Madden: 6-7 Months

Madden had a good 6 month doctor's appointment. His stats were 18 lbs-50th percentile and 27 3/4" long-90th percentile. It appears that he will be tall and skinny, like his daddy and brother. Since that appointment, the sixth month has gone downhill!

The day after his appointment. and vaccinations, Madden broke out in a crazy allergic reaction. The question, yet to be answered, is what exactly was/is he reacting to. 

This is what he looked like in Friday, the day after his appointment, when I got him up from his nap. I knew immediately that something was very wrong and got on the phone with his peditrician's office right away. We ended up in the ER. After getting in a room in the ER, his face broke out in hives and welts...it was sadly! They gave him a dose of steroids and Benadryl and sent us home a few hours later, after his reaction was under control.

He was fine on Saturday, but did break out again on Sunday, though on a much smaller scale. We caught it earlier that time and we're able to give him Benadryl to get it stopped.

Since that weekend, he has continued to react to something. This was the worst of it since that first and worst reaction...

After this particular reaction, I contacted his pediatrician again. I am a bit frustrated with this office because I called after the ER trip, on a Monday, to see if he needed to be seen, and was never called back. They may not have gotten my message because something got pushed in my phone. He was fine, so I didn't push it, especially since they may not have even gotten the message.  When it happened again, I made another call and I know this one was received and was not returned, so I messaged the doctor directly. She wanted him to have blood work done to test for allergies. I called the next day to get the lab order requested and was called back very quickly and told they had to ask the doctor one thing, to clarify which work up needed to be done, before it could be written. The nurse said she thought it would be completed the following day, which was Thursday. I called that day and no one called back. Again, no call on Friday. It's now Sunday and who knows if I will get a call tomorrow, one of their busiest days. I am beyond frustrated, to say the least. 

I completely understand that the flu, RSV, bronchitis, etc. are ramped and they are super busy. I also get that there are crazy people that call with questions that are silly, and some questions, I'm sure, are just a complete waste of their time, but I'm not one of those moms. I have a legitimate concern about a seemingly healthy baby boy who has had 10+ allergic reactions to something, without anything new being added/changed to his environment, since November 22nd. 

Since staying at home 1.5 years ago, Mary Kate has had two sick visits and Mills has had none. Madden's sick visits have been to the ER, both after hours/weekends.  I LOVE our peditrician and trust her completely. I have had no problems in the nearly 5 years my children have been patients there and have recommend this practice to countless people. I would never think of changing, and do NOT want to bad mouth her practice/business, but I do wish that these issues would be resolved. I am anxiously awaiting the chance to have Madden tested so I can find out some results and also to have them so that I can take them to the allergist appointment in January, just as I did with Mills. Please pray we find some answers!

Aside from the continuous reactions, Madden had RSV. He got sick on Thanksgiving day, his first Thanksgiving, but he remained pretty happy. He had almost a week of breathing treatments, suctioning, and lots of snuggles with mommy. Fortunately, he did well with it overall, and seems to have moved passed it. 

In other news, Madden is now sitting very well and loves to play. He cut his first tooth, bottom left, at 6.5 months...no more toothless grin. He also loves it when we brush that little tooth of his. 

He is now eating solids and seems to enjoy it. We skipped cereal and went straight to veggies. He's had sweet potatoes, butternut squash, green beans, sweet peas, carrots, and fruits bananas and apples.   

I introduce each food for at least three days before starting another. I am once again making my own baby food, this time with a baby bullet. I love being able to choose which foods I make, as well as the combinations in which I feed them.  

The 6th month was a challenging one, but I am prayerful that the 7th month will be a great one! 

