Wordless Wednesday

Mom Update 2-23-10

MOM IS HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! After 54 straight days in the hospital at Baylor, Mom (and Dad) got to come home tonight! We are so excited to have them home!

I am not sure what all is to come. I am quite sure mom will be receiving physical therapy a few times a week at home. Mom still remains on oxygen, but seems to be doing well with her breathing as long as she has her oxygen. She is gaining a little more strength each day. This will continue to be a long road to recovery, but we are so excited to have her home.

Thank you for continuing to pray for her!

Ready to go Turkey Hunting!

Hey Daddy and Granddaddy...



My camo hat finally fits me, so I am ready for another hunting trip. Can we go turkey hunting soon?

Love,
Hayden

Mom Update 2-17-10

An update is way past due! Last week when I updated, Mom had just been moved to the Institute of Rehabilitation at Baylor. After being there less than two days, they moved her to the hospital because of her breathing...or inability to do just that. She was really struggling and gasping at times. Her oxygen levels were staying pretty much normal. But, she just felt like she couldn't breathe most of the time. If she had to get up or move around for any reason, she just got so exhausted and would take a long time to catch her breath to even talk to you. So, they put her back on her oxygen and on quite a bit actually. Then even ended up having her use a mask because the nose piece wasn't doing the trick either.

So...after being back in the "hospital" for a week, she is doing better. She is getting up some and walking each day. They are still trying to find a "cause" for her breathing problems. They are still working to rid fluid from her body. She has lost between 80 and 90 pounds in a month in a half. She weighs less than me now! It seems so crazy to me that she has lost that much weight and she still needs to get fluid off. She is still retaining some fluid in her legs and feet and around her back area. But, it is so much better than it was!! They are looking into her liver to see if that might be causing the fluid problem now. After doing an echo cardiogram, they said her heart is doing great. YEA!!!!

We are hoping and praying for continued fluid loss and her strength to get up and walk and move around more. Soon, she will be able to start using her arms (not suppose to use them for 6 weeks after surgery), so hopefully this will help too.

I know her and Daddy are READY to be home! This is an understatement. They ARE WAY PAST ready to be home!

Thank you for continuing to pray!

10 months!

Happy 10 Months Hayden Luke! (a couple of days late) Only two more months until you turn one year old! Mommy needs to get busy planning a PAR-T!



What is Hayden up to?

Crawling everywhere and is lightening fast!! He can get anywhere and into anything! He especially loves the dog food and water bowls. :-) He even has had a few tastes. Believe it or not, he keeps going back for more!

Knock on wood, he hasn't learned how to open the cabinets yet. It is probably right around the corner!

Digging in the fridge! Ranch, ketchup, or hot sauce anyone?


Pulling up on everything...including the toilet! UHK!


He thinks it's super fun to bang on the lid.


I have really seen a change this month in Hayden's attention span during independent play. He is playing for longer periods of time without needing assistance or attention.


He loves, loves, loves his Learn and Groove music table!


Loves shadows. Seriously, I make things with my hands that project onto the wall and he will sit and watch it forever. He also will crawl and try to "get" his shadow.

A few weeks ago he started shaking his head no. I got so tickled when he did this the first time. He doesn't particularly know it means "no". Now he does it and closes his eyes while he is shaking his head and just laughs. It is so darn cute!

Talks, talks, talks! At times, I feel like he is repeating things we are saying. But, honestly, who knows! He will repeat or say Momma and Dada quite often.

Waves bye, bye.

Eats great with his new two top teeth! Ha! Will eat anything you give him! A few new things we have tried recently are kiwi, grilled cheese, graham crackers, and squash casserole. In reality, if we are eating something and I think he might could eat it, I let him try it. Rice is one thing he has had a hard time with. We have tried it a few times but I guess because it really doesn't melt or "chew" up easily. He still nurses about every 4 hours during the day.

I have also seen a huge change in his ability to use his sippy cup. He has been able to use the sippy cup for several months, but would still choke on it quite a bit. I think a big part of this is we changed from a Nuby to a Playtex and it has worked sooooo much better! He still just drinks water out of the cup. We haven't introduced juice and don't plan to for a few more months. I do plan on starting to use the sippy instead of a bottle of milk if needs to take one for some reason.

Sleep...no change, about the same. Still up every 3-5 hours at night. I am determined to work on this soon! :-) Maybe tomorrow night?

I have to say that this age is one of or maybe my favorite. His little personality is really starting make its appearance. He is so much fun!

We love you Hayden!

Just for Fun...

Just for fun...1 year ago! 2 months to go!


And now...1 year later...we have this precious little boy!

Things I love...

I have seen many similar posts lately listing simple pleasures or things you love. I think it is such a fun idea (especially around Valentine's Day), so I thought I would list a few (ok, A LOT) of things I love! Thanks Amy, Lisa, and Pioneer Woman for the idea! I loved reading your lists!!

