Thursday, September 10, 2009

New blog

As I don't live in the Valley anymore, I thought it was time for a new blog. Find me here!

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Photos... maybe someday....

In the process of getting ready to move, we got rid of our old computer. We saved all the photos, but I haven't be able to get any off the camera, so hopefully one day soon I'll have photos for you.
David is putting his knees up underneath himself and actually will scoot about 1/2 an inch when he does that. Not sitting up yet though, so crawling is a long way off.
Allyssa's new things is that she likes to pray the ending prayer at every meal herself. She also is potty training. That is going really well. She rarely has accidents. Her favorite toy right now is the little round people like we all used to play with as kids.
The moving process is coming along. We've got a lot of things packed up, but don't have a date for closing yet. We are really frustrated about that, but are trying to be patient. We think that we are going to wind up living in a hotel for a short amount of time. When we thought closing would be on Tuesday, we were already in a hotel for one day. Now, we are just waiting for more news tomorrow. Our mortgage broker does not think closing will be Tuesday or Wednesday, but he's not sure.

Friday, July 24, 2009

4 month check up

David is 4 months old. He is allowed to start solids any time we want now. I think that we will be starting tonight, but maybe tomorrow with oatmeal. I know, rocking the boat, right? I don't like rice cereal. I've had bad luck with it. He was 15 pounds 11 oz and 25 inches tall. He no longer is on his acid reflux meds! Hooray!

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Wow! I really was tired!

I could really tell how tired I was when I read my blog postings from last night in my Reader. Today I had a "break" when I went to the dentist and got to read a book. (Wow!! I almost forgot what a grown-up book looked like. It had no pictures!!) Tonight after I feed David, Jr., I'm going to Harlingen to see my friends. Three of us moms from my MOPS group are about to move, so we are all getting together without the kiddos. I feel a little re-energized already!

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Change is in the air

June 21st, David received a call to be pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Sealy, Texas. July 5th, he accepted this call. David had already visited Sealy when he accepted the call, and since then we have all visited once. David went up to pick out a house by himself. He did and we made an offer on it. Later we found out some news that made us retract that offer. So tomorrow we head up there again to pick out a new house. Our last Sunday here is August 9th. David's installation is August 23rd, but he is planning on working there before that. We are busy trying to choose a moving company and figure out what things we will be leaving behind while we gather boxes to pack.
Trinity worships close to 200 (don't quote me on these stats). They have a preschool that is very successful. We've heard a lot about their music opportunities also. Currently, they have one service, but they had two just about a year ago. The service seems to me to be blended from their description. Anyways, dry stats don't tell you anything about how excited we are to serve in their community!!! The town has about 6000 people living in it. It is 20 miles west of Katy (a suburb of Houston). It is expected that Sealy will also be considered a suburb in the future. Sealy is a growing town. There's so much to say about the church and the town, but I'm exhausted and need to email a realtor, so check out these websites for more information: Trinity Lutheran Church Sealy's Wikipedia Article The City's Website

Please pray for us as we transition! We are very excited about this new oppurtunity to share God's love!!

Recent Photos






In no order what-so-ever...Here are photos of the kids together, David smiling, the boys having a one-on-one discussion, David right after he rolled over for the first time (July 9th), and Allyssa playing hide and seek (without counting, she just hides and waits for me to pop out and find her).

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

So That I Don't Forget

I'm hoping to get these numbers in the Baby Books, but for now here they are:

Allyssa, 2 years old: 24 lbs 13oz and 32 1/2 inches tall; 25th percentile both

David, Jr., 3 months old: 14 lbs 4 oz and 23 1/4 inches tall; 75th percentile for weight, unknown for height

Doctor visits for both yesterday. Allyssa had an anemia test, but that's it. Both kids are doing well. No changes in acid reflux plan for David, but he did get some eye drops for his gunky eye that has been bothering him for 2 months now. Oh, and Kia told me that she did have one concern about Allyssa. You'll never guess what it was! Talking. She was concerned that she isn't talking enough. I told Kia that wasn't a problem; Allyssa talks non-stop. Kia asked if she said 50 words. I told her she said 40 at 15 months and is proabably closer to 1000 than 50 at this point. We've got a chatterbox; that's for sure. A shy chatterbox. It is true that she doesn't talk to Kia (although, for the record when I asked her to tell Kia her age, she said "Two" usually she says "I'm two," but she was being shy. She also said "Hi, Miss Kia," and when I asked her to tell her what her name was, she mummbled "N-na" which means Lyssa...like I said, she was being shy and abreviating everything). After Kia left the room and the nurse who pricked her finger came in she said things like "Jesus fix it." and "Need hug." Poor kiddo. She's right though. Jesus will fix her little finger prick, in fact, He already did.

