Ordinary Days: January

Here is a random assortment of pictures that I have taken over the past month that never made it into a post.

Daddy and the kiddos.

Nathan playing "Meow" on Daddy's phone.  Also note the ear plugs.

Sarah gazing adoringly at her Daddy.

Nathan likes to try and move the walls in our house.  So far, he hasn't had much luck.

We've been trying Sarah in the Bumbo periodically over the past month.  She's still a little unsteady, but I think she's getting close to being able to sit up comfortably in it!

Nathan,on the other hand,  fits perfectly in the Bumbo.  He likes to position it right in front of Sarah's swing and monitor her.

Sarah: 11 Weeks

This past week has been an exciting week in Sarah's life.  As I shared in the videos, Sarah has decided she loves to suck her thumb.  As each day passes, her coordination has improved and it's easier to pop that thumb in her mouth.  She especially likes to suck after I lay her down in her crib to sleep - she fusses until she gets the thumb in her mouth and then *sigh* she is so happy!  But the even more exciting news is that Sarah has slept through the night every night this past week!  I am convinced that this is due to her thumb sucking!!  Brian and I both have heard her making noise in the morning arouth 5:00 or 5:30, but I am positive that she is able to go back to sleep because she can self soothe with that thumb of hers.  So thumb sucking may or may not be great in the long term, but for the short term it is WONDERFUL!!

Sarah's other recent development is that she doesn't really like to be in a reclined position.  When she's being held, when I prop her on the couch, even today in the stroller - she will get mad and try to sit up.  Come on Mom, don't you realized she's a big girl already?  She, of course, still can't really sit up without lots of support, but she sure is trying!

Catching Up: Videos

Here are a few videos that I've taken over the past few weeks.  The first is Sarah at eight weeks old and just starting to smile reliably when I would sing to her.


This next video is Sarah at nine weeks.  It amazes me what a difference a week can make with smiling and interacting.  I'm loving it!!


And here is Sarah at ten weeks, working on her thumb sucking skills.


I've been trying for a while to capture Nathan reading on video.  My camera skills are terrible in this video, but I was trying to be discreet so Nathan wouldn't notice and I was also nursing Sarah, which is why you see lots of her head in the bottom of the frame.  But, bad camera work aside, I'm so glad I have this to share and save!

My favorite part when he (or I) read the "Head to Toes" book is that he has to jump down off the chair so that he can stomp his feet appropriately!

Sarah: 10 Weeks

While writing previous posts about Sarah's week birthdays, I kept feeling the "I can't believe she's getting so old" feeling.  Well, that's finally changed.  Here we are at week 10 and now I can't believe that she's so young!  I can barely remember what life was like without her, how could it have only been 10 weeks ago that she was born?  Its a strange feeling...

Sarah has a great smile!!  I'm so thrilled!  And she's such a happy baby, I know I'm going to see that smile very often - hooray!

During these past few weeks, Sarah has gotten super easy to put down to bed.  Long gone (thankfully) are the weeks of fussy evenings, where we would play "pass the baby" as we waited and waited for her to tire and be ready to fall asleep.  Now she usually tanks up for the night by nursing every 1-2 hours in the afternoon and evening.  Then between 6:00 and 7:00 she'll suddenly get super fussy, which is our cue to pop her in her nightgown and sleep sack and then I nurse her to sleep.  And mostly she's down for the night at this point!!  I'm LOVING my free nights, which I had mentally prepared myself that I wouldn't have free for months.

This picture cracks me up! Her head control has gotten really good within the past days and weeks, and she is so strong, propping herself up on her arms! So I wanted to get pictures of her in that pose, but the whole series ended up with this super-surprised look on her face. Too funny!

Now for an update on our little boy... Nathan has started muttering under his breath, which I'm sure is one of the things that I'm unintentionally teaching him.  Mostly, its funny to hear him repeat sayings that I don't even realize that I say, like "Come on, people!" when I'm frustrated with other drivers (whew, that is thankfully mild!).  He also gets a kick out of calling out "Brian!" after I call for his daddy.

And finally, Sarah's most recent development: thumb sucking!

More Knoxville Pictures

At Granddad and Nana's house:

Her daddy makes her happy!

Nana and Granddad with their first granddaughter!

Nathan had lots of fun with Uncle David!

