It was worth the wait, I hope!

I am very sorry that I haven't updated the blog in a while. We have been very busy, and I think you will understand if you can make it through this blog!

For those of you who have not yet heard, we discovered about 3 weeks ago that Oden will have a sibling mid-June 2010. We are very excited! I remember my pregnancy with Oden being mildly difficult. In comparison to how I'm feeling so far in this pregnancy, it's not really comparable at all. I'm miserable. My exhaustion has hit record levels. I try to save all my energy for Oden everyday. Everything else gets put on the back burner. This blog has been saved as a draft 3 times already!

Oden is doing great! Although, We did have a scare with him a little over a week ago. It was Tuesday the 20th. Oden woke up and was just not himself. He pretty much layed around all day (this NEVER happens). From the morning on, I noticed he had a fever. It was around 101-102 on our thermometer. I was in contact with the doctors office several times throughout the day, and they basically said to monitor it, give him aspirin, and if the fever reached 103 to take him to the ER. We decided to try to run some errands after his first dose of Tylenol. After about 15 minutes in the car, he puked everywhere!!! It was so horrible. So when we got home after that, I did not feel like the medicine was helping his fever subside. He took a nap, that was longer than normal and then took his temp again. This time I compared Oden's temperature to Jess's temperature, Jess's temp was 95.6, and Oden's was 101.7. We thought that his breathing had gotten somewhat shallow so at that point, we decided it was time to go to the Emergency Room. When we arrived, we were given a mask to put over his little face and about a minute after that the nurse came over to check his breathing and ask about his symptoms. They took him straight back to admittance where his temp was 102.9 (I had given him Tylenol 1 hour before), he continued by freaking out and puking everywhere. All over his clothes, but thankfully into a garbage can also. They got all of us into a private room where they gave him a suppository, a steroid shot, a breathing treatment, followed by a series of tests. He was swabbed through the nose a couple of times, and then he had chest x-rays. By this time, Grandpa Joe, Grandma Laura, and Auntie Maggie had arrived with new clothes for Odee and some emotional support for all of us. After about 3 hours of being there, Oden started to perk up. He was running around the room, causing chaos as usual so we decided it was time to go. They prescribed us a bunch of medicine as well as a nebulizer. By the next afternoon, he was 100% better! Thank goodness! It wasn't the swine flu! He has had no symptoms since :)

Halloween this year was amazing! Oden went dressed as a monkey. I decided this because I call him my crazy monkey all the time! He was so cute. We were able to visit almost everyone (Sorry Grammy and Grandpa Scott!), and Oden was loving it. He didn't mind his costume at all, which really surprised me. We ended up taking him trick or treating at Grandpa Joe and Grandma Laura's house. It was very cold, but we were able to go to a few houses. He can't say trick or treat yet but he said, "PLEASE?" for almost every house. After the first house he sat on the ground beside his wagon in awe of the candy in his little bucket. Then, at the 5th house he got a Blow Pop sucker. This was his favorite treat!! We just started letting him have dum dum suckers every once in a while, so to him, this was the king of suckers!! He was thrilled!! He was pretty much done after he got that one, he chewed on the stick all the way back to the house. He also got to meet his newest cousin! Little Taylor Rose (only 6 weeks old) came to visit in her little pumpkin costume. Whenever she was out of sight, Oden would run around saying, "BayBee!" It was the most memorable Halloween yet!

Also, Jess and I got engaged on Halloween! He came home after work on Saturday and told Oden to bring me something. Oden was being slightly bratty so Jess had to continue his proposal without Oden's help. After a very touching speech and a few tears, I accepted whole heartedly. We will be setting a date very soon! So you see, we have been busy bees!! I will try my hardest to keep up on the blog from now on.


Here are some pictures from this Halloween season:

Oden did so good holding his little basket!

Trick or treating with Dad

Enjoying a Halloween treat.....Cheetos!!

Helping sort the candy for Grandma

He still remembers his baby toys

Working out with Grampa DeeDee!

My baby monkey!

Fun at the pumpkin patch

Of course he would fins the only train sign! LOL! We went on a train ride too!

Hi, Dora!

GO!! Having fun with Gramma DeeDee!

He's always on the move!

He was no help finding pumpkins, he just wanted to run.

KITTY!

A moment to catch my breath......

We have been keeping very busy the last couple of weeks! Here are some brand new pictures of some of the fun things we have been doing. All I have to say is, I am one tired Mom!!

My friend Kelly and I, took our boys to this Bouncin' Bonkers place. It's a place just filled with those bouncy things you usually find rented in backyards. It was fun, but I think Oden is still a little too young to fully enjoy it. It was more like a crazy exercise for me!

Rylan and Oden tearing it up in the tunnels!

Get off that dirty floor you crazy kid! Well.....wait until I take your picture!

A beautiful day at the park with Gramma Dee Dee.....

.......and Maddie! Swingin Buddies

A day at the park with Uncle Mikey.

He helps sooooo much!

Oden in my favorite shirt of his, ever!

Yogurt is Yummy!

I thought I would share with everyone Oden feeding himself yogurt for lunch. This is not a typical lunch, but he didn't drink much milk this morning so I was trying to up his protein for the day. He does not have much experience feeding himself with utensils. I blame myself completely for his inexperience. I would rather take the time to feed him myself than clean up the mess, that would inevitably be EVERYWHERE! That being said, I am putting in much more of an effort to let him have some independence with feeding. With the added hope that if he is feeding himself with new exciting tools, he might try (and like) more things! This video is really cute though :) and I am so thankful that he likes yogurt!

Stuff from my phone

Here are some random cuteness that I remembered I have on my phone. A couple of them are from the beginning of the summer and the others are more recent. The quality is poor, but I know you will appreciate them anyways :)

He has been doing this all summer.....he stands in front of this baby pool at my moms, yells "GO!", and jumps in head first. It's hilarious!

This was a very random day this summer. We went for a walk with Heather and he had to have his stethoscope around his neck, and he actually kept his Sponge Bob sunglasses on!

This picture is part of his morning routine. He comes down first thing, runs over to his toys, grabs his Thomas box, and plays with/lines up all of his trains. Have I mention obsessed?!

I just took this one a couple of days ago. This is the little girl I am now watching two days a week, Maddie. I had a couple of new candles out and they were taking turns smelling them.

It was adorable!

This video is from when Jess got a new cell phone. Oden is always all up in our electronics, so as soon as he saw Dad's new phone he had to see ALL of it. Look for his little squatting dance!

A Day Out With Thomas

Today was our day out with Thomas. This is something Tiff and I had been looking forward to taking Odee to for a long time. As the event neared closer I became increasingly more excited for it to finally be here. I was anxious for the look on his face as he witnessed his hero in the flesh. To provide some sort of a backdrop, if any of you are unaware of our little man, then you will have to know of his obsession with our friend Rev. W Awdry and what he has created out of narration and cleverly designed model trains. His name is Thomas and he is what Odee dreams of. From toys to clothes, cups to lunchboxes, he is everywhere our guy is. If there ever was a smug look upon Odee's face just find some sort of Thomas oriented trinket and his frown will immediately turn upside down. Thomas and Friends is to little boys what the spring training football, baseball in October, and the NHL/NBA playoffs push, is to grown men, what shopping, Jon & Kate Plus 8, and cherries covered in chocolate are to grown women. This is the mecca of little boys everywhere. So, on the day of I wanted to wake up with our baby hawk and start his day off right. This is a Friday, and my excitement for his excitement, prompted me to take a personal day from work. He's in a great mood and looking forward to his toast and fruit to energize his tiny body. After a quick munch session, a dose of Sid the Science Kid and Sesame Street, a good morning from his beautiful mother, and he is ready to get going. We all head up to straighten ourselves out and pack up for the trek ahead, next stop Union, Illinois. The jeep is gased and were buckled in, heading up north. Again mom chooses to use yahoo directions and we are immediately guessing which way to go. You see, yahoo likes to name streets the names they feel they should have, this makes following them very tricky. However, moms keen sense of direction quickly guides us towards our destination. The trip to Union was very pleasant, it was a very scenic route that took us through areas we had never been, this breathe of new places always seems invigorating to the imagination and put us all in the right mood for the day. We arrived forty five minutes before departure and took our time making it to the train. As we neared closer to dreams come true, I could feel the pleasure inside our baby. Then as we came walking down the path, there he was, right before his eyes, it was him... Thomas. The sheer enjoyment that poured from his soul was enough to see what dreams our made from. He was happy, genuine and sincere, just plain and simple happy. I wanted to be detailed to remind everyone and myself when I read this when I'm old, that the small things in life, that we cherish with the ones we love, those memories will be with us forever, so make them. The rest of our day was filled with memories that all three of us will have for the rest of our lives. We rode on Thomas, Odee got his first tattoo (removable, moms), had a wonderful picnic in the grass, and saw lots and lots of trains. It was at an interesting venue, the Illinois Railway Museum, and this was a fascinating place for a family to visit, especially on day out with Thomas. By the time we were ready to leave we had seen it all, Sir Toppam Hatt, the trains, trolleys, the whole kit and caboodle. He was sleeping within five minutes of our trip home, but I knew... he was dreaming of Thomas.

Above story by Jess. All I can say is....I wish Jess would write on here more often. What a great way to sum up our wonderful day :) Now I will add some not so cleverly worded captions on the pictures.

A life-size Thomas! That's something you don't see everyday!

Our first view of Thomas!

Yay for nice people also patiently waiting for their ride.

Odee's 1st train ride!!

Odee getting his first tattoo!

So amazed that Thomas was on his arm!!

It was a little hot, but well worth the slight discomfort.

Dad and Odee in a train graveyard, not really. The back of the Museum.

Exhausted from his adventure with Thomas, Dad, and Mom.

ODEEEEE =)

Sorry it has been so long since my last post. I have been so busy with wedding events for my friends from Canada. Here are a few new pictures I have been able to take during all of the wedding craziness. The wedding was this past weekend, so everything should be back to normal now. Meaning = I should be taking tons of Oden focused pictures again! LOL!

Swimming at my MomsHanging out with that shy Laney

POSER!

Yep.....this looks about right!
Jamie, Laney, Oden, and me :) (A wedding party BBQ at our house)

Missouri 2009

Missouri was amazing this year. It's pretty awesome every year, but for many reasons this year was my most memorable. Go figure because the boat was broke, the fireworks were confiscated, it rained more than usual, and Oden was a complete wild child. Perhaps I am beginning to appreciate all the elements of Missouri more and more. Every year just seems to get better. This was Oden's first year swimming in the bay, and he liked it. I was too scared of the water to try it last year. We brought some friends with us this time around, it's nice to be able to bring a piece of home with you! Everyone was so helpful with Oden this year considering he sped around like a bullet. He was up and down and wanted to run EVERYWHERE the whole trip. Thank goodness everyone did their best to help keep us sane and help with the chasing. He was definitely a hand full and a half, but I know every year will get easier. Special thanks to the 3 Grandma's up there who took such great care of everyone. As always, we would fall apart without you. I will be thinking about this year's memories until next year when we can all make some more. (P.S. I am already reserving a s'more for next year since I missed them this year!)

Oh those breathtaking Missouri views......

The number one reason we love Missouri.....GRANDMA MARY!!!

This year we brought our friends Paul, Kerri, and Laney. This is Laney :)

They are best buddies!Oden looks like a true Missouri native!

If you have a freeze pop, you are Oden's best friend!Can I just borrow those glasses for a second cousin Matt??
Baby cousins on the Forth of July! So sweet!

This picture describes their personalities so well. Oden looks sneaky like he's planning a break for it, and Chaela is happy as an elf! Chaela rubbing Oden's head for good luck!

I miss you Laney, WAKE UP!!! LOL!

Our family out on the dock

This is the yard and the dock at the house that is rented. Amazing.

Oden learned how to pick flowers and loved giving them to everyone!