Mama Said There Would Be Days Like This...

What a 48 hours! If any of you have read this blog for more than a day, you know I have a very adventurous 2 year old on my hands. There are days that this is a wonderful thing and days it's a very exhausting ordeal. It's amazing at times, because he is soooo curious. He loves to see how things work and has no problem entertaining himself.

A lot of days, this leaves a lot of cleaning up to be done. Today was one of those days.

Before I continue, in my defense, I do watch my child. Jimmy and I both do for that matter. The below messes all happened within the last 48 hours and in a matter of SECONDS!!!

Mess #1 - Last night while I was trying to get some work, JD stripped off his pajama bottoms and diaper and ran around naked. This in itself is nothing unusual, unfortunately what followed left mama in tears. JD peed ALL OVER my brand new (purchased on Sunday) red comforter! there was so much pee it puddled. I was in tears and did not take a picture! JD also went straight to be so that I didn't loose it too much with him!

Mess #2 - This morning while I was trying to finalize some weekend camping info with my mom, JD attempted to make breakfast. On the living room end table. I had already gotten out the eggs and left them on the counter. JD took them from there and started cooking in the living room.



The dogs enjoyed as well.



I caught him with the windex trying to "clean up"

Mess #3 - Once again I have no picture because you can't quite capture CK Euphoria on camera. He emptied half of my perfume bottle on himself. Oh, and he definitely goes over the 3-squirt limit!

Mess #4 - JD decided he needed to spice up his look and attempted to put mascara on himself. He only managed to get one eye done before being caught!





Mess #5 - He had so much fun attempting scrambled eggs at breakfast that he decided to play some more. He has learned to open the fridge - and oh what fun it is!!!




As you can imagine...8:30 couldn't come soon enough! I am off to enjoy some tv with hubs, messy-child-free!

oh...and to follow up on the new profile...

It seems that foreign language on the side of my page yesterday was "latin dummy text" according to Amanda over at Baby Bangs. Hmmm....not sure if I'm feeling any better about that. Seeing how, I couldn't figure out the dummy text was just that - dummy text! Surely if it was in English I would have gotten it. Surely....right....

From the Mouth of Babes...

You know it's been a long day when you tell the dogs, "If you don't stop barking, you're going to time out!" Aww....yes, it's been a long one. We've had a good day for sure, but I'm tired and Jimmy's gone to play darts, so it's just me and the kid.

I have more to go with the dogs in time out, but first I have to explain my dogs barks to y'all. They are awful. The sound drives me up the wall! Not only are their barks loud and annoying, but They. Bark. At. Everything. It's the most aggravating thing!! I'm on the verge of a shock-collar. A loud car drives by - they bark. A squirrel runs by - they bark. A leaf falls from the tree - they bark. I want to scream!!!

So, after the time out threat, Max barks again. He's worse than a kid! So now that I'm at my wit's end I scream, "SHUT UP!" Well, JD who's sitting in the living room (I'm in the office) says (in the most precious voice), "Mommy, don't say that!" Just to make sure I heard him right, I go ask him what? He says, "Mommy, that's a bad word. Don't say that. Say 'awww man.'" I about died, he was right and it was precious!

How does JD know this is a bad word. Well...some kids first words are Dada, some are Mama, some are even No. JD's first real word was "Shut Up!" And on Easter Sunday nonetheless. We were at my mom's and the dogs next door were barking. He leaned over, pointed his finger, and said "Shut Up!" Funny? Yes. Appropriate? No.

And because I'm unveiling all my secrets...why aww man? Well, Daddy's favorite word when something went wrong use to be the s- word. This is until JD said, "Oh S---!" loud and clear. And since sh** is so close to shoot, we taught him aww man!

So the lesson learned here is...when telling your dogs to shut up, make sure little ears are out of hearing distance!

Keem em coming....

Here's the lastest on B-

Yes, there is news. The good news is B’s iron level is better. It’s still low but better than last month. Since there is an increase I expect for his numbers to continue to increase. His protein level is a different story, it actually decreased. Hopefully there will be improvement next month.

As far as B’s surgery is concerned he does need another surgery in addition to the gastrostomy button (feeding tube in the belly). His biopsy reveled that he has reflux which causes him pain & nausea. The surgery for this sounds painful & I am not sure if B can handle both surgeries at one time. The 2nd surgery called fundoplication requires the top portion of B’s stomach to be wrapped around his esophagus and then stitched together to prevent the stomach acid from backing up to his throat causing him pain.

