Jaden Lately

A Pain in the Back

The reason I have been so absent from blogging lately is because I have been dealing with some health issues.  It has basically been ruling my life, so I knew that if I blogged about it while dealing with it, that I would probably blow everything out of proportion and make it all sound worse than it actually is.  But then I really started to think about that and I realized that I really can't make it sound worse than it actually is because it has been completely awful.  So here is my timeline of events:

May 31st:  Took Jaden to the splash pad with some friends.  I noticed my back seemed to be a bit sore but I hadn't done anything out of the ordinary.  Ignored it.

June 1st: My back began to be noticeably uncomfortable.  Again I ignored it.

June 2nd:  I realized when I got up in the morning that I could no longer put any weight on my right leg.  Also, I couldn't bend over at all, and going from sitting/laying to standing was excruciating.  This was the day we had the party for Jaden's 1 year from the NICU, so I guess it was a blessing that hardly anyone came because I couldn't walk anyway.  Jake asked if I wanted to go to the ER, but I didn't feel it was necessary.  I self-medicated by doing alternating heat pad and ice pack.

June 3rd: Continued with the alternating ice and heat and stayed in bed pretty much all day to rest up as much as I could for Monday.

June 4th: I woke up feeling good enough to go out and get the Sunday papers that they throw away Monday morning (for the coupons) but by the time I was on the way back I was seriously struggling to carry both the paper and Jaden.  Thankfully Jaden basically took care of himself while I collapsed on the couch.  Finally, after a helpful call to my Mother-in-Law (thank Heaven for mother-in-laws!!!) I asked Jake to take me to the ER after he got home from base.  The wait was typical ER wait time, and after we finally got in they determined that I had an inflamed Scyatic Nerve.  The treatment was a shot of a serious anti-inflammatory in the ba-donk-a-donk, a prescription for some Ibuprofen and some muscle relaxers, and time to let it heal.  I was glad for some answers, and after filling the prescriptions, we were on our way home.

June 5th-8th: I followed the prescriptions to the letter and I was beginning to feel a whole lot better!  I could walk again without the limp and could drive as long as it wasn't too far away.

June 9th: This was the day of The Pensacola Flood where we got 14 inches of rain in less than 24 hours.  Our house was fine (only half of our garage flooded and we were able to save most of it) but it was unnerving to watch our street turn into a churning river!  My mom, sister, and brother were flying in to stay with us for 2 weeks, so I knew we would be at the airport for some time so I stuck a medicated heat patch on my back and off we were.  Little did we know that it would take 6 hours for their flight to get in, and the patch worked a little too well as I felt great and was sitting a lot and walking around.  Their plane finally arrived, we drove them home, got settled, and as I went to get ready for bed, I took the patch off and brushed my teeth.  Then, on my way into bed, I literally collapsed.  My legs could not hold me up and my back felt as if it were on fire while simultaneously having hot skewers shoved into it.  I screamed as I tried to climb into bed and I had to settle for the first position I fell into because moving even a little bit side to side sent waves of pain shooting up my back.  Not a lot of sleep that night.

June 10th: This was supposed to be the day that I would teach my first Sharing Time in Primary, but I literally could not stand, let alone walk.  Even sitting was painful.  I did find that I could crawl with little pain, so I took to crawling everywhere.  I called in sick (turns out they canceled all meetings after Sacrament Meeting because it was raining again and they wanted people to get home before they started closing roads).  This new back pain was so much worse than just the Sciatic pain.  Every little movement literally brought tears to my eyes because of the blinding pain.  Small things like lifting my head or raising an arm sent shooting pain across my body.  And if I were to try to stand up straight, well, let's just say it was beyond torturous.  Thankfully my family was there to help!

June 11th: My mom, bless her heart, came to my house early so she could get up with Jaden.  I was so grateful because I still couldn't walk and there was no way I could stand up enough to reach into his crib, let alone get him out of it.  And the only way for me to get up and down stairs was to crawl, and I'm not sure how you do that with a squirmy baby.  I got an appointment with my doctor early and Alex (who had to help me get dressed because I couldn't straighten up enough to pull my pants up) went with me.  The doctor thought that while favoring my leg from the Sciatic pain, that I made my entire back seize up.  I got another shot, she switched my ibuprofen for naproxen, more muscle relaxers, and sent me to get some x-rays (which didn't show anything out of the ordinary).

