Caleb's field trip

Caleb's class got to go to the Womens Acc game on Thursday March 1st. Me and Barry were able to go as well. Caleb was so excited. The Tarheels played the Clemson Tigers. Tarheels won 90 to 51- Caleb was so happy. He had such a great time spending time with friends and watching basketball. Sports is one of Caleb's favorite things in the whole world. He took time to take a picture with his best friend Lemuel.

Cohen is 1 month old!!!!

Wow how time has flown by. On the 16th Cohen was 1 mon

th old. He is doing all the things that he should. We took him for his one month check up and he weighed 8 pounds!!! Yay!! He is a good eater. He is waking every 4 hours to eat. He is using a pacy. He is wearing newborn size clothes. He is just perfect in our eyes.

HOME Again!!!!

Me and Cohen came home from the hospital on Wednesday and we were so glad to see the boys. It felt like we had been gone forever. Caleb and Connor looked like they had grown like crazy. It was like a hurricane had hit around our house. Laundry everywhere and just trying to get into a routine. Cohen had been sleeping a lot and not eating the best but we put it as being early baby he was just being slow about wanting to eat. We went Friday for a weight check at the dr and he had gained no weight, and was a bit jaundice. Dr O Kelly just told us to watch him closely. So through the night was same as before, but on Saturday morning Cohen had been almost 6 hours since eating and he just wasnt acting right very sluggish and felt kinda cool. We took him to the pediatrician office and they sent us to Moses Cone to have him admitted for test and bloodwork and urine sample...
This is hard to cope with as a mom with a new baby, two older kids and raging hormones.
So after about 6 hours in the ER they finally had us a room. They were going to monitor his eating and his temp. So it all began. It was a long couple of days. Somewhere in waking him every 2-3 hours to make him eat he finally caught on and he began to want to eat. He was perking up and actually very alert for him. The dr that came in that night said he looked better and maybe it was just it took him time to catch up and realize he wanted to eat. She said if he continued this well through the night then we could probably go home the next afternoon. So all went well through the night and he actually gained a half a ounce. They attending dr came in the next morning and it was about 12 people in the room going over what he had been through. The dr that was in charge came in and never touched Cohen even looked him over or anaything but told me well you will stay again tonight and may go home tomorrow....but he was doing better... this was what I said to him and he wouldnt hardly even hear what I had to say so making this long and not so pleasant part of the story short we were told we couldnt leave. I was very unhappy. So we did the dame thing that night as well. Fed him every 3 hours and they monitored him. The next morning he had gained a little more weight and they said we could go home. So we came back home on Monday.
Since Monday Cohen has done VERY well with eating and he had gained 2oz when we went for a weight check. I am hoping that we have all the bumps out of the road for now and we can enjoy being a family of 5!!! It has been a rough couple of weeks but we are on the up side now and hoping thing only get better for us.
I took Cohen on Wednesday to have some newborn pics taken. He did a awesome job and so did the photographer. I can not wait to see the pictures.
I love being a mommy it is the BEST job in the world. It gets hard but it is the most rewarding job ever.

LABOR......What??

On Sunday January 16 it was around 1:30am and I got out of bed because I couldnt sleep..a familiar story. But I hadn't felt well all day. I got up and sat in the recliner and dozed off and on. Then about 3:30 started to hurt a little bit and by 4:30 when I woke Barry up for work..I told him I had called my dr and they said for me to go to women's hospital to be checked. I called my dad to sit with the kids while they were sleeping. Me and Barry and my mom headed to Womens. We got there it was around 6am and the nurse checked me and I was not dialted. They told me I could walk for a hour until the dr came by to see if this was labor. Me and Barry walked what felt like 500 laps around the hospital, stopping with contractions. Then I had the nurse check me again and I was 1cm. The dr came by and said they would check again in 1 hour, to see if any progression to see if REAL labor. If so they would go ahead with my c section. So we decided not to walk this hour mainly because contractions were about a minute apart and they HURT. I was in tears with some of them. So nurse checked me and I was 3cm so it was REAL and things happened fast from there. They began prepping for c section. I was in the OR getting my spinal and then it was just a blur it happened so fast. Cohen Benjamin Steed was born on January 16, 2012 at 9:50 am and he was 5.12oz and he was 19 1/4 inches long. He was perfect.

Baby Shower!!!!