Update:

We received a call this morning, Monday morning, asking if we still wanted to do the allergy testing. I told the nurse that we absolutely did. Apparently, the order was ready on Thursday, as was originally told to us, and they just thought we would we knew to come pick it up. I left a message asking about this, but I guess it got lost in the shuffle. Oh well, at least we got the order and had blood drawn. Madden was a champ! He didn't even flinch when they stuck the needle in his arm. He just smiled and flirted with those girls! We are hoping to get the results for this food allergy panel in 48 hours. I'm not convinced it's a food allergy, but this is a place to start ruling things out. We shall see...

Painting Our Kitchen Cabinets!

After years of talking and thinking about it, we are finally giving much of the house a face lift by painting walls, trim, doors, cabinets, and updating all of the fixtures from brass to brushed nickle. This is all made possible by my parents, who are providing the vast majority of the paints and materials, as our Christmas present, as well as doing a great deal of painting themselves.  Thanks mom and dad!

The one room in the house that needed the most work is the kitchen.  The walls look awful, with their shade of builder's grade beige, and the cabinets are dirty showing their age! I decided that painting the cabinets, and updating the hardware, would go a long to way making the kitchen look newer and more updated, especially given the fact that our appliances do not match and our countertop is an ugly shade of hunter green.

The process itself made me nervous and caused me to research everything I could find about painting cabinets.  There are so many different blogs (I'm now adding to that list) and DIY websites to peruse, that it can be overwhelming.  Rest assured that I have done my research, talked with guys at Sherwin Williams, and now completed the task.  What I will share is not an expert opinion/advice, but from this DIY diva's own experience.

I took off one of the cabinet doors and took it to Sherwin Williams to ensure that I was buying the correct paint and products. Our cabinets were painted in a latex semi-gloss paint.  This information was crucial to the success. Below, I have made a list of supplies that you will need if you would like to conquer your kitchen, as well as the many questions that I had about what products to use and how to use them. Make sure that you set yourself up a work area with sawhorses, old towels, a tarp, newspaper, or whatever else you choose to make less of a mess and allow for easier cleanup.  I also used paint cans to prop up the many doors and drawers.

Materials Needed

1. Saw Horses/Work Area
2. Sander Deglosser and Splash-Free Safety Goggles
3. Sandpaper-a variety of grits for different tasks. (electric hand sander for big sanding jobs)
4. Paint-Oil or Latex, whichever you prefer. (Latex dries faster, but Oil will hold up better.  I used latex)
5. Caulk
6. Paint Brush
7. 
   

Q&A

• Do I need to sand?  Not necessarily.  I first cleaned the cabinets to ensure that no food residue was present. I then used a product called sander deglosser. I wiped down all of the cabinet doors, as well as the cabinets themselves, with this product.  It will take the gloss off of the cabinets and allow the new paint to stick, without actually having to sand.  Our cabinets were brushed, as opposed to sprayed, and there were drip marks, so I used small pieces of sand paper to smooth out the drip marks on the sides.  I also used the electric hand sander to sand down parts of the doors that had rolled up, due to water damage, as well as to remove the marks left by the hardware,  I only had to do this for about three doors and two drawers in the entire kitchen.  

                                       

This is the type of sandpaper I used when I needed to rough-up areas. I used a 320 grit when I just need to smooth less noticeable areas.

• Do I need to caulk? Yes! Our cabinets had many places where the caulk was cracking, or completely gone Caulking gives everything a smooth finish, with no crack, and can be painted over.  Do this before you paint.

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• What kind of paint do I need? I chose to use a latex paint and it is best to use either semi-gloss or gloss.  Gloss will give the most shine.  I bought gloss, and it looks nice, but I had intended to buy semi-gloss.  The gloss is not obnoxious, but it is definitely brighter than the semi-gloss.  

