Tuesday

This morning I took the kids to story hour. We were pretty late! And Calvin screamed the whole way there. I was almost sorry we decided to go...but it was really good for Hannah to get out of the house. She needs to have daily activities and do "big girl" stuff. I am starting to wish we had the money to send her to pre-school!! We took our lunch and got Starbucks to go with it. I tried to look in some stores too, but Hannah decided to pull clothes off the hangers and throw them around...so we left immediately!!!


Here is Hannah reading to Calvin. It is SO funny, b/c she will talk to him and wonder why he just lays there and wont talk back. She keeps asking when will he grow up. I guess she thought he'd be a little more playful right at first. I like having him little though.


Here he is in his new boppy. He likes to sit up in it. Actually it is the only thing we have for him to sit in, so he spends a lot of time in it. But he likes it b/c he can see us, and it is small so we can haul him around in it easily.

More Boppy time!!

pictures

Finally, more pictures!!
Life is starting to return to a normal routine. I am getting the whole 2 kid-thing under control! I have also been getting more of a night routine down as well, which is allowing me to get a little more sleep. I was even able to get a 2 hour nap in today!! Calvin is doing much better with his eating. He is also staying awake a lot longer!! And it is getting easier to keep him awake too.

Yesterday was Hannah's Birthday, and we celebrated by having cookie cake for breakfast, after lunch and before bedtime. I am sad to say that the whole entire cake was gone by this evening!!!!! When we got home from church she was able to open her presents, and had a blast doing that.

Hannah also started coming into service yesterday. They get "kicked" out around the age of 4. She did real well. I was pretty impressed!! She has been sitting through evening service since last summer, so this wasn't that big of a deal for her. Morning service is about 45 min. longer though, but she did amazing. We are going to have to buy more stickers though...lol!

I love this one!!

This was Dan's picture. He really likes when Calvin sleeps like this.

Enjoy!

4 - So soon!

Happy 4th Birthday
Hannah Jo!

Play Group

here are the kids having a blast at Play Group 3 weeks ago.

Calvin slept and ate really well last night, so I am very rested today!! I have been able to get a lot done. I took the kids on a walk this morning and one of my neighbors was having a yard sale and she sold me a bag and a 1/2 of size 3 diapers for 50cents!!!!!!!!!! I actually bought some other things too, but the diapers were the item of the day! They are moving back to TX on Wed. so everything must go. I had another neighbor bring me a frozen lasagna just now. I have noticed the past 2 days when I leave that everyone I know has now noticed we had our baby. So...the word is out.

Tonight Hannah and I are going to attempt to make a cookie cake for her Birthday tomorrow. Any suggestions as to how to make one? Just call me. I am just going to assume you mix the dough like normal...Maybe I'll check with allrecipes.com though.

FYI

I have discovered that it is easier to clean up projectile poop off of a pack-n-play than it is to clean up projectile throw up off of a crib!! Yikes. My life is SO fun right now. All I have to say is that Hannah was the perfect baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She never had any problems! She always ate, slept and pooped with out any problems and she was very predictable and on time with all her daily activities.

Calvin had a ruff night last night. He decided he would stay up and poop from 130am-5am. It was so tiring and stressful. He was pretty fussy too. We have discovered that he wont burp, which means that about 5 min after each feeding he will puke it all back up! But on the bright side, he is eating more. This may be a reason for all the tummy aches. we'll give him another day to find out.

Well...there he is now. Gota go.

Dr. apt.

This morning Calvin had his first Dr. apt. He did really well. Everything looks great and the Dr. was pleased with what she saw. His weight is up to 8.8lbs!!! Which is way above his birth weight(8.3lbs). Overall he looks great. They want to see him back next Thursday for a 1 weeks apt. Technically today's visit was his 3 day visit. So, he is a little behind...Visit-wise.

Hannah is at VBS now. Tonight was tribe loyalty night. The had to wear as much as possible of their tribe color. Hers is Blue, so that was pretty easy! Than the tribe that had the most of their color won something...She is really enjoying this. I am glad our apt, complex puts one on too. I think it will be in late July.

Calvin has done really well the past 2 nights. I think he was just a little confused with his days due to the Hospital stay. He is eating every 2 1/2 to 3 hours. The Dr. said that was good!

Dan made us amazing steaks last night on our new grill. They were VERY good. We are going to have hamburgers tomorrow. I can totally get used to this!!!!!!! especially b/c tonight when I turned on the oven, it caught on fire. Smoke started billowing out of it. Thank goodness I had baking soda!