June12th-Present: For the next 4 days it was still too painful to do much so I basically stayed in bed or on the couch while my mom went around cleaning and organizing my entire house.  On Friday I actually cried because I was able to stand up straight with minimal pain!  It was nice to finally be able to cry over no pain rather than crying because of the enormous pain. Saturday I felt good enough to take Jaden over to the pool at the condo complex my family is staying at.  Sunday I did my sharing time and it went really well.  Today I feel almost back to normal!  Every now and then I will feel a splinter of pain when I move wrong, but for the most part, I can walk and sit and stand and get into bed without crying!  I start some physical therapy on Monday so they can help me strengthen my back.

I know this was long, but I also wanted to record this for posterity.  I am so thankful for a body that tells me when something is wrong and for doctors who can decipher my body's messages and help me to make it right again!  I am so grateful for walking!  And I am so grateful that I can roll over in bed without gasping in pain!
 I want to thank my mom for giving up her early mornings to come take care of Jaden, my sister for being my slave and getting/doing anything for me, my brother for entertaining Jaden during all of this, Jaden for being the best independent playing baby ever lately, and Jake for putting up with all of it and letting me cry into his shoulder while the pain from getting into bed slowly went away.

National Spelling Bee

I am currently watching the Scripps National Spelling Bee on TV (I like to watch weird things on TV like spelling bee's, pool competitions (my favorite being trick shots), competitive bowling, and strong man competitions) and I have to say that I am SO AMAZED by these kids!  I understand there is a sort of science to figuring out how these words are spelled, but seriously they are amazing!  Here is the one that just blew me away:

phthisiology

It is pronounced "fiziology" so I have no idea how he got the "phth" part, but he did.  This was the word for Gifton, a boy from Jamaica.  So excited to see who wins!!! (I'm such a dork...)

Life in Bullet Points

Jaden

• Walking everywhere!  He can now get up to standing without grabbing on to anything.  We go for walks every day around our complex - you should see how excited he gets when we pull out his shoes!  I hold his  hand and we walk wherever he wants to.
• Loving his new swing!  My mom graciously sent us a toddler swing (the plastic kind you can attach to trees or swingsets) and we hooked it on to our upper balcony so it hangs down into our back patio.  No matter what else is going on, as soon as you say, "Jaden, want to go swing?" he starts to practically hyperventilate with happiness.  
• Deciding he doesn't need his afternoon nap.  We are still battling over that.  When he doesn't take it, he is the grumpiest kiddo ever (except if you ask him if he wants to go swing or go for a walk).
• Complete list of words: ducky, daddy, doggie (all of those 3 sound the same to me), mama, uh oh, no, fishy, Jesus
• Complete list of signs: fan, please, drink/juice (made up sign), swing (made up sign)
• Tooth progress: he has a tiny one on the bottom that I'm not sure is 100% through yet and one HONKIN' HUGE one directly above it.  It's seriously like a beaver's tooth!  No more teeth on the horizon.
• Still tiny, but we haven't weighed him in awhile.  I would guess somewhere in the 17 pounds mark.  We have transitioned him onto cow's milk, so that is helping to put some meat on his bones.  He turned 16 months yesterday and we are thinking of starting to transition him into 6-9 month clothes soon.
• Favorite Foods: Cheerio's (the bland kind), goldfish, Nilla wafers (we call them cookies), pasta with pasta sauce that has been ground up in one of those baby food mushers, and of course, the age old favorite of Chicken and Apples!

