Tuesday, August 26, 2008

A few new pictures!




Well it is Tuesday night and the boys are in bed. We all got haircuts tonight and everyone looks sharp. Payton is now ready to start school on Thursday. He says "no school" but we are sure he is going to love it again. I wanted to share a few pictures of the boys that we took last night. Hope all is well with all of you.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Sunday, Sunday!

Well it is Sunday and what have we gotten done. A lot of housework I would say. Is it enough...never but I guess I can feel good about doing it. We have a busy week and so getting things set up and clean is good. I am exhausted but oh well. Everyone is good here. Payton starts school on Thursday. Ok off to more cleaning. Hope everyone is having a great weekend.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Dr Visit

Well we made it through our Doctors visit with flying colors. Braxton is off the charts in height at 36 1/2 inches and 68% for weight at 27-3.5 lbs. We got our last shot until we turn 4. Yeah.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

August 19, 2008

Wow well it has been a while since I last typed. So what has been happening in the PBJJ family?

Braxton is cutting his bottom 2 year old molars. Why would he wait until he actually turned two well maybe because he cut his first tooth at 10 weeks. Oh yes you read that right. He goes tomorrow for his 18 month check-up and I will have to update you on how BIG he is. I am sure he is off the charts but we will see tomorrow.

Payton went to the ENT doctor last week and his ears have cleared up on their own which is great news. He is talking more and more. He showed me a picture of the following things: butterfly, lady bug, flowers and bees. I would say them and then he would say them. He did great until we got to the Bee and I said BEE and he said "no mom, bumble bee" I started laughing and said yes bumble bee. I didn't know he knew what a bumble bee was but he does. He is a very smart boy.

So we have a mystery at the house, my car keys are missing. I had them on Saturday and I left with my mom to go to a memory service and we can't seem to find them after I got back. I suspect a little boy knows. Last night I came home and asked Payton if he knows where my keys are. He said yes and so I took him into Braxton's room and said "Payton are they in here" and he replied "Not in here". We go into his room and the same results. We go into Jeff and I's bedroom and I get a "in here", "in a shoe". So we have continued to look and have not found them. Wish us luck.

That is all from the PBJJ family. Stay tuned for how big Braxton is at his 18 month check-up.

Monday, August 4, 2008

A hot summer night!

Hello all...we are sweating here in Illinois. With the heat index it felt like it was 107 out today. That is just nuts. I thought I wouldn't have that kind of heat here but I forgot in the Midwest you get it all.

So you are wondering how we are doing after our weekend. Well I think Braxton finally caught up on sleep which is great. He was being a pistol. Payton is feelin mighty fine...lol They are both rotten as ever.

Ok so I said I would inform everyone about the doctors visit that we had over two weeks ago. Well as I said we went and saw a developmental specialist pediatrican...I am sure this is not his technical title but that is what I call him. We went through Braxton first and they ask a lot of questions and what to know about him and how he acts. Pretty much he is a normal 17 month old and we need to stay in Early Interventions and he will have speech once a week and an occupational therapist see him once a month. Really it is a precautionary due to Payton's delays. He has a hearing test just to make sure that it is "normal".

So we get to discussing Payton. Payton has his normal rituals and likes things a certain way. We had already had his hearing test once before Christmas and it was adnormal and then again in February, which we were told that it was ok. Well the Dr pulled the results from his last one "have to love computers" and said he did not like it all. He told us that the results showed that Payton's hearing was like if you or I would have ear plugs in our ears all day. That with his significant speech delay he would recommend that we get it tested again and then if the results came up the same then to have tubes put in his ears. So of course we were upset because we thought his hearing was ok but come to find out there was a problem all along. Really that was his main concern was Payton's speech. He did say that he felt that Payton does have verbal apraxia which is a neurological issue. Verbal apraxia is when the brain has problems telling the mouth what to say, unlike his mother that has no issue speaking her mind. Also if the hearing test comes back the same then that also been a problem since he can not hear us completely. Both boys are anemic and are now on iron.

Jeff and I had a long road to getting pregnant and then staying pregnant. With our first miscarriage we didn't know if we would ever be parents but then God gave us Payton. Then of course we had to go through another lost and then we were give Braxton. Both boys are a gift from above and we cherish every minute we have with them. Of course we didn't have the easiest of pregnancies and then Payton was born early and had to hospitalized and no one ever could have prepared us on how to survive that but we did. We survived him having stomach surgery at 3 weeks old also. Then we no one could have prepared us for almost losing Braxton when he was born. I feel the only people that truly knew how serious the situation with him was us, the doctors and our parents. For of those that don't know we had him blessed because we didn't know if he was going to survive. A month later our a "big" boy was home with us finally. You are probably asking why I am typing all of this. Well I was asked why I keep this up and how to do I find time. This is relaxing to me and to be honest I never knew if I would be a parent ever. Sometimes I look at them and realize what a blessing they are and that they are they way there are suppose to be. In the beginning I would ask why us, when it came to them being sick when they were born and now with Payton having speech delays but then I say to myself why not. I stopped comparing my children to others their same age it isn't fair. I stop comparing myself to other mothers because it is not fair to myself. I stopped comparing my family to others because to be honest we are one of kind. We are who we are and we live our lives the way we see best. I feel that Jeff and I have lived through so much because we are strong and can handle it. Has it made us better people I don't know but it has made us a stronger FAMILY and that is what counts. I am proud to say that I am a wife to a disabled man and a 3 year old with special needs and a 1 1/2 year old. I will tell everyone that asks how my husband is doing and what a great and patient father he is. I have never been shy and will not now. I am a proud wife and mother to my perfect family.

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Boys first visit to Soldier Field.


It is 9:30 on a Saturday night and both boys are asleep. It has been a long weekend so far. Yesterday we all went to the Chicago Bears Family night at Soldier Field. It was the boys first trip and Daddy was so excited. We got there aroung 3:30 and parked the van and got the stroller out and went for a walk. They had an area where they were giving beads away and some other things. Of course the boys got beads and that kept them busy for awhile. It was very hot and the sun was blaring down on us. Finally at 5 the gates open for us to get in to Soldier field. We were all hot and tired already and we had to ditch the stroller at the van before entering. Try keeping track of a 1 1/2 year old and 3 year old with tons of people around. It is nerve racking. We had great seats on the 50 yard line and got some nachoes and frozen lemonades. The boys were in heaven. Finally at 7 pm they started with announcing the players and the boys favorite part was watching Staley the bears mascot dance around. Practice started and we watched. Well I should say we watched the boys make a mess and start to act out due to the heat and being tired. SO at 7:30 we packed up and left. We had no bad traffic which is a miracle in Chicago. We stopped and had Fudruckers for dinner and then we finished driving home. We got home around 11 and put the boys to bed. It was exhausting. My goal was to take a picture of Jeff with the boys the first visit at soldier field and that was the best picture we could get. That was right before we left. Payton was hot and had to take off his Urlacher Jersey.

Where did it all begin.....

This is a blog about the lives of a non-traditional midwestern family. I am a full time working mother of two beautiful boys and a wife to a stay at home husband. We were married on June 15, 2002 and were blessed with two boys, Payton (4-19-05) and Braxton (2-08-07).