Blessed

I've caught myself taking inventory of my life lately and I feel so blessed that at times its overwhelming! I have a wonderful husband, a beautiful home, we both have great jobs that we both enjoy and we have the most amazing, handsome, loving son who is happy and healthy. We have such supportive and loving families and it almost seems too good to be true. I find myself wondering when the bottom will fall out because life cannot be this good. But then I turn to God and fall to my knees thanking him for blessing my family and I with so much. I am not deserving of such blessings that he bestows upon me and I wonder why he has blessed us in such amazing ways. It reminds me that everyday should be spent glorifying him and spreading his word.

I'm reminded on a daily basis how life can be so much harder for others. I see some of my students struggling with things that I, as an adult, cannot imagine dealing with, let alone a 13 year old. I try everyday to guide these young children and show them right from wrong and teach them values and instill a love for learning.

This time of year is my favorite. The leaves are changing, the weather is gorgeous and holidays are nearing. I'm so looking forward to the week long vacation I will soon have for Thanksgiving and the two weeks for Christmas. I cannot wait to have Brandon and Brody all to myself...no football...no basketball...no daycare! Just the 3 of us and some good quality time with family.

Brody is doing so much better. After getting out of the hospital he spend another 5 days at home so that his immune system could build up a little. He started having the big D because all of the antibotics killed off his good bacteria. This lasted for 2 weeks and we are finally over the hump after some probiotics replaced his good bacteria.

He is now eating up a storm, moving all over the place and is enjoying his friends at daycare. He is getting SO big its crazy.

I'll try to upload some pics tomorrow

Whirlwind of a week

Well our family has definitely been to hell and back! Brody has been on and off again sick for the past month but has really been fighting something for the past 2 weeks with constant fever. We were in the ER last Wednesday when he had a 103+ fever only to wait until 3 am without being seen and leaving discouraged and frustrated. We went to his doctor not 4 hours later to be told he has a virus. Well we went back the following (this)Tuesday because he was still running fever and the doctor gave him a shot of antibotic and said he was still battling a fever and to monitor him for 48 hours and come back in if things changed.

Well that evening he spiked another 103+ fever so I put him in the bath and gave him motrin and luckily the fever broke. My parents had come over because I was worried and he acted back to normal. We were getting ready for bed and I had just finished nursing Brody for the night at 10:30 when he started to have a seizure in my arms.
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I have started this post probably 25 times in the past week and honestly I don't have the energy or will to relive the time we spent in Cooks and everything that Brody had to endure. So just know that it was awful. Brody ended up having some sort of infection within his body that was never found but did respond to IV antibotics.

Brody is doing SOOOO much better. He's like a new child and I haven't seen him this active or happy in over a month.

He now weighs 17lbs 9oz and is moving all over the place. He only army crawls but is faster than some regular crawlers. He is a great eater and loves everything that we've tried except green beans. He loves to gives hugs now and will give momma kisses. He has also said "momma" a few times.



Well little man is getting hungry,
Til next time,
LeAnn

I like to move it move it

Brody is crawling all over the place! He's been crawling for the past 10 days or so and is getting really quick. He even hates getting his diaper changed. I can remember having to pin my nephew Ben down to change his diaper because he would crawl off so quickly and Brody is definitely following in his footsteps.

It's starting to get cooler here in Texas and I bought Brody some beanies, most kids hate things on their heads but Brody loves it! He even got mad when I took it off after making sure it fit so I let him wear it during dinner. He's such a ham!

Brody also loves stuff animals, even the ugliest stuffed animal you've ever seen that most babies would be scared of he hugs, kisses and can't put down. Well my mom and I were at BRU a couple of weeks ago and we were looking around when we rounded a corner and saw a giant Pooh Bear. Brody yelled with excitement and just loved this giant bear. Needless to say I went back a few weeks later and got him his Pooh, he also watches the tv show and loves him and Tigger!

Biopsy Results

Sorry for not updating sooner. It's been busy busy around here.

So I went in for my biopsy on Friday, checked into the hospital, get called back and the radiologist tech preps me for the biopsy, starts the ultrasound to locate the tumor and then goes to get the radiologist. The radiologist searches and searches for the tumor so that he can stick the needle in it and guess what?!?! There's no tumor!!!

That's right NO TUMOR, I was beyond thrilled. I did get diagnosed with Hashimoto's Disease. An autoimmune disease where the body attacks the thyroid gland for no apparent reason, probably triggered by my pregnancy. Evidently my body will kill my thyroid and it will stop working. Right now part of it isn't working which causes it to look lumpy. The "tumor" that they found earlier in the week was actually just lumpiness due to the disease.

So I will have to be monitored closely and start on thyroid medicine to control and regulate my thyroid horomone level.

