Our Lil' Punkins and more wedding

Our lil punkin.
Concentrating hard.
Scary!!!!
Finished!
The face was McCaylan's design as you can see in the sketch that she is holding. :)
Jordan and Papa Jim dancing and Hunter and Kenley Grace dancing.
The bridesmaids
Brittany with my girls

Our life, an update through pictures

Well, Hudson has been doing great since the last episode I wrote about. And last Saturday the 24th Hunter's baby brother, Chase, got married! So here are some pics to update. I will post more of their gorgeous wedding and some that have family in them when the photographers get them up.

Chase and Brittany

I love this one!

Getting our hair done for the wedding. Thank you Alisha!
Me with my wonderful sister n law Mary at Chase and Brittany's wedding.
At the reception with her cousin William (the "ring barrel"). They danced the night away!
Helping McCaylan with her reading homework and our sweet cat Sunshine decided to rest a while. This cat is obsessed with me!
4 teeh on top!

What is going on?

This is one more pic from our stay in the hospital. I had gone home to get a shower and clothes and Hunter took him for a wagon ride around the hospital. He said he held on like this the whole time. :)

Hudson had another "episode" Wednesday night. It had not even been a week, just 5.5 days. He woke up at 1:30am and vomited and then at 3:00 he woke up gagging and just throwing up small amounts of what I assume was stomach acid/bile b/c its green. Then continued to do it at 3:30, 4:00, and 4:30. Then he woke up 5 gagging but never vomited. So Hunter kept him while I took Mac to school and when I got back he was sitting on the bed with Hunter talking and smiling like nothing ever happened! And was been fine all day! I just get worried about him getting dehydrated, sometimes he refuses the pedialyte. So of course I didn't sleep a wink b/c I was worrying in between him waking up. He has been fine since then. I have been giving him all the prescribed meds and he has not had an episode. It will be a week tonight, yay! I still haven't heard from the dr about results from the test he ran in the hospital on his metoballic levels and all, but will update when I do. I assume they were probably fine since I haven't heard anything yet. So we will continue to take it one day at a time and be thankful for our sweet little angel that Lord has so richly blessed us with!

Also, He has 6 teeth now! He cut one on the top Oct 2nd and then all the sudden this week 3 more came through. He looks so cute with them! I love him! He is trying so so hard to crawl. He gets where he wants to go, but he hasn't actually crawled. He has been trying to coordinate his arms and legs moving at the same time and he rocks a lot. It is too cute. He has been sitting himself up (from a laying position) for a while now.

This place looks familiar

In the ER.
In the sad looking hospital bed. :( We like to call it jail.
Talking to us.
Blowing bubbles. ( The thing on his arm is where they have disconnected him from the iv fluids but kept his iv in just in case. So they wrapped it in an ace bandage to keep him from pulling it out b/c he really liked playing with it.)

Hey everyone! We went to Children's and the Gi dr last week and all the testes were normal. The stools, ultrasound, blood work, urine, everything was normal. So he said it is very uncommon in infants but maybe he has Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome (CVS). He is treating him for it, although there is no cure. The child just vomits in somewhat of a cycle. The only way to diagnose it is to rule out everything else. The purpose of the medicine is to help spread out the episodes if not eliminate them. He said we will try this and see if it helps along with his reflux meds and a probiotic. The next step would be to scope him and the dr didn't want to that to him if he didn't have to. So thats why we are trying this first.

However, one week after starting the meds he had an episode, which was 3 weeks since the last one. It was Friday morning. This one was pretty bad. He had thrown up about 10 or 12 times by 12:00pm. He hadn't eaten since 6:00am. Normally once he starts vomting I stop feedings and start pedialyte and the vomiting stops. Then we resume feedings as normal the next day and he is fine. However, this time he would not stop gagging and vomiting what I guess was stomach fluids. He had not had a wet diaper so I took him Children's ER. They started an IV b/c he was dehydrated and the GI dr decided to admit him. So we stayed there and they took another xray and more blood. They are checking for a metobollic inbalance and will have the results next week. We stayed there till Sunday b/c the dr wanted to get some blood on Sun morning. He is back to normal now. Babies just get dehydrated so easily that I need to really careful about that. The dr said we will stick with our same plan for now with the all the meds. Since he had only been on it a week he can't really say that it wasn't effective since it didn't have much time before this episode. This may be something that we never really figure out and just have to learn to live with. Hopefully he will grow out of it and he may have just have to go get fluids sometimes. Thats okay with me. I have accepted this. The Lord knows exactly what causes this for He formed him in my womb! He knows every detail of his innerbeing and made it that way for a purpose, and He loves him! So that is completely satisfying to me. He is healthy in every other way. He is right on time with all his development. Who cares if hes a little small? I don't anymore, like my mom said , "hes easier to carry"! Its not like he is really skinny. He actually looks a little chunky with his fat rolls. But on paper he is only about 11% and that is all that bothered me, since my last one was about 90%! He is really too too cute! And we all love him and really really enjoy him!