Wednesday

Hannah with her new yellow beetle Bug from Nana!! She wants a beetle bug birthday cake...we'll see:) I still have a week to think about it!

Last night went much better!!!!!!! He actually slept ate and then slept more. So, I was able to get some good rest. I am still tired, but that comes with the job. He is also on a decent eating schedule too. I guess it just took us a day or so to figure him out. He is drinking almost 2 ounces every 3 hours. Which I guess is good enough for now. I am taking him to the Dr in the morning for a check up.

Tonight we are finally going to use our new grill. We bought one last Friday and then were going to use it Saturday the 7th. But I went into labor literally 10 min before Dan was going to fire it up!!!! So we haven't used it yet. He went and bought us steaks and we are going to eat them while Hannah is at VBS tonight.

Forgotten...

I feel like I haven't given adequit attention to Hannah on my Blog lately. Don't worry...we haven't forgotten about her!! Here are the pictures and a few movies from her Tennis lesson. I totally forgot you guys never saw them!

Hannah had a blast at VBS last night. Dan said they each got a Bible Times outfit to wear all night! Hannah's was red. She made some kind of craft on a paper plate(we're not sure what it is...and she has no clue either!!) and also carved some kind of "thing" out of a bar of soap. Overall she had a great time. She is even in a group/tribe with some of her friends from church. (she is attending a VBS from a different church, but several families from ours take their children).

Our first "night" went ok...Hannah didn't fall asleep until 1130pm!!!!!!!!! Much to my disappointment. Normally she falls right to sleep.(we put her down at 930pm) Dan thinks it is b/c she knew we were out "playing" with the baby w/o her. Calvin on the other hand may have his days and night mixed up. I can't tell yet. He is definitely Not on his 4 hour schedule anymore. I don't know what the Hospital was thinking!!! He was starving every 2 1/2 hours all night. But I'm thinking it was b/c they were giving him formula which stays in the system/tummy longer. Plus we are still trying to figure him out since technically we have only had him 23 hours now.

Today Hannah went to Story hour and Chick-Fil-A with her friends. It is very nice to have the break. I was able to get a lot done and rest. No sleep though b/c the phone keeps ringing, and I can't turn it off if Hannah is gone(I'd be afraid to)...I guess it is a mom thing.




Dan was able to trick Hannah, for a few minutes, into thinking the Hopper was smashing the balls into the court! It was really funny. For those of you who don't know the Hopper (the ball holder you see below) has just enough space on the bottom between the bars to smash it down and the ball goes into the Hopper. That way you can pick up all your balls w/o having to bend over. Really cool, I think.

I LOVE this photo!!!!

Hannah ready to go.

Home sweet Home

We are Home!!!

It is so nice to be all here together. Dan took the day off of work and the 3 of us went up there and got him. He fell asleep on the way home, and has been sleeping since. How nice!! Dan and Hannah are sleeping too. Hannah has VBS tonight. We are very excited for her to attend one this year. I know she will have a great time.

pictures

Calvin gets to come home tomorrow!!!!!!!! Yeah! Praise God for his faithfulness. We are supposed to call the Hospital in the morning and find out what time to go there and get him. Here are a few pictures from the past few days.

This morning when I arrived Calvin had his feeding tube out. So I had to take a picture!! Doesn't he look so cute without it?

This is the sign the Therapist put up for the nurses. It describes how to feed Calvin. She tested his breathing/sucking/swallowing and found out what bottle/nipple combo was best for him.

They dress the babies in his unit. This "stego" outfit was our favorite!! Our children look SO good in green. I always go for a green outfit on Hannah before another color...weird huh.


This is Calvin sleeping in his bed. Ernie is holding his milk, which he eating through his tube. They cover the beds with those flannel blanket covers to keep the babies warm.

Dan feeding Calvin

This is one of my favorite pictures so far. He is SO cute!! He looks so peaceful while he is sleeping.

update pt. 2

I went and visited Calvin this morning. His feeding tube was out!!!! Yeah! And they aren't going to put it back in. So, that is awesome. He didn't feel like nursing this morning, but I got him to take a bottle really well. I'm kinda thinking I may pump and bottle feed him at this point anyway. He seems to do better and eat more(quantity-wise) that way. He is going to have his hospital picture taken either today or tomorrow. They asked us to bring an outfit. Also, this morning he was "circed". Thats what they call it up there:)
He also had a little slugger bat to give to his Dad. It is so cute, and will look great next to him in a photo with his KC Royals outfits!!!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!!!

update

Calvin has successfully nursed 2 times a day the past 2 days!! And he is taking a bottle real well now too. He is also starting to fuss when he gets hungry and root a little now too!! We are excited to see this progress. Thanks for your prayers.

