A Day in the Life of...

A blast from the past...

2012-02-10T18:57:00.008-05:00

Today was one of those days, where I was cursing myself because I totally sounded like my mother!

On more than one occasion, I said verbatim what I hated hearing so much when I was little... "I'm gonna give you a reason to cry", "not until you finish cleaning up your mess", "whatever I pick up for you, will go in the trash...", I even bit Liam back after he bit me today... *sigh*.

This morning as I was coming downstairs with laundry, I watched Jax pull the rest of the magazines and books off the coffee table, (Liam had pulled most of them off prior to this), but then Jax shredded a piece of paper, and when I called him out on it, he threw the piece of paper at Liam and said "Baby Liam did it Mommy!".

So that resulted in Jax vacuuming the couch cushions while I vacuumed the base of the couch. He didn't seem to mind though, and he actually did a good job!

Then later on in the morning, Liam was fussing in the playroom, so I came in to check on him, and I witness Jax dumping each of his toy bins in a pile, one after the other. I said to him "well I hope you plan on picking that all up, because I'm not going to do it!" He again said, "it was baby Liam!" Now typically when the playroom is a disaster, it's from good ole' playing, and I almost always "help" him pick up... but this time, Jax just did it to be a butt and lied about who did it!

So.... I told him he needed to start picking it up! He didn't move, and instead said, "no, maybe you can do it Mommy!" What!?!? I mean EVERY BIN WAS TURNED OVER AND DUMPED OUT! Heck no! After that, I calmly told him what goes where, and that he needed to pick it up because he was the one who made the mess, and lying about it being Liam wasn't nice, and therefore I wasn't even going to help. That lead to an all out screaming match. Screaming from a three year old isn't anything that bad, but I am trying to work on patience with him when he does talk to me like that. I asked him several more times to please pick up his mess, and he did nothing. So then I told him as I was dragging the garbage can into the playroom, that whatever I picked up was going in the trash. I totally expected a quick cleaning three year old to emerge, but again, he just sat there. So naturally I went for his favorite toys. His Mack Truck, his beloved Lightning McQueen, Chick, Mator, and Dinoco King car... His robot, Alphie, letter cards, bouncy balls, etc... ALL IN THE TRASH!

Through tears, and pleading he slowly started picking up his mess. Then started playing, then got sent to his bedroom, then back, and we repeated this several times. He didn't get lunch until his room was picked up. Which of course Liam and I had all his favorites while he was cleaning... Five minutes before nap, he said his tummy hurt and he was hungry, which it was almost two hours past lunch, so I finally gave in.

FINALLY after nap, after he figured out the tv was unplugged, he put the last of his mess away... It literally KILLED me to not just go in and pick up his mess. It takes 10 minutes even if every toy is out, for me to put everything back to order... Ugh... But I put my foot down, and I'm glad I did, because he said he was sorry for making such a mess and that he learned his lesson. :)

On a brighter note, I haven't given him his toys back that I "threw" away. He has asked several times if he could have them back, but I am very much enjoying him playing with some of his neglected toys!

There are moments as a parent where I roll my eyes and say, I can't believe I just said that... I sounded just like my mother... today was definitely one of those days. And most times, it's more or less, like really!?! I swore I'd never say that... but sometimes it's comical, and I hate to admit how good of a line it is that I am reusing... but Ghaaaaaa...

Nothing like your parents secretly getting revenge through your own children paying you back...

Boys vs Boo-boos...

2012-02-03T20:28:00.003-05:00

Liam 0, bathroom vanity bottom drawer handle 1.

Jax 0, new rain boots and concrete stairs 1. Thanks Gramma for your " Owie Packs". They were definitely put to use last night and today... :(

The Great Debate...

2012-02-02T22:32:00.008-05:00

I started this post last night, but as of this morning Susan G. Komen Foundation has decided to reverse their decision on pulling grants and funds given to Planned Parenthood and Affilites.

Is this a victory? Not for those who do not support Planned Parenthood. But it is a victory in the sense that regardless of the organization that is receiving funds, it is a win for those who care about putting the health care of women first and foremost.

Written previously: The Great Debate of Susan G. Komen withdrawing funds and grants associated with Planned Parenthood is a hot subject this week. I've definitely had a lot of good discussions about this, but I am curious as to what you have to say.

First, I will stick with my argument before I go into some of the supporting arguments I've gotten from this. This is a very hard subject to stick to the point of. There are so many other topics that get pulled into this debate just because of the two names that are associated.

With Susan G. Komen Foundation pulling their funding from Planned Parenthood, I can only be devastated at the thought of how many women, primarily the lower income women who will no longer be getting low cost breast screening let alone the information to ensure healthy breast care. Whether this facility, dubbed "Planned Murderhood" is known for their "support" of abortion or not, it's still taking care away from hundreds of thousands of women each year. Is it due to politics? Or is it just a coincidence that the new VP of SGK Foundation, Karen Handel who in her run for governor over the state of Georgia, made it very clear on where she stands with Pro-Life? This is where all the other topics come into play in this scenario.

According to the Handel, this decision has nothing to do with politics, that it all has to do with contributors withdrawing funding from organizations like Planned Parenthood, being investigated by the GOVERNMENT for using government funding for acts such as abortion. So, if I am not mistaken, wouldn't that classify this is a government stint? Also, if that is their "excuse" to pull their funding to an organization under State or Federal investigation, then where is their withdraw to Penn State, which is funded nearly 7.5 million by SGK Foundation?

Regardless of the point above, there is obviously quite a lot of pressure for charitable dollars being granted to organizations notorious for, abortions. Maybe it has everything to do with pressure to pull funding from this organization lead by supporters of anti-abortion groups, and that the excuse is due to the government investigation.

But still, what about these women who will not be getting this care?

Here is where I will bring in the subtopics of this debate. 1). PPH doesn't even perform mammograms. This is what several supporters of the withdraw are stating. Fact: Of the four million women who got breast exams through Planned Parenthood clinics in the last five years, 70,000 were provided through the Foundation. So maybe SGK wasn't responsible for each and every exam, and PPH will surely rise above this and continue to screen women, but they certainly screen women for breast cancer by performing mammograms. Now in the offset of this "scheme" as I'll call it, over $650,000 has been raised by other charities to be certain PPH can continue their yearly check-ups. Note: Many of these new supporting charities are ALSO anti-abortion, however they see the importance of providing women with proper screenings and breast health.

When you even mention Planned Parenthood, a bitter taste is formed in your mouth based on the fact that this organization performs abortions. Even as abortion rates continue to decline, PPH and affiliates are still responsible for roughly 23% of all abortions performed in the US each year. This is only one aspect to their clinics. What about contraceptives? If you ask certain religious groups, contraceptives are just as "evil" as an abortion. It's to contracept life. Which provokes the argument of "what about the women and girls who use contraceptives, birth control, etc, for other health reasons such as heavy periods, or hormonal imbalances?" Oh.... yeah. Yes, this is generally ok, but not if it is administered through the hands of a PPH provider.

What about going to PPH for other health care? Routine visits, yearly exams, fertility, etc? Well from personal experience, I used to have all my exams done through a PPH facility. Was I going for an abortion? No? Did I ever talk to anyone about an abortion? Nope. I strictly went for a quarterly contraceptive and yearly exams. What's so bad about that? Well simply going to these facilities generates business. Business keeps the lights on. Keeping the lights on keeps the abortion procedures a reality. But what if you are a low income women, who just so happens to be of a different race and considered a minority? Planned Parenthood is generally in lower income neighborhoods, and typically have less strict health coverage requirements, thus advertising themselves to these women. So what if Planned Parenthood is your only option?

Do I believe in abortion? NO. I do strongly believe in the health care and well being for women though, and those specifically of lower class and minority who are being cared for, when others turn them away. In a perfect scenario, these facilities would be shut down, and the government would make more stringent laws mandating that other health care facilities, NOT performing abortions, would provide the same care for women at the same cost that PPH does. Of course that is another subject all together, and yes, there are other facilities out there who accommodate no health insurance, and low income families to their clinics, but they aren't as convenient as a Planned Parenthood placed in their neighborhood.

All in all, the controversy that this decision has sparked is going to be a never ending battle, but what people need to keep in mind, is that regardless of where the funding is given, it is going to help protect and keep millions of women informed and healthy, which hopefully one day will put an end to the devastating disease called Breast Cancer. Will this spark future withdraws? I personally believe it will. But also based on the outpour of support of those in favor of Planned Parenthood over SGK, I think it definitely goes to show where people's concerns lie. It's not about the "abortion mill", it's about preventing care. It's about an organization so adamant that their goal is to find a "cure" and save lives, withdrawing donations from an organization notorious for ending lives. There are so many other factors in the middle, that clearly have made their own marks of those who are both pro-life and pro-choice.

It will be interesting to see where this all goes. But for the time being, the importance needs to stay on providing care for women.

Thoughts??

A Miracle turns ONE...

2012-01-30T11:39:00.002-05:00

Exactly one year ago today, my world forever changed when Liam unexpectedly arrived a whole two months before his due date. I'll never forget that moment in my life, when I thought my own life was uncertain, but also the helplessness of knowing that at any moment I could lose Liam.

January 30th, 2011 was the scariest day in my life. The pain I experienced, and the overwhelming emotions I faced as I was rushed into surgery to learn the fate of not only myself, but my unborn child. When I was prepped for my emergency c section, I knew that the nurses and doctor hadn't been able to find a heartbeat on Liam, they did say they thought they saw a flutter, but we didn't know if he was still alive . I was still awake, and saw the panic on the faces of the operating staff. I was being yelled at through the process, and I was yelling in return through the fear and pain I was experiencing. I was terrified of never saying goodbye to my family, and never getting to know the precious soul I carried for the last seven and a half months. I was still conscious when they started the surgery. The anesthetist was just a room away, but every minute literally counted and as they were cutting my belly open, I was finally given anesthesia and put under. Just two hours after I started experiencing pain, at 11:48 am, Liam David Ward was born weighing 4lbs and 2oz. He was blue, had no heartbeat and was not breathing.

When I was "brought back to", Dean was holding my hand, looking over me and smiling. The look on his face was worry and fear, but he was smiling. I wasn't sure if it was because I was ok, or if he was nervous about telling me the devastating news I was dreading. He immediately told me that we had a beautiful little boy, and he had a bunch of really good doctors taking care of him, and that I would get to see him in a few minutes. Initially, I thought that was it. That everything was fine, and that despite the pain and scare he gave us, that he was healthy and would be ok. Minutes later, Dean's composure completely changed. He had a worried but steady tone as he explained everything that had just taken place with myself and our new baby. I think I only clung to the fact that they had Liam stabilized and didn't realize that he was still in a very vulnerable stage. It never fully sank in how close Liam came to not being here, until his pediatrician came in and spoke with me.

The look on that man's face said it all. There was no relief. There were no smiles. Just complete stress and worry. He explained exactly what it took just get Liam to take his first breath and that it was the longest 10 minutes of his life. I knew Liam would be airlifted to Johnson City, NICU and I couldn't argue, because he was in a critical state, and needed the best doctors to help him. Minutes later, my family came in to hug me, and just as fast as they entered, they left one by one leaving Dean to hold my hand and explain that the aircrew was bringing Liam in to see me but they couldn't stay and I couldn't hold him. When Liam was wheeled into my room. It was a very surreal moment. No one spoke, they just gave me a moment to tell Liam I loved him, and that I was so proud of his fight thus far. Because I had just gotten out of surgery maybe 15 minutes prior, I was still groggy, confused, scared and weak. I couldn't sit up and because of that, all I saw of my baby was a tiny pink leg, and wires in a huge plastic box. I'll never forget feeling so helpless. His leg kicked once and they wheeled him away. I was able to watch the aircrew load him up into the helicopter, and a few minutes later, the helicopter lifted and was en route to another hospital, far away. The touch of Liam's leg was still on my fingertips. I watched the helicopter until it was no longer in sight. I cried. I was angry. I hurt. I was scared.

Later that morning, Dean came in to show me photos of Liam. I was grateful for the snapshots of my son, but these photos weren't celebration photo's. The hospital staff had only taken the photos because they thought Liam wouldn't survive, and they wanted us to have the pictures of him to remember him by. Those pictures still haunt me.

I was discharged from the hospital two days later. I wanted no visitors while I was there. I hardly ate. I cried a lot. I slept a lot. I prayed. Getting discharged from the hospital was a hard day. I packed my bags and Dean and I walked out. I came home to my house rearranged with baby stuff, but no baby. Just an empty bassinet all ready to hold a sleeping baby, and a quiet house that should have been ringing with the sounds of a new baby's cry.

That night Dean took me to go meet Liam. The first time walking into the NICU was overwhelming. I was briefed on rules, had to call ahead, scrub for two minutes, couldn't talk aloud, and I felt that if I breathed wrong, something would happen to my precious baby. When I walked up to Liam I was flooded with emotions. What did he do to deserve this? Had I done anything? Was my blood pressure, my DISEASE the cause of this? What had I done to deserve this? Was he in pain, could he hear me? Could I touch him? I remember feeling angry just thinking of asking. Could I touch my own child? I was given the ok to place my hand on his bundled body, but I couldn't rub or talk to him any louder than a whisper in fear his body couldn't handle the stimulation. He was so small. He had so much going on in his little isolate. He looked so lonely. Was he as scared as I was?

The first visit was hard. I remember bawling the entire way back home. I shook, I blamed myself, I hated that a condition I've had for most of my life put my sweet little one in the worst jeopardy. I felt so alone in my thoughts. Hurt, scared and angry. Dean held me the entire night as I stayed awake sobbing, praying, and making bargains with God.

Liam's first few days were excruciating. He took several steps backwards, and made very little progress. All we were praying for was good results on MRI's and that he wouldn't break his luck and have a seizure or any further complications. I held my sweet miracle for the first time on day 5.

To describe briefly the experience of having a child in the NICU, it's like watching someone you love be imprisoned. You know that them being there is what's best for them and that you really can't complain because they are being well cared for; but somehow, there is an emptiness in the pit of your stomach and sometimes you feel like just grabbing the prisoner and running out the doors as fast as you can. There is this constant pain in your heart. That pain is caused by the lonely drives home every night. It's caused by the phone calls that you make at 2am when you wake up and start wondering what he's doing, if he's eaten, how his SATs are. You're angered by every family you see out in public enjoying their baby.

I know Liam had to be in the NICU, and he needed to be there. But at the same time, I hated it. I wanted him home. I wanted to have a healthy baby, and a normal experience. I wanted to take him to visit family, and cuddle up with him at night. I wanted to hold my baby and not have to worry about cords, iv's and central lines being ripped out. I wanted to lay beside him and not hear the constant beeping of his monitors and the machines that supported his little body. I wanted to be with him every second of the day; but because he was in the NICU, I couldn't. I had to drive an hour, one way just to "visit" my son. I had to ask a nurse how his day had been. When he was hungry, I had to wait for his feeding time, I couldn't just feed him. When he cried, I couldn't pick him up and comfort him. I had to ask to hold him and ONLY if his SATs were acceptable. I felt like I wasn't really getting to be his mom and that I let my son down for the first 30 precious days of his life. I was stressed, broken, and exhausted.

The days turned into weeks. The drive back and forth to the hospital could have been done blind. Little by little, Liam was turning the corner. He was progressing, gaining weight, and losing wire by wire, and soon machine by machine.

March 2nd, 2011. Liam was discharged from the NICU. Dean and I were required to take a child CPR class, test our knowledge on an infant dummy, and then we could officially bring our bundle of joy home.

The months following his discharge were full of countless checkup's, drives back to the hospital to follow up with high risk providers, but Liam did it! He was healthy. He was going to be just fine! He was hitting milestones. He was doing what a baby of his age was suppose to be doing. He was full of life, and passed each evaluation with hesitation, but higher scores than average. Liam has been a healthy baby boy since coming home. He is more susceptible to colds and germs because his immune system is still trying to catch up, but all in all, he is perfectly healthy! There may be delays later on in life for Liam, but if anyone is going to challenge that, it most certainly will be him!

Reliving Liam's experience happens on a daily basis. Each time I hold him, I can't help but be thankful for the life he has given ME, and the countless blessings God has set aside just for our family. It's a painful, tearful trip down memory lane, but seeing the baby boy no one anticipated to do so well let alone survive, is the most powerful testimony of God! I know that He has plans way above my understanding for Liam.

Here is a link to the post I published a few days after he was born: http://shylahsworld.blogspot.com/2011/02/miracle-in-making.html

Today Liam is 18.5lbs and 27 1/2" long. He says Mama, Dadda, brother (ish), and a few other babbled things. He loves his own voice, and uses it quite often. He is trying to walk, and is a full speed ahead crawler! Liam can clear the top of a coffee table faster than a tornado, will pull up on anything he can, and cruises around all the furniture he sees. He absolutely loves his brother, and just seeing Jax puts a huge smile on his face. He tries his best to be just like his big brother, and do anything that he does, although Jax doesn't understand his peskiness in this way. He has 6 teeth, is well on his way to having a mullet, and his thighs and upper arms are full of dimples and rolls! He loves banana's, Cheerios and cheeseburgers. His favorite games right now are peek-a-boo, patt-a-cake, and racing up and down the hallway after an empty pepsi bottle. He sleeps about half way through the night, but always goes back to sleep with some cuddling. He is the most fearless baby I've seen, and thinks that whatever anyone else is doing, that he too can and SHOULD be doing the same thing.

Liam has blessed our family beyond measure. He is a beautiful baby, curious, and full of life. I look forward to the next 12 months with Liam, and while I wish I could bottle him up and keep him my tiny baby forever, I can't wait to see all the things he will experience in the next year!

Happy Birthday Monkey!!! I am so happy God gave you to me, and I thank you for all the laughs and love you have brought to our family. You amaze me daily, and I am so, so very proud of all you have accomplished.

I love you Liam,

-Mommy

Liam's 1st Birthday (party...)

2012-01-17T16:36:00.007-05:00

Over the weekend we celebrated Liam's 1st Birthday!!!! I know I know, slightly early, but as Pop's said, Liam likes to do everything a little bit early! :)

Dean really wanted to be a part of his birthday celebration, and afterwards felt much better about not physically being here on Liam's actual birthday!

We didn't do anything fancy, reused the decorations we had from Jaxon's first birthday, and even brought out Jaxon's gifts from his "1 year". (I'm sorry, but this playroom can not handle another toy!!! And you all would be happy to know he LOVES those gifts too!)

We had pizza and cake, and had I known that Liam wouldn't disappoint with the whole cake thing, we would have done Pizza, THEN presents, THEN cake! Lol. We let him tear into his cake which took him about 3 minutes and one hand smash to get going, but after about 15 minutes, he had destroyed his cake, and made this girl VERY happy! He went straight into the sink afterwards!!!
Once we got going with his gifts (aka batteries), it was pretty funny to watch Jax. "Oooooh that is for Baby Liam, but I will share!" Lol... He wasn't quite sure about this party not being his party, and needless to say Brandi captured the perfect picture of how Jax felt about the whole thing...All in all, it was a fun, but simple birthday for Liam. It makes me laugh at the mom's I know that go all out and over-do their one year old's parties. The cake was all I cared about, and he didn't let me down! :)

I've posted all the pictures from his party on the sidebar.

Shylah

Here we go again...

2012-01-17T12:33:00.002-05:00

Yesterday Dean left to Pocohontis, IA to begin working on his first project with Gamesa!

This first project is more or less for hands on training with an existing project that is almost complete. This will allow Dean, and the other trainees the experience of working/learning on a project that isn't constricted with time frames for completion. Since this project is almost completed, he'll be there for about a month and a half before going back to PA in March to finish out his remaining classroom training. Once he is done in PA, the first actual project he'll be assigned to should be available. There are several sites that have been discussed, so we don't know an exact location, but we're hoping for the Illinois project, since that seems to be a pretty lengthy one, and would firm our plans up to go with him!

As I get more information I will let you know, but I am very excited about Dean actually getting to do his "job" and not be confined to a classroom!

The boys and I plan on visiting Dean in IA once he gets settled and into a routine. We're hoping in about three weeks to make the journey up to him, but thankfully one of the perks of this company vs. the last company, is that after working 30 days, he gets four days off to either spend at off with family (if we are there with him), or just relax, or he can fly home during that time (company paid) and spend a few days with us here! :)

I know the next few weeks for him are going to be eventful, likewise with me home with the boys, but until we get a definite long-term (more than 6 months) project, then we are going to stay here in TN, so we don't have to transport the puppies back in forth, or not have a place for them to be.

Again, we are very excited about this new job opportunity for him, and the places we will get to go in the process. Until then though, I guess I should start going through the house and packing the things that we don't use, and have it ready to put in storage and/or take with us... Hmm...

Liam's Progress...

2012-01-04T15:52:00.008-05:00

This morning Liam had his 6 month follow-up appointment at the the High Risk Clinic. Just like the last appointment when he was 5 months old, he was seen by several doctors to assess his over-all progression, development, nutritional growth,
neurological development and hearing. I figured he would do well since I am amazed by him daily, and no one seems to think he has any delays (other than being small), but I don't think the doctors and therapists thought he would do as good as he actually did.

Hearing - He passed with flying colors! Where he was at on the chart was much higher then what they deem "normal or average".

Nutritional Development - He is 16lbs. 14.7oz (let's just say 17lbs and with no clothing), height is 27 1/4". So he is definitely growing great according to where he is on their charts. He is still breastfed, and I told them that I planned on going at least to 14 months as that is his adjusted year mark, but they encouraged me to go to 1 1/2 years actual just because he will receive an extra boost of nutrients before switching to whole milk. We'll see how he does by 14 months, and if he is still nursing at all, then we'll continue as long as he allows (within reason of course).

Physical Development - He was tested both on his adjusted and actual age. They tested things like his hand/eye coordination, standing, getting down, crawling, pivoting, backwards, getting to something they set out for him, etc. He did great with where they graded him adjusted, and is in the 90% for his skills there. Then on his actual age, scored at 50%. I think that the stairs incident yesterday actually bumped him up a little since that proves that he has right/left, hand/knee coordination. They said where he got dinged, which I wouldn't consider it losing points, is how wobbly he still is when attempting to take steps. But again, way over average on his adjusted age, and average on his actual age. Not too shabby considering he's only been standing/getting down for a few weeks and is just starting to takes steps in a frontward motion.

Neurological Development - This assessment really surprised the therapists! They did a series of tests, and questions as far as knowing his name, parents, siblings, words like NO, following directions; such as come here, or down, etc. Then just watched him play and follow their cues as to what they wanted him to do, all the while they were scoring him. For a full term baby a score on each individual test between 85-115 is considered normal-above average. On his adjusted age, he scored 105+ on each test, and had several perfect scores of 115. On his ACTUAL age, he scored 95-114 on each one! They said they typically stick to the adjusted aged tests, but he did so well on that, that they also did his actual, and again, was WAY higher than they expected.

When Dr. Bharti came in to see him, he was blown away that this was the same baby that required so much support for the first month of his life. Knowing how rough Liam had it in the beginning, to showing off all he has accomplished made Dr. Bharti very happy!

