Weekend Project

A big thanks goes out to my parents who bought us ten pallets of sod for our back"yard". My dad wanted Brody to have a yard to play in...of course. With the help of my brother and a few beers we managed to lay eight pallets Saturday and finished the last two up early this morning. Again thanks so much to my parents!!

This was our backyard when we moved in. Not much to talk about. The builder put in the fence before we moved in. But he did not sod....a project that was to come.This is the view of the back porch where the patio and flowerbeds will be. The pallets of sod. They are huge when you get up close! Thank goodness my brother Michael came to help us. Ken and I were moving slowly by the time lunchtime came around.
Brody supervised the project.
Supervising is hard work!

This will be where the patio and flowerbeds will be.
Michael and Ken take a much needed beer break as Brody snoozes.

Ken waters the sod. We're finished!!

Ken admires all the hard work we did and how great his yard looks. Anyone who knows Ken, knows that it has been killing him to get some grass and landscaping in his yard. Now we just have to build the patio and make our flowerbeds. Its going to look great by summertime!

Update

We took Brody in for the Pyloric Stenosis test yesterday. They did a sonogram and ruled P.S. out. I was devastated. I know its strange to wish your child ill, but even the doctors were hoping for it. The surgery is fairly easy and would have meant immediate results. We went back to Dr. Jones and he said Brody has the most severe case of reflux he's seen in over twenty years. He put Brody on Prevacid and referred us to a G.I. specialist to see if there is anything else that could be causing him to throw up so much. We are doing pretty well this morning. He threw up his 5:00 bottle but kept down both the 7:00 and 9:00 ones. All we can really do now is pray that he will quickly grow out of this and start to feel better. Thanks to everyone who has been thinking about and praying for Brody. We love all of you!

Enough is Enough!

Today I have reached my limit. I went to pick Brody up from daycare and they said he threw up two out of three bottles today. I asked how bad was it...as if I didn't already know. They said it looked like his entire bottle and was projectile. After talking with Kim, I just realized that I have to make the doctors listen to me. We have already been going for weekly weight checks because of the frequent vomiting. He has gained two ounces in 4 weeks. We have an appointment tomorrow at 3:30 with Dr. Jones. I want him to give me a referral to the G.I. specialist and see about ruling out Pyloric Stenosis. I read about it online and he seems to fit many of the symptoms. Of course, some of the same symptoms are reflux too. It seems to be getting progressively worse and he is only getting two or three bottles a day sometimes. And now that they have cut how much we give him in half, he really is only keeping down about 8-10 oz a day. And that's on a good day.
I went to my parent's house last night for dinner. We had finished giving him cereal from a spoon and cereal in his bottle. I sat down to eat dinner, constantly glancing over my shoulder to see if he had thrown up. After only two bites of my hamburger he had thrown up. Uhhh! I just feel in my heart something is not right. Even if it is reflux, there has to be something more we can do. We sit every night with a large bath towel and wait for it. He is so miserable, especially at night. I pray every day that something will change and he will get better. It may be something he has to just grow out of, and if it is please pray for it to be speedy. It so hard to watch someone you love so much, go through this every day.

Easter

We had a great time celebrating Brody's first Easter. We didn't do the whole Easter bunny thing this year but his great aunt sent him the cutest onesie. Thanks Lisa!

We stopped by and saw my parents and my sister before she left. Then we rode to Clinton to see Ken's sister and brother and their families. Ford, Ken's brother, was putting together a swingset for his son Connor. When we arrived, I thought there was no way all that was getting together in one afternoon, but they managed to get it done and eat dinner. I was very impressed and the kids loved it! I can't wait until Brody will be able to play like Connor and Evan. But Brody still had a blast with his cousin, Ryan. Ryan was born the day after Brody. How awesome is it to have your cousin that is just a day a part from you? You know those guys are going to have so much fun growing up together.

Brody and Ryan playing together on their mat.

Evan and Connor playing like they do...rough! Boys will be boys.

Say 'Cheese'!

I just had to put some pictures of Brody cheesing it up for the camera. How cute is he?? He looks like he is thinking hard about something...Must have been funny. I thought this was the cutest outfit. I bought it in 0-3 and put his shorts on and as soon as I picked him up, they fell off of him. I went back and got the newborns and those seem to work much better. Looks like his daddy in this picture.

Family Weekend

The holidays are always nice because its a guarenteed family weekend. With Lauren and Michael off at school, you never know when they are going to decide to come home. Of course, having Brody, they seem to grace our presence much more often these days. Lauren brought her friend, Erin, home with her this weekend. Brody has been much fussier than normal because of his cold. Lauren and Erin didn't waste anytime jumping in and helping out. Baby boy is knocked out!

Saturday night he went all night without throwing up! First night in over a month....YAY! That didn't stop him from trying his best not to go to sleep though. After a bottle and rocking with Aunt Lauren, he finally crashed out for the night.

