Happy shopping Wednesday to me!

Just ordered this darling ruffled shirt from The Gap on sale and cannot wait to get it! It's an additional 20% off today with the code gapgift. Plus free shipping on orders over $50, so, of course, I had to add a few things for the boys into the cart :)

They have some really great deals over there if anyone in your family needs anything!

Anyone out there plan on getting up early on Friday? Will you do most of your shopping in the store or on the web? I would love to shop at any time that day but none of the people I will be with over the holiday weekend want to go out, so we'll just hang out instead. Luckily I have about half of my Christmas shopping done and ideas for most of the people on my list!

Thankful heart

(image from MS- love the elegantly primitive dining room. The mantle is beautiful)

I am thankful......

for the amazing husband that God has blessed me with. I would marry him all over again.

for my two sweet sons who make me smile every single day. They've filled holes in my heart I didn't know I had.

for my family who loves me, my husband, our boys. We love them too!

for our jobs that provide us with intelectual stimulation, financial stability, and opportunities for growth.

for a kitchen that has an island big enough for all kinds of baking.

for a roof over our heads that is becoming "ours" with each improvement.

for my dearest friends that I can rely on, laugh with, commiserate over toddlerhood with and chat about nothing and know that it was an amazing conversation.

for God who has provided me with so much and truly blessed me and my family.

I am truly thankful, not only this week but so often throughout the year.

Kidney Update

(Brotherly love during tummy time)

 

This is a very "medicalized" post. Feel free to ask any questions in the comments and I'll try to answer or just skip it!

 

Quick Recap:
L kidney is the "bad" and/or "small" kidney with 13% function
R kidney is the "good" kidney with the rest of the function (In case you are wondering, kidney function should be 50/50)

On October 12th we had a VCUG done which showed that the L kidney has grade 5 reflux. Reflux can only be graded to grade 5, so this is the worst it can be. This is consistent with the hydronephrosis we saw on the last ultrasound. Essentially when we saw the test being done, we could immediately see the backflow of urine from the bladder, up the ureter, immediately to the kidney. It was very obvious that the backflow valve wasn't working at all. The ureter is also "torturous" which just means that it is twisted, very dilated (big), and ugly looking. So overall, his whole left kidney system is just not great. The test also showed that his right side has grade 2-3 (subjective apparently) reflux and there is an outpouching (called a diverticulum) right near the junction of the bladder and the ureter. This outpouching apparently makes things "worse" overall. I really wish I could draw pictures on email as this is a LOT easier to describe with a picture!!!

Our nephrologist called us (on a Saturday!!!) to update us on the test and to let us know that she was going to send a referral to urology as if he needs surgery, it would be the urologists who do this. She also upped his dose of his daily antibiotic as he is growing and needed a bigger dose.

We got into urology pretty quickly and had an apt on Thursday with a wonderful urologist. (Seriously, he had amazing bedside manners, was soooo nice to Spencer and Peter, and explained everything so well. We were both quite impressed.) He explained everything again (most of which we already knew), drew lots of pictures, and gave us a plan for the next 18 months or so. Essentially, Peter will definitely need surgery in the future. He will more than likely need surgery on both sides. Many children will outgrow reflux if is is stage three or under (like Peter's right side), but since he has the outpouching on that side, it is very unlikely that his body will adapt appropriately to that and outgrow it. There will probably be two surgical options for him when this occurs, but we aren't even close to thinking about that now. We don't know what will happen yet to his left side. He could just have a relatively minor surgery to fix the angle at which the ureter goes into the bladder to correct the reflux, or he could need the whole entire kidney and ureter taken out. There are a lot of factors which will go into this decision and time will tell what he will actually need. We also don't know yet when he would actually need surgery. Currently, as long as the daily antibiotic works well and he doesn't get bladder infections or kidney infections, then we will push off surgery as long as possible- hopefully even until his is 5 or 6.

