Pachelbel Bedtime/Who can relate??

She's Growing....Check it out!

Skylar continues to gain weight and is getting almost an ounce per feeding. She has reflux and tends to have some bradycardia after feedings associated with this. This, apparently, is to be expected and she should grow out of it. She is one ounce shy of three pounds now and has gained an inch - 15 inches now! The kangarooing is going well and Ashley says that her vitals are always stable while she is lying on them. She has also started crying (like, kinda loud for her) during the transfer from bed to mom/dad and back. She is expected to be ready to come home between Halloween and Thanksgiving - this is the fist talk of time lines, so she is obviously making great progress. Isn't she cute???

Happy 5th Birthday Evy!

Today is Evyn's 5th birthday. Let's take a little trip down memory lane:
Baby Evyn with fists flying and napping with Grayson.



First birthday, second Halloween.



Second birthday, what else but a Dora Party.



Thomas-loving Evyn on her 3rd b-day and a month later around Halloween.


Princess party for her 4th birthday, complete with car cakes made by Ashley.

Oh Evy, how can you be growing up so fast? You came into this world with a bang, keeping us on our toes from your first minutes of life. You quickly earned the nickname 'Wiggles' before we even knew who 'The Wiggles' were. You never napped long or ate much, especially when you started daycare, and you got your first tooth at only a few months old. You quickly learned that mommy jumped out of her seat when you would bite down on her. You seemed to be a miserable infant who cried like clockwork starting at 4 p.m. every day for 12 whole weeks. Amazingly enough, your moms decided to have another baby. Being 20 months old, this did not seem to phase you as long as you were not forced to get too close to Reed. At this point in your life, you were signing up a storm and not eager to use words. That is until "De-De-Debbie!" came on the scene with her bubbly personality and degree in speech pathology. It was during this time, Evyn, that you were bored with the same ole routine and decided to take a flying leap into the steps at the front door. This stunt landed you into the arms of our handsome and caring dentist, Dr. Adams, who had no choice but to pull all four of your top, healthy, white baby teeth. You were back to your living room acrobatics that very same evening while we huddled in the corner still trying to recover from the day's trauma. Since then, you have learned to talk non-stop, have learned to love your little brother, learned to ride a two wheel bike, swim, be social and enjoy pre-school (although this is still a struggle at times) and you are definitely one of the boys with a girly flare. You are an incredible artist in the making - coloring is your coffee in the morning as you sit with hair in your face and your sleepy look as you focus on your next masterpiece. We know better than to speak to you before you are finished. Your excitement for life makes us love experiencing the world right along with you. Evy, you are smart, sweet and so silly sometimes. You are loved by many. Happy Birthday!

My Little Man

My little man has been exceptionally cute lately. He has also been exceptionally screechy and defiant but I'd rather talk about the good stuff. I think it is safe to say that he is officially potty trained. His last accident was at the soccer field about ten days ago when he had to walk to the car with wet shorts and shoes. Not sure if it just happened to finally click after all freaking summer or if he decided the wet shorts and walking were no fun. Since then, he has kept his pants dry and is so independent about it all. Hallelujah!!!! We have been working on this for months- no lie.

I do have a complaint though. He has started not aiming downward and switched from peeing *in* his pants to peeing *on* his pants from the potty. He has been walking out of the bathroom saying "I pee-pee'd da flowa" with a wet spot, bottom front and center where he forgot to move his shirt of out of the way. He is a 40 pound guy and has managed to stink up and funk up all three toilets in the house. I used to scoff at Clorox Clean-Up wipes, thinking they were wasteful and wondering who could not just reuse a sponge. I have to say I bought some today because now I see exactly why someone would need something so convenient - Boys!?!!?

