ok. So this year we started Christmas the weekend before with Christmas at the Schrocks. we had a glimpse into life with three kiddos. This year our time was spent eating, entertaining kids, eating some more and sleeping whenever we can. It was a drastic difference from years past when we spent time doing puzzles and playing games. I think it is only the beginning. next year we will have three getting into everything.
we then got home and spent the evening doing Christmas with the kids. Each of them got to open there present or should we say Jackson opened there presents. Avenlea got her first Baby Doll and Jackson got his train set. Have to say I think Jackson likes there two gifts equally. We then took the Christmas tree down and put away the decorations. Don't worry we really aren't scrooges. We just had plans to leave town. We were headed to MN on wednesday and this was the last chance I had to have help. plus we had therapy and packing to do the rest of the week.
My mom called Monday and weather was not looking promising for our trip to MN. She basically said we shouldn't come. I decided to wait and call on Wednesday morning. However the outlook was still BAD!! my dad said don't come. Adrian decided if we got on the road by 10 we would be ok. So we headed out. We had great travels, good kiddos, and then we hit MN. My older brother made it through white out conditions the next day, but we MISSED My younger brother greatly. We will have to see him next time we are in MN. Hopefully in february
to give you an idea of the amount of snow, here are some pics of the kids outside. there was a good foot almost two everywhere.
we had hopes of a snow man but it was so crusted with ice, there was no moving it. we did find out one thing, that is Jackson is not a fan of being bundled up..We had a great time with my immediate family and we opened gifts from Grandma. Jackson got an Allis Chalmers D45 tractor the same tractor that Grandpa drives in his tractor pulls. One of these days we will be home in the summer and he will get to ride on the real thing. but till then this is what he will have.
He Loves it. Avenlea got another babydoll and some adorable outfits from Nana and Papa
(see the sweater below). We got an updated picture of the grandkids and Nana and Papa. it is amazing how often we have to do this with little ones. They are all growing up too fast.
we all headed north to the twin cities for our fourth celebration with the Christensen Clan. My mom side on Saturday. It was great to see everyone. this was the first time for Avenlea to meet everyone and even the first for some to meet Jackson. My cousin Jason has been serving as a pilot and said this is the first year in 7 he has been home for all of Christmas. It was great to see him and have him there. We did miss those that couldn't make it too. These days we take who we can get. Thanks Judy for hosting.
the greatest Christmas present this year (after the birth of Christ off course) is seeing all these people and having a great time and coming home with two healthy kids. God is good!!
Happy New Year everyone!!! not sure where the last one went, hope all is as great in the next decade of 2010.
lots has been happening in the schrock home over the past few months. So I will try and give a quick update. Jackson trasitioned into his big boy bed. he looks so tiny in it. Eventually he will fill it up. then on Thanksgiving weekend Avenlea was dedicated. It was great to have my Mom and Dad out here and we took advantage. It is kinda neat that both our kiddos were dedicated on the same weekend, two years apart, on the first Sunday of Advent each year. It is the Sunday of Hope. Every since Jackson was born, Hope is something we have alot of and it is because our our Savior that we have it. So pretty special. Jackson has become quite the mover and shaker. Which has added a new level of supervision to our daily activities. he is into everything. although frustrating, I wouldn't trade it for anything. I smile everytime I see him do something new. he has started to climb, sit on his own, and he can even touch his toes while sitting. He is bending over and and picking things up off the floor in the middle of a room. You probably think these are normal things, and they are. However for Jackson they are developmental things that we have skipped over or struggled with due to his medical complications. He also is talking a mile a minute and most of it you can't understand. But he has about 200 words that we can get. Including McDonalds and French Fries. Odd for a kid that doesn't eat it. HAHA!!