Meanwhile, at home Allyssa is just the cutest. She has been "bathing" David, Jr. and I with water from her sippy cup that she shakes out. Yesterday as she washed David, Jr. she said things like this, "Wash bottom," "Soapy, Soapy, Soapy," "Wash diaper," "Wash arm," there were lots of things she washed. She also tried to feed him some pretend chicken. He didn't eat it. I can't wait until he's old enough to talk back to her. I'd love to hear what he's thinking about her. He watches with shear joy and admiration as she pretends to clean his bottom and feed him plastic.

Monday, June 15, 2009

"Bad Mommy" Day

Today is one of those Bad Mommy Days. David is out visiting today, so it is just me and the kids for a good portion of the day (he's usually home for lunch and helps get naps started before going back to work). Knowing this, I decided last night that today needed to be an easy day. No trips to the grocery store. Nothing needs to get done. Just get through the day as happy as possible. Everything was going well for a while. David, Jr. was playing happily on the floor when Allyssa needed to go potty. Allyssa is in training right now. (I hope you caught that little piece of humor.) Off we race to the potty. She sits a while. Nothing. She sits a while...oh she peed! Horray. She sits a really long while. David starts to cry. She stands up, asks me to dump her potty in the toilet. I thought she was all done, and I could go get David. Nope, she promptly sits back down and pees some more. Stands up, has me dump it; sits back down, pees again.... I think it was a total of 5 times. By the time we got her hands clean and a diaper back on, David was very, very, very, very upset. I rocked him, cuddled him. He calmed down. Then a little bit later, while I was holding him, he got fussy. He was tired. So I put him down, and he promptly fell asleep. Good! Or so I thought. Lunch was coming...maybe he'd sleep through it, and I'd get Allyssa down for a nap before he woke up to eat. Oh Momma, you've got a lot to learn. He woke up about the time that we sat down to eat. He was very happy to look around all swaddled up for a few minutes. Then, the swaddling became annoying, so I unwrapped him and moved him from one bouncy seat to the other so that he could play with the toys the other one has. (He sleeps in the day in his bouncy seat because the angle is good for his acid reflux.) Knowing that I was about to take Allyssa to bed for her nap, I put the fun bouncy seat in the room farthest from Allyssa's bedroom for him to play. He played happily while we finished lunch. Good! Or so I thought. Allyssa was done eating, so I took her to her room. Unfortunatly for us, we still rock her to sleep for her nap. I no sooner sit down to rock her than I hear David all the way across the house screaming loudly for someone to please come pick him up and feed him. Poor baby. Being the clueless mom that I am, I decide to make him wait in hopes that Allyssa will fall asleep quickly. I count to 120 and she's not even close to asleep. Darn the luck. I think about the situation one more time, realizing that we might have a no-nap day if I put her down now. I put her in her crib, wide awake. I rush to David, feed him, burp him, and proceed to hold him upright for the prescribed 30 minutes (acid reflux, remember?). All the while being serenaded with sounds of my daughter singing her name over the monitor. "A-L-L-Y-S-S-A Allyssa is my name." I put David down for his nap and contemplate whether or not I should go to her and try to rock her to sleep or not. She isn't crying. I want her to fall asleep on her own. I won't go, I decide. An hour and a half passes since I first layed her down in her crib. She's still awake. I hear her say "Up. Up." Then, I hear her say "Go potty." That one was very quiet, but I heard it. I rush in, scoop her up, take her to the potty. She says, "Uh-Oh. Allyssa peed diaper." "That's okay," I assure her. "Do you have any more?" Sure enough she does. Woo HOO!! I wash her hands, bring her one green and one blue M&M, just as requested. I look at the clock as I walk in her room. 1:36. I put on a fresh diaper, wrap her up in her blanket and give her her dog. I sit down to rock her. She falls asleep quickly. I put my sleepy girl in her crib. As I close the door to her room, I glance at her clock. 1:41. As I head back to the other side of the house, I think about the ice cream that I'm going to eat while she sleeps. NAPTIME!!

Friday, June 12, 2009

Woohoo

I am at my pre-pregnancy weight!! Hooray! 3 pounds to go to get to where I was a year ago (I gained 3 pounds right before I got pregnant and couldn't figure out why I couldn't loose them) and when I graduated high school. 5 pounds to be where I want to be!

Monday, June 8, 2009

Allyssa sings Happy Birthday

Attention: Please turn your computer on its side for proper viewing. Thank you.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Oops! I forgot to tell you!

David was 13 pounds 11 ounces and 23 inches long yesterday. What a big boy!

