Happy Birthday, Kaitlyn!!

The birthday girl!
Ryan and Jake enjoying their cupcakes.

The little brothers and sister enjoy their cupcakes, too. :)

Today is Kaitlyn Madden's 1st birthday! Kaitlyn had her 1st birthday party this past weekend with her family in Columbia, so we had a small little party for her in our backyards today. Jake wasn't so sure about the pink and white cupcakes, but it wasn't long before he was diving right in and asking for more. :) Happy birthday, Kaitlyn! We love you!

Eat, Pray...and Eat Some More

Eating...
more eating...

being silly...


chillaxin...

and finally...the prayer.

Before every meal, Jake says the "God is great..." blessing. Well, my smart Walker has picked up on his own how to pray. It is so cute! Sometimes we get so busy that we forget to say the blessing, but little Walker sits in his high chair with his hands together just waiting on us to say the blessing.

***These pictures were taken last week before Walker's swelling started...I just thought they were too cute not to post.

Update on Walker

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your prayers and concerns. Walker has had a better day and the swelling has gone down considerably. The doctor wanted to go ahead and start him on oral antibiotics today to see how he does; he is still concerned and left me strict instructions to call him if anything changes. I have a new-found respect for this doctor. He has been completely awesome, and I am so glad he was able to catch what the ER doctors missed.

Again, thank you all so much. I will definitely let y'all know if anything changes!

Asking for prayers...

You can notice the swelling on the left side (our right) of his face.

Poor baby has been stuck 5 times (2 shots, 2 blood draws, and 1 IV) since yesterday.

He's not too happy about it all. :(

I'm writing this to ask for your prayers for our sweet Walker. Last night as I was getting ready to go to work and as Tyson was feeding the boys supper, I looked at Walker in his highchair and noticed that the left side of his face was pretty swollen. We immediately scooped him up and headed for the ER.

Once we got to the ER, we were taken back immediately. All of his vitals (temp, heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate, and oxygen saturation) were all ok, so I felt a little better. The doctors weren't sure what was causing the swelling, though, so they sent us for a CT scan. The CT didn't show any signs of infection, just inflammation. The ER doctor felt pretty sure it was parotitis, which is inflammation of the parotid (the salivary gland). He said it was probably viral and would go away on its own, but he wanted us to go to our pediatrician to have it double checked today.

So first thing this morning, I took Walker to the pediatrician. We saw one of the older pediatricians in the practice who is very well respected in the community but isn't one of my favorites because he's too laid back and isn't very aggressive. Well, he took one look at Walker and immediately got really concerned. He didn't agree with the ER doctor's diagnosis; he took a ton of blood work (some of which we won't have the results back for a few days), including a CBC. Walker's white blood cell count was pretty high at 20,000, which made him more concerned.

Long story short, we don't know what's going on with Walker. It still could be something viral, but the pediatrician has also thrown out words such as lymphadenitis, mumps, and abscess. He gave Walker a big shot of rocephin in hopes of knocking out any bacteria. We're supposed to watch it today and I'm supposed to call back in the morning so we can decide what to do next.

Since we've been home, his face has gotten more red, tender, and warm. It's not looking good. We'll keep you posted, just please pray for my baby boy. I try not freak out very much, but I am freaking out now.

Future so Bright...

...he's gotta wear...green stars???

Sickly

Remember me mentioning that the boys had been sick with some virus? Well, it wasn't a virus.

By the time Sunday rolled around, Walker had been running a fever for 4 days. He really didn't seem THAT sick to us, but as soon as we got to the pediatrician's office, the doctor immediately ordered a breathing treatment and some bloodwork. :( Bad nurse Mommy didn't even put a stethoscope to his chest or I would have realized that my poor baby's lungs were pretty junky. The doctor said he had bronchitis and pneumonia; we left with prescriptions for antibiotics, steroids, and albuterol.

Walker is no longer running a fever and he is looking better, but he's still sounding pretty junky and requiring breathing treatments about 4 times a day. And his been awfully clingy, but I'm completely ok with that.

When we went to the pediatrician on Sunday, I had him check Jake out since we were already there. Jake has had a nasty cough and congestion since last Tuesday, but the doctor thought he was ok. Well, today he started complaining of ear pain; actually, Jake woke up from his nap screaming and crying non-stop about his ear. I called the nurse at the pediatrician's office, and she told me to bring him in immediately. Long story short, the pediatrician said his ear drum was about to rupture...we came in just in time. It's just absolute craziness since he had just been seen on Sunday!

