It's Teacher Appreciation Week!

Last week when I picked up John Michael from daycare, there was a note on his daily sheet about this week being Teacher Appreciation Week. After I consulted the daycare calendar for May, I discovered that each day included something different for John Michael to do for his teachers. (Side note: If any of JM's teachers are reading this and it's not Thursday yet, go away and come back tomorrow. You don't want to ruin your surprise do you?)

So, back to the calendar...

Tuesday's project was for John Michael to make a homemade card for his teacher. Well, JM has three teachers. He would have made his own cards, but Monday really wore him out. So, I helped. :)

Each teacher got something different inside, specific to them. 

John Michael felt that cards would go really well with a banner, so we did one of those too. :)

Wednesday's project was for John Michael to bring a snack/treat for his teacher. Since the ingredients for our snack/treat of choice don't come in packages of three, we made enough for all the teachers, helpers, and I think even the owners got to take one home.

If you can't read the back, it's just instructions on how to make their yummy treat.

Thursday's project is for John Michael to bring a flower to his teacher. Well... I thought about this one for awhile... and then I thought about it some more. And I finally decided that I didn't want to give a flower that would most likely not even make it through the whole day. So, I googled how to make a fabric flower. Let's just say that I didn't have all of the ingredients on hand to make it their way. So, I improvised.

A couple of bamboo skewers, some fabric, and a little bit of Mod Podge later, we had some flowers.

Yeah, I'm super fancy with my Momma G's cup as a vase.

Friday, we get to stay a bit and have a muffin in the morning to celebrate Mother's Day. I can't wait! Have you thanked a teacher this week?

He Is Risen Indeed!

In preparation for the Resurrection, John Michael wore his "First Easter (bunnies on the feet)" outfit to daycare last week. Thanks Aunt B! He was a hit!

We decided to spend Easter in Selma, and Kalee and I have been trying to get together for some time now, so we thought Easter weekend would be perfect. Turns out, it was Hottie's birthday, so we had a cookout- JM had a blast (and so did we)!

We spent Saturday with Nana, Paw Paw, Stephen, Rebecca, and Bradford- and had our first Easter egg hunt. JM had fun with his one egg. :)

But he had even more fun with his cousin, Bradford.

Then Easter Sunday came, and we were excited!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!

A Time for Firsts

It's so funny how people tell you how kids grow so fast, and you hear them, but it doesn't really sink in until you watch your own. It seemed like one morning we woke up, and John Michael had grown SO MUCH overnight. We have experienced so many "firsts" recently, so I thought I'd share.

This isn't really a first, but it was too cute not to include. He loves looking at the baby in the mirror.

He started playing on his excersaucer. When I picked him up from daycare one day, he was playing in one there, so I got ours out, and put him in it. He seems to really enjoy it.

 But his feet don't really touch yet.

He had his first solids as well. We started out on carrots. Gotta love the big orange mess.

Today we took our first trip to the park, and he took his first ride in a big boy swing. I noticed him checking out some older women to the side...

And then they swooned. He's already a chick magnet.

But then they left and we were sad.

But he's too cool for them anyway.

Other updates: he's rolling from his back to stomach, he's enjoying his stroller because he gets to ride facing forward now, and our last appointments with all doctors went really well. He laughs alot now, and I love acting silly just to get a cute little smile or laugh out of him. I'll let you end on some really cute ones.

Daycare, Sickness, and the Like

I don't know why I haven't posted this yet, but JM started daycare two weeks ago. I really wasn't sure how I was going to respond leaving him in the hands of people that I don't know that well. But, surprisingly, it went really well.  Plus, I was so busy at work that I really didn't have that much time to sit and think about it. He still has a lot of doctors' appointments, so I've been getting him to daycare very early so that I can get into work and make up my time (since maternity leave depleted ALL of my personal days).

Here he is on his first "commute" into daycare. Cracks me up how he is such an observer. Don't worry, I was at a red light.

Once we got to daycare, I was sort of relieved to leave him with Mrs. Amy. She's so nice, and she seems to love John Michael. She says that she takes him outside to watch the big kids play, and tells me how he watches all the other babies in the nursery. I think he really likes her too, although you can't really tell from this picture.

She was just telling me yesterday about how funny he is when the other babies are being loud. For instance, he doesn't like it if he's eating and another baby starts crying. He'll stop and look around at the baby as if to say, "Do you mind? I'm eating here."

All I know is that he's exhausted by the time he gets home, so he must be having a big time! He got his first snot and ear infection after the first week though.  I was curious how long it would take for that to show up, and it only took a week.  He got his four month shots today, and was such a big boy. Our pediatrician said that we can start introducing fruits and vegetables now, since he's already been doing the rice cereal for reflux.

We go to the GI doctor and back to see the surgeon next week. Hopefully we'll get good reports at both!

My Inspiration Today

I'm really into prints today. Like this one for example, from A Cup of Jo.

And if I can just figure out a creative way to use this picture I snapped in NYC, I'll be set!

These are a few of my favorite things!

All of the updates lately have been medically related, and I haven't updated on John Michael's milestones. Michael and I were talking about this last night, because it seems like all of the milestones have appeared all in a matter of a couple of days- and we think it's because he's making up for lost time from being in the hospital, and having to spend a lot of time in his bed/swing/makeshift hospital bed.

