The Start of A New School Year

This year I have a second grader, a kindergartener, and a preschooler. I have to admit I was a bit overwhelmed when the boxes of curriculum came. Two big boxes and I pulled book after book out. However, I was also excited at what my kiddos would be learning. Thank goodness for the teacher's manuals so I can help them correctly learn. :)

Kassie is all excited about going through her books and is already asking if she can do more! That is where Charlie was until he actually HAS to do it! LOL They are doing well so far - still trying to find a decent schedule. Dan is home during the morning to keep the girls busy will I work with the boys and then we usually find time while Tessa is napping to finish if we hadn't already. Tessa even has to do stuff too......

Como Zoo Trip

Took two of my nieces with me to Como Zoo with some friends of mine...the kids had a blast. We had a nice picnic lunch and then walked around to see the animals. It was a little on the warm side but not too bad. Most of the animals were on the lethargic side and not very active.

T was in the stroller sleeping when this pic was taken that is why she was not in there.

K says she loves the giraffes, I think they are her favorites...but the orangutan mother came right down to the glass in front of her and she thought that was cool too. The boys both loved said they loved the polar bear but they both just kinda laid around...wish they had been swimming...then they really would have thought they were cool. It was a great trip - looking forward to going again...maybe this time in September or October.

Friday Funnies

So the other night we are watching a show on Animal Planet - I think it was "Blue Earth," but not sure. The narrator is talking about Australian Squid and what makes them different from other squid. He says something like, "These squid only grow up to about a foot long." D turned to Dan and said, "Just like a Five-Dollar Footlong!" I guess that gives him something to compare it to since he's eaten a full footlong several times now.

Yesterday, K was being so sweet with T. T was laying on the floor and K came and sat by her with a Dora picture book and was "reading" it to her. Then she got her a pillow and blanket and kept saying, "Nap Time....Nap Time." Of course, she was covering her completely up with the blanket - face and all. She was very careful with her...the funniest part was T had just gotten up from her morning nap, but she thought she should take another one....

Little T's Lastest Accomplishments

My little girl is getting so big - I can't believe how much she has changed and how big she is getting. She looks so much like D when he was little but has C's coloring I see him in her as well. Last Saturday she turned FOUR months old - where does time go??? I went to get her from her nap and she had rolled over - I went to pick her up and she saw me coming and gave me the biggest grin. What a Dolly!!!

I started feeding her cereal on Monday, as you can see she wasn't quite sure if she liked it or not. She kind of has the look, like, what is this stuff you are putting in my mouth?

But the more that she had the more that she got used to it...she cleaned everything up that I had in the bowl....
And by the end she even seemed to be enjoying the cereal.
Today, she ate her cereal right up without any hesitation! That's my girl!!!!

Updates on the Family....

We have a very busy summer ahead of us already! Most of our weekends are booked with two, three and four things to do...choosing is going to be hard and we will try to get everything in that we have planned but hopefully we can find some time to relax and enjoy it as well. Here are the updates and current pics.......

Dan just got back from a shark fishing trip with his family - still waiting on pictures (will post when I get them). He caught two sharks - not the dangerous kind :) And is now looking forward to his new job - see previous post.

D is finishing up Kindergarten...if I could get him to do more than the minimum we could finish up early but it is like pulling teeth most days. He knows what he needs to do and can do it quickly but gets "bored" with it. He is already using the "bored" word - anything but art is boring to him - he already went through over one ream of paper for drawing in less than six months.

It is great to see them get along with each other (for the most part!).

C is loving playing with the Dragon toys and being Batman. He is very into SuperHeros (along with his brother) - that is one thing that I didn't expect to have to know when becoming a Mom - all the SuperHeros! Everyone plays a role... He loves his little sisters and is very protective of them. Super Brother!!!

K is amazing me everyday with the things that she is learning. She can recognize a lot of the letters and can count (with some help) past 15. Now if she could figure out that everything isn't yellow we would be good. ~JK~ She is a girlie, tomboy(if possible) who loves to wear dresses and walk on her tiptoes but also loves dinosaurs and dirt. She graduated from the crib to the big bed - currently in the same room as the boys since her room still needs to be finished.