I LOVE...
My husband
My baby boy
Our family
Hayden’s laugh
Comments on my blog
Kids
Long talks with friends
Sweet Tea
Being a wife
Getting "real" mail
Summer nights on the back porch with my husband
Strawberry margarita from On The Border
Hanging out at Mom and Dad’s and just talking
Cooking on the grill
Shopping
Love notes
Watching Jeff with Hayden
Warm Krispy Kreme donuts
Camping
Canton
Fabric Softener
Wearing flip flops
Get-togethers with friends
TJ Maxx, Home Goods, Ross, and Marshalls
Pedicure
Watching our wedding video
Meeting Jeff’s dad (and siblings) on Fridays at the café
Saving money and finding a good deal
Living in the country
Chocolate covered strawberries
Red
Feeling Hayden’s movements in my belly when I was pregnant
Being a mommy
Going for long rides looking for wildlife and seeing new “country”
Blue cheese butter from Saltgrass Steakhouse (otherwise I very much dislike blue cheese)
Going to Colorado in the summer with my parents
Snowball fights
DVR
Hunting
Campfires (and roasting marshmallows)
The beach
Watching The Bachelor
Having my husband home at night
Whitewashed, paint chipped furniture
My Nikon D40 Camera
Getting on the scale and realizing you lost weight
Dr. Pepper
Sunshine
Crafts and Decorating
Crème Brulee scented candles
Freshly mowed lawn
Jamaica
Fresh fruit
New hairdo
Homemade Vanilla Blue Bell Ice Cream
Clean house with all the laundry done
Milkduds and Gobstoppers
Sunday lunch at Jeff’s Mom and Dad’s (we have lunch with his parents, siblings, and nieces and nephews every Sunday)
Peanut Butter Cup ice cream from Braum’s
Rides on the golf cart
Caramel Crème’ Brulee, Pumpkin Spice, or Cinnamon Dolce Latte from Starbucks

I love...life!

Ok, I could go on forever!! I would LOVE to see lists of things you LOVE!

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day Baby! I love you!



We started our day off with homemade waffles. Jeff, Hayden, and I really did our Valentine celebration yesterday by going to the Chinese Buffet and then to Braum's for ice cream! :-) Have you ever had their peanut butter cup ice cream? To die for! It doesn't take much to make us happy! Ha!

Hope you have a fun day full of LOVE!

Fun in the snow!

On Friday we were able to get out and enjoy the snow!

I put Hayden on a plastic sack and when we sat him down he just sunk down in the snow. He wasn't real sure what to think of it all!


What is this?


Hmmm, maybe I'll give it a try!


Not bad, a little cold...


Robin, my niece, came over to play with us! Snow angels...






What's a snow day with out a snowball fight?


Jeff and Robin constructed our snowman. Jeff was serious business with the saw out to make it perfectly round!


The finished product! I obviously am not very experienced with decorating a snowman. I had no idea it was so hard to find things that would actually stick to the snow! We ended up using lifesavers, a carrot, and peanut butter crackers.


Jeff went for a golf cart ride to check things out. He went down to check on our neighbor to make sure she was ok since we didn't have electricity.



Skooter and Chloe found a path on the side of the house to walk.


Chloe enjoying the snow!


I know my last 5 posts have been about snow, but I feel like it it worthy of it! I am guessing we will probably not have another snow like this for a LONG, LONG time! It is something I will always remember!

After the big snow...

I was speechless when I woke up this morning for many reasons!

One...no electricity
Two...Hayden was up and ready to play at 5:45 AM and I had had less than 5 hours of sleep. :-)
Three...The unbelievably beautiful sight outside!

It snowed for about 24 hours and our unofficial measurement was 8 inches. The official measurement at DFW was 12.5 inches. This was an all time record for Northeast Texas. I know people in the North are probably laughing at us, but it is such a big deal around here! I am excited Hayden is here to enjoy it too!

We lost power in the wee hours of the morning and it didn't come back on until 7:30 tonight. We had moved our gear to Mom and Dads this evening because they have a wood burning stove and had just gotten Hayden to sleep when it came back on. But, we decided to go ahead and "move" back home.

Here are a few pictures from this morning...

Amy, I agree...some of these do remind me of Christmas cards!

Out the front door...




Out the back door...









Across the pasture to Mom and Dad's...


We were so excited and really got to enjoy the snow today. It was such a fun day! Snowball fights, snowman built, snow angels, eating snow, etc. More pics to come!

It's Snowing (Part 3)

One of mine and Jeff's favorite pass times is to "ride around". We love to take the long way home to look for deer or just see new "country" as my dad would call it. So, what better to do when it is snowing? Ride around and check things out!

Here are a few pictures we took while we were "out on the town"...
(Ok, I am laughing thinking about us "out on the town". We haven't been "out" since way before Hayden was born! That's ok, I wouldn't change it for anything!)

The iron bridge at the park...

(This bridge used to actually be an old iron bridge on our county road. A few years back they took the bridge out, refinished it, and put it in the park.)

Driving down the county road...


Our church...


A duckhouse...


The longhorn at the local feed store...


Here bully, bully...

It's Snowing (Part 2)

Here are some pictures from around our house. It is just unbelievable how much it snowed today! I couldn't stop staring outside and I couldn't resist taking tons of pictures!

This is the scene from our back door. Beau-ti-ful!

When we woke up...


After sun-up...


Mid-Afternoon...


Sundown...


Down our driveway early morning...


Sundown...


The rest of these were taken early this morning, so it has snowed quite a bit more since these were taken!



Across the pasture...


Up Mom and Dad's Driveway...


Pictures from around town are next!