More Changes Still

It still surprises us how life can change in a heartbeat. We had a terrible scare Friday morning. Bubeaner was crawling around the office when we assume he must have stepped on Bevo's tail. Bevo turned around and gave a him a warning snap. Unfortunately, Bubeaner's face was too close and Bevo actually cut Bubeaners lip and scratched his cheek. The lip bleed quite a bit. We took him to the children's hospital's urgent care facility to make sure it was all indeed superficial. Thankfully, it was and by then even the lip had stopped bleeding. They sent us home with a general antibiotic prescription just to make sure Bubeaner did not catch any infections.

Bubeaner eating chicken nuggets after our ED visit.

The nurses and doctors confirmed our suspicion that Bevo had not meant to actually harm him because of the superficial nature of the wounds and how close he had been to his face. However, it was devastating for us. We had assumed that if we were close by supervising while Bubeaner interacted with the dogs he would be safe. However, Bubeaner had been literally next to Momma's leg (touching it) when the incident happened with Bita only a step further away. And even then we couldn't react fast enough to stop him from hurting Bevo and Bevo from hurting Bubeaner. Disheartened we made a decision to find Bevo a new home.

We ranted and raged at his antics all the time but just assumed
we would be ranting and raging at them for the next 10 years.

We were blessed that Miss Debbie recommended a close friend that would be a good match for our Bevo. He is single with no children and lives in the country with a large fenced-in yard. He was excited about Bevo. That same afternoon we packed Bevo's favorite toys, bowls, bed, food and medicines and took him to Miss Debbie. We had to do it at that moment our we would change our mind. To most people Bevo is just a dog, but to us he is an important family member. But we could just not take the risk of it happening again...with possibly worst consequences. It broke our hearts to let him go.

Bubeaner's wounds are healing fast, and he appears to not have many bad memories of the incident. He did have a nightmare last night, but acted normally around Sandy today. We miss Bevo terribly. But it helps to know that Bevo is in a new home where he is the center of attention, with a huge yard to play and run around, and taking pickup truck rides to go see the cows with his new dad. We sincerely hope he does not miss us at all.

Bevo sensing something was not right on the car ride
to meet Miss Debbie

Sandy is still with us. She's a lot slower and has almost no teeth in her old age. However, we have made some changes in regard to her too. Sandy is placed in the office behind a baby gate any time Bubeaner is crawling anywhere around the house. And when Bubeaner is in his playarea, sleeping, in his highchair or being carried around she is allowed to roam free. She doesn't appear to mind the new changes. In her old age, she sleeps a lot. It really doesn't matter much to her where it happens. This is not how we imagined things would work out, but for now it's what is best.

Jazz, Sandy and Bevo in April 2008

In less then two years we have lost two of our puppy babies.

Happy Thanksgiving Day 2009

We hope you had a great Thanksgiving Day enjoying a great meal with your loved ones. We traveled to aunt AA and uncle Gary's home for Thanksgiving dinner. That meant we thankfully did not have to worry about preparations.

Entertaining Bita during a work break

But we still worked on our To Do List around the house on wednesday. And Bita and Momma almost have the craft room completely and totally organized. Bubeaner loved the day's activities mainly because it meant he was in the middle of chaos for most of the day. Yes, our child appears to like chaos. Lots of things to see and attempt to grab. Do not fear; he was kept safe in his pack-n-play. He was not thrilled with it at first but eventually settled down.

Sleepy boy awaiting his late dinner

Sadly with all the work, we got off our regular schedule. Bubeaner's dinner was a little late. He was falling asleep at the table. He forgave Momma and truly enjoyed his dinner. And then he proceeded to enjoy Momma's dinner and Bita's dinner. Bubeaner is turning into a bottomless pit; he can eat and eat and eat. And it always appears to taste better if it's on Momma's plate. He's beginning to earn the title of "Pancitas," little belly.

