Forever Friends

Is is safe to say that these two will be forever friends? Jase was resting in the dining room floor (what a strange place to rest) when Bella came and decided to try and grab some ZZZZZZ's too! How sweet!

Brace Yourself!

Well, today was Jase's big day! It was his turn to finally get braces put on his teeth! He was so excited but yet a little anxious. He did super! The question will be..... How will he feel tonight? Other than our pocketbook hurting, Jason and I are excited for him too! After leaving the orthodontist's office, Gracie asked Jase to look at those shinny things on his teeth. After a good examination of them she said, "Mommy, I want some of those shinny things too!". Jackson thought they were cool too! Little do they know - there day is coming.

Jackson's Appointment

Today was Jackson's follow-up appointment with Dr. Pena (Pediatric Nephrologist). Basically, there is no new information for now. He confirmed that Jackson does have IgA Nephropathy. Jackson will continue taking the daily supplement to aid in
re-building his immune system. He will also remain on a low sodium diet. There wasn't any blood in his urine today. That's good news! That means for now what we are doing is working. Jason and I believe that the Lord has a big hand in it also! We also discussed a kidney biopsy, but for now we will just wait. Thank you for your prayers. They mean so much, and we have definitely felt them. Please continue to pray for us as we travel down this unknown road.

Bella

These are some recent pictures of Bella. She is growing so quickly. She went to the Veternarian last week for a check up and shots and she is up to a whopping 16 pounds. We are not quite to the 20 pounds that the vet had hoped for - but we are well on our way. We think she will be around 80 pounds at maturity. Oh goodness - we all are crazy about her! She is so much work - kinda like having a new baby in the house, but we all agree she's worth it!

100th Day of School

To help celebrate the 100th day of school each Kindergartner was asked to make something with 100 things on it and wear it to school. After days of brainstorming we decided to make something using the letter J for Jackson. So using my Cricut machine, Jackson and I cut out J's for what seemed like an eternity. Before we finished the entire project, Jackson was worn out. So....his Daddy and I finished gluing all of the little J's on the big J. The next morning he was so excited to see his project had been completed. He was really proud of his 100th day project. Can you tell?

What is Love?

Every year around Valentine's Day I ask Jase, Jackson and Gracie a question about love. I always ask them separately because I don't want their answers to be influenced by their siblings answers. Again this year, I asked them...What is Love? These are their exact answers...

Jase....."It means that you care very deeply about someone."

Jackson...."It's nothing but hugging and kissing. That's what you do to people you love."

Gracie...."I love you. I love peoples. I like you very much."

And there you have it... What is Love? 2009

Happy Birthday to Jase!

Today is February 3rd and Jase is turning 10! I have been wondering all day....where has the time gone? I just seems like yesterday that he was just an adorable little boy and now he is a handsome young man. He has been and remains to be such a joy in my and his Dad's life. We are so blessed to call him our own - even if he is growing up way too fast! Happy Birthday Jase! We love you!

This is Jase with his Best Buddy - Jack. Jack is a friend that Jase met through school, baseball and Jack's mom and I are good friends. For Jase's birthday, all he wanted was for Jack to spend the night, go out to dinner, and then go to the movies to see Hotel for Dogs. So... that's exactly what we did! We all had a great time celebrating Jase's 10th birthday!

Jase is reading a birthday card that his best friend made for him. I think that is so neat - that Jack wanted to make his card instead of buy one. How special is that?

Jase has made his wish and now he is blowing out the candles. Wow - it's ten candles! He is not like Jackson, he keeps his wish a TOP SECRET! I guess that's the way it is supposed to be.

Gracie and Bella

Here's Gracie and her new playmate - Bella. These two have the most fun each day. I actually feel sorry for Bella, Gracie drives her crazy. The other day, I heard lots of barking going on in the living room and so I go in there to find Bella trapped in the crate and Gracie was barking. She said that she was talking to Bella. She always says "that Bella is too shy to talk - so she just sparks". Gracie has learned to "spark" and sounds just like Bella. She's so cute! Because Gracie watched Jason and I follow Bella around the house constantly when we were house training her - she feels that she has to do the same. Then very loudly from somewhere else in the house - Gracie will yell "Bella's snipping!". That means that Bella is sniffing and she might need to go outside now. Needless to say, Gracie thinks that she is the _ _ _ trainer in the family. I have to spell out _ _ _, because Bella doesn't realize that she is a _ _ _! Shhh! Don't tell her any different! She thinks that she is the youngest of the Tatum children!

Update on Jackson

Jackson had an appointment with the Pediatric Nephrologist on Monday. Thank goodness, Dr. Pena was awesome with Jackson. He was so gentle and Jackson responded well to him. However, the news was not quite what we had hoped for. After reviewing Jackson's past labs and sonograms - he highly suspects that Jackson had an autoimmune disease called IgA Nephropathy. This particular disease is very rare. Basically, it's a disease that attacks the kidneys and bladder. The bleeding will come and go. The next time the blood reappears in his urine - he will immediately have a biopsy done of his kidneys. This will give Dr. Pena a more exact picture of what all we are dealing with. In the meantime, he has made some dietary restrictions, alleviating sodium from Jackson's diet. He hopes this will give his kidneys a chance to rest and rebuild. More blood and urine samples were collected on Monday and we will meet with Dr. Pena in February to get more details. We did not discuss in detail what might be down the road for us. For now, we are just trying to process the information that we were given on Monday. As hard as it is to understand, we know that we will not face this alone. Jason and I know that God has been with us thus far and He will continue to walk with us during this uncertain time. As most of you know, we have faced many challenges in the past year, but at the same time we remain to feel so blessed. Please continue to pray for guidance for Dr. Pena, strength for Jackson and for peace of mind for me and Jason. I will update with more information as it become known. Thank you for your love and support.

Welcome Home, Bella!

Let me introduce you to the newest member of our little family, this is Bella. After many years of begging for a puppy, Jason and I thought that it was the perfect time for our kiddos to have a little furry friend to love. I have researched, talked to friends that are puppy owners and I even spoke with two different veterinarians. Jason and I wanted to make sure that we picked the puppy that would be just right for our family. After lots of opinions, we took the vets advice and decided on a Labrador Retriever. After even more research and many phone calls, we were led to super nice Christan lady in Azle, Texas. This is where we found Bella. From the first moment we saw her, we were all attached. She already has a special place in all of our hearts. With that being said, we're so glad that she is now a part of our family. Welcome Home, Bella!

After a long and noisy ride home, Bella was exhausted. I took her in the back yard hoping that she would go potty - but instead she went straight to sleep.

They next thing I knew, Jase was no where to be found. Guess where I found him? He was watching Bella sleep. Can you imagine how much he loves this little ball of fur?

Could she be our little boy's best friend?

The little girls - Miss Gracie and Miss Bella. These girls are gonna have lots of fun together while the "brudders" are at school. Shhh...don't tell!