First of the year updates

I know it's been a while. Things have been very very crazy! To say the least!

Here's what's going on in our neck of the woods:

We found out about 2 weeks ago that we will be moving next January to.....(drumroll)........Omaha, Nebraska!!! We're actually really excited about it as we will be closer to family, halfway across the country instead of on the other side of the country. Ben's got grandparents, aunts and uncles living in Omaha as well, so we're are looking forward to getting to know them and hanging out. Very exciting! On the other hand, that means we'll be leaving all of our wonderful friends (family away from family) here in Georgia. Bittersweet!

Christmas was good. We were all better (just for that week) and it was fun to see Lilli's reaction to her toys. I'll post more about it later, along with pictures. Hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Years!

Ben: is now in Omaha with some training. He's been meeting up with all of his relatives there and is loving it! He's there for another week and a half and then heads to Mississippi. He's there until April, then he leaves leaves. We're hoping to be able to see him a few times while he's in Mississippi. He'll now be flying and gets to wear the flight suits and flyer jackets you seen on tv. He's pretty excited about that. But with him being a flyer, that means he leaves for months at a time. As much as that will stink, we both feel this is what is best for our family. The process has happened so quickly that its hard not to believe that. The Lord has let us know this many times. We miss Ben and are so proud of him!

Shari: I'm hanging in there. The kids have been really really good (knock on wood) and I have many friends who are more than willing to lend a helping hand. No matter what. Ben's only been gone half a week (I'm laughing at how ridiculous I sound), but its hard. I think it's harder knowing that he's going to be gone for a while. But thankfully we get to go back to my parents for about 4 months. I'm excited about the instant help I'll have and missing the ridiculously hot and humid summer here in Georgia. I'm hoping that once we get in to a routine I can start sewing. I've found that I really like it and like seeing the results of my work. It's awesome! I'm also hoping to start a work-out routine. I want to run a couple 5K's and eventually do a half-marathon, full marathon, and then a triathlon. But I'm starting out at a 5K for now. Anybody have any ideas as to how to STAY motivated??!?!? Warning TMI----I'm officially done nursing and am so excited about the freedom I have. It takes 10 minutes to put the boys down instead 45 min. It's fabulous! I feel like I finally have my body back! Thus the reason I want to start working out again!

Lilli: is busy busy busy and very very social! It's hard taking her anywhere because she has to stop and talk to EVERYBODY! No joke! We went to the Dr office and the gentleman at the desk had a bandaid on his nose and Lilli starts asking him about his owchie. Oh my goodness! Everyone loves her though. She's so friendly. For this exact reason I need her in school (next year, Pre-K). I know she'll love it! She misses her daddy a lot. When we dropped him off at the airport she burst in to tears! It was so sad, but she seems to be adjusting okay. She loves her brothers, but sometimes gets frustrated with them when they steal her stuff. Sometimes she and Aidan will have screaming matches. It's actually quite hilarious!

Alex: He's a monster! He constantly steals Aidan's toys but screams when Aidan tries to take them back. He'll literally attack Aidan. He's got this laugh that is so funny. He sounds like Count Dracula from Sesame Street (or whatever that puppets name is). At his 1 year check-up he weighed 18lbs 8 oz. Not sure how long he was. He's now drinking cow's milk and would rather drink than eat. We're working on that. But he's funny and is just as social and smiley as Lilli was.

Aidan: He's my little sicky. At his 1 year check up he was severely under weight. He weighed just over 16lbs. He is one inch longer than Alex though. Anyway, because he hadn't gained any weight (he'd actually lost weight), the dr had us do some blood tests to see if there was something else wrong. We found out that he is anemic and had a really high white blood cell count. We had to go in later and get some more blood work done AND get a urine sample (using a catheter). This all happened the week before Ben was supposed to leave. Anyway, we haven't found out the results of the most recent blood tests. But Aidan has another appointment with the dr in a week and a half. I'm hoping we'll find out then. He's been on iron drops AND antibiotic. He eats A LOT! Yesterday he ate 1.5 pkg of the instant oatmeal, a whole pb & honey sandwich, chili, plus drinking milk and eating snacks in between. I'm praying he's gaining weight and that his iron is going back up. We go get more blood tests next week. Aidan is a little bruiser too! It seems he's always falling, getting bumps, scrapes and bruises. Poor kid! He's such a mama's boy and I'm okay with that. He's my youngest and it's just hard seeing him with all these health problems. I'm hoping he'll grow out of it though!

