Zeke is two

Two years ago today, I gave birth to the most awesome piece of heaven I had ever seen!  On that day, I wrote this:

Zeke's Birth Day
At 2 am on Monday morning, I started contracting, not a suprise. The doctor checked me at 3 am and I was dilated to a 2. He said that I had to go to labor and delivery so I am thinking so what. Then he says you can have an epidural whenever you get ready since you already are feeling the contractions, so I decided maybe they weren't kidding this time. By 5, I had my epidural. By 6, I had some spots that weren't numb and were called hot spots, which don't get numb. By 7, i was dilated to 4 and by 8 I was dilated to 10 and ready to start labor. At 8:39, Zeke came out screaming and boy could he get loud. They put him over in the bed and started checking him out. They called Dustin over to talk to him. They told him that he was breathing on his own and was looking good, but that they had a few ortho issues. His left side was very constricted in utero and his left arm is missing from the elbow down. His left leg also appears to be turned outward, but they aren't sure if it is because his hip is out of place or if it is just his foot. They take him out of the room to be admitted to the NICU. The nurse brought him over for me to look at and told me he was 4 pounds 1 oz and 17 inches long. Once he was gone, Dustin and I got some much needed time alone. We talked about how glad we were he came out screaming and he explained to me what the doc had told him. We both thanked God for our little blessing and then we decided that we should tell the family before we went upstairs to see our little man. We told our parents and they informed the other visitors we have that our boy had a couple of problems. When we got to the NICU we were overjoyed to see he still was breathing 100% on his own. He was happy and healthy from what they could tell. I spent the next few hours in my room with family while Dustin took each one in and out of the NICU to see him. Dustin was completely exhausted so we decided to go in together and visit with Zeke alone. It was wonderful to get to be together as a family, we both even got to hold him. We came back to the room and after the family left we crashed. I woke up several times to call the NICU and each time we heard good things. He started eating 6cc's of formula every 4 hours last night at 8 pm and has been doing that ever since. We are so excited about that too.
 
We saw several doctors in the NICU today. The first was a ortho pediatrician. He explained the xrays to us. The left arm has the ulna, but not the radius bone and he has mobility so that is a really good sign. His legs are not dislocated, they will ultrasound his hip joints in 6 weeks to determine if they are growing incorrectly or if it is just his feet that are. If it is his feet, he will be put in a series of braces from 2 months of age to 10 months of age to straighten them out. If it is the hip, he will wear a brace for that too, didn't say how long on that. Then we saw a geneticist who told us that he was going to do ultrasounds on the abdomen and brain, and get a cardiologist to do an ECHO and compile that with our history to determine if the problem is genetic but he believes it is not from initial review. He believes that since the arm forms before 21 weeks that it is not due to the PPROM, but instead it is from a syndrome called amniotic band syndrome. He said the blood flow was restricted to the arm and that is probably why it didn't continue to develop. He said we were lucky because the blood flow could just have easily been restricted to the head or legs or any other body part. He said our boy was lucky, but I say he is just meant to be! The cardiologist did an ultrasound of his heart and had all normal findings. They have an IV in his head so they haven't done the brain ultrasound yet. They hope he will be able to eat enough not to need the iv soon. Tonight he is having trouble digesting his food. His tummy can't digest all the food they are giving him because he isn't stooling quite enough. So he throws up at every feed. They decided they needed an accurate measure of intake/outake so they put in a feeding tube, this will also keep him from aspirating if he throws up. Now that he has seen all his doctors he is in a closed bed to keep him warm and quiet, this is a good thing, the open bed is for babies that are at high risk for problems.
 
