One Year Checkup

On Monday Bekah finally got to see her Dr for her one year checkup. This came at a time when we had a lot to discuss regarding Bekah's health. She weighed in at 18lbs 4oz which brought her weight from the 25th percentile to the 10th. Her height was still at the 100th percentile though. Her weight not staying consistent, diarrhea for 6 weeks, hives, not drinking much, and not sleeping well at night had her Dr a bit concerned. As it did us too! So the Dr ordered a whole lot of blood work to be done. They were checking everything they could basically. Such as basic allergies (wheat, milk, eggs, dust, peanuts), electrolytes, anemia, lead, white blood count, you name it they were checking it. Anyway, the Dr's biggest concern is Celiac disease basically an alergy to wheat (gluten). But if it isn't controlled can have consequences. As of Tues morning one test already came back a bit conerning. The basic gist of it was that there was definite swelling in Bekah's small intestines. This is usually caused by diarrhea which she has had. This is also very normal for someone with Celiac disease. We are still waiting for the allergy tests to come back, but because Bekah does have an abnormal test already the Dr has transfered us to a GI specialist. So now we are waiting to see the GI specialist and waiting for more test results. We are praying that all this just clears up on its own or that it is all just caused by a simple allergy. Although Celiac disease would be an absolute pain we can deal with it. All we really want is to find out what is bothering Bekah and fix it so that she can feel well!

Bekah's First Birthday!!

It is so hard to believe at times that Bekah is already one! This last year has been such a joy with our little Bekah. Eventhough she has been so sick most of the year she has been the happiest little girl. Bekah is so different from her sister Ryan, but that is okay with us. Bekah absolutely loves to get into everything. If things aren't thrown all over the floor like magazines, books, cooking spoons, crayons, or toys then you can bet Bekah will make sure it happens right away. Bekah is so active it is hard to sit down and play with her because she crawls off to do something else. Bekah is always smiling and content with life, however if she does want something she has learned to speak up. She hates to be left out of anything. If Ryan is eating or doing anything then that is what Bekah wants to do. Bekah thinks that Ryan walks on water! She becomes a different person when Ryan walks into the room after being gone for a while. Bekah looks so much like her Daddy, so therefore is beautiful! I could go on and on about all the things that make Bekah who she is, but we would be here all day Im sure! Basically, I want to say that we have enjoyed this last year with Bekah and look forward to many more to come!

On Sunday we had her teddy bear birthday party. Bekah loved it! I made her a teddy bear cake which she just loved. She ate as much as she could and had frosting all over her face and loved it! She got a baby doll and stroller which the girls have fought over since. She got a fun noisy toy which she loves, a big alphabet/numbers puzzle floor mat, and a new quilt for her crib. All in all I would say she scored well for her first birthday. Bekah had such a good time climbing on her presents instead of opening them. She really enjoyed the wrapping paper too. Ryan just didnt understand why the presents weren't for her. We figure after Christmas Ryan won't care anymore. We had such a great time at her birthday party with Gma/Gpa Moon, Uncle Tim, Jane, Aunt Melissa, and Gma Cupp.

Life goes on!

It has been so long since I blogged! I cant believe time really goes this fast. In the moments it doesn't seem like it is going so fast, but when you look back you can't figure out where time went! So much has happened in these quick 2 months.

Sickness: This last month my girls have been sick. As soon as we think they are better the diarrhea comes back. During the first round of diarrhea Bekah was hospitalized for 3 days because of dehydration. It was really hard to get her to drink anything. Finally we got her taking a syringe of liquids. Bekah has recently started her third round of diarrhea which is a bit discouraging! I didn't even take the girls out of the house the last week and a half hoping they would get better and stay better. Ryan had a high fever all weekend, but after two days seems to be gone. Ryan hasn't eaten much the last several weeks so I don't think she is out of the woods yet. She just doesn't act like she feels well, but I have no idea what is wrong. I'm keeping the girls home till the holidays hoping I can have them better so we can have some fun!

