Everything Easton: 1 month

Dear Easton,

Wow! Can you believe it has been a month (and a few days) since you were born!

I know a lot of moms say this, but I really do feel like you complete our family. Our family of four is just perfect in my eyes. Granted, we're not sleeping well right now, but I know someday.....someday....in many years...we will sleep normal again!!! Someday!! :)

 

To be honest, you sleep pretty good...I mean you are only a month old, so I can't expect a lot. It's the alternating wake up calls with your sister that are really wearing us down.

So, let's see...you have grown a lot in your first month of life! Mimi stood on the scale with you and said you were 14 pounds!! That was with the casts though..but still...and I think you've grown a lot longer...but the casts probably helped with that too...stretching those legs out to get them straight!

You are not too fussy of a baby. You really don't like to be put down. There for a while youi slept for about an hour and a half to two hours all by yourself in the middle of the afternoon...which lined up perfectly with your sister's nap time! It was so perfect...now, you're not too sure about laying by yourself..but you do sleep at the same time, just in mommy's arms, which is fine if I don't have other things to get done! 

You do fuss a little...it's usually from five in the evening to 9 in the evening. Luckily that's it and you're mostly content in the morning and afternoon. In the evening we just hold you and feed you...that's all you want to do is eat! 

Wet diapers don't seem to bother you too much...at night I only change you once. You do seem to have gas, and that's when you can get fussy too! There for a while you had gas drops every day, if not more than once a day! But it made you happier and feel better.

You are in size one diapers, I'm not sure if you would have had to move up so soon without the casts...but it was time.

Right about four weeks I put away your newborn onesies, they were a little snug to get on. Though, as I type this you are in a newborn onesies but for the most part you are I n 0-3 month onesies. That's all you wear is long sleeve onesies with your casts.

You cry in your sleep...more like whimper...almost constantly. So, it gets a little confusing in the night...I tend to wait until you are really crying to get up. 

Boy do you cry! When you get hungry you CRY! 

You are eating pretty good...I mean you are growing a ton! But, you can't always figure out how to eat in the middle of the night...sometimes it takes a little while. And I've noticed that if you are overly hot you struggle to eat too.

But you hate to be cold...and you HATE cold hands.

You just stated not screaming during diaper changes. For the first week, before casts it required your daddy and I both to change your diaper. Your little feet and legs curled up so much we couldn't keep them out of your diaper, and you kept kicking your circumcision and making it bleed. So one of us would hold your feet and one would change your diaper. Then, you got casts and we still both had to do it until we figured out how to work arounds casts. :)

You have an incredibly strong neck! Really since day one you have had a strong core and neck..but it has just progressed! People comment all the time about how strong you are!

Your eating schedule is a bit varied. You dint have a precise schedule. You eat around 4:30 am, 7 am, 839 am, 11:30 am, 1:30 pm, 3:30 pm, 5:00pm, and then every hour until 9 pm, then 9:30 pm, 12:00 am, 2:30 am. So, I guess looking at this, you eat around every 2 hours. During the day you eat for about 20 minutes. You tend to fall asleep when you eat, or you just snack. 

You tend to spit up at least once a day. But, I haven't related it to a certain food or anything specific. 

You tend to flex your body...I think you want to stand/just use your legs..but you can't...and then it's frustrating because I can't get you to bend your body ;) 

You have been grabbing things...my finger, hair, shirt, etc.

You really love your sister, sometimes she's too much for you...but just the other day, you were laying inter floor and she came and talked to you and you watched her so intently and smiled!

Soothing things: the swing works sometimes, the car works great...as long as it's moving, if we stop at a red light you cry! Running water is wonderful! My blow dryer almost always quiets you to. And the outside! But, now that it's a bit chillier we can't take you out there and it's not working as well. 

You have just started saying "goo". (You are a bit over five weeks now, as I type this) you have said goo  maybe four times....so not a lot. 

You have such a petite cry sometimes, you just start to squeak and barely cry. But, you sure can get worked up too! :) 

Sadly, I haven't done a lot of tummy time or playing on the floor with you. With a toddler running around it's hard. Plus, you prefer to be held. 

