Visitor

Here is the little visitor that we had this afternoon. He was after the birdseed, but was a bit skittish. When a car would go by, he would run to the backyard. He wasn't terribly frightened by us, but we kept a safe distance....while removing the birdfeeders.

AND taking a few pictures. He was about the size of Ginger.

I spoke too soon

LAst night Maddox was up from 10:00-12:30am, and then up a lot on and off. We didn't get much sleep at all. It was horrible. I think it's the teeth. and tonight, the little guy is up right now, at 1 minute until 11:00pm, just smiling, and laughing, and kicking, and playing around. Apparently it is party time. I would leave him in his crib, but he was keeping Mason awake becaue he plays so loudly.

i am crabby and tired. Just when we thought things were turning a corner. It is very frustrating. It is a good thing God made him so cute! He knew we were going to be looking at Maddox's mug a lot.

I had started taking Fennugreek yesterday and just found out it is in the peanut family. I had asked the allergist about it, and she said to take it and just keep an eye on him, but now that I know it is related to peanuts, I will not be taking it. It's frustrating. i don't feel I am getting all the information I need from the Dr.s

Maddox rolled onto his tummy for the first time on Thursday. I had just left the room to get something to eat and Mason yelled "Mom!! He rolled to his tummy!!" I can't believe I missed the first time he did. Ididn't miss any of Mason's firsts (that I know of). But Mason felt pretty cool because he saw the first one.

Mason had a super time camping with Craig. It sounded like a fun trip. Lots of mosquitos, but still fun. I'll see if Mason will blog about it. The first thing Mason said to me was :"Mom, I had a lot of fun, but I did miss you" (Before he left he said he would miss Maddox, but not me because he would be having so much fun and because Maddox is so cute)

Maddox is scooting all over the living room floor in the dark and chewing on anything he can grab. It must be his teeth. They do look like they are ready to come through. I hope soon.

What are everyone's plans for the fourth? Cathy what do you do in Canada? do you still celebrate the 4th of July? I think we are going to Washburn. that will be nice. Maybe some of my family members will want to sit up with Maddox in the middle of the night??? ahahahaha

Well, I am going to go pass out on the couch while Maddox plays on the floor here. He sure is cute. I can't resist his little smiles, no matter how crabby I get.

zzzzz

yes, we are getting a little more sleep these days. Maddox will sleep 1 four hour stretch at night now, followed by a couple 2 or 3 hour stretches. However he is staying up from 4:00am until 5:30 am. You win some, you lose some.

He had another ear infection. poor guy. we are considering tubes. The ENT said he could certainly have them, but it's up to us. The anethesia scares me withj all his sensitivities though. Kast night he broke out in hives all over one arm, and I have no idea why. they didn't seem to bother him though, so that is an improvement.

Craig and Mason have been camping since Thursday night. It's been just me and the babe. I miss Mason, but it has been a nice reprieve. He is going through something and arguing everything these days. The boy is too smart for his own good :) I can barely keep up with him. He is having a great summer (since it finally arrived a week ago) and has been out in the sprinkler several times a day,. We had a celebration for the 1st day of summer, so that was a big hit.

He is still into his Transformers. he had saved and worked for money for many months and we went to the store to buy "Optimus Prime", but Target and Walmart were out. He had been trying so hard to save his money for that Transformer. I was heartbroken, but he just bought two smaller ones instead..,.and now they keep falling apart.

He hasn't been into the blog lately. Maybe after this camping trip he will have more to say. He is a hoot and becoming very energetic. Always racing around the house and making Maddox laugh. He is really into Craig right now. No longer a Momma's Boy. he wants to spend all of his time with Craig, and everything is about Craig now. He loves his Daddy.

Maddox saw another allergist. No new information, but we were given a new antihistamine that doesn't make him crabby or keep him doped up for 24 hours. I think that is why we are getting the 4 hours of sleep, plus his skin really cleared up with the med, so he is not as itchy. He is putting himself to sleep for naps and at night, if he wakes up in the middle of the night and isn't hungry, he can put himself back to sleep. It is fabulous!! (Mason couldn't do that until he was 2 years) He is also MUCH happier!! We thought he was a happy baby before, but he is even happier!! Always laughing at everything and smiling and having lots of fun. REally babbling now too and laughing at himself.