We all know how amazing Liam is, but it's such a great feeling when people that are looking for anything out of the norm, think that he is doing just as amazing as we do! I'm not surprised, just very proud! They will follow up with him again in three months just to make sure no other high risk appointments are needed, but other than that, they said to continue everything we are doing and that for the most part they already consider him "caught up".

It is funny though, that even though he is 11 months old - that no one in these clinics use their real age. Therefore, I have a 9 month old and NOT an almost one year old! :)

Good report, good to see the doctors and way to go Liam!!!

Shylah

Happy New Year!!!

2011-12-31T21:54:00.007-05:00

Happy New Year!!!!

Over the past year we've had a whirlwind of excitement come to the Ward Family.

In January we welcomed Liam into our family. We didn't quite expect him to come into this world the way that he did, but with the power of prayer, and the many, many doctors, nurses and medical staff we are proud to know now, he has made a full recovery and is a happy (almost) ONE YEAR OLD!! From his 30 day stay in the Johnson City, NICU to the bouncing, happy baby he is now, is more proof needed to show how amazing our God is. Liam is approximately 17lbs and 27" long. A long way from the 4lb 2oz he was born at. He has five teeth, is crawling, standing up to any and everything, cruising around table tops, eats EVERYTHING put in front of him and LOVES antagonizing his big brother. In just 31 days, he will turn one, and what an occasion that will be. He is such a sweet baby, and although a little more maintenance than Jax was at the same age, there are no words to describe what he has brought to our family. He has come such a long way from birth to now and he's more determined than any 11 month old I know!

Jaxon had a big year as well. In the fall he started preschool and quickly became a class favorite as well as a teachers pet. He made several new friends and although we had to pull him out of school due to illness and Liam's health, he has forever made an impression on his classmates and the teachers at his school. We are hoping to re-enroll him after the threat of cold/flu season passes, but in the meantime, we continue to teach him at home, and every day I become more proud to be his Mommy! He is starting to read and right before his birthday, he started writing his name, alphabet and drawing beautiful pictures! In November, Jax turned THREE!!! He is 38" tall and in just one year went from wearing 18 month clothing to a size 8 shoe and 4T clothing. He is a huge fan of Disney's Cars, and is still every bit into Letters, Numbers, Shapes and Colors as he ever was. My wish for Jaxon as he starts this new year, is that he continues to love learning and discovering new things. He is definitely my little buddy, and although he knows how to push my limits, he makes me smile and love deeper than I ever thought I'd be able to.

Dean just finished up almost two years working for the company MECO, and with that comes the excitement and stress of a NEW job!!! Dean is going back into the wind industry. In December he accepted an offer for a company called Gamesa. They are the 3rd largest manufacturer of wind turbines in the world. Gamesa is based out of Spain with their American headquarters being in Langhorne, PA. He will be working as a representative of the company on various erection sites. His position will be that of a Technical Advisor. It will be his job to be present on the job site as the turbines are erected, answer any questions that the sub-contractors have, and rectify any issues that are deemed to be the fault of the manufacturer. This is a great job with a fantastic company. It will take some adapting as a family but will provide many opportunities for us. He will start January 2nd at the corporate headquarters for orientation and training and hopefully soon we'll find out which project he will initially be assigned to. We will definitely keep you posted on the details. I am thankful to have such a wonderful husband who continues to provide for our family. He truly is the greatest thing that has every happened to me. How I ever wound up with someone so smart, funny, and good looking is beyond me. I thank my lucky stars every day that I get to wake up next to such a hunk of a man. :)

I myself, have had the best year ever! Whoever told me that more than one child is a pain, is wrong!! I've had so much fun watching Jax become a big boy and such a loving brother! Liam has inspired me every day with each new thing he discovers and just in general how happy and healthy he is. While being a stay at home mom to two might be stressful and at times overwhelming, I'm am so blessed to have this be my job and all the time it allows me to be around my boys! It is the most rewarding job I'll ever have! In September I picked up a new hobby and learned to sew!! I don't know everything yet, but when I get an idea, I'm pretty quick to figure it out! In the upcoming months, my job as a wife and mom will be a little harder as we will be going with Dean to the wind projects he's assigned to. Thankfully I have a wonderful support system and know I will have lots of help!!

Our furbabies, Nash and Argo are doing great as well! Nash will be 7 years old in March, and Argo will be 2 years old in August! It will be fun to see how the next few months go with them, when it's time to travel!! They are definitely a part of our family, so no matter where we end up, we will have to make sure there is a place for them! We also FINALLY found Lily (our temporarily adopted feline) a FOREVER home! It was important, no matter what I say, that we placed her in a home with someone who would spoil and love her (Yes. I just said that. Didn't love her, but I do have a heart!) I can't believe my Nashman is a senior dog... That also means I've been in TN for seven whole years!!! My, my where has the time gone!???!

We are certainly excited about the year ahead of us and can't wait to share it all with you!

We have been so fortunate to have such a fantastic year, and are thankful for the countless blessings we have been given! Time for another bowl of black-eyed peas!!! ;)

Wishing you a year of love, happiness and health!!

Shylah, Dean, Jaxon and Liam

Merry Christmas!!!

2011-12-26T13:03:00.002-05:00

Today is the day after... A path of destruction, mounds full of paper, boxes, a gazilllion choking hazards, and new cries and screaming of who's toys are who's, buuuut it was all worth it! Now we are in the process of trying to sneak the toys we came with into a suitcase and let the new ones come to life!

Dean, the boys and I had a wonderful Christmas! After not so patiently waiting for the boys to wake up, and finally having to jump on the bed, jingle bells, and shake the boys awake... We had two little ones with great big eyes running/crawling towards the tree! Santa brought Jax the BIG dinosaur he's been asking for, for months as well as a few other surprises, and Liam got an alphabet train that has Jax in total cahoots!! Daddy got a new toy that will have him eventually hoarding old credit cards, gift cards and any old ID cards lying around. So far he's made about 10 guitar picks with his new "pick punch". He's also smelling like the most amazing man ever with some new cologne that has me on cloud nine!!! I didn't do so shabby myself cuddled up with my new Seahawks hoodie, handmade slippers, and sportin' a new watch, earrings, and eagerly waiting to go spend my Christmas cash on new shoes, and a trip to bath and body works!!

We had a busy day spending time with family and enjoyed watching the kids fully entertain everyone around!!

Christmas's are always chaotic and busy, but getting to spend it with family and friends always makes it worth it!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and all those traveling make it back home safe and sound!!

Until next year, Merry Christmas from The Wards!!

All things Liam...

2011-12-21T13:50:00.002-05:00

Well here we are again in WA, and my little Liam is not disappointing anyone with showing everyone what he is learning to do!! He has hit several new milestones since being at Gramma's house, yet again.

Since we got off the plane, he has cut two new teeth, learned to use a sippy cup, steal his brothers cup, clap his hands, pat-a-cake, stand up to any and everything and occasionally take one or two steps closer to what his goal is. He has also made some permanent teeth marks in my mom's coffee table that no one is admitting to witnessing or falling on their watch. Lol.

He is definitely curious and loves finding things to get into!! Sadly in just nine days, he will be 11 months. That's just one month shy of a year. One month shy of not being a baby... I am NOT ready for him to grow up, and so fast. Therefore I have decided that I will use his "adjusted age" to buy myself some more time lol. (no really!!)

I am very much looking forward to celebrating Liam's first Christmas with my family and having a special day being with cousins, Aunts, Uncles and Grandparents for him and Jaxon both.

Very proud of how much Liam has accomplished and while I am looking forward to his new discoveries and milestones, I really wish it didn't mean that he is growing up too.

Day 29 & 30...

2011-11-30T21:39:00.001-05:00

Day 30 - Thankful for the blessings I have to enjoy even if it's just waking up each morning, 365 days a year.
It's funny how when you write down what you're thankful for each day, how much you tend to forget the simple things. I am so extremely privileged to have my health, family, friends, and the necessities I need to live.
I am also thankful for the 10 month old butter ball I've got jumping on my lap trying to give mommy kisses!!! :)

Day 29 - Thankful for my brother, for the love he's given me all of my life, and for that single relationship that made my decision to have two children so easy. I believe a sibling is simply the best gift a parent can give their children and although I know there will be days my boys fight and "hate" each other, that they will always HAVE each other...
(Thanks Mom for my brother, and thanks Deej for always being there for me).

Meet Marlin...

2011-11-29T17:04:00.008-05:00

So, a few weeks ago I heard about a little Christmasey tradition called the Elf on the Shelf... When I first heard about this, a few years ago, I thought it was just a family's own personal tradition, but never really got in to the details of what it's all about... Two things: 1. Ingenious, and 2. WHY wasn't my mom the one who "invented" this game...

Ok, so as if children weren't scolded, and bribed and threatened enough at Christmastime, well now you have help. The whole Santa Claus is watching you thing works for a while, but pretty soon that whole thought is ignored, especially when YOU can't see HIM. Meet Marlin our "Scout Elf". Scout Elves are adopted and come to live with you and you only at the beginning of the Holidays. They are Santa's secret spy's who watch your children and report back to Santa Claus every night while the kids are sleeping... (Ingenious right!?!). When your Elf Scout returns late in the night or early in the morning back from the North Pole, he/she can have a lot of fun hiding in your home, and/or causing some pretty fun (innocent) mischief. There is a ton of things out there that I have heard these elves are capable of, but for the most part it's all fun and games. First thing in the morning, your are suppose to try and find where your elf is hiding (or where your elf landed after returning). So of course this is a fun game for the kids (and parents) when the morning starts. :) There is just ONE rule about your scout elf though. The one rule is that if you TOUCH your elf, he may lose his magical powers that allow him to report to Santa Claus. Of course Jax touched him, but that was BEFORE we named him, which is when the elf gets their magic... So they watch all that you do during the day, and can be placed in any room to keep an eye on them. On Christmas Eve is when they go back to the North Pole until next year.

So, without further adieu' this is Marlin. Marlin the Scout Elf. He came to live with us on Thanksgiving Night while we were at the Condo celebrating Thanksgismas!! He rang the doorbell, and waited for Jax to come to the door. Once we got him inside, we read the story that came with him. After the story was done we FINALLY got a name out of Jax. Thankfully MeMaw had a belated birthday present for Jax, and it was a set of letter books that were all about Disney Characters. Rachel pulled book by book out and searched through the books in hot pursuit of helping Jax pick a name for our elf. (It was like 10:30 by the time this whole thing went down, so Jaxon's attention span at that time was completely non-existent) BUT finally he settled on Marlin!!

Since being in our family, Marlin has been a lot of fun. He's played a few games, left Jax a note, and been a good spy for both Mommy and Santa! (I must admit though, he is kinda creepy looking).
If you haven't heard about the Elf on the Shelf, please check it out. It's really a cute story, and a lot of fun. I'm hoping to keep this a long lasting family tradition. We just watched the movie that came out on Thanksgiving, last night. (really wish I would have thought about this...)

Remember, even if you DON'T have an Scout Elf, Santa is STILL watching...

3 teeth...

2011-11-29T13:42:00.001-05:00

Liam's finally cut his third tooth!!! :) If it's anything like the last two, I should be expecting number four in just a few days!! Maybe Liam will have his two front teeth for Christmas after-all...

Day 27 & 28...

2011-11-28T21:02:00.001-05:00

Day 28 - Thankful for the gleam Jax has in his eyes about Christmas! Also very thankful that so far he's only asked Santa for one thing, (well two if you count Mack that Mommy and Daddy already gave him).

Day 27 - Thankful that all of the family that traveled over Thanksgiving weekend is all home, safe and sound! We had an amazing week visiting with family and friends!!!

Day 25...

2011-11-25T23:31:00.001-05:00

Day 25 - 3 hours to get Jax FINALLY to sleep!!! Even through frustration, I am so absolutely in love with that little boy, especially when "I yuv you mommy" are his last words of the night... Yes, I'm thankful he is finally asleep!! :D

Day 24...

2011-11-24T20:45:00.001-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Thankful for so much today. My amazing husband: my best friend, my "calmer" side, my heart. I could do so little without him by my side. My Bug: The joy of my life, the reason for countless smiles throughout the day, and my favorite 3 year old. My Baby Liam: My sweet little blessing, a true testament of what the Lord gives. Such a bundle of love and one I can't imagine our lives without.

My friends and family near and far, all of which have given me a reason to call them a friend and made me a better person.

My health, though not that of a typical 28 year old, but it could be worse, and I'm alive.

For food, shelter, and clothing on my back.

For the safety and health of my family members.

Mostly for my faith. I will always be on a journey of discovery, but I'm not judged by how little or much I know by the one that it matters to.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I miss my family back "home", but am grateful for my Southern Family, and getting to see most every one, and very much looking forward to the weekend with my in-laws in Gaitlinburg!! :)

Love you all, and am thankful for each and every one of you!

Shylah

Day 23...

2011-11-23T23:07:00.001-05:00

Day 23 - Thankful, Dean and my Dad in Law made it safely over the mountains, and am praying for safe LATE travels for the rest of the family. They still have a few hours to go, but we'll all be together tomorrow to start our wonderful family tradition of Thanksgismas!!!

:)

Day 21 and 22...

2011-11-22T23:34:00.001-05:00

Day 22 - Thankful to and for my bestie, Annette for so graciously allowing the boys and I to stay the night and visit. I miss this girl DAILY, and am so blessed to have the relationship with her, that even if it's weeks or months before we can catch up with each other, we can always pick right up where we started last...

Day 21 - Thankful for my far away friends for offering me piece of mind on my upcoming travels to WA, that despite the snow, the roads I will be traveling on are usually kept up pretty well and **hopefully** will be just fine...

Day 20...

2011-11-20T23:54:00.001-05:00

Day 20 - Thankful for fingernails since I don't have a thimble...

Day 19...

2011-11-19T21:57:00.001-05:00

Day 19 - Thankful for a fun day I had with Jax!! We attended two birthday parties, and despite skipping nap to be at the zoo, Jax was VERY good, and pretty well behaved!

I love being able to give him special Mommy and Son outings and today was exceptional for us both!!

He got to feed squirrel monkeys, a giraffe, camels, (himself a carrot and a grape), and lorikeets!! :)

Feeding the squirrel monkeys...

He loved the giraffe!!

And he even got to pet a baby Red Kangaroo!! :)

Day 18...

2011-11-18T23:18:00.001-05:00

Day 18 - Thankful for a roof over my head, food on my table, electricity to heat my home, and clothes to cover my back!

It's getting colder outside, please remember those who are less fortunate. Donations to your local food bank, and clothing drop off's are always accepting items to help those in need!!

Day 17...

2011-11-18T00:27:00.001-05:00

Day 17 - Thankful for all the blessings that God has given me over the past three years, and most importantly, for choosing me to be Jaxon's Mommy!

I still can't believe that Jax is three years old! He is so handsome, funny, talented, bright and loving. Jax has definitely made my life richer with all the joy he has brought to my world! I have learned so much through his eyes! I love you Bug!

Thank you Lord, for my beautiful son on this very day!! :)

Happy Birthday Jaxon...

2011-11-17T10:50:00.002-05:00

On the day you turned 3…

On the day that you turned three,
We made your hand print for you to see
Just how much you had grown, since the day that you were born.
We looked into the mirror,
To see how BIG that you are now.
We took a picture for your baby book,
And practiced saying THREE.
We measured just how tall you are,
And put you on the scale.
37 inches tall today, and 28 lbs, Hooray!
We sang you Happy Birthday, and celebrated with a cake
We let you dress yourself today, oh the outfit that you made!
We asked you what you wanted to be
When you were all grown up like Daddy,
A RACE CAR Driver is what you said, as you raced around the house!
Before we tucked you into bed, we said a little prayer,
For you to have the best year yet, and enjoy all that you discover.

Happy Birthday Jaxon!
Mommy and Daddy love you SO much! We are so proud of all that you have learned in just 3 years, and can’t wait to see what this year holds for you.
Xoxo

Day 16...

2011-11-16T21:06:00.001-05:00

Day 16 - Thankful that after 3 separate delays, and spending ALL day in an airport, that Dean is finally safe on the ground and driving home now!!!

I HATE when I have family up in the air, and I'm forced to wait patiently for a call or text letting me know they're safe and on land again!!!

He'll be home for less than 20 hours before heading back to the airport and onto another business trip for me to worry about!!! :)

Jaxon Dean turns 3!!!

2011-11-15T19:20:00.012-05:00

Over the past weekend, we celebrated Jaxon's 3rd Birthday. We chose to do the 12th so that family could come... (You know, living in East TN, everything revolves around college football, and this Saturday is a huge rival football game between UT/Vandy haha)...

I was extremely worried that it would be a disaster since I've only ever just had family and Jax. I've never had other children, and this year we invited a few of his classmates, and one of his other play buddies. I had 5 kids total including Jax, and as they were walking in I freaked out, thinking of all the crying I was sure to hear!!! Surprisingly, the party was a success! Only a few tears from one little guy, and pretty much expected it with the unveiling of the Power Wheel!!!

A few nights before, I had started the preparations for the party. Jax of course wanted a Cars themed party, and not one to be simple, I gave him a full on CARS Party! I made a hand made "Pin the Tire on Lightning" game, made a Stop Light for the game "Red Light, Green Light", and really tested my patience by baking and assembling Mator Cupcakes! I also searched high and low for the best "Non-Crap" Goodie bags for the boys and found things at the dollar store that were all Disney Car's and actually good toy, vs. the typical noise makers, candy, etc... that usually just gets tossed in the garbage. I was quite proud of myself.

After everyone arrived, and the parents and I had a team effort talk, we got the party started! We let the kids mingle for a while, and shortly after I got their attention, we played Pin the Tire on Lightning, which was pretty entertaining! Jax did REALLY good for never playing before. Two of the kids were older brothers, and they clearly had the tilt your head up and be able to see method down... Ha! After that, we ran through Red Light, Green Light, and again, the bigger kids dominated that game as well. When we were done with the games, we got down to business with the Mator Cakes and homemade ice cream. Rachel, my sister in law, had been sending me links to all these amazing, easy, kid friendly crafts, and one of them, was ice cream in a bag. Minus one parent/kid bag having a leak and getting stuff every where, it was a success and hit the spot with the cakes! Talk about a guilt free way to eat ice cream... you have to really work hard for 5-10 minutes before you enjoy, which actually gives you a good work out, so the calories don't really count, right?

After the sugar high... we got Jax and the kids sat down for presents. Man oh Man! Jax made out like a bandit! He got so many awesome gifts! From board games, activity books, dress up clothes and of course Cars toys, he really got a lot! After that, we blind folded Jax and brought the boys outside for the big reveal of his new truck! I know I was counting down the seconds for this, and I was just as happy to see his face as he was to see his new truck! As soon as he climbed in, it was on! All the boys went racing to jump in and take a ride with the birthday boy!!! A little intense, but again, I saw that coming. Jax drove his friends around, and even shared the driving, and let one of the older boys show him how it was done!!! I've had such a blast with him over the last few days and his new toys! Of course the funniest is the fact that to a kid, it can be a $5 toy or a really, really expensive toy... Gramma sent Jax a box of presents and in that box was a baby's letter book, that has A-Z, 1-10 and shapes and colors... And what toy do you think he liked the best... Hahaha... So happy that learning still takes precedence over new TOYS! :) I mean he definitely LOVES his truck, but he has to take his new letters book to bed, in the truck and every where else we go!

Jaxon's actual birthday is just a day and a half away now... I can't believe how fast the years have gone! My little guy is growing so fast, and getting too big!!!

All in all, I'm happy his 3rd birthday was so much fun for him. His friends had a good time, and Jax loved seeing everyone!!

Happy Birthday Jax!! Mommy and Daddy and Baby Liam LOVE YOU!!

Pictures from his party are to the right on the side bar.

Day 15...

2011-11-15T19:17:00.002-05:00

Day 15 - Thankful for the laughter I get from my children!

Watched Liam grab, squish, smash and make a good effort on getting his table food in his mouth. Slowly but surely, I think he filled himself up.

Parents - take time to watch your children discover. It's such an amazing show! Each new thing they learn and accomplish is just another blessing!

Oh, and then Jax shared his humongous sucker with Liam! It was fun pulling it out of his hair and de-sticking from the side of his face!!

Now it's bath time!! ;)

Day 14...

2011-11-14T19:17:00.001-05:00

Day 14 - Thankful that Liam is feeling better and back to squealing at the top of his lungs!!

Yesterday he had a fever of 102.5, today it was down to 101.5, but was accompanied by throwing up twice today... :/

It must have been a 24 hour bug, and now I'm crossing my fingers that Jax and I avoid it!!

Day 13...

2011-11-14T09:02:00.001-05:00

(For yesterday...) Day 13 - I am THANKFUL for the Mommy/Son time I get to enjoy EVERY day!!

Got to play outside with Jax for a few HOURS yesterday, and cuddle Liam (who has a fever, hoping w/a tooth shortly). Then after getting Liam put to bed, Jax and I had game and movie night. We watched a Leap Frog movie with letters, and played Ants in Pants and three games of Memory!!
Ants in the Pants is insanely hard!! I let Jax play 4 pieces, and took the other 12 thinking I would still win... NOPE! Jax was on 3 and I had only gotten 6 pieces in. That was also in about 30 minutes!! Then he "beat" me twice in memory!! :)

Love my job!!

Day 12...

2011-11-12T18:56:00.002-05:00

Day 12 - Thankful for the friends and family we had today for Jaxon's birthday party! It was a huge success, and he had such a great time! His words were, "oh my birthday is my favorite like Mommy!" I am currently working on pictures and blog post from his party... :)

Day 11...

2011-11-11T09:41:00.001-05:00

Day 11 - THANKFUL for all of our soldiers past and present who have fought, are fighting and those who have given the ultimate sacrifice in protecting our country and our freedom.

Happy Veterans Day 11-11-11!!

Day 10...

2011-11-10T19:12:00.001-05:00

Day 10 - THANKFUL that Dean is home from work, and that he is a very patient and calm husband.

HE can deal with the kids...

Day 9...

2011-11-09T13:33:00.001-05:00

Day 9 - Thankful, that in a country full of different nationalities, that language means no barrier for a child...

Spent the morning at the park with the boys, and Jax and a little Romanian boy about the same size, had a ball chasing each other, swinging, sliding and throwing rocks in the creek together.

Gram-mama and I tried to carry on a conversation, but she spoke very little English, so all I gathered was the little boys name, age, and where his family is from. Jax was just happy to have someone to play with and both looked like they enjoyed their time!! There is so much to be learned through the eyes of a child...

Shylah

Day 8...

2011-11-08T12:49:00.001-05:00

Day 8 - I am THANKFUL to have laughter and smiles fill my home... :)

Day 7...

2011-11-07T22:00:00.001-05:00

Day 7 - Thankful for the paths that God opens in mine and my family's life... There will always be doors you hope will open, doors you don't expect to open, and the ones that are meant to be open...

Day 6...

2011-11-06T15:28:00.005-05:00

Day 6 - Even though today started off as a day from hell, and the boys both teamed up on me, making getting any sleep a joke! I am THANKFUL for awakening to beautiful family photos, that are proof of what AWESOME is...

Day 5...

2011-11-05T18:31:00.002-04:00

Day 5 - I am THANKFUL for a beautiful family on a beautiful day, and the fact we are all still alive after a three hour family photo shoot!!

