Christmas

Christmas was a blast this year.  For the most part.  Our fist Christmas gathering was at my parent's house.  Carter was the biggest whiny baby that I have ever seen.  He is SUCH a jealous little boy, but it's only at my mom's house.  Since he has been the only grandchild in the family for way over a year, he has never had to share my parents or all the toys in his playroom. 

This Christmas we had two beautiful children that we pray so hard will make Justin and Casey a family of 4.  They are two angels that God put into our lives and everyone already loves them just like they do Carter.  Carter will for sure have a little best friend....someday.  As for now, he does not like anyone to show them any kind of attention, especially my mom.

So Carter literally walked around the house just screaming, crying and throwing the biggest fit you ever did see.  So we ignored him for the most part thinking that was the quickest way to nip that in the bud.  No way are we putting up with that.  So while he was doing his thing everyone else opened up presents and had a grand ol' time. 

The next two Christmas gatherings, at my Nana's and Nick's parents, Carter did very well.  We have come to the conclusion that Carter has no idea what a present is.  He don't know that he has to unwrap them to get to the present.  So all he wanted to do was climb on the boxes or push them around like they were on wheels.  He just thinks that toys magically appear at our house in the living room.  Maybe next year, big guy.  We will work on it at our 2nd birthday.

Needless to say, Carter got waaaayyyyy to much!  Way way too much.  Both families definitely went all out for him.  We need to add on a separate garage just for all of his cars, trucks, hummers, 4-wheeler, wagon, tri-cycle, ect.  It's is so crazy in our house right now and I honestly think it is overwhelming Carter, because he has no idea where to start playing.  He still has birthday presents that have not been put together and now we have tons of Christmas presents to add to them.  It is so hard to put any of them in storage because he plays with them ALL!!  There is not a single toy that he has ever gotten that he does not play with.  It is a good problem for him to have but....it is a problem.  I have got one spoiled little boy.  His favorite toy at the moment is his remote control race tracks.  That thing that keep his attention for the longest time.  He also got his first gun that he gets to put in the gun safe with all of daddy's.  Thanks Aunt Patti!

So my plans in the next couple of days weeks are to try to find a place for everything and get my house back in order after I take the Christmas tree down along with all the other decorations.  Yippee.

And I could tell you about my stomach bug that I have had the last couple of days...but then you just may look at my differently from now on.  So I will save you those details.  Just glad it's over and that I'm back at work.  I am trying so desperately to gain back those 5 pounds lost and eating everything in sight.  Glory Hallelujah!!

Christmastime

Christmas is in 4 days.  What the what???  How did that happen so fast?  Seems like a couple months ago I was recording Carter see all of his presents from last Christmas.  Anyways, I can't wait to see the look on his face when he sees some of his presents this year.  I may be a tad more excited about these gifts than he will be.  And the best part about it, Nick and I didn't have to spend a dime on any of it.  We bought it, and my mom, Nana, and other family members didn't have anything for him so they bought them from us.  So, technically he won't be getting anything from us, besides the fact that we dropped nearly a grand on a new breathing canal, but that's okay. 

Carter has moved up to 18-24 month pants and 2T shirts.  Yikes.  Growing fast now.  He is eating really good right now; hungry all the dang time.  He is currently scared of EVERYONE!!  I was wanting to think that it is because his surgery traumatized him a little and that it will pass quickly.  But I am starting to accept the fact that it is a phase that might be here for a little while.  Yuck.  It is NOT a good color on him.  He has always been skeptical about other people but it is 100 times worse!  This needs to pass soon, because it is driving us bonkers.  Everywhere we go he is hanging on to our legs for dear life like a leech.  But hey, I'll take a shy and quiet kid any day as long he is healthy!