T is almost four months! She is smiling and cooing - she loves her swing and just watching the rest of them run around. She loves her big brothers and the kisses and hugs she gets from them. It is so fun to watch her interact with K - they will both sit and giggle at each other! Can't wait until they are best of friends...

Here are a couple of family pics from a recent trip to Munsinger Gardens....

And that is the update on our family - we would love to hear from you for an update on yours!

Belated Valentine Pictures...

or you could say Halloween pictures. K found her costume from last Halloween...it was too big for her then but fits better now. She sees her big brothers putting on their dress up clothes and so she has been wanting to do the same. It fits for Valentine's day though...my little love bug!

This is actually the outfit that I had picked out for T to come home from the hospital...a couple of weeks later it fits her, sort of. It fits for Valentine's Day too.

So Happy Belated Valentine's Day!

It has been awhile...again...

but not as long in between. Now I have some pictures to show again...

Here is T in the swing. We had to pull it out because there was no place to put her that was safe for her. Not that this is real safe but they kind of forget she is in there until she wakes up and starts crying.

Here is a beautiful quilt that Dan's Aunt Marge made for T. She has made each of the kiddos a beautiful blanket. I think that this one is my favorite. I love the purple and whites...you can't really see the details but the white squares are almost a really light purple with pink, yellow and purple flowers. It is the perfect size to fit in the crib. Thank you Auntie Marge.

T's First Doctor Appt

T had her first doctor appointment today. She gained a whole pound in just 10 days. I knew that she was gaining weight but didn't think it was that much. She definitely looks bigger to me. She is now up to 5 pounds 15 ounces and is 18.25 inches long. Which also means that she grew an inch since she was born. Though if you look at her percentiles she is in the 1 % for weight and the 0.1% for height. It is a good thing that they adjust them for her gestational age, then she is in the 10% for weight and the 25% for height. I like those measurements better.

C had to come with me to the doctor appointment. I originally told him he needed to stay home but he started crying and said he wanted to go with T. He is so protective of her and so gentle with her. He still to some degree is like that with K - when he isn't falling down in front of her to "stop her from going." Then we went grocery shopping and of course spent way too much...

T's First Professional Pictures

Once a month, the NICU along with March of Dimes sponsors a photo shoot with all of the babies in the NICU - if the parents sign up for it. A photographer from Dropp's Unique Photography volunteers their time to come in and take pictures of the babies along with their families. (Because of the flu and RSV season, they were not allowing anyone under 17 into the NICU - even siblings). They spent about 15 minutes with each family and gave each family a disc with all of the pictures that were taken. They do a wonderful job and are very careful and considerate of all of the babies and their families. We appreciate them giving of their time and talent to help us remember our little ones and how small and fragile they started out. THANK YOU to Dropps Photography!!!!

Here are some of the awesome pictures....

Off in wonderland...

Blowing kisses...

T's feet in Dan and my hands.

T's fingers with my finger.

T's hand with Daddy's hand.

Daddy's Little Girl...

Dan's Surprise!

Dan surprised us all by coming home on Friday night - actually early morning on Saturday. I would have posted that sooner but our Sprint wireless is not working very well...it is hit or miss. Supposedly we live right next to a tower but we have never really had great service. The one guy told Dan today that we live too close to the tower - like that would make a difference. Now, they are saying that we have faulty equipment and need to exchange it...however we can't do that at the place that we bought it from and it could take up to six months if we send them back to get new equipment. Anyway, I will post more on that depending upon the outcome of what happens.

Now, back to Dan's surprise...I actually knew he was coming home that evening but I kept it from the kiddos to surprise them. They were very surprised because we were just talking about how it was going to be a while yet before he came home. D came into the bedroom to ask me what his surprise was and when Dan said, "Good Morning." I thought I was going to have to pick up his jaw off of the floor. When K woke up I sent her out and she gave Daddy the longest hug ever. C takes a little longer to wake up but he came right away and crawled up on his lap and sat for the longest time.