Bekah: She is changing so much these days! In 3 weeks she got 6 new teeth! We didn't think she would ever get more teeth, but she did and she made up time! Teeth always make babies grow up so fast. We are really liking her new smile though. Right before she turned 11 months old I weaned Bekah completely to a cup. That brought amazing freedom and relief. However, Bekah refuses to drink a whole lot. We are grateful when she drinks 4-6 ounces in an entire day! Not a whole lot for a one year old! However, Bekah eats a ton! She eats more than Ryan and sometimes more than I do. Sometimes I worry she is over eating, but then I remember she is under weight and just let her eat. Bekah has also moved to one nap a day! This makes my life so much easier. We can be gone as long as we want in the mornings now and I don't have to put Ryan in front of the TV to put Bekah to sleep anymore. I do miss the one on one time it gave me with Ryan during Bekah's morning nap, but we are managing. Bekah took her first steps this week! She gets so excited for herself and squeels so loud! It is so funny! She loves to try over and over again to walk to us. Bekah has her one year check up next week where the Dr will discuss whether we need to do testing for an immune deficiency disorder such as Chrones or Celiac disease.

Ryan: Ryan's new favorite thing to do is sing! Everything is turned into her own new song. It is quite cute. I really enjoy listening to her sing. She has started using the potty again on her own. She decided she hates cold wipes, but likes warm toilet paper. Whatever works!! ha ha! We give her the choice to wear diapers or panties and she seems to like having the choice. If she has an accident she has to wear the diaper until she goes into the potty again. So far it is working, but we are not getting our hopes up to high! We are just happy when we have one good day! Boy has our perspective and expectations changed!! Ryan is starting to enjoy Bekah much more now that she can play more. They love to chase each other around the house and scream and squeel. Ryan loves to look at all the Christmas lights. She gets upset when people don't have them on during the day. She loved helping me make Christmas cookies this last weekend. She iced each cookie until there was no cookie showing anymore. This girl loves to color and will do it for an hour at a time, so coloring cookies was amazing to her. It was so much fun to do them with her this year! My mom and I took Ryan to Disney on Ice recently too! She had a blast! She thought Mickey Mouse and Sleeping Beauty were the best! She loved all the princesses but has stopped talking about sleeping Beauty's dress. It was a lot of fun with my mom and Ryan. I'm glad we went!
We have some fun days coming ahead as Bekah turns one in 4 days! Then we get to celebrate the birth of Jesus for three days with family! We are excited about seeing all of the fam this next week and teaching Ryan what Christmas is all about! I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas too!

Fall Festivities!

It has been such a fun month with the girls! There have been so many fall activities to participate in. We went to a pumpkin patch on a dairy farm this last weekend and had a blast. Ryan loved climbing the hay bails and sliding into the corn box. Of course picking out the pumpkin was amazing too! It was pretty chilly for the first time this year the night we went, but the girls didn't mind. As a matter of fact Ryan kept asking for ice cream. Im not sure how she knew they even sold it there, but she couldn't get it off her mind. So since we were on a dairy farm I decided the girls and I could share a chocolate shake. Ryan was in heaven eating ice cream on a cold evening next to a bon fire! Bekah didn't mind either! It is so much fun now that Ryan is older and can do fun activities. She really gets into it. We went to a local church's fall festival/carnvial this month as well. Ryan played the games but once she saw the popcorn she was done playing. She sat and ate a whole bag of popcorn! Bekah ate a doughnut hole and was happy too. All my girls wanted to do there was stay in the cafe area and eat! So that is what we did most of the time! Ryan is a funny girl!!

