pick Stratton up for 6 weeks, too. It is going to be a lot of work for Jarrod- he will have to get him up in the morning, get him around take him to daycare, be back in town to pick him up by 5:30, feed him supper, give him a bath, put him to bed pretty much all by himself. It's going to be really hard on him. I know he can do it and will do it without a complaint- that's just how he is. But I am going to hate not being able to be as active in taking care of Stratton. I think that is going to be the hardest part, at least for me.

So, they have "tentatively" scheduled my surgery for Tuesday, September 28th. My thought was I should be done with my report at work by then and I want to get it over with before the holidays and for sure by the end of the year since I have met my deductible this year. I don't want to admit it, but I am really really nervous about it. Dr. D has done this surgery hundreds of times and while it's a major surgery he doesn't see it as a big complicated procedure, but I know there is always the risk of complications and there are so many things that could happen that could really negatively impact my everyday life. I am trying to stay positive and constantly reminding myself that God is in control and I need to just give it all to Him. That is the hardest thing for me to do because I am a major worrier! Please say a prayer that the surgery will be a successful one and the recovery time will go by quickly and I will be back to my normal life soon! I know my family is ready for that probably more than I am! Thanks for all the calls and emails, I really appreciate the thoughts and prayers more than you will ever know!