First post of 2012

Wow, it's so weird to say 2012. My oh my how time flies. I haven't updated in a while, Christmas time usually keeps my little family busy with fun and memories to be made. 


Little Man was introduced to Nokie the Elf this year. He had so much fun running around in the mornings trying to find out what he was up to. Unfortunately a cold hit the house pretty bad right before Christmas so Nokie didn't get to enjoy as many adventures as he would have liked. We did get some pictures of the ones he did achieve though. 

Fishing for gold fish... 

Roasting marshmallows

And being attacked my dinosaurs and sabers. Now, while this may look terrible, and that it would scare the heck out of a toddler... Little Man got a kick out if it.

And on Christmas morning CJ found this note Nokie had left...

We've also had our share of desserts around the house the last month. 

We've been painting presents to give to grandparents. 

And enjoying presents Santa left!

I've also been getting to know me a little better too. As a parent it can be easy to loose yourself when you are busy taking care of others and putting your own needs to the side. I've been spending time with friends and family and my husband. I'm finding that healthy balance between being a Mom and a woman, friend, daughter and wife. It isn't easy. It's hard to feel like your not being selfish when you want time to yourself when there are so many things to do. But I'm working through that!

Me and my Hubby

I have a feeling that 2012 is going to bring a lot of big things for my little family. We will as always roll with the punches and enjoy every moment together, and with family and friends. I hope that you do the same!

Just randomness, if you are interested...

Little Man's 2nd Birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks, and I have been busy getting everything put together for his big day. We were having some computer issues for a while, but finally got everything straightened out and got the invitations put in the mail today. Actually, CJ himself mailed them out. We went by the post office, got the stamps, and he had a ball opening and closing the drop box to put each invitation in. He is getting so big. New things everyday. This evening while watching YO! Gabba Gabba, he started to sing the words to a song, on cue with the characters... I was in awe. And of course, I couldn't find the camera to get it on video. 

We have been struggling with bed time a lot lately. Little Man used to be on such a great schedule. We'd brush his teeth, get on pajamas, and sit down to read some books and we'd put him in bed and he would go right to sleep. (I might add it took forever to get him to become such a good sleeper, but that's another story). Nowadays... we attempt to brush his teeth and end up with 10 minutes of him brushing his hair and only wanting to pretend to brush teeth. He doesn't really care for books at bed time anymore... he'd rather take them all out of the bookshelf and use them as steps. And putting on pajamas? Oh, forget it. It's a fight almost every night. But me and the hubby keep reminding ourselves he's getting older, getting new attitudes about things and he'll work his way back into a routine. We can only hope he does this sooner rather than later. 




We had a yard sale a couple of weekends ago at the last minute. Not as much a yard sale as it was a "WE DON'T HAVE ANY MORE ROOM" sale. It was fun, but sentimental to go through all of Little Man's baby clothes and toys and put them in the "to go" pile. And I got a little misty eyed watching a couple of his toys go. But in the end we gained a ton of closet space. But we didn't get rid of as much as we would have liked... I think we'll have another sale in November. 


We are taking Little Man to Day Out with Thomas the Train this week. CJ is not exactly a Thomas fan, but he really likes trains. He likes anything that is loud and moves lately. Anytime he hears a plane he is looking into the sky for it. Like I said something new everyday. New interests... like cameras. He is as much interested in having his picture taken as he is actually taking a picture. I think he just likes to look in the display to see what he's also looking at. He took this picture of me recently. Maybe he's following in my footsteps of enjoying taking pictures? Maybe Santa will bring him a camera geared towards his age for Christmas this year...


I got my hair cut finally on Thursday, I had been neglecting it since February, or maybe it was March. Either way, it needed to be cut. It's been difficult for me lately to find a balance between doing things for myself and doing things for Little Man. The balance in taking time for myself instead of thinking I always have to spend every moment with him. Or putting off getting something he doesn't necessarily need versus doing something for me that needs to be done. Like getting glasses... I finally did this (yay for being able to drive at night again!). 

