Supine and not screaming.

So this reflux stuff really makes us keep him in an upright position most of the time (supposed to be for 1/2 hour after eating--considering he eats ALL day long...). I layed him down on the play gym, as always (gotta keep trying right) and he actually started to swat at the toys and didn't cry for about 7 minutes. WOW! I was so happy for him.

As a side note: he typically only interacts (eye contact) when on his back or in a reclined position. I think the weight of his cheeks inhibit him from smiling, so why bother to engage in conversation. Hahahaha!

Dan's photo shoot of the kids

Eastern Bluebird--in color this year!

Yes, depsite my father's skepticism we do have an Eastern Bluebird that likes our property. In fact their have been two. They are BEAUTIFUL!

Snow Geese 2010

Family History--Under a chair?

My Aunt Sheila has been passing out chairs. Kindly giving us chairs that have been in the family for years. One day she decided to look under the chair she was giving to us and found a ton of family history written underneath. My mother was able to print out the "geneology" of the chair's former sitters. WELL over 100 years old. Cool, eh? When the kids are old enough I will have them sign and date the chair too.

Elliott's new companion, a.k.a terror for the dog

Elliott is now nicknamed "Ipod" by someone at church. It is funny when I ask Dan, "Did you plug him in?" He has his electrode wires hanging out of his pants and when he dozes off he is then connected to the apnea monitor. Poor guy. Also, when the alarm sounds it sends the dog into cardiac arrest--so it appears.

Hospital Stay

Our first two kiddos were never sick. This little guy...another story. Basically, Elliott got RSV and it hit hard. I took him to the ER in the middle of the night because he was not breathing, really struggling to breathe. They turned us away diagnosing "reflux"...oh really? Three days later he was admitted to the hospital (he had turned blue several times and that seemed to be the ticket to get help). Too bad they did not admit him three days earlier, when he was actually WORSE off. Won't mention what hospital turned him away. Anyway, while there he/we were isolated, which was actually nice not to have to share a room. He was on breathing treatments, and O2 for most of the time. They did a pH probe and found that his reflux was causing apnea (one period lasted for 14 seconds). So once he was better we left the hospital with an apnea monitor. The poor guy. We felt so bad for him. Oodles of wires hung from his little body. At one point he had two things in each nostril. The day they took everything off him (all but the O2 sats thing and the heart monitors) you could tell he was THRILLED. He was blessed, it could have been far worse. It was tough knowing there was not much we could do for him.

2 months!

After a "reflux" moment wears him out.

Here he is "reflux"ing. Trying to swallow it back down. Eyes tear up. Awful!

Pepper, pickle and Pretzel sandwich

So, there are days when eating is a complete function of the day. I open the fridge and think--where are the fruits/veggies...what can I make. Everett must do the same thing. He scooped up a couple of things from our smorgasboard and made a "sandwich". Don't mind the already chewed food still unswallowed and lingering on his tongue.

Someone doesn't look happy...

More pics from the family weekend--Valentine's Day weekend