Can we say HOT!!!

It went from warm to unbearable in just a few days! So what do we do to stay cool? Get in the water of course! Last weekend, we went to the Crawford's celebrate Cole and Laurie Claire's birthdays. We always have so much fun with them. Cohen stayed with the Birthday boy the entire time! She loved the water. Kinson on the other hand, just walks and does whatever everyone else in NOT doing! He had nothing to do with all the water stuff or slides. He was more interested in the food. Typical.



Birthday Boy!!

This is another example of the heat. Kinson played in the garage last weekend for a little bit as we were rearranging to accomodate the new gym. He never stops moving. After about an hour, this is what he looked like. And it was only 9:30 in the morning!!! He was filthy, dirty, and just plain BOY, but he was loving every second of it.

Lately, I have gotten up on Saturday mornings to go to nearby garage sales. I have really enjoyed getting up early and going by myself, even if I dont find much. A few weeks back, the kids got up extra early so I didnt go, but instead we decided to pack up and head to the park to beat the heat. On the way, I saw some signs and so we made a detour so I could do a quick drive by. I usually only am looking for kids stuff so I can quickly tell whether or not we need to stop. Well off to the side they had a push car. Yes, Kinson has about 5 push cars but this one had a push handle and I was really thinking Cohen could use it one day. So I jumped out and the lady really didnt know what she was selling and just said make an offer. $5 later it was mine and we were headed to the park.

We had the wagon in the truck for him and Cohen to ride but of course he decided that morning he was not going to share. Again, typical. So we got out the new car and he LOVEd it, we pushed him around the whole park while Cohen rode in the wagon. Even if he never gets on it again, $5 was worth just that one morning of heading off a typical Kinson tantrum!


He lost his balance, but you can bet he wasn't about to drop those cookies!!

The next morning we were in Sam's and saw the same push car for $49.99!!!

Hot Summer Days....

Do you notice that Kinson is putting that alligator on top of Cohen's head? Heaven forbid, Cohen touch him because he will start SCREAMING "CoCo, no pinching, no hitting!"

Happy Early Father's Day!

If there are 2 things that Bear is fully committed to, it is family and working out. So it came as a complete surprise to me after his many years in the fitness industry that he wanted to get a "home gym." His reason: to be able to spend more time at home with the kids and be able to fit working out in whenever it was convenient with their schedules. But I quickly came to realize that this was not going to be some girly equipment that I might could use or a treadmill or something. He was talking weight bench, bars, plate weights, cables, ....the whole gym in our garage!

Well we started to price pieces thinking we could slowly build this gym of his up, well wow it was going to be awhile before he was going to get his gym. Well this is where my bargain shopping habits come in to play. I love, love, love a bargain and will search one down before I will buy something full price. I religiously search Craigslist multiple times a day and what do you know, a gym almost identical to what he was looking at came up for sale. I emailed the guy and Bear set up a time to meet him and 2 hours later it was his. The best part---It was selling for what we would have paid for just the plate weights!!! So last Sunday, Bear and Kinson spent some quality father/son time in the garage putting together parts of the gym. Kinson was in heaven, he had to dress like Bear, hold wrenches and do what Bear was doing, and just as Bear would do, when I would open the door to check on them Kinson would turn around and say "Mama, shut the door!"

Like I said before, this is not a girly gym so we will continue to have a membership at the YMCA so not too sure where we saved the money at yet!!

Quick PT update

Cohen went back to PT yesterday to see if she had progressed enough to avoid a neck collar, well she has progressed very well, however it is now habitual for her to hold her head tilted so we will indeed need the neck collar :( But the good news is the one that they ordered was way too big for her so we will get to postpone it another 3 weeks! So we are going to work hard to see if we can break her habit!

These pictures made me realize how much her and Kinson are beginning to resemble! And please forgive me for her clothes falling off, I am putting her in 3-6 months clothes even though they are too big, I refuse to buy 0-3 months clothes anymore!!!

Yum, Yum!