The urologist wants to repeat the VCUG in another 18 months but also acknowledges that our nephrologist may need to do the test in 1 year instead of 18 months. So, for now, we will be doing the daily antibiotic for a long, long time (like 3-5 years) and having urine cultures done for any unexplained fevers/illnesses. We will also have growth ultrasounds to make sure that the right kidney is growing 3-4 times per year. We are scheduled for our next one on December 31st and an apt with the nephrologist on Jan 10th. We'll see the nephrologist 3-4 times per year and the urologist 2x per year.

We are happy to have more clarity on the surgery issues and we are certainly happy that people have two kidneys and can live with only one!! Our current prayer is that we can make it through 2013 with no ER visits for unexplained fevers and that we will not have to be hospitalized for IV antibiotics. These would be the worst things that could happen in the next year, so that is what we will be praying won't occur.

 

Overall, we realize we are very lucky. Working in pediatrics for the past 11 years makes me grateful every single day for a very healthy Spencer and, even though Peter has some problems, he is much healthier than many children out there. If you have a moment on occasion this year though, we would truly appreciate any prayers for a infection free winter!

 

Peter is 6 months!

Peter, my sweet baby, is now 6 months old. He is such a happy, easygoing baby and for that we are truly blessed. He loves to smile and laugh and Spencer spends most of their time together trying to get him to talk and laugh at him. It's adorable!

 

He is sitting up like a champ. I leave him in the middle of the floor sitting without anything around him and walk away. He'll sit there for a good 20 min as long as he has something to entertain him. He is starting to fall forward and then push up. He has gotten his knees underneath him twice so far. Spencer started crawling at Christmas time and I wouldn't be surprised if Peter was around then too. His favorite thing to do is jump in the Johnny Jump Up or in the Jumperoo Exersaucer. He just laughs and jumps and cracks himself up. It's a great place to put him during dinner so that B and I can eat with both hands!

(Yep, not only do I look like my daddy but I have his hair too!)

 

Peter weighed 19 lbs 1 oz and was 26 in long at his 6 month visit. He's in the 76th percentile for weight and the 25th percentile for height. Yep, short and chubby, that's my guy :) Like my pediatrician says, he'll even out eventually. My breastmilk must be extra fatty b/c both of my boys were chubs at this age!

 

Peter is doing MUCH better in the sleep department. He is taking 2 naps at daycare, at least one of them in 1.5-2 hours. At night he goes down around 7 and wakes between 5-5:30 to eat. He'll go back to bed immediately and I have to wake him at 6:45 to get him dressed to leave at 7:05. If we didn't have to leave, he'd sleep til at least 8. It's so nice to sleep (mostly) through the night. There are occasions when we get a certain 2.5 year old in our room around 4 (snuggle in the middle, mommy), but, for the most part, our sleep is great in this house!

 

He has been eating pureed foods for about 6 weeks now and is up to twice a day, once at daycare and once at home. He doesn't really like green beans or bananas; he loves sweet potatoes, zucchini, pears, and squash. I made carrots this weekend so that will be a new food for him this week. Spinach and pears was one of Spencer's favorite and I'm sure we'll do this for Peter soon. We've also got to start giving him finger foods sometime soon- it's just so messy that I know it's all going to end up in his hair!

 

A few of Peter's quirks:

*he loves to pull his hair, mostly on the right side. I notice it when he's mad or tired.

 

*he is a pacifier addict. Loves it, loves it, loves it.

 

*he is a great smiler. I think he's going to have a dimple on his right side. It's not a big pronounced one, but there is definitely an indentation of some sort.

 

*he loves chewing on his feet. His socks are constantly wet. It kind of grosses me out, if I'm being honest. Wetness bugs me

 

*he is a monster drooler..........again with the wetness!

 

Happy 6 month birthday, my sweet Peter. Mommy and Daddy and Spencer love you to death!!

Happy Halloween!

Our neighborhood trick or treated on Saturday night. It was a great decision as tonight is going to be freezing cold, wet, and windy (Thanks, Sandy!!). B's brother, sister-in-law, and their daughter were in town for the weekend, so the kids got to trick or treat together and then the babysitter came over so the adults could all go out to dinner together.