That's about all that is happening around here. We are trying desperately to get into a "normal" life routine, and hopefully that will happen soon as MAddox is able to sleep more at night. Just lots of Dr appts this past month and hanging outside.

Here's One For Alyssa

Sasha looks all sweet and furry and nice, but at night she turns into Princess Pain-in-the-Butt. I am beginning to believe that while she is soaking up the sun's rays, she is really thinking up new and different ways to torture us humans. You know that I'm right.....

Heather and I took a hiking trip up to Greyrock, CO. Full pictures (and GPS data) are at my boring site.

The Cookies are aligned!!!

Hi All,

Finally, all the cookies must be aligned. Whatever that means. I finally have a picture to post. The other day Mr. Jim came rushing in saying, "Get the camera and come with me!". Never mind that I was putting away groceries. Anyway, this is what he wanted me to see!

These sandhill cranes were along the side of the road. Notice the baby crane. There were two.

Here you can see the two babies. Since then we've seen the adults but not the babies. I'm hoping they are hiding and were not lunch for some animal.

Jolee, where are you?? It seems when we don't hear from you your kids are not feeling well. I hope that is not the case and you are out enjoying "the weather??".

All is well in Tomahawk. We are looking forward to having Cathy and Randy visit next weekend. Have to get cleaning I guess.

Love you all, Aunt Janis/MOM

Toothless

Since my mom's cookies aren't properly aligned and her Java Script is disabled (you might need a doctor for that), I was sent this picture to post for Junal.

It reminds me of the Hillbilly Birthday Party!

A Couple More Allergies

We've identified a couple more foods Maddox is allergic to. He is allergic to green beans and peppers. But he is NOT allergic to tomatoes, mustard, or peas. I had BBQ sauce on my chicken last night and it was g-o-o-d!!

He did great with the testing. Thankfully he is not severely allergic to these veggies. He didn't even cry with the skin testing pokes (he had 7 of them) and didn't need Benadryl or break out in serious hives. That was nice to see.

However he is NOT sleeping. Last night I had to sleep with him on the couch sitting upright from 12:30am until 4:30am just so I could get some sleep. He keeps pulling on his ears and crying, but his ears are clear. I think it is because he is teething. Poor guy. It is one thing after another for him. I thought I felt a little bump on his gums yesterday, but I'm not sure.

Mason is doing well. Playing outside a lot and creating different foods to eat. His seeds are doing great Cathy. The marigolds and daisys will need to be thinned out soon. He is very excited about them. We still need to plant the pumkins. A little behind these days :)

I had something else to write, but it just left my mind. We see another allergist this coming Wed for a second opinion about Maddox. Hopefully all goes well there. No more testing, just want information. The more the better at this point.

a good checkup

Hey Cathy, I like the new look to the blog. Derek lives in Venice Beach, California (sounds heavenly) and Junal is in Superior. How many weather pixies can we fit on there?

I'm glad Randy is starting the antibiotics. That is good to know about the false negatives.

Everything went well at Maddox's checkup. We are so blessed with our family doctor. He was fine on waiting on the vaccines, and thought it was a good idea to get a second opinion from another allergist. He feels the risks of Maddox getting the vaccines right now outweigh the risks of not getting them. He even suggested waiting until Maddox outgrows some of his allergies.

Maddox is growing fine and thriving and looks great according to our Dr. all good news!!! I was worried about his head size, it just looked a little small and his weight gain since we aren't doing solids yet. Dr felt it was OK to wait until 9 months if I was more comfortable with that, and depending on what the allergists said.

His ear infection is clearing up as well.

An uneventful Dr appt!!!! Horray for that!!!

Mason woke up with a swollen red ear (he looks like the guy from MAD magazine on one side), but the Dr figures it is just a bug bite. I kept looking at Mason this a.m. wondering what was different and thinking..."I don't remember his ears being so big. Wow." It took me several hours to figure out something wasn't right.

Right now Mason is running in front of the air conditioner putting his face up to it, his chest and belly up to it and his armpits up to it. So far this summer he is doing well with the transition to summer clothes. He has worn shorts a 3 times already and has worn a few T-shirts. (Now Mason is watching his belly button suck in as he exhales..never a dull moment around here :) )

Well, off to enjoy the nice weather. Hope all is going well in Madison Steve, and hope all is well in St Cloud, Alyssa
( I need to be careful what I right with Mr. Mason around because he can read most of it:) )...in fact, he just read that last line about being careful and asked me why I wrote it.