Day 4...

2011-11-04T13:31:00.002-04:00

Day 4 - I am thankful that Dean will be back home tonight, after a 3 day business trip. Yay!!! Parent/Child Ratio will be back to 1!!!

30 Days of Thankfulness...

2011-11-03T17:30:00.002-04:00

There is a "challenge" going around on facebook, where you name one thing you are thankful for every day during the month of November. I don't typically do things like that on facebook, however I thought it was a cool "challenge" to do, so I thought I would share that on here as well. I will be posting something once a day...

Since I am behind a few days, I'll play catch up...

Day 3 - SO THANKFUL for my children. Both gave us a scare the day they were born, but both are here today for me to worry about now. They are both beautiful boys, such sweet souls, who have wonderful personalities I get to discover daily...

Day 2 - I am forever THANKFUL and grateful to my husband. He works hard to provide for our family, has never questioned my decision to become a stay at home mom, loves us all so amazingly, and is a fantabulous father.

Day 1 - I am THANKFUL for my family and friends. I have an amazing family both biological and married into, that I would not be where I am today without them.

Is it Spring yet?!?

2011-11-02T18:35:00.004-04:00

Jax in his "Gas Mask" to avoid germs...

Well sadly, I am reporting that Jax will no longer be going to school this fall/winter.

After leaving Liam's Dr appt. yesterday, it was decided that I needed to pull Jax out of school for the cold and flu season because it's compromising Liam's health, badly.

Liam had his 9 month wellness checkup, and after learning that he is still fighting the congestion and breathing issues (wheezing, lung tightness, etc). and discovering he STILL has a lower bronchial infection, it seems to me and to Dr. Rick that exposing Liam to unnecessary germs and bugs is just asking for trouble and keeping him sick, so Dr. Rick asked me to withdrawal Jax from daycare/preschool until the cold/flu/rsv season comes to an end.

Yesterday was a hard day for me. Dr. Rick also diagnosed Liam with what is called Restrictive Airway Disease, which is a form of childhood asthma very common in premature babies, and specifically those who had under developed lungs at birth and other complications, which Liam clearly did. The good news is, most children outgrow the diagnosis usually by toddler age, before it really affects them and their lifestyle. The bad news is, it means for some sacrifices made by the family to keep Liam healthy. I now will have to be "THAT" Mom, who screens everyone for sicknesses, carries hand sanitizer, and attacks like a mama bear if someone tries to reach for my cub in anyway... Ok, maybe not that bad, but I do have to really enforce healthy habits before handling, touching, or visiting Liam. Hello even dryer skin and extra hand sanitizer!! :/

The worst is that Liam is close to being hospitalized for his breathing and the tightness in his lungs, and of course we don't want that. It wasn't clear to me that he was diagnosed with walking pneumonia, but the way his lungs sounded to the doctor, it's developing into that, or he's being treated similarly. Now we must do breathing treatments every 6 hours vs. twice a day, and he is on yet another round of steroids and antibiotics to clear the excess fluid around his lungs and the tightness in his chest. Not only that, I have to pull Jax out of school. Unfortunately today is his last day. I didn't tell him why, I just told Jax that school was going to be out for the winter and the holiday's (not technically a lie right?), but starting next week, I will be taking him to Nana's to spend a few days each week doing "school" at her house, which will give Jax and I a break, and is still something special Jax can look forward to! :)

We will also hopefully be able to have play dates with some of his school mates, most importantly his BEST FRIEND Ryland. (Oh it breaks my heart, he talks about Ryland CONSTANTLY). But again, it's for Liam and his health is the number one factor.

We're hoping that after today, we can focus on getting Liam back on track, and that once he is healthy and 100% that we can keep him that way over this season... Once the initial risk is over, we can enroll Jax back in school and hopefully by then Liam's immune system will be stronger and we won't have this issue again...

Besides Liam being "broken". He is growing great height/weight wise. He actually lost some weight in the past few weeks with being sick and is 14lbs. 13oz which SUCKS, but Dr. Rick assured me it's ok, and that he is still on track. He is growing lengthwise just fine and is now 26" long (DJ and Amanda, has Kenley totally passed her cousin yet?!? lol). We also get to start table foods since Liam refuses any and ALL types of baby food other than cereal and sweet potatoes... so now I get to start again (hopefully with a different success rate) at having a good eater! Come on hamburgers and hot dogs!!!!

Hope everyone is doing well!

Shylah

Halloween 2011...

2011-11-02T11:55:00.005-04:00

Here are some pictures of the boys on Halloween! It was such a fun night. Early in October, we asked Jax what he thought he might want to dress up as or what he wanted to pretend to be for Halloween. He immediately said that he wanted to be a pirate, and that Baby Liam should be his parrot. Of course we had to go with that idea because who wouldn't, it was such a cute response!!!

So we set out to find Jax a costume that would actually fit him and a costume for Liam as well. After a few weeks procrastination on the prices of children's costume's and finding only one parrot costume for a baby that would have swallowed Liam whole, I decided to make Liam's costume, and we finally found a $10 costume for Jax! :) I can only imagine how much fun it will be next year to dress the boys up and take them trick or treating!!!Jax had some issues with Mommy making his face a mess, but after he saw himself in the mirror and the reactions people were giving him, he was okay with it. Liam did pretty good too! We went to Nana and Pop's house first to show off the boys. Lol... when Harrell opened the door and exclaimed there was a scary pirate at his door, Jax gave him the most confused look responding with, "I not Scarrrry. I am Jaxon! I not scary". He then decided to "trade" candy with Pop's rather than just accept a new piece. Apparently Jaxon works on a barter system as well...After we left Nana and Pop's, we decided to hit one neighborhood that had close houses for Jax to actually trick or treat at. He was very hesitant at first, and didn't quite know what to do, but I'd say by the third house, and the happy faces and that he was getting HANDFULS of candy, that he figured it out very quickly. Then he was running up driveways and to the doors, knocking, then turning his body away until someone opened the door. THEN he thought he got to go in EVERYONE'S house lol... It was fun night indeed!

We also stopped by Jaxon's school, but that didn't last very long. Last year it was great, they had a game factory set up just for toddlers, since they are typically too young to go door to door. This year it was like NYC in a small gym with lots of big kids knocking the little ones out of the way... I think we stayed 15 minutes before leaving and heading home. We hit a few more houses on the way home, and by 9:30 by little pirate was out!!!

Hope everyone had a good Halloween and lots of little spooks come by!

Shylah

Fall weather brings Sick Kids...

2011-10-14T23:11:00.002-04:00

Well once again, the leaves are changing and the weather is getting cooler, which brings all the wonderful things like sweatshirt weather, football, holiday's, annnnnd sickness.

We have been battling a combination of allergies and cold bugs since the beginning of September, but having a preemie born w/breathing issues brings a whole nother realm of keeping my kids germ free and healthy.

A few weeks ago Liam came down with a terrible cough, and we are pretty sure it was due to the roller coaster weather we have here in TN. ONE day it's 89 the next it's 45... all of us felt bad. But after September came to an end, Liam got this AWFUL cough, wasn't sleeping, eating, and just wanted to be held. So on the 3rd we took him in hoping it was still just allergies... NOPE. Liam had a double ear infection caused by ongoing congestion. So we started him on antibiotics, which I'm not a fan of, but it has seemed to help. 9 days into being treated for that, he continued coughing, not sleeping, and started wheezing. I can't afford to take any chances with Liam, and with pneumonia going around in record numbers this year, I took him back in to the doctor only to learn he not only developed a pretty bad case of Croup, but also has a lower bronchial infection that they are hoping we caught early enough, before turning into a more severe viral infection.

Soooo we left the dr's office yesterday with a prescription for a steroid as well as a nebulizer and instructions for am/pm breathing treatments for up to one month. :(

Liam had a better day today, however with Croup, symptoms develop late in the evening and worsen throughout the night and into early morning... with him not sleeping at night, it's hard for him to get better, but hopefully in the next day or two, he'll get some comfort and finally turn the corner on feeling better!!

So far Jax has been ok, but we're watching close that he doesn't come down w/anything and keep the bug from rebounding with Liam.

Jax has also done a good job helping us care for Baby Liam, and not only being extra sweet since Liam is sick, but giving him check-up's to ensure he is in fact getting better... :)

These photos are from today...

Maybe, just maybe we'll have a doctor in the family...

Hoping everyone is doing good, and will say a little prayer for Liam to kick this bug!! I hate when my babies are sick and miserable. I'm doing my best to keep him comfortable, but it's hard when all he wants is mommy... :/

We will follow up with the Dr. on Monday if he hasn't started to feel better! Will keep y'all posted

Xoxo
Shylah

Just a random thought...

2011-09-28T23:46:00.001-04:00

Ever wonder how you know someone's perfect for you? Whether it be your spouse, a really good friend, or your children... Your hand always fits perfectly in theirs...

While snuggling the boys tonight, I held Liam's hand rocking him to sleep... Even though it's small and fragile, his fingers fit perfectly in mine...

Then I laid next to Jaxon, and kissed his forehead and held his sleeping little hand too... Another perfect fit...

It's little things like this I never take for granted, and grow to love more and more each day...

Meet the Greene County March of Dimes Ambassador...

2011-09-27T15:21:00.008-04:00

This morning Liam and I had the opportunity to meet with our local March of Dimes Community Director and discuss being the 2011-2012 Ambassador Family for the Greene County (Appalachian Division) Chapter.

I am not 100% sure of what all that entails, but nonetheless, I am very excited to continue to bring awareness on the issues of premature births to our region, and share Liam's amazing story.

The March of Dimes has been our charity of choice since Jaxon was born, and now even more so knowing that the research MOD does went specifically into the care of Liam while he was in the NICU makes it even more of a cause to support. I am just thrilled to be involved in something so near and dear to my heart, and have the opportunity to share our story and hopefully bless other families with support and guidance that we received from other families that have been down the same road.

I'll hopefully be getting some more details on Friday, but just know that this year when I ask you to make a donation to this cause, that it will all be in our family's name, specifically Liam as the Ambassador Child!

Anniversary Weekend-Getaway...

2011-09-26T13:50:00.009-04:00

Man! What a fun filled week we just had. On Tuesday Dean, the boys and I went to Nashville, mostly for "Anniversary Weekend", but because Dean had a two day career conference which gave me and the boys some time to visit w/friends and family!

It was so funny... Ever have one of those 'Pretty Woman' moments? So we're staying at the Renaissance hotel in downtown Nashville, which is really nice anyways... Leave it to me to trash it up lol. First we're carrying in bags and bags of toys, food, diaper bags, etc... I would say this is one of the least child friendly hotels... So here come the Wards with two kids and just stuff everywhere... So the next day, I'm on my way down to the lobby to get coffee... this is where I had my Pretty Woman moment... I am waiting for the elevator, wearing my usual: shorty shorts, beer tshirt, flip flops, hair a mess... the elevator doors open, and there are nothing but men decked out in their finest... Uh... yeah. Lol... So I start whistling "Pretty Woman" thankfully a few caught my humour. I didn't realize half of the people that were attending this conference were politicians... it was the Governors Conference... so yes... I was slightly embarrassed, but I wouldn't expect any less of myself in a situation like this.

After that, I loaded the boys up, and we started making our rounds to visit with some friends. We spent lunch with my old co-workers. It was so good to see them all, and have everyone see what a big boy Jaxon is now, and finally get to meet Mr. Liam. Both were good, and thankfully Jax remembered the conference room doors were all glass. Usually he runs full force into them, and then we spend the entire time with tears and a red goose egged forehead. We had a good visit there, and while I miss all the people, I really don't miss the work place.

That evening we met up with Nana, so she could take the boys so that Dean and I could have date night and celebrate our anniversary. We went to our favorite restaurant, the Old Hickory Steak House at Opry Land Hotel. LOVE that place. We had a balcony table, an amazing waiter, and best of all, Dean had arranged before hand to have a rose waiting on the table. Of course, I didn't catch on until he pointed out that none of the other tables had a rose... :) After dinner we walked around to check out what changes had been done to the hotel. This is the first time I had been back after the flooding, most of the areas looked the same, but you could definitely tell everything was new!

We checked out the new Jack Daniels Saloon, and planned on going out downtown afterwards, but Dean had to be up early for the last day of the conference. We had a great time though, and enjoyed a very much NEEDED date night.

The next day, after Dean was through with the conference, we headed out to the Bicentennial State Park and showed the boys where we got married, and let Jax run out his energy. It was a beautiful day to be outside, (wish our wedding day felt that good!). Then we headed out to stay with some of our family friends, Pam and Sparky. Jax was so happy that they had two puppies and "kids" for him to play with! We got a lot of good visiting in with them, and got a play date in with one of my besties and her family as well.
The best day of the weekend was going to the Titans game, a tradition Dean and I started for our anniversary. When we had purchased tickets a few months ago, we decided not to splurge and just try to get the best upper level seats we could... well that didn't last long. As we were walking over to the stadium, we just happened to see a man selling FRONT ROW tickets... Dean and I just looked at each other, debated a little, then decided that since it was for our anniversary and that we usually only go one time a year, that it was worth the splurge. We ended up paying a little bit more, but he reduced them with the trade for our tickets... so we ended up on the front row, on the 10 yd line on the visitors side. Thankfully we were sitting by Titans fans for the most part. There were a few Bronco's fans, but they weren't that bad. It was a gorgeous day, still wamer than I wanted, but not too awfully hot. I ended up pretty pink by the end of the game! Funny thing though, since the Titans got Hasselbeck, apparently they have started "the 12th Titan" initiative... Not sure how I feel about that knowing that for the NFL at least, it started in Seattle and has been a pretty special tradition for Seahawks to raise the "12th Man" Flag and be as loud as any stadium (Qwest Field has broken several records now). Oh well, maybe TN is just trying to make Hasselbeck feel welcomed? It was a fun game though! Most of the action sadly happened on the opposite side of the field, but we did get to see the winning TD right in front of us, our side and all, and after that, the Broc's fans got up and walked our REAL fast! We had a great time, got to visit with lots of our family friends, and celebrate four wonderful years together! Now back to real life, and getting the kiddo's back on a schedule!

Hope everyone is doing well!

Xoxo

Shylah

4 years...

2011-09-22T07:39:00.000-04:00

Today is Dean and I's FOUR YEAR ANNIVERSARY!!!

It all started in December 2005... I needed to meet new people and make some friends my age, so a few of my co-workers invited me out to a bar on 2nd Ave. in downtown Nashville.

That night, I was going out to see this "amazing, super fiiiine" country singer, at least that's what Pam and Rosie said... I'll never forget walking into that bar. It was dirty and grimy and nothing that I really wanted to be in, let alone that I'd expect to meet my future husband in.
The girls and I got our drinks, and settled in for what I figured would be another trashy karaoke experience where I would end up singing, get rave reviews, and be on my way, back to my quiet apartment with my jammies on and snuggling my pet rabbit and my new black bouncing ball of energy, lab. I'd be in bed before nine and up early to go to work the next morning.
Well of course that's not what happened. Nope, I was instantly entertained and quite impressed with this "show" the people that worked at this place were putting on. There was a country singer, a rocker, a long haired surfer guy singing 'Johnny Be Good', two other guys, (one with dreads, and the other with a baby face) singing harmonies with all the other staff jamming out on broken instruments "backing" long haired surfer dude. That guy is the one I was totally "in to". By the time I had gotten up to sing, I had lost the thought of being bored, and now I was actively trying to impress this group of performers, specifically the long haired surfer boy. Apparently I did that well, because before I had left, I ended up landing a job and a few phone numbers as well.

A few months later, at the beginning of March, I was working at that grimy little bar. I got paid to have fun, drink and sing. I was also setting the stones to a boyfriend, a proposal, a wedding and two beautiful children...

If you would have told me six years ago, I would have met the love of my life at a bar, be married a year and a half after, pregnant six months into our marriage and moving all over the place raising babies, I would have laughed and asked for another drink. But, here we are. :)

Four years is not the biggest anniversary, no. But it is FOUR years. And in those four years Dean and I have had many, many up's. A few down's. An amazing amount of laughter and fun. One of the worst knock out drag out fights. Two of the scariest moments in our lives, the hardest month in our history, with a child in a NICU. The best family cuddles, three homes, lots of traveling and trips to Disney World. The most amazing kisses. Losses and additions, some hard times, but certainly the best times.

I don't think either of us would have guessed we'd be where we are now, let alone with two babies... But we are, and we know we are in the right place! We've only been married Four years... We still have a lifetime of memories to make, adventures to take and along the way, there will be bumps, detours, little hills and mountains... But I'm definitely looking forward to the trouble we'll get in to, the laughs we'll share and holding Dean's hand the entire way!

Here's to a lifetime of loving you Babe! Thank you for being a wonderful Husband, an AMAZING father to our boys, and mostly for being the greatest friend I've ever had!

I love you!

Milestones, Vacation and Family fun...

2011-09-16T13:26:00.010-04:00

Over the past 15 days, a lot of things have happened in little Liam's world!!

We went on our THIRD trip from home to WA State to visit with family. We flew out on the 31st and while walking miles back and forth to changing airline gates, Liam figured it would be a good time while MOMMY was pushing him around to start yelling "Dadda"!!! :) That is a huge thing for him due to his tongue issues, that he not only is forming the correct syllables, but got an entire word out!!! And then two days later he started saying "Momma" as well as a few other attempted labels. :)

Before we had left, Liam had just started to sit unassisted, but since being in WA he sits completely on his own although I think it'll be a while before he figures out the crawl and sit pattern. He is also "crawling". He does more of a "worm crawl" where he lays down; scoots, gets on all fours, lays, scoots, all fours... As mentioned in my previous post, he also cut his first tooth!!! He's been pretty good, but the last few nights, you could tell he was really uncomfortable. It's now made a "peak" and I assume in the next day or so we'll be able to see white! Then on our second flight back to TN, I noticed he not only had one tooth, but TWO!! I can't believe how many milestones he hit in just 10 days!!

So now that we covered Liam, we'll mention the reasoning behind our visit...
The newest little Hanson finally made her debut and is home, happy and healthy, as is Mommy and Daddy!!! She is such a small, sweet little lady... Although she's giving mommy a hard time at night. It's so awesome to see my brother and his wife starting their family and I can't wait for them to experience the many joys of parenthood and the blessings the "little people" bring. :)

We also introduced Liam to his Great-Grandpa Jack and Uncle Jace as well as some other close friends. He didn't disappoint when meeting anyone, and had a smile for just about every new face he saw. Other than teething issues, Liam did really well especially with such a busy and hectic schedule and being 3 hours off the norm. I hated leaving Dean and Jax, but it was a good vacation for the littlest and I. We got lots of one on one time, and of course Liam got tons of love and attention. I got to see a lot of friends in WA, and even spent some time with one of my "moms" working on a few sewing projects including a quilted changing pad for Little Miss Hanson. While I was away, Jax had lots of fun with Daddy. He also got to visit with Nana and our dear friend Dylan who watched him while Dean was at work. Jax got to go out to lunch w/the "Crew", spend a day at Dollywood, and even spent the night with Nana and Pop's so Daddy could have a night out. =) Of course he also got to enjoy having cookies and ice cream for dinner one night (uh huh), but did really good for me leaving him so long. I've been home now for 5 days, and he continues to tell me, he's glad Mommy's home and that he doesn't want me to go on an airplane again.

Jax is doing really well in school and loves going on Monday's and Wednesday's. He has four new friends and is learning all sorts of "wonderful" things (can you hear my sarcasm there?). I know it's typical behavior for his age, but some of the things he is learning from his classmates are: throwing things, picking his nose, biting, and smashing his snacks into little itty bitty crumbs and throwing them on the ground. Not a lot I can do about it, but I'm definitely working over-time trying to correct it. I am doing a few home school lessons on the day's he's not in school, and the other days we try to go to the park or have play dates with his new bestie who is 3 days younger than Jax.

Other than that, there's not a whole lot going on in our world. The weather is finally starting to turn (Yay!!!) and I'm definitely looking forward to the cooler months to come.

Hope everyone is doing well!!
Xoxo
Shylah

Goodbye Mom Hair!!!!

2011-09-14T10:36:00.000-04:00

So Dean left for a business trip to Texas yesterday... therefore after getting the kiddo's squared away, I got bored, and just like the 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, and 12 year old little girl I once was, I decided it was a good idea to cut my bangs! I know Mom, some things never change... BUT this time it turned out good, and I really like them so far... I THINK. It's been a loooong time since I've had my hair cut with bangs, so it will take some adjusting to, but I really wanted to get out of the "Mom Hair" without doing something too drastic, so here I go! ;)

Xoxo, Shylah

Football is back!!!!

2011-09-11T16:12:00.000-04:00

Liam's got a tooth!!!

2011-09-07T18:05:00.000-04:00

Liam cut his first tooth!!

Unfortunately, I think he may have inherited Daddy's "flat teeth" so this one was a painful start, and not entirely looking forward to the next 19 coming in...

He's been for the most part pleasant, but he definitely has had his moments of discomfort and pain too... Now hopefully he'll either cut the next few quickly or have a week or so of relief before starting another one!!

Time to take LOTS of photos of my littlest with his toothless grin before it's gone...

Jumping Jax makes Liam Laugh...

2011-09-01T11:03:00.002-04:00

Siblings are the greatest friends, entertainment and so much fun to watch grow...

I came in the living room to Liam busting up laughing (Dean and I apparently aren't that funny, because he rarely laughs w/noise for us...)

I couldn't figure out what was so funny, and I was about to tell Jax to calm down and stop jumping so he wouldn't land on Liam or the pile of toys... Glad I didn't!

Liam's 6 month checkup...

2011-08-23T18:58:00.006-04:00

Today we had Liam's 6 month wellness check. Yes, I realize he's almost 7 months... :)

Dr. Rick, as always, was excited to see Liam and brag on him to the assistant. Once they caught up with each other, Dr. Rick went over all his milestones and how amazing it is that for the most part, Liam is hitting them in time with a full-term baby! He's not forming syllables yet for sounds like baba, dada, etc... There is a possibility that he could have speech delays, and that's a combination of preemie + the ventilator being so far in his throat for so long, but that's easy to correct w/speech therapy, and so we'll be watching for that. Not a top concern for us though.

Dr Rick gave us the go ahead for solids too!! I'm stoked about this phase because that gives ME a break, but he said with his tongue thrust issue (also due to ventilator and his tongue resting position as a newborn), that getting him used to a spoon will help his tongue form other shapes necessary for speech development. Tomorrow I'll start him w/some veggies. (I did start cereal a week ago, for some relief due to teething) but I'm excited to see how he does w/something new!

I'm absolutely dumbfounded that he ONLY weighs 13.8lbs. I could have sworn he was closer to the 15-16lb range. But he is still gaining over an ounce a day, which is on the high side for a bf baby at his age. So that's good. He has more than doubled his birth weight, which is usually something most babies hit around 6 months. So considering that, he is doing great weigh wise. He is also 24.5" long with another big noggin' at 16 3/4!!

He did pretty good with his shots today. Mommy couldn't be the hero, and I was FORCED to hold his arms down... :( But he only cried for a little while, and Jax did a good job of trying to comfort him, thus earning his 4 CARS stickers that Dr. Rick gave him. Other than that, his check up report was PERFECT.

