New look

So if you haven't noticed the blog has a new look! A great company called KCdesign (you will find her link on the bottom right hand side) created the header. She did a great job and I love it! Of course there is a little girl for Rylee, a chubby little boy for Tegan and a hand print with angel wings that represent Cohen. Do you like it????? I love it and when I update it again, I will be returning to the same place.

The last couple of nights have been rough due to Rylee not wanting to sleep and continuing to come in the room and wake me up. My pediatrician recommended turning her door knob around and locking it if she gets up more than once at night. That would mean that she would be locked in. Now I must say that to start with I was a little shocked and upset that he would even suggest this. I mean what if she gets sick in the middle of the night or really needs me or the houses catches on fire. All of those things went through my head during the day yesterday but at the times of 12:00 am, 2:00 am, 4:00 am and 5:30 am....that door knob being turned around and that sweet little devil locked inside became a little bit more acceptable. I am not getting any sleep! If she would get up all of her 3 to 7 times during one hour that would be great but she doesn't. She is kind enough to spread it out and therefore having me up about every hour to two hours all night long. This is worse than when she was a baby except I don't have to feed her! So by the time I get her back in the bed, lay with her, then walk across the whole house, I am wide awake. I make a pit stop in the restroom and get back to bed and look at the ceiling for the next 30 minutes before drifting back to dream land only to be awakened again about 30 minutes later. I'm no sleep specialist but something tells me I am never making it into a deep sleep.

In other news I finally got prescription strength cream from Teg's doctor for his head. I don't know if you can really tell in some recent pictures but that kid has really beat himself up. He has a dry patch of eczema or something on his forehead that apparently really itches him b/c he regularly looks like he got in a fight with one or five cats and lost! But it seems to be clearing up a little. The worst part is that he isn't doing this at night b/c I am putting socks on his hands. The first time he did it I was rocking him and looked down and noticed that there was blood pouring from his forehead.....I know, I know....I get the mother of the year award don't I!

Also I forgot to report after Tegan's last physical therapy appointment that he is being given a week off to see if he continues to progress at the same speed. He seems to be the fastest learner they have ever had in physical therapy...either that or he is trying to make a liar out of all of us! Whatever it is, I don't care as long as he keeps doing it.

Finally...Easter pictures

This is going to be a complete picture overload but this tells the story of our busy Easter weekend.

These are pics of Rylee at the church Easter egg hunt on Saturday. She loved it and won a $10 Walmart gift card.

Teggie hanging out at the egg hunt.

Finally! Two Easter baskets in our house!

Tegan loved his basket so much that he hung on for dear life.

These are all of Easter Day!

She looks sweet but don't fall for it! I made her Easter dress.

The most handsome man ever~

We tried but did not succeed at getting a good picture of Grandma with the grand kids.

7 YEARS AGO

Me and Paul are celebrating our 7th Wedding anniversary. HE started a new evening part time job today so we won't be actually celebrating until the weekend. The story of me and Paul is a whirlwind. I worked at a Retail store beside a grocery store with a high school friend of mine. Me and her use to people watch out the front of the store and saw lots of people come and go at the Ingles next door. One day I saw a guy walking in to Ingles that I thought was cute so I told her to come over and I would show her what he looked like when he came out. Well when he came out guess what, she knew him and she took off out the front door yelling his name. I was mortified and just knew she was about to bring him in there and embarrass me. But she didn't. Instead she waited until talking to me and she called him that night to set us up on a blind date. We talked on the phone only once for just a few minutes before going on our first date....I say blind date b/c the only time I had saw him was from way across the parking lot and he hadn't ever saw me. We went to see a movie b/c I was scared to go eat with him b/c if I didn't like him then at least I wouldn't have to talk to him during the movie. He was so cute and so nervous the whole time. He didn't hardly speak for the first half of the date. By the last half of the date I knew I would marry him. A week later we went on our second date and then not a day went by that we didn't see each other. Our first date was Sept 04, 2000 and we got engaged on January 30, 2000 and got married on March 24th 2001. You got it, we dated just short of 7 months before getting married. In Nov. 2001 we had our first miscarriage, on January 11th, 2003 we delivered our little girl, on Oct 04, 2006 we lost Cohen and then on August 27th 2007 we had Tegan. A lot has happened and changed over the last seven years. It feels like we have been married more like seventeen years! Below are a few pictures of us on our wedding day. I scanned them in so they don't look that great but you get the picture. Don't worry, Paul isn't really that unhappy, he just doesn't smile in pictures.

Twenty pounds isn't that big....

So after walking for a while with Tegan in this thing, I now know what it would be like to be pregnant with a twenty pounder. He loved it, my shoulders....not so much. Then I had packed him in there so much that I couldn't get him out. I pretty much stood him on his head to get him out.

