Quick update!

Ryan~ Stubborn but a lot of fun and very smart! She has had such a hard time with Caleb taking up so much of my time. She acts out everytime we are busy with him. I know a lot of it has to do with being 3! I seriously dread Bekah turning 3! Ryan was great untill that day as long as you forget the fact she refused to use a potty consistently that year, but that has continued past 3. Good times! Ryan loves to be outside, go to the library or museum, read, and to do school. If I had time to do school with her everyday she would be happy. We are learning the letter R this week and she cannot wait. She loves to learn. This weekend we went on a family hiking adventure and she had a blast! I finally had Ryan evaluated for speech therapy today. They told me she doesnt articulate her words. As if I didnt already know that! But by Feb 8 they will call to set up a very extensive evaluation and then decided her specific needs and how they will meet them. Im excited to get her some help in this area as I know it will help with a lot of our problems. She gets so upset when we dont understand her. So hopefully by her 4th birthday we will understand 99% of what she says.

Bekah~ Such a goof ball! There isnt an hour that goes by that she doesnt make us laugh! On the other hand there isnt an hour that goes by that she isnt onery at least once. Bekah is also very caring and sensitive toward other people. So much like her daddy in that area! Last night Bekah asked to go poo poo in the potty so we ran her there and she went! We couldnt believe it and I must say she was hilarious pushing it out! I wish it was on video! She was so very proud of herself. Did I mention we are not potty training her and wont be until she is 15 and also she isnt even 2 yet! Good job Bekah! We'll see if she tries any more. Bekah loves to play with her baby! She cannot go anywhere without it and cant play anything without it and cant sleep without it! Her other favorite in the whole world is DADDY! She sleeps with his picture and his shirt so that she will sleep through the night. At times this obsession is annoying but it is cute at the same time. It just depends on what time of the day it is! Oh Bekah loves fruit snacks too! She would eat them all day if I let her. She eats them all at once and then asks for more. She just doesnt understand why I limit her. Dora has become the only tv that she will watch which is better than a month ago when she still wouldnt watch any. Sometimes one hour of tv a day helps me out a whole lot! Bekah turns 2 Dec 20 and we cannot believe it!

Caleb~ Wow almost 6 weeks old! Time flies by when youre having fun and pulling your hair out! hahah! He is over 11 lbs and sleeps 7 1/2 hrs at night now! AMAZING!! He rarely cries but does grunt a lot when his reflux acts up. We went to see the lactation specialist bc I was still so sore. We found out he was not latching correctly! After a long weekend of him having to relearn how to eat Im in much less pain! Praise the Lord for the free lactation specialists! Who wouldve thought I would need one with #3 but owell I wanted some relief! He is such a cuddler and Scott and I fight over who gets to hold him in the evenings!

Bekah Jael!

Well we did go to Riley last week and let me tell you it was a lot of work with her and Caleb but we survived! The dr does not think she has celiac but has no idea what her problem is. He was glad to hear her diet was working but he wanted us to try her back on gluten again to see what happens. If the diarrhea came back then he wanted us to continue the diet but if it stayed away then we could go back to a normal diet. He also had us get another blood test done just to make sure the celiac test was still negative just for reassurance I guess. We havent heard back on the test yet but we did start having her eat gluten again. So far So good!!! No diarrhea as of yet and no upset tummy that we can tell! We hope this continues but arent getting our hopes up yet. It is so nice not to have to make separate meals anymore! It is also nice not to have to tell her no on such yummy snacks although she always handled it well. For some reason though it looks like her system was sensitive but now that she is getting older she seems to be getting "normal." We still have not tried her on oats yet bc we want to give this first test a little while before trying something else. We also tried her back on oats a month ago and she had diarrhea immediately. Oats just may take her longer but we can live without oats! That is no big deal compared to gluten! Please pray with us that we are done with all this diarrhea with Bek and nothing starts back up for her. We are so happy to have her doing better! She is such a happy wild and incredibly sweet girl with a very caring heart. So much like her father!

My Chunky Monkey!

Well Caleb weighed in at 8lbs 14 oz!! His belly is getting quite round these days. I guess it comes from eating every 2 hrs for 30 min! Wow boys are so different! He has been a joy to Scott and I to have around. We enjoy the little time we get to just hold our Little Man! The girls are still struggling but we have set up a sticker chart. If they get 3 out of 5 stickers for a full week then they get to go to Grandmas house on Thursdays. Down deep inside I hope they dont have to stay home bc that is my time with Caleb however Im willing to teach them that their behavior is not allowed. So far so good and Ryan actually got all 5 of her stickers today plus an extra for being amazing! We will see if tomorrow is a good day too.

On Tues Bekah is heading up to Riley to see the specialist regarding her diarrhea. Her gluten free diet has helped immensly but she still gets diarrhea from other things but we cant figure it out. But since we started the gluten free diet Bek has gone from barely 20 pounds (which was very hard to stay at) to 24lbs!!! We are very excited that she is finally looking like a toddler and not a sick orphan. We want to find out if it is celiac disease, allergies, or a weak digestive system. Please pray for wisdom for our GI dr. It is so hard on Bekah not to be able to eat so much of what we eat however she is a trooper!

Ryan is still not talking as well as she should. I understand most everything but others do not. But my future sister in law's mother is a speech therapist and is going to come evaluate her for me. Im so glad she will help us out so we will know what we need to do for Ryan. My guess is she will need therapy but we will see. We hoped she would grow out of this but she didnt. I think Ryan would be so happy if she didnt have to repeat herself to other people so much.

Well we appreciate all of you who care for our family!! Have a great week!!!

Adjustment!

Wow! I really didnt think that Ryan would be the one having a hard time with the new addition. I guess I shouldnt be surprised as she has always been the needy child. Which I must say isnt always a bad thing because she gives the most hugs and enjoys sitting on our laps whenever she can. Ryan had a very hard time when Bekah entered our lives as well so I thought it was her age however Bekah is now that age with a new brother and acts as though nothing in her life has changed. Bekah is just much more independent I guess. Dont get me wrong Bekah loves Caleb. As a matter of fact she is constantly kissing and squeeling over him! Ryan kisses him occasionally but for the most part gets into a lot of trouble. She has spent a whole lot of time in time out which is no fun for any of us. As soon as Daddy walks in the door from work the situation gets ten times worse if that is possible! Im really hoping this phase ends soon before I completely loose my patience with that child. I know we will all get through this new adjustment with some time and patience.
Caleb has been a wonderful baby so far! I hope it continues! He eats so well and sleeps amazingly at night! He made it 5 hrs last night waking at 2:45am! Then slept till 6:45am! Wow up once in the night! He went for his first check up and not surprisingly already gained 7 oz. You see at birth he was 7lbs 8 oz but when he left the hospital he was 7lbs 2oz. The dr said it would take 2-3 weeks to gain it all back but it took him only 5 days to pass his birth weight. Because of this we get to wait two weeks to go back for a weight check instead of one week. Im very happy about that so that we dont have to be exposed to germs to often. Caleb is starting to have more awake time and just loves to lay on the floor near the girls as they play. He also loves his swing! To help him sleep at night he sleeps in his car seat. When on his back after eating he gets very congested and cannot sleep. But the carseat helps a lot making him a sleeping machine!
Ive had a couple of days on my own this week and they really went better than I expected. Probably because I didnt have to cook a single meal this week. Ask me next week when I have to fit cooking into my day! Anyway we are hoping that week 2 goes as well as week one has!