He's a lot more fussy tonight, and that is probably a combination of teething and the shots. I hate that he's so miserable. With Jax, we only had a few restless times when he was teething, and with Liam, I've spent lots of nights up with him, rocking, walking, bouncing, feeding, etc... to no avail. Hopefully he'll get his first tooth soon which should give him a few weeks of relief before starting on a second tooth.

He's just about to the crawling stage, but not sure if he'll actually start since he's figured out he can just roll and scoot wherever he wants to go. It'll be fun though if he does, because then I anticipate lots of brother to brother playing!!

That's all for his update. His next appointment is Nov. 1st.

Hope everyone is doing well!
Shylah

Back to School...

2011-08-15T09:24:00.004-04:00

Today is Jaxon's first day of official Pre-School!

Jax is in a class with three other kids, (2 girls, and 1 other boy). He is the oldest, but there may be the opportunity to move him into the 3's class later. His new teacher, Mrs. April seems eager to have him in her class, and I think that everyone is hoping that he'll help teach the other kids as well as learn new things, make friends, and get the child to child interaction he needs.

He went to sleep a happy boy last night knowing that we were going to school in the morning. Daddy met us there and helped me get him to his class, and settled in, where he immediately found the cars and the car track and began playing. He introduced his new classmates to Liam "That's MY Liam", and then didn't even bat an eye as Mommy and Daddy were walking out saying goodbye... Hoping this school year will be fun and exciting for him! We're so proud to call him our son!

The Voice...

2011-08-05T14:33:00.002-04:00

Well for those that don't know, for the past two weeks I've been preparing and auditioning for NBC's The Voice.
My first audition was in Nashville, July 30th and I thankfully made it through to the next round of call backs. The call backs were held on the 2nd, and so I came back home, got myself ready and drove back to Nashville for my 2nd audition.
Sadly, I didn't go through that round! I was very discouraged, but then it was suggested that I go to another city and try again...

I made a very quick decision, and now I will be auditioning again in Orlando, FL on Thursday, the 11th. I actually fly out Sunday evening, but that will allow for some extra visiting with Cherie, Justin and Landon!

I'm extremely excited, and have spent the last 4 days doing nothing but preparing CURRENT country songs, since I was told that is why I didn't advance at the call backs...

I do have to start at step one, and hope I'm put through again, I'll be really upset and bummed if I don't, but IF I do, and I get another shot at this, then I'm ready to bring all I have!! I can only do my best, but I'm just excited about another opportunity!!

I will keep everyone posted...

For those who missed season 1, here is a link to the website that tells you about the show!
http://www.nbc.com/the-voice/

Shylah

6 Month Miracle...

2011-07-30T13:30:00.001-04:00

Wow! Liam is 6 months old today!!!
There are no words to describe every emotion I have noting the most incredible 6 months of having Liam in our family; growing, learning, playing, and just being here in our world with us.

He is such a blessing to our entire family, and one that I am so thankful for every day, to be a part of his life!!

Happy 6 months monkey!!! We are so proud of all you have accomplished, the smiles you bring to our family and the joys of watching you grow!!

You are so loved Son,
Mommy and Daddy

Ward World...

2011-07-20T12:09:00.009-04:00

It just occurred to me that I have not done a family update in a looooong time... So here is what has been going on in the Ward World...

Liam is 5 1/2 months. I simply can't believe how fast he is growing up!! I think for us, since we've only had him home for 4 1/2 months, it feels like that is how old he should be. He is such a sweet baby!! He's so much different than Jax as far as their personalities and what makes them happy, but he's still a pretty easy going baby! Liam has figured out how to roll both ways, and although he hates being on his tummy, he sure seems to constantly be on it by him rolling back to front. He's just learning now how to sit up unassisted, however he also doesn't like that! I joke that it's because his belly cuts off circulation to his feet. Every time he folds in half, I swear his feet turn purple! He's still exclusively bf'ing, so we haven't gotten to the fun messes with him, but I don't think that's too far away. We haven't had him weighed in a while, but last time we weighed ourselves w/him, he was approximately 13.8lbs!! His favorite person is Jax. Jax is the only one that has made him giggle more than once. He's very interested in what Jax is doing, and is fascinated by his long eyelashes. Liam is teething, and has been for the last 2 months, but so far no teeth. It's not been as easy for him cutting teeth as it was for Jax, and we've had a lot more restless nights, gone through more Tylenol and orajel and have to find creative ways to relieve his pain. He sleeps through the night most times 8:30-5:00 anyways, but then he usually cuddles with me till about 8. I can't complain about that!! He's such a beautiful baby and such a sweet sweet one!!

Jaxon is growing like a weed and so much fun right now!! Last time we measured him, he was almost 37", which is almost 3" in 3 months. He no longer wears 2T clothing as it's too short for his long torso!! He is really into Cars right now, and last week Dean and I treated him to Cars 2 at the theater. It was way over his head, and definitely geared for older kids (probably Cars 1 generation), but he did well and slept through the ending. Dean and I enjoyed it though. He's also really into Wonder Pets, and usually watches every episode we have recorded 3-4 times a day. It's pretty bad that I am constantly whistling or singing the theme song :/ On sunny days, we usually are outside by 10 am!! He loves chasing after the puppies, and I have to really watch him while he's out since he tries to do everything they do from eating sticks, rolling in the dirt, and drinking out of the pool! I've started calling him Mogli from the Jungle Book. Lol. We are in the process of looking at preschools for him right now, and boy am I looking forward to school starting!!! Jax is potty training right now, and fingers crossed we're actually already night trained!! Jax is still of course in to Letters and Numbers, and he can now count past 40, although we have to help him at 20, correcting him from twenty-ten to thirty!! He is starting to follow directions on tracing letters, but he usually loses interest in 5 mins. He is so much fun at this age, and a HUGE help with Liam. I can't tell you when the last time I threw a diaper away was :) When he's not being sweet, he's usually testing both Dean and I. He is sooooo good at manipulating, not to mention, he's SO much smarter when it comes to getting his way than Dean and I give him credit for!! For the most part though, he's a very loving, well mannered 2 1/2 year old. We are so proud of how polite he is and how we don't usually have to make him say please and thank you, he does it on his own! :D. We are about to move him into a twin size bed, and hopefully get Liam in the crib. I am sure that there will be lots of "Shylah/DJ" moments, where we catch Jax snuggling Liam, as that's one of his favorite things!! It's definitely a blessing to have two amazing boys, and watching them grow up! Dean and I are doing good! Dean just took a new job, still working for MECO, but as an actual employee now vs working as a consultant for them. His new job will have many more responsibilities, but he will get to continue to work with the Mexico plant start up which is something that he loves doing. Along with a permanent job title, we will have MUCH better insurance, and will no longer be in jeopardy of my bp care not being covered by our current insurance!! Dean is also playing summer soccer again, and has been talking about coaching and training eventually.

I've just been busy at home with the boys of course, and fulfilling my dream of watching them grow. That in itself is a full time job, however I'm looking into possibly going to work part time, more or less to meet some new friends, and start saving up for my "swagger wagon". (I never thought I'd be counting down till I had a mini van... Sigh). BUT trying to travel with two car seats, and wedging myself between the two of them is NOT my idea of a road trip! On the 30th, Dean and I are going to try out for NBC's The Voice singing competition! I'm really excited, and I'm hoping that my unselfishness to start a family and be a wife instead of trying out for American Idol over the years will finally pay off, and I'll have an opportunity to go somewhere. Aside from the tryouts, I've slowly started to do a few things with music again. I finally started to write a few new songs, and I sang the National Anthem the other night at our pioneer baseball league game! It'd been forever since I sang the NA anywhere, but I felt I did really good! Dean and I are toying with the idea of starting a mobile karaoke company within the area too.

Other than that, just another day! The weather has been CRAPPY since the calendar said SUMMER! We've had one or two days of sun for every 10-15 days of rain, clouds and overcast weather! ;( I'm not happy about that because I really enjoyed my naps on the lounge chair and my amazing tan that I had last summer...

We're planning a few more trips this summer. In Sept, I'll be flying home to WA with Liam. Still not sure how I'm going to survive w/out Jax for 10 whole days :(. Then we're hoping to get back to FL for another visit w/our family friends. In August, I think we will be headed to AL and GA to spend some time with my Dad and Dixie, as well as my sister and her family! Lots to fit in with really only a month and a half of summer left and before school starts for Jax!!

Adventures in Potty Training - Update...

2011-07-20T09:27:00.003-04:00

One week ago today Jax wore his LAST diaper! He has not had one on since last Wednesday, and has done absolutely AMAZING in this new milestone!

He's had very few accidents, and most were hardly accidents at all, just bad timing, and not being fast enough to remove his britches!! We are still working with him on #2's, but that's probably the only true accident he's had when he's gone in his undies AND THEN told us. We knew that would be his hardest obstacle, but I think he's catching on.

The most amazing part of this whole process, besides not having dual diaper changes, is that he's already night trained!! We followed the advice of a friend and cut off liquids an hour prior to nap and bedtime, but the thing is, last Tuesday he was still waking up with sopping wet diapers, I mean like 5 pounders... And so the fact that from our first "trial" night on, he's woken up COMPLETELY dry every morning!!! I'm beyond elated over that!! Several people told us that waking up dry is when you START, and with Jax it's been the exact opposite!

For the most part I've kept him home and just in undies, but Friday night we had out first outing and went to a baseball game. He stayed dry, went potty 4x and that was with lots of distractions and a ton of playing! He also stayed dry while he was out on Sunday for a few hours, but then had his #2 accident :( I'm pretty confident that he's got the hang of it though and any accidents he does have will just be true accidents!! We did buy pull-up's, and thankfully he hasn't even "used" one yet! We put his undies under them for outings and sleeping only, and we've used the same one now for a whole week!

So, I think now we can actually clothe him and see how it goes with him telling us he has to go and working with him getting his pants off and on.

I'm such a proud Mama and hoping today is another accident free day! Tonight, we're treating Jax to an ice cream date at Dairy Queen!! :)

Boys... Boys... Boys...

2011-07-16T18:04:00.002-04:00

Just a few of my favorites of the boys being so sweet together. Some of these you may have already seen, but I just thought I'd compile a few... More to come!

Adeventures in Potty Land...

2011-07-14T13:05:00.015-04:00

Well the time has FINALLY come, and we are into our 2nd week of official potty training with Jax! (Today is day 3!! I started this post on Monday, Day 1.)

At 17 months after learning his potty patterns, we bought his first potty chair, a bunch of books, DVD's, sticker charts, candy, you name it... and he just wasn't ready... Then he turned two, and he still showed no interest in going to the potty. Then two and a half rolled around, and STILL nothing, nada, zilch!

I spent countless hours reading through potty training tips online, and talking with friends getting their experiences... and still to no avail; Jax just wasn't even willing to try. Then about 3 weeks ago, I found an article online that really interested me about a woman who's little boy, just like Jax, was far more intelligent than most, could do most things 3 and 4 year olds weren't doing, but he refused to use the potty... finally on this little boys own time, he came to his mommy and asked to use the potty... well that's kinda what we are going through now.

Dean started taking Jax in the bathroom each time HE went, and putting Jax up on the big potty just to try it out, when FINALLY last week, he went! We hooped and hollered and jumped up and down, and even though it was going on 10pm, we loaded him with candy and presents, and showered him with praises... The next day, we were driving to Nashville, and not certain that we were even about to start the process. I think Dean and I were just assuming this was a freak one time only thing, and we still had a ways to go before we really needed to be ready. On our way there, when we stopped to feed Liam half way, Dean was optimistic and decided to take Jax into the restroom and try... Low and behold, he went POTTY on a different toilet!!!! Thankfully, just in case, I had brought his Hershey Kisses along, and he didn't wait more than 2 seconds before his hand went out asking for his candy!
The rest of the weekend, we got a potty attempt here and there, and again, I thought ok... well see, we still aren't there yet. Then on the way home... well that's where Jax decided to use his new signal... 30 minutes into our drive, from the backseat comes... "My tummy hurts... I have to go Pooootttttyyy". Dean and I looked at each other, and pretty soon Dean was going 10 over and speeding to find the next bathroom. Dean took him out, and sure enough, he had saved a few dribbles to put in the potty. Then again... and again... annnnnd again... "I HAVE TO GO POTTY! My tummy hurts!!". Needless to say, it took us MUCH longer than 4 hours to get home that day...

Over the next few days, Jax retreated some, and learned it was ok to have accidents, but he would be rewarded if he came and told Mommy or Daddy he had to use the potty! He still isn't quite there when it comes to telling us he has to go potty, but we've figured that just telling him, "come on lets go..." usually results in something in the toilet.

Well TODAY... (Day 1) I decided to let him go diaper-less, and see what I got. I brought his potty chair into the playroom and instructed him to sit on the potty each time he thought he had to go. After about an hour of me checking in every 10 mins, I heard a "Mommmmmyyyy Jaxon went POTTY!!!". So I went in to check, and sure enough... he actually sat on the potty chair all by himself, and went pee!! Since starting this post, Jax has gone BY HIMSELF about 10 times!

I just hope that the amount of rewarding and treating doesn't end up in a ton of baby teeth cavities! Dean is off to the Dollar store to replenish our prize bag, and hopefully pick up some sugar-free treats for him! We are however, giving in to pull up's. While we are at home, I plan on keeping him naked, or in undies until he totally get's it... but when it comes to nap and bedtime, and his master plan of trying to get out of sleeping by asking to go Potty 200x, the diaper's lose their form, and the sticky tape, becomes, not so sticky. So we're going to try pull up's and possibly putting his potty chair in his bedroom at night to avoid an hour and half later bedtime!

Day 2 - On day 2, we had a great day! Jax only had two accidents, one in his undies attempting to get to the potty, and two, after jumping and running around playing, he was out in the living room, and thankfully got to the kitchen just in time to make an impressive puddle. He said sorry, and helped Mommy clean up. I explained that accident will happen, and it's ok. Then the BIGGEST part of the day... Jaxon had gone and hid in a closest and was trying to go #2. He got some out, and I think was really embarrassed it wasn't in a diaper, so I grabbed him real quick and sat him on the potty, staying with him until he was done. Drum roll please... Jax POOPED in the potty!!! The next big thing was getting him down for a nap. I told him his pull-up was just like his big boy underwear, and we needed to go potty before nap so he wouldn't make a mess in his bed. After he went potty (potty chair in his room), he took an hour and a half nap and woke up DRY! ;)

Today... Day 3 - we are off to a GREAT start! Jax slept from 10pm-8am, and once again, when he woke up from sleeping, he was completely dry! We had put his Elmo undies under his pull-up, and both were dry!!! So far so good today, and no accidents other than a little mess on the actual potty chair!

I'm so excited about Jax becoming potty trained, but know that it's still a ways off before he's fully day and night trained. I am so proud of just three day's progress and hope it won’t be more than a week before we get it down! It's such a little blessing to see his excitement over his accomplishments!!!

So for the Adventures in Potty Land... we're on our way!

My song to Jaxon...

2011-06-16T15:46:00.000-04:00

If I could write a song to Jax, this would be it... I hope one day I can write both the boys a song that is as good as this...

It's such a pleasure watching Jax grow up, but at the same time I know that one day my little boy is going to be all grown up and gone... :(

Liam's Progress...

2011-06-15T19:15:00.000-04:00

Today Liam had his High Risk follow-up appointment from the NICU. There he was seen by 4 out of 6 doctors assessed in the following fields: Nutrition, Motor Skills, Hearing/Vision and an Over-all Assessment from his NICU Dr.

The first specialist he saw was for hearing and vision which he passed with flying colors. He cooperated and stayed quiet as he needed to be to complete the tests.
They were very pleased with where he was on the charts.

The second specialist was with the nutritionalist, who walked in and immediately was happy to see how big Liam is, and how healthy he looks. She gave me big kudos for continuing to exclusively bf, however she recommends delaying solids until he is 6 months ADJUSTED, which is 8 months actual!!! That is going to be hard. I am hoping to keep him off solids till at least 6 months actual. He's just like Jax when it comes to food, and already drools and stares at "big people" food. Lol

The third specialist he saw was the Physical Therapist who worked with him in the NICU. She couldn't believe how big he had gotten, and how well he ranked in his tests. He is in the 75% for his motor skills based on his adjusted age of 2 1/2 months. The tests were the milestones for a 3-4 month full-term baby... so overall he did great there.

When the final doctor came in, Dr. Bharti - he honestly didn't have much to say other than, continue with what we are doing, and that he is doing amazing considering his start to life.

They would like to see him again in 6 months to make sure that he is still progressing as he should.
I'm not surprised; I knew he would do well... I am just so happy they were thrilled with how well he has done since coming home!

After his appointment, we ran across the street and up to the NICU to visit some of his old nurses. Thankfully, the NICU was extremely slow with only TWO babies in the whole unit, but sadly that meant most of his nurses weren't there to see him. The ones that were there were glad we dropped by, and told us to come back any time. They too, couldn't believe how big he has gotten, and just keep saying how adorable he was, and that he was going to be a heartbreaker!!!

Today Liam weighed 11lbs. 4.5oz - which means that he is STILL gaining an ounce and a half every day, which is on the high side for a bf baby!!! Yay Liam!!!

That's all... Hope everyone is doing good!

Shylah

Florida Fun-time...

2011-06-15T18:07:00.011-04:00

A few weeks ago, we were treated to a family vacation by our amazing family friends; Shooie, Papa Vito, Justin and Landon in Florida.

We got to spend a week together hanging out and having fun, and had a blast! We flew in on Thursday, May 26th and got in around 9:00pm after having a not so fun plane ride through the lightning storms. The flight itself wasn't too bad, but I definitely couldn't wait to get on the ground! While we were up in the plane, and descending into Florida, we got to witness one of the prettiest sights. We got to see a huge storm cell off in the distance, and lightning scrolling through the black clouds. It was very cool, and so pretty.

The next day, Jax got reintroduced to his "cousin" Landon - and soon the two of them were inseparable. It was so much fun watching them play. Of course it helped that the boys had almost identical playrooms, the same toys, wore the same size clothes, and were into the same Sprout shows. they got along so good, and followed each other around the whole time we were there.

Liam was just along for the ride, lol... and took in everything going on around him. I was so thankful that Vito was able to come into town as well and meet the newest. As big as we think that Liam has gotten, he looked TINY as soon as Papa Vito got his hands around him. :)

We got to take the boys to Aquatica for the first time... not sure who had more fun there. Jax and Landon getting to play in all the water, go down all the slides and take naps like superstars in the VIP Cabana... or Dean, who as soon as all the kiddo's were asleep, went and took full advantage of every single water slide. I passed on the slides and waiting in long lines for 35 seconds of fun, and ended up looking like a beached whale laying out at the base of the wave pool, using a life jacket as my pillow... Now that's what I'm talking about!!!

We also had an adult fun night in Orlando. Dean and I got to sing some of our favorite songs at a little Irish Karaoke Bar... (always fun to go somewhere new and sing, especially once we say we're from Nashville!). We had an amazing BBQ dinner and got to meet some new friends and just relax and enjoy the night.

On Memorial Day, we went to the beach and got to soak in some sunshine for Dean's Birthday! Unfortunately Jax had come down with something the night before, and was running a pretty good fever, so he didn't get to enjoy the beach that much. He ended up camping out in the back of Cherie's car, curled up in a little ball, asleep. Once he did wake up, he wanted NOTHING to do with getting in the ocean, and couldn't seem to keep his sandy hands from rubbing his eyes, which resulted in Dean constantly washing his eye's out with bottled water... We’re hoping next time we go, that we can go back to the beach and try it again. Of course I learned about 5 minutes before we were leaving, that all I had to do was draw letters and numbers in the sand, and then he didn’t want to leave… Go figure. That night we ended up just taking it easy, making dinner at home and finishing off the day with ice-cream cake to celebrate Dean and Justin's birthdays.

Our last day, Justin, Dean and I took Landon and Jax to this little splash park that’s right around the corner from their house. What a cool park! I wish we had one of those in our town. I think the boys had more fun there then they did anywhere else… and even though Jax was still miserable, he had a lot of fun running through the fountains, sliding on the slides and swinging with his new buddy! After spending about 2 hours at the park, we went back to the house, got packed up and had to say good-bye.

We’re hoping to get back at least one more time before summer is over, and hopefully once Liam can enjoy a vacation too.

Thank you Cherie, Vito and Justin for letting us stay with you, and showing us a really fun time while we were there!

Xoxo,
Shylah

Street Corner Symphony...

2011-05-23T11:57:00.005-04:00

On Friday night I got to go to the Street Corner Symphony concert at a little venue, Ella's here in Greeneville.
When I first saw Street Cornery Symphony, it was on the TV Show, "The Sing Off". They were on the 2nd season, and were absolutely amazing. They didn't win, but they sure should have. After seeing them last night, I am in complete awe... They are sooooo good!

Street Corner Symphony is an all a'capella group from Nashville. You might think that wouldn't be as good as a band, but let me tell you, they are!!! They use no instruments, and have six guys that do all the instruments by mouth. I think they are one of the best show's I've seen, and that's with living in Nashville for 5 years!!

I also, ahem, got to get up and sing with them... Haha, but this time, I wasn't running up praying I wouldn't get arrested, I was volunteered, with two others and got the privelage to sing with them doing all the backgrounds... what song? Oh, yeah... I totally rocked "The Lion Sleeps Tonight".
It was so much fun to listen to them, and hang out with a good group of friends and family! I am definitely a fan and can't wait till August when their album comes out.

The Adventures of Jax and the Letter "C"...

2011-05-14T09:55:00.008-04:00

So the other day my mom sent Jax a "present" in the mail... Nothing big, or fancy in anyway, just the letter "C" from Jaxon's bath set , that we had accidentally left behind at her house in WA, over a year ago.

He has always missed it, and made sure that we remembered that when going through the alphabet, that the sequence went something like, " A,B, oh no!!! Where is letter C??? Oh it's missing! Fiiiiind letter C pwease!" So same thing every time, "Honey, the letter C is at Gramma's house! I'm sorry sweetie, we'll have to call Gramma and tell her you neeeeeeeed it".

Time went on, and eventually Jax forgot about it, and would go on with other letters, boats, cups, etc. We always talked about not forgetting to bring it home on our next trip, replacing the set, or making one out of the zero. We never did.

This past visit, when my mom came down to see us, she promised us that she'd mail it, but she wanted Jax to call and remind her. Boy did he. "gramma, where's is letter C? Oh, it's missing. Gramma send me letter C. Ok buh-bye".

So mom kept her word, and sent him the letter C. And then... Well and then it just gets ridiculous. First Jax wouldn't put it down. He carried it everywhere, and when bath time rolled around, all he cared about was that ABC, was actually ABC... THEN, he wanted to sleep with it that night, and the next... and the next.So for the past 3 weeks, we've done nothing but look for the letter C, bring it to dinner, to the store, in the car, , to nap, etc... It's so funny! We aren't sure if Jax just has completion issues, or if it's because it was a "present". Now that the letter C is back home with us, we've had a hard time keeping it away from him, as well as ALL of the letters. We catered to one letter, and now C-Z, green ball, blue ball, Frogg, Ernie are all in bed with Jax on a nightly occasion. I think he's smarter than I give him credit for, since we tuck him in, and then he asks for one letter at a time... I'm pretty sure he has just figured out how to completely manipulate Mommy, as well as stay up a little later... lol.
Just another day in the life of...