Speaking of eating. We about two month ago agreed with our Nutritionist that Jackson was getting a bit ROTUND!! he had increased to the 95% again and he was finally to a good weight so we said we would like to decrease the calories in his diet. So we did. in November we started to notice a correlation with this and his throwing up. We are happy to report that since mid November, so about a month, we have thrown up maybe four times. This is crazy exciting when you think that since birth he use to urp almost 9 times a day. We have also noticed since this started he has been asking for and tasting different foods. He asks for cereal, crackers, he went to town on some pizza sauce the other day, and overall if you let HIM DO IT, he will try most things. We still get a little freaked out when it gets in his mouth and he doesn't know what to do with it. so that will be a little bit challenging. We have Drs behind us too for the first time in a long time. They have planned some testing and are going to do a feeding evaluation of him in Feb. So we look forward to some outside opinions and ideas.
Speaking of Eating. Little Miss Avenlea is eating too. She started Cereal about four weeks ago, but only in the past two weeks have we decided to start on a schedule. this is new to me...so if you have any advice on best times to try it that would be great. we have been mega frustrated. I think she is too hungry when we are trying, so she is impatient. Also we don't have a clue what we are doing. But we are working on it. I think I am also frustrated, because we thought it would help with sleeping and it seems to have made it worse rather than better.
well that is an update in the Schrock home. A few frustrations, but lots of excitement this holiday season. it is so much fun when you can do baking with your kids and get to find special things for them.
We have so much to be thankful for and SO MUCH TO THANK OUR SAVIOR FOR. Have a MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!
So 6 month visit went well. For new news: we found out that Avenlea has a growth on her head. I thought it was just a mole, but Adrian has said that it has been bigger some days than others, so we decided to ask about it today. The doc says that it is a .............i can't spell it, say it or pronounce it. So it will continue growing until she is about the age of one and then should start to disappear or fall off. He said hers is in a good place it won't get in the way of breathing or sight which some of them do. Could get in the way once we have to come her hair, but for now we are ok. He said we will monitor it, but for now it is fine.
She weighed in at 17 lbs 10 ounces and is 26 1/4 inches long. So much for being a preemie...she is in the 75th percentile on the big girl chart in both categories. WOWSA!!! I am not use to hearing these numbers. Way to GO GIRL!! They are also very pleased that her head has caught up too. she is average now. Avenlea is growing well and he said everything else is on track we just need to work on some more tummy time. She is loving sitting with a boppy but falls over quick and she hasn't rolled over since her tummy sleeping at two months. So we need to get her moving. Last time we had her on her tummy though she said forget the rolling, pushed her knees under her and I thought she was going to say bye mom and take off. I am happy I have a little more time before this happens.
Update on Jackson.... he got his flu booster today. It was quick he pulled down his pants got the shot and pulled them back up, with some help. But he was a trooper, very few tears and he even gave his sister kisses and told her she would be ok. I am not sure if I should be proud of him or if this should make me cry. HE has been through so much shots are minor too him.
We head to Riley tonight. We have appointments at 8 am tomorrow, blood work and some x-rays. We also see Dr Lubicky, our Ortho doc for the last time. He is moving south to take a position as the head of ortho surgery somewhere down there. We will be sad to see him go and we are incredibly thankful to him for what he has done so far. We have the joy of seeing him walk today, because of his talent in combo with the determination of our little man.
We are going to stop in and see the Younghans' while we are down there. We have been praying for Barrett that he gets well. Barrett was in my youth group when I first moved out here. He was like 12 then, and he is now 17 and was diagnosed with Cardiomyopathy, an enlargening of the heart. Please pray for his quick recovery and peace for their family in all the decisions that have to be made in the hospital.
That is the update around here. have a happy monday.
I can't believe my baby is a half a year old. (Since it is too cold outside for pictures and she can't sit up quite yet on her own you are going to have to enjoy these. ) I can't believe how big she is. WOW!! We haven't had her check up so I will have to tell you next week after her doc visit. She is so full of life. She spends her awake time, chewing mostly on her fists. You would think that she was going to eat them whole by how far in her mouth she gets them. She is sleeping or was sleeping through the night about 8 to 7. Now however has started the last couple of weeks waking up once to twice a night. We started Cereal to see if this would help, we saw an improvement at first but it has slacked off recently. She is still getting use to the cereal and the little bits of fruits we have tried. I am new at this so I am not sure what I am doing. So any advice you have on starting food is more than welcome. this is my second kid but the first one that wants to eat.
