{Jack Ready for Christmas & Sitting Up}

Jack started sitting up about 2 weeks ago and hasn't looked back. He will sit and play on the floor with toys and is much more interactive now. We enjoy him so much. We wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Very Healthy and Happy 2010!

{One Long Month}

So I have been really bad about blogging this month....Jack is 6 months old already...WOW where has the time gone. Back to the past month....It involved lots of Dr. visits and 2 trips to the ER. First, Jack had his "little boy" surgery on November 19, in Peoria at the Children's Hospital. Everything went well with the surgery and it only took about 20 minutes. What a long 40 minutes or so waiting and watching the computer screen to see where Jack was in the surgery process. After wards "Dr. R" came down and said everything went well. I went up to see Jack and nurse him since he wasn't able to eat after 4 am and it was about 9 am. He was a hungry boy. We were moved through the stages of recovery and everything was going well...David left around 1030 to head back to Bloomington for a meeting. They wouldn't let us leave until Jack went to the bathroom, which was finally around 1230 pm. On the way home I was thinking I was so glad that was over and I couldn't even image ever having a sick child and having to go through that all the time. It just makes your heart ache for them. Everything was good until Friday morning. David changed Jack's diaper about 7 am and then left for work around 8 am. Jack starting getting really fussy around 8 am so, I thought maybe he need some ice in his diaper to help with the swelling...Gotta that ready and picked him up and felt that his diaper was really full....I opened it to find bright.....bright red blood everywhere....Runny down his legs...I called David and told him to get home ASAP. I then called the surgeons office and talked to the nurse. I don't think she understood at the beginning how bad he was bleeding....She keep asking me was it blood in the urine and I kept saying NO...He is actively bleeding....David got home and we put Jack in his carseat with only a diaper on....Rushed him to St. Joseph hospital which was a mistake...We should have just gone to Peoria, but we didn't know...That was our first lesson learned. The Emergency Room in Bloomington is not set up to treat babies....They finally got the bleeding stopped and Jack was very very pale and his lips were a little blue. I was talking to Jack's Dr. throughout the whole thing and he was also talking with the ER Dr. and Jack's surgeon....Jack's HG got down to 8.2. Which is low, but not low enough to do a blood transfusion. We were released from the ER around 2 PM, with an appt. to go see Jack's Dr. in the morning. Saturday morning we took Jack to see the Dr. on call in the office...He has been practicing for over 20 years....He looked at Jack and said I am sending you to the ER at the Children's Hospital in Peoria right now. He called the surgeon and explained that he needed to see Jack ASAP. We got to the ER in Peoria and they were ready for us....They are prepared for little ones. They have a Children's ER, which was very nice. Jack's surgeon came down and checked him out...He said Jack had a hematoma, a collection of blood outside a blood vessel. There was a lot of swelling and bruising, which he said would go away in about 2-3 weeks...Which it did. We watched Jack every closely for the next few days, checking on him about every hour to make sure it hadn't starting bleeding again. He seems to be heeled now. We see the surgeon again on Monday, December 29. What an ordeal, something we will remember always and very scary at the time. We thank GOD that Jack is healed and should have no long term problems.

{Over the River and Through the Woods to Grandma's House We Go}

On Saturday, we went to visit my Dad's family. His mom....Grandma Milly and his brother Mark and his family. We had a lovely day and Jack was perfect. We had a great visit with Gran when we got there. She needed a few things done around the house, so my dad and I tried to tackle those...We got most of them done!

Then off to see Uncle Mark...He fell from his grain bin about a month ago and shattered his heel. So it has been very hard for him not to be able to help with the harvest. When we got there, we had managed to climb in the combine and was driving! It was great to see him and his family. We did get to witness a typical day on any farm when the grain wagon and the tractor got stuck in the field...Really wet! After some help from the nice long distant relatives (The Geisler Brothers) up the road they got the tractor moving again. Way to go Jacob!!!

We had a great visit with everyone. It was great to see Grandma and visit with her especially. Grand thanks for the delicious pie!!

{Prayers for David's Mom}

Please continue to keep David's mom in your thoughts and prayers. She is meeting with her surgeon tomorrow to determine whether or not to put her Port back in. I am sure they will. When I took her to Chemo last week, we found out that she will be continue with Chemo treatments every other week for the next 3 months and then they will do another scan. They are very concerned about the lymph nodes located under her chest plate. The have increased in size and can't be removed due to their location. Please continue to pray for Sue's miracle to happen....CANCER FREE

{Harvest Completed}

After a long and frustrating fall all of our corn and beans have been harvested! AMEN!! This was a very frustrating fall for many reasons....WEATHER, breakdowns, elevators closing early and a lot of other small things, but we managed to get through it all safe. David finished up the fall field work yesterday after a few very long days. Just in time for them to be putting down the fertilizer which was perfect. Leo still has some corn to harvest, but Dan was home this week and helped out....Which was really nice for David so that he could concentrate on his Edward Jones business and complete his field work. Thanks Dan! Hopefully, next year will be back to a more normal year!

P.S. Jack got to ride in the tractor with David and I...I forgot my camera so I don't have any pictures...He really enjoyed it though.

{Jack & Grandpa Jim Sleeping}

Dad was babysitting Jack and they both fell asleep. Mom snapped the picture and they didn't even wake up. What a great photo!

{Halloween - Jack O Lantern}

Our little man was a JACK - O - Lantern! Cheesy yes I know. But, super cute nonetheless. We took Jack to Gridley in the morning to spend time with David's parents. Then came home and handed out candy to some one the kids in our neighborhood. Jack seemed to like seeing all of the other children. We then took Jack to my Nana & Papa's for a surprise visit. They really enjoyed seeing him. Then it was off the Grandma D's and Grandpa J's. Grandma D is getting around much better after her knee replacement...Only using a cane now. They really enjoyed getting to see Jack as well. All in all a good Halloween! It could have only been better, if they could have gotten in the field. Praying for no more rain!!!