The messier the face the happier the boy.
Bevo assisted Bubeaner in cleaning up afterwards
much to Momma and Bita's dismay.

Bubeaner put his new-found eating ability to good use at Thanksgiving dinner. He had breakfast early with Dad, then a mid-morning meal with Bita followed by a light lunch. And he still ate some turkey, dressing, cranberries, mashed potatoes, peas, and an entire roll for dinner!

Momma, I'm stuffed!

We assumed after such a meal Bubeaner would immediately fall asleep. But we did not take into consideration his love of an audience. He was exhausted and clearly ready for a nap but refused to sleep. He would make faces, and sounds, and, at one point, even used tears to get people's attention. Bubeaner was fine staying in his pack-n-play. He just did not want to be ignored.

Trying tears to draw attention

Eventually, we had to move his pack-n-play into a hallway away from everyone. Bubeaner wailed and cried in complain but soon fell asleep for his much needed nap. That made all the difference. He was then able to play some more and amuse us with his antics and smiles afterwards reminding us how truly blessed we are and of the many thing we are thankful for this year.

The Problem with Being Unique...

Bubeaner spent most of the day alone with Bita. And once again did not miss Dad or Momma. Our ego is really taking a beating. Bita related that he did not give her any trouble, of course. He played, ate all his food, and took all his naps without any fussing or crying. Bubeaner ignored us at first when we returned. But he soon warmed up and allowed us to play and spend some time with him. He had worn out Bita from playing together all day and he was still full of energy in the late afternoon. He is currently loving jumping up and down where ever he is and people don't get in his way. Dad's tummy took quite a bruising. Bubeaner also entertained us with his peek-a-boo. Although mainly, we were kept busy walking with him from the kitchen to the living room.

Momma's Child
He loved snacking on a lemon slice

And regarding Baby? Well, we somehow ended with another unique pregnancy situation. Momma's lab work showed she was antigen Kell sensitized. It causes similar problems to baby as the Rh antigen where the mother's immune system sees the baby as a threat and attacks it. The first step was for Dad to get some blood work done to find out if he is positive for the Kell phenotype. If he's not, then my reaction is to the blood transfusions (4 units) from the placental abruption & emergency C-section last year. This would mean less complications to the baby and our current hope. If he's positive for the Kell phenotype, it means the baby probably is also positive and my body might attack the baby which obviously is not the ideal situation. We won't know the test results for a couple of weeks. Surprisingly, we took the news... if not well, not devastatingly. We know the risks, possible additional complications and dangers. Yet, He taught us during our pregnancy with Bubeaner and later Bubeaner's stay in the NICU, that we can only take things one day at a time. There are many unknowns. As of right now, Baby is healthy and growing, Bubeaner is healthy and growing, and we are well. So we just put one foot in front of the other and keep walking.

Got Milk?
Surprisingly, he drinks about a gallon a week!

Ah, These Children of Ours!

The weekend was good. Dad and Momma spent some quality couple time sans Bubeaner. And as an added bonus, Bubeaner did not even notice the missing parents. He absolutely adored spending time with uncle Ivan and Sarah. He beamed the moment he saw uncle Ivan. Boys know when fun time is about to start. They played together so much that Bubeaner actually wore out uncle Ivan (a martial artist)!

It's Cowboy Time!
They didn't play well, but at least a win.

Horseplaying with uncle Ivan

Bubeaner continues to enjoy Bita's visit. He has learned that any minute he cries or makes anything that sounds like a cry Bita drops everything and gets him. And he's also been conning Bita into cuddling and sleeping in her bed after he wakes up in the wee hours of the morning. He doesn't sleep when Momma and Dad are around, but with Bita it's all about the cuddling. In fact lately, Bubeaner will only take food from Bita!

