Happy Holidays!

Christmas...already? My world has been so busy with running to and from the NICU the holidays really came out of nowhere!

As usual, we did our annual tea at the Roosevelt Hotel which was just lovely as ever! As soon as the trumpeter came in the room followed by Rudolph, Noah's face lit up in excitement. He really loved it. The kids all had a good time and the lobby at the Roosevelt is just gorgeous.



Noah was very excited for Christmas this year and had a list for the man with the bag. His big wish list items were the Imaginext Batman Bat Cave, Star Wars Trouble, a Leap Pad and a Star Wars Millennium Falcon. Noah was in luck, Santa managed to drop all of these off to his house and his grandparents. What a good boy he must have been!

When we were at Target the week of Christmas Noah noticed they were out of stock for the Bat Cave and I said "Oh no! I hope Santa was able to get one before they sold out". Noah's response? "Well Momma, Santa doesn't shop at Target the elves only make it!". Touche Noah, touche!

The weekend of Christmas my friend Ann came by and we made Pioneer Woman cinnamon rolls. Yes, cinnamon rolls from scratch! I really thought Ann had used yeast quite a few times and knew what to do...but we were basically the blind leading the blind. The rolling of the cinnamon rolls made quite a mess but they were delicious. Maybe it can be a yearly tradition, what do you say Ann?

While we waited for the cinnamon rolls to rise and all that jazz, we decide to whip up some sugar cookies for Santa. Noah had a great time decorating them with Ann and I. It's amazing how well behaved Noah will act around company, I need to invite Ann over more often!

Noah was very anxious Christmas morning. Hearing his gasps of Ohhhs and Ahhhs was just great. It was a great morning. Santa even brought some presents for Liam! Noah did make mention to why Santa brought Liam his gifts under the tree and not leave his gifts at the NICU. Noah is one smart cookie that's for sure.



Our Christmas wouldn't have been complete if we didn't get to visit with our little Liam. Have I made mention of how great his nurses are? They are seriously the best! One of the nurses brought in a little snoman suit and Santa suit for Liam. He was the cutest little Santa I've ever seen! Santa even made a visit to the NICU, he is one lucky little guy.



I can't wait till next Christmas to have our first Christmas as a family of four at home.

Yellow Hat

Liam has grown out numerous hats lately which is a great thing but it's also diminishing his adorable hat collection. ;)

Tonight I was searching for a hat that actually fit him and came across this yellow hat. I remember how BIG this hat used to be just a few weeks ago and now it fits pretty tightly. Check it out for yourself!

It's so great to see how much he is actually growing. Since I see him every day I don't really notice until I look back at pictures. He is so amazing.

THREE POUNDS

YAY! Liam is now 3 pounds, what a milestone!

To celebrate one of Liam's favorite nurses brought in 3 pound cakes and we had a pound party, how adorable is that? I swear some of these nurses are sweeter than pie. We had a great time at the pound party and I can't wait till he reaches 4 pounds! I need to think of a creative way to celebrate, any ideas?

Feliz Navidad!

Yesterday we had family over for my mothers birthday and we were singing Christmas carols and having a fun time. We started to sing Feliz Navidad and Noah stopped everyone and ran to get his singing chihuahua.

Check him out singing with his chihuhua!



He cracked.us.up! We were dying laughing! He is such a little character lately. He is such a good comic relief during the hard times with Liam. In just a few short years Liam will be singing and cracking us all up and by that time I'm sure Noah will be way "too cool" to sing Christmas carols with us! I'm definetly soaking up my solo Noah time.

We Bring Gold!

Today was Noah's Christmas party at school. He was a wise man in the nativity scene. His line was "We bring gold" and he practiced and practiced for days to perfect it!

The play was so adorable. The kids were all on stage and I swear each kid had both of their parents video taping it and taking pictures on their phone like they were celebrities...and yes, we were right along with them taking a video and snapping away on the camera. You have to capture the memories, right?

