mason update

Six weeks later and we are back at the 'baby doctor' to check on mason and to make sure everything is going okay with him. Again the doctor looks at the typical places in mason that could be problems with kids born with down syndrome. The doctor glanced at his brain and said one side looks 'perfect' while the other side is borderline enlarged, but nothing to worry about since this is typical. On to his heart, the doctor was looking for abnormalities that could pose a problem at birth. Again, this time, his heart seems to be in good order and should be fine from what he can see. The doctor informed us that out of down syndrome children that 40% or more are born with heart problems. He feels no reason for us to see a cardiologist right now. At birth, mason will have an echo cardiogram (in short look at his heart) more extensively to make sure there are no problems that were not able to be seen from the ultrasounds. The third thing that the doctor looked at was mason's intestines. Your intestines are made in three parts; in downs children, many times the first part of the intestines does not develop. This can be easily corrected with surgery. Oddly enough, this could also cause problems with delivery and could cause preterm labor because of excess amniotic fluid. We are fortunate that mason is not showing signs of this problem with his intestines. All in all, everything is looking great with mason. The doctor believes that the delivery should be normal and looks to not have any major problems. Thanks for those who have been praying and thinking of us these past few weeks. We will have another update in 4 weeks when we go for another ultrasound.

updates all around

so much has been going on the past month and a half since we last blogged and also finding out our unexpected news about our future son "mason garrett".  we've found ourselves at birthday parties, playing at the park, baby showers, doctors appointments, family beach vacation (just the 3 of us) and tons of sprinkler fun.  since we last blogged the school year closed and was pretty busy with exams and last minute things that had to be done.  then a new summer school session started this week at providence day.  one week is now down (with only 5 kids), and 4 more to go.  garrett was able to stain the deck and keep up with the yard as it continues to grow after all the rain we keep getting from the pop up thunderstorms.

as for an update on mason, we went back to the specialist at 21 weeks (i'm 24 weeks now) and they did an ultrasound with tons of pictures and measurements.  the doctor came in and looked as well and analyzed all the pictures and was mainly concerned with mason's heart and ventricles in the brain.  As for his heart, it looks good for right now.  many down syndrome children have holes in their hearts, but for right now, what the doctor can tell, there is no visible problems; not to say that one won't show up when we go back later.  as for the ventricles in the brain, they will continue to monitor these to see if he will need shunts put in to drain the spinal fluid.  when we went in originally at 18 weeks, they were measuring around 11 to 12.  normally the doctor's like to see it less than 10.  at 21 weeks, when the doctor measured them, they measured at 8. something.  the doctor said that looks good as well.  we go back to the specialist in about 3 weeks for another ultrasound as they continue to monitor mason and  his progress.  we can only hope for more good news.

and now for some pictures from the last month and a half:

tons of fun at tucker long's birthday party

jake, jay and noah blowing bubbles

for some reason jay doesn't like to pick up his cupcake

birthday boy tucker with his parents julie and trey

a day at the park with mom and dad

sprinkler time at grandma and grandpa's house on memorial day

family vacation at the beach

jay loved the water

soaking up some rays

mommy look!!

fun times in the sand with dad

kristen walters' baby shower

hailey johnson's birthday party at monkey joes

we still haven't learned how to eat cake with a fork or with our hands

fun times at monkey joes on the slide.  jay loves this place.

expect the unexpected

In the past year, we have come to expect the unexpected. One can have their life planned out, but there will always be obstacles to overcome and your plan may not be God's plan. Last year we didn't expect to have an ectopic pregnancy in April which resulted in a surgery. And a couple of months later a miscarriage. One could only hope to get pregnant again and that's what happened this past February. We found out we were pregnant again. Doctors' appointments went well and the day to find out what we were having came this past Friday. We were very anxious and had our own guesses as to what the sex was. Well we found out it was another boy, but also that he had extra spinal fluid in his brain. The doctor wanted us see a specialist which happened to have an appointment right away. We had another ultrasound and the doctor started to name a few things that concerned him and that our baby was showing signs of Down Syndrome. We could not know for sure except if we did an amneocentesis. The risk for miscarriage was minimal, but was still there. For us, the risk outweighed the agony we would we would be put through the next few months of not knowing. The worst weekend was ahead of us because we would not know the results until Monday. Monday finally arrived and we found out that the test was positive for Down Syndrome. At this point, there was a lot of sadness and crying, but relief at the same time because we knew.

We want to let each of you know that we are doing fine and are excepting the reality of the situation. We are not looking at this as a punishment, but a gift from God. For some reason, God is giving us this child and we are excepting His challenge. We don't ask for your sympathy and pity on us, but your support through these next few months and years to come. We still have questions and fears of our future and what is to come, but we are going to take it one day at a time. Thanks for taking time to read.

