St Judes

So last night we went to the St Jude's Jam for the start to Erika Birthday Month. :)

If you have never been to a Jam...they are amazing, and they totally benefit St Jude's.

To start the show, they had a mom and her son talk. One night he came into his parent's room, when he was 7, and was complaining of being dizzy and was throwing up every where. The next day, he wasn't any better and when her husband got home they both noticed his eyes were going from side to side. So they took him in and found that he has a tumor on his brain stem.

He had weeks to live.

He was 7.

Well, they called St Jude's and had to make a decision if they were going to go get treatment there. Less than an hour after they confirmed their appointment, St Judes called them with a plane ticket, hotel arrangements, and a car....for nothing out of their pocket.

Now this boy is 9. They can't remove his tumor, so they keep going to the doctor and will have to start radiation soon.

So as they were sharing their story all I could think about was Parker and try to keep it together.

Can you imagine hearing that your child has cancer??? The thought makes me tear up. I can just imagine your whole world collapsing.

Hearing someone's story like that makes you take an assessment of your life and who you are thankful for..

I am beyond thankful for my chubby baby, the kid who can make me burst out laughing with just one little twitch of his lips, the kid who can make my day instantly better when I get to hold him, the kid who changed my whole life the instant he cried for the first time.
 

 
I am thankful for this man...who is my rock in this world.
 

 
I am thankful for this big lap dog, who is the best snuggler ever.
 

 
 
I am thankful for this fantastic group of ladies. You need girlfriends to get through in life, and let me tell you what...I got the best ones. :)
 

 

I am thankful for my family. They are the ones that are truly stuck with me forever..and don't seem to mind?

 

Whom I can't even find a picture of all of us together..which is the exact reason I want to do a family photo shoot this summer.

 

Anyways..I want to go to bed.

 

Recap: Be thankful for what you have..you never know when it can all be taken away from you.

Live your life...

 
Go to the St Jude's Jam this fall...its so worth it.

Wish this crazy amazing lady a happy birthday on Thursday. My steel trap of a best friend...the one who has been by my side since the start of my time in the MH.

Love you E.

Like I said....it's her birthday month....there is at least one more blog about her on the way. ;)

Thanks for last night love!!

3 Years Down...

Our 3 year anniversary was yesterday, and it was our first date in almost 5 months.

Much needed.

We went to Outback and the best part was it was under $20!

I used my Christmas gift card from work. I was saving it for a perfect night...which of course would be our anniversary.

Tanya and Docken were watching Parker and coming over at 6, and I get done with work at 5..so I booked it home.

I got within a half a mile of home when I got distracted by a garage sale. On a Wednesday?!?! I had to have been one of the first people there!

I HAD to go!

I LOOOOOOOOOVE garage sales.

So I made a loop in my subdivision and stopped on by.

Parker made out with a cool Badger book and a PUMA shirt...for when he is 4.

Don't judge....it was only 50 cents!

So then of course I got home late. There goes doing my hair....and taking a real shower.

Sorry Thane.

I found a good dress to wear though, and I actually felt pretty. That hasn't happened in about 11 months now...

Best part, our family picture at the end of the night. :)

 

I have the cutest family. <3.

 

Thanks Tanya and Docken for watching our munchkin.

 

Who's next!? :) 

Milestones Up The Wazoo!

What a day for Parker baby.

He not only found his hand this morning at 6:30, or something like that ;) but he also has his first "virus." AKA...the common cold?

I'm pretty sure the doctor called it a virus just to make it sound worse than it was.

My poor guy.

He is surprisingly acting ok though. He just freaks out when you lay him down flat on his back, which is probably because he then spits up..and chokes on it. Oiy.

He is spiting up a lot right now. :/ Best spit up the past two days just happened. He started to in his swing, Thane got him out quick because he was doing the choking thing, so then he got it all over Thane. Thane came to wake me up from my nap and I opened my eyes just in time to see a fresh wave hit the wall. Ugh.

He is soooo congested it makes my heart hurt. He is obviously doing ok, because he is eating, but he is so wheezy.

Hopefully this passes fast. I don't like listening to him like this.

But until then....I will lay with him in the recliner (I enjoyed our snuggles in it last night) with the humidifier on and pray that it passes soon.

On to his hand....cuuuuuuuuuuuuutest thing ever to see your kid chew on his hand.

Weird to say?

Yup.

While I love to see him do it, and its adorable, it will also be expensive if he keeps it up.

Heellloooo dentist bills from sucking on his thumb.

The price of cuteness.

Pinterest:

Something I should get better at...

Is He Behind?

It is standard teacher smeacher stuff to not compare children's abilities. Some kids are just a little more advanced or a little behind their peers. Every child is an individual and they take things at their own pace.

