A Day with Aunt Rachel

Last week my friend Rachel (Logan's Godmother) had Spring Break and she met up with us at the newly improved Children's Museum in Houston. What a hit it was... as Logan gets a little older, he'll be able to do so much more of it independently! He had a blast... and the place was HUGE! Four floors of learning and fun!

We started in the news room... you could dress up, write scripts and be the anchor, weatherman or report sports; really anything you wanted. Of course, Logan was just interested in seeing himself and Aunt Rachel on the TV. Here he is changing the channels to make her appear on the big screen.

Here he is in the police car... learning how to use the radio!

The diner was a big hit! He didn't dress up as the chef or anything...
just liked pretending to cook and serve.
Here he is sitting at the counter...
I think he may have been putting mustard into his cup?

The vet clinic was very cool. They had cages for all the different "animals" as well as a scale and other "doctor" things. Here he is brushing the cat's teeth.
Taking a puppy dog's vitals...
A look into his future???

The weather wasn't too hot and it was overcast outside, so we headed out to the water area... lots of learning here too, all about water and cause and effect!
Here he is trying to step on the pump to make the water shoot up.
He loved the "river" and taking things up to the top, chasing them as they floated down.
This was a wave machine... lots of work for him, but he liked watching the waves.
Aunt Rachel playing "teacher" showing him how the dam works.
I didn't bring a change of clothes because I didn't know there would be a water part, so here you can see how wet he was by the time he made it to the playground. Thankfully being wet didn't bother him... I actually had to drag him away from the water "shower" area.

Back inside there was an "experiment" area with instructors who helped out. The lady helped him make a "parachute" and then put it in the air machine to go up over and over again!
He could have played with this all day! Something about watching the same thing happen over and over and never getting bored with it... a toddler thing for sure!
Here's a short video so you can get an idea of his excitement!

Here he is in the technology area, most of which was over his head. He like pretending to play the computer though.

On the top floor, there was a "toddler" area for playing and climbing, reading and some exploring kinds of things. There were A TON of kiddos in this area, many of whom were babies, so Logan was very happy! He "met" a little baby... 2 month old girl, and the mother was so sweet about letting him be sweet to her. He was VERY excited to sing to her and get to hug her and when the mom and I pulled out our cameras, he was quite the ham.
Singing to her... lots of songs!
Being a sweet boy!
If this is how he is with a stranger,
I can only imagine what a sweety he'll be with his own little brother!

Well, the children's museum was a great experience... and a wonderul time with Aunt Rachel! He loves her so much and really enjoyed spending time with her. He is a pretty busy boy and she does an awesome job of keeping up with him.

We also went to her new house on Saturday for their house warming party and he was thrilled that she played with him nearly the whole time we were there! Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures, but he did a good job keeping her busy! At one point, I believe her words were, "Man, he never slows down, huh?" And my response... NOPE! That sums that up! :-)

Happy Saint Patrick's Day

Here's Logan showing off his new "shamrock" shirt. He loved saying "Happy Saint Patrick's Day!" to everyone on the phone today, and getting "green" M&Ms as his after-nap treat.
Showing off his balancing skills...
Ta-da! Very serious about this accomplishment!

We were supposed to get together with family for dinner, but I seem to have come down with a pretty intense cold and now it seems Jeff is developing the same thing, so better to stay in tonight! Gotta watch American Idol anyway, haha!

What's in a Name?

The name for our next addition to the family has been decided on.
Arriving in August is going to be
Ryan Thomas Grace

Ryan is a name that Jeff and I agreed on...
really one of the only ones Jeff liked at all.
Thomas is a family name on Jeff's side (Jeff's name is Thomas Jeffrey) and I believe this will be the fifth generation to have Thomas used in the Grace family. We can't wait to meet the little one and are really enjoying getting to talk to Logan about it. When we told him today he seemed content with calling the baby "Baby Ryan" but then when Jeff asked him a few hours later who baby Ryan was he replied, "I don't know that boy," making us both laugh. This is all probably very over his head, but we are having fun with it!