Today was an amazing day, a day of celebration of life. I think sometimes we take for granted how fragile life really is, thankfully I no longer do that! I know that God gives us one day at a time and it is all about what we do with that one day. I remember so well 2 am August 11, 2008. It was just another day God had kept me pregnant, another day for Zeke to grow. I went into labor and thought it would be like the many other trips to L&D. At 3 am, which seemed like forever waiting on him to get there, the dr. informed me otherwise, this was it! When we got to L&D, we called our parents to tell them the news. It seemed like forever before anyone got there! By 7, I remember that I had seen Mom, Dad, Cyn, Gran, and Lisa, and they were shortly whisked away so Dustin and I could bring our boy into the world all on our own. We wanted to be there alone to bear any good or bad news together before anyone else was in there, just another way God protected us and brought us closer together. I had a fairly quick labor, around 40 minutes of pushing. When I heard him cry, I knew everything was going to be okay. Shortly after that, I was trying to get Dustin to go over to him and I could tell something was wrong by the look on his face. I couldn't hear the doctors talking, but he could. He heard them say he was missing his arm, his hip was out of place, he had no knee caps, and that it looked syndromatic. They were all wrong, except for the obvious, he was missing an arm. They brought my boy over to me wrapped up, I thought I was going to get to hold him but no such luck. I got to look and then they whisked him away, better than some mommys get. He was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen and I was crying my eyes out. After they left, Dustin shared with me Zeke's condition (or what the docs thought anyways). It was very hard for him to have to tell all of that to me. We just held each other and prayed, so thankful that everything appeared to be okay for that moment. A NICU nurse came in to talk to us to tell us what she knew and give us pictures, I treasure those to this day! When they finally decided I was able to go see him, we shared the news with our parents and friends. Our first trip to the NICU was hard but amazing. Our little boy was so sweet laying in his open bed sleeping away. You could tell by looking at him that he was a fighter and that he would not give up easily. He had a beautiful head of dark brown hair with an IV in it, a sweet face that called out to kiss, a tiny hand that he always kept near his face, little heart patches and wires, a preemie swaddler diaper that was folded down it was so big, two tiny feet that were all snuggled up in a snuggly with hearts on it and he layed on a blanket with footprints. The blanket (though standard in most hospitals) reminds me of the footprint stuff you see, through this time I carried you, and I believe God did just that. I did not get to hold my baby boy or feed him, but I just stared at him and got to touch him with my index finger and I already loved him so so much. It is so amazing how much you can love someone. Lots of family and friends came that day and night, but after a while he had had too much company and was overstimulated so we had to let him rest and go back later. When we went back that night, he was eating a little but we still didn't get to hold him. The following day, I got to hold him, Dustin was so afraid he would pull his IV out that he just wanted me to hold him. When she put that baby in my arms, the whole world felt right! Nothing is better than that to this day! He got better day by day and I watched him grow long before I could bring him home.


Things he survived/overcame:

1.Not digesting enough to keep food down

2.Jaundice-double light phototherapy

3.Feeding Tube

4.Bad Diaper rash

5.First Bath

6.Circumcision

7.Lots of Mom's photo shoots

8.6 Synagis shots

9.x rays every 3 months

10.upper respitory infection

11.sitting up

12.rolling over

13.crawling

14.cruising

15.walking 10-12 steps at a time

16.a crazy winter ice storm

17.no electricity for 8 days

18.his first bike ride ( I was the driver)

19.ear infection

20.two top teeth and two bottom teeth

21.getting fitted for foot braces

His favorite toy: Razorback bat

His favorite nontoy: Cell Phone

Favorite Food: cool whip? (he got the most excited over it), spaghetti

Favorite drink: ours

Favorite adult: Momma and Daddy

Favorite vacation: Branson (not a fan of the lake)

Favorite place: outside

Favorite activity: Bike or stroller(especially in the mall)

Favorite restaurant: (Colton's and Dixie)

Favorite song when he goes to sleep: Jesus Lover of my soul

Favorite music to dance to: Third Day Revelation CD

Favorite music in the car: Veggie Tales Sunday Morning Songs

Favorite place/way to sleep: with Momma and Daddy on his belly

Favorite nap place: swing

Favorite pet: Chance (only pet, but he sure loves that dog)



Two years have passed and Zeke has really changed. He went from 4 pounds 1 oz to 21 pounds 2 oz and then to 28 pounds. He is walking well and running now. When he wakes up in the morning he either wants juice or mouse (mickey mouse that is). When he gets sleepy, he wants me to rock him and cuddle him. In the car, he likes to watch cars, listen to klove or his barney cd and talk to momma and daddy. He loves to run and play all the time.  He loves his cars and his basketball goal. He loves to go to the mall as long as he can "wawk" (walk). He loves the play area in the mall and riding the golf cart and bike. He loves to shoot basketball and does so quite well for his age. He is a happy camper when I leave him each day, which makes my life easy!! He loves to play with and laugh at Chance. I don't know why a dog is funny. He loves Cheerios anytime of day. He likes strawberry banana v8, milk, and tea. He doesn't eat well at all these days, he is usually way too busy for that. He now loves to wear shoes, especially his cars shoes abbi got him for his bday.  He can put them on all by himself.   His favorite thing to do on a sunday afternoon is nap in the chair with momma (oh wait is that his fav or mine.........good thing we both LOVE it). He is really good in church for one hour, if it lasts longer than that he is ready to go. He also loves to play in the nursery and knows exactly where it is, to the point that he sometimes gets in trouble. This child truly enjoys life.  He wakes up in the morning ready to play and he doesn't care who he is playing with as long as it is all about him.  He loves to be outside playing on his swingset, riding the bike or wagon, or just jumping in the grass.  Digging in the dirt and riding his tractor are favorites too.  He is saying all kinds of words, but they aren't all clear.  We took him last week to have a speech eval and they said that he qualified so we hope to get that started sometime soon so we will not be so frustrated when we can't understand him. 
His favorite toy: Balls and Cars
His favorite nontoy: sticks and rocks

