2 Months

Cameron is 2 months old today! In a way it seem like it has gone by so fast, and in a way it seems like he has been around forever. He is a super sweet and snuggly baby, and I love holding him while he sleeps on my chest. He still hasn't been back to the doctor since his 2 week check up - but according to my scale he weighs 12 and 1/2 pounds. He is such a little chunk! He is a super good baby and is so easy, but still is not sleeping through the night. He has actually been waking up a lot more often the past week or so. I think it's because I had been putting him down on his stomach, but then I got paranoid about it and have been putting him on his back and he just doesn't seem to be as comfortable or sleep as well. I have also tried just giving him his paci when he wakes up, but that doesn't work - the boy is hungry! I think I'm going to start trying cereal in his bottle and see if that helps. We are leaving in 2 days to go to Arkansas for over a week - we leave Saturday afternoon and don't come back until the day after Easter! I am so excited to spend time with my family - my mom is the only one who has met him so far and my dad and sisters are dying to meet him! (I have a brother too but I don't think it's really killing him too much - he's not too fond of babies...) Rubin isn't going with us, so the airport/flight with both boys by myself should be interesting, but I'm really excited and not too worried. I think they'll both do fine. Poor Rubin is going to be lonely while we're gone, but I'm sure he will find things to do. I will update when we get back!!

Pictures

We went and had pictures taken today, and it was such a frustrating experience! I worked so hard to find the perfect outfits, drove 45 minutes to go to the last place we went since we loved it so much, and had a horrible experience! Ugh. The photographer drove us crazy (the guy who did them last time no longer works there) and missed about a million opportunities for good, candid photos because she was trying too hard to pose everything. She wanted Brayden to stand still in an exact spot, put his hands in his pockets, turn his body one way, look a different way, and not move. Ummm...did you not see my child running around the studio like a madman while we were waiting for our turn? And then with Cameron we didn't get any good shots of him that showed his adorable matching hat and pants - she kept taking his hat off. And I really wanted a picture of the 2 of them together and that didn't happen - they only gave us 2 of those to choose from and they were both horrible. I could dress them up and take a picture in my living room floor that looks better than hers did. Just an all around annoying experience. I hate the background and wanted the white, but she thought the brown would look better. Why? I want a do-over! Here are the only 4 decent ones we got out of the deal (after I have edited them and touched them up), and Cameron is crying in the family shot.

2nd Opinion

So I went with Rubin to his doctor's appointment today and this woman seems to think that his Crohn's is back and that is what has been causing his problems since the surgery. She is having him go do a barium x-ray on Monday morning so she can see what is causing his blockages, but she doesn't think it's scar tissue. She was floored that they did surgery on him so soon without trying other treatments first. There are several medications/treatments out there that have been proven successful for a lot of people that he has never tried. She also couldn't believe that a general surgeon actually performed the surgery - she said that most surgeon's won't touch someone with Crohn's and that they don't understand it. She sends her patients downtown if they require surgery. So to sum it all up - it sounds like surgery was the wrong decision in the first place, and that it was all for nothing because it didn't solve the problem. It got rid of the inflammation in the places that already existed, but doesn't prevent it from occurring somewhere else. She wants to start him on a medication that he can self-inject every 2 weeks but it will probably be a couple of weeks before we can get that process started. Until then she is going to put him on steroids and another medication he already has (but was told by his other doctor he no longer needed to take) to try and get him feeling better. He also has to stay on liquids for a couple more days and then can progress to Bananas, Rice, Applesauce, and Toast by Sunday. The poor guy hasn't put a bite of solid food in his mouth since last Friday.
So, basically what I'm saying is that although we didn't want to hear that the Crohn's is back and that he suffered through his horrible surgery for nothing, we are glad that someone is acknowledging what is really going on and is going to actually treat it so he can start to feel better and try to get our lives back to normal.

Crohn's Disease Sucks!!

So Rubin was back in the hospital this weekend - he went in Saturday afternoon and came home this morning. This is his 6th time there since November, and his 3rd time back since the surgery that was supposed to fix his problems. We were told that the surgery would put his Crohn's in remission and that he would most likely experience symptoms again someday, but that it could be years before it returned. He went through hell and back with his surgery and recovery, and still has never felt healthy since. He has had 3 bowel obstructions: the first time they told him it was caused by the scar tissue from surgery and shouldn't ever happen again; the second time he didn't go to the hospital and just dealt with it at home; this weekend he went to the hospital but nobody would really give him any answers - they just treated him and sent him home. His GI doctor wants to blame the surgery for his problems and won't admit that the Crohn's is acting up again already, but I'm pretty sure that's what is really happening. I would rather not be lied to (and told he doesn't need to be on any medication). If the Crohn's is back, let's admit it and move on so we can deal with it and try to get things under control. This whole situation is very frustrating for us. He is miserable, and I just want him to feel better. He has made an appointment with another GI doctor for this Friday to get a second opinion. We want to get an unbiased opinion from someone who isn't trying to cover their own butt and will just be honest about what they think is really going on.
Well, that was my vent/update for now. Please just pray that he gets some answers on Friday and that we can move forward and hopefully get this stupid horrible disease under control.

Random Questionse

1) I work with, love, respect, and admire people with disabilities. However, I do not think it is very likely that 90 people with a "handicap" will be at Wal-Mart at the same time. Why are there soooo many handicap parking places? It makes it impossible for a mother of a small baby to park close when it is cold, windy, and raining outside.
2) Do calories work like Weight Watchers points? If I cut out a few extra each day, can I use them as "flex" calories and go eat at Chili's or On the Border?? That would be nice. According to the calorie log I use, I was 3,097 calories under my weekly budget last week, so do I get to use them or do I just lose them??

Yellow People

Brayden: "That light is really too high for me to jump over it" (pointing to the light over the dining room table - random)
Me: "Um, yes it is"
Brayden: "But I just can't jump over it because it is too hot and that would make me all red. I don't want to be red I just want to be yellow"
The light wasn't even turned on.

Sometimes I just wish I could be inside his head so I could understand what in the world goes on in there. He says some of the most random things.

On another note, I bought the Wii Fit on Tuesday night and worked out on it for the first time on Wednesday, and I started dieting on Monday (counting calories). Between the 2, I have lost a little over 2 pounds. I woke up this morning and I am extremely sore. I don't know if I should be happy that I feel sore b/c that means that its working, or to be completely embarrased that a video game can make me hurt so bad!

The Jetsons?

So I saw a commercial the other day for a car that will stop itself to avoid an accident if something stops in front of you. Crazy. Between back-up cameras, this new thing, and GPS, why do we even have to drive? Pretty soon we can program our destination into our GPS and our cars will just drive us there. Then we can talk on our cell phones or sleep in the car. Sounds good to me! :)