Milestones

Well there is certainly lots going on around here these days.  It seems like my boys have all decided they're going to grow up this week.  Today happens to be Micah's birthday.  Happy Birthday Micah!!  He got to spend his sixth birthday looking for deer in the woods with his Daddy.  What a fun day! 


While Micah is getting a little bigger, he's still the same ball playing kiddo he's always been. But he has certainly added a wealth of football knowledge as well as a serious interest in soccer recently.  So far, his size doesn't seem to be impeding his athletic ability much.

Micah's baby brother also just happened to turn two months old today.  Just look how cute my boys are together.  At least they're cute when they want to be ;)


Isaac has changed quite a bit over the last month.  He still doesn't like the car, but now he does tolerate it under certain circumstances.  We've even discovered that he will take  a MAM pacifier if we insist, but usually he'd just prefer a blanket and a cuddle.  The best part of this new two month old baby is the smiles.  He's decided he loves to play with us first thing in the morning, right after breakfast that is.  He'll smile and laugh at anyone who comes to him for a good ten minutes if he's just eaten.  Baby smiles are just the best aren't they?!

Now for Jadon.  His birthday was last month, but he's decided he's not to be left out of the growing boys' club.  We had an unusually calm week, so he and I spent the better part of Monday through Wed in the bathroom on the potty.  And believe it or not, my boy is potty trained.  If you ask him, he'll be sure to tell you big boys go in the potty and babies go in the diaper.  And Jadon is definitely a big boy!!

Some days I just can't stand the fact that my kids are growing up so fast, but most days I'm so proud.  They are great kids, aren't they?

Are you ready...?

...For some Football?

The last two weeks have been completely chaotic.  I must have been insane when I filled my schedule to overflowing just a month after having a baby.  We have had dr appts and photo shoots and retreats and just a few birthday parties.  But we survived and had a little fun on the way. 


Micah and Jadon's birthdays are exactly 4 weeks apart, and because of the sheer number of fall birthdays in the Rodie clan, we've celebrated them together the last couple of years.  Last year, we had an airplane party at the church where we threw paratroopers and foam gliders off the balcony into the gym.  I wasn't sure if we could top that this year, but we sure had a good time trying. 


Everyone agrees that Micah is the king of baseball, but Jadon has become a pretty big football fan.  And what's more appropriate for fall birthdays than football?  So we borrowed some flags from Aunt Jody, and invited all our friends.  And then we prayed for good weather.  It turned out to be a perfectly fall day.  We did get a little sprinkle during the game, but not too bad at all.


So how do you throw a football party with a bunch of kids ages 3 to 7?  Well first you need teams.

Kevin and Justin were our captains.  They did a great job teaching the kids how to play.  And how cute are these little football huddles?


Then you start running!

Caleb was a little intimidated to begin with, but he quickly got the hang of the game.  Look at him go!!


Of course we had to have a cheerleader.  "Touchdown!" 

Eliana was happy to oblige.

After an hour, all the kids were pretty tired and sweaty so we headed inside for some cake and yummy hot chocolate.  What a great party!

Finally!

I finally got around to checking out Jody's photos from the birthday party and they are really cute. Here are some of my favorites. Thanks a bunch Jody!

The airplane cake was gorgeous. Thanks Amelia.

Jadon got his own cupcakes sans milk. He seemed to think they were pretty yummy.

This is how Micah started out the evening. It seems his face was a magnet for the bat.

But he still loves that bat.

Jadon knows all too well what that camera is all about.

Double vision. Two year old cousins.

This was definitely Jadon's favorite gift. He took it to bed the next 2 or 3 nights and even fed it breakfast Sunday morning.

Fab 5 number 3

Micah turns 5 tomorrow! Still waiting on photos of the big party, but I'm sure I'll have them up soon. We had a photoshoot for my big guy today. He's super cute! So let's have a quick overview of my guy, shall we?

Let's see, everybody knows about Micah and baseball, right? Since he was about 18 months old, he's been a dedicated Cubs fan (sorry Dad) and he watches baseball intently all summer long. Anytime he missed the end of the game this summer, he made sure to check with Kevin in the morning to see if they won or lost. As a toddler, he carried around a tiny little orange bat EVERYWHERE he went. He only gave that up for actual bats and balls and somebody to pitch. Up until this past summer, anytime you played wiffle ball with him, he was always willing to let you bat too, just as long as you bat both right- and left-handed. If he has to, so does everyone else. Anyone who thought that was a raw deal can thank my husband for that little quirk.