San Antonio Visit

So, as I stated last week with info about my "fall" we recently visited very good friends in San Antonio, the Curries. Avery is one of my best friends and now in the grown-up stage of our lives we are getting to share in the joy of growing our own families. Our first ones, my Logan and her Brynn, are only 3 months apart and this visit showed us how quickly they have both grown up. They played very well together and both enjoy a lot of the same things, so it was very nice to see them interact well while we got to catch up as friends. Baby Camdyn is just precious, already 10 months old, and Logan LOVED her, always telling us what a good baby she is and how he loves her so! Here are some pics from our visit... now that I'm looking over all of them I wish I had taken more!

On one of Brent's days off, we were able to leave Camdyn home with him and take the older kiddos to a bounce house. They really enjoyed themselves, and so did we! There were huge slides which the kids did with very little fear, blow ups just for jumping and also a couple of obstacle courses. We're gonna have to find a place like this near us because Logan really enjoyed it!

Logan following Brynn into a bouncer

Avery taking the kids up the long climb to the top of the slide

Before knowing how fast the slide would really go, this is how Avery left the two behind her... grabbing their feet as she went sliding so they didn't stay at the top!
On one of the obstacle courses, Brynn is checking out what's ahead.
Here is how we went down after we learned how fast it was gonna be...
The kids always have this truly frightened look on their face and then immediately wanted to go again! I especially loved Brynn's tongue out in this one!
Logan decided he would go by himself... made it all the way to the top and then wouldn't make the trip down. Apparantly it was a scary site from that high up without mommy by your side. After little success in the bribing area, I conceded and followed him up to slide down together.

Each kid climbing by themselves.

The weather while we were there was wonderful. We played outside every day and took the kids to the new park by their house twice.


On Saturday night of the visit Jeff came into town and we went to Trisha and Michael's beautiful wedding. We left Logan at Avery's house... thanks to Avery for the wonderful little date night we got to have. Most of the pics from the wedding are on my mom's camera, but here is one of the happy couple dancing towards the end of the night. It was a great time for everyone and was very nice to see and catch up with people I haven't seen since college.

Some big news... a few weeks early!

This past week, we were in San Antonio for my friend Trisha's wedding and spent 5 days visiting the Curries... so many pics from the fun time that I'll be putting in another post shortly, but before that, I'd like to get out our big news!

Due to a fall down Avery's stairs on Saturday that came with lots of bruises (wooden stairs, with ceramic tile at the bottom) the dr recommended that I come in for an ultrasound to make sure everything was ok. Of course, I didn't argue because peace of mind is kind of important when you are carrying precious cargo! Jeff met Logan and me at the office and after confirming that the baby was fine, heart rate was normal and my blood pressure was fine, we heard the words "It's a boy!"
We are very excited! We don't plan on having any more, so boys it will be for us! I wasn't planning on getting this information until April, so the final pick of a name has not been done yet... I'm sure we'll be talking about it tonight though!! haha!

The only other concern on the ultrasound was the fact that the placenta is low, pretty much under the baby, but there is no way to tell now if that was a result from the fall or if it's just still working on making its way up. They took pics and measurements of it and will compare when I go in April 1st and they do another ultrasound. I'm not worried right now because there is nothing I could do about it anyway and as long as it wasn't separated or torn (which would be major!), they weren't too concerned.

So, that's our big news... pics of our San Antonio trip to come very soon!

Mommy's Bday Weekend

This year, the birthday was a wonderful thing. Logan understood that we were celebrating mommy and daddy was very cute about getting him involved and talking to him about it the whole week before. A lot took place in the three-day celebration, starting on Friday morning with my two sweet boys going to Whataburger and bringing me back my favorite breakfast (and even serving it in bed)! It was so yummy... especially now that I can eat the things I love and not throw them up! Praise God!

After eating, I was given my present... surprise, a new camera! All the pics in this post were taken with my new Canon... something I wanted, but didn't ask for and was very pleasantly surprised. I'm impressed with Jeff's ability to surprise me and am very thankful that he went with his choice of gift and not what Logan had wanted to get me... Logan thought that I would want a bag of rocks... after many suggestions Jeff gave him at the dinner table Thursday night, Logan said yes to the bag of rocks idea and said, "Mommy, you want a bag of rocks?" When I said no thanks he asked, "You don't like rocks mommy?" OH, BOYS!