Mason says: Be careful what of write OK people

Sidebar Changes

I changed the kite picture. That had been bugging me forever.

Since Steve is going to be in in Madison, I changed that, and I also added St. Cloud weather (temporarily) for the summer, since that is where Alyssa is.

I'll add Derek's location and Dom, as well. Dom is in the Twin Cities, but what city is Derek in so that I can get it right?

I think that that about covers it, unless someone has a request.

BTW, my mom's Weather Pixie looks like Gene Simmons, right now.

Sawzing Rings and Mouse Shreds

Congrats Steve on the move. i hope all goes well in Madison. I'm glad everything went safely and your home is pretty dry. Are you staying in Madison for a few months? Or is this more permanent?

Cathy, how did Randy's appt go? Lymes Disease sucks. But it sounds like you caught it really early...which is great. The antibiotics can cause extreme fatigue, but they work. Hoepfully it isn't Lymes though.

Aunt Janis...what is going on with you? any animal stories? plant stories? Mr. Jim stories?

Life is getting a little easier here. Maddox slept 5 hours last night, ate,..was up for a bit, then slept almost 4 hours. Glory Day. He has been so much happier the last couple days.
He turned 6 months on the 4th. Wow, half a year. I don't remember a lot of it :)

So, at 6 months, the little guy is almost sitting up and almost rolling over to his tummy (he doesn't like it on his tummy, so I think that's why he won't go the couple mm he needs to), I think he is giving those baby kisses, he likes to snuggle when tired, and still laughs hysterically for Mason. He grabs at EVERYTHING and is interested in everything and wants to be in the middle of it all. He loves babies and people and smiles at pretty much everyone. When he wants to go to sleep he rubs our hand on his head and face. He sucks on my chin to let me know he is hungry. He inspects objects very closely and gives them a complete look over before putting them in his mouth...but everything goes into his mouth. He is a joy and blessing to be around...even at 3 in the morning. Even when he is crying, he will give a smile when you go to pick him up through the tears.

He loves to play peek-a-boo, This Little Piggy, So Big and Pat-A-Cake. He enjoys giving "fives" and loves to shake rattles and bang items. He also loves to play Tug-of-War. He likes the books "Dear Zoo" (his favorite page is the lion), and "Hand, Hand, Finger Thumb" Dr Seuss book (he only wants to look at the pages with drums).

Mason continues to be a sweetie and gem in our lives. I have flowers all over the house. Dandelions, tulips, forget-me-nots, lilacs, johnny jump ups, and various other wildflowers. He loved playing with the broken door knob trying to figure out how it all worked. He is really into hopscotch and planting seeds. We planted seeds in our flowerbed today...but now it is raining..hopefully they don't swim away.

He is also loving climbing trees...but I need to be careful how high I let him climb, because I am not as tall as Craig and can't always help him down. thankfully Craig was home today. His newest phrase is :"the day before yesterday". He is growing up fast and is getting taller everyday. He is still beating me at Monopoly Jr. I don't think I will ever beat that boy.
He still loves his brother and it's sweet to watch him with Maddox. He is concerned when Maddox is not feeling well and lives to make his brother laugh.

He is taking a break from writing in his story. Hopefully it will pick up again. He still loves his transformers and he tells everyone he sees that he is saving up his money to buy "Optimus Prime" which is 20.00. In fact at the clinic on Thurs, he talked at length with the Physician Assistant about transformers (she has a 4 year old son who loves them as well). He loves to catch worms and save them for Craig to use for fishing and likes killing ants so they don't get into our house (he only kills the ones near our house).

He filled his sandbox with water and made an island, then turned it into a pond. He has had a lot of fun with that the last couple days, but we need to empty it tomorrow or we will have a lot of mosquitos around the house.

So that is what has been happening around here. Hopefully the sleep continues and I will have my own adventures some day. tomorrow is Maddox's 6 month appt. I am praying it all goes well and they don't find something new. He will not get his vaccines at this appt because we are still waiting to see if he is allergic to any of the preservatives in them. I've been researching what is in vaccines on the CDC website. It's pretty scary all the crap in there, but they are important.

