New Years Eve

Today was another PJ’s till (well past) Noon kind of day!!

I woke up under the weather again today. (Nothing that is infectious but enough to kick my behind and keep me in bed pretty much ALL day)

The boys spent the day playing Xbox. I think Dean enjoyed having an Xbox partner as much as J did. Mom and I try to play the alien shoot-em-up games but we just aren’t good. Don’t get me wrong I can take care of the aliens with the best of them but I get lost attempting to find them!!!

Gammy stayed with Ryan this evening and we went out with our Big boy!!

We did a little party ‘hopping.’ We began our night with a special treat!! J LOVES his ribs. He had been asking for Ribs for several days soo we started our night at Rib Crib.

His eyes were WAYYY bigger than his stomach but he had a blast and that’s all that mattered!!

Or next surprise involved a few hours’ worth of fuzzy fun!! I LOVED
when Alvin got on the speaker of the air plane and announced that if you
didn’t want to go to Tim-buck-too then this plane wasn’t for you!!

We could have called it a night then. . . BUT . . . we don’t get to spend time with J
as much as we would like so we decided to go BOWL!!I’ve wanted to go bowling for months now so when Dean suggested it I didn’t have any arguments.

We spent a good two hours bowling. J started off slowly but really picked up his score by the end of the night!! We had a BALL!! (No pun intended)

After working up a tremendous appetite we headed to IHOP!! J wasn’t quite sure it was ok to eat before midnight. (He thought that we would make him go to bed before the ball dropped) Once he was sold on the idea we had an amazing pre midnight meal!!

We made it home just in time to watch the ball drop!!
Most definitely the best New Year’s Eve ever!!

(we owe our Midnight Countdown success to DVR ;))

Lazy Day

We’ve had a fairly lazy Friday. We didn’t get out of our PJ’s until after noon!

I’m enjoying our Mornings! I cannot tell you how much joy it brings to wake up to this sweet little face!!

Ryan’s Furry Big Brother is getting used to sharing Mommy’s attention also!

I Love when Ryan’s Human Big Brother comes upstairs and holds/spends time with his little brother!!

Yesterday we treated the boys to a Build-a-Bear trip. We LOVE our Papa Smurf stuffed animals and when we saw that they had introduced a normal sized Papa Smurf we HAD to have one for each of the boys!

I have to admit several of us cried during the Smurfs Movie. Papa Smurf told his Smurfy children that no matter what happened to him that he would always be in their hearts. He in many ways is a symbol of my Daddy.

Our Sweet J was Papa Monkey’s little helper and pretty much his second shadow. He ended up sleeping with his Papa Smurf.

Ryan may not know the significance of his toy but I pray that through family memories and stories he will feel like he knows Papa Monkey!

Eye Appointment

Ryan had his first repeat eye exam since he has been out of the hospital! His eyes have thankfully faired exceptionally well throughout his stay in the NICU and his oxygen needs.

He is still NOT thrilled with his car seat. Gammy said that he was crying when she checked on him so it was vital that she had to pick him up.Never mind that he wasn’t crying until she talked to him and he woke up!

We had a very good eye appointment!! His retinas are 90% matured. He will not have a repeat eye exam for three weeks!!

Daddy and Auntie Lesha have felt left out this week. Normally we meet them for lunch or bring them lunch while Ryan has been in the hospital. We managed to get out of our appointment and had just a little extra time to meet both Daddy and Auntie for lunch!!

Ryan’s eyes were still very dilated so he wore his beanie down over his eyes.

He was dressed super cute if I do say so myself! He did exceptionally well during lunch. I fed him his bottle and then he slept (in his car seat none-the-less) for the remainder of our meal!!!

We’ve been very blessed with Ryan’s retina development! He is becoming much better tolerating bright/normal lights! It was nice having a positive appointment!

Four Month Update

Today has been pretty low Key. I had a doctor’s appointment with a minor procedure which required me to be a little loopy so I’m going to us today to write about Ryan’s Four Month Progress.

Our little man turned 4 Months old on Christmas Eve!!

Most of his 4^th month has been spent in NICU step-down called 2K. Finally being home it is hard to think much further than the time he spent at home in his 4^th month.

While in the hospital he received his two month immunizations. He did better with his shots than I expected. The nurses were great and made sure he had his as needed Tylenol. He only had a minor setback with his eating after his shots but that turned itself around within 24 hours.

He has been packing on the pounds this last month. It’s hard to believe that he will be 6lbs in just a few weeks!! He is eating 46-60oz at each feeding. The amount he consumes depends on how long he has slept in between each feed.

It has been a long struggle this month to get Ryan to take PO feedings. Thankfully he seems to LOVE his Dr. Brown’s bottles. I cannot get enough bottles! I know they are slightly a job to clean but having my happy baby back makes the time at the sink all worthwhile!!

His gas issues are becoming a thing of the past. He is still taking gas medications with each feed. We’re not ready to test the boat without it just yet.

We are excited beyond words to have our little man home this month!

I’d say that we can’t wait to see what God has in store for our little fighter but at the moment I don’t want him to grow up that fast!

First Peds Appointment

Ryan had his first non-hospital doctor’s appointment today! We were more than a little eager to find out Ryan’s measurements. We’ve grown accustomed to knowing how it weight fluctuates daily.

Our little man has been growing since he’s been home. His weight is up to
10lbs 5 ½ ounces!! He is now 18 inches long!

He did very well at the appointment. He was a little trooper when it came time to have his blood drawn. The hospital doctors have been checking his sodium levels every Monday while he is on his diuretic and sodium medications. Thankfully his levels came back normal!!

I was proud of us today! I managed to get two boys and myself dressed and ready for a doctor’s appointment and almost be on time! (We would have been early had our dogs not dug out of the backyard)

J felt that Ryan needed to watch him play the Kinect. Luckily Ryan seemed to enjoy sitting in his bouncer watching the TV!

J is absolutely LOVEING his new little brother.

Every morning after Ryan’s first feeding J is upstairs and ready to hold his baby brother!!

I’m enjoying watching him hold and love his baby brother!

First Family Christmas Morning!!

Santa left us with the most beautiful placement of treats under our tree!!

I can’t lie I LOVED that Santa allowed both the boys to experience their first Christmas together!!

Ryan’s eyes have become much more mature and he is enjoying looking around and taking in the scenery around him.

One perk to him being born so early is that there are a few things that he dose closer to his age. One is his interaction. As long as it is new and interesting to look at he loves to stare!

Christmas morning however turned out to be a bit of a sensory overload!!

His faces kill me!!!

Poor Auntie Lesha learned the hard way 8 year olds aren’t really that into cloths! J’s faces were equally as priceless!

Overall the boys had a very good Christmas!

I’m very relieved! Seeing how this was the most thrown together Christmas I’ve ever done!

We had just accepted the fact that we were going to be spending
Christmas between J here at home and Ryan in the hospital.

We are truly blessed! Merry Christmas!!!!