8 Months ~ only a week late! :o)

I know that I say this often, but where did the time go? Did we not just get home from the hospital with Kellen??? Here is what Kellen is up to these days...

• He is weighing in around 22 lbs. He is still able to where some 9 month clothing, but mostly is wearing 12 months. He is in a size 3 diaper, but wears size 4 at night....this has made all the difference in the world in the fact he does not wake up totally soaked.
• We changed Kellen's schedule up a little this last month. We are now letting him wake up on his own or waking him up at 6:15ish (during the week). He has a bottle around 6:30 and then we head off to daycare around 6:45ish. Daddy usually will pick him up from daycare around 5. We still fight over who gets to pick him up, because we love the BIG smile we get when we walk in the room! Around 5:30ish Kellen will eat dinner. This consists of a meat and veggie and sometimes a fruit if he acts like he is starving. Then it is play time until about 7:00ish. The time between 5:30 and 7 is really hard for Kellen...he is usually so tired, but I am selfish in the fact I want to spend time with Kellen awake and not sleeping so I try not to let him go to sleep unless he just can't handle it! :o) Around 7 we go upstairs for bath time. Kellen loves bath time even more now that I am not using his bath chair and he gets to hang out in the big tub and plays. He is such a little fish!!! I think he would stay in there until he shriveled up if I let him! After bath time we try to read a couple books, but this usually does not go well, because Kellen is SO tired!!! He gets another bottle and off to bed. He usually does not cry too much, but some nights he will cry for no more than 5 minutes! This past week he had a hard time sleeping...I think with being sick and home from daycare for a couple of days and having multiple houseguests just threw Kellen out of sorts a bit! He seems to be falling back into his routine and sleeping through the night again!
• As far as eating goes...Kellen still eats very well for us! He drinks 4- 7 oz bottles and will eat 3 times a day with a snack here and there. For Breakfast he will eat oatmeal and a fruit or yogurt (the yogurt is not his favorite and I hate the amount of sugar it has in it). For Lunch he will get a veggie and a fruit. For dinner he will have a meat and a veggie and sometimes a fruit. We introduced puffs to him this last month and he LOVES them! He also loves pizza crust...I think that it feels really good on his teeth! We are trying to make a move to more textures so we will see how that goes.
• Kellen's teeth have just continued to come in. At this point he has 8 teeth all together! They just seem to continue to come in! For the last month it has been one after another! No wonder he is chewing on everything and anything...including window sills and furniture! On Friday (9/25) the Daycare called and told me that another child bit Kellen. They did not break through the skin, but he did have a little red mark when I picked him up on Friday! I was very understanding to it all, because I never know when the next phone call will be that Kellen bit someone. Since then Kellen has started to bite us...we are trying to work on "no biting"!!!
• Kellen is on the move right now! He loves to crawl after the cats, this makes me a little nervous because they both still have their claws...Holly has been so good with him. Skyler on the other hand is not so good and has got Kellen a couple of times, but it doesn't seem to stop him from going after her again and again! He is really trying to pull up on everything. He can get to his knees, and has got the idea of getting to his feet, but is not quite strong enough.
• He is really starting to babble. "Mamamama" is his favorite. It is my favorite when he wakes up and just starts talking. He also really likes "babababa"! We are working on the dada, but so far it is mostly "ma" and "ba"! 

Kellen is keeping us busy and we are learning that we can not turn our back for even a second. He really is into everything and so curious about anything that moves. He loves to sit and look out the window at a little lizard and caterpillar that lives in our Hibiscus bush. He will talk and talk to them!

We enjoyed our visit with The Whitfield family a few weeks back! They came in on Saturday for The Tucker family celebration! Then the boys went to the Falcon vs. Panther game on Sunday! Deborah Anne and I hung out with the little ones! Sarah Scott loves to give hugs it is the sweetest thing! Kellen was not so into it! As you can see on his face! :o) I think Deborah Anne was a little worried about Sarah Scott hurting Kellen, but I was more worried about Kellen hurting her. Sarah Scott is a little over 1 and Kellen is a few pounds heavier and about the same height. Kellen kept tripping her and pulling on her pants every time she walked by. He also kept trying to steal her paci...I really do think he is a bit of a bully! :o) It was SO much fun hanging out with them...if they only lived closer!!!

We are staying busy these days with our day to day lives! I love fall and I am so excited to take Kellen to a pumpkin patch and dress him up for Halloween! If only I could decide what to dress him up as!

It has been a little crazy around here...

 A picture I took in honor of Matt and his Fantasy Football Draft!

