December 10, 2013:

I can't believe that RJ is almost 11 months!! Just one more week… He has just been blossoming over the past few weeks and changing so much. He's up to the 14lb mark and holding!! His lil cheeks have some chubbiness to them now. Sooooo adorable!! I get going with my kisses and he starts to giggle and smile. It's precious. He's been working on his sitting skills and crawling moves lately. He started sitting on his own week of Nov. 17th for little periods either on the changing table or bathroom counter with us spotting him. Last wk on Dec. 5th he sat up officially on his own while I went downstairs to get his milk!! He was playing on the floor in his room content as can be. It was amazing!! He still gets off balance, but is learning so quickly. In the mornings after he eats I start placing him on the floor in the crawling position. I started the week of Nov 24th and he could only hold himself up for a couple seconds and his arms would give out. He's getting better and rocks back and forth a little. No forward attempts yet, I still have to help with that. Our new morning routine after his first bottle is to lay on the floor of his room and look up at the stars on his ceiling. We were given one of those turtles with stars and a moon cut into it's shell and then lights that shine through it. I try to help him with rolling over as well. He's still not a fan.

I'm very impressed that RJ has slept for just over 11.5hrs!! I'll have to come back to blogging… So now it's the end of the day and I'm just getting around to blogging again. I should be crawling into bed right now but our Christmas tree decided to start leaning and we had to unscrew, change positions, and rescrew the screws into the tree. Needless to say the whole ordeal has made me very frustrated. The tree looks all off center now and I needed to vent… I know I should be happy and grateful that we even have a tree and for our precious lil bundle of joy. I'll get over it…

I think the last time I blogged was Nov 19th. After I blogged that evening RJ decided to jump out of his bath chair. Okay, I know that sounds a little dramatic. I set him in the chair and he didn't totally lean back. He saw something in the water and wanted to grab it, loosing his balance in the process. He did a face plant in the water that lasted just a sec. I quickly grabbed him and he sputtered, but recovered without harm. The next night I took him out of his bath chair and sat him in the tub while holding his thighs down. He seemed to have fun playing with his toys in the new position. Well due to my procrastination to blog and the fact that RJ has been so active, I have a very long list of things I wanted to remember. So I'm going to write them in a bullet format again.

-Week of Nov. 17th: RJ is wanting to sit up more and more when on the changing table and play with the lotion and hand san bottles.

-Nov 23rd: No luck with bananas. He does seem to like sweet potatoes and carrots. Still a challenge to get him eating solids.

-Nov 25th: RJ made himself laugh while playing w/ the decorative balls on my dresser.

-Nov 26th: RJ's chowing down on his foam letter "N" like crazy while sitting at the kitchen table. Drool is everywhere. I'd say he's definitely teething. I started giving him teething tabs this wk too.

-Nov 30th: Today was difficult not having Robert w/ us for Sabbath school and church. RJ fought sleep and didn't get any naps till we got home from church. He had a vomiting episode on the church carpet. It was too much for me to hold him and the bottle while standing and rocking him. He's getting too heavy. I triggered his gag reflex. Ugh…

-Dec 1st: RJ refused to take a nap by himself 3 separate times. I heard WAY too much crying today!!! There were multiple poopy diapers and vomit episodes while daddy was at work too. He only got a 20 min nap when I held him at the end of the day. I also noticed RJ being more clingy today. He kept patting me, wanting me to pick him up or not put him down.

-Dec 2nd: RJ made a blowing sound on my neck and started patting me while I was holding him. Such a silly little boy

-Dec 3rd: RJ woke up at midnight whimpering and just wanted to be held. Not sure if he had a bad dream or what. I changed his diaper and was back in bed about 25 min later. He was clingy and holding on to me. I do love the feeling. I made a desperate post on Facebook asking advice for getting RJ to sleep on his own. I got a great response. I even bought a book that was recommended "The Wonder Weeks" for the Kindle. Great info.

-Dec in general: This month I've noticed him grabbing at stuff and wanting to touch everything in sight!! He's becoming very busy!! I've started taking his Sabbath activity book to church and it's a great distraction!!

-Dec 4th: I've been off and on awake since 2am!! RJ was wide awake and didn't want to fall back asleep. Eventually after much trying, I just held him and we fell asleep in the LazyBoy. My sleep was much lighter than his though. He got his next Synagis shot dose today. Thankfully he didn't vomit this time. I tried to make a longer stretch of time between his last feeding and the shot.

-Dec 5th: RJ slept through the night again!! I feel fantastic!! RJ sat up along on his play mat in his room while I went downstairs to get his milk!! He's playing in his room on his mat so well. He's holding the crawling stance longer too. He loves to sit on his knees when in my lap. He was talking up a storm today and smiling at me a lot.

-Dec 6th- RJ played high five with daddy. It was precious. He's started being better about taking naps on his own. I've been getting 20-30 min naps out of him while wearing his sleep sack. It's better than nothing. I'm still trying some cry it out, but go reassure him every 10 min or so. If he keeps crying he eventually gets hungry and I have to feed him again. Around the noon nap we play this dance.

-Dec 8th: RJ went with us to buy his first Christmas tree!! It was super duper cold. We had him bundled up w/ a blanket over his head. We were going to keep him in the truck, but he was getting fussy, so we brought him out. It was extra tricky trying to set up the frozen Christmas tree while taking care of RJ's feeding, diaper, and attention needs. That night right before bath time, we heard RJ give his first big boy sounding laugh when daddy blew on his stomach. He's growing up so fast!!

Whew…. things are changing every day and RJ's switching up his schedule daily. It's quite the job trying to keep up with him and keep the house running. I think it's extra tricky around the holidays with extra projects to try and get completed. Everything takes so much longer. We are truly blessed. RJ's lost his preemie look and is turing into a normal lil boy. It's incredible the progress he's made. Well, I've unwound now from the Christmas tree fiasco. I should get ready for bed.

Thanks again for all the prayers, love, and support you continue to give us. We wouldn't be where we are without it. Don't forget that!!

November 19, 2013:

It's been multiple weeks since I've blogged, but I've been keeping a running list of all the fun/frustrating things that RJ has been doing. I'm constantly praying for more patience to take care of our lil boy, yet he keeps testing me. Once he's fast asleep in my arms or on my chest, my frustration just melts away.
I guess b/c I've been putting this blogging thing off I'll try a different style of writing.

Oct. 29th- RJ wanted to snuggle longer than normal after finishing his morning bottle. It was so special to just cuddle him and look at his perfect face. I grow more in love w/ him every day…

Oct. 29th- RJ took at 3 hr nap on my chest today! I slept for part of it, which was much needed. I just couldn't give up the opportunity to hold him. He was just too snuggly. The bathrooms can wait!!

Oct. 29th- RJ made me laugh as I was putting him to bed. He was making noises while his eyes were shut. I couldn't help but giggle and when I did he would look at me.

Oct. 30th- Feeding RJ solids has not been the easiest. I just want him to open his mouth wide for the next bite. He has seemed to like black beans and really smeared up his face well tonight. :)

Oct. 30th- Bath time is always a fun time for Robert, RJ, and myself. Robert usually gets RJ undressed while I get the bath ready. We usually wait till the last minute to remove the diaper, for obvious reasons. Well, not sure what the difference was on this day, but Robert took off RJ's diaper early. I left the bathroom for a moment and heard, "Honey come hear quick! I need help!" I walk in to see that RJ had pooped on daddy and the floor!! I was hilarious!! Funny how I didn't mind cleaning up this poo from our son. Nothing like the adults I've cleaned up during my nursing career.

I wrote this note somewhere between Oct. 30th and Nov. 2nd. RJ has started to talk some before falling asleep at both naps and bedtime. He will take the paci even after a full stomach. It still takes longer for him to fall asleep. The lil stinker!!--- He will not take the paci anymore. I guess it was only a fleeting phase.