Caleb Ezra Moon

Our "little man" finally arrived! I must admit I was beginning to get a little bit impatient. I had been so very uncomfortable for 3 weeks that I didn't care about anything besides getting the baby out of me! I was constantly having contractions 6-10 min apart but everytime I went to the dr I was only 2-2 1/2 cm dialated. I just wouldn't progress. It was frustrating! Finally on Sept 30 I went to see the dr and I was 39 1/2 weeks along. I felt terrible by this time. It was hard to even eat bc my belly was so upset. The dr checked me and I was finally 3 cm! He then decided to send me to the hospital to have the baby monitored to make sure it was not in any distress bc of all the contractions for so long. He also wanted to see if him checking me helped me further along. At the hospital they had me walk the hall ways for an 1 1/2 hrs to see if I would progress. After that time the Dr came to the hospital to check me and I did progress to 3 1/2-4 cm!! Since I was progressing he decided to admit me, give me antibiotics, and wait 4 hrs before breaking my water. We figured if we just broke my water this baby would come flying out. So while getting my antibiotics Scott and I walked the halls for at least 3 of the 4 hrs trying to help this baby come out soon after breaking my water. At 11pm they checked me and I had only progressed to 4 cm so at 11:15pm they broke my water. I was a bit anxious bc I knew once they broke my water it was gonna start getting painful and I really wanted to do this again without the epidural. The 2nd contraction after breaking my water was intense but I did well. I knew I could do it bc I had done it with Bekah. It helped knowing I had done this before. At 7 cm I wanted to push the baby out so badly but knew I had to wait which is extremely difficult!! It wasnt long before I was 10 cm. After 2 good pushes he came out!!! 12:57 am on Oct 1!! I did it without the epidural and I must say I did it better than I did with Bekah! I knew what to expect and that helped so so much! I couldnt believe it when I saw I had a little boy! I was pretty excited once I could breathe again! He was adorable! Caleb Ezra definitely seems to have his own look but I think that about Bekah and Ryan too and some of you would disagree about that! Bekah and Ryan love their new little brother. I have a feeling this little boy will be well mothered! haha! We are now home and learning how to take care of 3 kiddos! Scott and I cannot believe we already have 3 kids! It is crazy! We are so thankful though and feel incredibly blessed! I am recovering pretty well besides some very terrible engorgement and Im a little bit sore still as well. Im just glad to be home! Caleb does not sleep at night and really enjoys nursing, but we take that as a sign of a healthy little boy and for that we are incredibly thankful!

The House is basically finished!!

Bekah's new room and nice big closet!

The new huge family room!

Master bedroom with new floor!

Ryan's new room and nice big closet!

The outside complete! Landscaping and grass to be done this weekend! A real driveway and a garage!!!

As you can see Scott did an amazing job renovating our house! I love it! It feels huge and is everything I hoped for! With laminate flooring in all 4 bedrooms and newly carpeted family room and hall ways. A new double sink bathroom for the girls and other future kiddos. A new huge garage and wonderful front porch! It is all wonderful! Here are some pictures to give you a look, but I will say pictures just dont do it justice! I cant wait for Scott's 30th bday party and open house to show off Scott's hard work. Best of all he finished right in time for Caleb or Karly to arrive! We are so truly blessed in case you did not know!

No more CRV!

Well with the addition of baby #3 we had to finally sell our beautiful 43,000 mile CRV. It was very hard to do. We actually tried everything to fit 3 carseats in the back but our middle seat is only a half seat. No matter what we did a third wasnt going to fit. We had no one coming to look at it probably because of the cost. Who has 14,500 sitting around? We did have someone offer us 11,000 but we said heck no! We kept the thing in perfect condition and werent desperate! We knew God would come through in time. Well last week we finally had a couple come look and said by Friday they would call with an offer and would have to get financing. But that night after they left we received a call from an older man who wanted the CRV the next day and would pay cash not even caring if he saw it. He did decide to look and drove it for less than 10 min and then said it was sold for 14,500! He said it was exactly what he was looking for and couldnt believe how nice we kept it with two little ones. So by Friday we had cash in hands and no more CRV. We were happy to have one step down and one step to go (find a van!) We started looking seriously and after coming across two scammers we bought a van by Monday everning! Pretty crazy! We never thought we would find one that quickly for such an awesome price! Because of scott having his own business we found out we cannot refinance our home mortgage with the loan for the renovating which made us very unhappy. So we decided once we sold the CRV we would take as much from that to put toward the renovating loan. Not our original plan but we decided we didnt have to have quite as nice a vehicle we had before. Instead we would buy a higher milage van and maybe not a Honda Oddessey since they are a bit higher. All that to say we found a very nice Oldsmobile EX 2001 for 2600!! It is in very good condition. After less than $1000 in repairs and a good carpet cleaning it will be perfect for our family. It is so nice that Scott can do most of the repairs himself! The family just wanted to get rid of it and only owed a little bit more so they didnt care what they got for it. As long as it was out of their driveway they were happy. The thing I love most is 4 captain chairs in the back instead of a big back seat. So now we can take any of the seats out and only loose one spot! It has leather heated seats and buttons for everything! Radio listening in the back and heat and air control in the back. Pretty nice deal!! Once again God provided for the Moon family! We are so very blessed and sometimes I just dont understand why!

Sickness!

As soon as I got off of bedrest the girls got their first (Fall?) cold in Aug! It was the full blown cough and runny nose with fever. Of course coughing for Bekah is a big ordeal because it always results in wheezing. I hate using the nebulizer and Im pretty sure she hates it too! After many visits to the dr we were finally able to find the right steriods for help her airways and the right antibiotic. Ryan also had trouble getting rid of her cough but once the dr finally gave her an antibiotic she was better in a couple days. Sometimes I hate that it takes 2 visits and 10 days of suffering before the Dr will give them anything! It makes for a long 2 1/2 weeks for us!!! Last monday though we finally had two healthy girls. But then one week later this last Sat Bekah woke up with yet another cold! Scott and I felt so bad for her. So of course by Monday morning Ryan was also sick. We thought maybe this cold wasnt going to be accompanied by a cough but Bekah has started coughing today. We will see what happens with that. Sometimes I just dont understand why my girls catch everything. We hadnt even taken them anywhere bc Im a firm believer in waiting until they are completely better. (I wish all moms would stick to this!) Anyway, for some reason my girls are prone to colds but we will survive it. Life could be much worse! At least we can play outside this time of year when they have colds. The winter is when it is excruciating!

I dont keep up very well!

Im not a big fan of writing so I go forever without updating and then make up for the lost month with 5 posts in one day! So here we go! For those of you who dont already know I have been off of bedrest for a couple weeks now and it has been amazing! When you loose your freedom and regain it you feel like a millionaire! I was so excited to be able to take care of my girls again on my own. The only rules the doctor gave was to not overdue myself and to not do any housework. Wow no housework! I love it! So when I cant take the house anymore I call Pam (mother in law) and she comes over and catches everything up. Right now I really have the life! Well that is if you forget about the stress that can come with worrying about the little one in your tummy who sometimes thinks it is ready to make an early appearance. I am still taking medicine every 4-6 hours to help keep the contractions to a minimum. So far taking it easy and taking terbutaline have worked well. Im still not dialating which amazes my dr every week. I have days with very few contractions and other days I will have them every 5 min. As long as I dont start dialating I can stay off bedrest. I go every Friday to be checked and determine if my freedom stays or goes. Im so thankful the Lord changed the direction of this pregnancy. It really looks like I will make it past 37 weeks which would be great. Scott and I would like to make it to 38 weeks which is Sept 20! Less than 3 weeks! Time is flying! Sept 18 is my bday which would be the coolest bday ever to have a baby but a full 38 weeks is always better for the baby! I cant believe I will have a very tiny one again in a couple weeks! Im very excited to hold Caleb or Karly but at the same time I wish time would just slow down. Ive truly enjoyed this summer with the girls and the simplicity of a toddler and preschooler to a newborn. If you know what I mean! But there really isnt anything compared to holding a newborn!

