In sickness and in health

We've had enough sickness and are ready for some health. Our sweet boys have been plagued with enough respiratory illnesses for a heard of elephants. I'm ready to kick them to the curb...the illness, not the boys. :-) Both boys have had RSV and bronchitis, then poor Kellan was diagnosed with pneumonia. I knew he wasn't kicking the bronchitis with as much might has big bubba Cason, but when he started wheezing I took him back to our pediatrician. A negative flu swab and chest x-ray later he was diagnosed with pneumonia in his right lower lobe. My heart ached for him and I just knew I was about to hear, "he needs to be admitted." Thankfully, those words never came and we were told to go home on a strict breathing treatment regimen that included a steroid, antibiotics and an oral steroid. Poor Kellan looked like he was coming off of some drugs, he was shaking so bad. He couldn't sleep or even rest. It was so sad to see our happy go-lucky, smile all the time little boy not have a smile anywhere in sight for a couple of days. I hated it for him, but I know it played a huge part in his recovery. Kellan is getting much better, still coughing, but no more wheezing. Dr. Ramadan warned us the cough may hang around for weeks. However, the smiles have returned so mama is happy. Cason is also feeling much better. He is as ornery as ever. In fact, as I was getting ready to do Kellan's breathing treatment yesterday, Cason said "I do it" and began climbing into the chair to sit next to Kellan. I assumed he was going to hold it for Kellan, after all, he is such a good big brother and has no jealousy issues. (Hope you sensed the sarcasm.) He, in fact, got up in the chair and took the mask and put it on his nose and mouth. He sat there and did the entire 10 minute treatment, handed it to me and said, "I finished." Well, okay then.

I have some big news for our cute little two-year-old...he's going to be famous!!! Yup, you heard me right, famous. The Urgent Care owner, Lee, that I work for has recently bought some billboards around town, and yours truly will be gracing one of the billboards. I cannot wait to see what he does when he sees it for the first time. Lee sent the picture to the advertising company today, so it's in the works. I'm not sure when it's supposed to be up though. I'll let you all know. Believe me, you will all see pictures of it.

My loves

Paci free is the way to be!

He went from this...

...to this!!!

That's right, we are paci free. Chris and I had been talking about when would be the best time to tackle this challenge, but it kinda just happened. I had picked Cason up from daycare and took the only pacifier they had with me. I forgot to tell Chris to take a pacifier the next day so Cason didn't have one. Well, the teacher said he did great without it and only asked for it once at nap time but when his request was ignored he calmly went to sleep. We decided this was our window of opportunity. He asked for it a couple of times on the way home and we just said "pa pa shoo wee" and distracted him with something else. Well, after we got home he was playing in his playroom and found a pacifier and proudly ran down the hall with pa pa in his mouth and a grand canyon sized grin on his face. Chris said again, "pa pa shoo wee, throw it away bubba." Surprisingly he marched right over to the trash can and chunked it. And that was it. He asked for it a couple of times over the next few days, but I must say, had I known it was going to be that easy we would've done it a long time ago. He never ceases to amaze me.

January?

Birthday Boy





He needed a little help.


Cason and his friends at his birthday party.

Such a cute birthday boy.

Our thunder babies

I love them to the moon and back.

Sweet Kellan

In his Sunday outfit.

Hitting some balls

Wow, where did January go? We celebrated Cason's birthday with lots of friends and family, and he had a blast. Cason is a proud two year old now!!! He is getting so big and talkative. He jabbers all the time. Chris and I often look at each other and just laugh. His sweet nurturing personality really shines when he accidentally hits you and sweetly says, "sawwy." He is still all about playing ball. We had a couple of nice days at the end of December and took full advantage of them by playing golf in the yard. I may be biased but he has a great swing. When it's cold he hits the ball inside, which will have to stop soon because when he makes good contact there is some zest in the ball. LOL He also got a basketball goal for his birthday and he shoots balls throughout the day every day. To say the least, he loves to play ball, any kind.

