Hodgepodge

First, let me start off by wishing all of you a Happy Chanukah, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! The Jones family hopes that all of you had and continue to have a wonderful holiday.
Our Chanukah and Christmas was a little bitter sweet. Yes, it was Blake's first holiday season which is pretty exciting, but was not quite the same because my mom, Grandma to Blake, has been in the hospital since the Monday before Christmas. We really look forward to next year's holidays when Blake will be a little more aware and a little more into the traditions our family will share together.

Chanukah
The holidays started off with Chanukah. We also shared the first night of Chanukah celebrating my brother's big 3-0 birthday! We really enjoyed having A & M in town. By the time they left Blake was head over heels in love with his Uncle A & Aunt M and we can't wait to see them again hopefully soon. Before heading to A's birthday dinner, we went to the lobby of my parents building to light the Chanukah candles. Blake absolutely loved this. We even sang Dreidel, dreidel, dreidel and he was having a ball! Below are a few pics...





Here is a pic at home on the 4th night of Chanukah...


Christmas
Christmas morning Blake came running into our room jumping on the bed begging to open presents. Well okay, not really. But I picture that in the coming years anyway. We woke up and opened a few presents, ate a nice Christmas lunch with Brad's dad and spent the rest of the day being lazy. Brad is in charge of photos and video and he chose to take all video so unfortunately I only have one, yes only one picture to share from Blake's first Christmas. We'll try to get our act together a little more for next year.


Anniversary
The holiday season also brings another day of celebrating...Brad and I's wedding anniversary. This year we celebrated 5 glorious years together. Its amazing how fast time goes by. The past year was even more special in our marriage as we welcomed our amazing son Blake Logan into the world. I feel incredibly blessed to be married to my best friend, who I love more now than I did on our wedding day and to have started a family together. Our home is filled with so much love and my one wish is it always stays that way. Despite my mom being in the hospital, Blake's grandpa refused to let our anniversary pass by without a proper celebration. He kept Mr. Blake while Brad and I stayed the night at The Mansion on Turtle Creek. Thanks Grandpa!!! We had an absolutely amazing night together and even dined at the restaurant at The Mansion. It was a heavenly evening and a night we will always remember. Happy 5 years Bradley, I look forward to the next 50!!
Us at dinner...


Mom
After a very rough past year with mom feeling so sick and now having her second hospital stay and after more tests than any one person should ever have to endure, a diagnosis has been made. If anyone likes to google, google Goodpasture Syndrome. It is so rare that she probably had a better chance winning the lottery. We are grateful they can finally begin a course of action to get mom better, although we know its a very long road ahead with not so fun treatments. Blake can't wait to get lots of cuddles from his Grandma very soon! We love you!

The good news is we were sent a package by Brad's mom with a CD of some pictures from Thanksgiving, yea! Here are a few pics...
The girls plus Blake on Thanksgiving


The boys on Thanksgiving


Blake meeting his cousin Taylor for the first time


Playing


Mr. Blue Eyes


And finally, a few random photos






We hope everyone has a happy and safe New Years celebration this evening and a WONDERFUL 2009!!!

Seriously?

Well things definitely got worse before they got better. Almost hospitalization, breathing treatments every 2 hours through the weekend, no sleep, sick mommy and sick daddy, no sleep. That is how the rest of my week/weekend went. I am drained, exhausted, whipped, etc etc.
Blake finally turned the corner at the end of the weekend and received a good report from the doctor Monday morning, with her blessing for him to return to school. I returned to work after missing quite a bit last week. I thought I was on my way to putting back in some solid time in the office only for today to happen. We were hit with a winter storm, with an icy mess on the roads, especially in our neck of the woods. I decided against my better judgement to make the trek into work this morning and after a mere 2 hours on the road I arrived. As soon as I pulled into my parking spot, I got a call from Brad that Blake's school was closed due to weather. Seriously?? Can I NOT catch a break? So I worked for 2 1/2 hours and made the drive back home to relieve Brad. I think I need a drink. Better yet, I think I need a vacation.

H-E- double hockey sticks...

That's what I feel like I am living at the moment. When the doctor said things would probably get worse before they got better, I thought I understood, but I wasn't expecting this. Last night was rough. I am over this illness and over watching poor little monkey suffer. And to make things all the more fun I am now sick with a cold. Good times.
The one good thing is that Blake can now take his breathing treatment without screaming his head off. Hooray for Wiggles. Without them, I may have broken down having to listen to Blake scream his little head off every 4 hours. If you are reading this and have little ones you know the love for the Wiggles, if you are going to have kids, invest in the Wiggles. Wiggles are my friends. Here is a pic of Blake's first breathing treatment he got at home. Tried to give it to him while he was still asleep in his car seat, thinking he might sleep through it...not so lucky...



Brad and I have been trying to split the time at home with Blake so neither of us would get fired for missing work for an entire week. Brad drew the straw for staying home with Blake all day yesterday. Things were going well for the two of them until I received a frantic call that Blake's fever had gone up and he had just thrown up like a scene out of the Exorcist. Since it was towards the end of the day, I wrapped up a few things and headed home. Blake was napping. When he woke up at 5:30 he was screaming his head off, barely would open his eyes and was BURNING up. Took his temperature and it was 103. I instructed Brad to call the doctor while I supplied him with another dose of Tylenol and gave him a bottle of Pedialyte. The doctor told Brad I was doing all the right things and to call back if his fever didn't go down. It started to gradually decline so Blake went to sleep for the night a few hours later. We were woken loudly by a screaming baby at 11:30. Blake's temperature was a blazing 103.6, gave him Tylenol and a second later he repeated his scene out of the Exorcist, you know since I didn't get to see it earlier. He would not take a bottle or Pedialyte and would not stop screaming. Back on the phone with doctor. Just as I told Blake we were going to the ER, he started to calm down (he did not want to step foot in a hospital!) and took a bottle of Pedialyte. Back to bed by 1am, set an alarm to be woken up at 3:30 to give Blake another dose of Tylenol and then back up at 5:30 to get ready for work. Thankfully I work for such an understanding group of people who instructed me to go home early so I could feel better and so I could be home to take care of my boy. Home is where I am now...Blake is napping and I just pray the worst is behind us.

Doctor Doctor

Poor little monkey tested positive for RSV this morning. He has to have breathing treatments every 4 hours and keep a watchful eye on his breathing. He is out of school all week as well. Hopefully we can get through this first major illness with out too many issues! Will keep you posted on the little guy throughout the week....

Weekend of Fun (and coughs)

The weekend is reaching its end, which always makes me sad. I enjoy my time with Brad and Blake so much, not having to fit my hugs and kisses in a few short hours before bed time. Saturday Blake got to meet his twin cousins for the first time who were in town. We had a great time playing on the play ground. Blake absolutely loves other babies so loved being around his cousins. He also loved getting to play on the swing and going for a ride on daddy's shoulders...

Blake & his cousins...



Blake & cousins having enough of the photos...



Blake Loving the Swing...



Blake Loving the Ride...



After our day of fun on the playground, Blake stayed with Grandma & Grandpa while Brad and I enjoyed the night just the two of us. It had been entirely too long since Brad and I have had a date night and I have to admit I had been looking forward to it more than anything I've been looking forward to in quite some time. We had a really nice romantic dinner and really enjoyed our time together. We also enjoyed getting to sleep in this morning...thanks grandma & grandpa!! Blake always has a ball with them and we're so grateful to have them so close by and more than willing to kidnap him from us so we can enjoy a night out alone. Here are a few pics to show just how happy Blake was at Grandma & Grandpa's...







With such a smiley happy baby you'd never guess that Blake has come down with the worst sounding cough I have ever heard. I'm a little concerned with the sound of it so will be calling the doctor first thing in the morning to try and get him seen.
Another week about to begin. Thanks for such a fun weekend Mr. Blake, can't wait for next weekend with you!

Thanksgiving Blessings

I should start off by apologizing for this post and that it sadly does not contain photos of Blake's first Thanksgiving. I might win the worst mother award for taking aboslutely zero pictures during the entire Thanksgiving holiday, but was so preoccupied with all our company I never even thought about it. Hopefully I can get a few photos from our family that was in town (*hint hint*) and will post if I do.
This past week I've done a lot of reflecting, spent a lot of time with family and yes eaten a lot of food. Brad's mom, stepdad and both brothers were all in town during the week of Thanksgiving. We weren't expecting to have all the Jones boys together, but due to a tragic loss we were all brought together. While it was definitely not the circumstances we would ever want, it was a blessing we could all be together, and both of Brad's brothers were able to meet Mr. Blake for the first time. Last week was a huge reminder life can be all too short and to cherish every day, tell the ones you love how much you love them every day, and never take what you have in your life for granted. This Thanksgiving I was thankful for the miracle that is Blake, being able to be his mom, I am thankful for the most amazing husband and father to Blake, the love that we share for one another, I am thankful for all our family, who not only fillls my life with love but Blake's as well.