Catching Up

Wow, it's been a long time since I last wrote and this is exactly why I was hesistant to start this thing. I'm horrible at keeping up with stuff like this...I have just enough time to check my emails and maybe respond before Kaleb is in to something new. Speaking of something new, he's doing a lot these days and I would love for you to hang out and read about all the new things he's learning. ***Beware....this is going to be long***

Since I wrote last a lot has happened. Kaleb woke up the first Wed. morning in December with a fever of 101.6 and climbing. He was beat red and breathing heavy so while I waiting on the Dr. to call me back I headed to the ER and within 30 min his fever had climbed to 103.6 and was still going up, that's too high for anyone especially him. A chest x-ray confirmed he had pnuemonia so we got him on meds and he started feeling better after a few days. Thank the Lord (and I mean that) that he didn't have RSV. We aren't getting his RSV this flu season so that was my initial fear. He recovered from that after about a week and after missing 2 weeks of physical therapy we headed back that following Wed. He was showing off for his therapist and doing great. He has finally mastered the task of bending his knees when standing up and trying to reach something on the floor. Kaleb was really struggling with this for a while and would just fall down (hard) if he wanted something on the floor or wanted to sit down because he couldn't understand how to bend his knees. We worked really hard for a few weeks doing exercises as much as possible and now he's a pro. He's so cute and his balance is getting better. He's also starting to crawl. Even tho he's walking (and trying to run) everywhere, his PT still wants him to crawl for the sake of his Hypotonia (muscle) issues. He's done it now a few times and he'll move 3 or 4 times and then he's up and walking. Walking is a lot easier for him but he has to crawl at least a little bit. So, yes, we are still in physical therapy once a week and I'm hoping that since he's finally catching on to some major things we can start going just once a month. We'll see. We're still doing baby pilates (that's basically what it is) to strengthen his core and neck muscles but he has come a LONG way in just the almost 3 months that he's been in physcial therapy. He still hangs his tongue out A LOT so we'll see the speech therapist again in two weeks and go from there.

Kaleb just last week picked up on blowing kisses and now anytime you say "bye bye" he starts blowing kisses (or slapping himself in the face) instead of waving. He also TODAY signed "more." He obviously can't say it so signing is a good thing. We're still working on the others but this was great to see. As far as talking he still only says "dadda" and "momma" but it's been a while since we've heard those. When you ask him what a dog says he makes a noise (that we think sounds like he's barking) so we just say "YEA KALEB" and move on to the next animal. HA...we think he's pretty smart, although since we have 2 dogs at home that bark outside a lot it's probably easier to pick up.

He did see a GI Dr. last week for his constipation issues that he's had since birth and I won't go into detail about what that x-ray showed but I'll just say he had a blockage the size of a softball. Yeah...no wonder he gets fussy for no reason, poor kid. We've done several things hoping to break it up and get it out of his system so it doesn't start poisoning his insides but you can tell he's still in pain. We go back in Feb. but if he doesn't get better we'll go back sooner. BTW...if you'd like to pray for him about that we would love it. This has been going on way too long.

Sometimes I wonder "are we ever going to live a normal life without Dr's?" and then I have to stop myself and say "THANK YOU JESUS FOR DOCTORS and for a healthy baby!" It's easy to get caught up in the trap that this is all never going to end for him but it IS and I have to remind myself of that a lot. People ask me "how have you handled this, I could never do that" but YEAH, YOU COULD...you don't have a choice when it's your child. You just put on your big girl panties and deal with it, one day at a time. Doctors don't know everything, not even Pediatricians (and I'm sorry if you think they do) but I've learned that your mommy instinct knows best. I've had to push a few times for Kaleb to get to the right Dr and every time my insticit was right. I didn't want it to be, I wanted to just ignore it and trust that he would just get better somehow, but you can't always do that. It wasn't always easy and yes, if I'm honest there are still days that I struggle for some reason and I get worn out with the dr's visits and I get frustrated with his exercises and discouraged at times but I remind myself of how far Kaleb has come and I tell myself that Kaleb is perfect and that God is not finished with him....and I go on! We're doing great and dwelling on the past doesn't do me any good.

Wow, I don't know where all that came from....maybe I was talking to myself again but there you have it. In all my rambling I hope something made sense and caught you up on our little boy. He's amazing and his teaching Kirby and I so much....especially about love! I'll let you have a break and I'll post more later. :)

Sweet Kaleb

I just have to say that I had a sweet moment with my baby boy. I was putting him to bed and that has to be one of my most favorite times with him. He will lay his head on my chest and then pick it up, smile at me and lay it back down. This probably happens a couple of times while we're saying prayers and it's just so sweet. Sometimes he'll just start laughing for no reason and it's the cutest giggle I have ever heard. I laid him in his bed last night and it hit me how incredibly much I love him. I don't think like this too often (which is sad to say) but I realized tonight that no matter how much I love him, God loves him and me so much more. I started thinking about God sending his ONLY son to be crucified on the cross for me and for Kaleb and for everyone else. I'm sorry, but if someone told me to crucify my only son I honestly couldn't. I can't even fathom the love of Christ for crummy ole me but it hit me tonight like a ton of bricks that he really does love and value me, my son, my husband and everyone else on this earth. People use to tell me that having a kid changes everything about you...even the way you think and oh my how that is true. Kaleb is our miracle and it was only by the grace of God that he was born as far along as he was and that he lived and is perfect. It has totally brought me to more of an understanding of what faith really is and even though I struggle with it sometimes I know it's real.

On another note, Kaleb is doing great. He's still on his belly doing the army crawl but we're holding out hope that soon he will be able to make it on to his hands and knees. We are still in physical therapy every Wed. and she said he's catching on great and he'll get up on his hands and knees soon. The latest accomplishment has been him reaching out for something, getting on his knees while holding on to a toy or table or something higher and moving his knees until he's close enough to the object to stand (if that makes any sense.) This is a big deal for him. He will get up on his hands long enough to reach for something but not to crawl. He's doing great! We have his eye appt. tomorrow so we'll see what they say about his tracking...hopefully it's an easy fix so I'll keep you posted.

Back at home

Ok, So I still can't really figure this thing out so don't expect too much right now. :) I'm not sure if it's that I just don't have enough time or if I'm just incompetent...probably a little of both. BUT...I wanted to say that our trip to AL was great. It was fun visiting my grandparents and watching them interact with Kaleb. He was talking their ear off (not really, it was just a bunch of jibber jabber) but to him that's talking and it was LOUD. They just laughed at him and loved watching him make a mess of anything and everything that was in his way. That's what babies are supposed to do right? So, we're back home and getting ready for Thanksgiving. Hopefully over the holidays I can become more educated with this blog and make it interesting for you so you don't get bored. Stay tuned for more pics because this blog is going under construction! :) Here's a little something to do over your break...make a list of all the things you have to be Thankful for, put it somewhere where you can see it every day and think on these things throught the next year. Hopefully as 2009 rolls by you can add things to your list and watch it grow. We have a lot to be thankful for! Have a blessed Thanksgiving and enjoy your family!

I finally gave in

Well...I finally gave in to the world of blogging. So many friends told me to do this when Kaleb was born and I started and never finished. I thought for some crazy reason it was easier to send out mass emails and now I'm a little tired of doing that. :) So...now that things have calmed down a little and for those who like to keep up with us, here ya go! I'll update it as much as I can but don't go looking for daily updates...maybe not even weekly. HA! Enjoy and remember, I'm not a pro at this thing yet so it may look crazy for a little while.