                                                        

•  What do I use to paint the cabinets and cabinet doors? I read, was told, and tried a variety of methods for painting the cabinets and doors and, after trial and error, found the best and easiest way to do this. *Disclaimer-spraying the cabinets and doors will give the best and most professional finish.* I bought foam rollers and a purdy (really nice) brush and did not like the results. The high density foam rollers left air bubbles and the really nice brush left too many brush strokes. I happened to read, after trying the previous to methods, about using foam brushes...yes, the same one you can get in the craft section at Walmart. I actually bough an economy of 12 brushes, I believe, in the paint section at Walmart. They come in a variety of sizes, three of which are pictured below, and are super cheap. These are what I ended up using! They worked wonderfully and left very minimal strokes.                                              

                                        

      

•  Do I need to buy new hinges? I decided against buying new hinges and instead spray painted what I already had.  It worked well and turned out great!  And, best of all, this one can of spray paint cost less than $4 and is all I needed for every hinge and screw in the entire kitchen. 

                                              

• How do I cleanup and paint spill? If you are using latex paint, acetone is what you will need.  Oil-based paint requires paint thinner/mineral spirits.  I used latex paint, so this is what I used.  It was easy to use and took off the paint on the floors with no problem. MAKE SURE TO WEAR SPLASH-FREE SAFETY GOGGLES...I know from experience the burning that will ensure if you do not!

                                  

My Process

Figuring out the best way to paint the doors/drawers, reattach the hinges, add new handles, and rehang the doors/drawers took lots of trial and error.  I first painted the backs of the doors.  I painted two coats of paint of the front and back of each door, and allowed at least 3-4 hours dry time.  Even though they were good and dried when I flipped them over to paint the front, they still stuck to the sawhorses and paint cans, causing me to have to re-sand and re-paint them...ugh!  So, I wised up and found a better way to do this!

For the next set of doors, I painted the back side with two coats, again allowing 3-4 hours dry time between coats, and then reattached the hinges and hung the doors back on the cabinets.  I left the doors open and carefully painted the front sides after attaching. I left the doors open overnight to ensure that the painted was nice and hard before I closed the doors.  While this did create more of a mess in the kitchen, it kept the doors from sticking to the sawhorses or paint cans.  I'm sure that there is a better way to achieve this goal of now sticking, but this is what worked foe me!

After now conquering this task of painting our kitchen cabinets, I can say that I am so glad that I did it!  It is not for the faint of heart, and is quite time consuming (I would say a solid week from start to finish, because of having to allow everything to dry) , but it gives a great and updated look to a kitchen for the fraction of the cost of purchasing new doors, or new cabinets all together. 

                         

                           

One side of the kitchen completed.

Old Stats on Mills to Compare to Madden

Birth: 7lbs 4oz 20" long

Two Weeks: 8lb 6.5oz 21.5" long

4 Months:  15lbs 9oz 26.5" long

7 Months (because he was sick at 6 months):  17lbs 15.5oz 28.75"

1 Year:  21lbs 11.5oz 32.25"long

18 Months: 25lbs 10oz 32.25" long

2 Years:  29 lbs 2oz  37.25" long

Mary Kate's Show and Tell

This week at school, Mary Kate is the "super kid" in her class. As "super kid," she has to provide snacks for everyone for the week, gets to sit at a special table and pick people to sit with her at snack and lunch time, and gets to bring in something for show and tell. He had talked for a while about bringing in a lion purse she got at the zoo last year, but earlier this week decided tht she wanted to take Madden instead! So, after verifying with her teachers that it was ok to bring him in, I agreed.

Mary Kate held Madden and talked to her class about him. He was so good!! She began by introducing him as Madden Harris Mad-Dawgs Madden Cleveland. She then told her friends that he likes to spit-up and poop out of his diaper. She said her favorite thing to do with him is to play with him and make him laugh. She told her friends that she like to help give him a bath and wash his hair. But, my favorite part, was this....she told them that mommy went to the hospital with Madden in her belly and that Aunt Kay Kay got him out of mommy's belly!!! She also said that when he cries mommy feeds him baby milk, and of course she pointed to her chest to show her friends where it comes from...the teachers and I were cracking up!!

