We Heart Global Warming!

It is snowing again today in Dallas and we LOVE it! The flakes are huge and it has been constant since probably about 3am. We actually have that thick good wet snow that you can build snowmen out of. So, Brendan did not make the treaturous drive to Fort Worth for work and we got to have some family fun outside. First, I had to go out and get Wright some waterproof gloves and boots. But it was worth it because he had a great time playing and eating the snow (which he called ice). Spencer hung out in his swing and watched through the window.

He hated the gloves at first and refused to wear them. So he pulled them off and then started to say his hands were burning. Finally, we got him to keep them on!

Wright and me.

Lucy had a great time running in the yard and playing fetch with snowballs.

Chief Firefighter Snowman and Firefighter Wright (in his fireman boots).

Brendan posing with our snowman masterpiece.

Finished product.

Wright making snowballs.

Playing fetch with Lucy.

Like Mother Like Son?

My mom brought this picture to me tonight. The first one is me when I was a newborn and the second one is Spencer. I think we look a lot alike.

Stand Up Comedy

Brendan's friend from work, Jared, came over last night for dinner. Before Wright went to bed, he was putting on the biggest show for our guest. He kept running from room to room, bringing all of his toys in to show off. He would run up to me with his play food and say "look mommy, an egg," or "look mommy, an orange" and I would say "cool, go show jared." So he kept running up to Jared and saying something that we could not understand. After he repeated it a few times, we realized he was saying "Here ya go, Tom and Jared." HA! He loves the show Tom and Jerry and I guess was confusing that name with Jared. So funny.

Meeting Grady Akhtar

We went and met Grady Akhtar on Saturday. He was due about 3 days after Spencer was due. , so even though they are 5 weeks apart, they are almost the exact same size. So cute! We are excited that Spencer has a little friend already. Here is the best pic we could get of the two of them together.

More Homecoming Pics

Some more pics from my sister's camera...

Wright - 27 months

Wright is 27 months old! He is so much fun and we get the biggest kick out of him every day. Here are a few funny things he has said recently:

• We had brunch the other day at the Hilton and the waiter came by with coffee and orange juice and Wright said "I want coffee." very confidently to him.
• When I picked him up from school today, we ran into the teacher who works across the hall from me. She has a little girl named Ava who is 5. Wright LOVES her. After we walked off from them, Wright shouted "Bye bye Ava!" and I asked him if he misses her and he said "Yes, I lub her so much."

He is also still being such a sweet and affectionate big brother. We had a near disastrous event happen today when I had Spencer in the bouncer on the dining table. I walked into the kitchen to get Wright's dinner and Wright started shouting desparately "Mommy, uh oh baby, get baby!" I walked back in and Wright was holding the bottom of the bouncer, keeping it from falling off the table. He was so concerned and worried about his baby brother, it made me so proud.

Spencer is One Month Old!

We can't believe Spencer is a month old today, especially since he has only been home 1 week. Here are some info about him...

• He eats every 3 hours almost on the dot. But last night we gave him a little formula with his 10pm bottle and he slept 4 hours. Woohoo!
• He is great at sleeping in his crib, especially at night. He cries very little or none at all when we put him down. This is especially wonderful after the 1am and 4am bottles.
• He is eating from bottles only but I am pumping 8 times a day so he can have breast milk.
• He has the cutest little dimples and we are not sure who he got them from.
• He is very easy, seems content most of the time and sort of goes with the flow.
• His hair is blonde at the tips and darker at the root, so similar to Wright, people think it is reddish. We think he might end up being blonder than Wright is.
• He had his one month checkup and was 10th percentile head and weight and 20th for length. He also gained 7oz. in 4 days! The kid is a chunker.

Homecoming Pics

Spencer came home today and everything went very smoothly. Wright has been so sweet with him all day wanting to hold him and kiss him. He also kept talking about how "baby need to go ni ni" and kept giving him his paci and blanket. We are pretty sure he thinks Spencer is a new toy and wondering what he will do when the novelty wears off. But, so far so good. Spencer loves to eat now and chugs his bottles in like 5-10 minutes! So crazy, Wright never ate that fast!

I will post more pics from the homecoming when I get them uploaded.

Wright worked on a welcome sign for Spencer's door - thanks for the crafty ideas Sarah!

Here is the picture he made.

Spencer was happy to be home.

Here he is in the hospital taking a nap on me while waiting for the dr to release him.

Up and ready to get outta there!

The three of us leaving the SCN.

Spencer's Coming Home!

We are going to get Spencer from the hospital tomorrow at 10am to bring him home! Praise God that our prayers have been answered and that we finally have a healthy baby who can be here with his family. We are so excited! Pics of the homecoming to come soon.

The Light Bulb

The so-called "light bulb" that we have heard so much about has finally turned on for Spencer. He is eating like a champ taking bottle after bottle and finishing them all. It is almost like he never even had an issue with it, much like a full term baby. We are so excited! Today the dr moved him up to 5-6 feedings and as of 7:30 pm he had taken 4 bottles in a row. If he succeeds with 6 today, they will go ahead and move him to 8. Once he does 8 for two days, he goes home! What does this mean? SPENCER COULD BE HOME BY SUNDAY OR MONDAY!!!!!!! We could not be more extatic about the whole thing and are just dying for him to be with us all the time and to get to know his family. The continued prayer is that nothing will deter him from his eating (circumcision, breathing, etc). Praise God for the healing he has done thus far and for allowing it all to "click" for Spencer.

