So In LOVE!

I could not possibly be more in love with either one of them..........my adorable son and the hot guy from the gym:)

Other news:

Still no news on the emptying study......I am going to call them today though!

And, I am VERY excited because we have one white tooth........his canine tooth came in with just a tad of yellow on the tip but otherwise.....COMPLETELY white and as the rest of his teeth come in further they too are white. So, it's just half of the tooth that is yellow........so minor now anyways though. I honestly don't even notice them!

Fun At The Fountains!

Last week John and I met my good friends, Sarah and Michelle (and their kids) at the fountains at Desert Ridge. We had a blast! John wasn't too sure about it at first but as the day progressed he warmed up and LOVED splashing his hands in the water.

We actually got to play with all of them again today! We went to Michelle's house this morning......John, Asia, and Dakota had lots of fun! And then this afternoon we went and played with Roman......and had some more fun!

Future All-Star!

We LOVE Ice cream!

All About Me

OK, since I have now been tagged by three people....Abby, Stephanie, and Tracy...I guess I should play along:) Plus, I figured since I will be printing this entire blog out to serve as John's baby book......it'd be nice for him to know a little bit more about Mommy and Daddy!

I am supposed to write 8 random facts about myself (and Jamie) and then tag 8 people to do the same.

So,here goes...

1. I was born in Tucson, Arizona and moved to Scottsdale when I was in the 3rd grade. Ironically, we currently live down the street from the house I grew up in. Jamie was born in Buffalo, NY but moved to Arizona when he was 3 years old. He grew up in Moon Valley and moved to Scottsdale when he was a Junior in High School.

2. After High School.....I went to ASU and enrolled in the 5 year plan! I could have easily graduated in 4 years but my brother informed me that we get cut off from our parents when we graduate and I really enjoyed their money so I stretched it out another year:):):):) John, don't get any ideas! Jamie was in the NAVY for 4 years. After he received his honorable discharge he gathered ALL of his transcripts from ALL 7 universities he attended and took a few more classes.....and received his degree from NAU. He has more college credits than anyone I know!

3. I married the hot guy from the gym!!!! Jamie and I ran into each other at the gym and recognized each other from High School. I would joke with my friends and tell them that I was going to marry him. As I would leave for the gym, I'd tell Shernaz........I am going to see my husband! I would also drive way out of my way to go workout because I knew he'd be there at that time.........I found out later that he was doing the same thing!

4. My brother (Craig) and Jamie's brother (Chris) were born on the same day and same year. My Dad and Jamie's little sister (Brenda) were also born on the same day (obviously different year)...and, John was born on my parents anniversary.

5. John Craig was named after two very important people in our lives.......Jamie's uncle, John and my brother, Craig. They were both (and still are) very strong influences in our lives and we feel honored that our son will carry on their names.

6. We want to have another child some day and we already have their names picked out.....I am obsessed with baby names:) I am sure it will change by then but if we have a girl her name will be Sydney Brooke or Sydney Olivia.........only problem with Sydney Olivia is that her initials will be SOB:) And, if we have a boy his name will be Brady Scott. So, if you are pregnant now, don't go stealing our names:)

7. Our favorite vacation spot is Maui! We went there on our honeymoon and on our first anniversary (with Kurt & Kim)...........we are getting the itch to go again soon!

8. Christmas in my favorite holiday. In fact, all of my decorations were up, all of my presents were bought and wrapped and under the tree before John (unexpectedly) was born on November 30th! The only thing that wasn't done was the outside lights but thanks to our good friends Kurt and Brian and my Dad....the outside lights were ALL hung (and on timers so we didn't have to worry about them) the night I was discharged from the hospital (Dec. 4th.)

So, that's a little bit about us! Stay tuned for an exciting post about our fun day at the fountains at Desert Ridge!!!

I am going to tag Katie and Shannon!

Genius

Whoever created this stander is an absolute GENIUS...........it is wonderful! John loves it, Mommy loves it......who wouldn't love it? It finally gives him the ability to be upright and see the world in an entirely different view........and it is much easier for Mommy to get ready now:)

And, we have now officially survived 1 entire week without Grams and Grandpa..........only 6 more to go but, who's counting? Anyhow, we miss you terribly but are glad you are enjoying your much deserved vacation. Here's a picture of Johnboy (that's what Grandpa calls him) blowing you a kiss!!!!

