1 Year Old...

The last year has been pretty crazy!  Colton is now officially 1 year old and all over the place!   We had a party for him the Saturday before his birthday and had family and friends over.  Here are a few pictures :)

Time...

Where has the time gone?!? Seems like just yesterday he was born and in 11 days he will be 1!  It's so hard to believe that, especially when I start thinking about what seemed like a long journey to get to this point.  This time, 2 years ago I was wishing to hurry up and get pregnant; 1 year ago I was wishing the baby would hurry up and be born, and today I'm wishing time would slow down!  Colton has changed so much in the last year, and is growing into the little man I knew he would be :)  He is my world and is absolutely perfect!  He finally said mama the other day in a non 'distressed' way...meaning not when he's throwing a fit or wants something. It was adorable and totally melted my heart.  He is just so stinkin' cute...I'm a little biased though ;)  He's almost walking on his own, but I still think it will be a few more weeks before the courage to let go totally comes for him; and I'm totally okay with that!  Just let him be little a little longer...

West Explosion...

I try to think that I can keep Colton safe and can shelter him from any harm, but the past few days has really opened my eyes to realize that I cannot always protect him from everything because somethings are simply out of our control.  My little hometown was shaken the evening of April 17th when the West Fertilizer Plant exploded.  We live about 8 miles away from where the explosion happened and were unharmed with no damages to our home; others were not so lucky!  Thus far 14 have died, 10 of those being first responders that were on the scene when the explosion happened.  I hate reading online and in the paper and seeing names that I know, and seeing friendly familiar faces in the obituaries.  Among the buildings and homes that were destroyed was the Intermediate campus and the city park; the middle school and high school had damages as well and are under investigation to test their structural integrity.  As I looked through the pictures I couldn't help but feel saddened that Colton would never attend that campus, that he would never get to play on the playground that the FFA students built for the city when I was a member.  I know all of these things will be rebuilt, but it just saddens me; and is petty considering some friends lost it all--my best friends parents believe they have lost their home, but have been unable to get back to it yet to truly assess the damages.  Seeing these things on TV make it feel unreal; this does not happen to us.  Stuff like this happens to other people in other towns, not our sweet quite town. Chris Low definitely said it best in this song he wrote for the town; Shaken Not Stirred.  Despite the chaos, my best friend got married Saturday in a beautiful ceremony!  I know it was difficult for her, but everyone needed some time away from the chaos; especially her family since they have possibly lost their home.  She was a beautiful bride, and the day definitely served as a pleasant distraction for all in attendance :)

Life will go on, it just may be a little different and look a little different.  Our ground was shaken, but our faith was not stirred!

The park is the ground area in the middle of the picture,
and the apartment complex it just the the left of that.

Intermediate Campus

10 months...

My little big guy is 10 months old now!  Time sure is flying by fast!  Everyone said it would go by fast, but I didn't realize how fast it would really go by...kind of bitter sweet.  He is pulling to his knees and standing more and more everyday!  Before long I know he'll be taking steps and walking, then running and I'll never be able to get him to sit down again haha!  He is getting more teeth, 3 right now with a 4th working it's way out.  We had started trying him on table food and that's a little more difficult then I thought it would be.  He has no problem eating table food, like waffles, noodles, veggies, at daycare, but at home it's a different story.  I have a difficult time getting him to eat anything other than baby food at home. I'm not sure if it is the difference of school vs. home and like at school he has other kids that are doing the same thing as him.  I don't know, but I'm sure he'll catch on soon enough...especially since he eats more meals/snacks at school than at home.  He babbles more now since his tubes, but still only says dada :) he just laughs if you say mama! 

My nephew Logan turned 1 last week and we had his party this past weekend.  Colton and I went to stay with them Friday night to help out with the party Saturday; I was watching the kiddos while my sister and brother in-law got things together.  Saturday afternoon I took Colton and Logan for a wagon ride and Colton loved it!  This was his first wagon ride and he didn't want to get out of the wagon!  He kept wanting to go back outside and ride some more.  During the party he spent majority of the time in the wagon, content just sitting in it.  So now I've add a wagon to his list of Spring must haves :)  He also had a great time swinging at my sisters house too!  He just laughed and smiled the entire time.  He really enjoys going to my sisters house!!

First Easter...

The Easter Bunny made it to our house :)  He brought Colton some snacks since he can't have candy yet, and boy did Colton love those snacks!!  Since he was still contagious with pink eye we didn't make to Granny's house to see all of the family, but my sister and brother in-law stopped by to see us for a few minutes on their way to my moms house; we didn't want to take Colton to mom since my niece and nephew were there...didn't want to share the pink eye!  Pink eye is all cleared up now thankfullly, and we managed to keep it contained just to him so yay!!

Belated Easter Pictures

Pink Eye...