Attempting to steal Dad's food

Baby continues to grow and thrill Momma with all day nausea. But nothing different from the Bubeaner pregnancy. We did get a call today from Dr. S. Usually, it's not great news when the doctor calls personally. Momma's lab work showed an immunity irregularity. Her office set up an appointment with the MFM (Maternal Fetal Medicine) doctor for tomorrow. Not a good sign either. And they asked that Dad join us too. Also a concern. We are trying not to worry to much primarily since we have NO real information about what COULD be wrong. But we are concerned. Please send a little prayer for Baby. As much as we think Baby may be wanting some extra attention too, we would much rather continue without any complications.

Bubeaner eating some raisins
while grocery shopping

In N Out
Climbing into the toy box

Why get the toys out when you can get into the toy box?

First Aid Time

Wednesday we had to break out the first aid kit. Bubeaner decided his little fingers could fit in the vents of the oven, and he was right. Unfortunately, as he pulled his little finger out, he cut it. Momma did not notice since she was getting his food ready. Momma did notice the little trail of blood.

Squirming Bubeaner sporting mittens
to protect his bandaid.

Fixing the little cut was a little harder since Momma was alone. Bubeaner had to be strapped to his chair while Momma attempted to disinfect the area. Even strapped in, Bubeaner was squirmy! Finally we got a bandaid on his little finger. Of course a little over an hour later, Momma noticed Bubeaner chewing on something.... Yeah, he'd gotten the bandaid off and was chewing it. This boy really enjoys grossing Momma out. That night he ended up with mittens to keep him from taking it off again.

Enjoying spending time with Bita

Thursday Bubeaner and Momma picked up Bita from the airport. Bita will be spending a few days with us. YAY! Bubeaner loved seeing Bita. He especially loved spending time showing off everything he's learned and mastered since summer. His favorite part has just been spending time with Bita.

Playing around with Bita

And it worked out at the end too. Dad and Momma went "away" for a staycation this weekend as a belated anniversary celebration. Bubeaner stayed with Bita and aunt Pau. And as an extra surprise, uncle Ivan and Sarah came for a quick visit. Bubeaner loved all the extra attention and never wondered why Momma and Dad were not there. He probably did not even notice.

Notice the Bruise?
Someone closed the door on himself...hard.

1st MD Appointment for Baby

Today was our first prenatal appointment with Dr S. She was highly amused and surprised to find out this was a "spontaneous" pregnancy (no medical assistance). Highly amused and surprised. It was not just a case of relaxing, though that probably helped. But there were real medical reasons why a spontaneous pregnancy was highly unlikely in our case. She kept shaking her head and laughing throughout the exam.

Momma's boys are not very good at patiently waiting

As to Baby everything looks in order as of right now. Dr. S reminded us we were a high risk pregnancy, not something we would likely forget. Unfortunately there really isn't much she can tell us at this point regarding our risk of a repeat placental abruption. We can't really find out much until the 2nd trimester, and really not anything definitive until the 3rd trimester, when the placenta is more developed. We are being referred to an MFM (maternal fetal medicine) doctor who will lead our plan of care. We won't have as many sonograms during the 1st trimester as with Bubeaner (one a week), but we are scheduled for at least 2-3 more just to keep an eye on things. For now, we are under instructions to relax (ha!) and enjoy our first trimester.

Bubeaner playing hide-and-seek
while we waited a little more in the exam room

Bubeaner learned how to make the smacking sound for kisses a couple of days ago. He will look at you and smack his lips together then giggle. Of course, he only teases his Momma with these since lately he refuses to give her any kisses. (Could he already know about Baby?)

He is also learning to share which is not as great we thought. He had part of a bagel during his snack yesterday and loved it. Really, what is not to love about bagels? The only problem is that he decided to share it with Sandy. And this time, Momma was not fast enough to stop him from putting it back in his mouth. It really felt like everything slowed down while Momma watched Bubeaner stretch his hand out, Sandy sniff and then take a bite off, and Bubeaner put the rest in his mouth. YUCK! Momma kept reminding herself that human mouths are more "dangerous" than canine mouths. It really did not help.

