Travelin' Fool.

My son is a traveling fool.  He has been on 8 (no kidding) airplanes in his short life.  He proved to be a champ this weekend when he and I travelled to Texas to visit my family, not crying one time on either airplane ride!  And he was a pretty good boy while in Texas, if I do say so myself!!  He truly enjoyed getting full-on lovin' from his Grandma and Grandpa, idolized his cool Uncle Wesley, and chilled with his Aunt Hannah.  He swam in the pool, practiced walking holding only one hand, went to a high school football game, shopped and shopped, and got the worst diaper rash he's ever had.  Betcha didn't expect that last one!  Oh well, it happened. 

Keagan was incredibly loving towards everyone, but he pretty much thought Grandpa hung the moon. He hung out with Grandpa in the hangar and looked at airplanes, watched airplanes on the back porch with Grandpa, watched train videos with Grandpa, swam with Grandpa, played with Grandpa, and gave spontaneous hugs to Grandpa. The hugs part rarely happens for anyone. But like I said, in Keagan's eyes Grandpa hung the moon. It was absolutely the sweetest thing I have ever seen.

Airplane noises with Grandpa (this occurred allll weekend!)

Petting Hannah's pet turtle (this is either Turtle Dee or Turtle Dum.  Not sure) 

 Diaper rash Naked Day 

 Chilling with Aunt Hannah 

 Is there anything better than this??

 Pool Day....ahhhh wonderful! 

 Hangin' in the Hangar.  If you ask Keagan where the airplane is, he looks up.  So smart!

 Grandma and her Boy, but then Grandpa came along and, well, the second pic explains it all...

 At Hutto High School for their first football game (Hannah was too cool to hang with her family!)

 Keagan loves frozen yogurt. 

 And he loves Oreo cookies...while watching Grandpa's train videos! 

As far as the diaper rash, Keagan began having unexplained diarrhea while on our trip (and he continues to have diarrhea).  He seems to feel fine otherwise, mom and I theorized that it could be his teeth bothering him and causing the diarrhea.  Nevertheless, he obtained with w.o.r.s.t. diaper rash he has ever had.  Poor kid couldn't even sit on his bum it hurt so bad.  He would squeal and scream and grip my arms when I changed his diaper.  Soooo, Keagan spent most of Sunday morning naked on the back porch to let his bum air out.  This (in combo with multiple diapering ointments) seemed to be helping, but today when we arrived home the rash is in full force.  It looks so bad.  So, desperate times called for desperate measures:  cloth diapers.  Yep.  There, I said it.  I put cloth diapers on my kid tonight.  And I do mean, the old-fashioned burp cloth diapers, with safety pins.  I do not (repeat, do NOT) believe that cloth diapers are best (for me).  I have not jumped on that bandwagon, and nor will I ever.  But kudos to you mommies who do! After two changes (one urine, one diarrhea) I have decided cloth diapering is for the birds.  I don't have the energy or the lung capacity to hold my breath for cloth diaper changes.  BUT, tonight out of sheer desperation to let Keagan's bum "breathe" I put a cloth diaper around him.  It was cute.  It was disgusting.  I hope, however, that it helped.  Only time will tell.  But I think he loved the freedom!

UPDATE: My dear friend Stacey gave birth to Annie yesterday, at 2 days shy of 32 weeks gestation. Annie Lynn was born at 3:15 pm on 8/28/11 weighing 3 lbs 6 oz, 16.75 inches long. She is apparently a feisty little girl and is showing the nurses what a fighter she is. Annie came out screaming and has not looked back since, and is breathing room air. Hallelujah! She is in a level I NICU at Western Baptist Hospital (where I had Keagan) and is under billi lights for jaundice, but is doing great otherwise. Long story, short, Stacey ended up going to the hospital on Sunday morning for intense upper GI pain and they found she had a dangerous form of pre-eclampsia that warranted immediate delivery. Luckily, she didn't have to undergo a C-section and so she is recovering nicely. Stacey is pumping and has been able to provide Annie with some "liquid gold" and we all know the importance of Mommy's Milk in this scenario. Thank you to everyone who has asked about them and for your continued prayers as there is a bit of a road ahead of them. I ask that you pray for small, daily miracles to help Annie and Stacey and their new family get home as quickly as possible.  Here is a phone pic that she sent me last night.  She is a beautiful baby with a head full of hair!! I cannot wait to give her some "Auntie" Janine love! :)

Video Fun

Well.  I have had a lull in the blog post world.  Things have been kinda crazy 'round here in these here parts.  (that's my west-kentucky side coming out)  But some excitement is just 'round the corner.  Keagan and I area about to head to TX for him to hang out with grandma and grandpa (and his aunt and uncle, hopefully).  That means another plane ride (YIKES)...so I am certain to have good things to blog about next week!! 

In the meantime, here are some funny videos I took of Keagan this week. 





Update on Stacey:  she is home and doing well.  The "spots" were pockets of maternal blood on the placenta and her doctor is just going to watch her closely.  I don't know what this means, but I do know that it isn't as concerning as originally though.Thank you so much for the prayers.  I know she appreciates it and her being home is continued proof that God answers prayers.  Please continue to keep her on your hearts and pray that little Annie can "bake" for two more months so she can reach or get close to her due date of Oct 23rd. 

What Should've Been.