So that's it. That's what's been going on in the Davis household.

They're ONE

Last Monday my little babies turned 1! What a bitter-sweet event! My friend made some onesies with a 1 on them so I put the boys in those. They looked oh so yummy!! We had a small celebration with a few presents and cupcakes. They're growing so big and fast. Neither one has any real interest in trying to walk yet, but I'm okay with that. I'm not sure what their measurements are, their dr appointment isn't until Jan 4th so when I find out I'll post it. We love our boys and we're so glad they're in our family! They bring a lot of joy!

*I realize Aidan's hair is out of control, but Ben is going to cut it before he leaves.

Thanksgiving and Ben's 29th birthday

Ain't he just the handsomest!!

So this Thanksgiving was a little different than normal. All of us were sick so we stayed home and had our own mini Thanksgiving. We cooked up a Turkey breast and all the regular Thanksgiving sides. It was good and fun to be together as a family. *As we were eating dinner we made Lilli try the green bean casserole. She didn't like it and puked it all up. That was the end of our Thanksgiving meal!

November 29th was Ben's 29th birthday. We had sloppy joes (cause that's what he wanted) and red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting (cause that's what he wanted). I got him some new shoes and the USA soccer "Don't Tread on me" shirt. Once again, it was a small celebration because we were all sick, but it was still fun. We love you, Ben! We're so proud of you and all that you do for our family! You're a wonderful husband and father and we're going to miss you very much!

*Update

Aidan seems to be doing a little better. Ben said he felt warm today so once again we kept him home from church. I think he's fine, but just in case. We're probably being paranoid. The rest of the family is doing really well though. Yea!

911 and another ER visit(s)

These last couple of days have been quite the emotional roller coaster for our family. As you've read in previous posts, we've been sick for quite a while. All of us. Well, this last Sunday night it hit hard. Both boys had had fevers off and on for about 2-3 days so when I laid them down that night, I gave both some Tylenol. Well, around 10:00pm, both Ben and I heard a weird noise. I can't even explain it or even mimic what the sound was. I got a feeling of dread and I knew something was wrong. I made Ben come and check on the boys with me because I was so scared. I went in to check on the boys and saw that Alex was fine in his crib and then checked on Aidan. When I looked in, I noticed he was convulsing, like he was throwing up. But nothing was coming out and I noticed that his eyes were open and rolled back. I freaked out, picked him up and he was dead weight, non-responsive. I freaked out and yelled to Ben that something was wrong. I pretty much threw Aidan at Ben and flew down the stairs to call 911. I ran back upstairs and Ben ran to get our neighbor to give Aidan a blessing. I was freaking out. The 911 dispatch kept telling me to calm down, it was hard I was shaking so badly. Aaron and Ben finally came back and they gave him a blessing while the dispatch was telling me how to help. The firefighters, EMT's and police officers all came and told us that he had had a febrile seizure. Aidan's body temp went up too fast and that was his bodies way of reacting to the fever. We took him to the ER and they monitored him for a while and then released us. His fever had gone down. They told us that the chances of him having another seizure in the next 6 months will go up by about 50%. Anyway, they told us to keep giving him medicine every 4 hours. So we did. He was find all day Monday and took his temp before he went to bed. It was at 101 so I gave him some med and laid him down. After the previous incident, my biggest fear was of him having another seizure so I went up to check on him again and he felt really warm. Again. So I brought him down to sleep with us. Probably not the best idea because my body heat raised his body temp. His temp got up to 105. We gave him some more meds and his temp went down to 103. I laid him down in the pack-n-play and checked his temp at around 7am. It was at 104, so we took him back to the ER. They got us right in and basically the diagnosis was, he just has a virus and there's nothing they can do for him but keep his fever down. Awesome! I've been an emotional wreck and am quite paranoid. But I've got a new appreciation for my family! I love them and I KNOW that the Spirit warned us that night to go check on the boys. I know it with all my heart! There was no way I could have ignored the feeling I had and the promptings. Aidan will be okay. No permanent damage happened but it was a very scary experience and I hope it NEVER happens again! I'm grateful for the prayers and help given by our friends and family. I'm grateful for a husband and friend who live their lives worthily to hold the priesthood and be able to use it whenever/wherever!

In other news, Ben will be leaving sooner than we thought and will be gone for about 9 months. We won't be able to see him at all during that time, unless we can visit him in Mississippi. So I plan on staying with my parents for about 4 months. We just found all this out last week!

