Chicken anyone?

Sometimes we bring a chicken in the house for a little lesson. This chick came in and we learned that he(she?) will hold your hand if you put a finger under his feet.

Alta loves the chickens and calls them "bawk bawk" She loves to go out with me to care for them... well really she loves to go out and holler "BAWK BAWK BAWK!" at them. 

I'm not really sure how to upload videos from photobucket. But here is a video of Ali talking to the chickens. 

Chicken Video

My BIG boy!

On August 10, Landon turned 6!!!!!!!!

My oldest turned 6 and I just can't believe it!

We had a small party at home for him and he had a great time. A lot of people came including grandparents, except my mom, friends and family.

He got a lot of nice presents and loved having the day focused on him.

Cake time!

On his actual birthday, we took the kids to the zoo. We all had a blast!

Alta going through the log

The boys and their friend!

Alta Update #1

Alta had her appointment this past Thursday at Cardinal Glennon in St. Louis with a GI. She weighs 18 pounds 12 oz. Which is her highest weight yet! Her GI was a little concerned about her weight and told us to keep on with toddler formula, which we are. She will take about 16-20 oz a day. She also will eat about 10 oz of baby food stage 2 a day. That's pretty much it.

Waiting to see the GI

Her GI isn't sure if she has plain old GERD, or reflux, or if she has a disease called Eosinophilic Esophagitis. So she put her on 30mg of Prevacid twice a day. If she has reflux, we should be seeing an improvement soon. She also had blood drawn. The GI is having a full blood panel done, including kidneys. If her blood is packed with eosinophils, we will have an upper GI done next week with a biopsy under general anesthesia. Which her GI was concerned about because she is so small. Or if her blood work comes back ok, we will have the upper GI done anyway if she shows no improvement by then.

Showing off her bandage from the blood draw

Her symptoms are refusal to eat. Choking on anything that is not liquid (including stage 3 baby foods). Throwing up, sounding congested after eating, and coughing. She is also having a hard time gaining weight.

If you want to read more on EoE, you can check THIS site out.

I would greatly appreciate prayers and good thoughts for my baby. Thanks.

Backyard Construction

....or should I say destruction?

In our backyard we had a sidewalk to no where, a large cistern with water, and  a burn pit that we didn't want. Actually, the cistern was a safety concern as it was covered with a rotten board and I was scared a child, my own or someone else's, would fall through. So with the help of my dad and a family friend we got the job done. My dad took the concrete to his house to use to prevent anymore sliding in his creek.

This is the cistern, that square hole was covered by the boards. 

Pulling out the concrete slab over the cistern. A huge black snake was living here! Ack!

The cistern with some trash and a load of dirt already in it.

Tearing up the sidewalk to nowhere. 

Tractor power!

No more cistern!

The boys played on the load of dirt while everyone worked.

Family Trip: Bald Knob Cross

The other day, Sam and I took the kids about an hour up the road to Bald Knob Cross.

They loved it, the people in the gift shop were very nice. They gave the kids a penny with a cross punched out and said something along the lines of  "Jesus is the one sent to us" and then three of the crosses that were punched out for the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 

The view was breathtaking, and the cross is beautiful with its new siding. I would recommend a trip to see this awesome cross. It really is a nice sight to see. You can read about the history  HERE 

My Mom

My mom has been having health issues again. In fact, she had a heart attack last week. It was touch and go for a while, and she was in the hospital in A Fib for a week. But she seems to have turned around. She is still very weak and tired, but she's getting there. Hopefully, she is on the road to recovery now.

Alta

Alta has always been a difficult feeder. She spit up (projectile) a lot (multiple times a feeding) during infancy. Actually, she still does. She refused solids or didn't know how to eat them until 9 months. Now at 13 months, she is refusing food all together. She will eat a few bites of yogurt and some prepackaged baby snacks. That's pretty much it. She is drinking pediasure though. So that is a plus. She also isn't gaining weight and has weighed the same more or less a few ounces since 9 months. Her pediatrician has referred her to Cardinal Glennon in St. Louis. She has an appointment for her intake with a nurse practitioner on August 30. Wish us luck!

Why hello, chick!

Momma Fluffy, waiting for me to give her a treat.

Growing babies! They LOVE pears and tomatoes! I like how the one is eyeing me down.