It is good to have him home and it was even better since Saturday morning I was not feeling very well at all...lets just say both ends were busy. It is great to all finally be home together though it has been almost four weeks since all of us were here together and now Baby T is added to the mix. She is such a good baby...eats, change diaper, goes back to sleep until next time I eat. K still sits and giggles at her - blowing kisses and waving Hi to her. C still says she is so cute and loves to hold her. D will pay attention to her once in the while but usually in his own little world.

Baby T on her way HOME!

Updates from this weekend....

Jan 23rd: I got great news when I came in today...The doctor ordered them not to gavauge (again - don't know the spelling) T and see if she could tolerate all her feedings by mouth for 24 hours. If she could then she could go home. WOOHOO! I didn't tell because I wanted to surprise the kiddos. So, she was doing all 8 feedings by mouth and she had gained 46 grams (2 ounces).

Jan 24th: She gained a whopping 96 grams (over 3 ounces) last night at weigh-in. She is taking all her feedings by mouth and she is ready to go home.... The doctor knew I was anxious to get going so he did her discharge exam before rounds and we where on our way!!! She weighed 4 pounds 8 ounces when she was born dropped down to 4 lbs 3 ozs and now leaving the hospital weighed 4 pounds just over 15 ounces.

I went to Mom and Dad's to pick up the kids (they were there for the weekend)...Mom opened the door for me but went back in to finish up some stuff in the kitchen. I walked in with baby T and said I had a surprise. Everyone ran to see - they were very surprised because last I had mentioned she wouldn't be home until tuesday which is what I was originally expecting.

The other kiddos were so excited to see her...they only saw her in pictures and for two minutes through the window of the NICU. Here are some precious pics....
D was all smiles when he saw her...so gentle and wanting to be so helpful. He is definitely a proud big brother. He kept saying that he loves his little sister....

C was so excited too....he kept saying, "She's so cute!" Which is what he said about K and he is very careful to take care of her. Hopefully that will carry over to his new little sis. I think from the picture you can see that it will.
K seems to love her little sister now...we shall see how long that will last :) She keeps pointing to T and giggling. So cute! She loves to point out her eyes, ears, mouth and nose but has to be watched very closely. She is Grandpa's girl but didn't get jealous when he held T...she just went off to play with other things and when Grandpa's lap was empty she went to sit. She loves T's passy and tries to steal it...I will have to watch this one carefully - not that she would mean harm but it might just find her.

Here are all the kiddos...what a good looking family if I have to say so myself :) It will be interesting to see what kind of personality Ms T will have...the others have such different personalities. Only time will tell.

Oh, well...I am just glad that we are all home here together again. That was getting a little wearing on all of us. I appreciate all the help from my family and friends during this time when T was in the hospital. I never could have done it without all of you - I knew that my older three were being well taken care of and I didn't have to worry about them...I could concentrate on T and getting her home. Now we are just waiting for Daddy to get home and we will all be together again....One Big Happy Family!

Another Update on Baby T

Here is Baby T all comfy, cozy in her isolette. As of Friday the 15th the top is off and she is regulating her own body temperature at room temp. She is still hooked up to the monitors but really has no need for them - that is just protocol.

On Saturday the 16th, she is up to her full feeding level of 42 ml per feeding and they are now starting to fortify it so that she is getting extra help to grow. She gained a half an ounce and so her weight is 4 pounds 5.2 ounces.

The nurses do weights at midnight each night. On Sunday the 17th at midnight, she gained 3 ounces!!! That is huge. The doctors said not to get our hopes up too high that she will continue to gain like that though - more than likely they said she may lose some of that again. She had a big day today...Daddy fed her her first bottle - she took some swallows but then got startled and would not take any more - total of 4 ml by bottle today. She had her first professional pictures taken - the NICU has professional photographers come in and volunteer their time to take pics of all of the babies and their families (unfortunately with RSV and flu season they do not allow siblings under 17 into the NICU). Later on this week we will receive a disk with all of the pictures on that they took. I will definitely be posting those when I get them. She also passed her hearing test as well and did two BF's. Whew! That is a lot for such a little girl.

