Oh man.. I'm a complete slacker when it comes to updating this thing. So we have a few things going on in our little family.
First I'll start with JoJo's arm situation. A couple blogs back I mentioned we had to take him to a dermatologist to find out what the weird growth is on his upper arm. The Dr we got was super nice and after I explained what was happening with him, she almost immediatly knew what it was before even looking at it. To confirm her thought, she rubbed the mark with her fingernail and it flamed up. Turns out that Josiah has a rare disease called Mastocytosis. His particular form is called Solitary Mastocytoma because he only has the one on his arm. Doctors aren't sure how or why this happens, they do know that it's not genetic and it's not passed through contact. For some unknown reason, sometimes the "mast" cells in the skin will bunch together in clumps which causes the raised scar looking thing, when irritated or exposed to heat or cold, it will send out histamines and swell up which causes the blister. There are two ways to handle this, 1. just try not to irritate it and leave it be because it will eventually turn into a brown mark on the skin by about puberty, or 2, have it surgically removed and leave my baby with a dip of a scar on his arm. We opted for number 1 because if it will go away on his own and it's not hurting him then there is no point in risking putting him under anesthesia and make something that is essentially cosmetic look worse with a scar.
The doctor gave me a website to look at because she knew I was going to run home and research what he had on the internet. Turns out there are many forms of this disease and JoJo has the "best" one. He only has one mark on his arm and the chances of him developing anymore are slim to none because he's had it for a few months and no more have shown up. Some kids have a form called "U.P" (i dont know the long medical term for it) but that form covers their whole body and the poor babies get blisters all over. Also I have to be thankful that he developed this now and it will go away instead of developing it as an adult, because you can develop it as a grown up. The risks of getting it as an adult are way worse than children. In children it only affects the skin, in adults it can cause internal organ problems and even Leukemia. Talk about scary. Point of this is, JoJo is ok, he may have a little cosmetic flaw on his arm but it will eventually go away on his own and no harm will be done.
On to some more news...
JOJO GOT HIS FIRST TOOTH!!!!! Today on his 6 month birthday, (oh my gosh my baby is 6 months old), my mom was checking his gums to see if they were swollen because he's been cranky and teething. While she was checking, she discovered that one of his bottom teeth had popped through the gum!!! Our little man is growing up so fast. It's just amazing, he is so alert, he reaches for things, he has his very own little personality. He is so close to crawling it's not even funny. He'll get on his tummy then get up on all 4s, wiggle around a little then go back down lol. It's crazy how this tiny little man has changed our lives so much. I just look at him in amazement and wonder what I did to deserve such a beautiful little boy. Our baby is our world and everything we do now is for him and I wouldn't change that for anything. I can't imagine my life without him in it and I'm sure Aaron feels the same exact way I do. Sure we weren't quite ready to be parents and weren't planning for it, but it's the best thing that has happened to both of us.
And some more news...
I GOT A RAISE!!!!! So at my work, there is what's called a receptionist and a scheduler. I got hired on as a receptionist but have been really doing the job of a specialty scheduler. Well the HR department finally looked into mine and a co-workers duties and decided that they were paying us on the wrong pay scale (schedulers make more money than a receptionist) They decided to switch us to the scheduling pay scale and this in turn ended up being a $2.32 cent an hour raise for me!!! I am now making almost, but not quite, $16/hr. How freaking awesome is that? We have been struggling to get by so this will help our little family tremendously. I finally am with a company that strives totake care of it's employees. I am happy with my co-workers and I actually LIKE going to work everyday so you can't get much better than that.
Next things on the agenda are going camping at the end of this month. It will be the first time the whole family has gotten together in a VERY long time. I can't wait. After that it's plannin our trip to Cali.. gonna go down and meet the rest of Aarons family and introduce them to Josiah. It will be a long trip (we're driving) but I think it will be well worth it...
Well I think that's it for now, I'll try and be back sooner than this next time with some more updates on our family =) Oh and of course here are some updated pictures...
JoJo got a seat for the tub so he can play =)
Such a happy boy in his saucer
I swear this is all they do lol
Sleepin like a little man
I swear he's gonna be a girl catcher when he's bigger =)
Daddy's California tattoo
My tattoo for my baby.. goes from about shoulder blade to shoulder blade
Daddy and Mommy on their first night with no baby.. He had his first all nighter at Grandmas house..I couldn't stop talking about him and missed him terribly but Mommy and Daddy need some time every now and again
Mama having a bit of fun winnin some MOOlah on "Milk Money"
