Everyone has been sick.

It all started two weeks ago, about 4 am on a Saturday morning. Ayden woke up whining and breathing rather funny. He would grunt like he was in pain and then just constantly whine. We gave him his bottle and he eventually went back to sleep. Well he woke up again at 6 am and was doing the same thing only this time he felt warm. We took his temp and it was 99 degrees. I started rocking him and trying to comfort him. I was moving his limbs trying to figure out if maybe something hurt. He continue to whine and grunt and he was constantly getting warmer. His fever spiked from 99 to 104.6 in 20 mins. I remembered my mom telling me that babies under 2 months do not run fever that high unless something is seriously wrong. So Jeremy packed him up and took him to the E.R.. About 9 am, Jeremy texted me to let me know that Ayden was being admitted and they thought he had pnemonia. Of course, I called a babysitter and headed up to the hospital. Over the next two days, we learned that he did not have pnemoinia but Group B strep. Something pregnant moms can give to thier babies when they deliver. I was tested for it and my results came back negative but I was told I could be a carrier and it would not show on the test. We spent Sat. through Thurs. in the hospital rotating between the hospital and home. Jeremy spent most nights and I did the days. My mom and Pud came over to help when we need them. Ayden spent 6 days on IV antibiotics and then we took him up to the hospital for 8 days to get antibiotic injections. He had a spinal tap but they were not able to get enough spinal fluid so they are treating him like he has menigitis.(which is what most babies get with Group B Strep). He goes to get his hearing checked next week to see if his hearing was affected by any of this. We thank God every day, this could have been so much worse.

While we were in the hospital Kylie developed a cough and then it turned into a fever and a cough. That Wed., Jeremy took Kylie to the dr. to find out she had an upper respitory infection. Friday, Caroline was running fever. Saturday, Thatcher woke up breathing like Darth Vader. We watched him closely and took him to the dr. on Monday to find out he had croup. Then Caroline started to run fever again on Wednesday, only to find out she had bronchitis.

That has been my last two weeks. I have been to the dr. for each child and to the Walgreens pharmacy every day this week. The pharmacist knows me by name now. Everyone has been on antibiotics and it seems like it is all starting to look up. All the kiddos are feeling better. Now you notice through all of this, I have not been sick. This worries me, because what usually happens is everyone gets better and I get sick. I am keeping my fingers crossed and hopeing that I might have just missed being sick this time.

Even though the last 2 weeks have been rough, I have been reminded every day that we are truly blessed. My kiddos made me smile and laugh when I was so tired. My husband helps in so many ways and gives me a break anytime he can. Hopefully now we can get back to packing, enjoying our last holiday in this house and moving on to our new home!

A big change is coming!

It has been awhile since I have written anything on here. I seem to have all these great ideas on things to write but never quite enough time. I figured that we should update everyone on what is going on over here.

Over the majority of the last 3 years, Jeremy has worked away from home for 5 days a week, only coming home for the weekends. It has been estremely hard considering I was pregnant through 18 months of that. His home office is in Metaire but his job takes him to different courthouses in LA and TX. I have to say the reason he has stuck with it this long is because he loves his job and is very good at it. We always said that we would move closer to his office eventually, but we live close to my family and have had lots of help while he was away. I was always scared we would move over there only for him to go to work in some place like Shreveport and not be any closer to home. Well in Aug. his boss told him that the majority of the work he wanted Jeremy to work on would be in the New Orleans area.

So we sat down and went over everything and well we figured out finiancially we couldn't move. I was really bummed. It looked like it would be at least 2 more years before we could move over there. Jeremy was going to miss everything from soccer games to first steps. I remember crying to my mom about how we were never going to live together again, about how I had not signed on to be a mom with a husband who "visits" on the weekends. My mom (who is rather wise sometimes) reminded me that when it was in God's plan things would just fall into place. That night Jeremy called me to let me know his mom and dad had decided to help us buy a house in Mandeville (about 30 mins. from Jeremy's office). I was dumb struck. I know I should know by now that God can do all things but I guess, I am still learning.

Since then everything seems to be moving kinda fast. We decide that we would try to be over there by the time Christmas break was over so the girls could start school at the begining of a semester. We made a bid on one house, only for it the fall through. We are now negotiating on our second house, which I might add, is our favorite. It is going to be very hard, my kids family is here. I will miss my sisters terribly. Caroline is leaving some very good friends. It is one of the hardest things I have had to explain to her. But overall, I know God has a plan for my family and I and I am very excited to start this new adventure in our lives.

Funny things

Everyone knows that when you have children, you never know what will come out of thier mouths and when it will happen. I thought it would be funny to share some of the things said at our house. With 3 kids talking, we have plenty to share.





Mommy: "Kylie did you go to speech class this week?"


Kylie: "nope"


Mommy: "Are you sure?"


Kylie: "no mommy, I didn't go."


Mommy: "Are you sure Kylie? The speech teacher said she would start this week."


Kylie (said with exasperation): "Does it sound like I went to speech class?"

We have a refrigerator where you can get water out of the door. Kylie is waiting for her turn behind Jeremy. Jeremy is filling up a huge cup. Kylie's comment" Daddy, hurry up! You are holding everyone up!" A few seconds later from Kylie "Daddy thats enough water, you are going to teetee in bed!"

I asked Caroline the other day if there was a little boy in her class named Cameron. Her reply is "yes, and he is, like, sooo in love with Mia (caroline's best friend). It is just so awkward when he is around." Later that night she asks me "Mommy, what does awkward mean?"

Kylie: "Caroline, do you know what daddy does for a job?"

