Cha- cha- cha- cha- changes!

Well, there's a lot happening at the Reynolds home! Some really great and some not so great....


1.  The bad-- Rowan has been sick. It all started two weeks ago when Rowan was nursing before bed. I was stoking his face and noticed a lump on his jaw about the size of the tip of my thumb. It felt pretty rooted to his jawbone but also was under on the soft tissue.
       I called into work (thank God my boss uses FB) and the next day got him in to see the only available dr. at the clinic (who happened to just be a general practitioner-- not a pediatrician). She was great with Rowan and thought he might have a blocked salivary gland. She told me she wanted to get an ultrasound but wanted to call around to check if that would give her the picture she needed. After about 15 minutes she came back in and informed me that she had been directed to the pediatricians (who didn't have any time to see Rowan that day) and they had told her not to do anything because THEY wanted to see him for themselves.
       So, I went upstairs for an appointment, scheduled one for the next day, called in to work again (which they were VERY understanding about, thank God), and went home to cuddle with my baby.
       That night, Todd got home from doing his Nat'l. Guard stuff and I let him know and the next morning we headed out. We saw a pediatrician (not Rowan's regular one) who checked him out and deemed that he had a swollen lymph node. He prescribed amoxicillan for seven days and said if it doesn't reduce in size or if it gets bigger in that time to bring him back. Which worked fine because we had his Well baby appt. scheduled for seven days from then (two birds with one stone and all that)
        We proceeded to give the meds as directed for that week and it did, in fact, get bigger. On Thursday we took Rowan in to his regular ped. for his well baby and informed her about the lump. She checked it out and said she thinks it's an infected lymph node and prescribed a DIFFERENT antibiotic. She said that if this one doesn't work then we need to bring him back (AGAIN, AGAIN!) and she wants to do an ultrasound or CT scan from there.
       On Friday, we started his new meds (Cephalexin FOUR times a day, I might add) and that night I went to a family BBQ at my sister's house. Rowan started to feel hot and wanted me to cuddle with him for most of the night (which is unusual when there's a lot to explore!). I got him home and checked his temp.-- 101.8 degrees :(  Poor guy. I waited until the next day (Saturday) to give him his infant advil because I wanted to check the drug interaction with the pharmacist. All day he was cranky and cuddly-- just wanting to be held. He didn't eat much but took his medicine just fine. I used cool washcloths and a cool bath to keep him soothed but he was still not well off. You could tell he was tired but only took a short nap and then woke up cranky but, strangely, listless as well. That night he was up almost hourly and I just want to say thank you God for Todd because he took those shifts. I woke up with him at 7:30 and this day has proceeded must as yesterday did-- fever ranging between 99.5 and 100.9, give him his antibiotics and advil, he's happy for about two hours, feed him whatever he will eat, he sort of falls asleep then wakes up crying if you're not holding him. If he's not better tomorrow I'm going to have Todd call the doctor and get him in because three days of fever is just not okay! I'll keep everyone posted on that front.

at 10 weeks :)

2. The good news! We've finally let everyone know about the newest addition to our family :) I'm now 12 weeks pregnant (almost out of the danger phase)!
     This was a planned pregnancy. Todd and I did a lot of talking while he was away and we both came to the conclusion that we were ready for our second (and FINAL) child. As children, we really felt such a joy in having a sibling close in age to us (Todd and Beau are about 21 months apart, and Sarah and I are 15 months apart). We loved having that special person as a buddy to grow with. I mean, Sarah drove me kind of crazy growing up but she's my best friend today and I wouldn't trade her for anything :) Todd feels similarly about Beau (although I'm sure Beau was the one driven crazy, as he's the older of the two).
      It's amazing how different my second pregnancy has been. My morning sickness was completely different; whereas, with Rowan, I was somewhat sick all of the time and therefore lost weight, with this one I feel horribly sick whenever I let myself get even the least bit hungry!!! I've already put on 5 pounds :( My mom joked that this was probably going to be a 9lb. girl >:0
     We are hoping for a girl though. One of each would be perfect, but of course we'll be pleased and feel blessed no matter what God grants us! I'm due March 11th, two days before our wedding anniversary. What can I say? We love to cluster our holidays <3

Well, those are the two big things for now. Hopefully, I'll be able to post more regularly now (but we'll see how that goes with a sick toddler, eh?)