A couple days ago my Nana and I put up her Christmas tree and I helped her wrap all of her gifts for her.  I can honestly say that it is a memory I will forever cherish.  We have so much fun together all the time, but for some reason this time was so much more precious to me.  I didn't want to leave.  Then this morning we cooked breakfast together and talked.  You want some Godly and honest advice, she is the woman you need to talk to.  I appreciate her so so much.  I don't tell her near enough.  She is so so dear to me.  I keep telling myself that she is immortal and I will never have to live without her.  For sure my best friend.

Anywho, I've got a very hot date tonight with my Nick.  He is taking me to watch a movie, eat, and let me pick out my Christmas present.  How precious is he?  I am so glad that I have a husband that still likes to date me.  The little trouble maker is staying with my mom and dad while we go.  I debated on letting him stay the night with them tonight, but then quickly reconsidered.  I'm not ready for that yet!  I'm a little crazy.

I'm sure you won't hear from me until after the holidays.  So Merry Christmas to all and a very very happy near year. 

Which reminds me....I have to come up with a new years resolution.  Ya know, so I can break it.

Today

Not all that much going on with us right now.  I am a hunting widow this whole weekend.  That means that I get a break from cooking for a husband that eats as much as two men.  Seriously I don't know how he does it.  I know exactly where Carter gets his appetite from!  Carter is slowly gaining his weight back that he lost after surgery and I sure hope that it don't stop there and he just takes off!

It's amazing how quiet he is breathing.   No more snorting, snoring, getting choked up at night...such a relief!  So glad the doctor went ahead and decided to do the surgery at such a young age.  He is so  much more comfortable.

I am so ready for Carter to open up all of his presents this year.  He is getting some pretty neat stuff yall! 

Nana and I took a short trip to Texarkana so she could finish up her Christmas shopping. It was a mad house. Little monkey tagged along with us an shopping with him is like shopping with Tasmanian devil. He was all over the place so I only bought a couple of things. But we had fun.

Carter is a little whiney baby here recently. So ready for that little phase to end.  And talk about jealous!!!! He does not like any other kid hanging around me or my mom or he starts crying. First child syndrome for sure!!

Carter loves Asian food. He killed some chicken teriyaki and rice today at the mall.

That's all the random stuff I got for you today.

Better Days

Our house is back to normal finally....finally!!  It sure was a rough week after Carter's surgery.  His little throat was so sore.  I really thought we were in the clear the day that we got home and he was eating, drinking and playing.  Even the next day he was very active.  But by the third day....holy moly.  He was terrible!!  I guess there is a reason why the doctor told us it would take 5 days.  Carter took about 6 days.  He went without eating for 4 days straight and not drinking.  Literally, the only thing that he was living off of was watermelon, pedialyte and popsicles....and even those were forced.  He would not even drink milk.  He got to where he was skin and bones and was not active in the least bit.  So if I was not holding him, this is what he was doing.

 

He finally got to where he would take a nap in our big bed, without me, so when he went down for his short naps I did Flight of the Bumble Bee cleaning trying desperately to get my house back into livable order.  It is slowly but surely looking like a home again.  The laundry that I have piled in the laundry room is no joke.  They are all clean and we have been living out of that pile for days now, but at least they are clean.  Operation laundry put up will be my mission tonight when I get off of work.

 

Then finally by the 6th day he decided he didn't want his mom to jump off a bridge so he chilled out alittle and started back eating, drinking, and being more independent again.  Praise. The. Lord.

 

He is getting into a little habit of waking up without letting us know, at night, and wandering around the house looking for us.  Baby gate going up for sure at his door!

 

Nick's parents sent him home with a little train track and trains that go round and round and Carter likes to sit in the middle of the train track, watch it go around about 4 times, then make the trains crash.  He laughs so hard at himself.  He is also obsessed with racing tracks for his little cars.  Christmas shopping for him was so super easy this year.

 

 The Grinch, AKA me, is no longer a grinch.  My Nana and I ran to Texarkana yesterday and I got ALL of my Christmas shopping done.  Well pretty much all.  I have my dad left, which he is the hardest man on the planet to shop for.  But I am DONE!!  I have bidded for something on ebay for Carter and the time runs out in t minus 39 minutes...and I am the only bidder!  I sure hope we win because it's cool!