Saturday January 14 my mom and sister Beka gave me and Cohen a wonderful shower. We had lots of great goodies and food. They made over 100 cake pops and they were the BEST!!! I got lots of great gifts. We got clothes for him and diapers. We got a set of our bottles. We received enough gift cards to go and purchase our pack n play and all we have left is our high chair. It was a lot of fun seeing family I dont see often and also friends. Even some friends from the way back days of high school....That was a LONG time ago. One of the greatest gifts I got was my mom made Cohen his bedding for his room she is still working on the valance and crib skirt but she did a excellent job on his blanket. She even made him some burp rags and a tag blankie. I am such a lucky girl to have her as my mom. She is the best. I hope that I can be as great to and for my kids as she has been for us girls.

The countdown is on....... 3 weeks from today!!!!

Since last post, Barry has been out of work for a total of 2 and half weeks, trying to regain his strength. He actually went back to work today Jan 9. for the first day since Christmas Eve.
We are now down to three weeks from today we have a c section scheduled for Cohen to be born. I can not believe that its only 3 weeks now the last couple months have just flown by. But it has been crazy here that is probably why. We had a great friend named Josh that came and basically painted Cohen's room for us. He helped with ceiling fans and the whole deal so in just 4 days we went from having nothing ready to having everything in his room DONE.....you know this mommy is feeling much better about baby coming now. Still a few small things to do get some clothes ready and packing my hospital bag but for the big work on the room its done. I will be having my shower this weekend so we are looking forward to that.
Connor went back to Brenner's for his every 3 month kidney check up and things are same he is having some trouble with UTI and they did bloodwork today to check some more areas they are concerned about such as his growth.
Caleb is doing GREAT in school reading very well and loving playing with friends. His favorite thing right now when he is at home it to play Daddy's PS3. He is in love with a hockey game.

Christmas and all the craziness that came with it....

Well as we always do on Christmas Eve we go to my grandma's house to celebrate and eat. We did that this year and we had lots of fun. The kids love to open presents and then they are off to play with all the goodies that they got. We got home and put them to bed so Santa could come.
Christmas has gotten more interesteing around here the older Caleb has gotten.. he has more questions and wants to stay awake to try to "catch" Santa. Around midnight Caleb finally fell asleep. So santa went to the basement and got all the gifts to put them out and then finally head to bed.
CHRISTMAS MORNING: Caleb was up by 7 but Connor begged to stay in bed. we got up and came to the living room to see what boys had gotten. They were so excited. Caleb got a drum set and a leappad and Connor got trucks and a racetrack for his trucks. They were happy kiddos. Barry's mom always comes down to see what the boys got from Santa then we head to my family's house.
There we EAT and we all open presents. We have a blast especailly with 5 little ones running around. Its a BLAST!!
Barry family was sick this year but his dad did make it down to see the boys and what they got from Santa.
One of the gifts from my dad in Barry stocking was all the GUYS got a certificate to go out for Wings the next night. And us girls had to watch the kids....STill thinking this was NOT fair.
SO the day after Christmas all the kids and us girls stayed at mom and dad's got a movie(which we couldnt hear a word of) and some chinese food. They guys headed out to Buffalo Wild Wings... when they got back from eating Barry began not feeling well so we headed home and he laid down hoping he would feel better by morning.
Next morning he headed off to work..still not all better.
By 9am he called me to see if I could take him to the ER and mom watch the boys.
So mom came and me and Barry and my Dad headed to the ER. After a LONg day in the ER they came to tell us Barry had to spend atleast 1-2 nights in the hospital because he has PANCREATITIS. Well so the googling began!!!
He was in extreme pain. So after a few hours we were transported to Wesley Long Hospital and there they realized from Barry's lab numbers that he had passed a gallstone that was stuck in the bile duct and that was causing all the pain and all causing his pancrease to be inflammed. SO long story short Barry spent from Tuesday to Friday in the hospital. They sent him home but will not let him return to work until soreness and pain are better and he sees his doctor on Jan 3. Gotta make sure no more chance of gallbladder issues coming.
I am now 34+ weeks prego and sleeping in the hospital recliner was not fun but he comes first. He would have done the same for me. I love taking care ofhim and being there for him.
The day after we came home Granny called and asked if she could come by and I said of course.
She came in with a bag of goodies for the kids (of course) and a envelope.
She explained that the person that gaveit to her didnt want to be known but they have followed us through FB and our blog this year and has prayed for us. They sent us a wonderful gift to help us provide for our family while Barry has been out of work. Me and Barry have had the conversation this week that since he is out of time at work he would get NO pay but GOD WILL provide. Thats all I kept telling Barry - bc I knew he had doene it before and I knew he would do it again. SO THANK YOU to whoever the giver was and THANK YOU Lord for seeing our needs before we know them.
Since the new year is coming I hope that we will continue to praise the Lord for what he has and is doing in our little family and thank him for his provisions for us when we don't know where it will come from. He is always in control.