Other news.........the Vita Mix has arrived and ALL of John's medical records have been sent to the nutritionist so we are just about ready to start the Blenderized Diet.........we can't wait!

Too Much Fun

Recap

We've been going 100 miles a minute since last Thursday......so, here's a recap! I'll try and make it short and sweet:)

Thursday:

• Kris, John's PT, brought a stander for him to use for awhile and he LOVES it!!!! It allows him to stand and play without me being directly behind him to catch him when he falls.

• His feeding pump broke that night:( We had to gavage him until Apria delivered a new one...........AT MIDNIGHT!!!! I guess better late than never though!

Friday (our marathon day):

• Went to our appointment at Hangers to try on (and pick up) our new AFO's and shoes
  
  

• We had to cancel Speech because our 1st appointment took longer than expected.


• We then headed down to PCH for our emptying study which took forever. They had to strap John to a table, feed him (which the nurse pushed through to fast and made him vomit), and then watch his belly empty for an HOUR. He did great though.........thankfully I brought a bag full of toys and books and the hospital had a bunch of movies we got watch. We won't get the results until next week so we just wait and see.

Saturday:

• John's cousin Ashley came over to play and help out with John for the afternoon..........Ash told me that Grammy said she would pay her money if she played with John the entire time:) She did do a great job and John had so much fun with her.

Oh Boy!

Our lil man is all over the place and acting just like a "normal" 1 1/2 year old.........but, oh boy am I tired!!!!

Here we are......the calm before the storm!

About an hour into John's nap (who am I kidding...that is his nap) I heard him stirring. I checked on him via the monitor and he was just waking up. I thought I'd give him (and me) a few minutes to see if he'd fall back asleep (yeah right!) Anyhow, he got pretty quite so I tip-toed past his room and as I did I noticed the lights in his room were going.........on and off, on and off, on and off! I went into his room to find him like this......

The little stinker had grabbed the light/fan remote off of the night stand and was having a great time watching the lights turn off and on!

After his nap I put him in his play room to play (of course.) It took him a matter of minutes to figure out how to push the eject button on the TV. So, we then spent about 20 minutes ejecting (and scratching) DVD's......

.

.....and another 20 minutes pulling DVD's off of the stand!!!

He is into everything...........and I love it!!!!!

Anyhow, he now weighs 22 pounds 4 ounces.....yahhhhooooo! Just imagine how much he would weigh if he didn't vomit. On that note, we will be heading down to PCH Friday afternoon for a Gastric Emptying Study to try a find an answer (and solution) to his vomiting.

Thirsty Boy!

Can you say....TEETHING!

This is what Daddy and John did the ENTIRE game!

A Little Bit Of This & That!

We've been having so much fun lately, I haven't had time to write about it........so, you'll get a little bit of everything in this post:)

Sunday, the three of us went to the ball game. John spent the entire time drinking Daddy's water or pulling off and biting his hat. I actually got to watch the game for the first time....can't say the same for Daddy:)

Now on to other things.....John used to HATE the vacuum (or anything else loud) but not anymore! He loves to follow me around and climb onto the vacuum and he also loves unplugging the vacuum.........yes, I know....not the safest thing I could let my child do. Anyhow, when I go to vacuum his play room, I have to put him in the kitchen, run to the other room and vacuum as quickly as I can before he gets to the plug..........and his crawling is getting pretty fast:) I am getting pretty quick though and usually can get the entire room and couch vacuumed with only 3 pauses (running and placing John in the kitchen!)

Here's the little bugger caught in the act!

And, trying to plug it back in..........so sweet!

And now for the last bit of John news.......

John got his 1st buzz cut today (courtesy of Daddy) and looks absolutely adorable. His hair is much lighter now............making him look a lot like his very cute cousin Jack!!

We have a GI appointment tomorrow morning.......so check back to see how much the big guy weighs!

See You Later Alligator

Have fun Grams & Grandpa.....we sure are going to miss having a babysitter......I mean, we sure are going to miss you:)

We are very jealous but are already looking forward to getting out of the heat and joining you next summer.

We love you!!!

This is a great book Grams!

Thanks Grandpa for sharing your drink......I was soooooooooo thirsty!

Grandpa, you are are HILARIOUS!

Another Acronym

Yes, we have added yet another acronym to our list.....AFO!

