Where to begin??

I cannot believe the summer is already over! And I haven't even blogged :( Everytime I went to my computer would freeze up or blogger wasn't allowing me to upload pictures. And a blog update isn't the same without pics!

In mid-June we went to Florida for my cousin, Katy's wedding. We had a blast! This was the first trip to the beach for the boys. The first day Brody loved the beach and waves but after that it was real rough surf and he didn't care too much for it. Luckily we had an amazing condo with a balcany and big deck. We had bought a little blow up pool to take with us and he spent the majority of his time in that. He also went go-carting with all his cousins for the first time. I was actually pretty surprised he went on them. We only went for half the time and I drove really slow for him and allowed all the crazy drivers (my cousins) to go around us so that there wasn't any bumping going on to scare him.


We drove at night both coming and going. The drive there wasn't bad at all but O!M!G! the drive home about killed me! It was rough

The week we got back from Florida Jaxson got tubes in his ears. He did SO much better than his brother. When we were in pre-op I had told the antheselogist how awful it was with Brody and she explained to me that the nose spray they give before hand to relax kids can have that effect on them. They just wake up spitting mad. So we agreed we wouldn't give Jax that has he was younger than Brody and isn't going through the stranger danger stage as badly and would probably go with the nurse without to much of a fuss. Which he did, he was more interested in the pens in her pocket than what was happening. The dr. came out 5 minutes later and said there was a ton of fluid in both ears so he was glad we got the tubes when we did, if not it would have been terrible this fall with tons of ear infections.

Two weeks after Florida Brandon and I went to Vegas. We stayed at Caesar's and I wasn't too impressed. We loved the Venetian and the Mirage so we will probably stay at one of those next time we go. And there will definitely be a next time! It was just so nice to be us! This was the first trip since our honeymoon 5 years ago with just the 2 of us. It was a revamp/reenergize trip for sure. And a ton of fun!

We also painted the house this summer, well all except our bathrooms and the boys room and playroom. I'm still deciding what color to paint those, it will probably be a Thanksgiving break project.

Jaxson: started crawling, is eating finger foods and is so close to walking! He's around 18 pounds, size 3 almost 4 diapers and wears anything from 9 months to 18 month clothes. He's a joy and such a happy baby. We stopped breastfeeding in mid-June when we both got thrush for the 2nd time! I don't wish that stuff upon anyone! He's doing great with formula. Hard to believe in another 6 weeks he will be ONE :(

Brody: is 95% POTTY TRAINED! Oh yea! He only has problems with poo-poo'ing in the potty. He actually does better with underwear than pull-ups. We went straight to underwear in the beginning and he did really well. I was pretty surprised and I'm very proud of him.

We go back to work next week. I'm excited to start a new school year and I'm hoping and praying Brody is at the age where he will start really enjoying school and not scream/cry bloody murder every day when we drop him off.

Here's this summer's pictures(that I actually took) there's much more on my phone but don't want to download them at the moment :)

Hopefully it won't be 2 months until my next update but I'm not promising anything

Love,
~The Macs~

Whew!

Hand, foot and mouth disease is the worst! Brody ended up getting it on Friday and it was by far the worst virus he's had. He was miserable and today is the first day that he isn't crying nonstop. Momma felt so helpless and didn't know what to do! Poor boy couldn't even swallow and we were having to syringe feed him water and meds around the clock. He could talk, sleep, eat :( At one point I broke down in tears because I felt so sorry for him. I hope we NEVER see that nasty virus again!

ENT Appt: took Jaxson in this morning and he does indeed need tubes, shocker! We scheduled it for July 7th. If you could please keep him in your prayers. We had a very rough time with Brody coming out of anthesia and I'm very worried about Jaxson and his breathing. I know he's in great hands but you hear about these freak things happening and with his rough start, well I just worry. Dr. P assured me that he is safer breathing while he does the tubes than he is in everyday life because of the amount of monitoring they do.