Favorite Food: cool whip? still loves spaghetti (sketti), pizza (peaz), peanut butter, carrots (cots), oranges, strawberries (job-jobs), Bananas (nana), and chicken nuggets (chick)
Favorite drink: tea, milk, and strawberry banana v8

Favorite adult: Momma and Daddy, but he really loves his grandparents and Chel too.
Favorite vacation: loves the lake, but his fav this year was DISNEY WORLD

Favorite place: outside or visiting someone's house and going to church
Favorite activity: Playing Ball, riding the wagon, golf cart or bike, or just hanging out outside
Favorite restaurant: he doesn't really like to eat much less eat out where he has to be still, but Front Page if I had to say
Favorite song when he goes to sleep: Jesus Lover of my soul, Bye Bye Baby or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
Favorite music to dance to: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse or Cars Music from the shows

Favorite music in the car: Barney CD or Klove
Favorite place/way to sleep: with Momma and Daddy on his belly

Favorite nap place: in the recliner with his "cah-er" or cover and "low" or pillow
Favorite pet: Chance (only pet, but he sure loves that dog)

Things he says:

1. Momma and Daddy
2. Ma-Grandma
3. Meme's (Mom, Gran, and Cyn)
4. Papaw (he says correctly)
5. Papaw Tommy (he also say this correctly with alot of annunciating)
6. Nana and Poppy (which he says correctly)
7. Tra-is (Travis)
8. The girls
9. Abbi and Chel
10. Aney-Auntie
11. Jules
12. tea
13. mik (milk)
14. juice
15. hep (help)
16. bah (bath)
17. moon
18. mouse
19. queen (mcqueen)
20. doc
21. chick
22. mack
23. cop
24. sally
25. jj (dj)
26. bawl (ball)
27. King
28. light on
29. light off
30. i need help
31. i want a bath
32. i want cover
33. i want juice
34. get this car out
35. chose (cheerios)
36. reen (green)
37. re (red)
38. boo (blue)
39. you cared me ( you scared me)
40. I carey (I scary)
41. momma sit down here
42. i eat
43. gol car (golf cart)
44. trac-or (tractor)
45. bike
46. wa-on (wagon)
47. go in car
48. ruck (truck)
49. snacks
50. whoo pig
51. go to church (very anunciated on church)
52. bye bye ______ to whoever
53. please
54. tank u
55. cuse me (excuse me, he even excused me when I burped the other day)
56. ok momma or ok dada
57. meh-cine (medicine)
58. book
59. take this off
60. I want a hug
61. kiss me
62. slide
63. swing
64. oh man i missed
65. i miss
66. yay dada or yay momma
67. yay my dada or yay my momma
68. i col (cold)
69. ha for (hot)
70. i poot
71. i anna shirt ( I want a shirt)
72. i coming
73. zeke's coming
74. I'm Zeke
75. Tay (Caden)
76. I pepe
77. Dukes (put up your dukes)

Potty Training~Week 1

We have tried to potty train a couple of different weeks (one in April, one in June) and you just weren't ready.  After my workshop on the 23rd you kept telling me you needed to pee-pee.  I began to take you about once an hour from Friday on and you were dry most of the time for the next several days.  There were a couple of accidents but not many.  The next Thursday, you had like 5 accidents and didn't really want to pee-pee on the potty at all, so I thought oh my here we go again.  Thursday night you started telling me when you needed to go and it is now Monday and you haven't had any accidents (wet or dirty)  Go Zeke.  This is a bittersweet moment for me, you are growing up which is totally a good thing, but it is happening so quickly which is kind of sad!  I love you little man and I am excited to keep watching you grow and learn!

Sweet Summer Time

This summer has been great.  We usually spend an hour or so in bed watching buzz, cars, or Bar-ne each day.  You love to stay at home and play or be on the go, you aren't that picky about what we are doing.  We have spent most of the summer side by side, which I love, I know you won't always want to spend time with me like this so I am loving it.  You have learned so many new things this summer, but some of our favorite activities to do together have been puzzles, coloring, playing basketball, or watching movies.  We have been at the lake every weekend since Disney and you really love to swim no matter where we are.  Here is what we have been doing all summer:

June 13 and 14--we were at the pool with Rachel, Abbi, Cheryl, Dawson, Lacy, and Shawna
June 17-Jonesboro for dermatologist appt
June 18-I had an EGD, you stayed with your Meme
June 18-20 Lake
June 21-Toy Story 3
June 23--more pool time
June 24--visit Granny Fannie and eat lunch with Dad and Cyn
June 25-27 at the lake with Robby and Angie
June 28--more pool time
June 29--eye dr appt and shopping in jb
June 30--Eat with Dad and visit Granny Fannie
July 1--Took you to the Dr. with a 104 fever-it's viral
July 2-5 Lake with Mom
July 6--I had an MRI, you stayed with Meme
July 8-Ate lunch with Granny Fannie
July 9-11 Lake
July 12-JB with Mom and Z birthday shopping
July 14-Waterpark
July 15-March of Dimes Planning mtg and visit granny fannie
July 16-18 Lake
July 19-23 I had an AP workshop so you were at Meme's or at home with Grandma
July 23-25 Lake (just us)
July 26 Movie/Rainy Day
July 27 eye dr appt and more birthday shopping, visit Meme, visit Rachel and Abbi
July 28 School
July 29 School, lemonade stand
July 30-Aug 1 Lake (just us)
Aug 2 Jb with Mom

It has been one great summer watching yo learn new things and spending time with you!  You are such a great kid and I truly enjoy watching every new little thing you do!

Disney Vacation 2010

Friday, June 4th

On Friday, we started our 14 hour drive about 8 am.  Daddy had to deliver some packages in Memphis, so we just went with him.  We got it all done and left Memphis by about noon.  You slelpt and watched Toy Story a lot of the day, but when you were awake you were very content to sit in your seat and watch your movie.  We got out of the car in Lake City, FL around midnight after 16 hours in the car.  We stayed at a Red Roof Inn.

Saturday, June 5th

On Saturday, we got up and left Lake City and drove on into Orlando.  It took us about 3 hours to get there.  We arrived at our condo early, but we were able to check in.  It was very nice-2 bedroom and 2 bath with a full kitchen.  We went to Target and bought some groceries and then we were off to Disney Day 1.  We decided to go to Epcot, thinking it would be our least favorite.  We got there about 6:30 pm, it was so exciting to come back to a childhood favorite vacation spot with you.  We rode the Seas with Nemo and Friends first.  We rode in clam shells and looked for Nemo, you really enjoyed this ride (we ended up riding it a dozen times over several days).  Then Future World was closing so we headed on over to World Showcase and rode the three cabeleros boat ride.  You loved this one too, this is when we really started getting excited seeing you so happy.  The next ride was the Maelstrom in Norway.  It had an unexpected dip, but you were a trooper and you ended up really liking the drop it made.  No tears from our big boy!  After that, we got a place to watch Illuminations, a fire, lights and water show to end the day at Epcot.  You loved watching it and kept saying Whoa the whole time, it was so much fun seeing you so happy!  A great first day at Disney!

Sunday, June 6th

We went to MGM Hollywood Studios on the second day of Disney.  We were trying to avoid the early park hour parks in hopes we would be at the one with the least amount of people.  This day was terribly hot and humid.  When we arrived at the park, we rushed in for a fastpass to ToyStory Mania.  We knew this would be a hit in your eyes because you were a huge Buzz fan.  While waiting to go back to Toy Story, we took the backlot tour.  It was great, but very hot and we were getting worn down quickly.  You liked this ride, but you were not as excited as some other rides.  After that, we took off to see the first showing of the american idol experience.  You loved this attraction, smiling and clapping for each contestant.  There was a lady from Arkansas on stage, but she didn't win.  Then we went back to see Woody and Buzz before the ride.  You were in awe when you saw them.  You couldn't believe they were there.  You wanted Daddy to hold you, but you gave them your autograph book and got your picture made with them.  You really liked Toy Story Midway Mania, you helped Daddy win points.  I didn't score very many, I didn't know the 3D glasses were necessary and that that is why everything was blurry, ha!  By the time we got out of here, it was just so hot and we had to head back to the condo for a while.  We came back in the evening and checked out the animation.  Then we met Lightning and Mater, which you thought were totally amazing.  You didn't want to leave them at all!  Once again, it just got so hot we headed back to the condo and hit the pool.  They had a 1 foot kiddy pool and you loved splashing around in it. 

Monday, June 7th

On Monday, we headed back out to Epcot, once again to avoid crowds at Magic Kingdom.  Our first ride this time was Living off the Land, which was one of my favorite rides.  It was a boat tour of how agriculture has evolved followed by a greenhouse that was AMAZING.  You liked it ok, but it wasn't real entertaining for you.  We got a fastpass for Soarin and rode a few more rides before we headed back to the condo.  When we came back for the afternoon, we toured the countries and rode the boat rides again.  Daddy did Soarin, which was his favorite ride.