So, Friday afternoon we went to my parents to celebrate and I got to open more presents... maternity clothes were definitely in the mix (though I'm still wearing my regular clothes at the moment!), along with lots of other little goodies. My brother made my busy life a lot easier with a blue tooth and I am very thankful for that! We had a nice dinner out at Outback (again a place I chose, solely because I was excited about being able to eat normally again and I was really excited about the Aussie cheese fries- yummy!).
On Saturday, my brother took us to Chuck E Cheese's (wondering here if it was mine or Logan's birthday!) and we had a very good time. Logan LOVES Uncle Mike and who wouldn't love the 30yr old big kid with pockets full of tokens for all the fun games!?! Here are some pics of them playing together...

Watching the birthday celebration with a good view from top.

Mike doing some serious concentrating.
He LOVED all the "driving" games this time... so that was something new!
Playing air hockey... as best he could!
High fives for Chucky... no fear here!
And some hugs too. He wanted to follow him around everywhere.

In the afternoon, Logan had a birthday party to go to for my friend's 2yr old Cameron. Logan was THRILLED with the theme of Thomas and had a great time playing with trains and eating a Thomas cake... He was telling me on the way home that he wants Thomas at his next party, but can we please have Percy and James too? I think he wondered if they were left out on purpose and wants to make sure that doesn't happen again! Haha!
Wearing his conductor hat!
Happy Birthday Cameron!

Saturday night I got to go out with some of my friends from church... it just happened to be ladie's night out the same weekend of my birthday and we had a very nice time! We went shopping in Market Street after dinner and I got to spend some birthday money, so no complaints here!
On Sunday after church, Rachel and Joel came up for the day. This was the first time that Logan was immediately ready to see and play with her on one of our visits. It definitely shows how much he is growing up that he isn't needing "warm up" time when we have visitors or when we visit friends. They had a blast playing together and she brought Christmas to us in March... we hadn't had a chance to get together around the holidays, so our holiday was a little late this year! Thanks Aunt Rachel for the wonderful games... I love to watch his little brain work at figuring out the LeapFrog match up game! Here are some pics from their visit.
Jumping with Aunt Rachel.
Making her bounce!
A little time with Uncle Joel.
Getting some serious air!

The whole weekend was a very busy one, but tons of fun for all! We have another busy week ahead with a trip to San Antonio starting early tomorrow morning, so I'm sure we'll have more to update after a visit with the Curries. The pregnancy is going well... I am 15+ weeks and go to the doctor again today. If there is anything to report, I'll be sure to let you all know!

Some sweet relief

Well, it's been awhile since I posted and God has been good! At the time, we have limited internet access at home so blogging is very difficult. I am currently at the home of my personal chef making this post just to update you all quickly... no, I don't really have a chef, but Celeste has cooked for my family every weeknight for the past month while I have been trying to keep my own food down... may God bless her for that awesome gift

!

So anyway, on to the update. We decided not to put in another PICC line because the vomiting was no longer out of control (meaning it was only a couple times a day as opposed to 8) and unless completely necessary, my doctor didn't see it being worth the risk. It seems to have been the right decision because we now think the 5 days I had it in allowed us to get on top of the sickness and take control. I am back on the oral meds twice a day and the Phenergan at night to help me sleep and I am doing very well. Food is staying down, I am able to drink liquids regularly throughout the day and I've even begun some more 'normal' activity. I have been warned to continue to take it slow and not jump back into my busy lifestyle too quickly, but we have been leaving the house and getting reaquainted with friends we haven't seen in over a month! I have returned to both bible study groups, very appreciative of all the love, prayers and support that came from both groups of women, and am even very thankful for the ability to do my own grovery shopping again! It's the little things, isn't it?

Logan is very happy and adjusting very well to our slow transition back to 'normal' as he has enjoyed getting to go to playgroup and even the nursery at church again. People that didn't get to see him much throughout the last month continuously comment on how much he has grown up... he is becoming very independent and mommy is loving that too!

Thanks again for all the prayers... our next appt is Tuesday March 3rd so hopefully we will have our internet working again by then and I will be back to more regular posts! Recent pics of Logan coming soon... and I've got to get some more videos on here of all his little sayings and songs! He cracks us up on a daily basis!

Oh for goodness sakes!

