Chunky Monkey

Here's a peek at those super cute chunky cheeks! They are usually hidden by plastic tubing and medical tape. I snapped this picture during a tube switch...it's amazing to me how different she looks without the tubes on going between the two pictures. As for updates on the little lady, she is 8lbs 2oz now, and will be 5 months tomorrow. She went to the pulminologist today, and all went well, but she is still on the O2. The plan is to do a sleep study in April and monitor all her stats, and go from there...maybe, just maybe there is an end in sight. A mom can hope anyways!

The Toothless Wonder

Jimmy lost his 2nd top front tooth earlier this week and is having fun talking.

Bluebonnets 2010

We "bent" the rules slightly and took Elly out for a family outdoor photo shoot in the Texas Bluebonnets. I love Bluebonnet pictures!

Life as we know it...

So it's been nearly 2 1/2 months and so much has happened in our lives. There have been many times I've wanted to update the blog, but due to the craziness of life something had to give... (actually many somethings have gone by the wayside) but the something I've missed has been the blogging world. Not only have I not updated, I've hardly had a chance to read blogs, which was a favorite past time of mine. So here is some wishful hoping that we can work blogging back into life.

Biggest news, Elly came home on February 6th. This was significant as it was actually her due date. It also came as a surprise, since we had been told a few weeks later as the expected going home due to the fact that she was a micro. I was so excited to bring her home, but also so terrified at the same time! For months she had her own trained staff caring for her 24/7 and she was coming home to us, untrained, dividing time with other kids, and needing to work sleep in. She came home on oxygen, and a pulse ox monitor. This was not ideal but is worth it to have her home. The pulminologist (lung specialist) said she is still on it not because she "needs" assistance breathing now, but to strengthen her lungs for the long run. "We want her to have lungs for a life time" to quote the guy. Which I appreciate, but given the option I would happily ditch. The reason being she is not nearly as portable as a typical newborn. Always attached on the face and the foot to wires. All the pictures of her beautiful face cluttered with nasal tubing and medical tape. Plus the pulse ox monitor is obnoxiously loud when it alarms, which is often. Most of the time it alarms is because it has lost it's signal, very rarely has there actually been a problem. It was also recommended by the doctors we keep her home until June...which means we have been home bound for the most part. Other than Dave to work, and Jimmy to school, the rest of us rarely go out, and when we do there is lots of scrubbing before we come into contact with Elly. Right now as we have just hit one month of having her home June is seeming far off! They say it is a safeguard due to her lack of immune system and fragile lungs, and it being RSV season, that even a simple cold would be detrimental. So here we sit at home. We do get to go out to doctor appointments though, fun I know! But hey, I get her all dressed up for those! I figure she has all these cute clothes and it's her only outings might as well look like she is headed for a photo shoot. Another big chunk of time has been devoted to pumping. The months she spent in the hospital I dreamed of the day she came home and I could ditch the machine to just feed her, like cutting out the middle man. But those dreams were crushed, how sad. While she has been gaining weight it was not as much as the doctors wanted to see, so they agreed she needed extra calories, and that her intake needed to be monitored to ensure she was getting enough. So that translates to pumping, and fattening up the breast milk with preemie formula, then feeding it to her in these little bottles with ml lines. So instead of saying she eats 2 oz, or whatever it's measured in ml so we know more accurately how much she is taking. It has been time consuming to say the least, but it seems to be paying off as she is now gaining at a steady pace. She has kept us busy with her appointments. Up until last week she had home health coming twice a week to check her, she has a pulminologist that sees her once a month, she has a retinal specialist that sees her every two weeks, she has her regular pedi that sees her for newborn checks, she has easter seals that come to work with her and track her developmentally, and more that I'm forgetting. But the important thing is that she is here at home with us and that is great! The other kids have been so fun to watch as they interact with her. Timmy especially is getting a kick out of being a big brother. He will go up to her at least once an hour and say "I love you Elly, you so cutie cutie" it's adorable to watch!!! So that is Elly recapped, now on to the rest of us!
Jimmy had a birthday on February 14th and turned 7! I can't believe it, my baby is growing up so fast! He lost his 3rd tooth and proudly displays a toothless grin at the moment. He was accepted into the gifted and talented program at his school in January and has really enjoyed that. He is still doing the cub scout thing and recently earned some more badges. His favorite past time continues to be Wii, and has almost completed lego star wars that he got for Christmas. He has gotten really good at reading, and is so excited to be on spring break this week. Overall just a great kid!

Addy has been her regular charming, quirky, silly self. One of the first things she did when Elly came home was set up a tea party for the two of them. She loves teasing her brothers, and is quite good at it. She has been very interested in reading also and sounding out everything she sees. She keeps asking when she can start school. She loves the cat calendar she got from Nana and proudly tells me the day first thing each morning. She is also our night owl, the hardest kid by far to get to bed each night. It is amazing the number of things she can think of as excuses to come out and stay awake. A very entertaining little girl!

Timmy had a birthday on March 7th and turned 3! Any time I asked him what he wanted for his birthday his only response was "cake, green cake" SO that is what he got, a green cake (green mint chip ice cream cake on a brownie base...YUMMY!) and we hung green balloons, and green streamers and he was happy. If you haven't guessed his favorite color is green. He has recently finished potty training (YEA!) and we have been lucky to only have a handful of accidents. He still drags his beloved green blankie everywhere he goes, and is just a happy boy!

On to Dave...Dave has been unhappy at work for awhile, add the family stress we have had, then add sleepless nights that come with having a newborn in the home... and well lets just say he reached his breaking point. He had a melt down to put it simply. Through the marvels of modern medicine and a good solid week to let that medicine work into his system I am happy to say we have Dave back. This past Thursday his company announced a 20% cut in employees due to lack of funding...and he was in that 20%...so now we have this new info to figure out. His last day will be April 9th with his current employer. On a lighter note he has also been active in scouts with Jimmy and recently did dutch oven cooking for their pack's blue and gold. Since Elly has come we've had to cut soccer out, so he doesn't get out to the park as often with the kids anymore. Which also means he hasn't gone fishing as much. He did have the week Elly came home off and was able to take the older kids out fishing one day, and golfing another which they all enjoyed.

Which covers all but me, I have found myself lately repeating in my head "inspira, expira" not sure if it's spelled right, but it means breathe in, breathe out in latin. I took latin in high school and we learned all sorts of sayings. That is just one that stuck with my friends and I. So here I am, grateful that my doctor was proactive at Elly's delivery in starting me on some meds to help balance the stress, and reminding myself to just breathe. It seems there have been many mountains placed in our path lately and every time I think we are making progress something new comes along. I guess that is just life, and it happens to everyone, I just wish it were more spread out. It seems I don't have time to adjust to one thing before another hits. I know that we have been blessed and seen many miracles recently amid the stress, so I really have no right to complain... so here I will just continue along remembering to breathe and take it as it comes.

Other happenings worth mentioning, some friends threw us a baby shower when Elly came home. We received LOTS of diapers (that I am extremely grateful, especially now that we are soon to be jobless) and many cute outfits and blankets. We are truly blessed to have the greatest group of friends!!! Also my Mom, and sister came and spent a week here at the house with us. We all loved it! It was so great to have help around the house, and with the kids, and to just spend time together! And since we can't take Elly out and I've really been wanting to get family pictures they helped set up here at the house and snapped a bunch for us. Thanks guys!!!

So until next time, this is life as we know it...