Grammy Visits and Blizzard 2012

On Thursday, Dec. 27th, Grammy came to visit.  She was supposed to come yesterday but we ended up getting a blizzard here.  It was so nice having my Mom here.  She was able to go see Evan do Tae Kwan Do.  She also watched all 4 kids so that Dennis and I could run some errands one day, go to a Movie and go out to a nice Dinner the another night.  It was nice to get some time alone together.

The boys had a blast playing in the snow and making snowmen with Daddy...

Evan did play in the snow a little a couple days later, but for the most part, he would rather be inside than get cold in the snow.  He does love the hot chocolate though that they always want when they do come inside!  Dennis also took them sledding at a big hill a few miles from our house and Colin and Evan loved that!

Dennis and Evan have started a new tradition of going out to eat together after Tae Kwan Do on Saturdays.  Their pick so far has been Chipotle every time...

We were sad to see Grammy go today.  The boys have all this coming week off from school also, so they are looking forward to more play in the snow.

WebRep

currentVote

noRating

noWeight

Christmas 2013

In my family growing up Christmas was always a big production.  Lots of people, noise, food, and wrapping paper flying all over the place.   It has always been an occasion to celebrate with all the extended family.  As adults, Christmas has continued to be a several day event with having to see extended family and immediate family on both sides.  This year being just the 6 of us, in our own home, was a unique experience.

I have always loved being around lots of family, but I will admit I was also the kid that needed a time out from all the chaos and would go to my room alone for a minute or two.  As much as I love being around people, I have always been the type to love my own company too.  I happened to marry someone exactly like me in that respect.  Dennis and I can sit and watch TV or read books and never talk to each other and both be perfectly happy.  And, we also both like time alone by ourselves too.  So, I have to be honest that even though we knew we would miss seeing family and all the festivities, we were also kind of looking forward to a quiet Christmas with just our family...no traveling with kids and presents, kids getting to wake up in their own home, and kids having time to actually enjoy what they opened up with out feeling rushed to get to the next house.  Usually, they are off schedule and not sleeping as well, so they are cranky and tired on top of feeling rushed.

Christmas Eve was really nice.  We usually can't find time to get to church between being at Grandma Bridgers house Christmas Eve and then having to rush to Meghan and Eric's house Christmas morning after presents.  So, I usually get stuck having to stay up late and going by myself to midnight mass with maybe a sister or two, if I can convince them.  This year, I was able to go with Colin and Evan to mass at 4:30, which was a real treat (Dennis stayed home with Logan and Leah, since she has to stay home for the next few months).  After church, Dennis made a nice dinner for us of linguine with clam sauce and then we sat together as a family and watched a Christmas movie and ate a white chocolate popcorn mix that I had made.  It was a great family moment.

The boys were so excited for Santa to come.  They put out a cookie for Santa.  Actually, they put out an orange and a cookie, because Colin had overheard on the Today show that Santa was watching his weight this year.  He left a note asking Santa to "Choose which one you want".  The boys went straight to bed and were so excited to see what presents they would get...

The boys woke up at around 7, I think.  We made them wait until Logan woke up (everyone has been sleeping in a little over the vacation), and then we all headed downstairs.  They were confused to see that Santa actually ate both the orange and the cookie!  Colin was thrilled to get the big boy bike "with gears" that he had been asking for.  Evan got a DS, which he was also thrilled about.  Logan was most excited about all the Mickey Mouse stuff he got.  He is our first kid to be really into Mickey Mouse.  Best part of Christmas morning was letting the boys stay in their PJs and play with their toys and not have to go anywhere.  I made a yummy french toast casserole for breakfast and then they just played and played all day.

For Christmas dinner we had ordered a ham dinner with a bunch of sides and blueberry pie from Whole Foods.  It was delicious!  Christmas 2013 was wonderful and a great family time for us.  But, Dennis and I both agreed that we would be back in VA next Christmas.  After all, as nice and peaceful as our Christmas was it didn't feel like Christmas with out all the chaos, noise and festivities!

Family Time and Silly Evan.

The things that come out of Evan's mouth continue to amaze me.  As he headed outside to play football with Colin, I yelled out my usual..."no tackling!".  Evan asks, "Can we tackle when we sack the quarterback?".  I say, "No, I don't want to see any tackling.".  He turns to leave and says, "Ok, well don't watch then.".  And out he walks out the door...

Last week when he was done doing his homework I told him to put his folder in his back pack and to zip it up.  He says, "I'm not being disrespectful but, you don't have to tell me that, you have told me that many times.".