Micah's also a tiny little guy, but what he lacks in size he more than makes up for in personality. He makes friends with everyone he meets. At the ballpark during Kevin's softball games, he always manages to get the girls at the concession stand to pitch his wiffleball to him. Right now, he's playing basketball on the front porch while serving as his own commentator, just like in the pros. "And he saves the day! Incomplete... Micah goes back for another one, and he makes it. 42 to 0!" You just gotta love this kid, he always makes life interesting.

Two for one Birthday Special

The Rodie family is suddenly overflowing with fall birthdays. In the next week, Lydia and Teegan will both turn 1 and Micah will be 5! Jadon turned 2 about 3 weeks ago, and of course, we have new little Elianna (sp?) just 2 weeks old. So this year we decided that maybe Micah and Jadon could share their birthday party, just to make things simple. I called Jami up at the church several months ago and asked her to find a time for me sometime between October and November when the gymnasium would be available for the boys' birthday party. She came up with last Saturday.

Micah, of course, wanted to play baseball. Who could have guessed? And Jadon has really gotten into airplanes. So we had an airplane themed party, and played baseball. Amelia made an airplane cake to look like Uncle John's plane. And we had foam gliders(airplanes) and paratroopers for all the kids. We took the kids up to the balcony to drop their little paratroopers down to the gym floor. They all thought that was really cool.

We only had 36 people(I think) because of some unfortunate sicknesses and a very unfortunate run-in with a deer(literally), but it was still quite a fun crowd. And we did polish off most of the food. I don't have any pictures yet but I promise they're coming. I asked Aunt Jody to take pictures for me because I was afraid I'd miss most of the fun shots while I was trying to run the party. I think it was a good call, because I didn't even see the boys open their gifts. So as soon as we get around to it, I'll get you some photos. I'm actually pretty excited to see them myself!

Day 3 post-T&A

Micah was surprisingly active and upbeat after his surgery. But I really thought the next couple of days might prove to be a little more difficult once his throat started healing. Much to my pleasant surprise, he has continued to be active and happy, only telling me his throat hurts when he doesn't get his way. I'd say that's pretty typical 4 year old behavior with or without surgery. Thank you so much for all your prayers.

They're gone??

Last night, after dropping Chloe and JJ off at Grandma Ellen's for the night, Kevin and I took Micah to my Grandma's house before surgery today. We stopped for dinner at Micah's choice, Mickey D's (with a playplace). He of course got a happy meal with chocolate milk before spending more than half an hour playing in the playground.

This morning, we left GG's house at 6am. Short talk in the car about what will happen at the hospital. At the hospital by 7. Dressed and ready for surgery at 7:30. They even gave him a bear with its very own hospital gown.

Surgery went great, the nurses and doctors all thought he was adorable. He was incredibly cranky coming out of anesthesia, but no more than you might expect from a 4yo. Lots and lots of popsicles and ice cream.



On the way home, Kevin made a comment about Micah getting his tonsils out and Micah turned to me to say, "They're gone?"

He's doing great, didn't even want to take a nap. Hopefully he'll continue to feel well even as he starts to heal. Thanks to everyone for praying!

Micah Update

Micah finally saw the second ENT last week in Springfield. She actually said his tonsils are weird. They're not huge, very large, but not huge. But they are weird. They apparently are a strange shape, not round, and have extra folds on them that can catch food and cause him to gag. That also explains why their size varies from day to day. So she scheduled him for a T&A (take 'em out) in November. The other day we got a call from her office saying there was a cancelation for this Tuesday and Micah's surgery was moved up.

So Monday night, we're going to my Grandma's so we can be closer to the hospital. Micah has to be there at 7am for surgery at 8:30. Please pray for us and the doctors. I realize the T&A is pretty routine, but it's still surgery and still a little scary for this mama. I'll keep you all posted after the surgery.

What kids say...