Such an answered prayer, thank you so much for praying for me over the past week, they have been answered!

Much love,
LeAnn

Uptake, Ultrasound...biopsy

Well I had my thyroid uptake scan last Tuesday/Wednesday to try and figure out why my levels were out of whack. This showed that my thyroid was not working on the left upper side. So they asked that I have an ultrasound on Monday. This showed a tumor in my left lobe of the thyroid..they call it a cold nodule, cold being that it doesn't produce or take in thyroid hormone or iodine.

They then asked that I go in for a biopsy this Friday to find out if it cancerous or not. They have to insert a needle into my neck to get a sample of the tumor from my thyroid...I'm a little nervous about the needle part so please keep me in your prayers on Friday for a painless procedure!

Keep y'all updated,
LeAnn

7 months

He's such a poser!

We are finally starting to feel better but momma has found his cold!
I cannot believe Brody will be 7 months old tomorrow.
We've seen a lot of changes this month:
-He is sitting up on his own but still takes a few spills after awhile
-He's in size 2-3 diapers and wears 6-9 month clothing
-He can roll from back to belly and belly to back
-He scoots all around and gets up on his knees rocking back and forth, definitely close to crawling in the next week or two
-Started sleeping on belly this week
-Still no teeth but seems to want to chew on everything
-Favorite foods right now are bananas, peaches, pears, apples and peas. There isn't anything he won't eat and seems to like all fruits and vegetables.
-Gives kisses
-We are working on bye-bye(waving) and he will put his hand up but isn't sure how to wave it, too cute

What's been going on?

Well, there's so much going on in our lives we both feel like we are treading water. It's definitely busy busy at our casa!!

Brandon:
Is super busy at work, coaching is very demanding from my point of view for sure! On game nights(Monday, Tuesday, Friday) he usually doesn't get home until after 10 pm, sometimes not til midnight and nongame nights it's usually around 7-8pm that he's getting home plus he's gotta be out the door no later than 5:45-6:00 am for morning practice! I honestly don't know how he is doing it but none the less he truly is loving it!

Brody:
HE'S STILL SICK!! He has literally been sick the entire month of September. It's been 3 weeks since he first got a cold, it then turned into an ear infection and sinus infection so he was put on amoxicillian which didn't work so the other ear got infected and the sinus infection is still there. So we switched his meds to augmenton(spelling?) and tonight will be 48 hours on that, we've seen a little improvement but not much. Please pray that this antibotic works for little B because he's so tired of being sick. I'm going to give it until tomorrow and if he hasn't improved much more I'll take him back in. The problem with Brody is that he is such a good baby you would hardly know he was sick! He's very happy go lucky and so loving and never fusses. But his drainage and cough tell a different story, especially in the evenings.

Other than that he is great, he is so close to crawling and can pretty much scoot to any toys that he might want. He weighted 16 lbs 11 oz when we took him in on Tuesday and loves the doctor's tools.

Me:
I had my thyroid uptake scan this week and it showed that my upper thyroid isn't working, it did not absorb any iodine. The nurse said I have to go in for an ultrasound to try and find out what's going on but its usually caused by a blockage, either a tumor or cyst, but that other things could be going on besides that so who knows what's up with it! I go for the ultrasound on Monday.(How many grammars errors can you find in that paragraph! ha)

The transition back to work has been harder than I thought it would be. Keeping up with housework, grading the millions of papers we both have, meetings, doctor's appointments, everything that goes into just getting ready for the day and trying to find time as a family is challenging and it always seems that there isn't enough hours in the day. I really don't know how single parents do it! Brody and I miss Brandon a lot and we definitely cherish our time together on the weekends more than ever. We've had a few minor concerns with daycare that hopefully will be taken care of next week when he returns and will be in a new class with new teachers. I understand that kids are going to get sick in daycare and he really enjoys daycare but its definitely harder on me. I feel a tremendous about of guilt taking him there when he isn't feeling well or even taking him and it being the cause of his illnesses. And even my doctor said as long as he is in daycare he's going to get sick but for almost a month straight to me is ridculous! So I'm simply trying to do my best and taking each day one at a time.

I'm so thankful for family! Nana has been a huge help this week and has been keeping Brody while he's been sick. I cannot tell you what a huge relief that has been, I cannot imagine taking him there all this week sick or having to miss work and getting ready for a sub everyday. Thanks again Nana!

We are also going to stay at my parent's house on Monday nights and they always feed me good and give Brody all the lovin' a kid could want. This will allow us to get some extra sleep and since Brandon isn't really home on Monday's I figured it would be a great way to start of the week and we can sleep in a little later on Tuesday mornings :) An extra 30 minutes goes along way these days!

Alright, gotta go! I will try and upload some pics in the near future
Love,
LeAnn