Big Boy Bed

Johnny never tried to climb out of his crib! He loves his sleep and has always slept well at night, but he was just getting to big for his crib and in the last week he keeps sticking his feet throught the bars and getting them stuck. So we got him this special big boy bed. It is Step 2 and fits a twin size mattress. This should last him until he asks for an adult bed, hopeful 10 years old or so! It has storage underneath (yes we are teaching him to put stuff under his bed) and sides so high there is no chance he can fall out of it. Shawn put it together quickly and said it was really easy and good quality.

We got special dinosaur sheets and pillow cases and he is finally getting to use his blanket that Grams made him, Mommy and Daddy have been hording it for the past few months. And he has all of his friends ready for nite nite.

He can get in....

...and out of it all by himself!

Checking out the underneath storage, he didn't want to go in.

All ready for nite nite with his baby sister too. I cried as we walked out of the room, he has used that crib for over two years! I will miss it, but in a few months when Lily is too big for her bassinet, we will pull the crib out again and Johnny is ready to give it to his sister.

Bye Bye crib, Johnny is a big boy now.

But still just as adorable as ever!

He slept great all night and stayed in his bed (even though we had a removing bandage incident which Daddy smoothly handled.) In the morning he called for us as he always has and I had to coax him out of the bed, telling him it was okay.

Lily is eating a lot today, going through a growth spurt! She is now 8 weeks old....why are my children growing up? Getting so big so quick their lives are speeding past faster then I can think.

Bells Palsy

I feel so ridiculous! I called our primary care doctor this morning because for the past week the left side of my face was going numb and limp. My eye was blinking slowly and not closing all the way, my smile is sideways, my tongue feels burnt, and my check is drooping. My doctor could not see me because there was a chance it was a stroke, left side means stroke. So after a week of dealing with Johnny's burn, Shawn had to come home again to take me to the emergency room! It took three hours for the doctor to confirm that is was just Bells Palsy and send us on our way. My father has had Bells Palsy as well as my brother Charlie and both got over it. The ER doctor says we may have caught it early enough that an anti viral may clear it up completely. Or it may go away on it's own in 3-6 months (family pictures next month are out.) I just feel so silly.

What a week we have had! We are done with crisis, we are done with hospitals....we are ready for life to be normal again!

John's Hopkins Burn Center

The world is just a little lighter this afternoon. Mommy and Daddy took Johnny to Johns Hopkins Burn Center this morning to have his burn debreved and it went better then any of us imagined!

Neither of us have been getting much sleep, well last night Mommy took advantage of her insomnia worrying about Johnny to make him something special to help with this process. Say hello to "Boobooasauris"


Boobooasuris is a "flying dinosaur, up in the sky," who has a booboo right where Johnny does. Johnny told the dinosaur "stay away from the fire pit! you'll be okay."

He then went on to kiss the dinosaur's booboos and then have the dinosaur kiss his.

We headed to John's Hopkins in downtown Baltimore after dropping Lily off Grams and Pops and getting some a hasbrown from McDonald's. The waiting room at the clinic was over whelming, so many kids, so many ages, with so many different aliments. It was very sad and very encouraging that children could be so strong. And speaking of strong when we took our little man back to see the doctor he didn't cry one bit! That could have in part to do with the oycodine we gave him, but I was just so proud and so happy with how this all went. We had been really scared during the last few days of what this appointment would bring, things like scrapping at burns, holding him screaming down or having to have his hand wired with the bandaging, or one of the worst things that my mind thinks of at 2 am is having my kids taken away because I let this all happen to him.

But as we walked back to the doctor's office Johnny was chating up a storm and listening really well. He sat on the examination table and told the doctor about his dinosaur shoes and his dinosaur shirt and before he knew anything was happening his blister was cut open and he told us it was wet. A few peaceful minutes later he was all bandaged up and getting a lolly pop, it was that simple! He has a follow up appointment in 10 days, since it should only take 2 weeks for these burns to heal! This is amazing to me since I feared that his summer play was over. We must keep it wrapped with triple antibiotic cream until his next appointment, except for baths when he can play in the water with no bandages as much as he wants. The only thing we need to be concerned with is keeping it clean and wrapped, he can do anything with his hand that he feels like he can, within our reasonable safety limits of course. There is no reason to make him take the iky antibiotic! and we can switch back to Tylenol for pain when we think he is ready.

He was happy leaving the clinic and was a little loopy in the car holding onto his Boobooasuris, but it didn't take long at all for him to be back to his old self!

He still has a sore throat, slight fever and diarrhea from the hand foot and mouth disease (which thankfully Lily still isn't showing signs of.) But he was running around free and happy all afternoon, holding back nothing! Using his bandaged hand and not once complaining of pain. When Shawn changed his bandage this evening, the burn was looking so much better then before! Scabbing nicely and already healing up!!!