Nov. 2nd- This was a very special day and weekend. We had RJ's baby dedication here at the Lexington SDA Church. Our senior pastor, Pastor Goia, did the dedication. I had put together a slideshow that was shown before we went to the front. It gave the congregation a real look into how serious things were at the beginning for RJ. I had it broken up into months so everyone could see his progress. It was special and very emotional. Our parents were able to make it, but no siblings could come. RJ had lots of fun with all his grandparents though. :) We were even surprised by a visit from Tim and Carol Doudiken!! They've been family friends of the McLennan's forever. They were only here for a few hours, but it was super duper special!!

The next note is more of a general observation. RJ has gotten really good at his hip thrusts when on the changing table. It makes it quite difficult to change his diaper or dress him. That's how he's able to wiggle off his mat!! Maybe he's going to back crawl before tummy crawling.

Nov. 6th- Once I got RJ situated for his night feeding. He stopped and just looked up into my eyes. Robert was still in the room and the lights were on. RJ would look at me and then put his hand up to my face. Robert was taking some photos. I was making silly noises and making him laugh. It was priceless

Nov. 7th- RJ had his first blowout poopy diaper tonight that even got on his clothes!!! It was a total mess!! Of course I was the one who took RJ to the changing table and found the surprise. Too bad Robert didn't find it. :) We all know how fond he is of poop. :)

Nov. 7th- RJ sat up by himself on the bathroom counter for the longest time tonight! He was having fun getting into my basket of goodies on the counter before bath time.

Nov. 10th- Today was stressful because we had our family photos taken at a local park. It was tricky trying to have RJ take a nap and eat before the photo shoot. I wanted him to be as happy as possible. It was windier and cooler than we wanted, but in the end it all worked out. We got some great shots and RJ was a real trooper. He gave us some good smiles.

Nov. 12th- The weather around these parts is crazy. RJ woke up to see his first snow ever!! There was a light dusting over the ground that was mostly gone by the evening. Who knows what he thought, but it was still fun to show him. :)

Nov. 14th- Tonight Robert found out RJ is now ticklish!! Robert's been waiting for this moment. RJ gave us some really good, but quirky laughs. Not your typical laugh, but he was smiling none the less.

Nov. 17th- We keep working w/ RJ to roll over, but he's just not a great fan. I tried putting his feet up under his butt like the crawling stance a few times. While he was on his mat all of a sudden he pulled up his knees under his butt all by himself!! I happened to be taking pictures and caught it so Robert could see. I think maybe we are getting closer to a lil mobile RJ!! Yikes!!

Nov. 19th- So I confirmed today that RJ only wants to drink his bottle up in his room while I rock him in the lazy boy chair. Oh mercy… Not sure why the comfy couch downstairs won't cut it anymore. Robert says RJ is particular like me. Oh dear… As soon as I started walking towards the couch and started sitting down, RJ began fussing and squirming. I tried putting the bottle to his mouth and he blatantly refused. Robert was watching the whole thing. I then took RJ up to his room and he ate his whole bottle. Grrrr. It's frustrating b/c I don't want him to learn he can get whatever he wants by fussing, yet he needs the calories to grow! It's quite the predicament…

It seems like every day RJ's growing up more and more. He's grabbing at everything he can get his hands on. He even has started to kneel when in my lap. He's becoming more expressive and interactive. He seemed to really like sweet potatoes and did descent with carrots. Tonight I tried bananas. He took a few bites and then was done. Maybe tomorrow will be better. :) In an effort to help RJ get more sleep, since his naps are dwindling, last night he was in his crib fast asleep by 7:35pm. I was worried he would wake up earlier since he went to bed 30-40min earlier, but he slept till about 7am!! He's been getting quite fussy between 5pm till bedtime. When I discussed it w/ my friend Stacie Garcia, she recommended putting him to bed earlier. I did it again tonight and had him in his crib by 7:20pm!! RJ gets better sleep where he's not burning as many calories and he's growing, plus I can get projects done and have a lil more time for myself and Robert! It's a win/win situation. Well I'm getting pretty tired. The alarm clock will go off early. Off to bed I go. Thanks again for all your prayers, love, and support!!

October 29, 2013:

 RJ playing away. First time in overalls. 

Can't believe how tall he's getting!!

 First day playing with the blocks.

Doesn't seem that interested at the moment.

 Having fun sitting at the table playing

The adorable crossed feet I referenced 

in a previous blog

 Someone likes the rings on his arms!

 Precious lil man! A Green Bay fan thanks

to our friend Laura Flannagan :)

Found the edge to naw on. Silly boy...

October 26, 2013:

What has happened to Fall!!!! This cold weather w/ mini hail and snow flurries is absolute craziness!!! I was hoping to still be able to get out on walks with RJ for a few weeks longer. It's just too cold for the lil guy. Well a whole lot has happend since I blogged last. Whew.... Lets see where shall I begin...

Last Tuesday RJ started getting a wet sound to his coughs and had an occasional wheeze, which is not normal for him. He's had this "drama" cough since coming home from the NICU, but never has it sounded wet. Thankfully we had already scheduled his 9 month checkup for Wednesday the 16th. On exam the NP said his lungs were clear and she didn't hear any wheezes. His ears were red and showed some extra fluid. She didn't feel he needed any treatment that day, but said to watch him closely b/c things could change quick, especially in a preemie. I asked about a humidifier and she said that would be perfectly fine. We started that Wednesday night. Thursday his cough was worse and more wet sounding. He wasn't coughing up the junk as much or sneezing as much so it was just making him sound awful. The wheezes were continuous all day. I told Robert if he wasn't better by Friday I was going to call the Peds office and take him in. I didn't want things to get out of hand over the weekend and heaven forbid need to head to the Peds ER. Dr. Boarman saw us on Friday morning. He said he was 66 and seeing the work of 4 doctors. He was a super duper nice guy and had the nurse give RJ a breathing treatment. He responded well and cleared up the wheezing. The Dr. said RJ probably had bronchiolitis (where there is inflammation in part of the lung passageways). He also prescribed some Amoxicillian for his ears. Usually the ear infections are caused by viruses, but they typically treat for that small percentage of infections caused by bacteria. Boy, that stuff is nasty. I obviously was scarred from my younger years b/c I destinctly remember the smell!! It's been a challenge giving RJ the medicine. I have a tiny dropper I place into his mouth. He probably gets 1/2 the dose, but is feeling better. We have one dose left tonight!! During these last multiple days RJ has been more clingy and not eating as much. I've been doing all sorts of laundry lately. I learned from the nutritionist this past wk at the NICU grad clinic that it's probably due to the extra saliva RJ is producing during the teething process that is choking him and causing him to vomit more. Oh mercy... We were doing the breathing treatments every 4hrs while he was awake. Yesterday was the first time I didn't give him any. He's much better and has started eating larger quantities again. Whew...

October 18th was the first time RJ really gave me a hug!! I picked him up from his crib after a nap and he wrapped his arms around my neck and squeezed. He's got a pretty good grip now a days and really pinches my neck skin. Ouch!! It's all precious though. I guess it was later that day that both Robert and I got RJ to laugh!! It wasn't a deep long lasting laugh, but it was a lil one. It's a start!! Some other random things include me having to cut off one of the seals flippers on RJ's activity mat. He pulled the heck out of it and it was fraying. When holding RJ in my arms, he likes to get in this crouched position like he's pooping. Sometimes he really does! I've noticed that over the past few wks he's been looking up at the ceiling watching the shadows early in the morning or late at night during feedings. Also on the 18th RJ started shaking his head back and forth like he's saying no. It was a lil worrisome to me. It started after getting the breathing treatments. One of the side effects is nervous twitches. He's been doing it since. I asked the NICU clinic doc and she said it's fine. Robert looked up on line what other parents said. Turns out it's normal. He's just learning what his body is capable of doing I guess. On the 19th we think RJ said his first word, "mama"!! He was on his changing table after bath time and RJ was babbling up a storm. All of a sudden Robert and I both heard him say "mama". Not sure if it was an accident, but we heard it. He hasn't said it since, but I'm counting it!! On the 22nd RJ sat in the tripod position for multiple seconds without crying!! He's getting some better core strength. Before we know it he'll be sitting all by himself. I've mentioned RJ and his plastic rings. Well he's decided it's fun to place the ring right on top of his face. I guess he likes to see his world in a different color. It's quite funny. RJ's always changing his routines. He decided just this wk that it's relaxing to suck on his paci before nap time. I feed him and then give him the paci to finish lulling him to sleep. He's such a goober.