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

David Jr.'s trip to the doctor

David is 13 pounds 11 oz and 23 inches long today. I took a really long list of "Things I know" to Kia today. Kia is out CPNP (Certified Pediatric Nurse Practioner), and we love her. We never actually see a doctor. We try really hard to see Kia and usually get to see her. She is awesome. She loves that I make a list when there is something really wrong with my kids. She listens to it all, and when I'm done, goes through my list from her memory explaining why things are happening or commenting on things (or she has blood work done depending on the ailment). Today it was all verbal, which David liked much better than pricking and prodding. This is what we discovered. All of his symptoms are classic signs of acid reflux and tied tongue. Zantac isn't a fix-all. It only helps the acid in his stomach not be as harsh on him when it shoots back up his throat. She is letting me give him the Zantac 3 times a day instead of twice a day. Hopefully this will help bridge the gap between the doses when one has worn off and the other hasn't been given yet due to his sleep schedule. We are to prop his crib up even more. It is okay for him to be in a bouncy seat for most of the day because it is so painful for him to be on the floor. We'll worry about floor time later. When his stomach hurts really bad and feels stiff (like your forehead), he can have tylonol and gas relief drops at the same time (Kia calls this "baby champagne"). Besides that, we are doing everything that we can for him already as far as acid reflux in concerned (except introducing cereal which can help, but can only be given through a bottle which David doesn't take, so that isn't an option right now, we'll wait and see how much he improves with the increased medicine and being upright a little more (although, he is upright most of the day as it is, we're just going to not feel badly about it). Now, as far as his tied tongue is concerned, we are waiting to see how soon we can get into a specialist to have that clipped. Most likely, David won't eat well for one to two days after this. He's a big baby though (common with acid reflux babies), so we aren't worried. I think that that is it. He goes back in 2 weeks to see if he's gained a pound which will mean that his Zantac can be increased again. Allyssa has her 2 year check up then, too.

Sunday, May 31, 2009

Recent Update

I updated quickly and totally backwards, but enjoy the photos anyways!! :) We are going to start potty training Allyssa tomorrow and David, Jr. had a doctor apt on Tuesday for his tummy troubles. He is definatly doing better with the medicine than without (we know this for sure because we forgot a dose and were reminded of what it was like before), but he still seems to feel poorly. We hope to get more answers and suggestions on how to help him feel better.

Allyssa's vacation





These pictures were taken May 15th and 16th. This is Allyssa with her cousin Kyle and with Grandma. Kyle is one month older than David, Jr.

May photos




My dad holding David was on May 19th when he brought Allyssa home from her weekend trip to visit my parents.
The one with David in a red onesie is from May 17th.
The one with David in blue is from May 16th.

May 25th



Tuesday, May 19, 2009

David Jr's trip to the doctor

Today was David's 2 month check up. He had immunizations. He is 13 pounds and 21 1/2 inches long today. We talked with the doctor about his problems. Here's the list:
1. We know that he has a "tight tongue."
2. We know that he swallows a lot of air when he eats.
3. We know that he doesn't latch on correctly due to his tight tongue.
4. He is gassy.
5. He spits up a lot; sometimes just after he eats he'll spit up practically everything that went down; sometimes he spits up a couple of hours after he ate.
6. He does not like to lie down on his back, ever.
7. Raising his crib to an angle when he sleeps helps some, but he still doesn't sleep well at night.
8. If he is awake, he is crying and fussy. No exceptions.
9. He doesn't sleep for long periods of time without waking to scream.

The doctor we saw today agreed that there is a problem. While she didn't come out and say it, we believe she thinks he has acid reflux because she prescribed him Zantac. We are going to try it for 2 weeks and go back in for another check up to see how things are going. He hasn't been able to see his normal doctor for the last two well baby visits because she was on maternity leave. She will be back for his next appointment, so we'll get to have some consistency. That will be good since he's been to the doctor three times and has seen someone different each time.

I'm still not convinced that we shouldn't have his tight tongue fixed. I figure that we might as well fix it when he's a baby and won't remember rather than when he is a toddler or young child. Tight tongue can also cause a speech impediment, so there is another reason why I don't understand the hesitation to clip it. This is an issue I'll be discussing at his next appointment.