     So It has been awhile, but I just don't seem to have the energy for much these days.  I have been so tired and don't think that I will ever catch up on sleep!  I wanted to recap the last week and all the craziness poor little Kellen has went through!  I think that going through all of the stress of having a sick little one and not knowing what to do for him, just about did me in!
     After the Dr's on Tuesday I felt so much better because they had said he was okay to go through surgery!  On Wednesday things started to go downhill.  When Matt picked Kellen up from daycare his teacher had just taken his temperature and it was at 100.4.  About this time I began to panic and deep down I knew the surgery was not going to happen, but I will still praying that it would.  Of course I did not want them to do it if Kellen was sick, but it really was the PERFECT time for me.  I had Friday and Monday off for Labor day and that meant I would get to be home with him for 5 days while he recovers.  I was so excited that things had lined up!!!  Well like I said it was perfect timing for me, but I guess God had other plans.  Kellen's fever continued to rise over the course of the evening and finally at 11:30 pm it hit 102.5.  I just didn't know what to do anymore...so I called the nurse line and asked what to do.  She told us that we could go ahead and give Kellen some Tylenol and that if it broke than we should be fine to have the surgery.  So that is what we did.  Kellen woke up at 3:30 so we got up and gave him some water and took his temp...no temperature!  Maybe it really was going to work out for us! So we got ready and headed to the place where he was to have his surgery.
     When it was our turn I told the nurse all about the fever and the Tylenol and going to the Drs on Tuesday.  She did not seem to show any concern, she took Kellen's temp twice just to be sure he did not have a fever.  So far so good...I was almost feeling confident that it was going to happen.  The the Nurse Practitioner for the Anesthesiologist came in and listened to the details leading up to that point and then listened to Kellen's lungs.  At that point everything came crashing down.  She said he was wheezing and was sure that they would not do the surgery and if they did she would be very surprised.  She left the room and talked to Dr and came back and said "Today is not the day"!!!  My heart sank...now don't get me wrong I did not want them to do the surgery if Kellen was at any risk, but I was so disappointed that my perfect timing was not so perfect any more.
     So we loaded Kellen back up into the car and my mom fed him a bottle on the way home.  He fell asleep and didn't wake up even when we moved him from the car to his crib.  I waited till 8:30 and called the Dr to see if I could get an appointment to have Kellen checked again!  The whole time I was so upset...When I had taken him to the Dr on Tuesday he sounded the exact same as he did at that exact moment!  So why did that Dr clear him for surgery???  When the Dr's answered she said she had an availability with the same Dr I saw on Tuesday, but I really don't care to see him again.  So we got a 9:30 appointment with a Nurse practitioner.  She was so sweet.  She said Kellen was a "Happy Wheezier" and because of all the congestion he was wheezing.  She suggested that we start breathing treatments and an antibiotic just because he had a fever the night before, she said better safe than sorry!  She did tell us that because Kellen has had this cold for so long and it has not moved to his ears, that we should not have any problems with them!  I was very happy about that!  We did a breathing treatment in the office and it was so hard to watch Kellen!  He cried the whole time!  It broke my heart!  But I know that it was for the better!!!

Kellen is actually smiling though his breathing treatment!!!

     They sent us home with a nebulizer so that we could continue the breathing treatments at home.  This is where  "first time mom naivety" comes in...I didn't think to ask any of the side effects or anything...just went about my business of filling the prescriptions and doing the breathing treatments at home.   The rest of Thursday went fine...Kellen seemed to be feeling better and I was enjoying my time with him.
Friday things started to go a little crazy...The breathing treatments were making Kellen so hyper that it was like he was on crack!!!  He would not sit still for his bottles so I was only able to get about 10 oz of formula down him instead of his normal 35 oz.  I couldn't keep up with him...amongst all this going on Kellen decided now was the time to start full on crawling (and he hasn't stopped since)!!!  He still does the marine crawl, but is starting to use his legs a little more until he hits the hardwoods and then knows that dragging himself he can go faster! So all day Saturday and part of Sunday I continued the breathing treatments, until  my mom, matt and me were about at our limits.  Kellen was so hyper and it was a fight to get him to sit still long enough to eat.  He was not wheezing anymore and his cough sounded like it was dryer...so we called the pharmacist to see if there would be any harm in stopping the breathing treatments.  He said no as long as he was not wheezing.  So we decided to stop the breathing treatments.  Monday was so much nicer...Kellen drank all of his bottles and was still crawling all over the place, but not nearly as hyper.

Kellen chasing Holly...she got smart and jumped on the chair!!!

