Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Jonathan turns *ONE*

A BIG happy FIRST birthday to the sweetest little nephew ever, Jonathan Michael Rusinko!!

This past Friday we headed up to D.C. for Jonathan's birthday party.  Now as I've mentioned.. my babies are turning into world class travelers.  We had to leave around 3pm Friday afternoon & got to D.C. around 10pm (with a few stops along the way).  Olivia & Jameson did so good on the trip.

Saturday was PARTY day.  Crystal & Jim had pretty much done everything, so we were just lazy around the house until the party started at 4pm.  It was a pool party/Mickey theme (Jonathan LOVES Mickey mouse).  Before the party, I was a little worried how Olivia would do.  Twice this year she had been afraid to go remotely close to a pool (last year she was the definition of a water baby).  But Brandon just pretty much put her in the pool & she was great, never showed fear once.  In fact, she started jumping in with anyone that would catch her.  And then she jumped once when no one was there to catch her (talk about scaring a momma, this was all in a kiddie pool, thank heavens).  She really wanted to go to the big pool for some reason, & Brandon took her once.  Then she liked it better where she could stand.  She was a little fish, I tell ya.

Jonathan was ADORABLE.  He was so comfortable with the water & was as pleasant as could be(especially since he was stubborn & did not take his afternoon nap, but you would have never known it).  He indulged in his fair share of pizza & Mickey cake.  & then the kiddos continued to swim the afternoon away.  The party was a big hit, makes me wish I had a summer baby myself (God only likes the month of April for me, especially the second/third week, Olivia's is the 10th, Jameson's the 15th).

We stayed Saturday night & headed back Sunday morning, again with no major meltdowns or anything in the 6 1/2 hour car ride.  Jonathan made it his first year, & we're excited to be with him through many many MANY more years.



We love you, Jonathan!!
Love, Tori, Brandon, Cousin Livi, & Baby Jameson


She looks so grown up in this picture


My own little handsome fella


Mommy & her little man
 
Miss Olivia ready to swim



Sisters <3


DELICIOUS birthday cake


Cute cake Crystal made for Jonathan


I think he likes it. :)


Little firefighter - like Uncle Mikey


He LOVES this thing


Presents galore!!


Who could not love that face?! :)


Birthday boy hanging by the pool


All his cousins checkin' out his loot


Livi & Jackson chattin' it up



A little help from Dad to get from one side to the other

Jonathan & his wonderful mommy


Daddy getting some kisses from his girl



Monday, June 27, 2011

Jameson - TWO MONTHS




Jameson turned 2 months old on June 15th.  Where has my little infant baby gone to?  He is so alert, laughing & cooing, & so active, but yet so content & an incredible sleeper.  He is absolutely the most perfect baby.

As any mom knows, the 2 month birthday brings a dreaded round of shots.  You may think it would be easier since I've already been through this once.. it never gets any easier.  He did so good though.  As soon as she took the last needle out, he immediately stopped crying, even before my arms reached him.

I tend to worry about what's sharing too much, but yet I promised that this would detail our life.. not just the good in our life.  My mom once told me when I was wary about public knowledge of something that to go ahead & tell who you want, that means more people praying for you.  I think about that a lot.  I know I'll always have the gossipers out there who are not going anywhere, but true Christians will pray for us.

Now, I'm sure you're wondering where I'm going with this.

Jameson weighed 6 pounds, 9 ounces at birth.  Before we left the hospital he weighed 6 pounds, 1 ounce (that is completely normal & actually the exact amount Olivia lost after birth).  At his 2 week check-up, he weighed in at 6 pounds, 13 ounces.. above his birth weight & gaining good weight.  No reason to worry, right?  So we didn't need to come back until our 2 month check-up.

Here we are, Monday morning, at our 2 month check-up.  Drum roll please... height 21 1/2, weight 7 pounds, 12 ounces.  WHAT?  The nurse didn't pay much attention at first & wrote it down.  I took Jameson back to the room explaining to Brandon how the nurse made a mistake, she must have read the scale wrong.  A minute later, the nurse comes in asking to weigh him again, that his weight was low.  I was relieved, we were going to get the right measurement down.  This time I made sure to pay attention to the scale.  Today's weight:  7 pounds, 12 ounces.  I saw it with my own eyes & my heart stopped.  We went back to the room, I explained to Brandon his weight & thoughts were just flooding my head as to why we weren't gaining like we should.  I knew I was breastfeeding, but when I pumped, I was pumping a good amount.  I had talked to Dr. Begley about his spitting up before (this kid couldn't keep anything down no matter what we tried), but since he was on good pace gaining weight early on, it didn't cause a problem.  Until now... now it was a problem.

It could have been several things which Dr. Begley listed a few.  But Jameson was so scarily off the growth chart (around 9 pounds, 0oz. is on the low end of the chart), we needed to know NOW.  We were sent for an ultrasound that afternoon.. that came back normal.  The next morning we had an upper GI test done (where you drink the dye & they take a series of xray/4D xrays as it goes through you).  Jameson LOVED the dye, no one could believe it (I think he was just starving & would have ate my right arm if need be, which probably would have tasted better).  This was one of Jameson's bad days & of course he soaked the entire radiology floors, sheets & equipment (at least someone knew I wasn't exaggerating).  The test showed a "rare severity of reflux".  Now a large portion of babies have reflux, and all do to some degree causing the normal "spit-up", but it usually never affects the weight of babies like Jameson's.  He was referred to a specialist, & a few days later put on adult medication (we have to split the pills for him).