You fight sleep! You get so tired but refuse to nap! Luckily you don't cry

Ike crazy...we just have to hold you, bounce you,pat your back, and rock....it's quite the act! :) but, to get you to sleep we really have to just pat, pat, pat your back.

I can't believe you're so big already and time, as always, is flying by! Can't wait towards you grow and learn during month two!

I love you sweet boy!

Mommy 

Easton's Journey: Club Feet

You're almost done!!! Dr. Jarka predicts two more weeks of casts, no surgery, and on to the boots and bar!! I am one excited momma!

I am excited for the fact that in (hopefully) two weeks I can give you your first real bath! and I'm excited for you not to smell like casting material, and I'm excited for you to be a little lighter (I'm feeling slightly jipped of my tiny baby - because your casts add so much weight), and I'm excited to be able to put a diaper on you without having to get it just right between your casts, and I'm excited for you to be able to bend your knees, and I'm excited to be able to see your legs and caress them, and I'm excited to have 4 hours a day where I get to see your sweet toes! I am excited....Now, hopefully the transition to the boots and bars is a good and easy one so I'm not wishing to go back to the casts ;)

 

So...on to how Wednesday was. It was our fastest appointment yet!! We arrived at 9:40 (our appointment was at 10). We checked in, I sat down to feed you, and they called us back at 9:45...so you did not get to eat...but luckily you were fine with that.

we walked in to the hallway to head to the casting room and it was like you were a celebrity! It just so happened all of your nurses were in the hallway talking with others - so they were all saying hi to you and all the nurses thought you were so cute! You were awake and they just couldn't get enough of you!

 

We went to remove your casts and you did awesome like always during this part. You just laid there and stared at the ceiling. You weren't a fan when they started to remove the cotton from your foot - the lady said it tickled your foot - but I'm thinking your skin was sensitive and it kind of hurt the way you were crying. But you moved on. And then you were so happy to have your feet free again. Sadly, this week you were only free for like five minutes because the doctor was ready for you!

Your feet - looking good!!!They are a little red...and you have a little skin breakage. Your poor legs...I'm ready for them to be free and heal!

You were so content this time!

You sure are growing!!!

 

So, Dr. Jarka came in and said your feet were looking Good!! So, she said, let's measure them! I asked her why we measure them and she said to measure them to get a size for the boots! She said it means that she thinks he will be in boots in two weeks!!! Hooray!!! So, that means you were getting your fourth casts this week, and then your fifth ones next week, and then you'll be done! She said, you MIGHT have to have a sixth cast but she didn't think so. The average time in casts is six weeks...sometimes seven...rarely five! So, if you do get five....you're an overachiever!! :)

so, they measured you feet and they said you have big feet!

 

The casting went well...you were pretty normal fussy and then we fed you a bottle and you fell asleep. We turned off the lights, used the sugar water, and used the rain stick to keep you calm. The nurses that were holding your legs said you were REALLY strong, as you were kicking to get free. Nurse Ron said he was your first personal trainer and some day you'll be on ESPN! He said, he's going to be in a nursing home and he'll see you on ESPN and you're going to give him a shout out for fixing your feet!! :)

 

You had a new person cast your legs this week....Mommy had a little bit of anxiety about this...I was so used to how LeLand did your casts I wished he was there...but I'm sure your casts are fine this time too...I just hope Leland is back next week :)

You did an awesome job as always! We took this picture of you and daddy to compare to week one how much you have grown!!! I decided your legs were chunkier this week!

 

After your treatment you were fussier than normal...probably because your feet are on their way outward. Every Wednesday after your treatment your daddy and I do a little shopping....and normally you sleep the rest of the day. This Wednesday you cried everywhere we went. And All Wednesday evening you cried - and Wednesday night wasn't terrible but it wasn't great. Thursday you were a bit fussy - but you're slowly getting used to them again!