Bubeaner enjoying his afternoon snack:
bagel, raisins and water

Thankfully, not all his adventures gross out Momma. Bubeaner has been intrigued by the roomba, which Bita nicknamed Robotita, for a long time. He used to chase it around the house when he was in his walker. But lately Momma has been running Robotita while Bubeaner sleeps. He has not seen her in action for a few weeks. Well, yesterday he somehow managed to get his little hand under the console table where she "sleeps" and press the on button. Robotita immediately "woke up" and started working. Bubeaner moved away so fast he ran over Sandy and started crying in a panic scream. Momma tried showing him how innocuous Robotita really was while holding him. He was not buying it. In fact, he wanted nothing to do with her. He has since avoided Robotita's docking space whenever he is crawling near the console table.

He would not let go of the raisins in one hand
and the bagel in the other... so he improvised when he needed a drink

We are grateful that Bubeaner is now back to his regular morning routine. Daylight Savings had thrown him off and he was waking up at 430a. It's amazing how much more rested Momma and Dad are when Bubeaner waits until 630a to wake up. His bedtime routine did not change at all. He continued to go to bed at 730p. We are currently really enjoying and appreciating the wonders of an undisturbed good night's rest.

Mmm, yummy!
Bagels are AWESOME!

Lovely Weekend

Man what a change of pace! We loved this weekend; it was nice, quiet and relaxing. We had no plans other than a quick visit to the wholesale club on Saturday and church Sunday.

At the wholesale club we found some adorable toy horses. We've seen some similar models before and considered getting Bubeaner one. It was a good thing that we let him play with one before buying it. Bubeaner hated it! And we mean, H A T E D it. He screamed so loudly he was probably heard in the parking lot. At least we are hopeful that he won't be so afraid of the real thing.

Bubeaner could not wait to get off the toy horse.

Bubeaner continues to eat. There are few things he really does not like.... currently it's his old favorites turkey and ham. Maybe he was just tired of eating them. We try feeding him, but, more often than not, he refuses food if we try to feed it to him. He wants to feed himself. The only problem is that he eats so S L O W L Y! Bubeaner is usually the first one served, and he's usually still eating while Momma starts cleaning up. But we would rather he eat everything slowly than not be a good eater.

Momma and Bubeaner before calling the grandparents
to tell them about Baby

Momma left a pair of socks within reach of Bubeaner and he tried to put them on. He grabbed the socks and then would get one foot with the other hand and touch them to each other. Of course, he is still a ways a away from actually dressing himself. It's just nice to see how much he's learning every day.

Enjoying a pretzel during our walk through the mall
while Coco had an oil change.

Tomorrow we have our first prenatal appointment. We are a little anxious and excited. Hopefully, tonight we will have a quieter and more restful night. For some reason, the smoke alarms in the house kept going off last night throughout the night alternating between alarms approximately every 15-20 minutes. We, mainly Dad, checked the house and attic for any possible fires but found nothing. We determined they just needed new batteries despite the fact that some had just gotten new batteries less than 2 months earlier. And when things started calming down, Bevo decided to help out. Every time he would hear the alarm beep, he would howl, which would cause another alarm in the house to beep, which would cause him to howl again and so on for quite a while. Ah, the joys of loving dogs.

Friday 13th

Life's been slow going at our home since we found out about the pregnancy. Probably part shock and part worry. Either way, Bubeaner has not showed signs of minding a quieter Momma. Today we decided he should stay in his pajamas for most of the morning. Some days just feel like pajama days. In fact we did not venture outdoors at all today except when the MM team got here. Bubeaner wanted to greet them outside. He insisted on walking there (holding hands of course).

He's been practicing his walking a lot lately. He has also been working on standing alone. It's amusing to watch. He will go from sitting to crouching to standing on his own. Then he does this Elvis-like dance move where his legs bend and he moves from side to side while swinging his arms. This makes Momma laugh which distracts Bubeaner and causes him plop down on his bottom. We then go through it again, again, and again. We love this boy!

