Our baby is getting too big!

Madie is now 7 months old! She is enjoying trying solids. So far green beans are her least favorite(though we have yet to try peas!) and cereal,a mix of Gerber Rice and LP-Fruity Pear flavored(her Lo-protein cereal), her favorite. She is sitting and starting to try and scoot while on her back and tummy! She keeps trying to get on her knees! I think we are starting to get teeth as well! She is chewing on everything in sight (me included!) and drooling like crazy! It still amazes me how different each of my kids are yet how similar too (does that make sense?). She loves her brothers and they love to make her laugh! Bekah still loves to pick out Madison's clothes and has tried to veto some of my choices! She still has blue eyes and I am praying she keeps them! She is a blessing and a delight and I love waking to her cooing and babbling! Seeing her smile makes it hard not to get up happy!

So far so good...

Well we are into our second week of school. Bekah and Bobby are adjusting to the new school and have both made new friends. They still miss the kids from last year but are doing well. Bobby is learning to read and Bekah is doing great with her cursive! Sad to say though her homework is already posing a challenge for Jay and I to help with! I told him we are going to have to hire a tutor soon to help! Zach is adjusting as well to not having his brother around to play with. Zach started Speech on friday and is happy to be back at "his school"! Hard to believe next fall he will be going to school with Bekah and Bobby! Everyone has continued to be in good health with just a sore throat and low grade fever to report so far!

What a crazy summer!

The Raitz household had one crazy summer! I wish that meant we went to a lot of fun exciting places and that the kids will be talking about all the fun times for years to come! Unfortunately they will be talking about it but not in a "wow what a fun summer 2008 was", it will be more like "remember that summer "Daddy broke his foot and got an infection and Madie was in the hospital...". Things started to get crazy when Jay broke his foot/ankle on May 31 (for those of you who don't know it was our 11 year anniversary). He then had surgery a couple days later and ended up with a bad staph infection a month later! He was in the hospital for 2 nights and came home with an IV pic line that stayed for 2 weeks! I had to hook him up to IV meds every night! Never thought I would get nurse training! Just when I thought things were settling down, Jay was better, pic line out, no cast or boot and he went to camp with Elevate. He was home barely 24 hours and Madison was put in hospital for a staph infection from an infected pimple on her bottom! I forgot to mention we all passed around a stomach bug the week before Jay left for camp (I was lucky to get it the night before he left and Madie the day he left!!). She was in the hospital for 2 nights as well but was able to come home on oral meds (no pic line!) for 10 days. Jay is finally all better having just been released from his foot doctor and Madison is perfect and doesn't even remember the bad IV placed in her little arm. I wish I could forget it as well! 

The summer officially ended for us this past tuesday at 8:20 am when Bekah (3rd grade) and Bobby (1st grade) got on the school bus. It was a fun and sad day. Fun because a new year is starting for them in school but sad cause now Bobby is gone all day! It was weird walking into PromiseTowne with just Zach and Madie! Zach is starting to feel it as well. He said tonight he misses Bobby in PromiseTowne. They are pretty good buddies (most of the time) and Zach is a bit lost without Bob there lead him along! I think it will be good for Zach to make his own friends though and be able to become his own person away from his older siblings. He has never really done anything without one of them there. This will force him to figure out who he is without being Bekah or Bobby's little brother.

 So now we enter the fall season with the hope it is much duller than summer and much healthier as well! 

They are all getting too big!

I can't believe how big they are all getting! Bekah is 8 and going into the 3rd grade! Bobby will be 6 in 15 days and will be in 1st grade in the fall! Zachary just turned 4 and can't wait turn 5! And little Madison is already 5 months! They are all so different yet the all are so alike (if that makes sense!). I feel so blessed to be their mommy and can't wait to see what they will do next! Though I hope it doesn't require me to clean up any messes!

Zach's new do

Jay took the boys to get hair cuts yesterday and this is how Zach came home! He has been talking about getting a mohawk for awhile but I didn't think he would actually do it! I should have known better though! He looks adorable and loves it!