Caroline: "Nope"

Kylie: " He is a Landman. That means he goes out and finds land for other people."

As you can tell our comedian is Kylie. She doesn't mean to be but she seems to think much differently than most 5 yr olds. Caroline is our reasonable one and Thatcher is our stunt man. Only time will tell were Ayden fits into this group.

The end of a very long month...

I have considering writing a blog about the events of August. For some reason, the task is just too overwhelming so I decided to give you a summary of everything that has happened.

Begining of August: Ayden is born.
Kylie starts Kindergarten.
Caroline starts 2nd grade.
Jeremy celebrates his 28th birthday.
End of August: Jeremy gets a raise.
We celebrate our 8th wedding anniversary in the ER.
Kendra is extremely sick for a week due to gall stones left
from a former surgery and the wrong medication.
Thatcher turns 2.
We all recover and prepare for Jeremy to go back to work in
New Orleans.

Now here are some pictures from August:

Little Ayden has arrived!!

Ayden James made his appearance into the world on August 4, 2009 at 2:37 pm. He weighed in at 8lbs 1oz (exactly what the ultrasound said the day before) and was 20 inches long. I went in Monday, August 3rd at 10 pm. They hooked me up to a monitor and said his heartbeat was a little strange so they were going to watch him for awhile before the induction. We did not start the induction until about 2 am. I had my water broken about 9 am and my epidural in at about 11 am. I have to admit this was my hardest labor yet. The contractions seemed to start much stronger than the other times and they didn't seem to make as much progress considering how much they hurt. I do not know how I did it mostly natural with Caroline. The only thing I can figure is that when you go in with your first, you are much more rested. I was exhausted before I even stepped into the hospital. My epidural did wonders and took most of my pain away. The delivery went smoothly and my dr. was prepared for my tendency to hemorrahage. So when I started, I got tons of drugs to stop the bleeding. Needless to say, I was horribly sick for about 30 mins. after the delivery. Overall though, it was very nice to have a normal delivery without any big complications.

We were able to go home the next day and everyone is doing fine. The girls love having a baby around and even Thatcher has taken to Ayden. Thatcher points at Ayden and says "my baby, mine." Ayden is much different than Thatcher already. He seems to be fiestier, LOL! He does not like being messed with, so he screams when his diaper gets changed or we change his clothes. Everytime he opens his eyes, he wants food. Kinda funny since, it seems like he eats more even though he is the smallest of them. Here are a few pictures of Ayden.

Separation Anxiety

Well Monday afternoon my girls left with their Daddy. Jeremy works closer to his parents house, so during the week he stays with his mom and dad versuses driving home each night. The girls are going with him this week, since I can't really travel and they really love visiting G.G. and Paw. I have to admit,I started to miss them on the first night. Thatcher is still with me (I just couldn't let him go, he is too little still). Since they have left, I have spent my days gathering the rest of all the things I need for Ayden. (and some of the things I want). I also got my hair cut, which was much needed. I have talked to them each day and it seems to be going very well. They have been so cooped up b/c of me being preggo and the heat. They call me each night and recap thier days.

Thatcher and I have been doing well. This morning I thought I would attempt potty training, HAHAHA!! I thought that if he did not have the girls around as an audience maybe he would do better. Well I am sure he would do fine, if I could make it through it. The wet big boy pants are not the problem, it is the dirty ones. For some reason, cleaning them makes my gag reflex go crazy. So after about 2 hours of potty training I threw in the towel. I guess he will just have to wait until after Ayden gets here.

On a last note, Ayden should be here pretty soon. I go Friday, the 25th to do all my preadmitting at the hospital. Then the next week we will have an ultrasound to see what size he is. If he is like his sibling he should be here by the end of the next week. We are gettting down to the wire and are very ready for him to make his appearance!!

Caroline's First Swim Meet

This morning was an early morning for all of us. Jeremy got Caroline up and at the pool for warm-ups at 7am. I had the other 2 little ones dressed and at the pool for about 7:50 am. The meet began at 8 am. Caroline was chosen to be in a the 100 yd freestyle relay for girls 8 and under. To prove to you guys how new we are to this whole swimming thing, Jeremy tells Caroline she was chosen to swim on a relay team. Caroline's response "What's a relay, Daddy?".
Now I must warn all you swim fanatics that we swim for a very small team and it is very laidback.

Caroline was the 3rd leg in the relay. Well the race began, and as a mother(and a non swimmer) I don't understand everthing those coaches do but the first little girl that swam was a considerable amount smaller than the other girls on her team and even in that heat. So the other teams wiped her out and Caroline got confused. When all of the girls that were on the block with Caroline jumped in, Caroline assumed she was suppose to go, even though her teammate was no where near touching the pool on Caroline's side. BUT Caroline swam an excellent leg, so we were very proud any way. She didn't even know she messed up until Jeremy told her. The other race she swam in was the 25 yd freestyle. On this race she knew what she was doing and she came in 3rd in her heat. Overall, Caroline came in 24th out of 40 girls 8 yrs and under. Her time for the 25 yd freestyle was 31.99 which is a whole 10 secs off her practice time.

She beamed when she got out the pool and handled the whole day so well. She loves to swim and seems to be very good at it. We are so thankful she has found a sport that she loves that much. Overall it was a wonderful day, filled with nerves that mostly came from Jeremy and I, Caroline was just as calm as you can get.



The pool area in Jennings is small so here are some of the pictures I could get.





Waiting her turn.

Waiting on the block for her turn on the relay.

Getting ready for the 25m Freestyle.

Waiting patiently.

Diving in...well her attempt at diving.


Swimming to the finish line.