Bad things come in 3's

Our first week at the Johnson's has been one full of fun, horror and sickness!! Maddie has been a little fish since we got here! She is loving the pool!! The dogs are loving staying in the house. We have been taking them out on walks but at about a half mile they are seeking shade because they are not use to the heat. Scott has been enjoying his class because it is really laid back.

All of the fun started when we got here! Jay was covered in poison when we got here from hiking the mountain with Pap the week before, so he had to go to the doctors. Scott came home for the weekend from his class really sick and spiked a fever of 103 Friday night. I wanted to take him into the hospital then but he was stubborn and wouldn't go. Well, that night Shelli showed us a scorpion from the garage so we knew what to keep an eye out for. That night I got up to pump and when I picked up my pump bag. I got stung by a scorpion twice on the tip of my finger!! It hurt 10 times worse than a bee sting!! I woke up Shelli thinking it was poisonous and that we would have to get to the hospital pronto! Thank God scorpions around here are not poisonous!! I went in and cried to Scott. I took some Benedryl, some IB Profuen and took an ice pack to bed with me. Shelli slept with me all night because I was so freaked out (Scott slept in Elle's bed because he was sick and his coughing was keeping Maddie and I up). The next day I shook out all of Maddie's and my stuff. Our clothes, shoes, my pump bag, and her diaper bag and sealed everything up so I knew no scorpions were going to be able to get into anything. Scott thinks I am being way to paranoid. The sting only hurt for 48 hours but it was the worst pain other than child birth I have ever felt. Shelli offered to put the dead scorpion in a bag for me as a souvenir, I declined and told her it could stay in the trash.

Saturday, I was going to take Scott into the ER, but we slept in and then he didn't want to go. His fever was only 99.2 during the day. We took the dogs for a walk, went fishing and spent time with Maddie and the Johnson family. That night however, his fever was up to 102.7 so we agreed that we would head into the ER the next morning. Sunday morning we went to the hospital and checked in at 10:45am. At 3:30 pm we were told Scott had pneumonia. They gave him an injection and some antibiotics and discharged him. Shelli met us at the hospital so Scott could head back to the base and Shelli and I could head for home. By the way when I talked to him today he said he was feeling much better, just tired.

Monday Jay went to work and went into the doctor and learned that the sore on his back was a brown recluse spider bite. Me being the sicko that I am was excited to see it after the doctor had dug out the dead tissue. He has to go back again on Wednesday but the doctor says that it is healing well.

I am sorry I haven't posted pictures in a long time!! I will have to upload some in the next day or so. Maddie has really grown since the last time I posted pictures! I promise to get some up by the weekend at the latest. Hopefully this week at the Johnson's won't be as exciting for the Croyle family!!

The end of a long journey!!!

We made it to the Johnson's safe and sound after 20 hours of driving!! All of us including our dogs were so happy to get out of the truck!! We started our trip a little after 10pm on Saturday so the dogs and Maddie would sleep through the night while we drove. Scott ended up doing all of the night driving and I took over for several hours at 6am. We made it to Aunt Tia's and Uncle Jay's about 5pm on Sunday. Maddie was an absolute angel through out the drive, she slept, played and talked most of the time. She had one crying spell about an hour away from Aunt Tia's and that was it!!

We were greeted as we pulled in by the kids running out of the house to show off their welcome chalk sign in front of the garage. Then we settled in with the dogs and ate dinner. Afterwards Maddie got a bath and I showered. Scott ended up setting off some fireworks with the kids and Uncle Jay. We tried introducing Max and Hunny but that didn't go so well. We will try again later in the week. Hannah was nice enough to give up her room for us. Maddie is loving all the attention she is getting!! Mommy and Daddy are loving it too, because we get a break and can catch up on much needed sleep!!!

I will try and post some pictures later. I have a lot from fourth of July and a few from our time here so far!! Hope this finds everyone well. Thank you for your prayers for traveling mercies. We love you guys!!

Happy 4th of July!!!!

Here are a few pictures of Maddie taken with her favorite stuffed animal "Chunky" the Monkey. These were taken on her 3 month birthday (june 24th), Hope you all enjoy them!! I hope to post more recent pictures and ones from today's festivities later!!

Crazy Summer Days....

Sorry to all of our avid readers for the time gap in between posts. So much has been going on lately that I haven't had time to sit down for awhile to blog.

Scott had a safe and wonderful trip in Seattle, thank you to everyone who prayed for him while he was there. It is so great having him back home!!

While he was gone Maddie and I went to Granny and Pup-Pup's and as usual had a great time. Mandy and the kids came in for us all to go to Kennywood together, unfortunately it rained A LOT!! So we ended up eating at the Olive Garden and going to Kid Company for the kiddos to get to run around and have a good time!!

The next day was Father's Day, so Mandy and the kids left early to go home to Daryl. It was great getting to be at my parents house for Father's Day. However, I didn't get to see much of my Dad. He and Mom took Maddie for the day and headed to Mahaffey so I could go visit Sue and Steph. I went to see Sue first, and wow did we have a great visit. Sue has a lot on her plate right now and really needs some support and prayer. We spent hours talking and reminiscing about old times. She got a new dog, new cat and a new horse since I have been there. I left her and Keith shortly after 5pm and headed to see Steph. We went on a very long trail ride and at the end of it all Steph decided to gallop off and catch me off guard. Well she went two strides and her horse fell down and thankfully only landed slightly on her shin. She was a little shaken up and sore but was ok! After that we went out to eat and then I headed home to see Baby girl and my parents.