Well we have been dodging pink eye for a few weeks at daycare, and Colton finally got it!  My mom kept him the day after he had tubes, and that Friday we ended up in Urgent Care with pink eye.  Poor guy can't catch a break!  We aren't sure if it was from daycare, the surgical center, or if one of use brought it home to him, but either way...he got it!  Poor little guy hated having the ointment put in his eyes, but he was a trooper and we did all the doses!  Since we found out he had it Friday that meant he had a 48 hours window of still being contagious after his first dose of ointment; which means we can't take him to his first family Easter at my Granny's house! 

Tubes...

Well yesterday was the big day!  Colton officially has tubes in his ears, and I couldn't more excited!  I hope this keeps ear infections at bay and that we can move past the last couple of months.  Everything went great with the surgery and his recovery.

We got to the surgical center at 6:30am to finish filling out paperwork.  Must admit I read every inch of that paperwork!  When I have medical paperwork to fill out on myself, I skim it and initial/sign where they tell me to.  Not yesterday, yesterday I read every square inch and every word on those papers; I wanted to know exactly what I was signing for him.  What was I promising not to make them liable for, what exactly are all the possible side effect/reactions, everything!  After everything was signed, they took us back to do his vitals.  It was funny, they took his weight (a whooping 22.8lbs!), Kyle picked him up and the nurse looked up and says 'Oh my God' starts laughing and says 'You are definitely your daddy's baby!'  It's always funny to see people's reactions when they realize how much Kyle and Colton look alike :)  Anyway, then we had all the 'talks' with the nurses, ENT doctor, and anesthesiologist about the procedure and what to expect afterwards.  The nurse came and took Colton from us, which was super hard on mommy, and we went back to the consult room to wait for them to come get us afterwards.  I sat down, looked at the clock on my phone, it was 7:43am.  A little bit later the ENT doctor comes in and tells us how surgery went. He walked out, I looked at my clock again, it was 7:50am.  You read that right...7:50am! The entire thing took less than 10 minutes!  They then came back, got us, and took us to Colton's bedside so we could wait for him to wake up.  It took a few minutes, but when he came out of the sleep he jolted and woke up.  He was a little disoriented, groggy, and fussy.  I picked him up, gave him a bottle of juice, and talked to him; he calmed right down.  The nurse said he must be a great baby because most come out of the sleep crying and are hard to console...nope not my trooper he rocked it!  We had to wait for them to release him, that wait was actually longer than the actual procedure.  After we were released, we loaded up and head home.  By the time we got home the anesthesia had completely wore off and he went right to playing with his toys!  They had said he would maybe be groggy or cranky in the morning, but by afternoon would be back to normal, and he was back to normal within a couple hours of surgery.  He is such a big boy and trooper.  Mommy and Daddy were so proud!

Momma I can't find anything to play with...

9 month checkup...

Colton had his 9 month check up today. We weren't able to go to his normal pediatrician, but the one we saw was great!  Colton weighed 22 lb 3 oz and was 29 1/2" long!  The doctor said he is the size of the average 1 year old!!  He is definitely our big boy!   After the appointment Colton, my brother, and I went and did a little shopping.  While at Target we were talking about Colton not really talking and how the doctor said that after he gets tubes not to be surprised it he starts talking quick.  We were just walking and talking and listening to Colton babble on and on.  Then out of nowhere he says 'da da'! We both looked at each other like, what?!?  Did he?!?  Then he goes blah blah ba la da da blah! It was sooo cute!  He did it for Daddy when we got home and he just smiled and laughed :)  big boy needs to slow down on the growing up!!

ENT Appointment...

Monday we had Colton's appointment with the Ear, Nose and Throat Specialist.  He  has an elevated flat line of hearing due to fluid in both ears.  The doctor said he can hear, but it would be the equivalent to us having our head under the water listening to someone talk.  He is a prime candidate for tubes, so we are going March 27th to get tubes put in his ears.  I knew we would mostly need to get tube for him, but the nervousness didn't set in until I actually made the appointment.  Now I'm a little nervous about him going under the anesthesia, not so much the actual procedure.  The procedure itself only take 10-15 minutes for both ears, but he will be under for about 30-45 minutes.  I know they do it all the time, it just scares me.  Mom said it is scarey anytime your child goes under or has something done to them, so that made me feel a little better.  I think I will feel best when he's home after surgery :) 

First Tooth...

It is official...we have a tooth!  Well Colton has a tooth :)  I noticed over the weekend that he had a little white spot that looked like it wanted to break through, and voila it broke through Monday!!  It is crazy how much more a tooth can poke out everyday.  What's crazy is that it isn't a top or bottom middle tooth, it is a top tooth off to the side!  I can't quite tell if it is an incisor or a canine yet, but should be able to tell soon enough!  I was worried a while we were going to have to get him dentures for his birthday :)  Maybe we can ditch that baby food sometime soon...

Got a Referral

We ended back at the doctor yesterday for what we thought was an ear infection starting.  The Dr said his ear was a little red, but not infected yet; he also said he wouldn't be surprised if it turned into one because he has a cold, so just call if it does and he will call in some meds.  While at the appointment, he told us if he does get another he would refer us to an Ear, Nose & Throat specialist.  I told him I would rather go to a specialist now to get it checked out instead of waiting.  That way we would know if it is something that could be fixed with tubes or if Colton's body is just resistant to certain antibiotics.  So he put in a referral for us, super excited!! :)  Hopefully the specialist can tell us something and we can get his ears all straightened out.

