Good News From the Doctor

Mason had a doctor appointment yesterday for a follow-up on his ear infection. Much to mine and Phil's surprise, the doctor said there was no redness in his ears, but they checked for fluid and he did have a little. He extended Mason's antibiotics, SurPax, for another 2 weeks, hoping that this will take care of the remaining fluid. This was good news, considering the last three times we've been to the doctor they would say, "his ears are a mess." We'll be praying for this to finally clear up.

"Get It"

Last night was the first time I had given Mason his own utensil to eat with. He was so fun to watch. He would chase a green from one side of the tray to the other. Sometimes he would just give up and get it with his fingers. He did really good on his first attempt.

"Get it."

He makes this face all the time. You can't help but laugh.

Besides using a fork now, Mason is really trying to say "dog." It sounds more like "dough." He's also trying to copy me when I say "moooo." He's still taking a few steps every now and then without holding on to anything. He can walk pretty good beside me or Phil with holding on to one of our fingers. It's so sweet.

One another note, Mason is completely off the bottle and has been for 2 1/2 weeks now. He'll go to sleep just fine without it, so we decided it was a good time to just take it away. I'm so glad, because I don't have to wash bottles anymore!

An update: Mason's babysitter, Ella Mae, was discharged from the hospital last week. She's doing much better, but still has to come to the hospital to get IV antibiotics everyday. Last week, Phil kept Mason most of the time, but my Granny Rubert kept him last Thursday, and GranNanny kept him most of Friday. This week he is staying with a lady, Sandy Clark, who's not far from our house. We are not sure what we are going to do in the next couple of weeks. I had signed him up at Hospi-Tots when all this first happened with Ella Mae, because we didn't know how long it would be. At the time Hospi-Tots didn't have an opening in his age group, but they called me Monday and said once he turned a year old, they would have an opening in that age group. I'm torn between, "Is he ready to go to a daycare with other kids, or should he just continue to stay with a single caregiver?" I really think he would love to be with other kids, and plus this daycare is just across the street from me. Another thing is we wouldn't have to worry about his caregiver getting sick and not being able to keep him, because they have more then one caregiver there. Sorry to ramble on, but this has just been on my mind. Have a great week.

Fun at GranNanny's, Pap-Paw's & Uncle Dakota's

These pictures are from GranNanny's camera. Mason stayed the night with them this past Friday. I think they pretty much let him do what he wanted too, but that's what grandparents do, I guess.

Starting a New Journey

I have decided to take control of my health.

With the inspiration of All In Stride, I am going to try and follow an eight week program to becoming a "runner." The program is from the website, runnersworld.com. I know it will be hard to make the time, but I'm determined to DO IT. Not only do I need to do this for me, but for my family as well. Mason will be all over the place this summer, and I don't want to be out of breath the first five minutes we head outside to play.

I started my first day this morning, and I already feel good about this decision. I spent 30 minutes outside, walking 2 minutes then jogging 1 minute, then repeat. The program says repeat 10 times, but as out of shape as I am, I cut it down just a little. I will probably do Week 1, twice, just to build up my endurance. I will update on my progress at the end of every week. Wish me luck!

Mason Vs. Baby Powder

As I was posting on the blog yesterday, Mason was in his room making a mess. All I could do was grab my camera and laugh.

Look how he had perfect white dots in his hair. Too Cute.

This is the bottom shelf of his changing table.

Mason and The Girls...

I caught this picture when Phil pulled in the driveway. All three of them had to go see who it was.

It's almost like having triplets. Yeah, Right!

Our Saturday

Yesterday was pretty normal. Phil worked outside most of the day on our water line, while Mason and I played, cleaned, and he took a short nap.

When I started supper he had to have a snack, Goldfish. He now likes picking them out of a bowl, or in this case a measuring scoop. If he sees you getting something out of the refrigerator or the cabinet, he immediately wants something to eat.

On the last post, I mentioned Mason was on antibiotics again. I remember the doctor saying that these antibiotics were more concentrated and I really hoped they would not cause him to have diarrhea. Unfortunately, it did and his little bottom is beat red. Therefore, last night when Phil came in we put him in a little bit of water with some baking soda. I had heard and read this might help a diaper rash. We just put him in the sink to let him soak. Afterwards, we gave him a full bath.

After supper we played a little peek-a-boo or "Where did Mason go?" He loves playing this with daddy's hat.

"Where did Mason go?"

"There he is!"

Mr. Precious



I absolutely love Saturday and Sunday, just so I can spend all day with Mason and Phil (when Phil is not working.)

Can you believe he will be 11 months old tomorrow? Okay, seriously, time needs to slow down.

For an update on Mason's babysitter, Ella Mae, she was moved to a room yesterday and is doing really good. Although, she will be in the hospital for a couple more weeks, to make sure all of the meningitis is gone. Praise God.

The Power of Prayer!

