Family day

The boys enjoy the games at Chuck E. Cheese!

Today we had family day. I took the whole day off of work since my surgery is on Monday. We decided it would be fun to do something fun with the boys since they will be in for big changes come Monday. I had my final dr appt today and afterwards we headed to Chuck E. Cheese for some pizza and games. The boys had a blast! They played every game, I believe! They won their own tickets and got to pick out a prize at the end. Even Brandon and I got in on the fun and played a little ourselves. :) I'm glad we were able to take time out today and make it a little about them. I'm sure the baby will get lots of attention when he arrives on Monday and we wanted the two older ones to have a day with just mom and dad.

We all had a wonderful time together and feel extremely blessed by these two wonderful little boys. At the same time we are looking very forward to meeting our third precious little boy on Monday! :)

10 days and counting!

Wow! I can hardly believe we are only 10 days (or less!) away from meeting our newest, precious, little boy! It just doesn't seem real to me.

I had a dr visit yesterday and everything was great. I had even lost two pounds. Guess that's what happens when you live on a diet of sprite, crackers and chicken noodle soup! We've all had the stomach bug around our house. Lawson was the only one who seems to have escaped it completely. The rest of us, although to different degrees, have had it in some shape or form. Luckily, we are all better!

I feel that this next week will fly by. We have a whole lot planned that should take the focus off of the wait. Monday Lawson starts his new pre-school. Monday through Wednesday will also be spent registering our new students at Freed and handing out their technology.

If all works out well, I'll plan to work through Thursday and have Friday off. I'll have my last dr visit that morning and would like to do something fun with the boys that afternoon like take them to Chuck E. Cheese. Not sure if all will work out, but for now, that's what we're shooting for. Next Saturday will begin Lawson's soccer season so I'm looking forward to seeing at least one game before being out of commission for a while.

So, I'm going to try to sit back (as much as the week will allow) and enjoy these last days of my last pregnancy. As ready as I am to meet this little guy I know there are aspects of this part that I will miss in the coming years. Please keep our family in your prayers as we all prepare for this new life that we are about to take on. Please keep my upcoming surgery in your prayers as well that both Rhett and I will be healthy and recovery will go smoothly. :)

My 2nd 29th :)

So, today was a mile stone for me, I guess. I've made it to thirty. Funny I don't feel 30. But, it has its advantages. One of my favorite summer treats is "Sin Pie". I'm not sure what anyone else calls it but our family has called it this for as long as I can remember. I guess because it is sinfully delicious! :) When mom asked me what kind of cake I wanted I told her sin pie. She grunted and told me how non-easy it is to make and didn't really want to make it. However, I played my cards while I could telling her that it WAS my 30th birthday, not to mention my being pregnant! She gave in and made this delicious treat! I thoroughly enjoyed it! Thanks so much mom for taking the extra time!
We went to Logan's to eat this afternoon. I love the bread and salad. Yum!

The boys helped put the candles in the pie and then helped me blow them out. They were so sweet!

Me and my boys.

All in all my day was pretty good. Lots of calls and Facebook messages. However, on the way to Logan's Jagger got sick. We hoped he just had gotten a little car sick but he has thrown up for most of the afternoon. I don't think he's kept anything down since lunch time. I guess he's got a virus. :( My day would have been much better had my baby been able to enjoy it with me. I hate he has been sick and hope this passes very soon.

Tooth Fairy!

Well, as it turns out, the tooth-fairy thought Jagger was especially deserving for being so brave and brought him a five dollar bill for his two front teeth. He was so excited about his money. He was so proud of himself as he told us he was going to give it all to God! :)

Jag and his 5 dollar bill.

Our new (but temporary) smile! :)

Well, here's our new look. I must say it's the cutest snaggle-toothed kid I've ever seen--not to mention the bravest!

We made our trip to the dentist today and as expected, that tooth had to come out. But, a little unexpectedly, the other front tooth had to come out as well. We were a little disappointed but glad that we could get it over with on the same day rather than putting him through this twice. I just cannot say how good he has been through this whole ordeal. We had to give him meds before taking him this morning so he was groggy all morning long. At one point as we were waiting to be called back he leaned up, eyes half open, and said, "I love this place!" We got pretty tickled. He never shed a tear all day long! The dentist and nurses couldn't get over how good he was and to only be 2 1/2! I am a very proud mom!

