Ready for his close up!

It has taken time, frustration, doctors visits, discomfort, itching, lotions and potions, guessing, fear and more....

But Bode is ready for his close up! Yeah!

We have been using the steriod cream on him for 3 days and the improvement in incredible! I was not sure if I should post the before or after first in the order here.... I think you'll see why I opted for the "after" photo......

BEFORE

BEFORE

How we got there.....

My favorite item in this product line is the oatmeal Soothing Bath Treatment. It looks just like a packet of oatmeal..... I don't think you want this for breakfast though! You sprinkle it in the bath water and then the water strangly looks like something you should NOT be bathing in. But then a little time passes and suddenly you can feel the smooth skin. It really is a great product, I finally found it at Walgreens and I plan to go back and buy the store out of them!

The doc said we could use this for little flare-ups and I did use it on his entire back yesterday. It seemed to help some. Now for THE BEST PRODUCT of all!!! I was so happy when doc got us a prescription for this steriod cream! Bode's skin responded to it immediately. He was so uncomfortable and itchy and in pain before. Now he is one happy camper. Look at that first picture again and you can see just how happy he is to be feeling better!

Now I am keeping HUGE amounts of lotion on his skin. When I say HUGE, I mean HUGE! Whatever it takes to keep this little guy happy!

What a Fundraiser!

Last night was Jessup's big fundriaser for the year. What a blast we all had. Russ was in Durango but my mom was here visiting so that was a great help with the kids. The fundraiser is our school carnival that coincides with the third quarter reading program. The kids wear punch cards around their neck that cost $10. With that they can use up parts of the card to participate in activities and win prizes. Bridger's favorite was the baseball throw and the bull riding. Colter's favorite was plinko and a duck game. All in all there were 14 classrooms that each had an activity.

Part of the fundraiser are "baskets" that each class puts together with contributions from parents and businesses. One of the basket was a wheelbarrow filled with gardening things. Another was an inflatable boat filled with outdoor activity things. Others themes were kitchen, wyoming made, pamper yourself... you get the idea. The kids sell tickets for the baskets and they raffle them off......

I am standing there talking to one of my friends and I heard my name called! Unbelievable! I won a basket with the theme of Game Night. Perfect for us since we have game night whenever possible.

The boys were SOOOOOO happy with the basket. There are so many great items and even tickets to our Cheyenne Grizzly's baseball team!


BREAKING NEW: This just in..... My mom just got a phone call from our PTO letting her know she had won a basket from last night. We missed the beginning of the raffle and that is when her name was called. She won a camping theme basket. The fun just continues!

Doctor, Doctor Give Me the News......

After dealing wth Bode's bad skin condition I took him into the doctor again yesterday. This time I asked to see a different doctor.... that did the trick! It looks like we are started on our journey to resolve this issue, or at least just get it under control. After talking to someone at Colter's gymnastics lesson on Tuesday we had fears that Bode could be suffering from ichthyosis. Not a good situation at all. However, after the doctor looked at it and we talked about what is going on he decided it is just very bad eczema. Actually, he had a name for it but I don't recall what it was. The doctor prescibed a steriod cream that we can apply for 5 days in a row no more than 10 days in a month. If the steriod cream doesn't work the way he is hoping it will we will be referred to a dermatologist so they can adjust the level of steroids.

Last night I applied the first application of steroids, and phew, this morning Bode looks a little better! His chest and stomach look greatly improved and there is some slight improvement on his face.

I still will not post any pictures of him. Perhaps when (yes, I am optimistic) he is doing better I will post before and after pictures.

Yeah, we are on the road to recovery!

Bowling for my Birthday

Bridger and Colter thought it would be a grand idea if we went bowling for my birthday. What fun we had! Colter loves bowling more that I could ever have anticipated! He runs to the lane with a ball that is nearly a quarter of his own body weight. Let's put this in perspective....can you imagine bowling with a 35-50 pound bowling ball. That didn't slow him down one bit. He would launch that ball down the lane and watch with eager anticpation until the pins blew up as if they had been hit with dynamite! Ka-Pow! Well, almost like that. Bridger was was just beside himself when we agreed to go bowling! He must have asked us a hundred times if we could go bowling. He did a great job, had a blast and even ran into some friends from school.