Happy Mother's Day...

2011-05-08T19:50:00.000-04:00

What a Mothers Day it is for me this year. I am so very blessed to have the two most beautiful boys, happy and healthy and home.

This day could have been a very bad day for me this year, had things not thankfully gone the way they did with Liam. I am so proud to be Jaxon and Liam's mommy, and to have such an amazing husband to share my life with. I can not imagine my life without both of my boys, and it's days like today - where I actually take the time to reflect on how lucky I truly am, to have Liam here with me today.

I woke up this morning to Dean and Jax preparing pancakes with strawberries and whip cream, and a whole bunch of cards, and gifts from the boys.

Jax and Liam went in together, and got me this beautiful family tree display from Hallmark, and I can not wait to get it (it's been backorderd, but should be here soon)

And from Dean and my mom, I got to go pick out some new flowers to plant and two baby lilac bushes that hopefully will be in full bloom next year!!

Dean thought that I would just like to sit around and enjoy my day today, but after pulling weeds and getting my new flower bed ready, enjoying time outside with the babies, and just getting to hang out with my family, I had a GREAT day!!!

Hope all the mommies I know had a wonderful day as well!

Xoxo

Shylah

Tornados...

2011-04-28T13:47:00.003-04:00

What an absolutely scary and awful night we experienced last night. I am sure many of you have been following the storms that blew through the Southeast over the past few days... Yesterday was no exception.Thank you to all who called to check up on us, and make sure we were ok. A little shooken' up, but we are all safe and sound, as is the rest of our family.

The tornado's that came through from Middle TN area, to Greeneville were more than just a storm. An EF 2 tornado ripped through our county hitting several towns, and one town that was hit directly three times... Camp Creek, TN. This is only a few miles from our home.

Dean and I had prepared our "corner" in the basement and I don't think we did anything but sit on the couch with Jax and Liam sound asleep, watching the weather channel. Our local news had coverage, however we had pinpoint details watching the weather channel along with text alerts and our trusty, yet highly annoying weather radio. We took shifts taking the dogs, cat, and kids up and down the stairs, and finally resorted to leaving them be, while Dean and I took shifts sleeping until about 3:30 am. Definitely not a way to spend the night. Again, we got lots of wind, torrential downpours, some hail, and the best ligthning show I've ever seen, but sadly we have friends who's families lost everything, and then some.

We hope that this isn't a trend, and that we aren't going to be getting hit with tornados now, but unfortunantely, the new Tornado Alley is becoming more of the Southeast States...

Please keep our community in your thoughts and prayers...

Shylah

Visit with Gramma and Easter...

2011-04-25T18:36:00.000-04:00

What a fun week we just got to spend with my Mom! She came back to visit with us all, and spend some time with Liam since being out of the NICU. I was a little worried that we would be exhausted from our trip to CA to enjoy the time with her, but thankfully we all had a blast without getting off of our schedule too much.

Jax had Gramma wrapped around his finger, and doing almost everything he asked of her by the time she had to leave. Haha... "Gramma, come here, sit down". Liam also got lots of one on one Gramma time, which I know my mom really enjoyed.

While Mom was here, we also celebrated Easter, and had a ton of fun watching Jax and Liam being spoiled with so much love and attention. Of course Gramma also had a hand in helping the Easter Bunny with some of their gifts, so that made Jax even more excited she was here! Jax got a new trike, lots of sidewalk chalk, and waaaay too much candy!

On Easter morning we had friends and family visit with us, and help us out with the Easter Egg hunt. Jax was great! He had so much fun, and did such a good finding all the eggs!!
Later that afternoon we had an "adult" hunt where we acted more like middle schooler's fighting over who got to the Golden Egg first... I think a few of us had more bumps and bruises than we thought we'd get from hunting for candy... It was a ton of fun though, and one I'll definitely remember!

After all the eggs were hunted, and Jax was worn out from running around with all his new toys, mom made a wonderful Pork Roast for dinner with all the fixin's. Not a bad day at all!!!

So now Mom's on an airplane back home, I'm already missing her help and company... :(

Hope everyone had a great holiday weekend!!

Shylah

California Loooove...

2011-04-20T09:00:00.005-04:00

This is a repost... I have no idea why this didn't post to my blog page...

Over the past week, we got the pleasure of spending 5 days in sunny California, for my best friend Michaels wedding. It was such a beautiful ceremony, and the perfect occasion to meet Kyle, and catch up with my extended family and friends who also attended.

Originally I had planned on flying out alone, but after we got the "ok" from Liam's Dr. that he could come with, we decided to all fly out as a family. Jaxon and I were the Matron of Honor and Ring Bearer. This was Jaxon's second wedding party, and he did great! I was a little nervous, as we had spent the weeks prior practicing the walk down the aisle with a pillow, and the night before the wedding, Michael and Kyle told us the pillow - was actually a handmade ceramic plate that they had made for the occasion. Lol. Let’s just say I was already figuring out how I could replace the plate since I had little faith in Jaxon's ability to walk all the way down the stone floor aisle without dropping it. Thankfully he didn't. He ran all the way down the aisle and quickly passed it off to his new best friend, Ernie! We also decided it would be a good idea if he just had the plate and not the rings to go in it, so I carried those and passed off to the pastor myself! I'm still in shock that the plate left Jaxon's hand in one piece.

We were shocked with how much time we actually got to spend with Michael and Kyle, and were quite impressed that they had created a wedding week full of fun stuff. We had a beach day with all the friends and family, of course the rehearsal and dinner, some time to spend alone, and lots of fun in between.

Jax had a ton of fun with Uncle Mikey, and made sure that everyone knew he was there. I am sure they are still finding things out of place in their apartment. ;) The day we went to the beach, it took Jax a little coaxing to get comfortable on the sand, but once he figured out that he could just brush it off, he had it EVERYWHERE! The ocean was a little too chilly for swimming, but we did take him down and let him put his feet in. He wasn't as impressed as I thought he would be. So instead, we made our first sand castle together, and played with all the beach toys that he picked out to bring. On all of the other occasions we were out, Jax was pretty much a saint. He didn't throw any fits (that I can recall), and for all the late nights we had, he was so well behaved. Traveling with a toddler with a 3 hour time change is absolutely brutal on their small bodies, and the parents, but he did really good. One night that we were out, he crashed from exhaustion and no nap at 6pm, and didn't wake up till 6am the next morning. This was after 3 separate trips, putting him in and out of his car seat, going out to dinner, and shopping. Poor guy!

Liam on the other hand... well he slept the ENTIRE trip. If we went out somewhere, he slept. His first beach experience, he slept. Rehearsal and dinner, he slept. Sometimes I wish I could be an infant. Of course, I am not sure how much he would have slept, had he not had a wonderful group of Nannies! From friends and family members, kids, and his car seat, I think he was held literally everywhere he went. That was such a help though. While Dean and I would be chasing after Jax, we knew that Liam was in good hands, and that allowed us to spend some extra time with Michael and Kyle's family, and focus our attention on keeping Jax out of trouble. Thank you, to all that had a part with our "childcare"!

The wedding location was absolutely breathtaking. One of the prettiest views I have ever seen, and I am so happy that the weather was perfect for their special day! The ceremony was performed at Wayfarers Chapel, which is a chapel made completely out of glass and stone. The view from the chapel had the most amazing view of the ocean! It looked like a picture of out a magazine, and made for an absolutely gorgeous event. The reception was equally beautiful, and set up like a chic night club. Calla lilies everywhere, white leather couches, AMAZING food and drinks... it was the perfect set up for the two.

Unfortunately we had to skip out on the drinks, and dancing at the reception and left earlier than we wanted to, we had to be at the airport the next morning at 4:15!!! That was probably the worst for us. We got back to our hotel that night a little after 12:30 am, and still had some packing to do, let alone trying to get some sleep. We ended up getting about 2 hours of sleep each, and thankfully the boys slept through getting them changed, and to the airport and then we all slept the entire flight home. That was the best plane ride I think Dean and I ever had. It was only like 30 mins lol. And surprisingly we figured out how to handle the kids quite well for traveling with two for the first time!

All in all it was a fantastic vacation for us. We were able to spend more time with Michael and Kyle than we anticipated for it being their wedding week, and are so thankful to them and their families for letting us be a part of their special day!

If you would like to view photos of the event, please click on the link below.

http://jenwillphoto.smugmug.com/Other/kyle/16691169_27JZZT#1266576953_2twcX54

Congratulations Michael and Kyle!! We love you both!

Liams NICU Footprinting...

2011-03-18T16:39:00.001-04:00

Today we were able to be a part of a tradition that the Children's Hospital does in Johnson City for the NICU residents.

All the babies who were ever in the NICU all have their hand or foot prints put on the NICU hallway walls with their DOB and weight. During Liam's stay in the NICU, we finally figured out what all the dates, weights, etc were about. It's actually pretty cool to see some of the prints, especially a few that reflect parents AND then their children that were all a part of the hospital. Sadly there are hearts for the children that didn't survive, and usually those who were born 10-20 years ago when medicine and new advances weren't available.

It was really nice to see a few of Liam's nurses while we were back to visit. And although getting Liam's footprint stamped on the wall is a milestone in itself that he was finally able to come home, it was bittersweet to be back in the hallway walking towards the NICU door. The foot/hand printing ceremony is something that you are able to do only after you have been discharged, so it is something we were definitely proud to be a part of.

We hope that we will never have to return, and that soon the babies of the friends we made will also have their footprints on the wall...

Liam Photos...

2011-03-10T22:28:00.007-05:00

We had our wonderful friend Brandi take some pictures of Liam this afternoon... This is a sneak peak...

Hoping to get some pictures with the family, but especially Jax and Liam this weekend as well! Hope you enjoy!!

Shylah

HOME...

2011-03-04T14:21:00.008-05:00

After one month and 2289 round trip miles, Liam is finally HOME!

Today Liam had his first check up w/the Dr. and the reason he is here today! Dr. Rick was extremely excited about how well Liam is doing! Although his due date isn't for another 2-3 weeks, he said that he is viewing Liam as a term/healthy baby as of today! Liam appears to have no damage or abnormalities from his delivery and after being on the ventilator/oxygen for the first week in the NICU. Dr. Rick said that he was surprised with that, and overall just absolutely amazed at how Liam is doing! :D It was bittersweet seeing him, and somehow, I was actually able to keep my emotions in check! We owe Dr. Rick our child's life. It was such an honor to bring Liam in to see him! It will also be very cool to have Dr. Rick watch Liam grow up over the years!

After seeing his him, we took Liam over to the OB Dr. that delivered us. She was so sweet, and showed Liam off to everyone in her office. Apparently delivering under the circumstances we delivered at, Liam has been dubbed both at the OB clinic and at the hospital as the "miracle baby" and the "Sunday abruption". Dr. Hawthorne not only delivered Liam, but she also saved me from bleeding out. It was such a powerful moment walking in with Liam to have her meet him!

We also made a quick stop to the hospital to meet the surgical team and visit the maternity ward. Although no one really got to see Liam there, they all knew exactly who we were, and were thrilled we made the time to show him off there. I didn't exactly wish to become a celebrity in this town for the reasons we are, but it is pretty amazing to finally meet the dr's and staff again, who prayed so hard for us and who were merely just doing their jobs...

Liams journey is an incredible one, and one that for the last 34 days I have thought of over and over again. I hope to be able to recap everything that's he's been through one day, just so he knows how special he truly is. As for now, we're all just trying to focus on the future and raising our two boys!

Liam now weighs 5lbs 8oz, is 18 3/4" long and is doing everything that a newborn baby should be doing. Thanks be to God!!! He's being transitioned to a full time bf'er and doing great with it! He's also been maintaining his temperature really well, lifting his head up and turning it side to side during tummy time, and although he's technically a month old, he's doing more than he technically should already for being a preemie - so that is super reassuring for us!

We are slowly getting into a schedule at home! Jax has been so sweet with Liam and I think he really likes his baby brother being home. There is a definite difference between the two boys! I do not remember Jax having to have his clothes changed so frequently, ever needing a burp towel, let alone crying. I remember Jax having a cat like meow for a cry, and here we have Liam who definitely knows how to use his lungs!! Jax slept through the night from day 1, and we had to wake him for all of his feedings. Liam on the other hand is a pretty good alarm! Haha.

I am going to have my hands full sooner than later with the two! I am extremely thankful to be a stay at home mom! (We'll see if I'm still saying that in a year lol). I am just so happy I have ALL my guys together!

We thank the many, many people that have prayed over Liam and our family. I know we will never be able to personally thank all of you, but know your prayers were heard. I can't wait to see who Liam turns into, but I'm hoping God has big plans for him one day! There is so much to be thankful for in my household, that's for sure! We will continue to keep everyone updated as to how we are doing. Again, thanks to all the people who have prayed, helped us out with gas,food, child care, etc... It really means the world!

Love,

Shylah, Dean, Jaxon and baby Liam

Update on the Family...

2011-02-27T09:00:00.009-05:00

Liam is 4 weeks old today! I'd like to say that time has flown by, but unfortunately watching every day go by without him being home with us really slows things down. He is doing so well though! He's had some major accomplishments over the past week!

On Monday (2/21) they lowered his oxygen saturation and flow to almost nothing, and while I was worried and upset that his breathing went sky rocket again, he was completely taken off of it by Tuesday night. He must have listened to my pep talk that night, and has controlled his oxygen numbers ever since. I told him if he continued to keep his numbers up, that they wouldn't put the nasal cannula back in... I am sure he appreciates having it out, as he always pulled it out himself anyway. ;)

He is still considered tachypneic (ta-kype-nic), where his breathing is slightly elevated, but for the majority of this past week, he's been in the 70-80 range on his bpm's. Because of this, he's been limited to the number of feedings he's allowed to take by bottle since the rapid breathing can cause asphyxiation. He's also still really sleepy during most of his feedings which prevents him from bottle feedings as well since it takes a lot of work for him to initiate eating on his own. Over the past 36 hours though, he has actually taking MOST of his feedings by bottle, and so we think he's finally starting to turn the corner there, however they really try and make sure all his sats are controlled before attempting.

The past few days more and more of the nurses are beginning to talk about him coming home which is extremely exciting. We still don't know a date, and it's still up to Mr. Liam as to when the light bulb will come on, but it's definitely close!

For Liam to come home, he needs to keep his breathing under 70bpm consistently, regulate his temperature, continue to gain weight and take all of his feedings by bottle or breast. He is past the weight limit for discharge already, weighing it 5lbs 3oz as of this morning, and he seems to have control of his body temperature for the most part, so really, right now we are trying to focus on having him take as many feedings by bottle in 24 hours as he can. The 24 hour rule is a tricky one though. He can do everything perfect for the first 23 hours, and have one tiny thing go wrong (breathing spikes, failed feeding, etc) and have the entire 24 hours start back over.

I am hoping for a birthday, "baby coming home" gift, but at the same time, I just want Liam to be ready and on his own time. Of course that doesn't stop me from giving him daily hints of what I want... But who knows! Dean and I have just settled on his original due date of March 17th, so if it happens earlier, then we will just be pleasantly surprised! Again, he still has a few things to work on, so we ask that you continue to lift Liam up in your daily prayers. He has come a looooooong way, and I now understand how amazing the power of prayer really is!

As for the rest of us... Jax is doing wonderful and has really started to understand who Liam is. We show him pictures every day of our visits, and although he has gotten confused a couple of times and thought Liam was baby Jaxon, it's easy to understand! :) The other day Jax drew a picture for Liam's isolate, all the nurses thought it was so sweet! Unfortunately, with the RSV and Flu season in full force, the NICU has banned all sibling visits until further notice, so the next time Jax gets to see Liam might be after he is discharged and coming home!

I am keeping myself very busy and have been to see Liam everyday! It's basically like a full time job, but it's so worth every minute! Of course I am tired because I either spend the whole day with Liam, or I go to visit once Dean gets home and after the 7pm shift change. I've been extremely blessed to have help with keeping Jax during the day from my Mom and my Mother in Law, Sharon. My mom was here for the first 2 weeks and helped out so much!!! Sharon has been a saint and made herself available to me almost every time I've asked (thanks again Mom's!!), and the days that she can't, Dean works from home to allow me to be with Liam. When I'm not visiting him, I'm racing around the house after Jax and trying to keep up with his craziness!! I know once Liam comes home, I am going to have to figure out a way to manage mommy time, but for now I actually enjoy having a break from one to focus on the other!

Dean has been equally busy with work, watching Jax and trying to get up to see Liam as much as possible. Since Jax can't see Liam right now, and there is a 15 minute rule for kids under 12, we rarely get to go see Liam together unless it's late at night. Dean has really been supportive of me spending most of my time up there since I'm really trying to get Liam to breast feed, and so it's important for me to be there for as many feedings as I can be which cuts out the time he usually gets to spend with Liam. I hate that he doesn't get to spend as much time with him, but he's also much more patient and again, would rather me be up there working on his feedings.

Some days are harder on me than others, emotionally and physically - but I just keep focusing on Liam getting better and able to come home; having my family all together, and somehow then, I THINK I'll be able to rest lol. So that's where we are right now.

Liam is such an amazing little boy! He's a fighter and he's determined, but most importantly he's had so many thoughts and prayers and God on his side. I'll say it again, I've never been a super religious person. My faith has definitely grown over the past few years, but there is absolutely no denying that Liam and I are both here because of Him. I've learned some very important things over the past few weeks, and while I may never understand it all, and I don't expect to, I will try my hardest to never doubt again...

Thank you all again for your support, concern and most of all for all the prayers... It's truly a blessing to have it all.

Xoxo
Shylah

Sunday Funday...

2011-02-23T11:47:00.000-05:00

Last Sunday was such a gorgeous day, that we decided to focus our whole day on Jaxon, and just have fun!!!

You're never too old to ride a pony right??

Okay, maybe they are designed for 2 year olds...

LOVE this sideways smile...

After playing at the park all morning, and after our visit to Liam that day, we were invited out to our dear friend, Josh Swatzell's grandparents farm to do a little calf feeding, and tractor riding...

Of course I was the excited one...

This baby cow had me hanging on to dear life to this bottle... I would hate to be this baby's mama!

Me and my Bug!!! Fun Day!!!

Fun!!! Jax even got to drive!!

Jaxon and Liam...

2011-02-17T17:28:00.008-05:00

After almost 2 weeks, we finally got Jax in to meet baby Liam. We had been waiting more or less for Liam to lose his "jewelry", but also had been waiting for Jax to lose the runny nose and cough he had.

When we took Jax in (2/12), I unfortunately had a perfect scenario built up in my head, that Jax would want to hold Liam and would be sweet and gentle and know exactly who he was... Buuuuut that's not exactly what happened.

When we finally got Liam and Jax situated, Jax burst into tears along with a full bottom lip pout, and he told us to "put him back" while pointing to the crib we took Liam out of... This was also the same night they told us Liam was going BACK on oxygen and that he had lost too much weight to stay in an open crib, so they would be transitioning him to an isolate...

So of course with hearing that, and seeing my sweet 2 year old refuse anything to do with my other sweet angel baby, I too burst into tears...

Jax kept looking around at all the other babies and seemed 100 times more interested in them, so through my tears I told Jax that he was out of luck, that the little boy baby swaddled in my arms was what he got. Lol....

By the end of our 15 minutes with the two, Jax finally muttered through clinched teeth "I love you Yeeyum" and kissed his forehead goodbye before running happily out!

So that was the first encounter....

The very next night (2/13) we took Jax back to see Liam again, and this time, Jax seemed to be more interested. Liam had been moved back into a different room that was much more quiet and less full, so his attention stayed on Liam pretty much the whole time. He even told Liam he loved him and kissed him goodbye without too much coaxing from us.

Yesterday (2/16), we all went up to see Liam and thankfully Jax had been talking about him a little more, and when we finally got Jax settled down with Dean in a big comfy chair, Jax was sweet and precious. He literally couldn't keep his hands off him. Every time Liam would make a single noise, Jax got this worried tone in his voice, and would gently say "it's okay, don't cry".

(Jax hugging Liam)

(Happy touching him...)

(My sweet boys!)

Then after flirting with the nurses, Jax announced to everyone, "Yeeyum, my baby butter". He snuggled with him, and gave him several hugs and kisses, and I think finally understood, that Liam is OUR baby, and he'd be home soon to play with Jax and his toys!

Each time we take Jax in, he seems to get a little better, and although he doesn't quite understand how fragile Liam is, he seems to be coming around with the thought of Liam coming home to live with us.

We are hoping to get Jax up there to see him more often, but it's kind of hard with an hour drive both ways and him only being allowed in the NICU for 15 mins total. We'll make it work eventually, but for now we talk a lot about Jax's baby brother and how much fun they will have when Liam can play with Jax and be big and strong like him. I am sure when Liam does come home, we'll have our up's and down's until Jax fully understands who Liam is, but for now as with everything else, it's a day at a time, and a learning experience for us all...

Sorry for the delay in posting, but it's been a little hectic :D

I've also updated the album to the right with additional pictures from the past few visits...

Please continue to send your thoughts and prayers to Liam. He still has a ways to go, but is doing so much better each day.

Thank you all so much!

Love,
Shylah

Update on Liam...

2011-02-09T09:34:00.009-05:00

This is my fourth attempt at getting this updated... Hopefully I'll get far enough with an update on Liam and actually post. Thankfully my last draft is all wrong now because he is doing so well....

Where are we at today?! (2/9)

Liam is doing exceptionally well. He is almost off oxygen, and we are keeping our fingers crossed that the Echo scan he had yesterday shows that his PDA Valve is finally closed. From my earlier (non-posted posts), I explained a little bit about what the PDA Valve is: This is a valve in the heart that is typically closed at birth, but in preemies sometimes needs help by medication and/or surgery. Once the valve closes, he shouldn't need the assistance of the oxygen, since this valve controls the flow of blood and oxygen to the lungs. Liam has received several treatments with the medicine, Indocin to help aid in the closing of this, but has not had any as of Friday night. Last night the technician that performed the Echo scan, said she thought that it was finally closed, but we are still waiting to hear back on that today.

He is getting breast milk though a feeding tube, and this is due to his rapid breathing. He has not quite figured out where he needs to be on his breathing respirations, and so there is a risk there that if they introduce a bottle that he could choke and have other complications. He started getting breast milk on Friday. He was started at 5ml, and today he is up to 36ml!

Yesterday (2/8) - was the first day that Liam and I got to do "Kangaroo Care". This is basically just skin to skin holding, that is very therapeutic for the baby (and mama in this case! - Pretty sure my bp was perfect while I was holding him!). His breathing slowed all the way down to where they wanted it while I was holding him. We even fell asleep together, which I totally loved! When I put him back, his breathing accelerated back up to where it had been- he needs to be in the range of 60-70 breaths per minute consistently. This morning we were told that he was in the high 80’s – so he is starting to figure it out, but we still ask that you send your thoughts and prayers to Liam for this specific need.