     I kept Kellen in the house the entire weekend besides one adventure to Babies R Us on Monday.  He was doing very well and things were looking up.  So back to daycare he went on Tuesday!  By Wednesday his nose was running a lot more and he was sounding a little more congested, but still no wheezing!  I had to take Kellen back to the Drs on Thursday so they could check his lungs, but after only being at work for a few hours, daycare called and said Kellen was running a fever and had diarrhea.    So off to get him I went.  When I got to daycare they apologized and said it seemed that Kellen's fever was going up and down, because they took it a gain with a different thermometer!  If you want my opinion I don't think he ever had a fever, because I have never known one to disappear unaided with in 30-45 minutes.  So Kellen and I went home and hung out till the Drs...I was happy for the time I got to spend with Kellen!
     At the Dr's they said Kellen's lungs sounded great and that his diarrhea could be anything, but were not concerned with it since he was not vomiting! They said it could be the rest of the virus trying to get out or the antibiotics, or even his teething (he has three teeth trying to come through)!  Kellen now has 7 teeth in all and 5 of those have come in pretty much at once.
     Kellen is still congested and I am looking for more natural ways to help him get the gunk out so that we do not have to resort to the breathing treatments.  I have been using the saline spray and an aspirator and trying to get out as much of the gunk I can from his nose and that seems to help!  But if anyone has any suggestions on how to get the gunk out of his chest let me know!   Thanks again for all the prayers!

What a day...

     I am so glad to say that this day is over and as soon as I finish this post I am off to bed (yes, I know it is not even 9 o'clock yet).  I have been excited and nervous about this day since I scheduled Kellen's surgery.  Today was the day that we got the phone call about the time!  I am excited about the 7:30 am time slot since Kellen will have to fast and so that we can get in and get it over with! 
     I had been also dreading it because Kellen's cough and runny nose have not gotten any better and I was worried that they would not do the surgery.  Since I already have Friday and Monday off this Thursday is perfect because I would get to be home with him for 5 days before sending him back to daycare...so I was worried that they would cancel it and I would not be able to spend that time with him!  I know that they say that he will bounce back really fast, but I just wanted to know that I would be able to be with him for more than just a weekend!!! 
     So I waited and waited...the phone call finally came the one time I did not take my cell phone with me when I left my office!  They left a message and I didn't get to talk to them about Kellen's cough and runny nose.  So I called the Surgeon's office and talked to them...they told me to call the anesthesiologist's office and talk to them.  Si I called them and  they ask me all these questions about his cough and what it sounded like and his runny nose...then told me to call my pediatrician's and check with them since we were told almost 3 weeks ago that he would have to wait it out and it could be 2-3 weeks before we saw any improvement (but we hadn't).  She was worried that we would get there on Thursday and they would send us home! 
     So then I called the pediatrician's and she gave my message to the nurse and told me that they would call back.  MORE waiting....I am just not very good at waiting.  I have been working on it, but if this was a test I failed BIG TIME!!!  Finally she called me back and we talked through everything.  She told me that the coughs have been lasting 6-8 weeks and that I should be fine, but if I wanted to play it safe then I could bring him in to get checked out!  SO I called Matt and my Mom and asked what I should do, when I already knew I wanted to take him in to get checked out, but just wanted someone to tell me that I had not lost my mind!  My mom agreed that it would be a good idea to go get him checked out. 
    So again I called the Pediatrician's office and asked if there was an appointment available for that afternoon!  My luck there was one at 4:10...just enough time for me to leave work drive to Kellen's daycare  pick him up and get back to Dr's.  I made it with 15 minutes to spare!  I got all checked in and I had to wait and wait and wait...After about 30 minutes past my appointment time the receptionist called me over to let me know that they had run into some issues with drawing some blood from a sick child and it would be a little while longer.  At that point I had to leave Kellen with her and go use the restroom...Kellen just hung out watching her work on the computer...they didn't want to give him back! 
    So once again I waited and waited and waited and finally after about an hour later Kellen's name was called!!!  Finally my wait was over...or so I thought!  Kellen weighed in at 21 lbs 3 oz.  Growing boy!!!  We got back to the room and waited some more...while waiting I hear the nurses talking amongst themselves talking about the child that they were trying to draw some blood from...I guess the mother had to hold her child down and after a big struggle they were able to draw some blood.  What a traumatic experience for mother and child!!!  I waited some more and the nurse finally came in just to let me know that it would be a while longer and apologized.  So I waited some more. 
    Finally she came in and told my that the Dr I was supposed to see would be a little bit longer, but there was another Dr available to see Kellen and asked if that would be okay.  WELL I was tired of waiting, but the Dr that was available was the Dr that ever so gently broke it to us (if you can't tell that is my way of typing in sarcasm) that Kellen had a hernia....after contemplating waiting for the other Dr  I decided against it.  Kellen was getting fussy and it was VERY hot in the room.  So the Dr came in checked his ears, nose, listened to him breath and then looked down his throat!  He told me that everything looked good and that if it were him operating he would put him under.  He told me to get Kellen up a little early and get him moving since Kellen sounds awful in the morning since all the junk kind of just sits there all night! 
    We have to be there at 6 am on Thursday so that means leaving our house around 5:15 am and we can't feed Kellen.  So keep us in your prayers that one Kellen is not to fussy when we don't give him his bottle, but wake him up early and stick saline and an aspirator up his nose and then take him into a steamy bathroom to help get the junk moving so that the anesthesiologist will be okay putting him under.  I am hoping some magic happens and his cough goes away!  :o)  So that was my day! 

