7 Months

I just can't help doing another month update of the little guy because it seems like he is always doing new things now-a-days, and I use this blog for journaling about my kids.  So here it goes!

At 7 months, Baron....

*Army crawls really good and really fast.  He is into everything and has been found eating the rocks out of our fireplace on multiple occasions!  We have since tried to remove as many of them as we can.

*Can sit back up on his own after crawling.  This is exciting for him, but also means he can reach higher things on his own.

*Has been getting on his hands and knees a lot lately rocking back and forth attempting to crawl the normal way

*Eats more food than the average 4 year old- he loves any baby food you give him including the nasty ones like peas and green beans- really all he cares is that it is edible and that you keep feeding him quickly or else he starts pounding on his high chair tray.  He also loves graham crackers, kix, cheerios and pizza crust.

*Still smiles and flirts with everyone. 

*Has recently moved up to size 12-18 month clothes, but is still the cutest chubby baby ever

*Just yesterday crawled up to the stairs and stood up on the landing by putting his hands on the 2nd step...  it was the first time he has pulled himself up to standing and stayed on his feet for few minutes without falling!

*Goes to bed at 7:30pm and doesn't wake up til after 6am most nights! We LOVE it! Especially when Jackson goes to bed by 8... it is so relaxing and nice for John & I to have so much time to wind down and spend together without kids! 

 

Bear sure is lots of fun to have around! 

*Bear has also been starting to splash a lot in the bath, so him and Jackson usually just splash like crazy together while Bear giggles and anyone that attempts to get close gets soaked. 

*And, he still thinks his brother is the most hilarious person ever

4th of July

We had a great 4th of July yesterday! We started out with a super yummy ward waffle breakfast at the church in the morning.  Then all the kids did a cute parade around the church.  Jackson isn't quite big enough to ride a bike around the building, and we don't have a wagon, though I want to get one soon now, so he just walked near the end of the parade with a few other kids without rides and waved his flags.  It was pretty cute.  

Waiting in line for some waffles

The parade

John & Jackson are back there somewhere in this picture

After that we came home, got our swimsuits on and went to the Conestoga Park and Rec. pool to go swimming! It's been a while since we've been able to go swimming and Jackson and Baron were excited to use their new swimsuits from Grandma Sue.  It is a nice indoor pool with 2 pool's actually- a normal diving/lap pool, and then a kid pool that was shallow on one end and had a slide on the other end! Jackson absolutely LOVED going down the slide with John as well as jumping into the big pool to him. Bear and I just hung out in the shallow where he splashed and just enjoyed being in the water.  

Bear smiling as always

Jackson loved that he could stand up and walk around in the shallow end... he's the first kid on the right

After swimming we came home and all took naps.  That evening we went and got some pizza and took it to Oak Hills park to hang out with a bunch of friends from church and wait for fireworks.  They had a huge and long fireworks show.  Everyone had told us before it was the place to go for the 4th, and we definitely weren't disappointed! After the fireworks show we came home, did a couple of our own fireworks in the street and crashed into bed around midnight! It was a long, but very fun and exciting holiday! 

Eating some pizza crust and waiting for it to get dark for the fireworks!

Love this kid

Jackson had fun playing soccer and wrestling with the other kids... this is the only picture I could get of him since he was having too much fun to sit still

I promise that I was present during all these activities... I'm just the designated family photographer

Hope everyone else had a wonderful Independence Day! 

Doing Much Better

So John pointed out that I need to update everyone because I am doing much better than the last time I posted.  I am able to walk on my knee pretty well as long as I am still wearing the big bulky brace the Dr. said I had to wear anyways while walking or sleeping. It is really hard to sleep all night with a straight achy leg, but a little something called vicodin helps with that :).  My mom had to fly home this morning and we were all very sad to see her go.  We miss all her help and attention tons (and our kitchen, washer & dryer, our bellies, and the oven and our cheerio covered floors also miss her attention too!).  But some of my laurels are set to come over in the mornings to play with the kids so I can rest until my mother-in-law comes up Wednesday to help out.  One thing that this whole experience has given me is the knowledge that we sure have a lot of people who love us and care about us.  There have been so many people offering to help out and make sure we are taken care of.  Plus it seems like everyone we know has offered prayers on my behalf, so thank you, thank you, thank you if you are one of them! It really means a lot!  I have a Dr. appointment Thursday and am hoping to get the stitches out and perhaps be given instructions to not wear the knee brace quite so often... preferably at night :)  I will update more then!  In the meantime, here's a couple pictures of my knee without all the gauze and the sleeve on that I just took today:

You can see the 2 small incisions they made for the Arthroscopy... I am so glad they didn't have to do a full on incision.  I have 2 stitches in both sides, and they used blue thread, which I thought that was kind of interesting... I thought all stitches were black.