Sorry, no photos this time. I've got some, they just aren't ready to be posted yet.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

This week

This week has been so busy that I almost literally feel dizzy. I'm not really sure what has made it feel so busy except that this is how it went:
I went to the store several times this week because I was trying to get ready for a baby shower and bought things for it, then more people said they were coming (YAY!), so I had to run back to the store to get more favor bags and cups, in addition to our normal trip to the store for groceries. Going to the store is a huge task now since there are two kids to load and unload. Plus I had to get dog food one of those times. Getting dog food with kids isn't easy.
Monday David had volleyball and was gone from 7pm to 9pm, so I put the kids to bed myself (I don't say that to sound like I did it all myself, but to point out that I usually have help and I didn't and I missed it! My husband is so good to me and helps take care of the kids more than a lot of husbands, and I greatly appreciate that!)
Tuesday David had 2 meetings at church and was in and out of the house all evening between meetings. It made for an awkward evening.
Wednesday I had a playdate in the morning. Then David had a meeting in the early evening. Then after the kids went to bed some friends of ours came over to play 42.
Today is Thursday, and the kids and I had a busy morning. After breakfast we quickly got ready and got in the car. We stopped by Walmart on our way out of town for a bag of ice and to fill the car up with gas. Then we drove to Harlingen to go to a park where I was throwing a baby shower for a good friend of mine. We got there at 8:40. The shower started at 9. It went really well. Lots of friends came to celebrate with us. We left at 11:15. By then both kids were very cranky. Stickers helped Allyssa feel better, but I can't reach David, Jr.'s mouth in the car to give him a pacifier, so he cried the last 10 minutes of our car ride home.
Now, it is time to make supper, get Allyssa packed for her trip, and get some laundry unwrikled that sat too long, and get some other laundry washed. I also hope to get the kitchen tidied for the millionth time this week.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

The final photos

Note to Grandmas: Only look at this post if you want to spoil your suprise.








May 7, 2009 I had Allyssa paint some picture frames for Grandma Vandercook and Grandma Drachenberg for Mother's Day. Yup, they got them late! Oh well, at least they had photos in them, right?! Allyssa had a great time painting. She even painted the paint roller, which had green paint on it, yellow. She got a lot of paint on the bucket. Probably more on the bucket than on the wood. It was her first time to paint and was a lot of fun.

A friend's birthday party




May 6th we went to a friend's second birthday party. Allyssa wasn't sure about climbing into the pool, so she stayed out of it and splashed from the sidelines. I wasn't going to force her to get in, and she was having fun, so I just let her play that way. The cake is an idea from Betty Crocker. Our friends had bought a birthday cake from HEB, but because they had to postpone the party due to swine flu, they had to make a new cake. They were wondering what to do about a cake, so I told them what I'm doing for Allyssa, and they liked the idea. I am going to make a train car using their idea for Allyssa's birthday. I started this tradition a few years ago with one of David's birthday cakes, but didn't really make it a tradition until Allyssa's first birthday (well, I guess really my 24th birthday because it is 2 days before Allyssa's and I got a special shape, too). Our tradition is this: Birthday cakes must be extra special in some way, for example a special shape using pans and dishes that we already have at home or a special flavor (like David's peppermint poke cake from last year, which I think is Betty Crocker, too, it was a variation found on the cake box). If possible, the cake should always be a special shape, but if not possible due to the special flavor, that is okay. Also, the birthday person is not allowed to make their own cake. (I guess if Allyssa wanted to help stir stuff in, that would be okay, it is more that I don't make my own cake.) Alright, so go check out Betty Crocker's website and find a fun cake to make!

Aparently I put him in that onesie a lot





May 6, 2009

Fun on the slide, a goofy girl, and flowers






The flowers are from our yard. Allyssa eats the very top of a cupcake off first, then eats the rest of it. And Allyssa decided that going down the slide head first is the best way to do it!

David smiles!




May 2, 2009

Trip to San Antonio






We went to SA to visit with Jon and Mary. Jon was David's supervising pastor when David was on vicarage in Minnesota. With them being so close to us, we thought, we'd make the trip. Here are photos of a parade that we saw (it was Feista weekend) and a fountain that is on the River Walk that Allyssa fell into causing me to jump in and save her. She was/is fine. And a picture of David and Allyssa back at home after Allyssa caught a virus that wiped her out for about 3 days. She probably caught the virus when she fell in the water (she went totally under, so certainly she got some germs). Since that incident, our camera has been on the fritz. (I jumped in quickly and didn't take the camera off my wrist, so it also went totally under.) So we didn't get picture of Jon and Mary or other photos that we would have wanted. And since then we've gotten the camera to work for short periods of time, but now it is totally dead. I have a few more pictures to show you, but until we get a new camera, that will be it. April 24, 2009

Cleaning the bike






Here are David and Allyssa cleaning David's bike while David, Jr. takes a nap. April 22, 2009

Thursday, May 7, 2009

And the last of the old pictures...now if I just could get the new ones off my camera before they are old...






I had the sprinkler on one morning to water the lawn. Allyssa had her bear outside and decided that they should go check it out.