FX [Family Experience]

We took the boys (mostly just Hudson, but Tate went too!) to FX at Central Christian a few weeks ago.  This is their new VBS.  Instead of doing it during the week, it's on Sunday afternoons during July and the whole family is supposed to come and participate. 

Hudson really enjoyed it...the lesson the day we went was on Jonah, which is one of his favorites.  He got to "paint" a fish, watch a puppet show, and then, his favorite part, go out to the gym for some activities.

Next week is the last week, and we are going to try to go back, but they put it right during naptime, which makes it hard to get to, unless you want to wake your kids up from naps.  I think the whole concept they have of the family experience is great, but overall, the whole event needed more organization and creativity (attendance was pretty low too).  Just my opinion though. Hudson enjoyed it, and that's the most important.  But I've seen some of the VBS they have put on in the past, and this doesn't even come close.  Plus Jamie was pretty put out by the middle school girls dance routine that kicked the whole afternoon off.  They threw beach balls around for the kids to hit - which was the only part Hudson cared about - so did we really need girls up on stage "swinging their hips"?  {His words exactly. Is he turning in to his father?!?}  :)

Tate update

Tate turned 8 months old over the weekend.  I cannot believe it's been 8 months since he was born.  Time goes too quickly.  It's almost time to start planning a birthday party!  Crazy.

Looking at Tate now you'd never know he started out so tiny.  He's getting so big.  He is sitting up on his own now, and rolling over back to front.  He loves sleeping on his tummy.  (Not surprising since he always rested well that way in the NICU). As soon as you lay him down now, he rolls over to his side or tummy.  The only problem is he still isn't very good about rolling tummy to back, so when he wakes up he gets flustered and mad that he can't roll over.  So there's no chance of him soothing himself back to sleep! 

Poor little man has been struggling with a sinus infection for over 2 months now.  He is just finishing up his second round of antibiotics today, so hopefully he's kicked it this time.  As soon as he starts the medicine, all the symptoms go away immediately.  But last time it all started back up within  days of finishing the meds.  And that was his 4th time to have a cold. 

The sinus infection has put a temporary delay on eating solids.  I'm still offering him some, but for whatever reason, he is not interested in them at all anymore.  He loved the eggs the first few times, but now can't stand them. Same for bananas and avocados.  He gags and chokes on the food a lot as well. So I think at this point we'll just put it away and try again in a week or two. 

Tate loves his big brother and loves to play with him.  Hudson is still learning the meaning of "gentle" but he's getting better (slowly).  Tate doesn't usually mind too much though.  It's a little more dangerous now since he's sitting up though cause Hudson will try to hug or kiss him, and it knocks Tate off balance and he falls over.  But he's learning. 

Months ago Tate started sleeping through the night, but that only lasted a few weeks.  After he caught his first cold he quit that and hasn't gone back to it yet.  Then he was just getting up once a night, but currently, it's been 2-3 times a night.  We are convinced there's got to be some teeth coming in, but no evidence of it yet, except all the drooling and chewing on toys/fingers/whatever he can get in his mouth.  I think now it's just habit for him to wake up at night, so we I (who am I kidding, Jamie doesn't get up with him at night anymore!) am going to start trying to soothe him back to sleep, instead of nursing.  He usually falls back asleep within a minute, so I don't think he's hungry.  Maybe once a night, but not 3 times a night! We'll see how it goes.  He still hasn't developed a nice long day time nap - usually just an hour.  So hopefully that will start soon.  Part of the problem, I know, is our schedule and not being at home to put him down at the same time every day.  That's hard when it's summer time - but easier when it's too hot to even go outside by 10 am everyday!  So we're working on it.  He actually has taken one good nap today, and is down now, for another one, so maybe I spoke too soon!  He has started developing an earlier bedtime too (again, if we're home to put him down by 8 pm).

Although I'm sad he's getting so big already, I am excited for him to start crawling, eating and "talking" in the next few months.  It's so fun to see his personality emerge. He's got quite the grin and facial expressions.

8 months

Take me out to the ballgame!

There hasn't been much ball playing around here lately because it has been too HOT! But on the nice evenings where it cools down to 98 degrees by 7:30 or so, we head out to play.  And this is what we play:

Hudson found this at a garage sale a few weeks ago and was fascinated with it.  He couldn't quite figure out how to work it since it didn't come with any baseballs but for $3, I thought it was worth a try.  Once we put new batteries in it fired right up!  The tennis balls work but I really need to get some new velcro so they would stick better, but he doesn't seem to mind.  It saves me from pitching all the time, but now he just makes us field the ball instead!  But it is nice since he can play it without any help.  So if I have Tate in my arms I can sit and watch instead of trying to hold him, pitch the ball and field the ball.  Of course, Tate is almost big enough to play outfield now!

donating my breastmilk

Well, the time had finally come.  Tate doesn't even take a bottle anymore, so it was obvious that we won't be needing all the breastmilk I pumped, plus some of it is older than 6 months so I needed to donate it before it got any older. 