Oh the joys of bedrest!

This morning I headed off to my Doctor for my routine visit knowing it wasnt going to be so routine this time around. The contractions had started back up to 2-3 min last night with another migraine so I knew I was in trouble. I decided to wait it out until my appointment this morning hoping not to end up back at the hospital. However once I arrived this morning the contractions were getting more intense and 2-3 min apart still. My caring Doctor was sad to hear I was having such problems. But he checked my cervix which was no longer thick. The first layer was 2 cm dialated but the inside was still closed which was good. But I was changing since Wed. So the doctor sent me to the hospital for another shot of Terbutaline to slow down my contractions and to had the baby monitored. After a few hours I was able to go back home! I was happy except for the terms. I had to go home with my own terbutaline and take it every 4 hrs and go on bed rest. This medicine is always hard on me at first bc it gives me so many headaches and migraines, but after a week or 2 I will adjust and be fine. But man does it help with the contractions so far. Im able to eat again bc my tummy isnt so upset anymore.
I must say Scott and I have handled it much better this time around. I still have many mixed feelings but I feel like I can manage. We are so blessed to have help nearby. Scott's Mom (Pam) is willing to be here whenever we need her since she only works cleaning apartments at OMS when there are conferences. Pam knows my girls schedules and how I like things done since weve been through all this before so it is nice to have her help. My mom is without a job right now so she is able to help out a little during the week as well when she is needed. My mom wont do too much but we are thankful when she is willing to help out. Our biggest problem this time around is that we are in the middle of a home renovation so Scott works a ton so we have to have someone here literally all day! But with the support we have we know it will all work out as long as I dont panic that things wont get done it time! (If you know me!) We pray that this baby will stay inside me until 38 weeks and we know it is possible. So for now I will spend the rest of my summer lying on the couch wishing that people would leave and let us have our family back! hahah!

Problems have begun!

Well on monday the contractions started up. They were only an hour apart but concerning to say the least. However, I was determined to make it to my friday morning appointment to talk to the dr about it. But by Wed evening I was having so many contractions I could barely eat my dinner! I knew I need to be checked and monitored based on my history of pre term labor with Bekah starting at 27 weeks! So Scott and I went in by dr orders I as expected. I always hate going in because I always doubt myself and what I feel. I figured they were 2-3 min apart but I wouldn't tell the nurse that in case I was wrong. But I was right! They watched me a half hour and immediately knew they needed to stop the contractions. They gave me a shot of terbutaline which by the way is so painful if youve never had one! The shot did help though and slow my contractions back down to one an hour or less. They also did a test called the fetile fibronectin test (the one that put me on bedrest with Bek!) and it came back negative. That just means that I have a 90% chance of not delivering in the next two weeks which is very good news! They also checked my cervix and it has not dialated but is thinning. That made Scott and I feel much better! As scary as all this can be Scott and I felt pretty relaxed since we had been through it all before. We just worry about our little one and really want it to make it to 38 weeks! I will be 30 weeks on Sunday! Today I woke up with a terrible migraine from the shot of terbutaline but am recovering now from that. The contractions have started back up too but not as bad as yesterday yet. I see my dr Friday morning and hopefully will get a game plan of what we will do next to keep things calm. Our hope is to stay off of bedrest as long as I can! Ill update you again soon if anything else happens.

No more babies in this house!

Well we did it!! Neither girl use pacifiers anymore! After such a torturous week trying to wean Ryan from hers we decided Bekah's should go too before she is as addicted. Bekah never really sucked on it just chewed it until she fell asleep. Once she was asleep she didnt use it. She would then give it to us as soon as she woke up. So we decided to see how she did if we didnt give it to her. The first night she asked for it and I just said, "nah you dont need that." She just laid down and held her hand towel to go to sleep (yah she has an obsession with my kitchen hand towels!). Yep it was that easy! That has helped Ryan tremendously! Ryan does still ask but no more screaming tantrums at nap time and she is now sleeping all night again. We also switched the girls from whole milk to 2% since Bekah is old enough and gaining weight. We waited to switch Ryan because Bekah didnt always drink enough to buy only her whole milk. Since Ryan is far from over weight we knew it wouldn't hurt her. The other big switch is we quit using baby laundry detergent for their clothes. They are officially Tide kids! I guess you can say it's been a week of changes for these girls! Ryan was upset to give up the red milk for the blue but otherwise I think they are adjusting well! So for 11 weeks it will seem like we have no babies around here anymore! That is until tomorrow when one of them has a meltdown and I have to change Bek's diaper! haha!

Enjoying the cool weather!

We've had some crazy July weather lately and are loving it! It actually feels like September which by the way is the best month of the year! Anyway, on Friday night we decided to take advantage of such cool weather and take the girls camping for one night. We actually stayed right in Greenwood on the OMS compound back in a little wooded area. The girls dont know any different and we figured it was nice and close to home so that we could leave if I or one of the girls needed to. Well the girls had a blast staying up late catching lightning bugs, building a fire, playing in the tents, playing on giant logs, and exploring. Ryan has been wanting to sleep in a tent for quite some time so she was thrilled. When we finally went to bed at 10pm Ryan went right to sleep Bekah however did not! I was to sleep with Bekah but once 11pm hit I was done. She didnt cry but she wouldnt settle down either. She was wired but rubbing her eyes at the same time as you could imagine 3 hrs past her normal bedtime! So Scott and I decided that Bekah and I would head home and sleep in our beds knowing we would both sleep better anyway. To be honest my hips were not too excited to sleep in a tent anyway! Scott and Ryan had a great night of sleep and didnt wake till 9am! Ryan has been talking about her camping trip non stop and cant wait to go again! Scott and I cant wait till we can camp more regularly with our kiddos but that would require us to quit having them! haha!

Celiac Disease or allergies? That is the question!

Right before vacation we had started eliminating things from Bekah's diet because the diarrhea was not improving and we were not excited to go to Riley for a scope. We first started with oats. This was hard bc the girl loves oatmeal, granola bars, and cheerios! But we had to do it. This seemed to work very well for a few days and so we thought we figured her out. But soon the diarrhea was back again. So then we decided we had to try getting rid of wheat, barly and rye as well. We were not excited in the least bit as this can be so very difficult especially since vacation was soon approaching! But we also didnt want diarrhea on the trip. But after a rough time feeding her while dining out we learned a lot! This diet seems to work very well for her, but the hard thing is that she seems very very sensitive to any gluten! She cant even handle cross contamination! This means no french fries at fast food bc it is the same oil they use for battered fried food. Or even one bite of wheat flour gives her several rounds of diarrhea. It does help that Scott's Mom is already on this diet so we know more about it than most people however it is so hard to tell Bekah no on some of her favorite food items such as hamburger buns! But after 3 weeks on this diet she is getting used to it and not asking as much for those foods. The dr said it could easily be celiac and if it is we need to know bc then she could never have wheat, barly, oats, or rye again in her life bc it can cause her not to absorb nutrients and then cause osteoperosis, anemia, or even cancer later in life. However it could just be her digestive system is not fully developed and by two she could be fine. Or it could be allergies to those foods which she could grow out of too. So the decision was that if this continues to work then we keep her on this diet till her 2nd bday and if the diarrhea continues we have to go back to GI at Riley to have the scope done. So we shall see what happens!