Well, I said I learned so much at her last therapy session on how to feed her better....I will let you be the judge!!

7 Months....

and what is so significant about these pictures?....her mouth is closed!!! Although this is still very seldom it is a huge feat for her. It helps us to understand that the medicine is working as it shrinks the size of her tongue and helps the swelling decrease. Cohen has now been on the Synthroid for 4 weeks and we can tell a significant change in her. It is very hard for us to describe but we know she is different. She is still a very content child but she is beginning to show more smiles and emotion, both happy and mad. She has gotten more demanding which lets us know that she now has the energy and desire to tell us she wants something. She went for Speech Therapy yesterday to help assist with her feeding and also her nonverbal deficits. I learned SO MUCH!!! and after an hour of oral stimulation Cohen made a few sounds on her own while the ST and I were discussing our homework! I was thrilled!!

Another encouraging note, she has had an ongoing ear infection since late March that finally required 3 shots of Rocephin last week, why is that good? It could also explain her nonverbal issues as well. We will return for a follow up to her ears next week and if the are still dull, then we are off for tubes. The ST told me she has seen multiple children who exploded with sounds as soon as their ears cleared up. She sees the ped endocronologist June 8. So we will continue to be patient as this all unfolds and we watch her grow and learn daily. It is so hard for me to be on this side of the "therapy" world, now I understand my patients family's who want to know why the progress isn't faster. Patience, patience, patience!!

Rainy Days....

It has definitely gotten harder to entertain Kinson when the weekends have been like they have been recently....RAINY! We have tried every play place, shopped, visited grandparents, etc just to get him out of the house for a little bit each day. This past Sunday afternoon we went to Burger King and he loved it! He actually made a new friend while we were there, which is a big deal because Kinson isn't the kidest to others! He loved climbing and sliding and of course didnt want to leave, but he is getting better with understanding we will be back.

Girls Trip!

Everybody needs one of these once in awhile, especially as when it seems we can't take anymore, we just need to get away! Luckily I have a wonderful husband who loves to spend quality time with Kinson and Cohen and realizes the need for this time away. So this year for Mother's Day a group of girls I went to highschool/junior high with decided we would head to the beach for an extended weekend.

It is hard for me to believe that we have been out of school over 10 years! We have all been through so much since we graduated high school but we have always been there for each other. It is hilarious when we get together, our highschool hearts tend to come out and it is a never ending gossip/laughter fest! Just what we needed! Thanks Casey for opening up your condo to us!

Congratulations....

to our niece Taylor, she won Miss Brio award this past Saturday! She performs for Brandon Elementary show choir called Brio and they are Fabulous!! It is amazing that these children are just 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders. Her fellow choir members voted on this award and that makes this very special to her. We are sad that she will be moving up to the middle school next year and has to leave Brio but the good news is the director has accepted a position to move up as well. We will wait as we see what unfolds for her singing future! Here is Taylor and CoCo:

Adventure Racing--Take 1!

We went to Mobile 2 weeks ago for Bear to do his first Adventure race. It consisted of a 3 man team starting at the Moblie Battleship with thier bikes, given a map and said "Go!" They had to bike a total of 13 miles, run 8 miles, and canoe 4 miles all while accomplishing tasks, puzzles, and checkpoints--think Amazing Race.

The kids and I hung out in the hotal until closer towards the end because I wasnt sure how I would do it handling both of them in public alone so I only have a few pictures of the canoeing and when they finished canoeing they had to get on the Battleship where they had 15 checkpoints they had to find. They loved it, even the canoeing after flipping twice and having an alligator come within 30 ft of the canoe! They have signed up to do another one in Baton Rouge in July!

Not sure why I was worried having both of them....they ended up falling asleep for over an hour while we were on the pier watching the canoeing! Thanks for the stroller Casey!!

Sitting up!!

She might be tiny but she has mastered the skill of sitting up on her own. It amazes me how just last week we were only sitting up 1-2 minutes and this weekend she was sitting up 20-30 mins! This is great for her because she is constantly having to work on strengthening her neck muscles while she is sitting and righting herself, hopefully this will help and get us graduated from PT soon!