Kellan is also getting so big, so fast. I unfortunately couldn't keep up with his eating demands, especially since I'm back to work. He's eating at least 5 oz every 3-4 hours now. He takes bottles and formula without a hitch. He's been such a trooper through this transition. Mom on the other hand is feeling some guilt. I feel bad for not being able to provide for him any longer. He's so little and he needs mommy's milk, but I also feel relief for not having to lug the pump to and from work every day. Having to pump and clean all the parts every 3 hours in between taking care of patients was exhausting to say the least. I've gone back and forth with "is this the right decision?" I know he will be fine, he's a big boy!

The Kates' home was plagued with the respiratory syncytial virus(RSV) a couple of weeks ago. Both of our sweet boys were hit by this scary virus. It consists of lots of coughing, fever and difficulty breathing. Cason was the first to come down with it and Kellan started showing symptoms about 2 days later. This virus spreads easily and is very difficulty for newborns. Our pediatrician said we were very lucky that Kellan didn't end up in the hospital. Both boys had to do breathing treatments every 4 hours with 2 different meds first thing in the morning and last thing at night. Each med took about 10 minutes. I cannot brag enough on both of our boys. They were champs at the treatments. Cason would crawl up in our lap and watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse during his treatments and Kellan would just lay there, often times falling asleep. I also can't begin to praise Chris enough. I have started my new job and we weren't fully staffed until this week so of course, I had to work the entire weekend and Monday that the boys were sick. Chris didn't complain, he just did the treatments and went on. He took off the Monday that I worked and stayed home with both boys. I also have to praise my mother. She took off Friday and watched the boys, doing their treatments without complaining and also helped Chris out throughout the weekend. We are so lucky to have family that is ready and willing to help. Cason and Kellan are both doing well now and our fingers are crossed that no more yucky bugs/viruses visit our house anytime soon.

I've started my new job and it is going well so far. January was a little tough with working weird hours and more often than I wanted. Things are settled down and, as I said before, we are fully staffed now so a normal schedule is in sight. I will be doing 8-6 and 10-6 for now. Just getting off that one hour earlier than before is so nice. I still have time to cook and spend time with my family. I'll be working 2 Saturdays in Feb but that is because one of the other nurses has some military commitments to attend. It is nice to see more time for family on the calendar.

All in all, January was nothing short of eventful and fast. I feel like I only blinked once and now it's February.

Take two! Christmas style

Here are the long overdue Christmas pictures. Also, I recently posted a picture post but had started it before Christmas. Well, I didn't realize that if you edit a post it posts it on the original date so it posted for Dec 19. I learn something new every day.

We had such a blessed Christmas. After lots of stress and planning, it all worked out and we were able to see everyone. Cason had a blast this year and now has a room (or 2...or 3) full of toys. I still think there are some he hasn't touched yet. All in all, Christmas was a success!!!

The boys with Santa Clause

Enjoying his new recliner, he's got it down already.

Love this little angel.

Love this picture. Picking up one thing while scoping out the rest of the loot.

He loves his blocks

Merry Christmas

Sweet boys

Happy Birthday Addison and Cason

The Kates Grandkids

Papa K and Nana K with their crew of grandkids

My Family

Addison enjoying her brithday dinner

Addison loved laying by Kellan

Cason taking a break with Papa K

"What the heck is going on?"

"Now, this is more like it."

