He's been accepted!

Mason received his first acceptance letter for school. We are quite excited that Mason will be attending preschool (K3) at Grace Academy (www.graceacademy.com) in the fall. It is a small, Christian school near our home that has K3-6th grade. It will serve for not only preschool, but will solve our elementary school delimma. So, we will be meeting new teachers and visiting his new classroom soon. He will also be going 3 full days (8:15-3PM) rather than the two he is at Mother's Day Out currently. So, big changes are coming for our little boy. I can't believe how quickly time is flying!

Miles is getting over the flu slowly. His fever is gone as of yesterday, but he is still not eating much at all. Normally, he eats 30-35 oz of formula plus 3-4 jars of baby food and other snacks (cheerios, stars, etc). Since last Thursday, we have been forcing him to eat 10-15 oz of formula a day and at least a portion of a jar of baby food. He gets easily choked when he starts coughing and if he has just eaten, he usually loses his food/formula. So, some of what goes in is not staying in. Anyone know how long this might last and at what point I should be concerned enough to call the doctor (I was concerned enough yesterday, but didn't call)???? I know that babies eat when they are hungry and he is still having some wet diapers. But this kid is usually a piggy, so it is hard to see him not eat very much.

Better run. It is bath time soon! k

Still sick

Miles is still battling the flu and high fevers. He was up to 104 again today. Everyone tells me that it is ok, but when he just lays in my arms and moans, it certainly does not feel fine. It makes my heart hurt for him. I hate for either of my babies to be sick.

Mason seems to be staying healthy. I just pray he stays that way. Eric and I are both congested, but according to the tamiflu website, our smptoms are not indicative of the flu. I think our bodies are fighting it off and needing rest. Of course rest is in short supply with a sick baby in the house.

The church we are attending is doing an awesome bible study this year following Paul's journeys. It started in Acts and we are moving on to Galatians right now. When we are finished with it, we will return to Acts until we reach the time when he wrote his next letter to the early churches. I would invite you to join me on his journeys. You sign up and get a daily e-mail with the short passage and a Watermark member's thoughts on the passage. It is awesome... http://www.jointhejourney.com/

I realized that I never posted pics from Mason's very fun train birthday party. Enjoy!

Flu

Took Miles to the dr this morning with 103.5 fever. He has the flu. So much for getting the flu shot this year...... it's an immunity builder, right???

One (ok, three) LONGGGGGG nights

Miles had a terrible last 24 hours. Tuesday night, he didn't sleep well at all. Wednesday morning, I realized he had cut his first tooth. That afternoon, he had a a fever (101-102). Nothing huge when cutting teeth. He also had a really runny nose suddenly. Yesterday, I kept him home from mother's day out because of the fever (still 101 range). He slept a lot of the day, but was not good sleep. He would wake a cry a few minutes and then go back to sleep. After his afternoon nap, he felt really warm. Took his temp and it was 103.8. Long story (and a lot of temp taking) short, he had temps of 103.8-104.5 all evening. Talked to the pediatrician several times and didn't get a lot of help - other than if it made it to 105, we were going to Children's. About 3am, his fever broke and he slept from 3-6. At 6, he took a bottle - the first time he had taken more than 1-2 oz since Wednesday afternoon. I hope that we are in the clear. We are just hanging out at the house and having a movie day. Last night was really scary and I am worn out from it all!

Hope you all are doing well and staying healthy......

Mommy!!!

Last night was another really bad night for Miles. The first tooth continues to push in and I suspect that another one is working its way through as well. So, Miles and I had a slumber(less) party last night in his room. Eric left early to go to a men's bible study at church. When Mason got up, he went running through the house yelling "Mommy!!! We got a new 'frigrator!!! Mommy, mommy, MOMMY!! We got a new 'frigrator!!" Yes, we finally broke down and bought a new stainless (to match the rest of the appliances) refrigerator, and a new washer and dryer. The fridge was delivered yesterday. The washer and dryer will come in another week or so. Mason ws there and watched it being delivered and installed, but he was quite excited about it again this morning. Maybe even more excited than mommy and daddy!