Anyways, I know this is pretty boring to most, but some valuable lessons can be learned from this. 1) if you own a stethoscope and know how to use it...use it! 2) ear infections can come on really quickly...our doctor said ears can change from one day to the next. Super scary! Oh, and 3) I have the most amazing husband/baby-daddy EVER! Tyson has been so supportive and awesome through this all. The boys and I are sooo lucky!

End of the Year Pool Party

I am so ready for this little boy to walk! His poor legs are just all banged up!Mariah and her lil' sis, Maddie

Allie

Ryan

Ryan wanted in on the Summers' boys' picture

Macy

Macy's lil' sis, Molly

Jake's buddy, Kyle

Ashley and I hosted a pool party for Jake and Ryan's Mother's Day Out class. Only about half the class could make it, but we still had a good time. It's just so fun to be able to get together outside of school and church and hang out. And it's also so neat to see the kids together; some of them have been together since they were babies in the nursery. Next year, they are splitting up the kids (including Jake and Ryan) and putting them in different classes, so it will be interesting to see how that works out. We're definitely going to miss our Gator friends and our Gator teachers!

Walker, Texas Ranger

Look who's walking driving!

Sweet Kaitlyn

As I look at this picture, I realize Walker was throwing the ball at Kaitlyn...

...and it appears to have hit her in the eye. ;) Sorry, Kaitlyn!

It's been an uneventful weekend around the Summers' house. You see, the Summers and Madden crew have contracted some virus (fever and crud) from school, so we have all been quarantined at home for the weekend. Luckily, we have each other to play with since we all have the same thing.

Anyways, I thought the grandparents would like to see some pictures, so here you go. These pictures are of Walker riding the 4-wheeler that Jake got for his 1st Christmas. Walker actually figured out how to drive the 4-wheeler for the first time a couple of weeks ago; I've just been a bad photographer/scrapbooker lately. And I know these aren't the best pictures of my baby boy since he's feeling a little rough, but hey...that's life, right?

I hope everyone has a great (and healthy) weekend!

"When's My Daddy Coming Home?"

This picture was taken right after Kate's wedding at Brodie Field (where Tyson played football and I cheered for him ;) in Tifton. We rode by the stadium on our way back to the hotel after the wedding and we saw the lights on at the stadium and decided to make a quick stop. Tifton has a new semi-pro football team called the "Firebirds," and they had a game that night. Jake got to meet some of Tyson's friends, and of course, he had to get a picture with the Firebird. :)


Jake has been all about his Daddy lately and wants to do all things football with his Daddy. Anytime Jake has the opportunity to go to a meeting or practice with Tyson, Jake is there. Unfortunately, Tyson has been super busy with recruiting lately, and he hasn't been around much in the last 3 weeks (which has made for a really sad little boy).


Don't get me wrong, Tyson has tried really hard to be around as much as he can, but it's just the nature of the business. Luckily, though, Spring recruiting comes to an end this weekend and is over til the fall. Woo hoo! And it couldn't come soon enough...poor Jake asked me at dinner tonight, "when's my daddy coming home?" Break my heart! I despise recruiting...but like I said, it's over for the next few months!!! Next up, camps and then 1 month of vacation! Woo hoo!


We miss you, Tyson! Hurry up and come home already! ;)

Super Jake

Baby # 3!!!!

...for the Maddens!! ;) Woo hoo! Baby #3 will make his/her appearance late October/early November. I'm so excited for them! Congrats, Ashley and Mike!

He Might Not Walk...

...but he sure can climb!

(Alternately titled- "This is what happens when you turn your head for a second!")

Walker is my climber. The first time he saw our stairs (which are hidden behind a door), he took off and climbed all the way to the top; he was so quick that I couldn't even catch him until he was already at the top. He's also figured out how to climb onto the sofa, and he's even climbed on top of the table! I definitely have my hands full with this one!

Summer, summer, summertime!

The four of us hit the pool yesterday for the first time all season (well...other than the quick dip at Walker's birthday party). The boys had so much fun; I'm pretty sure we'll be hitting the pool pretty regurlarly this year just like last year. It's just so much easier and more enjoyable now that Walker can get into the pool and enjoy it versus being stuck in a stroller in the shade as a baby.

Speaking of Walker and the pool, he LOVED it! He kept wanting to dip his face in the pool, which he thought was hilarious. I really thought he'd be all over the place, but he just had so much fun standing up...sitting down...standing up...sitting down. He quickly realized he can't exactly crawl in the pool without sucking in a bunch of air, so he is forced to walk...and he was actually better at walking and standing in the pool than anywhere else.

Jake LOVED the pool, also. I thought he'd be a little more hesitant at first, but he jumped on in like it was nothing and started "swimming" (aka dog paddling) with his puddle jumpers on. Tyson and I were both so proud of him.

It is definitely going to be a fun summer around here!!

**There is another post from today below.