Saturday, we took Brody shopping and had dinner at my parents house. They have been working every weekend landscaping their yard and we couldn't resist a photo op out by the pool. I can't wait to get out their this summer!

"Lay" Date

"Lay" Date

Brody had his first play date with his friends Summer and Tyler. We really should call it a "lay" date because all the boys did was lay around. It was fun to see the girls again and to get the babies together. Its hard to believe Summer is already seven months old! She did most of the entertaining. Brody was mesmerized by Tyler's Baby Einstein mat. He didn't take his eyes off of it the whole time he was laying on it. We had a blast.

After the play date, we met some more friends, Crystal and Adair, for lunch at Cozumel. Our friend Adair moved to B'ham last year and came back for a visit. It was so good to see her! Brody christened the two of them right in when he threw up at the table. Luckily for them, I was holding him and took most of the hit. I need to start packing a bag for me. Brody had clothes to change into, but I had to stay covered in smelly formula. But that didn't stop us from having a great time catching up. Once it looked like Brody was feeling better, we posed for a photo op! How cute!

Our First Cold

It only took 5 days of daycare for Brody to catch his first cold. He can't seem to figure out that he can breathe out of his mouth. He has to sleep in his seat in his crib so he can breathe a little better. After a night of fussing, he finally nodded off this morning. Thank goodness.

Funtime

Brody loves his new playmat. It's the only place he wants to be.

Last Resort

I think we have finally had enough. Enough of the throwing up, changing clothes, screaming, and just plain exhaustion! After listening to Brody scream for an hour, we decided to go for a ride to calm him down. All of a sudden we heard him coughing and then starting to smell something funny. We were by my parents house and decided to pull in and check it out. Brody had thrown up his last bottle. We changed him and cleaned his car seat and he seemed better. He even started acting hungry and took another bottle. We visited for awhile and decided we needed to get on home. He was buckled in his car seat and got sick again. It was like a faucet that just wouldn't turn off! Finally after getting him and his seat cleaned up, we realized he was out of clothes. So he had to make the trip home in just his diaper. He didn't seem to mind and actually fell asleep. We made a quick call to our friend Kim and decided there was no time like the present to put him on Nutramagen. He ate his whole bottle and slept the entire night! He has been great all day today. Hopefully he will keep this up. The true test will come tonight.

Reunited!

Bailey and Abby are back together again! We dogsat this weekend for Kim and Rob. Bailey was so excited to see her friend again. It makes me think we should get another dog for her.

Then I quickly remember....we have a new friend for her. Brody! They carefully watched over him the entire weekend. What great guard dogs!

Smiles

I got out of the shower this morning and went to check on Brody who was supposed to be in his crib asleep. Instead, I find him just grinning away. Wish I knew what had him so tickled. Precious!!

Breathing A Little Easier

As a new mom, I am always asking the question, "Am I doing the right thing for Brody?" I think everyone goes through that with the first child. Always second guessing myself, listening to the thousands of suggestions from how to hold him to which bottles to use. He is almost two months old and the one thing I think I am finally starting to understand is you just have to "go with your gut". Today I finally feel like I can breath a little easier. I took Brody back to UMC today for a CT Scan and an appointment with a pediatric neurosurgeon to check for craniosenostenosis (closing of the fontanel) and hydrocephalus (fluid on the brain), both of which I had and are hereditary. It was the longest two hours, but the doctor came back and said that he was clear of both! We are not 100% out of the water, but now his pediatrician can monitor his head growth with each visit and let us know if anything is becoming abnormal. I was actually praised for taking things into my own hands and staying on something that could possibly be life threatening. Wow, I feel like we as parents, are actually doing something right. And better than that, Brody's okay.

A New Day

Thank goodness days only last 24 hours. Yesterday was definitely a rough one. Brody had to go to Batson Children's Hospital at UMC to have X-Rays done. The trip did not start out well when I had to park in the parking garage and couldn't figure out how to work the stroller. I carried him and his carrier across the parking garage, into the hospital and down to the basement. My arms are so sore today! The X-Rays themselves were not the easiest things to accomplish with a seven week old. They had to tape his hands and feet down just to get the picture. He screamed the entire hour. After the X-Rays, we met my mom for lunch and I had time to calm down.

Once we got home, I had a few hours to clean the house and get myself ready for my sister-in-law's baby shower. I had hesitation about taking Brody, just from how the morning had gone. I brought him anyway (really should start listening to that mother's intuition) and it was rough! He started out great. I fed him and shortly after, came the bloodcurdling screams, right about the time Elizabeth was trying to open her presents. Now I know I have always said a crying baby doesn't bother me. I never understood why mom's would whisk their children off in a hurry just when the party was getting good. Last night I saw the light. After gas drops, changing his diaper and his clothes, rocking him, and passing him off to grandma, I decided it was time to go. We both cried the entire way home.

But for the very first time, Brody slept through the entire night without a bottle! I knew when I woke up this morning and the sun was shining, it was a new day. A fresh start. And he woke up smiling! Thank goodness for new days.