I wish I had a picture of him today. He was wearing his new cream colored Gap jeans and brown, cream and navy striped shirt with his bus driver shoes. Handsome. Reed always seems to surprise me with some random proof that he is always observing his surroundings. Today, as I was talking to Holly on the phone discussing some upcoming plans, I said "Thursday." He started listing the days of the week starting with Monday and stopped at Friday. I overlooked the fact that he missed my two most favorite days but was excited to hear him list them correctly.

Ok, one more thing. well, two more. I dropped Reed off at school today with feverish Evyn in the car. Since I did not want to drag poor sick Evy through the school, I decided to try the drop off line where the assistant director greets the children and ushers them into school where there are many aides waiting to help those in need find their way to class - this can be intimidating for a little person(and his mommy). In other words, I fed him to the wolves (sorta), and he did fine! As I passed his hand off to Mrs. Jones, I quickly said "good-bye" and walked away. He walked in with Ms. Jones and was fine! Did I mention he was fine?? This was obviously a big step for both of us. I might even try it again tomorrow, especially if Evy is still sick.

The last Reed story has to do with his fascination with giving kisses. He likes to kiss my mouth, kiss each eye, each eyebrow, sometimes each ear and then ends each kiss session with a forehead kiss and a series of air kisses that he gives as he leans back and kisses up towards the sky. I believe he is this incredibly sweet in order to balance out the not so sweet.

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I am banned from the hospital

Not officially, but just until Evyn is better. I will not be responsible for transporting germs to the NICU. I have no new pictures of Skylar either since I had the wrong lens on my camera last week when I tried - DUH! Anyway, she is still doing well. Her PICC line was removed last Friday. She no longer needs the lipids, vitamins and minerals that she was getting from it since she is now taking in 26 cc (just 4 cc shy of an ounce) every three hours. She still needs the oxygen for now but it is set at such a low setting that coming off hopefully will not be a big deal. She now weighs 2.14 pounds. She has a couple of monitors on her chest, one on her foot, the feeding tube and oxygen - that's it!! She has to be off oxygen and up to 3.5 pounds to get moved to the PCN (Progressive Care Nursery). Hopefully, it will not be too long before that happens.

Soccer

We decided to sign Evyn up for soccer this season for the very first time. Her team is called The Rhinos, her best buddy Braxton is on the team (he's the handsome dark-haired boy tossing the blue ball up), they don't keep score and her coach is gentle and funny. After crying and saying she wanted to go home towards the end of her first practice/game last week, she did much better this week. She really enjoyed herself and even scored several goals. After telling me for several days before her second soccer game that she did not want to go back, this was a relief, however, it took a tiny bit of prodding to get her out on the field. This was where having her buddy on the team really helped - Braxton came up, grabbed her hand and off they went. As much as Holly and I laugh about being soccer moms, so far we are really enjoying getting up on Saturdays to cheer for number 7! It's not like we are not up at the crack of dawn anyway.

Hump Day Ramblings

As much as I was dreading the start of school and the morning rush, I must admit things are getting off to a great start. We are not rushing around at the last minute, I am actually able to remember to medicate the dog (think window sill full of pill bottles) and feed the kids at the table instead of my last minute 'here, lets eat in the car on the way' routine. Holly's help has everything to do with this. How could I go wrong when she dresses the kids, packs their snacks and makes their breakfast? Don't doubt me people, I will manage to screw up at some point, even with that much help. :)

We were very slightly late today but there was an accident or something that caused some traffic - not my fault. Today was the best drop off yet - no tears from Reed and minimal hesitancy from Evyn. This is progress. The best part of the school routine comes at pick up time. When I pull up in the carpool lane and get out to open their door, here come Evyn and Reed, holding hands, running and big smiles. I hear a "MOOMMMMEEEEEE!" and then I brace myself for the embrace. This cuteness continues all the way home and through lunch time. All I have been hearing is that when they reunite in the carpool room, they snuggle until it is time to meet me. On the way home, Evyn tells me how she is looking out for her brother and Reed babbles something similar about how he is looking out for his brother too. I absolutely positively love not having to play referee the minute I pick them up. Don't know how long this will last, but I am embracing the kindness while it lasts.