Thank you for all of your prayers!!!  WE are so blessed to have such a great group of friends that surround us and a family that is right there for us when we need them!  Thanks again!  I am hoping to tweet throughout Thursday morning!  If I can figure out how to link it to my facebook, I will!  Thanks again!  I am off to my comfy bed!

7 Months ~ Redo

After I posted the last post I got to feeling guilty that I really didn't do it justice. I have been so caught up in just getting "something posted" that I feel that it did not celebrate all of Kellen's achievements in the last month. I have been reading several blogs and I like the way they do it better than just running everything together so here I go (sorry for any repeat from the last one, I just feel that I need a "redo" on this one)...

• Kellen is weighing in at a little over 20 lbs. He is still able to wear some 6-9 months, but they are becoming VERY small on him. So we have been breaking out the 12 months clothes. I have been able to squeeze his foot into a few Size 2 shoes, but really they are too small!!! He is always giving me a look like "Really mama, are you really trying to put my foot in that?" He is wearing size 3 diapers.
• Kellen goes to bed right around 8 o'clock and we try to read to him, but since starting daycare he is so sleepy that he often falls asleep while drinking his last bottle. He usually will sleep from 7 – 8, wake up only long enough to eat and go right back to sleep. I am thinking I might have to read to him after his bath, so that we can get some reading time in. During the week we wake him up around 5:15 am and Daddy will change his diaper, dress him for the day, and hang out with him until I am done with my shower. Then he drinks a bottle and lays back down and sleeps for roughly an hour before I wake him up to leave for Daycare At Daycare he will take 2-3 naps usually lasting from 30 minutes to 2 hours. On the weekends we let him sleep till he wakes up and he will wake up around 6, eat and go back to sleep till about 8.
• He loves his food! He drinks 5 - 7 oz bottles a day and will have cereal and a fruit around 9 and a meat and veggie around 5. So far so good, he loves all his food! So far he has tried.
• Veggies ~
• Carrots, Sweet Potatoes, Sweet Peas, Green Beans, Squash, Carrots & Tomatoes
• Fruits ~
• Peaches, Bananas, Applesauce, Pear 
• Meats ~
• Chicken, Turkey, Beef
• His favorite toys right now are a stuffed horse that will neigh like a real horse (from Scout, my friend Kathy's dog), a stuffed Monkey that sleeps with him (from Grandma Keeta), a bunny that drinks his bottle with him (from Uncle Andy, Aunt Crystal, & Cousin Ansley), and a toy that has four different shapes and you can put them through the matching holes or just drop them in the top (of course it makes a sound when you wiggle the bucket part) (from Grandma Keeta). He also loves this crazy cow toy from Auntie Jennifer! He still loves his Jump-a-roo, but is growing out of it very quickly!
• He is loving Daycare...he is such a flirt with all the teachers. They absolutely love him. Right now he is in Infant A, but will soon move to Infant B. Ms Sue Anne (a teacher in infant B) loves Kellen and Kellen loves her so much! When she walks in the room he will light up and smile the biggest smile ever! They told us they think that he will thrive in the other room watching all of the older kids. Kellen makes it so easy in the morning to drop him off since he is all smiles. Daddy loves to pick him up, because his whole face will light up when you walk in the room!!! We actually sometimes fight over who will pick him up!
• Kellen continues to love bath time and could probably stay in there forever. He LOVES the water. I am a little sad that we did not make to the pool more this summer! I am not sure where the summer went!!!
• Kellen is sitting up by himself without help...he has been almost able to do it for awhile now, but one day he just sat up and smiled at everyone and then fell over and then just got back up and smiled away! His smiling may be due to the fact that I was very excited and kept clapping and saying "yea Kellen"!!!
• He continues to get up on all fours and rock back and forth like he is going to some where. He gets so excited sometimes that he will lay on his belly and kick is arms and legs...It looks like he is swimming and he thinks he is going somewhere!!! He has started to lunge forward or drag himself to get where he wants to go. He has gets around by rolling! We have learned not to underestimate him in anyway! Turn your back and he is gone!!! ***Update - This weekend he started really moving. He looks like an inch bug, but he can go from one end of the room to the other! I told Matt "We need some gates"!!! ***
• Kellen has 4 teeth all together. He has two on top and two on the bottom with two more ready to poke through any day now on the top! I feel so bad for him...all 4 on top have decided to come in all at once (they just poked through a couple days ago).