I love that she wanted to bring him on and show him off! It ended perfectly by me explaining that Mary Kate loves to make him laugh. After saying this, I turned him to face her and, when she started talking to him, he cracked up! Such sweet and funny memories are these!

Mills Swinging

I was literally pushing Mills on the swing yesterday, and as I look out the window today, he is swinging himself. Wow! He is growing up so fast!

Mills and Mary Kate love to play on their play set and now they can swing side-by-side. Sweet memories!!

Madden: Month 5

Five months have passed already. It's hard to believe that it's already been five months since we were blessed with our baby boy! Today Madden is five whole months old. He is now rolling both ways, is working on sitting up, loves to bounce on laps and in his exersaucer, eats every 3-3.5 hours....just can't quite get him to drop that 6th feeding yet, and sleeps 10-11 hours at night. He wears size 3 diapers and size 6-9 month clothes. He is so happy and such a joy! We are so blessed to have him and pray that he continues to be a happy and healthy boy! 

Rolling...The Other Direction!

Today, October 3rd, Madden was finally able to flip himself from his back to his stomach. He first did this on our bed. He kept arching his back and throwing that leg over. Once his did it that first time, I put him on the floor and he did it twice more. He's so proud of himself, but not yet confident to flip the other direction, which he's been doing for a while now. Yay Madden!

Baby Food

It's getting to that time...time for making baby food that is. Tonight I made sweet potatoes as a side for our dinner. I bought a bag of seven. When I went to cook them, I decided that I would cook them all and blend up the rest for Madden. I think I'm going to attempt to make food this way, instead of doing huge batches, and see what I think. 

I used my new-to-me baby bullet and loved it! This is what three small sweet potatoes, with enough water to make t smooth and close to stage 1 like, yielded.

 I also found another benefit to trying the process of making the food this way...

Reintroducing Mary Kate and Mills to foods that they once loved and will not eat at this time. I am thinking we will begin feeding Madden food in 4-6 weeks.

Madden: Month 4

Time continues to fly by. Madden is now four months old and is such a joy! He loves for his brother and sister to play with him, is so close to rolling back to stomach, and can hold his feet and stick them in his mouth. He is finishing up the size two diapers we have and is moving up to size three...at least two months sooner than his siblings. He nurses every three to three and a half hours and sleeps ten hours at night. Madden is so happy and is just the best baby!!!

At his appointment yesterday, he weighed 16lbs 13oz and was 27" long. That means he has gained 2lbs 7.5oz and grown lengthwise 2" in two months. What a chunky monkey, but more to love on!!!

Remembering Pa

Today, September 18, 2013, I lost Pa. I have known this day was near for the last  couple of months, but particularly the last couple of weeks. My heart breaks at the thought of not being with him here on earth, but I do take solace in the fact that we will one day meet again in heaven. 

Pa was a quite, gental man with a servant's heart. I am thankful that my children had the privilege of knowing him, albeit for a short few years that they may not remember that well. 

Tomorrow, Madden and I will make the trio to Willmington, NC to lay him to rest. I'm sure that it will be a difficult and emotional weekend, but am hoping that it will be filled with great memories of him as well. 

He's a Monkey

Madden has a new trick. He now loves to lay on his back and hold both of his feet. It makes it way easier to clean him up after he's pooped, hahaha! It also is allowing him to get super close to rolling back to stomach. Such a little monkey!

Rolling Over!

Today, 9/5/13 and at nearly 17 weeks, Madden finally decided it was it was time to flip that big body over! Tonight, as we played in the bonus room with Mary Kate and Mills, we heard Madden's angel monitor go off. When I went to check on him, I noticed that he had spun himself around to lay on the short side of his crib. So I slid him back and, when I did, he got really excited. In fact, he got so excited that he put his left arm under his body and rolled, to the left, all the way onto his back. He was so proud of himself that he had a huge toothless smile on his face. I flipped him back onto his stomach and he did it again. It was so neat that I was able to see him do this for the first time! 