Monday the 18th does not slow her down...she must know how much Mommy wants her to be home so that we can all be a family... Today, she gained a little over half an ounce so she is back up to her birth weight. She was also measured during the night, her head has gained a cm and she is now up to 17.52 inches - up from 17.25. Mom went to one of the workshops that they provide for NICU parents and she made a bracelet with T's name on it...I might have to take that up - it was kinda fun, besides now I need one for each of the other kiddos. She took her first full bottle this morning at the 3:30 feeding and also did 2 BF's. Hopefully she was awake enough at 9:30 for the nurse to try another bottle. (I picked up the other kiddos and brought them to my sisters not being able to make it back in time to BF).
Isn't she beautiful! It is so nice to be able to count on my family to help me with the other kiddos because I don't know what else I would do with them. I think that the kiddos are getting kind of tired of not being home though. I think this is taking it's toll and hopefully if T keeps up in gaining and feeding we will be home very shortly. I can't wait to have all of us just be home. Of course that will have to wait to be completely true until Dan gets back from this job in Canada. It was either go on this job or not have ANYTHING for awhile (who knows how long!) so in order to pay the bills he had to go! I am sure it is harder on him being gone but we will survive until he gets home.....

Update on Baby T

The kiddos are not allowed in NICU so they have only seen her through the window for about three minutes. D made her a picture of "Our Family" so she would know who they all are. We hung it on her little crib for her. Can you tell who is K by the whale spout on her head? :)Baby T is doing great - she had maintained her body temp enough to be put at room temperature today. Which means they will pop the top on her crib. She had a hard time maintaining her temp after her first bath but did great after her second bath. She is up to 42 ml per feeding which is her "goal" feeding and so this morning they started adding fortifier to it to help give her more calories and grow more. Last night she gained a whole ounce back and so she is back up to 4 pounds 4.5 ounces and hopefully tonight will gain some more (they weigh them at midnight).

Once she has gained some more weight and strength we will have her start eating from bottles. Then once she tolerates all her feedings either nursing or bottles and she is gaining weight she can come HOME!!!! I was hoping this would happen before Dan left for Canada but I don't foresee that happening. Shouldn't be too long though. I am excited to have her home!

Tessa Lorraine John

I haven't blogged for awhile - been in the hospital for a week. My blood pressure had spiked when I went in for my doctor's appointment on the 6th. They shipped me over to a bigger hospital close by. The doctors said that the baby was great and everything else was fine except my blood pressure - which they were managing. They were going to try to keep me in the hospital until I reached 36 weeks (I was at 34 weeks 3 days) unless some other complications developed or the baby was being harmed. I did not look forward to laying in the hospital for that long when I had other kiddos at home to watch. Actually, my sisters took care of where the others were so I did not have to worry about them - other then them not being with me.

On friday, a different doctor came in and said that there was a little higher than normal protein levels. He said he would like to do the c-section that day when both baby and I were "close" to healthy rather than wait to have more complications for both of us. I agreed because I was already going stir crazy! This was at about 8 am. I called Dan and asked if he would like to have a baby today - it was deja vu of when we had D. He hurried in...

I knew we were having a little girl but Dan didn't want to find out. I was so careful to make sure that he didn't find out - not even telling some very close friends for fear they would slip - making them not so happy with me:). We did good up until about 45 minutes before she was born - the doctor is the one who slipped up though - not realizing that he did. He was just reassuring Dan that girls are more developed at this gestational age then boys are and so we should not have anything to worry about.

At 10:42 our littlest baby girl was born. She came out crying! A relief for mommy when she is so small. She was four pounds eight ounces, 17.25 inches long and lots of blondish hair. She was the smallest of all my children... I sent Daddy with her to NICU while the doc finished up and anxiously awaited to hear his report. She was doing great - no problems with her breathing or heart at all. She was hooked up to monitors but that was just because it was NICU protocol not really because she needed to be monitored. She lost a little weight - which all babies do and is considered to be a "Feed and Grow" by the nurses, because that is all they need to do - feed her until she grows a little stronger and bigger.

Below is a picture of her with my Mom - whom she is named after. Too bad she wasn't actually born on the 11th because that is my Mom's birthday too. I don't think that I could have laid in that hospital bed that long just waiting for her to be born though.

My blood pressure stabilized and I left the hospital on the 13th anticipating the day when the whole family would be together...