Suprise Visitors

A special thank you to our friends the Hesters. Tonight we got a phone call saying to look out Ben's hospital window and to all our surprise we saw our friends the Hesters. Ben was so excited to see his friends-he waved and was saying hi them. Then he and Cadence talked on the phone to each other and it was really cute. Thank you Hesters for the awesome SUPER thoughtful surprise. It really made our day and Ben loved seeing his friends again-he totally misses you all!



PS. Ben wishes you guys could have come up but no kids are allowed.

PSS. Thank you also to Kelly who came for today and spent time with Ben while I took a shower here and for giving me some much needed moral support and adult conversation. I love you Kelly, thank you for always being so thoughtful and showing God's love to me through your actions

Hospital Update: Wednesday Afternoon (part 2)

Just wanted to update you all real fast that we just heard from the dr. Although things are improving with his temps, heart rate, blood pressure and breaths per minute, the blood work came back and is not where he wants it to be. Yesterday his white blood count was 25,000 and today it is at 35,000. We are not sure if it is from a steroid he got yesterday or from something that they can see growing on the blood cultures. So, we have to stay another night. They will look at the blood cultures in the morning and re-do his white blood cell count and decide what to do from there.

Please keep Ben in your prayers.

Hospital Updates: Wednesday Afternoon

Today the respiratory therapist wanted to get Ben up and walking to see what he could tolerate. We took a video because him walking in a hospital gown with his little buns hanging out was just too cute to pass up. Good news: his temp has gone down a little along with his heart rate. Also his breaths per minute has slowed down a little bit. Also he is starting to talk to use and give little smiles which is a huge improvement and blessing. Status: We are still waiting for his blood work from today to see when we can go home. Pray that it is today please.



Ben telling the nurses that he is done being here

Hospital Update: Wednesday Morning

So last night went pretty well. We gave Ben a little sponge bath to get him in bedtime mode. Gave him some more meds and snuggles and he fell asleep. he slept well most of the night with the exception of being woken up for vitals and breathing treatments. We also had one little scare last night when his oxygen levels dropped and stayed at 86%. The alarms went off, the nurse came in, and ordered another breathing treatment and pretty soon things quieted down and we all went back to sleep

The little cribs they have to sleep in are so sad.

Update on Hospital Stay: Tuesday

Here is the update, sorry I will make this short (and there will probably be typos)because I really want to be with my little guy right now but here is the update:

This morning we called the pediatrician to make an appt for Ben because he had a fever of 103.3 (and he'd had it all night despite medications), he was breathing really fast, and he was SUPER lethargic. So we called the pediatrician to get an appt and they asked us to track how many breaths per minute he was breathing. He was taking almost 70 breaths per minute and was supposed to be at 24-40. So they told us to get to the ER immediately. So off we went. We got here and were rushed back right without even signing papers. They started an IV, took blood, gave him breathing treatments, took a urine sample, and then did some other horrible test that involved sticking a tube in his nose (I had to leave, I couldn't handle it, but daddy stayed). Soon we found out that his white blood count was over 25,000 and it is considered worrisome around 15,000-20,000. This means that there is some type of infection so they said they had to admit him. We do not know when he will be released but he is getting lots of breathing treatments and medications. We really like the dr that we are seeing here. He sat down and talked to us for about 35 minutes today. Hopefully we will get some answers, since he has been sick on and off for about 5 weeks now.

Please pray for peace as I am really emotional and upset about seeing my little one like this, it just breaks my heart. Please pray for Bryan as he is trying to get all the info straight and be the advocate that Ben needs right now. Praise for all the wonderful family and friends that have brought us coffee and food and support us through prayers. Please pray that we will get answers and soon and that Ben will be more comfortable.

Daddy and Ben snuggling


Ben's Owie IV Arm

Prayers for Ben please. He us being admitted to the hospital for difficulty breathing, dehydration, fever of 103.3, and super high white blood count of 25,000+. More info to come later

You Choose the Title

When posting this video so many fun titles ran through my head:

*Child Labor Starts Early
*Like Mother Like Son
*Is this a sign that I spend too much time cleaning?
*Anybody need a maid?