They sang cute Christmas carols and it was so sweet. I just can't get over how big Noah is, I wish he would stop getting so big!

After the play we all had lunch together and I let Noah go wild and have his pick at lunch. He chose cupcakes, chips, cookies and pizza. I put 2 grapes on his plate but he didn't eat that, go figure.

His Aunt Mo was even able to come and see his debut as the Wise Man!

Bottle Feeds

You can't imagine my excitement when I was told this morning they would start Liam on bottle feeds! This is another big step in coming home. He will need to be able to take 8 bottles in 24 hours in order to come home.

You start out getting 1 bottle over 24 hours and depending how you do they will then go up to 2 bottles, then 3, etc.

His feedings are 25ml and he was able to take 10 at his first feeding and 20 at the second. Awesome! I was surprised he even got anything. He really amazes me constantly, he is such a fighter.

Yo Gabba Gabba Live

Noah has been waiting for this day since June, the Yo Gabba Gabba Live concert! Let me just start by saying Noah is a HUGE Yo Gabba Gabba fan since he was a toddler and he still adores it. It's actually a show I can tolerate (thank GOD he never got into Barney) so I was pretty excited about it as well.

I bought the tickets way back in June. My sister actually had a code for tickets and guess what...it got us FRONT row seats! I have to admit, I was pretty psyched about our big day.

As soon as we got through the door he immediately saw the merchandise stand. He picked out a t shirt to buy which I allowed because it's always fun to rock the shirt of who you are seeing (I remember rocking out with my KNOTB shirt, thanks dad).

After we bought a Plex shirt we found our seats which were AWESOME! The show included all of the YGG favorites and Noah sang along to every song. During intermission we stopped and shopped again and bought a Muno doll.

I think Noahs favorite part was when Biz Markie came out to do his "Beat Of The Day" and when confetti/leaves/snow would come from the "sky". He had a great time and it was a nice thing for Noah and I to do together with everything going on.

Oh and on the way out Noah suckered me into a Brobee backpack, so yes that's right we walked out with a tshirt, a doll AND a backpack.

Hopefully Noah is still into them if they come back to town because I really liked it!

Big Brother Day

Today Noah finally got to "meet" Liam! I have to say all of Liam's nurses are incredible but some are just outstanding. Today his nurse said that we could bring Liam in the well baby nursery so Noah could see him through the glass. I was shocked and SO excited.

I couldn't believe that after 8 long weeks Noah could finally "see" Liam. He doesn't show much interest when we talk of Liam because it's hard for him to really realize he is real since he can only see him through pictures and videos.

I was able to hold Liam while Clint was with Noah during the viewing. As soon as Noah saw him I could tell how excited he was. We put Liam's hand up to the glass and Noah held his hand through the glass, it was adorable and I got a bit misty eyed I'll admit!

After we visited I decided to interview Noah on his meeting with Liam and this is what he had to say.



It was such an exciting day and I can't wait for them to actually meet and hold hands not through the glass.

I can wear clothes!

Today was the first day Liam was put in clothes! AHH! It's the little things that you take for granted when you have a healthy baby, like being able to dress them automatically.

After many weeks, Liam was finally able to not be naked 24/7. Once I knew he could wear clothes I was on the hunt for preemie outfits. I had no idea Target wouldn't carry preemie clothes. Luckily, Babies R Us had a great selection of preemie stuff! I picked up a pack of preemie onesies and preemie diaper shirts. I think he looks just adorable in the, don't you agree?

Transfusion

Liam has had quite a few transfusions in his NICU journey and unfortunately he had to have another one this past weekend. I always get nervous when he needs one but his blood work showed he was in need and also his complexion wasn't "pink enough". They put an IV in his head and that

Also, Liam is on a continuous feeding tube but they are going to switch him to bolus feedings and see how he does. They will start off first with feeding him for an hour and a half and then rest for an hour and a half. If he does well with that they will then feed for 1 hour and rest for 2 and if he does well with that then they will feed for a half hour and rest for 2 and a half hours. This is in preparation of being able to digest food in 30 minutes because once he starts bottle feeding they will only try to give him a bottle for 30 minutes because anything past that will burn more calories than he is gaining through feeding.