The boys have been great with Leah.  Colin and Evan want to hold her all the time.  Logan is starting to warm up to the idea of holding her.  He is getting less fearful.

Story time with four!

I have been dressing her up and doing lots of photo shoots, since I can't really take her anywhere...

Today we made Christmas cookies, the boys had fun, but also loved eating them!!!

Gingerbread House With Logan

Dennis worked from home today so I could go to Logan's daycare to build a gingerbread house with him.  It was a lot of fun to get some one on one time with him.  Of course he wanted to do most of the gingerbread house himself.  He also enjoyed "accidentally" getting the icing on his hands and then licking it.

First Days Home With Leah...

The boys are all very much in love with Leah.  I wish they could hold and touch her more, but we are trying to limit her chances of getting sick, so we haven't let them hold her too much.  The docs and nurses said to have them kiss and touch her feet so that is what they are doing.  Well, I should say that is what Evan and Colin are doing.  Logan, even though he is always asking where she is and loves her so much, is still a bit nervous around her and hasn't gotten too close.  Luckily though, for the 3rd time we have not dealt with any jealousy.  We have been so lucky that with each baby we bring home the older siblings seem to really love them.  In fact, Logan is now potty trained and going with out a pull up!!!  He just decided one day he was going to go in the big potty and ever since than he has been going all day at school and even when he is away from home.  Yesterday, he wore underwear all day at school for the first time (and didn't have an accident).  People always talk about their kids going backwards when a new baby comes home, but Logan seems to have stepped up to the "Big Boy" role.

Evan is especially embracing his big brother role.  He is always telling his teachers about her and drawing pictures of her and writing papers at school that say how much he loves his baby sister.  Even though he can be a rascal sometimes and drive us crazy, he really has such a sensitive heart and I am very proud of how much he loves his sister.

Colin has been sick the last two days.  He woke up Monday with a 103 temp!  I couldn't believe that my kids have been healthy for so long and then I bring home a preemie and he gets sick.  We tried our best to keep him away from her and he spent most of Tuesday in the basement watching TV, but I am crossing my fingers nobody else gets sick or passes it to her.  Today, he was much better and is back at school.

Other than that, we are just trying our best to balance her being home with doing stuff with the boys and getting things done around the house.  It is nice to be home now and able to do more around the house and help the boys with homework, but there is still not enough hours in the day to get everything done.  I have to feed every 3 hours and pump also, so I get about 1 hour between each feeding to either nap (which rarely happens), clean, take care of the boys, or do what ever else needs to be done.  This is around the clock so I have been running on only a few hours total of sleep each night.  Luckily, today at Leah's doctors appointment the pediatrician said I could let her sleep a little longer at night (up to 5 hours).  I am sure it will take a while for her to actually do that, since her body is now trained to get up every few hours, but that will at least give me a couple hours of sleep in a row.

Now that Dennis is back in the office I don't make him wake up with me at night.  His job is busy and stressful and he needs his energy to deal with that.  I also do better in the middle of the night than he does, so I would rather just handle the feedings myself.  He does give her her evening bottle so that he can bond with her and so I can get right to pumping and we can get to bed at a decent hour.  I will be so happy when we can get rid of the bottles and I no longer have to pump, it will add so many hours to my day!

Leah had her second pediatrician visit today, she is now 5lb 4oz!  She is already so much bigger than she was when she was first born.  Her discharge weight and weight at her appointment last Thursday was 4lb 14oz.  I know the day will come where we won't even remember her being as small as she was when she was born.

We are having so much fun with Leah though.  Saturday, we gave her her first bath.  She seemed to enjoy it as long as we kept her warm by pouring water on her.  She mostly just sleeps and then has some rare moments of just quietly looking at us.  She has had some fussy periods at night, which through trial and error I discovered is being caused by the multivitamin she has to be on.  We are going to experiment with different brands and see if we can find something she tolerates better.  I can't believe in just a few days she will already be a month old!!!

Sunday, Evan had his Christmas singing performance after church class, he was so cute.  Then when we got home we took pictures for this years Christmas card.  I didn't have high hopes of getting a good picture of 4 kids, but we decided to give it one try and we luckily got some good pictures...

Going Home...

No more feeding tube, almost time to go home...

Wearing her preemie going away home outfit.

In her carseat and ready to go...

