Merry Christmas!

We all had a terrific Christmas this year. We actually were able to celebrate with everyone on the 22nd. We went to Corey's parent's house in the morning and to my mom's side in the evening. It was a lot of fun and Maddox was a trooper. He was actually feeling quite good. I will have pictures to come of that since I forgot my camera. Christmas Eve morning we went to my parent's house for gift opening and breakfast. Maddox got dressed up in this adorable little outfit.

Grandma & Grandpa got Maddox and Rowan great natural wooden toys. They were just perfect! The boys had a blast playing.

What a little ham!
ELMO! Auntie Angie & Uncle Kyle fed Maddox's addiction to Elmo. He was quite happy with this gift.

TOOLS! Maddox just loves to get his hand on tools. Any tool that is. He took a grab at Grandpa's leather man here.
He also had fun playing with Grandpa's new grinder.
Monkey bathroom! Maddox is going to have an adorable monkey themed bathroom at the new house and he got more items for decorating.
Post-nap cuteness! Gotta love the "just got up" look.

He looks a little sleepy still, but boy was he ready to play.

Homemade ice cream! My dad got a new old fashioned ice cream maker and boy did we all enjoy that. Yum! Reminds me of all the great batches of ice cream Grandpa Willard use to make at Christmas.
Ready for snow!
Christmas Day we headed to Corey's family again for the extended family gathering. Maddox had to try on Grandma's glasses. Doesn't he look like that kid in Jerry McGuire?

BOOKS! We did a book theme for the boys this year which was fun because now we have a whole new collection to read. Thanks everyone!
The big teddy bear. Ted & Pat brought this huge teddy bear that they bought Corey's cousin's son Mathew for Christmas.
Maddox just loved to snuggle up.

Cousins! Second cousins or 1st cousins once removed or something like that. Anyhoo, they enjoyed each other.
HUGS!
Wow, I'm beat. That was a lot of celebrating.
All snuggled up to watch Elmo.
Okay, I know he's going to kill me for this someday, but how cute! Maddox was holding Corey's phone during a diaper change and he escaped. Here he is covering up his business with it. Isn't he getting skinny!

Maddox has 10 teeth now (4 molars) and he's becoming such a toddler. He's saying phrases now. My new favorite is, "Yeah, I do". He'll respond with that when he asks for something and I say "you do?" So cute! He's also eating like a pig now. He constantly is asking for a bite of everything and shovels in more than he spits out. It's so weird. It was like all of a sudden the second he felt better his appetite was back.

Well, 2 weeks until we have our new house! Yay!

Weird!

Well, it's over already. At least it seems like it anyway. Maddox slept from 8:00 to 12:30 nursing at 9:30 & 12:30 just fine. He woke up happy as a clam and has been playing and dancing ever since. I called Dr. Saxton and she said the kids that have gotten the stomach flu have just had short bouts of it just like Maddox. Well, I guess I can't complain about it not lasting long enough, eh. Just thought I'd let you know he's doing MUCH better.

It's been over a week...

Oh, it's 4:32am and I'm up because I just feel so terrible. I wish I knew what was up with Maddox. He seemed just great all day long. He played and was his usual spunky self. Then at 2:30am he woke up wanting to nurse, so I pulled him into me and he nursed. He just felt HOT! He nursed okay, but had such a stuffy nose. Then he snapped off and started coughing/gagging. We sat him up quickly and he threw up all over. I took his temp and it was 102.3 axillary. We got some oral tylenol in him and Corey headed to Walgreens to fill a prescription we got on Wednesday for Amoxicillin. Dr. Saxton thought Maddox was definitely getting over a virus, but she gave us the antibiotic prescription because he had an infected ingrown fingernail on his pointer finger that she said was on the border of needing antibiotics. She said to soak it (which I was doing at naptime and bedtime) and watch to see if it gets better over a day or two. If not, start the antibiotics. Anyhoo, it looks about the same as it did on Wednesday, but it's opened up more now and I thought it seemed better.

I called the nurse line and he said we should probably start the antibiotics because the fever could be related to the finger. He also said if it was a virus the fevers usually only last 48-72 hours and then taper off, so at this point the antibiotics can't hurt since it's been over a week. He also said to make an appointment for him in the morning to be seen today and call back or go to the ER if he's completely lethargic, dehydrated or spikes a temp over 104.

It's so sad because this is his first time needing antibiotics! Poor little guy. He hardly will take oral tylenol. Wish us luck!

After I got off the phone, Maddox threw up the tylenol. Then he got a Feverall suppository to take care of the temp and the amoxicillin when Corey got home (5 freakin' mls, I hope that stays down!). It's so wierd because after that he was goofy, playing with toys, and seemed just fine. Just a little warm. It's just so bizarre because it's been since last Tuesday that's he's done this on and off. What the heck does he have? I feel like I'm missing something. I guess we'll see what the doctor has to say later today.

He still hasn't eaten anything since last Tuesday besides a few freeze-dried banana & mango bites Wednesday night. I was hoping that since he seemed interested Wed night that we were definitely on the home stretch, but we're back to exclusively nursing. I think we're going to have to skip the weekend festivities. Hopefully Maddox will be better for Christmas! Okay, Corey & Maddox are sleeping, so I better get some rest while I can. After I shampoo the carpet that is!