Well Wednesday the 23rd we went to the NICU grad clinic for his 6 mo appt. It was an exhausting day. We waited in a room for 1.5hrs before seeing either the doctor or nutritionist. It was awful!!! I was already exhausted from lack of sleep and then try to keep a 9 mo old entertained, fed, and diaper changed in an exam room is not fun. Grrrr. Over the next hr we got our meal plan to start solid foods and had some developmental testing done. The physical therapist came in as well to assess him and gave us a few exercises to work on. We have to work on his rolling over and sitting up. He's doing great with picking things up and transferring them from hand to hand. We need to work on holding somehting in each hand at the same time and picking up small objects. Otherwise he's right on track. We don't have to go back until April of next year!!! He'll get more developmental testing at the 1yr adjusted age. We're making progress!!!!

So the new recommendation is to start meats first. Since we are vegetarian our options are to start with tofu, beans, and soy products. I watned to wait till Robert could be here for the first feeding and wanted to make sure we took a video. He got home super late on Wednesday, so Thursday evening we tried blended up plain tofu!! It was quite the mess. RJ was very unsure. Since then he hasn't been the biggest fan. I tried warming it up today and adding some onion powder. He still didn't like it. The nutritionist recommended trying a new food every wk. Since RJ isn't the biggest fan of tofu right now, I'm anxious to try something different. I don't want him to develop a hate for it from the getgo, so think I'll beans tomorrow. We shall see.

It's crazy how fast he's growing up. He's getting more and more alert every day. He was all wide eyed during Sabbath school today. He doesn't want to miss anything. He's also decided to stay awake for 2-3 hrs now between naps. I'm blogging on the couch in the living room right now and RJ is sleeping on daddy's shoulder on the couch opposite me right now. It's simply precious. I feel so blessed right now. What an amazing lil family I have. Whew... I think that concludes this blog. I hope everyone has a wonderful coming week.

Thanks again for all the prayers, love, and support.

October 15, 2013:

We are just two days away from RJ turing 9 months old!!! That is incredible to me. It's so hard to believe we have a lil boy, let alone a 9 month old. Wow.... such a lil blessing he has been. Our miracle baby continues to grow bigger and stronger. I believe he's going to be a skinny tall dude. He's in 3-6 month PJ's b/c he's getting so long. He's right at the tip of outgrowing the straight 3 month PJ's. He is still in 3 month clothes otherwise and sometimes those are a lil big. He did hit the 13 lb mark the other day, and then subsequently he's had multiple poops, so he's lost a lil. He's hovering around the 12.5-13lb range now. He has a Pediatrician appt this Weds and NICU grad clinic next Weds, so hopefully he will weigh in officially at the 13 lb mark. I have found that when we go on vacation and he gets out of his routine, he tends to eat less which of course causes a drop in weight. It's been great getting him out and about and visiting family, it just gets tricky for RJ's schedule. I'll be glad when it's easier to travel and he's eating real people food. :)

Speaking of food we get a menu/schedule for starting solids next week at the Grad clinic appt. I'm looking forward to starting something new. I'm tired of warming up the bottles to just the right temp. He has gotten better w/ nothing requiring them to be as warm, but it's still a challenge. We have a warmer for the vehicle that plugs into the cigarret lighter and then the warmer in the house. I have to take the warmer to church and use it a couple times. I feel so silly plugging in this warmer when other moms just hand their kids the bottle. Oh well, what we do for our lil ones.

Well RJ had a record last Friday the 11th. He ate about 26 oz!!! Subsequently he's been having more trouble w/ his GI system. He's pooped 3 days in a row which is another record, but he's been crying and fussy w/ each one. They are formed and squishable w/ a wipe, not sure why the fussing. I guess he just has to learn how to poop. Sorry if that was too much info. You have to remember this a journal for me too. :)

RJ loves to cross his lil legs. It's sooo adorable!!! I took some pics yesterday. He's been pushing over the arch on his mat more often. Sometimes it's with his feet and other times with his hands. He's getting so strong. He's got a death grip w/ his hands already. He'll grab at my arm or neck and it actually hurts. He's gotten tricky in that he will arch his back when in your arms and throws himself off balance. You have to be quick that he doesn't do a back flip out of our arms! So far I've been quick enough. He's also gotten into batting at me when going to sleep for naps. It can be quite dangerous those flailing arms. I have to secure them in the blanket to keep from getting knocked out. :) Another funny event that happened last week was RJ almost wiggling out of his swing. I was cooking dinner and kept looking over to check on him. I kept seeing his lil legs get further out of the swing. When I finally went over he had his blanket pulled up so just his eyes were showing and his lil legs were dangling. It's was hilarious! I'll try to post a pic.

I am so grateful he loves to snuggle. It's such a rewarding moment when he falls asleep on your shoulder and just hunkers down for his nap. It's so precious to see that peaceful sleeping face as well. I often will take naps w/ him either in the mornings or afternoons or sometimes both! Yesterday I wanted to be productive, so I let him take his morning nap in his crib. He ended up sleeping for 2 hrs!!! I was very impressed and got lots accomplished. If he's fussy when you are trying to put him down, you just have to start singing "Jesus Loves Me". It's his favorite song I believe. It calms him right down. Robert discorvered how well it worked.

Robert and I keep trying to repeat "Mama" and "Dada" hoping he will say them soon. It hasn't happened yet. :) He is pursing his lips together acting like he's going to say something. I'm afraid he might be trying to say poop or something ridiculous. When we go to pick him up, it seems that he might be starting to reach out for us. It's happened w/ one hand a couple times. We are excited for him to really reach out both arms. :) He's always changing his routine, so his new thing this week is to sleep till around 7:30am and then stay awake for about 2hrs before going down for a nap. We shall see if that happens again today.

Oh to give an update on my health status, I had a repeat CTA last Tuesday. I got my results on Thursday and turns out my aneurysm is about the same or "slightly better". It was hard for the doc to tell, since CTA's aren't as high resolution as an angiogram. Needless to say, it's not getting worse. I will stay on the high dose 325mg Aspirin for 3 more months when I will have another CTA. It just so happends it was scheduled the day before RJ's first birthday!! :) How appropriate. :) If' all is well w/ that scan, then I can follow-up w/ another CTA in a year and go down to an 81mg Aspirin a day. My doc just wants to be extra cautious. I have to be careful of preventing reinjury. No massage of the neck for pretty much ever unless I do it. No chiropractor ever and be careful when lifting heavy objects over 25lbs. I thank God for the healing he has given me so far. I'm truly blessed.

Thank you for all your prayers, support, and love. Keep it coming!!

October 11, 2013:

Here are some old and recent pics. I forgot to post a pic of RJ with his Great-grandma McLennan from our July/Aug trip. Now he has only one more great-grandma to visit and his tour will be complete in that department. :)

He's not about 8.5 months!! Times a flying

RJ loves patty-cake

Visiting Great-grandma Pires

He was a wiggling and she was afraid he was
going to wiggle right out of her lap.
Dont' worry, we were close by.

This is a great smile!! First time grandpa (my dad)
had seen him since the NICU.

RJ and his Great-grandparents! His only
Great-grandpa that's alive.

We caught one last pic together
before it got dark. 