He should also be off all his fluids through the IV either today or tomorrow. Yesterday they were talking about taking him off everything, but wanted to make sure he tolerated his next feeding amount before they took the IV completely out. I am hoping to walk in and see him today with only the oxygen in his nose. He had to have his central lines taken out of his belly, and they tried to place the IV in his hand and foot, and it wouldn’t stay in, so they put the IV in through his forehead… Yeah… I was a little upset seeing him the first time with it there, but now I am used to it, and just call him my little pumpkin!

We are unsure how much longer he will be in the NICU. He has to breathe on his own, and correctly, as well as take all his feedings by nipple. We are hoping to have him home in the next two weeks, but as all the Dr’s and staff say, it’s completely up to the baby on when they figure things out and have their “ah ha” moment. We try not to rush Liam at all. We are extremely thankful that we even have a baby to post about and to be so proud of.

He really seems to like having visitors and loves being held and making faces at people. He is also a master of finding ways to pull tubes out, and set off all the alarms. His most famous method is by wiggling his toes and getting the cords wrapped in between them, which is a really fun game for him by making the nurses panic and completely unswaddle, find the pinched cord, reswaddle, then set the machines all back to normal. =) He’s testing people already!

We have not brought Jax in to see him yet. We are hoping to do this, this weekend, but really wanted to have Liam lose some of his “jewelry” before we took Jax to see him. We don’t want Jax to freak out that “Yeeyum” doesn’t look like the babies he see’s. We also wanted Jax to lose the runny nose and cough he had juuuust to be on the safe side.

Hopefully by finally getting all the baby stuff ready in the house (Thank you Honey), Jax is starting to understand that the baby mommy had in her belly is real, and finally about to come home. We have been practicing being gentle and easy with Jaxon’s stuffed Ernie. Thankfully Liam’s nose isn’t as big as Ernie’s, and hopefully this will prevent Liam from being pulled out of the baby swing by his nose and dropped on the floor lol…

I am just so thankful for all the support, and prayers we have received. It has been so reassuring to lean on others on our down days, and have so many people be there for us. We’ve had home cooked meals delivered, help with Jax so that we can commute back and forth and all of our friends and family constantly updating others and passing on information so that we can try and focus on being w/Jax and Liam. =)

I hope this updates most of you in the area’s that you had questions on. Once we get the little guy home, I will probably post his story so that everyone knows how truly amazing he has done with all he’s gone through.

Please let me know if you have any additional questions.

Love always,
Shylah

Miracle in the Making...

2011-02-01T10:28:00.005-05:00

Our Miracle…
First and foremost, I feel like I need to thank the Lord very generously for the last three days of my life. I have never been a super spiritual person, and have always held my level of Faith inside… but I think that if you don’t believe in GOD now, that there is something seriously wrong with you.

I am lucky to be alive after hemorrhaging and losing half of my blood supply due to placental abruption that occurred early Sunday morning. Liam is extremely lucky, and there are still a lot of people that think God himself came and helped get Liam started.

My morning Sunday started like any other, but once I had gotten up and moved downstairs, made coffee, and started my day I felt a very sharp, persistent back ache in my lower back. It was enough to concern me, and have me start looking up pre-term labor signs… but after about a half hour of strictly back pain, the pain moved directly in front, under my belly and was a constant and severe cramping. At first I thought, ok… boy was I wrong if I didn’t think I would be able to tell what contractions were, and let them go for a few minutes. Dean kept asking if they would stop or if they were constant. I couldn’t really tell if anything stopped or got worse, I just knew I was in massive pain and that, that was as close to labor contractions I could manage. I also had thoughts that if these were just the beginning contractions, then I was really going to be in some trouble since the pain I had was more severe than any pain I’ve EVER experienced before.

After about 15 minutes of straight pain, I decided to go up and take a bath thinking one, it might help the pain, and two, I hadn’t felt Liam move since before I really got up, and that would at least ease my mind some. When I got into the bath, I immediately started poking on my belly, and rubbing trying to get Liam to wake up and get mad enough for one of his reassuring kicks. After 30 minutes of me rubbing, and not getting a single movement, is when I really started to panic. This child as many know, never stopped for more than a half hour at a time, and I could always seem to get him to move by doing something. This time I couldn’t.

After I got out the bath, the cramping kept getting worse, and so I decided to call my dr’s office and lie down on my side and just see what they said. After I got a call back from the on call Dr. she had advised me to do a fetal kick count, and if I wanted to, to just come in to the hospital in Johnson City and they would be there to take a look… I think I waited a whole 5 minutes before I collapsed on the floor, screaming out in pain, and telling Dean to call his parents, get someone, anyone over to our house so we could just go. He called his parents and couldn’t reach them at first, so he called Rachel and she was basically on her way… Then it got even worse to where I said, let’s just take Jax with us to the ER, but we have to go now!!!

My current OB and the hospital we had planned on delivering at in Johnson City was 45 minutes away, and I knew that I honestly couldn’t handle the pain for more than a few more minutes. I literally kept saying I am dying I am dying. So we decided to come to the hospital closest to us, where Rachel met us, and had already briefed the staff (Thank God), so they were ready for me. Once they got me in a chair and wheeled to a room, they started trying to find vital signs on Liam…

The scariest words I’ve ever heard…
After me screaming, and rolling, and kicking in pain, they were finally able to strap a fetal monitor on me, but could not seem to find a heartbeat or get any movement out of Liam. Of course Dean and I immediately were panicking, but I honestly was in so much pain, I couldn’t think straight. Come to find out I had lost over half of my blood supply, and I was going into shock. About 15 minutes into this scene, the on call Dr finally came in, and did an ultrasound… when they finally got that up and running, I was in even more pain, and the cramping just kept coming. That’s when my world stopped after hearing… “I want to make sure the baby is even alive before we do anything else…”

I can’t fully explain to anyone what those words did to me. I tried to stop crying and screaming, and think of Liam. The only thing I could do was cry out to God to save my baby. Immediately every emotion went through my body. I had my husband there with me, but I didn’t get to say goodbye to Jax, or that I LOVED him. I literally thought I was going to die. I tried to focus on my breathing like they asked, but I just couldn’t. Once the Dr said she saw a little flutter of a heartbeat on Liam, Dean said she just went into overdrive and started calling out orders left and right and prepping for an emergency c-section and putting me completely under.

30 minutes later again, the anesthesiologist was finally on board, and literally had just given me IV fluids as they were cutting me open. At that point they said it didn’t matter, they had to go in. Thankfully I only remember counting to three… and not getting sliced open.

When I woke up, I had no idea where I was, what happened, if I had a living baby, I was just scared and groggy. Then Dean came in, and told me that as of now, we had a pretty little baby boy who was fighting harder than anything. He explained to me that Liam came out a stillbirth, and that it took his pediatrician a full 9-10 minutes to revive him, but he was breathing on his own after that, and the Dr was extremely happy. He told me what I had gone through and of course that meant nothing to me… but I needed to thank the one Dr. that saved my life, and another Dr. who refused to give up on Liam who had saved his. I think I was still in a state of shock hearing all of this from Dean, but after talking to the Dr’s and the staff, I know how lucky we both are to be here right now.

After I left the recovery room, the hospital staff said that they would bring Liam in for me to see him before he was air lifted to Johnson City’s Children Hospital. I knew he would go there, and that there was nothing I could do… so I just begged them to let me see him. When I saw him, of course emotions that only a mother can feel , flooded my body – but I was also so scared for my itty bitty little guy not knowing if he would survive the helicopter ride or the trauma of being moved so fast… I didn’t get to hold him, or really see him that well because of the unit he was in, but I did get to touch his hand, and rub his little leg long enough for him to open his eyes and give me a few kicks. After that, they took him and loaded him up right outside my window, and I got to see the helicopter lift up, and fly away.

My mother in law, Sharon decided to follow and go to the hospital Liam would be at, and keep him company and all of us updated as we had to take care of Jax, myself and Dean. Jax ended up staying with one of our dear friends Brandi, and everyone else hung out with me until they knew I was stable and understood what was going on with Liam. And from there I just tried to rest as much, and let my mind be free of bad thoughts, and just kept thanking God and praying for Liam and myself to come through this.

Had I waited any longer to call the Dr, had we decided to drive to Johnson City, had we waited 5 more minutes, I know Liam would not be here, but I can’t tell you if I would be here myself to tell our story.

It’s been a very rough, emotional but incredible journey over the last 36 hours. I am so thankful I am here to even experience this, and that Liam is fighting. He is not out of the woods at all. He came 7 weeks early, and obviously wasn't quite done cooking, but he is stable and staying strong considering! They are keeping him on a ventilator, and he seems to respond well to that, but as of this morning, he kinda went backwards, so they upped the levels on it. They plan on doing an MRI today of his brain to see if there was any damage caused while he was non responsive. I am praying that there wasn’t, but we will get through it if there is. His Dr seems to be pretty optimistic that since he has not had any seizures, that, that in itself is a good sign. We just all ask you to continue sending your thoughts and prayers to Liam and I, and pray that he will pull through.

We have a lot of information to take in and to learn and will try our hardest to keep everyone updated on Liam’s health and status. I will have to have patience and try to understand a lot of things that he is going through, I just know once again, that I am lucky and blessed to have a miracle baby and that GOD had everything to do with Liam and I being here today.

Shylah

Sesame Street Live...

2011-01-20T16:59:00.009-05:00

Yesterday we took Jax to see Sesame Street Live. Dean and Jax were given tickets to the show for their Christmas Present from Aunt Rachel, Aunt Sara and Uncle Al... Dean knew that I HAD to be there as well, so he ended up buying the third ticket for ME for my last Christmas present. I am not sure who was more excited to go... Jax or myself... or Dean. I will tell you that I was counting down, and I DID in fact wake up early that day... ;) Along with our FRONT ROW SEATS, we also had meet and greet passes to go back and meet some of the characters...

The last few days we had been telling Jax that he would get to meet Ernie, Bert, etc... and we would rattle off all the characters that were supposed to be there... I told him yesterday before nap time, that as soon as he woke up, we would be getting in the car and going to see them all...
As soon as his little eyes popped open, Jax said, "come on mama, lets go! We go see Bert, Ernie, Count (ah ah ah) and Big Bird!" Then the whole way there we listened to Sesame Street songs with him singing along to all of them!

When we got there, they crew wasn't quite ready and we had to wait in line... outside. It was soooo cold, windy and wet... Jax was shaking as he kept looking around for stuff... Once we got in, they had kiosks with more over priced Sesame Street stuff than we had imagined. Of course Jaxon's eyes lit up, but just as he was about to start with the "gimmies" we were ushered away to go meet the characters. I was praying it would be Bert and Ernie - but it ended up being Grover and Rosita... Jax was so precious walking up to them. He had no words to say, kept his finger in his mouth, but as soon as we walked away... for the remaining 45 mins before the show started, all he could talk about was Grover and Sita and how he wanted to "put them back"... and go and play. ;)

Let the show begin...

During the first half of the show, Jax was glued to the stage. For only being 2, he was so observant and completely in tune to the show! I kept looking over at his reaction, and would have to wipe his eyes because he wasn't blinking! Haha. Then the characters started coming down stage and right to Jax. We were in the front row, and on the end - literally the best seats in the house is what we were told! When the characters started to come down, and Jax was given the ok to get up and go see them... he would walk up, turn around and duck his head down smiling with his finger in his mouth. It was adorable!

Intermission was a challenge. Dean was racing around trying to get Jax changed, and dealing with Jax and all the other kids not understanding why they were still there w/out Sesame Street characters dancing around lol...

When the show came back on... Jax was back in his zone and focusing contently... after another song or two, we finally got him up and dancing with the rest of the kids. Again, with the characters coming down - he would clam up and get shy, but then immediately get back into mode and wait for another to come up. He got to close his eyes and imagine with Ernie, dance with Zoe, honk a Honkers nose, high five Baby Bear and then some!!!

So after a day or two of hyping Jax up, the drive, tickets, program, pennant, new t-shirt, cotton candy, nacho's, juice, M&M's and popcorn... I am already looking for the next show to take him to next year. It was the best show I've ever been to, and I am so glad we got to go!!!! I can only imagine how Jax will react after another year of loving Sesame Street!

I've posted a link to the right with all the photos... hope you enjoy!!!

Shylah

Maternity Bliss...

2011-01-04T20:44:00.004-05:00

Here are some of the maternity pictures we had taken by our dear friend Brandi Ricker. She is absolutely amazing, and I just love all of these! We are working on a progression picture that will be finished once Liam is here, and I can't wait to share that one as well!

Goodbye 2010... Hello 2011!!!

2010-12-30T09:35:00.009-05:00

Well since we didn't get a Christmas letter out this year, I will take advantage of technology and do our annual letter via this post!

What a year we have had. Last year at this time, Dean had just come home from spending 7 months away in Pennsylvania working for a windmill company, helping erect a 67 turbine windmill farm. Jax was a year and 3 months - and we were waiting on the next windmill job to roll around. I had just recently quit my job working at Unum, and started the most amazing job of being a Stay at Home Mom! After a few weeks of Dean being home, and the next windmill job being pushed back, and back... and BACK again, we had to reevaluate our employment situation. Thankfully we had been smart while Dean was working the windmills, and had a small nest egg to fall back on for our bills, but nonetheless, we were in a very stressful situation. Then, at the end of January we were blessed with a new job opportunity for Dean, where he would be working for a consultant firm. Dean interviewed and ended up taking the job working for his current company, F.J. Flynn and Associates, LLC in Greeneville, TN. Dean and I made the decision that until we could get our house either rented or sold, that Jax and I would stay back in Nashville... so we spent the next 6 months living solo again with Dean coming home for weekend visits. We made it work, and Dean really enjoyed working at his new job and being so close to family in Greeneville.

In March, we were able to thankfully have a tenant lined up to rent our house. So Jax and I started the process of packing and getting ready to move to east TN. Over the next two months, it was total chaos trying to be a "single parent", raise a baby, AND pack all at the same time. Thank GOD for my in-laws knowing a thing or two about packing and moving, and they were all VERY willing to help us out. It's all still a blur to me, but somehow we were able to keep our moving dates, and move into our new home in Greeneville all in the same two weeks. We found a home to rent by chance, and were extremely grateful for being able to take our time to get moved in and adjusted. We are now only a few minutes away from Dean's parents and sister, Rachel, and a short trip away from his other sister, Sara and brother in law Al, in Knoxville. It has definitely been an adjustment, moving from the "Big City", Nashville, to the hills of Greene County - but surprisingly we all really LOVE it! I was worried that I wouldn't be able to handle country life and living, but it's soooo nice. It's quiet, peaceful, safe and very welcoming. Our biggest store here is Wal-Mart, followed up closely by K-Mart. Ha! I've been able to save money though with Target being in another county, and 45 minutes away!

Along with the simplicity of our new town - there are a lot of family things to do. There is a park that is perfect for Jax just around the corner, lots of places to go hiking, and exploring with the dogs. The lakes are just a short drive away, and again - we have family also right around the corner! There is also so much history in this town! At one time Greeneville was the capital to the State of Franklin, President Andrew Johnson started his political career and lived most of his life here. There are lots of museums to document Andrew Johnson, Davy Crockett, battles from the Revolutionary War, and not to mention just the beautiful scenery we have of the Appalachian Mountains in our backyard. Plus, we are only a 45 minute drive to Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area (although we have yet to visit since moving here)!

Sadly with our new house came loss. Over Mother's Day weekend, we lost our beloved dog Chopper. It was an extremely tough loss for all of us, but mostly for Nash and Jax. We will never know exactly what kind of fun and trouble those two got into over the 3 days they were out and missing, but we are still so extremely thankful we still have Nash. Chopper was an amazing dog and friend and not a day goes by that we don't miss him. RIP buddy! In May we also "acquired" Lily the Cat. I know I know... those who know me, know I insisted I would never own a cat... We "acquired" her from our dear friends Michael and Annette, who were moving to a new home, and about to welcome their 4th baby, and decided she wasn't the best fit for them. So we took her in - and put a roof over her head... Jax adores her, and truthfully she is a saint. She lets Jax knock her around, jump on her, poke and prod, etc. Long story short... we are still giving her a shot...

With loss, comes happiness. At the beginning of July - we learned that we were expecting baby #2!!! We had been planning, but were pleasantly surprised with our timing, and are so excited that our kids will only be 2 1/2 years apart. We found out in the middle of October that we would be having another little boy, Liam David Ward! He will be making his debut hopefully in LATE Feb, or early March. Since we had previous complications with Jax, and he came 5 weeks early - we can't really go off of our due date of March 17th with Liam. We are so excited and can't wait for Jax to be a big brother! Not to mention we have pretty much everything we need, and we can keep our nursery and playroom colors all in BOY themes! My pregnancy hasn't been nearly as nice as it was with Jax, but I've been told that is to be expected. I've had a lot more pain and discomfort with Liam. Heartburn, backache, headaches, nausea - you name it. Plus he has been measuring big so far at every appointment, and so I've shown faster, grown faster, and felt his massive kicks, jabs and head butts faster... 2 - 2 1/2 more months... here we go!

Jax has had a huge year too! At 16 months he was able to recognize and recite his ABC's and count to 10! He loves Sesame Street and anything to do with learning. We've been so lucky that he loves to learn, and that he takes it so well. Over the summer, Jax enjoyed learning how to swim with floaties, exploring our new back yard, and spending lots of time at the park! In August, we enrolled him in a Mother’s Day out program which he attends once a week. He has made lots of friends, learned to share and his manners are something I am personally so proud of. He says please and thank you for almost everything. He is such a sweet boy, and always knows when someone needs a hug and kiss. He loves being read to, and he even "reads" to us occasionally.

He also loves cars, coloring, doing arts and crafts, helping mommy and daddy out around the house, and playing outside. In November he discovered he could climb out of his pack n play AND his crib, so we converted his crib into a Big Boy Bed!!! He has done so good with going to bed on his own, and does pretty good with sleeping through the night. We are currently in the process of potty training. Not entirely sure he's ready for it, but we encourage him getting comfortable with his potty on a daily basis. We also celebrated his 2nd birthday in November. What a BIG BOY we have! He is such a blessing to our family - and I can't wait for him to have a sibling to share "life" with.

At the end of August, we decided to welcome another Furbaby, Argo into our lives. I can’t say that he’s been the easiest dog to work with – and his start to life, sadly was awful. He was so sick and had a bad case of Parvo, but with help from our vet and lots of spoiling and TLC, we got him back to a healthy, playful puppy! He’s been a great companion for Nash, and Jax just loves him. He’s a hound dog, although we don’t know exactly of what breed… He’s quite the handful, but a very loving dog!

In September, Dean and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary. We’ve shared so many things in the 3 short years we’ve been married – but definitely look forward to many, many more!

We also did a lot of traveling this year. Not nearly as much as we did in 2009, but we were able to get 3 trips to WA, State in, and 2 trips to Disney World! We went to WA for an early spring visit with family, for my Brother Brain's wedding in April, and then we spent Thanksgiving there in the snow! In March for my birthday, we went with Dean's entire family to Disney World. It was a ton of fun, since the last time I was there, I was pregnant with Jax - and didn't get to ride all the rides. Jax was a little too young to understand what all the fuss was about, but in October we went back with the family, and this time we were able to focus on Jax. He thoroughly enjoyed all the things he was able to do that visit! We have also had several road trips to my Dad's house in AL, and got to spend the 4th of July with them!

We have been so blessed with all of the changes thrown our way in 2010 - and are looking forward to many more changes in 2011! We are so excited about bringing Liam into the world; starting Jax in Preschool, my brother and sister in law will be welcoming a baby of their own sometime in August. Family and friends coming and going and all the new things we will get to discover having two boys!

We sincerely hope that everyone has a safe and Happy New Year! We wish you all Health, Love, and Happiness for 2011!!!

-The Wards

Oh Christmas Tree...

2010-12-27T09:59:00.005-05:00

What a Christmas we have had! Jax of course made out like a bandit, and I will now be going through all his old toys and putting them away for donations and Liam... I can honestly say it looks like a toy store blew up in our house! ;)

It was such an amazing experience to share with Jax waking up on Christmas morning. Of course we had to wake him up due to our travel plans, and based on what time we needed to leave our house... but after he saw what Santa brought, he was quite excited! The weeks leading up to Christmas were so special. Jax "kinda" understood the meaning of Christmas, but of course focused on Santa, and HO-HO-HO. Every picture he saw of Santa was followed with "Merrrrrry Christmas, Ho-Ho-Ho!" I am already looking forward to next year with him having even more of an understanding, and being so excited about being a "good boy".

Dean and I were very excited to help Santa out, and make sure everything went according to plans! We helped with stockings, and setting the tree up "just right". We have had a lot of decisions to make as far as how we are going to do things, but I think over the years we will get a true idea of how our family will do it. We left Santa's presents unwrapped and fully assembled for Jax to see when he came down the stairs. Ha, something that would have NEVER worked with me. Jax received the "Little Wheelies Stand Rampway", and booooy did he know what the was! Once he set eyes on it, it was hard to get him to focus on ANYTHING else. He just looked at it all ready to play with and said, "Oooh, yook! Carrrrs!" ;D After we finally got him to understand the rip and open concept, he enjoyed getting to the next present, only to be hung up on what THAT one was, and it being pried away for the next. He literally got so many cool things, and that was just from Santa, Dean and I, and my immediate family...

After we were done with our tree, we needed to get all of us ready to head to Nashville for the rest of the day. So we piled up all the take-able toys, and headed out to Shelbyville, TN where Dean's Granny and Grand Daddy live. We only spent a few hours there, but had fun exchanging gifts. We even got to meet the newest edition, Kensey Stallings. Although our visit with that side of the family was short, we enjoyed seeing all of our family. After we left there, we were on our way to Lynchburg, TN for Harrell's side of the family's annual Christmas Auction. We hadn't seen this side of the family in waaaay too long. We usually alternate Christmas years of being in WA, State or in TN - and so the TN years, we usually jump around to several houses and celebrate with them. The Auction I must say is the most fun! It's a good way to sit around, catch up with friends and family, and exchange junk! Haha. This year we were good, and walked away with only things we "bought" (play money is handed out prior to the auction). Sara and Al weren't so lucky, and all that was auctioned off and bought somehow all ended up in their car lol...

Once we were done there, Dean, Jax and I decided to stop in at our friends Michael and Annette's to visit with them. We had a good time with their family. Jax got to see his best friend Easton - and we had a good conversation that didn't relvolve around diapers and Sesame Street!

It ended up being a late and loooong Christmas Day - but all in all it was wonderful.

With the snow Nashville received, our church plans were unfortunately cancelled - so we missed getting to see our family at Faith... We are planning a trip back in the next few weeks, and hope we can get to see them all then. We did meet up with MeMaw and PawPaw at Cracker Barrel before we all headed home. That was a lot of fun, and we exchanged even MORE gifts. We are so lucky to be having another little boy here shortly to share all the amazing gifts, books, toys and clothes that Jax has received over the last 2 years as the only grandchild, and only boy great-grandson! I definitely have my work cut out for me in the next few weeks to get all the outgrown toys packed up and stored away!!