Ready to Hit the Showers

At one of the showers before Ben was born, somebody gave us 2 bathrobes for Ben. They are totally cute but he has not been able to fit into them until now. So here is my little boy in his cute little bathrobe, ready to hit the showers!

Jumping Bean

Ben's new favorite thing to do is pull out his jumper from when he was little, get us to hang it up, and jump away! What a goof!

Walking Can Be a Real Pain

This afternoon Ben was playing in the yard with his friends, when he tripped over his little bat and nailed his chin on some bricks. Luckily it was nothing more serious, but it did give me quite the scare. He is a real trooper about it and with a little bit of ointment and TLC, he should be better in no time.






*Please excuse the boogers in the pics, he is teething. LOL

Simple Things

I know that the majority of you are not going to understand this post, but for those of you that get it, you'll understand why this post is a big deal to me.

It is real simple, today I opened the dishwasher to unload it and a wave of happiness swept over me. . . you see my dishwasher was full of sippy cup pieces. I had always wondered if one day I would get to see my dishwasher full of sippy cup pieces. Thanks be to God for my little miracle man and dishwashers full of sippy cups.

Afternoon BBQ with the Fam

Today was the annual picnic for my dad's company. We took Ben last year but he was only about 8 weeks old. This year Ben was walking around and exploring everything. He won his first raffle which was pretty cute- he got a really fun toy. He went and watched the geese and ducks and thought they were pretty cool. He wanted to touch them, but we thought it was best to keep our distance :) The weather was perfect and we had a great afternoon with my family.

Ben's Raffle Prize


Ben wins the raffle prize


The Little Lake


Ben loved the ducks


Ben loved his balloon animals


Funny Faces


Ben's new trick- trying to get in and out of his car by himself


Uncle Jim and Ben


Aunt Staci, Ben and Me


Aunt Staci and Ben


Ben and Grandpa Dave


My handsome little guy


Daddy and Ben


Stone Family

Daddy's Little Helper

Today Bryan decided to wash the cars. Pretty soon, daddy's little helper woke up from his nap and decided he wanted to help.

Desperate for a Paci

I had clipped Ben's paci to his diaper bag but that didn't stop him from using it.

Crazy Kid

Ben doesn't play with the toys in the box, for him the toy is the box
STEP 1:


STEP 2:


STEP 3:


STEP 4:


MY LITTLE CRAZY MAN


THESE EYES JUST MELT MY HEART

Pediatric Pulmonary Specialist Appt. Update

Today we took Ben down to Encino to see a pediatric pulmonary specialist. He has been sick for about a month now and the pediatrician decided that it was time to take Ben's level of care to the next level and see a specialist. The dr that we saw today was great. We were not sure about traffic so we left early and got to the appt 45 minutes early. The nurse brought us back right away and was really sweet to Ben. Then the dr came in was great. He answered all our questions and listened to our concerns and he examined Ben in our arms so that he felt comfortable and safe. It was a great appt.

Then we left there and drive down to Children's Hospital and went to a special pediatric blood lab to have some blood drawn (3 vials actually). The lab technicians were by far the best I have ever seen for kids. One drew the blood while the other sang while playing pee-a-boo during the whole thing. He only whimpered for 1/2 a second and then was just fine. I am so proud of my little guy.
Finally, we got back home and he is now resting, taking a nap upstairs.

It will take about 2 weeks to get all the results back but in the meantime we are going to: continue with his breathing treatments (change to: two times a week), give him an omega-3 supplement daily, increase his daily vitamin supplement, give him Singulair daily, give him berries ever day and finally we are going to limit the food/liquid within his reach and make him slow down while eating in drinking so nothing makes him choke or cough while eating. I know these all sound like weird treatments, but at this point we would do anything to get him better.