While they were bringing the new fridge in yesterday, Mason was watching intently. He had a couple of his cars (from the movie "Cars") in his hands. These two large men were wrestling the fridge through the den to the kitchen. Mason holds up his cars to one of the men (the larger of the two, of course!) and says "look, I got cars. I go poo-poo in the potty nad get cars!" The guy looked at me (probably trying to figure out if he heard correctly) and started cracking up. Yes, I bribed him to poop in the potty with cars. Yes, it finally worked. He no longer gets cars, but he still sometimes get a little treat for going. I have decided to pick my battles and this is one I finally feel like I am winning. The end justifies the means in this case!

Ok, Miles is taking his second nap for the day (and it is only 1PM... maybe I'll get an extra one out of him today!), so I am going to go chill out myself. Mason will be comine home soon and things will get busy again!

Finally making its debut....

....Miles' first tooth! One finally broke the gum last night (it was a little bit of a long night). It is still cutting through today and he is pretty cranky. He just wants to be held and cries/whines when I put him down. Makes for a long tiring day for Mommy!

Just wanted to share.
Tuesday's run: 3 mi ->32:58

run time

Today's run: 6 mi-> 1:16:39

Funny story

The other day, Eric worked from home in the morning for a little while before we had an appointment together. I got Mason and Miles dressed for school. When Mason was ready, he came to us and told us "I going to the office to work. I need Daddy's keys to drive to the office." He picked up a book (ironically, it was "The Everything Potty Training Book" - yes, please read it Mason and actually practice what you read!!!!), picked up keys (mine, not Daddy's) and started telling us bye. We repeated what he said about going to the office and he just kept telling us, "yes, I got to work. I going to the office. I drive Daddy's car." It was so funny! At the same time, I reminded Eric that before we know it, he will be asking for keys or taking his own and driving off and we won't be able to stop him or just laugh at him. Amazing how quickly the last 3 years have gone. I still feel like I saw that first + pregnancy test just a few weeks ago rather than nearly 4 years ago (4 years ago June 1st!!). I never would have predicted then that I would be where I am right now - a stay-at-home mom with two boys, working part-time as a Realtor (more about that in a minute), writing a blog on a Monday afternoon. I am pleasantly surprised at how it all has worked out.

So, after Miles was born, I decided to inactivate my real estate license. As much as I enjoyed it, I just didn't have the time or energy to market myself, keep up with clients and provide the level of service that I would expect from a Realtor. It is 8 months later, and while I still don't have the energy most days (Miles is totally inconsistent about sleeping through the night -- could be the reflux, random gas/constipation, and now random teething pain -- I never know what to think!), I do feel like I need to start doing something again that I enjoy, gets me out of the house, interacting with adults and using my brain. There are so many details to work out (childcare, how to handle domestic duties like laundry and cleaning, etc) but I am starting to look at brokerages and interviewing. I think that it is a good time for me to enter the market. With my mortgage servicing/loss mitigation/foreclosure/short sale, etc experience, I have something extra to offer clients and know how to work with a mortgage company.

The other news is that we had our first interview with a preschool for Mason. We are looking at starting him 3 days per week in the fall. When we are accepted to one, I will post where he will be going. Our first choice is a Christian school that is K3-6th grade, so it would also solve our elementary school problem (The elementary school that we feed is not a very good school, unfortunately. Most families in our area go to private schools.).
OK, enough ramblings for one day. I will post more soon!
Happy Valentines Day to all! Kendra, Mason and Miles

No teeth yet.... do they sell baby dentures?

We're having another spitty day in the Kimball house. I did read last night (on a reflux site) that teething and added mobility can cause a baby to suddenly spit more. Miles started crawling this past week and (better be) cutting a tooth.... he is 8 1/2 months, afterall! I'll post if he ever gets a tooth!

