We Have A Tooth!

Finally after 10 1/2 months we have our first tooth. As with everything about this cutie, it hasn't fazed him at all. No fuss, no muss. Now I can add foods to his food experiences.
We have also learned two new words this week. Ay-ee for Bailey and I-I for night, night. We are also walking without holding on for 4 or 5 steps then letting ourselves down gently. He actually walked around me from one side of the toy box to the other. As I've said many times we are so blessed to have this sweet baby in our lives. I thank God everyday for blessing our lives with Connor Reid! These first 10 1/2 months have flown by and we look forward to many more months to come.

Shopping, Basketball, and Sulphur Springs

Friday night Bailey went to spend the night with her Aunt Tamara. She really enjoys her time with her Aunts. So Greg and the boys and I headed to Grapevine Mills to eat some dinner and do some pre-Spring shopping. Jack got to have some ice cream for having a great week at school and mommy got some early spring shopping done for all three kids. Connor was just along for the ride. More and more we realize how lucky we truly are. Connor is such a happy, content baby. He smiles at everyone and laughs all the time. He was dog tired by the time we got home at 9:30 but still smiling until we dropped him into the bed.
Saturday morning started early. Aunt Gretchen picked Connor up at 7:30 and took him to Sulphur Springs. The rest of us were going to head up after Jack's basketball tournament. Since we only had Jack, Greg and I took him to breakfast. It was so fun to spend time with our oldest and really talk about school and friends with no interruptions. Greg and Jack then headed up to watch Garrison play basketball. Jack enjoyed cheering him on. That afternoon Jack had a game. Only 5 players showed up! Greg is his coach and we get really frustrated because no one calls when they are not going to be there. It made for a long game for those 5 tough boys. Needless to say, they lost, but the effort of those boys was amazing. Jack is so much fun to watch. He scored all the points his team made!!! He hustles and is in the other teams face the whole time. I really believe we may have found THAT SPORT. The one he is suppose to play. He loves everything he plays but is really gifted in basketball.
Mimi, Papa, Tamara, Emma, and Terry came to watch him and he was so proud!
Thanks guys for making him feel so special.
As soon as the game was over we headed out to Memaw's and G-Dads. I had missed my Connor all day and couldn't wait to see him. We had a great time as always and the kids enjoy time with Memaw so much. Greg is off Monday and he and Bailey and Connor stayed until Monday night. Jack and mommy headed back this afternoon. It was fun and strange to only have one child. One of the reasons for the trip other than playing with Memaw was for Greg and his dad to build a big media, playroom shelving unit for our playroom. I have been wanting this for a year now. Patience is not my strong suit, just ask Greg! I will post a pic when it is done. I can't wait.
Ok, back to Jack and mommy time. We had a fun ride home. Jack is usually so quiet because he can't get a word in with Bailey around. So it was fun to listen to him talk about sports, school, all the cities we passed, all the signs we passed, what he wanted to eat, friends, and many other things. I don't think we have talked that much in years. After we got home we had to watch the NBA All Star Game. He was hooting and hollering for Dirk and Josh Howard. He is already learning trash talk. He is yelling at the TV "You can't catch us now" "No one will beat the West" "Go... Dirrrrrk..." I loved our time together tonight Jack.

Sunshine School Parties

What a cute group of 5 year olds! My class has been such a source of enjoyment for me this year. They are truly bright, funny kids. They enjoy everything we learn and do. Here they are posing after the Valentine Party. These are my only two girls! It doesn't bother them a bit to be the only girls. They fit right in. I think the boys are a little protective of them.

Bailey also had her Valentine Party and really enjoyed frosting and decorating heart cookies. She loves her teacher and all her friends at Sunshine School. I can't believe I will have two kids in school next year. She is not suppose to be that big! I am so glad Jack will be at school with her to look after her. She is not as adventurous or laid back as her big brother so I worry much more about her starting Kindergarten than I did "Happy" Jack.

My Sweethearts!

We had a really great Valentines this year. First, Greg being healthier was such a blessing that it made the day even more special. Sometimes we take our health for granted, well, never again in this house!

The day started out with Daddy going to the donut shop for heart shaped donuts! The kids loved them. Especially Connor! We also got a few for Jack's teacher, who we all love so much. She has been such a wonderful blessing in Jack's life this year. After breakfast Jack and daddy headed out to school and work. Bailey, Connor and I spent the morning playing and doing some light cleaning. After lunch my dad, PaPa, come over to keep the two kids so I could go do my room mother thing at Jack's Valentine Party. Jack's party went great. First Graders love parties and balloons!!!

