Whirlwind

That describes our life right now.  A whirlwind.  I'll try to catch up on some things...

We are in the process of packing up and dispersing our stuff for our big move.  It's crazy to go through all your stuff to figure out what, if anything, you store.  I've been texting friends to see if they certain items.  We have had a couple garage sales and might still need to do one in January.

And of course, it's also almost Christmas.  Not great timing.

What cuties!  This is Kate's best friend and her little sister.  The whole gang sitting together.

I love James' hat!  And Kate was so cute in her boots!

Our little man is 8 months old now!  Can you believe it?  He's so big.  He's still a cuddler, still laid-back and very chill.  Still loves his sister.  He waves, often on command.  He's friendly, flexible, and so ready to be really mobile.  And he likes to eat!  I love those eyes!

Happy Halloween!

 The princess and her frog.  I don't think these cuties could scare anyone.

 These are the babies James goes to church with.  It was so funny trying to get them all in this picture. James is just a happy little frog watching all the commotion.

Out at the Harvest Fest. 

 Carving a pumpkin with daddy.  Getting to see all the yucky stuff inside.

 My little pumpkin!

What makes me happy

Stuff and Memories

A friend asked me today how I was doing with getting rid of most of our stuff in preparation to move.  A lot of things have been easy to part with.  Things that are going to someone who needs it are also easy to part with because it's good to be able to help someone else out.  Going through my books is hard.  The ones I can donate to the church library or give to someone are easier.  It's the ones that don't have an obvious new home that are hard.  Those books that I like to have on the shelf in case I want to read them again or look something up in them or just remember them. 

I ran across the course book from the University of Seville from when I studied abroad in 2004.  The course book!  The book that lists the courses offered that semester.  Yes, I still have that!  But getting rid of it seems so sad.  No one is going to want that but it seems too cool, too original, too special to throw away. 

Those are the things that are hard.  The "things" attached to memories.  The books I haven't yet read but want to.  Even if they've sat on the shelf for 3 years and I haven't read them.  Yet. 

The dishes that remind me of a certain friend and our time in Europe.  The mugs Josh and I got during certain trips.  Blankets my Mima made for us.

It's the memories that are important and the memories will stay.  I'm too sentimental for my own good, I think.  Most of it's just stuff anyways.  I think it's having to part with things and having to give up the convenience of having it "just in case I need/want it" that's hard. 

So this process is good.

Big Time Now!

James here.  Check me out!  I'm sitting on my own now!  Yep, pretty big time.

 Since I'm sitting up now I get to help mommy do things.  Like the other day I got to help her sort through magazines...

I was really helpful.  Mommy said it reminded her of when my big sister Kate started sitting up.  She liked magazines, too!

 There she is!  My beautiful sister back in her magazine tearing days.  I guess we are a lot alike. 

Gotta go! 

Catching up

Apparently I play with my kids too much to keep up my blog.  That and I just don't sit down and do it. 

So let's see.  A month ago we went to Colorado for a conference.  It was great to see friends and wonderful to be out of the 100 degree heat. 

Kate enjoyed collecting rocks. 

We got to see our friend Jeff again.  He recently got married and we were sad to miss the wedding but logistically just couldn't make it happen with our two young kiddos.  So Patty and Jeff drove over from Nebraska to see us.  It was perfect timing too because Jeff first met Kate when she was about the same age that James was here in Colorado. 

After Colorado we came back to scorching heat and no rain.  It's been a pretty lame summer what with having to stay indoors most of the time.  We do get out to a playground sometimes.  Now is when I would like a neighbor with a swimming pool.  =) 

 Our boy is getting big!  He is attempting to sit independently these days.  I haven't gotten a picture of that yet because I have to be ready to catch him when he starts to topple.  But he's getting there.  He has rolled over once from his tummy to his back and will not repeat the stunt no matter how much tummy time he gets.  Silly boy.

 So Kate wore these pajamas when she was 9 months old.  James is 5 months and already wearing them.  Oh my.