 

My mom got me a Kindle Fire HD and OMG am I ever in love?!?!?  Yessiirrrr!!!!  I made her give it to me early so I could play and read.  Nick says I am on it way too much and he is going to give me "Kindle Time" about 2 hours a day then take it away and hide it from me til the next day.  What a loser awesome husband.

 

Speaking of...I have some down time at work and the Kindle is calling.  Adios!

Bad Days

Our days and nights have got to get better soon. Got to.

Carter  decided not to eat or drink anything as of yesterday around lunch. He ate a huge bowl of oatmeal mixed with banana and loved it.  Then he wouldn't eat anything after that. I tried all of his favorites: green peas, raisins, yogurt, roast beef, cottage cheese..... He was not having any of it.   Then as of last night he decided not to drink either. No milk, juice, pedialite..... Nothing. And keep in mind that I have been having to give him antibiotics three times a day which is tearing his stomach up and giving him the runs....which is making him dehydrated. He ate quite a bit if watermelon last night before bed so that eased my worry a tad bit.

This morning is the same thing. Won't eat, fussy, won't drink, needy. I have noticed that he is nt having wet diapers like he should so I have been shoving pedialite Popsicles and watermelon down his throat.  It's either that or go to ER and start an IV for fluids. He is very active and happy now and he did eat several black eyes peas so maybe it will turn around.

It don't stop there.

After we put him down last night Nick and I was looking forward to having a good peaceful night together watching a movie. We got all settled on the couch and it hit is both like a train. I started feeling like I was going to throw up and next thing I knew nick was running to the bathroom. We have a stomach bug. Our whole body is hurting. Joints, spine, fingernails, nose hairs.... All aching.

Poor nick had to still go work cows this morning and work in air conditioners at the hotel and that left me caring for a very cranky and hard headed child. I called mom to see if she could keep him and she is still in bed with the same symptoms.

On top of all that my house is a complete train wreck. It has to be the worst it's ever been. At this point it would just be easier to move instead of clean it all. I need an army to help me an it would take a good week.

And the doctor said that Carter's breath would stink for a couple days after this surgery but DANG!!! It is rank y'all!!!

So I am going to try to put the hoodlum down for a nap, lay down with him ad try to recover somewhat.

Surgery

So this is going to be typed on my phone so I apologize in advance for all the typos.

Where do I start? For kicks and giggles lets just go back to yesterday evening, shall we?

We picked Carter up from the babysitter and he was perfectly fine and happy. We came home and played and had the best time and he felt great. Nick wanted to take us out to eat so we went to Mr. Pancho.  Carter ate what he has eaten a million times..... Acacado and chicken with a couple goldfish and raisins.  All went well and we went home. I gave Carter a bath and e played like a maniac.  He all of a sudden started getting a little fussy. Then our night from h-e-double hockey sticks started.....

Carter walked up to me and put his head on my shoulder, I hugged him, he raised his head then threw up ALL over me.  Nick just sat there and stared at us. I finally had to literally yell at him to get his butt in gear to help, which made carter even more upset, which made him throw up on me again.  By this time I am gagging.  Throw up down my shirt, in my hair, then all down my back. Fun times. Long story short.... I was thrown up on three more times, nick was thrown up on twice. After I had 3 showers, Carter two more baths, two loads on laundry, couch scrubbing, 8 towels, and 2 different bed Sheets later, we finally got him comfortable and in our bed.  But since he had thrown up all his liquids and he could not have anything after midnight he started whining and saying juice over and over. Nick and I got a total of 2 hours of sleep and then had to be up at 5 30 to leave for Texarkana for his surgery and at that time we had no clue as to whether they were even going to do it with him throwing up.

Nick and I were totally lost when it comes to this kind of sickness. Carter has never drooled, maybe spit up 3 times, and he has only thrown up a small amount once when he over ate a while back.  It went from that to cupping throw up in our hands and wiping it off our face. Yeah......