Our sweet little Ryan can be so difficult sometimes! There are days it feels like we are talking to a wall! Those are the days she could care less if you take things away, spank her, or put her into time out. She just looks at you like, "whatever." When I look at Bekah it is hard to believe that she will one day be a two year old who does things her way and will not listen. Sometimes I would like to pull my hair out (that would be so I don't blow up!) But then you put Ryan to bed and she says she loves you and Jesus and she prays to Jesus like she believes without a doubt that He is real. You cant help but think, "Wow I have the most beautiful wonderful little girl in the world!" Then at that moment I think we will get through this just like we got through, acid reflux, sleepless nights and days, weaning from nursing, weaning from the bottle, learning to eat table food, bed rest, colds and the flu countless times, and a new baby sister. During all of these things we thought we werent going to make it and look we did! I love Ryan so much! Even if she is a very needy little girl. She will just always be a mommy's and daddy's girl who gives lots of cuddles and hugs! She is so smart and healthy; what more could I ask for!

This last week both girls caught yet another cold, but it was good chance to test out Bekah's new tubes. They worked! No ear infections! She is having trouble getting rid of the snot but we are trying Zyrtec and Clairtin to dry it up. Hopefully it will work soon! If not back to the ENT. Today she went to the dermatologist for the stubborn diaper rash. They think it was a bad diaper rash from all the antibiotics in late Aug early Sept that eventually turned into a staph infection. She was put on an antibiotic by her pediatrician already and it didnt work, but the Derm said she needs to be on one much longer. So she will be on one for 1 month! Plus a new cream for a month! We are not getting our hopes up, but are willing to try it out. We'll see if we have any more outbreaks while on the medicine. Plus we have to hope she doesnt get backed up from it bc she tends to have that problem from antibiotics! Poor Bek! I must say though that she is so adorable! She is the happiest and most compliable little girl! She is a joy to be around! We are still nursing and Im feeling better about it now that she is sleeping better at night. She is still nursing once in the night but not crying to nurse from midnight on. She only wakes up at 3 am to nurse now. I hope at 11 months to wean her completely but once again I can't if she won't drink enough milk.

Bekah's Surgery and Everything Else

Well it has been over a week now since Bekah had surgery to have tubes put into her ears. Scott and I were very anxious to get this done as we hoped it would give Bekah some relief. Bekah really did quite well with her surgery. The Dr said her right ear was full of thick fluid almost like super glue. Her left ear had fluid as well but not as bad as the right. When she woke up from surgery she was quite upset. She wanted to get down and get away but she was was to wobbly. It was like holding spaghetti noodles! She wasnt in the mood to be cuddled. She nursed a little but mostly screamed. But as soon as we got into the car she settled right down. She was happy to be in a familiar place. She was pretty wobbly that day and the next. By three days after surgery she was back to her old happy self. However, I must say that she slept better the very first night after surgery because of the pressure being gone. Scott and I are so glad we went ahead and had the surgery. It was worth it! The Dr also said that Bekah will probably have to have her adnoids removed at some point but she would monitor her for a while longer until she is older. Hopefully she will just get better without surgery.

On that same day of Bekah's surgery I had to make an appointment from the hospital for Ryan to see the Dr. Ryan was up all night crying because she said her bottom hurt. We couldnt see any visible reasons for her tears. But by the time we got to the Dr she had broken out with what turned out to be a yeast diaper rash. We were glad it was that and not a UTI like we and the Dr thought it could be. It was fun trying to get a 2 yr old to pee into a cup. Let's just say I caught what I could!

I started weaning Bekah from nursing this last week. Since she refuses the bottle we are going to try going to a cup. Although I would much rather go to a bottle. I liked doing that with Ryan. It was so easy! But anyway, I eliminated one nursing session quite easily. However she still isnt drinking enough from a cup to cut out more feedings. Bekah would much rather eat than drink. Ryan has always prefered drinking over eating! Funny how two children can be so different. So I dont know what Im going to do to get Bekah to take more fluids from a source other than me. I will give her more time as I know she is young to drink well from a cup. That is why a bottle would be nice! Im just done nursing! Some days I just feel like I cant nurse one more time or Ill scream! I really dont know why I feel so done but I do. It is not that I hate nursing and that I never want to again. As a matter of fact Im already thinking about the next Moon baby! Crazy I know! I know the Lord will give me the strength to keep nursing as long as Bekah needs to nurse. She will only be a baby once so Im trying to stay as positive as I can about it.