Us with our birthday boy

Kellan partying it up on New Years Eve

Just a note

We have been without Internet at our house since before Christmas, so this along with having two adorable little boys that I want to give all my attention to is my excuse for it being SOOOOO long since I've updated. I am updating it now from work so I can't upload the pictures, as they are on Chris' work computer. Yes, you heard me right...I'm at work. It's a little bittersweet. I'm making a career change and I'm leaving the ER. I'm going to be working at a quick care clinic that just opened in Ada. The owners are Lee and Shari Ross, who I worked for during college at Shari's clothing store. I also had the privilege of babysitting their 3 children. Anyway, I will eventually work 8-5 Mon-Fri with maybe one Saturday a month. Those of you that knew my ER schedule realize this is much better for our family. I love our family time in the evening and I'm so happy that I've been blessed with this opportunity. We just opened this week so we have be REALLY slow, but Lee has spent the majority of today spreading the word and setting up advertisements for the clinic. All in all, I'm happy and proud of the decision Chris and I made.

Cason is officially in his "terrible two's." His birthday party was a success and he even got to have two this year. We went to Haworth on Christmas day and stayed 3-4 days after Christmas. We had a little birthday shindig for Addison (turned 4) and Cason (turned 2). They were adorable. Cason has also switched rooms at daycare and did so with flying colors. His teacher, Jennifer, said you couldn't tell it was his first day. He is quite the little entertainer still and the more someone laughs, the more he performs. He is a singing, dancing, ball playing machine that is always full of energy. For his 2nd birthday, Chris and I bought new decor, big boy decor, for his bedroom; however, he is still in his crib. He likes his crib and has never attempted to crawl out so he's staying!!! I love the fact that I don't have to worry about him waking up and going to the playroom or coming into our room in the middle of the night. Our next venture will be potty training. We have had a potty in his bathroom for about 3-4 months and have allowed him to use it, well sit on it, whenever he wants. We have tried to not push it on him though. He got big boy underwear for his birthday and when he tried them on, he loved them. One weekend pretty soon, Chris and I are going to hit the training hard. Believe me, all prayers and advice are welcome. I'll keep you posted on that.

Our sweet Kellan will be 2 months old in 2 days. I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!! This time has gone by so fast. He's finally starting to get a little meat on his bones. He's the sweetest little thing. After I feed him, I'll lay him on his back and let him look around, he will just smile and it's almost sounded like and attempt at laughing here lately. His entire face lights up when he smiles. It's soooooo cute. He, however, is not sleeping very well. I'm beginning to wonder if it's me. I mean, so far, both of our boys have been sweet and happy but neither one has slept very well. In fact, Cason didn't start consistently start sleeping through the night until he was 20 months old. I'm not very good...who am I kidding, I'm horrible, at letting them cry. I just want to fix it. So, over the next few days Chris and I have decided to get into a better routine of doing Kellan's bath right after Cason's, nursing him, then putting him to bed. It's going to be hard, but I know we have to do it soon or it'll be 18 months later with the same problem. So, once again, prayer and advice are welcomed.

We are so excited to see what 2011 has in store for us. Our new family of four is ready for some fun.

P.S. I'll post lots of pictures as soon as I can. ;-)

Enjoy

As promised, a post full of pictures. The first of many actually. I haven't earned the reputation of taking a lot, if not too many pictures, for nothing. LOL. I like to document every moment, cute outfit, adorable expression, etc with a photo. Starting with the fifth picture, you can see what Cason got to participate in at daycare this year, although, mom may have had more fun than he did. I loved getting him ready for his "theme" every day. I'm sure he didn't notice anything different, but I had a blast.

All bundled up to play outside.

Sweet boy, love those baby blues.

Our precious Kellan

After our very first carriage ride

Monday: Snow day, wore white and learned about snow all day

Tuesday: Grinch day, they watched movies about Mr. Grinch all day and wore green.

(Half-eaten apple was not a part of the day, you get that as extra, no charge.)

Wednesday: Red and Green Day

Thursday: Pajama day, wore their PJ's and watched Polar Express

(Look at that sweet little face.)

Friday: PARTY DAY!!!

Happy Kellan. I'm in love with his smile.

Our boys with Santa Clause

Mama and Kellan

Always performing.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this picture of daddy and son.

Just want to pinch those cheeks.

Adorable

Brothers, best friends