I decided to donate my breastmilk to an organization called Human Milk Banking Association.  They give the milk to hospitals to be used for premature and sick babies.  Since I am located in Kansas, the closest milk bank is the one in Denver, Colorado.  So I contacted them and got set up as a donor for their milk bank.
The process required some paperwork, as well as a blood test to screen for any diseases.  Once I passed that, and once my doctor and Tate's pediatrician gave their approvals (They had to verify that I was healthy, and that Tate was healthy and growing so that I wouldn't be taking away milk he needed.) I was ready to go.

I actually sent my first box in last month, along with the blood I had drawn.  Once they received it, they tested my blood and once those tests came back okay, they sent me more boxes for my next donation. 

In talking with them they were very eager to get any of the milk I had from Tate's first month because that premature baby milk has so many additonal nutrients in it that premature babies need.  I told her I thought I still had a little of it.  I was shocked when I packed up the first box and it was all milk from November (the first 3 weeks after he was born)!

Today, I packed the rest of the milk in my deep freeze and the FedEx guy just picked it up.  I filled 3 boxes with milk from December! The other 2 boxes are from the first half of January.  I am estimating that today's shipment was over 1000 ounces of milk - that's about 10 gallons!

This is what's left in my deep freeze.  The milk bank asked that I set aside any milk that was pumped while I or a member of my family was sick.  So those few bags left are from when Hudson had that nasty flu.  Even though they pasteurize the milk before giving it to babies, which kills any bacteria, they prefer not to risk it since the milk goes to such tiny, fragile, sick babies. 

Hudson likes it when it's time to ship milk because it means he gets some dry ice!  I pack each box full of milk, then add 3-5 pounds of dry ice inside.  I already scheduled a pickup with FedEx so I just had to have it ready before he got here and then they overnight it to Denver.  After he picked it up I called the milk bank to let them know it's on it's way, that way they are expecting it tomorrow.  Then they'll process it and send it out to other hospitals needing it, or save it till they get an order.  The milk bank "sells" the milk for $3 an ounce.  So that's a pretty expensive package I just sent out!  I am not paid for my milk, it's a donation only.  The milk banks charges are to cover the handling and processing of the milk, not to make a profit. 

It's obviously pretty expensive to order milk from a milk bank.  Your doctor has to actually give you a prescription to get it.  And most people can't afford to pay $3 an ounce to feed their babies (insurance covers it when they are in the hospital).  So there are actually several organizations set up across the US that allow women to connect with other woman to donate milk to each other - at no cost.  The recipent will usually cover any shipping costs, if shipping is involved.  I checked out the local chapter of Human Milk for Human Babies and contacted a couple women to try to donate to them, but ended up finding someone through our midwife.  She knows a family who is adopting a baby next month and they want to give the baby breastmilk as much as possible.  So the rest of the milk I have (My mom's freezer is still full.) I am going to donate to that family. 

I have to admit it was a little emotional for me to pack up all that milk today.  There's a lot of memories in that milk.  I worked hard for it - and pumped for so long.  But I am thankful that Tate is nursing full time now so that I don't have to pump anymore and that he is a healthy, growing little boy.  So I'm glad I can pass on my milk, and all its nutrients to other little babies, like him, who need it so badly. 

Batter Up!

Egg on his face

Last week we started Tate out on his first food - eggs.  He loves them.  The first one he only ate about half of, but the next two days, he gobbled the whole thing down in no time.  Now since then, his sinus infection flared back up and he hasn't been interested in it, so we haven't tried for a few days.  But I think once we get his sinuses cleared up he'll be ready to go again. 

Traditionally, rice cereal has always been the first food for babies, but thoughts on that are changing.  So for  everyone reading this and thinking "I can't believe they fed him eggs as his first food..." Well, research now actually shows that eggs (the yolk, not the egg white) are a great first food for baby.  Eggs are very high in omega-3's which are great for brain development.  Babies also need protein and fats in their diets. Babies stomachs don't produce very much amylase, the enzyme needed to digest grains, hence the gassiness and constipation issues so many babies have with cereal.  Plus, it actually has a lot of sugar in it, which also isn't good for their little tummies. 

There can be allergy issues with egg whites, but allergies to the yolk are very rare.  Plus most of the vitamins and nutrients in eggs are in the yolk, not the white anyway. So what I do is soft boil the egg, and scoop out the yolk and feed him just that.  (The runnier the yolk, the more omega-3's as well.) 

And I'd say he loves it!

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We're back in business...

My new camera (i.e. my anniversary and birthday present x 4) arrived today!   I'm so excited.  Hopefully it stands up to everything the reviews said it would be.  I've been testing it out today and so far I'm liking it.  My favorite feature so far (that I didn't even know about when I bought it!) is that I can record videos and take pictures at the same time.  Now I won't have to choose whether to get that reaction/event/milestone on video or picture - I can do both!  A few test shots:

the campout on the back deck to watch fireworks.  We finally had to come in cause he just couldn't go to sleep...