What happens when you combine 150 6th & 7th graders an 8 ft round inflatable ball and a a Youth Pastor? Part 2

So Jay was having some pretty good pain last week in his ankle and friday it got pretty bad, so he went to the doctors and they removed the cast, pin and found an infection. They sent him home with a walking cast boot and an antiabotic. Sounds simple enough...stay off it as much as possible, take your meds and come back in two weeks. Wrong! He woke this morning with pain so bad he barely made it to the bathroom! He took off his boot and the bandage and it was oozing from where the pins were and was swollen and red. We went to the ER right away and they did x-rays and a bunch of blood work and a culture of the wound site. He was admitted to start IV meds and hopes to be released sometime tomorrow. Hopefully by the time his doctor sees him tomorrow the meds will have done their job and his foot will look better! Keep him in your prayers!

Madie

I put together Madie's exasaucer the other day and as you can see she is just big enough! She likes to try to eat the toys and looks at me wondering why they don't quite reach her mouth! I finally put the batteries in today and now the piano plays music and lights up. the base also makes noise but she isn't quite strong enough yet to make that work. Once her legs get a little longer and stronger though I have a feeling I will be sorry I put the batteries in! I can't believe how fast she is growing and changing! It seems like every day she learns something new! I bought her a sippy cup to see what she would do and she seems to like it! Over the past couple days she has taken 3 oz from it! She continues to be the happiest babies I know, always with a smile on her face! 

Zachary James

Zachary turned 4 this past monday! I can't believe he is already 4! The years just flew by! Zachary continues to be the ham of the family. Always ready for fun! His smile lights up the room and he is a very sweet little boy! He is very excited to be 4, because now he can go into the 4 year old room at church! He is a delight and we are blessed to have him for a son!

What Happens when you combine 150 6th & 7th graders an 8 ft round inflatable ball and a a Youth Pastor?

You get to ride in an ambulance a broken ankle and a broken foot and a date in the operating room! Jason was playing volleyball with the kids at Elevate on Saturday night and fell, landing wrong and breaking his foot and ankle! He was taken to the hospital in an ambulance and put in a splint up to his thigh! He broke a bone off in his foot that twisted 90 degrees! This morning they went in and turned the bone back into place and inserted two pins and put a screw in his ankle break! The screw will stay but the pins will need to come out in 6 weeks. He is in a splint until monday and not able to put any weight on it! H is getting pretty good at hobbling through the chaos we like to call home with his crutches! Monday they will put on a regular cast and put him in a walking boot. He is in pain but is putting up a brave front! He even talked about going back to work thursday! I think I have him talked into staying home and on the couch with his foot up until monday! The kids can't wait until he gets the real cast so they can draw on Daddy's leg! Jason just can't wait to get the cast of so he can hopefully enjoy some of the nice weather running and playing softball!

Bobby and Madison

Bobby has refused to hold Madison until Monday night. His answer was always "when she is bigger". I think she just looked to fragile to him. Well Monday night Bobby, Zach, Madie an I were in my room while I got Madie ready for bed. Bobby looked at me and casually said "Mom I have never held her yet". So I asked him if he wanted to and he said yes! Of corse the camera was downstairs and he didn't want to wait till I could get it! So he held her for about 2 seconds then told me to take her back! He then proudly ran down to tell Jay that he had held her! Last night he wanted too hold her again and this time the camera was handy so I could capture the proud big brother smile as he held her (4 seconds this time!). Then when we got home from church tonight he wanted to not only hold her but feed her too! As you can see in the pictures he is about the proudest little boy around! I am the proudest Momma around too! He is so sweet with her and is always found next to her talking to her or just rubbing her head if she is sad! I hope he is always so protective of his little sister!

Madison Jean

Well Madison is already 3 1/2 months old! I don't know what happened to the time?! It seems like just yesterday I was counting the days until she would come and now she is almost 4 months! She is one of the happiest babies I have ever met! She is always ready with a smile and loves to "talk". She has been sleeping through the night since she was about 5 weeks old and I am very thankful! She loves to lay on the floor with her "fan club" (Bekah, Bobby, and Zach!) hovering above her! Her siblings adore her and love to make her smile and laugh! She is almost rolling from her back to her tummy! I don't think she realizes what she is doing and I think she is going to be totally surprised when it does happen! She has adjusted to the infant room in Promise Towne )and I have adjusted to dropping her off as well!). The ladies who care for her are great and she is spoiled while in their care! She has such a wonderful little personality and her smile lights up her entire face (and anyones who she smiles at!). She is a delight and we are so blessed to have her!

