fighting fires

I feel like that's all we've been doing for months now. We just can't kick the sickness bug.  And that's with rarely even leaving the house.  I am past frustrated.  Now Hudson has the cold that Jamie and I had a few weeks ago.  It lingered around for a few days just as a stuffy nose when he woke up in the mornings, and then it would clear up and he'd be fine.  But a few days ago it hit full force. He's a mess.  And I just had it so I know how awful he feels.  And we just keep praying Tate doesn't get it.  So far we've dodged that bullet with Hudson's flu, Jamie's cold and my cold.  Can we do it again?  The handwashing and sanitizing is back in full force, hence the burns on the hands are back as well.  I am SICK of sickness.  A member of our family has either been sick or hospitalized since November 13th.  That's 107 days and counting.  We need a change.  Where's spring?

On a lighter note - Hudson has been busy fighting fires too.

In order to get him into the bathroom for a steam shower to clear his head out a little, Jamie came up with the "fireman" game.  They turn the lights off and use their flashlights and hoses (the tubes to my breast pump!) to put out the smoke (the steam.).  Works everytime to get him in there. 

It's hard work putting out those fires - he gets a little sweaty!

14 weeks

Tate is 14 weeks old now – 5 weeks adjusted. He has changed so much in the last week. He is smiling at us a lot now, is starting to make some coo sounds and trying his best to suck on his hands. He occasionally gets them into his mouth but mostly they just flail around as he tries his hardest. His eyes have turned more gray than blue at this point. So I’m guessing they’ll turn dark like Hudson’s did. He’s starting to get more fuzz on the top of his head, so eventually he’ll even it out and have hair on top too. His right ear is starting to lay flatter too. It’s definitely flatter on its own, but if I push it down, it will stay that way for a little bit too. So I think it will eventually lay totally flat. It will just take a little more time. He’s also starting to “stand” a little bit, as in put some pressure on his feet when he is in a standing position. He’s holding his head up really well and still enjoys tummy time for the most part. Still amazes me cause Hudson always hated it. But Tate likes to hold his head up and look all around. He’s starting to rock side to side a little bit, but no rolling over yet. We moved him up to size 1 diapers, although they’re still a little big. He’s still wearing newborn size clothes.


The last few mornings he has been ALL smiles when he wakes up! There’s nothing like waking up to his smile. I’m loving it – even though the waking up is a bit earlier than I’m used to! His sleeping is still pretty random. I haven’t figured out any kind of pattern to it, although the last few days he’s been staying awake for a little bit after he eats, then sleeping for about an hour, then just being awake till it’s time to eat again. But I’m sure it will be different tomorrow…

And more exciting news – it finally “clicked” for him on the breastfeeding. Last Thursday or Friday he nursed really good and then slept for 3-4 hours afterwards (I fed him about 10 pm). Ever since then he’s been nursing much better and going 2 ½ to 3 hours before wanting to eat again. I’m so excited! I am going to up him to 3 times a day towards the end of this week cause he should be up to 10 pounds by then. I’m VERY tempted to just nurse him every time and see what he does, but I still can hear the NICU doctors telling me not to do much cause it will wear him out. So I’ll probably just do 3 times for two weeks or so and then up to 4 times. He goes back to the pediatrician mid March for his 4 month checkup and I’m hoping he’ll tell me it’s okay to switch over totally by then. The annoying thing though is that I’ll have to continue pumping after every nursing, since he doesn’t totally empty the breast. If it isn’t emptied that is what triggers the body to stop producing as much, since the baby doesn’t need it. He doesn’t eat it all right now but soon he will (he’s up to 100 mls now) so I don’t want my supply to decrease (and the vice versa as well, the more he nurses or I pump, the more milk supply I’ll have). The pumping is very annoying – I feel like a dairy cow! And it’s frustrating trying to nurse, then remember to pump afterwards and making sure I stay on the same schedule as Tate so that I can nurse when it’s time too. I am more than ready to switch over to nursing totally and pack the pump away and never look at it again.

