16 Weeks - Flood

5-24-2013 - Still slacking

5-25-2013 - Broke out the exersaucer and it was a HIT!!  (video)

5-26-2013 - Jase no longer cries for you to come get him when he wakes up from a nap, he just lays in his crib and "talks."  "Ooohhhhhhh"

5-27-2013 - I woke up around 5am to a strange noise that seemed to be coming from the basement.  I went to check it out and found this....

Our house sits in an old river bed and my dad has had flooding so he put in a 2nd sump pump, but it wasn't working so we got water.  Luckily Kiel got the pump working and nothing but the floor got wet.  The worst part was the smell left over from sewer water...YUCK!

Since Kiel said there wasn't much to be done about the water, I went about my day.  Amy & I have started a tradition of going to the outlets to hit up the big Memorial Day sales...

Heaven really is a place on Earth

 so Kiel & Jase had a father son day.  I got this picture with the caption "Practically takes care of himself"...

 and this video...funny boys.

5-28-2013 -Wish I could remember who bought him this elephant...it's his favorite toy.

Somebody is ticklish!

5-29-2013 - At about 1am, Kiel & I both woke up to a pretty wicked storm and just in time to see our ceiling fan coming to a stop from the power going out.  After getting water a few days before, my first thought was to check the basement and luckily it was dry.  I was up until about 2am worrying about the 3 mo supply of breast milk in the deep freeze down stairs, but finally went back to sleep telling myself the power will be on shortly.  Out of habit, I was up by 6am and realized the power was still out so I checked the basement again...

I wanted to throw up.  When dad lived here, he put everything in the basement on cinder blocks 6 to 8 inches off the floor in case of flooding.  It was hard to get a good picture since the entire basement was flooded so there's nothing to judge how high the water was, but it was well over the cinder blocks under the washer & dryer.  It actually was about 2-3 inches up the w/d and deep freeze in the other room.  Everything on the bottom shelves was soaked.  Before Jase, I would have been freaking out about my pictures and keepsakes, but all I could think about were the diapers, high chair, baby clothes, and toys that might be ruined.  It's funny how having a child changes your entire way of thinking.  Thank god for Rubbermaid tubs!!!!!!!!!  

After breaking into the neighbors garage (they were more then understanding), my dad got the sump pumps running and a few hours later had a generator hooked up to keep the sumps, deep freeze, and fridge running.  I'm happy to report we didn't lose anything that can't be replaced.  We are very fortunate that the worst part is again the sewer water smell :-/  Lots of scrubbing floors this weekend I'm sure.

I also discovered I'm an empty box hoarder.  Our front lawn looks like a rummage sale.  

Jase & I went to my dad's house so Jase could take a nap & I could shower.  

 

 

 

The entire town was/still is a pretty big mess.  There were trees completely uprooted because the ground was so saturated not to mention all the ones that fell because of the wind.  The prison lost power and obviously that is first priority so ComEd worked on that until 4am.  We didn't get power back until about 1pm, but that didn't keep me from flipping the light switch every time I walked into a room and trying to use multiple appliances over and over again.  We greatly appreciate all the hard work the ComEd boys did to get us back up & running!!

This is the view from the deck of dad's condo.  Somewhere under all that water is the #10 tee box.  

Supervising the end of the clean up...

 5-30-2013 - Just a good morning pic of the cutest baby ever :)  I know this is a blurry iphone pic, but are his eyebrows red?!??!?!??

Kiel is working over tonight.  Hopefully this storm that is coming through as I type doesn't knock out the power and we'll be free from any more flooding.  At least I got the blogs caught up ha!

-Nicole

15 weeks

Well it only took me 15 weeks to forget to do a blog.  It didn't even cross my mind until about 9:00 last Thursday night and at that point there was no way I was going to start uploading and sorting through pictures.  This entry might be short & sweet...I have a hard time remembering what day it is let alone what we did last week.  Thank goodness for pictures!!!

5-17-2013 - Jase went to his first of many of Henry's baseball games.  I'm not sure what was funnier...Jase sitting in Aden's chair like a big boy or the fact that my 7 year old nephew was wearing a nut cup.

 

 5-18-2013 - We have an outside boy on our hands...didn't even mind the grass lol

Not a very flattering pic of mom, but anything to get a Jase smile :)

 Aunt Amy babysat Jase while mom & dad had a night out.  Lena made a quick appearance and made a new friend...idk what it is with little kids & my dad, but they all love him!

5-19-2013 - Drool GALORE!!!

5-20-2013/5-21-2013 - Skip

5-22-2013 - Must have been having withdrawals from not taking any pictures the previous 2 days...

