Are you there?

Hello friends!
Whew, that sure was a big hiatus wasn't it? A LOT has happened, so I'll try my best to catch you up! Makayla is now 8 and about to start 3rd grade. Um...yeah. Jackson is 4 and going into Pre-K! We bought a house out in Katy and absolutely love it! My brother and his wife Jen moved into our old house and did some major renovations and it looks awesome! Oh, and they had a baby boy in January of 2013, making me a first time Aunt!!! He is so precious and we just love him to death! He is now 18 months! I still work at Second on Sunday mornings and got a new job as a newborn photographer 8 months ago. I absolutely LOVE it! I'm at the hospital and get to see these precious little newborns and get to take beautiful photos for their family! I also have my own photography business, SMG Photography, that I started almost 2 years ago. We also got 2 sweet puppies (not really puppies anymore), Julie and Frodo! Don't worry, I'll post lots of pics! Well, that's ask I can think of right now, but I'm excited to get back into blogging! See you all soon!

Spring Break- Blessing or Curse?

Well, it's that time of year again.. Spring Break. At the beginning of March, I start getting really excited about it and thinking about all the time I will get to spend with my kids and all the fun things we will get to do. But then about half way through Spring Break, I find myself itching for it to be over! Not that I don't enjoy the time with kids, but with a very active 6 year old, it takes a LOT to entertain her!! 
We started off this years SB with a trip to Austin for a wedding, which was nice except for the weather. Rain, thunder, lightning... ugh! But the wedding was wonderful and we really enjoyed seeing our family. Luckily when we came home, the rain had passed and it has really only been overcast the last couple of days.  On Monday, I had heard that a guy we watch on tv was going to be at the Museum promoting his film on tornadoes and had his special Tornado Intercept Vehicle (TIV) out front for everyone to see! I was VERY excited about this!! So my mom and I took Makayla and she really enjoyed the whole experience. Although, I think she was a little disappointed that the dinosaurs were not real in the museum! Ha! Today is Tuesday and we went to the movies with a friend and her little girl and had a wonderful time! The girls are so cute together and were dancing at the end of the movie. So adorable! We are planning to go to the zoo on Friday, but other than that.. I've got nothing! Also, we do have to watch our money, I mean we are trying to move in May/June! I am hoping I can survive the next several days and keep Makayla entertained! If you have any fun (and cheap) ideas, please pass them along!! :-) 

Mothers of Boys

Ok, how do you do it? How in the world do Mother's of boys survive their childhood without having a heart attack or panic attacks at least once a day? I had such a moment today. Apparently we have these chili petin peppers growing in our backyard. If you don't already know, they are EXTREMELY hot, even more than jalepenos. Well Jackson decided they looked pretty tasty and decided to eat some tonight. When he started crying that horrible distressed cry, I immediately went into panic mode. It seems like when Jackson gets sick, it's always on the severe end, so I figured this was not going to end well. We washed out his mouth and gave him milk and bread to help absorb the oil from the pepper. Luckily after about 10 minutes, he stopped crying and trying to claw his tongue out, but his whole mouth area was splotchy and red. I now worried that maybe he was having an allergic reaction and his throat might close up. I quickly called poison control to see if a trip to the ER was necessary, but they assured me it was not. Sigh. My heart is still pounding 30 min. later. Lord, please let me live long enough to see my little guy grow up!!

Love is all you need?

I have a confession to make and it might upset some of you.. but for some of you parents, you might understand completely where I am coming from. I'll let you be the judge. 
Let me preface this by saying, I really do love my children more than words can say. I would do anything for them. Some days though.. this sentiment goes right out the window. Makayla is 5 1/2 and Jackson is almost 2, however these are not particularly fun ages. Makayla is in a defiant stage and likes to challenge almost every word that comes out of our mouths. She so desperately wants to be in charge of everything that she often just does things without asking and of course ends up in trouble. One example is that she wakes up before my alarm and instead of coming to my room like I've told her to do a million times, she will go into the kitchen and start eating whatever she can get her hands on. Now, if I could get her to make her own breakfast, this wouldn't be a problem, but she likes to go for the "off-limits" stuff. I like the kids to have milk in the morning, but she will go and get herself a big glass of juice, which again, she knows I don't like. When I ask her why she did it instead of asking me, she says, "Because I wanted it". UGH! It's like her personal mantra right now!! This doesn't just apply to food, it often applies to clothes, getting out too many toys, playing too rough with her brother etc. Here is where my confession comes in.. I always love Makayla, but sometimes I do not like her. Luckily, this feeling doesn't last long, just when I am super frustrated. 

Jackson is another story. He isn't defiant, but he's in a whiny stage. When he doesn't get his way, he whines. How can something so cute make a noise that obnoxious?! He loves to explore, which i don't mind, but when he gets into something I don't want him to and I redirect him, he just starts throwing a fit. He will stomp his feet or fall to the ground and starts whining and crying. Lucky for us, he doesn't do this that often, but when he does, it is definitely nerve-racking! 

Have you experience these moments with your children? Let me know one thing your child does that just makes you crazy!

Sprinkler + Kids = FUN!!!!

So Phil and I decided to replicate a fun summer toy we saw on a blog I visit a lot. It basically called for a few PVC pipes and assorted elbows and t-joints, some PVC cement, and well placed holes and voila! An awesome homemade "car wash" sprinkler! Since it was 104 today, we decided it would be a great time to test it out! I texted my neighbors and the fun ensued! Check out these super cute pictures! (First 4 were taken by my neighbor, Kiki)

Summer Craziness!

Well, we just finished up our week at VBS! What a great time we all had! Makayla absolutely LOVES VBS and I hope that stays with her for a long time. Jackson is still a little young, but getting out of the house and going to a room with lots of new toys is still lots of fun to a 16 mon. old!! 


