Happy 4 Months!!!

As we sat at the pediatrician's today- going over introducing fruits first, then veggies- I'm thinking- woah! Wait a minute, I was excited about introducing cereal, all of a sudden it seems it's flying by too fast! We had some pats on the back over his growth- he's up to 12 lbs, 8 oz and 23 3/4" - which puts him in the 10th percentile for length and 12th percentile for weigh for a 4 month old... if you consider his adjusted age of about 2 1/2 months, he's right around the 50th percentiles... and has officially (more than) Tripled his birth weight- nice! He's still working on his muscle control and other "developmental" tasks- so he's right on track/ahead for his adjusted age- but it's still hard separating and not expecting him to meet his chronological age goals. But! He's still amazing!!! He gave the doctor big smiles (always with the glasses- they crack him up) and sat inspecting him for a minute- good job kiddo :) Unfortunately had another round of immunizations- so he's passed out now... hoping for an easy time, just gotta stay on top of the Tylenol. Just found out my sister was at the same doctor for Nathan's 2 month checkup, just an hour before us. Lucky me- he got his round of shots too- and yep, I'm watching him tomorrow. Two babies post-shots... oh boy.

Well- for now I'm just gonna snuggle and rest- it's gonna be a crazy day tomorrow! Happy Birthday baby boy! :)

Three Little Birds

Another day of dragon baby! Which led me to proving to Dave that there was a game when we were kids called "Don't Wake the Dragon..."

 LOL... we started the day off okay, but man! Then, a much needed trip to Target for necessities led me to wanting to tear my hair out and run over all those people in my way. Why is it that people in the stores either stop and stare at you, ignore you completely, or try to make small talk when all you want to do is briskly walk through the aisles??? I just wanted to get him to sleep so I could finish the diapers & grocery trip- which meant I had to keep moving. Doing laps through the clothing racks and home section- ha... only took 20 minutes, but eventually succeeded. Took another couple hours, but in the end after food & a nap? We got this amazing baby!

It's like a little Gremlin... we even got to try out the rice cereal again, have a nice bath, eat, and snoozed through the evening (well, he did anyway). So... like the rainbow after a storm- it makes everything all right again... so... like Bob would say (our NICU theme song)... "Don't worry... about a thing... 'cause every little thing...is gonna be alright..."

March For Babies

As quickly as 5am came, it was a beautiful morning to have done the walk. Not only were we able to get there and start the walk, but also make a pit-stop at the hotel to say hi to Ashleigh & friends over at the Starbucks. We met some genuinely nice people during the walk itself, and saw some heart-breaking t-shirts dedicated to babies born and lost. It was definitely a reminder to be grateful for what we have and how fortunate to have Chase doing as well as he is. We even got to see one of our NICU nurses, Jelda, at the Winnie Palmer tent- it made for a great morning. Thank you all for your support!

I've Got A Lovely Bunch of... Carrots

Dee de la Dee... So... on we go with my projects of cooking- trying to use what I have on hand to stop wasting! So a million carrots, and what to do? Carrot cake - yum! Kaely helped out- not the prettiest cake, but I think it tasted pretty darn good :)

Today we wish Chase a happy 17 weeks!!! We have the walk tomorrow morning for March of Dimes, so gotta be up around 5 am, but looking forward to seeing all the sponsors such as Winnie Palmer, Nemours, and local places that we frequent. Even if we don't have an official team- it's still fun to be a part of the event.

Luckily "dragon baby" has gone back to his normal routine- only cranky in the evening (aka- now), but got lots of smiles and playtime in today- what a relief!!!

Dragon Baby

Our endearing term for Chase when he goes into one of his "fits..." I thought we survived the evening hours last night pretty well, only to be surprised when he woke up around 11, but I figured, eh, okay- feed him and go back to sleep... nope. He squirmed and fussed and cried and sniffed for a good hour after eating- finally passed out, only to get back up a couple hours later. I spent a solid hour trying to get him to sleep on his own last night before giving up and holding him to let him sleep for a while. Everytime I'd put him down he'd wake back up screaming. This has been a really random event, since for the past month or so he's slept wonderfully on his own, and for a good 4-8 hours at a time. Even morning time, when he's usually in a smiley mood, nope- we get the cranky butt. Sigh... so he's passed out on me now as I am stuck- I would let him "cry it out" but I feel he's either having a tummy problem or some other discomfort that's preventing him from sleeping right now. Sigh... Oh well- he's still my sweetheart, even if he does look like he could breathe fire :)

Circus Clown

Dee dee deedledeedle dee dee... I have this little song stuck in my head as I envision the juggling act as a circus clown... Just when I think I have the act down pat, another ball/bowling pin/etc is thrown in to the mix. After surviving the weekend, and enjoying an unplanned extra day with Dave, and watching Nathan for a bit, then add in Kaely... well- almost survived. Then got the email from Kaely's teacher about issues at school- not to rat her out- but just made me stop and think about how things are going from her point of view. 6 1/2 years to herself with us all, and now she's jumping up and down trying to get our attention. I felt like total crap reading the email- it truly made me feel like a horrible mom, and how I need to make changes. Of course, that involves dedicating time specifically to Kaely, specifically to Dave (and I), specifically to Chase, and if any time is left over- well- hell, specifically to just me. Problem is, that it's hard to turn away and focus on just one thing at a time- and that's the same problem Kaely is having- focusing. Shocking, I know. But, at least I can try to tackle these things now while it's still early (I Hope!). Maybe plan on staying a good portion of the summer down south while school is out, while we figure out the plan for moving (or not)... make a beach vacation, and try to find the energy to truly spend quality time with everyone. 


In the meantime, I just go through the motions, keep on juggling, strap on the seatbelt for the roller coaster that is our life! Once again, I send out cudos to moms with all these kids! It's a balancing act that I just haven't been able to master yet- maybe by the time their adults I'll get it down :) 


A few photos from the past days as I've been slacking

Rain, Rain, Go Away...

Actually, I usually quite enjoy the storms, but this weekend? Caused a bit of chaos needless to say. Between some automobile issues, to making me think it was best to reschedule our first date night (still 4+ months and counting), to sitting around most of yesterday waiting on the storms that didn't even come until 2 am this morning. UGH. Oh well :) In the meantime, I've had fun indoors with Chase, such a goofball! He's become our little football player- so stocky! I did at least get to play outdoors yesterday morning in our poor desolate yard. We really need an overhaul... but it was awesome to get outdoors and play in the dirt. Made some homemade lasagna and keylime pie Friday, and garlic breadsticks from scratch to go with. Yummm... We introduced Chase to the "Bumbo" that was given to us by our friend Kathy a while back- he thinks it's hilarious! He can sit up more or less on his own, and check everything out. Also started doing that with the couch. We're working on the rolling over and crawling- still a ways to go- but everyday we find a new accomplishment. Completely slacking on posts this weekend, just enjoying keeping things low-key... hope everyone has a great one- Happy Earth Day!