Set backs and egg hunts

Today my spirits are a little down. Poor Cache woke up from nap yesterday with a slight fever yesterday (100.2) and I started him on Tylenol right away. He was, expectedly, a little winey and ornery, but otherwise ok. This morning he woke up without a fever but more wobbly. He's back to the pre-ataxia awkward stage where he'd run into doors and floors. I still have him on Tylenol an Motrin rotation but I'm hoping that he gets better quickly he is also a lot more winey and stubborn today. And tired. It all seems to be tied together.
But we did get to have an Easter egg hunt today, regardless! His friends Carmen and Cloe came over to hunt for the eggs the easter bunny so graciously left in our yard two days early! Thank you easter bunny! Here are the pictures.

For Aunt Liana

This post goes out to Auntie Liana! She's going through some rough spots and we are posting some pictures to help pass the time!

I've been meaning to get pictures of the kids with their "big brother" and "baby sister" shirts that Santa brought them for Christmas, but I hadn't coordinated it until now :) not that you can really read them anyway lol I had to take the pictures first thing after getting them dressed because Avelyn is Princess Drool and Cache with a white shirt...well, that doesn't need explaining ;)
Spring has finally peeked out behind those dreary winter clouds and we have sun! It's getting into the 50's most days and most of the snow is gone! Woo hoo for warmer weather!
Also, I just discovered that Cache is getting his 2 yeaar mollars finally! Maybe that's why he's extra cranky sometimes. Looks like monkey boy is going to the dentist this spring!

"Cache, I'm trying to take pictures..."

Love them!

Avelyn wasn't happy about being put down at first

Then it got better

What happens if I stick my finger in her ear, mom?

Oh! What if I stick it in my ear?

Somehow Cache's feet took center stage!

Easter eggs and random

Cache got to dye some Easter eggs today! Mostly it was me putting them in the bowls and him choosing the colors. I tried to get him to put the eggs in the bowls but that just resulted in an egg getting dropped from a distance and splattering blue dye everywhere! When I tried to get him to do it nicely, he ended up not really holding them but pushing my hand down. I think he was trying to avoid getting his fingers in the dye. Silly boy :). His friend Cloe got to come over and play too! She did not mind getting her fingers messy!
And of course, a picture of Avelyn, who was napping while we dyed eggs! Happy easter!

Quiet Moments With My Boy

It's always a toss up as to whether bedtime is going to be a fight or easy. Tonight, not only was it easy, but it's probably my favorite so far.
Being that he is my oldest and not a baby anymore, I don't get a whole lot of quiet snuggle time anymore. When he was smaller, I remember rocking him to sleep and rubbing his back while he slowly relaxed and drifted off to sleep. I remember not being able to wait until he would reach for me and hug me because he wanted to. I felt anticipation for the first time he would say "I love you" and know what it meant.
Well tonight after saying our prayers and giving him kisses he asked me for a hug. Of course, this would get him a few more minutes until bedtime, but it's nothing I would deny him! Just when I thought he was done, I started to pull away and he said, "hug?" And then he pulled me close and began to rub my back, my arms, my shoulder. And all the while saying, " I love you". It was possibly the best moment I can think of with him. I just love that little boy. He is a bright light that was sent to shine on our family. :)
Here's to quiet moments :)

Early Mornings

Now I realize that I am spoiled by having two kids that usually like to sleep in. On most days, Cache doesn't get up until around 8/8:30 and Avelyn has been about 7:30 or 8:00! And since she started sleeping all night I am even more spoiled. So on those mornings when Avelyn wakes up before 7(6:45 lol) I am usually a little irked that I am getting up so soon, but when I see that smiling face waiting for me it makes it worth while. And on special mornings, like this morning, I love it. I know I usually post about big events or fun activities, but it's the special, quiet moments that I really want to remember too.

After taking her downstairs to nurse, she eats with her eyes shut and her arm snuggling her bear. I'm glad she snuggles her bear now because I don't know if I'd have any hair left if she didn't! She pulls hard! After she eats, she's in this between sleep and awake stage when I pick her up to burp her. She rests her little head on my shoulder and makes little happy sounds. The room around is still relatively dark thanks to Daylight Savings Time and Cache is still sound asleep. It's a sweet, quiet moment that I can share with my daughter, the same as I got to share with Cache when he was a baby. I think she actually slept for another 10 minutes on my shoulder because she was quiet and I  could only hear her breathing. Then she stirred and turned and she just watched me. I got to trace her features with my finger and she just smiled and watched once in a while she would giggle for a second, but it was such a sweet, quiet moment. Such a departure from her new favorite thing to do, which is squeal loudly!