Spencer 2 weeks old

Spencer was 2 weeks old on Thursday and would be 38 weeks today if I was still pregnant. The gestational age is really more what they go by at the hospital as far as measuring development. Today the doctor decided that he was ready for 4 nipple feedings a day which means they will give him a bottle or I will breastfeed every 6 hours and he will get fed through his tube in between. The dr. seems to think that this might give him a boost to start really motivating to finish the bottles and get out of there. We are up for trying anything! So far so good too. This morning he ate 25 ml from me which is a breastfeeding record to date. And at his next bottle feeding he ate 50 ml which is only 5 ml shy from completion. We just hope this pattern continues and we get to add more bottles quickly. We are also going to go ahead and get him circumcised this week which is one more thing that has to be done before we leave. I like getting things checked off the list and feeling like we are getting closer to getting our baby home.

Lanie's Birthday

Wright had a great time at Lanie's 2nd birthday on Saturday. We went to the farm and he got to feed the goats, see a new baby goat, chickens and a huge horse. And of course his favorite part was the cake and juice.

Brendan helping Wright feed the goats.

Its a weird feeling...

Wright liked the idea of feeding them but did not like to get more than a foot from their mouths.

Eleanor had the right idea letting them eat out of the cup.

Sweet friends - Wright kept dragging Eleanor around by her hand.

That is one large horse!

Wright got to sit next to the birthday girl and he even tried to blow out her candles!

Making Progress

After many prayers, Spencer finally seems to be making progress with his eating. Last night he ate 45 ml (out of 55) at 7:30pm and then finished a bottle at 1:30am! This is a HUGE step in the right direction. Then this morning and today, he only ate 10 ml from the bottle and none from me. We have been told many times that it is very normal for these babies to make a huge step and then the next few feedings regress somewhat. So we are trying to focus on the progress and not the setbacks.

Tonight Brendan and I hired a babysitter for Wright and went up to the hospital for a few hours to spend time with Spencer together. He once again ate nothing when I tried to breastfeed which was discouraging. But then we tried a bottle and he ate 45 ml again. We were both very proud parents. It was funny, he had two cheerleaders encouraging him the whole time "Come on buddy, you can do it! We know you can!" Anyways, it at least feels like he is moving in the right direction. We are hoping he makes giant strides this week. Thanks again to all for praying for him :)

On a side note, I know I am slightly biased but he is so stinkin' cute! He has the most beautiful deep blue eyes and such pretty coloring. And he has this blondish hair that has grown in the perfect little boy hair style. We cannot tell who he looks like exactly. Sometimes he looks a lot like Brendan and then sometimes we both see my family too. We don't think he looks that much like Wright though. I guess only time will tell...

Spencer Update 1/15

Not much has changed this week with little Spencer. He is supposed to be eating 55 ml every feeding and he is eating an average of 20 ml from the nipple. He is allowed to try anywhere from 2-4 nipple feeds a day. A typical day consists of me nursing him at 10:30am and 7:30pm and the nurse giving him 1-2 bottles during the night. Anything he does not eat from me or the bottle they give him through his gavage (tube in his nose). He seems to have the mechanics down (wide awake, rooting, sucking, etc) but he just does not have the stamina or maturity to finish. According to every dr and nurse, one day a light bulb will just go off and he will figure it all out. In the meantime, it is very frusterating to go in there every day feeling like he is not making progress. I am such a numbers person that if he takes 20 ml one day, I want him to take 25 ml the next day. Unfortunately, I have had to learn that premature babies do not follow these patterns. Instead every day is a roller coaster. From the beginning they have told us to expect his due date of February 1 for when he will be out of there. We both thought that was so far away, there was NO way it would be that long. Now, we are thinking his due date would be a best case scenario. The nurse told us today that once he takes 6 full nipple feeds, expect he will be home in about a week. Since he is not even finishing one full now, this seems like an insurmountable task. Our prayers continue to be that something will click soon and he will surprise us all.
On another note, Wright is doing very well being juggled between so many different people. But he has definitely become very clingy to mommy when he is home. He has regressed in a lot of ways asking strange things like to be rocked by me and to lay in our bed. He also likes to grab my hand and drag me around with him. These are all things he has never done before, so I know he is feeling a little uneasy about all that is going on. This is of course difficult for me because I feel guilty leaving him but also feel guilty not being with Spencer. Just challenging to be pulled in so many directions.

Spencer's Eating

Spencer is up to 2-4 "nipple feeds" a day, but he still has not completed a feeding on his own. He seems very ready, alert and wanting to eat but then just takes a long time to get the suck, swallow down. After about 20 minutes, we have to stop trying because if you let it go too long, he will burn more calories than he is taking in. So, we just need continued prayers that something will click as he grows and he will be able to start finishing bottles in a timely manner. Thanks to everyone for your ongoing support.