After school, the kids sat at the table and made homemade Valentines for their daddy and some other special people. They had a blast and were very creative.

When Connor got up from his nap we went to Target and shopped for our special Valentines for daddy. Bailey and I decided to spruce up the table a little. We got new place mats and put flowers in the center. We got daddy a new book we thought he would enjoy. It is about the assassination of Abe Lincoln. Jack is really into Presidents right now so he picked it out. Then we headed home to cook our special red and heart meal. We had a chicken pot pie with a heart sliced on top. We had cherry jello, and yummy strawberries. That was all the red I could come up with. Daddy felt very special that night! And the kids had a blast getting it all ready for him!

The next night was Mommy's night! Greg took me to dinner Thursday night. Just us. Aunt Tamara came over to keep the kids. They love their Aunt "Hammerhead"!!!

Thanks Tamara for keeping them.

Sports and more sports!

Today was Jack's last regular season Basketball game. I made sure I went because I stayed home with Connor and Bailey last week and he had his best game ever. He called me on the way home and was so excited that I felt horrible for missing it.
Today he played great but they lost. He and his daddy have really enjoyed this time together. They have grown even closer and found more in common than they thought they had. I love to watch Greg light up when Jack pulls up and shoots a basket! He actually gushes about Jack's play. Today Jack stole a ball mid air and ran it back, pulled up at the free throw line and sunk a basket!!! It was all net, as the men said. The smile on Jack's face was priceless.
After the game we went to Mr. Gatti's for a pizza party with the team. It was fun to sit around and visit with the other mom's and dad's we don't see very often.
I know people who say you shouldn't put your kids in so many sports when they are so young and we shouldn't be so busy. My humble opinion is that my children, especially Jack loves to play sports and we do not ever force them to play. We as a family really enjoy that time together watching them play. We do stick to the one sport at a time rule and that keeps the craziness to a minimum. The only time it is tough is when soccer and t-ball overlap for one weekend. Then we have 4 games all on one Saturday. But, come on, it is one weekend a year.
Greg had also coached soccer and basketball and is considering coaching Jack in T-ball this summer. It is fun for him to spend that time with the kids. I think it is a fun thing our family can do together. Connor has been at some sort of game since he was a week old!
So, now that Basketball is ending, Soccer is beginning. Both play Soccer and Greg is Bailey's coach. She is the only girl again, we were hoping this year there would be at least one more girl.
It doesn't bother her as long as her favorite guy is out there with her. DADDY!

Sweetheart Carnival and Valentines

Friday night we (minus Baby Connor) headed up to Jack's school for the Annual Sweetheart Carnival. We ate chicken and played games, and one of us got our nails painted and jumped in bounce houses! The kids ate cotton candy, popcorn and snowcones! The kids loved it! The parents tolerated it! Then I did my short stint of work in the Crazy Hat Room. The Carnival is fun but it is so cold every year that I wish they could do it either earlier in the Fall or later in the Spring. After the Carnival we went to buy the kids Valentines. They actually both picked out the same ones this year! Saturday morning they sat at the table and filled them all out and put the tattoo in them and sealed them closed all by themselves! Self- sufficient kids are great!

On the health front,
Greg is feeling better all the time. He is trying to adjust to a new lifestyle. He is eating healthier and resting when he can. The kids are loving having daddy play so much with them again! On one of the really nice days this week he took all three out front with him and played basketball and watched them ride bikes. It made me cry because two short weeks ago he couldn't have even picked up a basketball.
Connor has his very first ear infection! He was not sleeping and leaning to one side all the time so Greg took him to the Doctor and yes we had infection! I feel very blessed that this is his first one. Bailey had so many by 10 months that she was getting her tubes in.
Bailey is healthy as a horse! She is the one person in this family that I really don't worry about.
Jack for now is fairly healthy. He continues to have drainage that I am positive is allergies.
And mommy, well I can't be sick, so I am not!