So, I wanted to take some time to talk about the things that he has started to do.  Now, at 14 weeks old, he very easily rolls over from stomach to back- when we first saw this a long time ago, we thought we were making it up, but he's definitely doing it. He's working on rolling over from back to stomach- which I'll be honest- kind of scares me. I go in to get him in the mornings, and he is all over that crib! I haven't found him on his stomach yet, but I did find him on his side this morning- and he was turned sideways.

JM really enjoys playtime now too. He's able to grab things, and is already starting to put some things in his mouth. His hands are the main mouth inhabitants right now. He also likes to experiment with his voice- loudly. It can quickly turn to a cry though, so we have to be on our toes. He has also taken an interest in the tv. And this is one of those things that I used to say I would not do. But I'll be honest- I ate those words quickly. With all of the colic, reflux, and post operative care... I'm doing alot of things that I said I wouldn't before.

He loves bath time! He's starting to splash around with his feet, and we play games with the washcloth.

He loves his Bubba! Max still runs his "suicides" as I call them. JM will watch him run back and forth, back and forth. Max kisses his head, and sometimes I catch JM looking at Max and smiling.

He loves visits. We had a great visit with Sherri and Jessica today- and he looks forward to getting to hang with Aunt Jessi more in the future.

He loves hangin with Dad. I took a much needed nap this afternoon, and woke up to JM and Dad in their "recliners."

And what's my favorite thing right now?  These little things!!!

Eeeeeeeeeee!  Are these not the cutest little things you've ever seen?!! Oh, I could just kiss his little feet all day.  And when you get a response like this, how could you refuse?

13 Weeks and Catching Up!

It has been awhile since my last blog post, but I think after reading this, you'll know why.
When John Michael was born, he had a mass on his behind- literally almost blocking his rectum. The doctors all seemed baffled, so they called Children's Hospital to get a surgeon over to look at him. That surgeon was Dr. Beierle, who has become one of the greatest people Michael and I know. She said that she thought it was a hemangioma, and that we would keep an eye on it to see what it did- thinking that it would go away on its own. After many visits to Children's Hospital, we started noticing that it was getting bigger. Dr. Beierle said that there was a treatment for hemangiomas- basically treating JM with beta blockers- which would reduce it and make it go away. So, we had to have a biopsy done in order to make 100% sure that's what it was, and then we would continue with the treatment. At that time, the biopsy was going to be the hardest part, because it would involve anesthesia, surgery, and alot of post-op care because of where the mass was.
After the biopsy, we went home and JM slept the majority of those first two days. But when he woke up, the screaming began. I think Michael and I took him to the doctor twice that week because we just couldn't console him. But nobody had an answer for what was wrong with him- everyone pointed to everyone else.
A week went by and we had not heard the biopsy results, so we called. They told us that the pathologist wanted to send it off to another lab for more stains, and that the results would be another week. Cue worry, stage left.
After the second week went by, Dr. Beierle called to give us the results. It wasn't a hemangioma after all. It was a rhabdomyoma- or benign tumor. However, there are only two cases in the English speaking world of this showing up where it did. So unfortunately, medicine wasn't going to make it go away. We would have to schedule him for surgery.
By this point, I was getting closer and closer to the time that I had to go back to work. We scheduled his surgery for the Thursday before I was to return to work (my first day back would be a Wednesday). We arrived at Children's Hospital at 6am, and sometime mid-morning, they took him back. He had only been allowed pedialyte from midnight until 4am, and we were trying to prepare ourselves for the days to come as he wouldn't be allowed anything for at least 48 hours after the surgery (as to reduce bowel movements). We stayed at Children's until Sunday when we were allowed to go home. The first three days were hard but blessed, because we had the BEST nurse on the planet, Nina. Our last day was pretty bad. He threw up everywhere, and our nurse that day was less than helpful. Michael and I were nervous about taking him home, but we bit the bullet and decided that we had to. I mean, really, we had to- what else were we going to do?
Monday and Tuesday were usual post-op days. Michael and I spent our time figuring out all of the new meds that JM was going to have to take. I tried to write out as much as I could because we would have family coming to keep JM starting Wednesday (when I started back at work). Wednesday was fine. I didn't know how I would be my first day back at work, but I did surprisingly well. Thursday was when it all started again. My mom was keeping JM and she and I had noticed blood in his diaper that morning. After calling back and forth with the surgeon, we took him in. Turns out his stitches had busted loose, but there really was no way to stitch him back up again. So we were given instructions to keep the area as clean as humanly possible- which would now include at least two baths a day. I worked from home so that I could be here to help, instead of just handing him off to family members.
And that brings us to tonight. He is currently in and out of sleep in his crib- I think the time change messed him up. We have a doctor's appointment tomorrow morning to see if he's healed up at all. The plan right now is to probably keep him out of daycare for another week and let family keep him at home. But, we'll see what the doctor says in the morning.
This post has probably jumped all around, and if so, I apologize. At this point, keeping a thought straight is like being in a one-legged kick starting contest. Here are some pictures of our journey through the hospital.

Before he went back for surgery

After surgery- very swollen

With Nina, the best nurse and friend!

The day we got home from the hospital

His makeshift hospital bed at home