Turns out RJ likes to play footsie :)

This summer out in Monterey, CA. Four
generations represented.

Visiting Great-grandma McLennan for the
first time.

Great-grandma still has the touch :)

October 7, 2013:

Where has the time gone. It's almost been 2 weeks since I last posted. I think the weather has officially gotten cooler. We bundled RJ all up this evening on our walk. He looked so cute with his lil red hat on. He was all fussy before we walked out the door. Being outside and in the baby bjorn calmed him right down. He loves to look around and see everything. His lil head is constantly turning from left to right and all around.

This past weekend was a big one for RJ. He got to see my dad for the first time since being out of the NICU and he got to meet my grandparents. My grandma was thrilled. We surprised her and when she saw him she kept saying "My baby, my baby." It was special. She had a stroke 9 years ago and is pretty much confined to a wheelchair and has no use of her left arm. She was so thrilled to be able to hold RJ. I stayed close by b/c he's a lil wiggle bug and she was afraid he was going to fall out of her arms. He did so well. It was a successful weekend. :)

The week of September 22nd RJ successfully put his plastic play rings on both arms and during a seperate time put one on his leg! It was quite impressive. Of course he did it when I wasn't looking. I was curious if he would take them back off again, and the stinker did it when I wasn't looking. :) He's since done it multiple times and I've been able to witness the event. I haven't seen him put the rings back on his legs again.

RJ has officially started grabbing at his bottle deliberatly. His lil hands are still not the most coordinated, so they kind of bat at the bottle. He's slowly getting better. Today I thought he almost had it. He'll open his lil mouth in anticipation. I then will take some control and guide the nipple to his mouth.

Sometime last week RJ decided to randomly breastfeed. It was funny. He was sucking on my shirt so I tried and he took the boob for a lil while. That was short lived. :) I honestly can say I don't miss the pumping. I don't really think much about the breastfeeding anymore. I've come to terms with it.

RJ hasn't rolled over by himself in quite awhile. I think he stopped when he started gaining more weight. He would much rather stand up. He loves to hold our fingers and stand up. It brings the biggest smile to his face. He wasn't enjoying trying to sit up on his play mat, but I've recently sat him on the counter while I heat up his bottle and let him play with the Keurig. He is getting closer to sitting on his own I think. Got to get that core strengthened.

His lil twinkle toes have become one of his favorite new toys! He loves grabbing his toes. Today I saw him totally on his left side holding his toes. Maybe he'll start getting the clue to roll over. :)

Last week we were officially discharged from Peds Surgery clinic. RJ is pooping on his own now since adding the probiotics to his milk. One less doctor to see!!!

Yesterday afternoon we were sitting on the couch and RJ started playing footsie with me. It was so cute. Robert took some pics. I need to download the camera so I can show everyone.

Oh, while we were at my grandparents house this past weekend, RJ found himself in the mirror. He was very focused on the baby in the mirror. He kept batting his hands at the other baby. My dad caught it on video. He learns something new every day. :)

One way to get RJ smiling is to play patty-cake with him. He gets the biggest kick out of it. I'll start clapping my hands and he will put his on the outside of mine. He doesn't get the rolling and marking part quite yet. :)

He gets all excited when daddy comes home from work. He gets all smiley. It's adorable. When we got back from our trip yesterday afternoon, he was super excited to see daddy. When we had facetimed Saturday night, it almost looked like he was grabbing at the screen to touch daddy. What a precious lil guy. We love him to pieces. It's so much fun to see him getting more interactive and expressive.

Thanks again for all the prayers, support, and love. We are going to have his baby dedication on November 2nd at the Lexington SDA Church. Our immediate family is coming into town, so that will be a memorable weekend. It will be quite the weekend of celebration of our special lil miracle. Till next time. :)

September 24, 2013 Take 2:

Here's RJ grabbing those cute feet. I kept trying to get

him to look at me when taking the picture, but he 

was transfixed on something else way

more important I guess. :)

September 24, 2013:

RJ and I are currently on the floor in the living room. RJ is batting all his lil toys around while grabbing his toes. He's making all sorts of grunts and gagging noises. Yes, I have to remind him over and over again not to gag himself. He loves to talk now and make himself known. This morning I had a couple plastic rings on his mat. While I wasn't looking he put one around each arm. It was hilarious!! What a goof ball. Later on he had taken them both off. He's getting better coordinated with his hands. This morning after heating up his bottle I was picking it up to carry both him and the bottle up the stairs. He instinctively grabbed the bottle in both his hands and helped me. It was so cute. He started this week to deliberately try and hold the bottle and bring it to his mouth. He gets frustrated when he can't get it right and I end up feeding him. :)

Right before bedtime on his changing table he talks up a storm. Typically every other night is bath time. He has started in the past couple weeks to start talking like crazy during the bath. He wiggles to the right side of the bath chair and hangs his feet over the edge and kicks in the water. He grabs his feet and makes all sorts of noise. He's getting so expressive.

Well I have officially put the pumping station to sleep. That segment of my mommy duties has come to an end. The lil guy has stopped completely and I value my time with him during the day and sleep at night. I'm very thankful for the time I was able to give him all the good nutrients needed at the beginning to help him grow. I'm blessed to have experienced the breastfeeding of our son as well. Here's hoping next time my milk will come in quicker and more plentiful  and I will be able to keep up with our lil one. Don't worry, we are not planning on trying any time soon. I haven't fully recovered form this pregnancy/delivery.

We had a Grad Clinic appt last week. It went very well!! We saw a new doc, Dr. Cunningham, who fills in sometimes. He doesn't do wards at the hospital anymore. I was super impressed with him and his knowledge. He had excellent bedside manners. He jumped from gaining about 16 grams per day to 24 grams per day!! He is almost touching the bottom of the regular curve. His head is on the bottom of the regular curve now and his height is right on track. Next month will be a big visit. RJ will have a lot of testing done for developmental stuff. Also we will get a plan for starting solids. Remember me writing how they start meats first, well we will have a vegetarian menu for RJ. :) I got the reasoning behind no jumpers/bumbo seats/exerciser seats/etc. Turns out they are not recommended for RJ period since he was born so early. It would be ok if he was 34 wks or beyond. He has a lot of catching up to do with is pelvic growth and those contraptions cause his legs to be in a splayed position which can hinder proper growth and affect his walking later. So, the play mat will be his best friend for now! They will do extensive developmental testing again at 1,2, & 3 years.

RJ is around the 12 lb mark and doing great. Now that the weather is changing  and we are entering the sniffle season, we need extra prayers that RJ will stay free of sickness!! We don't want our lil one getting any bad infections.

Thanks again for all your prayers, love, and support!! We greatly appreciate them all.

September 15, 2013:

Well Football season has commenced and RJ had his first Sunday watching football on the couch with daddy last week. It was adorable. He seemed real into it as well. :) Turns out it was the best entertainment for cutting his fingernails as well. Who knew!!

Last week was eventful for RJ. He was playing on his activity mat one morning batting at the animals and mirror attached to the arch like crazy. It was funny, so I decided to video it. All of a sudden he got hold of one of the sides of the arch and ever so slowly pulled the whole arch on top of himself! It startled him at first and then he gave me smiles. I was laughing so hard. He hasn't done it since though. :) Always something new with him. Keeps us on our toes.

This past week he also found his toes. He likes to grab them with is left hand. We are trying to figure out whether he's going to be a left or right-handed baby. :) He tends to bat all the toys on his arch with his left hand too. We shall see. I'm left-handed and Robert is mostly right-handed, but does a few things with is left.

