Christmas and Health!!

I hope all of you had a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!! We got our Christmas wish as both children were well enough to go to both parents for Christmas! Claire is still congested, but we haven't had to do the breathing treatments in two days and Wells ears aren't leaking anymore!! Praise the Lord!! They are both still not completely well, but this is soooooo much better than our previous post! Claire's tummy issues are still horrible and reflux has kicked in even worse with all the different meds going in her tummy. We really do appreciate all of the prayers, well wishes and concern. I am a new person today! Christmas eve was a bit of a nightmare as both children were up between 12-5 back and forth so Chris and I were up the entire five hours...awful. BUT...the fact that they were both doing pretty well on Christmas Day made up for it!!! Our families did so much for both of them and us. We all spent awesome family time together and Chris and I truly felt the peace only God can give. HUGE blessing!! The pictures above are of Christmas and the SEC championship since i never got to post those! Continue to pray for health as we go for rechecks in the next two weeks. We pray all ear infections are gone and Claire is cleared from bronchialitis and RSV. Of course we always pray her reflux will clear up as it makes her cry...a lot! Have i mentioned that we are finished having kids???!!! We have already made one step in that direction and will do another step in the spring!!! Thanks!!!! I'll keep you all posted on the kids' health!

they wer

All We Want for Christmas

...is great health. As you can tell the blogging world and computers in general have been nonexistent for the past three weeks. We have honestly had the hardest three weeks of our lives. Chris will tell you it has been the hardest 11 weeks (Claire is 11 weeks old). So before I even tell you what all has been going on, please know that this email is not for pity because we know that God will not give us more than we can handle. It is 100% for prayer and for all of our friends, family, etc. who read this to know what is going on in our lives and why we aren't calling and emailing. We REALLY plead for your prayers. We cannot tell you how thankful we are for them. So here goes the last 11 weeks and I'll expand on the past three weeks.

week 1: claire is born oct.1 and went to the NICU for 6 days
weeks 2 and 3: we are going back and forth to the pediatrician every other day for claire's bili
week 4: wells gets the fever virus and it goes to 104 for two days. extremely scary
week 5: I get the fever virus. wells goes to my parents and chris stays home from work and takes care of claire. I didn't leave the bedroom.
weeks 6 and 7: Claire has horrible stomach issues that they think are gird (silent reflux) and she cannot sleep through a nap without wincing in pain and same goes for night. I can no longer breastfeed and have to pump before every feeding (just to add 20 more minutes to every feeding). Wells is getting 6 teeth at one time and not sleeping at all at night
week 8: Claire gets her first ear infection and not sleeping anymore. Chris has had chronic neck pain for 4 years now, but it gets unbearable this week. He lays out on the floor one morning this week and can't move. I call a best friend who comes to get him to take him to the only doc chris hasn't seen in birmingham and he gives him 3 shots in the trigger points to relieve pain.
Here comes the worst part and where we are now:
week 9: Wells gets croup. at 1 in the morning we hear him barely able to breathe over the monitor. chris rushes him to children's hospital er. They came home at 4 with steroid medicine. I wisk Claire away to my mom and dad's for three days while Chris has wells here at home alone. As soon as we return, Wells is still not better, but we could not keep chris home from work anymore and no one could keep claire besides me (breastfeeding,etc). So Wells is still running low grade fever so Chris took him to the pediatrician. Croup is still in effect and he now has double ear infection and drainage coming out of tubes in his ears. He went on another medicine.
week 10: Claire starts coughing, sneezing, and I start freaking. Wells is still sick. I took Claire to the Pediatrician for them to tell me she no longer has ear infections and probably just has a cold from Wells, but no croup. 4 days later, Claire is coughing like crazy, weezing and just not right. Wells is now miserable and not sleeping at night. Chris takes Friday off work and we load both kids up to go back to the doctor together. We stay for 3 hours. Claire has bronchialitis/RSV and double ear infections. The doc tells us how dangerous this is...I freak. Wells has double ear infections still and more drainage. We do breathing treatments for claire and cultures on Wells ears. We take turns holding Claire all day and night because she has lots of trouble breathing when you put her on her back, even sitting up. We give her breathing treatments every 4 hours, medicine for the ear infections and watch her like a hawk (and i cry...and pray...and worry...and pray more). she doesn't eat much
week 11: Where we are now...still holding claire all the time and praying for her to recover and eat normal again. I took wells to the ENT today to flush out his ears and they could only get 1/3 of fluids out. They cultured his ears to look for the cause of why he is still getting infections with tubes. They keep him on ear medicine, medicine by mouth, and tell us to come back in 2 weeks. And he is still crying out at night and we are up all night with Claire. Chris' neck...no better. Doctors visits and medicines = over 1000 dollars.