This is what I found on the internet: What happens during fundoplication?

During the fundoplication procedure, the part of the stomach that is closest to the entry of the esophagus (the fundus of the stomach) is gathered, wrapped, and sutured (sewn) around the lower end of the esophagus and the lower esophageal sphincter. (The gathering and suturing of one tissue to another is called plication.) This procedure increases the pressure at the lower end of the esophagus and thereby reduces acid reflux.Just the sound of this freaks me out!!!!

Our other option is to give him medication (2 diff ones) morning and night everyday and do the reflux surgery later. We are leaning toward this one until we get more info. I don’t see how Byson can be comfortable having the tube in his stomach next to his belly button and his stomach wrapped around his esophagus at the same time. This is way too much!! Please please give me your advice!!! I am so stressed about this.

and I too will be posting an update on the Van Fam later today. We are all doing very well. JD is driving me crazy one minute and making me laugh so hard the next!!! This baby is a movin'! She's a lot less crazy than JD right now, which is great, but she's already practicing her flip-flops I can tell!! Jimmy and I are trying to get things done around here now that we are offically staying in this house! Anyways...more to come later...we have a playdate I need to get ready for!

before you say anything...

I know there is some foreign language on my sidebar. I just can't seem to get rid of it. I can do myspace, I can do Facebook, I can do ezboards....but blogger is beyond me! Any suggestions are welcomed! I will be ficing shortly (I hope)!

A Balloon Affair

I've posted about this before. The complete strangeness of my child and his desire to play with anything not found in his toy box or in his toy tubs drives me crazy. He has a room full of toys ranging from little play people to blocks and cars. Yet...he'd rather play with your odd ins and outs.

Today his biggest thrill was a balloon. Not even a helium balloon y'all, a regular makes-your-head-spin blowing it up balloon. We actually went through 3 balloons today. The first one was yellow and he played with for so long that it popped. I tied a ribbon to the end of the balloon at the belly button and he'd sit on it and I'd rip it out from under him. He'd then laugh uncontrollably; therefore, making daddy and I laugh so hard we had to rewind So You Think You Can Dance? to see the judges reactions!!!

Balloon two was orange. We lost this balloon at Home Depot (coincidence? yes!). He just had to take it out of the car and the wind caught it in the parking lot. Jimmy chased it a few rows over but the wind was picking up and well...he wasn't running!

Balloon Three is still going strong, and red for those who are keeping track. I'd like to say it's happily resting on the couch, but NO. It went to sleep with JD tonight. AND YES!! I know it's a choking hazard and that I'm crazy, but not to worry, I can still hear him in there playing with it, so as soon as he quiets down I'll sneak in there and take it away.

Prayers Please

I've spoken of my good friend D before and her precious son. They have been doing good for quite some time now, but once again B is going back in for more procedure.

The last month B has had a feeding tube in place (through) his nose to help nourish him back to a healthy two-year old. The problem is, the tube keeps coming out. So tomorrow B goes back in for more procedures, more one that...

As you all know B needs another surgery. After his appointment today his Dr. decided that she wants to do more test before his surgery to place the feeding tube in his stomach via his belly instead of his nose. She wants to make sure he does not need another surgical procedure before having surgery so he want have to go back a second time.

B has to be at Texas Children's Hospital @ 8am. He is having three procedures done and will receive anesthesia. The actual test start at 9:30 but we have to be there early so he gets the antibiotics for his heart and for the anesthesia. He will have a biopsy of his esophagus, stomach, & intestines. He will also have a scope test done. Once this is completed he will have a tube inserted through his nose to his stomach (kind of like his feeding tube) for 24 hours to test the amount of acid he has in his stomach. We will return to the hospital on Friday to have the tube removed.

Based on the results his doctor gets on Friday and Monday we will know if B needs one or two surgical procedures. The plan is for B to have surgery next week to place the feeding tube in his stomach through his belly next to his belly button. The good thing is his face will be free and I want have to worry about his tube being pulled out while he is playing or simply moving around.

I am hoping that between his biopsies and surgery he will recover quickly and life will start to be easier for him. I am so nervous about this but I know this is the best thing for B, its just that he had surgery in April and B tends to take longer to recover than the doctors expect. Please keep us in your prayers and we will see you as soon as he is recovered.

