The Thunder Rolls on Sunshine Mountain

Ugh!!! I do not know why Blogger doesn't have a thing that lets you rotate your photos. It's turned the right way on my camera and as the file on my computer, but Blogger rotates it. Anyway, turn your heads sideways and see how sweet Kam slept for 2 STRAIGHT HOURS for his morning nap today (Wednesday...I know it's posted on Thursday but it's midnight).

Then he woke up and immediately put his fist in his mouth. He is enjoying his hands more and more these days...he doesn't suck on them, he really just licks around on them a lot. So, we had CMT on for most of the morning. I like We like to have music playing, and I am we are in a very country mood this summer. =) So, The Singing Bee was on and they were playing "The Thunder Rolls." My boy was awake and in a great mood, so I started singing it to him. I think he kind of liked it...
Then I started thinking about "The Thunder Rolls" and is that really a good message to be sending to our 12 week old baby? Um, no. How about some "Sunshine Mountain"? I think he liked that one a little better. He started jabbering singing along=)
Our boy loves his swing...it surely is a huge lifesaver!!!
Tonight we started VBS. I'm with the 0-2 yr olds (with a helper) and Kaleb has the 1st-3rd graders. It was a lot of fun! They have a lot of the little sit-in bounce-a-roo-type thing? I don't know what they're called. The round things they sit in and it has all sorts of fun stuff attached all around him and he can play with it? That thing. Kamden sat quite content in that for quite a while. So, we will most likely use our Babies R Us gift card for one of those=) You know, to give the swing a break.

That's about all I have for this evening. Stellan is still not in Boston...the doctors are having changing ideas about what to do, so MckMama is asking that we pray for wisdom on everyone's part to do what is best for Sweet Stellan. He's been very toxic because of the drugs, but he's been peeing it out quite a bit today, so he's not as swollen.

Now I think I'll go to bed. Oh, Kam made it til 4 a.m. before he woke up. 5 hours. I'll take it. Did he go down awake tonight? Well, he was realllllllly fussy and wouldn't calm down, so I thought he was hungry and started nursing him. He was out in under 5 minutes, the little turkey!! Guess I learned my lesson.

House Hunting & Sleeping!

So, yesterday we went and talked with a realtor. We liked her, we really did, but didn't sign a contract with her just yet. There was a house in Bridge City that we wanted to look at and it was For Sale by Owner. So yesterday we rode out to look at it...I took 66 pictures, but I will spare you=) Here's part of the front...My personal favorite parts are the living room and kitchen areas...

Now, all of Bridge City completely flooded during Hurricane Ike last year. There were literally 15 homes that were untouched (I heard). This one flooded and the guy who owns it now bought it from his uncle, completely gutted it and redid EVERYTHING. So everything is new...and beautiful. We have not found a home that we just loved during our hunting...this one is 1,822 sq ft, 3 br, 2 ba, 2 car garage...has the open living/dining area that we are looking for, all tile and wood laminate except for the new carpet in the bedrooms...nice sized rooms and bathrooms...so now we are just trying to decide what our first offer should be. You know, the one that's ridiculously below what we'll pay but not so low as to be insulting to the seller? That one. The way I see it, if we can't get it for what we are looking to spend on a home, then this one's just not for us!

Oh, and about the flooding...BC hasn't flooded like that in a hundred years, literally, not just a number I came up with. We are going to get an insurance quote also before we make an offer. So maybe you could be praying with us about that! This is our first home so we are pretty nervous about it!

In other news, Kamden is sleeping so well! This last week he's started waiting longer and longer between his nightly feedings. He will normally eat at 9, get a bath and go down at 10, and wake up around 4. Now I am unsure, but I think the last 2 nights I've just put him in bed with us without feeding him and he's gone back to sleep until 5 or 6. I could be wrong though. Anyway, even if he's sleeping til 4 that's 6 full hours. Sometimes he wakes up around 2 or 3 but he's not hungry, just reinsert his paci and he's back to sleep. I tell ya, it is so nice. I am still holding him until he's asleep, though, and putting him down asleep. I know it's about time we started sleep training with him, although I don't think I could ever be a CIO-er (that's Cry It Out-er). I also don't want him to have to have one of us with him to fall asleep. So tonight it was pretty late at his last feeding--11 because we have been getting all our loan info together for our lenders--and he was still awake after he ate. So I put him down. Awake. Without rocking him to sleep. Now, we did rock, but just not until he was asleep. He whimpered for a bit and I put his lovey close to his face, and he didn't cry. I left the room and he didn't cry. After a few minutes of silence, I went back in to check on him...still awake, but not crying. A few minutes later, here's what I found:

He doesn't even have his paci in his mouth!!! I am in no way trying to cut the paci out right now. Just excited to see that he didn't need it to fall asleep! How sweet is it that he is clutching his lovey like that? Also, it looks like he'd get a crick in his neck doesn't it? He throws it back like this to sleep every night, no matter what side he's on. Makes my neck hurt just thinking about it.

Anyway, he's been in there like that for over an hour now and I am just praying this is a new trend for him!! It seems too easy, though. I'll keep y'all posted, as I'm sure you are just on the edge of your seats about it.

And lastly, an update on Stellan...the last things she posted this afternoon/evening said that he was very uncomfortable and manic from the drugs...and then that he was beginning to show signs of toxicity because of the high levels they were having to give him to keep his little heart out of SVT. Then he has a lot of gags, chills, shakes, and fussing, vomited, and felt much better. They are thinking that they will be going to Boston tomorrow. I know she keeps posting positive things, but the pictures on her Tweets will just break your heart!!

P.S. Grandparents: I apologize for the lack of Kam-pictures...maybe we will do some new photos tomorrow. Today was full of crankiness, and nobody needs to see that!

'Cause You've Got...Personality!

Yesterday was another first for our sweet boy! He and I went to Al's Formalwear to return Kaleb's tux from the wedding. The entire trip there I was trying to figure out how I would carry in his carrier and two tuxes (another guy's) and open the door. I decided the sling was a better option...even though I hated to get him out of the carseat and into the sling just to run some tuxes inside. So we came back out and I was putting him back in his carseat and he was looking at me and holding his head forward. That's a first! I laughed at him and pushed it back onto the headrest in his carseat. He immediately grinned real big and popped right back up!! It was like he was playing a little game with me! It was the cutest thing!!!

We are also noticing that he is CONSTANTLY jabbering if he's awake. And he notices now when he's alone in a room...when it's just us at home during the day, if he's awake in his swing and I step out of his eyesight he starts whimpering...as soon as I talk or show myself he's fine!

He also will pretty much always smile if we coax him even a little...or if he's lying on his back and looking at a fan. What in the world is so funny about fans?? I think every baby in the world is fascinated by them.

Anyway, that's what's going on in the world of Kamden today. It is so fun seeing his little personality come out!

For those of you who are following Baby Stellan, have you seen MckMama's latest Twitters? Here they are from this morning:

Stellan had a good night! He's on enoromous amts of 3 heart drugs & they've finally been keeping him in & OUT of SVT so he's getting breaks.
Stellan is WAY fluid positive, though, and the Lasix (diuretic) hasn't been working, so he's pretty puffy.
He's definitely out of immediate danger since his heart rate is finally slower. Today we work on hammering out details to get him to Boston.
Stellan is still feeling sick (restless, nauseous, itchy, manic) from all his meds, but they're keeping him out of SVT so that's just that.
He's been NPO for over 24hr because they've been on the verge of venting him. No venting in immediate future since he's doing well so: MILK!
Stellan's hemoglobin is still low so he's getting another blood transfusion. Thank you to everyone out there ...

Sounds like things are stabilized right now...let's keep lifting the McKinneys up in prayer!!

Please Pray for Stellan!!!

Like thousands of other folks, I have been reading MckMama's blog and following sweet Stellan's trials and tribulations for months now. In the womb, he was diagnosed with SVT, which makes his heart beat ridiculously fast, in the 200's, and the doctors told his parents that he wouldn't survive. Then, God worked and he did! He was born with no more heart problems at all until he was 4 months old. He spent 2 months in the hospital and God worked again! Since 6 months, he's been out of the hospital and regulated by medication...he's had a few bouts but he always came out quickly. Now he has been in SVT since Thursday and it doesn't look good. You can read the details on the link above...please pray for this beautiful baby boy!!!