An AFO (ankle foot orthoses) is a brace (similar to the purple boots but made specifically for John's foot) that will help stabilize and align his ankle & foot with his leg.......which in return will help him with standing & walking.

Today they had to cast his legs to make the molds....the Dr. couldn't believe how good John did. It didn't bother him at all....that's my tough lil man!!! Anyhow, sometime next week they'll be done and we will go back down to the office and try them on......hopefully we'll be good to go.

We are really excited about his AFO's and we're certain that they will help tremendously......and did I mention that they will have the Superman emblem on them? We originally wanted the Diamondbacks (imagine that) but the only sports that were available were football and hockey.......and if you're from AZ (or any sort of a football fan) you'll understand why we did not decorate them with the Cardinals logo....talk about embarrassing your child!

After our appointment we headed to Grams and Grandpa's for the rest of the day..........as you can tell by the picture, we had a good time!

This is definitely one of those pictures that you pull out when you're having a bad day.........all you can do is laugh at it!

Daddy's Home!

Daddy's finally home from the All Star game! He left for San Francisco on Saturday morning and just got home yesterday......and boy did we miss him! He said he wants us to go next year (he missed us too) so,........New York here we come!

Anyhow, sorry for the lack of posts............I decided to surprise Jamie and have the interior of our house painted while he was away and on top of that, someone in our house has not been napping! Needless to say I've been busy.......and sleepy!!!

Here are a few cute pictures from the last couple of days. Can you tell that John's teething?

Best Friends Forever

Brittany, Brayden, and Blayke came down this weekend so the boys could play! We all had a great time......and now all John wants to do it climb on the couch and play because he saw the boys do it. It's awesome how quickly he's picking up on things.......Britt, we definitely need to have more playdates!

Anyhow, it was pretty neat watching the boys play..........especially since it seems like yesterday that Brittany and I were kids and were running around playing together (we've been best friends since 3rd grade and ironically, I teach at the elementary school where we both went.)

The boys were all so well behaved and took turns and shared all the toys!

We tried to get a picture of the 3 of them but this is what we got:)

Grams and Grandpa brought Happy Meals over for the boys.........but while we were waiting for them they enjoyed some pudding. Can you guess which one had chocolate?

Before they ate their pudding I told them I had to take John's shirt off because he was a messy eater.........Brayden and Blayke decided they needed to eat with their shirts off too. Too darn cute!

After lunch....Britt packed the boys up and headed back to Flagstaff and John headed straight to the tub!

Thanks for coming down Brittany........we had sooooooooooo much fun and we can't wait for our next get together. We'll come to you next time:)

Our Heavyweight Champ!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I think it's about time I bust out that list and check off some more things that we were told John would NEVER do!

Dinner Time

Now.....this is my kind of dinner!

John's probably thinking he has the coolest parents around because he gets served chocolate for dinner!!!

Happy 4th!

We had a wonderful 4th of July and John loved hanging out with his friends!

We spent the afternoon at the Maes house along with the Behrend family, Kellar family, and the Campbell family......Kim definitely wins the award for Supermom (she just gave birth to Carson 5 days ago and yet still hosted a wonderful party!) Thanks for having us......we had lots of fun with GREAT company!

We were party animals and stayed out until 8:00pm........I tell ya, we are getting wild in our old age:)

I don't think either of them could be any cuter:)

This is fun Mommy!

Good friends, Good food.....GOOD TIMES!

John at the big boy table with his buddies.
(Brayden, John, Connor, Kayden)

AND.....our new (and absolutely adorable) friends!
(Carson, Emma, Kole)

Look At Me!

It's Getting Hot In Here

Oh boy..........summer is in full force in Arizona and it's HOT!!!!! I think it was 113 degrees today and on the 4th it's going to be 117......yikes!

Anyhow, Daddy was off today so we took advantage of the pool this morning. John loves the water and today he didn't even mind his hat.........he usually pulls it right off.

We enjoyed our morning in the pool however the rest of the day was the least bit enjoyable..........his top molars are coming in and he is NOT happy about it...........he didn't nap today and threw up ALL of his feeds......on Mom:( OK, let me rephrase that......he threw up all of his bolus (formula) feeds but I did attempt a mini blenderized diet today and put baby food (organic mixed veggies) down his tube...........AND, it was a GREAT success. No coughing, no retching, and no vomiting. I am really excited about this new diet now and can't wait to start it!