So this is why you haven't heard from us if you've tried to call or email. We love you dearly, but honestly don't have a second to talk to anyone. We barely talk to each other at the moment. We pray together, get frustrated, cry (well, that would be me), and press on. We know that we are SO blessed to have these precious children who don't have terminal illnesses, etc. but it is so very scary to deal with sick children for this long. We just want to see them healthy and happy and we pray that this will happen soon. Not getting sleep really plays a toll on you as lots of you know if you have children. And with them only being 14 months apart, my days seem like they will never end sometimes when they are both crying and in pain. Praise the Lord for my mother who has come almost daily to help me out. Praise the Lord for awesome friends who have brought meals even when I say no, who call knowing we can't call back, and who constantly offer services. Praise the Lord that I have a husband who helps me EVERY HOUR that he is home and splits the night shifts with me. Praise the Lord for Chris' parents that come to help and play on the weekends. And praise the Lord Chris works with my dad and he understands when he needs to leave or stay home with me. God is really taking care of us and ALL of our needs. So please help us to praise Him for what He has given us and pray that He will take care of chris, Wells, and Claire with their health. Feel free to come prayer walk around our sick house whenever you'd like!!! :) We really want to be able to focus on Christmas and Christ's birth this week and maybe He is just helping us realize that what He came to accomplish on earth is far more important that lights, shopping, gifts, etc. We have had no time to do any of that so we don't have that "christmas feeling", but we have had more time to reflect on prayer and praise for what He has done. Merry Christmas to all of you and thanks so much for your prayers!! God is good ALL the time, even if it seems like your world is falling apart!

2 Months and 16 Months!

Claire after bathtime...so sweet!

As you look at these next three photos, notice that this is what

happens when your children are 14 months apart.....

here is wells trying to feed "sissy" her bottle! I had to go to the

bathroom quickly and when i ran back into the den this is

what I found!!

And this is my personal favorite...Wells, reading

to himself while Chris and I are in juggling nighttime duties (chris bathes them

while I rock them to sleep and fill humidifiers and we do all

this at the same time! so wells decided the other night to just

read to himself and not wait on us!!! hilarious!!!!! He has become

very independent at the young age of 16 months!!! SAD!!!!! but

funny!

These next photos are just recent ones from thanksgiving

and pics around the house.

Claire on thanksgiving

Wells and "nemo" (elmo)

Claire tailgating on the quad! she was excited!!

Wells and mommy before the LSU game

(don't worry...i didn't take them into the game!)

Wells and his "weef" (leaf)

My blog readers are lucky that they only have to read one sappy monthly post for both children each month!! Claire will always change on the first of every month and Wells' monthly birthday is on the 4th, so I'll do them together! I know people without kids think, "why do they have to post monthly pictures with updates? so cliche!" But it's simply for us so when we go to print these off we'll remember the montly milestones and how much they've changed!! With that being said, we have had another hectic and fun month!

Claire's tummy issues are still in full swing, but I keep hearing that 3 months is the key! So hopefully she'll have a more mature digestive system by then! She still smiles constantly. It is just so much fun to have her stare at me and smile! I never got this from Wells as a baby! She is also going anywhere from 6-8 hour stretches at night already! yahoo!!! We are still swaddling her and she is sleeping on her side, on a boppy!! but hey, it works!! I dread the day that we have to unswaddle her, but I'm happy for the sleep for now! Not much else to say for her at 2 months! I had to put the sweet bathtime photos of her. I just love those of her all content after a bath!

Wells post is another story! Wells changes daily!!!! He is hilarious, but starting to get in some major trouble. He LOVES dogfood and milkbones. I know, sick! And pops don't scare him because he goes right back to it. He also likes to tell me "no" in a very funny, but demonic tone. amusing for now, not so much in the coming months. As a former teacher, I can assure you he is going to get lots of reprimanding!! We have had to already start spankings!!! sad day!!! On a much more fun note, he is obsessed with elmo, my dad's guitar, looking for airplanes, and picking up leaves. Sometimes when it isn't freezing, I will stick him out back to pick up leaves for an hour!!! I just sit there with claire on the backsteps. It's wonderful!! He is quite the entertainer for anyone and everyone with his dance moves and his ever growing vocabulary. He is at a fun age! I will soak it all in, as I'm weary of the coming months and his attitude!!!!!

Diapers.com Deal!

Hey Friends! I know everyone is getting excited about the Iron Bowl (y'all know I am!!) But I am also excited about Black Friday deals!!! I am going to share one with you and please share any online ones you know with me in the comments section and maybe it can help other folks as well!! Diapers.com is having a 40% off sale on all their toys today through the 27th. They have great toys too!! And remember it's tax free and free shipping when you spend over $49. If you haven't ever shopped this site, it's the best place in the world for diapers. They always have ecoupons to just click on and save and everything you order comes to your door in 2 days!! I can't tell you how thankful I am for diapers.com since I don't ever get out anymore and don't want to get two babies out!! Also, if you have never shopped here before, use my referral code Dana8344 and you will get 10 dollars off your total. If you have used diapers.com before, tell all your friends about this deal and let them use your code!! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!!! And share any great deals with me!

We LOVE the fall!

