Play Time

The money that Shannon makes this summer is his play money. Callie thinks she has hit the jackpot. The first week he bought a pool and the second week a new swing set. A company here makes the swing/play sets but doesn't sell them as that would be competing with their buyers. However, they are expanding right now and so I guess they must be cleaning out. They are selling previous year models that were sent back to them because of missing parts, etc. They took the good parts and made new sets. They were almost half price so a good deal. We had an old set that we got three years ago but it wasn't new when we bought it and now it was needing some boards replaced. Callie can't decide what to do first when she goes outside. Chase is warming up to it all.


Callie was so excited to have everyone over for the 4th. Shannon got some old fireworks out a few nights before and they were setting them off. Some are quite old and one went kinda out of control and flew toward them. She was NOT impressed and didn't want to do any more of those. That night she had been in bed almost an hour when she came out and said to Daddy that she didn't want to buy any more of those fireworks "like the one that was trying to catch me" :-) It looked like pops and smoke bombs for us again this year. But she was still so excited for everyone to get there and to do the fireworks. Everyone arrived and she just went to pot. She cried and would hardly do anything all night. It was an exhausting night!!! We couldn't figure it out. Then the next day a sore throat and high fever shed some light on it. A trip to the doctor on Monday said it was strep throat. Then later in the week Shannon came home from work with what we thought was the stomach flu but he is still home today not feeling well. Whatever it is it has really knocked him for a loop. Chase is still up and down on the sleeping front and with all the other last week, I called in for reinforcements. What would we do without moms/grandmas! I think I caught a cold or am just that run down. How could we all get sick with different things in the span of a week. So far Chase has escaped it all - hope it stays that way and we are all on the mend!


If Shannon can get my "all girl" daughter to do this - what will he have Chase doing?

To Sleep or Not to Sleep?

When I last left you we were headed to the Chiropractor for the first time.....that night, Wed, he slept absolutely terrible. So of course I was thinking so much for that but knew in reality that I need to give it some time. We have kept giving him the zyrtec as it has kept him from being congested since he began it and a half dose of the zantac (I was giving half AM and half PM but for the last week I have been doing all AM and skipping the PM dose). Thurs night was not too bad but not good and same for Fri night but we were in a hotel that night. Sat night he did good but we thought he may have just been that exhausted or glad to be home, although that has never worked before. Then Sun and Mon night were good (he had his second adjustment on Mon).....and Tues night great...He slept 11.5 hours and I got up 2 times to give passy and once to feed - wow! I was dancing yesterday. I had taken the day off to take Callie to swim lessons and to take Chase to his 3rd chiropractor appt. I got some housework done and felt great. Maybe we were finally on our way to some sleeping. I said that I wasn't going to get too excited as I had thought we were on the right track before just to have the bottom drop out but really we all know I was saying that but feeling like WE WERE FINALLY THROUGH! I mean I was planning the 4th of July (also Chase's half birthday) and going like mad. Had I done this post yesterday it would have been a great post.........HOWEVER, he didn't do good at all last night. UP about every hour. SO is this just a fluke, bad night, all babies have them.....or is it back to the same old thing???? I am anxious for this day to be over so we can see how tonight goes. I am tired of the roller coaster. We do have another Chiropractor appt tomorrow and I am supposed to call the pediatrician to let her know how the zantac/zertyc are doing. Several people commented on how happy he looks in the pictures. He is a happy baby with a good disposition. As long as he gets rest he is not a fussy baby. Back when we had feeding problems he was fussy when trying to eat and he is fussy when he can't sleep but other than that he is great. This does as least reassure me that surely nothing is too wrong with him or he would be upset more. That is why it being a reaction to the meds kept being what I was blaming the not being able to sleep on....but who knows. I am letting him eat more baby food as he loves to eat off the spoon and not worrying so much about how much formula he is drinking. From what I have read he is getting plenty. He is sitting up longer and longer on his own. So we will see what the night holds tonight........
Also for those of you who have, or know of someone who has, experience with infant chiropractic care - how many times did they go. He said probably 6 times. He makes a good case for it and it really does seem to make sense to me.

Tulsa

We had a good trip to Tulsa. The zoo was hot but no one got too sun burnt so we made it ok. It was a hectic trip with a 4 year old, two 3 year olds, and Chase but that is what makes it fun too. We went to the aquarium, swam at the pool and kiddie water park, went to the zoo, and then visited JQ before heading home. I thought a few times about the birthday we should have been having but not near as much or for near as long as I would have had we been home. I was busy with Chase so we did not end up getting many pictures of the trip....Shannon and Callie took tons of pictures of the animals if anyone would like to see those?

Summer Update

Callie went to VBS last week with Kelsey and loved it! This is actually the third year she has gone since Kelsey helps with it but probably the first year she was old enough to really attend. She told me that she didn't even care if Kelsey was in the same place she was or not since she was having so much fun! The women their even commented on how much a year had changed her. I forgot my camera but the program was great. She said her part and did the actions to all the songs (whether they were her class or not :-) It is at the church that Kelsey's family attends and they do an outstanding job on VBS. Each year I can't believe the time that they have put into it. They did a shutterfly web page over it if you would like to check it out. http://beulahvbs.shutterfly.com/

Callie started swimming lessons this past Monday. I took a half day off to attend the first day but other than that Shannon's Mom is going to take her and Shelby. Callie did great and seems to be enjoying it.

