5 months today!

This weekend has had many high points, my birthday, wonderful spring-like weather, and Lincoln is now 5 months old. We didn't have any big plans for my birthday this weekend, I got a mani/pedi (thanks to Sandy!), got my hair cut and colored finally (thanks Meghan!), went for a walk with my boys, and enjoyed dinner with the Jacobs. It was a great weekend!

Lincoln ready for the walk. This was his first time to sit in the stroller without this carseat and he loved it!
5 Month Monkey pic

Things I want to remember at 5 months:

• Lincoln is a talker, especially in the morning. He loves to hear his own voice.
• Lincoln is still a champion eater! He has now gotten rice cereal for a month and had first taste of oatmeal today. He had to get used to rice cereal but he loves oatmeal. About 2 weeks ago, he started to wake up at 1:30 am ready to eat so the pediatrician said we could start him on vegetables since he was going through a growth spurt. He has tried sweet potatoes and carrots and LOVES them both! We can not shovel the food in fast enough.
• Lincoln still takes 5 bottles a day of 8 oz each (seriously he eats a lot!). At his last swallow study he did great on just formula so we have been weaning him off of Simply Thick. This weekend we started the feedings of just milk and he has been doing great! Thank goodness for not having to buy that any more!
• Lincoln still sleeps great at night. He goes to bed about 7:45 and sleeps until 6:00 am. He takes 2 long naps during the day and one short. He is not a great napper though.
• Lincoln is wearing 3-6 month clothes and can fit into 0-3 month pants. He wears a size 2 diaper and it has to be Huggies.
• Lincoln has been sickness-free and I am keeping my fingers crossed that it stays that way since he is starting a home daycare tomorrow (yes please say a little prayer for me!)
• Lincoln loves to be in the action. He must always be where everyone else is and has a hard time falling asleep if there is a lot going on. We think he is afraid he will miss something!
• There was no doctor check up this month so I am unsure how much he weighs. Hopefully there will be some significant gain due to the amount he eats!

Helping me blow out my birthday candles

This is my new haircut, much shorter and with highlights (it will be much easier to fix and feels fresh!)

Today is also special because Miss Phoebe Mae turns 3 today! I am very sad to missing her ice cream sundae party but we got to celebrate with her in Abilene last weekend. This little girl has a special place in the heart (as does her brother) and I love her little sassy personality! I can't wait to see her again in a couple of weeks for Spring Break.

Phoebe Mae was born with a bow!

Have you ever seen a cuter 3 year-old?!

Happy Birthday Phoebe!

We love you!

Team Lincoln

During our stay in the NICU, I was able to read many inspiring stories from families who have benefited from March of Dimes. Most of the families had preemie babies who were in the NICU for long periods of time and some (sadly) never got to bring their sweet babies home. As the months have passed since Lincoln was released, I have become grateful for the situation that we were placed. Many of the families in the NICU spend MONTHS of learning a new "normal" for their family, spend countless hours and days going from hospital to home and back, have to readjust their lives of having their baby not under the own roof, and spend many hours on their knees praying for a miracle for their baby. Our family was one of the "lucky" ones who only had to do that for a month (yes I can now say I was one of the lucky ones). I don't know how so many mothers go months in that battle but they do.

March of Dimes is a nationwide organization that sets up walks all over the US. Donations from the walks go towards research to prevent premature birth and birth defects. Donations can also be used for financial help for the families in the NICU. The goal of March of Dimes is to someday have all babies be born healthy.

I have a started a team to walk on April 17 in Dallas for Team Lincoln (pretty catchy name!) to celebrate the journey that Lincoln has already ventured in this short life. If you would like to walk with us (it's only 5 miles, I think) then let me know and I will email you the link to join us. If you can't walk, then please donate to this cause. If you have had a baby in the NICU then you know the heartbreak and feelings that comes with it. If you have not had a baby in the NICU then count yourself lucky and donate to this wonderful cause.

Here is the link to the Team Lincoln page:
http://www.marchforbabies.org/s_team_page.asp?seid=1377316

Here is our little man

Lincoln after surgery

Lincoln has a come a long way from those pictures and a huge part goes to the experience and technology in that NICU. The other huge part was due to all of you who read and prayed for this little guy. Please help all those babies who are still walking that scary journey and donate.

The weekend ahead

I can not wait for the weekend to start so I can head to good ole Abilene. Sing Song weekend has arrived! If you never went to ACU or know anyone that did then you will never know the importance of Sing Song. It is a show put on by the students of songs, choreography, homemade costumes, and all the magic that comes with. I loved Sing Song and all the "stress" that came with it. Some people would like to go back to high school days, not me but I would love the chance to revisit ACU especially at Sing Song.
Keely, my roomie for 3 years in college and one year out of college (love this gal!), practicing the "Sing Song" face

This is the only picture I have on my computer that has a glimpse of the great homemade costumes. We were penguins my senior year. (Sophomore year: Grass, wonderful year! and Junior year: Ants)

Can't wait to visit the campus and take Lincoln for the first time! I am secretly pushing for Lincoln to continue the family tradition!