A good picture of how your feet are turning outward now. Dr. Jarka warned me your final casts will look really weird to us. :)

 

I'm so glad that in the last four weeks we have not had any rude remarks. Dr. Jarka warned us that when people see us in public they may not be sure what to think about a baby with casts...and sometimes people can say rude things. Luckily, we have not had any of that...the only thing we've gotten is sorry looks for you. They all feel bad for you - and our response is always that you are very lucky because you have a treatment to heal you and ultimately you will still be able to do anything you want to do. So, we do not feel sorry for you or for us - though at times it is rough - in the end it is going to be worth it and we are so lucky this is all you have to do!

 

Alright, here's to hoping just one more week after this week of casts!!!

Love you sweet boy!

Mommy

Pumpkin patch

We had a weekend where your daddy didn't have to work! It was fun too spend the weekend at home by ourselves as a family! Saturday morning we went to pome in the range, outside Ottawa. It was our first time there, and it was great for us! With Easton being so young, and Eliana needing a specific nap time, it was good that it was so close!

Here the two of you are with mommy! Easton slept the entire time we were there!

You two were so cute!

Our family on the horse drawn wagon. Eliana really enjoyed it!

Picking out just the right pumpkin...

Found it!

Eliana was a trooper through it all!

Daddy and Eliana with our pumpkins!

Waiting for the wagon to come back and get us!

We had a lot of fun! We also got Apple cider slushies...it was my first time to have one, and it was amazing!! 

We intend to carve our pumpkin....but we haven't yet...it will be November this weekend..but maybe we will do it then anyways ;)

Love you kiddos!

Mommy

Everything Eliana: 2.5

 Dear Miss Eliana...you turned two and a half in August...but I didn't want to write all about you...because I didn't believe it...but I guess I should admit it now :) here are some of my favorite photos of you from the past six months and some of what you're doing...

You can count to 11. When you first started counting you left out the number four...but now you have it. You think 11 sounds like 7, so when you get to 11 you go back to 8. So you count 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 8 9 10 11 8 9 10 11. :) you silly goose!

You can also sing your abcs :)

You are now to where you listen to your daddy and I talk. You appear to be doing your own thing, but then you chime in on what we are talking about. You also caught on that your dad's name is John and my name is Jenna. So sometimes when you need your daddy you yell "john'" and it istoo funny!

You are potty trained! Woo hoo! Yesterday you went to the bathroom, sat down, and then we heard, pee-u! Then you came to the living room and asked your daddy to come look at your poop! We were so proud of you for going all alone!

You are wearing size 2t/3t panties :)

You are in mostly size. 2 t clothing. You still wear some 24 month...but most is too short now. Hand me down 3t shirts fit....but the pants still fall down.

You currently are not sleeping well. You are up about thre times a night. Your daddy goes in and rubs your back till you fall back asleep....I wish I could figure out how to get you to sleep!

You're still a very picky eater. You eat noodles (macaroni), peanut butter toast, yogurt, apple sauce, chicken nuggets, pop tarts, bread,....that's all I can think of right now...you angel it's not a lot of options!!

You are quite the performer! You will grab a song book and stand in the middle of the living room and sing for us! Sometimes you sing a song you know, like old macdonald or head and shoulders. Sometimes you make up a song (which I love). Then you stop and we clap and you bow and say "very much". For some reason you leave off the thank you. 

Sometimes you dump your toys out and flip the boxes over for your stage! :) 

You also love to dance for us and with us! :) we can't wait to get you into a dance class next year! :)

You have what I call your nice sentence. You like to be bossy pants and use a not nice tone sometimes. So, obviously, when you were learning to talk we taught you please and thank you...now that you talk in sentences we taught you a sentence. For example, if you want more snack you say, "mommy....can I have more snack...please?" The ... Represents a pause you do. Not sure why you do those dramatic pauses but you do. I would say about fifty percent of the time you use your nice sentence without prompting.

My absolute favorite is when you say thank you without prompting! For example, this morning you wanted more granola bar, I said no, but I said you could have the rest of my juice. You came over,  drank my juice, then went back to playing...then you quickly turned around and said, thank you for sharing your juice with me! It was so sweet! Now, if you were only that sweet all the time!

