An Update On Our Little Man

Last Friday, we traveled the 2.5 hours to Riley's Children's Hospital for an appointment with an endocrinologist.

The doctor asked us some questions and looked at Colson.

One of the first things he says:

"Your son has seen way too many doctors."

I was caught a little off guard quite honestly.

But then he proceeds to tell us that Colson's height--at a whopping 29 inches--puts him in the 1st percentile. But that all of his measurements are in proportion to his height.

Good.

Then the doctor goes into all of the medical terminology stuff.

His first T4 test was very high at 4.9 so they re-tested it and it came back at 2.5 which was just above normal. But what didn't make sense was that his TSH (Thyroid-Simulating Hormone) was normal. Where usually if someones thyroid is testing high, their TSH would be low because your body is trying to counteract the thyroid. This was not the case in Colson, however, and it raised a few questions with the doctor. In his words,

"The puzzle pieces weren't matching up correctly". 

Because of this, the doctor wanted to do more blood tests.

Ugh.

But, the doctor told us that he believed everything was normal with Colson and that he was just small. The blood tests were just to be sure.

Well, today we got the results of the bloods tests.

NORMAL!

Every single thing was normal. His T4 was at 1.9 which was normal. His TSH was normal. He did not have a single thing wrong with his thyroid.

The doctor said that sometimes boys are "late bloomers" and that Colson is most likely one of them.

He said we just need to monitor his growth and he wants to see Colson again in 9 months.

So, yeah a HUGE sigh of relief!!!

Sometimes, I think that maybe all of this was going a bit too far. Did we need to see an endocrinologist? Were we over reacting? But this was our child and for all we knew, our child was sick. We wanted to do everything in our power to make sure, that if he was sick, he was going to be okay and get what he needed medically.

So, yeah, I quickly slap myself! We did not go too far and we definitely did not ever react! We did what we had to do. And thankfully, as of right now, our little man is 'normal'. They cannot find anything medically, that is leading to him being small.

Someone has to be in the bottom percentiles, and Colson is just one of them. :o)

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Freeze Pops

Colson loves them!

 He gets so excited when dada shares his freeze pops.

 I mean, how could you not love freeze pops!?

 They're pretty yummy! :o)

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My Wish

Before Hannah was born, I loved the song 'My Wish' by Rascal Flatts.

Now it takes on a whole new meaning and I usually burst into tears while listening to it.

This song puts into words what I wish for my children, better than I ever could!

So to my loves, this is My Wish for you:

I hope the days come easy and the moments pass slow
And each road leads you where you want to go
And if you're faced with the choice and you have to choose
I hope you choose the one that means the most to you

And if one door opens to another door closed
I hope you keep on walkin' til you find the window
If it's cold outside, show the world the warmth of your smile
But more than anything, more than anything

My wish for you
Is that this life becomes all that you want it to
Your dreams stay big, your worries stay small
You never need to carry more than you can hold

And while you're out there gettin' where you're gettin' to
I hope you know somebody loves you
And wants the same things too
Yeah, this is my wish

I hope you never look back but you never forget
All the ones who love you and the place you left
I hope you always forgive and you never regret
And you help somebody every chance you get

Oh, you'd find God's grace in every mistake
And always give more than you take
But more than anything, yeah more than anything

My wish for you
Is that this life becomes all that you want it to
Your dreams stay big, your worries stay small
You never need to carry more than you can hold

And while you're out there gettin' where you're gettin' to
I hope you know somebody loves you
And wants the same things too
Yeah, this is my wish, yeah yeah

My wish for you
Is that this life becomes all that you want it to
Your dreams stay big, your worries stay small
You never need to carry more than you can hold

And while you're out there gettin' where you're gettin' to
I hope you know somebody loves you
And wants the same things too
Yeah, this is my wish
(My wish for you)

This is my wish
(My wish for you)
I hope you know somebody loves you
(My wish for you)
May all your dreams stay big
(My wish for you)




Join Growing Up Geeky this week and share a letter to your child(ren).

Strawberry Pickin'

With Nick having been gone so much the past week, I wanted to try to find some fun family activity that we could all go do.

I knew Hannah absolutely loved apple pickin' so I looked online and found that a local market did you pick strawberries.

Ummm...FUN!

So, I called on Tuesday and it just so happened that Wednesday was their last day for you pick. It was supposed to be 70 degrees...perfect strawberry pickin' weather if you ask me! :o)

So Wednesday we loaded up to go pick strawberries. As you drove back to the field you could smell the strawberries. It was one of the most wonderful smells!

I wish the photos that I am posting were scratch n' sniff because it smelled SO good!

To say that the kiddos had fun would be an understatement! 

Colson was in heaven picking strawberries--most of which (as you can see) ended up in his mouth and not in the bucket. It's a good thing sampling was allowed! :oP

I think we have added this to our traditions list right along with apple pickin'. :o)

Now, I just need to figure out what to do with all of these strawberries... 

Wordless Wednesday

Before:


After:

How Has Life Changed?

When I was pregnant with Hannah, I was one of those persons that feared the worst. I thought we were never going to be able to leave the house. I thought my kid would never sleep through the night. I thought that she would cry constantly....

because that is what you always hear parents complaining about.