One year ago today...

Valentine's weekend will always hold a special place in Shane's and I memories. February 13th, 2009 I didn't feel the greatest and felt I had food poisoning from Wendy's but turns out I was about a month and half pregnant. I came home took a pregnancy test (so I could rule out being pregnant, boy was I wrong!) and I was shock when the results came. I don't have cute pictures from that day because I truly was in shock and had other mixed emotions which made it a little hard to be excited. Once the shock set in and we decided when to tell our families (about 2 weeks later, yes I kept it a secret that long!) I was excited and ready for the adventure. We have come a long way in just a year and we always remember February 13th as the day we learned our family was about to grow!

This year I wanted to start a few traditions to continue as Lincoln grows. To start the V-day celebrations, I made heart-shaped pancakes and bacon Saturday morning. (My mom gave me this nifty tool called a "Pancake Pen" and it works great to make pancakes in different shapes. Very cool!)
Here is our plate of hearts.
We didn't do much on Saturday, but for V-day dinner we had fajitas and chocolate fondue for dessert. (I have to give props to my sister for letting me steal her idea for that dinner, she started the same tradition dinner and her kiddos love it!) We had my parents and bro and SIL over for V-day dinner.
Nena fed Lincoln his dinner of cereal. He is getting better at it (once we added some apple juice for flavor.)

Fondue...Yummo!

Lincoln loved the Valentines celebrations! (His shirt says "World Champion Heartbreaker")

Lincoln wore his Nebraska jammies since they were red (and to support his big cousin Jesse Allen who plays football for Nebraska, Go Big Red!)

And tonight we ended the holiday with reading our Valentines book, Baby Cakes.

It was a nice, relaxing Valentines Day. Can't wait to continue the traditions.

I have to add my great presents from my boys. I got a James Avery "Mommy" charm from Lincoln and a small video recorder from Shane, I need to learn to use and get some videos of Lincoln talking on here.

Hope your Valentine's was all you wanted it to be!

DFW Arctic Blast- Feb.2010

Yes the term "Arctic Blast" has been used A LOT in the last 48 hours here in DFW (at least I didn't say blizzard like I heard one reporter say). I know it is not the snow like on the east coast (or in KS) but for Texas this is a big deal. It started snowing Thursday morning about 3 am and did not stop until Friday morning about 6 am....and I mean DID NOT STOP! I think my kids at school were going to explode with excitement and had ants in their ants having to sit inside watching the snow fall (I did have to close my blinds in my classroom because it didn't help with the test they were taking!) I was the kind teacher and let them run around the playground 10 minutes before the bell and you would think they had never seen this stuff, which probably some never have!

Anyways in total the DFW got an average of 10 inches or so (at my parents they measured 13 inches and could barely in their driveway, it gets pretty hazardous in Glenn Heights!) Schools were closed so Lincoln and I are having a relaxing day at home. Lincoln didn't get to play in the snow yesterday but we ventured out this morning for a quick photo shoot. I think Lincoln didn't mind the snow but he hated the layers I dressed him (hey, he doesn't have a snowsuit...it is Texas) and the fact that I put socks on his hands which I am sure brought back terrible memories from the NICU. The snow makes our street look pretty except the large branch that broke off the neighbors across the street and is now blocking the street. It did not hit a powerline so I am thankful for that!

This was taken before I left for school on Thursday while it was snowing. Lincoln was thrilled!
Shane and Lincoln on Friday morning....Lincoln looks like he is in a little shock.

Here is some of the neighbors trees down. He live on an older street and have many trees so we always branches down in bad weather. Luckily we got our trees trimmed recently so we didn't have any fall.

Little boy loving the snow. This was before he actually touched the snow and then had a meltdown about being cold (he is definitely related to my mom and sister!)

Our street

Our little house. The crapemyrtle trees are a little saggy from all the snow.

Another large branch down (this is the one blocking the street)

One picture from the backyard. The part sticking up was a snowman my mom built yesterday when she was here. We got a lot of snow.

It has been pretty exciting around here. We missed our picture day at school, Valentines party day, and a Family Friendship Night at school but at least I got an extra day at home with Lincoln!

Stay warm!

