Back to Work and Luke's New Allergist

Talk about crazy weeks! Darreck went back to work on Monday, but only for half a day so we could travel to Helena to see a new doctor for Luke. Darreck first. He's working a day shift all week to attend training meetings, so while we're sort of back in the swing of things, we're getting a schedule down just to change it up next week. It's my first time being home with all three boys since Jack's first week, and I think we're doing pretty well. Each morning we take a family walk and attempt to clean something up (easier said than done). Afternoons are quiet time/nap time and dinner prep. I like our little schedule, and it's been a relief after the summer chaos. I love having Darreck home with us all summer, but it's always nice getting our routine back each fall. I've even been able to set Jack down for short amounts of time. May I never take having the use of both hands for granted again! Life is so much easier with dual appendages.

Next week Darreck goes back to his normal afternoon-evening schedule, and Max starts kindergarten. I have one more week before I start teaching violin and piano lessons again. In other words, our schedule should ramp up again very, very shortly. While I'm looking forward to seeing my studio kids again, I'm also worried about the time my teaching takes away from my family and household duties. Getting dinner on the table is infinitely harder when I teach from 3:30 until 6:30 three days each week. Oh well. We've always found a way before, and I'm sure we will again this year.

Now Luke's turn. After seeing three local doctors, some good friends suggested we travel to Helena to see a pediatric allergist there. We hemmed and hawed for months about whether we wanted to routinely see a specialist 90 miles away, but I'm so glad we decided to go for it. For the first time since his initial diagnosis, we met with a doctor who decisively presented a plan. She also did skin-prick testing on his most likely allergens to confirm earlier results. The results of all that testing were mixed. On the plus side, the doctor encouraged us to add back in all of his level 0-1 allergens so that he will build up a resistance. It's opposite advice of what we've received before, but we feel really good about the direction she's taking. That group includes dairy, wheat, oat, egg, and banana. We also got further direction on what to do about his eczema and peanut allergies. I feel like we now have a solid plan to handle those chronic conditions. On the negative side, she confirmed that he has mild asthma, and we have to do further blood testing to see if he's allergic to avocado and hazelnut. We tried to do the tests that afternoon, but they poked him three times and failed all three times. He was so miserable!

It ended up being a three hour long day at the doctor's office, not counting the 2 hour and 15 minute drive, but it was worth every single second. We're going to need to be hyper vigilant about his peanut allergy and much more aggressive about his skin problems, but I feel that adding back in a whole slew of foods more than compensates. We can finally eat normally again! It's also just the beginning of the road. Somewhere in the future we'll have to address his environmental allergies and probably do allergy shots, but I'm choosing not to worry about it at this point. What will come will come, and this week I'm simply celebrating our victory.

Jack at Six Weeks

My baby is officially not a newborn anymore, at least according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. The six week birthday is always bittersweet for me, as are most milestones. I'm such a sentimental sap when it comes to babies growing up! Part of me is amazed we've kept him alive this long (jokes!), and part of me wishes it would slow down a little.

Jack seems like a different baby entirely from the one we welcomed into the world, and we seem like a different family. In many regards, he's gotten much harder. Getting him to sleep takes a monumental amount of rocking and shushing right now, and keeping him happy during his increasingly long awake periods can be challenging. However, we're also starting to get glimpses of personality, not enough to say how he's going to fit in with the family long term, but glimpses none the less.

I'm also frustrated at my horrible memory of the last month and a half. Sleep deprivation and long term retention do not go together. I already feel like the reality of Jack's birth and first few days home are slipping away from me. I wish I could bottle that time when my babies were pure and innocent and perfect so that I could pull out a little to remember them by when the days got hard. As pessimistic as this sounds, so far parenting has been an entirely uphill battle. Newborns are hard, toddlers are harder, and the battles don't stop when they achieve kid status. I find myself clinging to Jack in his innocence a little too hard. I need to remember that with age comes independence and fun new memories. I am looking forward to his first real smile, first word, and first steps. My rational brain knows that things will get easier, even if my heart wants to hold onto a baby who can't talk back.

But for tonight, I'm going to enjoy him being little. I'm going to be patient rocking his cradle, and I'm not going to rush through his feedings. He'll only be little for so long.

Darreck's 29th Birthday

Happy birthday to my best friend and the most wonderful father in the world! I love getting an entire day each year to celebrate the love of my forever. However, this year was somewhere between low-key and completely stressful. We took a family walk this morning, but it was drizzly and freezing. We went shopping at the mall, but the boys were insane. Literally. A tiny army of crazy people! Luckily, we got them all down for quiet time and regrouped before dinner. We thought about going out somewhere to eat, but decided it wasn't worth the fight with the boys. Yeah, it was one of those years. Instead we enjoyed a simple dinner at home then had my family over for the traditional doughnut cake. We celebrated with Darreck's family on Tuesday. For presents, Darreck got a watch from my family, movies from Gram and me, cologne, a polo shirt, and lots of Ninja Turtles. It wouldn't be Darreck's birthday without Ninja Turtles! I love that he's retained some of that childhood enthusiasm, and it makes him easy to shop for. All good stuff. The house is now a wreck, and we're both exhausted. However, I think we can call the day a success. Now to start planning for next year and the big 3-0!

Jack's Message to the World Today

I found this cute romper at a children's consignment store in town. Even though we have enough little boy clothes to cover a tiny baby army, I couldn't resist getting this. Love those sleepy little yawns, too!