Please help me in lifting this precious family up in prayer. They are such incredible people and it breaks my heart every time I hear bad news about B. If you could just see what a normal 2-year old he wants to be!

an exhausted return

No...I did not fall off the face of blogger. I don't really have a word that can quite capture what my last week and a half has been because busy doesn't even come close.

Friday was our VanMor Open House. This is the company I work for and we recently moved offices, so Friday we invited all of our board members and vendors to a very well thrown open house. Jimmy and I went with our monkey and he actually did fairly well.

Once I left the open house I went straight home and changed into something comfy and met with Nicole to decorate for Kate's Baby Shower. The Baby Shower is what pretty much consumed every minute and ounce of energy I had for the last two weeks. We decorated the BEAUTIFUL club house in Nicole's neighborhood until midnight and then I took my tired and very drained booty home!

Saturday I went NON-STOP, but it all paid off. Kate's shower was just beautiful. Kate is a dear friend of mine that I've known since junior high. She's expecting her first little one - a boy - in August. She's that girl you just can't quite picture doing the mom-things but know she'll be great at it! The shower was a huge success and she got some really great gifts!

Here are a few pictures of our mommy-to-be!

This is Me, Nicole, Kate, and Judy (the 3 of us threw Kate's shower)


Kate and I comparing our belly's - she does have a few months on me!!


Sunday was Father's Day. I tired to postpone it because I was exhausted and it rained all day making it the PERFECT lay-on-the-couch and watch The Astros kind of day. But...no luck. We cleaned all morning b/c my husband loves to invite people over without checking with me first. I typically have NO problem with this, but my house had been neglected 7-days straight while I scurried around town for the shower! Thanks love...

We had a wonderful evening after the cleaning was done. We had all the family over and we cooked out and the guys swam with the kiddos once the rain stop. I think Jimmy had a pretty good Father's Day. As much as that man can drive me CrAzY - he does deserve a wonderful Father's Day! He's an incredible husband and a wonderful father! I am sooo incredibly lucky!!

Which reminds me, I am just overjoyed with how excited he is about this sweet girl in my belly. Originally Jimmy didn't really care what we were having. He always thought it would be neat to have all boys, but he also wanted me to "get my girl" as he put it. So, I didn't expect him to be as excited as I was in finding out she's a she. Boy was I wrong! He is SOOO excited. It's the sweetest and sexiest thing ever! He was very excited about JD, I took pregnancy test after pregnancy test because he wanted to be sure and wanted to see the '+' sign appear again. This time...he is but maybe even more, or maybe it's just a different excitement . There's such a sweetness to it. It's indescribable! He is all about going to look at nursery stuff and just LOVES everything I pick out. First of all, that never happens. Second of all, I'm picking out some GIRLY stuff. We're talking pink everything, lace all over the place, toile accents everywhere and he LOVES it!! He's ready to decorate today! I'm having to make him wait so that I don't go crazy having a nursery with no baby for 4 more months!!! Haha...but I am blessed. It's so wonderful to be excited with someone who's just as excited as you! Thank you Lord. I'm not only getting my girl, I'm getting to watch a macho-man fall head over heels in love with his daughter!!!

And we are having a....

I'm sure all of you are just on the edge of your seats, dying to know what this baby is. Of course, that is if you didn't receive one of the thousand text messages Jimmy sent out Friday or if you didn't receive the mass email I sent out!! Don't be sad if you didn't get one my bloggy friends - this post is just for you!

It's a GIRL!!!!!!!

I'm going to have a sweet little baby girl. I can hardly believe it. I think it's finally hitting us all, 2 days later!!! Today I bagged up all of JD's newborn clothes and placed them in neat piles for all my preggo friends having boys!! I was so excited to get rid of them, knowing I'd get to shop for pink stuff this go around! I of course saved my FAVS from JD's baby days!!!

So, my doctor appointment went well Friday. We obviously found out the sex (a girl if you didn't catch the pink type above), and we now know that my official due date (after all the measuring) is November 7th. We got some really cute pictures that I'd love to share as well!!!

Here are *her* adorable feet


and her precious (or skelator-like) face


and a sweet profile shot


And here's one proud momma showing off her bump!!