Mason, Eric and I are all good. We enjoyed the nice weather last weekend and took a few walks. I hear that next weekend is supposed to be cold again - 40s by Friday and Saturday. Just 42 days until Eric and I leave for Chicago (without the boys) for a few days. He has a seminar to attend and I will get a few days of .......quiet.......and no one spitting up on me ........ or whining...... or crying....... ahhhhhhhhhh. Then, we will stay the weekend with Eric's sis, bro-in-law and niece. So, some quiet, some family, lots of FUN! I can't say that the weather will be better than here. Maybe it wil be cold and snowy so that I have an excuse to stay in the hotel and do nothing but watch movies and read! Now that's a fun weekend!

Take care! k, e, m & m
Sunday's run: 5 mi -> 65:09

Tired today

Today has been a terrible day for Miles. He has been in an ok mood, but he has spit up constantly. He just lost an entire 8oz bottle (in several spit-ups/throw-ups) and went through 3 set of PJs and a change of clothes for Mommy. It just exhausts me some days. Does anyone know if the UGI (barium) he had done yesterday could cause more spitting up? He has not spit up this much all day long in quite a while.

today's run: 2 mi -> 19:34

UGI today

Miles' upper GI was this morning. He was a trooper, all things considered. They strapped him down to this board. Then, they pulled his arms over his head and strapped his arms and head down. Clearly, he was quite unhappy with this arrangement. He was given a 2 oz bottle of barium to drink. He started ok, but after about a half ounce, he decided he was not a fan. We had to coax him to drink. If he didn't drink it, they would have to put a tube in his nose and get it down that way. I started silently praying and it worked! He kept kinda growling and crying at us, but did eventually finish with me holding the bottle for him (rather than the nurse). The x-ray machine was very close to him and covered most of his face, but he could see me just a little. He would look at me with those sad pitiful eyes and just cry. It about tore my heart out. So, I talked and sang and he calmed some.
The board he was strapped to turned and as he drank and afterwards, they turned him on each side and eventually face down. That was when the real screaming began. He was so mad and refused to drink more. Since there was so little in his tummy, it took a while to start moving into his intestines (which they needed it to). They kept rubbing his tummy and sides with a wooden spoon to coax it to move (I guess). Finally, they got the images they needed. Unstrapped his arms, which almost made him more mad because his body was still stapped down. He needed to drink more barium so that they could see if he would reflux. No doing. They said no problem, if they could see him reflux, great. If not, it was fine too. Once I held him, he settled quickly and cuddled up close. He fussed when we tried to get him dressed, but was happy and smiling at them all before we left. He quickly fell asleep on the way home - all the screaming wore him out. It was about 20-25 minutes from start to finish.
She didn't say much afterwards (I was not paying attention to anything she might have been saying during the test - my mind and attention was totally on Miles). But, she did say all the organs looked fine. Great news, except for I feel like there is still no answer for the throwing up. Maybe once the doctor looks at the report he will have more information for us.
Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and prayers. We felt them this morning. Both boys had a really hard night last night, so I am going to rest while they are both napping now. I'll post more when we know more....

Just another Monday

Both boys had "school" today. The first preschool we applied Mason to called today to schedule the parent interview. It is a great christian school and goes K3 to 6th grade, so it would be a fabulous fit and solve our elementary school problem. I'll update afterwards on how it goes.

Miles still has no teeth, but he is sleeping better and is not as fussy. I wish all the sleepless nights would have resulted in a tooth, but at least he is feeling better. He did start crawling on Thursday. He actually started making forward progress! :) Things are going to get even crazier in our house soon!!

Nothing terribly exciting to write about today. Tomorrow is swim lessons for Mason, Wednesday is Miles' upper GI test, Thursday is school day again and Friday we are having the boys pics done for Mason's 3rd b-day. So, busy busy week. I need to fit in a could of runs and a hair cut for Mason.

Sunday's run: 5mi -> 64:27 (Yes, I was slow, but it was 72 degrees and 61% humidity!!)

Have a fabulous week!!
PS.... see a new post that I just finished and is under Jan 22....about my Nennie.