Won't be long til he gets it...

Love. This. Kid.

 Finally broke out the deer towel

5-23-2013 - No clue what we were doing

-Nicole

14 weeks - Rolling Over/Mother's Day/Laughs

5-10-2013 - Party in the garage for grandpa's birthday

5-11-2013 - Milestone: Jase rolls over!!!!  Just belly to back, but still a big day!  Kiel & I were both home and I got it on video!!

Call me biased, but damn this kid is cute

This is kind of Jase & daddy's thing...already loves looking at himself in the mirror

5-12-2013 - Happy first Mother's Day to me!  We had brunch with my mom & Amy's crew and then the 3 of us went for an afternoon drive and did a little light shopping in Bloomington.  Stopped at Kiel's sisters and ended up at home for pizza.  We didn't do much, but it was a great day.  I didn't cook or clean up after a meal and I got to spend all day with my boys not doing anything in particular other then just enjoying the day.

Hopefully when he's past this adorable mama's boy stage, I will still be able to stop & take the time to breath him in the way I do now.  He's 3 months old and I still find myself in awe of the fact that I gave birth to him...after almost a month back at work, I still spend all day counting the hours til pick up...what was my life before him?  I hope as he gets older and life gets crazier I can remember these feelings and truly appreciate being this baby boys mom.  I love you with all my heart JaseMan <3   

5-13-2013 - Jase has recently started laughing out loud at Kiel & I when we're being silly and himself farting (hilarious!).  Of course Kiel wasn't home when he went into the biggest laughing fit ever so I didn't get it on video, but I did get a little sample of his sweet sweet laugh.  We'll be playing and I'll get distracted by Kiel or the tv and when I look back at him and he's starring at me he breaks into a HUGE smile and giggles like "she came back!!"  So we started playing peekaboo...



5-14-2013 - Cousins at the park

5-15-2013 - I still haven't made it back to work a full 5 days a week so Wednesdays are currently my favorite days since I get to spend it with this guy and his double chin :)

5-16-2013 - Not sure if it's funny or sad that when we walked into La Mex tonight the hostess asked how old he was now and when I said 3 months she said "Oh my gosh it seems like you just had him!"  Apparently we frequent the local mexican restaurant more then I thought. 

Nighty Night!!!!

-Nicole

13 Weeks

5-3-2013 - Getting the hang of the bumbo.  Still needs a little work on that neck...we both laughed.

5-4-2013 - Jase had a goopy eye over the weekend.  Compliments of day care or just where that cold I mentioned ended up settling?  Nothing Aunt Amy's medicine cabinet couldn't fix :) 

5-5-2013 -Made it to Earlville to celebrate Grandpa's 95th birthday

5-6-2013 - Jase had a rough day at daycare Monday.  Kyra said he "cried and cried and cried all morning"  Talk about pulling at a mother's heart!!!  I'm sure between his eye bothering him and not wanting to nap he was just tired. 

5-7-2013 - It was really hard dropping him off Tuesday because of his rough day Monday, but thankfully she said he had a much better day.  He's such a happy baby!  He's really starting to squirm...can't leave him alone for a second.

 

Lots of bumbo pics...who needs hands?  Whatchu lookin at elephant??!??!

Jases's newest facial expression.  I get this a lot.

 5-8-2013 - Happy Birthday Grandpa Gregg!!!

 We grilled out so Jase got to try out his stroller big boy style...I'm shocked everyday at how big he's getting.

5-9-2013 - Slacker

-Nicole

12 weeks - 3 months/VCUG Results

May 1, 2013

4-26-2013 - For the first time since before Jase was born, I watched Amy's kids.  I'm still learning how to be fun Aunt Cole while juggling a baby...I think I did pretty good :)  I had to bribe Aden with a twizzler to get this pic lol

One of these things is not like the other....

Kiel's Grandma Lois passed away very late Friday night.  I did a separate post to honor her memory here.

                 4-27-2013 - Happy Batman                                          4-28-2013 - Thumbs Up!

4-29-2013 - FAIL!

4-30-2013 -  We had Grandma Lois's funeral Tuesday morning.  Other then the wind, it was a beautiful day...Thanks for that Lois :)

Someone has officially found his hands...mesmerizing

Jase's 1st round of golf.  Gotta teach him early!

Exhausted!

5-1-2013 - Milestone:  Jase is 3 months old!!!  Is this the same baby we brought home??!?!??!