Alright... here it goes. So, the PICC line was put in on Monday and since then I was pretty much free of being sick. It was sore the first 24 hours, but after that I felt like I was adjusting well. On Thursday night, we awoke in the middle of the night to change my fluid bag and realized that the IV was not infusing.... the Zofran pump was still going and not beeping to signify a blockage, so we didn't think too much of it. Jeff just clamped off the fluid line and we went back to sleep to deal with it in the morning. Come Friday, the line flushed and fluid started flowing again, so we had no worries. As the day went on, I started to feel a little discomfort which progressed throughout the day, but I tried to tell myself that, "Heck, you just had the incision done a few days ago. Be tough!" Just FYI: that was the wrong thing to do!

So, before going to bed Friday night, I was using a heating pad to decrease the pain as well as taking Tylenol, but then when it came time to go to bed the IV fluid started to back up again and stopped infusing... once again, the Zofran pump was going, so that struck me as odd. Instead of calling the home health people, we decided to just sleep without the IV and deal with it in the morning when they could possibly send someone out to check on me. Again, probably a mistake, but that's hindsight for ya!

About 3:50 in the morning, I woke up in so much PAIN! I couldn't move my arm and if I even tried to rest it up on a pillow, it made me want to scream! I tried to toss and turn, walk around, and think, but by 5am I was waking up Jeff and calling into the 24hr home health nurses. The pressure in my arm was so tight, feeling like if I could just cut my arm open and release it, it would all be better (but don't worry, I didn't do that!). The nurse on call instructed me to head to the emergency room (thanks again to family for my dad coming over at that hour to be here when Logan woke up!).

So, on to the result... after 4 hours in the ER, the PICC was removed. After an ultrasound, they confirmed that there was not a blood clot present (good news!) but that something must be going wrong inside for my arm to feel the way it did... maybe on a nerve, putting stress on some tissue, who knows... they really had no idea, but keeping it in just wasn't an option... I needed some relief! As the doctor removed the catheter I almost immediately felt relief... still pain, but not the pressure... and I could move my arm freely again which was nice.

Where do we go from here? We are back to oral meds... Zofran tablets and the Phenergan (which knocks me out!). We got home from the hospital at 11:30, I ate some breakfast and slept until 6 pm! The pain is pretty much subsided, though the upper arm is pretty bruised and VERY sensitive to the touch. This is all pretty much a mystery... but I guess we'll all get our collective heads together on Monday and see what we can do next. They can put another one in, try my right arm, but if it's due to an allergy to latex (which would explain all the other prior issues with the IV sites and Zofran port trouble in my leg!) than that won't be an option. For the weekend, I'm thankful to have such a wonderful husband and the Phenergan to let me sleep the days away!

Please continue to pray for this situation... I know the outcome is worth it in the end, but I just don't think having a baby should be this hard on a mother!

Time for the PICC line

Well here is another update. My veins have been giving us a very hard time with the IV support and after careful consideration, my doctor and home health team made the decision this morning to have a PICC put into my arm for a better distribution of both IV fluids and my Zofran port. This is my last chance at any relief, so I'm truly on my last bit of prayers hoping that this can help me out. I just got home from the hospital and as the numbing agent is starting to wear off, my arm is becoming a little sore, but hopefully it won't be as invasive as all the bruising on my arms from the previous IV sites. They say this can stay in for up to 6 weeks, with the dressings being changed once a week. I'll be able to manage all the meds and fluids myself, and can hopefully figure out a schedule that my body will cooperate with that allows me to disconnect for some of the day and get out of the house with Logan... maybe be a normal mom again! I am still on a leave of absence from the Y because I cannot partake in physical activity with the PICC line in and thankfully my position is awaiting me when I get better. Thanks again to all of you who are praying for me and for all the kind notes I've been receiving... it's so good to go through something like this with family and friends by my side.

Logan came home yesterday after spending a week in Graham and I was very happy to see him. He has taken every opportunity today to hug me and tell me how much he loves me, often saying that he missed me while he was gone.... SO SWEET! This morning, though he woke a little earlier than usual, I was excited to greet him when he called for me saying, "Mommy, I excited to be home now. Come get me!" Who wouldn't be able to get out of bed after hearing that sweet thing on the monitor???

Did I Jinx Myself?