All Better Finally :)

Well we ended back at the doctor with Colton's ear infection on the 5th, and the doctor changed his prescription to yet another medicine.  After a few days you could tell it wasn't working, so I called back again and told Colton's nurse his ear was leaking, he wasn't eating, and he wasn't sleeping well.  We were able to finally get an appointment a day and half later and decided that antibiotic injections were the next step.  So for 3 days we had to take him to the doctor's office to get antibiotic shots.  He was such a big boy and only cried for a split second.  After the second day you could tell they were working...finally!!!  He was so much happier, playing more, and finally eating from a bottle again!  He even slept through the night in his own bed 2 nights in a row!  Yay back to sleeping all night and in his own bed again after month of sleepless nights or being in our bed :)  Although I must admint, I did like snuggling up to the little guy at night...

First Ash Wednesday

Colton went to his first Ash Wednesday mass and got his little ashes :)  He is getting to the age where people like to play with him in Church so it is becoming quite a chore to take him to Church.  It isn't a bad thing though, I know people like to play with babies, heck I always played with babies too, I just haven't experienced it from a parents side until now. He likes to use me as a bouncer in church, so he stands on my legs and bounces up and down, then when he catches the attention of someone behind us, they play with him and the laughing/cooing starts.  I love his little laugh don't get me wrong, but he doesn't do it when people are singing, just when there is silence...complete silence!  Then he decides to let our a shriek of laughter haha :) it's super cute, but I'm sure some people don't like it when they are trying to pray.  Oh well, it's a short phase :)

His first ashes!

8 months

My oh my how the past 8 months have flown by!  Everyone said it would go by quick, but I didn't realize it would go by that quick.  This time last year we hadn't even decided on a name, hadn't put up his crib yet, hadn't bought may clothes.  Now this past weekend I packed up clothes he's outgrown and dropped him baby bed down because I caught him trying to put his arm over the side!  Time just needs to slow down...sure wish I could freeze frame time.

What?!? No I wasn't going to Gigi's tree...

Crawling!

Colton has started crawling...well sort of.  It isn't crawl so much as dragging his entire body around by only using his arms!  It is so cute and strange all at the same time.  He sees something he wants and 'crawls' towards it, dragging his legs behind himself as if they aren't even there.  I know he'll catch on soon enough on how much his legs can help him get around and how much faster!  As much as I want him to figure it out, I don't because then I know there is no stopping him :)  Here are some pics...don't mind the tree my mom is turning it into her 'seasonal' tree haha!

Dang Ear Infection...Dang ER...Dang Doctors!

A few weeks ago we went to the doctor because Colton had gunk leaking from his ear but wasn't running a fever.  The Dr said it was an ear infection in both ears, gave us a prescription for Amoxicillin for 10 days and sent us on our way.  A couple days after finishing up the 10 days of Amoxicillin we ended up back at the Dr because his ear was leaking again (no fever)...Kyle thinks it didn't heal up the first time all the way.  So I take Colton in the morning, pick up the prescription during my lunch and take it to day care to give it to him.  I get there to pick him up in the afternoon and they point out a rash on his face.  I start looking around and notice it is on his back, chest, arms, etc.  On my way home I call the after hours nurse and she says it is probably a 'non-allergic rash' from the Amoxicillin this go round, and to give it to him like normal that night.  So I do as she says and give him the medicine and he goes to sleep...for some reason we decided to let him stay in our bed that night...we never let him start out in our bed. Well around 11:15 we wake up because he has this horrible raspy cough out of nowhere. It kind of scared us so we woke him up, but the coughing kept happening and started sounding worse.  I called the on call nurse and she said shouldn't be a big deal just watch him and take him in the morning.  So we are up playing with him for a bit and he starts rolling his tongue around mouth kind of weird and keeps coughing.  Then he gags. We looked at each other and Kyle said we needed to take him to the ER.  So we put on normal clothes and get in the car and hurry to the ER. 

We get there, check in, go back for evaluation in triage, and they send us back to the waiting room.  Where we waited...and waited...and waited...for 3 1/2 hours!  It was 3 1/2 hours before we went back to see the DR, then another hour or so before we actually saw a doctor.  The DR was in there for a whole 2 seconds, said the rash looked like an allergic reaction--by now the coughing had stopped--wrote us a new prescription, and sent us on our way.  A total of almost 5 hours totally wasted in the ER.  The only thing quick about the entire process was when the lady came in to ask "cash or credit on your co-pay."  I could have hit a fool!

In the morning I called Colton's doctor and told him what happened and wanted to make sure the new prescription was ok to give him. When they finally called back they actually tried to tell me it wasn't an allergic reaction and to give him the Amoxicillin again.  I was firm about not trying a third time so they said to try the prescription the ER dr gave us.  So here we are today...hoping...praying that this works!