What a busy schedule for a 4 year old but she is also taking Gymnastics on Tuesday evenings in June. We walked by the room on our way to dance classes and she was always wanting to try it out. I didn't want to do more than one activity at a time so I told her she could try it out this summer when we weren't going to dance. She loves it. In fact when I came home the next day after her first class she was dressed and ready to go back. She couldn't quite understand that it would be a week before we went again. She talks about missing dance though so it will be interesting to see which one she picks to continue in the fall.

Shannon ended up taking a job building fence on Mon-Wednesdays so that has made our life more hectic. We both have to be at work by 7AM and he has not been getting home until after 6PM. The extra money is nice but it has made for a lot of juggling and depending on Grandma. I'm sure Kelsey loves having to be at our house by 6:45 AM - she isn't a morning person and Callie or Chase or both have been up each day. I have been taking Fridays off and an occasional Monday so that is nice. I plan to have our pictures taken the end of June. I just have to figure out when it will work best.

We are still trying to figure out what is going on with Chase. After about a week and a half on the zantac, he wasn't sleeping again. So I quit giving it to him last Thursday and we went back to the doctor on Friday. He has had a constant congested runny nose so she wanted to try him on Zyrec in addition to the Zantac before doing anything else. So I left and just couldn't bring myself to put him back on the Zantac until I saw how he was without it. So the zyrtec has cleared up his nose (although since it has a decongestant in it, it doesn't seem to me that that proves anything but I am sure he likes being able to breath thru his nose). The Zantac we stayed off for 4 days. After a couple days it seemed he was sleeping better but then the next couple days weren't good so I decided I better follow the doctor's orders so we could continue on if this didn't work. He did so so last night - normally wouldn't have been considered a good night but with what we have been having it wasn't too bad! So we shall see. I said that I wasn't going to tell but oh well - we are taking him to the chiropractor that Shannon has seen in Fort Scott this afternoon. I have heard several people say that it helped their babies and well I am just that desperate.

Saturday would be Connor's seconded birthday. Last year we went out of town and are going to do the same this year. My Parents and my younger brother's family are going with us to Tulsa. We are leaving Fri and going to the Oklahoma Aquarium, staying at a hotel with a pool and kiddie water park, going to the zoo Saturday, and visiting my Great Uncle JQ before heading home. I was hoping Chase would be sleeping a little better before we embarked on this adventure but that doesn't seem like it is going to happen. Oh well, life has been so crazy and sleep deprived that we have been surviving and not had too much time to think which helps sometimes. I had to go the workshop yesterday that I attended the same Tuesday when I had Connor that night so it always brings back memories. A church lady passed away and her funeral is Thursday. I think Shannon is going to try to go but I don't think I am going to take off work. She was a great lady but I don't think I can face going to a funeral especially in that church right now. I know she would understand. Then last night I had a message from the SIDS network asking if I would be a peer contact for someone who just lost their child. Oh course I said OK. She is not sure if she is ready yet so I am not sure when/if that will happen but am nervous about all that it will bring up. If I can help someone I would like to though. I know that I am in a better place because of those who helped me (Thanks Maria)

Well if you have made it this far - thanks for reading my book :-) I'll attach several pictures to go with it below. Check out the bath photo - that new adventure lately has been so much fun!

Chase update

For a couple weeks he was obsessed with his feet - and had choice words for whoever gave him these shoes.

He has also discovered his voice and likes to see how LOUD he can be!
Well the formula switched seemed to fix the eating issues but the sleeping issues continued to spiral downward - hence I have just been surviving and not taken time to do things like update the blog. Last week it had gotten to the point that he would never sleep over 45 min and I was a mess. It seemed to me that when we went on the prevacid that it was because of the feeding issues and he was sleeping OK. Then a week after being on the prevacid was when the sleeping started taking a dramatic downward turn. The feeding problems continued until we switched formulas so I decided over the weekend to take him off the prevacid. Within 48 hours it was clear he needed a reflux medicine so I asked them to switch him and we started Zantac last Wednesday. No change in the inability to sleep for the first 3 nights but then Sat night was better, Sun even better, and by Mon and Tues nights he was about back to where we were before the prevacid nightmare began the end of April!!!!! But it took a week of the prevacid building up in his system before he stopped sleeping so I got worried that once the zantac built up it would be the same way. Last night was a week and he did not do very good at all. Nothing like before but not too great either. I am holding my breath that it was just a fluke and not something starting but after everything I am having a hard time being positive. Chase is 5 months old today and I feel like we are still in the survival mode of the first weeks home with an infant (but now I have to go to work too). I am just so ready for it to settle down and be more in a frame of mind to enjoy Chase and Callie! Enough whining - I'll let you know how the nights progress - here's hoping that we have it all fixed!

First Dance Recital

Callie couldn't have done better at her first dance recital. I don't think any of the Grandparents could believe that she went right out there and danced her heart out without any hesitation at all! It was great.

Memorial Day

When I created this blog I wanted it to be about our family, not my grief journey. While there is nothing wrong with a blog over the grief journey, that is not what I wanted this to be. However, I did want to post this so I hope that is OK. Because of the location, most of you have never seen Connor's stone and I wanted to share a picture of it decorated for memorial day. I am different than a lot of people and do not spend much time there. I really get nothing from being there. If I want to spend time remembering Connor, I would much rather hide somewhere at home with my memories or go thru his photo album or pray. Yet I am very happy with how the stone turned out and wanted to share....Thanks!