Well, we are still not enjoying this pregnancy very much.
Thanks to family and friends, we are surviving, but the light at the end of the tunnel seems very far away.
This week has been interesting.
On Sunday, a nurse came to re-start my IV line (something that has to be done every 2-3 days) and I asked her to take a look at the port sites on my legs from the Zofran. She was in awe when she saw them... they literally looked (and felt) like I had multiple spider bites on my legs. I was immediately taken off of that form of treatment and then discussed on Monday the possibility of sending me to the hospital for a PIC line to be put in (a more major IV that goes directly through a major artery, straight to the heart). I was thankful that they decided against that for the time being and it seemed to all be working in my favor. I was doing much better OFF of the Zofran, and am solely on Phenergan right now, with an IV of fluids 24 hrs a day. Until yesterday, I had not gotten sick since the port had been stopped, but then came my demise! I sent out an email to my friends that were all praying so diligently, letting them know of my improvement and within hours, I was throwing up again. This morning has been a rough one and we seem to be going backwards! I know that with Hyperemesis (the actual diagnosis of my suffering) there will be good days and bad days, I just got a little excited as things appeared to be improving.

Now, I must say thank you to our family that is helping tremendously! Logan is at Jeff's parents' house until Sunday, so I am taking advantage and letting the Phenergan do its job... which means I sleep a lot. Debra has him all to herself until the weekend and I know from experience that her hands are very full with that little boy! It's a blessing she loves him as much as she does!
My wonderful mother came Tuesday and cleaned my ENTIRE house- what a champ she is!! I was able to help minimally, but she wanted to help... and boy did she!

Thanks to all of you that have been lifting me up in prayer... PLEASE DON'T STOP! And I also must thank my neighbor and friend Celeste for feeding my husband every night... her cooking looks so good, I only wish I could eat some too!

I am still on the IV because my intake of fluids is not enough right now and my hydration levels are still testing low, but that is doable... much better than having to poke myself in the leg multiple times with drugs that were really irritating the skin... the bruises on my legs are looking much better and I am hopeful to never have to go down that route again.

For my girlfriends... when I am done with this pregnancy and we have another healthy baby to be thankful for, please don't ever ask me when we are going for #3....
It's not happening!!

Home Health... my goodness!

Well, this baby is making me one sick mommy! I know I've already told you all that, but this is just horrible. On Tuesday, my vomiting was so out of control (like 5 times before 11am!!) that the doctor decided it was time for home health... which is better than being in a hospital, so I guess it isn't the worst case scenario.

So, a nurse came to the house Tuesday night and set me up with an IV of fluids... which I will have until Sunday! On top of that, I have a Zofran port in my leg that I have to change about every 8 hours... it includes changing the line to the other leg, which means sticking myself with a needle and loading up the drug dispenser. I am going back and forth between the two legs, as the area around the port gets very irritated and bruised by the time the 8 hours has passed. The nurse said most women could keep it in for 12-16 hours, but I don't have enough fat tissue for the absorption to last that long... I guess that's a good thing, but it didn't make me feel much better.

Thank goodness for my family! My mom stayed here the first night to help out with Logan and then he went to their house today, staying until Jeff gets off work tomorrow night. I have only had to take care of him along for about 6 hours total since all this has happened and if I didn't have that help, I think we would both be very irritated right now! We will tackle next week when we get there... taking it one day at a time! They say I could be on the port for up to 20 weeks into the pregnancy, but I'm really hoping and praying that isn't the case! I am still getting sick with this thing, but instead of the usual 8 times a day, yesterday I only made three trips to the porcelain gods! Today I am going to get lots of rest since Logan is gone, and I'm sure he's in loving hands and having a great time!

It's Official

Well, we are 8 weeks along and the baby is growing strong! We had our appt on Friday and although I had been hoping we were further along, everything is developing on pace. I am VERY SICK... and nausea is just the base of it. Nothing stays down and no meds are currently giving me any relief, but I went through this with Logan and have to keep reminding myself of the end result! Logan is adjusting better... he absolutely hates when I'm getting sick in the bathroom, but I think he's starting to get used to it (how sad is that!) He loves to tell people he's going to be a big brother, but I'm pretty confident that he has no idea what that really means for him! I'm just hoping he never puts together that the baby is what is making me sick... don't want him to harbor any ill feelings toward his little sibling before it even arrives!

So, just to give an update and share the official due date:
August 23rd!