This is Bear and her doing part of her "therapy" at home!

Finally a diagnosis....

I know that it seems that all of my posts revolve around my kids illnesses but at times that is what my life seems to be! Thankfully Kinson has reached the magic age of 2 and we have a preventative regimen in place and "knock-on-wood" his bouts of sickness have slowed down. This season we have dealt with a few ear infections a 2 rounds of strep, I can handle that!

Little CoCo is exactly that---LITTLE!! Her weight has been a concern ever since her 8 week check up when she was still just 8lbs (she was born 7lbs 9oz). Now she is 6 months old and weighing 13lbs 8oz (3rd percentile), not a big deal that she is little ...it is just over the last 6 weeks she hasnt even gained a pound. By 6 months drs would like babies to have doubled their weight because over the next few months weight gain slows and activity increases. Well back to the point, she also has a few other concerns that we discussed at her check-up one of which is her tongue. If you have ever met my little girl in person, you know what I am talking about...she ALWAYS has her mouth open and her tongue sticking out. Again, no big deal but we are now at the age where she should be mastering solid food off of a spoon. I struggle daily to get 3 or 4 bites down her successfully. After discussing these concerns with the dr we did some bloodwork as a precaution. Poor girl has mommy's veins too and they had to do a heel prick and sqeeze out the blood. Tuesday we got the call and the diagnosis---Hypothyroidism. She has all of the symtoms--little weight gain, swollen/thick tongue, chronic constipation, bloated/swollen tummy, and cold extremeties.
Now what do we do? She has started a drug called Synthroid which is an artificial form of the hormone that the thyroid produces. The dose will be monitored by bloodwork that right now she will receive every 3 weeks and hoping to stretch out to 6 wks for the first 2 years of her life. She is seeing a pediatric endocrinologist next month that will follow her also. She is scheduled to see a nutritionist and speech therapist Wednesday to evaluate if she will be able to meet her nutritional needs through oral intake. Because of the bloating and her reflux she can only tolerate so much of a bottle, and at this age she should be receiving 3 "meals" a day along with bottles. Also we are hoping that the medicine will help to alleviate these symtoms over time.
We cant help but worry about her. I am now constantly analyzing her. The thyroid hormone plays a vital role in mental and physical development. We are not sure how long she has had a deficit (they test all babies at birth and she was fine at that time), but at this stage in life babies are growing leaps and bounds daily. Good news is that physically she is right on target with a 6 month old--sitting up unsupported for short periods, raking objects towards her, rolling in both directions, etc. She is a very quiet baby and that concerns me now, so I am really focusing on getting her to "talk" to me in her language--she is not mimicing, hard consanants, or squealing/laughing out loud. We are returning May 11 for a thorough eval from the ped to check milestones and we will follow a new schedule so we will pick up any deficits/delays early. He said if there are any long term effects, it is way too early to tell just because all babies develop at a different rate fluctuating +/- 2-3 months. We are very confident in our dr and the care she has received so far and we are now just trying to not worry too much. I will definitely update as things unfold.

My camera batteries are dead so I havent been able to upload the last few weeks of pics but this is a RARE picture of my 2 babies together!! Also I got get pictures of Bear's latest feat--Adventure Racing--he did his first race last weekend in Mobile...more on that later!!

Enjoying the backyard!

Isn't this weather BEAUTIFUL?!!! I feel so guily when we get home and I have to start straight into the daily routine of dinner, washing bottles, packing bags for the next day, etc and leave the kids to entertain themselves, especially right now while Bear is working long hours. So Friday I knew I had the weekend to put everything off so we grabbed a few blankets for Cohen and Kinson got his "cereal"bowl that he carries with him (he loves that new jumbo rice krispies cereal!) and out to the backyard we went.

We are here!

Life has just gotten so chaotic these last few months as we endure another tax season for Bear and an unusually busier workload for me. But we will not complain as we are thankful to have thriving, secure jobs during this time and economy. But at the end of each day all we want to do is lay on the couch or go straight to bed.