Yada yada. Easy to remember unless it's your kid.

One of my friends from high school, who has one of the most adorable babies ever, posted a picture of her kiddo in a Jumparoo the other day. Her baby is really close in age to Parker...so I just stared at it in awe. He looked so happy and strong in the picture.

I haven't even thought about getting P's Jumparoo out. His neck is quite strong enough yet. I have this mental image of me putting him in it...and he would sit up for about 10 seconds before slamming his head on a rattle or something.

My nephew's baby, who was also born within two weeks of P is holding a rattle. Holding it. I then promptly went and got P a rattle and put it in his hand. It fell out. Right away.

Thane's cousin posted a picture of her baby, also born within 2 weeks of P, doing tummy time on her boopie. What a good idea!! So I tried that...nope.

It makes me worry that we aren't doing what we should be with him. Maybe he should be doing more bumbo time. Maybe he should be doing more tummy time. Maybe I should be feeding him spinach.

After the Jumparoo picture, I checked my email and had one from Meriter.

Subject Line: Your baby at 8 weeks.

Oh ya.

While he is 3 months old.....he is really only 8 weeks old.

His doctor said he will catch up by 6 months, but its hard to remember.

He can however bust a move.

Pinterest:

Mr Pissy Pants

So last Tuesday I realized as I was changing P's diaper that he hasn't smiled at me in a while. A long while.

Like since about the time I left to go back to work. That is a LONG time. and leave it to me to not notice until so much later....I'm not very observant.

So the rest of the morning I did everything I could to get him to smile at me....nothing.

He was mad at me.

I may or not have cried all the way to work. and then at work. I had the worst day ever.

And it wasn't just that he wasn't happy during this time. Oh no. He would smile at everyone else...at the drop of a hat.

"Oh you looked at me?...SMIIIIIIIIIIIIIILE!!!!"

"Oh...you said hi to me?...SMIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIILE!!"

"Oh...you're my mom? I'M NOT LOOKING AT YOU!"

I am not kidding. I wish I was.

So on Friday, as I'm getting him ready to go to Grandma's I look at him and smile and say, "We are going to spend aalll day on Sunday cuddling and I will get you to smile at me again!" and my little baby accidentally let out a smile. Once he realized what he did, he put it away and turned his head. But it was still a smile. :)

My sister posted a picture on Facebook of him smiling. Ugh. Literally for everyone but me!

So today..that is exactly what we did. We cuddled. Then we boppied. Then we cuddled.

During boppie time I talked his ear off...and he SMILED AT ME!!!

I even got coos from him. Several. He was talking back to me :)

So here is hoping Mr Pissy Pants isn't mad at me anymore....I can't take another week of no smiles!

Pinterest:

This one in for you Katie:

Stop Growing!

Dear Burrito-

You are only 3 months. You should probably not be able to wear 6 month clothes. Please stop growing....all of your super cute plaid shorts are 6 months, and I'd like you to wear them just once.

Thanks.

Love-
Mom

1 day old.

 

6 weeks old.

 

12 weeks old.

 

Could he be any cuter?

My First Week Back..

Went way better than I thought it would.

I thought I'd be strong when I left Parker, and yet there I was...telling his nanny about his meds, and losing it at the same time. Then I stood there clutching him and just let the tears roll. Better there than at work in front of everyone...

I was thankful that almost all week he was awake before I went to work, so we got some playtime and smiles before I had to go in. :)

On my first day back, I was driving to work and I only cried half way. Then I cranked up Eric Church and was ok. For about a minute and then I cried again...

Got to the parking lot, took a deep breath, and went in. 

I made it all day, did a great job, until I got flowers...then I cried. My friends are the most amazing people I know, and they were sweet enough to think of me on my first day back. I am thankful they are so supportive.

As far as exhaustion went, I did great on Monday and Tuesday, the rest of the week?? Not soooo much. 

As far as crying the rest of the week? Nooot so much. All of our parents are great, but them asking me every day how I was doing, if I was happy to be back, if I loved being a mom-it got to me. It took everything in me when they'd ask not to let the tears out. Its just easier to try and not think about him...and what I may be missing.

On that note- one mom asked me how being a mom was and if I just loved it. My coworker looked at me puzzled and said..."That's a silly question, do you think anyone ever says "No..I hate it!?" Ha! I replied.."well if you ask them in the first two weeks they may not be so enthused about it." ;)

Anywho..His picture is on every computer I have to log on to, so that helps a lot. They are funny ones...so every time I see them I can't help but smile and stare for a few seconds. His picture is also on my cupboard so when I have to work on my computer..I can still see him ;)

I made it to Friday. I survived.

When I got home I sat down with him and hugged him tight....and cried.