Ryan has struggled so much this week with Bekah always being around her. Bekah will not give Ryan space and I think it brings Ryan to her melting point. We have been disciplining a whole lot as Ryan has acted out because of Bekah invading her personal space. Ryan has also started refusing to share with Bekah and putting herself in a position to be invaded by Bekah. Go figure that one out! Hopefully this will all end soon! We went to an apple orchard nearby with our church and Ryan had a great time. She was enthralled by all the apple trees. She liked walking around all the trees and seeing the hundreds of apples. It was a good time!

We have found a house in Greenwood we are interested in buying for long term. It is 4 bedroom ranch with 1 acre of land. It would be really nice. It is basically what we have been looking for! If we can get it for the right price before someone else gets it we would be quite happy. It only needs major cosmetics on the inside and a few major repairs. Not bad for a repo! On Monday we will put in an offer and see what happens! We know whatever happens is in God's hands so if we are meant to have it all will work out! If it isnt the right house things wont work out.

Fun Adventures!

We had a really fun week as a family this week! On Wed we went to the fire station with my MOPS group. It was so much fun for Ryan. She was completely enthralled by everything! She loved getting in the fire truck and driving it. She loves her fire hat and coloring book that they gave her. Bekah had a good old time watching everyone!

On Sunday we took the girls into the woods for a little day hike. It was such a beautiful day and we hadnt been in so long. Ryan was barely walking the last time we went. Ryan had the time of her life! She didnt stop talking the entire time we were in the woods. She hiked the whole 3 miles herself and never complained once. She thought it was too much fun. She was completely worn out once we got to the car. She was asleep in less than five minutes of the drive home. It was neat to watch her discover things for the first time or as if it were the first time. She was fascinated by acorns and the fact that squirrels eat them. She would line them up on the side of the trail so the squirrels could find them easier. She also tried to collect many of them. That made our hike a little slow at times but it was fun to watch her. Her favorite part was going uphill and finding white diamonds on the trees.

Bekah had a good time too. She just watched everything and kicked with excitement nonstop! During lunch she tried to eat any dirt, rocks, or leaves she could get a hold of. She had no interest in her real food! We had such a good time and cant wait to be able to go again.

It has been an aggravating week with nursing. Bekah wakes up in the night screaming demanding to be nursed. That just makes me angry and makes for a long night. If I feed her before 3am then she wakes up before 6am wanting to nurse again which I will not do! One time in the night is my limit. I want to be done nursing her so badly but I cannot get her to take the bottle. She just screams until she goes to sleep. But she is too young not to have any milk. I just dont know if I can keep doing this 3 more months! I guess I will just keep trying the bottle every couple days. On Thurs Bekah has her surgery for tubes. We are anxious to get that done before she gets sick again. We hope she does well and has no complications.

This should be a fun Oct as we have many fun family adventures planned! We will take lots of pictures Im sure and have a great time with our beautiful girls!! They are such a blessing!

Birthday Week!

We had a fun and busy week last week. Scott turned 29 and I turned 27 last week! We spent two evenings at Scott's parents for dinner and birthday celebrations. We got some new dishes and lots of candy! My parents took us out to Vito's for our birthdays! I love going out to dinner so that was an awesome gift! For Scott's bday the girls and I made him a nice breakfast and Ryan opened his gifts for him. Ryan thought that was a lot of fun. Then we had some bad wind and lost our power. It was out for 24 hours! That was miserable! Bekah and I didnt sleep well without our fans. I never realized how dependent I am upon electricity! Good life lesson for me! For my birthday Scott and the girls took me out for dinner to Chili's! It was yummy and a lot of fun! Ryan and Bekah loved going out for dinner. We also went out for ice cream the next night because we were too full to go after dinner! Anyway, we had a good week celebrating the life God has given us to live!

On my birthday Bekah went to see the ENT for her ear infections and nose congestion. She still had fluid in her ears even after 4 antibiotics this last month. Dr suggested she gets tubes. We are happy to hear something may relieve us all of these ear infections. Then she put her on Clairitan to see if we could dry up her nose but after 4 days we have had no change! Dr is trying to see if we can put off taking out her adnoids. We will call this week to see if she has something else she can try. Her surgery is scheduled for Oct 2.