And away he goes....

   Well, Todd left today and won't return to Paradise until June. I am going to meet him in Sacramento tomorrow at the Radisson Hotel where the MEPS center is for his final night in California. He feels really good about it and I think that I do too; though I did feel a pang of sadness though as he said his goodbyes to Rowan. It's just that Rowan will be so different when Todd gets back. He'll be crawling or walking, talking, he will look different and act differently. I'm so worried that he won't recognize him, I don't want it to hurt Todd. I couldn't imagine having to miss all of the things that Todd will. I'm so proud of him, so proud of the sacrifices he's making to better our family-- I married very well.
   On a different note, business is booming! I've had continued work even past Christmas and people are still lining up orders. It feels so great to excel at something!!! I've begun reading more about entrepreneurship and am thinking about expanding my work to the internet by way of Etsy. I'm still in the development stages but it's all so exciting :) Hopefully, I will be able to upload some pictures of my work here but in the meantime, you can check out some of my things at: www.facebook.com/jenareynolds. Happy crocheting!!!
  

As it stands...

   Right now, we're a bit in between places. We are so fed up with the land lady. So many things with our place are not up to code and are just not right. We've been without heat for almost two weeks now and still no end in sight so we've been staying with my dad and Debbie. They've been wonderful, I'm so grateful for all of my family.
   Oh yes, and did I mention that our building is in FORECLOSURE?! Our plan? --Cease paying rent, use said rent to find another place to live pronto. As we see it, we're not going to pay rent for a place that we are not even living in and will how cold it has been it is simply uninhabitable. Todd and I have been pounding the pavement looking for a new place and some things look promising; we'll keep everyone posted.
   Rowan seems to be getting over his ear and sinus infections, the antibiotics have really done the trick. We have way less mucus to deal with which is making everyone involved much happier. On the flip side, he's had some diarrhea and now has a terrible diaper rash, we've been slathering the butt paste on and it seems to be improving so that's good.
   On a lighter note, we got our holiday photos done and they look great! I love DeeDee Ortiz Photography. She's always so great-- very friendly, listens to and follows what we want, but she also has fresh ideas that turn out great. She also allowed us to bring Luke along for the session :) Can't wait to get our order in!!!!
Also, Christmas is almost upon us and all but about $10 of our shopping is done!!!!!! Ahhh, it feels good :) I feel really good about the gifts that Todd and I are putting together this year, it feels so much better than buying a thing and giving said thing away. I mean, it's all just stuff but I've put more consideration into it than simply grabbing and buying. Also, we've saved a ton of cash due to cashing in my safety points at work. I got $40 for both Target and Wal-mart all for simply filling out vehicle inspections and attending meetings :) That's $80 that we didn't have to spend, YAY! I've also been earning a sizable amount with my crocheting. I've sold 4 hats so far, am working on 1 right now, and have a total of 5 more I'm getting ready to make come pay day. And with all of them $15-$25 a piece, that adds up. I'm really enjoying it as well. I feel some purpose and pride in it, which I think was lacking before all of this. Hurrah for being an entrepreneur! Christina would be proud :)

  

Here goes

   So here goes my first blog post. I'm starting one for my own mental health and for the family and friends who don't get to see us very often.
I find that it has been especially important to keep up with everyone since Rowan is growing so fast! It really only seems like last month when I delivered him (although I'm glad that it wasn't, those first few months with him were rough!) I find new things in his face or mannerisms every day; it's astounding! He's so cognitive now, reaching for my face and smiling when he hears me talk. There's nothing like it <3 He's sitting up by himself more and more as you can see from this photo:

    That was taken last week and, even now, he's sitting up taller and straighter. A moment ago he watched me use the mouse pad on my laptop and he leaned forward and did a very good job mimicking me. I know that this child is never going to settle for what is "appropriate" for his developmental level which is both a blessing and a curse. Todd and I have our hands full with him already and he's not yet mobile!!!
   Todd leaves for boot camp in a couple of months-- January 18th. Life sure is going to be different! We haven't spent a week apart from each other since we got together and now it's going to be 3 months! I'm planning to fly out for his graduation so Rowan and I will get to see him during the 6 months he's in training. It's going to be tough though; one of the big trials of my life. I know that I'll get through it though, I have a great support system :)
   Well that's it for me today. Love you all!!!