Mari

• Trying desperately to hold on to my laptop.  Mentally it's fine, but physically it is falling apart.  The screen has broken off from the base on one side, but it's ok as long as I am really careful with it.  I couldn't bring myself to spend the $400+ on a new one, so we just got an external hardrive to backup all of my pictures and home movies.
• Still can't find my camera charger.  Blast it all!  I think I'll have to fork over the money for a new one.
• I got my hair highlighted and cut 12 inches off.  Only 2 people noticed that I had highlighted it (I think it's kind of obvious) and only 1 person noticed that I cut it (besides my family who knew I was getting a haircut).  Come on people!  I just chopped an entire foot of hair off my head, and no one can notice!?!  Sheesh
• Loving my new ward!  They are super friendly and I already feel really close to so many of them.  A group of us get together once a week for play group - last week we went to the zoo (Jaden's favorite animal - the duckies!!) and this week we're going to a splash pad!
• I went to the dentist for the first time in a L O N G time and...     no cavities!!!
• Throwing Jaden a "1 Year From the NICU" Party on Saturday!  It's Mickey Mouse Clubhouse themed, and he'll get his first cupcake complete with a tower of frosting!

Jake

• Playing Diablo every spare chance he can get!  He was so excited for it to come out that I decided to have a Devil themed dinner on the night of it's release!  We had deviled eggs, "Hot as Hell" buffalo wings, and Devils Food Cake cupcakes!
• Liking his new schedule.  He has started his top secret training, so I don't know what he is really studying, but he seems to like it.  He is home by 1:30pm every day and Jaden and I are loving the extra time with him!
• He has to get up super early now.  His new schedule means that on Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday he has to be on base at 4am for physical training!  Yuck!  Tuesday and Friday he doesn't have to be there until 6am, which is when his classes start.  Good thing he is a morning person!
• He was super brave and let me cut his hair!  The military cut is pretty easy - super short all over - but I was still very nervous!  It felt like way too much power for me to have!  The hardest part was blending the different layers, but in the end we were both happy with the results.
• He was just called into the Elder's Quorum presidency (a position in our church) which keeps him super busy and super informed.  It'll be an adjustment for all of us with him gone more, but I know we will get many blessings out of it.

Sorry it took me so long to update, and I know this wasn't a "fun" post, but it's important for me to document everything since this is essentially my journal as well.  As soon as I get an operational camera, prepared to be sick with the mountains of photos I shove down your throat!

UPDATE:  I just ordered a new battery charger on Amazon and it will be here in 3-5 business days.  If I had known it would be less than $5, I would have done it weeks ago!!!

Poor Mr. Ducky

Jaden decided to try out his new teeth (yes - that is plural!  Jaden's top tooth has decided to make a fast appearance!) on poor Original Mr. Ducky.  He is now only allowed supervised visits with him.  So we went out and scoured the entire Walmart looking for actual Rubber Duckies that he couldn't tear apart testing out his new chompers.  It is really hard to find rubber duckies!  Luckily we found two and we are all happy about that!  It seems he can't go anywhere (bed, bath, in the car, church, etc...) without a ducky in his hand.

Jaden is getting to be a really good walker now!  But that's not the most exciting news: HE SAID MAMA TODAY!!!!  I seriously freaked out!  So now he can say ducky, possibly say daddy (it's awfully close to ducky), and mama!

I did get video evidence but only after I asked him to say it about a dozen times!  It comes at like 3 minutes into the video, so be patient...

Case Lot CHAOS!!!!

7 HOURS!!!!


That's how long it took from when Jaden and I got in line to when we checked out of our Commissary's twice a year case lot sale.  It was Craziness!!!  We got there a half hour before it started thinking that would be adequate, only to find the line already 1/4th of a mile long!  At that was only to get into the tents!  Once you got into the tents, you had to wind up and down the long aisles made of food, picking up what you wanted as you went along, until you got to the end and could check out.  We got in line at 8am, made it to the tents by 11:45am, and finally packed everything into our car at 3pm.  And did I mention that it was a hot and sunny day?  Occasionally there was a breeze and cloud cover, which made it nice outside (I still got sunburned but didn't realize it until I got home) but under those tents it was sweltering!  But Jaden was a little trooper!  I knew enough to dress him in a light and cool outfit, had him sprayed with sunscreen so he didn't get burned, and I had a lot of snacks and drinks with me.  However I did not anticipate being there for SEVEN HOURS and finally he couldn't handle it anymore and just needed to sleep, so we laid him down in the cart and he slept for a good 2-2.5 hours while we were under the tents.  It really put into perspective how incredibly tiny my 15 month child is!!

