Becoming Bobby's #1*

Bobby and I took a class at church called Dynamic Marriage. It was an 8 week course on taking your marriage from great to "dynamic." It goes through the book His Needs, Her Needs and focuses on the Emotional needs each spouse needs met to make their marriage ROCK! Bobby's #1 emotional need is Recreational Companionship. While we were in the class I committed to becoming his #1. Today was my first step towards that.  We set up a shooting day with about 20 friends and went out for the morning! It was a blast! It was the first time shooting for most of the wives. They loved it and the hubby's loved spending time with their hunnys on the range!

I didn't get a picture of Bobby and I! How lame!

     This is Brandon. His daddy says he can't shoot until he's 11 (he's 8), so he improvised with a stick!
    Creative kid!

 Protecting the baby's ears! 

We came home and took a 3 hour nap with our boy! 

So precious!

What's your spouse's #1 emotional need? Can you make a commitment to fulfill it in the next 2 weeks?

Looking back on Jeremy as a baby. . . TAGS!*

It was hard for me to come to the realization that Jeremy had moved into being a Toddler! I miss the snuggly baby stage (good thing there is another one only 17 weeks away!). I was organizing pictures today and HAD to share these. When J was little he had a keen sense for finding the tags on everything! It didn't dawn on us to take pictures of it until he was near the end of the phase. BUT we did end up with a few to remember this unique characteristic about him!

Clockwise around, ending in the center:

14 months, Tag on a toy.

11 months, tag on the new dog bed.

11 months, tag on the stroller.

11 months, tag on a bib.

11 months tag on a bib.

11 months tag on a plug! He didn't put this one in his mouth!

10 months, JACKPOT! I cut all the tags off decorative pillows, 

he found the little trashcan they were in and was in heaven!

10 months, I don't know where this tag came from!

Little Cousins Playing!*

My sister and her son came out from Arisona for a few days! Anthony and Jeremy are only days apart. And she's pregnant with her little girl due the same day Anthony was due. My due date is the same as Jeremy's! Weird huh?

It was so cute to watch the boys play together! And great to catch up with her! 

Knott's Berry Farm was letting firefighters and their family in FREE the month of January so we went on the 31. My sis and I couldn't go on any rides so we stayed in Camp Snoopy for the boys most of the day. Collette tried to go on the truck but they said NO! Jeremy loved the rides!! 

 Indulging in a good 'ol turkey leg!

22 Weeks (17P Injections)*

This was the 5th injection I've had and this week is proving to be more stable then last week (check out last week's side effects here). I have only had itching to the injection site. We only had 1/2 dose left this week! OPPPS!! I reordered the prescription only to find our insurance no longer covers it! Boo! We will get it figured out and be back on tract next week!  

This week the baby's pancreas is getting stronger! It's almost fully developed. We could see the little hairs all over his/her body! Baby almost weighs a full pound and 11 inches long. 

As promised from last week, some fun questions from a friend's blog:

How far along? 22 Weeks

Total weight gain: 9 pounds
Maternity clothes? Still able to wear some non-maternity tops, I still feel pretty small. But I love my maternity jeans and leggings with long shirts or short dresses! 
Stretch marks? Nope!
Miss Anything? Miss laying on my tummy and the ease of just being on the floor with Jeremy. My hips have expanded 1 1/2 inches since the beginning which is making them pinch a nerve that hurts in just about every position while laying down. 
Movement: All the time! Even when I wake up to pee I can feel the baby moving!
Food cravings: Yes! Randomly. . . donuts, peanut butter, bananas.

Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope!
Gender: Still not finding out until birthday!
Labor Signs: No, thank God!
Symptoms: Just my hip pinching a nerve.
Belly Button in or out? Still in but it's getting flatter.
Wedding rings on or off? ON! I had a ring guard on from when I was breastfeeding and B took it off last night, My ring fits much better!
Happy or Moody most of the time: Happy! Aside from last week's progesterone side effects.
Looking forward to: We have another ultrasound on February 14! I love to watch the baby move around and play in there!

I will do this list every 4 weeks. 

A Day in the Life of A SAHM. . . .*

Sometimes the title "Stay At Home Mom" doesn't seem to fit, as we do not "Stay Home" too often. Today, however, we DID! And I thought it'd be fun to take pictures throughout the day to remember what it was like when there was only one and he was little! It has made me  a little sad that the time Jeremy has my undivided attention is coming to an end. I am just absorbing it! How does a SAHM do it with multiple teenagers? Many, many years from now we will be blogging about that!

Here's our day in a nutshell:

Top Left: 10 o'clock snack: Popcorn and grapes

Top Middle: Taking a trip down the hill for eggs

Top Right: Playing Hide N Go Seek. . .Psst. .  . He's behind the curtains!

Middle: The sand table is one of his favorite toys

Bottom Left: He wanted to switch sunglasses

Bottom Middle: Another snack

Bottom Right: This is how he fell asleep!

YES, we did go through 3 outfits this day!

He went into the toy took and closed the door. . . I found him practicing his balancing!

This was a little earlier in the month. HE is decorating boxes for Papa Bear & Grandma Bear and Uncle Dillin who is on a deployment with the USMC! 

21 Weeks (17P Injections)*

We are past 1/2 way. This was the 4th injection I have received. It hurt going in this week. I could feel the  warmth of the solution. It could be because we had to microwave it for 10 seconds, 4 times to get the crystals to dissolve, so it was rather warm. BUT the tenderness didn't last as long this week. I get my injections on Tuesdays.

