Fun with the kiddos

I have been trying new polish techniques on the girls and I that I have found on Pinterest.  The most recent was 'splatter paint'.  I dipped a straw in polish and blew it on the girls' toes.  It looks cool when it is done, but was a pain to clean up.  

The first, and most important step, was to protect the skin with scotch tape and paper towels! 

We all did a white base.  Hailey did blue splatter, Kaelin did blue and pink, 

and I did light and dark purple. 

On a different note, Logan is standing.  He pulls to stand on his own - EVERYWHERE! He likes to let go and try to stand alone too.  Most of the time he ends up on his bottom, but sometimes he face plants.

Chillin' at Pat Catan's or Hobby Lobby, or some other craft store. He is such a good boy!

Mini Golf for Beginners

During the first week of June, after a day of working on Jecca & Chris' wedding, we took the kiddos for pizza and then to play miniature golf.  Neither of the girls had been before.  It was entertaining!  THey did good the first few holes - really trying, and then they were just pushing the ball around and having a good time. 

The girls wanted to check out Uncle Chris's truck:

Golf time:

Playing in the playground/arcade after we were done golfing:

K's Last day of School and summer fun

 Kaelin had her last day of school on May 25th! She was excited and is ready for summer.  She says she wants to sleep in. hahaha If anyone knows K, she doesn't know how to sleep past 7:15! (Which is a great improvement in the last year.  It used to be 6:15 - thank you Tot Clock!)  We were so blessed by her Kindergarten teacher - Mrs. Schnurrenberger.  We LOVED her!  We will miss her greatly next year, but K is excited for 1st grade! I can't believe she will be in 1st grade, and Hailey will start pre school in the fall!

 Last Day of School Pics

Since school is out, I have been trying to make more of an effort to make each day fun.  We go to the park at least weekly.  Last week they got to play in the mall playground for a bit.  We also meet friends for lunch dates.  I am hoping this summer will be filled with busy fun - even if we are a bit crazy right now (working on Jecca and Chris's wedding and painting/moving the kids rooms around).  

Playing at the mall.

A day at the park with our friend Luc.

Lovin the swings - thanks Jecca for pushing :)

Logan is 8 months!

Logan is now 8 months old!  He is so big.  He is finally sleeping through the night  9-10 hours (thank you to our wonderful new specialist!)  He is doing much better with eating/pooping etc.  Our old specialist was very difficult to work with.  It took 4 days to receive the biopsy results once they were in his office!  He then just wanted to up Logan's medication rather than finding and correcting the problem.  

So, we are now driving to Akron to a wonderful doctor! He has been helping us get Logan back on his growth curve (we put extra formula and rice cereal in each bottle and butter in all his baby food!).  We are also working on his pooping issues with a little milk of magnesia.  He also helped us to train Logan to sleep through the night - it only took 2 days! Tomorrow we go in for a weight check at an office near our house, and then call the specialist to discuss our next step, which hopefully be to wean him off his medication!

Logan is mobile! Not crawling though, we call it the worm:

Logan laughing at Hailey being silly:

Logan - such a Memorial Day cutie!

He LOVES the bath!

 He fell asleep on the floor, so his sisters wrapped him up like a burrito.

Pictures taken on his 8th month bday.  Please ignore his first battle wound.  He pushed himself up to stand for the first time on Monday.  We were so excited to see it (Justin, Jecca and I).  Unfortunately, he then proceeded to take a header into the kitchen cabinets. :( 

This face is a face he makes often. It cracks me up!

He was sleepy in the swing :) Adorable!

Our little trooper

Logan is now 7 months old, 19 lbs and 8 oz., and about 31" long.  He has had some belly issues since he was born.  Early on, he would go 5-7 days without pooping (TMI right?). Our family doctor sent us to a pediatric gastroentomologist.  The doctor believed that Logan needed some stretching exercises and then he would be good to go.  The exercises did seem to help, but he has also been a puker, and was put on some acid reflux medication.  

Starting April 26th things got worse.  He started to projectile vomit almost every time he ate.  We kept an eye on him thinking maybe he had a virus or something, but he showed no other symptoms.  By Monday we called our family doctor and took him in.  He noticed that Logan's growth rate had dropped and discussed that Logan may need a stomach scope. Back to the specialist we went on May 3rd.  By then the projectile vomiting was only occurring 2-3 times a day, but Logan had also decreased his eating to about 1/3 of his normal food and formula amounts.  The specialist agreed to schedule the scope for Tuesday, May 8th at 10am. 

Tuesday, May 8th:  Logan had to stop all formula and foods by 4am.  He was then allowed watered down apple juice or water until 7am.  After that he was not allowed to eat or drink anything.  Ray stayed home with Hailey while Jecca went with me to Akron's Children's Hospital in Boardman.  We had to be there by 8:30am.  (Unfortunately, Justin had a travel trip planned with a co-worker from Germany that could not be changed).

Big Boy ready for the day.

Once we got registered, he received a hospital bracelet around his ankle.  He was allowed to keep his fuzzy blanket and binky with him.  However, he had to wear the hospital socks - which he would NOT keep on - and a hospital gown.

He then had to get his blood pressure and oxygen levels checked (they use a baby's big toe instead of a finger).  They also had to check his hemoglobin levels by pricking his finger.  The blood pressure cuff was tiny, they sent it home with us as a keepsake. I was scared and nervous and did cry a bit after they took him back.  Other than that I did fairly well.

Waking up after the scope.  He was starving and did not like all the wires and IV attached to him.  Within 20 minutes or so, once we fed him, he was unhooked and we got him dressed.  He was almost back to his normal, happy self.  He had a few moments of crankiness yesterday, mostly when he was ready to eat, but other than that he is doing great!

The dr. came to talk to us after the scope.  He said every thing looked good, and that they took some biopsies to confirm if Logan had reflux along with some other things.  We will get the results back next Monday or Tuesday.  The one thing he did notice was that there was still food in his stomach, which there shouldn't have been, based on his eating timeline.  He believes Logan's stomach is slow to empty.  This could explain the symptoms dating back to his birth.  I am not yet sure how they will treat it, if it is confirmed.  First, we have to get back the biopsies.  Then the dr. will schedule an upper GI - Logan will have to drink some dye and then xrays will be taken to see how the dye moves through his system. 

Updates to follow as they occur.  Please keep him in your prayers. He is such a good little guy and I hate when he is crying because his stomach seems upset and we can't help him!

Pittsburgh Zoo April 2012

One Sunday last month we went to Pittsburgh Zoo with Amy, Brad, Dominic, and Justin's Aunt Laura and Uncle Glenn.  It was a ton of fun, and the first time in a LONG time we haven't skipped some corner of the zoo - we made it through every exhibit. 

How big the kids are compared to a baby elephant. 

Everyone loves a polar bear.

Playing on the playground slides.

This was Logan's first trip to the zoo.  

I was trying to get him to take a picture with the zoo map, instead he started flinging it around. 

 And then humored me...though he wouldn't smile. hahaha

Auntie Amy and Logan (right before he puked all over the zoo for the second or third time).

Happily eating his toes on our way home.