I tore a piece of cardboard off some of the packaging materials and made it into a fan to keep him cool and anytime he woke up I got him to drink as much water as I could.  Still, we were both totally and completely beat by the time we got home.

Were the deals good?  For the most part.  Were they waiting for 7 hours good?  Probably not, but it was certainly an experience.  Luckily I joined up with two other ladies from my ward so I had good company the whole time.

Some of my deals:
Del Monte large can of spaghetti sauce: 12 cans for $6
Lysol wipes: 12 tubes of wipes for $9
Spray and Shout stain remover: 12 bottles for $6 (I figure we will use more of this as Jaden gets older)
12 cans of Coke (or Dr. Pepper if you're weird like my husband) for $2.25
100 pouches of Scooby Doo Fruit Snacks for $6.99
*If you have gotten better prices on these, don't let me know.  It will just make me depressed at this point!*

Just in Time for What Should Be His First Birthday

His First Steps!!!!  I never knew what to officially call his "first steps".  Was it that one half-stumble he took going from the table to the couch?  I didn't think so, but he went from half-stumbles to 4-5 steps in a row in about a day, so I never knew what to officially call the first steps.  Regardless, he is starting to really trust himself and walking a lot more!  Now, instead of immediately dropping to his hands and knees to get somewhere, he will actually walk until he looses his balance and then crawl the rest of the way!  I'll get it on video really soon I promise!

His First Word!!!  I was getting really worried because not only was he not saying any words, but we wasn't even trying to say any words.  That was the only 12 month milestone he hadn't hit yet.  And then, out of nowhere, he started saying his first word!  And it is....  (drum roll please...)  DUCKY!!!!!!  He has this little rubber ducky (that actually isn't rubber - it's a stress ball) that he is currently obsessed with.  He takes it absolutely everywhere with him!  Jake was convinced he was trying to say ducky, but I was skeptical, until today at the beach.  We went to get some sun and play in the water (I just love living 1 mile away from some of the best beaches in the world!) and Jaden saw some of the birds on the beach (like seagulls but not quite) and said, in the clearest tiny voice ever, what was unmistakably, Ducky!  Apparently all birds are duckies to him.  Love it!  He says it more like duh-dee so you think it would be a simple transition to daddy, but not yet.  It's only a matter of time though!

His First Tooth!!!  Yes, it FINALLY made it's little appearance!  Right when I had given up all hope, it poked its sharp little head through!  He doesn't like to let me look at it or feel it, but I'm the mom, so he'll just have to put up with me!  At dinner tonight I tried to get a good shot of his tooth but it's hard to see because it literally JUST broke through, so I used a little editing magic to help you out!

If you squint really hard, you can see it!  And if you are someone who REALLY cares (a.k.a. grandma's and grandpa's), you can click on the picture to make it really big!  I love being a new mom and getting so excited about Every Single Little Thing!!!

Happy National High Five Day Yesterday!

Issuing a Code White!!!

We have reason to believe that, in the next few days, we will welcome the arrival of the long-awaited for FIRST TOOTH!!!!  Stay tuned.  Will update you when needed!

Update: No new tooth yet.  However, we do have a runny nose, a tad bit more drool than normal, a slightly more grumpy baby than normal, and he no longer has the desire to bite on everything.  Our hypothesis on the last bit is because it hurts to bite down on things... (Tuesday night)

Update: I am officially cancelling the Code White.  Almost a week, and NOTHING!!!  Oh well.  We'll still keep him! :)

Easter, a Haircut, and Just General Cuteness!

I have two lower cupboards that are perfect size for Jaden to crawl in and explore so I make sure to only store Jaden approved things in there.  I think that I put everything back in the cupboards at least three times a day.  It's like he's not feeling complete until my floor is littered with strainers and cutting boards...