I'm happy to say that RJ is sleeping through the night on a pretty regular basis!! He has been waking up around 7am which is perfect for my morning routine. Seems that RJ has gotten really into his home routine and being in his familiar surroundings. We've been down at my moms this weekend so RJ could meet my cousin John and he's been a lot more fussy and waking up an hr earlier. Ugh... I tried leaving earlier in the day on Thursday to drive down and it took me an extra hr b/c we had to stop twice to change his diaper and feed him. It didn't help that we had to take a detour due to the on ramp being closed without my knowing and a torrential downpour in Knoxville. Oh bother... Oh well maybe going home tomorrow morning will be a lil easier. :) It sure makes it easier to have a 2nd person in the vehicle on these long trips. :)

Friday night after giving RJ a bath I was letting him play while we FaceTimed daddy. When Robert got to the point of saying goodnight and that he loved RJ, RJ all of a sudden broke out in loud talking. He was talking up a storm telling daddy something. It was so adorable. Robert tried saying goodnight a couple times and RJ would start up again talking. He's finding his voice for sure!!!

Well on a sadder note, I believe RJ has officially weaned himself from breastfeeding... It's slowly been happening over the past couple months. :( I'm blessed to have been able to give him my milk for so long. He's growing big and strong and that's all that matters now. :) I'm blessed to of even been able to experience the precious time of breastfeeding. I'm lucky RJ even latched on and enjoyed it. So many preemies get nipple confusion and end up just liking the bottles. He still loves to snuggle and fall asleep on my chest, so I will cherish every moment I get.

RJ is up to the 12 pound mark!! He's growing by leaps and bounds. It's so fun to see all the changes. He's really into holding onto our hands and standing up. He gets the biggest smile on his face. :) I wish he would roll more. He does it randomly. He's getting pretty good at scooting on his back though in combination with his hip thrusts. Last night he ended up turing 180 degrees in the bed. I laid him down horizontal in the pack n play and he woke up vertical. I guess he's just moving and progressing on his own schedule. I'm still totally in love with the lil guy.

We go to the NICU Grad clinic on Wednesday this week. We shall see how impressed they are with his weight gain. I'm hoping that he blows them away and gets closer to the normal weight curve on the growth chart. Keeping our fingers crossed!!

Thanks again for all your love, prayers, and support!! Keep 'em coming!!

Photo Book

Here is the photo book I recently completed of our journey throughout the hospitalization and the first few months home. Enjoy!!

Click here to view this photo book larger

Build your own high-quality photo books at Shutterfly.com.

September 5, 2013:

I'm blessed the RJ is taking a longer than 30 min afternoon nap!! I'm racing to get different projects completed which includes uploading some more recent pics!!! He's getting to be quite photogenic!! Love this lil man!!

September 4, 2013:

I was unable to finish my post on Sabbath afternoon for some reason. I've already forgotten. Robert was off the rest of the weekend, so we seemed to keep ourselves busy with having family time. Robert actually got to see RJ in his better morning moods. By the time he comes home in the afternoon/evening RJ is more tired and fussy. His golden fussy time is between 5-8pm before bedtime.

I was in the middle of telling my story from Sabbath when my blog page ran out of space to write. Anyways, Robert got soaked having to repark the truck and bring in the diaper bag. RJ and I remained relatively dry under the big umbrella I'd found at Meyers. I forgot to mention to bring in the milk bag, so once the rain stopped he went out for that. It's easier to pre-mix RJ's bottles since it has to be to a specific calorie count. I have to mix 8 ounces at a time in a big bottle. Currently he only drinks about 3 oz at a time. Anyways, RJ was super alert during Sabbath school taking everything in. By the end he was hungry. I had brought the bottle warmer this time since we were going to be at church longer. He ate great and then ended up falling asleep during church. As the sanctuary was clearing out RJ started getting hungry again. So I went to the back of the sanctuary and plugged in the bottle warmer. I'm sure it was quite the site, me holding the bottle warmer heating up the milk in church. Oh well, what we do for our picky children. :) I'm hoping our next child won't need the bottles and extra warm milk if we do use them. That NICU spoiled our child... Later in the afternoon we were able to take a family nap in our bed. It was fantastic!!!

Last evening right before Robert came home RJ and I were sitting on the couch. He was nawing on my fingers and would stop and stare at me intently. Then he would go back to nawing. He kept doing this back and forth. It was quite funny and I was laughing. Robert came home and walked over to say hi during the staring part. When Robert said hello to RJ, the lil guy let out a super loud scream. It was the craziest thing. He calmed down and eventually went to daddy. Wish I knew what that lil guy was thinking. :)

RJ has started this naptime routine where he will fall asleep in my arms after feeding and rocking. I'll get ready to place him into his bed. As soon as I start walking away he will open his eyes and just stare at me and smile. I'll pick him up and he will act like he's falling back to sleep again. He's a mess. He's currently making all sorts of grunts and wiggling around after only a 30 min nap. Yep, that's his new routine. He will at some point look at the monitor and bat his eyes. What a mess. So much for being productive.

I don't remember if I mentioned that I finally finished going through all of RJ's pictures from the time I went into the hopsital till he came home and through some of his major vacations this summer. I put them into a shutterfly book and it is now finished being edited. Whew... I briefly went through the book I made from the time we got pregnant through Christmas. Little did I know that I wouldn't be able to make a second pregnancy/delivery book. Crazy what life throws our way.

I feel very blessed to have such a special lil boy. He's changing every day and growing into such a cutie. We don't know what the future holds, but I'm enjoying every happy moment we have now. I feel very blessed to have the opportunity to stay home with him at this point. I wouldn't want any other person constantly taking care of our lil boy.

Well Robert is on his most difficult month of residency, cardio-thoracic anesthesia. He has early mornings and late evenings. The good thing is he's off most weekends this month, so it makes it more bearable. He's a good man and works hard. Love him to pieces. :)

Once again thank you so much for all the support, love, and prayers. They are all paying off. Our lil man is growing up so big. He'll be as tall as me before we know it. Ok, he's to the whinning stage now. Enough of self entertainment. I must go. :)

August 31, 2013:

I guess it's appropriate that I blog on the last day of the month. :) At least I'm getting in a post before the 2 wk mark. I can thank my husband for this. He's home for the whole weekend!!! Gives me extra time to do things like blog. :) RJ has become much more alert and awake during the day making it challenging to get things done. I did manage to do multiple loads of laundry, clean the house, grocery shop, make gluten, pay bills, and of course exercise 3 days this wk in between taking care of our precious lil boy. I've found that the early morning hours before he's awake are the best time for my worship, exercise, and getting dressed/eating. I get most of that done before he officially wakes up. I usually do one early morning feeding and then he will sleep till around 7-7:30am. Then all bets are off as to how long the naps during the day will be. This week they've lasted around 30 mins. A couple in the morning and then a couple in the afternoon. I did get one or two 2hr naps out of him in the afternoon when I was holding him and fast asleep myself. :). He's started to fight sleep more around nap time. I guess I need to ignore his eye rubbing and keep him up longer so he's even more tired before feeding him. He likes to change up the routine daily. Oh well, keeps me on my toes. Just a little more difficult to plan anything.

Last weekend RJ and I took our first road trip just the two of us. I was nervous for sure driving about 4.5 hrs to my moms house without having someone in the backseat to keep RJ entertained. Thankfully I timed it just right after a diaper change and feeding to make it 4 hrs with him napping the whole time!! It worked both on the way there and back!! He of course woke up and was ready to eat after the 4hr mark. :) That first night we arrived, Aug 22nd, was momentous in that he slept from 9:30pm-7am!!! He woke up and ate 5oz at one sitting!! That's the most at one time. It was impressive. :)

RJ has become quite the lil heater. I remember keeping him all bundled up at the beginning when he came home. It was fun keeping him all cozy. I kept long sleeves and long pants on him. Just in the past few weeks he's started to sweat a lil when he's all wrapped up. I guess it's the extra pounds he's putting on. He's up to 11lb now!!! I've heard that once preemies hit that 10 lb mark they start to really  catch up in the weight department. He's filling out and getting lil rolls. It's adorable. The preemie look is totally gone in my book!!

