Lake time!

We headed to the lake Monday afternoon. It was the first time we have been there all summer. We missed Double J Ranch so much!

Carmen did a lot of swinging

Matt's cousin, Jennifer, brought her kids for the night so we could all go out on the boat. They got up early the next morning and drove back to Tulsa to get the kids to school.

What a fun mom!

Chris and Lee came up Monday night with their kids. Roman had a blast with everyone!

Tuesday afternoon, Brad and Jamie drove up to the lake with their three boys. We all had such a great time! They fixed amazing dinners both nights that they were there!

The boys

Jamie and Ashley

The kids played in the water slide and trampoline and pretty much stayed in diapers all day every day! That's the life!

Between the mustache and the t-shirt, Brad is such a dork! Ha!

I tried to catch the sunset each night. It's the best part of the lake!!

Jamie helped feed Carmen a bottle while having her own drink too

The cooks!

We had a crazy, fun time with all of the kids! It was so great to get to the lake for a few days this summer!

Tulsa time

We left last Sunday for the week of fun. We started off in Tulsa for Sunday night. Monday, August 22nd, Carmen turned two months old. We decided to do a little photo shoot fun with Pa and Grandma. Roman loved playing dress up!

Before we headed to the lake for a few days, we headed over to Matt's grandmother's house. Roman loved seeing Grandma toot! That's what the grandchildren call her.

Carmen slept a lot in her car seat

Priceless pictures of Carmen and Roman with their Great grandma!

Bath time!

Bath time sometime consist of Roman taking a shower while mommy bathes Carmen.

Good times!!

Privacy please!! The hard part is trying to get Roman out of the shower!

Carmen update

Saturday night, August 6th was a crazy evening for us. Carmen was six and a half weeks old. Mark and Whitney came in town and were swimming at their friend's neighborhood pool. Matt and I really wanted to go, so we packed up the family. Matt and I took turns swimming with Roman and holding Carmen in the shade with a damp towel on to keep her cool. Later that evening we all grilled out and Roman enjoyed playing with his cousins. Carmen slept most of the evening. When we got home around 9pm to feed her, I noticed she was burning hot. She had a fever of 102.1. For an infant, this was extremely high! I called the after hours pediatric doctor and they said to immediately go to the ER. I felt horrible! Did we make her sick and overheated by being outside in 100 degree weather?! The doctors took a urine sample and blood sample from her. Everything came back clear, so they sent me home telling me to give her Tylenol every four hours for a viral infection.

Her fever never went down all day Sunday. By Sunday evening I was starting to get nervous. Why did she still have a fever so high that would never go under 100.4? I called her pediatrician before bed that night and he said to immediately get back to the ER. Something else was probably wrong besides a viral infection. I took Carmen to the Children's hospital in Plano and they examined her and said it was probably still viral and to just keep giving her Tylenol. I was annoyed! They really didn't do much at all.

By Monday afternoon, Carmen's fever still hadn't gone down completely. I called her pediatrician and we set up an appointment for that afternoon. He called the original ER and got her test results. Sure enough, she had a urinary tract infection that didn't show up for 48 hours! Our pediatrician immediately gave Carmen a shot of antibiotics that day and had us go back the next day for another shot. After 10 days of antibiotics, our girl is back to normal! The pediatrician was still worried that the infection could have scarred her kidneys, which could cause for more infections in the future. It made me so nervous!

I took her this morning to get an ultrasound and VCUG to determine if there was any damage to her kidneys. She is completely clear! No scarring or damage! I literally felt the prayers surrounding us this morning. God is so good!! I'm so glad to have our baby girl back and healthy. The doctor has no clue what caused the infection. He says just bad luck. Who knows. Praise God for health!

Carmen is 8 weeks old!

I took Carmen on August 17th to her two month appointment. She is growing so fast!! She was 8 weeks exactly on the day. Here are her stats:

Weight: 12 lbs 9 oz (75%)

Height: 23-3/4" (75%)

Head: 15-3/4" (75%)

She is starting to go a little big longer between her night feedings. I typically feed her anywhere between 9 and 10pm and she sleeps until around 2-3:30 am. After this feeding, she usually goes until 7-8am. She then eats about every 2-1/2 hours during the day. I try to feed her more during the day to keep her sleeping longer at night!

Carmen is smiling a lot! She giggled last night for the first time! She loves to look around at lights and objects. Her favorite past time is watching big brother!!

Carmen is still nursing wonderfully! I'm so grateful! The only problem is that she does not like a bottle! We try to get daddy to feed her pumped milk in a bottle every once in a while so mommy can get away sometimes.

We love you so much sweet girl! You have fit so perfectly into our little family! I simply can not imagine life without you.

Love,

mommy and daddy

I got to take both kids to the pediatrician since Matt was flying. It worked great because we luckily got in the room with the elephant painting! Roman plopped a chair right in front of the elephant and just stared and talked about the elephant. He was in heaven! We're really into animals right now!

I just love these kiddos!!! I feel blessed!

A family that paints together...

Is a family that stays together!

Matt has been here all last week. One afternoon, I decided to paint some old canvases that I had. We did hand and foot prints with the paint. It was so much fun!

Roman enjoyed painting with his hands!

It was a lot of clean up!

Daddy got his own canvas too

Everyone needs a snack break!

Or a swing break!

The final product to hang in the play room!

(Left to right) Daddy, Roman, Carmen, Mommy

Long Week

Last Sunday Matt saw that he had to go to Minneapolis for his two hour call out to sit on reserve. He sat there all day on Monday and didn't get a call to fly, so he started to head home. I was so excited to hear that he had a seat on the flight home and then he called back with the worst possible news. They needed him for a four day trip. Essentially Matt was out of town for five nights and six days. I was devastated, but I know someone needs to work around here. It was my first time to be alone with the kiddos for that long. We had friends come over every single day. I am so fortunate to have so many fabulous friends!

Both kids got fed (a little off schedule), we all got baths (at random times), and we all slept (s0me)! I call that survival!! We did it!

Carmen turned six weeks on Wednesday, August 3rd.

Roman and mommy had many morning dance parties!

Roman decided that he wanted to eat his lunch while standing on the window ledge. Whatever works!

I braved up and let Roman hold baby Carmen. He loved on her so much!

We survived and now I know that I can do this job that I've been given. I love these kiddos so much!!! I also love having daddy home now too!!!