Staci

Special Delivery

Well, yesterday was great! I delivered the stool samples to the Gi and they said to just keep doing what I'm doing if he has any more episodes. I didn't see the dr or anything I just talked to some of the girls working there. This last episode was different in that it had only been a week since the last one. Normally it happens about once a month. he can't gain weight hardly as it is! He's really not going to be able to keep any on if he starts this more frequently! But he actually doesn't look skinny. He has fat rolls and look proportionate. I just don't like hearing that he's only 11% for weight. Anyway, they set the appointment with Children's for next Thurs. at 2:00 and then I will go directly back to GI office afterwards. That will give them time to get back stool samples, so we can discuss them and whatever we find out at Children's and hopefully make that visit as productive as possible. Then Fri we are going back to Pediatrics East at 9:30am b/c Dr Lytle wants to recheck his ears b/c last time he still had an ear infection and had to be put on a 2nd antibiotic. And he also wanted an update from the GI.

But yesterday was great for Hudson. He was completely back to normal! Even better than normal. He was laughing out loud and just cackling! That is not normal for him. He is usually a VERY smiley baby and he coos and talks a lot, but he doesn't really laugh a whole whole lot. So that was fun. He has been eating fine. He even slept 5hrs and 20min in his own room last night!!! So that was great!

Update on my sweet baby

OKay, we went to the Gi dr on fri. and he asked a lot of questions and took a lot of notes. He is very thorough. He is sending us to Children's Hospital in 2 weeks for an appt to have an ultrasound done of Hudson's abdomen and labs done to check his liver function, spleen, and some other stuff. Meanwhile, I am going to take him 5 stool samples this week. Then the day we go to Children's I will return to his office to discuss the results of the stool samples and whatever we find out at Children's. So I will update the blog when That happens. I do not have an appt set yet. I am calling tomorrow to get that set up.

So as far as Hudson goes... I have started him back on his reflux meds and The gi dr wants me start him on some good bacteria (Bio Gaia), which puts the good bacteria back into your intestines. He has been spitting up some this week, but nothing outrageous, just normal baby spit up. Then last night he wasn't acting quite himself. he wasn't smiling much or cooing. Then this morning he woke up with spit up in his bed. Then I nursed him and then he spit up. Then the next time he nursed he projectile vomitted 3x in row. And the about an hour and half later he was asleep and woke up to throw up and then went back to sleep. So I guess I am starting the 1tsp. of Pedialyte every 5 min again as soon as he wakes up. I can tell he doesnt feel good and he doesnt want to eat. which is why I don't believe this is just reflux. So I will hopefully take the stool samples tomorrow if I have enough and I will tell them what he has done today and ask what if there is anything I need to be doing. Which by tomorrow he will probably be feeling much better, which is the way this usually goes. Anyway, say a prayer for us the doctors! Thank you so much. He is such a sweet baby. He is happy ALL the time, except when he is having these episodes. He never fusses normally. He laughs and smile and coos. We are so thankful for him.

I will try and update as soon as I find things out.

Staci

For cryin out loud!! Not AGAIN!

Played too hard!


Daddy pulling them around the back yard.
McCaylan taking over.

McCaylan ready for the wedding!
Ready to throw those petals!

Okay, so my step sister got married this past weekend at Rosewood in Pinson and it went great! Everything was gorgeous! It was an outside wedding and it didn't rain so that was great! I was a bridesmaid and the girls were flower girls. It was stress free and we really enjoyed it! The Sunday was my best friend Ashley's baby tea that I helped with. It went great and she got a lot of good stuff.