Hudson drinking his milk in his bottle. (tate's bottle without a nipple on it.)

Tate went on his first walk this week.  Hudson was at my mom's for the afternoon so I finally was able to get out.  And I just kept walking, and walking and walking. It was SO nice to get some exercise and some sunshine.

My little bookworm

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

look at this BIG boy!!

Tate was 3 months old last week and I just remembered I needed to take his monthly tie pic.  I knew he had grown but I can't believe how much bigger he is this month from last month.  Look at that chunk!

Golf fever

This nice weather we've been having has led to golf fever.  Jamie's got it.  Hudson's got it.  Of course, I'm not sure Hudson ever lost it - he's been golfing inside all winter long...But finally it's been nice enough out to get the clubs out and hit some balls.  Jamie's already hit 18 holes this week and there's plans in the making for the driving range tomorrow. 
Every day this week they've been out hitting balls.  Hudson hits them hard enough now that the front yard doesn't work out so well anymore.  So lately they've taken to roaming around back behind our house.  There's a baseball field and a soccer field back there and lots of room to hit.   Jamie takes his club out too and practices a few shots.
Here's a few pics (okay, a lot of pics) of Hudson out hitting balls in the front yard.  One of the few times I've been able to get out and enjoy the weather...for a few minutes! :)

Not real happy with his shot.

Then he notices Mom's got the camera out

So he poses sweet :)

Back to work.  That tongue!

Yes, he's trying to hit me with the golf ball.

Yes, he even plays in the snow!

THen he got tired of golf and moved on to jumping off the bricks.  He's getting pretty good at jumping. He learned to gallop this week. He gallops all over the house now.  He also learned how to kneel on his knees.  He thinks it's pretty cool when he does it.  Always hollers for me to come look at what he's doing.

The tongue again!

Our Valentine's

I normally don't go all out for Valentine's Day, but this year I got the bug...

Breakfast for my little Valentine:

Heart shaped whole wheat pancakes with peanut butter and maple syrup.  Yum!

Between Hudson and I we ate ALL of them!

Valentine Snack:

Apple slices with granola, peanut butter and chocolate chips. 

(Jamie's been on a HUGE peanut butter kick lately)

Valentine's Dessert:

Peanut butter balls, strawberries, pretzels and bananas

Dark chocolate fondue

Someone was in heaven!

My Valentine's gift from my boys:

13 weeks

Tate is 13 weeks old – 4 weeks adjusted age. He continues to do really well. The biggest news is his weight gain – he was 9 pounds, 3.5 ounces as of last Thursday when we went to the doctor! Getting so BIG! It’s hard to believe he started out so tiny if you see him now – as long as you don’t know how “old” he actually is! Also hard to believe that he has already tripled his birth weight. My sister-in-law pointed out that most babies triple their birth weight by one year – Tate did it in 13 weeks! Overachiever. About an hour after we got home from the weight check he had the hugest dirty diaper I have ever seen – so he probably lost a few ounces from that!


We finally made it in to the doctor on Thursday for his Synagis shot. We had to reschedule twice because of the snowstorm. Thursday was still really cold out, but at least it wasn’t snowing so I bundled him up and Tate and I went on our first outing together. We probably weren’t even gone for 30 minutes. But it was still nice to get out. I went 10 days without leaving the house. That’s a record for me for sure. Hudson went 19 days without leaving the house (except to play outside on the nice days). I took him to Gigi’s yesterday to make Valentine sugar cookies. That was the first time he’d left the house since I took him to the doctor when he was sick. He has adjusted really well to having Tate home and being stuck at the house. He has turned into quite the bookworm (just like his momma!). He has only asked to watch TV once the entire last week! He would much prefer to “read” his books. And the crazy part is he has most of them memorized. I was shocked when he recited a book to me the other day –almost word for word. Gigi says that’s exactly how I was when I was his age. He is doing really well playing on his own, and has started “pretend” play too. That’s good to see cause for so long he was so literal about everything. He’ll sit in his room for 20 minutes or so just looking at his books, and then bring 4 or 5 of them ot me to read. We’ve started a good routine of when I’m nursing Tate he gets to sit beside me on the bed and we read books. Works well since I can’t do anything else and it keeps him occupied (and out of trouble.)