 Loving hanging out with their daddy.  This is a toddler face we see occasionally.  She has gotten quite adept at using the pouty lip.  Most of the time we get cute smiley faces for pictures but this was not one of those times.   

Five months old!  He's getting big, growing out of all his clothes, and developing more of his personality.  He is still really chill and laid-back.  He loves to laugh at his sister and has recently been kind enough to laugh for his mommy's tricks.  Still a cuddler and a sweetie. 

We are still preparing for our move.  We are fundraising and speaking at different groups and churches.  It's a busy time.  Soon we will need to start selling furniture.  Crazy!

That's it for now.  I started this post yesterday so I need to just get it done.  More later!

He's Huge!

Yes, that is one way to describe our little guy...who for his age, is not so little.  At his 4 month check-up (which was actually at about 4 1/2 months) he weighed 18lbs 3oz and was 25 3/4inches long.  That translates to 90th percentile for weight, 75th for length.  That translates to a big boy!

I'm trying to remember to take a picture at each month. 

James has gotten really good at holding objects and grabbing them if they are lying next to him or if you hold them out for him.  When I put him in his crib to sleep he tries to grab my hand so I can't go.  He loves to watch his sister and actually laughed at her the other day.  He was watching her shake her head around, acting silly as usual, and he just all of a suddenly chuckled.  Then that was it.  Try as she might to get him to laugh again he would not.  Such a funny boy.

I love this! 

I'm too tired to do a full post right now.  But this makes me smile everytime!

Happy Anniversary and other things

Yes, folks, this was our 7th wedding anniversary weekend.  Would you like to hear about the big weekend?  Of course you would.

Our anniversary weekend coincided with Josh's 10 year high school reunion and a work trip to Odessa (home of his high school) for Josh.  Josh got the brilliant idea that we should all go up for the weekend, see some friends, go to his reunion, meet with old family friends for fundraising, and then he would stay for the next few days to work and I would drive home with the kids and his mom.  Romantic, huh?

We did attend the reunion.  There was a good turn-out.  But basically that meant there were a lot of people around I didn't know and Josh maybe knew.  We hung out most of the evening with our good friends, Clayton and Holly, and took lots of pictures in the photo booth.  It was hilarious how many people said "Oh, I LOVE Kerrville" when we told them where we live.  We are reminded that compared with Odessa, Kerrville could be the Garden of Eden.

Sunday night we went out for dinner for our romantic date.  That too was an interesting experience.  The waitress had about 2 oz of customer service.  Half the time she would walk away as she was finishing her sentences to us.  She left dirty plates on our table for a long time after we had finished and eventually stacked them all.  The lattes we ordered were barely warm and took forever to get to us.  While we were drinking them, we sat there watching one of the other waitresses dusting a hanging light fixture in the middle of the restaurant.  Really?  Is that the best time for that?

For those who are interested, I wore really cute dresses to both events, neither of which did we get pictures.  But I did look nice.

Maybe I'll get some of the photo booth pictures scanned in when we get home.  But don't hold your breath.  I'll be flying solo for a couple days AND be adjusting a toddler to coming home from a long weekend.  At least I'll be back in the Garden.  =)

Love those smiles!  Can you tell they are already buddies?

Big Boy

I took James in for his 2 month check-up finally.  He weighed in at 15 lbs 3 oz and is 24 inches long.  The nurse said that's typical of a 4 month old.  He is in the 90th-95th percentile for weight and 75th for length. 

That's my big boy!

James reporting in

 Hey guys!  This is James checking in.  My mommy is pretty busy these days keeping up with Kate and me, so I thought I'd write this post and give her a little break.  Lately I've been trying to let mt mom sleep all night and not wake her up.  Sometimes I still wake up once at night, though.  I just get too hungry sometimes.  I know she must be tired, so last night I smiled really really big at her when she came in to feed me at 3am.  I can tell she liked that.