Me and Hubby made plans for CJ to go to his Grandma's for the night Friday and we went and had dinner with our neighbors/friends. We ate, played cornhole (if you do not know what this is, please look it up... it's a rather fun game!) and had some drinks. We really had a fun evening out with friends, and it was nice to have conversations about things other than Yo! Gabba Gabba and potty training. So slowly but surely I'm finding that balance of having some time to catch up with myself and knowing that I'm not being a bad Mom by taking some time for myself or friends. 


I've been thinking about the day CJ had his seizure a lot lately. (if you are not familiar with this please read here about what happened- Is He Gone). Not sure why... maybe it's because for a moment I didn't think he'd make it to his 2nd Birthday. Then my thoughts go to people who have lost a child who's birthday is coming up. I cannot even fathom what the day is like for them. I pray for those families often.  


So that's just a little update of what's been going on with us lately. Hopefully I can remember to update again, soon!

A BIG Thank you

I have been overwhelmed (in a good way) by all of the emails, phone calls, comments, and text messages received after I posted my previous blog entry "Is He Gone". I first want to say thank you for all of your kind words of encouragement, your prayers and your warm thoughts for CJ and our family. Much of our family and friends were really there for us and it assured me that in the future no matter the situation, we will always have people to "lean on".

I also wanted to send out a huge thank you to those who responded to the 911 call that day, as well as the staff at the hospital. It amazes me how strangers can sympathize with your situation and even when your having a mini break down can somehow always say the right things to calm you down.

After the post I received a few emails with questions on how CJ was, and questions about things that happened that day...

First, CJ is 110% better! He is back to his happy, hyper dare devil kid and we have not had any more bouts of fever. I still check on him SEVERAL times a night, and I sure this will continue for a while. And yes, I have maybe gone a little overboard with the wet wipes, but I am doing everything I can and more to ensure the germs stay away from us!
Now to answer a few questions- first being regarding the situation with CJ not breathing during/after the seizure. Like I said in the post, he was eating Cheerios. It is possible that when the seizure started he began to choke, it could have been stuck in his throat and later swallowed- I really don't know. According to all of the research I have done a febrile seizure alone should not cause a child to stop breathing, HOWEVER- all research states to place the child on their side to ensure they do not choke if they vomit, as well as making sure they don't have anything in their mouth. Now when the seizure began I didn't know that was what was happening and I didn't do any of that. So to answer the question of why he stopped breathing- I don't know. I do however know the steps to take if this ever happens again.
Another question I received was why I didn't give CJ a dosage of Tylenol when his fever was rising so rapidly. The reason is, I called the pediatricians office and spoke to a nurse. She actually told me she has many parents call her and say that they do the Tylenol/Motrin every 4 hours dose and this is not something she would recommend. This is why he was not given any more medication before we reached the hospital. The hospital staff ensured us in instances like this, when a fever is so persistent- Tylenol/Motrin every 4 hours is okay. (PLEASE NOTE I AM NOT RECOMMENDING YOU DO THIS WITH YOUR CHILD, PLEASE TALK TO YOUR CHILD'S DOCTOR REGARDING MEDICATIONS!!!) I brought this up to our actual pediatrician when we followed up with her and she stated she would speak with the nurse about the whole situation.

I know that some people have shrugged this off as not a big deal, and may think I'm dwelling on this. People are welcome to think this if they wish. To me it was and still is a big deal. But I am not dwelling on what could have happened anymore. If anything it has helped me to not put off things for later, because you never know when later wont happen. I want to take every advantage to have fun with my Little Man. I am trying to plan that trip to the zoo, and maybe HOPEFULLY that trip to the beach later this year. We've been enjoying time with friends at birthday parties, enjoying playing at the park and at Monkey Joe's. Enjoying family time, movies and ice cream. We are saying less "maybe we will do that tomorrow." and more "ok let's get ready now!!!".

And no, I am still not completely over what happened. I still think of everything I could have done differently to prevent what happened, but like I said- I'm not dwelling on what could have happened. I am preparing myself for the fact that it may happen again.

Thanks again to everyone for your love. We are so very lucky so have so many great people in our lives, and I hope you all know how very much you mean to us!

Here are some pictures since Little Man's been feeling better... back to his silly little self! And please excuse the drool, he's cutting some molars!