We stayed at Granny and Pup-Pup's until Tuesday morning and then headed home to see Scott. He had just flew in from Seattle and we couldn't wait to see him!! We celebrated Father's Day that morning since he missed his first Father's Day!! Maddie got him Belgian waffle mix from Amish country since he loves waffles for breakfast. She also got him the movie the Bucket List, since that was the only movie Scott and I went to see while I was pregnant with Maddie. Last but not least she got him a Fatherhood Recognition Certificate (It reminded me of the awards he gets for the military).

On Wednesday (the 18th) we celebrated Dolores birthday!! We had a family dinner and then visited afterwards. Maddie and Grandma took an afternoon nap together before everyone came over.

Thursday my good friend Steph drove up here to visit Maddie and I. She got lost on the way up and on the way home. When she got here we went out to eat and then came back to pick up Scott and Maddie and headed to the Worthington Carnival. We had a great time.

That night Scott and I were sitting around the table building a puzzle (we have been on a puzzle building kick for a week now!) and my mom called to give me a heads up about my sister Mandy's blog. She told me before I read it, I should know that Mandy was going through a miscarriage. Wow, did that really hit home... I immediately went upstairs and read her entry and had a good cry. I had just gotten Maddie to sleep after she had been fussy and crying for an hour. As I looked at my little girl, I could not fathom the pain I would feel if I lost her without ever knowing her. Her personality, her smiles, the look on her face when she sees Scott and I. I held her close and rocked her and had a good cry for the niece or nephew I would never get to meet and who is now in heaven with Jesus. I called Mandy to let her know I was thinking about her and praying for her. I never called Shelli when she had any of hers and I am very sorry for that. When my sister Shelli had her miscarriage it didn't hit me quite as hard I think because I wasn't a mom yet. Now that I am I understand their pain, I have never experienced it but I can empathized with them now. I have always enjoyed poetry and have wrote a lot of poems. However, I haven't wrote any poems since my second semester of college in poetry class. But one came to me in a dream the other night and I woke up and wrote it down for the little one I will never meet. I will post it later when I have more time and can finish the last few lines.

Yesterday, Scott and I went to a friends wedding up in State College and had a great time. However, it was my first night away from Maddie and it was very hard!! Especially with everything that happened this week. Coming home to her today was wonderful. She gave us some big smiles the moment we walked in the door!! It was hard being away but I needed some time with just Scott and getting some extra sleep (besides getting up to pump, he and I slept til check out time at noon) was so refreshing!!

Here are some pictures from the past week, I hope you enjoy them.

Maddie, Aunt Mandy and Sophia

Exchanging some heartfelt smiles

Maddie and Sophia getting some Granny loving

Maddie the jail bird

Granny put her hood up

Sticking her tongue out!!

Smiling for Granny and Mommy

Eat your heart out!!

Maddie and Grandma catching some shut eye before the party

Maddie, Daddy and her pony (for now!!) Max

Heading our separate ways....

Scott just left for Seattle, Washington and I must admit I miss him already!! Yes, I shed a few tears as his car drove away, everyone knows I am a very emotional person! He will be back on Tuesday, so while he is away Maddie and I are heading to Granny and Pup-pup's. Pray that we all have traveling mercies and that the rain holds off for our Kennywood day on Saturday.
Scott will fly out tomorrow morning at 6am, so he is staying in Pittsburgh tonight. He will begin his flight back home Monday night but will not arrive in Pittsburgh until early Tuesday morning.
Maddie and I will be leaving for Granny and Pup-pup's bright and early tomorrow morning and will return home either late on Monday or early Tuesday morning as well. I hope to put up some pictures while we are down at granny and Pup-Pup's if I have time.

Family Photos

Our little family went to have our pictures taken on May 23, 2008. These are the first pictures Scott and I had done since our wedding. Maddie was so good throughout the whole thing until it came to the last few pictures. But the last picture the photographer took became Scott's and my favorite, I saved it for last.

The past two weeks

To all of you who adamantly check Maddie's blog, I apologize for the two weeks that I did not post anything. We have been very busy,Ted and Dolores went on vacation (May 25- June 1st) so we had baby girl all to ourselves that whole week!! Scott's birthday was the 28th, we didn't do anything exciting since Maddie had her first round of shots that day. I cried with her when they gave them to her. Then we had Natalie's (Scott's cousin's little girl) birthday party on June 1st. Monday the 2nd I had an eye doctor appointment and Ted was rushed to the ER from an allergic reaction to nuts. He is fine though and came back home that afternoon. Then on Thursday, Scott, Maddie and I went to the mall to pick up her pictures. They are adorable!! I will scan some later to show all of you. Friday was Maddie's first time in her baby pool!! She loved it!!

Scott had drill this past weekend so Maddie and I went to Granny and Pup-Pup's. We had a great time as usual. Saturday we went to Mahaffey. When we came home, I went to meet Steph to watch the Belmont, go horseback riding and then go out to eat. We had a great time together!! Maddie stayed with Granny and Pup-Pup and apparently did not want to go to bed. She kept them up til I got home at midnight. Sunday we all went to church and then hung out at Granny and Pup-Pup's until Scott called to say he was heading home.

Today Maddie went with Grandma and Aunt Margurite to look at houses for Aunt Jen, while Scott and I both went to work. Grandma says she was a very good girl!! Now Maddie and Daddy are both sound asleep in their favorite spot.....each others arms!!

Here are a few photos from the past two weeks.....

Scott, Natalie, and Maddie

Natalie and Maddie

Baby Girl enjoying the beautiful day

Waking up after a nice nap

All smiles for Mommy

First time in her pool

Am I back in the womb???

Still pondering....

Definitely not... I couldn't do this in there

It may not be the womb, but it makes me happy anyway!! :)