He is growing so fast and we have been so blessed to have him in our lives. It really is so amazing to watch him grow and learn each day! Just when I thought I couldn't love him anymore, my heart is overwhelmed with a feeling that I cannot explain! Happy 7 Months Baby Boy!

7 Months

My baby is growing up!  I am not sure where the time is going!  I cannot believe that he is 7 months old.  He is sitting up all by himself like it is nothing now.  It is so much fun!  His personality is really coming out.  He is a little bit of a flirt and loves the camera.  He still has mommy's temper that when he is hungry or tired he is a bit of a lion!  His two top teeth have cut through this last week.  I will have to try to get a picture of them!  He is still sleeping very well. We put him down around 8 o'clock and wake him up around 5:30 and then he eats and will go back to sleep until about 6:45 when we have to walk out the door.  This makes it easier for me to get ready and out of the house.  Matt leaves at 6 am so it is just me with Kellen so I shower, feed Kellen, put him back to bed, make lunches for Matt and I, coffee, and breakfast for me.  Then I am back upstairs and I finish getting ready.  As long as I know what I want to wear then I am fine and we make it out of the house by 5 minutes to 7!  Off to daycare we go.  The teachers love him so much and he seems to love them.  He really loves one of them that is in the Infant B room (that is the next room he will be in, but has spent some time in there when there are too many babies in his room).  We were told that they will probably move him up soon, as he is the oldest and the biggest of the bunch.  They feel like he will just take off being with the older kids.  Matt will pick Kellen up most of the time after work and he looks forward to this time.   Kellen's face just lights up when we get there and Matt loves this!  He continues to eat well for them.  He still loves all food.  He has now tried turkey and beef.  He drinks 5 bottles a day and eats oatmeal and a fruit in the morning and a vegetable and meat for dinner.  I think I am going to add another vegetable and fruit for lunch.  We will see hoe it goes.  He is still rocking a bunch and hasn't quite figured out how to crawl, but that does not stop him.  He pulls himself along the floor or lunges forward.  I don't think we are safe for much longer!  He is napping much better now that he as started daycare.  He will usually take 2 - 3 naps from anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours!  By the time he gets home he is exhausted!  Matt and I have gotten a kick out of watching Kellen.  He is SO much fun!  There is never a dull moment!

Meeting Macy Brooks...

After work today Matt and I went to meet our friends' new baby, Macy Brooks. Let me just say she is beautiful!!! She is so dainty and cute I could have stared at her for hours (I think that babies have a super-power that just melts your heart). She stole our hearts! Denny was one proud papa as he held his daughter! At one point Macy Brooks just cuddled up to Ashly and it was the perfect picture to see her in Ashly's arms! I really could have held her for hours. She was so tiny and perfect and beautiful.

Macy Brooks Tucker (24 hours old)

Matt held her and she stole his heart. I have been telling him that when we get ready to try for another child that I really want to do all the old-wives tales and try for a girl. He said "oh no I want another Boy"!!! After holding Macy Brooks he said I can have a girl! :o) If we ever have another one, I really don't care boy or girl, but it would be fun to have some pink amongst all this blue! :o)
Congrats to the Tucker Family! Macy Brooks is absolutely beautiful and we were honored to meet here! Welcome the world Macy Brooks!!!

Kellen's Surgery

It is scheduled for September 3rd. Dr Glasson starts at 7:30 am and it will be scheduled youngest to oldest. I am hoping that since Kellen will be just 7 months he will get the first slot since he will have to fast! Kellen loves his food and gets VERY cranky without it (Just like his mama)!!! I will keep everyone posted on any updates!