Our Days

Jayden often walks around without pants but you will always find him with only one sock. He is quirky and this is just one of his hang ups. One sock at a time.
The picture of LaJuan and the kids is one of our Daycare "Stations." This is the "Home, Kitchen, etc" room. It is actually our back porch. One of LaJuan's great ideas!

Love this Picture!

We found a Church!

Just wanted to add a few pictures LaJuan took of us before church on Sunday. We visited a new church and really felt that we found the right place to spend Sunday mornings. Jayden was welcomed in the nursery and had a great time playing with the other kids. It's a small plant church (City Church) with a "Grace"-like feel to it. Lots of young couples, young children and seemingly genuine people! We stayed after and talk to people for about 45 minutes and felt right at home. I also learned about some community groups and play groups!

Sweet Journey slept right through church in the Moby Wrap. She is still a Mama's girl but I did catch her laughing and playing with her Daddy this morning!

Mourning the Loss

Several months back Jayden lost a small soccer ball in the storm drain near our house. Since then, every time we walk by the drain he says, "ball, ball, ball" and "needs" to look down into the drain just to make sure the ball hasn't magically appeared. Just recently he purposely threw another small soccer ball down there. He will even look in storm drains that are not in our neighborhood (for example he looked into a storm drain at the hospital a few weeks ago). Funny and sad. He really misses his balls (although he has 45 others).

Maybe if I look from this angle I will see it? He proceeded to lay down in the street hoping to catch a glimpse. No luck today...

Taking a break.

Chillin'

Okay, I think I have a right to post this simply because I have had the complete opposite experience with my first baby...

Journey slept just over 12 hours last night without a feeding! I'd like to also note that I was up once a night with Jayden until he was 9 months old and completely weaned. This girl just LIKES TO SLEEP! I must say, it is nothing we have done. She is super content and we are super grateful (especially since her crib is in our room).

On a funnier note...the lactation nurse at the hospital a few weeks ago told me that I should be "waking her up at night because a baby her age should not go more than 4-5 hours without a feeding." To which I responded, "that is just not gonna happen." End quote.

Radio Flyer

Jayden has learned to ride his bike ALL by himself! This morning I was pushing him along and when I stopped, he kept going. Now...we have to learn to steer. As you can see in the picture he kept getting upset when he would run into the grass.

Things that Happened this Week.

1. I found my first gray hair.
2. Jayden stayed in the church nursery without crying.
3. Demetrius and I went on a little date.
4. Journey laughed.

The Princess

I'm NOT a girl...I'm a PRINCESS!!!!

Gotta love a self-soothing baby!

Hey everyone!

Bunch of Random Pics

We went to the park yesterday and had a great time. Jayden loves the slides and will climb just about anything.

The look of determination!

Our little "organic baby" (thanks Auntie Portia)!

Having fun in his bedroom.

Wow, this kid is definitely lacking in the toy department! Please note that he is sitting (backwards) on his new potty chair...clothes on but it's a step forward nonetheless!

3 Months Old!

We cannot believe that our little girl has turned 3 months old! I cannot begin to describe the joy she has added to our family. I love everything about her.

Sitting in my pink Bumbo chair with my special Bunny.

Thank you Auntie Julia for the most beautiful bracelet ever!

Mom's Request

My mom requested that I put a few more pictures of the kids on our blog so these were the most recent ones. Jayden has an obsession with letters lately. He can pick out the A, O, T, D and sometime the J, S and G. Hopefully his obsession will last long enough to learn the rest of the letters.

Journey getting her daily dose of albuteral via the nebulizer. She definitely doesn't love it but she puts up with it most of the time. The original mask we got was too big but our sweet neighbor gave us this cute little fish mask, which is just her size.

I took this one morning last week. They are all watching a Boz video in bed on Demetrius' Mac. Oh, and I must let everyone know that our sweet girl went 9 hours last night without waking up to eat! If she continues to sleep well through the night and seems satisfied I don't think I will start cereal until about 6 months (my mom is cringing right now at the thought of NOT giving her food ;)

Great Friends....great times!

Our good friends Matt and Morgan Spivey drove down to see us and to spend a little time away together. We had a really great time catching up and just enjoying each other's company. We also went to Universal Studios City Walk one beautiful afternoon. You basically only have to pay to park and then we walked around and ate lunch at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville.

Matt and Morgan outside of Margartitaville...they are expecting their second son in a few months!

Matt and Jayden playing on the stairs in the gift shop.

Demetrius and Matt at NBA City...they shot a few hoops and we all compared our hand sizes to the greatest basketball players ever.

Thanks for coming all the way here to visit us! We had such a great time and look forward to seeing you all again soon!

Million Dollar Advice

Just wanted to give a shout out to my good friend Morgan for suggesting that we try an electric toothbrush for Jayden. Anyone else out there have to kung-fu fight their toddler and pin them down to brush their teeth? Well, that was us until Spiderman came along. Under $10 at your local Wal-Mart. It'll change your life...and it won't take two adult to brush one little person's teeth!

Feeling Better

Just a quick note to let everyone know that we made it home on Wednesday afternoon. Journey's oxygen levels returned to the normal limits so we were able to go home and finish her recovery.  She is pretty much back to her normal sweet self again and we are super thankful.  She will get breathing treatments at home for the next week.  Other than that the Dr. said she might have some flare ups in the coming months.  