I think Jaden has too many toys.  And because of Florida's awesome weather, there are yard sales every weekend so his stash of toys seems to keep growing.  I need better self control.

 Like most kids, Jaden loves to have his picture taken and then look at it on the display of my digital camera.  It makes him really excited, and when he gets really excited he starts to bob up and down in happiness, so all of my pictures turn out blurry.  

This was the look on his face when he realized I had pulled the camera out:

This was the look on his face when he realized I wasn't going to let him play with the buttons on my camera:

You always hear stories and see pictures of other kids who fell asleep in funny places or doing odd things.  My kid has never been like that.  He fell asleep either in your arms or in his bed.  Period.  Until yesterday, when he fell asleep in his highchair watching Phineas and Ferb.  Love it!

Here is Jaden pre-haircut:

And here is Jaden after his haircut.  It seems like he will need his hair cut about ever two months.  It grows way too fast!

We had a really fun Easter!  We started with an egg hunt at home and Jaden took no time understanding what to do!!!

He figured out if he threw the egg on the ground, it would crack open and something shiny would fall out.  He even figured out that shiny thing was for eating.  He didn't figure out that the wrapper was supposed to come off, and we didn't tell or show him.

This is one of his new things: sticking out the tongue all the time!

Then we went to a community egg hunt where we got his face painted (which he handled just fine regardless of how tortured he looks in the picture), saw the Easter bunny, and shared a hot dog with daddy.

Every single day, without fail, I just stare at him in awe and wonder.  He is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my entire life!  He is completely amazing!  I hope I always feel that way.  I suppose you should ask me again after the terrible 2's and 3's!

P.S. As I was sitting here writing this, I heard in the background the telltale sounds of Jaden climbing in the cupboards once again.  I'm off to clean up some more strainers!  Golly I love this kid!

Lately

Lately we have been:

• Settling in to our new home
• Watching Jaden as he discovers he likes to sleep under a blanket

• Having a crawling (ALMOST walking) baby helping me put the house together

•  Going to the beach!

• Jaden signed his first word in sign language: fan.  I know.  Not Mom or Dad or Milk or Juice, but fan.... He loves to watch it go round and round and loves turning it off and on.
• Playing at the park

• Learning how to eat bark

• Playing with all of his many toys

• Getting Cheerios EVERYWHERE (and needed another haircut)

• Stalking my baby on our video monitor (Best Gift Ever if you can afford it!)

•  Finally reaching 16 pounds!!!
• And generally just being the most beautiful baby EVER!

Jake finally got his paperwork approved so he can now come live at home when he is not at school, so that has been a big relief!  It has made everyone in the family a lot happier!  

And now for a few thoughts from Jaden:

.210n..,lmkkk,uujnnnnn m ewed fcgvg,lmn b        \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\vh77hm    c\v \vgsnv c aczv xcddfgMy7hg6vbtfgv\Z BJnkj

Unreliable

Although you could think that the title of this post is about my upkeep of my blog, it is actually about my internet.  The place we live in has free wifi, but it rarely penetrates the concrete walls.  However, every now and then, I will get a signal and be able to connect.  That slim hope of connecting is what has, so far, kept me from forking over the money to have Cox come and install our own internet.  And you would think it's all about positioning in the house, but I got a signal last night while in my bed (where I am now) but this morning it couldn't find anything from the same location.  Whatever....

Florida is awesome!  We are loving the weather, our church, our neighbors, and our house!  The only thing we don't love is having tile floors throughout the first floor.  While that is really a necessity in Florida, it makes it really hard on a baby who is trying to learn how to walk.  My mom has invested in some large area rugs to help soften the blow when he inevitably takes a tumble.

I am still working on taking pictures to post, and I have some HILARIOUS videos of the little one to upload as soon as I find the right cord in the sea of boxes and as soon as I can get a constant internet connection to get them on the computer.

Also, Fox 13 featured the Alianza Academy as their "Cool School of the Week" this week, and my sister was featured in one of their segments.  Please check it out HERE!!!!  She is so poised and well spoken!  *the beginning of the segment is boring, so just be patient until you get to my gorgeous sister!*  I'm so proud of her and the good work she is doing.  Love you Nutters!!