Fun in Colorado Springs

We drove on down to Colorado Springs for Presidents Day weekend to visit Suzanne, Jason, Natalie and their new arrival Keagan. All of the kids had a blast getting to see each other again!
This was on our walk right by the Briggs' house. They were playing Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes when I took this picture. It was a beautiful day out with the weather well near 50. With the little babies in the stroller and the older kids running in front it was a blast!

Stopping to catch their breath but more importantly......soak up the sun!

We drove to the Garden of the Gods to go for a walk. Yikes! Was it ever busy. We had a hard time finding a parking space and when we finally did there weren't any paved trails near the parking area we found. Of course that is what we all would have preferred if it were not for the fact that we only had our regular strollers. So, Suzanne took Natalie, Bridger and Colter for a short hike. They had fun but let's just say that Suzanne got a peek into her future with a son now in the family!!!! Hey, when nature calls.............. a boy's got to do what a boy's got to do.

I had never been into an REI so we stopped there to take a look around. What a neat place! Bridger and Natalie did a little rock climbing on the wall there. Way to go kids!

The two newest arrivals! Keagan was born on November 9th and Bode was born on November 29th. They both measure exactly the same at birth at 7lbs 13 oz! Colter and Natalie are also very close in age so this is a real neat experience to be sharing with Suzanne.

PROJECT: Aveeno Baby

Poor little bode. Baby skin is suppose to be so soft and touchable. Not red, bumpy, itchy and irritating. His skin on his forehead has been very irritated for several weeks now. I have tried so many different things to try to alleviate the condition. I have tried Aquaphor, Eucerin, baby oil, I even changed his formula to a soy base. It is looking a little better now, actually, this photo of him looks REALLY good. Can you imagine how bad it is when it is at it's worst. I won't post any photos of that!

So, right now we are in Project: Aveeno Baby. I think it is working and hope it continues to get better. Here is to hoping Aveeno Baby does the trick

Flyin' In The Line

Russ called this morning to say that Sorenson Electric would be pulling in the hard line for a local powerline job. This is a big deal because they use a helicopter to pull in the line over I-25 and I-80. I had seen this done years ago when Russ was a lineman for S.E.. I remember watching as Russ climed a pole and helped the helicopter pilot guide the line into the traveler. It is thrilling to watch as the helicopter gets quite close the the pole and the lineman. So, we thought it would be fun to go watch the helicopter this morning. Kurt is the inspector for this job and I think it's ironic that both he and Russ worked for Sorenson and now they are both inspectors for WAPA. I must add something from Russ' post here it is word for word: What my wife left out of this commentary is how "fun" it is standing 90' in the air on two little sticks strapped to your feet, its 10 below zero and the helicopter is blowing cold air and snow down the back of your neck!!! Great Fun!!

Meeting before the pull.
Bringing the hard line to the first structure.
Linemen guiding the hard line into the travelers.
Finished with the pull. Can you believe he gets paid to do this job? Too fun!

Hangin' With Dad

Bridger and Colter had so much fun riding on the backhoe with Russ. They may have sat with him all day if it weren't for the weather. Pictures sure can be deceiving....it looks nice but the wind was so awful it was tough to stay out very long. In the picture they are getting ready to move the two sheds so we can put up an attached garage. More time with dad.. They were doing handstands and pushups. You know, you can't wear a shirt for those things I am told!

A Look Back

Since I started this blog after Bode was born, I thought I would include some of my favorite newborn pictures. This was right after I was wheeled out of surgery.

I love how Russ is looking at Bode. It just doesn't matter how tough a man is, a child always brings out the tender side.
A little love for my newest son.

Colter truly enjoys being a big brother now.