Bekah did turn 18 months this last month and has changed so much! She is adorable! She talks non stop in her own language, she eats with a spoon so neatly (unlike her 3 yr old sister!), she loves to play playdoh, and play outside! She is finally starting to like books too! There is hope! She thinks when Ryan and I do school that she should do it too! She gets so excited if she hears the word school! Bekah went to the dr and she is very tall 97% and very skinny 5%! Ryan and Bekah have a blast playing together when they are not fighting! haha! Good times! It is so much fun to watch Bekah become her own little person!

3rd Trimester!

Caleb or Karly?

On Ryan's birthday was also another big milestone! I hit the 3rd trimester! Hard to believe really and Ive kinda been dreading it because the 2nd was going so well. But so far things are still going smoothly. The migraines are still only at 1 per week so we hope that continues on and I dont have to increase any medication. I had another ultrasound to check on baby bc of the medicine I take and everything looks great. It was already 2 lbs and extremely active! The tech wished me luck with this one! haha! But here is a pic of me at 27 weeks! Im getting fat all around but that is what happens to me so Ill just have to nurse the fat away again!

Ryan turns 3!!

My 2nd Bday (In case you forgot how much Ive grown!)

Well it happened! Ryan turned 3! Im gonna tell ya this transition to 3 has been rough but as with any stage it comes and goes and somehow we look back and think "was it really that bad?" When we returned from our vacation we were finally able to have Ryan's Mickey Mouse birthday! Im pretty sure she had a blast! This girl gets so excited about her birthday cake every year so there is a lot of pressure on me to make it look good. I was pleased with how it turned out and so was she! She had lots of little friends and family come over. She scored herself an art easel, soccer goal with ball, books, puzzles, stickers and many other things that she loves! We are so thankful for everyone coming to make it a special day for her!


Im 3!!



I love my cake!


Since Ryan turned 3 we made her get rid of her paci. I never knew it would be so hard on her. The girl always has her hand in her mouth now. She has thrown a 20-40 min fit the last 3 days at nap time in her bed. Fits Ive never seen from her before. It is very hard because I know she is having a hard time but at the same time I cant allow her to act like that. We feel bad and really wish we could give it back but we know better dont ya worry! When we check on her after she is asleep her mouth moves as if she is sucking on her paci. We know after another week or so this will all be over she was just really addicted!

On a more positive note while we were on vacation Ryan started pooping in the potty! I dont know why but sometimes you just dont ask questions or try to analyze things. She actually had only one accident our entire time away. I cant say she is still doing perfect but she is still going on occasion which was much better than never. I think we may have her trained before she is 5! Actually I would be so happy if she could be trained by the Oct baby! But we cant ask for too much!

Ryan is a lot of fun at 3 even though she can be more difficult as she is trying to be more independent. We look forward to another great year with our Big Girl!

Vacation!

Well we actually went on vacation this summer that wasnt to the Smith's lakehouse. Not that I dont enjoy a free vacation every year it was nice to go somewhere different. This year Scott's cousin Josiah was getting married up in Conneaut OH (NE OH for those who have no idea where that is!) on July 4th so we decided to go there for our vacation. We actually rented a hotel and stayed 5 days! It was awesome! We are normally campers but with the pregnancy and two under 3 we decided a hotel would be better. Anyway, on the way we stopped in Fort Wayne to help our friends the Biedenbachs install a new water heater and water softener. I enjoyed holding there newest member not even a week old! That definitely made me excited to hold our newest soon! Then we stopped to visit the Smith's before heading out the next day for OH/PA! Our 5 hr drive took us 8 hrs bc of a potty training child and a child with a very difficult diet (which Ill explain later). Oh yah and Ryan throwing up all over the back of the car took 45 min to clean up! Other than that the girls really did well without a whole lot of entertainment for the ride. We had a great time at the wedding seeing family that we hadnt seen in 4 years! On Sunday July 5 (Ryan's bday) we spent the day at the Ring's farm. Ryan and Bekah had a blast! They have a total of 13 kids and lots of animals to see so the girls had plenty of entertainment!They also sang happy bday to Ryan which made her day! Then our final day there we spent some time on the beach of Lake Erie. The water was only 65 degrees but the girls still had a good time with their daddy! I think they enjoyed the giant sand box the most though! Finally, we traveled home with two completely exhausted girls and our 6 hr drive took 9 hrs! Within ten min of our drive a came down with a migraine as frustrating as that was we were so thankful I was migraine free the during the fun part of the trip! Here are some pics!

Some of Scott's cousins who live on the farm!

The day at Lake Erie!

Hugs from cousin Simeon!

Baby Names Baby names!

So the big question besides what is the sex that people keep asking us is what will you name it? I will admit that we had more trouble this time around picking names. Scott pretty much didnt like any names! He was difficult! After a lot of debating and even a book from the library and the internet we made our decision! Are you ready?! Isnt it killing you?! Haha Im sure you hardly care but I thought I would act as though it is a big deal! Im sure most of you would rather just know if it is a boy or girl however you know us! We wont find out till that eventful day!
If a girl:
Karly Mylan Moon (personally the one I like most)
If a boy:
Caleb Joel Moon (everyone thinks this will be the name!)

Well I hope you can bear these names since our minds are made up right now! Of course the day before I could freak out and change the names but I doubt it since Scott doesnt like much!
Side note: Based on history the name I liked most with each pregnancy was not the sex that we had! Not that I didnt like the names I just had a favorite each time. Pretty interesting!

Summer Fun!

I would love to tell you that we have filled our summer with lots of different fun; however because of the heat and pregnancy we have spent our time in our baby pool or the neighbors wonderful pool. Not that I am complaining but it doesnt make me look too creative. I cannot believe how hot this summer has been and it is only June! Pretty crazy! Bekah hated swimming at first. She just cried and stood next to the pool. Now we cannot get the girl to go home! Every couple hours she brings me the pool bag and goes to the back door to go swimming. That is all the girl wants to do besides playdoh! She is crazy! She has found that it is so much fun to jump in off of the steps. She is becoming more and more brave! More brave than Ryan at times. Ryan can actually swim with her floaties on by herself whereas Bek cannot. But Ryan doesnt enjoy jumping in like Bekah only because she has gone completely under two different times which really scared her. Ryan's big 3rd bday is coming in one week! July 5th! We were planning her party for that day but at last minute Scott's cousin scheduled his wedding for July 4th in Conneaut OH! We were wanting to go there and see Lake Erie with the girls and the farm this summer anyway, so we decided to go ahead and reschedule her party and go on vacation! We are excited for our trip to see family and swim a lot more! Plus 5 full days with daddy! Our house is coming right along! We have the new rooms drywalled, our family room is drywalled and opened up to one big room now. It feels huge but will be so nice to have the extra space. The girls already love having more room to play. We have also just about finished the siding! Hopefully this project will be done soon! This weekend is the greenwood parade and fireworks so we should have lots of fun with that!
Bekah is going through a rough phase right now with the temper tantrums! She turned 18 months old and the switch flipped. We know this too shall pass but for now I feel like I may go crazy if I have to hear her whine or scream one more time for no reason! She is also on the cereal stage. All the girl wants to eat at every meal or snack is cereal! Granted it is healthy cereal but she still needs variety and has to learn she cant always have what she wants. So after a 5 min fit at the table she gives in and eats her food! Good times!
Ryan on the other hand is turning 3 and flipped a switch too just a different one! The girl still will not poo in the potty! It infuriates me at times! Sometimes I dont even know why it bothers me so much besides the fact I have to clean it out of her panties and off her legs and sometimes the carpet! We have tried everything we have heard of and it just doesnt matter to her. She would just rather go in her panties. She does pretty well with peeing but just not with poo! I figure that she wont do it until Bek does and to be honest after this last year with Ryan I have no desire to train her ever!! Maybe when she turns 4! I hate potty training! I especially hate when my friends kiddos arent as defiant as Ryan and they think it is so easy! Such is life!
Well Im off to have some more fun this summer! Talk at ya later!