7:30 in the morning, drinking my coffee before I dry my hair and go off to church. Micah's cuddling in bed with Daddy. He looks at me and says, "Mommy, you're beautiful"

Just as I'm thinking what a sweet thing that was to say, he tilts his head to the side and says, "Your hair looks funny."

Some days you just never know what you're gonna get.

A Very Long Weekend

This weekend I attendended Mom 2 Mom summer leadership retreat and I had a great time. The purpose of the retreat is mainly for planning next year's M2M, but it was also a great time for us to get together and relax and have some fun sans children. We had three whole meals that we each had to dish up one plate only (our own) and no one else was begging for our food or complaining that they didn't like their dinner. We didn't even have to fix it ourselves. Thank you so much Marianna! We got lots done and had a blast at the same time!!

Too bad that retreat didn't last longer because my husband and his brother butchered a beef while I was gone. Fortunately that was done far away and before I came home, unlike the goings on from a few months back on Jody's blog. But my sister-in-law and I still spent the better part of the last three days packaging up the meat and trying to pretend we didn't know where it came from. Ahh... the things I never knew about until after I married into this family.



On a different note, Micah's ear infection is doing much better, but we haven't been able to get a second opinion on the whole throat thing. Right now, we're seeing the pediatrician and the speech pathologist/feeding therapist regularly, hoping that they can take care of the problems and avoid surgery entirely. So keep praying for us.

Micah Update

In a previous post, I asked you all to be praying for Micah and his throat/tonsil problems. Those problems have not been resolved so he is continuing to see the speech patholigist for feeding therapy. Yesterday, we made an emergency trip to the pediatrician because he had woken from his nap screaming in pain from what turned out to be a very severe ear infection. He was in so much pain that he cried right up until we left for the doctor's office and then from the time we left there until I dropped him off with his Dad. I was gone last night, but Kevin said that he didn't go to sleep until after 9:30 and the tylenol and ibuprofen had seemingly no effect on the pain. He basically cried himself to sleep in our bed.

The infection happened to be on the same side where he still has a tube in as well as the side which has the more prominent swollen tonsil. And our pediatrician echoed my concerns that the ENT had not sufficiently evaluated Micah's problems and confirmed that it is very likely the ear infections and throat problems are related. So far, we still do not have a legitimate diagnosis and it seems we won't unless we pay cash to see a different ENT, which is probably what we will end up doing. Please pray for Micah and a quick resolution, as well as guidance for Kevin and me and the doctors as we try to search out a solution.

Prayer Warriors Needed *update

This is my little man. He is an awesome little guy that everybody loves. But he constantly makes this funny noise that sounds pretty nasty while he's eating, so he had an appointment last week with a feeding therapist. I'd never even heard of a feeding therapist before last week so it was quite educational for me. She is actually a speech pathologist that specializes in feeding. Apparently his funny sound that he makes when he's eating is him choking, two or three times every meal. It's actually kind of scary to realize that he chokes on his food every single time he eats. Evidently his tonsils are so large that he cannot swallow his food easily and instead is choking on it regularly. So sometime soon he will be having his tonsils and adenoids removed. Despite the fact this is a relatively minor surgery, and quite necessary, it's still surgery and we would appreciate all the prayers our little guy can get. Also, my baby's ENT who we really like, will not take little man as a new patient so our only option outside of traveling to Chicago is an ENT we are unfamiliar with in town. As a surgeon, he comes highly recommended, so I am not concerned about that terribly, but I want my little guy to be comfortable with his doctor, too. Pray that everything goes well and that I am able to be a good advocate for my. I have a tendency to get intimidated by doctors and I don't want little man to suffer for my insecurities.

*My guy has since seen the ENT who is not convinced he needs his tonsils out, in strong disagreement with both the pediatrician and the feeding therapist. We are having a test done, basically several x-rays taken while he eats, next week. Provided that he does what both I and the feeding therapist have observed him doing, this should help the ENT make a more informed decision.

Please note that while I am pleased that the surgeon wants to be thorough, I felt like my concerns were summarily dismissed and the opinion of the feeding therapist were utterly disregarded. Particularly since Micah had woken in the night with tonsils swollen and cutting off his breathing. Please pray for guidance and direction for both me and DH as well as the doctors and therapists as we try to help my little guy in the best way possible.