Wish us luck this week!

TWO POUNDS!

Finally...FINALLY we hit 2 pounds! I felt like it would never come but alas it did. I'm so happy that Liam is now 2 pounds! He is now on 30 calorie formula since he was having some problems gaining. I'm still pumping constantly in hopes he won't be on this formula forever and will transition back to my breast milk.

YAY for two pounds!

Black Friday Madness!

On Thanksgiving my sisters and I were checking out the ads and decided we were going to hit up Toys R Us. My mom made a list and we were all out to get great deals on gifts for all the kids.

We left the house around 10 and Toys R Us opened up at 9. When we got there the line was out of the building still and we were like...umm, really? We weren't sure we wanted to do the crazy line to just get IN to the store so we drove around a bit and came back to the store about a half hour later and there was a very little line, so in we went.

We weren't prepared for what we were about to encounter...it was complete chaos! We were able to get just about everything we wanted but the worst part was waiting in the line. It went through aisles around the entire store, it was insane! We had a lot of fun and good laughs along the way but I'm not sure if we will be doing this again next year. We didn't get home until about 2 AM or so. We did get some really good deals though!

Thankful

We obviously have so much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. Liam is doing so well and I'm so happy he is with us this Thanksgiving, even if he is still in the NICU.

Noah just loved watching the Thanksgiving Day Parade, his favorite part was the Spiderman segment! I'm pretty sure he would freak if he would see Spiderman Live in NYC. We've had to rewind that part of the parade many times, thank goodness for DVR.

Clint and I were cooking up a storm. We made green bean casserole, ambrosia salad, corn casserole and roasted garlic corn grits. Oh and pumpkin spice cupcakes! The best thing was the corn casserole and it was incredibly easy! The corn grits came in a very close second. I can't wait to cook it all again for Christmas because it was delish.

At my parents house, Noah read the "My Brother Is A Preemie" book to everyone. It was adorable. I'm so glad we taped it because once I watched it I actually was brought to tears. It was so sweet.

We make Turkey Oreos with the kids and that was a lot of fun. I found the idea on Pinterest and I think the kids liked making a little craft.

We of course made a trip to the NICU on Thanksgiving. My sister Robin and my dad came along with Clint and I. Robin hasn't seen Liam probably in a month possibly so he was much bigger this go round! She was even able to change his diaper.

I can't wait till next Thanksgiving when Liam is home and able to spend it with all of his family!

Superdome and Oxygen

Yesterday we were told they were taking Liam off of oxygen but once we got to the NICU he wasn't off of it, so we figured he wasn't ready and must have had some brady and apnea episodes.

Well today we got a call saying he really WAS off the oxygen nasal cannula. I was so excited and called my mom to see if she could watch Noah while Clint and I went to the NICU.

When we got there he was in this little dome. It actually said Superdome on it, so typical for a 'Nawlins NICU baby, right? Hehe, I kid that's the name of the brand but still very fitting!

Anyway, the difference is that the nasal cannula has a continuous flow of oxygen into his nostrils whereas the dome just has it in his "atmosphere" and it's not the flow going directly to him. Make sense? I hope so because I don't know how else to explain it! Either way, it's a pretty big deal and it's giving his poor little nose a rest since he has has it in for about a month.

Check out his dome! Who Dat! ;)

He looks so sweet with no nasal cannula!

Happy Birthday Clint!

This weekend we celebrated Clint's Birthday and we had a great time.

I get daily emails from Living Social and Groupon, so when I see a good deal I jump on it! This past weekend for Clints birthday we used 2 of them. Awesome! Savings and fun, it's a win win.