Tuesday, June 8th and Wednesday, June 9th

On Tuesday, we finally laid eyes on the Magic Kingdom.  I had forgotten that you had to ride a boat or monorail into Magic Kingdom.  We got there 30 minutes prior to the gates opening and waited in a line to get on the monorail.  We got on the monorail easily, but we still had long lines when we got to the island.  We headed straight for the Dumbo, there are no fast passes here so the wait was about 20 minutes, not bad for this ride.  We all loved it, nothing less than expected.  Then we went to ride It's a small world, which was always my childhood favorite.  It didn't disappoint, still my favorite and one of yours too.  After that, we headed for the Jungle Cruise.  It was fun, but not what we had expected.  The next ride was the Pirates of the Caribbean.  We all loved this ride, the wait was nice and cool and it was a boat ride with a slight thrill for you.  We went to the condo and came back the next day in time to watch the afternoon parade, which we really really loved.  You were not a fan of the characters after you saw the Genie from Aladdin who scared you.  We rode Peter Pan, which stopped while we were on it.  Then we rode Snow White, Smaill World, and pooh.  We had dinner at the Starlight Cafe, which had an ape singing that entertained you.  The food was good but expensive.  We watched the country bear jamboree and there was even a bear named Zeke.  You were so good in the theatre.  You also really liked the Phillharmagic 3D show even though you didn't wear the glasses.  We rode Aladdin with you and then rode Splash Mountain and tried to ride Big Thunder Mountain together while you and Granny played.  We toured Tom Sawyer island, but it wasn't that big a deal to you.  Then we went to the Main Street Electrical Parade, which is back for the first time in 9 years.  It was so pretty and you got a buzz light while we waited that you really liked to play with.  The fireworks were beautiful, but we didn't have the best seat.

Thursday, June 10th

On this day, we went to Animal Kingdom.  We were all totally let down as none of us had ever been there before.  There weren't many animals out and the rides were not what we had been lead to believe.  There was even one land called Dino Land that reminded us of a carnival.  We made the best of the day though.  We started out on the Kilamanjaro Safari and also did the Lion King show that was really awesome.  Those two things were must sees for us at this park.  We had lunch at the Rainforest Cafe and that was an amazing experience, the best part of our day by far.  We stayed to watch the parade and then we left and headed back to the condo for the evening.  You went to sleep early so Granny stayed in with you while Daddy and I headed out to Planet Hollywood for supper.  We had a really good time, but you wouldn't have liked this restaurant that much.


Friday, June 11th

We went out to Epcot to do a meet and greet with the characters--Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, and Donald.  We had thought there would be a good place in Magic Kingdom, but this was really the best place to do autographs because it was inside and they were all in their formal/regular costumes.  We rode Nemo several more times, Soarin, and a few others while we were there.  We left there early afternoon and headed down to Universal Studios to eat at Margaritaville.  Dustin and Mom couldn't be this close and not have a cheeseburger in paradise, ha!  The food was very good.  We really enjoyed walking along the boardwalk and checking out a few things.  We headed back to the condo to pack up for the trip home.

Saturday, June 12th

We drove home on the 12th and it took less time to get home because we went through Atlanta.  It only took us 14 hours and we drove straight through.  You were a trooper once again and we had a really great trip!