We were glad to have had a safe trip back home. We had some pretty bad weather to welcome us home, and thankfully we were able to make it up the hill once we did get home! Now we just have to pack up all the Christmas decorations. Take the tree down (it’s still so alive and pretty though…), rearrange the house back to pre-Christmas state and count down to the New Year!! I am already looking forward to our next Christmas, when we have two beautiful little boys to share it with…

Hope everyone had an amazing Holiday Season as well! We wish you all Health, Love, and Happiness.

Xoxo
Shylah

Jaxon's Toddler Bed Debut...

2010-12-03T14:37:00.010-05:00

We officially have a BIG BOY! I started to post this 2 weeks ago, but I've had a bunch of other things going on that I forgot to get back to this. 2 weeks ago we took the side off Jaxon's crib and converted it into a Toddler bed. *Sniff Sniff*. I was hoping that he would get at least another 6 months in the crib, but after all, he is 2...

He's only slept a few nights in there by himself, and all night long, but he's also not been sleeping well alone for the last month. Mostly because he's been sick, but also before we took the side of the crib off... after the first few nights of him crawling out, we were afraid he would do it partly asleep, so we would just bring him in with us.

I'm hoping he'll get the hang of it soon, and start sleeping through the night, but for now it just means mommy is up a lot at night getting him back to bed. Dean has had to come in several times and wake me up haha, but I'd rather get him used to someone in HIS bed, than getting him used to our bed again before the baby comes! So far he has thoroughly enjoyed climbing in and out, and of course bringing everything he owns in his bed, as well as jumping! When we ask him if he's ready for bed, he points upstairs and says "Jaxon's Big Bed!" We are so proud of the time he does spend in there, and will definitely reward him for being a big boy once he's slept in there all night long!

If anyone has any helpful tips on keeping them in their room, please share!!!

Love, Shylah

Washington Winterland...

2010-12-01T15:19:00.012-05:00

Happy Belated Thanksgiving to all those I failed to call, email or text on Turkey Day. We celebrated Thanksgiving on Friday with my family, so actual Thanksgiving day, was spent in front of the tv watching both of my football teams lose! ;(

Anyways... We were in Washington, State and had a great time. We had the whole family together thankfully, which I didn't think was going to happen as there were 7" of snow by the 5th day Jax and I were there. Cherie, Vito and Aunt Terry came down from Seattle, over the pass and through the snow. Jace took a train from Oregon, Dean flew in and managed to get to us on time for once, and everyone there locally all had time off to visit too!

Jax was amazing on all of our flights. I was nervous to see how he would do flying again, since it had been 7 months since our last flight, and I figured both of us had lost our travel touch. This was also Jaxon's last "free" trip, which means that he had to sit on my lap... so I was dreading how that would go with a wiggly toddler, a pregnant belly and somehow thinking we would have the lap tray down to watch video's. Surprisingly we managed. Jax and I both were able to get some sleep in on our first flight. Jax feel asleep before the plane even took off, and woke up only because I made him, 10 mins before we landed. We had one layover in Denver, and so we just hung out at our gate and watched Sesame Street videos. Our second flight wasn't too bad, but not as good as our first. Jax didn't want to sit still, and really wanted to sit with the man next to us, who thankfully gave the go ahead and was extremely helpful in keeping Jax seated.

Once we landed and got to mom's house, Jax was a giddy little boy at Gramma's. She had toy's galore out for him to play with. Some new ones and then some that we had left there and forgotten about from the last trip. ;) He was a very happy boy!

On our third day there, we were excited to have Jaxon's Godparents

"Shooie and Papa Vito", and "cousin" Landon come to visit. We had planned a day of visiting, Chuck E. Cheeses, Pictures with Santa and just letting the boys play together. Well, we still managed to get all of this accomplished, but in about 5" of snow! Chuck E. Cheeses was exhausting. I think I can do without seeing that place again for a while. The boys had fun though, and we got some great pictures of them together.

The next few days we got more and more snow, and then the wind came in with it as well. It was sooooo cold. All I wanted to do was play with Jax in the snow, but with the wind it was almost unbearable to be out. We had about 7" by the 5th day we were there. It was really pretty, and Jax loved looking out the window at the snow!

When Dean flew in, my vacation started. Daddy was much more willing to get bundled up and go out in the cold, so Jax eventually got to play in it. It took us about 15 mins to get him dressed each time he went out, for oh... about 5 mins of play. Lol. We went and visited Grandpa each day, and even though it was a chore for us to keep him out of all Grandpa's "fun things", the look on Grandpa's face showed he just loved having us there!

On our Thanksgiving, Friday, we had the whole family there, and surprisingly it went very well. We all ate really great, and then celebrated Jaxon's 2nd birthday! He got some new books, two new dvd's, a Sesame St. guitar and cell phone, Lego's, and an awesome ice cream birthday cake!!! I am not sure who enjoyed his birthday more. Me - getting to eat ice cream cake AND pumpkin pie, DJ and his free arm workout throwing Jax around for 2 hours after ice cream was consumed by Jax, or Grandpa just being oblivious to it all! ;)

I sadly didn't get around to visiting all my friends as I had hoped. The weather kinda screwed me up there, so I apologize for those I didn't get to see... ;( I am thankful for the friends and family I did see though, and for everyone spoiling Jax! I don't think he was disappointed at any house we visited between dogs, cats, toys and cookies!

It was so nice being in WA and getting to spend Thanksgiving with my family, seeing all the snow and catching up with everyone, but coming back home is always something I look forward to! Thankfully our trip back home was a breeze! I had so many people willing to help with Jax and all of our things! He even got his own seat on both flights! The first flight, we again both slept, then almost missed our connecting flight in Denver. We were on the same plane that we flew in from Pasco, and only had about 30 mins before our next flight left. I had to use the bathroom, and they needed Jax and I to deplane, so I had asked if I had time to go, get Jax changed, and get some milk. We came right back to the gate and were starting to get situated in the waiting area, when a man came up to us and said lets go. I assumed he just wanted us to be on the flight first since he knew we came off the plane already and were continuing on. NOPE! The gate crew had already pushed the ramp away from the plane, and THANKFULLY this man was the Captain of the plane. He too was told he would have time to go to the bathroom, etc. So he was able to get us on the plane with no problems, and again gave us our own seats, and even helped carry all of our stuff on board. Tis’ the Season!!!

Once we got back home, I had two crazy puppies excited to have us home and Lily… the annoying cat. Jax was also very excited to be back in his “playroom” with all of his things! Now if we can just get him to sleep in his own bed again… *sigh*

Well Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!

Love Shylah

Happy Birthday Jaxon!!!!

2010-11-14T10:55:00.021-05:00

Wow! I can't believe Dean and I have a TWO YEAR OLD!!!! Even though we have witnessed him grow (and yes it took 2 whole years) we are still shocked at how fast the time really has gone by!
Jaxon is such a HUGE part of our lives. We can't imagine how we even lived now w/out him. Oh now he can have his moments and cause us to sit and ponder why we are even pregnant again, lol. But really, he is so much fun. He is such a big helper these days. We taught him a few things that will help once Liam gets here like; grabbing a new diaper, throwing diapers away, picking up his playroom, brushing his teeth, and helping mommy or daddy put clean dishes away, by putting his cups, plates and bowls in the drawer we have his things in. Of course we also are counting these things as ways that he can earn "monies" as he calls them. Pennies have so much more value now. He loves getting coins and putting them in his piggy bank!

So much has changed in just one year since his first birthday! He has learned and recognized all of his numbers (lower case and upper case); he can count and recognize numbers to 15. He can sing about 6-7 songs, or at least TRY to sing the words. He uses "scoops", aka forks and spoons. He's mastered unplugging, arranging and putting the RCA colored cables in from the DVD player to the TV, as well as taking out DVD's and playing new ones! He knows all of the Sesame Street characters by name, sound, and color. He has ALSO just recently figured out and mastered climbing out of his pack n play, as well as his crib! We're definitely in trouble now!

Over the last year, Dean and I have worked really hard with him and his learning. Some people call him gifted, but I just consider him a lucky only child that has two parents dedicated to his learning development. He really is excited about learning, which of course makes it fun for Dean and I to teach him w/out feeling like we are forcing education on him faster than he needs to. We're also extremely lucky that he has taken to learning so much. We've never pressured him into things, if anything it's the other way around! He loves anything to do with "A,B,C's and 1,2,3's", and yes, even I have forgone saying 'letters and numbers' and have retreated in Jaxon's language to saying "Oh, have you seen Jaxon's ABCD's?" Haha. Dean hasn't fallen victim to this yet!

Jax is starting to speak in more understandable sentences, rather than a few words here and there, and man oh man, if we knew that how you speak to your child, would come out in play, I think Dean and I would have considered a few things more carefully. Haha. Just the other night, Jax was in the bathtub playing with his water monsters, he was laying them all down on the side of the tub, then once all three were lined up and "sleeping", he pointed his finger at them, and said "Now you sleep, sssh. Go nigh-night babies, NOW!". There was a brief silence before I started busting up laughing, and as I stood there, I started questioning whether Dean and I yell at him too much to take a nap or go to bed, lol. This age really is so much fun for us though! Dean and I get a kick out of all the things he catches on to, or learns from his tv shows or even just watching the puppies. Yeah, try explaining to an 18 month old that, he doesn't need to drink water from a bowl on the floor.

With another year, we will now be entering the lovely "terrible two's"! They don't call it that for nothing after all right!?!? We are hoping that with the addition of Liam, we will be able to get through this so called stage at least half decently. We have already seen some of the attitude Jax has inherited from us... *sigh*. Of course this is 'just hilarious' for our parents to watch... (yeah yeah, I am sorry I was bad... but I am good now HELP!). We are doomed if he goes the same route that Dean and I did at this age! But we will just have to see how that goes. So to that, I say BRING IT ON!

Tomorrow we are headed to WA State to spend Thanksgiving with my family. Jax is so excited to go on an airplane! I told him he's been on a ton of airplanes in his life, but now that he understands more, and knows what they actually are, this will hopefully be a fun trip for him! Once we return at the end of the month we will be entering "the adventures" of potty land, sleeping in a big boy bed land, and who know's what else!!!

I have posted all of the pictures from Jaxon's birthday party to the right. Our good friend Brandi took most of them, and captured most of his party frame by frame for those who missed it! Jax had a wonderful birthday party with friends and family in TN! Up next is his WA party!!

We also want to share the video of a birthday card we sent in for Jax on Sprout TV. It was listed online, as well as shown on the Sunnyside Up morning show! Jax was able to watch it live; as well as watch it a few more times off the DVR. I wish I could have gotten his reaction on film as well! He was very excited and kept saying "Yook Mommy Yook!"

We Love you all!!!

Shylah

Happy Halloween!!!!

2010-10-31T20:50:00.012-04:00

Happy Halloween everyone! Hope everyone had a safe and fun holiday! We have been celebrating for the last three days with Jax! While I had fun, and I know Jax did too, I am glad it's finally over! This year we found Jax a really cute $3 Cookie Monster costume at a consignment sale, so we decided he would go as that. We were going to have him be Oscar the Grouch or the Count, but that might work for next year! At first he hated the costume because he doesn't like to wear hats, and he would rather play with it, but then after he figured out he got candy with it on, he decided it was okay.

I am gonna brag a little bit here and tell everyone that Jax was the ONLY person I saw that had any manners this entire weekend. Where ever he was, if he went up to Trick or Treat, he said "Trick or Treat" as best as he could, then ended the phrase with "please" or "nom nom nom". Then after he was given a piece of candy he would say "thank you". He also gave back most of his candy, haha, and if someone gave him more than one, he would keep the one he wanted, and give back the rest. I must say I was very proud of this, but now must take advantage of the 50% off candy sales tomorrow. He sure was cute and the only Cookie Monster we saw. Here is how our weekend went…

Friday all the businesses downtown had a trick or treating festival for kids that we went to. It was okay, but not worth the two hours of being in the wind and cold for the 7 pieces of candy Jax ended up getting. Then on Saturday, we went to the Chillin' N Grillin festival that was set up downtown. It's a little festival that has a bunch of local vendors, arts and crafts, music, bbq and chili cook off's and a place for the kiddo's to burn off their energy. Jax had a lot of fun while we were there, and bounced for about an hour and a half in one of those bounce houses. I've never seen him have so much fun jumping!

Saturday night, Dean and I went to our friends Rachel and Greg's third annual Halloween Bash. Dean dressed up as a Chilean Miner and I decided to rock the "beer gut" and go as an Alabamian Redneck! We went with those ideas since we didn't really put any time or thought into our costumes until a few days before. Dean had all his equipment and uniform pieces from both Metromont and working on the windmills, so really all he needed was a Chilean Flag and some soot on his face. I decided to switch my original idea of being a "barefoot and pregnant" redneck, and Dean being my redneck boyfriend, to taking full advantage of the pregnant belly and turning it into a beer gut. Both of our outfits cost us next to nothing, and we both pulled it off well! Matter of fact, I won me a box of Little Debbie Nutty Bars and took home the Funniest Costume Award! I think if there had been an award for most disturbing I would have taken that home too! I might have gone a little over board with the whole thing, but I had a blast. I had jerky chew, smelled like motor oil and bbq sauce, and even had my lucky Busch Beer boxers out for show! I now know why rednecks talk the way they do. For example, instead of darn, they say "dern" and I think it's because they have to keep their chew in, so it forces them to mispronounce words! Der!

The whole night was really fun. It was a good, clean, party with really good friends and family. Everyone had on great costumes. There were a bunch of "classic" Halloween costumes, but most were pretty original. Brett Favre and Jenn Sterger were there, "Quailman" from the cartoon Doug, The Publisher's Clearing House Prize Patrol, Lady Gaga, Colonel Sanders, Richard Simmons and more... My vote went to Rachel, our friend Brandi and their friend Emilee. They dressed up as discontinued Barbie's. Jailbreak Barbie, Rockstar Barbie and Construction Worker Barbie. Their costumes were amazing! The best part of the night is when they finally got out of their boxes, and Dean who had taken some of his costume off, decided to portray the "real" jailbreak Barbie. Haha, he resembled more of a Joe Dirt in a Barbie box look... but definitely had it right. Sara dressed up as Lady Gaga, and her husband, Al was another redneck and my "cousin Al". Haha. We all had so much fun. I was glad to come home and clean up though, and Dean was finally glad to be able to kiss me w/out feeling weird.

Today we took it easy and didn't really have anything planned to do until we got a call from Nana and Pop's about Jax coming to their Fall Festival. The church they go to put on a kids festival for pre-schoolers and younger ONLY, which was really nice to not have the older kids knocking the babies down for candy. There were a ton of games for them to do, coloring, bowling, etc... Jax wound up bringing an entire pumpkin full of candy home for Mommy and Daddy to "check over". I knew there were hidden benefits to having children! =D

All in all, this weekend was a lot of fun and we all enjoyed Jax's excitement dressing up, passing out candy, trick or treating, etc... but I am so glad it's over! Next year Dean and I will get to have fun with two little boys!!! Whoo hoo, that's even more pumpkins to paint and carve, and more candy for us!!! Hope you all are doing well! We love you and miss you all!

Shylah

(More pictures are posted. Click on our Pumpkin Patch album, then My Photos once open to view "Halloween Costumes 2010...")

Pumpkin Patch 2010...

2010-10-28T09:36:00.017-04:00

Happy Autumn everyone! I absolutely love this time of year. The leaves are all starting to change colors here... I can't believe that it's almost November, and they are just starting to turn colors. I must say, that our every day beautiful view of the mountains is even more gorgeous right now. The mountain range is starting to show shades of reds, oranges and yellows. It's so pretty with the sun on them... We definitely have it rough out here :D

Over the past two weekends, we've had lots of fun sorting through Halloween costumes, and finally making our way out to a pumpkin patch. We found one that is just a little ways from us called Myers Pumpkin Patch and more. It's tucked away down a side road, and absolutely beautiful. I am not sure how big the "farm" is, but the corn maze they also have on their property is 24 acres!!!! They had an aerial picture of it in their shop, and it looked like an entire city!

They had a ton of stuff to do for kids, from the "kiddy corral", to the hill slide, arts & crafts, pumpkin painting and more. The first time we went, we took Nana and Pops with us, and sadly for us, Jax did not cooperate at all. All he wanted to do was play with the toys. Mistake #1 on our behalf for letting him go in there first. We were eventually able to get him to pick out a pumpkin, but not without pitching a fit in front of everyone. We only stayed a little while and were sad we left with a crying baby, and a cranky mama!

So then we decided to make another go at it since Aunt Rachel wanted to take Jax. We went out again last weekend, and it was much more enjoyable for all of us. We left early enough to have time to do all the things we wanted to, and not cut into Jaxon's naptime!

We went on a tractor/hayride; Daddy and Aunt Rachel took Jax down this humongous hill slide, we dug through hay stacks and found hidden gourds. We picked out real pumpkins from an actual pumpkin patch, and rocked on the front porch drinking hot apple cider, while looking at the gorgeous mountain views! We really had a great time. It was much too hot for my liking, but all in all it was a lot of fun. I am so glad that we have started this fall tradition with Jax!

Now we just need to paint and carve our pumpkins, and figure out how to make pumpkin seeds, and maybe even at attempt at a pumpkin pie from scratch!

All the pictures from both days are on the right sidebar. Enjoy!

Xoxo
Shylah

It's a BOY!!!

2010-10-14T16:52:00.006-04:00

First off, I am extremely excited about bringing another baby boy into this world! Liam David Ward! We chose the name Liam based on Dean's Irish heritage, and the middle name David for my brother! Yes Deej - I love you THAT much to want to name our baby after you! I only hope and pray he will be as wonderful of a brother to Jax as you were to me!

Gender disappointment? No! Well not really anyways... Of course I had always envisioned myself with one of each. After all, I was raised with a brother, so naturally I wanted and expected God to bless me with the "all American family"... Well, I guess the big guy has other plans!

It is pretty funny to think about actually, because when it comes to girly-girls, I was it! I was a Barbie playing, doll loving, makeup-wearing, cheerleading, hates the dirt, LOVES glitter kind of girl! Seriously, if there were a picture next to the word “prissy” in the dictionary, it would have been mine! I was that much of a girl! I didn’t like getting dirty, I yelled and ran away from any type of insect, I ducked at any ball thrown my way. I was “that girl” that so many other girls hate!

I was content to stay inside and braid my doll’s hair, play with my Barbie Dream House, or read a good Baby Sitter's book, rather than join the neighbor kids outside. Outside meant dirty, and dirty wasn’t something I enjoyed. Rarely did I join the other kids in a game outside, and when I did, I didn’t stay long. Bugs, and bug bites. Yuck. Do you get what I am saying here? I was a total girl... well most of the time anyway!

Once I discovered "boys"... I quickly learned to like things like sports, dirt, video games, trucks, writing in microscopic hand writing, building things, tearing things apart to create cooler things, etc... Things I learned to love since DJ had no desire to play Barbie's with me, or dress-up, or any of the girly-girl stuff I liked to do!

Liam - "The determined protector"

Well, there was a time where he let me give him "clear polish only" manicures haha! He even had a "frequent visitors" card I made! Remember that Deej?

Had it not been for my brother brain, I would be the dumb blonde on the side of the road calling AAA, instead of changing a flat tire myself! I would know nothing about baseball, Jeep Rubicons, tires, shocks, struts and lift kits! About cheat codes in 'Golden Gun', pinecone baseball, trash can rolling, car dodging, and building forts! I also wouldn't be co-creator of our "rubber band cutting machine"!!! All of these things, and then some, I can only give thanks to my brother for! Things that I pray Jaxon and Liam will be able to do! Memories they will be able to make and carry for a lifetime!

I know several people who have two boys, and would never change a thing about them! I look forward to all the hand me downs of Jaxon's that we can share! To not having different room themes (at least for now), to Red, Blue, Green and Yellow! To trucks and trains... and no Barbie lying out on the "tracks of death" as I had :(. To sporting events where they can hopefully play as a team, to MULTIPLE BUG KILLERS! (Yes!!!), to yard work being done by "the boys", and on... and on... and on!

Will I miss things because I didn't have a daughter? Maybe. But then again, there are nieces for that :) My Aunt and I are extremely close, and so I can always look forward to that! I can spoil a niece in ways a mother might not be able to! I have several nieces already and hopefully many more to come!!!

All in all... I am VERY happy! As with any new baby, I have fears of favoritism with Jax... I've been reassured that this is a normal feeling, and that a mothers love does not divide, it multiplies... I am ready for Jaxon to have a buddy, to have a friend, and most importantly to have a bond that only Brothers have...

As far as the baby update: Liam was full of kicks and plenty of attitude this morning. He literally showed his parts the second the sonographer touched the wand to my belly... then immediately went to standing on his head, holding his legs above his head... (Hmm... sounds like another little boy I carried!). Our LMD puts us at 17 weeks, 3 days... but of course we're going off the 1st ultrasound that dated us 2 weeks ahead... Well NOW... we're dating even farther. I have been saying 19 weeks... but we had one date go all the way to 21 weeks, 6 days which is a full month and a half farther... LOL. I told the Dr. that the baby will get here when he get's here... But it is nice to know that the baby is growing ahead of the growth schedule for once ;)

My next prenatal appointment is Nov. 4th, and our next u/s is Dec. 1.

Hope you all are as excited as we are about meeting Liam!

Love you all, Shylah

Thing 3 to Thing 4...

2010-10-13T10:14:00.006-04:00

Remember Dean and I's "Thing 1, 2, 3" picture?!?!

The first time I ever went to Disney World with the Wards, I was pregnant with Jax. I was able to ride most of the rides because I wasn't that far along, and my doctor had given me the go-ahead. So after going on literally every ride my first time there, (even the kiddie rides) and after getting off the Seuss-Trolly, lol... I saw these "thing" shirts... I decided rather than buy the shirts, to just take a photo moment and capture our growing family...

Thing 1, 2, 3...

So once I found out we were going to Disney pregnant again, I decided that it was definitely worth the cost of admission to take our new Thing picture... (only I got in free, thanks to doing a Wyndham survey!)

So here is our newest and last Thing Picture. Once baby #2 is born, I may have to order these shirts and we'll have to go and get our pictures taken with the actual "Thing 4" here with us!

Thing 1, 2, 3, and baby makes 4!

And yes... we realize our numbers are off... Lol. I told Dean that I was Thing 1 last time... but he seems to think our roles have changed *wink wink*

Ward Family Vacation...

2010-10-12T16:43:00.019-04:00

Howdy! We are back and rested after our wonderful "Ward Family Vacation" to Disney World. We spent 8 days in Orlando visiting the parks, relaxing, and spending some time together as a family! The main purpose of this trip was for the In-Laws to go the "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter" which is a new ride that was opened at Universal Studios/Island of Adventure this past July. The in-laws (Dean included) have been counting down the days till this ride opened, but wanted to miss the grand opening crowd and all the hype associated with that, so we all chose to go during Disney's "off season".
It was a great trip for me as well, even though I didn't get to do any of the rides. I enjoyed being a mom and letting Jax do all the fun stuff and rides. I lied; I did get to ride some of the rides with Jax, but have to plan yet another trip to ride all the new 'NEW' rides that opened up since the last time we went in March 2010.
Here is Dean enjoying world famous "Butter Beer", a drink from the movie. I am not a fan of Harry Potter at all, but I am a fan of this! It's like drinking A&W Cream Soda and Rootbeer mixed together! Mmm...
This is a view of Hogwartz Castle (I think that's right...)