With the Haubenreich clan:

Out of all the aunts, uncles and cousins that held Sarah over the weekend, only Uncle Joe was lucky enough to get a picture with Sarah!

Granddaddy with me and his 14th great-grandchild!  She also evened out the score, being the 7th girl great-grandchild.

And this is how I snuck Sarah into the hospital (with the extra fabric draped to cover her head.  We both LOVE my new sling!

Grandmother, Granddaddy & A Whirlwind Trip to Knoxville

Last Thursday I got word that Grandmother had been readmitted to the hospital. I, of course, was concerned and started praying, waiting to hear what was going on.  I woke up Friday thinking about Grandmother and grabbed my Ipod to quickly check for an update email that Mom had promised.  There wasn't one, so I decided to give her a call.  It was 7:20, but as soon as she answered the phone, I could tell that I woke her up.  She told me that they had been at the hospital in the middle of the night because Grandmother had coded twice and that she was going back to the hospital and would call and give me an update. 

I really wanted to hop in the car to Knoxville (though I didn't look forward to the car ride by myself with the two kiddos), but Mom encouraged me to wait and see.  She and I had planned a trip to Knoxville for later in the month since Grandmother and Granddaddy hadn't seen Sarah yet, but I was now worried that I had waited too long.  So I printed the packing checklist for myself and the kids, started the laundry and waited. After naptime I finished the laundry and brought our bags up from the basement, still not sure if I would be going to Knoxville or not. I had phone conversations with Mom, Aunt Suzi and Mary, but still couldn't decide what to do.  I finally asked Brian to call the ICU nurses and get his take on the situation. He called me back from the airport in Houston, where he was for a fellowship interview, and told me "I hope I'm wrong, but I don't expect her to make it through the night."

I knew then that I needed to go to Knoxville, for myself, for the family, for Grandmother and (hopefully) for her to see Sarah.  Brian suggested that we hit the road after he got home around 12:30 and drive through the night to Knoville. Thankfully he was able to catch an earlier flight and got home around 10:30.  Brian repacked, we loaded the car and Brian drove us to Knoxville while the kids and I slept. After Sarah woke up and wanted to eat a mere 20 minutes from Nana and Granddad's house (boo!), we pulled in just after 3:30.

As soon as I was up the next morning, I called over to G & G's house and found out that Grandmother had made it through the night and was doing somewhat better. Hallelujah! Expecting that she wouldn't be awake, we didn't take Sarah to the hospital with us for the first visit.  Instead, we left both kids with Nana and Granddad. We got into the room about 10:30 and her eyes were open!  We held her hand and talked to her, and she responded occasionally with nods to our conversation. After about 10 minutes the nurse came by and asked us to leave, since visiting hours were long over for the morning, so we started to say our "goodbyes" to Grandmother. At this, she got visibly agitated, grabbed onto my hand even harder, and tried to sit up. Brian used his doctor voice and told her that she needed to rest, and rest was an important part of the healing process. With that, and reassurances from the rest of us, she finally settled down and mouthed "ok".  After Mary prayed over her, we went back to the waiting room to chat with Uncle Joe, Aunt Suzi, Mary and John Little.

Brian and I went back to Nana and Granddad's for lunch and naps. Sarah only took a short nap, so I packed her into the car and went over to G&G's house to see the rest of the family that was in town. It was so wonderful to see so many aunts, uncles and cousins! Sarah, of course, was the star of the show for a while and stayed awake most of the afternoon and evening, soaking up the attention.  I had originally planned on taking Sarah to the hospital that afternoon to try and see Grandmother, since she had been somewhat alert that morning, but decided against it since so many other family members were trying to fit into the 4:30-5:00 visiting time.  I was relieved about my decision when we heard that Grandmother had tested positive for MRSA and they were handing out gowns and gloves to the family towards the end of the visiting hours.

Brian and Nathan came over before dinner, bringing along more food that Carroll had fixed for the family.  We had a really nice dinner and afterwards Brian and Nathan snuck off with Granddaddy to his office to look at and chat about guns and other topics.

Nathan got excited about one of the books he spotted in the office...

... of course! It was the classic "Evidence that Demands a Verdict."  Nathan always enjoys some light reading before bed!

Because of Grandmother's MRSA status, Brian and I regretfully decided that we weren't going to try to bring Sarah to see Grandmother Sunday morning. Then right at bedtime we got the exciting news that the lab had mixed up the results and Grandmother WASN'T MRSA positive! Hooray, Operation Smuggle Sarah was still on!