Dear Family and Friends,

Hello! I am writing to let you know about an exciting event happening on May 17, 2008 in Illinois. May is National PKU Awareness Month and throughout the month most states will be holding events to raise awareness and to raise money for research. Illinois is hosting a PKU Walk for research and will also have many activities and low protein food samples for the kids to enjoy. The Raitz family will be attending this event and would like to ask for your support. There are a few ways you can support us on this day… 1) Pray for beautiful weather 2) Pray for the people dedicating their time to researching ways to make life with PKU easier 3) consider donating to PKU research.

As many of you know our two youngest children (Zachary 3 ½ yrs, Madison 3 months) have a rare genetic disorder called Phenylketonuria (PKU). This disorder was discovered through routine newborn screening at the hospitals where they were born. If this simple test had not been done, the build up of phenylalanine or PHE (an amino acid in protein) would have started attacking their central nervous system. This build up would have done irreversible damage, leaving them mentally impaired and physically challenged.

There is no cure at this time. The treatment is primarily dietary consisting of medical formula and strict low protein diet (no milk, eggs, cheese, meat…) for life. The medical formula is covered by the State of Illinois but we must purchase special (and very costly) low protein foods from the few online companies that specialize in low protein foods.

We also do weekly (Madison) and bi-weekly (Zachary) blood tests at home to monitor their blood PHE levels. Based on the results their dietitian then adjusts their daily PHE intake. Zach and Madison both see genetic specialists at Children’s Memorial Hospital to monitor their development.

The FDA recently approved a new drug (KUVAN) that in some PKU patients allows a less restricted diet. Unfortunately, we just found out that Zachary is not a responder to this drug. Our prayer is that they will develop another drug/ treatment some day that will work for Zach and Madison, and allow them to experience a more liberal diet. In order for that to happen research needs to be done and unfortunately that is expensive!

Please consider donating to PKU research. All donations are tax deductible. If you are able at this time to donate please send checks (made payable to PKU Organization of IL) to us by May 15th for us to take to the walk or mail them to: PKU Organization of IL, P.O. Box 102, Palatine , IL 60078-0102 by May 31, 2008. For more information see http://www.pkuil.org/ .

Thank you in advance for your prayers and support for this very worth cause!

The Raitz Family

We finally did it!

Mornings had become a battle ground for Bekah and I. I was always yelling at her to brush her hair and she was always telling me she had, except the big knots told me another story! I usually ended up brushing it and she ended up yelling and crying! I finally had had enough and told her she had a week to prove to me she could take care of her hair or it was getting cut. Well a week or so later she still had not gone to school with out me having to do her hair! I told her she had to get it cut and she cried for about a minute then decided it would be cool. We ended up getting it cut and she decided to donate it to locks of love. We got 12 inches cut and she looks adorable! Her comment the evening she got it cut was "mom my head isn't so heavy anymore!".

Bobby Jay and Madie Jean

These pictures are of Bobby and how sweet he is with Madison. He still has not held her but is slowly getting braver with her. If she is crying he is always right there by her to talk to her or sing to her, or just sit by her until I can get to her. He has such a tender heart! I can see him being the one to sit and play games with her or read to her when she is older. I love his gentleness with her and his need to make her happy! She is now smiling at the older kids and Bobby especially loves it when he can get one from her!

Madison Jean

Madison Jean was born on February 4th at 8:35 am. She weighed 6 lbs 11 oz and was 18.75 inches long. She has a head full of dark hair just like her big sister! She has been here for just over two weeks and it is already hard to remember what it was like to not have her here to cuddle! She is a good baby and is already spoiled by her older siblings! Bekah has enjoyed helping pick out her clothes and Zach always wants to hold or kiss her! Bobby is happy to just look at her or touch her hands when he thinks nobody is watching! He has yet to hold her. He says when she is bigger he will hold her! We found out on February 6th that Madie does have PKU. While we were praying she did not have it, the news was not as hard to take as it was when we were told Zach had it. On the positive side Zach will now have a food buddy! He already talks about teaching her what she can and can't eat when she is big. She is taking her formula mix(Phenex 1 and Similac)great! We are adjusting to having to do weekly heel pokes again! Definatley not my favorite part of the week! Madison doesn't like it very much either! I have already almost mixed Zach's formula in with Madison's formula! I have had to lable everything with their names in black marker! I even have had to place their formuala on different shelves in the fridge so Zach can tell them apart! I am finding new ways to make myself more organized (for those of you who know me, you know how unorganized I am!) which is hard for me! I told Jay we evened out all around! Two girls, two boys, two PKU, and two non-PKU!