Meanwhile, Saturday morning Hudson woke up throwing up AGAIN! He threw up 4 times that morning while I was trying to get ready for the wedding. So needless to say he did make it to the wedding. Hunter and his mom kept him all day. He did not have a fever. They had to give him 1tsp of Pedialyte every 5 min for 2 hours and then four more hours before he could have breastmilk. However, he threw up 30 min into the pedialyte and then once more a couple of hours later. So all day he had nothing but pedialyte. So when I got there that night I gave him a 2oz bottle of breastmilk just to try since it had now been 6 hours since he vomitted. He took the whole thing and about 15 min later threw it up. So all through the night when he woke up I just gave him about .5- 1oz of pedialyte. He kept that down so that morning I let him nurse for about 30-45 seconds, and then he threw it up about 30 min later. He acted like he felt a little better and I did nurse him on this day. He only threw up 3-4 times all day and very spread out through out the day. So Mon was his 6 month checkup. We went to see Dr Lytle and I was prepared to request a referral back to the GI dr b/c I do not feel like my child has just been so unlucky as to catch 3 viruses, once each in the past 3 months. Also, the girls have not had a virus since he was born! Obviously Dr Lytle agrees that this is abnormal b/c with out me asking he immediately said "lets go back the GI". Yay! I just want to figure this thing out! So we go tomorrow (Fri) at 10:45am. Also, he weighed 15lbs 8oz. Two weeks ago I took him in for an ear infection and he was 15lbs 4oz! So he definitely lost weight during this vomitting spell. Last time, during the whole Children's visit, he started at 14lbs 9oz and when it was all said and done he weighed 13lbs 14oz! While he is still gaining weight (when he's not sick), his percentile is dropping big time. He is 11% for weight. So sad! I am use to KG who was 90% for weight and 70% for height! So she was a major fatty and I loved it! He is still a very happy baby when he is not sick. So please say a prayer for wisdom for Dr Mestre (GI dr). In the meantime Dr Lytle had me start him back on reflux medication, although he never spits up in between these spells, just to make sure. Also, the day he turned 6 months I started him on baby food. He loves bananas! I am making my own baby food and they tell you to start with bananas so I did. More to come on that later! Anyway, he FINALLY started sleeping through the night! He did it for a whole week! Then, he got sick! And he hasn't slept through the night since! BIG bummer! :(

More in the life of the Evans

Singing a song she learned at school.
The bag I made for KG or school. (I did not do the monogram)
KG's first day of preschool! She is in K4. She loves it! She has made a lot of new friends too. She goes 3 days a week for 3.5 hours. Sometimes she tells me "Mom we did borin stuff today". I say "Well, did you go to the playground or the gym?" and she says "yes, that was fun". I say "did you color or paint?" and she says "yes, that was fun". So I say "well what was boring then?" and she says "sit down and be quiet!" She evidently doesn't like the learning part of school!
Sweet boy!
McCaylan has now lost 2 teeth! For the first tooth she got $1 and for the second she $2 in quarters.

Life keeps on rollin...

Trying on her dress for Brittany and Chase's wedding in October.
McCaylan's first day of 1st grade. She was so excited! I can't believe she is old enough to go to school all day! When I went to pick her up I was seriously just so relieved that they gave her back to me! I mean I dropped my child off, with people I have really never met, for 8 hours! I was so glad to get her back! Then she tells me that she walked to class by herself. Like there as no teacher waiting to escort them. They are big kids now and they just get out of the car and go to class! It is so sad! She had a great time and has made a lot of new friends.
This is my best effort to take a picture of the tiny little tooth that cut through his gums! He now has 2 teeth that are through pretty far. He was 5 months old when he cut this first one.

Here we go again...

Okay, this happened a while back so don't get worried! It was actually the end of July and the beginning of August when we went to the beach for the wonderful Evans family beach trip! We had so much fun, but the day before we left (Sat) Hudson started vomiting. At first it was just a couple of times a day and looked like a large amount of spit up so I assumed it was his reflux acting up. He seemed to be feeling fine besides the fact that he had a runny nose. Then Monday is when I realized he was sick! Monday was the girls check up day! So I had him with me and asked the dr what he thought. He said it could be drainage making him gag and then vomit and that drainage can cause diahrrea as well. So we went home and it just got worse. Seriously, when he threw up it was the saddest thing I have ever seen! All I could do was hold him, I felt so helpless. There was nothing I could do to help him and I know he didn't understand. :( But he wasn't eating well and every time he did eat he threw up at least twice. So we went back to the dr after hours and his white count was okay and everything else looked good, but they sent us to Children's hospital because he looked so bad to them. Once we got there it was about 8:30pm and they pretty much took us right back. They seemed very worried about him. At this point he was completely lethargic. Just staring, non responsive, not moving. They ordered a million test it seemed like. They stuck him 4 times and took as much blood from him as they could to run those test. He also got an xray of his abdomen and an upper and lower GI test. In which they made him drink nasty chalky stuff while watching it run through his system (before he vomitted it all back up) and then stuck a tube up his bottom and pumped gas in him and watched it go threw. Yep, you can imagine how fun that was! Actually he did not fuss much b/c he was so sick he didn't really care. So after talking with Er dr's, Gi dr's, surgeons, and nurses we were finally admitted at about 3:30am. They decided he had a virus and was dehydrated. Thank you very much! I understand though, because with babies you have to check all possibilities b/c they can go downhill very quickly. He didn't eat well for a few days and I was pumping a lot. But by the end of the week he was much better. Here are a few pics from our experience.