Hope all is going well with everyone.

He calls teething rings "Sawzing rings" and mouse turds "Mouse Shreds". (He thought he saw a "mouse shred" on the floor last night but it was a rock...thank goodness!!!)

Steve's Big Move Day

So yesterday was the BIG move day from Fox Point to Sun Prairie. The owner of our company just "happened" to have his GIANT snowmobile trailer being decal'd in Racine, so . . .

I borrowed a pickup from a friend of mine and enlisted the help of my "guys" from my men's group. I've never pulled anything this huge and it was scarey, but everything went fine. When I got to the apartment bldg. some co-workers met me to help with the unload process, which went pretty fast.

We ate and had to get headed back to Milwaukee because it looked like some storms were coming. Well, on the way my buddies in the minivan behind me called and asked if I'd heard the tornado sirens. Short version is that I got the trailer unloaded in Racine at 5pm and the "Noah and the Ark" type rain started at 5:15. I ended up staying at my friend's who loaned me the truck until 7:30. When I got home - after being detoured around streets that had become lakes, I was glad to see that I only had minimal water in my side yard.

I'll be dropping Tiger off for the next 4 months with my friend Tina and will return home this week a few times and this weekend to complete the cleaning/packing/moving. I'm pretty tired and pretty sad to leave, but will try to make the most of the next few months. Having such awesome friends makes it smooth yet tough at the same time. Shannon, Jason, Ryan, and Kris are the best!

Oh yea, only a little water in my basement. Not bad compared to many who had some severe flooding.

Steve

Well, Well, Well

It seems as tho there as been some bloginating while I've been gone. If you want to read about our vacation, look here. Warning: it is a photo-heavy post.

It's been a rather boring, rainy, cold week. Today I planted flowers in the flowerboxes. I'm glad that I waited because there was a frost warning this past week. C'mon....in JUNE???? That's just crazy. I've still got a jillion more planters to get squared away, but I think that I'm going to wait until Monday to go shopping for plants. This is the first nice weekend that we've had, and I imagine that it's going to be nuts at all of the nurseries.

On the medical front, Randy is at the doctor to have a tick 'bite' (is that what you call it?) looked at. I removed a small tick from his back on Tuesday, and today the area is all raised, red, and itchy/hot/inflamed. We suspect Lyme Disease.

Stupid ticks.

Justin said that they don't have bugs in Colorado. Something just doesn't seem right about that.

Alyssa had training at the Sartell Paper Mill this past week. At last report, she is going to be working in the TMP or ThermoMechanicalPulp mill (which is where they 'cook' the trees into pulp) this summer. It's a good thing that she likes HOT weather, because I think that it's gonna be a HOT spot, for sure.

That's all I've got, for now. Hope that you are all enjoying this nice weather.

Hey, it's warmer here than it is in Fort Collins. =0)

happy

Maddox is wide awake and happy and playing in his bouncy seat, blowing raspberries, smiling, kicking, and babbling. Even though it is 10:00pm. He's feeling pretty good after the ibuprofen and ear numbing drops. He smiles with his whole body. he is just the cuteset!!! and has a little sense of humor. Quite a fun little guy. Even in the middle of the night when he is crying, when you pick him up he has a smile for you through the tears.

Last night was not so good. didn't go down until 4:30am. He would just sleep for about 20 minutes and then wake up from the ear pain.

i think he is getting constipated again...which is surprising because he is on antibiotics. Anyone have any suggestions? He's not on solids yet. Anything I can eat to help him? The suppository incident was not so pleasant for him, so I'd rather not repeat that one.

Ok, probably too much info for everyone. sleep deprivation turns off the ol' filters.

Mason was having fun with the pots and pans making a uniform for battle. Had a hard time finding a pot that would stay on his head, but a lid made a good shield and a wooden spoon made a good sword. He wore a sieve for a little bit, but it didn't stay on that well.

Cathy...how was the week at the cabin? Any pictures? Aunt Janis...Are you OK? Haven't seen anything from you in a while. Steve, are you in Madison yet? Alyssa how are things going for you? And Justin...how is Colorado?

Well, I am off to try and get some sleep. hahahahaha I am funny.