 

B with his boys

Family pic- Spencer's cheeseball smile

 

My big pumpkin!!

SYT, PUT, and LGT playing in the leaves after trick or treating

Look, mom, I can grab a lot of them!

Family pic

Buried in leaves

Peter's smiling!!

Love this baby pumpkin!

 

The boys have a Halloween parade at school today with their costumes. Unfortunately neither B nor I can be there to take pictures. I have late clinic patients and B has a ton of meetings. Hopefully the classroom teachers will get a few cute ones.

 

Hope you all have a wonderful Halloween and hopefully your kids' Halloween buckets are filled with at least one candy you like and they'll share with you :)

A few things I love right now

Darling clutch from here. Love the equestrian inspired buckle closure

Favorite lipgloss

One of my favorite board books. It's so sweet and would be a perfect baby shower/Christmas present/1st birthday present for a baby in your life.

This bread will change the way you think about breadmaking. I promise, it is as easy as it looks. And it is to die for delicious with an amazingly chewy crust. It makes me look like I'm a master baker and, really, I just pinterest really well (!!!!).

Have a great Tuesday evening!

Happy Birthday to Me!!!

 

Today I am thirty-five years old. Also known as advanced maternal age! Isn't it funny that that is how I look at my age? That's the nurse practitioner in me for sure.

 

I took the day off work and the boys are going to daycare. I have a massage booked (thanks Mom!!) at 10 a.m., I'm going to get a workout in prior to that, and I'm hoping to spend the afternoon organizing my closet and the boys' closets as well.

 

The babysitter comes at 6:30, and B and I have a date at a steakhouse downtown at 7:30. I have my outfit picked out, and I'm already dreaming of dinner. Peter will be 6 months in 1.5 weeks, and my pediatrician has given her blessing for me to try to introduce dairy back into my diet tonight. It's perfect that I can do it on my birthday and on a Friday. This way I can watch his stools and his fussiness all weekend to see if he has any problems with the milk protein. (Please, please Lord, let there be no blood in his stools- I really miss cheese and butter and normal baking and cereal with milk) I cannot be more excited for dinner. I'm having French Onion soup as my first course and I know it's going to be one of the best things I've ever had. I haven't yet decided on which dessert I will have- there's a chance we'll get two and split them. I may be giving dairy back up on Saturday, so I want to get in what I can in my first/potentially only splurge night.

 

My brother and sister in law and their daughter are coming up on Sat for a few days, so it's going to be a very fun weekend of spending time with them and watching the kids play together. We're going out for dinner on Sat night too- yep, we're living it up :) Our babysitter's going to make a fortune this weekend! We've also got our neighborhood trick or treat on Saturday from 5-7, so hopefully I can get some cute pictures of the boys to share here next week.

 

It's been really, really hectic the last 3 weeks at work so I'm thrilled to have the day off and all to myself. I know the day will fly by, but I am looking forward to every minute of it!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Celebrating!!!

B is picking up a bottle of this on Friday night. We've never had Veuve, but we are celebrating and this is the true celebratory bubbly.

 

What are we celebrating, you ask? As of tonight, our household is 100% consumer debt free!!! We finished paying off our graduate school debt this summer, and tonight we made the last car payment on B's car. We don't carry credit card debt, so we offcially have zero, zero, zero personal debt!!!!!

 

We still have our mortgage (apparently mortgage is not considered consumer card debt), college savings for the boys, and I will need a new car in 2-3 years (mine is 9 years old), so we aren't running off on an exotic vacation with our new found money, but still........we can't help but be super excited to know that all our hard work and our ability to buckle down and budget has really paid off.

 

I think that the $40 splurge is going to be soooooo worth it!!!

Zulily is killing me.....

How cute are these????? I couldn't help myself. I just ordered a pair for both boys with the appropriate initials. They have white ones with a red initial too, but since they didn't have them in both boys' sizes, I held out. The cuffs even turn up with orange lining. DYING over the cuteness. I know other boy moms will understand how adorable these are!!