Ryan has been a good girl lately not having a lot of tantrums! We went to the museum this week with Christa Sanders and her daughter Saebella and had a lot of fun. Ryan liked being the big girl. Ryan also enjoyed story time this week. All week Ryan has wanted to play outside. We are glad she likes being outside again. We have gone on many wagon rides with Bekah which Bekah absolutely loves. Ryan likes it as long as we go see the train tracks or get ice cream. Ryan is having trouble dealing with Bekah being close by all the time. Bekah is enthralled with Ryan and therefore gets in Ryan's way! Ryan has bitten, pushed, and hit Bekah many times this week. That is something we will keep working on!

Bekah has loved her new freedom of crawling and pulling up. She wishes she could walk but there is time for that. She has started eating table food quite well and only just turned 9 months old! She ate broccoli, chicken, and rice today! Im impressed at how well she does! She is really working on her top middle teeth and we hope they come in soon!

The girls are so cute and learning so many new things! I love watching them play with one another or by themselves! I just wish they wouldnt grow up so fast!

Always Sick!

Well Bekah's fever finally went away! But the next day she started to develop a rash. I took her back to the Dr and discoved she had Roseola which is why her fever got up to 105 degrees. Poor little girl had a double ear infection and Roseola at the same time. It was a rough 3 weeks for her let me tell you. She still is not done either. She now seems to have a horrible diaper rash that we cannot get rid of. We will call the Dr tomorrow to see if we can get something to help that. We also think that now she has poison ivy all over her back and bottom. She must have gotten it from me after working at our land cleaning up all the brush. Poor thing. Even though she has been so sick she has been changin so much. She is crawling everywhere and getting into everything! Her favorite thing is paper! She loves to chew on it like bubble gum! She also started pulling herself up this week. She is so active and happy! She always has a smile for you and loves to play in the playroom for long intervals at a time. She also loves it when Ryan lays on the floor. She crawls as fast as she can over to her and gets her hair. Ryan hates it when Bekah touches and pulls on her. We just laugh! Bekah is just so enthralled with Ryan we think it is so cute.
Ryan ended up getting Bekah's Roseolla which is not surprising. She didnt seem to get it quite as bad but she did have a rough 2 days and 2 other days she was very whinny. We are just glad the fever is gone and she seems to be healthy again. We are still struggling to potty train her. She understands it all but refuses to use the potty. She just pees on the floor and doesnt care at all! We are so frustrated beyond belief. I have no choice but to put her back in diapers. She hates diapers but that doesnt seem to be enough for her to use the potty. She can be so defiant. There are times we spank her 5 or more times for the same thing and she just doesnt care. How do you respond to that. I personally get so mad at her I just want to scream! Our other battles with her are staying in bed at night and playing with her food at dinner. The frustrating thing for us is that she is so smart and can be so sweet but then outright defiant! I pray that God gives us the answers we need to help our little Ryan be more obedient. Give us wisdom on when to discipline and when to just let it go. Also, to enjoy the fun, cute, and sweet moments while they are happening!

Sick Yet Again!

It most definitely has been a trying last two weeks! Ryan caught yet another cold and so nicely shared it with Bekah and I. Ryan and I recovered quickly however Bekah still is not better. Bekah went on antibiotics immediately for an ear infection in her left ear. After 8 days the antibiotic quit working and she got a high fever. So of course back to the Dr we went. She was given another antibiotic to treat a new ear infection in her right ear. She has been averaging 104 fever. It has been as high as 105 today. We keep giving her warm baths and tylenol/ibuprofen. We hope this medicine is going to work by Tues otherwise she will go back to the dr. Either way I think the Dr wants her to see a specialist soon to make sure there is nothing wrong with her little nose, ears, or throat. She has been sick so much these first 8 months!
Ryan has been great since she has been feeling better. She started saying spaghetti this week (sketti!) It is so cute when she says it. She is loving playing outside again and especially swimming in Ms Barbara's pool! She has been very difficult to keep in her bed at night but we are working on that battle. She has really started playing very well by herself lately as well. It makes it nice because Bekah loves to just sit with her and watch. I can get so much done! We shall see how long this lasts.
We are looking forward to some good nights of sleep her soon! Pray that Bekah is well again soon! We miss our smiley little girl!