So we get to the surgery center and carter is laughing and playing like nothing ever happened while nick and I are complete zombies. They decide to do the surgery. I didn't cry at all, which shocked me. The surgery went quick and easy and carter did amazing. He is doing so good I am about convinced they didn't even do anything. He has eaten mashed potatoes and watermelon and has kept it down and taking his medicine like a champ.  He played outside for a couple hours but he gets very tired easily so he has taken three naps today. All in all I am a happy mommy and very thankful for good doctors and prayer!! Thank you to everyone who prayed, called, and texted.

We are glad that this little journey is over and looking forward to having a healthy baby for once.

Stress Level Maxed Out

Stress level is out the roof top!  I'm sure that most of you probably saw on Facebook that my baby boy is having surgery Tuesday morning to have his adenoids removed.  He started breathing a bit heavy from his mouth about a week ago and we just figured he was stopped up with a cold.  Then about 4 nights ago he started waking up screaming and gasping for air....like every 20 minutes.  Scared the ever living day lights out of us and him.  And when Carter is not getting much sleep....guess what...parents are not either.  If you can remember, he had this very same thing when he was about 10 months old when we went to the ENT at Children's.  Anyways, since he is old enough now, we took him to a place in Texarkana.  We told the nice doctor everything and he said that we could probably just do what we did last time and spray Nasanex in his nose to shrink the adenoids for the time being.  We wanted long term results, but we were ok with it.  He wanted to take an x-ray, though, just to see what we were dealing with.  He came back and was very worried and said that we he needed to have his adenoids removed ASAP because they are blocking over 90% of his airway.  Oh. My. Lord.   We are spraying Nasanex in his nose to shrink them some until his surgery.

But some good news---the doctor said that this should fix a lot of Carter's sickness and he should be much happier and feel like a different kid.  He also said for us not to be surprised if he starts to grow at a rapid speed after surgery.  He said that Carter's body and brain have been deprived from having all the oxygen it needs for so long and it is about to play catch up.  So maybe that is the answer as to why we are having a hard time putting weight on him. 

I was pretty upset about it at first but now that I am laying all the pros and cons out there I am super excited for him.  Carter has no idea what it is like to have a full night's sleep on a regular basis, he is constantly sick and not feeling well, running fever, and on an antibiotic.  I pray so hard that this will fix all of that.  But don't think for a second that I take for granted the things that he does have.  He is smart, he can walk, run, be active, and put away food like you would not believe.  So, I am thankful for his swollen adenoids if that's all we have to deal with.  Please just take time to pray for Carter, the surgeon, and Nick and me.  I know it will take a huge toll on me.

More good news...I am finally getting into the Christmasl spirit.  I (finally) got my tree all up and decorated...it's nothing special and it don't even have a topper on it but hey, let's face it, it just a miracle that it's up.  I ordered some gifts that I swore I would not buy, and I am catching myself singing those annoying Christmas songs in my head. 

Other than all of that, we are doing really well.  I am having to work more recently than what I usually do and that's perfectly fine with me.  It was fun while it lasted, but I now have a work shift every week.  I absolutely LOVE the people that I work with so it is not problem at all.  I can say that we are truly a family here.

Sometimes you can walk in my house and it is spotless and other times it looks like a complete train wreck.  And this is why.

 

How someone so tiny can destroy a whole house is beyond me.  But he has fun destroying everything and it makes him happy so who am I to ruin his fun?  Our house is lived in and that's all you can say about it.  I try not to sweat the small stuff anymore.  There is just not point in it.

 

We have family/christmas pictures tomorrow at 3:15 with the famous Jenna Millwood.  Please cross your fingers that we have a happy baby on our hands for excellent pictures.  It's a coin toss on that one!  And I hope that Aunt Toshya or Aunt Casey is reading this because he needs a hair cut and if his hair makes the pictures look bad I only have yall to blame!! :)

 

So, the next post will probably be an after surgery post.  Again, please pray!