Baby goats!

More about our little farm later - but here are a few pictures of our 2nd baby goat that we are having to hand feed.

Trip to Captiva Island

Javier's company had a managers and sales meeting on one of Florida's islands Jan. 10-13.  They invited the spouses to come along, so the baby and I joined him.   Javi and I actually weren't together much except for lunches and dinners.  One day they did end the meetings a little early so we had some free time to go kayaking for an hour.  I just enjoyed my quiet time with Jaxton sleeping in and skipping breakfast, snuggling and smelling his sweet skin and just going on walks around the island or along the beach.  I hooked up with the other wives in the afternoons to visit and "shop".  The weather was in the 80's, the water around 70 degrees and a nice breeze all day.  It was so beautiful and relaxing.  The food was always an amazing buffet.  Each night there was always some kind of seafood - shrimp, king crab, salmon, tilapia etc with other kinds of meat and things.  But being from the desert, it is a nice treat to enjoy some fresh seafood.  The last night was Caribbean theme and there was jumbo shrimp and huge lobster tails - mmmm.

Jaxton was seriously perfect on the trip.  We flew for a total of 6 hours each way and he literally never made a peep besides coughing.  He also never fussed at all when he was around people.  (he just fussed with me when I had to put him down for a long time to shower and get ready)  I think he loved being passed around and held by so many ladies and the warm weather must have just knocked him out.

Thanks to my mom who moved in and took care of all the kids and thanks to my sister who took a few each day for sleepovers and church and thanks to my dad who fixed some things and built a goat pen while we were gone.

 Jaxton's 1st airplane ride

Jaxton is growing

The last time I posted, Jaxton was only 6 lbs. 15 oz at 6 weeks.  The next day we went to the doctor for his weekly weight check and he had gained 14 oz in one week!  It looks like he just needed a little more time to learn to use his new tongue.  Now at 9 weeks old he is 9 lbs. 3 oz. 

The poor guy has been congested on and off though.  So a couple of weeks ago he started a cough and it got really bad.  Twice I took him in and since his lungs were clear, they didn't want to do anything.  Finally, last Thursday she diagnosed him with Whooping cough and put him on a strong regimen of antibiotics that ends today and thankfully his cough is completely gone. 

Cousin Love

 

A Late Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Janae 13

Jordan 12

Julia 10

Jacklyn 8

Joanna 6

Josiah 5

Jeremiah 4

Jameson 3



Joshua 2



Jaxton 5 weeks

Grow Baby Grow -Update on Jaxton - 6 weeks

Since I last posted, we have mainly been dealing with Jaxton's slow growth.  He was born at 6lbs 8 oz.  At 5 weeks he was only 6lbs 11 oz. 

At 5 weeks the doctor talked about the possibility of a feeding tube or hospitalization if we could not see some considerable weight gain.  2 doctors looked at him that day.  He has an unusually high palate, a somewhat tight tongue and basically like an overbite - all 3 together have made it hard for him to suck effectively.  The only thing that they could do something about was his tongue, so she finally clipped it (very easy - he didn't bleed or cry much at all).  He was staying latched on,  all those weeks, and nursing for about 1 hour each time, so I thought he was eating enough, but he wasn't actually sucking in such a way to get much milk (I had no idea).  Because of his lack of consumption, I also lost a lot of my milk supply.  Those first 5 weeks he also couldn't suck a bottle.

After clipping his tongue he was finally able to drink out of a bottle much better, but he still wasn't nursing any better.  I have started pumping and feeding him with a bottle and supplementing with formula.  Last Thursday, at 6 weeks, he gained 4 oz. so he was still under 7 lbs.  That is more than he ever gained in a week, but still the doctors wanted to see 6 or 7 oz.  They said they would give him one more week hopefully to learn how to use his "new" tongue to suck better.  We are really praying for a big weight increase at his appointment this Thursday. 

He continues to be such a sweetie and rarely cries, but of course he still is held most of the time. Josiah just loves to hold him for long periods of time and Jaxton is really content with him. The other boys all love to hold him too, but just for a few minutes at a time. JJ and Joshua kiss him all over his head and tell him secrets. 

Watch this tiny guy surprise us and end up being our 6' 4" 250 lb football player :).