So since I've been talking about sleep. I've taken some notes to remember long sleeping. On Aug. 24th he slept 10.5hrs straight!! Unfortunately I was not sleeping that whole time. I was trying to get lots of things done once he was in bed, but now I've changed my routine. Since I get up early to get my day started, I've begun to get ready for bed right after I put him down. I get more sleep before midnight which is healthier anyways. :) Something funny about RJ is that around 10pm every night when we look on his baby monitor, he's having a wiggling fest. His legs are kicking all over the place and his arms waving. Your sure he's going to wake up, but eventually he settles down and is calm again. I'm sure he does that more throughout the night b/c he makes a significant move over night from his starting position. I put him in the middle of the bed towards the wall. When I come in for morning feedings he's wiggled his way over the the front of the crib down at the bottom. It's truly impressive. :)

Now that RJ's become so much more alert, he loves riding in the baby Bjorn facing forward so he can take everything in. It's a great way to calm him down too when he's fussy. He really enjoys taking walks around the neighborhood too. He's also getting more interested when I read him books. My mom bought one of those books where you can recored yourself reading it. He really listens intently as he hears grandma's voice reading to him. :)

He's started to look into my eyes more during feeding time and study my face. It's like he's looking deep into my soul. It's so precious... I'll start talking to him and playing w/ his face and he'll smile at me. It warms my heart.

Well this weekend we've been lucky enough to have daddy home all weekend!!! The 40% chance of rain today turned into a torrential downpour this morning on the way to Sabbath school and church. I bought a couple large umbrellas, so thankfully we had one, but we all still got a lil wet. Robert got soaked, but he was still smiling.

August 20, 2013:

I guess I'm keeping true to my blogging every couple weeks. I promise I'm not doing it on purpose. It's just the way the cookie crumbles. What a funny phrase. Anyways, lots has happened in the world of RJ. He has hit the 10 lb mark for real this time!!! I can feel him getting bigger and heavier when I carry him. I was just watching him this afternoon as he was sleeping in my arms and marveling at how big he's getting. I think he might be hitting that quick growth spirt we've been hearing about. I guess 10 lbs is supposed to be a magic number in the preemie world. Yesterday he took around 14 oz of breastmilk/formula!!! That's a record for him!!

He did hit the 7 month mark this past Sabbath. I can't believe he's already 7 months.... Where has the time gone!! It's exciting to think that RJ's been home longer thant he's been in the NICU. :) We are getting into a pretty good schedule. He likes to shake things up for sure. Last Thursday we had a NICU Grad clinic appt at 9am. I like to get up and feed him at 4:30am, pump, and then stay up to get dressed, have worship, and eat. Well he decided to stay awake and be fussy. It took me 2 hrs to get him back to sleep so I could then take care of myself and get us out the door. Thankfully we made it to our appt on time. Last week he was going through a segment of not wanting to take naps. It was very frustrating b/c that's the time I'm able to get things done. The past few days have been getting better again.

We went to the lake w/ some friends for a long weekend and RJ slept in the pack n' play for the first time!! He did great and wiggled all around. He seemed to enjoy the larger space. Sunday morning it was super cute to wake up to him making noises w/ his mouth. A gurgling of sorts w/ his mouth and tongue. :) He was content just playing by himself. Sunday RJ didn't get a lot of solid naps. He was a pretty tired boy by the time we got home and settled. He ended up sleeping from 9:15pm-6:30am and missed 2 feedings!! I knew he was tired, so didn't want to wake him. Then he slept for 3 more hrs on my chest! We were both tired from the lake weekend. We are back to missing just one feeding at midnight. :)

I've been having RJ sleep in his own room for the past few weeks, but had the co-sleeper in the bed as well so he would feel more secure. Last night I took it out and he slept in his big bed free to move around. I was surprised that he didn't stray much from the position I layed him in. He's growing up. :) We are so proud of him and all his accomplishments.

The other day we were eating some ice cream w/ some friends. I got some strawberry yoguart and put my spoon up to RJ's mouth. He wasn't too impressed. Just thought it would be fun to see what his reaction was. He's been more interested in what we've been eating lately. According to the Grad clinic nutritionist, we can start introducing solids at 6 months adjusted age. That would be mid October. According to the new recommendations they introduce meats first and then rice cereal and the other foods. I was shocked. I let the nutritionist know that I'm an ovo-lacto-vegetarian and that I was planning on raising RJ that way. I read a bunch of articles on line and know that RJ can get all the protein and iron he needs from legumes, tofu, tempe, and gluten. The nutritionist said she was going to do some research and put together a plan for us. I was afraid she was going to be more stand offish when I told her I didn't want to give him any meats. Thankfully she pretty understanding.

August 21, 2013:

So RJ has started making more fun sounds with his mouth. He likes to make bubbles and then gurgle like I mentioned before. He also made a motor boat sound and we talked back and forth. He was mimicking me I think. Whatever it was, we were having fun.

The other night Robert was snuggling w/ RJ and I asked if he wanted to give the midnight bottle. He hasn't been able to have RJ truly fall deep asleep on his chest. I told him that right near the end of the bottle RJ would close his eyes and fall asleep and then when moved to Robert's chest for burping would just lay there. Robert let me know that it was super precious and it all happened just like I said.

A couple weekends ago Robert and I went shopping at SAMs and I held RJ in the baby bjorn. He was facing out so he could take in all the sights and sounds. Without warning he fell fast asleep. We took a couple pics. It was so precious.

Over the past month RJ has decided it's time to take shorter naps during the day, then go longer at night between feedings. The nap thing has become a little more tricky. It's not as easy to get things done. I find myself staying up after his 4:30am feeding to get some of my stuff done and then staying up later after he's in bed. I need to find a good balance. I'm having to not be as annal about the cleanliness of my house. That's a hard one. :/ I'm trying to soak up all the moments I have with RJ though. Sometimes I hold him a little longer or even for his full nap, just starting at him and admiring him. Today I actually fell asleep for 2 hrs with him. He's also become a lot more alert and curious. He studies everything and watches what we do. I carry him around the house and tell him what I'm doing. :)

After his 6 month shots, RJ decided that he liked rocking in the lazy boy chair in his room all snuggled up after eating and sleep. Some moments that make me smile. I absolutely LOVE snuggling w/ RJ. He's our precious boy.

Things are going to start getting more challenging for Robert at work over the next few months. I'm so thankful that he adores his son so much and is willing to spend time with him even after long days. We are so blessed.

We had our next Grad clinic appt on the 15th. It was awesome that Robert was post call and was able to go with us again. He's always so good at asking questions and helping me keep track of what they told us. We met with the nutritionist, physical therapist, and doctor. Here are a list of the different things we were told:

No plush toys- use only hard ones such as blocks
Don't need lots of toys- a good set of blocks and shape finder
No jumpers, walkers, or bumbos
No battery toys, no screens (TV, iPad, iPhone, etc.) until 3 yrs old
Tummy time/activity mat should be 50% of his awake time (boy this is super tricky when you want to get things done around the house)
Exercises: help roll from back to tummy, support him sitting up, keep hands in front when holding him
Feed ad lib- increased calories to 27 to make up for when he breastfeeds
Start probiotics to help with bowels- Happy day he had a poopy on his own Saturday and today!!! I've kind of given up on the dilation. It didn't seem to be working. I think the probiotics, which I started this weekend, are really working!!!

Welp, it's time for me to shower and crawl into bed. Robert is on a super long call tonight that started at 10am this morning and goes till 7am tomorrow morning. Poor guy. We've texted a few times and I've sent pictures of RJ and myself to cheer him up. He's been super duper busy. Here's hoping he gets some amount of sleep tonight.

Thanks again for all the love, support, and prayers. Keep em' coming!!