My husband the hero

Well, I have to brag. Jeff's sense of "calm" whenever things just aren't that way never ceases to amaze me... I just wish I could have witnessed the great thing he did this morning.

While working out before work, in the Anadarko facilities, he heard someone calling for help and was quick to a scene of a man that had a heart attack. While one woman who was certified got CPR started, Jeff got the defibrillator going and shocked the man's chest! I can only imagine how well he must have kept his cool until the ambulance got there, just knowing how he is.

They got a report later that the man had to be shocked a few more times on the way to the hospital, where they opened him up to find a blood clot and one artery that was 99% blocked. They were very impressed by the work done at the Anadarko facility, telling his wife that most people that have that kind of a heart attack never even make it to the hospital.
From what I understand, Jeff was one of three people that took care of this man and I am very proud of him. Emails were circulated around his work praising that group of three very brave people. I am certified in CPR, but the idea of ever having to actually use it scares me very much.
Anyway, Jeff would be embarrassed if he knew I was posting this, but I just had to share how proud I am of him!

2008 Wraps up... what's ahead, you ask?

Happy New Year to all of you...
hope you rang in the New Year safely!

Christmas around here was definitely an adventure, filled with some unexpected happenings.

On Wednesday, December 17 we lost my grandmother to the horrible disease of Alzheimers, thus sending us to NY for five days to visit family and attend services.
Logan did not make the trip with us for several reasons...
1. The whole atmosphere of our trip was not for a two-year-old
2. My family just saw him during our visit there in October
3. We are going again in April for my uncle's wedding
4. and the big kicker... the price of a plane ticket, with no notice, around the holidays!
It was such a blessing to have family so close that they could come and take him for that time and he didn't have any clue as to how sad the whole thing really was... he truly enjoyed his visit with Grana, Papa and Aunt Kelley that week and it was so nice to know he was well taken care of. As soon as our trip began, I was assured that we had made the right decision, as we were landed in Tampa with no connection to NY due to a winter storm and the closing of all airports in the NY area! Six hours in an airport is a long time without a 2 yr old, so you can imagine how thrilled I was that he was not with us, especially while I watched other parents trying to contain there toddlers during the afternoon of delays!
We did make it safely to and from NY and it was a nice time getting to visit the family. Though I wish it could have been under different circumstances, I know that my Grandma is in a much better place right now, filled with memories and thoughts that she had been missing for the last several years!

And then we return to celebrate Christmas, getting Logan back just in time for Christmas Eve (in which we did absolutely nothing) and a very relaxing holiday spent at my parents' house! The kid was a little spoiled, but when you are the only grandchild on either side, that's bound to happen, huh?
Here are just a FEW pics...

Enjoying his new "desk" and the singing Rudolph that
Great Grandma sent!
Helping mommy and daddy open their new package of assorted meats from Omaha Steaks!!! So yummy!

Cool kid!
Some nice posed pics after he was dressed in his new clothes...
Mommy and Logan
Grandma and Logan
Uncle Mike and Logan
Watching Curious George, with the animal himself...
while we were all getting ourselves dressed!

And when it came to the BIG gift, Uncle Mike played Santa this year! Due to weather and the circumstances the week leading up to Christmas, this was not set up until the day after, but that didn't seem to matter to Logan...
his new "trampoWeen"
and when it comes to my two boys, sometimes I wonder who enjoys this new "toy" the most!

The day after Christmas Jeff's family came to celebrate with us... we had a very nice, relaxing weekend with them... shopping, eating and playing games together. I was feeling a little under the weather and the camera didn't come out once... sorry Graces, Kelley I'll have to get some pics from you!


And now, what's ahead for 09??? Well, let's just say that there ought to be even more excitement in our lives next Christmas, as Logan will have to share the attention with someone else...
will it be a brother or a sister? Only time will tell!
All I can tell you right now is that it's making mommy VERY sick!

And on this note, Sunday at church we sang a song that really wrapped up this whole end of the year experience for me... I cried while I sang, being reminded of God's sovereignty and the working of His perfect plan!

"You give and take away, You give and take away,
My heart will choose to say, Lord blessed be your name!"

He has taken someone very precious away from us, but my faith is in this new life, the timing of the news, and what wonderful things it will bring to our family, near and far.