I think Tate’s going to be a drooler. He seems to always have a small sliver of spit rolling down the side of his mouth when he wakes up. Bibs for this boy! He rolled over from his tummy to his back Sunday afternoon! We were shocked. It was probably mostly a fluke cause he was on the edge of a thick blanket and when he squirmed he rolled over the edge, but still took a little muscle to do it. We’ll see how long it is before he does it again.

The pediatrician told us we could stop using the formula supplement in his milk. It seems to have helped Tate out with all the gas he was having. He’s been less fussy the last few days (not that he was that fussy before.) He has gone from dirtying every diaper every 3 hours to only going once every 3 days. Makes for some very dirty diapers but he hasn’t acted like he is uncomfortable.

Tate’s doing better and better at nursing. We’re nursing twice a day now. His latch has improved a lot the last few days. There for awhile I was getting pretty frustrated with his latching but he seems to have finally figured it out. He still doesn’t seem to get enough milk though. I have been just nursing him and then letting him go to see how long he’ll go before eating again. Usually it’s just an hour. Twice he has slept 3 hours afterwards, but I think those were times he was just tired already, and then the breastfeeding wore him out. So sleep was more important than food at that moment. We’ll see. I might take him in to the breastfeeding clinic this week (I know I’ve probably said that every week…but sickness keeps preventing me going…)to get him weighed before and after just so I can know how much he’s getting. He seems to be getting 1-2 ounces every time, based on how much I pump afterwards. I feel like that’s a pretty good amount based on his weight. Most breastfed babies eat every hour and half to 2 hours so I think if he could just take a little more he’d be up to normal. I’m tempted to just switch to breastfeeding exclusively and see what he does, but I don’t think the pediatrician would be okay with that at this point. They want us to keep up the bottlefeeding because then we know for sure how much he’s taking so that he keeps gaining weight. He did tell us we could let him go 4-5 hours at night instead of every 3 hours, but to be sure to keep to every 3 hours during the day. Sometimes he’ll sleep an extra hour or two at night, but usually it’s just once a night, and the next time he’s up at 3 hours. Different from when we first brought him home and we had to set the alarm to wake him up every 3 hours!

As for the rest of us – we’ve been sick. Jamie came down with a cold last week and then it was my turn. No fun. Washing our hands again constantly (finally discovered something to help our hands – Aveeno Diaper Rash Cream –it’s worked wonders on mine.) plus wearing masks when we hold Tate. I’m feeling much better today but guess who started sneezing yesterday….Hudson’s turn. When he woke up yesterday he was pretty stuffed up so I told him that we had to be careful today and not touch, hold or kiss on Tate because we didn’t want him to get his germs. Hudson immediately asked for “his” mask! I got one out for him. He wore it long enough for me to take his picture, then just carried it around for awhile.

We’re supposed to have some gorgeous weather this week so we’re hoping to get outside and soak up some Vitamin D. So far though, the sun hasn’t shined. But it has been warm enough to get out. So far it’s just been Hudson and Jamie that have been out to play and I’ve only gotten out for 5-10 minutes. Hoping to change that today!

This is dedicated to the one I love....

Twelve years ago this month we met. And fell in love. And decided forever was for us. Hard to believe it’s been that long since I saw you walk in to Professor Kling’s Intro to Theatre class and thought to myself “there’s the guy I am going to marry.” I can still picture you then – you were wearing your black Vanderbilt t-shirt, with your glasses, backpack and bleached blond hair. A picture I’ll always carry with me.

We’ve been a lot of places and come a long ways since then. Becoming parents has been the biggest transition for us – but one that – I believe – we have mastered with grace, confidence and success. I love being a parent with you. I love watching you with Hudson, and now with Tate. I always knew you’d be a good dad cause you are so good with kids, but you have exceeded my expectations. You are a wonderful father. Always ready to play and have fun, yet quick to discipline and make sure they are safe and taken care of.