Routine Boy:
There's a time for playing;
There's a time for napping.

Bubeaner started taking his morning nap again a while back. And Momma usually just puts him down for his nap around 1030a even when he's not showing signs of being tired. At most he sometimes lets out one complaining cry and then promptly falls asleep. Today he was actively playing in his play area and Momma decided to let him continue playing. He made loud squeaks, squeals and other sounds while he played. Then suddenly, silence. Complete silence. Bubeaner was sound asleep! Momma should have know; it was 1030a. Our boy always follows his routine. Thankfully, he did not stir while Momma transferred him to his crib.

Bubeaner wedged between chair and couch.

He did a lot more crawling around the house in the afternoon. He's really enjoying this new found freedom. But it really keeps Momma on her toes. Somehow his sippy cup fell in between the couch and Dad's chair. Bubeaner went after it. And promptly got STUCK! He couldn't move forward. He couldn't move back. Momma freed him and then showed him he could crawl around the chair to get to the same place. It was wonderful to see his little face light up when he discovered this.

A boy's gotta do what a boy's gotta do for his sippy cup.

As to Baby, poor thing is already suffering from second-child syndrome. Aunt Pau took video of Momma and Dad telling the grandparents of Baby for the first time. Now, Momma always transfers the pictures/videos of the day to the computer at night. So a couple of days later Momma needed room in the camera to tape Bubeaner being cute. And deleted the Baby's video! It had not yet been transferred. Realing from the shock of finding out we were pregnant, Momma got out of her routine. At least, we still have some pictures from the day....

Shock & Awe

Bubeaner amuses us every day. He discovered cranberries (in raisin form) a few days ago and now constitute his favorite snack. It's like eating candy. He had some with breakfast today. However, he soon decided he did not want any oatmeal, only cranberries. Momma thought it was a good idea to put one cranberry on top of each spoonful of oatmeal. It worked; Bubeaner would open his mouth. He would get really excited at the sight of the cranberry only to cry the moment he tasted the oatmeal. He did this for 5-10 spoonfuls alternating between smiles and tears. But he ate his oatmeal.

Bubeaner enjoyed the rest of his cranberries
after finishing his oatmeal

Mmm! Cranberries are YUMMY!

Today Bubeaner refused to stay in his play area. He wanted to roam around the house. It started with him walking up and down the long hallway. One of the times he walked holding on to only one hand! He spent the rest of the time crawling mainly chasing the dogs around. He loved spending time with the dogs. And disturbingly, any time Bevo and Sandy got into an argument (Bevo wanted to run around & Sandy would not let him), Bubeaner would stop what he was doing and rush over to them. We thought he would be scared of their roughhousing; instead, he would get excited and attempt to join in! Definitely a BOY manoeuvre.

Chillin' with the dogs while leaning on Sandy.

All three babies played and hung around all day

This weekend the family received a HUGE SHOCK! Against the odds, we are pregnant!!! Monday we had initial blood work done, and the numbers look solid. And today, Momma, Dad and Bubeaner got the first look at the newest member of the family. Baby was an adorable blurry grain of rice on the sonogram. And it was amazing to watch her (or his?) little heart beating already. WOW! This is certainly not something we expected to happen. But we are extremely grateful to have been blessed with this precious baby.

Now, Mr. President,
THIS is SHOCK & AWE.

We are, of course, considered a high risk pregnancy due to the placental abruption that led to Bubeaner's early arrival. And we are aware (more than you can imagine) of all the possible risks and dangers to both Momma and Baby. But we had been told it was extremely unlikely we would conceive without assistance, and yet, we are pregnant. Sometimes, we are just asked to follow a path and must trust in He who leads us. For now, we rejoice in the blessing of a new life, a new child, a new sibling.