Renovation update and pics!

Our huge garage!

Paper going up for siding!

Walls going up!

Roof going up!



More roof going up!

Scott is moving right along with our big renovation/add on! It is getting exciting! We now have a roof and walls up! Bedroom windows are in and facia and sofit and the front porch were all finished today! Scott is hoping to start siding this weekend and finish by the end of the week. Scott and his dad work most every evening after work and all weekend long. The girls and I miss having Scott around to help and play but it is so nice that he is right outside if we want to talk to him. The girls love watching him work and always want to help. The noise keeps the girls out of his most of the time though! Especially Ryan as she hates loud noises. Well here are some pictures before the long weekend of work began. Ill put more pictures up again soon!

Half Way!!

Well I have officially made it half way through this pregnancy already! Hard to believe really! This is the point in the pregnancy that I usually start getting excited because it all seems to be more real. The baby is moving a lot now and my belly is starting to stick out. People are starting to realize Im pregnant and not just getting fat! That is always nice when that transition occurs. Other than being tired this pregnancy is still by far the best one yet. If it was like this every time I would definitely have 5 kids! We shall see what happens. Scott and I have talked about names and thought we were just about there and realized not so much. So we are back to square one starting over. We have narrowed down a couple first names but no decisions yet. But dont worry Ill let you know once we decide! Tomorrow is our second of 4-5 ultrasounds. This is the first one we could find out the sex but of course we will not! So dont ask! We love the surprise and I would actually be quite upset if I found out before delivery. I dont like to know what Im getting for Christmas either! Everyone tells me it is a boy, but we will see in 20 weeks or less! I had one bad week of migraines again but quickly called my neurologist and he increased my prevention medicine and after 2 days I was all better again. I have had only one since that time which was two weeks ago. One every two weeks I can handle! I actually had 4 migraines all in less than 24 hrs which is a record for me. Scott finally had to take me to the emergency room to get some good drugs in an IV to knock them out. There was no other way to get them to stop. That was no fun but after 2 days of recovery I was back to normal again. By the way I should mention this happened the weekend after Bek's surgery, which was the same week we got tons of water in our house and mildew and mold developed quickly, and a water pipe broke in the wall spilling more water in our house causing more mildew and mold! It was a very rough 1 1/2 weeks for our family but we recovered! We are glad to say we are doing much better! Anyway, I hope these last 2o weeks go as well as the first 20. We are drawing near to the 27 week mark that put me on bed rest the last time. So I would be lying if I didnt say I get nervous as is approaching before we know it. But deep down I really feel like this pregnancy will be different!

One more surgery!

Well this time it is Ryan's turn for surgery! We feel bad for her but are completely ready to get it done! Ryan had four ear infection from Jan-March. Not normal for someone almost turning 3. But also when we took her into the ENT we discovered that she still had lots of thick fluid sitting in her ears! So the infections are going away but she isnt getting rid of the fluid on her own. So that means tubes! Not a big deal surgery but a surgery that is worth every bit of nervousness and uncomfortableness that it brings! Tubes for Bekah was the best thing we ever did as she had 9 ear infectiond in 8 months with trapped fluid. After the surgery she has had only one ear infection in 8 months so far! Pretty good if you ask us! We are looking forward to Ryan getting some relief in her ears but dreading the fact that she is old enough to know what is going on. We are going to wait till the morning of surgery to tell her what is happening so that she won't freak out quite so badly! We hope she does well and can be a brave little girl. Please pray for her the morning of Thurs May 21. This will hopefully be our last surgery with these girls for a long time. We hope getting all of this done by next fall will give us a good fall/winter with the new baby coming in Oct!!!

Ryan Kaley!

Ryan is growing up so fast these days! We can hardly believe she will be three in July! She has already decided that she wants a Mickey Mouse birthday! That should be a lot of fun. Im already looking at many ideas for how to make her cake this year. It should be a fun bday! About a month ago I think I had written about Ryan's speech but I must say it has improved a lot since then! She seems to only have trouble with 2 syllable words but if I break them up for her she does very well and actually enjoys me doing that. So we have been working on our own and so far she is improving. She gets really happy for herself when she says a word correctly after being helped so that is really good. Ryan recently learned how to ride her big girl bike and absolutely loves it! Definitely her favorite thing to do while outside. We have to walk to one of the courts on either side of our house because we have no sidewalks but it is working out well and gives her a lot of space to ride. Bekah gets bored so we will have to find her a tricycle of some kind to get through the summer. The girls also got a brand new wooden swing set from Grandpa and Grandma Moon! What a nice gift for the girls! It is so much easier on me instead of trying to take crazy Bekah with no fears to a public playground! They still enjoy the public playgrounds but now we save those for times Daddy can go with us. Ryan's favorite family activity is going to the ice cream shop (Mrs. Curl) in downtown greenwood. We take the wagon and walk there. Ryan always gets a "nill nilla" ice cream cone. She licks every bit of ice cream she can without eating the cone! Ryan's other favorite snack is popcorn! That girl can put that stuff down! She just can't get enough of it! We make it special by letting her stay up after Bekah goes to bed and let her watch veggie tales while eating her popcorn. She thinks it is amazing! Ryan still loves to do school books and would do them all day if I didnt get tired of them. She loves to read books and basically anything that involves one on one attention! She definitely likes to be played with but if we are busy she plays a lot of pretend with her doll house. We really enjoy listening to her play pretend. We learn a lot about what she is taking in around her all day! The most recent change in Ryan is how much she loves sunday school! We started going to the church Scott and I grew up in and Ryan immediately loved it! Before this Ryan never made through a service actually they called her out before worship was over at our old church. However, at CCG Ryan made it through a whole service the first time! Ryan will occasionally cry when she is tired but otherwise she loves to go to church and wear a dress. She asks all week when it is church day! That makes Scott and I very happy! Now if we can get Bekah to go to nursery! Oh someday she will!

More Diarrhea!

Yep you guessed it! It is Bekah! Before Bek's last virus a month ago she started getting diarrhea and honestly we thought it was just because she had been on so many antibiotics lately but she just couldn't recover. The dr sent her for the fun stool test because he thought the diarrhea should've been gone even if from antibiotics. The stool test came back normal so we just put her on probiotics for a while. Then Bekah had the surgery and went on another antibiotic that actually usually slows her down but this time wasn't so we began to worry it could be giardia again! After recovering from surgery we felt we did what we could including the BRAT diet but it just came right back. We also started noticing her pants not fitting any longer. We figured after 4 weeks the dr would finally take the matter seriously so we took her in. After being weighed we found she lost a whole pound already which is a lot at her age and for someone who is already way under weight! So the dr agreed it seems to be all the same characterisitics as the last time and put her back on the nasty made to order Flagyl to treat giardia for 2 weeks 2 times a day. After 2 days we have already seen amazing improvement. She now sleeps all night again and has no more diarrhea and only 1-2 stools a day again! Yeah! We hope this does continue to work and she stays healthy for a long time!!