Here's to quiet mornings!

So blessed

I just love my little family. I can't imagine having it any other way. Some days I feel like it's a lot to handle with two kids, but most of the time I am overwhelmed with how much I love them! This morning I had the privelage to watch Jared chase Cache on his hands and knees as he squeeled and giggled. :)
Avelyn has been such a good sleeper! She sleeps all night in her crib (12-13 hours) and doesn't make a sound! Thankfully, Cache has been sleeping much better lately. He's been gluten free/soy free for about 2 months (+/-) and hasn't had a recurrance yet. The neurologist suggested that he might have another problem if he gets sick again (has a fever) so we will hope for the best. He hasn't had a true fever more than 2 or 3 times in his short little life, but I'm not hoping for one any time soon. ;) He's been keeping busy playing with his friends and chasing flies around the house. I'm assuming they are coming in on the wood we are burning, but there are wasps too, so I'm hoping no one gets bit. He will find a fly and yell, "thly!" and tell us to "get it!" This means he wants us to get the zapping fly swatter and zap them. He laughs when he hears the "pop!" and says, "Scared me! Throw it away?" It's just so exciting to him. It's really cute. And Avelyn just loves him. She laughs at him when he brushes his teeth, dances, runs...just about anything :)
Since last time, I wasn't able to post pictures (something to do with the blogger site) I will do so now!

Avelyn found the last of the banana bread!

Cache loves chocolate chips!

"What? Was I not supposed to eat it?"

Out shoveling snow with the kids

Big helper!

Riding the train at Christmas time!

Sitting with Santa! I wish I had had more time to post more blogs just about this!

Avelyn was pretty happy sitting on Santa's lap, but Cache was a little reluctant. He at least wasn't crying! What a good Santa!! You can still see his eyes are a little crossed from when he was sick, but that was the last major thing to fix itself.

These days we are exploring the joys of having an independent 2 year old. Cacher has always been such a good kid. He shares his toys and asks if someone is "ok" when they fall. He asks for permisson before eating things to make sure it's ok and he brings the baby "snacks" when he thinks she's hungry. Or he just brings me the nursing pillow and says, "She's hungry" He's very snuggly and loves to sit on our laps. I love that he becoming his own person, I just wish we didn't have to have so many tantrums! At least once a day we have to have very slow, cranky conversations about why he needs to eat his vitamins, take naps, or not do unsafe things. He can be very loud and loves to say "I said no!" which, or course just makes it all worse for him. I struggle with finding ways to try to get him to listen sometimes and it all makes me wonder if I'm being a good mom or if I am just expecting too much of a 2 year old. I just think he is capable of so much more, but I do want him to be a kid as much as possible. Hopefully, when the weather warms up, we can run off some steam at the park and not push mommy's buttons as much. :) In fact, the weather was nice yesterday (50's and sunny) so we took the kids out for a ride in the new bike trailer I got for Christmas!Such a nice thing to have! Cache loved it and didn't want to get out!

Took the kids for a ride!

Snuggly warm!

As for Jared and I, we have both been working on our health this year. I decided that I didn't want to wait to decide to have another kid before I loose weight. I want to enjoy being smaller and healthier for me. We got a membership to the local wellness center at my work and take turns going when he gets home from work. I also go to Zumba twice a week and that's a lot of fun! I even got asked if I was a dancer in high school because she thought I was good! She said she follows me whenever she can't see the instructor. Way to boost my confidence! So far we are both doing well with it and I have even gotten to a weight that I haven't been since high school! Probably less than when we got married! Well, I guess that keeps me motivated for now! I'm hoping to continue to do well.

Love and hugs to all!

Been a while...