Like I said before, I have a new appreciation for my little family. I love them so much! And we are trying to take advantage of all the time we have left to spend together! All these happenings really put things into perspective!

ER Visit

Last Wednesday, my poor little Aidan fell off the chair. Actually, I had him sitting in his Bumbo seat (it has a tray for feeding) up on our higher-than-average dining room chairs. I left the room for not even a second and he fell off the chair.......still in his Bumbo and hit his face on the tray. WORST MOTHER OF THE YEAR AWARD RIGHT HERE!!! I come in to the dining room to see him laying on his stomach, in the Bumbo, with blood EVERYWHERE! Not to mention, he was screaming at the top of his lungs! I panicked! I picked him up, ripped him out of the Bumbo, rushed him in to the bathroom to stop the bleeding, and cuddled him. The cut didn't look that deep and I was debating on if I should even take him to the dr/ER. I called my neighbor and she rushed over and told me I should take him in just in case. Then I called Ben at work to see what he thought I should do. He told me the same thing. Because I didn't know how deep the cut was, I thought I would just take him in to the clinic that way I wouldn't have to wait forever (like I thought I would in the ER). There wasn't an opening until 11:30am (the accident happened a little before 9am). When the dr was finally able to see us, she cleaned out the wound and found that the cut went ALL THE WAY THROUGH! She sent us down to the oral surgeon but they couldn't really do anything until later when they could sedate Aidan to do the stitching. So the oral surgeon took me up to the ER to start the process. Once we were there, we waited 5 minutes then the ER dr told me he could have the stitches done in 5 minutes. 5 minutes as opposed to 3 hours, I told him to just do it. We wrapped Aidan tight in a sheet so he couldn't move and they stitched him up. He screamed the whole time, but now, after wasting so much time, I wish I had just gone in to the ER first. Apparently, with an open wound, they get you in pretty quickly so there's no chance of any infections. The first dr I saw was pretty upset that they didn't get us in to see her quicker. So now I know that when there's an open like that, I'll take my kids to the ER! And I'm sure, with two boys, this won't be the first time!

Aidan will have a battle wound (which I feel horrible about). It's healing great and they took the stitches out yesterday. Now, we're all fighting the cold/ear infections/runny noses/fevers. Wish us luck!

Giveaways

There's a giveaway over at Shey B's blog. Check it out. The sponsor is The Vintage Pearl and they've got some beautiful pieces. You could be a winner!

There's another giveaway at V and Co. The sponsor is Shey B and she's giving away one of her cute camera straps.

11 months old

Today my boys are 11 months old! I can't believe how quickly time has flown. They are doing so many things and are constantly changing every day. Yesterday I put them down for their nap and they just kept talking and laughing. I went in to their room and they were both standing up in their cribs facing each other chattin' away. They are pulling themselves up on stuff and are constantly finding things to get in to, favorite being the dog's water (Yuck!). They both love love love Lilli. She makes them laugh (and cry) all the time. They fight over toys. They always want what the other one has. They're both now eating regular food. Yea! No more spending money on pureed stuff. They both can say mama, but only say it when they really want me. They're still nursing, but that's about to change here in a month! WOO HOO!

Alex loves to drink out of a cup, a regular cup. He thinks he's pretty cool. He's constantly talking gibberish and has decided to throw tantrums. He still gets up in the middle of the night, just once though. He weighs a little over 18 lbs and is 27.5 inches long. He is now biting and sometimes will bite his brother if Aidan's bugging him. He has 6 teeth (4 top, 2 bottom), and he's getting more! He has to be the one to put food in his mouth. If I try to do it he just spits it out or plays with it in his mouth. He's all smiles!!! He smiles at everyone and is very social. He's exactly how Lilli was.

Aidan is my more sensitive guy. When he was sick he just wanted to be held and cuddled. Alex was constantly on the go. It didn't matter that he was sick. Aidan doesn't like to get his hands dirty. Too much anyway. He likes us to feed him, as opposed to him feeding himself. He's a fireball when he wants to be and is more of the whiner. He weighs a little over 15.5 lbs and is 27.75 inches long. He has 4 teeth but is getting 2 more up top. His smile and laugh crack me up.

I love both my boys and love how they have such different personalities and looks. They're the cutest boys and our family wouldn't be the same without them. They really bring a lot of joy to our family!