Moving Stinks, But Moving With a Baby is Ten Times Worse!!

I have to warn you in advance that this is going to be a LONG post because a lot has happened recently!

So we moved.  Yuck.  I had no motivation to do any packing in advance so that left us not prepared when the movers (also known as the men in our church) came on Monday.  Plus, anytime I tried to get anything done, I would have to put Jaden down, and when you're moving, your house is practically a mine field for a baby.  There was nowhere safe to let him play on his own, so nothing got done.  So on the day of the move we ran around frantically throwing things in random boxes and taping them up quick.  Not the most efficient way to move, I can assure you!  Also, to keep Jaden out of the way of the movers, I strapped him into our Baby Bjorn and I carried him around all day.  This led me to hurt my back and I was completely useless for the next week or so while it healed.  Also, we had completely underestimated the amount of junk stuff we had so we ended up not getting enough U-Boxes (U-Haul's version of Pods) so we had to order an emergency third one and even then we still had to much crap!  So I went through all of the leftover stuff that had to fit in our two cars, made some drastic cuts and did a painful purge, and through some amazing Tetris skills, Jake stuffed it all in our cars.  But before that happened we had the ladies in our church come over to help clean the place, but we still had so much stuff to simply box up that they ended up just helping me box up my kitchen.  By this point in the day, Jaden was tired, hungry, and cranky, and I was tired, hungry, and cranky as well.  I got to my breaking point.  I told the ladies thank you, but they were welcome to leave, and we were just going to pay to have the landlords clean the house and the carpets.

Thankfully on Wednesday we finally took off!  Our cars were packed so full that you couldn't see out of either one of our back windows, but we were really fortunate to miss all of the severe weather on our way down!  Wednesday was kind of discouraging because after being on the road for hours, we were still in the same state we started in when we stopped for the night.  Illinois is a lot longer than you think!  So it was crazy that on Thursday alone we went through Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee (we actually got lost in downtown Nashville looking for gas), and into Alabama.  And then on Friday we finally made the last push into Florida!  Jaden handled the drive so well!  My back did not.  Oh well.  Time will heal it.

When we got to Pensacola, we met my mom who flew here to help us with the move and finding a house.  She had rented a condo for us to all stay in until we found a place, and it is seriously a piece of paradise!  This is the view from the balcony, taken on the day after we arrived:

The weather has been up and down and at one point really cold, but I really can't complain because there is no snow!!!  The fog here can get really creepy.  It is SUPER thick and can come out of nowhere and disappear just as fast.

The search for a house was really crazy.  We have a pretty tight budget and we wanted a place that was safe and clean.  After viewing several rental properties, I felt like that wasn't going to happen.  And then we stumbled on The Perfect Place.  It's an end unit townhouse, 3 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms, 1 car attached garage, washer/dryer in unit, on Perdido Key, has a community pool, community beach, community playground, community boat pier that you can fish off of, lots of windows with screens, 2 air conditioning units (one for upstairs and one for downstairs), a MASSIVE master walk-in closet, a corner jetted tub in the master with a separate shower, two sinks in the master, the best staff around, AND it's in our budget!  I had to be super aggressive to get it, but it's ours!  The funny part is that it's in an RV park....  But it's an upscale one and Jaden will have plenty of grandma's and grandpa's to love him!  We move in next week!

Jake reported for duty and originally we thought they were going to let him come home at night, but then they told us that until he had a lease agreement, he couldn't even apply to live at home with us!  That was another reason to be aggressive to get the lease for this place.  He was put into night classes which means he  goes to class from 2:30pm-11pm.  Ugh.  Right now he is doing the exact same schooling he already did in Great Lakes so he is super bored, but in about a month and a half he should start some new material.

Holy cow that was a lot of stuff!  I'm glad we have a place to live next week, I'm glad that we have this great weather, and I'm glad that I can sit on our balcony and watch the dolphins right off shore!  (they are the dark spot on the middle of the picture)