Swallow test Take 4

Yes Lincoln has had radiation 4 times in his short little life, pretty crazy! Lincoln did great today. We started with just formula (the thinnest and "normal") and he only aspirated once with 2 oz. This is HUGE for Lincoln. The therapist thinks he aspirated because it was about 25 minutes past his meal time and he was chugging his milk. Probably if he would slow then he wouldn't have aspirated. So now we will start weaning him off the thickener, which will probably take about a month to totally get him used to straight formula. She also had Lincoln eat some cereal with the dye to see where it was going since we have had a battle with that. He took it much better when we thickened the cereal to almost a paste consistency, so it is a start!

Overall it was a great swallow test (probably our last, I was a little sad because I love Robin but I am also happy to never see her again!) It was wonderful results on a terrible weather day. It has rained all day but I enjoyed my day with Stinkin' Lincoln!

Thank you to everyone who has kept up with our crazy journey!

A couple of firsts for Lincoln

Lincoln has a couple of firsts since I last blogged. The first was eating cereal. I just knew that Lincoln would be thrilled to eat something besides milk. Since the day he was allowed to eat in the NICU (with the thickener so he was aspirating) he was a champ at eating and would about eat your hand off if you were not quick enough with the food. Plus Lincoln is already used to thicker formula so I didn't think we would have a problem with the consistency. Boy was I wrong! Lincoln HATES cereal! He wants nothing to do with and cries whenever I try to feed it to him. I don't know if it is the texture, taste or the use the spoon (which I don't think it is because we have let him taste a VERY small bite of a yummy dairy dessert and he gobbled it off the spoon). But cereal is not his favorite yet. It has only been a week so we are still trying but so far Lincoln is not convinced that this stuff is good for me.

Lincoln is fine if you are not making him eat the cereal.

Lincoln has a swallow test at 3:00 today and we are going to try and eat cereal and see where it is going. Hopefully he will start to like it better, I am ready to give him better tasting food!

Lincoln's second first was the Super Bowl. Shane is a Colts fan (always has been and always will be) so Lincoln and he were dressed for the big game against the Saints.

I am in love with this picture! It is very rare to get Lincoln to smile for the camera but here is his precious, toothless grin! (I know Lincoln looks JUST like Shane so I am happy I carried him for 9 months to prove that he is mine!)

Practicing "Touchdown!"

It was a sad night after the game but Lincoln had already gone to bed so he wasn't too upset. There is always next year!

As I said before Lincoln has a swallow test at 3:00 and we are praying that he can drink regular formula with no thickener. It would save us a lot of time, money and one less thing to worry about. I am hoping to blog the results tonight or tomorrow (but probably with no pictures!)

4 Months!

Lincoln's 4 month birthday came pretty quickly! This last month, Lincoln has really started to show personality quite a bit. He is a pretty fun little guy.

Some things I want to remember at 4 months....

• At the pediatrician today, Lincoln weighed 12 lbs 2 oz (5th percentile), length was 24" (25th percentile) and head was in the 45th percentile. He is small but growing so the doctor has no concerns.
• He got his first taste of rice cereal and was a not a fan but would tolerate it. Pretty funny to watch though!
• Lincoln still sleeps great at night. He goes down about 8:30 and sleeps until about 6am. It is great! He still not a great napper during the day though. He will take about 3 naps a day and each last about an hour to an hour and a half, I am lucky if he sleeps 2 hours.
• Lincoln is a morning baby....he loves to see our faces in the morning and will smile for anyone at 6am! Not sure how long this will last!
• Lincoln is a talker. He jabbers the most in the morning but will carry on "conversations" with me when I get home for a bit.
• Lincoln is far a momma's boy. I know this will change so I am soaking it up now. He is content with Shane but if he is tired then he needs me. If a stranger holds him and he can see me then he starts to pout, which is pretty cute to see. Usually once he realizes that the stranger will feed and hold him then he is fine with them. He is kind of a drama queen.
• Lincoln is still on nectar and a half for his feedings (which are about every 3 to 4 hours and he is eating about 8 oz each feeding, yes he is a pig!) We have a swallow study next week so I am hoping that it changes soon. We are tired of buying Simply Thick!
• Lincoln's hands are always in his mouth and he is always drooling. He gets his clothes changed more often now!
• He is wearing a size 2 diaper, 3-6 month onesies/tees, and 0-3 pants. He has the skinniest waist.

Lincoln has been pretty fun lately and he is looking more and more like Shane!

His hands are his new best friend.

Holding onto his monkey

A little smile....this boy has the sweetest smile but as soon as I get a camera out then he gets a "What is that?" look. Drives me crazy!

Cutie boy before church. We have been visiting The Branch lately and Lincoln seems to pretty comfortable in the nursery (good thing!)

Mom and boy....I am sure he was talking during this picture

Family picture before church

That is about it! I am hoping to get the pictures of his first rice cereal experience up soon but I am making no promises!