This is at the doctor, after hours. Right before they sent us to Children's hospital. He's looking pretty jaundice here, but I'm pretty sure thats just the lighting and my iphone. As you can see in the next pic he was not that color!
This baby does not feel good! :(
Waiting in a room at Children's ER in our little hospital gown.
Sweet. :)
Daddy trying to get him to take like .5 oz of Pedialyte.

Another quick update. Trying hard to catch up!

Okay the pics in this post are backwards as far as dates go. Which is really buggin me, but I'm making myself leave it alone. If I had a touch of OCD about anything, it would be stuff like this... Like my blogs being in order and not leaving out details. So this is really driving me crazy!!!

This is the girls at their 4 and 6 year check ups in their gowns. It actually went much better than expected. I took my mother n law, Karen, with me. She left the room with KG while I stayed in with McCaylan as she got her finger pricked. It wasn't nearly as horrible and embarrassing as the last time! She cried a little but did not kick and scream so that was great! :) She did not have to get shots, I was confused. KG was the one who had to get 2 shots. And this is even more pitiful b/c she is so brave it just breaks my heart. I had prepared her beforehand and we talked about how it would hurt just a little and then it would be over. This child is sooooo strongwilled she will not allow herself to cry even though you can see ALL over her face that she really wants too. Its breaks my heart! They were really proud of themselves though, as I was proud of them too! KG weighed 42.5 lbs and was 42in tall and McCaylan weighed 45lbs and was 45.25in tall. Dr Lytle said he would like them to grow 2 in a year and they both did, but KG grew 3 in and gained 6 lbs! She definitely hit a growth spurt! He was surprised! KG also has a little trouble pronouncing her g's, y's, & c's so he said if she is still doing that by Christmas she can go to speech therapy at Springville Elementary. So we will see what happens with that. We love it and think it is the cutest thing ever. Hunter doesn't want her to stop and said she didnt need to go to thereapy! But I know she won't want to be doing that forever, so we will see.

This is at the beach the last weekend in July when we went with Hunters parents and his older brother and his wife and 3 boys. We had so much fun! Me and mary (my sister n law) got to go on Mon with the kids and everyone else came on Thurs. We had a blast! He has found his feet and it is sooo cute! I love it!
Not a very good pic, but this is getting ready for his first cereal. The doctor told me at his 4 mth check up that i could try cereal at night, especially since he was not sleeping through the night and he has a little reflux. I tried it however and nothing changed. He still sleeps only 6 hours! Which is not too bad, but I am not making a mess every night with this cereal when he is perfectly content with breast milk only! Its so much harder to fool with that stuff! So I tried it for a while, took a break, and tried it again at 5 months, and have decided to take a break again until he is 6 months.

These 2 are at my friend Crystalyn's house in her bumbo seat. This shows why the warnings on these things tell you "not to leave child unattended" and "not to sit it on high surfaces", because it is possible that your child my throw themselves out! At least he is happy about it! He wasn't fussy at all. He just enjoyed this. Which is also why his nickname is "bucking bronco". Just "Bronco" for short. See, my father n law (Pops to the kids) gives EVERYONE a nickname. McCaylans is "Mac", Kenley Grace's is "Hog Jaws", and Now Hudson's is "Bronco". And He calls you by nothing but this name that he gives you. For the rest of their lives this will be there name to him. It suits him though, because he bucks like this in almost everything he sits in.
This is the day of his 4 mth check up. Just a pic to commemorate the day. We are actually at my moms after the appt. He loves exersaucers! He weighed 13lb 15oz. Almost 14lb! I checked and I believe he was 3 oz less than McCaylan was and he was alos 3 oz less than her at 2 months. So I think he is going to be more her size than KG's. I think he is a little behind her just b/c he got a slow start with whole NICU deal! oh yeah, and I don't remeber his length! Its been so long, I will check and update on that later.

okay, still some more BIG stories to update on so I will keep working on it. :)