On the topic of school, last night we were asking Evyn about some of her new friends. She said she played with the boys and the girls but did not know any names yet. She then suddenly remembered something and sat up straight in her chair with her finger in the air and says "I remember a girl's name. Her name is Fa-cooh." We simultaneously repeated "Fa-cooh"? At that point I remembered that there was a Nicole in her class and then asked "are you sure her name is not Nicole"? Evyn then agreed that her name was Nicole while Holly and I tried with everything we had not to laugh.

Lastly, a Skylar update. Her feedings have increased to 14 cc of breast milk every three hours, she is up to 2.10 lbs and is continuing to do great, however, she is back on oxygen via nasal cannula. She had a hard day yesterday with her oxygen saturation dropping too low. The nurses say this is very typical. She is almost 2 weeks old and is getting tired from working so hard, breathing on her own. This is just a minor set back, and she continues to do amazingly well. After a few scheduling/timing issues, Ashley and Gary are set to start kangaroo care tonight. It will be very cool to see how Skylar responds to this and very cool for her parents to be that close to her.

September 7, 2007

This is the day that our first daughter married the man of our dreams. It was not the wedding that we have been planning, although a small wedding is still in the works for May. There was no wedding dress, no suit and no invitations. In fact, there was not much planning involved at all. There were just two people who love each other, two moms, a grandfather, a sister, a brother, a cousin, his wife and infant daughter and a magistrate willing to come to the lively household to make it happen. It was perfect and beautiful.

The strangest thing happened though. When the magistrate arrived, we were surprised to see he was the same man who had married Travis and Ashleigh this past February. What are the odds?

Shortly after the little ceremony, Ashley and Gary took Travis and Ashleigh to the hospital to meet Skylar for the fist time. When they arrived, the NICU nurses cheered. Ashley and Gary were given the sweetest card from Skylar and her nurses with this picture of Skylar wearing a knit cap and matching blanket that was made by a volunteer. They are so incredibly sweet in the NICU.

When they returned from visiting Skylar, the fun started. Several friends stopped by throughout the evening to wish the newlyweds well. We toasted them, the guys (and Holly) rode dirt bikes, we ate some food and laughed and played for most of the night. We all had a lot of fun.

It is amazing how quickly life can change in ten days..... (it was only ten day from finding out about Ashley being pregnant to becoming grandmas and then mother in laws). We never would have imagined all of this happening so fast but are so happy about our expanding family.

The first day of school

Today was the first official day of school for Evyn and Reed. The morning started off great, and we were actually on time. I really hope I can keep this up. I got some pictures on the way to the car that ended up being quite amusing. Reed is slightly ticked off in the first one because he was not willing to cooperate with me, started taking off his backpack and then got mad because it was falling off - he is so lovely sometimes.

He is barely cooperating in the next one but seems focused on something - he is probably thinking about what his beginning of the year stunt will be this year. Last year, he climbed the chain link fence surrounding the playground and tried to escape!! And don't let Evyn's carefree smile fool you into thinking she was actually excited about the first day. Once we got to school, that smile was no where to be found, and she was like Velcro on my leg.

I can't help but love the last one. Evyn is giving me her cute but fake little tip-of-the-tongue-sticking-out-where-her-teeth-are-missing smile while Reed is flashing a face that Holly swears looks like me when I am PMSing.

The actual drop off consisted of Evyn clinging and not wanting to go into her classroom. Her wonderful teacher came out and helped to convince her that she would have a great time. Knowing that Evyn loves art, she just pointed out the art station and off Evyn went - hesitant smile but no tears.