"Sleep now because once the baby comes you'll never get any sleep!"

I was a soon-to-be-mom that had never changed a diaper. I worked a fabulous 10-5 job (the joys of being freelance!). How early was I going to have to wake up to take care of this bundle of joy?

But once Hannah was born, I knew I didn't care how many sleepless nights there would be. It was worth it! I just had to go with the flow and everything would be okay.

And 'with the flow' we went and I attribute that 'laid back attitude' to why Hannah was such an easy baby...heck, Colson was an easy baby too!

Hannah was a sleeper from the get-go. We joke that we didn't see her eyes until she was 9 months old. But no really, she was always asleep. And it didn't take long for her to begin giving us 4-5 hour stretches at night, then 5-6 and 6-7. If I remember correctly, Hannah was giving us 8 hours of sleep at night by 6 or 7 months old. By 1 year it was 12-13 hours and we still hold pretty true to that today, at 3.5 years old.

Hannah hardly ever fussed. She was a happy baby. We were able to take her to a restaurant and she would either be content sitting in her seat or she would sleep (surprise).

With Colson, he was awake more than Hannah ever was, but he was giving us 8 house of sleep at night before Hannah did. He was sleeping through the night around 5 months old. At 16 months old he sleeps just as long as his sissy...if not longer. Last night for example, he went to bed at 7:30 and he's still asleep--at 9:30, as I type thins. (But he did have a busy day yesterday.)

Colson, just hung out and went with the flow when he was little...just like his parents.

We were never bar goers or anything so we were not deprived of a lifestyle like that. We were alway home bodies so having Hannah and Colson did not really alter our lives in that sense.

Now that the kids are getting older we tend to stress a bit more. Having two mobile kids is a lot to constantly keep an eye on. But they know their boundaries (most of the time). I can go into the kitchen to cook and I know that my kids will not start climbing the furniture! Set the boundaries early and trust me, your life will be a lot easier in the long run!

Now that they're older, it's harder to go out so if one of the grandparents can watch them, we take advantage of that. Now, when I say go out, it's usually to the grocery store. So if the grandparents can't watch then we just take them with. Not really that big of a deal.

Now I don't want to glorify our life because there are things that we can't do anymore. We can't stay out late if we do go out, because the kiddos need to be in bed around 8:00. We can hardly ever relax when we do go out with them because we always have one eye on each kid. Especially now that Colson walks, he just wants to explore everything.

I don't want you to think that we are some crazy parents and we just let our kids do whatever either...because we are far from that! We are just parents that let our kids be kids but we teach them right from wrong in the process. If we have to punish then we punish. It's all in the repetitive nature of your parenting that teaches your kids how they are supposed to act and behave. And we try to end bad habits and behaviors before they become a 'way of life' for the kids. Sometimes it's easier said then done, but all things take time and work.

One big thing that I never expected, was to become a stay at home mom. It was always known that I would go back to work...and I did go back to work for some time. But the economy went to shit and so did my job. The person I was 'freelancing' for no longer needed an extra hand so I was forced to work from home. That slowly evolved into me becoming a SAHM and honestly, it was the best 'unexpected' ever. I cherish the gift of me being home with the kids! I love it! Although I would be lying if I said there weren't days where I wish I could just have some alone time for a while!

So while life may not have changed to drastically for us (boring people), it has changed in a way that has filled our hearts with a love and joy that I never thought was possible. I knew I would love my kids, but I didn't fully know what the existent of that love would be. It is an overflowing love! An unexplainable love! We were pleasantly surprised with how well both of our kids slept from the beginning and we count our lucky stars for that...because it could have been (and can still be for any future children) very different.

But...We'll just keep on going with the flow for now! It seems to have worked for us! :o)



Link up with Growing Up Geeky and tell us how your life has changed (or hasn't changed).

It's Hot!

The past couple days have been hot!

A heat that causes you to sweat in places you would prefer to not sweat.

A heat that makes you beg the hubs for a pool so you can lay out and get a tan while the kids nap take the kiddos swimming without always having to pack them up and take them somewhere.

But alas, there are no signs of the hubs giving into my (rather small, I might add!) pool request.

So, we cool off with our water table.

And we cool off with popsicles! :o)

Randoms

1. I am repainting our kitchen.

It is currently a red color and while I love the red, the idea of being able to accent with different colors sounds a bit better. So I am trying to find a nice neutral color in the tan family.

We have dark espresso cabinets and tile with a mixture of golden tans and mochas.

Here are the top contenders:

I think I am leaning toward the far right color. It's a nice tan with some grey undertones.

The far left I think will just make everything to dark and the middle has a bit too much yellow in it.

What do you think?



2. I have been obsessed with fudgsicle popsicles lately. :o)


3. I think it might be time to take Colson down to one nap.

He has been on a two nap schedule for a while now, but lately I have noticed that he will take a good 2 hour first nap but then his second nap averages 1hour...when in the past it has been 2 hours.

However, this is not a consistent thing so I'm not really sure if he is ready for only one nap.

When did you change your kid over to only one nap? I cannot for the life of me remember when I changed Hannah over.

Wordless Wednesday

Tunnel of Fun

The kids are completely obsessed with this tunnel. They love it! They actually play together when it's out. The giggles from both of them are just the greatest!