All in all she is a content little girl. She is happy as a lark even in the middle of the night. She is smiling and laughing all the time. More and more she is starting to look like her big brother. Speaking of Jackson, he loves talking back or should we say shrieking back at her. We call it talking. It is fun to watch them interact. She is pushing up on her knees when on her tummy and still hates to be there. She doesn't last long. She absolutely is in love with bath time or just being naked. She kicks around, smiles and laughs through the whole thing. She loves to splash and tends to make her way down the tub from one end to the other.
She loves to stand, not to interested in laying around anymore. She trys to sit up every chance she gets. She love looking at books and sing songs with her big brother and watchs every move he makes. Even the bad ones *hopefully she is not taking notes*
I gotta say I am having a blast with a little girl. It is ALOT harder to pass up all the cute clothes in the stores and not want to start buying her dolls and kitchens and all that girly stuff I remember having so much fun with as a kid. I don't want her to grow up too fast, but I can't wait for tea parties and playing with her when she is a little older.
the first 6 months have been great!! Can't wait to watch her grow for the next 6months too.
About a year ago our episodes with the garage door began.
#1 Adrian was backing out of the garage and the garage door spring broke and fell on top of his car. Not doing much damage to his car because of the rack on top, but definitely doing damage to the door. It cracked almost all the way acrossed the door and the bottom corner was bent outward. You wouldn't know this if you look at it, because we were able to bend it back and get it to work by just replacing the spring. #2..over the last few months we have been having the garage door slip...I don't really know any other way to put it. You would push the button for it to go up and it would go all the way up and then begin to slip back down. #3..About a month ago...I went to open the garage door to take one of my kids to the doctor. Running late to begin with and when I pushed the button the door went up about 6 inches. Yes 6 inches. Definitely not enough room to get my car out. Me being the smart lady I am did now you could lift it and I was able to lift it over the hump and the opener helped me the rest of the way. But when I got home...the door wouldn't move.
We decided the third time is the charm and we began researching the cost of Garage Doors. You might think they are cheap if you look in the Sunday Ads...but when you add taxes and installment you are looking at a pretty penny. Then we looked at door companies and this is what we got....Jackson is such a boy...He would have loved to be outside just watching the guy for the whole two hours... And this is our final Product...pretty sweet not to have to get out of the car to open the garage door and lift it over the hump. We are one step closer to the end of the beautification project on our house.
Miss Avenlea Gayle....a true speical Delivery...Our big girl sitting up....wow how she is growing and SOOOOO Fast!!Mama and her sweet pea... then the smiles started to come.... We got a few but not too many...when she is outside her environment... it is harder...
But she did great...once we got the pukes out of her system...she started in Purple...for our family pics and puked after the first three photos...so we switched clothes and got the rest.. I think she puked right before the above pictures...gotta love it.. Darcy really did a great job...Thanks soo much.
the day was great...after rain for two days...we got lucky and it was like 50's and partly cloudy. We got some really good ones.. Daddy and his sweat kiddos
jackson and his dada
Mama... and her sweet babies.. Jackson has recently started this..grabbing us and laying one on. it is to stinkin' cute...glad we got to capture the moment..and the bestest part is it is with me...he usually does it with Adrian. our precious baby girl...she wasn't much into smiling but we wasn't screaming...she was a trooper.. and how cute is she in her fur collared sweater... if only it wouldn't have been so cold you could have seen her dress...maybe at Christmas if it still fits...
then the show stealer... he didn't stop hammin' it up...there are too many cute pics to choose from. Like always and really it wasn't a photoshoot for him. Oh well...we will take the cuteness.