Friday

Today Calvin had 2 successful (for him) feedings with me. One at 8am and then one this evening at 6pm. But they both wiped him out so much that he had to be tube fed the rest of the meals. They put him back on a 3 hour eating schedule to get one more feedings in, and also decreased the amount he is getting. They are thinking that this is basically boiling down to the fact that he was 2 weeks early and just doesn't have the development needed to eat yet. They have run some tests, but everything is coming back normal/negative. So we are very hopeful that he can come home by next Friday or so! I can see improvement in he last 2 days. Not much, but it is there.

Thursday pt2: more time...

Tonight we got the update from Calvin's speech therapist. She says that he is still having a hard time breathing while he is eating. He is having to take small sips and is gulping down large amounts of air with each swallow. This causes him a lot of stress and than he is working So hard to drink, that he simply quits. He is going to need some more time there to develop this drink/swallow technique. The time range they gave us is 4 days to 2 weeks. Which honestly was a hard blow!! Neither one of us was prepared for that. They have been telling us all week "he can probably go home Thursday"...than it was Friday, or possibly Saturday. We find it hard to believe they are just now realizing it could be a couple more weeks.

Please be praying that we can have strength in the midst of this trial God has given us. Pray that we wont let sinful thoughts take over, and that we will be strong and bold in our Faith during this trial. I'm sure God has given us this trail for a reason...maybe one we will never know on this side. But we want HIS name to be glorified in this some how some way. Also pray for Hannah. I am sure this is such a confusing thing for her right now. She has ALL sorts of questions, and it can be challenging knowing what to say and how to say it so she will understand.

On a lighter side, Hannah "pumped" tonight. It was the funniest thing. I wasn't sure if I should take a picture or not. A video would have been the greatest, but I wasn't sure. O well. When she was done she SO proud of herself. She said "I am helping you get the milky for Calvin." I couldn't help but laugh!!! (maybe I should have take a picture.

Thursday

ok, Dan and I got home about 30 min ago. Our moms just left, and Dan took Hannah somewhere...So, I am sitting here all by myself! It is kinda weird, b/c we have all been hanging out as a big family and now everyone is gone. I am kinda sad. O well. It was NICE to have our moms here. I don't think my apt has ever (or ever will be...!!!!!!!) this clean again!! Thanks Moms! They even stocked the fridge and took us to Wal-mart last night. Speaking of that :) They made Dan push me around in a wheel chair the whole time. lol!! I felt weird, like people were staring at me trying to figure out what was wrong with me. Plus Dan was trying to make and then break new records with taking corners and such.

This is a funny note. I ended the pregnancy with a total of 12 people asking me if I was having twins! Can anyone beat that? And now...I have been asked twice when my baby is due!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They mean well, I think. And it has only been at the Hospital too.

This morning when we arrived there at 930am to feed Calvin they told us they put him on a new schedule. He was on a 4 hr starting at 930, 130, 530 ect. Now he is doing 4hrs at 8, 12, 4, 8 ect. So I was not extremely happy, b/c I would have arrived at 8 to feed him, not 930. So, now I have to wait until 4 to "try" to feed him. But they give you tubes and bottles and accessories to their pumps when you are there, and you just keep yours (b/c they can't reuse them with other patients...) and bring them with you each time you go see your baby. Than when you are there you can pump with their equipment. And they supply you with plastic containers to put the milk in and special labels too. They are VERY organized up there.

We got to briefly talk to the therapist this morning. She is evaluating Calvin at noon or so today. She is going to test his sucking and swallowing patterns and try to figure out which nipple/bottle combo is best for him. I guess there are several ways to do this. I am kinda bummed b/c I wont be there...but our moms should be (they were going to stop by and say goodbye to him on their way out). So I am hoping she is there while they are. Plus She said she'd come back at 4 when I go again. But as she was telling me all this, it occurred to me that this isn't going to be an hour long trial!! Which means to me (and I was kinda depressed so I didn't even bother asking) that a departure on Saturday isn't going to happen!

I have CD from my Mother in Law that has the pictures she has taken so far on it. I will try to put those on here later on. So, keep checking for more updates. I am going to go rest now while I can.