8:13am - UPDATE - Well, it's official, Maddox now has the stomach flu. He woke up at 6:30 and threw up. He's thrown up 4 times since then. I called the nurse line back and they said it definitely sounds like something new and the stomach flu is going around and kids have been throwing up for the first 12 hours or so. Poor baby! Merry Christmas to Maddox. Hopefully he'll feel better by next week. We're going to lay low over the weekend at our lovely apartment.

Elmo - The Best Medicine!

Well, we brought Maddox to Dr. Saxton today just to make sure we're on top of everything, so Maddox will be better for the holidays. She thought he looked great besides the canker sores all over in his mouth. She said it looks like they're on the home stretch and should clear up very soon. They apparently take 10-14 days to get rid of them. Maddox has laid low with his Mommy & Daddy over the past week. He seems more spunky, but still has eaten no solids since last Tuesday. I don't blame the kid though. He's nursing a ton though, which is great. He's down to 27 lbs 12 ounces now, so he's lost almost a pound since last Thursday's visit. We just can't wait until he's back to his old self again.

Elmo has definitely helped our little guy get through this virus. He asks to watch him every day and likes to hold his little Elmo while he watches. Here he is watching Elmo in Grouchland before we headed to see Dr. Saxton.

Oh, I almost forgot, Maddox has used the potty every morning for 3 days now. Way to go Maddox!

"Poyay" Update

This morning he saw the toilet and said "poyay". We put him on there and he really went this time. His whole morning pee in the toilet! Woohoo! I'd love to be done with diapers by 2.

He used the POTTY!

Okay, I know it's hard to believe, but at our apartment our bathroom door won't stay shut so frequently Maddox will open the door while your trying to go. We will say "Daddy's going potty" or "Mommy's going potty". He calls it "poyay". Tonight he was in the living room and said "poyay" several times. I asked him if he wanted to go potty and he said "yay". Corey took his diaper off and put him on the toilet and said okay, go potty. He pushed really hard and was able to get a drop out. He clapped with excitement and we even had him help flush. How cute!

Any Suggestions?

Alright, Maddox is still quite punky this morning. His lips, gums, and tongue have canker sores all over them and he was up every 30 minutes last night crying. I called the doctor and they want to see him tomorrow or Tuesday unless he stops nursing and having wet diapers. He just constantly seems like he's in pain and tired. He hasn't had a fever since Thursday night, but we've been giving him Tylenol when he seems to have pain. I was wiping his teeth this morning (instead of using a brush because the brush seems to harsh) and his gums were bleeding. I just feel so bad for him and if anyone has any ideas/suggestions we'd love to hear them.

Heidi Sue, Corey & Maddox

I got a haircut!

Daddy took me to get all my cute curls cut off this morning and my bangs cut too. They were hanging in my eyes!
As you can see, my daddy gave me some funny things to keep me busy. Credit cards!

I look like a little toddler now!
Where did my little baby go?

"Bless you"

Cute moment - this morning Maddox was nursing and I had to sneeze. I sneezed twice and Maddox came off, said "bless you", smiled, latched back on and continued to nurse. So sweet!

Smile!

My little swimmer! Maddox has become obsessed with water, baths, and pools since we started him in swimming lessons back in September. He now likes to be on his back in the pool/tub which is good for his age apparently.
"Wait mommy! I have to cover up my business!"Maddox is also obsessed with Elmo. He's been sick the past few days and all he wants to do is watch Elmo. He asks to sit in the rocking chair or on the couch followed by "Elmo", "Monster", "Big Bird". He's quite the little talker.

He also loves to play with inappropriate items still. Corey thinks this is quite hilarious.
Looking out the window at the cars go by.
With my "brush, brush".

My future's so bright...I gotta wear shades!

Here Cooper, let me put them on you.
Fine, I'll wear them.
Play Date! We went over to Dawn's house the other week to hang out with Dawn and Matheu and try to cheer them up. Dawn, one of the nurses I work with, lost her baby girl, Maddelynn May, at 28 weeks pregnant. So sad! It was fun to hang out and watch the kids interact. Maddox loved the puppies as soon as he got use to them. He's sitting on Lisa, another nurse at work.

They all played together pretty well. Oh, Amy & Hunter came too.
Maddox was riding on everything.
Almost! Hunter trying to pick his nose.

Big smiles!
Watch out Hunter, here come the big boys. He looks like he has a little distressed look on his face.
I got away!

So cute!

Look! I can fit inside this drum.

All the boys were quite tired during the visit. Maddox asked to go "Nu-Night" about 4+ times. He was a little loopy at the end and was doing some strange tricks for the girls. Here he is looking thru his legs.

Here he's spinning around in circles with his arm in the air.

Hunter decided he'd had enough and took a nap on the chair.

Maddox the milk man. Maddox loves to play with our empty milk bottles before we return them. He actually broke one the other night, so we don't play with them like this anymore.

I brought Maddox to the doctor today because he's been sick the past two and a half days. They did a throat culture to rule out strep because his gums are inflammed and he has inflammed spots on his tongue. Following the swab he decided he didn't like it and threw up all over me and himself. I had a change of clothes for him, but I left smelling like vomit! The also checked his white blood cell count which was good and the rapid strep was negative, so he's just fighting a pretty bad virus. I think we're doing pretty good though since this is only the 2nd time he's been sick. Oh, he was 28 lbs 9 ounces fully clothed. Hopefully he'll get better soon!