I just cannot put into words how much I LOVE fall!! It is my favorite time of year by far. Luckily for me, my children love it too!! Claire is happy as can be just sitting outside in my arms or in her carseat. And good thing because Wells would live outside if I would let him. He honestly stands at the door and points or cries to go out all day. Praise the Lord that November has been such a fabulous month for the most part. We have gone out for at least 2 hours a day. Wells just walks around and picks up leaves, pinestraw, and sticks the whole time! It is wonderful!! The pictures above are right after church. Soon we will get pictures of them together, but it is impossible at the moment! Claire is wearing a dress Chris' mom made her. Isn't it so sweet?!!

Claire turns seven weeks old tomorrow and we are on a great schedule with her. She eats every three hours and goes for 5 hour stretches at night. This makes for pretty easy nights! Don't get me wrong though because we are still extremely tired. Poor Claire is still having major tummy issues. But when she is not hurting, she smiles ALL the time!! I love it because Wells never smiled that much!!! We went to the doctor today for her first round of shots and 7 week appt. We told our pediatrician about her problems and we now are considering getting x-rays or even going to a GI specialist. Chris and his mom have severe digestive issues, so we are praying that Claire doesn't get those and we want to stay on top of things as much as possible. She has silent reflux for now, but she is also not going to the bathroom...not even with a suppository at times. So there are tons of tears and lots of screaming during the day. Thank goodness she sleeps at night! I think God is giving us a break! Honestly though, God is supernaturally keeping me calm through it all. It's just hard to watch her scream out in pain. Sweet Wells kissed her on the head several times today when she was screaming. I pray he keeps this sweet demeaner. Please pray with us that we can get this figured out. I am back to eating basically bread, water, and meat until we figure this out! As far as weight gain, etc. she is doing great! 10 pounds 12 ounces today (75%), 21 inches (25%) and her head was 50%. She is following the caldwell plan of being short and stocky!!!!

As far as Wells goes, he had his 15 month appointment last week. Poor thing is shrimpy at the moment!! He is in the 10th percentile for everything mentioned above!!! He only weighs 22 pounds and is 29 inches. But he is my child so we weren't expecting a giant! :) He is so much fun though and I think God gave him an awesome personality to make up for the lack in height!! He is truly a mess!! He talks ALL day and we understand about 5 % of it. He says new words daily so that is really fun!! And he laughs nonstop...again, my child!!

All in all, we are doing well and enjoying the "beautiful chaos" as Chris likes to call it! We know we don't have it very easy, but we also know how blessed we are. God is so good! :)

Newborn pictures and One year pictures (a little late)

Okay, I am so excited about these!! Stella Schreiber (who is fabulous) is a photographer who took pictures of Wells last year and this year took Claire's pics as well as pictures of both of them together. I wanted to do a combo christmas card/birth annoucement so I waited until Claire was a month old to have these made. I was thrilled with how they turned out because let me tell you, Wells didn't want to stay still for one second. I couldn't believe how amazing Stella was to get these shots. This way you can see Wells' funny personality and at least see Claire with her eyes open! Check them out! www.stellaschreiber.com (go to client proofs and the password is sheheane). turn up the sound b/c the music makes them better! :)

Happy Halloween, 1 Month, 15 Months!!

Today we had Wells the Penguin and Claire Bear. It was soooo much fun to see my kiddos all dressed up!!! It was sort of a hectic day going from one set of grandparents to the next, feeding claire in the meantime, then pumping, then back home for our neighborhood block party, but it was worth it all! Life with 2 is just hectic, but again, a blessing! We not only got to have a very fun halloween with neighbors, friends and family, but we also got to spend a "date" morning with Wells. We really want to make an effort to spend some family time with just Wells while he is adjusting to life with a Sissy!! We spent this morning going to the Galleria to ride the carousel, stroll around and eat lunch together. Chris and I really wanted to take him to the Pumpkin Patch, but the rain killed that. So the galleria was good cheap entertainment for sweet Wells. And I think he quite enjoyed himself!! Chris and I had lots of fun with him as well. Then we had halloween fun. Wells' penguin costume was found at a church consignment sale and it had never been worn. It still had the tags on it!! I LOVED this costume and it actually fit him great!!! And we already call Claire "Claire Bear" so it was only fitting to have her in a little bear outfit. Chris' mom found this on clearance at Babies R us. So we came out cheap this halloween and these will probably be my favorite halloween costumes they ever had. We all had a blast at the block party and then we loved giving out candy once we got home. Wells just didn't understand why he couldn't walk all over the neighborhood with all the other kids. He wanted to leave with every kid who came to our door! What a hoot! Now we are all exhausted and ready for bed. But I can't leave this post without wishing Claire a happy 1 month (tomorrow) and Wells a happy 15 months (on November 4th)!! It's hard to believe Claire has already been here a month! My post below from the other day gives you updates on both so I won't bore you again! What a fun night to celebrate both of these milestones! I hope your halloween was as happy as ours! Now, we are just praying for good sleepers on this night of time changing!