22 months and growing

Today you are 21 months old, hard to believe I started this blog about 2 years ago in the hospital waiting to have you.  You are growing up so fast, it is so hard to believe.  There are so many things that have changed about you in the last couple of months since I have updated this blog.  You are a big time runner these days and won't let anything get in your way.  I have to be careful when we go out somewhere if I let you down or you will take off running.  You have cut all your molars now and are trying to cut the ones in between.  You are still a big fan of bop and ask for it all the time, sorry to tell you it won't be around much longer :(  You have really gotten into playing outside since it has gotten warmer.  You love to ride your tractor, dig in the dirt, play in the water, throw balls, and just be a boy.  You love your riding toys when you are inside and you are way too busy to read a book with me :(  You have never been that into listening to me read a book, but you love to sit and look (and attempt to read) at them for hours at your little table in your room.  You really like to color these days although it is more like just drawing lines.  In fact last night a crayon made it into the washer and ruined a bunch of clothes.  You still have a fascination with balls and will carry them wherever you go trying to get someone to play with you.  You are really into tv and you have a few favorites which you call by name:  Barney (Bar-e), Toy Story (Buzz), and Cars (car).  We watch these wherever we go and you love to watch tv in the car.  You have a new Buzz that makes noise when you soar through the air and you love to play with him.  You also have a Barney you love to play with.  You are starting to show signs of actually acting out things you have seen as if you are pretending.  It is quite amusing to watch you play like Buzz.  You love to sing anytime you hear music and you love going to "chuch" to sing.  When the preaching starts, you need your snacks though :)  You don't keep your attention on one thing for very long and you are a super active little boy.  You are used to getting your way most of the time and are quite a pistol when you don't.  You are head strong and we battle with you at times to keep you in line.  You know what you want and you don't give up easily, but hey I guess that is part of the reason you made it into this world.  You have had spells with your eating over the last couple of months, but right now you barely eat enough to keep a bird alive and there is literally no food that I can expect you to eat every time I give it to you (except cookies and fruit snacks).  You really love turkey sandwiches, carrots, cookies, pudding, fruit snacks, mashed potatoes, and cereal.  Your favorite drinks are apple juice, milk, tea, and gatorade.  You could live off of just your "juices".  Everything is juice, no matter what it is.  You like to be on the go.  When we wake up and get dressed it is time to leave, so I have to be ready before getting you ready.  You love staying with Meme during the day and you are well behaved according to her except for the occasional push.  When we talk about it pushing you show me how to push and then shake your head and finger while saying no-no so we know that you know better despite the fact that you still "pusssh" sometimes.  You still love to be on the go no matter where we are going although while shopping you like to choose whether your stroller is sitting up or laid back.  You tell us down or up when you are ready to change.  You hate high chairs and most of the time you hate boosters.  We have resorted to all kinds of things to get you to eat and sometimes eat in the living room even though we never really have before.  You are pretty good with a spoon and fork these days (when we can get you to eat).  We don't have the mess we had gotten accustomed to anymore.  You still sleep with us and go to bed early.  We lay down with you while you go to sleep and you have to have your arm up my shirt sleeve to fall asleep.  It is one of the sweetest things to cuddle with you at night, it's the only time you stop!  You drink lots of milk (only thing that keeps you alive) and some juice and gatorade.  You usually take 1 2-3 hour nap and I usually rock you at nap time.  You no longer get your bop except at bedtime and naptime so brushing your teeth has become easy.  You have to brush your teeth to get bop and so you brush like a champ.  You are pretty good at doing it yourself, but I help to be sure they are clean.  You no longer have to wear your SMO's and have gotten a few new pairs of shoes because we have never been able to just put you in regular ones until now.  Last time you went to the dr, you weighed 27 pounds with all your clothes on and you were 35 inches without your shoes on.  You have doubled your birth height now, yay Zeke.  We expect you to be tall like your daddy, you are tall for your age.  You are no longer a baby as bad as I hate to admit it.  You are a little boy that has your own ideas and opinions.  You have a sweet spirit about you that I know God has a plan for.  You love to say thank you, please and occasionally sorry.  You haven't mastered the art of saying your welcome but instead you say thank you every time someone does something for you or if you do something they say thank you for.  We are about to start potty training, what fun!  That is just another step that shows me how much you are growing up.  You use enough words to communicate that you don't get easily frustrated and to be real honest you haven't really been in the "terrible twos" yet.  I hope you don't since we communicate well.  You have started using a few phrases but you don't put alot of words together yet.  You say What's that? and I don't know along with just a few others.  I think you will really be talking by the time you are two, WOW that is in just three months.  I love you so much and I love watching you take each new step in your life.

Dying Easter Eggs

On Saturday morning, we got up and played outside for a while and then decided to dye Easter eggs.  It took a while to talk Dustin into letting Zeke do anything but watch, but he finally gave in.  Zeke put the eggs in the cups, breaking a few, and got them out.  After he got them out, he wanted to put them in another color so some of them were ugly colors or broken.  He really did like playing in the dye best, luckily with a little Dawn we got it all of his hands and he won't have green hands for church this morning to match his shirt.  In the afernoon, we went to Charlotte for Ruby's birthday celebration.  We always have so much fun visiting with everyone and Zeke loves playing outside there.  He has finally decided to call Travis something that we can understand and so he spent yesterday hollering at him and his Poppy to do what he wanted to do.  He is not at all spoiled....lol.  He hollers Tra-is leaving out the v and PopPop for Poppy.....too cute!

A Beautiful Week

The week leading up to Easter has been the most beautiful week I remember in such a long time.  The temperatures were perfect all week and the sun has been shining daily.  We spent most of the week outside playing.  On Monday and Tuesday, we played outside.  On Wednesday, we took Easter pics and then worked in the yard.  Zeke helped Daddy mow the yard and then we played tball before going to church.  On Thursday, we cooked out, rode his tractor, and played on the swingset.  On Friday, we rode the tractor and played on the swingset.  We did alot of the same stuff, but he loves all of it.