We met with the specialist this past Friday & she asked a million questions & then gave us some information to what the tests showed & a game plan to fix it.  He had actually shown progress with his weight, so we are holding off until our next visit for bloodwork to search in detail for more answers.  We go back for weekly weight checks & monitoring his calorie intake, etc.

I was really hard on myself at first.  How would a mother not notice, why didn't I push harder about his spit up.  To me, he looked to be gaining weight, he was right on track for eating.. I mean a baby lets you know when they're hungry, right?  & what baby who is hungry doesn't normally sleep all night (9/10 hours).  He showed signs of not being huge, but he showed all the signs to "I'm ok, Mom," or at least I thought he was.

But here's the good news.  We know about it, we're fixing it, & everything is going to be okay.  That's what is great about the God we serve.  He never said this life would be perfect, he never said there wouldn't be hardships, but he promised not to leave us & promised not to put more on us than we can handle.  So yes, my child is smaller than most, yes he does have a problem that he takes medication for, but I'm still thankful to my Heavenly Father that he is "perfect" in his eyes, and mine.

Father's Day

[I realize I'm a little delayed on my blogging.  I tend to write blogs and then post later with pictures, but then I forget.  I will do better, promise. :) ]

Father's Day 2011.. this was Brandon's third father's day, none the less special.  We really didn't do too much.  We went to church that morning, went to Brandon's parents' house to have a cookout with them, & back home where I cooked dinner for Brandon, myself, Olivia & my dad.  Such a relaxing day.  We tried not to do *too* much & just enjoy the family time.

Happy Father's Day, Dad/Papaw!!   We love you very much & think you're a one-of-a-kind GREAT dad!!

Showing Papaw how to use his tools.

Brandon is such a wonderful daddy.  He is the cool & fun one, the one who we look forward to all day to coming home.  His sense of humor is admiring & Olivia definitely takes after him with her goofiness.  He is the rock of our family who keeps life fun & adventurous.  We love you very much, Brandon and we hope you had an amazing Father's Day.

I hope all the father's had a great day dedicated to them for jobs well done.  :)
Giving Dad his gift

Showing him how to open it

He seems so excited. haha

I think it was more fun for her to play with than him

Daddy's girl giving him a big "smooch"

Daddy & his babies on Father's Day

VBS 2011

Mt. Olive Bible School was a HUGE success.  Livi absolutely loves going to church, & this week has made her love it that much more.  I'm so thrilled she'll get to go as she grows up.  I know it was always a favorite memory of mine going to many bible schools throughout the neighborhood.

This year's theme was "Hallelujah Hop," a 50s/Soda Shop theme.  The decorations were out of this world amazing.  Livi was in the Toddler group.  I was excited for this year since she was able to participate more.  She did so well every night, acted like such a big girl.  It made me proud, but yet sad because she really didn't need ole mom around (and in fact, sometimes she didn't want ole mom around).




Their craft was making a rug from old T-shirts, something fascinating to see.  However since we are dealing with toddlers here, us moms made the majority of their craft.  We didn't quite finish, so I guess ours is more of a placemat. haha!




Snacks are always yummy with cheeseburgers, pizza, chicken nuggets, cookies & chips galore.  Mom & Dad enjoyed snack time since we were always rushing out the door without dinner to not be late for VBS, Olivia would rather play.  I don't think she even knew it was snack time sometimes.  But after some bites she swallowed whole, she gleefully made her way to the play area each night, followed by countless trips on the train.












Class time with a bunch of toddlers could easily turn into the next natural disaster.  But it really didn't.  Ms. Kim (her teacher) does an amazing job & can get the rowdiest of kids attention easily.  She learned about the plague (which she loved the rubber frog they gave her), David & Goliath, & Moses & the Red Sea.





What a cute idea.. they loved this.



Recreation was so much fun & a time where I was really impressed with her.  Of couse the games weren't complicated, but Olivia followed directions & really got into the competitive spirit (just like her daddy) more than I was anticipating.  I think her favorite was the relay race with the hula hoop (or the hoop-a-loop as Olivia likes to refer to it as).









Music was probably by far her favorite.  This kid can shake what her momma gave her like none other (you're very welcome, my child).  She loves to sing & dance like she gets paid for it.  & on the final night, she definitely put on a show.  I was so proud.  :)



My absolute favorite story of the whole week was from her dear friend, Zeke.  Background:  Zeke goes to children's church with her each Sunday and if she wasn't two, I swear I would see the hearts in her eyes when it comes to him.  She talks about him non-stop & they are quite inseparable sometimes at church.  So anyway, back to the story.  To & from recreation, we rode the church bus to the Christian school field.  Brandon was carrying Olivia on the bus when he sees a seat open beside Zeke.  Brandon asks Zeke "Zeke buddy, do you mind if we sit with you?"  He replies with a look and a "well.. she can".  haha!!  The moment was hilarious, & Brandon decided maybe it was best if he did sit in between them two. haha!  I don't know how she'll feel when he tries to sit with her & boys when she's 16 or so.


Uh oh, I think Brandon should be preparing himself. haha*

Commencement came on Thursday & Olivia did GREAT.  She loves to perform & the crowd didn't bother her a bit.
















The week was great & I always look forward to VBS so much.  Each year just gets better & better.  This was the church sign at the end of VBS & it couldn't sum it up any better.