He's still a rockstar baby!!  I honestly don't remember the last time he got up in the middle of the night to eat and he's even getting better about needing help with the paci...go Jase!!  We've got a pretty good bed time routine going.  Every other night is bath night so he'll get a bath before eating between 8 & 8:30, we read a book, and then it's into the swaddle blanket he goes and we don't hear much more then a couple peeps out of him until between 5:30 and 6:30 am.  Most of the time I have to wake him up at 6:30 on days we go to daycare, but on days we could sleep in, he's usually up earlier :-/  I'm pretty engorged by the time I get up, but as long as I pump right before I go to bed I can make it through the night - WOOT WOOT!!!  

As far as daycare goes, he really seems to be enjoying all the kids and the attention from the sitters.  Kyra's husband is usually around in the morning when I drop Jase off and today I got to see them interacting.  I handed Jase off to Denny this morning and Jase let out a big "gooo" and gave him a huge smile!  During a full day at Kyra's, he's taking four 3-4 oz bottles every 2-2.5 hours.  I think he goes longer between feedings for me because he naps longer at home.  Too much activity going on at daycare for him to waste time with a nap.  Hopefully he'll settle into a better routine eventually so he isn't so exhausted when I get him home.  Poor thing is pretty pathetic after a fun day playing with all his new friends!

Unfortunately, we didn't make the first day of Jase's 3rd month a very pleasant one for him.  After a quick nap, the 3 of us headed to Peoria for his VCUG around noon. 

As soon as the nurses came in, Jase turned on his charm and started smiling and cooing at them and one by one different nurses came in to check out "the super cute, happy baby."  Already a ladies man.

They started off the procedure by injecting some numbing cream into his penis (no needle) and then inserting the catheter.  Boys have a dip in their "tubing" and when they tense up, the "tubing" gets pinched closed and it makes it hard to get the catheter through.  After about 5 minutes of the nurse trying to get through as Jase wailed, he finally called in a different nurse and she got it after about .01 seconds of trying.  Frustrating to watch to say the least.  After the catheter was inserted, dye was injected into his penis so when he peed, the dr could see the direction urine was flowing.  The whole procedure took about 20 minutes and all in all, Jase did really well considering.  He was definitely happy to be off that table and cuddled...pretty sure I needed it more then he did.  

We had an appointment to meet with the urologist to go over the results of the VCUG at 3:30 so I wasn't really expecting to hear anything out of the dr at the hospital.  But after he was done, he informed us Jase does indeed have reflux in both kidneys.  My heart sank a little because I was 100% sure in my mind that everything was going to come out normal.  The dr explained to us that when you're born, the ureters that connect the kidneys to the bladder are horizontal and as you grow, they start to angle down.  Jase's ureters were still horizontal allowing urine to back up into his kidneys when he urinated.  While I couldn't see what was happening during the procedure, Kiel said he could see the dye flow back into the kidney on the screen the dr was watching.  This is concerning because if he were to get an infection in his bladder the infection could travel into his kidneys and cause some major problems.  We didn't ask this dr a lot of questions because as I said, we had an appt with the urologist to discuss the results.  

Dr Rhea, the urologist, was very nice and informative when answering our questions.  We went over what the dr at the children's hospital had told us and learned on a scale of 1-5, Jase's reflux is categorized at a 3 or 4.  Boys usually correct this issue on their own, but watching the kidneys to ensure this happens is important just in case it gets worse.  He put Jase on a low grade anti-biotic for a year to try and prevent any urinary tract infections and advised we come back in 3 months (every 3 months for a year) to have an ultra sound to watch the size of his kidneys.  Because the ultra sound can only tell us the size of his kidneys, we will have to do another VCUG (grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr) in a year to see if he is still refluxing.  If Jase gets to his 3rd birthday and is still refluxing, he will need surgery to correct the issue with his ureters.  Thankfully, while we're obviously hoping not to have to go that route, it is a simple surgery.  Dr. Rhea also informed us that any other children we have, have a 1 in 3 chance of having reflux as well.  Great!  We will have to have any future children checked immediately after birth for reflux whether dilated kidneys are visible during the pregnancy or not because people can reflux without the kidneys being dilated/large.  Double Great!  I keep trying to remember what Dr Gross told us when we first discovered this issue, "If something is going to be wrong with your baby, this is what you want it to be."  So now we wait again.  We will watch for high fevers and see what the ultra sounds and next VCUG reveal and go from there.  And constantly apologize to Jase for doing this to him :-/

On a positive note, we got baby boys 3 month measurements!  We're up 1.5 lbs to 16 lbs .05 oz (86%) and .5 inches taller at 25 inches (84%)!  Dr Rhea said Jase looks like he's 6 months old not 3...love this kid!

5-2-2013 - Stinky baby lol

-Nicole