Finishing the deck 3/26-3/27

We finished the deck this weekend.  I shouldn't say we, because Zeke and I did very little, but Mom and Dustin finished our deck.  I was very proud of them because it turned out very nice.  Mom got Zeke his own little rocker like our big ones and he thought it was the coolest thing ever.  It's so funny.  Towards the end, we went out because the weather was so pretty and Zeke "helped" his Daddy.  He followed him around closing screw boxes, carrying pieces of underpinning, and measuring where he thought the boards should go like Daddy did the weekend before using a carpenter's pencil.  It is so cute how he is about his Daddy lately.  He thinks he must do everything just like his Daddy.  Not quite as funny when he points to the tv and says e-it, which in his babble language is idiot.  He watches his Daddy do that and does it too.  I hope he doesn't pick up everything we do.

Key Club DLC

The Friday before spring break we took off to Key Club Leadership Conference in Lake Ozark, MO.  On Friday, we drove from 1030-330.  I took two girls with us.  By the time we got there and got checked in, it was time for some supper.  After supper, we had meetings all evening until 1130.  By that time, we were all ready to hit the bed.  Dustin and Zeke enjoyed the hotel room and being lazy.  On Saturday, we had breakfast, meetings, lunch, meetings, time to rest and go out to eat, and more meetings.  We were busy all day.  We won first place in two categories:  most money raised for district project and most money raised for major emphasis programs (march of dimes, children's miracle network, and unicef).  By the time it was time for the dance the girls just wanted to hang out in the room.  On Sunday, we went to a church service, meetings, and drove home.  We got home by about 5 and when we dropped the girls off at home, Zeke cried, he was losing his buddies :(

3/13-3/14

For the weekend, we went back to the lake.  This time the goal was to build a porch.  Dustin and Mom got up early Saturday and got started and they worked hard.  He has never been much of a carpenter, but his hobbies are changing as we get older, because he really enjoyed the work.  We didn't get the rails put on so we will have to go back during spring break to finish it up.

3/8 back to the dr a week later

On the 8th, we were back at the dr, fifth time in the last four weeks.  I just had that feeling again and not really that much of a reason except I just thought we needed to.  I was right again,  he had a left ear infection.  He has been so lucky to have only had 2 since birth and the other one was in his right ear last April.  He gave us some amoxicillan and Zeke loved it (I always did too). 

3/6-3/7

For the weekend, we headed to the lake.  We got a new pontoon and we worked all weekend getting it really clean and finding a place to store it.  It was such a pretty weekend!

3/1 The Croup

This morning Zeke woke up with the worst cough I have ever heard.  I knew I had to take him to the doc for my own peace of mind and when I got there he said it was good that I brought him right away.  I had heard people talk about the croup before and I thought his cough sounded like it, but I didn't realize kids can have trouble breathing with it.  He gave us three days of steroids and Zeke sounded better by evening, however, he was still pretty sick so I stayed home from work on Tuesday too.

Jill is 26

By my birthday, the following Sunday, Zeke felt much better.  We went to Dad and Cyn's for supper.  Zeke had a blast playing with the girls, he likes to pretend to be big like them.  He is catching up on them though :)

Sick Sick Boy

On Saturday morning February 13, we woke up to Zeke throwing up.  We just thought he had some drainage making him sick to his stomach and we all fell back asleep.  It wasn't long before we realized that just wasn't it.  He continued to throw up everything and then some.  I have never seen him quite so sick.  We got to sick call as soon as they opened at 9, but he had already thrown up about 7 times.  By the time we got his medicine and got him to stop he had thrown up around 10 times.  By that evening, we had a better little boy and thought that he was better.  On Sunday, we decided to run to Jonesboro to get him something for Valentine's Day because we had planned to do that on Saturday.  When we got over there, he started having diarhea.  This continued for about a week.  It was so sad to see him feel so bad :(

Snow Days

We really enjoyed the snow this time, it was the first snow that we were able to play in.  Zeke wasn't sure at first, but when he decided he liked the snow, he didn't want to go in.  We made 2 snowmen, one at Papaw and Meme's and the other at home.

Dustin is 28

For Dustin's birthday, we got together for supper with Lisa, Tommy, and Travis.  We had Zeke's favorite Cu-K for dessert! 

