Sip 'n See

This past weekend Melissa threw Brock a cute little sip 'n see at her home in Pearland. It was so sweet! Some of my mom's friends came by along with some of my girlfriends that I have not seen in FOREVER! It was perfect. Thank you sooooo much Melissa! We had an awesome time! Perfect Saturday afternoon!! I still apologize for Jake and how rough he is...he LOVES to tackle...Landon needs to hang around more often, Jake will totally roughen him up! Maybe even teach him some of his tackling form...he seems to have it down to a science! Then Landon can teach him how to honk!

As far as things are going around here...Brock is really growing. I mis-quoted on one of the last blogs...Brock and Jake are both in the 90th% and above on height...Brock being taller than his brother. Just NUTS! I wonder if they will keep their height...or just grow into it...we shall see.
This past week Brock has been officially sleeping from his 10pm feeding all the way until around 6am. WOW! Eventhough it is not me sleeping that whole time too, it is still very refreshing. The first couple of nights took some crying it out, but I think we are now moving towards our official sleeping through the night phase. Even last night, he woke up at 5:15, but I just went up to calm him down and turn on his waves sound-effects, and he went back to sleep until 7!! AHHHH...it is so amazing to me how refreshing getting good sleep can be :-)

But other than that...things are very normal. He is much better since his stay in the hospital and Jake is still LOVING having a little brother. He goes and sits by him all the time...now he is even taking it upon himself to turn Brock over onto his belly..next thing I know he will be trying to pick him up. Poor Brock...both are going to be two tough boys! I am going to have to keep in good shape to keep up! (good incentive!) -Kel

There it is!

After searching high and low, Joe and I finally gave up and resigned to the fact that we needed to purchase a new phone because our existing on had "somehow" disappeared. As sad as it was, since this one was the phone we recorded our first home message on, we kind of knew that we needed a new one anyways, because of horrible reception among other things.
So, Joe went to Fry's and got us a great new cordeless phone for the house.
This was Saturday.
Yesterday.
We found the phone...


Now why didn't we think about looking in with the pots and pans in the first place...duh...
Good thing Jake is so cute!

check-up

This morning we took Jake to his 1.5 year check up and Brock to his 2 month check up.
Everything is excellent...we are so thankful!
All the nurses were very excited to see Brock again, feeling much better this time!
Both are above average on everything, which we kind of knew from previous reports, but the thing that amazed me and Joe the most was that both are 75% or higher on their height. NUTS! We'll see if it keeps up as they grow, but both Joe and me are completely average in height...so, it is a matter of mystery as to where these kids are getting it from. It could be on either side of the family...either way, it is DEFINITELY not from either one of us!
I will not bore yall with the actual stats, just know that we are totally healthy, and TALL.
So, since both boys have hit milestones, I thought I would take some shots of our cuties. Jake's were, of course, taken outside where he LOVES to live, and Brock's in daddy's arms inside. No, the wet hair is not from water...that is sweat...it is way to freakin' hot in these parts.


Then once Brock's pics were complete Jake had to crash the party, and even try and lick, yes, I said "lick" his brother.

Ahhh...what fun! I cannot wait to see how these two grow up together! -Kel

Father's Day around this neck of the woods

Yesterday was AWESOME! After the second half of the week of Joe off at FCA camp in Belton he was able to come home to his family. What a great Father's Day present! A week of lives being changed eternally, and then ending it with family time.
The look on Jake's face as he came in was PRICELESS...he was doing his "happy feet" all over the kitchen. Even though it was late in the day he was able to spend some good time with Jake and tuck him into bed, then we cooked some fajitas, with my parents, ate and layed around afterwards while Brock fell asleep on his chest.
What a life, right?!? We are so glad to have daddy home!

he's back!

Our littlest man is feeling so much better! I am so sorry I have done such a yucky job updating this blog...most of my updates have gone through Facebook as very basic one sentence follow-ups. But here you go, the whole story...

Brock is a VERY happy baby usually, and he had been abnormally fussy for about 24 hours...but I just thought it was a "phase". Friday afternoon I took Brock's temp because he was feeling warm and had not been eating very well for the last day.
He was at 102.1...AHHHHHH!!
I immediately FREAKED out and called the dr. who had us come in within that hour to get him looked at. So, Joe postponed leaving town for work to keep Jake while I took Brock into the dr. After about 30 mins of checking him out, they very gently told me that I needed to go to the ER. Our Dr.s office is a branch off Texas Children's (thankfully) so they wanted me to head into town to get the best care for him...um ok!
They saw how flustered I got in that amount of time, so they called an ambulance to have me and Brock ride down in. HOLY COW...talk about scary, seeing your 6 week old get strapped to a strecher and escorted out of the pediatrician's office. I dont think I have seen more people stare...
But on the way down to the hospital the ambulance techs totally made me feel like I did not need to freak out. This was not anything other than a virus or something. His heart and lungs sounded GREAT! We didn't even put on the lights because they were not too worried to rush.