The Illness

This is the blog that I have put off for 2 months now. It started last year in early December. Greg started saying his ankles were bugging him and swelling. We thought at first that he had sprained his ankles at Jack's basketball game. Everyday they got worse until he hurt so bad he could barely walk by the end of a day. Finally, he decided it wasn't a sprain and went to his regular Doctor. I don't think his doctor knew what to think or thought it wasn't very serious. He did some bloodwork and sent him home. Well, everyday began to get worse and the swelling and pain spread from ankles to knees and on up. He also had a red rash like place around his lower legs. My first thought was Lymes! The rash had to mean something. So, his Doctor told him to go to our Dermatologist. Dr. Ray knew immediately what the rash was. He told him it was Erethma Nodosum. He could tell him what it was but not for sure how he got it. He said possibly he had walking pneumonia and that was how it started. So, he sent him for a chest x-ray to look at his lungs. When we got the results of the chest x-ray they decided to send him for a CT Scan to look more closely at his lungs. In the mean time the Doctor had run several more test and ruled many, many things out. No Lymes, mono, lupus, ect...
He went in for the CT Scan and it seemed like it took forever for the results to come back. Greg actually called his Doctors office to see if they knew anything and the nurse told Greg he had them but was getting a second opinion before calling him. That of course made us a little nervous. In the mean time Greg has gotten really bad and is in so much pain he can't hold the kids or be on his feet for very long. Every joint on his body was now in horrible pain. He comes home from work and goes to bed almost everyday. They did try one round of a medicine, a steroid I think, and he felt better and we thought this is it! But, once the steroid is cut back to a small dose the pain comes back even worse. So, the CT Scan finally comes in and when Greg calls me to tell me what he said I could tell he didn't really want to tell me everything. First, they are pretty sure he has something called Sarcoidosis. It is blah, blah, blah... Then he says "there is also a small chance and mind you it is a small chance they are pretty sure it is the other but a small chance..." And I'm saying just tell me!! "A chance it is Lymphoma". I don't remember anything else he said that night. I shut down for a while and needed time to process what they were telling us. I cried a little and called my mommy of course. After her pep talk I was ready to face it and deal with whatever God had in store for us. You see, I don't think God expected me to be totally alright immediately or to not ask some why questions. It is all a part of our human nature that he gave to us. I decided that night that I would keep it in check for my kids! I wanted them to know that even with daddy sick, life would go on as normally as possible. So, if I was going to cry or have a why me moment it would be when I was alone! I also decided that night that I would not play the what if game, we would not look things up or listen to people with horror stories. We would face whatever it turned out to be once we knew for sure what we were really dealing with. I didn't even think about the possibility of Lymphoma because we just simply didn't know for sure anything.
So, here we have this random illness, my perfectly healthy husband, and the next step.
We needed to have a biopsy as soon as possible to find out which of the two it was.
We went in that same week on Wednesday and saw two surgeons. One was a thoracic surgeon and one a pulmonoligist. The decision was for the thoracic surgeon to do the biopsy because of where the lymph nodes were located in his lungs. The biopsy itself was a little unnerving. We scheduled it for that same Friday. I think the fact that all this happened in one weeks time was scary. The biopsy was to gather a large amount of lymph nodes from the lungs because they were what looked suspicious to the radiologist. Ok, more background, the rash on the legs could have been caused by either of these diseases also. The enlarged lymph nodes also could be caused by both. So the only way to know for sure which it was, was to do a biopsy.
Friday morning early we checked into the hospital for the surgery. They did more bloodwork and a new chest x-ray. Then we sat in pre-op for a while and the surgeon and anesthesiologist came in to talk to us. They asked a lot more questions and then left a nurse to prepare him. I leaned into the doorway to hear what they were saying and overheard them both saying they felt really sure it was the Sarcoid! I hung onto that all during the surgery. I was told it would take an hour or an hour and a half. Two and a half hours later I was getting very nervous. I think mom, Kristen and Stephanie could tell I was beginning to get really upset. Just then the surgeon came out to tell me Greg looked great and the preliminary results were Sarcoid so they had pumped him full of steroids and pain meds. He told me he could tell that Greg was in horrible pain and they really wanted to give him some relief!
What we do know about Sarcoid is that it is an auto immune disease. It can affect any and several organs. Most people don't know that they have it. It affects mostly African Americans! Greg was only actually in a 3 % chance to have this. The organs it affects the most is the lungs. We wouldn't have known he had it if we didn't do a chest x-ray. It also caused the rash thing on his ankles and that rash thing causes joint pain. The Sarcoid also can affect your joints in a small amount of people. So basically, Greg got a double whammy of joint pain by having these two diseases. He is now on a steroid and we are beginning to deal with all the affects of the steroid he is taking. That is another blog, another time!
I am so grateful to God for taking care of all of us during this ordeal. I am also grateful to many friends and family for their kindness and support.
We know that we have a long road ahead of us but are ready to face it with each other and God beside us!