Look Mom I can do it!!! Please stop taking a picture of me. Yes I know what you all are thinking, there is watered down juice in that bottle but don't worry he will suck on it for 30 minutes and for some reason never even drink a full once. This is mommy's new how to make Tegan quiet while giving Rylee a bath trick!

This picture....well it's just to sweet. They didn't pose for this, I just walked by and this is how they were and luckily they stayed that way long enough to take a picture.

Another Big Blessing!!!!

We received another big blessing this past week! Paul got a great part time job at UPS! It will be from 5 pm to 9:30 or 10:00 pm (or earlier) Mon.-Friday. I know this is going to be hard on me with him being gone every night during the week and not having much help with the kids but this is the best possible situation. Not only will he still be able to build his customer base selling property insurance during the day but we also get full FREE family health benefits! Which is something we haven't had in almost a year. Me and him are both so excited. Guess what....he just got the call on Friday and starts on Monday. He didn't even have to go for a formal interview! I have to thank Tyson (Larkin's husband) for putting in a good word. This is great news!!!!

Nap time...what's that?

So needless to say most afternoons have been pretty rough around here although today was a little better than the past couple of days.

This is yesterday in a nutshell: Get up at 7:50 am. Must be at work 8:00 am. Good thing I can leave home at 8:01 and get there at 8:01! Work until 12:00 and come home. That part is going pretty good. The minute I walk in the door and Tegan hears my voice he starts to cry and kick and try to get to me. So I usually wash my hands (b/c I am a huge germaphobe) and head over to get him. It is usually after 1:00 before he will let me put him down and go in the kitchen to get what is usually my first bite of something to eat all day. I have to sit next to him in the floor to eat while he watches the fork go from my plate to my mouth as if he hasn't eaten all day. Then he cries some more and I try to get him to nap and he doesn't agree. So I try some more, he still isn't receptive to the idea. So what ends up happening is that I spend all afternoon fighting him while he screams and cries unless I am walking around holding him...all this for what usually turns out to be a 15 minute nap. Which we all know little boys can't go all day with just a 15 minute nap. Therefore he wakes and is happy for like, well 15 more minutes then begins to cry. I spend the majority of my time either listening to him cry while I run around here trying to do stuff or standing at the front door holding him so he can look outside. So he pretty much does this on and off until he takes his last bottle and goes to bed at 8:30. Needless to say, I'm not getting much of anything done around here. I decided to make Rylee's Easter dress this year but yet the fabric is still sitting in the box it was shipped to me in. I'll let you know if I am make a late run to anywhere that may possibly have a single dress left for her. Luckily the Easter bunny already gathered their stuff up for them. Anyways back to the crying....on to Rylee. Most afternoons she is pretty good but lately I think all Tegan's crying gets to her and she joins in with him. If she doesn't get her way she goes in to full break down mode and literally falls apart. I'm not talking crying, I'm talking screaming as loud as her little five year old voice will go and kicking her legs, the works! So needless to say, I get Tegan quiet for like 3 minutes and Rylee cries, then I get her quiet for probably five minutes then Tegan cries....do you see a pattern here? But guess what....I'm blessed to have them and happy they are here. I keep thinking positive and hoping this is just a phase. Today was a little better and I was able to keep Tegan calm but it required my undivided attention and nothing less. Then the little turd went off to sleep without eating his bottle and is pretty much knocked out. Oh...I forgot, I tried to get a picture of where he has started really clawing that dry spot on his head but my camera isn't picking it up good. He is drawing blood when he does this and looks like he got in a fight with a cat and lost. Poor guy!

Just reading this over to check for mistakes....makes me tired! Amen!

Occupational therapy

So hopefully in about a month we will be adding occupational therapy to our schedule. We had our consultation yesterday and I actually thought Tegan did pretty good and thought she may decide not to take that route right now but she noticed that when he does reach for things that he isn't bending his arm but yet slinging it straight out to get things. He also has the shakes in his arms and still throws his arms around more than he should. So we have to wait to see if we get insurance approval and possibly with another month of physical therapy under our belt then he may not need the occupational therapy.

On another note the nap God's have stopped listening to me and have let me down. Over and over again I continue to try to get this child to take a good nap so that he isn't cat napping at 7:00 pm and then not wanting to go to sleep for the night. I don't get much sleep at night though due to a five year old that is terrified of what she calls "noises in the night". Last night I was in a deep sleep and suddenly woke up with a chill at around 12:30 and looked to my left and Rylee was just standing there not saying a word and just looking at me. It scared me to death! If she isn't waking me up then I am getting up and down to check on Tegan and make sure he is still on his back. My hopes are that I will sleep again some day soon....if not, who cares at this point, I'm already past the exhaustion point these days!