This past Saturday (yesterday) should've been one of my best friends' baby showers, put on by me and Tassie. Stacey is pregnant with a baby girl, Annie Lynn. Why "should've" you ask? Well, Stacey was admitted into the hospital on Thursday because the doctor saw "spots" on her placenta during an ultrasound. Said "spots" were considered potential blood clots and Stacey's OB didn't want to make the call regarding what they are and what treatment to pursue so she called a high-risk OB into the picture. Only problem is, the high-risk OB works in Louisville and only travels to "podunk" KY once a week (why we don't have a high-risk OB I am uncertain...seems kinda bass-akwards if you ask me. But no one asked me.). SOoooo, Stacey gets to "vacation" in the hospital until Tuesday or Wednesday of the next week when the high-risk OB makes her much anticipated arrival. (I am sure Stacey is loving the vacation.  Not.)  They are monitoring the baby closely until then. Thus, no baby shower this weekend, and with everything going on probably no baby shower period. We were all extremely saddened by this; we put a lot of work into this and were so incredibly excited about showering our friend as she welcomes baby Annie to this world. But, such is life I suppose, and there are now bigger fish to fry than worrying about a baby shower. So the "cancelling" of the shower began in conjunction with prayers for Stacey and Annie. Then, Tassie and I got the brilliant idea to take what we had done for the shower and bring it to Stacey so she at least wouldn't miss out. Afterall, we had all the stuff ready! A mini-shower, of sorts. So, this is just what we did!!  We brought our gifts to her, some of the decorations that were suitable for a hospital room, cupcakes, and cookies!  And we surrounded her with pink :)  I think she enjoyed it even if the 40+ people who were originally invited to come to the shower couldn't be there. 

I feel certain Stacey isn't thrilled about my taking of pictures (particularly her in her hospital gown, etc), but I think this is a special time in her life and I really wanted to document it.  She is down an emotional road right now and the way she has handled the last several days has made her particularly beautiful to me.  She has had her moments of fear and frustration, has shed many a tear, but she has kept in good spirits.  She is a woman of God and knows that He is taking care of her and baby Annie.  Stacey, I am proud of you. 

For anyone reading this, I simply ask that you say a prayer for Stacey and Annie, and the doctors that are taking care of them.  Pray for strength, wisdom, and healing.  Pray for longevity for Stacey's pregnancy and health for Annie.  I know the power of prayer works.

Stick a Fork in it.

Here's something funny.  Hope it makes you laugh like it did me! 

Keagan is learning what to do with eating utensils.  He isn't very good at using a fork.  He really wants to try and use it, but it gets kinda dangerous.  Trust me, he isn't left unsupervised with a giant fork.  He gets incredibly mad and has hurt feelings when I take it away from him.  But we are learning.  I snapped this pic the other day and then cracked up.  Who doesn't get cross-eyed when something yummy is on the end of your fork?

Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay - Day 8

Day 8.  The last full day in San Francisco.  Another full day in the city...have to make the most of the time left!

It began with breakfast and a little bit of walking around the Marina District area.  Then we decided to take a little drive to Treasure Island.  Sounds lovely, doesn't it!?  Who wouldn't want to go visit an island named Treasure Island?  From the little research I had done and talking to my aunt, Treasure Island was the place to be.  The place to go and have a picnic, go wine tasting at the local Treasure Island wineries, and take fantastic pictures of the big city.  Again, who wouldn't want to go there?  We had planned on going to Sonoma County and going wine tasting there, but when we heard about Treasure Island, we decided to spend the day there and scope out all the treasures on this tiny island right in the bay.

But BOY were we disappointed. Treasure Island had NOTHING of what we expected. In fact, as we drove around Treasure Island (took all of about 7 minutes) we locked our doors and averted our gazes of random wandering people. It was frightening. What we expected to be lavish and posh was actually an old abandoned Navy base with old barracks and rundown buildings. In retrospect, I learned that the barracks are to help get homeless back on their feet and for those recovering from drug and alcohol addictions. Maybe recovering, but I am certain that we saw a drug deal going down as we drove around the island.  We kept driving, thinking that surely we would turn the corner and there would be the magnificent portion of Treasure Island. Nope. Never found it. (We should have talked to "natives" and looked more on the internet before getting our hopes up...)Well, OK, I shouldn't totally write off the island, the views of San Francisco and Alcatraz were pretty phenomenal (this is why my aunt sent me out this way). But it was all we could do to hurry and take pics then get back to the safety of our vehicle!

After leaving Treasure Island we drove around the city and I thought this picture was pretty neat.  The hills are awesome and this view of Alcatraz sitting in the bay as we were going down this hill was pretty neat! 

Next Stop:  Coit Tower.  I think this tower was built for a girl who liked Fire Fighters a whole lot.  Don't know the whole story.  I just know you could get the best views from the top...so that's where we went!

From the tower, we could see Lombard Street:  the Crookedest Street in the World!  Pretty neat view, huh?

From there we decided to do lunch in Little Italy.  Little Italy isn't nearly as big as Chinatown, but who doesn't love authentic Italian food that doesn't require a trip to Italy?  After lunch we had gelato!  MY FAVORITE!!!  Mine was white chocolate + raspberry and dark chocolate.  Keagan thoroughly enjoyed sharing with me. 

Cathedral of Saint Peter and Paul.  Absolutely stunning!

And finally, the Golden Gate Bridge (during the day!).  You can't go to San Francisco and not see the Golden Gate Bridge.  So, we went....the pictures at night were taken from the north point of the bridge, these were taken from the south point.  Every time I see this bridge it makes me stop in my tracks.  It really is incredible and something I think everyone should see in their lifetime.  As alwayss, it was foggy but we could see the bridge in its entirety.  Apparently this is rare; it is more common to only visualize half of it. 

Some Golden Gate Bridge history...if you care to read it! 

Alrighty, then...my California Vacation blog is complete.  The next day was only a travel day, and probably the most stressful travel day we have ever had.  Keagan was over it.  Need I say more?  This is a day I hope to forget so I will not blog about it!  Hahaha...but we made it home safe and sound and that's all that matters.