My mother in law came over early for us to go to Mahony's on Magazine Street since the last time we tried to redeem our Groupon the line was INSANE. We got there early and had a hard time deciding on what to order but we went with their famous roast beef poboy and a chicken poboy. Both of them were very yummy and we can't wait to go back.

After lunch we headed over to see Liam at the NICU. He is doing so well and here is an adorable picture of Liam and Clint.

It was great to go to lunch without Noah and then to the NICU for a visit together. Thanks to my mother in law for coming over to watch Noah!

For dinner that night we went to a mexican restaurant to celebrate Clint's birthday with his mom and Pop Pop Danny. We all had a great time and some good laughs.

On Sunday Clint and I went out to the Melting Pot and used our groupon (it was a GREAT deal by the way!). I've found out that people either love or hate this restaurant and we both love it. We always get the same things every time we go though because they are just so good there is no reason to change it up. However, we felt a bit wild this time and chose different things and they were very yummy. Thanks to my momma for watching Noah!

I hope Clint had a fun birthday weekend because I know I had fun celebrating it with you! Here's to many more! Cheers!

National Prematurity Awareness Day

I never thought I would belong to the "preemie" club or heck the "micro preemie" club but here I am. Before I had Liam I never thought of preemies. I had no idea how strong these babies were and the amazing advancements of medicine to keep these miracles alive.

Before becoming a preemie mom I had no idea that 1 out of 8 babies are born premature. That seems like a pretty high statistic to me and I wish it was lower. However, it does seem to be true in my family circle. My mom has 7 grandkids and 1 was born premature so it is a scary statistic that hits close to home.

Today, I wore purple in honor of National Prematurity Awareness Day. Liam and I got some good snuggle time. I'm a proud preemie mommy.

Puss In Boots

Last week I decided to take Noah to the movies. He loves the Shrek movies and has been seeing Puss In Boots being advertised so I thought it would be a nice treat to go to the movies.

The only other time we went to the movies was last summer when we saw Toy Story 3 and well that didn't go so well. He wouldn't sit down and really watch the whole movie hence is why I haven't taken him back in over a year.

Well he was good for about half the movie until we ran out of popcorn. Who knew Noah was such a popcorn fanatic? I bought him the kids pack and he munched through that bag mid way through the movie (ok, ok I may have had a few handfuls!). Once we ran out he became enraged...I mean really really upset!!!

"Mom, can we get more popcorn?" Noah said VERY loudly in the theater. I told him that I think we had enough treats in between the popcorn, fruit snacks and the sprite. Well Noah got very angry with me and said his newest and favorite phrase "Why won't you buy me any more pop corn? Is it because you HATE me?". Umm, what? HATE you?

What a nice thing to say in a dark theater filled with other parents with their kids. I was totally embarrassed. I kept on telling him that I didn't hate him but we had enough popcorn. His moaning and crying went on throughout the rest of the movie. Yikes. Then he had to potty towards the end, it was literally the last 5 minutes of the movie!

Next time I'm getting a large popcorn...I'm kidding! :)

My Brother Is A Preemie

We were recently given a book titled "My Brother Is A Preemie". Let me just tell you, this book is a great way to explain to Noah what is really going on in the NICU with Liam and the pictures are awesome! They have the isolette with a baby in it, they show a monitor and doctors/nurses. Noah really likes it. If you need a gift for a new big brother/sister to a preemie, I highly suggest it!

Noah wanted to bring it to school today to show his class but I wanted to make sure the teachers were OK with this first because I can't imagine how hard it would be to tell 10 other 3 year olds what a preemie is! They said they would love to read it to the class so Noah is so excited to bring it to school the week after Thanksgiving!

Noah now tries to recite the book. It's adorable! I am trying to read it every night to him in hopes that he can recite it on Thanksgiving to our family, I think it would be a nice treat and you can bet that I'll video tape it! It would be so sweet to play it for sweet Liam when he is older.