I also ordered this darling diaper bag (really just a hobo bag with lots of interior pockets), and I'm going to have it monogrammed in hot pink for next summer. Technically it is reversible, but I'd rather have it monogrammed than reversed, so to the monogrammers it is going!! Won't it be perfect??

Last week on Zulily, I ordered SYT's Christmas present (a Radio Flyer "My first scooter" in red) plus tons of darling outfits for a few babies that I needed to buy gifts for. I also ordered an address stamp for our Christmas cards. Last year I hand wrote all our return addresses, and I would prefer not to have to do that again :)

I often am able to ignore the flash sale sites, but Zulily has just killed it lately, and I haven't been able to resist. If you need an invite, just click here.  Also, if you shop with Ebates (and if you aren't, you REALLY should be), you will get 3.5% cash back!!

Hope you are having a great Friday!

5 months old

PUT is 5 months old now......seriously, time is just flying with my little munchkin. He is a major fan of the pacifier, so the above picture is a pretty accurate picture of my sweet babe.

 

He's over 18 lbs now (yikes!) and is wearing 6-12 month or 9 month clothes, mostly. I put him in a 6 month Carters' outfit for daycare the other day and it was already too short and a little tight. And, coming from a second time mom, I think that Carters usually runs true to size. He's definitely a big boy! I'm hoping he can still fit into a few of SYT's Christmas outfits by the time it rolls around.

 

Peter is still rolling like a crazy man. He would rather be on the floor rolling in every direction than anything else (except nursing- ha!).  He has sat up for 6 minutes (once) but does sit for shorter periods of time pretty regularly. He's a strong little guy. He loves jumping in the exersaucer and is really starting to become interactive with everything he sees. He is "talking" all the time- I could listen to him allllllll day long. It's just so, so, so sweet.

 

We just started feeding him solids two weeks ago. We gave him oatmeal for a few days but that really constipated him, so we switched to veggies instead. We've done butternut squash, avocado, and sweet potatoes so far. We are going to try either peas or green beans next. I make all the baby food which lends itself to being thicker/more textured than regular stage one jarred food. I tend to worry about the consistency/will Peter handle it well/is it too much for him, but, so far, he has done pretty well with all of them. I have had to thin out the avocado with water, but that's not a big deal to me. I could thin it out with breastmilk, but he gets PLENTY of calories, so using a bit of water isn't detrimental to him at all.

 

We saw the nephrologist in September and had another kidney ultrasound which didn't go exactly (read: at all) as we had hoped. We have another test this Friday (which involves an IV and a catheter- poor baby!!) to look further into some new issues and an appointment Nov. 1st to go over the results and see if further changes need to be made. You would never in a zillion years think anything was wrong with him. He's developing normally, he pees like a champ, and he's a really happy babe. All of that is so reassuring. We are now doing a daily antibiotic to prevent any kidney infections, and, thank goodness, it is grape flavored and he loves it. We are just hoping that all of this will work out and that he will "outgrow" most of these issues. We've decided the best approach we can take right now is to not worry until someone says to worry. Yes, we do have moments when the worry sneaks up on us but then we go back to the above stance!

 

Sleep is getting better. He's still getting up once or twice (mostly once- woo hoo!!!!) but that is WAY better than 3-4 times per night. I am only feeding him once overnight, so if he wakes more than that, B will go in and pat him back down or give him the passy. If I go in there, he doesn't sleep until he nurses, so it works better for him to not see me unless it's the one time I'm going to nurse. In a few weeks, we're planning on dropping that nursing session, so you'll definitely get a full report when that happens. Neither of us are looking forward to that; however we know it needs to happen for all of us!!

 

Love you, Sweet P!!! We wouldn't trade you, your waking at night, your incredible thighs, your crazy kidneys, your darling babbling, or your beautiful brown eyes for the world!! Mwah!!