May II - 15 months

As will happen with monthly blogging, I missed a video...

5-17-14 - Fresh from a nap.  Like father like son...

Suzy, Wade, & Reagan made the move to Champaign this weekend and Jase REALLY wanted to see his lady friend...who am I to say no to love?  We are thrilled that they are a little closer! 

5-18-14 - After church, breakfast at Baby Bulls, and a baby shower, Grandpa took Jase for a few hours while Kiel & I golfed.  A couple friends showed up when we got to #9 :)

5-20-14 - FINALLY made it to one of Henry's baseball games and failed to get any pictures of him.  One of the guys I worked with informed me the other day, "Since you became a mom, you've really started slacking as an aunt."  #truthhurts

 5-21-14 - SOMERSAULTS!!!!

5-23-14 - A walk down the street to see the new neighbors...I just noticed the bud light can when I uploaded the pictures lol #drinkresponsibly

5-24-14 - These are a few of my favorite things...

"Mawnmow"  

To call this an obsession would be putting it mildly. 

Slides

Selfies

Squirt guns

Can you see that lone black hair right in the middle of his colic?!?!?  

5-25-14 - Here's another favorite to add to the list.  Are tractors just engrained into a boy's mind?

 "TRACTOR!!!!!!!"

Officially paid our first babysitter today.  Not so we could go out drinking late into the night, but so we could play 18.  Lani, Kyra's daughter, watched Jase at their house for a few hours.  He must have thought it was a week day because she said he busted through the back door yelling for Kyra lol  I'm pretty sure he has a crush on Lani...he gets a huge grin on his face when he says her name :)

If I didn't date the blogs, I could probably track the weekends by when we go golfing.

Funny lookin fairway though...

And our little visitor showed up on the course again :) (video)

5-26-14 - Kiel & Jase had a bonding day while Amy & I hit the outlets for the annual Memorial Day sale.  I met them at Grandpa's when we got back into town.  #bff (video)

5-27-14 - Long weekend and warm weather leads to an over tired toddler and early bedtime. 

5-28-14 - There's a candle on that page "It's hot"

Jase is afraid of the lawnmower.  He is also obsessed with it.  He walks from window to window while Kiel mows knocking on each one saying "Dada!  Mawnmow!  Vroom!"  Everytime I go to take a video he stops.  Take my word for it, it's hilarious.

This smile, melts me into a puddle.

5-29-14 - After dance classes and soccer practices full of tears and frustrated parents, Aden & Bevin finally participated in their first extracurricular activity.  T-ball is a hit!!!!

Who needs a tee?!

"Say T-ball!"

5-30-14 - Separate VCUG update here.

5-31-14 - Aunt Shilo had graciously offered to watch Jase while Kiel & I played in an outing (see how I could track the weekends?!?!) and wanted to take him to State Farm Park with the ladies to enjoy the pools and splash park.  Me being the crazy I-can't-miss-anything-my-kid-does-mom, just had to go with them.

He says, "J. J." all the time so we just need to find an easy way for him to say Hayden :)

While Kiel & I golfed and I got burnt, Jase helped Uncle Bryan with the Bronco and ate...a lot lol

 Another month in the books with JRP.

-Nicole

VCUG #2

As much as I tried to ignore it, this dreaded day arrived.  Thankfully, Jase was in a great mood taking advantage of the extra morning at home.

 We were on the road to Peoria by about 9:30am, headed to OSF Children's Hospital.  Kiel & I were both on edge...my stomach had been in knots for days and I felt stressed to the max.  Not many words were exchanged on the car ride there and before we knew it we were pulling into the parking garage after a slight delay in traffic.




We didn't wait very long once we signed all the insurance paperwork and got up to the VCUG room.  We were happily greeted  around 11:15 in the waiting room by the same nurse that helped the first time.  She took us to the room and had us get Jase into a gown...hello photo op.