Just a couple of new developments for you all...
Makayla lost both of her top front teeth and she already had the two teeth next to her bottom teeth gone for a while now, so she has a super cute smile! Our perfect little jack-o-lantern! She also just started a Gymnastics class and is loving that as well! She came home and promptly showed off her new skills of doing a cartwheel and doing a bridge! Yeah! 


Jackson is doing well and growing so big! I finally caved this past week and took him for his first big boy haircut!! He had the most beautiful curls, but his hair was just getting crazy out of control and now he looks like a little boy instead of a baby. Sniff... He also has 12 teeth!! Seriously, he looks so much older than he is with that mouth full of teeth! And boy does he have the appetite to go with them too!! He must be going through a growth spurt because he is constantly hungry! It doesn't matter if we have just fed him lunch or dinner, if he sees one of us with food, he comes right over and starts whining for some!! Lol! I foresee his teenage years of eating us out of house and home! 


I also started working again! Yeah! I work at my church in the Nursery! I LOVE it! It is a flexible schedule that is wonderful and I can take the kids with me whenever I want! We also just purchased our first car, a mini-van for me! A Honda Odysessy that I just LOVE!!! It has so much room and the kids love it as well!! 


Other than that, I am just busy keeping the kids entertained for the summer! I hope you all are doing well! Talk to you soon!

Pictures from this weekend!

Hey everyone!

This weekend was a special one as we attending a Surprise Retirement Party for our Uncle Kermit and Aunt Sandy! We had a great time and I just wanted to share the pics! Enjoy!

http://thegraffamily.shutterfly.com/

New Baby!

Bet I got you to do a double take on that one huh?? No, we are NOT having a baby.. but since Jackson got his tubes last week, it's like we have a whole new baby! He was one happy kid before, but now.. whoa! He's like 10 times as happy! He is just hilarious! It is crazy that a small plastic  tube can make such a big difference! He is crawling around like crazy and pulling up on EVERYTHING! He would love to try and walk, but is still too wobbly for that. We are excited that he is no longer in pain and will be healthy for Christmas! Yeah! 

Me, on the other hand, not so much. I have gotten ANOTHER bad sinus infection and my right ear is very messed up and not draining the fluid that has been in there for weeks now. My Dr. has me on some more heavy duty antibiotics and a steroid nose spray, so hopefully that will take care of the problem. I am very tired of these sinus/ear infections. We are praying that 2011 is a medical drama-free year for us!

Since it's so close to Christmas, I probably won't post again until after Sat. I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!
I will leave you with the kids trip to see Santa! Enjoy! 

Set for Tube City.. Dec. 14th!!

Hey friends,

Some of you have heard that Jackson has been having a lot of ear infections lately. 4 to be exact, since Sept and he’s been on 4  rounds of antibiotics and nothing has helped. My Ped. recommend that he get tubes, so we met with our ENT today. They had to do some tests to check him out and here is what they found:

~His eardrums are not moving at all (apparently they are supposed to move)

~He has some minor hearing loss in both ears (from all the fluid in there from  his current infection)

~The fluid in his ear is very cloudy/yellow and it’s pretty nasty in there

So the Dr. said tubes are definitely necessary and we need to do it as soon as possible. The surgery will last about 15 min. and they have to put Jackson under general anesthesia. We will then be in the post-op room for a couple of hours and then we will get to go home. He will have the tubes in for a year, and we will go in every 4-5 months for the Dr. to check on them. They usually take out the adenoids when they put in tubes, but he said Jackson was too small for him to do that now. As Jackson grows and gets bigger, so will his ears and the tubes may possible fall out in about a year, which is fine. However, there is a small chance that even with tubes, he may continue to have ear infections. If he keeps getting them, then he will have to have an additional set of tubes put in next year and then at that time, they will take out his adenoids. But if he doesn’t have any more infections, then that’s fine and the Dr. will just keep checking on him.

Sigh. So it’s just a lot to take in, but I know this will help him and he will start to feel better almost immediately. The surgery has been schedule for next Tues., Dec. 14^th at 6:30am. (We have to get there at 5:30am!! Yikes!!) A few weeks after the surgery, we will go back to the Dr. and they will retest his hearing and they said his hearing should be back to normal.

Please keep my little guy in your prayers and us too, as this is very nerve-racking. I just worry so much about my children and as parents we want nothing more than for them to be healthy and happy! Thank you all for the support, love and prayers! We are very hopeful that 2011 will be a year of less Dr. visits and no more medical drama!

Where we go from here

Hey friends,
 I mentioned in my last post that our house has been under a virus attack for the last several months. Poor Jackson has had 3 double ear infections since Sept. and we have seen our Pediatrician more times than I can count on 2 hands. As of a week ago, he had finished his last round of antibiotics, but he wasn't getting any better. He started crying again when we put him to bed, so I took him to the Dr. again this past week and guess what? He has yet ANOTHER double ear infection!!!! UGH!!! This is 4 if you are keeping count! The Dr. said his poor little ears looked horrible and said this was the last straw. He has exhausted all the oral medication he can prescribe, so he has to get an antibiotic shot every other day for 3 days. But the Dr. said we definitely needed to see an ENT to get tubes and referred us to one. I went and scheduled and appt. and we will be seeing him this next Tues. The nurses in that office said we should be scheduled for Jackson to get tubes in his ears before the end of the year. I know this surgery will definitely help him and he will feel so much better, but the Momma Bear in me is scared to death. I've heard from friends that this is a easy surgery, but it still terrifies me for him to have a surgical procedure. He has been through so much in his short little life and I just want him to be healthy and strong. 
Once we've met with the ENT, I will let you all know what the Dr. says and when the surgery will be. We would appreciate prayers and good thoughts as we deal with this! Thank you!