I took him into the bonus room to try and get him to show off for his siblings, but he just wanted to talk to him. We did let him show off his developing skills in the Johnny Jump Up though. It's crazy how fast time is flying with this precious boy!

Mills Goes to Preschool

I am so thankful for the opportunity for Mills to attend 3 year old preschool three days a week this year! He enjoys learning and being around others, so this is a great chance for him to get used to being in a school environment.

He was so excited to get to go to school.  He started the day after Mary Kate, so he was ready for mommy paparazzi to come out, hahaha!

Look how big he looks here!

Both kids together on Mills' first day of school.

 Daddy got to go to school on Mills' first day and walked both kids in...how sweet!

 Best picture I could get of him under his class sign.

 All unpacked.

We were asked to write one thing that our child likes to talk about in case they had a difficult time leaving us their parents. 

His teachers this year are Mrs. Michelle and Mrs. Shelly and he goes Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Mills really loves being able to learn and play with friends new and old. Like Mary Kate, he loves the playground and music with mommy! Hopefully he will continue to enjoy me teaching him...and hopefully he will learn to sit still!

Mills is one of the youngest, if not the youngest, students in his class, but he's taller than several of the kids who are nearly a year older than him! I think he gets his height from me, hahahaha! I'm afraid his age relative to his grade level, at this point, is highlighting some of the growing pains we are feeling with the transition into a school environment.  Mills is smart and gets very excited, at times, and has a difficult time following directions.  He is just young and has a lot of maturing to do. I am thankful for patient teachers who are loving him through this transition into school! The goal will be for him to get more happy faces than sad faces each week and I think by the end of the first quarter he will be right on track.

We are so proud of him and cannot wait to see how much he grows in many arenas this year!

Mary Kate Starts Pre-K

Even writing this almost four weeks into Mary Kate being in school makes me tear up.  It does not seem like it is time for my baby girl to be in school!  Spending last school year home with her was priceless and I am so thankful for the opportunity, which God provided when I never would have thought it possible!

We went to orientation on Friday, August 2nd and Mary Kate could not wait to see her meet her teachers and see her classroom.  We were excited as well and surprised in the anti-climatic reaction shown when we actually met the teachers and saw the classroom.  I think she was a bit overwhelmed because there were so many people down that hallway!

Monday morning, August 5th, was her first day of Pre-K at First Baptist Academy.  Here teachers are Mrs. Elizabeth and Mrs. Terri.  We went through our now daily ritual of getting ready and then the paparazzi in me came out!  I was armed with my camera for her to hold up her sign, which will be an annual thing, to tell about her grade, school, teacher(s), and what she wants to be when she grows up...The later one is hysterical this year!

 When Mary Kate put on that book-bag for the first time, she was so proud! This is when I really had to fight back the tears.  She looks so big and she really thinks she is grown!

 The picture below is courtesy of Mills. Not too shabby.

 Here she is outside of her classroom, underneath her class sign.

 Here is Mrs. Terri showing Mary Kate her cubby and helping her unpack.  She was so proud.

 The finished product...she did everything all by herself.

Mary Kate hugged and kissed me and was excited, but slightly apprehensive.  After we said our goodbyes, I stepped outside to watch her and make sure she was ok.  She was told to go find a center to play in and went straight to the kitchen and grabbed the vacuum...daddy would be so proud of her!  She was smiling and seemed oh so happy.  I was happy to see her so excited, but I was overcome with the emotion of it all.  I was able to make it back to the van before the tears began to flow.  I was proud of myself for not crying in front of her.  So, as a reward to myself, I stopped by Dunkin Donuts and got a french vanilla cappuccino...decaf of course.