Adnoid Surgery

Well as many already know Bekah did indeed have surgery to remove her adnoids. The ENT could not believe how much worse she seemed since she last saw her six months before. So there was no begging the Dr to do this surgery as she thought it was a must. We also discussed removing her tonsils as they are very large as well. A 3 out of 4 on the scale I guess. But the dr and we agreed that she is just too young and could easily become dehydrated as she already doesnt drink that well. If she was in too much pain she may not drink at all which is normal with tonsilectomy. So we will wait to see if she grows into them in the next year. If not tonsils will be next year! This surgery was a bigger deal than tubes because she was going to go all the way under with an IV which is never fun for little ones especially Bekah who has always had trouble with them. We were so happy to hear that they had no trouble this time around and only poked her once!! The surgery was quick and Bekah seemed to recover pretty quickly at least we thought so. The first 2 days she didnt seem much worse than any virus she'd had before. But by day 3 the misery began. She developed a high fever and became unusually fussy. It was difficult I think only because Bekah has never been fussy like that. We didnt know what to do with our non cuddly fussy child! By day 7 we were frustrated because the dr told us she would be fine after 2-3 days. yah right! So we called her and she wrote her a new antibiotic since the original one obviously wasnt working. Around day 9 Bekah finally got better and boy were we happy. We are so glad this surgery is over and have already seen a huge difference. We dont even notice when she drinks anymore because she no longer gasps for air! She also had a constant low grade fever every evening and that is now gone as well! We pray this also helps her quit catching everything that blows by and she can stay healthy for a couple weeks!! Thank you all for all of your prayers!

Renovation Pics!

They are playing on the new slab for more family room space and 2 new bedrooms!

Also, to the right of the door is the new bathroom and hallway which used to be Ryan's room!
In front of the door and along the side of the house will be our 2 car garage! No slab poured yet!

The Pea gravel that the girls are gonna miss!

All the building materials covered with tarps until we can start actually building!

Need some mud? It is great fun getting two kids to the car through all the mud and rock!

Pregnancy!

I can't believe Ill be 15 weeks pregnant on Easter Sunday! This pregnancy is going so quickly and pretty well I must say. I think it is safe to say Im through all the nausea now which is very nice. I never actually threw up this time around but I still got tired of feeling sick everyday. I still cannot eat spaghetti and if you know me you are in shock. That is my ablsolute favorite meal and could possibly eat it everyday and have come close to that when working at Fazoli's and Wheeler Mission! It makes me sad! I tried the other day to have some and almost threw up while eating it! I dont understand it! I sure hope this aversion goes away soon because I dont think my family can go that long without it! haha! There are some other things I can't even look at but they aren't as upsetting to me. One thing I can't get enough of is sour cream! Im always trying to think of meals that go with sour cream! You wonder why Scott finds me so strange! The migraines are also still doing well. I had a really bad one on Palm Sunday but have done well since. We hope I continue to do well so that I dont have to increase my medicine. I finally say the OB this last week. We were able to talk to the dr about my previous complications, my migraine medicine, and we had our first ultrasound. The little one was laying with its one hand behind the back of it's head, it's feet crossed, and waving it's other hand! It was really cute! We were informed that we will get to see our little one every 4-6 weeks because of the migraine medicine Im on. I wasnt too sad about that! But apparently the medicine Im on especially when increased (which is very normal as the body becomes used to it) can cause low blood pressure for me and more importantly the baby. So we have to keep an eye on it. The dr said he has never actually seen it happen but it is a risk. He also said I may have to recieve one shot a week to help prevent preterm labor. Scott and I are not sure we want to do this bc there is a good chance this pregnancy could be completely normal. So we are talking about it and will talk to the dr more the next visit regarding this.
Ryan is very excited about having a baby soon. She always sticks out her belly and says her baby is growing real well so it can come out soon. She also informs me that her baby makes her belly hurt sometimes and that she will be having a girl, but mommy will be having a boy. I hope she is right! It is really funny the things she says sometimes! This week she asked if she could take the baby toys from the Dr office for the new baby. She is a good sister!
Hopefully this 2nd trimester will continue to go well! Im already much fatter at this point than normal. I grew out of all my pants several weeks ago! Owell Ill just loose it all when I nurse again!

The House!

Well our house feels like a disaster right now! It is such a cluttered mess but that is because we have a million tools around plus living like we only have 2 bedrooms with 4 people! Our yard is a complete mud pit from all the excavating! We just got some seed planted in the back so hopefully we can have a full back yard again soon! We didnt dig in the backyard but we had place some much needed dirt back there where we always get a pond when it rains. So hopefully that won't happen anymore. The girls don't mind all the mud and peagravel but I'm about to go nuts from the mess. On Wed we finally were able to get some concrete poored where the new bedrooms will be. We have had a hard time getting this done because of all the rain! We hope to get the garage concrete poored this next week! Framing should begin next weekend if we get a day or two of dry weather. Scott has almost finished our new bathroom which is in Ryan's old room. He finished laying tile so hopefully the bathroom should be finished this week and in working order! The girls love all the remodeling because they love to play with all of Scott's tools. I just hope one of them don't get hurt before it is all said and done! Ryan thinks her new room is going to be outside. She doesn't understand that there will be walls up! haha! Poor girl! She seems to be excited anyway though. I hope to get some pics up this weekend so you can see the disaster it is right now. That way you'll appreciate the finished product!

My Girls!

Time flies when you are taking care of two little girls! It's hard to believe I haven't blogged in over a month! Sorry about that to those who care! It hasnt been the best month for the girls as they have been sick the whole time I think! That isn't anything new though I guess. As sad as it sounds Scott and I are getting pretty used to it and hardly bothered. When we walk into the Dr's office all the nurses and receptionists immediately recognize us and my girls have no fears like other kids at the Dr because it is all so familiar! Im getting to know a lot about our pediatrician's personal life as well as some of the nurses. It is getting kinda funny! Who knows maybe I'll start getting invited to their staff get togethers! haha! But anyway Ryan has had 4 ear infections since January and is therefore scheduled to see the ENT May 7 about getting tubes in her ears. Scott and I are definitely ready as those have saved Bekah a lot of grief until this week that is (Ill explain in a minute.). I'm not exagerating when I say the longest these girls have gone between colds is one week since after Christmas. We just feel bad for them! Right now Bekah is battling 103 fever with strep throat and an ear infection. Apparently the tube in her right ear is coming out and immediately became infected since she has a somewhat snotty nose. Bekah will see the ENT April 20 to see what to do about the tube coming out and we are going to seriously discuss her adnoids. If you ever see Bekah you will immediately notice her mouth wide open and she gasps a lot when she eats and drinks because for some reason whether snotty or not she can not breathe through her nose. This has always been a problem but just seems to be getting worse. We would really like to get this all fixed by Oct so we can have two girls with a better chance of being healthy next winter! We dont need three sick! We shall see what the ENT decides! Ryan is currently healthy and has been almost one week but of course we expect her to catch Bekah's latest, but maybe this time we will be spared. Let's just be honest when Ryan is sick she is terrible to be around. She doesn't eat or sleep and is very whinny! Bekah on the other hand sleeps all the time and never complains. She just has really sad eyes (From the Jarred side of the family!)!
Some of you know that Ryan is not the easiest to understand. Scott and I can understand her simply because we are around her all the time. Anyway, I finally asked a friend who is a speech therapist for toddlers if Ryan was behind. I waited much longer than I should have but I didn't want to be a paranoid parent! Well as I suspected Ryan is very far behind for her age. What stinks is that she is 3 months from being 3 which is when you can no longer use First Steps. Once three you have to go to the public school which stinks! But my friend has given me some pointers on how to help Ryan and is coming over sometime to show me what she would do if she were our therapist. Hopefully this way we can get Ryan moving in the right direction. Ryan is already loving working on her words. She thinks it is so fun and is quite proud of herself when she gets a word correct. She has a lot of work to do though! She is so smart I have no doubt she'll get it eventually!
Ryan is doing better at using the potty but still not going poo! I figure one day she will just do it because she wants to but not because I want her to. She can be pretty defiant like her mother! Owell I guess that means she'll grow up to be a pretty strong woman! haha!
Ryan learned this week how to ride her new big girl bike! She absolutely loves it! It only took her one day to finally get it and now that is all she wants to do! She giggles the whole time she rides!
Bekah is the cutest little girl right now! Her personality is adorable! She says so much with her eyes and the girl knows what she wants and she will figure out a way to tell you. Im amazed everyday how different she is from her sister. She has become so smart but unlike her sister she doesnt use that in a way that is hard to deal with at times. The other day Bekah actually peed in the potty after asking to get on it. She is only 15 months! I thought it was hilarious to see her sitting on that big potty going pee! Bekah doesn't want to miss out on anything. She babbles like crazy, constanly trying something new whether dangerous or not hence all the bruises on her little face, and always smiling! Anyway, Bekah is a very happy girl who rarely complains and a very good eater!!
I must say have the two greastest girls in the world. I can still take them anywhere and they think Im the best Mommy in the world (as Ryan tells me everytime we go somewhere!). Im so blessed to have such happy girls!

