Thursday Tidbits

This week has been a SCORCHER! Not a good week to be living in Washington State where they apparently don't know what air conditioning is!!! I'd walk around my house naked if I felt it was appropriate... it's that dang hot!

My birthday was on Tuesday and I'm officially 24 years old. Yay for me, I can legally rent a car in a year. LOL. We wen't out to dinner at the Spaghetti Factory (I got the chicken penne...YUM!) with my mom, uncle, sister and her family...and of course my hubs and the kiddos. It was nice to get everyone together. I got the Charmed TV series and Twilight on Blu-Ray from Aaron as gifts which will come in handy since we don't have cable... I'll share pictures if I ever get them uploaded from my camera. Seems to be a recurring theme in my life, right? Welcome to having two young children!! :)

Another update on Stellan... not sure what's going on with him still, but he seems to be stabilizing a bit. I know he could still use your prayers though.

Speaking of prayers... I've also found out that my cousin, Shawn, is in a lot of trouble. Both him and my step-brother, Cory, have struggled with drugs in the past. Luckily, Cory learned his lesson before he got in too deep and has been clean for almost 6 years. I cannot say the same for Shawn. He's been in and out of rehab and it's only gotten worse... he's past the "gateway drugs" and is on to the heavy stuff, the bad stuff...like heroin. I knew he had a problem, but I didn't realize how much I was in the dark on all of this. I saw him a year and a half ago at Cory's wedding and he looked like hell then; face sunken in, stick thin, pale... just not healthy AT ALL. From what my dad says, he looks even worse now...like death. And he's headed in that direction fast if something doesn't happen. Members of our family are staging an intervention this weekend as a last ditch attempt to get Shawn (and keep him) in a year-long inpatient rehab facility to try to kick his habits before they claim his life. I'm very scared for him and his family. Especially since he has a daughter, Ava, who will be a year old in just a few weeks (both he and Ava's mom were on drugs at the time of her pregnancy and birth so they don't have custody, but still...). My hope for him is that he may be able to get well, get past his addiction, and be a healthy presence in his daughter's life before it's too late. Please pray for Shawn that he gets the help he needs and that he can fight this and win. I remember the person he used to be and now he's unrecognizable...and that breaks my heart. Please also pray for my aunt and family as they are understandably torn, confused, and hurt about all of this.

On a happier note, here are the pictures from Jaxson's 3 month photo shoot that I promised last week. I've been busy as a bee at work the past few days, so I really haven't had the time. Enjoy! I know I did... he's one darn cute kiddo!!

Update on Stellan

Last Twitter update about an hour ago says that little Stellan is going to be airlifted to Boston, presumably to do another ablation, however no details have been provided on MckMama's blog so I'm not really sure. Please continue to keep this strong little boy and his family in your prayers as I am doing as well. God CAN and HAS worked many miracles with this young one...may they continue.

~Shannon

Please pray for Stellan!!

Ok, so this actually isn't about either of my boys...they are doing just fine (thank goodness!!). I follow the blog of a dear, sweet woman known as "MckMama". She has 4 children ages 4 and under. Her youngest, Stellan, was born last October. He was diagnosed with SVT, a dangerous heart condition, in utero and was not expected to be born alive. He surprised the doctors and was born "healthy". However, he's had many hospitalizations in his short life including surgery (an ablation to his heart). Stellan is back in the hospital yet again and it's very bad this time. He's been in SVT for the last 3 days straight, which means his heart has been beating at a very dangerous 230+ beats per minute. His doctors aren't sure if his body can handle another surgery with being so young, and understandably his parents are at a loss for words to describe the anguish they feel at the thought of possibly losing their son.

Please, PLEASE pray for this beautiful little boy!!! Please help the doctors to have wisdom and clarity to make the best decisions possible for Stellan's situation and please pray for his parents (and siblings) to have as much peace as they can during this time. We may lose this baby boy if something isn't done soon medically to reverse this. And most importantly, please pray for healing for Stellan...hopefully on THIS side of Heaven. He's a fighter... please lift him up in prayer so he may continue to fight this battle...and win it. That he may be strong enough to make it to the point where he can have the surgery he needs to save his life and get rid of the SVT forever.

As a mother of young children myself, I cannot even begin to imagine how MckMama and her family feel. The sting from the loss (or potential loss) of a child is something I don't think I could bear and I hope I'm lucky enough not to. Even the thought of my children in pain is something that is too tough to swallow. It just brings me to tears to think about this whole situation.

Thank you!! Oh, and you can visit MckMama's site for Stellan's story and updates by clicking here or by clicking the "Praying for Stellan" button on the right side of my blog. You can also follow MckMama on Twitter by clicking here.

I will update on Stellan's progress as I see more information. Thank you so much for your prayers...I know this family will appreciate them greatly.