You still love your bath time! You love to play outside! You love the rain....mainly because it means umbrellas and puddles, you love your new sandbox grandpa made. You love to have tea parties. You love to help mommy in the kitchen. You love Popsicles. 

Right now your schedule is that you wake up at 6:30 or 7, nap 1 to 3, and we start bedtime routine at 8 so hopefully were in bed at 9. Bedtime routine is bath at 8. TV show at 8:30. I would rather read books to wind down but that doesn't calm you...you just want to read more! So we watch one 20 minute show, then you get to turn the to off and off to bed we go.

As far as shows go....you have a whole lot you like. We got rid of our cable this summer....so now you have to watch netflix. Well, netflix doesn't have the normal disney jr shows you were watching...so we watch a whole group of shows. Your facvorites would be Caillou, Super why, Timmy time (which I think is silly because they don't use any words!!), pingu (which also doe at use words!), and curious George.

You are such a family person. When we are with family you want everyone together. If someone goes to a different room you want to go find them. You do the same thing here at home when our daddy or I leave the room.

Oh, you love shoes. It's hard for knot to lose your shoes because you like to play dress up with them!

You want to be miss independent...which requires more patience for your daddy and I, because things take a little longer, like, we when you want to crawl into your car seat alone and buckle it alone. Or you stretch the neck of your shirt out because you want to put it on or take it off by yourself! 

Back to your performing, you just recently started clearing your throat before you perform! I have no idea where you learn these crazy things!

Your daddy mentioned the other day what a vivid imagination you have. You can just pretend play like crazy! You also like to imagine there are monsters and bugs...which then pretend scare you...today you said a giant smashed our house...we had to ask him nicely to please stop so we could save our house ;)

Some of your common sayings:

"Sure do" you say this all the time when we ask you stuff. Like, eliana will you get your shoes? "Sure do!"

"I have an idea" with finger in the air

"Iiiiiii lllloooovvvveeee youuuuuuuuuuu"

"You share with me?"

"Pretty please!"

You are an amazing big sister! I can't believe it! You have only accidentally hit him once and wanted him to leave once. Otherwise you have been so good with him! You always want to kiss him...even when he's sleeping.... Your loudness in the evenings tends to keep him awake but it's not too bad. You always want to share your toys and give hugs. I have to rind you a lot to be gentle when loving on your brother but you do a good job. You also like to hold his hand....and you have to know where he is constantly!

You do a pretty good job listening. You don't have many timeouts....though you probably could have more than we are giving.... :) we are trying to be extra patient while we had all the changes with Easton arriving. But, I think we are back to normal now.

You are such a compassionate girl! If someone is sad you are sad with them. For about two weeks after I had Easton I was a bit emotional (i was the same way with you)I would just cry for no reason (and I would let myself cry, because I believed if I held it in I could maybe get the post partum depression...so sometimes I just cried). So one night I was tearing up as we were having a tea party..you stopped and asked me what was wrong and gave me a hug. You are a very loving young girl. You are sad when others are sad on tv. 

You have only hurt Easton once and it was an accident. You were "swiping" something from me, like on dora, and you didn't realize Easton was on my lap and you smacked him on the head. I knew it was an accident so you didn't get in trouble I just comforted Easton and you immediately got tears in y our eyes and told him you were sorry....then you went  and sat on the sidewalk and cried because you felt so bad. I hope you are always this sentimental and loving and compassionate towards others and your brother!

Sweet girl...there is never a dull moment around here...we joke that you are such a girl with your dramatic mood swings. One moment you're happy and playing the next moment you are yelling at us! A recent saying in our house has been, she's two. When there are people over and you walk over to the stairs to pout, and the guest looks at us like, what did I do! I thought we were playing? We just shrug and say, she's two. 

But regardless we love you and we truly are blessed to be your parents! As exhausted as we may be you are my sweet baby girl and I feel lucky to have you!

I love you,

Mommy

Easton's Journey: club feet

Well, we are on week three of treatment now! You are doing great! We went Wednesday to get casts #2 removed and casts #3 put on, I can't get these pictures to rotate so they are sideways...