We wanted to thank everyone who prayed for her (and us).  We were really sad for her because she was so miserable.  After a few days of deep suctioning she starting crying in her sleep and throwing her arms up to protect her face.  I would basically have to wake her up out of a bad dream.  Sad.  The last day we were there she started smiling in her sleep....confirmation to me that she wasn't completely traumatized by everything.  

I was telling a few people recently  how much I adore our girl.  I just do.  She is so sweet spirited and snuggly.  I remember when we found out we were pregnant how crazy the thought of having another baby was ("unplanned").  I can't imagine not having her in our lives.  She is a huge blessing to us!

One Last Diagnosis

Journey had another set of chest x-rays today.  They revealed that she has developed viral pneumonia.  Although it sounds bad, they pretty much told us that it is to be expected and that her treatment will remain the same.  Her lungs apparently looked cloudy but didn't have any major spots on them.  This is apparently a good thing! We are still praying that we can reduce and eliminate her need for oxygen soon.  We want our baby girl all better.  Until then...we will be hanging out at the hospital.  

We are really trying to maintain a thankful attitude for several reasons.  We have insurance.  Demetrius' class that was schedule for this week was cancelled.  She is not in ICU.  She is not having to be suctioned.  Her IV was taken out tonight.  She is eating and sleeping well.  She is smiling and playing.  She is getting better!

On the Mend

Raise your hand if you want to go home soon!

I've had some sad days but I'm starting to smile and become playful again!

Our daily visit from Dad and Brother.

The place we've called home.

Aren't I beautiful even in this hospital gown?

Getting our "hopes" up...

Yesterday was a great day for Journey.  She came off oxygen and we were set to go home this morning as long as she maintain her levels throughout the night.  At about 7pm they dropped again and wouldn't come back up without them turning on her oxygen...so that meant we would be staying the night again (night #4).  

We tried again this morning to take her off but had to put her back on again right away.  At about 10am we took her off again and she was good for almost 5 hours before her levels dropped AGAIN! One of the nurses told me this afternoon that most babies her age will stay about a week in the hospital with RSV.  She even said most of them have to stay in the NICU so we are very thankful to have Journey here in the room with us (me :0)  

The good news is that she is improving and that she is just needing a small amount of oxygen. She is nursing again and is starting to give us a glimpse of her old self.  We even got a little smile out of her late yesterday.  I've taken a few pictures of her to post once I get a chance.  

Jayden is doing fine hanging out with Demetrius.  I've been able to visit with him for a little while each day but he is in heaven having daddy all to himself.  He seems to be feeling all better so we are thankful for that!

Keep you posted...

Sick Baby

Jayden and Journey came down with the RSV virus and we have had a difficult time the last few days.  Jayden starting getting cold-like symptoms almost two weeks ago and several days later Journey started to have a little cough.   Since Jayden has never really been sick or needed antibiotics I was certain it was just the common cold and they would feel better in a few days.  Not the case! On Tuesday I decided to take them to the doctor because Jayden was very congested and I wanted him to look at a rash on Journey's face and neck.  I fully anticipated him telling me I jumped the gun and they were just fine.  But he said Jayden had Brochiolitis and prescribed some medicine for him and also some ointment for Journey's neck and face.  He wanted us to watch Journey closely to make sure she didn't start having chest congestion as well.  

By Thursday night Journey was so pitiful we knew we would have to take her to the doctor to get some medicine.  After a nearly restless night I took her to the doctor only to find out that she needed to go to the hospital! Yikes...the hospital confirmed that she has RSV, which also caused Brochiolitis.  So, we have been here at Florida Hospital East for  2 1/2 days and we will be spending our third night here tonight.  She has been receiving breathing treatments, IV fluids and oxygen around the clock and has gotten SO MUCH BETTER!! We are so thankful for our friends and family for praying for our sweet girl.  She really struggled just to breathe for a couple of days and now she is sleeping peacefully.  I will say that my heart was broken for her as I watched her struggle to breath.  It was so hard to see her even get an IV and being suctioned.  She was pretty much awake and being "bothered" by the medical staff for 16 hours straight! 

Please pray for Journey that she will start eating regularly again and that she wouldn't be scared every time someone touches her.  She is really jumpy and gets really upset anytime I try to pick her up or love on her because she thinks someone is about to shove a tube down her nasal cavity or poke her with a needle.   I was able to feed her today and she has maintained her oxygen levels for the past 4 hours on room air! If she continues to maintain them tonight they will probably send us home tomorrow.  

Fun Times

This is what I would look like without much hair! Funny, funny and funny!

My mom always does crazy stuff to my hair when I'm in the bathtub. This day it was a pony tail. We had fun looking in the mirror and laughing.

Am I sweet or what? Oh, and I'm also sleeping 7-8 hours without waking up at night. My parents are so proud!

Sometimes I fall asleep in my swing during the day. Aren't my pj's cute?

Christmas 2008

My sister Angie also come to visit with her friend Amy.  They got Dad this super cool autographed Tampa Bay t-shirt (and football).  We had fun hanging out with them on Christmas Day.

If you will notice he prefers to hold his feet up and let someone push him as opposed to him doing the work himself! Gotta love this kid.

Sweet picture of mom and Ang.

Love this girl's smile! Her whole face scrunches up and her eyes get all squinty.  She is such a joy.

Riding brother's pony.

More Christmas Pics

It's hard to believe he's old enough for his first bike!

And his first "pet" pony!

Old enough for chores? Definitely.

Sharing Christmas bows with "Shish" aka "Nyearn."  These are his two names for Sister and Journey.

This is so much fun!