Since Brian was hoping to speak to Grandmother's physicians during morning rounds on Sunday, he hopped up and headed to the hospital around 8:00. I followed later on with Sarah, making it there for the 9:15-10:00 visiting time. I carried Sarah in my new ring sling and tossed the tail over Sarah's head so you couldn't see her at all.  Brian walked me to the room without anyone stopping us or saying anything!

Grandmother was definitely less aware then the day before, but as I held Sarah near her, she turned her head and just stared and stared at her! I stayed in the room with them for only about 5 minutes, then snuck her back out into the waiting room. Brian and I both ended up staying and visiting with family until after 11:00. Brian got a chance to talk to Grandmother's critical care physician, which was excellent. Kristin also offered to hold Sarah while we went on a short "date" down to the hospital cafeteria.

After lunch and a nap for Sarah in the pack-n-play, I drove us both over again to G&G's house. I had a great visit with Kristin and also Uncle Joe while Granddaddy took a nap. Since Brian and I had decided that we would drive home that evening, and because both my visits with Grandmother were pretty brief, I wanted to see her again during the 4:30-5:00 visiting time. And if I could get Sarah back in, that would be a bonus.

Once again, I just walked back in to the unit with Sarah in the sling. Grandmother was asleep when we got into the room, but she was wheezing and the nurse brought the resperatory therapist in to check her. They woke her up and checked on her for a little bit. I saw a nurse outside of the room notice me and say "Ohhh, a baby!" and knew for sure that I wasn't fooling anyone. Then our nurse turned to me and said "Babies really aren't allowed in the unit." I asked her that since she was already there, could I show her to Grandmother for minute before we took her back to the waiting room, and the nurse agreed. This time Grandmother was more alert and again did not want to take her eyes off Sarah.  I told Grandmother for some added incentive to get better, that I would be back with the kids when she in a room where we could legally get them in to see her and we would also get some pictures with her and Sarah once her make-up was freshly done!   After a few minutes, Kristin took Sarah back to the waiting room and I got to stay for the remainder of the visiting time talking to her and holding her hand.  Uncle Jim later told me that as I held Sarah out for Grandmother and was talking to her, our nurse started crying!

That afternoon, back at Nana and Granddad's house, Nathan got to see his Uncle David for the first time in months!  Sarah and I made it back for dinner, then we packed the kids up and hit the road back to Winston-Salem.  This time, thankfully, Sarah didn't wake up at all on the trip and we made it back home just before midnight.  The whole family was pretty wiped out from the trip and a couple of crazy days, but I'm SO SO glad that we made the trip and were able to see Grandmother and the rest of the family.  And I'm SO THANKFUL to report that Grandmother continues to improve at an astonishing rate.  She is now in a step-down room from the ICU and hopefully within a few days will be in a private hospital room.

I also have more pictures from the trip, but those are going to have to wait for another night!

Eight Weeks Old for Our Big, BIG Girl!

This past Friday Sarah turned eight weeks old and tomorrow is her two month birthday!! Sarah, Nathan and I headed to the pediatrician this morning for her check up and she certainly continues to grow. Here are her stats:
   Weight: 13 lb 1 oz (100%) (with clothes and diaper)
   Height: 22.5 inches (93%)
   Head: 15.25 inches (86%)

I am floored at how huge she is getting, but it does explain why I'm eating like a HORSE these days!  Tonight I had a grilled chicken sandwich on bun, 2 helpings of potato salad, 1/2 apple & broccoli.  When I was finished, I thought "I could go for a second sandwich right about now!"  But I guess its all for a good cause :).  I just am having to be more deliberate about keeping healthy snacking options around or I'll just stuff my face with whatever junk food I can scrounge up.

But enough about me... well, actually more about me!!  I realized that although I'm doing a good job of taking pictures of Sarah every week, there are only a handful of pictures of me and her (slightly more with her and Brian), so I decided to work on changing that this week.  So here are the eight week pictures I took...

Self portrait - putting Sarah down for her afternoon nap.

Later that day after Nathan woke up from his nap, we were off to the park!  Nathan, as always, loved swinging!  And yes, he has stickers on his cheeks!  This started at church and now whenever he gets stickers he ALWAYS wants them to go on his cheeks!  Unfortunately these were pretty sticky stickers and after having them on from early afternoon until bedtime, it hurt when Brian pulled them off him AND they left red marks on his cheeks that didn't fade for three days!  So next time I'll have to be more careful!

