Back to School!

Well, Beau started back to school on Monday... can I please admit to you that I am kinda relieved? I mean, as much as I do miss him during the day, it is much easier just having one kid or the other here at one time right now... lol.  These boys fight like crazy right now. I know hope that will change as Brody gets older, but right now they seem to be fighting almost all.the.time! A little bit of boredom, a little bit of big brother/little brother syndrome, a little bit of big brother wanting to be the boss, and a little bit of 2 year old all rolled up in one! AGH!  Anyway, he does seem to be LOVING his school and teacher so far, so that is definitely a good thing. I was just a little worried about the transition. He does tend to be a little shy and anxious at first in new places and around new people. 

Now, about ALL these Dr. Appointments as of late... Jason was prescribed a daily inhaler that he has to take twice a day to hopefully help prevent these asthma attacks that he has been having. It seems to really have helped so far, so we will see how it works now that he is back at work and out in that environment all day. He will take it for the next 2 months and then go back to the doctor for a follow-up. It has a steroid in it though, so I really hope they switch him to something else long-term.  Oh, and he is scheduled for an EGD on Sept 13. 

As far as I am concerned, I have an MRI on my shoulder tomorrow morning, so I'll let ya know how that turns out. 

Beau is scheduled for his EGD and a Colonoscopy on Sept 17.  They will be looking for Celiac along with Colon Polyps. I can't help but worry.  He has to do a 3 day cleanse! That is crazy to me, I thought you usually just drink that stuff the day before?  He starts on Friday eating nothing but soups and jellos and stuff like that. Then Sat is just clear fluids, and Sunday is the stuff they give you to drink and laxatives. My poor baby!! If you know Beau, you know this will NOT be easy.. he is such a picky guy! Oh well, I am determined to do whatever needs to be done to make him feel better. No 8 year old should have to feel so bad all the time,  and I really feel good about this doctor and what he thinks needs to be done.

So, that is what is going on around here right now. Gotta go get the kiddo from school. Talk to ya'll soon!  :)

Lazy weekend has come to an end...

This weekend has been pretty boring and lazy. Lots of house cleaning / the normal stuff.  The kids and I went to a fish fry Saturday night at the American Legion here in town.  J's mom and step-dad are members, so they invited us out. The boys had a good time and we all loved the catfish. 

This week coming up, will leave us needing another one though, I'm sure of it!  We have a week full of doctor appointments!  UGH! I don't know if it is just the handful of having both kids with me while at the doctor, or just the waiting and waiting at the doctor, or what it is about it, but going to doctor appointments (especially for the kids) just always seems to wear me completely out! At least J comes home this week, I have that to look VERY forward to!! :)

First, Wednesday morning Brody has his 2 year checkup. We are a little past due, due to moving and everything but he has been pretty healthy and I would say above average on his development, so no worries there. 

Thursday, First of all .. is Beau's 8th Birthday!!!!!  :) I  CANNOT believe I have an 8 year old! HA! 

Anyway, Beau has to go to his follow-up appointment with the GI.. I don't know how much I've kept anyone in the loop about this, but I am almost positive he is allergic to Gluten. Whether it is full blown Celiac Disease or just a Gluten Intolerance, I don't know yet. He has always had a lot of stomach problems and over this past year, he has really been struggling with them. He NEVER feels good, always tired, etc.. and it got to a point recently where he was getting sick every.single.day... for no apparent reason, but mainly after he ate. I never knew about Gluten period, much less Gluten Intolerance or Celiac Disease.. only heard of it once or twice and never gave it any thought at all. I have been hearing a ton about it recently and when I started hearing of they symptoms and began researching, it just clicked.. he has just about every one!  Plus, he has Hypothyroidism, and they say it is not uncommon for them to run together. 