August 7-8, 2013:

I'm feeling emotional right now. I'm tired and there are lots of things to do. It's been a busy day for RJ with going to the pediatricians office for his 6 month shots and then peds urology for starting the process to get his circumcision. I thought he was going to have it done in the office, but due to his age they have to do it in the OR and he has to be put under, which means probably intubated. Dr. Ziada said we need to wait till he's 6 months adjusted, so that would be October. We have scheduled the procedure for the first Tuesday in November which is the 5th. We will go back middle of October to have the H&P updated and resign consents. He's going to have to be NPO for a certain period of time before the minor surgery, but I'm not sure how long. He gets soooooo fussy when he doesn't have his food. He screams at the top of his lungs when we don't move fast enough to get his bottle now. I can only imagine having to wait multiple hours without food in his belly... They are waiting till he's 6 months so that they can do just a day procedure. He should be big enough by that time to properly recover from anesthesia, otherwise if done now they would have to keep him overnight and it would be a little more risky. Robert keeps assuring me that everything will be alright. I just hate hospitals now and I'm sick of being in them. At least this is supposed to be an easy procedure and only be around 45 min. If I'm all emotional and red eyed right now, I can only imagine what kind of basket case I'm going to be come November 5th... I'll need a million more prayers on that day. :)

RJ's 6 month peds appointment went well today. He got more shots poor lil guy. The nurse had me hold him and then I promptly kept feeding him his bottle. He usually does pretty good with them. He hasn't had any reactions so far. Here's hoping he does great tonight and has no issues. He's 9 lb 14.5 oz and 22 inches long!! He's gaining slowly but surely. I asked about when we start rice cereals and the NP we saw today said she'd call the NICU nutritionist to double check. Turns out they start preemies on meat first. We are going to have to come up w/ a meat substitute plan b/c I feel very strongly against giving my baby real meat. That's a decision he can make down the line in high school like his daddy did. I have an easy recipe for gluten which is super high in protein, plus there is tofu and all the Morning Star meat substitues I can grind up. Oh boy... had no idea we were going to have this issue to deal with...

The last time I blogged was on Sunday July 21st. That Monday the 22nd I had a doctors appointment and RJ ended up not getting a lot of his naps. I was talking to Robert about wondering how long RJ would sleep if I didn't set my alarm. I was getting tired of the set night schedule. So, I went to bed around 10pm and bolted awake around 4am all confused b/c I hadn't been woken up! Turns out RJ was just super duper tired. The rest of the week he would give me at least one 5-6 hr stretch. Then we went on vacation and that changed. We've been watching his weight on a regular basis and it dipped from about 9.5 lbs to 9 lbs, so we decided to start waking him up during the night again. On our vacation he was automatically waking up every 3 hrs or so and now that we are home I'm back to setting my alarm clock. Bummer....

I started to write a few things down on a sticky note that I wanted to blog so I would't forget. I even thought I'd blog while on vacation, but we didn't have very good internet. I remember a few weeks back it was during the middle of the day and I was breastfeeding. All of a sudden RJ pulled himself off and just stared up at me intently. I stared back at him. It was so sweet. After he had studied me, he went back to eating.

So RJ had his first flight cross country last week. Last Sunday in preparation Robert had to pack b/c he had a 24 hr OB call shift on Monday and we were to fly out of Lexington at 11am Tuesday morning. We had been at the lake for a large part of the day Sunday and it was late when we got home, just in time for RJ's bedtime. We decided to have RJ sleep in his own room so Robert could pack. We put the co-sleeper in his crib so he would feel safe and not feel like too many changes happened. I had the iPad set up w/ the monitor screen next to our bed, but was afraid I wasn't going to hear him cry. Needless to say I didn't sleep very good that night. I prayed God would wake me up and he did. RJ didn't have any screaming sessions. :)

August 8, 2013:

RJ was pretty fussy yesterday afternoon/evening. I was unable to finish my post, so here's my next try. :) Our trip to Monterey, CA went well. We went to see Robert's grandma who is over 95 years old. It turned into a mini family reunion. His parents were gracious enough to purchase our tickets. We are of course saving our shekels. I was super nervous about flying w/ an infant and how to feed him and pump. I opted to breastfeed and supplement w/ bottles. It worked way better on the trip out than on our return. I have to admit that I was way more exhausted mentally, physically, and emotionally than RJ was after all the flights. Thankfully we didn't have any uncontrollable crying on the planes. He was able to be pacified. It was special being able to introduce RJ to his great-grandma and his aunts and cousins. I was even lucky to get extra sleep in the mornings after mom took RJ. He got lots of grandma and great-grandma time.

RJ has adjusted back to eastern time pretty well. It's taken longer to get him to sleep at night even though it's clear he's tired. I also had to start giving him a bottle either before or after breastfeeding him the past few nights. I guess he's going through another growth spurt or something. Last night I got teary-eyed b/c I felt like he wanted the bottle over my boobs. It's such a special thing to breastfeed and I felt like he was starting to grow out of it. He likes the instant food versus being patient. I don't know... we shall see what happens. Because he had lost a lil weight before our trip, I decided to start waking RJ up twice a night to feed him a bottle. I guess it's been working since he's about 10 lb now!!

I ended up giving RJ a dose of Tylenol last evening to see if that would help him be less fussy. At least he was able to sleep pretty well last night. He woke up an hr earlier this morning and has been fussy all day. It's been extra challenging to figure out what he's needing. I gave him another dose of Tylenol this morning. He had flinched when I was putting on his lotion this morning to his legs. He didn't take much of a morning nap, so after his 11am feeding I knew he was tired. He fought it terribly. I ended up taking him upstairs to rock him in his room and then bring him back downstairs to his swing. What a mess...

Oh I keep forgetting to mention that the last time my mom was here she brought my baby book. It was fun looking through it and reminiscing. Turns out my first baby pic in the hospital shows me sticking my tongue out. Robert felt so much better to know RJ's tongue thing must be genetic. :) It was pretty funny.

So, I ended up switching my birth control method a few weeks ago. I've just been having the worst time gaining weight. I thought it was supposed to slowly fall off after the baby was born. It's quite depressing to see the numbers slowly increasing. Anyways, in addition to the exercising I've been trying to do, I'm starting to make "green" smoothies in the mornings and watching my carb intake. Today was my third day and it's been going pretty well. I have the "green" smoothie (spinach, apple, banana, apple juice, celery, and vanilla yogurt) in the morning w/ a slice a of bread ( that only has 7 carbs and is super delicious from Trader Joe's). Then salad and some main dish for lunch and a big salad for supper. Robert helped me put the groceries away the other night and said "Wow there's a lot of green in this fridge!" Hehehe. I got to do something so my clothes will fit again. Workout clothes and dresses is all I can wear currently without going out to buy a new wardrobe. Oh mercy... Ok that's enough of my ranting.

Well silly RJ is still not wanting to poop on a regular schedule. The past few weeks he's gone 7 days without anything, so I've had to give him a suppository. Then of course there is action. It's pretty ridiculous. I've been doing the rectal stimulation, but it just doesn't seem to be working. It's like he doesn't feel the urge to poop. It's still another month or so before we go back to Peds Surg regarding this issue. They keep saying he's going to grow out of it. Diaper changing is a whole lot less messy 99% of the time. :)

Well, I've been working on going through all the pictures we've taken since I went into the hospital in January. It's taken me a long time b/c I wasn't very consistent. It was at times quite emotional looking at those early pictures of when RJ was so sick. I was semi reliving the experiences. We were wanting to make copies of pics for Robert's great grandma to leave w/ her, but that didn't quite happen. So the other night I uploaded multiple hundreds of pics to Shutterfly so I could make a photo book. It's currently around 60 pages long. I wanted to tell the story of RJ's entrance into the world from the beginning of my being hospitalized. We are so lucky to have him in our lives. It could have been so much worse. I tend to be a pessimist and Robert the optimist. He keeps reminding me that when I start feeling down to just stop and take a second to remember where we came from and how much worse it could have been for both RJ and myself. We had a million angels working over time to help protect us. There must be a special purpose for sparing both our lives.