Big Brothers Class 12-11-11

We signed the boys up for a Big Brothers Class when I found out I was pregnant. Then is was so far away we didnt tell the boys. But it snuck up on us quickly, here we are in the last full month before the baby arrives. The boys went not really knowing what to expect. They learned about holding babies, and what they should and shouldn't do without help. They even learned to put a diaper on a baby. Caleb seems very excited about the baby but Connor NOT so much he just says I your baby mommy. So we shall he how he does. They did a great job and will be great Big brothers.

WOW had no idea it had been this long!!!

Ok so since last blog a LOT has gone on. So we will take the short version and then try much harder to keep up now!!!
SEPTEMBER--me and Barry celebrated a 9 year anniversary!! We went out to eat. Also in September we found out that we are having ANOTHER boy!!!
But we really couldnt be happier!!! We just want a healthy baby. We have decided to name him Cohen.
OCTOBER-- Connor spent 5 days in the hospital and he had surgery to put in what they calla Cecostomy. Its a port in the cecum ( it come through in his stomach and we use a tube to flush it nightly. This is to help assist Connor to go to the bathroom properly. His colon has not been working correct for over a year and a half. Also Connor turned 3!!! Yay we are so happy for our big boy!!
NOVEMBER-- nothing big happening but we did celebrate thanksgiving with family. we are all local thankfully and so we enjoy this time together.
DECEMBER-- Well its the busy time of year!! Barry had surgery on his leg and has been out of work for a week and a half- despite Barry's pain we have really enjoyed having him around the house a lot. Connor has had some trouble with some scar tissue around his tube and having to have ot burnt off weekly which is horrible for him-- it hurts BADLY!! He is doing ok with the nightly flushes we just have to keep adjusting his meds.
Friday we took Barry for a check up and a lady was giving away lab/shepard mix puppies-- Well Caleb fell in LOVE immediately. So we now have a friend named Chopstix in our house and yes its a BOY so I cant win even with a dog to get a girl!!
That is the last few months in a small short version and I hope to do much better.
Especially since we are now like 7 weeks from Baby Cohen coming and I have to get better at keeping up.

It's been TOO long.....

Well it has been a while since I have updated. We went to the appt. at the surgeon's office for Connor and we got news we were totally not expecting. We have had MANY tests on Connor's colon. For those of you that don't know the background of him....WELL LONG story really short is He is VERy small for his age and hasnt gained much weight in over a year now. He has LOTS of trouble going to the bathroom(that is just a couple of the problems he has had ongoing for a year and a half) and he had a colonscopy done in May and it revealed that he has a very jumbled up and large and stretched colon. So one of the GI dr at Brenners told us that a Cecostomy is the best answer for Connor.....FINALLY we had a answer. A cesostomy is where in surgery they place a port in the cecum ( top of his intestine) to open to the outside in his stomach and then we do what is like a enema from that port everyday or every other by inserting a tube with liquid and it helps flush his bowels. A lot less torturous than a enema like we have to do now.
We were told by the surgeon that Connor had to try enemas at home first for a few months( eternity to a almost 3 yr old) and continue his meds like we have them and he needs to gain weight before surgery. NOT what we thought we were going to hear. And if he is constipate dhe doesnt eat and so how do you gain weight if he is not eating well.... so the questions we still face.
We have now been doing enemas on COnnor for about a month.... and we were told to start doing them every other day and we got nothing so now we are doing them EVERY day and he HATES it and so do we.
He cries and asks us not to do it and he just doesnt understand it all. So we have a call to the GI nurse saying they are working but ONLY if we do it every day and she is having the GI dr talk to the surgeon again to see if we can go ahead with the surgery.
Pray for all of us on this and pray the surgeon will be ready to help us this time.
As for Caleb since last blog he stsrted first grade and he LOVES it he likes his teacher a lot this year. Pray that his attitude stays this way. He is really enjoying his new friends at school. He also started back to play beaseball again and he is very good. First game last Saturday and my boy was the best one out there. He received the game ball after the game from his coach he was on cloud 9 and still is.
As for baby #3 we find out Friday September 16 if its a boy or girl. We are sooooo excited. Caleb says he KNOWS its a girl Connor is still saying NO we not have a baby .... I am the baby!!! Wow his worlde is really going to change.
We will be having dinner with all the family on Friday to have a cake to reveal on the indside if its a boy or girl so until Friday I will leave you hanging on to find out......