Ben is still his happy, funny little self but please keep him in your prayers; that he gets better soon. Please also keep Bryan and I in your prayers as we are getting to be tired parents just trying to get their little boy better.

Just when I thought it was over. . .

So the last couple days Ben has FINALLY been getting better after being sick for about 3 weeks. Then today, this showed up . . . can't this little guy catch a break!?
*click on the pictures

Ben's First Picture Day

Today it was picture day at school. Since I had to go anyways, at the suggestion of my principal (huge thanks!), I brought Ben out to take my school picture with me. He had a great time seeing all the kids and seeing where Mommy works. Then we got our pictures taken and it was so cute- Ben was a ham :)
So when we got home I tried to take some pics because he turns 14 months today. My picture shoot was not as great as theirs but he is still a cutie!

Fun Times with Daddy

Yesterday for Bryan's birthday we took Ben to a park near our house and let him play in his car with daddy for a little while. Ben loves when his daddy plays crazy with him in his car.

Note: Yes, he is buckled in. No, the hill is not as steep as it looks. So, if crazy/fun things make you nervous then don't watch this video; but I promise you that Ben is safe and he is having lots of fun!

I think his little laugh is so fun!


Watch his little arms, he is so excited!


After playing in the park we took Ben to our friends, Nicole and Brandon's, house to play for a little bit while Bryan and I went to dinner at one of his favorite places, Snapper Jacks. Then we just hung out and talked for awhile before heading back to pick up our little guy. It was a nice night- Happy Birthday Bryan!

(Thanks Nicole and Brandon, Ben had a great time!!!)

Houston- We Have Take-Off

That's right guys, Ben is walking! He really started walking over the weekend, but it took awhile for him to perform on camera for us :)

He loves to walk around and then plop down on his bottom and clap for himself. I think that this is by far the coolest milestone because it is so much fun to see him so proud of himself. Plus, it is just super cute to see such a little guy walk. I am a very proud mommy- I continue to be impressed with all the things that he learns each day. I love this little boy with all my heart!

PS. You can not read Ben's shirt in the video but my friend Kelly got it for him and it says: I do all my own stunts! (which is perfectly fitting for him since he has learned to crawl on/off the couch, on/off of coffee tables, in/out of chairs and walk all in the past 2 weeks) This is the best shirt-thanks Kelly :)

Praise Request!

Praises! Please join me in praising God- today my friend (I won't mention her name for her privacy) is holding a little girl in her arms after struggling with infertility! She and her husband are adopting tomorrow at 2pm. Please pray it all goes smoothly tomorrow! Congrats on joining the mommy club friend; what an a amzing God we have. He is faithful!

Prayer Requests

Please keep Ben in your prayers as he has been sick lately. We went to the Dr. last week and he said that Ben's fever, wheezing, cough, etc was just a virus and to give him some breathing treatments to open his lungs back up and he would be fine by Monday. Well Monday came and went and so did Tuesday and Wednesday and he still was not better. He is still wheezing, coughing and his chest is still rattling so I called the Dr. and took him back today. Now the Dr. says that he has an ear infection and bronchitis and he is afraid that if we do not get it under control it will quickly lead to pneumonia. So he placed Ben on 2 medications through breathing treatments and one antibiotic.

Thankfully Ben is a trooper and still having fun and loving life. He has been a little extra sleepy but not too cranky so that is nice, but I just wish that he would get better. I hate him being on all these meds and being sick. So prayers for Ben please.

Also, prayers for me please as I am stressed out these past 2 weeks. I am teaching 3 courses at the college, I started back teaching at the middle school last week, and I am taking an online class that requires that you be online at least 2 hours a day. I have been up till midnight lately trying to get all my work done, prep for things, keep my house clean, take care of Ben, etc. and I am just getting burnt out. It is hard especially on Mondays because I only get to see Ben for 1.5 hours. I hate not seeing my son, I miss him and all his funny antics. Please pray for me to be able to get some much needed rest over this 4 day weekend and to be able to spend some fun time with Ben.