Yesterday

Yesterday was a busy, stressful, hard day. It started with an appointment with an allergy/asthma specialist for Jacob. Many of you remember how sick he was during the fall. Our pediatrician felt certain it was allergy related (and so did I), so he wanted us to get him checked before the spring. One thing was certain. We did not want a repeat of the fall.

I was prepared for almost anything allergy related. I felt certain that he would have to go on a seasonal allergy med. I was even somewhat prepared for them pricking his back for the testing (even though..who can really be prepared to see their baby being pricked 18 times in the back while you're having to hold him down??!). What I wasn't prepared for was for his issues to not be allergy related. He didn't have a single allergen come back positive. So, his diagnosis? Restrictive Airways (aka "baby asthma"). This has been so hard for me to grasp. His Oxygen was 100%, and honestly they didn't do much breathing testing. He just looked at the records on how we had to go to the ER for wheezing, his O2 sat being low then, and almost every time he's been sick since, he's wheezed. The time we went to the ER, he had bronchiolitis, which was caused by RSV. The doc explained to me that little ones' lungs have a hard time recovering from RSV, and this is pretty common. Our hope is that he will grow out of this over the next year or two, and never have to be labeled with "asthma". I had it as a child, and my prayer is that my sweet baby boy won't have to go through what I did! They sent us home with a nebulizer, and we have to give him a breathing treatment every night for the next 5 weeks, and then we go back and see him. He's hoping by doing this it will help us go the rest of the winter without getting sick. The only good thing about all of this is that it should help prevent ear infections too!!

On with my day... I had to quit my job. Jacob and I have been going to a parents day out program at a local church two days a week since he was 6 months old. We have both enjoyed it so much! I always had a blast watching him run around the gym with all those lil ones. And I loved my 4 year old class. I got to know several people that otherwise I probably would have never met. I'm grateful for that. Unfortunately, I haven't been too happy about some things going on with my lil man. I won't go into details, but Wayne and I both felt it best for us to come back home. I cried. It's going to be hard getting into a new routine. Even though it was just two days a week for 5 hours, that was two days that got us out of the house. So, local friends....Be ware. We will be calling. We both will get cabin fever if we are in this house every single day! So, now I have to get creative and think of different things for us to do. I'm about to start promoting my photography big time to make up the little bit of slack that we are missing now. Please, please pass my name around! We would greatly appreciate it! :)

Many other events happened yesterday, but these were the two that overwhelmed me. And then to end the day...holding down this sweet little boy with tears flowing out of his eyes was so hard! And to think, we have to do this every night! Please be in prayer for him as he gets use to this. And please pray that this is just temporary!

Happier post...with pics coming soon! Thanks for lending me your ear...er....eye!

I Love This Man!

My husband it the most wonderful person I know. Seriously. I could not even exaggerate how great he is. He is so loving, giving, UNSELFISH, patient (most of the time...nobody is perfect! :)), hard working, Jesus loving, and family oriented!!! You could not ask for a better man. When I look back on my life, I am reminded of how undeserving I am of his love. He is by far the best thing that has ever happened to me!

Why all of this mushiness about my wonderful husband? TODAY IS HIS BIRTHDAY! Happy birthday Sweetheart! Jacob and I are so thankful for you and we love you very much! I hope this is one of the best years yet!

And remember....you're always one step closer to 30 than me! ;)

Opelika

Most of you know by now that we were in Opelika this past weekend. My dad leads a men's retreat where they have lots of hunting, fellowship and devotions every year! Wayne and his dad have gone every year since we have been together, and in the words of Wayne, he "is already looking forward to next year!" I believe he says that every year! I'm so thankful to have a husband that wants to be spiritual fed AND that loves to spend time with our dads!

Wayne left last Wednesday, and Jacob and I followed behind on Thursday. In that short time, while Wayne was at the retreat, Jacob and I traveled to Opelika, Opp, back to Opelika, then on Sunday to Atlanta, back to Opelika, and FINALLY HOME!!!! I've never been so happy to be home in my entire life! All of that traveling with a little one is very tiring! I think from now on I'm just going to go on Saturday night, and I have a friend who is more than willing to come and spend some girl time with me during the week before! Maybe, just maybe, this certain friend will have a lil one by next year too! It will be great fun to spend time together and scrapbook while the babies sleep!

One thing that I was able to do was this SWEET little photo shoot...

Please feel free to check out the rest of these on my photog blog! He was an absolute angel! He has a beautiful, sweet family too! ;)

I also met with a builder while we were there. My mom told me about him, and insisted that I go and talk with him. You know by now that Wayne and I are constantly back and forth with the house situation. If only the market would go back up for us to sell our house!! Well, to make a long story short, we could build a house with him (the size that we need) for much cheaper than we could buy one already built! It was a really exciting experience! We have a floor plan picked out and everything. If it is in God's will, our house will hopefully be on the market in the fall and our Christmas present to each other could be a new house! Wouldn't it be lovely if all worked out as planned?? I know all too well that that doesn't always happen, but at least we have a goal! :) You want to know the funny thing? I've gotten all sentimental about our house now that we are home. It's our first home, it's where we brought Jacob home to, the only home Jacob has ever known, etc. Thank goodness it's in the Lord's hands because I would worry myself silly if it weren't!

It's about dinner time so I better run! Aren't you glad your weekend wasn't this crazy??!!

2010

Every New Years Day we go to Gran and Papa's for their annual get together. Of course we eat all of the traditional foods, but it's always great fun too! We played all day! I even shot a rifle! And hit the target! To say the least, my husband was quite impressed!

There are lots of things that we want to accomplish in 2010. My deepest desire is to always be a better wife and mother. Oh, how my human flesh can so often fail at this! Thankfully I have a very loving and forgiving husband and child! :)

The list could go on and on about all the things we want to accomplish with this new year, but we narrowed it down to one that we are determined to keep! Our resolution this year is to do something fun and different (that we have never done before) as a family once a month! I'm so excited about this! I have a list of fun filled activities that vary from small trips to simple things, such as going to Chucky Cheese! I'm super excited about our January event, but I can't quite tell you about it yet. Wayne's birthday is Wednesday, and I would hate to ruin one of his birthday surprises!

I hope everyone has a wonderful 2010! May it be your best yet!

Christmas 2009

This year, Christmas was an absolute blast! I have hundreds of pictures I could put on here of Jacob tearing into presents, and playing with toys all day long! We had so many Christmases with all of our families! (I'll spare you all the details!) This year was extra special though because it was the first since Wayne and I have been married that we were at home Christmas morning. It was a fun year of starting new traditions!

*Wayne just brought something to my attention. Just so you know, Jacob put himself in the pet taxi and closed the door! It was absolutely hilarious because he screamed when we would try to get him out! Just thought we should clarify. Now days you can't be too careful of what you put on the internet!*

This Family...

is still on a high from Thursday night!

We are so proud of the Tide! We cheered them on when they were not doing so hot a few years ago, and now we're cheering them on while they are on top! They deserve this, that's for sure! ROLL TIDE ROLL!!!

Christmas Craft 2009

This year, in addition to the present from us, we wanted Jacob to give his grandparents something for Christmas. Of course they always get a picture from him, but we wanted to make something special for them! I think it was a real hit! And don't you just love our Santa plate?? :) I think we're going to try to make a new one every year! I was pleasantly surprised at how much he actually enjoyed it! As long as we kept moving, that is. When I would have to take a break from him to get another plate, he would get antsy! He loved it when I painted his hand and finger tip! It was worth all of the mess!

And yes...I know I'm way behind on posts. We have been incredibly busy! Hopefully I will have another one soon!