Sunday was a fun day! We went to the Disney Boardwalk and found the ESPN Sports Zone, where we decided to gamble and see if we could watch the Titans and Seahawks, who for the only time this season, were playing at the same time... We ended up finding a table with both the games side by side (must've been fate), and watched the entire game! Jax was amazing! He played contently with ice cubes, and his books... and then slept the rest of the time, which I am still amazed by. We were forced to sit with too many Steelers and Greenbay fans... but hey... their teams lost too! Every time either team did anything, I just knew Jax would wake up, but the most he did was open one eye, look around, and decided it wasn't worth it to wake up. He was so good in fact, that the Packer fan's beside us gave us a free chocolate milkshake... ;)

Monday through Wednesday, Dean, Jax and I didn't do too much. We just hung around, went to Downtown Disney, and hung out at the condo that had an amazing Lazy River and Toddler Splash Zone. There was also a big playground for Jax... lots of places to explore with ducks, and cranes to see, as well as the activities put on by Wyndham for us to do.

Wednesday - Sharon and I took Jax to Universal Studios so he could ride all the rides in Seuss’s Landing, and so we could take our "Thing" picture... (I will post separately, as I feel it deserves its own post!). I was also highly anticipating my fully loaded funnel cake that I missed getting last time we were there...

Thursday was Magic Kingdom day! Sharon had planned on taking Jax the whole time, but then it lucked out for me, that she had an extra day pass that I could use to go along! He had so much fun! I was a little disappointed, that right when we got there, a lot of the rides were closed for maintenance or construction... but once we got in, and rode a few rides, the others opened. Small World was the only ride that stayed closed while we were there, so that was a major bummer... but The Winnie the Pooh ride I believe made up for it. He loved all the colors and music and riding in the honey pots! The whole 8 days we were there, I would say that Jaxon's "had to do" list consisted of two things. Find the Alligator at Rain Forest Cafe, and ride the carrousel wherever we were! Lol. This child rode every single carrousel we saw. At first we stood beside him and made sure he wouldn't fall, but by the end of our trip, he had gone on at least 3 rides where he got to ride alone, and Dean and I got to ride our own animal haha. As far as the alligator at RFC... well Jax may be a Gator fan for now. He was so fascinated by this 8' alligator they had in the front of the restaurant. We ate there one night, and while waiting for our reservations we showed Jax all the animals that were displayed outside. There were butterflies, and elephants, a tiger and giraffe... but all Jax cared about was going "chomp chomp - chomp chomp". I am sure that all you SEC Fans will be thrilled to know he did this ALL week long!

Friday the whole family except Jax and I, went to Epcot and did the Food, Wine and Dessert festival. So Jax and I slept in, met some friends of mine who live in Orlando for lunch, came back and napped, and just had a Mommy and Me day. Once we were up from our nap, we took a stroll through the resort, played on the playground, in the sand, stopped to sing "Crazy" at the Karaoke night they were having, and then came back and colored and had a good mac-n-cheese dinner!

Friday night/Saturday morning was another story. I had a really hard time putting Jax to sleep that night... and I couldn't figure out why. He cried through bath time, which I have never seen. Then cried for "no reason" for an hour+ until finally he was out. For the next hour he slept, and then decided to wake up every other hour for 2 hours at a time for the rest of the night. On the second wake up, Dean and I noticed he was pulling at his ears... so at 3 am, Dean and I were googling ear infections, remedies, etc... it was absolute hell. Jax has never had an ear infection ever, so we had absolutely no idea how to even help. We read about water bottles, and heating pads, and blow dryers... all of which we didn't have just laying around, so we medicated with Tylenol. I have never felt so helpless.

So Saturday morning we went to a Walk in clinic to verify he had no fluid on his ears per his pediatrician before applying drops... We were seen quickly, but then waited for over 2 hours for antibiotics and drops... I was so flustered. We had planned on leaving that day, and driving half way and stopping at my Dads to sleep... but all I saw was the clock ticking and my patience for driving 7-12 hours with a sick baby diminishing...
On the way back to the condo, in the elevator was when all chaos broke out for me. Jax had mastered pressing our floor and the ground floor buttons, and always walked off perfectly. Not today. When we got to our floor, Dean and I had our hands full, so we said "lets go" to Jax. We both swore we saw Jax run past us, but as the doors were closing I saw he was still in the elevator... Normally this would be a mild heart-attack for some, but 3 weeks ago I had a dream/nightmare about this exact thing and Jax being kidnapped, so my fears were all becoming real. I threw down what I had, and went to the ground floor. Dean decided to run the stairs and try to intercept. Once I saw the elevator wasn't on the ground floor, my heart dropped. Here it is Saturday mid afternoon... Hundreds of people leaving and checking in, and I am standing here holding a balloon without my baby... Since I was in the lobby I could see what floors the elevator had stopped on. I called Dean and started rattling off floors... then it got stuck on 5, for about 3 mins. I told Dean "5, he's on 5!" and just as soon as I said that, the elevator moved to 4, then 3 and got stuck on 3... so I'm shouting out floors in between sobs and tears, when Dean said he had him. I was so relieved. Jax had gotten off on 5, and then walked ALL THE WAY DOWN the halls, and started knocking on doors. THANKFULLY, the woman who's door he knocked on, decided to stay with him recognizing he was "lost" (or that his parents left him on an elevator) and stayed with him long enough for Dean to see them. She said that he knocked and tried to walk right in to their room. Sooooooo, after all this, and one emotionally drained mama... we decided to bag our plans for leaving, and stay one more night. Jax and I took a much needed nap... and we all enjoyed and slept better than the night before, heading out early on Sunday...

11 1/2 hours later, we were Home Sweet Home!!!! So while we had a few scares, and a sick baby... we had an amazing time. It was so much fun to spend time with our family, to relax (around a big pool), and to end the summer at Disney!!! Until the next time...

Shylah, Dean and Jax

3 years together...

2010-09-22T07:59:00.010-04:00

Wow! Dean and I have been married 3 years today! It's hard to think of where the time has gone, but at the same time it feels as though we've been married a lot longer. 3 years to me is not that long of a time, speaking... but today, for young couples, it's a rarity that 3 years can mean so much, last, and bring a couple even closer.

We've spent most of our marriage raising Jax, and now we've got another on the way, and still somehow in the craziness of parenthood, we've been able to keep each other a priority.
Though we may not always put each other first, we still know the importance that without the two of us, there would be no children, and is a gentle reminder of how important we are as a couple, and a team.

Our marriage certainly hasn't been perfect by any means. We have had our fights, and we squabble, and mostly of course about normal relationship woes... Kids, bills, money, news, etc... but we tend to end up laughing in most of our bickering, or at least we are able to laugh about it the next day.

Just last night Dean and I were in bed squabbling about opinions, and how one opinion could make the other mad... but this morning when I woke up, I woke up to the most amazing man kissing me good morning, and saying he loved me. ;)

If I stop long enough with being a mom, and the duties of being a Stay at Home Mom to actually reflect on the man I chose to marry, I am so proud of my decision. Sometimes it takes just that. To stop. Remember. And really think about where I stand to value Dean, and unbeknownst to him, I actually do this quite often.

I really did marry my best friend. I married the person that I have more fun doing absolutely nothing with on a Saturday morning, but cuddling and watching cartoons. I married the man who puts his family, friends and most importantly his wife and son always, at the top of his list. Who puts thought into a card, or a little note by the coffee pot. Who has always been able to make a bad situation better. Who knows that sometimes all I need is a hug. Who works so hard to allow me the opportunity to live out a dream and raise our beautiful family. Who makes me laugh at myself, smile at us, and look forward to the future. The list goes on. When I think of my marriage, I am overwhelmed with how blessed I am to have this kind of love, and a truly amazing husband.

Dean I love you more than you know, and that I could ever show. Thank you for an amazing life, and three of the most amazing years of my life. I look forward to so many more. To wrinkles, and shaky handwriting on cards. To rocking chairs, and more "honeymoons". To watching our babies grow. To loving you for the rest of my life.

Xoxo
Shylah

14-15 Week Prenatel Appt...

2010-09-17T08:46:00.002-04:00

Well I had my 14-15 week prenatal appointment yesterday. My normal Dr. wasn't there, so I saw a new Dr. Of course this can't happen again, as when I don't see my normal Dr., the backup doesn't fully read into my chart, and thinks he needs to start complete care for me. My bp was amazing (for me) 114/70 (something), and while this is great for me, most women in the 2nd trimester drop to the 100/60 range. I am close, but not where my normal Dr said he wanted me at. This Dr, who was extremely nice and seemed generally interested in my background and health, thought it was good enough to lower one of my meds. Mostly due to the fact that I have been so tired and weak due to my bp being so low for "my body"... anyways, he wanted me to reduce one of my meds to twice a day, instead of three times a day. I am going to continue with my normal dose until I talk to my Dr. on Monday.

Babies HB was 158. Very good for going into the 2nd trimester, but a significant drop from last week. Last week he/she was at 170... I try not to read into the wives tails anymore about the sex of the baby, but the way this one is going, I am still thinking it's a girl. Jaxon's hb was always high and then very low... 130 range... Only 34 more days till we find out what the baby is!!!!

The Banana Splits I've been craving have caught up with me. I gained nearly 5lbs in 3 weeks. I am still within my weight range... I've only gained 7lbs so far. 3lbs in the first trimester and now a whopping 4 just going into the 2nd... Haha...

Next prenatal appointment is scheduled for Oct. 14th, however I am going to try to either reschedule this appointment or get lucky and move up my ultrasound to the 14th so that they are together... ;)

Hope you all are doing well!
Xoxo Shylah

Memories, Friends, and Date Night...

2010-09-13T08:00:00.020-04:00

Well this weekend was a fun one! Dean had his 10 year HS Reunion for DCA in Nashville over the weekend. Of course we went and had a blast. I was really worried and over the last month had mild anxiety thinking of how his reunion would go. What people would think of me, me being his wife, and Jaxon... yada yada...

Dean, Jax and I all aced with flying colors. I do believe that Dean got the most compliments on his pregnant wife, which of course was what I was going for, and very flattering for me. We also have the "cutest son", but the only boy out of all the people that had children so far. There were three other pregnant girls, so it was fun to sit with them and compare child stories, and stories of how our "daddy's" are with them.

Jax also had his first kiss with a little girl that was two days older than him... She totally initiated the kiss... kisses, there were 3. And while I wasn't actually ready to watch my baby have his first kiss, I couldn't look away, and was actually running for the camera. Haha I guess I did good to avoid it till now. Then about a half hour later, she decided that she didn't like Jax anymore, so Jax pulled her hair...

Friday was the start of the reunion. We had a very low key barbeque dinner in one of the classrooms at DCA. It was really weird for Dean to be back in his old school, where he had so many memories, let alone the fact that for the past 5 months all we've seen is the damage to DCA caused by the 2010 Nashville Flood. His school was hit really hard, and it was really sad that the water had gotten all the way up the walls in the hallway where Dean's HS All State Soccer picture used to be. I assume one day they will put it back up, but they were still renovating the school from the flood damages.

After dinner, most of the families all went and watched the football game, which was very lopsided, even after the 1st quarter, so we left. No sense in sticking around to watch a game when the score is 37-0 after only 15 mins.

Saturday night was the dinner night, and our date night. We left Jax with Pam and our usual babysitter Ashlee for the night. Dinner was at the Wild Horse, and also kind of casual. Dean and I dressed up, which is nice for a change for us. I wore a LBD and Dean looked great in his slacks and dress shirt. It was a lot of fun to hear stories of Dean and how he used to be. HS dances, 'Most Talented' achievements, and how much he has changed. Once the year book was passed around, it was clear that Dean had probably changed the most. He was definitely talented and athletic in HS, but he claims he didn't "get cool" till college. Lol. It was so funny with it being a Saturday night in a college town, all the wives were standing around talking and learning about each other, and all thehusband's were glued to the TV's rooting on their college teams... (Too bad the Pac 10 (Pac 11), (Pac 12) ended up whooping on the SEC!) Regardless, he had a great group of friends then, and has a great group of friends now... :D

It was a very laid back reunion, and I am betting that mine will be a thousand times different due to the size of our graduating classes, and the fact that I was public, Dean was private... who knows. I've still got two years, but since all the HS reunion talk has been going on, I've already been dreading/anticipating my own in 2012.

After we were done at the Wild Horse, we decided to go out to a few of the bars and see some of our old "co-worker" friends... We stayed out late late late, but definitely made the most of our date night!

Wish we would have gotten some better pictures of the two of us... but that's how it always goes with us!!!! Hope you all enjoyed your weekend as well!

Love you all!
Shylah, Dean and Jax

Baby #2 Update...

2010-09-09T20:29:00.003-04:00

Hello, just wanted to update everyone, and let you all know how our last ultrasound went. Baby is now measuring 13 weeks, and 6 days... (5 days ahead of what

I am going off of, and almost 14 off of our original due date, that the Dr. is still going off of for some reason.) Anyways, I am sticking with I'm 13-14 weeks pregnant! Baby's heartbeat was also very strong at 170.
We couldn't tell the gender, couldn't even get close enough for a peek, so a little bummed there, but our gender reveal ultrasound (fingers crossed baby cooperates) is Oct. 21, at 8:30 am. Haha, the girl scheduling appointments asked if I wanted morning or afternoon, as all my appointments have been late afternoon, and I asked for the earliest appointment, so I wouldn't have to stay up that much later from the night before. I can't wait! Of course we just want a healthy baby, but literally, this time around, I don't care. I know boys... a girl would be nice, but either would be just as fun for Jax I hope.

Our next follow up appointment is next Thursday, that is just to check weight, meds, and do an exam. Kinda wish I could have done both today, but oh well.

The dr is also starting to get more of a personality thankfully. Not sure if he's just losing his mean touch, or if it has anything to do with Dean being there... He had a sense of humor today anyways.

Oh yes, blood pressure has also been really good that last two weeks. It's in the "normal" range, but of course that is great for me. I have been a little more tired, just because my body isn't used to those kinds of numbers. Dr. is hoping to get me at least to the 120/60 range, and hopefully that will keep my bp low enough going into the 3rd trimester, that we can keep baby in the oven longer...

Well that is the update. Everything looks great! Baby is doing fine, and so far seems to be a laid back baby... If I remember right, at 13-14 weeks with Jax when we had an u/s, he was so active the tech could barely get a good picture... ;)

A Buppy named Argo...

2010-08-13T15:00:00.001-04:00

Well we have our little "buppy" back. We have decided on the name Argo, after all he's been through.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argo

I didn't actually get anything out of the name, or the meaning behind it, until Dean gave me a Greek Mythology lesson... Argo was the name of the ship that Jason and Argonauts sailed on, and history claims it was the most protected ship under the Greek Gods...

So we figured that since our little guy was soooooo sick with Parvo and who knows what else, that someone was watching over him, and he's a blessed little fighter... ;) Plus it's a name that Jax can kind of say "Ahhhhhh Go-go"

I went and picked him up from the vet this morning, and although we don't have our "grand total" for his care and treatment, we are so glad that he is back at home and romping and bouncing around like a normal little puppy! He follows Jax around everywhere, and has done a good job at keeping Nash on his toes... ;)

And new baby makes...4

2010-08-09T17:00:00.000-04:00

Well for those who did not get the "not so subtle" hints or calls... WE'RE PREGNANT!!! We had a feeling that we were, and on the 19th did an at home pregnancy test, (two actually), and within seconds we had our answer. We had to wait a week to see a Dr here in Greeneville to confirm, and sure enough, we have a Spring baby arriving next year.

Of course with my past medical booha, and our last pregnancy with Jax being early, we are considered high risk, so we were referred to a specialist in Johnson City, about 40 mins from us. His name is Dr. Welt and specializes in high-risk pregnancies and more so in high blood pressure and diabetes. Our first appointment and u/s with him went well, and he seems to think that I am not the worst case he's seen (yay for me), and we found out we were actually a week farther than what we expected and were told by the first Dr. Our due date is St. Patties Day... but we're thinking we'll have a Feb baby just going off how early Jax was...

We are very excited, and are really anxious for Jax to be a Big Brother!!!!

We will keep you all posted as to how I am doing, and things are progressing. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers!

Love Shylah, Dean, Jax and baby #2

Look who's back...

2010-08-07T13:07:00.002-04:00

After a failed attempt at a new blog, and a family website... I have come back to the blog I know and Love...

Hope that you all are still out there and keeping tabs on the Wards... but if not, hopefully this will get you back up to date with us.

Hope everyone is doing well and taking care!

Love Shylah, Dean and Jaxon!

Still here...

2009-12-12T00:29:00.000-05:00

Hello! Again, I know many of you are wondering where I've been, considering I have so much more time on my hands... Well I'm actually MUCH busier now than ever! Hoping to calm down after the holidays, but we'll see!
To catch you all up to date,Dean came home on Saturday! Jax and I were actually out of town visiting Dad and Dixie, so we didn't get to see him till Monday. Dad and Dixie were more than happy to see us! The last time we saw them, was when they came to us a few months after Jax was born. It was a fun visit and of course we were equally spoiled. Nah, I take that back, Little Bit won that one.
After we left there, Dean drove down to Chattanooga and met us there, where we went to the TN Aquarium! It was awesome, and even more awesome cause there was no one there but us!!! Although I was a little sad because Jax didn't show as much interest in the aquarium or fish as he used to. He just wanted out and wanted to run!
Once we got home and settled, we got a bunch of scares! Jax came down with a ridiculous fever (which I'm positive came from his 1 year vaccinations on Tues). Then just as soon as we were preparing for that, we got a call from Dad that Dixie was in the ICU at UOA in Alabama. She had some bleeding on the brain, that originally was thought to be a ruptured brain annuerysm. Turns out it wasn't, even after the Dr's said it was. As of today they are still running tests and hopefully will find out tomorrow what caused it and why.
Now we are trying to get Jax up to par and just having family time and getting ready for more traveling before Dean goes back to work. We'll know more on when and where Monday so stay tuned. Jax is still really fighting this bug,(thank you Flu shots grr...) He's been miserable. Hardly eating, forcing fluids, can't sleep, doesn't wanna play, just no fun!

Hope you all are doing well! Please keep us as well as Dad and Dixie in your thoughts and prayers.
Love you,
Shylah, Dean and Jax

12 Months of Total Bliss...

2009-11-16T16:51:00.012-05:00

Well sadly I have not been updating as much as I thought I would be once I stayed at home... I'll give you one reason why!!!! Jax has definitely kept me on my toes the last two weeks. I'll tell you! It's been so nice though being able to stay with him and really get to see how he is ALL the time, not just when Mommy's home. I've got my hands full for sure! =)

I can't believe Jax will be 1 tomorrow... I am excited, but of course sad at the same time. The last 364 days have flown by and yet, my itty bitty little boy,is such a big boy now. This year has been an absolutely thrilling and outstanding year, I just can't believe it's gone by so fast. Thankfully, I've taken the time to enjoy it. I haven't been as surprised at the things he has done as I thought I would be, because I waited for it, and embraced each milestone as it came. Some of the things that he has done, came a little faster than I actually was ready for, like walking, and teething haha, but I've been amazed each step, and am more proud of him than I can express. Jax has completely changed our lives by making it more challenging, but so much more enjoyable at the same time. Dean and I always joked about how our lives would be so boring if we didn't have our farm, and since we had Jax we couldn't imagine how our lives would be without him.

Walking upstairs to take a shower and having to throw about 5 things out of the tub, pulling toys out of the dishwasher, making everything in the house go a little bit higher up, and a little farther in on the shelves, pulling the smallest things out of his mouth, dropping the crib a little lower every other month, etc... all of which are completely normal we were told, and thankfully we've never taken it for granted. I know now that he's mobile, we're really in for it, but now that I have the time to be with him, I'm hoping I can stay one step ahead of him.

When we first brought Jax home, we were so surprised and still in shock that he was here so early, that we missed all the "what if's" and never really got to reflect on how fortunate we were to actually have him home. I get really choked up some days, now reflecting on how absolutely blessed we were to not have him in the NICU, that he didn't have a single thing wrong with him, and that he is completely healthy. I remember the Dr. telling us that our little 4lb, 11oz baby was the healthiest baby in the nursery that day. Every time I hear someone making a comment about how small he is, it's hard not to rattle everything off about his history, so I usually stop myself and just smile knowing that he is so amazing, just little! All of the milestone's he has hit, that we were told he would be months behind, and he was doing right when his age said he would, we celebrated a little more,thinking, yeah... we've got a super baby!!!

Jax is just now starting to wear 6-9 months clothes, size 2 diapers, and still has his original carseat. He got to enjoy his swing up to 10 months only because he could climb out, and still enjoys his bouncer, all of which most babies outgrow in less than 6 months. He has 7, almost 8 teeth pushed through the gums, is walking/running, and only crawling when he falls. He can say Mama, Dadda, Buh-Bye, and No, along with his fully "matter of fact" sentences and other normal baby blabber. He understands what No means, although shakes his head and points and tells YOU no, then smiles and waits for a reaction. He has had only one fever, that lasted less than 12 hours, has never gone to the doctor other than his normal check-up's, and knock on wood, has not had any type of injury other than bumps from being clumsy. He is already off his pacifier (4 months ago),only sucked his thumb for one week, can already kinda use a straw, can drink from a sippy cup, (although he doesn't understand the concept of tipping it up), and has been eating adult "table" food since he was 9 months old. He started climbing stairs at 10 months old, has already figured out how to "safely" climb down, can get up and off the couch, and almost off the bed. This of course if just a summary. There are so many other amazing things that he does and can do, but for the sake of you all, I will stop there. =)

Looking at Jax right now figuring out what in and out means, playing contently in a laundry basket with a shampoo bottle, and being with Dean, and as a family, I realize how truly blessed my life is. The last year hasn't come without it's trying times for us, but because of our Faith, our Love and our Trust in each other, not to mention our amazing family and friends who have helped out so much, we've made it work.

I know that many of you wish you could be here with us tomorrow to celebrate Jaxon's birthday, and the holidays, but we will hopefully be having post birthday parties once we are back home to make up for it. Jax has already gotten the best birthday present that anyone can give him by seeing his Daddy yesterday!

Hopefully I'll have pictures tomorrow to post for you all to see and share. We're planning on taking him to a little version of Chuck E. Cheese's over at the mall, and just need to figure out chocolate vs. vanilla cake, pick up the "1" candle and some balloons!!!!

Now I'm off to cuddle my 11 month old...

Love you all!!

Shylah

Jax reuniting with Daddy!!!

2009-11-16T16:46:00.002-05:00

I can not begin to describe how amazing this was to me yesterday. I had to hold Jax back once he heard Dean's voice, so that I could get it on video, and he just took off. This is the first time Dean has EVER seen Jax walk besides videos, and the first time Jax has walked to his Daddy! I didn't cry until later because I was in such awe of how Jax would't let Dean put him down, or anything. He didn't want anything to do with me once we were all together. =)

I hope you enjoy this as much as I did!

Love you all

Shylah, Dean and Jax

Who knew a box could be so fun...

2009-11-16T16:31:00.003-05:00