~Shannon

Another Dose of the "Little Man"

I have a lot to catch up on as far as pictures are concerned!!! I don't think I really realized how many I had...and this is just a SMALL portion I'm sharing on my blog. It's obvious I love my digital camera. :) Here's installment #2 of the latest and greatest of Jaxson. I'll most likely share his new 3 month pictures we had taken last weekend on tomorrow's post as well as a weekend update with some of those pictures, but here's the last of my "catching up" pictures of Jaxson since his birth. I cannot believe he's rounding the corner towards 4 months old already...where has time gone??

{I just love his big, beautiful eyes...}

{Posing for Auntie Samantha!!}

{Sticking his tongue out, haha!}

{He loves to suck on his fists and fingers...}

{My happy baby! Oh, and I LOVE this Onesie! :) Boob Man indeed...}

{Look!! He can lift up his head! So strong already...}

{The jumperoo has quickly become his favorite "toy". Jax loves standing up!}

Definitely not MY child...

So, I've decided to participate in a weekly series called Not Me! Mondays created by MckMama (see her blog here). This week's installation is a slight deviation from the original theme called Not my child! Monday where we share embarrassing, funny, and brutally honest stories about things that we or our child(ren) definitely do NOT do... ;) So here goes nothing...

It was most definitely not my sweet and darling 19 month old who, not once but TWICE, managed to strip himself of his poopy diaper during nap time at daycare and proceed to smear the contents all over the wall, playpen, and himself. Nor would he rub it all over in his hair. No, not my toddler. And he surely didn't fling it all over his daycare provider's blinds and computer screen either...

It also was not my cute little boy who got so mad at mommy for trying to feed him macaroni and cheese because he wanted to do it himself that he forcefully grabbed the full bowl and chucked it across the floor. There's no way he then got so mad that he slammed his face into the couch and screamed for 5 minutes straight.

Oh, and my son also definitely does not like to color all over the bathroom floor with his Crayola crayons...or eat them (along with the tips of the non-toxic markers). Nope, not my kid at all.

The New Kid on Our Block...

Here are some pictures of our second J-Man, the youngest of the bunch... Jaxson! Hope you enjoy our "Little Man" as much as we do!

{Just days old cuddling with Daddy!}

{All swaddled in his ducky blankie...}

{Drying off after his first bath at home}

{Just relaxing...look at those big eyes!}

{ALL SMILES!! Such a happy boy!}

{Mommy and Jax saying hi to the camera!}

{Wassup??}

{Smiling with his Daddy!}

All about Jayden!!

Ok, so a lot of the pictures lately have been centered around Jaxson. In order to be fair, I think that our big boy, Jayden, needs a turn in the spotlight too. Here are some pictures of our handsome, albeit goofy, 19 month old "Punky":

{ He loved crawling in the cat carrier!}

{Jayden, the caged animal (he really can be an animal at times!)}

{Passed out in the stroller...play hard, crash hard :)}

{Trying on Grandma's sunglasses!}

{Relaxing in the baby swing...he likes it more than Jaxson!}

{All dressed up at Niki and Greg's wedding in June}

{Jayden, the wrestler of rottweilers!}

{Our goofy boy taking his nightly bath after a very messy dinner!}

4th of July!

Ok, last round of pictures for today before I go to enjoy the weekend. Here are a few pictures of the kiddos on the 4th of July. We spent the holiday with Tommy and Samantha at their house. I'm excited for when the boys get older and they can actually play with sparklers in the driveway and REALLY enjoy the fireworks...

Happy Friday all! Have a fantastic weekend!

~Shannon

Edmonds Pier

The other day we took a lovely trip down to the Edmonds Pier with the boys where we enjoyed some delicious chocolate ice cream and french fries and then hit the beach for some fun in the sun, surf, and sand. Jayden loved running up and down the beach and into the water with Daddy. It was Jaxson's first trip to the beach too!

{Jaxson slept for a while and enjoyed the shade...}

{...while Aaron and Jayden walked along the beach hand-in-hand.}

{Jayden started to test out the water...}

{...and Daddy gave him a jump-start...weee!!}

{Jaxson woke up to bask in the sun with Mom...}

{...while Jayden played in the sand!}

{Then we ended the beautiful day with a happy family photo :)}

Summer Fun: Part 1

A few random pictures from our summer thus far. We enjoyed a trip to Northwest Trek in June and also have recently been spending our weekends at the local Willis Tucker Park where they have a fabulous "Splash Pad" which has come in handy with all the sunny weather we've been having. :)

{Our happy little family after a tour of Northwest Trek}

{Gramma Joan came with us to see the wildlife too!}

{Aaron and Jaxson at the "Splash Pad"...too cute!}

{This was adorable...both boys giving each other kisses! :)}

{Jayden and Mommy...don't mind my ugly one-piece swimsuit. Yuck!}