Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Our First Illness

My little guy has a cough. A big cough. Croup to be exact. It is so disappointing to have a child not feel well. The most important thing to me right now is to make everything better. Unfortunately, all I can do is force-feed his medicine twice a day. Think about the last time you pinned down a baby to make him take medicine. I have just as much antibiotic in my hair as he has in his tummy. Yuck.

After a long weekend and an even longer Monday of a sick husband and sick baby, I'm ready for a break. We took Cullen for his first "sick appointment" at the doctor yesterday. We spent two and a half excruciating hours there, and now all we can do is wait for better health. I think our lowest point was having to hold him still for a breathing treatment that didn't help at all.

I've spent a large majority of my day today sterilizing things. Bottles, pacifiers, sheets, towels, loveys...  I also learned the very important lesson of never washing a lovey while a baby is asleep. He fell to sleep with it and woke up to find his frog gone. I've never heard him scream so loud. How does a three month old become so attached to something? Now I'm finding a new challenge in finding more loveys. We need backups!

The good news is that I have managed to stay somewhat healthy through this whole ordeal. I have done my best to keep up with the needs of my "dependents." Maybe this weekend, we can relax!

Assuming Cullen feels better before his next doctor appointment on Thursday, we will be going to the Houston Rodeo Cookoff on Saturday. I really hope things work out, because Cullen has a great outfit with boots to wear. Let's all pray for a speedy recovery for so many reasons!

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Growing Up

Cullen is changing and growing so much every day. It is absolutely amazing to me how much he changes each week! Right before he was born, I tried to find a way to document this rapid advancement. Starting the day he was born, we have taken a picture of him each Friday. At the end of the year, we should have a 53 picture photo album that shows his first year of growth. It will be interesting to see it as a reflection.

This week, I have been working over-time to catch up on Cullen's baby book. I had the best intentions with it initially, and I even got started on some of it the week before he arrived. Haven't touched it much since then... It is so neat to see the variations over the last three months. He has certainly changed our lives in a magnificent way!

Yesterday, I received a blog about a two year old litle girl that is dying of cancer. It is such a sad story, but it was a beautiful reminder to enjoy each and every moment we have. In my hurry to keep up with life, I catch myself praying that Cullen will just take a nap sometimes. Yesterday was a wake-up call for me to cherish those days with no naps. I may be exhausted, and he may be cranky, but those are extra moments with my little boy. I'm going to try to do my best to enjoy life with every single person around me every single day. Life is too short to not live, love, and remember God's blessings!

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Getting Started

Okay... After a few months of requests from friends and family, I am finally getting started on a blog to chronicle what is going on in the Shuler household. I intended to build up the habit in the down time between getting the house unpacked and having Cullen, but Cullen decided I didn't need the break. Here we are three months later...

A small recap of the last few years...  James and I got married April 1, 2006. Over the last almost four years, we have made a lot of changes and grown so much closer than we could have imagined. Shortly after getting married, we bought a home in Round Rock and got settled into our daily lives. A couple of years later, we decided to add to our family. After a little bit of lacking patience, we finally found out that we were expecting on March 30, 2009. Within the week, we celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary, and James got laid off from his job.

Before we knew it, James found a new job in Houston and was headed to move in with Uncle Andy and Aunt Peggy for a summer. While he worked in Houston, I grew bigger and worked in Austin while trying to sell our first home. It was definitely a tough summer, but it was just a stepping stone on the path to today. By early September, we sold our Round Rock home and bought a new one in Katy. Less than two months later, our little man arrived!

On the morning of November 6, I got up and went jogging per my usual pregnancy workout routine. During breakfast I joked with James that I would be so happy if the doctor told me I was in labor at my appointment that morning. He told me to not get my hopes up, because we were expecting a couple more weeks of waiting. As it turns out, I was feeling miserable, because I really was already in labor. Sure enough, the doctor sent me to the hospital just a few hours later, and I had to tell James to head back from the office. Just a few hours after checking into the hospital, Cullen arrived. I know I'm biased, but I'm pretty sure he was one of the cutest newborns ever. :-)

Over the past few months, I feel like James and I have adjusted well to parenthood. We are learning how to survive on less sleep, and we seem to be succeeding. Cullen is healthy and growing like a weed. At his two week check, his weight was in the 7th percentile. At his two month check, he was up to the 39th percentile. He makes me proud!

Every day brings a new challenge and a new joy. We are so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends, and we feel especially blessed to have a growing family to take care of. God has given us so much to be thankful for!

Now the real question with this blog is going to be if I can keep up with it. Only time will tell!