Anyways, I'm about 10 weeks old now and getting pretty big.  Most of the time I'm pretty chill.  I like looking at my sister and I love talking to mommy and daddy.  Kate is a great big sister and she helps bathe me and sings to me and sometimes she accidentally bonks me.  But I don't think she means to. 

A few days ago while we were in Arlington we walked to a playground in the morning.  I watched Kate on the slide...

 while chilling in the stroller in my monkey jammas.  Then I took a nap because I was so comfy. 

I don't really like to take naps in my bed. I'll do it sometimes but I'd rather have mommy hold me the whole time.  I just can't help it...I'm a cuddly kind of guy. 

Mommy puts me on my tummy to play but I'm not interested in rolling over yet or pushing up.  I'd rather just lie around right now.  She gives me time to try to do it but I just cry until she rescues me. 

Well, I'm pretty worn out from typing this post.  I made some new friends this week and have pictures to share, but mommy hasn't downloaded them yet and I sure don't know how to do that yet.  We will share them with you later.  See ya!

My Little Loves

Proud Mom

 ...of a funny little girl who loves muffins as much as her mama does. Yes, that was lunch.

 ...of a brother and a sister who are already bonding and will hopefully be friends their whole lives.

 

...of a little fashionista who has no idea how cute she is.  Or does she?  She really does walk around wearing those sunglasses.

 ...of a handsome little guy who has already proven that he's a fighter (and maybe a troublemaker).

 ...of two beautiful blessings who fill me with joy (and sometimes make me crazy) and are gifts beyond what I could have asked for.  (And they obviously were thrilled to be in this picture with me)

And proud wife of an amazing husband who stands beside me, is willing to take on challenges, helps me relax, and tries to take whatever burdens from me that he can.

 
Happy Mother's Day

(Inspired by a friend's blog, I decided to do my own post)

Small Town

My aunt has been after me to treat myself to a pedicure and Josh was enthusiastically agreeing.  So Saturday I called up a new place and made an appointment.  I usually just walk-in for things like this because I'm not the sort of girl who schedules a pedicure ahead of time.  It's usually like "when I get a chance I'll run in."  But I did this time.  I left my husband with both kids.  They were both sleeping when I left and actually stayed asleep almost the whole time.  Lucky guy.  Someday soon he will experience the circus of two kids actually awake at the same time. 

Anyways, when I met the nail tech who I had the appointment with she said, "You look familiar."  It turns out she is the mother of my sister-in-law's brother-in-law.  Yup.  Josh's brother's wife's sister's husband's mother.  She remembered me from the wedding where I was taking pictures. 

Kerrville sometimes is a very small town.  And she did a great pedicure.

Breathe!

On Thursday afternoon, April 7th, just 40 hours after he was born, James stopped breathing and turned gray-purple.  Josh's mom was able to get him to cry after thumping him in the back.  We already had an ambulance on the way and we rushed off to the ER.  He did it again while we were there.  Having our newborn in the ER was a very scary experience.  They were putting all kinds of needles into him to try to do blood work, he got a spinal tap to check for meningitis, x-rays, shots, etc.  It was awful watching him scream and cry and wondering what was going on with our healthy looking baby.

He was care-flighted to the NICU in San Antonio and had to fly alone while we drove down.  Nothing like putting your baby into the care of other people and then driving an HOUR to get to where he is.  Our parents were great and packed food and an overnight bag for us.  Kate went to spend the night at her friend's house.  We had no idea how long this ordeal would last. 

When we got there James was hooked up to all kinds of machines -- IV, oxygen, monitors, and a tube down his throat.  They were doing vaccines of all kinds until lab work came back.  He had a couple more episodes that night.  The doctor told us in situations of newborn apnea they keep them in the NICU for a minimum of 5-7 days.  Newborn apnea is apparently not uncommon and there is a whole list of things it could be.  They had to start looking at and treating the more serious and life-threatening things first and then move down the list. 