As far as the kids they are doing good. Kinson is getting over strep and an ear infection but he still never stops. He keeps us laughing at his ever growing vocabulary and phrases. Little Coco is sitting up fairly well and she is doing well in physical therapy. She is now only lacking 5 degrees passive range of motion of moving her head to the right (for those who dont understand, she is doing really good!) She still is very weak in her nech so now we will focus on strengthening. We did find out yesterday that she has a milk protein allergy and she was changed to a hypoallergenic formula, also called "liquid gold!" So hopefully she and ourselves will get some much needed rest.

25 Randoms

about me and Bear! We were tagged multiple times on facebook and if you can believe it, Bear actually did it. It is funny to see how different we are.

This was mine:

1. I never knew I could love, hurt, or act a fool as much as I have since I have been married
2. I come from a very large, loud, crazy family (and if you know them you know what I mean) that at times I would never want to admit that I was related to but I absolutely LOVE Sundays when we get together at my Mamaw's....Bear thinks that it is quite entertaining!
3. I love a bargain, and i mean any bargain on anything, If someone tells me that they got a good deal on something then I will lose sleep trying to find time to go to the store and shop. Yes I keep all you Craigslist posters in business!
4. I am baffled by people who have to TRY and live a healthy life, especially those who either work in the medical profession or have children, it should just be second nature.
5. i know everybody says they like their job, but i LOVE my job. Every bit of it..my company, my patients, my coworkers, EVERYTHING. I can honestly say that I would work where i am until i retire if it would relocate at some point otherwise I might get killed! (if you know where it is then you know what i mean!)
6. It bothers me sometimes when people ask what happened to my arm, but it also bothers me when peopke don't ask. But it always bothers me when parents dont stop their kids from staring at me or when the parents wont let their kids ask me. And when people are looking at me feeling sorry for me.
7. Going off of that, it breaks my heart to know that at some point my kids will be teased because of my disability.
8. I am always striving to take the perfect picture--it still hasnt happened yet, I need to keep paying the professionals!
9. I love my high school friends so much and so glad that we have reconnected again.
10. I like to organize but do not like to clean.
11. i love that i dont have to think about my clothes in the morning, just about what color today.
12. My favorite time of the day is when Kinson wants to "sit with Momma" before he goes night-night.
13. I wish that I had the attention span or the ability to shut my mind off long enough to sit through a movie with my husband, just because i know how much he enjoys movies but I have tried and I am not very successful.
14. I have always wanted to be a waitress at some point in my life--with the way the economy is going you never know!
15. I love to problem solve anything--even if it takes me days, hours, however long, it doesn't matter I will not quit thinking about it and always question wether or not it can be done better.
16. I am very competetive--I used to think this was an asset but realized quickly it could be a fault and have had to catch myself many times
17. I interrupt people, not on purpose but because if I dont say what I am thinking immediately then it is gone forever because I will forget!
18. I constatly look around my house and have huge ideas but never start half of them--not sure if it is because I know I will never finish or if I know I dont want to even start
19. Living in New Orleans during OT school was the most miserable, eye-opening, growing-up experience of my life
20. We have not bought anything that we could not pay for (except our house) yet I still lose sleep at night thinking that I do not save enough money to be able to retire and live comfortably.
21. I love listening to the stories that the old men tell me everyday about growing up, war, or just what they are thinking at that moment--those are usually the best!
22. I long go to sleep and know that I will not be woken up by anything--I would probably panic if it ever happened!
23. I fear everday that I might outlive my children or not live long enough to see their children.
24. I am very passionate and dont know how to not give everything when i am doing something, this is usually why I am behind because I cant move on. However i am very good at multi-tasking.
25. Finally....hmmm...I love my husband, he is my soulmate, and probably one of the few that will ever truly understand me.