Kailey Elizabeth's dedication

Sunday was Kailey Elizabeth's baby dedication. Kailey is the daughter of my really good friend Larkin. We got to go through our pregnancies together and had our babies a month apart with Tegan born first and Kailey a month later. Although you can't tell that b/c Kailey is just a tiny little thing and Tegan is a monster up next to her. Here are a few pictures of them together on Sunday....please ignore the mother's in the background, the father's were taking the pictures and they were not warning us but just snapping as if they were the paparazzi.

Notice Tegan petting Kailey's head. Also notice how he is looking up at Larkin making sure she doesn't catch him! I love that. The husband's had just missed a perfect picture of the two of them holding hands.

Tegan is not happy about being in a picture with all these girls.

In this picture we added our good friend Chrissy. Chrissy is 100% responsible for the big blind date set up of me and Paul which has eventually somehow led to seven years of marriage. Notice Tegan looking at Kailey below....he seems amazed by her!

Wild weather in Georgia

Today was a crazy day for us. It started off at around 5:00 am when Rylee woke me and wanted me to lay with her. A little while later there was a little storm before day break. Of course Rylee was wide awake and terrified and the thunder woke Tegan up so once again all four of us ended up in one bed for the last couple hours of sleep. Paul was wonderful and got up with both children and let me sleep in for a little while. Then I got up and me and Rylee headed out to have some girl time and go see the new movie "Horton Hears a Who". The movie was pretty good and Rylee was all over me the whole time and loving this alone time with me. Then we got ready to leave the movie and as we were about to walk out the front door they pushed us all back in and said go get in the hallway and get down on the floor....a tornado was coming! Crazy! We sat in a very hot, very full hallway for probably 45 minutes to an hour. Apparently this exact same storm had a tornado touch down just a few miles up the road from us. Luckily it didn't touch down on us. So when they said we could leave but did not recommend it, me and Rylee jumped in the car and took off for home. When we got home we went straight up to the church were Paul, Tegan and Joan had taken shelter in the basement from the storm. We stayed there for about another hour and watched quarter size hail fall and cover the ground. It was getting scary but luckily we were not hit and all is well with a quiet night in Georgia! So maybe today wasn't the best day to try to spend some extra time with Rylee b/c she was terrified the whole time but I have to get credit for trying.

Nap time take two

Oh thank you, thank you, thank you! After praying for a good nap today, Tegan took a three hour nap! You got it people, ask and you shall receive! I was able to make two handbags during his three hour nap!

Nap time...

I think it is my turn to have a talk with the "Nap God". Tegan is a wonderful sleeper at night. I know what some of you are thinking...."WHAT ARE YOU COMPLAINING ABOUT" but the thing is that the child does not nap at all during the day. He literally takes 2 or 3 twenty minute cat naps a day. During his awake time he is sweet just as long as I am standing right in his line of vision. So I ask you, nap Gods to please help me and and give my sweet little boy at least one good restful nap a day and give me a little down time to get things done at home. In your name I pray....AMEN!

New projects...

Although I am still dedicated to making my diaper bags, tote bags and handbags, time seems to be limited b/c my dear sweet boy will not nap during the day but in maybe two 20 minute stretches so I haven't been able to do much sewing. I have been slowly teaching myself to make pillow case dresses and tops. When I say slowly....I mean slowly b/c it is taking me about one week to do just one dress b/c not only will Tegan not sleep but he thinks I can't be out of his sight and it's hard to get to the sewing area I need to be in and still be in his line of vision. Anyways here are a couple of pictures of some projects I have done. The Georgia one I ended up taking a pair of pants that had started getting to short for Rylee but still fit in the waist and just extended them with a ruffle along the bottom.

Please ignore the fact that it is March and there is still a Happy Holidays rug at my front door. And no, that rug is not from this Christmas but has been there since Christmas 2006. What can I say, it's a really good rug!

Today me and my Teggie (one of many nick names) went to his second physical therapy appointment. He did really well although he wasn't to pleased with all the work he was having to do. He has a great physical therapist who just eats him up every time he is there. While me and her were talking about his development and his Nystagmus she was trying to comfort me by telling me of others situation. She is presently seeing several babies who have Nystagmus. Unfortunately for this babies, Nystagmus isn't even the major concern with them. She said that Tegan is going above and beyond what all of her other Nystagmus patients are able to do. She truly feels like that by strengthening his arms that it will help a lot of his problems like being on his belly, balance while sitting and things like that. His vision has really improved. Sometimes I look at him and really notice his eye movements and can tell that sometimes his eyes roll back a little but sometimes I will go days and realize that I haven't noticed his eyes moving a lot at all. I don't know if I'm just use to it or if it has gotten a lot better. Either way, after talking to the physical therapist today and comparing him to previous and present patients I feel like one of the lucky ones. So what if his eyes move back and forth, so what if he is a little behind, at least he has the potential to see and to over come his developmental problems and I really believe that he will.