Thank you for working so hard to provide for us and allow me to stay home with the boys. I love being a stay at home mom and I hope you realize how much I enjoy it, and appreciate the opportunity to do so. And even though it’s my ‘job’, thank you for always helping me out, anytime and anywhere – laundry, cleaning, dishes, grocery shopping, helping with all the crazy do-it-yourself projects (that I can’t do myself!) that I take on.

Our life was turned upside down on November 16th and though it was a trying, emotional experience – and this probably sounds weird - I am glad we went through it, together. It's only made us stronger, wiser and opened our eyes and hearts. You were my rock during those first few weeks; helping me physically and emotionally to process everything that was happening. Thank you for everything you did for me, for Hudson and for Tate. Going to check on Tate every 3 hours while we were in the hospital, when I couldn’t do it, spending hours every night at the hospital with him, because you knew I wanted you to be there, if I couldn’t be. Taking so much time off work to take care of Hudson so that I could spend time with Tate. Getting up every few hours to help me pump when I couldn’t get out of bed. Supporting me and every decision I made regarding breastfeeding. Cleaning the house, preparing dinners. Never second guessing any of my crazy emotional tirades, just taking my hand and sitting me down and asking me to list the reasons I am a good mom, or the reasons my sons love me. You are wonderful, and I know I don’t tell you that enough.

We’ve come a long ways yet, thankfully, still have so far to go. I am looking forward to 12 more years with you, and many more after that, wherever God takes us. Thank you for being a man of Godly character, always open to listening to His voice and leading us. 

I love you. More today than yesterday. More than ever before.

Be Mine!

(Had the onesie - couldn't resist!)

Cousins

My sister, sister-in-law and I were all pregnant at the same time and due within 8 weeks of each other.  Tate was supposed to be the last one born....Ashley is 4 days younger than Tate and Carver is about 7 weeks younger than the 2 of them.  Carver is the biggest in weight (and also has more hair than Ashley and Tate combined!), but he had a head start since he weighed almost 9 pounds when he was born! Ashley is a lot taller than the 2 of them- but she has already grown more than 5 inches in length since she was born!

It's going to be lots of fun- and more than a little crazy - watching the 3 of them grow up together!

First Smiles

Tate gave us his first real smiles today - and, of course, they were for Daddy not Mommy.  He is such a daddy's boy!  He has smiled several times for us throughout the day - luckily I had my camera out and ready at one point and I caught these.

Cousin Ashley

Tate finally got to meet one of his cousins this week - Cousin Ashley came over for a visit.  Ashley is my sister's little girl and she is 4 days younger than Tate.  Their first little play date didn't go so great - we put them down on the blanket together for pictures and Tate started crying immediately...

Ashley's like "I don't know what's wrong with this kid

Until Tate decides to try and eat her arm.  She wasn't having any of that!

Ashley was born with a condition called laryngomalacia, which basically means her voicebox collapses in on itself when she breathes, causing airway obstruction.  Most children outgrow this condition by the age of 2, but some have to have surgery to correct it.  Ashley also has severe acid reflux (a common condition in babies with laryngomalacia) and her pediatrician is concerned about her weight gain because she isn't gaining weight as quickly as most babies (another side effect of the laryngomalacia).  Because of this, they might soon be meeting with a surgeon at Children's Mercy (the closest place that does the specialized surgery) about the option of doing surgery. Please add Ashley and her mom and dad to your prayers.  Pray that she starts gaining more weight, more quickly and that her laryngomalacia will start healing on its own.

been busy

With weather like this:

Some places around here got 8-12 inches of snow.  I don't think we had that much here, but schools are closed again (third day in 7 days!) because of the brutal cold.  It's 9:30 am and the wind chill is still -13 degrees!  Brrrr! Plus it just started snowing again!

