Gulf Shores :: Sunday

We started the day at 6:30am. . .our kids didn't get the memo about how it's customary to sleep late on vacations. . . We had breakfast and got ready for church then headed to Mobile to meet the Graham family at their church. After church services we went to eat lunch with them at The Complete Angler. It was very good, a little crazy with our four kiddos, Arden is developing quite the little temper and wasn't in a great mood at first. Stratton's favorite part was an aquarium of crabs.

Ian, Stratton and Kate. The best of about 15 pictures I took of them!

After lunch we made a quick stop at Krispy Kreme for doughnuts for breakfast and Jarrod and Stratton went to ColdStone for icecream and Arden and I found a cute boutique that had adorable girly clothes! We only bought hairbows this time but we might have to go back!

When we got back to the condo we all took naps then took the kids down to play in the sand. It's still pretty cool so we just threw on sweats to play in.

Arden really liked the sand. She just played in it and even tried to cover her feet up with sand. Hopefully it will warm up tomorrow and we can spend more time on the beach!

EAR-MAGGEDON

Last week Arden started running a fever on Monday. Doctor appointment followed on Tuesday confirmed she had an ear infection. They put her on omnicef.  Both kids went to my mom and dad’s house on Wednesday and Thursday since Jarrod and I are both really busy at work and couldn’t stay home. Friday she was still running a fever and so back to the doctor again. They gave her a shot of rocephin, since she wasn’t liking taking her antibiotic and spitting it out at us. Then she had to go back Saturday morning for another shot of it. For a baby with a really bad ear infection the usual procedure is for them to have a rocephin shot once a day for three days, but since the third day was on Sunday and the clinic was closed they told us just to give her the omnicef on Sunday and then bring her back in on Monday for the last shot. By Monday she was much better and they ended up not even giving her the shot and just telling us to give her the antibiotic for another 7 days. She’s been crankier than normal, but she’s on the mend.

Monday afternoon as soon as Stratton walks in the door from school he heads for the toilet and throw up. Great. I was busy hustling around trying to get our t-ball stuff together and wasn’t even paying attention till I heard him! I am thankful that he made it to the toilet!  He was running a fever too, so we stayed home from his ballgame (which is was devastated about) then Jarrod took him to the doc Tuesday morning and surprisingly he too had an ear infection! Weird since he was complaining about his stomach? So, antibiotics for him too now! He has been feeling some better but is still running a fever on and off. He has stayed home from school and got to go home with my mom last night so she could keep him today. Jarrod and I are both so busy trying to get caught up at work so we can be off next week!

NOW. . .I am starting to get the croup and cough and sore throat, I will probably try and get into the doc tomorrow! Maybe I will get a shot of rocephin and maybe they’ll throw in a B-12!! I need it, because. . . .

TOMORROW WE LEAVE FOR THE BEACH!!!

Please pray that everyone gets well and we can have a good vacation! It’s our first week long expedition with 2 kids, so it will be challenging without the added stress of sickness!

We will be heading out tomorrow afternoon and driving halfway and spending the night around Jackson, then driving in the rest of the way Saturday. We are staying for a FULL week and I am so excited! I’m sure by the end of it we will all be sick of each other, but that’s what vacations are for, right?!

Hopefully the next time you hear from us we will be beach-bound!!

First T-Ball Game!

I know why they don’t keep score. It’s not so that they won’t hurt feelings or cause lasting detrimental effects on their self esteem, nope. It’s because there is NO POSSIBLE WAY you can keep score. It’s complete chaos. Or in Jarrod’s words: “It was like herding cattle”. Yeah. Good times.

It was really funny. We were very entertained! Stratton had a crowd to watch him. Jarrod’s parents came, and my dad and Dillon and Brandye came, too.

There were as many adults on the field as there were kids, and they were all needed. Those kids are just oblivious! The best moment was when Stratton started off the field toward the dugout and Jarrod yelled at him to get back in his spot, but Stratton just looked at him and kept on going. He got to the dugout and found his water bottle and got a drink! I guess he was thirsty?! Jarrod was hot on his tail and made him get back on the field, though! Too funny.

He also ran from third base to the pitcher’s mound to the dugout on his second time at bat! Like I said it was really funny!

He made it to first on his first bat!

When it was their turn on the field all the kids ran after the ball at the same time it was too cute!

Stratton’s friend Carson (who is much older and not playing) was “helping” in the outfield and Stratton thought he needed company!

Lining up to shake hands with the other team

Arden had fun watching the game!

Crash and burn . . . .and get a mild concussion.

{Sunday Morning}

The Crash and Burn. . .

Let’s start the story on Friday. . . Friday after noon Jarrod went to daycare to pick Arden up for her Doctor’s appointment (follow-up with the ENT). Well when he gets there he learns that Stratton had just gotten pushed off the slide by another child and the whole right side of his face was scratched. He was fine, but just shaken up and upset. So Jarrod couldn’t leave him there after that so he picked up both kids and called me to tell me what happened (I was at work fixing to leave to meet him at the Dr office) and he just told me that Stratton did a face plant and was roughed up pretty good. Well, when I walked in the doctors office I was just almost in shock, Jarrod had not prepared me for what I saw! My poor baby’s whole right side of his face was red and scratched and just looked awful!! He seemed fine, his normal self for the most part. I asked him about the incident and he kept saying “Ronnie pushed me off the stair slide”, there isn’t a Ronnie in his class so I asked him who this “Ronnie boy was?”, Turns out Ronnie is a girl. He was very hesitant to tell us that at first. Then I asked him if she was new or in a different class and he said she was in the little kid class. Hmmm. So, he got beat up by not just a girl, but a girl younger and smaller than him?! Boy. It’s hard to be too mad after that. I figure she just didn’t know better or didn’t mean to. Right?! I choose to think so.

Friday night I went to a jewelry party at my friend Lori’s house and Jarrod and the kids hung out at home. I’m glad we didn’t have anywhere to be or anything to do, since Stratton looked so rough!

The Concussion. . .

Saturday, the kids got up early- of course, so we got around and went and had breakfast at Sue’s. We were disappointed to learn that they didn’t have cinnamon rolls!! Crazy! After that we ran a few errands and then headed back to the house so Stratton could take a nap. Jarrod sold his truck a couple of weeks ago (I know you’re shocked, right?) and then he had found one Friday he liked, so while Stratton was napping he went and bought another truck. Then when he got back he and Stratton went out to ASU to the spring practice football game. While they were gone Arden took a decent nap and I picked up and cleaned up and starting cooking for the birthday party we were having for my mom and Brandye that evening. The guys got back and Stratton was hyped up! I had been in the kitchen but had gone in the Living Room to check on Arden when Stratton came in there and asked me “Mommy how do I get passed the hot?” I had no idea what he was talking about so I told him to stay away from the stove and that he didn’t need to be playing in the kitchen because the oven and stove top were both on. Well about 30 seconds later, I hear “SMACK” and then wailing. By the time I got in there Jarrod had already picked Stratton up and was looking him over. He had apparently hit his head in the same place again, this time he had a pretty good gash right beside his eye. It also looked like he took a blow to the right side of his head when he hit the tile floor. My theory is that he was jumping from rug to rug in the kitchen (the tile was “hot”) and the rug slipped out from under him and he fell. Now, that’s just a theory. Who really knows why or how it actually happened! He and Jarrod sat in the chair with a ice pack for awhile and I gave him a dose of tylenol. My parents came in soon after and he seemed fine. We got supper on the table and I thought he’d probably eaten pretty good considering Jarrod let him have a hot dog at the ball game, but he started saying his stomach hurt. (Honestly, my first thought was “Oh, no. Not good. He’s probably got a concussion) Jarrod suggested that he go lay down on the couch, it had been a busy day and he hadn’t gotten much of a nap, we chalked it up to him being tired and eating too much. Well, about 45 mins later he threw up. All over Jarrod. We cleaned everything and everybody up and Stratton took a bath. After his bath he threw up a couple more times and he was acting so sleepy and just lethargic. Brandye looked him over and said he probably had a mild concussion, but there was really nothing that could be done. Eventually, after we just couldn’t keep him awake, we all agreed that we probably needed to take him to the ER just to be sure. Brandye went with us and wow. So thankful that we know someone with connections! We got in had an evaluation, saw a nurse, saw the doctor, had a CT scan and got the results all within about 2 hours. They said he did have a mild concussion, and told us to watch him carefully (they gave us a list of things to be watching for) and also wake him up during the middle of the night (I guess to make sure he doesn’t drift off into a coma). The whole event was terrifying to me, but I held it together. Especially on the ride to the hospital I tried to talk to him to keep him awake and a couple of times I had to actually shake his arm to make him stay awake- so scary! They told us to follow up with his PCP on Monday.

I am pretty sure that his beat up face and two “accidents” two days in a row warranted some additional questioning by the staff at the ER, I think we had to tell the whole story to about 4 different people. I am also fairly confident that a child protective services agent was on the other side of the door just waiting to hear a discrepancy in our story! Stratton, poor thing looked really, really rough! He did really good at the ER, just towards the end he got restless and thirsty, but he was still very well behaved.

Thankfully we made it through the night ok. My mom and dad took Arden home with them thinking that Stratton would sleep late since it was about 11:30 by the time he got into bed. Wrong. He was up at 6:30 am!! We didn’t go to church since we were all just kind of tired and groggy. I was exhausted. I got up 7:30 and then went back to bed and slept till 10:30. I think all the emotions of the night before had just wiped me out! We had a late lunch at Olive Garden (Stratton’s request) and he ate like we’d been starving him! We came back to the house and finally got him to take a nap then we got around and my dad brought Arden back then we went to church and after church we had our monthly small group  meeting.