Reed's class was quiet when we approached. As soon as "Mrs. Duppy" spoke to Reed, he turned, squawked and ran back into the hallway. After briefly wrestling him for his backpack (so I could hang it up and run), he claimed he had to go potty. About that time a screeching, terrified boy and his dad entered Mrs. Duffy's classroom. Shit! This is no bueno. We headed into his class anyway, but he headed for the toys instead of the bathroom and was digging for the signs he had discovered the previous day. Many of the formerly calm children were now developing the deer in the headlights look in response to this little terrified boy's cries. An aide entered the room about that time to help and that is when I headed for the door with Reed so focused on his sign hunt that he did not seem to care. Shew!

Is this normal?

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After this afternoon's post nap activities and after we laughed our heads off and Evyn and Reed nearly snapped their heads off with all of their flipping and wild maneuvers, I was wondering - is this normal for my son to be wearing a dress and loving it? Of course, I knew it was. Reed is in a serious copycat phase and if Evyn was going to wear a dress, so was he. Who knows, he might have opted for the dress without her influence, but as soon as the dress went on (over the plaid shirt, lol) he started twirling and flipping and Evyn soon followed. Even the dog thought they were nuts.
So, fast forward a few hours and there I was at E and R's pre-school for a meeting about school starting, plans and schedules. The meeting started with a speaker, and after three years of sitting through this same boring meeting, they finally found a really interesting speaker this year. She has several impressive degrees (and five children) and works as a neuropsychologist for a local parenting center. Guess what the topic of her talk was - Is This Normal?

She reminded the audience that the range of normal for a toddler/preschooler is huge. She said to always assume that your child is normal, that their brains are not fully developed. According to her, if you spend time worried about your kid's behavior being normal, not only will they eventually pick up on it and become anxious about it, but you will miss out on enjoying the ups and downs, the ADHD ways of your two year old, and bipolar tendencies of your four year old. She was funny and thought provoking and exactly what I needed today. I love my kids *because* they are crazy, not that the noise does not get to me sometimes and force me to wonder what the hell they think they are doing.

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I finally got a shot of Skylar today with her cool purple glasses on hanging out under the bili lights - I'd like to think she was waving at me. She is close to being finished with the light treatment, and that means Ashley and Gary get to hold her soon. She is getting a new catheter tomorrow - it's an upgrade and another sign of progress. She is continuing to thrive in her cozy spot in the NICU.

Skylar, Day 3

Skylar is continuing to beat the odds. She was on the bili lights yesterday, but since her jaundice is improving, they were giving her a break from the lights this morning. She was so funny yesterday while she was under the lights with her little purple eye protectors shaped like tiny sunglasses. She was lying on a glowing thing that looked like a tiny electric pool float. They even had little closed eyes and eyelashes drawn on the glasses.

Ashley was discharged yesterday and is struggling with having to leave Skylar behind, as would be expected. She and Gary have decided to go ahead and get their marriage license this week and legalize things now with the intention of still having a May '08 ceremony with family and friends. We absolutely love Gary and will be happy to formally welcome him into our family.

After pulling her feeding tube out one or two times, they have it back (and taped down really well) in and started feeding her 1 cc of vitamin/fat packed formula every six hours. She tolerated it so well yesterday that they have added some bulk to it but have not increased the total amount she is getting yet. She is also continuing to breath room air. The nurses in NICU are still expressing some disbelief that Skylar has had no big problems so far.

Holly and I are still amazed at what has happened, the shock is wearing off and we are trying to get things back to normal around here. Evyn and Reed love looking at then pictures of Skylar on the computer. Today as I was uploading, Reed said "Look! It's sissy's red baby." LOL Evyn is at the river with our friend and her two boys and Reed has been soaking up some one-on-one time with Holly and I. We have been out to dinner, to the hospital twice, to Target for some "treats" and the botanical garden this morning. With all of this attention, he thinks he is something else. By the time Evyn makes it home tonight, we will be ready to settle back into our usual routine.

The pictures above were taken today. Her nurse came over and offered to hold her up which was great since you can actually see how tiny she is in comparison to the nurse's hands. Skylar was not to happy about all of that, but it is so refreshing to hear her protest.