Until next time,
~The Macs~

Seriously!! Hand, foot, mouth disease

Jaxson has the virus called hand, foot, mouth disease which causes 2-3 days of fever followed by painful blisters and sores on his hands, feet and inside of his mouth. He was up literally all night screaming. It was awful and nothing could comfort him :( on the way to the doctor the sores began appearing and the doctor said his mouth and throat are covered. He also has an ear infection in his left ear and his right ear isn't looking good. He's been on augmentin for that since Sunday. I got his ENT bumped up to this Monday!!

Jax ~ 8 months

Happy 8 months sweet boy! I cannot believe that Jaxson is already 8 months, time really flies by with the second baby.

Jaxson is the happiest, sweetest boy that loves to cuddle and give kisses. He's really starting to take interest in crawling and right now he just rolls and scoots around but I have a feeling in the next month he will be chasing after big brother.

He's in size 3 diapers
6-9 month clothes
Favorites: big brother, banana's, squash and talking.

Last week he realized he had a voice and learned to use it. He squeals all the time now.

He's had 2 ear infections, one double, colds and thrush. Other than that he's been healthy as a clam.

We don't go back to the doctor until 9 months so I will have his stats then.

Doing better

Just wanted to give a quick update. Jaxson is doing so much better, the antibiotics got in his little system and did wonders. He is still on the thrush and Augmentin for a few more days. I am doing better as well although it's been a slower healing process. I'm on thrush antibiotics for 3 weeks! My milk supply took a drastic hit so now I will be working on building that back up.

Last week was rough but I am so thankful for the health of my family. I often think of others who have illnesses that they live with on a daily basis or those with terminal illnesses who are living day to day not knowing what tomorrow brings. Sure does put it in perspective. I try to live my life like that, soaking up the love of my boys and not getting mixed up in the daily grind that life brings. It's so easy to worry about the cleaning, laundry and dishes that you overlook what's most important. We try to do things after the kids are asleep at our house so that we can spend our "awake" time playing with them. No matter how tired or sick we are I try to enjoy every moment that God has blessed me with.

I will try and update with pictures this weekend
Love,
LeAnn

Thrush & Double Ear Infection

So 2 weeks ago I had the stomach bug and got really, really dehydrated. I probably should have gone to the ER but the thought of sitting in the waiting room hour after hour just wasn't appealinig to me. So I stuck it out and once I could hold something in worked on rehydration. My milk supply suffered greatly and Jax was nursing often. I tried formula but the little toot refused to drink the stuff.

So 3-4 days later I began having dried, cracked nips(for my records, stop reading now if you aren't interested in my personal stuff :). I assumed it was from the dehydration and Jax nursing often. So I busted out the Lanlioh, hoping that would help. At the same time Jaxson was getting a nasty cold. The pain kept getting worse and worse and Jaxson's cold wasn't getting any better. So on Tuesday we were both in extreme pain and I could barely nurse and he still was refusing formula. I also noticed that evening that he has white patches that looked like cold sores on the inside of his cheeks. There were only two spots that evening. I called the on call doctor because I knew that was a classic sign of thrush but she said it was just a virus that needed to run it's course.

That night Jax ran 101-102 fever and began seeping thick, sticky eye goop from his eyes and his nose was awful as well. So I made a doctor's appointment. We were both diagnosed with thrush. By Wednesday at 11:30 his entire mouth was covered with white spots and he was completely miserable.

Thrush in the mother is terrible. I seriously would rather go through birth than have this sort of pain. I cannot pump because it causes the cracks to open back up and bleed. It's just awful. Jaxson was miserable this morning but at lunch seemed to be better. He is on Augmentin for ears and D----- something for thrush. I too am on that and a cream. I'm hoping it kicks in very soon

If he gets another ear infection we will be heading to Dr. Palmer to see if he needs tubes.

First formula

This is more for my records than anything else but Jaxson is getting his first formula bottle today. I had a terrible stomach bug over the weekend that Jax had on Wednesday. I got so dehydrated that my milk supply has suffered and he's just starving! I'm hoping now that I can hydrate this will be his only formula bottle and my supply will quickly bounce back! I know it's a minor thing to worry about but my goal for both boys has always been 1 year and I don't want this to be the beginning of the end.