We are all down and out around here. All of us except Adrian. HE is drink tons of OJ and taking his vitamins to try and stay healthy. But we were up at least four times last night. Oh my. One time All four of us were up and I think all wanted to scream. But one was doing it enough for all of us. We are doing vapor baths twice a day and trying to push fluids into the kiddos. Jackson is throwing up due to snot. It is quite the zoo around here. Avenlea is finally peacefully sleeping out here in her swing while Jack and I cuddle on the couch. I am sure we are quite the site.
Got some cute pictures of the kiddos the other day. First we have avenlea Smiling....it has been a real joy watching her develop her little personality.then we caught her laughing too. to bad i am not qick enough with the video switch over. she has begun cooing alot and even making some noises with her tougue. she is groowing so fast. as you can she she is holding her head up really well too. we got the bumbo out this week. we tried it once, but it was alot of work and her Big bro wasn't very nice. he snatched every toy from her tray before she could play. so far our best playtime...is Jackson's nap time. Avenlea loves her big brother and is really entertained just watching him play. Jackson and daddy played outside this past weekend. daddy says its a golf club...but mommy says hockey stick. either way he was pretty good....once he stopped swinging it like a baseball bat. to him everything is "bayball".
before becoming a parent I really had only had a few criticism of parents. in the top 5 was watching cartoons at a young age. Yeah to say the least I have failed in that category. We have restrictions on how long we do it..but we watch them. Jackson is intrigued with Sid the science kid, Mickey mouse Clubhouse, Handy Manny and the imagination movers. I however held strong to one criticism. I never understood who or why anyone in there right mind would introduce Barney into their children's lives. Still don't and I can honestly say it was the therapists fault...but this is what I found the other day when I didn't get to the tv fast enough to change the channel. yep in that blurry image you aren't seeing things. It is Barney. A purple dinosaur. And to top it off he was pointing. Saying barney, barney.. As clear as can be. I prefer Elmo (and for those that know me well, even this is hard for me to say) at least he is educational on Sesame Street.
Happy four month birthday baby girl. She is growing sooooo fast. She is already 24 inches long and 12 lbs 14 ounces.. She has made the big girl chart...no more preemie ones, and she is in the 20th percentile. She seems so much bigger to me.
This week Jackson and I headed to indy just the two of us. I left my baby for two days and one night. She was in great hands. thank you Ashley and Gloria for watching her. Jackson and I got to meet his transplant doc and we have a new perspective as to why we need to wait. The unfortunate part is he needs him to Grow. vertically that is. which we have not ever had success with. He has two strikes against him in this category. One are his lack of functioning kidneys and the second is when your hips aren't in the sockets there is no pressure on the growth plates. So we are starting our growing late in the game when it has already slowed down. We got to celebrate while we were there. We got to say BYE BYE to this tube...not completely, don't get ahead of the game. But he no longer has the tube hanging off. He had his button placed. Which means that we now attatch the tube when we need to use it and when we don't we take it off. it is so much better. His clothes fit right again, he doesn't get it caught on things or end up crawling on it. It is wonderful....or as wonderful as foreign objects can be in your body.
We are happy to say that Avenlea and daddy survived us being gone with flying colors...our sweet baby girl even started sleeping for 10 hours...two nights in a row. I made a deal with her and I think she will continue this habit and in the meantime try to help her brother catch on too. we will see what happens.
So on friday night we welcomed our newest edition to the Schrock Family. Not our Schrock family but the extended one. Brayden Jeffrey was born at 6 something in the evening on Friday Evening. He was 21 inches long and 8 lbs 8 ounces. He seemed so light, that is when I realized that he was the same size as Avenlea was at two months. I got out her card from the Doc when we got home on Sunday and
Date: 8/10/09 Height 21 inches weight: 8 lbs 6.6 ounces Head 37 cm
My baby is so much bigger now. We will find out tomorrow how much she weighs. Anybody want to venture a guess. Here is a recent picture to help you out?
check out that tushie...haha. I realized after I took these. I have never let my child run around naked. I think I am the only one of my friends with no pictures of this. He was having so much fun placing his numbers on the wall of the tub. I think for everyone he said three. to cute...I tell ya. then he would take them all down and put them in the boat. then proceed to put them all back up again. HE was even generous to take a bath with his sister. THis one will for sure come out at their graduations. I love it. He kept pointing saying baby and she just happily kicked and enjoyed the water and the entertainment. I love how much jackson loves his sister..and she just watches him contently enjoying everything he does. I hope this continues later in life.