Garrett and Morgan

mother's day interview

Of course happy mother's day to all you mothers out there. on the friday before mothers day it is always the anticipation if what is your child going to bring home for you. a card, flower or some other handmade gift. this year with all that, jay brought home a piece of paper that had an interview about his mommmy. his teacher pulled each of his classmates and him aside to answer the questions about their moms. of course it is hilarious and i want to share it all with you.

Mommys name is mommy.
Mommys hair is black.
Mommys eyes are white.
Mommy likes to stand and jump.
Mommy is 3 years old.
Mommys job is to take money out of my piggy bank.
Mommys favorite food is carrots.
Mommy carries money, just money in her purse.
I love mommy because I love my mommy.


of course if you ask him today, his answers have changed. both my eyes and hair are brown and I teach kids. I hope each of you had a wonderful day!!

milestones

it is kind of hard to believe, but we have made it past one of the most dreaded and difficult milestones with jay this week.  as most people know, he is/was the most pickiest eater.  he didn't really eat any food that we ate.  when we went anywhere, we would have to bring his food with us.  the bag got pretty full on the weekends when we wanted to go anywhere.  we even stopped the baby food at two years just because i got tired of buying it.  a normal day would consist of 

breakfast:  oatmeal 

snack:  kix, raisons, fruit loops or something we brought from the house to school

lunch:  applesauce and more kix

snack:  poptart, mandarin oranges, or something else we brought from the house

dinner:  more fruit loops

no meat was in his diet at all.  garrett convinced jay that on easter, the easter bunny would bring him a present and take his "baby food" away.  in turn, jay would have to eat big boy food.  it has not been too bad except that jay takes forever to eat dinner or any other meal.  he tries to make excuses like he has to go potty in the middle or he is still chewing a piece after of about 3 or 4 minutes.  as of this week, he has added about 20 foods to his diet, including meat.  there has been some threatening that the easter bunny would come back and take his gift, but jay will quickly eat something to keep it.

another milestone that jay has reached is being potty trained.  he wears big boy underwear all the time now (even at night!!).  this isn't to say that he doesn't have an occasional accident here and there.  for the most part, he tells us when he has to poop and if you just take him to the potty every 1 to 2 hours or so to pee, he will be fine and dry.  if he gets too busy or excited about doing something, jay won't tell you he has to go.  i dread going to school to see the bag of clothes tied to his bookbag every so often.  the worst are the accidents that he has pooped in and i have to clean them out.  i guess it just goes with the territory of potty training.  i'd rather do that then keep spending money on diapers and pull ups all the time.

last week i was out for spring break and kept jay out on that thursday.  we had a little fun of our own at the house.

playing with blocks

playing with tools

dying some easter eggs

the saturday of easter weekend, we went up to my grandmother's house to visit.  here's my favorite picture of jay playing with a car he got.

so nana doesn't know about jay riding on the back of noah's tricycle.

for some reason they had to put on their swimsuits from grammy.

easter sunday we got dressed and went to church.  here is my attempt at getting a picture, but he was too wiggly.

finally after church, jay opened his present from the easter bunny.  bye bye baby food, hello big boy food.

opening easter baskets from aunt kim and uncle chip as well as from grandma and grandpa on easter.

grandma and grandpa planned an easter egg hunt.  there was money involved.  jay loves money and even tells cashiers he needs money to put in his piggy bank.

last week jay made some binocular's at school in mrs. mary's class to look at the birds.  you never knew two toilet paper rolls stuck together and a string to put around his neck would make him so happy.  

today we went out to the park for a baby shower for nicolette and jeremy davis.  they flew in from florida this weekend.  jay enjoyed the slide until he peed in his pants and we had to change his shorts.  sorry for anyone else that goes on that playground.

here's the happy couple opening some presents.  they are expecting a boy in August.

now stay tuned in because in two weeks we find out what our little bundle of joy is.  will it be a girl?? or a boy??  who knows.  i'm 16 weeks right now, not wearing maternity clothes and not really showing.  i guess one day i'll pop out.

and 2 1/2 months later...

i know it has been a while and we have some catching up to do.  it's been hectic around here as well as pretty busy.  through the month of february, garrett finished up the basketball season with his boys and even had them over for a sleepover in march.  surprisingly, nothing was tore up and i don't think they moved from their positions in the floor of playing video games.  fortunately, jay and i were able to stay at my parents' house for the night.  the boys had the house to themselves; 6 boys and garrett with lots of food and video games.