We can never forget what happened or not feel guilty for it, but seeing his amazing strength and now being on the healing side of this wound I feel a small weight lifted off my shoulders and I might actually sleep tonight. John Robert is an amazing child and one day I know I will look at the man he will become and see this strength intensified.

Lily is Rolling Over!

Emotions have been running high in our house over the past week, but it is nice to have something to celebrate! Nearly 8 weeks old and Lily girl is rolling over like a pro! Nothing can stop her, she just keeps growing and developing and showing us all what an amazing little girl she is!!

Johnny's Burn

There is no one who doesn't know what has happened to our precious Johnny. At a family party in Ohio on Saturday he fell onto a fire pit and now has second degree burns on his right hand and forearm, we are lucky that is all that he burned. It has been an emotional and rough few days, but we are all getting through.


He wears a bandage now and has an appointment at Johns Hopkins Burn Center for tomorrow and from there we will know how to care for and how to help him heal in the best and lest painful way. His energy level is still good and he still wants to play, but is careful with his arm. He is a very sweet and good boy.


Emotions are running high and it is hard for me to write more, but it is important to me to keep a log of life for my children to look back on. It is hard to think that this has happen to him. We have all learned lessons, but the most important thing is to get Johnny healed.

I am sorry to my baby boy

My Dearest Johnny,
You have been injured. I hope that as you are reading this, you have no scars, and no memories of these events. You burned you right arm and hand on a fire pit at a family party. Everyone who loves you is blaming themselves, and that is a lot of people. You tripped right into the fire, thankfully someone grabbed you up quickly and sprayed you down. We are lucky only your hand was burned. But that burn on your hand is bad enough, little you should never have to feel this kind of pain, not you now or ever! I just wish I could take it on for you. I would take the pain and the blisters and everything that is going to come with this, so that you could just play again.

After it happened you kept putting your hands to my mouth as if my kisses could make all the pains go away. I never realized how magical my kisses where until I couldn't make the pain go away any more. We gave you ice water and that seemed to be exactly what you needed. With you burned hands in the water you finally smiled and laughed at a movie and asked Mommy to read you books and sing you songs, you loved "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and had Mommy changed it to "Itsy Bitsy Butterfly." You kept saying sorry every few minutes and we kept telling you you didn't need to say you where sorry, we are sorry.

As you tried to go to bed the first night you kept trying to put your arms under you as you layed on your stomach and then you would cry out in pain. Mommy held you all night with your hands in my hands so you couldn't accidentally hurt them again. No one but you slept that night.

You Mommy and Lily headed home the next morning and Daddy took us to Patient First so a doctor could look at you. We where give antibiotics and cream and told it would take more then a month to heal. The next day your pediatrician told us you would need more care then that. They cleaned your burns and wrapped them up for you, after it was done you thanked everyone in the office for your "boo boo." We now have an appointment for you at Johns Hopkins pediatric burn center. We know now that because your burn is on your hand we have to be more careful about your healing, so you don't lose any movement in your joints. It hurts me to think that the rest of your summer will be spent out of the pools, sandboxes and playgrounds, so you can heal fully.

Mommy and Daddy are coming through this with a renewed passion for you and your sister and everything that keeps you safe and healthy. Though this was an accident, you never think it will be your child that it will happen to. I want to tell you that nothing like this will ever happen again, but what I can say is there is not a person in your life whose heart isn't broken by this and who won't be taking every step with you, putting you and your sister and cousins above all else in the world! I am a Mommy before I am anything else!


You are an amazing little man! You just keep going, holding your bandaged hand in the air around everything that you do. You still play dinosaurs and chase the cat, you still dance and sing and say please and thank you. You have told Mommy "don't walk toward the fire pit" and assured me as I cried "but I okay Momma," with your good hand on your chest.

The next week will show us what the next few months will be like for you. I want you to know we love you and there is nothing that will keep us from keep you safe and making you happy! You are my big boy and you just keep showing me how strong and sweet you are, day by day I am amazed by you.
Love
Mommy

Finally a beach trip with Grams and Pops

After canceling and moving our trip to the beach last week about three times, we finally made it on Monday! Weather report said storms all day so we almost cancelled again, but the sky was clear so we chanced it, and we where very glad that we did. It was a beautiful day and a lot of fun!

Johnny knows this beach now and knows what to do as soon as he gets there, like grabbing his toys and heading to the sand! Papa has been missing Ella and Sammi, so he had been looking forward to this beach trip and getting some play time with Jack.

It didn't take long to head into the water.

And as always Papa was more then happy to do whatever Jack wanted to. I love these pictures when my dad is smiling!

But Lily decided she didn't want to stay asleep in her shade maker, so Grams got to hold the little cupcake tight and they both had a great time.

Doesn't he just look so big? He pulled his chair over and laid out all of his lunch!