So, I realize that it has been an ENTIRE season and I've missed blogging about Avelyn's birth, Halloween, Thanksgiving, AND Christmas. It's been a BUSY few months. I suppose an update about all of us should cover most of the bases.
Avelyn
Our little surprise was a little GIRL! She was born on September 3, 2012 (Labor Day!) No surprises during her birth, just your average contractions, to hospital, to epidural, to birth! I did have an app on my phone to time contractions because I was not sure I was actually in Labor, but sure enough, I was! They sure do have an app for everything these days! After about 9 hours of contractions, and 1.5 pushes, our little angel was born! 8 lbs 1.5 oz! She was due on Sept 9, so I'm glad she decided to come early! Thankfully, Mom Marquis was down to help watch Cache while we were in the hospital. Today she is 4 months old! She's been growing so fast and has been off the carts big for her age for all of her doctor check ups so far. She's the sweetest little thing and she just loves her big brother. She smiles at him and you can just tell that she admires him. :) Recently, she learned to roll over (both ways), turn in circles on the floor (very slowly!), eat solid foods, and sleep in her own crib! I'm so glad that this little miracle came to live with us!
Cache
 He has been so good welcoming his new baby sister into our family. He's so protective and concerned about her. Whenever she cries, he asks if she's hungry, or wants to go "night night". He brings her blankets and toys and tries to feed her m&m's (scary!). I just love watching him give her kisses and ask her if she wants to dance at the end of a movie. I couldn't ask for a better big brother. He is such a light and happiness in our lives. He loves to make movies interactive and runs and hides at the scary parts, laughs at the funny parts and talks to the characters as if they can hear him. He currently is in love with "Rawr" (Brave), "Louise" (Meet the Robinsons), Wall-E, and Stitch (Lilo and Stitch).
He has had a rough few months, though. Our poor monkey slowly lost his ability to walk and even sit up about mid October. He woke up one day from nap and was acting like a drunken sailor getting out of bed. I didn't know this at the time, but this was the beginning (at least from what I noticed) of a slow, downhill trend that would lead to many doctors visits and a hospitalization at Sanford Children's for almost a week. At first it was called "post infectious cerebellar ataxia" and given about a month to improve on it's own. However, because this was a diagnosis of exclusion, and he hadn't had a recent infection, it was a shot in the dark. After he lost the ability to sit up by himself, we took him to the hospital where they ran lots of tests. So far to date, he has had 2 MRI's, 1 lumbar puncture, a chest exray, multiple blood tests and genetic testing. Nothing has come back with an answer. He was given steroids to help with the inflammation in his cerebellum, and he has regained the ability to walk, dance and even run again. His movements are still stiff and wobbly, but he's back to his normal happy self at least. We still don't know why this happened to him, and we don't know when/if it will get completely better, but I'm glad to have my sweet boy feeling better. We have taken him off gluten, as one of his blood tests came back sensitive for gluten, so we will see where that takes us. People around the states, friends, family, and people we don't even know have been praying for him. It's so touching to have so many people thinking about our little boy. Much love to all of you!
Jared
My strong, hard working husband has kept busy at his job, though not as busy as he would like. He's so smart and a very good worker, but they don't seem to acknowledge this or utilize him as much as they should. I'm so pround of him and I can't believe that his 2 year anniversary for his job is coming up next month! That will make him a Trainee 3. 2 more years to go! He's an amazing daddy and husband and I just love watching him play with the kids. Cache gets a kick out of being tickled and tackled and chased. :) Avie is still pretty young, but she does have lots of smiles for daddy!
Randilinn
Being a mother of two is so much more work than just a mother of 1! I just want to give them both all my time and love, but I have had to work to find a balance. Cache was so used to having me to himself, but he has not showed too much jealousy. I just love that he wants to cuddle so much. I suppose it's all the typical things, like sleep deprivation and exhaustion. Especially since, for a while there, Cache was waking up at night throwing 1-2 hour tantrums while he was really sick. I am loving my little family and couldn't ask for more love and laughter in our house. I'm still working as a casual RN at the local hospital, but don't work very often. Honestly, I miss being on the floor, but I wouldn't change watching my kids grow up for anything. I just wish we lived closer to family so we could share them with them! I am currently going to ZUMBA here in Tyndall 1-2 times a week and I love it! So much fun.

2013 has so much to look forward to. There is always a sense of new beginnings at the start of a new year. Hopefully Cache will continue to get better and maybe we can find some answers. If no answers, then I hope he just gets better. I kind of find myself shocked to know that this year is my 10 year high school reunion. I remember watching movies about such events growing up, always saying that I WILL attend my reunion! Being so far away and knowing that there are no set plans yet, I'm not sure if that will happen, but I might have to rig a small one of my own with friends! This year I will turn 28, Jared will turn 30, Cache will turn 3, and Avie will turn 1! It will be 12 years since I started dating my husband and 8 years since we got married, 2 years since we moved to South Dakota and 7 years since we left Washington. It's a crazy life, but it's mine and I wouldn't change it for the world. I love my family and friends and wish you all love and luck in the new year. I know this is long with no pictures, but I'm not able to add any at the moment. I will update it when I can!