Chase is 2 months old

We went to the doctor last week for Chase's 2 month check up. He is 10 lbs and 14 oz and is 22+inches long. What a big boy! He is quickly growing out of his newborn outfits and fits perfectly in his 0-3 month outfits. Which is great because we have a TON of clothes for him at this age thanks to my good friend Renee!

Emma is doing great and is a WONDERFUL child (my mom says if I tell everyone that she's being good that she WILL be good). No really - she is a good girl - but we've definately hit the terrible 2's! She knows what she wants -but can't always express it or can't get it herself. Which makes her angry and then the tantrums come! We're working on being more consistent in her punishments - but it's been tough since she has ample time to be bad while I'm feeding Chase and can't punish her in the moment. I think she's figured out that's when she can be at her worst and get away with it! Smart kid!

Other than that life is good - Emma was a Turkey for Halloween - we'll post more pics of that later!

Making Strides for Breast Cancer

Zach and I at the Making Strides walk at Waterfront Park

Yesterday was the ACS's Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk in Louisville. The weather was beautiful and we had a great 5K walk over the 2nd Street bridge (over the Ohio River) and through downtown. The kids and I walked with Kelly and Zach and Naomi volunteered for the walk. Renee and Collin were suposed to walk with us but Collin ended up getting sick Sunday morning - hope you're feeling better baby Collin! We earned quite a bit of money for this great cause and had a very nice day supporting the fight against breast cancer.

Chase slept through the 1st mile and then I ended up feeding him a bottle and carrying him the rest of the way - boy my back is feeling it!

Emma was a trooper - lots to look at for her!

For those of you who might not know - my mom is a 10 year survivor and my Grandma Pete is a 9 year survivor. So this cause is near and dear to our hearts. We plan on being involved in this event each year so if you're in town - come walk with us next year! And a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who donated to our team this year. We really do appreciate it!

Great Pumpkin Contest of 2009

Okay - we broke all the rules this year. I used a stencil, Zach used our name and well - Emma didn't break any rules so I guess she wins this year! And Chase is just lucky he's not IN a pumpkin - although - I've got another week and if I find the right pumpkin - it's on!

Hope you enjoy our pumpkins - we had a great time doing them this year with Emma!

1 Month Old and more!

Okay - so Chase is more than a month old - but this is the 1st chance that I've had to put up his one month photo - so here it is! He's getting so big.

6 weeks old

Big Sister! (Chase looks a little scared!)

We're all doing so much better since our stay in the hospital. A few days of fever on and off and now we're back to being a perfect baby! Except for gas in the evenings that has returned that is. I've gone off all dairy again to see if it might be a dairy allergy - which is providing to be a great diet plan since EVERYTHING has diary in it! I know Zach and Renee are sick of hearing about this - but it's tough!

Since we were unable to go back to Iowa and KC for Chase's baptism - we decided to take a small trip to Indianapolis last week. We took the kids to the Children's Museum there and then spent the night at a hotel again (we're not sure why we keep doing this with these 2 small children!) and did some swimming. We LOVED the museum - Emma had so much fun. I took Chase in a front carrier so we didn't have to use a stroller. Emma was such a big girl and walked/ran the entire day! She had a ball.

Snap Snap!

Emma loves Crocs!

Train Ride with Emma anyone? She's a good driver!

Zach has been home all week and we've carved pumpkins (to be posted later!) and shopped and gotten lots of projects done around the house. It's been nice to have him home with us for a while but I think he's ready to go back to work!

This is how I found Chase in his swing the other day - oops!

Emma in her TENT!

My mom made this cover for our card table when we were little and it's the BEST tent for kids. Emma Loves it. Although - she's figured out that when she gets something she's not suposed to have she can run and hide in her tent and no one knows!

We're planning another trip home and another baptism date for November so hopefully this time no one will be sick or in the hospital!!!

Sick babies!

Poor baby Chase

Well - it's been a long few days. On Wednesday morning I took Emma to the doctor. She had a fever for 7 days - but no other real symptoms that we noticed. I chalked it up to a tooth coming in and a virus or some sort. The only day she acted sick was Sunday when she threw up and was tired and clingy. At the doctors office she had a very slight red throat so they tested her for strep - and it was positive. So we headed home with meds.

Around 4 PM I fed Chase and noticed he was warm, but thought it was because he had been in his carseat a little while after we had gone to pick up Em's meds. So I fed him and he ate well and then put him in his bouncy to sit a while. About 15 minutes later he was still warm -and even warmer than before. I changed his diaper and took his temperature and it was 102.3 - AHHH. So we called the dr frantically and headed right over. Poor Emma was lucky she even got shoes on her feet before she was thrown in the car. I called Zach out of a meeting and told him to head to the doctor's office to meet us. The doctor looked him over and sent us down to Kosairs Childrens ER just as Zach walked in.

When we got there we met with the ER doctor and she started his full blood work-up, IV for antibiodics, and did a spinal tap. They missed on the IV the first try - poor little guy. So had to put it in again on the other hand. But the doctor did a great job with his spinal and got it perfectly on the 1st try and said the fluid looked clear. So we headed up to our room around 10:30 PM and settled in. Chase was really sleepy through all of this and only cried for the spinal and IV. In the middle of the night the doctor came and woke us up to tell us we had Viral Meningitis. They continued to treat his fever with Tylenol and give him lots of antibiotics just in case.

We spent all day Thursday in the hospital, but with the good news that no other viruses or bacteria were presenting themselves so it was looking better. And Chase was awake more - but his fever continued to bounce from 100 degrees all the way to 103 - up and down all day. Thursday night Zach headed home to pick up Emma - who we had been bouncing from friend to friend - so she could sleep at home because she is still also sick! I spent the night with Chase and we had a pretty good night. His fever continued to go down and stay low - 99 to 100 all night.

This morning the doctors agreed that Chase could go home. Normally they would keep him longer, but with the severe threat of Swine Flu here in Louisville they really wanted him out of the hospital and at home where we could keep him from other people. We headed home around noon and his fever continues to be low. He has been awake a ton today and is pretty happy. As long as his fever stays low with the Tylenol and he continues to eat we'll stay home.

So we're home and happy. We'll be in contact with the doctor, but things are looking good for us.



Emma and Collin taking a bath last night - Thanks Renee for everything!

We also wanted to say a BIG THANKS to Renee for keeping Emma last night and running her all over for us and to Naomi, Peter and Jack for keeping Emma Wednesday night all night. And Thanks to Grandma Barb for keeping Emma today until we got home. We think that Emma might have had this 1st last week and passed it to Chase. And then on top of it all she got Strep too. Poor girl. She is still not back to herself, but we're all getting there!

Unfortunately we will not be heading home to Iowa and KC now. We were scheduled to leave today bright and early to drive to Iowa for a baby shower for Aunt Allison (that I was helping host - sorry girls) and Sunday was suposed to be Chase's baptism. We were planning on being home for 9 days and were looking forward to seeing all our family and friends. We miss you all and hope we can come home another week in November instead. But for now we're staying home and focusing on getting better.

Thanks for all the prayers and we'll keep everyone updated!