Pregnancy Update!

I must say that this pregnancy has been amazing compared to the past. Had this been my first pregnancy I may not think it is that great, but my perspective is different than most I guess. I had one really bad week of migraines, but since I now have a neurologist I immediately called and made an appointment. I had 6 migraines in 7 days! I cant live that way! The magnesium I used during the last pregnancy just wasn't working this time. The dr decided to put me on some blood pressure medicine even though my blood pressure is completely normal. He said it would help keep my blood vessels from dialating which would prevent migraines. He also said they recently cleared it for pregnancy. I sure hope they are right, but I have no choice. I have to take the medicine so that I can function! I trust that God will protect my baby just like He did Ryan and Bekah! After a few days I started feeling back to myself and my vision started coming back. I've now gone 1 week without a migraine and I am so thankful!! Other than that one bad week I haven't felt too terribly bad. Every evening I have cold chills and am very achy. Sometimes I have some nausea at lunch and in the evening but nothing that bad. I have not thrown up once except migraine related. This is amazing because with the girls I threw up every single night after dinner and after brushing my teeth! As long as I take a 20 minute nap everyday after lunch I feel pretty good. I only feel like I have the flu for those 2-3 hours but this I can handle in comparison to what I dealt with with Ryan and Bekah. I hope that this means we are having a boy this time around. If not we will still be happy, but I would be lying if I didnt say I would be slightly disappointed. It is hard to believe that I am already 10 weeks and I don't feel like Im never gonna make it to the 2nd trimester. Instead I feel like it is flying by! I am so thankful that God has allowed this pregnancy to be so much easier than the last so far. I pray things continue to go smoothly the rest of the way!

They really aren't sick All the time!

Sometime last week I had brought home a nasty cold. Somehow the first time I had been sick since last February! I was pretty proud to make it one full year! However, I knew it was gonna be trouble for the girls. Sure enough one week later Bekah came down with my cold. However, it was a nasty cold so she got the cough and all! After 2 days we went to the dr and she said it could be pneumonia, but we would have to wait a couple days to see if a fever develops. Sure enough the fever developed and we headed in for an x-ray. It was indeed pneumonia! Poor Bekah was pretty sick and still is trying to get over it on antibiotics. She is a trooper though and has hardly complained but has had trouble sleeping with the cough.
Ryan finally came down with it next. Of course I took Ryan in quickly to see the dr knowing she always gets ear infections. Of course she had a double ear infection. She also has a terrible cough but we are hoping that since she is already on antibiotics she won't end up with pneumonia. She could still end up with bronchitis again but that isn't as scary as pneumonia! Other than the diarrhea in the begining of winter the girls did really well this winter. This is only their second cough/cold this winter! Im happy with that! It just seems that the stuff going around this year is not simple and easy to get over. We hope that this is the last for a long time for us! If Ryan has any more trouble with the ears she may be up for tubes like Bekah. We really arent opposed to tubes simply because they have helped Bekah immensly! But Ryan usually has this problem every winter and by spring has no more problems so we shall see what happens.

Expanding

As many of you know we bought our current house with every intention of fixing it up and selling it within one year. Well after 4 1/2 years of living here we have found many reasons why this is a good place for our family. First of all, at one point we bought some land and some how found the worst possible neighbors you could find. So after much prayer we decided we couldn't move our family next to these people and therefor put the land back up for sale. We were pretty disapointed, but started looking for something else as our house began feeling smaller and smaller. We must say though that this experience immediately made us realize that the neighbors we currently have are not something to take for granted! We all watch out for one another and generally care what is happening in one another's lives. Next door is a pool at Mrs. Barbara's house which we are able to use quite often. The girls love it and their dogs! Anyway, as we kept looking for other houses we constantly were comparing them to where we are now and what we have now that we aren't willing to give up. For instance we are within walking distance to Mrs Curl (the best ice cream shop in Greenwood!), the library (which we go 2 times a week), 3 parks, the big fireworks, parade, and all greenwood events! We have a great neighborhood for walks, a great back yard, and close to the interstate. As you can see we have come up with so many reasons why we wished we could stay where we are but somehow have a bigger house! Well when we went to our realtor in January to see how much our house would sell for in this market we realized we werent leaving anytime soon. We had lost all 30,000 in equity because of the falling market. So Scott got to work to figure out a way we could add on and get everything we want in a house since we already have the location we want. Brillant Scott figured out a way we were both excited about. We are adding on to the front instead of the back in order to keep our big back yard. We will have 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and 2 car garage! Plus a bigger kitchen and dinning room! With Scott being able to do all of the work we can do it cheap enough that we will get our money out of it by the time we ever decide to sell. Scott has actually already begun renovation. Ryan's room is now an extra bathroom and a hallway to lead to the new bedrooms he will add on soon. We are really excited about this which is funny because 4 years ago we would have never imagined this would be what we would want. Sometimes God changes your heart and desires! What is amazing is that we always said we wish somehow we could have a 4 bedroom house within a certain amount (which most laughed at us when we gave the number) plus not have Scott gone for 9 months to fix a cheap house, and that God did grant for us and for that we are truly thankful!! God is good!

Big Announcement!

Baby Moon #3 coming soon!!! I must say Im hoping for a boy this time around, but I would certainly take another girl. Once again we will not find out until it enters this world. I have to have some kind of excitement through all of this! Our due date is October 4. I know what many of you are thinking. Are you crazy? Why would you do this again after Bekah? Well first of all even our Dr agrees that we have no good reason why Bekah had the complications she had. He said that sometimes preterm labor happens once and never again. But we did make sure to wait one year this time and until I was finished nursing with a few healthy cycles in between to give my body a chance. I will say that Im 8 weeks now and already doing amazingly better than with the first two. So far no vomitting! A little nausea and sleepiness but a 20 minute nap everyday makes me feel almost normal again! I have more energy than I ever had with Bekah and feel like I may survive! Scott and I are very excited and and get upset when people react negatively towards our big news. As a matter of fact Ive told very few people because they always just seem to dampen the excitement. So, if you arent excited for us then just keep your mouth closed! haha! But please pray I continue to do well and this baby has no complications. I feel like God allowed us to be pregnant again because he supports us in this!

February: What a month!

