April 08, 2009 - Oh Happy Day!!!

GRADUATION DAY!!!

After 68 days in the NICU and over 3 months (including bedrest) of going to the hospital EVERY single day...

They finally kicked us out!!!

Blake graduated weighing 4 lbs 2 oz and measuring 14.5 inches long!!

He came home with NO oxygen or monitors - and only medication for his Hypothyroidism and vitamins.

Braden finally got to see AND touch his little brother, no glass barrier today!, - it was priceless!

Daddy carried him outside for the very first time!!

Mommy and her boys together at last!!!

I finally got my FAMILY picture!! (and no we didn't plan on coordinating quite so nicely!)

On the way home! Braden kept teaching Blake all kinds of things... "Blake, that is called a hotel. This is called a road. That is a truck." This continued at home too - it was too darn cute!

Jill couldn't stay away too long - she stopped over tonight to make sure we were settling in! She's not quite sure what she's going to do at work without Blake!
We are so lucky to have so many who love our little guy!

April 07, 2009

Meena C brought up the 'L' for Blake's name this weekend and Braden was excited to get to paint it! Hopefully we'll get all of them hung up in his room soon!!

April 06, 2009

PopPop Joe finally got his turn to hold Blake! Blake put on a show for him and smiled continuously while he held him!!

I brought my new Moby wrap up to the NICU tonight and Jill and Kahala decided to try it out! Here Kahala is modeling it with Blake's stuffed bunny! Blake's favorite position is being held on our chests - so I'm hoping this will free up my hands throughout the day! Hopefully he'll like it! I seriously never thought I'd be one to 'wear' my baby - but I'm ready to try!

April 05, 2009

Just chilling in my bed. I like having this fuzzy blanet on the top of my head when I sleep -- so soft!

April 04, 2009

"Look ma, No Tubes!!"
He yanked out his feeding tube all by himself last night - and since he's doing so well with his bottles they just decided to leave it out! Look at that cute little face with no tubes or tape for the first time in 64 days!! And the whole holding his head up - yep, that's all him! He is one strong little boy and loves to do this and look all around!!

April 03, 2009

I kind of think he was politely telling me to knock it off with all the picture taking ;)

April 02, 2009

**Picture of Braden's nice bruised face coming soon**

April 01, 2009

One day after surgery and already oxygen free again!!! He is such a little rockstar - and that's no April Fool's joke :)

March 31, 2009 - Surgery Day

Chris and I doing our best to keep him calm before surgery. He didn't get to eat after his 3 am feeding - so by the time he went into surgery at 12:30 pm he was pretty hungry. He did better than I thought though, we were able to keep him pretty calm as long as we were holding him :)

We finally got into surgery 2 hours late - but it was success. The surgeon repaired hernias on both sides and he also got his circumcision done. He did come back to his room on the ventilator but was extubated 30 minutes later. He had a hard time keeping his sats up so he was placed on 1L of oxygen on nasal cannula to help him out. He is still on this now and doing good with it. He is still very groggy and sleepy (4 hours later) and it is hard to watch him just lay there passed out - but he's doing good.

Braden got him that little blue elephant yesterday for his 2 month birthday and "good luck" on his surgery - so he's watching over him :)

March 30, 2009 - 2 months old!!

Saying my prayers before surgery tomorrow - please say some for me if you get a chance!

Oh man, this kid has no idea what he's in for when he comes home!!!

March 29, 2009

I just love the look on Braden's face in this picture! He was trying to hide from the camera and thought it was a pretty fun game!

Then he wanted to take a picture with my big camera - this is a little difficult b/c you have to look in the viewfinder like the "old school" cameras that he knows nothing about - but he took this picture and was pretty proud of it!

As you can see - still no oxygen!! This was after his 4th FULL bottle in a row (a record)
"Hmmm..I think I'm a big boy"

And this was after his 5th FULL bottle in a row - still wide awake and wanting more food!!!

March 28, 2009

See anything missing?

All day with no supplemental oxygen at all!!! Even through full bottle feeds and everything! Guess he just always wants to do things on his own time - 4 days ago he failed his oxygen test in 4 minutes - now he's rocking the house! We can't wait to get the surgery done with on Tuesday and start getting serious about getting him out of there! He is well on his way!!!

March 27, 2009

Sweet Angel

I thought he looked so cute all curled up. It's hard to imagine that he's supposed to be all curled up in my belly still...

March 26, 2009

"They just aren't fast enough with those darn bottle things - my fingers will just have to do!"

March 25, 2009

"They tell me I'm supposed to be sleeping..."

March 24, 2009

Blake's first Tub Bath!! He loved it and didn't make a peep throughout the whole thing! I had to include this first shot so you can see his little fat rolls he's getting on his legs :)
Trying to fake that I remember how to do this :)And see the bracelet on my wrist - that was made for me by my dear friend Angie's mother-in-law Dee. It has both Braden's and Blake's birthstone on it and I love it! So if you're reading this Dee - Thank you so much for your kindness!!

This is pretty much how he looked for 30 mintues after his bath - totally in shock - it was pretty funny!!!

March 23, 2009

Ok - kind of boring shot, I know. But many have asked to see Blake's room. And while it isn't quite finished...this is what I accomplished this week. I painted all the walls a chocolate brown that actually turned out really good! Then on this little corner (5th) wall I added a splash of color. These are all colors that are in his bedding that his Aunt Emily bought for him! I also purchased wooden letters that spell out his name and each will be in a different color. Braden and I are also going to do some projects on canvas to hang in Blake's room. So when it is all finished I update - hopefully with a baby in the crib :)

March 22, 2009