He's done great and doesn't seem to be hurting at all. He's still groggy from the medicine, mostly laying around but has still had the appetite to have a hotdog and some rice. Drinking is proving to be a little more difficult for him but we're making it.
The dentist's office even sent us home with his two teeth and special tooth fairy envelope. Sorry if the picture is a little too graphic for you. I tried to keep it to a minimum. Hopefully the tooth-fairy will pay sweet Jag a visit tonight, although we're not exactly sure the tooth-fairy knows the going rate for prematurely extracted baby teeth! :)

We'll be going back to the dentist in 4-6 weeks to have him fitted for false teeth. Both dentist and nurses strongly encouraged the false teeth since both had to be pulled and speech is still developing at this age. Jagger tended to talk with a bit of a lisp anyway and both said it would only get worse with no teeth there. So our cute little toothless smile is only temporary. Anyway, just wanted to send a quick update on our little guy and let everyone know he's done great. (Mom and dad did ok, too!) :)

Soccer

Well, soccer is in full swing for us at the Young house. Lawson has practices every Monday and Thursday night. Games will begin on August 16 for us. We've found that our greatest challenge is sometimes keeping Lawson out on the field and Jagger off the field! Jagger wants to be out there so badly, but I have to say, makes a GREAT cheering section for his big brother!
Lawson kicks the ball in the net as they all warm up at practice.
On Monday night Lawson had a rather large cheering section. Some of his best friends who are on another team were up for practice immediately following ours.

I've been pleased with Lawson's progress. He is much more timid than I ever thought he would be out on the field. We try to teach him a good balance of competitiveness and good sportsmanship. Man, parenting boys is hard! :) I think the more he plays the more he's enjoying it though and was glad to see him getting the ball to the correct end of the field this week! :)

Our weeks sure are full with all that we have going on. We plan to take Jagger back to the dentist tomorrow to most likely have that tooth pulled. Please keep him in your thoughts. I don't think he'll have any problems so it may be more appropriate to keep ME in your thoughts! Ha. Luckily I'll have Brandon with me so that will help a great deal. I'll try to update tomorrow to let everyone know what we find out and how our Jag is doing.

A BIG ouchie!

Well, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall last night. Everyone tells me that with boys I can get used to multiple injuries; however, I just don't think this would be something I could ever get used to. 

Here's the story:

Every night before we go to bed we have clean-up time. The boys are supposed to pick up their toys and I usually try to tidy up everywhere else while they are working on that. Last night mom and I were in the kitchen while the boys picked up toys in the living room. The next thing I knew Jagger was headed toward the kitchen crying with bloody mouth. The first thing I thought was "hold it together, Arika!" I'll have to say that I did pretty well, at least for that minute. I tried to get him cleaned up enough to tell what had happened but just couldn't see for all the blood. Lawson said he saw him fall and that he had fallen into the fireplace. Now anyone that knows me knows that I live in fear of that stone hearth anyway. I'm always fearful that one of my kids is going to fall into it, knowing in the back of my mind that it is just inevitable.

So, as it turns out, Jagger hit the stone with his upper gums which happened to knock his teeth loose. I spent a good deal of time on the phone with various people including a retired hometown dentist, a good friend's mom (for advice on who to call), the ER, a pediatrician and trying to reach a pedodontist (pediatric dentist). We were finally advised that a trip to the ER was probably not necessary as we would spend hours waiting and they wouldn't be able to do anything for his teeth anyway. I left a message with the pediatric dentist for them to call me since the pediatrician thought he needed x-rays to make sure nothing was permanently or severely damaged. Once all the phone calls were made, the bleeding stopped and Jagger was dozing in mom's lap I finally fell apart. I felt so bad that he was hurt and that I hadn't been able to stop it. Now I know, logically, in my own mind that you can't watch your kids every second of every day; however convincing a hormonal basket case ready to give birth any minute seems to be a different issue at hand!

I got a call back from the dentist first thing this morning and they worked us right in. Jagger was very apprehensive about going letting us know that he was scared. We tried to make it as positive as possible. When we got there he was a completely different child--not scared at all! I tell you, I know he's mine and I'm somewhat (ok, a lot) biased but he was PERFECT at the dentist. He was such a big boy. He went back with the nurse for her to take x-rays (without me!) and never whined or complained a bit. When it was time for him to get in the exam chair, he climbed right up (again, without me) like he had done it a million times. He let the doctor examine him and never fussed a bit. I had always hoped to get pictures of their first time to the dentist but I just didn't have it in me to take pictures of such a traumatic event (even if it was more traumatic for me than it seemed to be for Jagger). 

So, now the outcome: His upper gums suffered the brunt of the fall which caused his upper left front tooth to be knocked down and VERY loose. We have a week to see if it will tighten up on it's own but have been warned that is very unlikely. He can't bite into anything and can only have soft things to eat. Trying to keep him from jumping or hitting his mouth, injuring it further is proving to be very difficult! As active as he is, he is still full steam ahead and this little injury hasn't slowed him down ANY. If the tooth is still just as loose next Wednesday when we are scheduled to go back they will have to pull the tooth and he will be snaggle-toothed for a little longer than he would have been otherwise. The good news, though, there is no permanent damage and no damage to the permanent tooth buds that are developing now. So, although very unpleasant, not a bad report.

The picture above is his new smile. It doesn't look so bad as you can't see the gums which is where most of the damage is. He's a little swollen and that front tooth hangs down a lot farther than the other teeth but he's still smiling. Gotta love him! As his pappy tells him often, he's as tough as a week in jail!