We had a little bit of a scare yesterday after finding out that Ella Mae tested positive for Strep Meningitis and that is what had caused all of this to happen to her. As soon as I heard the word "meningitis" I pretty much panicked. I actually spoke with her doctor in CCU, to find out if I needed to take Mason to the doctor and have him checked for it as well. He didn't seemed concerned about Mason having it or the other two boys she kept. He said we could take him to the pediatrician just to be on the safe side. Then I got word from her family that it could have come from Mason's ear infection. So, I immediately Googled to see if there was a connection between an ear infection and meningitis, and from what I could find there is. I then got worried that all this had happened because she caught it from Mason. Basically, I was crying off and on since I found out she had it up until Phil and I took Mason to the doctor to see what needed to be done for him. (Phil left work for a little while then went back.) The doctor did not seem to be concerned with Mason having it or any chance that he could've given anything to Ella Mae. Although, he does still have an ear infection. She did prescribe more antibiotics and said if this round doesn't get rid of the infection we will have to see a ear, nose, & throat doctor and talk about getting tubes.

Long story short, when I talked to Ella Mae's son-in-law last night, she was still not responding to any of the family, but the doctors were positive the antibiotics would get the meningitis under control, then they would go in and look at her heart because they also believed she may have had a small heart attack. They can not look at her heart until the meningitis is okay. Her son-in-law also assured me, from talking to her doctors, that she did not get this from Mason. Really, I guess it doesn't matter how she got it, as long as she gets better and nobody else is at harm. Which I was reassured about that as well, that nobody who's had contact with her is in any danger of having it. (Great news.)

This is where the "Power of Prayer" title comes in. When Phil got off shift this morning, he came to the hospital to see the family. He walked in and spoke with her husband and was not expecting Ella Mae to even know him. To his surprise she spoke out, "Phil you didn't have to come down here." He said he about fell out. She is responding to the antibiotics and the family. Amen! This is wonderful news. Please keep praying for her.

P.S. Mason stayed with his Papa yesterday and his cousin Aiden. Then today he is with his Nana, who actually took off today just so she could keep him, but since she's a teacher and schools were called out she was off today anyway. Part of next week will be up in the air for whom Mason will stay with, but we have several options to go with.

Prayer Request

Mason's babysitter, Ella Mae Pylant, was taken to the emergency last night after she passed out at her home. The doctors are not sure if she has had a heart attack, stroke, aneurysm or what. They are leaning more so towards a stroke. Her daughter came in my office this morning shortly after I get here and informed me of all the latest news. She said Ella Mae does not recognize any of the family. I can not grasp this information because we just saw her at church last night and she looked and acted just fine. She also kept Mason and two other little boys yesterday and seemed to be doing great.

Her husband, Junior, just left my office and I could tell he is so worried. He couldn't hardly tell me anything without getting choked up. He said he and their daughter could talk to her and she will turn her head in the other direction. He hugged me twice and just asked that I pray for her.

So, I'm asking everybody who might read our blog to please pray for Ella Mae and her family. Thank you and God Bless.

An Evening of Playtime

We kept Justis and Huntleigh last Thursday evening until their mom and dad got home. All three of them had so much fun playing together. We also made them supper, mac-n-cheese, mashed potatoes, and a pork loin.

Phil and Justis played "monkey in the middle" with Huntleigh.

Mason thought they were hilarious.

Remember, there is only 6 months difference between Huntleigh and Mason, but looking at their height and size, you couldn't tell that.

Playing with a measuring bowl and a whisk.

I love this picture of all three of them.

This was the same evening Mason took his first couple of steps by himself. I didn't have the camera the first time, so here, Phil and I were trying to get him to do it again so we could get a picture, but he wouldn't do it for the camera.

Mason is doing so much these days. He's trying to talk, I think he said "dog" one day, or something very close. He's gotten much better at the sippy cup, although sometimes he still forgets to lift up his arms so he can actually get something out. We've been giving him whole milk since Christmas day, to see how he would react, since he's getting close to a year old. He likes it as much as the formula and his tummy seems to have no problems with it either. We gave him his last formula bottle today. Now we just have to break him from the bottle all together and go sippy cup full time, we'll give him a couple more weeks on that.

I know I say this all the time, but Phil and I couldn't be more in love with our little guy. He's so much fun. He loves for you to try and get him, he'll take off in the other direction squealing, trying to get away. I just love it. He can give "sugars" which is just too sweet. He also gives some of his stuffed animals "sugars."

HE DID IT!

Let me start by saying, on Wednesday evening Mason stood up without holding on to anything. He did this a couple of times before we left for church. Phil and I were so excited to see him to do this. As if that wasn't enough for one week, HE TOOK A COUPLE OF STEPS LAST NIGHT WITHOUT HOLDING ON TO ANYTHING. I actually thought Phil was going to collapse he was so thrilled. Mason was a little wobbly, but he just smiled afterwards. I think he knew he was doing something major. I don't have a picture of this, but wanted to share this exciting new milestone with everyone. Go Mason!

New Year's Eve

Phil had to work New Year's Eve, so Mason and I stayed at GranNanny and PapPaw's house. We had a few family and friends over to celebrate.




PapPaw trying to show everyone how it's done.


Uncle Mike, Heather, Aunt Edie

I think PapPaw just pushed Brent off the stool.

Gerald showing off his skills.

Surprisingly, I did not get any pictures of Mason, although he did make it till midnight. He went to sleep at 9:00, but woke up. I think he knew something was going on. He did go to sleep by 1:00 am.

Mason is feeling better, but now I have a cough and congestion that will not go away. I think Mason and I are just passing stuff back and forth.

Have a great weekend.