Jack and Jovie

I've been wanting to post a comparison picture for a long time. I know this picture of Jovie is already on here, but it's the closest age and most similar pose I have of both of them. The similarities are obvious, and they really are exactly the same age here...9 months old. Both have 8 teeth and love to eat, however there are quite a few differences in each child too.

Notable differences: As chubby as Jovie is, Jack still takes the cake!

Jack had already undergone his first haircut, where Lisa VanderGriend cut at least two inches off! Jovie's is just starting to fill in a bit more. Rob just said it looks like Jack is wearing a hair piece!

Jovie is more vocal than Jack was, while Jack was already crawling and pulling himself up on things. (Boy versus girl I wonder?) Jovie crawls when she feels like it, but definitely likes to let the action come to her.

Jovie sure makes you work for a smile, whereas Jack was a little more liberal with his grins:).

Anyway, I thought it would be neat if one day when Jack and Jovie are older they would be able to see this...that is if I turn this blog to print like my friend Julie has done.

Jovie's UTI update: Rob took Jovie for her VCUG test on Monday and quickly found out why it's so important to be cautious and conservative when it comes to your children. We learned that she has Vesicoureteral Reflux on one side of her urinary tract. Translation-the kidney connects to the bladder via the ureter (small tube) and on Jovie's right side, there is a problem where the ureter attaches to the bladder, which causes urine to travel back up the ureter from the bladder to the kidney when the bladder is full. We can speculate all we want on what we think our treatment options will be, but we won't know until we meet with a Pediatric Urologist at Children's Hospital on November 20. What we think now is that surgery is a possibility, but again, don't feel comfortable jumping to any conclusions until we talk to an expert. Until treatment occurs, Jovie has a higher likelihood for kidney and bladder infections, which can be harmful over time. The silver lining, which I always try to look for, is that it's just on one side, effecting one kidney and not both. On a little side note, the antibiotics that Jovie took for her UTI wiped out her system so thoroughly that her bacterial balance in her intestines was thrown out of wack, causing a secondary infection in her intestines called c. difficile. We've been in and out of the doctor's office more times than I can count with her during the last 3-4 weeks, but finally we think we have some solid treatment and are getting her back to "normal". At least for now anyway. All in all, we're tired and pray for some relief from the schedule we've been maintaining. With all the doctor's appointments and days that Jovie has been sick, I have already used a few sick days, and Rob has totally been rearranging his schedule. Today Rob walked out the front door to go to work at 3:30pm while I was walking in the back door. Maybe next week we'll both be able to work a full week:)

Shots all around, and then some

On Friday Rob and I took both of the kids into the doctor for checkups and shots. Jack got "pokes" and was not very happy about it, but it paid off because he got treats. He had his official 4 year well child exam, and is doing really great. He weighs almost 45 pounds, and is 41 and a quarter inches tall (still on the high end of the growth charts, although leveling off a little bit from previous years). Jovie weighs 21 pounds 15 ounces, but hers wasn't a well child exam. Her appointment was a follow up from her UTI, and the doctor ordered a VCUG ultrasound to check her kidneys. That means another little catheter procedure, and since her doctor really doesn't want to sedate her, she gets to be awake to feel the whole thing:( I'm not very happy about that part, but I guess doctor knows best. We of course pray that all is well inside her little body. The procedure is on October 12th.

I took this random picture tonight, and Jack thought it was really "nice" that Jovie was patting him on the back.

Random Happenings

Wow, is it really the first day of October? As excited as I am about the arrival of Fall, I cannot believe that September came and went so quickly. September is probably our craziest month of the year. Rob is still fairly busy at work, and things come around full swing for the rest of us with school and work. Saying that it was a blur would be an understatement. However, now that Fall has officially arrived I feel like things really are calming down a little bit. We've finally gotten into the swing of our work/childcare/home-life routines, and are starting to really enjoy the wonderful things about fall. Baking, cooking, Cardinal's Football, and crisp, cold days. We've really gotten a taste of all those things in the last week or so.

Anyway, the first picture was taken back at the beginning of September from Jack's first day of preschool (his 2nd year) and the second picture is just from this past Sunday when Jack and I made special treats for our weekly "Cardinals football party". By the way, those would be Jack's words. He's always saying things like, "Hey mom, should we save this for our Cardinals football party?" Rob has him so trained it's criminal.

I know I don't have an updated picture of Jovie. I'm working on it. She was sick for a long time and ended up having a UTI (poor baby) and will see the doctor tomorrow to make sure everything inside her little urinary tract is functioning properly. She's pretty young to have a UTI, and it could be a sign of a problem, but we'll find out soon. She's just now starting to act like her jovial (get it...Jovie) old self again. She's still eating everything in sight (wonder where she gets that from) and now has 6 teeth! She's been enjoying all of the concoctions that I come up with for her to eat, and the ladies at nursery seem to really like what I make for her too. The gal today said, "What was that orange stuff that Jovie had today? It smelled so good that I wanted to eat it." It was sweet potatoes, chicken, and cheese. Thank you Staci and Sarah for inspiring me and reminding me that I am capable of making my own baby food! Anyway, back to Jovie. I keep thinking she's going to take off on all fours one of these days, but she's perfectly happy to get on her hands and knees and rock back and forth to her heart's content...which is fine by me. We really need to babyproof our home, so hopefully I have a little more time to do so.

Stats on both kids' doctor's appointments tomorrow coming soon.