Words cannot express how proud we are of Mary Kate.  She is beautiful, smart, caring, and compassionate and is absolutely loving and thriving in school. Two days into school, she was already writing her name, and doing so with confidence and ease.  She loves going to the library and her favorite, of course, is taking music with mommy...even though she has only had one class with me so far.  I cannot wait to see what all this first year of school has in store for her.  I know that she will continue to grow and thrive and am so thankful for a wonderful place for her to attend as we begin this new chapter in our lives!  

Mills' Three Year Check-up

With another birthday comes another check-up, and it was a good one.  Today, Mills went in for his three year well child check-up.  He was 35.8 lbs-80th percentile and 41.5"-100th percentile.  He has gone through a pretty big growth spurt since last year, growing 3 inches. No wonder everything is so short on him!

He saw Dr. Street and was great while she checked him out.  She talked about how smart he is and listened to questions I had about his activity level.  She reassured me that Mills is young and intelligent and that he will continue to mature with each month.  I am so thankful for a great pediatricians at this practice!  At the end of the appointment, Dr. Street gave Mills a Chuck and Friends truck book, which he already loves!  Our boy just keeps getting bigger and bigger.

Mills Turns Three!

I cannot believe that our Lil' Man is three already! It is amazing to me how fast the years fly by!

This year we decided against a big party, for both Mary Kate and Mills, and opted for an opportunity to make a memory. David came up with the great idea of riding an Amtrak train from Atlanta to Toccoa for that experience and Mills was excited about it! 

Friday evening, August 2nd, my parents drive Mills, Mary Kate, and David to the train station in Atlanta. I was not able to ride because I needed to get the van to Toccoa and to feed Madden and I hated I couldn't go, but it would have been a lot on Madden at 2 1/2 months. David was brave to take on this challenge by himself! 

The kids asked tons of questions and were excited about getting on the train. It was running about 30 and their patience was pretty thin. Mills immediately begun talking to a random and rough looking passenger, who kindly conversed with him. Probably the funniest exchange was when the train left the station and Mills told this man they were moving. David tried to get Mills to leave him alone, but he told David, "No! I'm talking to him." Hahaha! They did well overall, but were tired when the train finally arrived in Toccoa at 10:30. Mills was greeted there by Mommy and Madden, Gege and Papa, Nana and Randaddy, and Ana, Evan, Katee, and Brandon. He was so excited to see everyone. What an experience!

The next evening, we had cake and a few presents from family at my grandmother's house. The "party" was capped off with a little playtime on my aunt and uncle's porch...they live next to my grandmother.

Here is a family picture taken at his family party. I am so glad we started this tradition of making sweet memories. Happy Birthday Mills! We love you!!!

Madden Months 1-3

My original plan was to write a monthly update on our sweet boy...fast forward three months later and I'm jut now writing it. Life had been a bit crazy around here lately! 

Madden went to the dr for a checkup at three weeks. He got a great report! He stats were 9lbs 13 oz and 22" long. That means three weeks from birth he gained 1lb 13 oz an grew lengthwise 3". That must be some pretty thick baby milk he's getting!!  At this point, Madden was eating every 2 1/2 hours an was sleeping about 4 hours at night. At 6 weeks, Madden started smiling and what a sweet smile it is!

At two months, Madden went in for his next checkup and his first set of shots. Again he got a great report. Dr. Miller said he was very advanced with his ability to track people/things and his skill at this was more like a four month old...that's my boy! His stats were 14lbs 5.5oz and 25" long. At this point, he was eating every 2 1/2-3 hours and was sleeping around 6 hours at night. At eight weeks, Madden started laughing. Hearing him laugh makes us all laugh!

Now, at three months, Madden continues to thrive! He eats every 3-3 1/2 hours and sleeps 8 1/2-9 hours at night. He can lay on his stomach with his head lifted and kick like crazy! He also has started grabbing his feet. And, who could forget, that he loves his brother and sister and likes to be sung to.

What a difference just three months makes in size. We are so blessed with a sweet and loving baby boy!