The past couple mornings I've tried a new approach to my mornings. I've stayed awake after the 4:30am feeding and pumping. I come downstairs to make a hot drink and have some worship for about 30 mins. Yesterday morning I succumbed to the couch after that and feel asleep till RJ woke up. Today I was able to stay awake and got a number of things accomplished in the hour I had left before RJ woke up. I hope I can keep this up. It's nice to have the quiet time in the morning without distractions. I can always take a nap throughout the day.

I guess I should start working again on the photo book before RJ wakes up. I hear his lil lips a smacking. :) Thanks again for all the support, prayers, and love. We greatly appreciate it.

July 21, 2013:

I'm bummed that all my family has left now. It was a great help having my lil sis Emily here this week to help take care of RJ. She did may feedings, changed her first diaper, burped him, played w/ him, and had her first real spit-up happen. It was also helpful to have someone feed RJ at the midnight/1am feeding while I pumped. Really helped to speed up the process. Now I have to get used to doing it all on my own again. Boo boo...

This morning my mom took RJ after his morning feeding around 7am and let me sleep a lil longer. Good thing I set an alarm b/c I was deep in sleep and could have kept sleeping for hours. I might just have to take a nap this afternoon. :)

This week RJ's sleeping pattern was a lil off. He had a few nights that were more like 2.5-3hr segments between feedings. My body has gotten used to 4-5hr segments, so switching back makes it really hard. The past couple nights we've gotten back to our regular schedule. I switched back to giving him 2 bottles at night versus trying to breastfeed at the 4-5am feeding. It's helped him sleep much better.

Monday was Robert's birthday and RJ had his first baby-sitter experience. Emily was here of course, but I also had a couple friends come over who just happened to be doctors. :) I took Robert out to eat at his favorite restaurant, Bone Fish Grill. We had a nice date night for the first time since our lil man was born. RJ did pretty good and didn't cry too much while we were gone.

Tuesday Emily helped me complete a 24hr power pumping session. I began it at 12am Tuesday morning to pump q3hrs during the night. When I woke around 7am I started the q30 min pumping at 7:30am. I pumped for 3 min simultaneously on both boobs q30 min. I would just put my pumping gear in the fridge until I got a full bottle and then would attach a new set, versus cleaning everything after each pumping. It was quite the experience. It didn't hurt at all. It was just very time consuming. We watching movies all day long and Emily helped w/ RJ a lot. Emily actually had to keep waking me up for the last few pumpings before midnight b/c I was so tired. It was a success b/c I'm not ahead on bottles for the next day since Tuesday!! Thanks Stacie G. for informing me of this process!!

It's exciting to announce that RJ is almost 10 lbs!!! He was 9.6 lbs Friday night before his bath. I think he's going to be a tall lean lil guy. I think my arms have been getting more toned too carrying him around w/ his increased weight. :) His pooping has gotten better as well. Although I say that to brag and it's been about 4 days since his last poop. He was doing better. Silly lil boy.

Another first for the wk was taking RJ to the grocery store. I kept him in his carseat and just hooked him to the sitting part of the cart. He was awake looking around while we were in Krogers and started to get fussy while we were checking out for his next meal. Then we went to Sams after he was fed and sleepy. He ended up sleeping through that whole shopping experience. It was quite tricky trying to navigate the cart while trying to look over and around the carseat. :) It's definitely more complicated than shopping alone. :) Of course we didn't spend any extra like we could have if Robert was with us. My silly husband finds all sorts of extras to add to the shopping cart. :)

I just realized that today marks 3 months since we brought RJ home from the hospital. Wow... so much has happened between now and then. He has come soooooo far. He's made such amazing progress and has totally lost the preemie look. He's grown out of diapers and clothes, and gotten rid of all tubes and cords. He's started smiling, cooing, rolling over, tracking our faces, and just becoming more interactive. He's been gaining just over a pound per month too. I can only imagine what will happen in the next 3 months...

We are so incredibly blessed. He is such a special lil boy. I love my new job of being a stay at home mom. It's definitely more exhausting, but also way more rewarding. I've had a part in helping our lil guy grow stronger. All my around the clock pumping sessions is paying off. We have a beautiful lil boy. I can't wait for each of you to meet him.

Thanks again for all the prayers, love, and support. We couldn't be happier with RJ's progress. God is so incredibly amazing. RJ is complete proof that there is a God up in heaven who answers prayers.

July 13, 2013:

What an eventful week we have had!! We saw the Grad clinic on Thursday and daddy was able to come after his 24hr OB shift. They were very impressed with is progress. He's 8 lb 11.5 oz and 21 inches long!!! He's uped his weight gain to 18grams per day from 16grams. He's meeting his milestones appropriately for a 2 month old. He will be 3 months adjusted next wk on the 17th. Him being able to roll from stomach to back is advanced and not normally seen till 4 months, so that's awesome!! Since I've had to start supplementing his feedings w/ some straight formula, they gave me a recipe to make it 24 calorie like I do when I fortify my breastmilk. We have also dropped a bottle to add a breastfeeding. The speech therapist saw him and observed him sucking on his bottle. She said he has an inefficient suck since it makes a smacking noise. I thought that was a good thing. :) Anyways, there's an exercise we can do w/ the paci to help that. He's still eating great and gaining weight, so I'm sure he will grow out of it. We were able to stop the Beneprotein powder, so one less powder to mix!! Counting them down!! We roughly tried to figure out how much he drinks her day w/ bottles and breastfeeding. The nutritionist gave us the estimate of 10.5 ounces per day and 5 breastfeedings. Since being home I've decided that I can get the 10.5 ounces in, but can only get about 3 breastfeedings in w/ his new sleeping. He hasn't been eating as frequently. He's even decided to give me a 5 hr stretch during the night. I thought it was a fluky thing since he didn't get much of a nap on Thursday, but he's done it the past few nights!!

Today was a super special day. It was RJ's first time to church!! Today daddy got ordained as a deacon. RJ and I slipped in after most all had sat down for the service to start and darted out at the closing hymn. Robert was able to get the pastor to come out to the truck and say a special prayer of Thanksgiving. It was special. My mom, Bruce, and Emily were able to be here this weekend as well. We even had a special Sabbath lunch that RJ will get remnants of. I made a Tofu Parmesan that was delicious w/ Kale and bussel sprout salad. Both are winners!!

I keep forgetting to mention that RJ has outgrown the nipple shield!!! Now feeding is much less messy and we don't waste any milk!! That's been going on for about 2 weeks now.

This morning as we were getting ready for church, I decided to give RJ a lil tummy time while still in his PJ's. He rolled over for the grandparents to see in person!! He did it a few times. We tried it this afternoon after lunch and he just laid there. Silly boy.

It's such an incredible feeling to hold him and snuggle w/ him during feeding times. I love how he holds my finger during our breastfeeding sessions... Melts my heart. It's so sweet his lil smiles while changing his diaper or when waking up in the morning. It almost feels like he's hugging me sometimes. :) I'm totally and completely in love...

This week the bumbo was delivered. It about swallows RJ up. He's getting used to it. On Friday while I was eating lunch I sat him in it. I was wiping his face w/ a paper towel and he kept smiling so I kept doing it. :) I waited too long to take a video b/c then he really spit up and it made him cry. :( Poor lil fellow.

This coming week my lil sis Emily is going to be here w/ us to help take care of RJ. Time for a baby-sitting crash course!!

Thanks again for the continued prayers, support, and love. RJ is doing fantastic and making great progress.

July 8, 2013 Take 2:

Our lil man is growing up!!

Such a happy lil boy

Road trip feeding time...

Thought he might drive for daddy

Met Uncle Chad for the first time

Loved his boat rides. Would fall right asleep

Full of the goofy smiles

Flying baby!!

Priceless moment. Love that lil frown

RJ's not so sure about the pond and feeding the ducks