Crazy Day!

I say this has been a crazy day because Bekah woke up at 6am and Ryan at 7am! This is after we couldn't get Bekah to sleep last night till 9:30pm. She is usually asleep by 8:15pm. Then Scott asked Ryan what she wanted for breakfast and of course she said pancakes! He normally makes them only on the weekend but since it was still so early we all had some homemade buttermilk pancakes! Then around 9 I took the girls to the Children's museum. It probably wasn't the best day to got because of the girls being up so early, but I figured I didn't want to be stuck in the house with two fussy pants! We had such a good time as usual. The girls really love playing at the museum. Ryan loves the trains and the carousel. Bekah just takes it all in! Both girls went to sleep once we got home exhausted. Once they wake up we are off to Grandpa and Grandma Moon's for Grandpa's birthday. It will be nice to eat food I didn't have to cook! Plus I won't have to clean it up either!! Ryan will be so excited to go to their house. So yah a crazy day but fun!! Ryan will be talking (in her own language) non stop to her Daddy about all she has done today! These are the days I feel like I did my job as a mom! Two tired/happy Girls!

Sometimes I wonder if Bekah will ever sleep through the night! She is still nursing twice a night. I try to get her to nurse more during the day but she just won't. She will only nurse 3 times during the day. She has to be ready to sleep or she won't nurse. So I nurse her before both naps and before bed at night. I guess she has to make up for this during the night. at 11 months I am weaning her and then I will hopefully have a sleeping baby all night!! I cannot wait!

Sometimes I wonder if Ryan will ever consistently use the potty. She will have no accidents if the the reward is good enough; however if the reward isn't good enough she won't ever try not to pee on our floor. She totally understands what she is doing! My goal is to simply not give up!

Good Summer!

This last month has been very difficult but a lot of fun! Bekah has been transitioning to a scheduled day. It was hard because she was so used to eating and sleeping whenever she wanted, but it had gotten to the point where each were very short cycles which was rather annoying. After a couple hard weeks I can now say she is on a predictable schedule and it works well for all of us! It was worth the hard work! Bekah has been so active these days! She is crawling everywhere backwards. She gets mad though because she ends up not where she wants to be! She is eating anything we let her! She loves food with texture especially cheerios! Last month Bekah got a sinus infection and ended up on antibiotics. Once she started the medicine she quit eating. After 2 weeks of not eating we went to the dr and she had lost 10 ounces. We were worried but later realized she had gotten constipated! Now she is eating like a machine and gaining weight again! We are so happy to have our happy girl back again! Bekah also got her first two teeth at 7 months old. She looks cute with her new teeth! We are waiting for the next ones to come! Bekah is such a sweet girl and I am hoping months 8-9 are much easier than 7-8 was!

Ryan turned 2 last month!! She had so much fun at her birthday party! She had a sesame street birthday and thought nothing could be better. We had family and the Mercer's come. Ryan loves her friends Abby and John! Ryan has still been working on potty training. One week she does perfectly, but then the next week she quits trying. She is very defiant and we are working on dealing with this! She gets it from me! This last week Scott built Ryan her new big girl bed! It is so cute and Ryan just loves it! She thinks she is so big because she can get in and out of it on her own. She picked yellow and purple sheets for it! She loves going to bed so she can sleep in it! Ryan has dealt with some fears this summer like rain, bugs, flowers..you name it. She seems to have overcome them all and likes to play outside again. She loves to swim in Ms Barbara's pool! She is doing so well swimming on her own now! She cant get enough! We are having fun with our girls this summer and can't believe it is going so fast!