He had an appointment last week with a terrific Pediatric GI, and he had him in for an Upper GI this past Friday. He wanted to look and make sure his anatomy had formed right and everything passed from his throat to his stomach and then his stomach emptied correctly, just to rule out any more complicated anatomy problems first. Everything is fine with that and we go back on Thursday to talk with him about the next step, which will more than likely be a EGD (scope down his throat) since he spoke of doing that next. When they do that, they will take several biopsies of his intestines and stomach lining. 

I don't really want to get too worried yet, and I am trying to unconvince myself that it is the whole Gluten thing, but I just can't seem to. Anyway, I will keep you all up to date on that. I was hoping to get all of this resolved before school starts, but seeing as how he starts school next Monday, that doesn't look like it's going to happen. The bad thing is that until he is diagnosed, I can't put him on a Gluten free diet cause it can mess up test results. So now I feel horrible, cause I know feel like everything I feed him, is making him feel bad or making him sick! *WORST mommy feeling in the world*

Friday morning, J has to go to a consultation for his EGD. He has reflux really bad, always has, and he has had a really bad cough that hasn't gone away for nearly a year now. They did a chest x-ray and a CT Scan and everything was fine there. The Dr. wanted him to have an EGD anyway to see if the reflux was causing worse problems. She also sent him to do a Pulmonary FunctionTest... and the results came back showing he has Asthma! How in the world do you go almost 40 years and all of the sudden come down with Asthma?? But that IS the diagnosis. 

So, on Friday afternoon, he has a follow up with her for Asthma treatment. 

Friday afternoon, I also have an appointment. Luckily, we see the same doctor, so we are both going in at the same time. A while back, I pulled or tore my rotator cuff and it has been giving me problems ever since and just getting worse.. Lord, I PRAY I do not have to have surgery!!! I think they said I will need an MRI to know for sure. :(

SO..... I know it sounds like we are all falling apart, but if I can just get / keep my babies (all 3 of them) better, I will be just fine!  

J should be here tomorrow night or early Wed morning, so I can't wait to have my 24-hour snuggle pillow here for the next week! LOVE HIM! :)

Hope your week goes great and please pray for ours! HA!

My Future Olympians

Today we did some riding around and shopping with my mother-in-law, so there were two boys that needed to let off some major energy once we got home! We had just finished eating, and I stripped Brody down to clean him up. I was taking care of some things and I heard some crazy giggling and lots of bumps and thumps coming from my room... I have to say that I giggled myself when I went in and watched and I just had to get some pics... I just might have some future Olympians in my house! hehe... Enjoy! 

**Note: These pictures will be blurry because there was LOTS of movement being caught on camera :) 

First of all, the brush on the floor was being used as a microphone before I started taking pictures, haha.  Then they decided to try to be gymnasts on the USA Olympic team!!  They took a running start and jumped, twisted, flipped, or did whatever they could and landed on the bed. 

Here is Brody (my wild one) jumping head first off the stool onto the bed. (Have to admit this made me tense up a little... )

This one has to be my favorite.. Beau is taking his running start, and Brody is seeing how long he can stand on his tiptoes on the very small side frame of my bed. Luckily the mattress is there to balance him in front..haha. 

Ok, I had to stop it when I saw this... I knew exactly what the plan of action was ... to put the stool on the bed and jump off..   UHHH.. NO! 

I LOVE days and nights like these... where they are just being kids and laughing uncontrollably... makes my heart smile. :D


SO. Welcome to a day in my life with my two boys... if they aren't having this much fun together, they are fighting just as passionately! hehe  ;)

Now... off to make my bed, and more than likely change the now- stretched-out sheets... and pray that these little angels sleep good tonight! 

Have a good night! 

Our New House in Texas

Ok, so I promised pics of the new house so here ya go....

This is (obviously) the outside view of the front of the house. 

Back porch and deck (we are still working on patio furniture, grill, etc..)

The other side of the back of the house

Front door

Entry way

This is what you see when you first walk in. (Front of living room)

Next is the sitting area (and yes, there is usually a 2 year old with no clothes on either running around or watching tv.. ha!)