Monday my mom came and stayed with Stratton since we were hesitant to send him to school (where he isn’t watched like a hawk, like he needs to be) and have another incident happen again. I called the pediatrician's office and they wanted him to come in. I picked him up at the house and he and my mom were sitting in the front yard having a Micky D’s picnic. They had also been to Lowes and bought flowers and they were going to plant them but apparently Stratton feel asleep before they got home from their outing and when he woke up mom heated up his lunch and they were enjoying it outside since it was so nice. His appointment took right at an hour. She thought he looked fine and even said he could play baseball. He was feeling ok enough that when we got back home he and Gigi finished their project. Now we have pretty flowers around our crepe myrtle tree!

Whew. I guess it’s not so bad. I mean he’s almost 4 and just now had his first concussion (that we know of anyway). I told him he’s “this close” to having to wear a helmet all the time!

Seven months

7 months old!

Our sweet Arden is, if anything, one happy girl! We are so blessed to have such a precious, content baby girl!

She’s gotten better about sitting in her car seat and stroller. She doesn’t seem to hate the car seat as much, which is really nice! I hate it when she screams all the way home in the evenings! In the stroller she likes to sit up where she can see everything going on, she is pretty content to sit and watch people, especially kids. When we are around other kids she gets so excited! She’ll just squeal and laugh, I think she’s going to be more social than her shy brother! She is sitting well in a highchair and as long as we give her puffs she is content to sit while we eat, as long as she’s not hungry!

She is eating a lot! She has 4-5 6 oz bottles a day and has oatmeal and a fruit in the morning, fruit in the afternoon and oatmeal and a veggie at night! She is a healthy eater! She likes yogurt melts and fruit puffs and has started really getting the hang of putting them in her mouth. Which means we moved up to size three diapers, however she is still wearing mostly 3-6, or 6 months size clothes. She has a couple 6-9 month things that she is wearing, but she’s still so small! I think it won’t be much longer and we will have to move up a size, though. I guesstimate she weighs a little over 16 pounds right now. I’m trying to introduce a sippy cup, but since she’s not even holding her bottle yet, we aren’t having much luck.

She’s been going to bible class for over a month now and always does great! Even if she’s sleepy when we get there she brightens up and usually doesn’t fuss or cry at all. She does very well in church service too. She is content to be held and play with her toys and books or take a nap. I think we’ve only had to take her out once and it was because she was sleepy. She’s normally not that restless. . .yet anyway!

During the week she takes 1-2 naps at school a day. Probably totally 2-3 hours a day. Sometimes she’ll cat nap at night when we get home and on the weekends she doesn’t nap very well unless she’s in our bed!

So she’s still not sleeping through the night. I hope we can work on that soon. I was really hoping to have a weekend without Stratton before we go on vacation to try and get her sleeping better, but that may not happen. She will sleep all night a night or so a week, but for the most part she’s up around 3am. With her eating as much as she is, I know she isn’t hungry! But it’s just easier to give her a bottle and then we can all go back to sleep 20 mins later. So, basically it’s our own fault she’s not sleeping though the night, but during the week and when Stratton is home is just not a good time to let her “cry it out ” and put herself back to sleep! One of these days. . . .

Arden has two teeth on the bottom now. And she loves to chew on things. I’m not real sure since she’s been sick, but I don’t think teething is going to be too bad with her. She didn’t act abnormally fussy or anything when they were coming in. But with us all having allergies and colds, it’s hard to tell for sure what symptoms were teething and which were from her cold and ear infection. She is still on zantac twice a day for reflux and also takes hydroxyzine almost everyday. I hope we can start cutting that out soon!

At seven months Arden:

• Loves (thrives) on attention. She will flirt and smile with anyone!
• Is sometimes a jabber mouth, especially in the car.
• Says “mom-mom-mom-momma” regularly, more frequently when cranky, mad or hungry.
• Major momma’s girl. It’s not uncommon for her to get upset when I leave the room.
• Enjoys her bath time, especially when she gets to bathe with Stratton.
• She is still a little snuggler, she still has to be rocked to sleep at night.
• Has to have a small blanket to rub when she gets sleepy and also does this thing where she rubs/scratches her face in between her eyes when she’s sleepy.
• Gotta watch her, she’s good at pulling hair! Ouch!
• Is content to sit in the floor and play with toys most of the time.
• She wants whatever Stratton has and isn’t afraid to take it from him!
• Rolls around to get where she wants to go.
• Favorite thing is to play/watch Stratton!

First T-Ball Practice

On the way to practice I asked Jarrod if he had a plan, were they going to split the kids up, or work on just one or two things? In my opinion, I thought it would be best to split them up into small groups and have “stations”  where they work on hitting, catching, running, ect. . then they would always be doing something and not being idle. . and idle 3-4 year old is trouble. Well, he said he thought we’d just “wing it”. Ha! Live and learn! It was pretty chaotic. Next time we have practice (if there is another one) will be structured much differently I think! Jarrod has several dads that are good helping the kids, thank goodness! He is going to need all the help he can get!!

Jarrod is in the red shirt and Stratton is the kid in the middle crouching down.

Armor Kids