Downtown with Aunt Patty & Uncle Bo

Last weekend Aunt Patty and Uncle Bo came up for a visit and we got to meet them downtown.  We had a blast.  It was the most beautiful fall day, nice and cool but not cold.  The kids were amazingly cooperative at the National Gallery of Art and enjoyed the falling leaves by the reflection pool.

It was beyond sweet--Ramsey just played and played with Beck.  

They were both in great moods.  Precious playmates!

Aunt Patty (my Dad's sister), Uncle Bo, Matt, and Blue Doggie enjoying the sunshine.

I love this picture of Aunt Patty--I have many fond memories of 

enjoying the outdoors with her as a child. 

You know it's a good day when Matt and I manage to be in a picture together!

The ladies.

Happy!

Beck was so tired, but such a trooper.

Asthma update

Beck, Ramsey, and I trekked to the pulmonary specialist all the way in Leesburg, VA to get Beck evaluated.  Interestingly, by the time our appointment rolled around, Beck was no longer really sick, but Ramsey and I were still holding on to our colds.  Dr. Clayton confirmed that Beck was in fact wheezing, as was Ramsey, but it is still unclear whether Beck has childhood asthma.  Wheezing is normal with colds, but wheezing sounds while exhaling are considered abnormal breathing.  Anyway, we are treating Beck with an asthma maintenance medication, so if he does have asthma, he will not reach the ER visit "redline."  This way, we can skip all of the ER visits and oral steroids we had to do with Ramsey for over a year.

Now, if Beck does have asthma, he will still have symptoms, but it will be manageable.  I am so, so grateful that both kids are now on the same medication!  This means that instead of 4+ 10-minute breathing treatments on a Nebulizer, Ramsey and Beck are on the same regimen of 2 puffs on a Flovent inhaler (with a child's spacer) twice a day.  It only takes a couple of minutes, morning and night.  Neither child minds the inhaler.  Ramsey was also prescribed an antibiotic due to a sinus infection.  I am also on an antibiotic for a sinus infection as of today.  We are on the same medicine regimen, but her medicine is "bubble gum" and mine are gigantic pills.  She asked for more medicine twice tonight.  This is my first antibiotic since my 2007-2008 hospital stays after having Ramsey.
 
Prior to this appointment, Beck had to get a chest x-ray and a sinus x-ray.  This was an ordeal!  Ramsey was not allowed in the x-ray room (to my surprise), so she had to sit outside the door with a magazine.  She was amazing.  Beck was so brave, and didn't cry as much as you would think given the fact that this apparatus looked like a torture chamber.  He cried, but he was really more confused than anything else.  Both x-rays looked fine.

   

This isn't Beck (he was unavailable for a photo), but this is what they use to do a baby chest x-ray.  Yikes!

Interestingly, he found the sinus x-ray more offensive.  He had to lie tummy-down on an exam table with his arms straight down by his side, with his face perpendicular to the table, looking up.  He was mad!

Lest I make this post all about sickness and difficulties, let me add that we had a nice lunch in Leesburg at the Chick-Fil-A after our appointment.  Beck LOVES animals and roars and moos whenever he sees lions, cows, or most other animals, so he was in heaven there with all of the pictures of cows in the restaurant.  Chick-Fil-A is also a good option for us because they offer fruit rather than french fries, and we basically don't do french fries in this family, unless they are of the sweet potato variety!  Beck loves any kind of fruit, and there are plenty of oranges, grapes, and strawberries there.   Here are some pics of us wearing my sunglasses while we were there.  I always put my glasses on the kids and say "cool babies" and they giggle. 

   

We will be taking a lot of medicine with us to Utah next week, but at least we don't have to schlep the breathing machine!!!!

Beck's first steps

Beck took his first unassisted steps on November 11!  He has been standing up in the middle of the room on his own for a few weeks now, but felt no inspiration to walk until this week.  It happened in the evening as I was preparing to pick up Matt from the Metro.  Ramsey said "Mommy, Beck just walked!"  I said, "really?" and bent down and said "Beck, walk!" and he stood up in the middle of the kitchen, and walked towards me (2 steps) and crashed into me gleefully.  He was so excited!  We picked Matt up, and then when we got home he repeated the same routine several times.  Ramsey lovingly holds his hands to help him practice walking.  His "gait" in funny--short little steps that resemble a sideways shuffle.  This little man is so fun!

Look at how tan his little monkey feet are!

He also started throwing amusing temper tantrums this week--he lunges to the floor, puts his face into the carpet, and then rolls over and cries.  He definitely has opinions.  I am amazed at how much he can communicate--he says a lot, "wa-wa" for water, "mah" for more, "ba-ba" for bottle, and "cahker" for cracker, to name a few of the important ones.  Of course, his most common utterance is "no, no, no."  I imagine it must be frustrating having all of these opinions and being unable to clearly articulate them!