Jackson has become quite the ham lately. Of course it is on his terms. If he doesn't want to do it he doesn't do it.
Like tonight when we tried to get a couple pictures of our kids together. He decided he would rather try to push Avenlea out of the wagon instead. So we got this one picture of the two of them that is half way decent...she is trying to smile and her eyes are closed but it is a documentation of the moment right.
I was able to get a couple great pictures of my adorable 3month old baby girl. My how time flys, even with all the struggles we have had with her constipation, and colic. I am not sure now that we have been supplementing that she really was colicky or if she was just really hungry. But we will say a little of both. I have to keep doing what I did for Jackson and document on here what she is doing at three months or I won't remember when I scrapbook her three month pictures. So here goes:
She began smiling about a week ago, she is finally content to lay on the floor or in her bouncy seat. Up until this point she was a big fan of being held. Don't get me wrong, if the girl had her way, she would still be held all the time. She loves having baths and has since the first one. She just lays in the tub and kicks her legs happily. She has developed gorgeous blue eyes, with long full eyelashes. I feel she is going to be a heart breaker in her future. She loves to watch her brother entertain her. She is ok with tummy time and has been pulling her head off our shoulders for a few weeks now. She can hold it up for about a minute..then she lays it back down.
enjoying our cool weather with the windows open. Jackson loves to greet the neighborhood as they walk by. didn't know if anyone ever heard him, until adrian came home from a walk with the kids to inform me that a lady stopped to say hi. She new jackson as the kid from the window. haha!!
we got our SMO's yesterday and we are getting use to them. he is not used to wearing sox and shoes all the time. it definitely increases his temperature. he screams as we put them on..but he doesn't seem to mind them once they are on and man do they make a difference. he balances so much better and his feet point straight ahead. i never realized how little his feet were until they brought out these tiny braces. too cute. we were happy when the shoes we had for him already fit too. and will for a while. he is letting go of things still, but it is very different to have to pick your feet up with shoes on. So he is not taking a whole lot of steps away from anything. right now he is walking with his back against his table not hanging on. he is quite the ham.
On friday we went to the doctor for our two year check up...everything went well. he weighed in at 24 lbs 5 ounces, which is down a little depending on who's scale you believe. and he was up to 30 inches tall. which was an inch and a half growth since they last saw him. good news. we discussed his kidney transplant and what kind of protection he could get while we enter flu season to keep him healthy. HE suggested the flu shot and the new swine flu shot that will be out later. we will see...it all depends on surgery date. which we have good news about too. Adrian passed round two of his testing. so he has appointments next wednesday to meet with the doctor, have his psych exam (please pray for him lol), and he will need a ct scan of his kidneys. Once he has these tests read, and he passes. we will be able to schedule a date. Exciting!!
Avenlea is doing well. She was quite fussy for a while, but we figured out she was not getting enough to eat. So we have fed her more frequently and started supplementing..which has helped alot. she is sleeping better and her awake time is content. Thank you Lord.. She has started to smile, which is so sweet.
that is an update on the happenings in our house. Have a great labor day weekend.
we then got home and spent the evening doing Christmas with the kids. Each of them got to open there present or should we say Jackson opened there presents. Avenlea got her first Baby Doll and Jackson got his train set. Have to say I think Jackson likes there two gifts equally. We then took the Christmas tree down and put away the decorations. Don't worry we really aren't scrooges. We just had plans to leave town. We were headed to MN on wednesday and this was the last chance I had to have help. plus we had therapy and packing to do the rest of the week.