We also found out some less than thrilling news on Friday. I've been diagnosed with partial placenta previa. Which, in short means my placenta is partially covering my cervix. At the present time, it doesn't seem to be causing any major problems, but the third trimester will be the riskiest. It's pretty common to start bleeding at the start of your third trimester, and as long as they can stop the bleeding I'll be fine. If the bleeding can't be stopped, then the baby will be delivered, regardless of gestational age. We are obviously praying this doesn't happen, at least not until the 35th or 36th week!!! At 37 weeks, if I haven't had the baby, I will be scheduled for a c-section. Fun stuff, I know! Needless to say, we are in high spirits. I fully trust that God would not have brought us this far and gone through what we've already gone through - unless we were gonna have a healthy baby girl!! That being said, please keep me and this precious baby girl in your prayers!!!

So...that's about it for now!! I'm gonna enjoy the next few months with my sweet little man. I'm unsure as to whether I'll be put on bedrest at 28 weeks, so until then JD and I are gonna take it easy while still having fun!!!

Fun on the Ranch

Today JD and I visited quite possibly one of the neatest (and cheapest) kid-approved places in Houston (maybe even Texas)! Along with our playgroups (we are in 2); JD, Matt, Logan (Matt's BFFE) and I went to the Oil Ranch in the good town of Hockley, Texas.

I vaguely remember visiting this ranch years ago, but don't remember it being near this fun. Part of the fun was watching my sweet one love every minute of it. I had great company (I l-o-v-e the women in my playgroup) and JD was in his element!!! The child had a BLAST!!

For $12.00 for the both us ($8.00/person if not with a group of 10+), we played for 5 hours straight!!! After a good shower and a coat of Aloe Vera (I'm VERY burned), I will sleep like a baby tonight!!!

Today JD did it all...


...he played on the slide with Logan


...he milked a cow


...he fed a cow


...he petted a donkey


...he rode a horse


...he even took a picture with mommy


...he rode again (five times to be exact)


...he relaxed in his wagon


...he ate some "strawberry ice"


...he spent some time with friends (today's group)


...he hung with his buds (Carder, Camryn, JD, and Chase)


...he rode in Chase's wagon


...he rode a train with Alex, Chase, and Cam


...he walked the tracks


...he swam

And as you can tell...had loads of fun!!!

Home At Last!

So we are home at last. It's funny how exhausting a weekend of relaxing can make you!! I need a vacation after my vacation!!

Vegas was a lot of fun. It was so wonderful just spending time with my man. We did a lot of stuff together, but I had plenty of free time as well! The pool at the Golden Nugget was beautiful and I laid out a bit on Thursday and Friday.

We also did some major shopping, and let me just tell you...my man can shop! I've never been able to say this before. We don't usually shop together unless we are just in need of a good quarrel. He can never find what he likes and I can never find what I can afford. Friday was different though! We went to the Premium Outlet in Vegas and tore it up! Both of us walked away with some great finds, the best being my new COACH purses. Yes...I did say purses, as in - more than one! The best part of it all? Jimmy HELPED me pick out these purses. He showed me the cute ones he saw, watched me try them on, gave me his opinion, and even encouraged (yes - like supported) me purchasing more than one!!! I know...I can barely believe it now as I write it!!! I think I fell in love with that man all over again!

We also did A LOT of eating! That's pretty much what I remember most about the trip besides the shopping - the eating!!!

Poor Jimmy had a rough time though. Friday night (remember - the WSOP was on Saturday) he came down with the stomach flu again and spent the entire night puking and...well you know. He then woke up on Saturday (still sick) and dropped a (one) contact down the sink while trying to put them in. He already broke his glasses the first day we were there, so he spent the entire rest of the trip pirate-eyeing everyone behind his sunglasses! This means I also got to walk through the hotel and airport with that guy wearing the sunglasses!!!

I do have to tell you all...I am so glad to be home. And more importantly, I was SO glad to see my JD. I missed that little man. It's so odd going places without him. The first couple of hours Jimmy and I both kept looking to our side to "check on JD"! It was funny because we kept catching each other doing it! I will say it seems we missed JD more than he missed us. He was excited when he first saw us, but he wasn't really ready to leave KK's house. In the car I asked him if I could hold him when we got home, and he said, "No...KK hold you" Which means in JD talk - I want KK to hold me. I love you too JD!

So here we go...back to the daily grind! I'm hoping this week will go by quickly because Friday is the big day! We'll finally know what this precious baby I've grown so attached to is!! I'm still *hoping* it's a girl, but have made peace with the possibility of it being a boy, which means I probably won't cry, just tear up a little!!!