combined with the fact that we aren't supposed to take Tate anywhere....I have had lots of time to get some of my projects done.  And it's a good thing too.  Jamie laid down the law last week and said I could NOT start any more new projects till I finished all the ones I had half way done.  So I got to work (and put Jamie to work.)  Here's a little preview of all my finished projects...and I have a whole list of new ones waiting to get started! 

vinyl above the bay window in Tate's room

the abacus that my handy husband built.  It turned out really cute. I love it.  I got the idea from a blog I follow - Under the Table and Dreaming. We changed it up a little to go in a kids room.  Hudson loves playing with it so I am sure Tate will someday too. 

the rag quilt I made for Tate.  I have never attempted a sewing project like this before.  I am really pleased with out it turned out.  Not perfect but handmade by mommy.

Close up detail of the quilt.  This is the fabric that was the inspiration for the color in Tate's room.

A sign I made from a tin plaque I bought off the clearance rack at Hobby Lobby.  I just spraypainted over the picture on it and then used my cricut to decopauge the letters on.

The shelf Jamie made that hangs over the changing table.  Found this idea on my favorite site - http://www.anawhite.com/. She's amazing!

Another sign I made and stickers I put on the picture frame.

I made this at taxgedo.com.  Really cool concept.  It takes words and makes a shape out of the words.  All I had to do was put in my blog address and it used the words from my posts to make this elephant shape.  Cute and meaningful since it used words from all the posts I wrote while Tate was in the NICU.  And I handmade the frame matte out of some leftover fabric from the quilt.

And the "T" mobile over Tate's crib.  I saw this idea on a website too - can't remember which one.  It's made from sewing circles and a wooden "T" that I spraypainted.  Then I strung it together with fishing wire and a couple beads and Jamie hung it from the celing.  Cute!

So that's all the projects in Tate's room (for now!).  On to the rest of the house:

I had the intention to put some vinyl letters up in Hudson's big boy room, but because of the circumstances, never got it done.  So since I had the cricut out - I put this up on his wall.  I really like it!



And I went a little crazy with the Cricut vinyl and since it's been 9 months since I redid the master bedroom, and I still hadn't come up with anythign to put above the bed, I went ahead and put some vinyl up to.  I like it too...but I already have several other ideas floating around my head to do above the bed, so we'll see how long it lasts!  Good thing it was free!



and my new mantel decor...minus candles for the candleholders and a picture in the big frame.  I am going to take a picture of the boys for the big frame...just waiting on Hudson's hair to grow out a little longer first.  Gigi cut it REALLY short right after Christmas and I want some of his curls in it...

We have lived in our house 6 years this month and I still had several windows without window treatments!  When we put the blinds up in Tate's room we also put blinds up on the 2 windows in the basement. So that left only 2 windows without treatments.  The back patio door and the bay window in the kitchen.  I actually started making curtains for the kitchen windows about a year ago and ran out of fabric.  So that's one of my goals in the next few months to get more fabric (if they still have it!) and finish those.  The other day I finally found some curtains and put them up on the back door.  I wasn't sure what to do here because it's a sliding door and we have a doggy door in, hence the reason nothing's ever been put up.  So I decided to just find something and go with it.   I found these panels for 9.99 each at Tuesday morning, and used my 40% off coupon for the rod at Hobby Lobby.  So I finished this window for less than $30 - and I love the finished look it gives the upstairs.  Should have done it a long time ago!  Now the only question is whether the dogs will be able to use the doggy door still.  I think they'll figure it out!  (And speaking of the dogs ...they have been at my grandma's since I went in to the hospital, and no, we haven't gone over to pick them up yet!  Some day soon!  When it stops snowing and warms up a bit!  She keeps telling me not to rush - so I'm not!)

So that's everything I've been up to...in addition to taking care of the boys, cooking, cleaning, paying our medical bills (yikes!) and getting caught up on clinic stuff.  I got the billing and posting reviewed through the end of the year. Now I have to do the books, then get started on our taxes.  I have a month before taxes are due, so I better get on it!