October

My 5am wake up crew

Dress up!  Jaxon didn't mind being dressed in Sierra's dolly clothes:)

Sierra's new "I'm mad at you face."  Try not to laugh when you are supposed to be serious!

Ready for a walk in the backpack!

Absolutely terrifying for every mama.  But such a proud moment too!

Beautiful fall weather!  Time for some kite flying.

And bubble blowing......

And corn dancing!

Our last harrah before daddy went back to work was a trip to the Harrison covered bridge.

We are in a princess dress up phase!

Daddy's home from work!  Pile on!

Apple cider making

So delicious!

"My beautiful mud is back!"  Her exact words.

I wish I could share her sentiments about the return of the rain.

    

Come and get me mommy!

A trip to the Muddy Creek Corn Maze

 

My sweet white pumpkin in a patch of orange ones.

Peoria Road Fruit Stand

 

A couple days before Halloween Jesse found himself back in the hospital.

Pumpkin carving

Jaxon was NOT afraid to get his hands dirty!

Poodle

And a lion

Daddy made it out just in time to take the kiddos trick or treating!

 This was quite a month of milestones for my big 8 month old boy!  He got two more upper teeth, started crawling on his knees more than army style (about two days after he turned 8 months old), starts really mimicing sounds, says hi and more, starting to learn and understand some sign language, pulls himself to stand, plays peek a boo, drinks out of a straw, claps his hands, is learning what no means, and is also learning to not put everything in his mouth.  Whew! 

Jess went back tow work on the 8th.  I managed to not cry, but the kiddos and I had some rough days.  Sierra was so sad to have lost the playmate that daddy had become and I missed someone there especially at nap and meal times.  But we made the adjustment.

The pathology came back on Jesse's appendix showing that it was not actually infected, and that surgery had not been necessary.  The surgeon said something is going on, because his appendix did appear inflamed.  But he basically told us we have to wait until Jesse gets worse, or possibly the dose of antibiotics that Jesse received in the hospital will "take care of whatever was infected."  Wow.  We made an appt with his regular Dr, and he basically said the same thing.  There is something called Mesentric Adenitis that mimics appendicits.  It is inflammation of some glands that are right in the same area.  Drs don't know a lot about it but think it is caused by a virus.  It usually clears up within a week.  I actually had the same thing before I got pregnant with Jaxon.  But they did an ultrasound first, and saw the inflammed glands, so I didn't get my appendix taken out.  They never did a scan on Jesse.  His white blood count was elevated, his pain was high and in the right area, and he had rebound pain in his abdomen, and so they removed his appendix hoping to do so before it ruptured.  

So we waited.  And he went back to work.  Then at the end of the month we were grocery shopping and he started hurting again all of a sudden.  This time the pain was more centralized instead of on the right side.  He hurt all through the night but went ahead and went to work the next day.  By 9 am he was hurting bad enough to go to immediate care who sent him to the ER.  I met him there and they decided to do a CT scan this time.  Genius.  The discovered some free air in his abdomen, a mass of inflammation around where his small and large bowel meet, and some possible diverticultis.  They were sure it wasn't diverticulits because he is "just too young".  Even though it runs rampant on his mom's side of the family.  The Drs met in the hall and whispered and looked on their computers and whispered some more.  Finally a surgeon came in and said that he believed Jesse probably had Crohn's disease and that they were going to admit him tot the hospital, give him some antibiotics, and see where to go from there.

He was admitted on the 29th and released on the 30th.  The antibiotics seemed to help right away but he was also sent home with a two week supply.  His blood count went back down again and the pain pretty much went away.  He had to stay home from work again and they said if the pain came back to go to the ER again and that he needed to make a follow up appointment with a Gastroenterologist.  So we left the hosptial thinking he had Crohn's and wondering if his possible "peforated colon" (they were worried about this because of the free air in his abdomen) would heal itself or get worse.  We were feeling pretty confused.  We didn't get much info from the Drs, they couldn't really answer our questions, and we were just sent back out into the real world with no instructions on how to manage what was going on.  So we've got an appointment with a Gastro next month, and here's to hoping that my husband who has been healthy for the last 30 years does not have Crohn's.  

On a positive note, Jesse got released in time to take the kids trick or treating!  Sierra had a blast and Jaxon was mesmerized by all of the people.  We mostly just took them to the downtown Corvallis stores after their nap.  Then we took Sierra to a few houses in my Grandmas neighborhood.  She had a wonderful time, and now I have a stash of candy that will probably last till Christmas:)  

Sierra seems to have got over her tiny aggressive spell with her brother.  She mostly gets disgusted if he drools on her toys, but she is great at sharing, or if he has one of her special toys (ie a beloved baby or blanky) she will trade with him - meaning she finds him a suitable toy and takes hers back.  If he fusses while I'm trying to get a meal ready or in the car, she sings or makes funny faces at him and is very successful at getting him to calm down.  She's really has done so well in the transition to sisterhood that I can't believe that I was worried about a few minor spells that Jaxon was absolutely oblivious to.  

I love to watch Sierra's imagination grow.  We can get into some serious make believe conversations.  She loves to lay on her bed while Jaxon is napping and we both pretend to "read" stories.  She takes a book and makes up a story, and then it's my turn, and repeat.  She also comes up with some great songs.  She is missing her dance class and I think we will sign her up again next season.  She has such a lovely sense of humor and makes us laugh so hard on many occasions.  She's turning into such a little girl.  My baby is disappearing right before my eyes.  You hear time and time again when your children are tiny that it goes by so fast.  I cannot imagine how it will feel when she heads off to school, on her first date, to college, or walks down the aisle.  Just typing this sentence and thinking about it makes me weep.  How in the world do parents survive it.  For now, I hold her close, try not to think too hard about those things, and I rock her back and forth, back and forth, every night and tell her that as long as I'm living, my baby she'll be.