17 months~Growing up Fast

Gosh son, you are growing up before our eyes.  I know everyone always said early on, he will be in kindergarten before long.  I definitly believe that, you will!  Days go by and then months and it all happens so fast.  We love you more with each passing day and can't imagine life without you!  You have changed so much in the last few months!  You no longer seem to be falling down, you are a steady walker and runner for that matter.  You can run about 20 feet without problems, amazing to me after all the things we heard on your Birth Day.  One thing is for sure, God is in control of your life and he isn't finished with you yet!  You started cutting your molars on top and your bottom right tooth (teeth 7,8, &9) all on the same day.  It was around the 15th of December and now they are almost cut through completely.  Now we have those bottom molars to be looking forward to!  You are a major fan of your bop these days and you will go all over the house looking for it when its bedtime.  You say Baa, Baa.  It is pretty cute!  You still love to play in your closet with your little people town, but since Christmas you have a few new favs.  You love your guitar, blocks, cars, ride ons.  Your favorite thing to do since we rearranged your room and made it a semi big boy room is to sit at your table and read books or play with your laptop.  You love to put your phone, keys, and laptop in your backpack (with help of course) and take them for a ride in the cozy coupe and then back to your table.  Daddy thinks you are going to work, who knows with you though!  Eating has not been one of your favorite pasttimes ever since you started cutting those molars.  Some days you eat us out of house and home, others not enough to keep a bird alive.  You like spaghetti, sweet potatoes, yogurt cereal, big boy cereal, carrots, bread, and pastas.  The one thing you would eat no matter how full or how sick is a cracker and boy do you have that word down.  You go to the cabinet often and ask for crack-ker or a cook cook which is a cookie.  You love those two things.  Your favorite cookie is an oreo (momma's fav too so we haven't bought any in a while).  You still love to stay with your Gran, but you still like to be eating when I leave to prevent a melt down.  Gran pretty much knows how to keep you happy and she does it all day long, we love her bunches!  You love for people to visit, to go visiting, and to go shopping or out to eat.  You love to be in your stroller anywhere.  You are kind of messy at restaurants because you try to feed Chance and the food gets messy on the floor, we are breaking you of this slowly.  Your new fav restaurant is Front Page, you love beans, mac, rolls in your own bowl of course, fries, and a little chicken for your meal. You still absolutely love music and to dance.  You love Grandma's ringtone and can really get down to it, but any music will do.  You still love your Celine CD that is now downloaded on all iPhones, ha!  You like to play along to Head and Shoulders and If your happy and you know it.  You love to play with our iPhone, you know how to unlock it, and turn on the iPod, imagine you figuring out how to turn on the music.  You love to watch your DVD player in the car, your fav movie is Toy Story.  You will watch it over and over.  You like the Backyardigans-racing episode and Yo Gabba Gabba or Barney if you are watching tv.  You still sleep with us at night and are still sleeping through the night, although I hear that can slow down around this time as you are learning to do more things.  Ok so we just let you drink however much milk you want to right now and juice sometimes if it doesn't upset your tummy.  You love to drink gaa gaa (gatorade), but we don't do it too much because it upsets your tummy too.  You can't do too many acidic drinks, so mainly we stick to milk.  You drink alot of it, typically 16-20 oz at least per day.  If you get up before 8, you still take 2 naps.  After 8, 1 3 hour nap.  At night you still rock and drink milk, but you hate brushing your teeth these days.  It used to be cool!  You still love riding in the car, eating cheerios, and have branched out to fruit loops and apple jacks (momma even tried apple jacks when you did).  You are still wearing SMO's until March when we see Dr. Sawyer.  You get a new pair Friday of this week.  Your feet are doing so much better, although I think there will always be some outward rotation.  Church is getting better, we have learned to take lots of snacks.  One snack that is not a good idea is a ring pop, it gets us all messy.  We take cracker, cereal and marshmallows your three fav snacks.  You don't get into trouble until you have been there an hour, its like that is your absolute limit to sit there!  You are growing up 25 pounds (with clothes) and 33 inches, WOW I can hardly believe it.  You have almost doubled your birth height.  You are growing into a handsome little boy, not quite the baby I gave birth to anymore.  I must remember not to hold on too tight, you are here for God's purpose, not for me, and I must allow you to fulfill your purpose so that you may return to him some sweet day, what a sweet day that will be for us all!

Sick boy

On Friday the 8th, when I got into bed with you I realized you had a fever.  You had about a 102.7, so we slept with one eye open and gave you medicine until we could get to the doctor.  On Saturday, we went to the doctor and found out you had hand/foot/mouth disease.  You have sores in your mouth and your fever will be between 103 and 104.5.  This terrified us, but we kept you dosed with your tylenol and motrin every 3 hours and kept your fever away most of the time.  You would still run a higher fever at night though.  By Tuesday, your fever had pretty much gone away, but you will probably still have sores for a few more days.  You don't like to eat much right now, so maybe you will soon.

Snow Dayz

We had a snow day on the first day back after Christmas.  We went out and looked at it and you played for a few min, but it was so cold that we didn't stay out long.  I enjoyed having another pj day with you before I had to go back to school.

On Thursday, we had another snow day.  We had a little more snow this time, but not much.  Neither snow was as much as we saw in Branson on Sunday so they were both disappointing.