the weekend of the superbowl, garrett and i found out we were pregnant with baby #2 (or #4 however you want to look at it).  we didn't say anything until the end of march, but everything looks healthy so far.  we are looking for a fall baby that is due october 13th.  i'm not looking forward to writing all the lesson plans though while i'm out.  that's the only bad part about my job, i can't just leave for sick leave, i have to really be prepared.  right now i'm currently 15 weeks along, no maternity clothes needed right now and hardly showing.  is this right about now?  i can't remember from jay.  i go for another doctor's appointment next friday and then we go on may 13th for an ultrasound.  hopefully we will be able to tell what we are having by then.  if you ask jay if he wants a baby brother or sister, he'll say sister.  so i guess we will be to wait and see. not only are we expecting, but garrett's brother chip and his wife kim are expecting as well in september. this should make it very interesting in the olin household come fall.

through the month of march, garrett also lost his grandma olin.  she had been sick for a while and lost the battle.  although it was a sad time, it was a burden lifted off of his parents.  they were going down there every other weekend to care for her.  now there are still some loose ends to tie up with assets and everything, but hopefully that will go smoothly.

garrett and i have both been pretty busy at work.  garrett's also starting to study for his exams he has to take to be a certified architect.  wish him luck!!  i think he said that there are 9 exams in all.  not fun!!

garrett turned 29 on april 5th and was treated to going to the Master's in augusta, georgia on his birthday.  my dad had gotten the tickets and took jeremy, garrett, and chip.  i think overall, they had a great time.  unfortunately, they didn't get to see too many golfers since it had rained the night before and they didn't want to come out for the practice round.

this past weekend, we had a sunday school easter egg hunt and picnic with almost everyone in our class. it was suppose to be at my parents' house, but with all the torrential rain that we've gotten in the past few weeks, we were unable to have it there.  it was just too wet even though it did end up being a beautiful afternoon.  fortunately, the church gym was open to house everyone.  there were kids galore with tons of balls and toys.  it ended up really fun and i think everyone had a blast.  there was no hiding eggs, but just eggs scattered everywhere on the floor.  but when you are two or three, you really don't care about finding hidden eggs, but finding what is inside those eggs.  jay loves candy and would eat it all day long if you let him.  here's some pictures from the event:

 if you look closely, you can see kids playing in the background

 jay gathering his eggs

 jay spent most of his time trying to figure out how to ride the scooter

 jay having fun with gavin and some of his friends

 and yes jay is pushing noah on a bike

little olivia puttering along with her basket

this week has been too short.  it is already thursday and my spring break is almost over.  i spent monday and tuesday cleaning the house and making meals for the families who have had babies recently.  yesterday, i picked jay up from school early and went to garrett's office to each lunch.  today, i ran some errands and kept jay home.  he's been a bit of a wild child today though.  it took  1 1/2 hours and some harsh convincing to finally fall asleep in bed for his nap.  who knows what we have in store this weekend, but we will soon see.

weekend round up

maybe the title is a little misleading, because i want to recap the past few weeks and weekends that we've had since the beginning of january.  we've been a pretty busy family with work and everything else, it's hard to make it to the computer all the time.  

the past few weekends we have enjoyed watching garrett and ned hurd coach a group of boys (13-14 years old) in basketball.  i didn't know how much jay really enjoyed it until this past thursday when garrett was going to practice, jay had a total meltdown and thought he was going to a game.  so far the team has won three and lost two.  not too bad!!!  they've got a good little team and hopefully they can win the rest of their games.  can't wait  until this thursday night when they have another game.  i think it is exciting for both me and nicole (ned's wife) to just go out and cheer for these guys.

on occasion, i've picked up a bundle of three at daycare when olivia's and owen's parents have to work late.  this past time i found out livvie really on likes her parents to pick up, but by the time we reached the house everyone was okay and ready to play.  i managed to take care of three little ones and cook homemade potato soup at the same time.  

last weekend peyton king celebrated her 2nd birthday at her house.  who knew that it would be such a wonderful weekend and we could even enjoy a little time outside.  

 jay's king of this castle.

 peyton digging into her cake.

 everyone helping peyton open her presents.  noah's waiting on the woody doll.

 she got her jessie!! and bullseye.  don't touch jessie or she'll have a meltdown.

 look what jay got!!  i think anything in a bag is exciting at this age.

recently this week, we've pulled out the playdoh to play with it.  jay loves to cut it with his scissors.  playdoh only comes out on rare occasions and only at the kitchen table.  

and lastly, we celebrated olivia's 2nd birthday yesterday at mcdonalds.  one of the mcdonalds in matthews has a play place for kids 3 and under.  it is such a perfect place to have a party and you don't have to worry about cleaning up your own house.

 noah belote

 jay, noah, lyla and sage walters

 chandler jenkins

 olivia eating her yummy cupcake.

 courtney and pressley tucker

 well the birthday girl didn't want to join the fun.

 olivia opening some of her gifts.

jay and daddy