Then Papa took the kids on one of his famous walks, they all always have a good time walking with Papa.

On this walk Johnny found a bird feather, when we showed him the birds he really wanted to give the bird back it's feather "up in the sky." He never really did give up we just had to leave.

6 YEARS OLD

Ella Nancy Dennison born July 16, 2004! Before Ella was born I had very little contact with children or babies. But when she arrived I learned lessons I didn't know I needed to learn. Ella showed me how much I could love someone else, she showed me how my heart could just keep growing with each new life. I remember wondering how I could love her so much.

I was lucky enough to be at the hospital when she was born and be one of the first people to touch her sweet hand.

Ella turned one the day I arrived how from a month long visit to Germany to see Shawn. She walked to me for the first time that day and sat in my lap for most of her presents.

When she turned 2 we where living in Virginia , but she still remembered me. Some where around here or before I was dubbed "Nenni" since the "J" was hard. But I was so touch that she always recognized me that I didn't care what she called me. Now it has stuck and all of my Sammi and Wyatt will call me Nenni too. It is worth noting that this is the birthday where Shawn organized a pepper eating contest and long story short made himself very sick...but it was very funny and I was given future boycotting rights on all food related contests :)

Her third birthday at Chuckie Cheese, I had just moved home from Kansas just a few weeks pregnant with John Robert. It was wonderful to have her across the street as my belly grew. I remember talking to everyone about his name, that we would call him "Johnny" and Grams and Pops would call him "Jack" and Uncle Tommy liked "Ace." But Ella stood in front of all of us and very confidently said...."How bout we all call him John Robert, that is his name."

It appears that after Johnny was born I didn't want to be in any more pictures :) Ella has always been an amazying big cousin, she has been there every step of the way for Johnny and now Lily ( not to mention Wyatt and Samantha, she takes care of them all.
For Ella's fourth birthday we where living in Kansas and couldn't come back. It broke my heart that this would be the first birthday I would miss. I felt like I was missing her growing up, but the truth is, if you blink you will miss it.

When she turned 5 we where more then lucky to be living 30 minutes away, as we do now. I made her this special bunny, with an embroidered "5" on it's foot. There was a point when I called her "rodent." But she released that a rodent is a rat and asked me very politely to not call her that any more. Since then I have tried to convince her that a bunny is a rodent, but she hasn't taken the bait yet.

6 Years ago Ella was the only baby in my life, now I can't take a step without one connected to my leg. But some how some time in the last year she left baby life and toddler life behind and jumped head first into being a real kid. Picking out her own cloths, getting into fads (silly bracelets) and defendantly having a mind of her own. I can't ever imagine or remember what life was like before her, she has just always been here!

I love you Ella girl, Happy SIXTH birthday!

6 Weeks Old

Our Lily is growing just as fast, and sweet, and smart and beautiful. She is mostly a good baby! But when she is upset the entire house knows it! and you better give her what she wants when she wants it :) Mostly that is to be held, feed or propped up so she can see what is going on.

Lily's smiles just keep getting more beautiful!

I will always treasure this picture. Grams still remembers my first smile, it was a Cookie Monster doll with rattle eyes, we still have the cookie monster and Grams still tells the story. Papa remembers Johnny's first smile, he remembers that I tickled his thigh and then a huge smile just jumped to his face! For Lily it is the mobile above her swing, that is what makes her smile the most.

Lily got her first dolly this week. Mommy really likes it, my little girl is such a sweet little girl.

This past week we changed from disposable diapers to our cloth diapers. We got some new GroBaby diapers that adjust size and should fit until she is 35 pds! They are wonderful, however they DO make her butt big...very big diaper butt!

This is a picture of Mommy when she was 17 days old...my mom says Lily has my face and expression here.

We learned this week how much Lily is growing, she is so observative...and would prefer to be propped up some where to look around then held and rocked...like a baby. She wants to see and know EVERYTHING! She is always tossing her head around, chasing lights, bugs and Johnny! Sometimes as Lily in on her gym mat and Johnny will run around her doing whatever it is he does and her eyes follow her where ever he goes.

Mommy has finally been getting back to her knitting. In the works right now...cupcake butt pants for Lily, a large quilt blanket for Johnny, new cupcake hats, and bibs!

Alright she is officially sleeping through the night!!!! We have adjusted her feeding to fit life and her demands a little better. I am nursing her around 7 pm, she will sleep until 2 am, when she gets a 5 oz formula bottle and then she sleeps until 6-7 am when she wants to be held, so we cuddle until 7:30 or so when I nurse her again. She gets formula through out the day, just about every 3-4 hours! I am really happy with how everything has settled and I feel like we have the best of both worlds.

And becuase Johnny loves his little sister, here he is...he often tells everyone that Lily is "SOOOOOOO pretty!" I hope they are always this close.