Kitchen/ Dining area  (picture is kindof dark...sorry)

Better picture of the kitchen area (sink and more counters on the other side behind)

Computer area/Office (This was actually supposed to be a formal dining area but we wouldn't have ever used it)

This is a little computer nook that was built in beside the office area. Our computer and stuff was too big)

Laundry room (please look over the clothes, I am doing laundry as I speak type.)

Beau's bedroom 

A cute little hat rack that I found at Hobby Lobby for Beau's room. 

Brody's room. (dark picture again). Still trying to decide what I want to do with his room. I dont want to go to babyish since he is already 2. (And acts even older)

Tray Ceiling in our room.. My favorite part of our room. 

I didnt take a picture of our room because there was a certain *almost* 8 year old that was in my bed watching tv, therefore the bed was not made, etc.  But... who doesnt know what  a normal bedroom looks like?

Our huge walk-in closet (picture does not do it justice) 

We got rid of so many clothes when we moved, I feel like our closet is bare! 

My favorite part of our bathroom... although I don't get to use it as often as I would like.  :(

THIS has to be my favorite part of the house.. and the kids' too. They ask every single day to go out, starting at like 9am!!!! ha!

Ok, we also got one of those "Nest" thermostats for the house. Have ya'll heard of these? Its supposed to "learn" your habits as far as what temp you like your house at what times and automatically changes the temp for you.. It can even recognize when you are out of the house and adjusts the temp to save you money?  Does anyone have this and has it really saved money? This is our first month with it. I'll let you know how it works when I get the bill!  :)

And here is my Ruby in the garage.. the only baby girl I will ever have! HA!  :)

{Oh.. there is another guest bathroom that I did not take a picture of. But its just a small regular bathroom. }

So, that's our house. Hope ya like it as much as we do! 

Oh! And I would like to give a big THANK YOU to my AMAZING husband for everything he does.. He works VERY hard and lots of long hours to provide all the nice things we have and I could not be more proud of a wife! Love him! 

Have a blessed day! 

LOTS of catching up to do...

Hey everyone!
SO... I guess we have been a little "off the radar" for a while now. We moved (a few times), and we closed our Facebook accounts. I have been getting asked, begged, and practically pleaded with to start some way to stay more in touch with friends and family. It got to where Jason and I neither one could stand Facebook anymore so we decided not to open another account, so I figured this would be another easy way to keep in touch and still be able to post pictures, etc...

So, for those of you who knew us from Memphis, we moved to Arkansas in JAN 2011 and stayed with my parents for a few months.  Meanwhile, Jason started a new job as a truck driver (Over the road). He was gone A LOT. That was hard. After just a few months of that, he got a job offer/ career change to get into the oil field. (Not the off-shore kind). From there we moved to Oklahoma. He was still gone quite a bit, but that's just part of it, and it wasn't nearly as bad as truck driving...not to mention the money was much more worth it!  After close to a year of that, he heard of a different company, paying more and he would move up a position.. only it was in Texas.. SOUTH Texas! But his schedule would be much more set..2 weeks on , 1 week off, with the week off paid. So he took that job, and was driving like 10 hours or more home every other week for his week off. Finally we decided it would be a good idea for us to move to Texas so that he wouldn't have such a drive. We decided to move to the Dallas area, since his mom lives here and at least we would have someone close to help with the kids when we needed it. So here we are... in Quinlan, TX about an hour east of Dallas. It's a quiet little town and only about 10 miles or so from the lake! We have a really nice house, which I will post pics of soon. I just got Beau registered in school here and he starts 2nd grade on the 27th. I know he'll do fine with the transition to a new school. Brody turned 2 in June and he thinks he is 12... he is so different than his brother. Sometimes I think Beau would be 2 again if he could and have us do everything for him again, when Brody wants to do it ALL himself. :)  Crazy kids!
Anyway, so enough of this post...hope this updates everyone on what we've been up to. (If you are family, you pretty much know all this already ..haha)  I promise to share more soon.  :)