A Wedding and Some Sushi

The wedding was so nice! Kam got to wear his dressiest outfit for it...we are hoping it will still fit for his Dedication!! We really need to set that up. Anyway, the wedding was lovely, and we are so very happy for Leslie and Justin!!! I have to share this picture because I just thought it was the cutest idea! It talks about how the SWEETest part of their wedding was sharing it with all their guests (I think...something to that effect) and there were lots of different kinds of candy and little bags that you could fix for yourself! So cute!!

Mr. and Mrs. Justin Williams! I have a picture of them looking at the camera, but I totally cut off the top of Justin's head, so decided to use this one instead.

Kamden did great...had a couple of times that I thought he had an explosion, but I quickly unbuttoned the bottom of his outfit and sat him up on a nursing cover so he could finish. It stayed in the diaper both times! Yaaay!!! Thought I'd share this ADORABLE picture of him talking to his Daddy!

And this, my very favorite picture of my very favorite boys. Is my husband not just so very handsome??? Man, I am one lucky girl.
After the wedding, we came back to Beaumont to rest a little then met up with Mark, Lauren, Paul, Tony, and Aaron for sushi! Yummmm....

Okay, I'd posted another picture of a Crunch Roll, but I accidentally deleted it and I don't feel like re-uploading it! So the Kiluaua will have to do. And lastly, my wonderful friend, Lauren, with her wonderful baby boy, Paul, and me and my wonderful baby boy!

It was such a good time!!

Tomorrow we are going to meet with a realtor...pretty exciting, right? We are really hoping to get the ball rolling on this house stuff. Pray for us!!

Goin' to the Chapel...

Well, we're not getting married, but our good friends, Leslie and Justin are!!! We had a great time at the rehearsal/rehearsal dinner last night. It was so great to see Les and Justin again, and to meet all their family that we've heard so much about! It was pretty funny...you all know that I'm a blog stalker...well, Leslie's sister-in-law, Heather, is one of those blogs that I stalk. She puts up pictures and everything just like I do, so I almost forgot that I hadn't actually met her and her family. So we were talking with her and she was holding Kam and talking to him and she told him she'd seen lots of pictures of him...turns out she's a blog stalker, too!! It was exciting to have a blog stalking reciprocated. I felt so honored! Haha!

Kam had on an adorable outfit from Aunt Katie for the first quarter of the night. See how cute?


Then he had yet another explosion. Have I talked about his explosions on here? He used to space them out, every other day, but lately he is blowing out every single day. Usually I can catch it because he's quite noisy with it=) So I pick him up as soon as I hear him so it can't go up his back. Last night we didn't get it fast enough...it was up to his neck. Yuck!! Luckily, I was kind of expecting it so I'd brought a cute layette to change him into. I pack 2 outfits in his diaper bag now...let's just pray he doesn't need them at the wedding today!!!


Here are some pictures I took of Leslie and Justin and then of me and Les. It's strange how I actually forget how much I miss her until I see her!!! We have got to get together when they get back, and do it much more often!






Who is that completely random, definitely not-on-purpose guy behind them?? Awkward!!! Haha=)

The Happy Couple!!!

Oh, quick story to wrap up...I'd gotten these really cute pacis for Kam on Thursday. You have to sterilize them before first use, so, since I'm a good mama, I fixed a pot of boiling water and threw them in it. I did not set a timer. I went about my business feeding Kam (and probably watching something ridiculous on TV) until I heard a hissing sound. It took me a good while to figure out that it was coming from the kitchen...every drop of water had evaporated from the pot and the adorable pacis were melted to the bottom of the pot. Everything was ruined. Here are the poor cute pacis.

Don't worry...I got more=)

Off to dress Kam for the wedding...let's pray he doesn't ruin this outfit!!

Goooooooood Mornin', Good Mornin'!

So that is pretty much the only part of that song that I know. I make up the rest of the words. But Kam doesn't mind...in fact, I think he pretty much loves it. Here, you be the judge!

He is so happy these days!! Unless he's hungry.

Yesterday was busy! We met Lauren and Paul for lunch at Chik-fil-a and had a great time after I got Kamden hosed off after his massive explosion in his carseat. Man, not to be gross, but that kid is a full-blown man when it comes to pooping. After that we went to the mall for a couple of things then Wal-Mart to get things for supper. Then we went to Kaleb's work, left the cold stuff in the fridge there, and headed off to meet a lady about keeping Kamden once school starts back. We have really been praying that God would lead us to someone that we would trust and it would make it a little less hard to leave him. We found her!!! She is WONDERFUL and we are praising God that we found her!!!

After that we drove out to Orange to look at a house...didn't like it so much...then Kam and I came home to start on supper while Kaleb went to pick up his tux for Les and Justin's wedding tomorrow. While I was feeding Kam and he was on his way home, his parents called to see if we wanted to meet them for supper at La Cantina, the restaurant formerly known as Acapulco, which is our favorite=) So yay I didn't have to cook! We had a great dinner.

I just realized what time it is...I have to go get ready to leave!!! Here's a pimpin' bathtub pic until next time!

Happy Birthday, Nan!

Today is my mom's/Kam and Ella's Nan's birthday! Since there was no way we could be with her for her birthday, I thought I'd do a birthday blog to try and make up for it=) I wish I could've gotten one of these pictures with both grandbabies, but Ella's not here and I didn't plan far enough ahead.

Kam wanted to wish his Nan a VERY happy birthday!

He was all smiles this morning=)Man, I love this little guy. And we love you, too, Nan! Hope your day is wonderful!!

We had a busy end of the week/weekend. Thank you all so much for your prayers for Kaleb's family. Please continue to remember them...it's a very, very hard time for everyone. They could really use your prayers!

We drove to Franklin Wednesday for the wake that evening and stayed for the funeral on Thursday. Then we drove up to Many after the funeral to take Ella back on Friday. And we came back on Saturday. It was so nice to be home Saturday night! Felt like we'd been gone forever. This week is pretty clear...I have to meet with the parents whose kids didn't pass TAKS tomorrow...not looking forward to that...and then Friday and Saturday we will be spending some time with the Rector/William duo that is about to just be the Williamses!!! Woo hoo!!! Leslie and Justin, we are SO excited for you guys...and so excited that we are actually getting to see y'all!!! It has been way too long. We are really looking forward to the wedding weekend!

Speaking of, I have nothing to wear to said wedding, so we are heading to Kohl's when Kaleb gets off work. We have a 30% off thing that expires tomorrow, so we are going to take advantage of it!

Hope you all are having a wonderful week...and hope you have a great birthday, Nan!!

Pictureless

I honestly havn't taken any pictures since the last post, so sorry! Wanted to give an update.

1. Please remember Kaleb's family in your prayers. One of his cousins died very unexpectedly on Monday. He left behind a wife and 2 children, as well as all of his family. It's been very tragic for everyone who knew him. Especially remember them over these next few days as they gather for the viewing and the funeral.

2. We'll be gone for a few days...we leave today for Franklin to take part in the arrangements. We'll go up to Many after the funeral tomorrow to bring Ella back on Friday. Probably no posts til Sunday.

3. On a lighter note, Ella is HILARIOUS. 2 Scenarios.

• Yesterday, we were watching TV when she says, "Jenni, don't you think I need one of those little white things to sleep with?" I hadn't been looking at the television, so I rewound it. Those little white things would be maxi pads. Deeeelightful. That sure was a fun conversation to have!! I did tell her mom so that she wouldn't be shocked if Ella said something to her about ladies bleeding.
• Still yesterday, in between Target and Wal-Mart (which involved both kids being absolute perfect angels!!) she says, "Jenni, you know I'm gettin' a little bit older..." I said, "Yes, you are, baby..." "I think I need one of those little chin things." Ummm...what??? "You know, those little white things that you put on your chin and it exercises it for you?" So apparently, our little lady is a walking infomercial!!! When I told her mom about that one, she shared with me that they were in Target recently and passed by the "Slider Station" thing (RIP Billy Mays) and Ella said she needed it because they could cook hamburgers "in just 2 minutes!!"

Man, I love that kid!!

Visits and a Shower

Slacking again, I know.

So we know that Nan was here to visit. Thought I should give you some proof!

After she left, BOTH KIDS went down for a nap at approximately the SAME TIME!!! The stars were aligned or something.

It's a rare moment around here! I got quite a bit done around the house before Kaleb got home.

Yes, they can both breathe, I promise!! They are burrowers I guess=)

After Kaleb got home, we were still waiting for Katie to arrive, so Ella and I decided to bake some of the best chocolate chip cookies you've ever tasted!! She is such a little bakerella!

Look at that form!! She is a natural!

Katie arrived and we went out to eat at La Cantina, our favorite Mexican restaurant. No pictures of that, sadly.

The next morning, Katie watched the kids (our first official babysitter!) while I went to this FABULOUS day spa to get a pedicure that she'd gotten me for my birthday!! Best pedicure of my life. I will have to make this a monthly indulgence, I'm afraid! I mean, check them out!!

Mmmmm, it had been over a year. So nice!!! Thank you, Katie!! And if you live in the Beaumont area, I highly recommend Vallie Marie Day Spa!

That afternoon, Kaleb's coworkers gave Kamden a shower! This was our 4th one...we are so, so very blessed!!! I didn't get a lot of pictures because we were opening gifts and writing and all that good stuff, but here are the decorations and the adorable cake!

And here is the best present-opener, displayer, and the best big sister ever!

What an eventful day...during the shower, one of Kaleb's coworkers was feeding Kam with my last bottle of expressed milk and he had a HUGE blowout that went all the way up his back. And through his adorable little outfit (which is now ruined) onto the lady's blue jeans!!! I hope it didn't stain them the way it stains everything it touches at our house! (By the way, he NEVER had blowouts like that until the night after his shots, so I am thinking that might have had something to do with it.) Silly mama had forgotten to pack an extra outfit for Kam. Luckily, we were at a BABY SHOWER and there were a few outfits that were his size right now=) Like this one!

So handsome.

After the shower, we loaded everything into the truck so that we could take Ella to meet up with Kaleb's dad. They were taking her to Galveston for the weekend. We got in the truck, I started feeding Kamden, and Kaleb was moving the car into a parking space. He glanced at the truck to see that it now had a flat tire. They're doing construction on the building we were parked at and a big chunk of metal got stuck in his tire. So, we moved to the car and Kaleb loaded everything into it and we were off. After we dropped Ella off, we met back up with Katie at Frankie's, our favorite Italian restaurant in town.

I have no idea how we managed to not get a single picture of Katie while she was here!! I promise she was, though!

Yesterday, Kam and I hung out at home while Kaleb played golf with his dad. I cooked a roast for supper last night and started preparing for today's lunch. I did my first Lambert Brisket Sunday Dinner, and it was a success! Brisket (okay, it was a Sadler's that I doctored up), Baked Beans, Potato Salad, and Garlic Bread. And I doctored up some barbecue sauce, too. I learned from the best!!! (That would be my sweet Daddy. This is one of his Sunday dinners!) We had our wonderful friends, Mark & Lauren and Paul and Chris and Noah over to help us eat it.

This evening, Ella came home and we visited with Kaleb's family for a while. Then it was bathtime for Kam-man again. Daddy likes to keep things interesting, so we tried out the sink!

We have pretty much decided that as long as he's surrounded by reallllllly warm water, he is going to love his bath.

And now, everyone's asleep except for me, so I think I'm going to try and get settled in now! Hope you've enjoyed this picture-filled update!! It makes up for the missing days, right?

Bath Time!

I realized recently (mostly thanks to Carolyn's adorable bath pics of Baby Jaslyn!) that we had next-to-no bath pictures of Kamden! And that I definitely didn't have a bath time post. It's for a good reason...Kam really didn't care to much for baths in the beginning. His wonderful Daddy discovered that it was because we weren't getting his water warm enough, though, and baths are usually pretty fuss-free for him now. We were still putting his tub by the sink and just pouring the water over him and all that. Well, last night we put him in the tub with me and he LOVED it!!! He kept trying to lay his head back in the water, bucking off of me, kicking his feet, and cooing and smiling. So, that told us that he really likes being submerged in the water! That and the fact that when his Daddy put him in the pool at Mema and Pawpaw's this weekend he was in heaven as well=)

So tonight, it was bath time for both our sweet kiddos. Now, let me back up. My mom came down today to help me take the kids to Sulphur so we could take Kam for his 2 month checkup and (grimace) shots. More on that later. But, since Nan is here, Ella got to stay up past her normal bedtime so they could play. We are also phasing out naps with her because she is doing so great during the day, afternoon, and evening now even without her naps. And it helps her fall asleep more easily at night. So, all that to say that at 9:45 when we told Ella it was bath time, she was extremely sad. What would make it better? How about we throw brother in the tub with her!! She really liked that idea and perked right up! So we put his tub inside her tub and, well...


They loved it!! Ella was SUCH a big girl while Daddy washed her hair, and Kam didn't cry about any of it either!

So, speaking of Kam crying. Guess that's as good of a segue as I'm gonna get here. We did have our sweet boy's shots today. Three of them. Plus an oral vaccine for the rotovirus. I did a good bit of research on vaccines because all the talk has me pretty scared of them. But I prayed about it a lot and God really gave me a peace about it. Man, He's been doing that a lot lately=) Anyway, I was really nervous about taking him by myself to get it done. I knew Ella would be with me to help, but she can't drive and I was afraid he would need lots of extra comforting on the ride home, since our fabulous pediatrician is an hour away (and worth every mile). Kaleb couldn't come because of work complications, so my wonderful mom offered to come down and help. I do not know what we'd do without her! A lot of people I'd talked to and the nurse I spoke with from the doctor's office suggested giving Kam Tylenol 30 min to an hour before the shot. So my plan was to give it to him 30 min before we got to the office. I realized that I'd forgotten my plan as we were sitting in the office waiting for the doctor to come back. I was feeling pretty horrible, but it ended up being about 30 min before the shot anyway because of course the doctor took a little while to make it to us and then the nurse came in for the shots. Ella did not want to watch, so she and Nan went out to look at the fish tank in the waiting room. He did great on the oral Rotovirus vaccine, then the nurse told me to hold his hands and I did and got down in his face and she said, "Here we go, Mom!" but she didn't need to because as soon as she stuck him he started screaming and turning as red as I've ever seen him. I tried to talk to him to console him but I was tearing up and when I start to cry I can't talk or you can hear it in my voice, so I just kissed on him til it was over. She was so fast!!! As soon as she was done and I picked him up, he whimpered a bit and then was fine! I was banking on needing to nurse him when we got done, too, but he'd just eaten while waiting for the doctor to come back so he was fine. He didn't cry at all on the ride home! I did notice this evening that he was a little warmer than usual (the kid is a heater anyway) so we gave him another dose of Tylenol tonight. Oh, here are 2 of his 3 bandaids.
Sweet my baby! Oh, and for the checkup results!! As you can see from his bath pictures, the kid is turning into quite the little chunk! He has a belly that just won't stop! And he now weighs 13 lbs 5 oz!!! Incredible. They said he was 23 inches, and they said he was 23.5 inches last time. So I think the measuring just isn't accurate because I really don't think he's shrinking. He is in the 90th percentile for weight, and our doctor said that he should be getting really close to sleeping through the night now!! We shall see. He gave us some tricks to try. I'll be happy if we can just get back to one middle-of-the-night feeding, though. I don't expect a full night this early on.

I guess I should end this so we can watch the new Ghost Hunters International that we DVR'd tonight. I honestly don't know what I'd do without DVR.

Where did June go??

I am really slacking on the blogging lately! I apologize, I really do. Kam is awake a lot more these days, so it's not quite so easy to get much computer time with two hands. A lot has happened while we were gone! The highlight was definitely vacation. Didn't get off to a very good start, as we found out on our way to Missouri that Michael Jackson had died. I am not exaggerating when I say I was heartbroken. I know there were a lot of questionable things about him, but no one cn deny what an amazing entertainer, singer, dancer he was. I truly hope he is in a better place.

Anyway, vacation. If you read this you probably also have facebook and have probably seen all our vaction pictures. Some of my favorites:

Oh, that sweet boy! We sure do love him! Can you believe he turned 2 months this past July 4th??

The time really is flying by with him. As is the summer. I had really been dreading having to go back to work in August, but I have been praying for God to give me peace about it and He really is. Please be praying that we can find the perfect sitter/daycare for Kam! Also, Ella will be starting Pre-K with her mom in Shreveport in August, so also pray for that whole situation. We are not sure how we will be able to get her when that starts and we are not looking forward to that.

She has been SUCH a big help! We've actually been cutting out naps in the afternoon because she doesn't get cranky anymore! I just do not want this summer to end. Here are our sweet kiddos this afternoon:And to end, here's what Kam looks like when Daddy starts talking to him!

Happy 2 months, baby boy!