Sarah sleeping in the carrier while I play with Nathan at the park.

Super cute picture of Nathan - it was the last one of the day and he finally gave me a little smile when I pointed the camera in his direction.  Earlier I convinced him to take a picture with Mommy and he stuck his finger in his nose... and he WOULD NOT agree to do a second take.  Oh well!

Back at home I realized that I didn't get any good pictures of Sarah to celebrate her eight week birthday, so we ran outside as it was getting dark to get a few with her awake.  I love this one of my two kiddos!

And I love this one because of those eyes!  She and Nathan both seem to have been blessed with beautiful eyes, though their eyes don't look the same at all!

Here's what Sarah's been up to lately:  She nurses every 2-3 hours during the day, but over the past week and a half she has usually only been waking up once at night to eat (I LOVE THIS!). The notable exception is when she got up THREE times this past Thursday night and I felt like a train wreck the next morning. Thankfully I convinced Nathan to come lay down in bed with me after his 7 o'clock wake up call, and I was able to doze until around 7:30. All Sarah's baby acne and accompanying face peeling is completely gone and she now has practically a baby-smooth complexion.  Her right eye still gets a little teary and crusty every now and then when the tear duct gets blocked, but it is definitely improving as well.  She continues to smile and coo more and both Mommy and Daddy are thrilled!

Seven?? Weeks

I took these pictures last Friday on Sarah's seven week birthday (not sure if "birthday" is really the right term, but I'm just going with it). Ever since then I've been thinking about how I need to get the pictures up before her next week birthday rolls around... and then I stop and ask myself "now did she just turn seven weeks, or is that this coming week, or is she already eight weeks, what?!" I find it sad that I already can't remember how old she is, or maybe I'll just blame it on sleep deprivation (really we're all sleeping pretty well these days, so that's probably not a good excuse).

Ok, so to get this post published and get to bed, here we go!

As of last week, Sarah's baby acne was finally starting to get better, but as it was healing it made her skin peel pretty badly.  Unfortunately I didn't wash her face before I took the pictures so she looks a little flaky up close (or maybe you can't tell and wouldn't have known except that I mentioned it). 

I leaned over to give Sarah a kiss on the cheek while I was taking pictures, so my helper ran over and also decided to give her a kiss!  Mommy was slow on the trigger and got this action shot, which makes me giggle with Nathan's expression.  He kindly repeated the kiss upon my request about four more times, but I could never time my picture quite right.  But I love that he wanted to give her a kiss just like Mommy did!

I think this is a "Sarah, Sarah" chant going on!

Sarah loves it when I put her on the bathroom floor to stare at our striped shower curtain, just like Nathan used to love!

And here's Nathan building a new type of tower.  I was amazed he could balance those triangular blocks like that , but the fourth caused it all to go crashing down.  When he built it back up, he turned the four triangles into two rectangles, which allowed his tower to stand much longer!

So This is Christmas 2011

We had a wonderful Christmas holiday with both sets of grandparents visiting for a few days. I took lots of pictures and finally have them ready to share!

Nathan got a punching bag and “boxing gloves” from Gran and Pawpaw. I’m hoping that we can direct some aggression to the punching bag rather then less appropriate outlets.

Reading "The Night Before Christmas" with the kids.

On Christmas morning we all enjoyed opening presents...

Nathan put his doctor’s kit from Aunt Karen, Uncle Joe and Kevin to use right away.  Of course, doctors always start by using their stethoscope...

...then he gave Pawpaw a shot in the leg.

Granddad showed Nathan how to take his blood pressure...

...then it was Nathan's turn.

Sarah enjoyed watching the fun while cuddling with various grandparents!

Some artwork on the Magna-doodle came next for Nathan.

Then it was time to check the email on his new laptop.

Sarah with the quail that Granddaddy carved for her…

…and Nathan excited about his box, handmade by Granddaddy also!

Brian and I gave Nathan some markers, and I set up an art table for him in our living/dining room (the markers are supposedly washable, but I insisted on the apron just in case!)

We had a wonderful Christmas day surrounded by friends and family. I love how Christmas is so much more fun because of the kids, and I know that will only become more true in the coming years!