I Like to Eat, Eat, Eat!

As you can tell from these belly pictures, Pax is such a good eater, and we are very thankful! Tonight, I gave him a toddler meal that had ravioli and veggies. We started with a fork and some fingers (me stabbing it and then him taking it to his mouth). However, that quickly turned to all fingers and no fork! It was cute, and as you can see from the pictures, I was prepared. I stripped him down before putting him in the high chair, and then we took him straight to the tub after he ate. His diaper was even orange from the ravioli!

This afternoon, Suzie met Pax and I at the park to run. This is the 3rd time that we have done this, and I am really enjoying our runs and catching up! Pax likes riding around in his stroller, too. There were ducks at the park today, and he kept saying "du" over and over. We tried to get him to say "quack," but I couldn't ever make that out from what he said.

Updates All Over the Place

Update on Mom-She is home from the hospital! She is definitely not 100% by any means, but glad to be home and in her own bed. She is taking antibiotics, and has promised to go to the doctor when she's finished in 10 days. Then she will also follow up with the urologist.

Update on Steph-If you haven't checked out her blog, then here's her most recent news: SHE'S HAVING A GIRL!!!!!!! I went with her and the family to a 3-D ultrasound place and the sonographer showed us that it's a girl! I'm so excited for them!! It was such a neat experience, and I am so lucky that she included me in this special day!

Update on Sarah-She came home from the hospital late Friday night and they say everything looks fine. I'm glad they know what they're doing and are educated, but it still makes me nervous that her arm is hurting, but they couldn't figure out why. I'm proud of Sarah for listening to her body and going to get it checked out!

Update on Pax-Yesterday, we started trying to give him whole milk in a sippy cup. The first time, he gagged, and refused any more. Later that day, I tried again, and he drank some. This morning, he wanted water instead. I'll keep trying and trying, and eventually I'm sure he'll love it. He did this same thing with water, and now he drinks a ton of it! Also, he is walking so well that sometimes it seems as if he's running. He likes to carry things in his hands, so this keeps him from crawling. This is a really good strategy! I can probably attribute him taking his first steps to the balloons that he would carry around the living room!

What's going on?

That's the question I asked Suzie tonight. If you've read Suzie's or Stephanie's blogs, you know what has been going on with my mom. But, I thought that pictures might be a nice addition to this most recent update!

Pax and his Grandma

This really cute outfit is from his Gigima. I just love it!

Pax walking around the room-he prefers to walk now, as opposed to crawling! We had to ask the nurses to keep the door closed when they came in. We're in trouble now!

Pops feeding him dinner as he sits like a big boy

Mom has a severe kidney infection that got into her bloodstream. Her gall bladder, spleen, and appendix are all good. She is spending tonight, her 3rd night in the hospital, but should be able to go home tomorrow morning. They have also found a cyst on her kidneys that they will have to monitor in the future. But the doctor says that there is e coli present in her urine, too. This most likely came from their trip to Hawaii.

I was really worried about her yesterday, but she is feeling much better today! Good news! She even tried to bribe the doctor to let her go home tonight, but he wants her fever-free for 24 hours before he lets her leave.

Pax and I went to visit tonight, and he was much more comfortable with Grandma tonight. Wednesday, he couldn't figure out why she wouldn't get up and play with him, and really didn't know what to think about her. He charmed all the nurses tonight, and one even stayed after her 12-hour shift to play with him! He'll be so excited when she comes home, and will be able to play with him without getting worn out like before.

It's times like these that you really count your blessings and realize how important friends are. Mom has had so many visitors, prayers, phone calls, and texts! Our family is so lucky to be surrounded by such wonderful people. She really hasn't had to stare at the 4 walls of her room much, as she's had people to sit with her. Even two of my friends have spent time there-thank you so much Suzie and Stephanie! Thank you to everyone for your visits, gifts, prayers, e-mails, texts, and thoughts!!! Please keep praying for Mom as she continues to recover and has to take it easy the next few days. This was probably one reason the doctor kept her in the hospital--he knew he could keep her off the tennis court this way!

Tonight, Mom and Sarah were texting from one hospital room to another. Yes, that means that Sarah has gone back into the hospital. She was having pains in her arm and chest again, and headed straight to the ER. Last I heard, they had done an EKG, and she was waiting on a CT scan. So, again, please pray for Sarah, and that the doctors are able to find the problem and fix her! This is also why I asked Suzie, "What in the world is going on?"