Miracle #2

Ignored Baby

Poor Bubeaner was ignored most of the day today. Well, not really, he was in his play area alone for 3+ hours. He was playing, or eating, or teasing the dogs the entire time. And Momma was within reach at all times, but Momma feels (and Bubeaner probably agrees) that he was ignored. There were just some housekeeping items that needed to be addressed.

Peaceful sleeping angel

Spending time in the ballpit

Why enjoy the raisins when you can eat the box?

Sharing his raisins with the puppies

Someone thought it was funny to take the foam mat apart

Weekend Finally Done

WOW! We had a busy, busy weekend. Thankfully, we are now able to relax some.

Cute Adorable Smile

Sunday was a little slower. We (Bubeaner, Dad, Momma and aunt Pau) visited the bazaar after church. Momma helped out while everyone else shopped. We did not stay too long helping out because Momma was exhausted. Afterwards, we enjoyed a nice brunch together. Bubeaner absolutely loved his pumpkin pancakes. They were originally Momma's but he really did not leave much for her. The boy gobbled them down!

Crashed after gobbling down a gingerbread cookie

Bubeaner and Dad spent the rest of the afternoon together while Momma and aunt Pau were at a Tamalada with the Comadres. The Tamalada consists of a group that gets together to make massive amounts of tamales in one afternoon. At the end we divide them amongst ourselves. It's a tiring few hours, but then you end up with tons of homemade tamales (4-5 dz). There is no way we would have gotten them done otherwise. Cooking them is intimidating.

Bubeaner is such a silly little boy

After all that, Monday was a nice relaxing day. Even Bubeaner noticed, and enjoyed, the quieter pace. We only had to stop by the bazaar to help clean up. Bubeaner slept through most of that since he had inhaled a marranito (Mexican gingerbread in the shape of a pig) on the way to church. He absolutely loves them. We can't let him see them while he's eating or he refuses to eat his meal.

Diligently working on homework with aunt Pau.
Someone has to eat the crayons.

What aunts teach kids...
John now knows how to blow bubbles in his drink

Guys' Weekend Alone

This has been an extremely busy weekend for Momma and Bubeaner. We (women's church group) have our biggest fundraiser of the year this weekend. We have been running around like crazy since Thursday. Bubeaner, as always, was amazing.

Finally crying after 5+ hours organizing for the bazaar

Friday was an especially long day for him. We had to set up a year's worth of crafts in the main hall. We were running from 9a-2:30p. Bubeaner was in his playpen for the majority of the day. The grandmothers were thrilled to watch him entertain himself. It was a little too chaotic and busy around him to actually take a nap in there too. But he was fine once he was in his carseat with the privacy cover. And, it did not hurt that there was a surplus of grandmothers more than willing to walk him around in the stroller until he fell asleep. He was actually great throughout the day even through lunch. It was only towards the end of the day that he started getting fussy and crying. Bubeaner had many shoulders to cry on and complain. We are not completely convinced that he was not "enhancing" the theatrics a little.

A fussy Bubeaner being consoled by one of the grandmothers

Today was going to be too busy and hectic for Bubeaner to join Momma at the bazaar. So Bubeaner spent the day (from 7a-4p) with Dad. It's the first time they spend so much time alone. Both of them did a great job. There were no bloody noses, new bruises and both were fed and content. They were both still in their pajamas, but it was a relaxing day for them. They watched every single football game and game-day program available too. At one point, uncle Jeff joined them to watch the A&M game. It was their first guy's day alone. Dad looks forward to many more. And Momma does too.

A busy day = a worn out baby

There are two more days of work, but aunt Pau will be helping out tomorrow and will take Bubeaner on Monday for the couple of hours it will take us to clean up. We are very fortunate that aunt Pau can (and often does) help us out with Bubeaner. And, of course, Bubeaner absolutely adores his aunt. He recognizes her footsteps and time she comes to visit every day. As soon as he hears her steps he starts jumping and giggling in excitement.