But there are your feet!

Dr. Jarka said they are looking like they should. She is hopeful you will just have six weeks of casting. She also said she is optimistic that your feet appeared be flexible so you may not have to have the surgery to clip your Achilles' tendon!! She said we won't know for a few more weeks...but she's hopeful! So, we will continue to pray for that!

You still like to hVe your legs tucked under! I can't wait to snuggle you without casts....this is dmy favorite time of the week...when you have your casts removed and I get to pick you up! You're so light too! I'm always surprised at how skinny your legs are....I fforgettheyre not the size of the casts... :) 

this last wednesdaywe got our first meaningful smile too! you have been smiling so much since day 1...but not at anything, so it was probably more gas. But this day, I was holding you and you were kicking your legs enjoying your freedom...and I was talking to you and you smiled so big! You smiled three times!,of course, we didn't begin on camera, but it was pretty awesome!

Aren't you so adorable??? :) 

When our casting guys were putting on your casts number 3 they had to undo your diaper...so they have more room to get your casts on....and they always talk to you and tell you "no whammy" or in other words...don't poop on them ;) well, this day they undid your diaper and you farted then right after did a big juicy fart! They both freaked out and were like, put the diaper back on. Quick! ;) made me laugh!

You did awesome getting your cast on..I think you understand they are restricting you...but once you accept what's going on you just sit there and deal with it. They are starting to turn your feet outward now, because they way over correct so that you can regress to straight. This particular Wednesday night was your best Wednesday of sleep yet! I was so proud of you! But, this week you have seemed to be a little more uncomfortable... you want to be held more and the places you were napping at don't seem to work anymore. But, overall I think you're doing well! 

This picture is not from Wednesday, but it sure is cute! Love my two sweeties!

Love you,

Mommy

Week in Iola

Last week was your daddy's first week back at work, and of course they had a show....so that means that he had to work evenings. So, we all packed up and headed to Iola for the week. This way we were able to see daddy anytime he wasn't working!

We had lots of fun! 

Eliana got a new bubble blower! It blew LOTS of bubbles!

We spent a lot of time outside...thankfully it was still nice fall weather, and not too chilly!

Eliana, Apparently your mommy doesn't push you high enough! Your grandpa pushed you so, so high!

Easton, you met your great-great aunt Jo! When we go to her house she always has lots of special (and sugary) treats!

You also met your third cousin, Jill. She made you two gorgeous and so soft blankets!

Because of your children's mercy appointments we had to introduce the bottle to you early. Your daddy and I weren't quite ready for you to have a bottle....but we had to. So at exactly two weeks old daddy fed you your first bottle....and you did great!

We spent lots of time with auntie M and uncle G! You guys can't wait for baby Ellie to be here!

Uncle G is so much fun!

You jet your cousin cindy! This was Wednesday, after new casts. She was able to get you to sleep!!

We had lots of snuggles too!

And, Eliana, loved all the play doh fun!!

These next three photos are of the two of you with Auntie M. Eliana...you were being quite silly so I wanted to put them all on here 

Of course once eliana smiles normal Easton cries...

Easton meeting great aunt Rhonda. She brought both of you so many goodies!

Playing with stickers

Auntie M's baby bump was perfect for snuggling

Watching grandpa trim trees

Eliana thought it was too loud! You have recently learned that word and what it means...so pretty much everything is "too loud"

Easton was laying on the kitchen floor so eliana had to join him ;)

Love it!

Uncle G and Eliana...eating cookies and watching the tree trimming!

We had a lot of fun in Iola.....and it was really really nice to be able to see daddy whenever he had a break. His schedule was so crazy that week it was good we were there so e didn't just see him in the middle of the night! And as much fun as we had being with family for so long...it was nice to come home and have our family time too. We survived our first week at home without daddy...though, he made it home about 5:00 every night so that was good :)

Alright, on to more adventures....can you believe mommy goes back to work in two weeks! Sadly, it will be here in a blink of an eye.

Love you kiddos!

Mommy