The month of February just like every year has been slow, but hasn't been too bad to us. It think February is a hard month for me because Im usually done with winter, but it is the coldest month of all usually. Plus in my head it is supposed to be the shortest month of the year yet it takes forever! March 1st always brings new hope and a sense of I can make it! At the beginning of the month Bekah caught RSV again. RSV is no fun and can be scary because they can seem okay one minute and then the next minute be having trouble breathing. Plus after our experience with it last year we were a bit more nervous about it. However, Bekah came out of it alright after a few days of nebulizer (breathing) treatments. Of course we then knew Ryan was next, but to be honest she was the one we didn't worry about. But after two days I knew she had an ear infection from it so I took her into the doctor. We found out she not only had an ear infection but also strep throat with the RSV! She was miserable and wouldn't eat or drink for a few days which could have easily sent her to the ER. However the amoxicillin started to work and made her a little better. But after a week she still didnt seem right and wasnt sleeping so I took her back in thinking her ear just must not be better. However, he ear was fine but she had developed a lot of fluid in her lungs. The dr just wanted to treat her with antibiotics for pnemonia/bronchitis and hope that would work without a chest x-ray. After just two days the cough was gone and she was sleeping again! We are hoping that since she had so much at once that we are done for the winter.

Last weekend we spent some time at the lake house with the Smith's up North. We had a great time and the girls did very well! Bekah did well sleeping somewhere else for the first time. Ryan was feeling better just in time for the trip so she did great. Their favorite thing there was the stairs to the basement. We spent the majority of the time going up and down those things. Oh the things they appreciate when they dont have their own. Hahah! It was a very nice weekend away as a family. We cannot wait to go back when it is warm and swim in the lake!

Scary Weekend!

On Sat night Scott had a "friend" over to watch tv and hang out. He left about 11:30pm and Scott was hanging out on the computer when he got a knock on the door. He answered it and it was the police. They said a neighbor called bc someone was snooping around our house looking in the windows and around the back of the house. Well come to find out it was the "friend" who we thought had left earlier. He parked his car down the street and came back sneaking peaks through our windows. Then the police informed us he was a registered sex offender! So the police had to search our house and check on the girls to make sure everyone was okay. Then to make it worse they couldnt find Justin (the pervert!). He had run away and was hiding somewhere nearby. So they were searching the neighborhood for a couple hours then they just sat hidden hoping he would go back to his car. The police gave up about 2:30am. But the wonderful neighbors were bored so they hid in their car waiting to see if Justin would go back to his car so they could call the police. Sure enough he did about 3am and they followed him and called the police and they caught him at WestSide Park on main street. I hope to God they arrested the pervert! Apparently he has a thing for men and little boys! Weve checked the paper and havent seen anything which upsets me. How could they not arrest him after he ran from them!? Besides the fact he was being a peeping Tom! So anyway, we didnt go to sleep till after 4am bc we were so creeped out and we didnt know where he was! Yesterday we got more blinds and curtains so that now every single window is covered at night! We used to only have blinds in bedrooms and the living room leaving the kitchen and playroom opened up, but not anymore!
I must say we are pretty freaked out and we really hope this creep does not come back because he is angry and try to hurt our family in any way. We are just keeping a close eye on our house!

It Worked!

I wanted to give you all an update on Bekah's diarrhea. After 5 days on the medicine we saw dramatic improvement and after a full week even the smell was gone!! We finished the medicine to treat the giardia and now have only a few days of the probiotic left. We are excited to say that there are still no signs of smell or diarrhea returning! Bekah is gaining weight again, sleeping all night, and eating consistently!!!!! After a month or so if Bekah stays well the Dr wants to do blood work one more time to make sure all the swelling is gone so that we know for sure she is better. Thank you so much for your prayers and encouragement through this rough time for us. We are truly so thankful it was only giardia. We are frustrated with ourselves for letting in a stray cat for a few days, but I will say we learned a valuable lesson. Now we see why it is so important to wash your hands after petting animals especially those you dont know where theyve been. But when they are in your house you can't do that constantly so I guess that means no more strays for us! haha! That's what parenting is all about...learning lessons everyday!Have a wonderful week!

Bekah and Riley

As many of you know today was the big day to go to Riley and hopefully get some answers. The answer we got was both encouraging and frustrating at the same time. After looking at everything the Dr has decided to treat Bekah yet again for Giardia. He figures after the medicine last time Bekah's colon just wasnt able to make enough good bacteria to balance things out again so the diarrhea continued. So to fix this problem he put her back on the same medicine for 2 full weeks and after one week she will start some probiotics for 2 weeks to help restore the good bacteria. This really makes the most sense for several reasons. First, we had a stray cat in our house for a few days right before everything began in early November and can be very contagious from animals who drink any water from outside or get it from another animal. Secondly, Bekah has never responded to antibiotics in the past without several tries or a stronger dose hence the reason she now has tubes in her ears. Thirdly, Ryan did get better immediately after starting the Giardia medicine when they were both treated earlier. Finally, she did test negative for Celiac Disease. We are praying this new treatment works. If it does not then she will have to have a scope done and a biopsy taken. They will then check for Celiac again, digestive problems, lactose intolerance, and so on. We really have our hopes up that this new treatment will work and no other tests will be done. We should know in 3 weeks how she is responding. Like I said this is both encouraging bc Bekah could be all better in a few weeks, but frustrating bc she didn't need to suffer for 2 1/2 months for Giardia! But we are praying and hope you will too that this is our long awaited answer!

Christmas 2008

Christmas was such a fun 4 days for our family this year! The girls had a blast seeing family and getting lots of new toys. It all started for us on Christmas Eve morning when we celebrated Christmas at home just us and the girls. When Ryan woke up and saw all the presents under the tree she was so excited. Scott asked her who they were for and she said, "All for Bek!" We felt bad because she thought it was still Bekah's birthday and didn't know she was getting presents too. But we quickly explained that it was Jesus' Birthday and everyone gets presents for His birthday. Ryan was then even more excited. So Daddy and Ryan then made us some homemade pancakes and quickly ate them as Ryan instructed us to. Then we read the story of Jesus' birthday and then of course sang happy birthday to Him. Then we had a blast opening all of our presents. Ryan got a new big girl Dora bike, new bible, candy, and Candy land. Bekah got bowling, Monkey for sleeping with, and clock puzzle. Bekah really didn't care too much about opening presents she just wanted us to go play. Ryan however really enjoyed it all this year.

On Christmas day we went to Grandma and Grandpa Cupp's house to celebrate Christmas with my brothers and Sister-in law (Scott and Laura and Joie) neice (Sydney) and Nephew (Chase). We had such a nice dinner and more fun opening presents. It was fun to watch the cousins all play together. Ryan got lots of Thomas bedroom items like a lamp, pillow, and laundry basket. It doesn't really match the girl colored trains in her room but she loves it all anyway! Bekah got the new Elmo Live. Both the girls absolutely love playing with him and let me tell you he eats batteries!

The next stop was Grandma and Grandpa Moon's house. We of course spent the entire day at their house. Scott Brother (Tim) and Sister (Sister) were both there with Tim Fiance and Melissa's husband. We had a nice time visiting with everyone and eating and opening more presents. The girls got so much stuff at their house I can't even think of anything. Im sure they enjoy it all! I do know they had a great time!

Our last stop was on the North side of Indy where my brothers and I with our families met up with my Dad and Grandma Jarred. It was such a nice visit. We really enjoyed getting to see them as it had been 1 1/2 yrs since we'd last saw them. Bekah was able to meet her Grandpa Jarred and Great Grandma Jarred for the first time. Im so glad everyone was able to make that work!

I must say that after these four days we were all exhausted! I couldn't believe how tired I was, but it was worth it! The girls had a great time and still are now that they are able to play with all of their new toys and books! I have never seen so much stuff all at one time! We are so thankful to have been so blessed!