We were helpless to do anything.  In fact, the first 24 hours we had to put on a plastic gown and gloves to hold or touch him.  I had to pump because they were controlling his feeding.  Josh's dad got us a hotel room which became our "home" for the next 8 days.  Yes, folks, James was there just shy of 9 days. 

Fortunately, we got one of the best diagnoses it could be in this situation.  After 3 full days of being there an upper GI scan was done (we got to watch) which showed a bezoar in James' stomach.  A bezoar is an indigestible mass.  He probably swallowed some stuff while in the womb and when he started eating it all clumped together in a hard mass.  Then when he ate he would reflux and his body would shut down and stop breathing.   Crazy!  Bezoars are very rare in newborns. 

After finding that, he went on a pedialyte diet for about 2 days until the mass was broken down.  Then he could go back to milk.  And he was hungry!  We were hoping to go home once the diagnosis was made, but they wanted him to go 5 days without an episode.  So we waited the rest of the week, going back and forth between the hotel and the hospital.  We made one trip back to Kerrville to see Kate and she came down once to see us.  It was so hard to be away from her and was exhausting to be at the hospital.  We took an infant CPR class and tried to make use of our time in SA to run a couple errands. 

Finally Saturday arrived (he was admitted Thursday night the week before) and we were ready.  Then a scan showed some kidney abnormality.  Really?  After an intense time of whether they would let us go or not, the doctor arranged for us to come back and do the kidney test as an outpatient procedure.  Then we had to wait around for a prescription to be filled.  But finally, finally we were on our way home.

Don't you love how they put me in a wheelchair even though I was not treated at this hospital?

It was a really tough experience.  It was physically draining (remember, I had just given birth).  It was emotionally draining.  And as the bills come in, it might prove to be financially draining!  (A helicopter ride costs how much!?!)  Just kidding, we are not worried about the bills.  Our God has always provided for us and we know He won't fail us now.

But we had amazing support from our family and friends.  We had prayers covering us from the time we walked into the ER in Kerrville.  We had friends waiting for us at the NICU that first night.  We had people come visit us and bring us food and gift cards and send gift baskets.  We had emails, phone calls, texts, and facebook messages of encouragement, offers to help, and support.  It was amazing and we were strengthened by it.  We did not ever feel hopeless. 

We are so happy to be home now.  I have been somewhat on my own with the two kids this week and we are surviving well.  We have friends bringing us meals, which is fabulous.  Both kids are sleeping right now and I probably should be too, but I drank a protein drink that I thought was just cappuccino flavored, not actually made with coffee.  But it was made with coffee, so I'm up right now.

And now so is James.  Time to go snuggle.

Introducing...

 James Cooper Seefeldt

Born on April 6 at 12:26am.  He was 8lbs, 4oz and 21 inches long.

We got to the hospital at 11:10pm.  The nurse checked my progress and announced that I would not have time for an epidural.  She and the other nurse jumped into action getting my IV set up and everything ready to deliver a baby.  Niessa, the RN/midwife who I wanted to deliver James and who had helped deliver Kate, was actually the one on-call.  She got there at midnight and after checking the monitors to see how labor was going, she checked my progress and said I could start pushing whenever.  James was born about 15 minutes later. 

It was quite an experience without an epidural.  Labor is intense and just gets more intense as the delivery gets closer...which would clearly make sense.  I'm glad to have had the experience and to experience it with a quick, easy delivery.  I would not have wanted to labor any longer than I did. 

My mom got to the hospital around 5am after driving all night.  She came to see us and then went to our house where Josh's mom was taking care of Kate.  They got her ready in her "big sister" t-shirt and came up to visit us. 

 Kate loves her little brother and was fond of him right from the beginning.  When he cries she says "It's okay, baby James."  She loves to kiss his head and touch him.  She likes to watch when we change his diaper.  She wants me to go get him if he cries in his bed.  It's very sweet. 

 We got to leave the hospital that same night around 9pm.  We were really excited to be home and had no idea that would only last about another 19 hours.