Somebody's Knocking...

but we can't let them in...

because...

our doorknob just broke and fell off 20 minutes ago. (It's 9:20 pm right now) Poor Craig is at Walmart buying a new doorknob.

And little Maddox has a double ear infection. But ear numbing drops work wonders!!!

After the pooping situation last night, he started screaming and crying again and would only stop if we held him upright while we were standing up. Then he began batting at his left ear. We did the ear drops at 12:30am and he slept until 6:00am!!!!! 5 1/2 glorious hours of sleep!!!!

He is definitely more comfortable since the suppository. Even with the ear infection. It's nice to see him more like himself. But seriously, even when he is miserable, he is still so smiley and happy. Many people think he is fine because of his sweet disposition, but we know how even sweeter it is when his body is doing what it should.

I had a dream last night (because I actually got some sleep) and it was about me visiting you Steve. And you were there Cathy. And I remember walking around this HUGE house. Many of the rooms were yellow. and it was bright and cheery. A nice place to be. that is all that I can remember.

Mason is a true farmer. A big thunderstorm system is heading our way, so Mason went out and took in all the plants he could, and picked the flowers that were growing because they would get ruined with the wind and hail. I just love him so much too. Sometimes at night I want to bring him and Maddox into bed with us to have one big family snuggle.

Every thought Mason has, exits out of his mouth :) As we're driving to the store: "Mom, why are there yellow and white lines, that's a cool car, that car went over the lines, you went over the lines when you turned mom!, hey, there's a carwash down there, cool, I like that truck, do you think Noah is playing outside at school," etc...It's amazing. And he is trying out new words.
the new favorites are "adjust, adjustment and function" Some of them he picks up from a cartoon called Word Girl (it's something adults can enjoy as well) and the others...I have no idea where he gets them. Probably from Craig. He has a good vocabulary. I just speak gibberish these days.

For some reason, when it lists the time I post, it is 1 hour off. does anyone know anything about this?

hi

Thank you Cathy for the birthday video. If only we didn't have dial-up, I could watch it. this fall we are getting something faster, so that will change.

I did have a nice birthday. Lots of good food to eat...which is the best gift anyone can give me.

Maddox had his appt with the allergist yesterday. He has significant allergies to dairy, egg, and goat milk. Moderate allergies to white potato, soy, and peanut.

He will probably have eczema for many years and is at a high risk of developing asthma because of the severity of his allergies and the number of them. He will also probably develop hay fever. But he should outgrow most of the allergies (except for the peanut) and the white potato allergy is very rare. ( of course it is). The flare-ups of the eczema may or may not be related to anything that I eat. If he was on formula he would still have the same skin issues.

But now that he is 6 months today...he can start Zyrtec once a day to help with the itchy skin and should help him sleep because he will feel better. That would be great for everyone!!

Poor little guy. He is still a sweetie though and has lots of smiles. Yesterday they tried to draw blood from him but couldn't find his veins. that was terrible. I had them stop and we left. Next week he is going to be tested for some vegetables..peppers, tomato, green beans, peas and mustard. but that will be skin testing. Then he will be tested for gelatin (blood draw) because many vaccines have gelatin in them.

and the poor guy hasn't pooped since Sat. So i called the Dr, but ours was out and I got the on-call Dr. He told me to put my pinky finger in Maddox's bottom before he would recommend anything else to me.

To which Mason replied "I'm glad I don't have to take care of Maddox". and "What if he sucks you in mom? And you go all the way in and can't come out until he poops?"

Well, that little trick didn't work and we have a prescription waiting for us at the pharmacy. yep

no sleep again. not really napping either because he is so uncomfortable. Poor guy. I am going to try and put some pictures on here, but I haven't been able to. Every time I try to load the image, i get the message: Internet explorer unable to display the webpage....

Maddox was up from 2:30am until 4:30am Tues night and I took a picture of him because he was sooo happy and smiley...when I was near him:) My mom keeps telling me that someday this will all be a distant memory....and some days already are because my brain is slowly disappearing...but I really can't wait until Maddox is 1 year old.

OK, same thing when trying to upload the pictures. Cathy, I may email you them.

Happy Birthday, Jolee!!

Sorry this is late, but there is a 'No Technology Allowed' policy at the lake.