Ride A Little Horsey

Today, Paxton rode Strike for the first time. He was pretty tired, but was very content up in the saddle. However, he seemed more excited about the dog's ball in the pasture than riding the horse. I enjoyed having him ride with me! We don't have him a riding helmet, so we just used his bike helmet.

A Hike and A Horse

Sarah and Suzie (Don't they both look great?)

Pops, Pax, and Strike



Pops and Pax playing with Wilson

This afternoon, Pax stayed with Brad, and then Suzie and I headed to see Sarah. She is doing so much better, and is even cleared to go back to work. Sarah is on blood thinners and has several bruises but was up for a hike/walk this beautiful afternoon. We walked for over 3 miles, so I would say that Sarah is doing remarkably well! I think I was more worn out than she was!! We saw three snakes on our hike, and we all freaked out!! We had a lot of fun hanging out and talking, while exercising! I'm so glad to see her up and about! Sarah also gave me Paxton's birthday present that she was so excited about giving him at his party. She gave him an adorable zoo animals book with 2 tickets to the Atlanta Zoo in the back of the book!! Such a cute gift!!! Brad and I can't wait to take Pax there, possibly even this weekend!!

Yesterday we brought Strike back home and today I took these pictures of Pax and Pops. Pax absolutely loves seeing his horse out in the pasture. As soon as he woke up from his nap, Mom brought him out on the front porch, and he immediately spotted Strike and started pointing. He was so excited to see him.

On another note, Pax went for his one-year check-up on Friday, and is looking good. He weighs 24.9 pounds (75th percentile), and is 31 1/4 inches long (90th percentile). So, he's not as chunky as 25% of babies his age!! Dr. Kaufman talked to Brad about the switch to whole milk. We'll be starting that soon, and I hope that he isn't lactose intolerant like I was!

One-Year Photo Shoot

I love this one with all the props! We had a hard time getting him to look at the camera instead of the balloons (or "boo", as Pax calls them)!

There are bubbles in this picture that are hard to see.

Typical Paxton pose--the pointer

Sweet face

He loved the "One"

These are some pictures from his one-year photo shoot. They are tons better in person, but I just thought I'd share anyway! Enjoy!

Flip Floppin' for a Cure

Kellie, Marisa, and me with our banner under the tent

Alison and Pax

Me and Brad

Avery and me

Avery's luminary bag

Mrs. Tracey's luminary

A blurry picture of my 2 survivors walking during the survivor's lap:-)

Our team with the banner

Mrs. Tracey, me, and Pax (in the outfit she got him for his birthday)

A precious picture of these 2!

They were so cute playing with the balloon!

Pax hated the Well-Bee. He was literaly climbing up me! This picture is just too funny!

Our banner with the first place ribbon!!

Tonight we had Relay for Life at the high school. We went with the theme "Flip Floppin' for a cure" and wore flip flops with our t-shirts. We had a really great turn-out from our school, and our team did a great job with fundraising. We raised $1000 more than last year, for a total of over $6500 last time I checked! Yeah!!!! AND, our beautiful banner won first place in the banner competition! Great job, team!

Pax and Brad came for a while, and then I stayed until about 1:30 am. They were late delivering the pizza that they promised for midnight, and I was NOT leaving until I had some! :-)

I am sure it was difficult for her, but Mrs. Tracey came and spent the evening, too. We honored her with a luminary, and I had one of my students make it with the names of the kids she babysits. Also, one of my students this year is a one-year cancer survivor, and he came with his mom. We also honored Avery with a luminary that the rest of the students in the class signed. We also had luminaries for my Dad's 2 sisters that are cancer survivors as well, but for some reason I didn't get a picture of those bags. :-( I also wish I had a taken a picture during the luminary service when all the bags were lit up. It looks so cool. Relay is such a moving and awesome experience, and I am thankful that we have the opportunity to honor the survivors and raise money to help those that are still fighting in something as big as this event! The whole community comes out to support this and it's just so neat to see! It's very hard to keep a dry eye as you see the survivors walk around the track being supported and cheered on by everyone around!