Now for Bear's:

1. I am thinking I am going to struggle coming up with 25 of these.
2. I didn't accomplish much of anything during my 20's but had the best time and wouldn't change a thing.
3. I wish I was a bit more outgoing.
4. I am a huge fan of 80's New wave and early techno music.
5. I have been to several raves in my life. See note 2.
6. I am in my 30's and have yet to tell my parents how much I appreciate them.
7. I can watch anything on TV having to do with organized crime.
8. I think dogs are in the top 5 of gods creations.
9. I always said I would leave Mississippi but am very glad that I am still here.
10. I don't think I can ever thank my wife enough for introducing me to sushi and lebonese food.
11. I am determined to take a month off and travel europe before I die.
12. I wish I had played sports longer than I did.
13. My kids give me more happiness than I could ever wish for.
14. I am still not sure how my wife, Brandy, tolerates me.
15. I am thankful for facebook because I would probably never see or speak to some of my friends if it wasn't for it.
16. I never knew being married could be so easy. I must have picked the right girl.
17. If people knew half the stuff going through my head they would probably run the other way.
18. I hate leaving Kinson at day care when he is crying for me not to leave.
19. I am thankful for my father in law who can fix anything and keeps me from having to do it, which usually means it wouldn't get fixed.
20. My worst experience was having both kids in the hospital at the same time.
21. For a brief period in time I hung out with the wrong crowd.
22. I think beer is wonderful.
23. I hope Brandy knows how much she means to me.
24. I love thinking of what my kids will be when they grow up.
25. I have never been happier in life than I am right now.

Kinson turned 2!!

Can you believe my little boy turned 2?! He had a great Train Depot birthday party, even though he hated the train. I am still getting all the pictures together and edited so I will post those soon.

Kinson woke up to Birthday pancakes and then we spent the WHOLE day at the drs!! It was supposed to be his 2 year check-up, but oh boy did it go bad! It was a BIG red flag when they measured him: 32in, 27 lbs (3rd percentile, and 10th percentile). Yes he might be small but that was not the concern, here it is.. 1 year stats: 31.5in, 26lbs. He has not grown in a WHOLE year. So off to have growth plate xrays done, the baptist hospital to have blood drawn because his veins are like his mommy's and do not cooperate, and then the sent home equipment for him to "pee in a cup"...yeah right! So far everything has turned out to be negative as far as growth hormone deficiencies so he is labeled as "constitutional growth delay." Meaning hopefully he will wake up one morning and be 6 inches taller! Really the drs are going to watch him over the next 6months and if no more growth then send us to an endocronologist to do further testing. We are hoping that it is due to his rough year this past year with one illness after another and his body has only focused on recovering.

4 months already!!

Yep that's right, Cohen turned 4 months old Thursday. So what does she get as a present, the same thing every 4 month old gets, a trip to see Dr. Flowers! She had to go for her well baby check up and vaccinations. That little girl is such a trooper! She took all 3 shots and cried maybe 3 seconds and that was it! She still is on the "tiny" side, weighing in 12lbs, 4oz (5th percentile) and 23in long (10th percentile). Dr Flowers is not worried as long as she continues to grow and doesn't fall off the charts.

Now for the not-so-good part. Cohen has always been a little "delayed" due to her early hospitalization and illness, but she seems to have caught up and surpassed as far as communication, smiling, cooing, mimicing, etc. But physically something just hasnt been quite right. Bear thinks I am crazy and am always diagnosing people especially my children and myself with off the wall syndromes, illnesses, etc. Well this time I proved to be right. Cohen had been holding her head up for awhile but I kept saying she would only look one way and always have her head tilted. So I took pictures of her to show him how bad it really was. So at the check up I didnt bring it up hoping Dr. Flowers would notice, and HE DID!! Cohen has what they call Congenital Torticollis (shortening of the sternomastoid muscle). It is treated by Physical Therapy (this will be done by a Pediatric PT, nothing done by me--I work with old people for a reason!!) and usually can be corrected. She also had mild hip dysplasia, they are usually assiciated with each other. So we start Tuesday morning, so I will keep everyone updated!!

Here are a feww pictures so you can get the idea of what her neck is doing: