Caroline was released from the hospital on Monday. She has been doing really well since starting on the medication for ulcerative colitis. She is going to visit with a doctor that I found for her that is very qualified in dealing with this condition and has a good reputaion throughout the country.
Poppy has been relinquished of all his duties and is heading home today. He waited until Liam woke up this morning gave him a kiss and told him bye and got on the rode. He might decide to turn around and go back to the 75 degree weather.
Jon didn't get the job again. There will be more out tomorrow. He is however working around the clock over around the boot hill and probably wont be home all weekend. We were supposed to go out for our anniversary dinner this weekend. I guess Bubba and I will have a romantical dinner together.

New edition at Don & Betsy's. This is Leeland, he's Shelby's new baby.

Way cuter than Jonny Depp.

First big fight.

Silence! I kill you!

Grandma, Aunt Angela, Trevin, and Shelby came for a visit.

How he woke up Saturday morning. We don't get him out of bed until 6am. He was up by about 5:30 talking to who ever was listening. Jon and I lay in bed busting up laughing.

Spitting

Really spitting. He even made his chin look like another part of his body. Brooke it made me think about the Family Guy.

The 5 minute ride home from Betsy's sure is tiring or maybe sleep is the only way to escape Mommy's awful rendition of sing along car ride songs. He is Mommy's precious angel.

Here are some updates
1. Jon didn't get the job that he bid on but nor did anyone else. They re posted the job and he bid on it again. We will know something next Monday. I would go into details about it but unless you are somehow connected to the railroad way of life you wouldn't understand. Patience is a virtue.
2. Caroline had another colonoscopy because she took a turn for the worse again. They diagnosed her with ulcerative colitis. They are trying a new medicine that seems to be working. I researched and found her a colo/rectal Dr. that is known across the country for his work. She is going to get in with him soon.
3. Cox South Daycare called Friday to tell me I was at the top of the list. I told them thanks but no thanks.

What happens after smoking to much hippie lettuce.

By the looks of this picture Ketron and Millie have got into some hippie lettuce and smoked it all.

Ketron and Chicco. He's a boy even though he has a gay purple sweater on. Maybe he is just metro.

I realized I needed to send a shout out to the Lee Family. Betsy was my saving grace 4 months ago. I got on the list for Cox Souths daycare the day I found out I was pregnant. That was Dec.6Th 2007. Come Aug. 2008 when Ketron was born I called to find out what number I was on the list. I was around 30 something. Then in September I called back and I was 20 something. I told them I was going back to work in Oct. and they told me they had just moved several kids up to the next age group and all the infants were a long way from walking. Now it is Jan and I'm still 13 out.
2 weeks before I went back to work I interviewed a babysitter who I did not have a good feeling about. I felt like I was settling because I had no other options. That is not something a mom of a three month old who is getting ready to leave for the first time wants to feel. I spent the last few weeks of maternity leave with an awful feeling in the pit of my stomach. The Friday before I went back to work I had an emotional breakdown. I started crying and didn't stop until I fell asleep. I was emotionally drained. I was ready to just quit work. Then Jon said how about Betsy. Her and her husband Don are friends of ours who live in Willard. They have been our saviors more than once. The week Jon and I signed the papers on our new house Jon got sent to Alabama for work. We had to get a fence built in the back yard for Kaycee and Don came over on his day off and built the fence. Then I called Betsy to see if she was interested in keeping Ketron. She said yeah no problem she had just quit a job and was free. She has watched several kids in the past. Amen. The nauseous feeling left immediately. I don't think we could ever possible repay them. Ketron loves them so much.
Ketron stays with Betsy at her house just him and her Monday-Thursday. Could a full time working Mom fall into a better situation. I just asked Betsy last week after much contemplation if she was interested in watching Ketron indefinitely. She said yes. I don't think I could bare the emotional stress on Ketron and I, moving him to the daycare after all this time. I am just going to wait until he is preschool age and get him in part time for preschool. I can not tell you how much time out of my day is consumed by wondering, worrying, planing out Ketrons life. Maybe thats why I feel like I have lost my mind in every other aspect. There is nothing left after the portion Ketron takes up. Just today I was wondering if the elementary's have microwaves available for the kids to use because I could pack Ketron a much better lunch if he had access to a microwave. Is that normal?

This is Cameron. Don & Betsy's youngest. Ketron thinks he is the best because Cameron is always running around like a maniac. Ketron loves to watch him.

This is Betsy. No she doesn't have a 1980's pulled back bangs poof going on. That is a shadow. Thank you Betsy you are our knight in shining armour.

This is Millie Ketron's "little" dog friend. She is so sweet and gentle as all great danes are.

This is Shelby. The oldest. As you can tell by the picture Ketron hates her. LOL

Last but not least Becka. Becka loves kids. She is usually playing with him when I pick him up.

Pictures from this morning right before I left for work and left the boys fending for themselves. Daddy isn't nearly as sleepy as he might appear. I think I caught him on a blink. I didn't want to delete it though because Bubba's face is so darn cute and hes all anyone is paying attention to anyways. The boys have a big day today Angie the parents as teachers lady is coming at noon.

Daddy tickling ribs.

This is a picture of Bubbas new thing. Sucking on his bottom lip. Just what I need in the extremely dry cold winter. Hopefully it is just a short phase. It makes for a very cute face though.

Meme is doing a good job filling in for Grandpa while he is in Houston taking care of Liam. Caroline has been in the hospital since Jan. 1st. Right after Liam was born she started having trouble with her colon, actually she was having trouble even before he was born. I think the doctors were wanting to use her pregnancy as an excuse. Postpartum she started bleeding and had some hemorrhoids. One doctor quickly and probably unnecessarily performed surgery on her to remove the hemorrhoids. Apparently from what I have heard this should be a last resort because of the extreme pain and increased risk of infection. Whether Caroline had colitis before the surgery or the surgery caused it we don't know but after the surgery she wasn't getting any better. She would go back to the doctor telling the doctor how bad she was still bleeding and how bad she was hurting. They kept telling her that it was going to take time. Finally Caroline insisted on having a colonoscopy even though the doctor didn't want to do it because they claimed the hemorrhoid surgery hadent healed enough. They found through the colonoscopy that she had a very severe case of colitis. They put her on steroids. After a week or so of being on steroids she wasn't getting any better. Brent took her to the ER on Jan. 1st were she was admitted for severe anemia. No kidding she had been bleeding for 4 months. This was the first time they did blood work. They ended up having to put a central line in because her veins had deteriorated so much. She had 3 blood transfusions and is on IV steroids. She is doing better know and will hopefully be released tomorrow. During all of this my Dad had to go to Houston to take care of Liam because my brother had spent three months off and used all of his time off. Brent works offshore on oil rigs for a week at a time. If my dad could get some kind of grandpa of the year award he is definitely deserving. He has been taking care of Liam 24/7 since the week before Christmas. Maybe I should write into Ellen. Its amazing what a person can do when they are thrown into a situation and have no other choice but to make it work. My Mom was a stay at home mom so she took care of us for the most part. So my Dad who loves kids wasn't necessarily an expert at taking care of a baby full time. As I told Jon when we had Ketron. Just because I am the Mom doesnt mean that I automatically know how to handle caring for Ketron's every need. I told him that we could learn together. That's something nice about my generation with both parents working full time. The mom and dad both get in there and are sharing duties equally so that there is no excuses if something were to come up.

Kaycee with her ears perked up and salivating waiting patiently for me to fill up her treat ball. The treat ball is the best thing Kaycee has ever gotten. Its a green rubbery ball that has a hole at each end. I fill it up with small dog bones and she rolls it around the house working the treats out. Sometimes I will notice her sitting in front of the basket that has her toys in it starring waiting for me to get it out.

Kissable cheeks. When I was pregnant Jon and I would lay in bed at night wondering what Ketron was going to look like, what he was going to get from Jon or I. The one sure thing we talked about was his eyes being brown. That's why I don't gamble.

Amber a girl I work with said when she saw this picture "That's Connie and a miniature Don."

This is the reaction I get when I act like a gorilla.

Ketron had a milestone this week. He is forming terds now not just mush. On Monday when I went to pick him up from Betsy's she said it rolled around in the diaper it was so perfect. I'm sure everyone will be pleased that there is no photo to go along with this milestone.

This weekend Ketron started to smile and bust up laughing whenever Kaycee walked by him. I'm not really sure what it is about her that is so hilarious. Maybe its her tongue hanging out. He laughs at me when I stick my tongue out at him so maybe he thinks Kaycee is doing the same. These are some of the first glimpses of actual contact between Kaycee and Ketron. He was fascinated with her. It is amazing to see the look on his face. Looking through his eyes seeing his little mind processing a totally new experience.

Working on rolling over from back to stomach. That's the enticing gadget I use to lure him over. Meme got it for him for his 6 month birthday. I'm pretty sure he could roll all over the place if he wanted to but he doesn't seem to interested. Betsy his babysitter says he will move from one end of her living room to the other just by wiggling.

6 month car seat picture.

Happy 6 Month Birthday Bubba! 1-5-09
I cant believe how fast it has gone by. This time last year it seemed like it was dragging. I was sick at my stomach all day and struggling to keep my eyes open. I couldn't wait for the ultrasound to get here so I could find out what I was having. Now I am trying very hard to live in the moment so I can make it last as long as possible and it is flying by. Jon and I love being parents. We are very content with Ketron occupying all of our time. Hopefully Jon will get a job closer to home so he wont have to miss out on 4 days out of the week. Currently he gets up at 2:15 in the morning on Mondays and drives to St.Louis for work and doesn't get home until 9pm on Thursday. We've got our fingers crossed that he gets a Springfield signal shop job that he bid on this week. That means home every night. That would be such a relief. Currently during the work week Ketron and I get home a little before 5pm. I feed him. Try to get Kaycee fed and give her a little bit of loving. Then I repack bags get everything rewashed. Try to get myself a bite to eat. Interact and play with Ketron. Give him a bath at 7 and then feed him and put him to bed at 7:30-8. Mostly I just feel guilty for leaving him to entertain himself while I'm trying to do everything else. There is a reason it takes two people to make a baby because it makes it much easier to raise one. We will know by the first of next week whether or not Jon got the job.. Fortunately Jon has Fridays off, him and Ketron spend the day together catching up.
His little personality is really starting to come out. He has attitude. He doesn't like being confined to his car seat and will spend the whole ride grunting and straining trying to break loose.
He loves eating his rice cereal. He gobbles it up. We started carrots this week and even though we get funny faces he eats two spoon fulls. I am still breastfeeding and so far haven't had a desire to quit. I would like to go 9 months. We also introduced a sippy cup with water in it. We are trying to make him hold onto it correctly. We have to tip it up for him because he doesn't yet get that he has to tip the cup up and in order to do that he must move his arms. I'm sure in another month he will have it down pat. Currently his favorite thing is his exersaucer. Since he has learned to jump and bounce in it he know wants to jump and bounce while I'm trying to burp him. He also really likes blowing spit bubbles. We go through 5 bibs a day, probably double that if I was obsessed with changing them.

Growth Record
Birth 5lb 7oz 17 1/2 inches
3 Days 4lb 14oz
2 Weeks 5lb 7oz 19 inches
2 Months 10lb 13oz 22 1/4 inches
4 Months 14lb 8oz 25 inches
6 Months 16lb 5oz 26 inches
He wears size 3 diapers and 3/6 month, some 6 month clothes. Size 1 shoes.

Finally a must have baby item that is actully getting some use. The swing and vibrator chair went virtually unused. It is so cute to see him in this thing. He has learned to jump. It is hillarious. He has aslo figured out how to spin around to get to all the stuff. His favorite is the piano. Thats what he jumps to.

First drink from a sippy cup. Not sure that he even gets any water out. We have to help him tip it up then he trys to drink. Mostly he is just playing with it. I'm sure it wont be long before he gets the hang of it.