Sometimes it's a lonely road

I am really grateful to stay home with my children, I wouldn't miss their babyhoods for the world.  But some days it is so lonely.  Matt has been gone for three days (things are going well for him at work--woo-hoo!), both kids have colds coupled with asthma issues that wake them in the night, daylight savings just ended and Beck isn't into it, Beck is dropping his morning nap, and I am also sick.  I am so edgey with worry and exhaustion, but I know that this too shall pass.  Today's "Daily Gem" email was about passing through trials without complaint and using prayer and service of others in order to endure.  This was clearly directed at me!   

Why should being a stay-at-home mom be a lonely road?  There's not really a good answer.  I mean, there are other stay-at-home moms around, and we've got all the time in the world, right?  Well, not really--everyone around here is super busy and scheduled, and sometimes I forget to just BE and not to worry about playgroups, meals, etc.

Ramsey and Beck are both coughing a bit this week, and it really concerns me.  However, we have an appointment with the asthma specialist on Monday, so hopefully we can figure some things out while we are there.  I hope this post isn't too negative, I just thought I'd share some hard things along with the good to give my blogging some balance.  I know we will all be okay.  The show must go on! 

Here's a cute pic at least.....

     

Uh-oh, not again

What started out as a regular cold....

Turned into something else.....

Um, this is all too familiar.  We JUST got Ramsey's asthma under control.  She was also once on the Nebulizer (for over a year).....

and has now moved to a regular inhaler.

UGH.

I took Beck to the pediatrician on Saturday because I heard a lot of wheezing accompanied by a scary cough and a runny nose.  The doctor said Beck probably has childhood asthma, like Ramsey, but only time will tell.  Meanwhile, we're on four "breathers" a day, and will hopefully go down to only one a day (for maintenance) this week.  Beck is not so into these breathing treatments.  He would rather be toddlin' around.....

He's only 14 months old!  But we are definitely holding out hope that this time around will be more manageable because experience is on our side.  Plus, it could be temporary and perhaps he doesn't even have asthma--nothing is definite at this point. 

The only way to get the treatments done is to hold him on my lap and watch Yo Gabba, Gabba!  He is pretty calm about it most of the time and sits there quietly, just like Ramsey did (although Ramsey's treatments didn't start until she was 20 months old).  However, he does get cranky when I have to do two treatments in a row and starts fussing and pulling at the mask.  Poor Beck!  I am not a fan of watching so much TV with a one-year-old, but as they say, "ya gotta do what ya gotta do."  I mean, he has to breathe.  Needless to say, my mood was not so chipper when Matt and I went out on Saturday night.....

but I went ahead and rocked a new hairstyle and had fun with my man.  He reminded me that it's okay, we've done this before, and we are so grateful it is not cancer or a truly devestating situation.     

Halloween

We had a blast Halloween weekend.  We went to the "Trunk-or-Treat" at church, and with a hundred kids running around, it was exciting and chaotic.  Beck did manage to get trampled (by a nine-year-old) while he was crawling around, but he was not hurt and recovered quickly.

Here's Ramsey as a witch.

Beck as a monkey, at least before we left.  Yes, he is crunching on a graham cracker bribe.

What he actually wore....Halloween pjs.

My boys--too handsome!

After we put Beck in the monkey costume, he would not stop fussing, so we did a last minute costume change.  We planned for this since Beck gets overheated easily, and Ramsey got really sweaty last year in her monkey costume.  All's well that ends well, I say.  I got second place in the chili cook-off, and we got a moderate amount of candy.  Ramsey was mildly interested in the candy and Beck was oblivious.  She asked for "a chocolate" that night and the next day, but then all was forgotten.

      Ramsey (featuring Blue Doggie) marching in the Halloween parade.  

Oh, the love

Sometimes it seems like there is never-ending complaining, fussing, or crying around here, and it's not just the children.  But really, there is a lot of love at home and surrounding us.  As Beck is getting more mobile, he and Ramsey can really irritate each other, but they also are becoming splendid playmates.  One of my hopes when having these two babies so close together was that they could be forever friends.  I am grateful for my family!

  I mean, what's more relaxing than chillin on the guest bed in the basement?

The kids are ecstatic when Matt comes home.  Daddy=good times!

He just gets right on the floor with them and they get all of their sillies out.

Ramsey LOVES her favorite neighbor, Mikenna.  These girls are beyond sweet, it's almost a joke.

Me and my boy.  He loves to "back it up" and sit on my lap whenever I am on the floor.  Cuddly baby.