A Week's Worth of Pictures

It was a slow, lazy summer week around here, one of the last few we get to enjoy before Darreck goes back to work in a week. We've been taking lots of family walks, playing at the park, and hanging out in the backyard. All the good stuff that makes summer life so great. In lieu of any real news, I thought I would just share some pictures and leave it at that.

This is Jack in his onesie from Darreck's granny, who is serving a mission in England. I love how it says "Mummy's Little Star". So fun!

Here is Jack in his church clothes today. This is our first picture of him smiling. 

I also took some pictures today of both Jack and Luke for my other blog. I'm doing a post on how long one-size diapers fit, so I put both boys in the same diaper for comparison sake. Jack was a wonderful little model; Luke was not. I didn't get much in the way of useful pictures, but the "out takes" are pretty funny. I swear the one of Jack riding Luke was not planned or staged. I'm still not entirely sure how it happened. I also love the one of Luke showing off his belly button, which is hands-down his favorite body part. Gotta love the things kids come up with some times. 

I suppose my goal this week is to get some pictures of Max mixed in there. With Darreck's birthday coming up, we should have a more exciting week coming up. Here's hoping!

Jack Turns One Month

Today is Jack's one month birthday. Part of me can't believe how fast the time has passed, but on the other hand, the days have all felt unbelievably long. Such is life with a newborn. Jack has changed a lot over the past month, filling out and getting a little harder to handle. Right now we're in that horrible stage where he's learning to fall asleep. I spend hours and hours each day rocking and bouncing and shushing. I feel bad for the little man, however. He has reflux, and while his meds are helping, you can tell that he's in obvious pain for large portions of the day. Why oh why can't I have a baby that's born able to digest? It would be so helpful.

I keep ping-ponging between wishing he'd stay little and cute and wishing that he would outgrow the newborn difficulties. The newborn period, even though it's only six weeks long, is such an amazing time in a child's life. There's something about a new little baby straight from heaven that's such a precious thing. Right now Jack is completely innocent and pure, something I can't say about his older brothers! He's never talked back, hit, or deliberately done something wrong. You can see in his face that he's disoriented and overwhelmed, and I want so desperately to teach him that the world is a safe and welcoming place. Even though I'm beyond sleep deprived, I wish I could record every moment with him so I could replay it over and over in the future.

I have this wish for heaven. I hope that, in heaven, you are able to recall in detail all the small moments in life. I want to remember all that rocking and bouncing in shushing in vivid detail throughout all eternity. I want to relieve all the beautiful moments with each of my babies whenever I please without the feelings of fear and doubt that accompany earthly motherhood. Right now, juxtaposing Jack's innocent perfection, I have fears about the future. Will he have the same independent nature as Max, or what about Luke's health problems? Heaven help the poor kid if he takes after me! I worry about what he could become much more than I should, even knowing that he has an even greater chance of becoming something wonderful. That's all I really want for all my boys- to become their own version of wonderful. One month in and Jack already has a good start.

Family Walk to Crooked Falls

Babies are always easier in the first few weeks, so we've been getting out less and less it seems like. I've been looking at the calendar and realizing we only have two precious weeks left of summer. We spent most of this year waiting for Jack to be born, and now we're waiting for him to be big enough to do anything. However, we've still been making an effort to have fun for the sake of Max and Luke. Last night we took my favorite walk out to Crooked Falls for the first time this year. In spite of the forest fire haze and hot weather, it was a pleasant family evening. I need more of those. Hopefully we can get in a few more fun, family outings before Darreck has to be back at work. We shall see.

Jack's Baby Blessing

Today we blessed Jack in church and had a family picnic at Giant Springs following church. This entire weekend has gone by in a whirlwind, and I'm still trying to catch up. It might take a few more days. My Grandma Hess got into town on Friday, and we spent much of Saturday with my family, including a really nice dinner out last night. It was our first time really eating out as a family of five, and it was a great success! Sometimes succeeding in those little, every day events makes me feel like we can do this whole parenthood thing without completely losing our minds. Sometimes...

Today at church, Darreck blessed Jack along with my dad, Tim, Bryan (Hale), Bishop Brewer, Ben Royer, Jeremy Huntington, Jeremy Hill, and Cody Lowe. We're so blessed to have some great friends and family who participated in the day. The blessing was really beautiful, and while I can't remember it word for word, Darreck blessed him to always be optimistic and see the glass as half full, to know how much his family loved him, and to be an example of faith in his family. He said that "even though you are the smallest in your family, do not have the smallest testimony." Jack was also blessed that he would find a girl to take to the temple someday and that he would be able to pass on his knowledge to his kids someday. One of the major themes I got from the blessing was the importance of family, both our family right now and Jack's future family. I just hope that he can live worthy to receive all the blessings he was promised today.

The rest of church was kind of a rush. I was called into the primary presidency, and since we're still trying to staff our new ward and the primary president is out of town, the day was chaotic. Luckily, everyone ended up having a teacher, and the kids were extremely well behaved. I'm so excited to be back serving in primary with the kids I love. Our ward has some of the most amazing children, and I feel honored to be able to work with them.

After church, we took a few quick pictures, went home and changed, then headed to Giant Springs for a family picnic. While Darreck took the two big boys on a walk along the river, I hung back with Jack and the rest of the adults. The day was perfect, the food was good, and the company was the best part of the afternoon. My mom and I both commented that we need to spend more Sunday afternoons outside enjoying the warm weather while it's around. I think everyone had fun, but I'm not going to lie- I'm a little relieved the day is over. I'm reaching a point where I need life to be "normal" for awhile and to find a new routine to fall into. Hopefully, these last few weeks of summer can be low-key family time.