And as you can tell from both of these pictures, my knee is still pretty swollen and bruised. 

*And just as a little disclaimer... I know that these past 2 posts have not always made sense or been some of my best writings.... it's the pain meds and exhaustion speaking.  Just thought I'd clarify :)

Surgery Update

As many of you already know, yesterday I had surgery on my knee, and since I know there are a lot of you asking and wanting to know how it went, I figured the easiest way would be to post an update on here since I am not really up to calling everyone.... (I am a little bit groggy and in A LOT of pain).  So, from what the Dr. told John (apparently he came and talked to me too, but I was still so out of it that I don't even remember him stopping by!), the surgery went really well!  He said there was a lot of scar tissue on the left side of my left knee and even some on the tendon, but once they cleared all that out they said the rest of it all looked nice and healthy! So it looks like that was the problem and hopefully this means that I will be able to gain full ability of my knee again.... after recovery of course.  Speaking of that, so far it's been ruff.  Yesterday my knee wasn't actually hurting too bad, but I was extremely nauseous and dizzy from the anesthesia, which was frustrating because I hadn't eaten since the night before.  That combined with the fact that I am already hypoglycemic made for a ruff night.  I kept throwing up and couldn't keep down anything including applesauce and gatorade, which made me pretty shaky and dizzy.  Luckily, I finally was able to keep down some coke and toast and eventually was able to add more food which happened to be just in time since my knee was starting to hurt and I can't take the meds without food.  Anyways, when I got home at first yesterday like I said earlier, my knee was doing fine and I was even able to walk on it a little, with the brace, but then as the meds started wearing off it started to get really painful, which is probably because the Dr. not only gave me heavy pain meds at the surgery center, but also he gave me some localized anesthesia at the incision site that really helped block pain there.  Now that all that is worn off, I can barely put any pressure on it at all, even while taking the vicodin the dr. prescribed.  So I am in a lot of pain now, but am hanging in there.  I wish I could just fast forward through these next couple of weeks, but I am extremely grateful to have my mom here who has been SO wonderful and helpful taking care of both me and the boys.  So that's about it for an update so far.  Thanks to everyone for all of your fasting, prayers, and concern on my behalf.  It really helps to have so much love and support from everyone!  I feel very blessed to have such wonderful family and friends to look after me!  Here are just a few post surgery pictures so far:

Here's my huge brace I have to wear sleeping and while walking and most of the time at least until next thursday... it's so big and bulky!

Our camera is being dumb and won't upload some of our pictures, but here is a super short video clip- taken by accident of my knee without the brace.  I can't undo all the gauze and take off the sleeve until Sat. morning. 

Happy Father's Day... a little late :)

I know father's day has already come and gone, but I wanted to make sure that my dad knew that I think he is the best!  I have so many wonderful memories with my Dad growing up.  And I have so many of those mostly because he made sure he was there and put his kids first.  Whether it was him cheering for us or actually being our coach at all our sports games, playing roller hockey with him in the street, riding our bikes to Irvine Park, eating little smokies at the river, or having spiritual discussions with him during FHE that helped spark that testimony within me of the gospel, he was always there.  Thanks to him I learned early on what a real father should be.  Thanks for everything Dad! We love and miss you tons! 

ALSO, I can't forget to mention that I feel so lucky and blessed because my kids also having a truly amazing and wonderful dad!  Really John, you have been more than I could have ever asked for in the way you father our 2 little boys.  Thanks for being SO patient with them, thanks for taking the time to wrestle a 2 year old or throw him some pitches after work even though you've had a long day, thanks for always being willing to hold a cranky baby as soon as you walk through the door so that I can finally get a break or finish dinner, and most importantly, thanks for loving them with all your heart and for being their hero.... I love that Jackson wants to do everything you do.  It makes my life complete to be sharing it with you! I love you John! 

I love these 3! 

Bear Clapping

6 Months for Baby Bear!

Just couldn't resist doing another quick update on our little Tank....  He is 6 months old now and can now army crawls the right way, which means he is into everything already! He still eats a ton and just loves food, and he still has the cutest smile and giggle you've ever seen.  Also, just today he learned how to clap! It is so cute! I will have to try to get it on camera sometime.  Here's his stats from his 6 month appointment:

Weight: 19 lb. 10 oz. - 90%

Height: 27 1/2"- 73%

Head circum.: not sure but it was 91%

Recent pictures:

6 months and already reading... even if it is upside down!

Covered in food

Sitting on Daddy

And here's a video of his cute giggle.... Jackson loves to make him laugh.  My favorite is when I am driving and all I can hear are giggles from the back seat because Jackson is making funny faces and noises at Bear.  Nothing puts a smile on my face faster to hear their cute little giggles and to see the brother bond already growing strong.  They're the best 2 little boys I could ever have asked for!