I am a little embarrassed to admit this, but I don't remember any of the nurses names, or the doctor who performed the VCUG for that matter.  If it wasn't about the procedure, the information pretty much went in one ear and out the other.  That being said, every single one of them was very nice and very aware how much this procedure sucks for the kid and the parents.

Once Jase was dressed we laid him on that table and the nurse pictured above played with him while another nurse cleaned his pelvic area and inserted a little numbing cream with a syringe-sans-the-needle looking instrument.  Jase didn't even noticed she was doing this as there were bubbles floating above his head and a toy iPhone in his hand.  One nurse held his legs while I held his arms (my stomach is turning just remembering) and a 3rd nurse inserted the catheter.  He instantly started screaming when the catheter was inserted, but contrary to our first experience, the nurse was able to quickly get it into place and after a few minutes and more bubbles, Jase was calmed down.  As soon as everything was in place, the doctor came in to insert the dye and take pictures of his kidneys.  We could all see on the screen that Jase's bladder was extremely full which is a good thing as the doctor wants to see the urine leaving the kidneys to check for reflux.  He did let a little go while the cath was still in place and the doctor told us right away he did not see any reflux...HALLELUJAH!  Unfortunately, Jase didn't release enough for the catheter to be pushed out so after a few minutes of waiting, the nurse finally removed the catheter...cue tears again.  I think I sang every single song from every single show on the Disney channel while we waiting for Jase to urinate.  None of them worked by the way.  I even tried to talk to him about tractors, the lawnmower, Lani, Grandpa, but he wasn't having any of it.  He would relax for a min and let a little out, but it was obviously burning because he would immediately stop going and reach for his diaper.  The doctor suggested I hold him for a minute to let him relax a little...I think I was holding him before he finished his sentence.  He laid on my chest like he was a part of me, I could literally feel how comforting it was to him to be held...it was heart wrenching.  That didn't work so while he cried on the table some more, the nurses tried pouring warm water on him and I finally said screw it, undid his diaper and blew on him in hopes that the cold air would get things moving (I mean that's why he would pee when he was a baby when we'd take his diaper off right?).  Just as the nurse said, "You're being awfully brave, mom" he let a pretty good stream go, but didn't finish as it was still obviously stinging.  Luckily, the doctor was happy with what he had seen and the pictures he had gotten so after a half hour of waiting, he gave Jase a break and told us we were good to go.  He could of straight up peed in my mouth and I wouldn't have cared!  I just wanted to get him off that damn table so he could settle down.  It was such a relief to have it be over. 

I REALLY wish I would have gotten a picture of him in his stroller after he was dressed because he was completely zapped.  But, children are resilient, and he was happily looking at his tractor book 5 minutes later.  If only Kiel & I could re-coop that quickly!     

We headed outside to get some fresh air and some lunch before we had to meet with Dr. Rhee.  Kiel has always been irritated with the fact that after each test or sonogram, we have to meet with the urologist to get information we already know.  Today was no exception.  We were in the waiting room longer than it took Dr. Rhee to come in, tell us how cute and big Jase is, report the kidneys are no longer refluxing, and ask us to come back in 6 months for a sonogram just to keep an eye on things.  Whatever.  I'll come back once a week for a sonogram as long as you can promise me we never have to do another VCUG.  Done.

Jase probably could have gotten us to buy him a car after all of that, but he can't ask for anything more than a ball so we just spoiled him rotten the rest of the day.

What little kid doesn't love all the animals at Bass Pro?!?

 

With a new truck & toy sized version of this boat in the cart and ice cream in his belly, we jumped in the car and headed home.

And continued to give him anything his little heart desired...guilt much?!?

Hey, you missed a spot.

I have no idea where this came from...

It was a horrible day, but we got great news and that's all that matters.  No more daily sulfameth, no more VCUG's.  I can't imagine having a child that is chronically ill and/or requires endless procedures.  Seeing your child in pain and not being able to explain to them what is happening is like an out of body experience.  Here's to putting this day behind us and appreciating how healthy and wonderful this kid is!

-Nicole