So Great to Hear....

This has got to be the cutest thing you will see all day...or all week!!!

I love this boy so much!

Tegan had just sneezed himself so I was just copying him and he started laughing. He had already been laughing at me for several minutes before Paul got the camera. I love it!!!

Worried sick....

Last night was a long night. Rylee is deathly afraid of rain, thunder, lightening and wind....I guess you could say she is completely scared of Mother Nature. By 12:00 am the wind was blowing so hard that Rylee was already in our bed. So needless to say I was already not sleeping to well. At 5:00 am I woke up suddenly and literally popped up out of bed and just started heading to Tegan's room. There was no noise that I could hear in his room that would have prompted this all I can say is God was in control. As I walked in the doorway of his room I noticed that I could already hear him breathing...almost gasping. As I leaned over his bed I noticed that he was on his stomach. Most of you know that Tegan has recently learned to roll over but he still does not have the neck strength and head control that most babies have at this age. Back to the story, he was on his stomach sleeping and his head was flat down in to the mattress....sound asleep. He wasn't crying, he wasn't attempting to turn his head or lift his head or anything. I immediately flipped him over and stood back for a second and he started to try to roll over in his sleep again so I eventually had to just pick him up and put him in the bed with us.....Yes you are counting that right, Me, Tegan, Rylee and Paul were all in the same queen size bed.
I have worried all day and I fear that I may not get much sleep tonight due to being worried about Tegan rolling in his sleep. He is sleeping on a sleep positioner tonight but he is such a big boy that I am scared this will not stop him but maybe it will cause him to have to have a little more effort so maybe I will hear him. I'm sure I will still be up every hour checking on him. This appears to be the down side of him rolling. He does this during tummy time also where when he gets tired he just starts eating the carpet and doesn't even lift his head to try to get air. It's very scarey but until last night I have never worried about it in his sleep. I will now.

Show off

Tegan had his first official physical therapy appointment this morning. It went great. He didn't do his usual "I'm so lazy" thing like he always does in front of Dr.'s. He rolled for the physical therapist and held and played with toys. He followed toys so well that the vision therapist that was sitting in on the appointment felt like she wouldn't be needed until he became mobile. There are still some things he is lacking but they were impressed with how far he has come since the consultation at the end of January.
The main thing they will work on the next month is strength in his arms. He still doesn't do his "baby push-ups" (lift his chest off the floor) so they are feeling like the reason why his arms are so jerky is b/c his shoulder muscles are not strong enough to help him control his arm. Therefor he still has those sporadic movements with his arms that usually go away by two or three months at the latest. The goal is to have him lifting his chest off the floor by the end of the month with a whole lot of therapy at home and his therapy once a week with Laurie. After that we will move to him really reaching for things which they think well come on its own when his shoulders get stronger. One of the other things we are going to work on this month is getting him to roll to his left side b/c he doesn't yet even attempt that. But that is no major deal right now, at least he is rolling from his back to his belly and he will get better at going from his belly to his back once he can lift his chest up.

Sunday

Tegan looks so huge...oh wait, he is but he was so lazy in this one and wouldn't hold himself up at all and Rylee wasn't interested in helping him so I gave up after one picture of them two together.

Sunday was so pretty outside. So imagine my surprise when Rylee wakes me up Sunday morning saying that she is ready to go to the park. We have never taken her on a picnic and she decided yesterday was the day. We did a modern day picnic and went by Subway and got us some food and went to Memorial Park to eat and play. She had fun on the playground and we walked around their big lake. It was sooooo pretty that it really gave us all spring fever. Tegan loves to be outside so he was really on his best behavior and just looking around and enjoying everything. It was very nice except for the fact that a couple of months ago a woman was found in the lake dead and Paul couldn't get over that and kept trying to investigate how she could have possibly ended up in there b/c no foul play was suspected. He was obsessed.

Then we had to head to the funeral home for a wonderful lady in our church who passed away that was the oldest and I believe the longest running member of our church. My sister Melissa came over to keep the kids while we went and I am so excited to say that Tegan did great. Most of you know that when the evenings come around, Tegan wants me and only me so it was nice to know that he did great for Melissa. Melissa is beating Shannon so far this year in the sister of the year award (although I have to give Shannon a pass b/c she does have five kids) b/c Melissa drove all the way to my house last weekend when we were gone out to eat just to check and make sure I unplugged my flat iron b/c I couldn't remember and it was bothering me. Also on my side of the family Melissa has 9 nieces and nephews and somehow from Friday thru Sunday she managed to successfully keep all 9 of them at some point or another. Good job Melissa!