Once we got down there Joe and my mom, brother and Sam, all met me to sit while Brock got lots of blood drawn, a urine sample, and a spinal tap (thank GOD they made me leave for that)
The Dr's were VERY optomistic, saying things like "he is a fighter, which makes us think he is not too sick". Things like that make a mom and dad feel a lot better!
After about 6 hours in the ER we were admited to the hospital because he had to be supervised for 48 hours and wait until all his cultures came back.

So, it was just a waiting game from that point on. He was hooked up to an IV where they were pumping MAJOR anti-viral and anti-bacterial antibiotics 24-7. The first 24 hours were VERY rough. His temp stayed very high and he was still fussy and very lathargic. Joe and I were so bummed. But then on Saturday evening he began to perk up. He was smiling all the time, dancing in his crib and even eating so much better! All the nurses were incredibly helpful. We could not have asked for better care.
Sunday morning Auntie Tina came up to the hospital to visit Brock and us, (she was in town for a girls weekend) and then I drove her out to our house to hang out with Jake while Joe stayed at the hospital with Brock. (this whole time Sitte came in to stay with Jake....we are soooooo thankful for that)
During that time of hanging out with Auntie Joe called and said he and Brock were on their way home!! It turns out that some of the cultures had come back negative and his temp was on a downward curve...woohoo!

He was so stinking happy to get his IV out and be home with his brother, even if all his brother does is harrass him. He was like a whole other kid. As soon as Joe walked in with Brock, Jake was soooooo pumped to have both of them home. He could not stop hugging Brock and wanting to pick him up. It was so sweet!

We had a little bit more of a scare Sunday night when his temp went back up a little, but it went right back down later that night.
So, we have been a very happy, complete family since then. Thank the Lord!

Thank all of you for all your prayers and support. We are so encouraged by amazing friends and family in our lives. Jake and Brock are two VERY lucky boys to have you all!

So, now life resumes. Joe is off to camp for the rest of the week, and I will be meeting him in Dallas this weekend where we are shooting a wedding. I am excited for Joe to get back into his swing of things! I cannot wait until next summer when the family can go to camp with him. The boys will LOVE that!
Hope you all have excellent weeks and are blessed like we have been!

Ring around the Rosie

This past weekend we went down to pick up the boys from my parent's house and got to spend some time with Nick and Sam too. Jake gets to a point of delirious when he is tired and about to go to bed...no fussing, whining or complaining...he just gets NUTS...

So, Ring around the Rosie was quite entertaining for us and him...
although, I am not sure who got more of a kick out of it...as you can hear in the video...



Then it turned into spin, spin, spin...with an added kick pout when there was no more Ring around the Rosie...
He cracks us up!

Tadpoles

And we're off...Brock on one side and Jake on the other, this is how the summer will look as we head down to the pool...probably daily!
Time for some green hair and interesting tan lines.


Do it again daddy!


Jake and all his girlfriends at the pool...but he cannot care less....


After a long day of swimming...we cannot wait to get Brock in the water too...later this summer!

we have a 1.5 year old!

I cannot even believe it. I think I have said that PLENTY of times already. But it is just so crazy to think that time has flown by so quickly. Every day gets more and more fun...I have to admit. He cracks us up, which is not always a good thing. But throughout even his "mischief" he has such a sweet spirit. We are two very lucky parents to have such a sweet son. We have his 18 month check up at the end of the month (scheduled with Brock's 2 month check up), so I don't have any "stats" at this time...

All I can say is that we are one growing boy. It is amazing the watch that developing little man. I think the thing that cracks me up the most is his "vocabulary". He has entire conversations in nothing but gibberish. Lots of pointing and bossing around, he sure knows what he is saying and thinks that we do too. Maybe the reason he hasn't resorted to real words is because we act like he is already telling us something and we know what he is saying...oh well...it is just too cute to make him think anything less. He is a Chatty Cathy too. The man likes to talk! The other day after our beach trip Jake actually fell asleep in the car (this NEVER happens) and when he woke up 30 minutes later, he started talking IMMEDIATLY...almost as if he feel asleep in the middle of his conversation and he was finishing up his story, "so like I was saying...." (that is Jake in a nut-shell)
He is still completely in love with books, only now he likes to read them outloud to himself. We find him, all the time, reading in bed after he wakes up. We have to keep a stock pile of books in there so that he can entertain himself.
He has such a growing imagination. Joe and I find ourselves peeking around corners alot now just watching him play by himself. Talking and such about something?!? We have totally startled him a couple times when he turned around and saw up spying on him...oppps...I wonder what is going on in the head of his.
I cannot wait to see what these next 6 months have in store for us. This next birthday is going to be a blast! What an awesome age! -Kel

The snake wrangler

Joe was taking out the trash late last week, walked out the door, and YELLED! He had found a snake on our back porch! Holy cow! I know we live in an area with a lot of trees, but wilderness, I think not!
So, it is not really that "big of a deal" kind of snake, but if you saw something like this slithering across your door step as you walked outside, I think it is safe to say it would startle you too!
Joe is so brave! My hero!

This is me...totally disgusted!