On Wednesday, December 5th, just shy of 3 weeks after giving birth, Leah was able to come home.  She had been doing great in the NICU, the last thing to work on was getting her off the feeding tube and taking all of her meals by breast feeding and bottles (she has to come home on 4 bottles a day to get a preemie supplement).  Preemie's are so sleepy, so getting her to build up her endurance to do a full feeding was tough, but eventually she worked up to it and we were thrilled to get the news on Sunday that she would be going home on Wednesday.

My experience in the NICU has been a good one.  She had her own private room with a couch and recliner and I got all my meals delivered there free since I am a breast feeding mom.  The days were long and draining, but I also enjoyed the quiet time at the hospital.  The NICU doctors were amazing, so we feel very lucky to have had such a good experience.  But, we are so excited to get home and be together as a family.

Dennis and the boys came to the hospital to pick Leah and I up and we all went home together.  The boys seem very excited about her.

The biggest obstacle we are going to face now is having to be germ conscious. I think Dennis and I are pretty laid back when it comes to germs.  After all, you can't raise 3 boys and be overly paranoid about dirt and germs.  However, the NICU doctors told us many times the importance of not letting Leah get sick.  Since she is a preemie and missed out on some vital immunity that babies get in their third trimester, she can get sick easily and if she does she will get very sick.  He said if she gets the flu or RSV she will be in the ICU for 3 weeks on a vent.  We are not to not take her out except for doctors appointments up through April.  Also, nobody should hold her except her caregivers.  They went on and on about this multiple times (and later the pediatrician said all the same things), so we realize that raising a preemie is going to be very different than our boys.

She is relatively healthy though, so we have been lucky.  Both her kidneys are dilated (Grade 1 for 1 kidney and Grade 2-3 for the other), so on the day of discharge we had to get a scan done where they put a catheter with dye in her and see if she is refluxing the dye from her bladder into her kidneys.  Luckily, it didn't so we have to followup for a repeat ultrasound in a couple months and meet with the urologist.  I know that being a preemie she is at risk for a lot of developmental and medical issues and we are crossing our fingers that nothing else comes up.

Anyway, we feel blessed that she is doing as well as she is and if staying home and keeping her away from germs is the only thing we have to worry about, than I think we are pretty lucky.

First bottle at home.

Time in the NICU...

Holding Leah in "Kangaroo Care"-inside my shirt.

I have been spending my days in the NICU, my evenings at home with the rest of the family, and my nights waking up every three hours to pump.  Needless to say I am exhausted.  We put the older boys in after school care to give me a little more time at the NICU and Logan is in daycare 5 days a week until December 21st, to also help us out.  Dennis was off last week, but now has returned to work.  He is working from home this week, so that he can still get me to and from the hospital (I can't drive yet).

Dennis has done a great job shuffling everyone around, cooking meals, watching the boys, shopping some and cleaning some.  Of course he is exhausted to and doesn't have time to keep the house spotless or grocery shop too often, but he is doing what is needed to get by.  Luckily, we are getting a few meals from neighbors.  Also, Dennis' sister Erin and her boyfriend drove from Minnesota to cook us Thanksgiving dinner.  It was the quietest Thanksgiving I can remember having, we are used to not only my large family Thanksgiving dinner but also Dennis' family Thanksgiving during the day.  So, it is usually a busy day for us.  But, we enjoyed the nice meal and also got lots of leftovers that helped us out for a couple more days.

We also had a visit from Grandma Bridgers (Dennis' Mom).  It was great to have someone here to entertain the kids and cook for us.  It was a huge help!  The boys enjoyed making super hero cakes with her, visiting the book store and having a movie night.  Dennis and I were especially appreciative of her asking us if we want to go on a date night, we quickly took her up on it and had a great dinner/movie out.  We also got the tree decorated while Grandma was here...

A few things that have happened recently...Evan earned his yellow stripe belt in Tae Kwan Do on Novemeber 19th.  He was so excited!  On November 24th Logan finally peed in the big potty, standing up.  He has been terrified of the big potty and also won't go at school.  He tells his teacher, "No, I go at home."  So, this was a big step.  He won't sit on it, but this was still progress.  

A couple funny things Evan has said...we asked him if he has told his teachers and friends he has a new baby and he said, "Yes.  It's hard being a big brother at Collegewood, you have to tell everybody."  Collegewood is the name of his school.  He also said, "my class was surprised Leah came early, so was my Mommy and Daddy.  But, I know why Leah was unhealthy and had to come early, it's because Mommy ate too many Reese's Peanut Butter cups."

Leah in her "tanning bed"

Boys finally getting to visit her.  They weren't allowed inside the unit.

Out of the isolette and into a regular "crib"