Wednesday was a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day! Have you heard of that book? Haha, describes my day! I didn't realize it until 10pm that it was probably a side effect from the 17P! I couldn't get out of a funk of emotions that made me feel like I was worthless, not appreciated, a bad mommy for leaving a sick Jeremy (see here for the details) while I went to work on some things at the preschool (Even though I left him with Bobby!), a bad wife for leaving the sick babe with him, making him cancel his plans for the day, a lousy friend because I didn't want to have the bible study we host (Plus J was sick so we couldn't host anyway but I didn't even want to go to the back up place, at our best friend's house). . . . I can go on and on.
Bobby decided to go to Bible Study, it ends at 8pm, when 9pm rolled around, he wasn't home or responding to my texts. So, like any sane, normal wife would, I called him, to make sure he "wasn't in a ditch dying." Those were my exact words! Man, it sounds ridiculous. I am so blessed to have such a forgiving husband! He thought it was absurd for me to think that (it was, I admit) I was instantly more angry. He doesn't know that I am all "emotional," I don't even realize it yet! He assured he was still at the O'Rafferty's and would be heading home soon.  We got off the phone (peacefully) and I cried! Now, I am not a crier. I don't cry at movies. It takes A LOT for me to cry! And I just broke down! UGH! I calm myself down. Decided to finish watching the Grey's Anatomy until he got home. I was in the middle of and start balling again! Bobby walks in and is wondering what the heck is going on! At this point, I realize "I'm emotional." LIGHT BLUB! I bet this is a side effect of the injection! They said this could happen! I tell him about my epiphany! He is super intrigued and keeps asking me questions. 

I know this is a lot of detail but all to show you that I was being irrational. It was so foreign to me and Bobby. And I was frustrated that I couldn't get over it. My mood was much better the next morning. I hope that was the only and last time it happens!

We are now measuring from head to toe (before 21 weeks they measure crown to rump). Baby is 3/4 of an inch long, 10.5 ounces, the size of a carrot! Eyelids and eye brows are visible now! I feel him/her move ALL the time! We have a very active little carrot! I don't feel larger. I'm not too uncomfortable. I have had a pinched something in my right hip/butt, it comes and goes. 

That's about all i have for this week. I saw a list of changes on a friend's blog I will add that next week. Hope everybody is having a fabulous week! XOXO

A Sick Little Boy!*

This may be a bit boring and detailed for most of you BUT I know this will be a month of my life I will want to look back on when the kids are grown.......

It all started 3 weeks ago with a morning filled with 7 diapers (before 10 am)! So,I think, "Ok, Jeremy has the stomach flu." It lasted 3 days... not quiet as bad as 7 diapers but I still needed to be on top of him and change him ASAP!

About a week later, he developed a cough. *sigh* After 3 days of a painful cough we took a trip to urgent care (I prefer our network's Urgent Care than the Doctor's office. We got in and out and had the prescription in our hands within an hour! Although, I DO love our doctor, sometimes the wait is just too long!)
Diagnosis: Turns out my little boy has a throat & ear infection, along with chest congestion.
Treatment: Antibiotics for 5 days, humidifier at night, and lots of lovin! If he is not better in 5 days, go in to see our Doctor.

Day 5 rolls around and he is still sick!  But it's Saturday, so we wait until Monday morning.
Diagnosis: He still has the ear and throat infection, and his chest congestion has turned into bronchitis.
Treatment: Another round of super strong antibiotics and Prednisone for 5 days. Continue with humidifier.
**Note: By this time we have started construction on Jeremy's room to put in a new window. So he has been sleeping in our room in a play pen. He wakes up every night at about 2am wanting to sleep in our bed. We let him. So, now we are on a habit of him sleeping with us and us not really sleeping because he is such a wiggle worm! But we can't let him cry it out while he is IN our room, then nobody would sleep! We will break this habit when his room is finished.

On day 3, the antibiotics are giving him diarrhea so bad he has developed a rash with in hours that's blistering! He screams when I change his diaper. One of us has to hold him down so we can clean his little bum. Wipes hurt so, we use a wash cloth. Ahh Poor Baby boy! He is coughing but only at night. Another trip to Urgent Care!
Diagnosis: Diarrhea is a common side effect for all antibiotics from the ear & throat infection and bronchitis. Doctor thinks the coughing at night is due to allergies.

Treatment: Rx of diaper cream for the rash, discontinue antibiotics because he has now had 8 days of them and his symptoms are gone. For allergies, Benedryl is the morning and Claritin in the evening for 5 days. Continue the Predinisone for 2 more days. Keep the humidifier going. 

Now the humidifier has decided to be difficult and only work 1/2 the time! ARG! Can we get a break? "Yes, Kierra the break is that you have great health insurance to take care of your sick little boy."

Where was I? . . . . We are on day 18 of all kinds of sicknesses! At this point, I'm battling putting more drugs into his body vs just wanting him to feel better and get healthy! We have not had to deal with a sick child often. He has been a pretty healthy baby!  We decide to go with the allergy plan but only stick with it for 2 days. We feel like Jeremy has been showing great signs of improvement and back to himself. We continue with the diaper cream until the rash is completely gone. 

So, he's healthy. . . we are over the hump right? We can reschedule all the play dates and dinner at people's houses we had to cancel on while J was sick, right? Ok, let's do it. . . Get back on our routine.

Not 3 days later. . . We are up at 3am with a little boy who us throwing up every hour! *sigh* 

There is this pain that tugs at my heart strings when there is NOTHING I can do to make my son feel better. After over 20 days of miserable sickness, of every kind I don't know what to do to make him feel better. I hold him and comfort him as best I know how but it still doesn't feel like it's enough. By the mid afternoon the diarrhea is back and a fever is added to it. Bobby was home with him for most of the morning being the best Daddy ever! It's 10pm and I think he is feeling better. He fell asleep on my chest tonight, which is such a great reminder that my job as a Mommy is a blessing that I treasure so very much. 

I absolutely love the snuggles he gives when he is sick. . . .