It's been a while.

I haven't updated lately, mainly because we have been so busy. Since last blog update we have had another ultrasound and the heartbeat was right around 160 which was great. We are so excited, just wishing all the nausea would go away.
Connor had another hearing test (because he failed his last) and WE PASSED first time YAY!!!!
He also had a appoitment with his GI dr and he has sent us on to the surgeon ( we go there July 19) this is for the next surgery for Connor on his colon. I will update again after that appt to let you know when the surgery is planned for.
Caleb is just enjoying summer as a 6 year old boy and is ready for the beach. We are going as a family July 21-31. Caleb got a little upset the other day in Target when he saw all the school stuff appearing already. He said " mom why is all that kind of things out already?" I told him its not much longer school will be back in and his reply was" well I want you to know I am NOT happy about this"
I am just so happy and excited about our family beach trip and I will have pictures for sure.

1..2..3..4..5 !!!!!

Well I am happy to say to all of you reading this, that this has been a crazy month for us at the Steed house. We have had graduation, birthday parties and lots of things going on to start off our summer. I for one have been sick a LOT of these time, but it's ok nothing to get all worried about I am fine, its just nothing that won't go away in about 9 months :)  We are all sooooo excited. I went to the dr today and we are already almost 8 weeks along. Things are looking good. We are all hoping for a girl, but time will tell. Please pray the ALL day/night sickness will calm down a bit, but if it means a healthy baby then we will take it.

He Graduated!!!

Well it has been a while since my last entry. Lots of things have happened here at the Steed House. Caleb had a birthday on June 3 and he is the BIG 6 now and ready to take on the world. On June 9 he graduated from Kindergarten and this makes me and Barry for old for real. Its hard to believe he is the old already. We are soooo proud of our baby boy. After greaduation we took Caleb and his cousins Lillie and Finley and we all went to Chuck E Cheese -- what better way to celebrate?
Last weekend we decided to take a weekend trip to the beach... It was Nana and Beka and Finley and me and Caleb and Connor we had so much fun we rested a lot and the kids loved the beach we had so much fun just playing in the sand and the water.

Lots of loose ends to tie up......

Ok so a update for Connor is we went and met with the surgeon on Friday May 27. He says that Connor has a very large colon and by that he means enough that a adult would normally have. Connor's colon at the end is not functioning as it should. He is suggesting that Connor has one last x ray, dye test done of his colon, which will be done Tuesday June 7. After that we will be ready to schedule surgery. In this surgery they put a port from Connor's stomach to the wall of the top of his colon, and this was through the port, we can help flush his system everyday. The dr seems to think this can really help Connor. Please be in prayer for us as the decisions are being made.
Caleb has been a busy boy as well. He is almost at the end of kindergarten and he is so excited for summer time. He loves to play outside and is looking forward to the pool. Then last week on Wednesday May 25 Caleb learned in about 5 minutes or less how to tie his shoes. He was so excited HE FINALLY DID IT.

We are so proud of both our boys. We couldn't ask for any better blessings than these two. I will keep you up to date as we do more fun things.

Tuesday May 24,2011

I am sitting here decided to start a blog to keep up with my little ones. The things in their lives that are most important, you will be able to catch on here. I am thinking last week at this time Connor had just been admitted to the hospital for some test and a surgery that was done last Thursday. We had lots of questions and doubts going in on Tuesday but hopefully we are not far from answers now. Dr called yesterday and wants to meet us Friday at 11:40 to go over what they found and the options we have.
A little background for you Connor our youngest (2) has been a joy since day one but he has had lots of speedbumps along the way. He has had some kidney issues since birth that still are not resolved. He wears braces on his legs, b/c the bones in his legs grew crooked while he was inside me for 9 months. He has had some speech therapy and walking therpay.... we is doing well with this now. He started having some bowel issues about a year ago and he doesnt eat too well. He is a whole 23 poounds at alomst 3 yrs old. so we have had many tests done.
SO  long story short hopefully we will have some answers on Friday.

Caleb our 5 yr old just lost his second tooth-- which he pulled himself on Sunday. He is playing Upward soccer at our church. He will be turning the BIG 6 next Friday!!!!