Fall Frump

I am in a Fall Frump! I love the season of Fall. I love the smells, the decorations, the food, the drinks but I hate that Ryan is gone all the time. I love football and going to games. I really love it when the weather changes. However, I hate being away from him for so long. He is gone a lot so the boys and I have finally gotten into a good routine. It took this long to even have a second to sit down and blog. I would think about it but be busy or need to sleep! Things have finally started to fall back into place with mommy going back to work and both of the boys going to daycare. Carter LOVES school and this makes the morings so much easier. Collins is adapting to daycare and I really feel that we have found the perfect place for him.

Today is a big day for us. Collins has his re-evaluation with ECI due to being a preemie. I am looking forward to seeing how much progress he has made in the last few months since being released from the NICU. Can't wait to share!

Collins you are SIX months old!

 

Where did half a year go???

 

Half a year has gone by buddy! SLOW DOWN..... You weigh in at 11 pounds 9 ounces. You have been sick the past two weeks with your first virus and have not eaten much at all or I think you would be at 12 pounds now.

You are the happiest baby ever. You hardly ever cry and you are always watching what is going on around you. You have the best little spirit. You love everyone and would go to a stranger if I let you. Your laughing out loud now and it's the best sound. You really like to laugh at your brother. He is always doing something silly to entertain you.

You are sleeping in your room upstairs now! HUGE DEAL. You don't seem to notice a difference but we sure do. You are still sleeping from about 7:30-7:30. A solid 12 hours. Mommy is very appreciative of this. You started rice cereal this week and really like it. It has been a battle getting it to stay in your mouth but the more we practice the better you get. You are 75% on the preemie chart now and getting closer the regular chart every day. You are wearing 3-6 months clothes mainly because you are super long and the others are not fitting you length wise. Mommy has really loved getting to stay home with you this summer. I get sad every time I think about having to go back to work. I know you are going to love playing with baby Maycee though at the daycare.

We LOVE you Collins!

5 Months Old

 Collins you are FIVE months old!!

Where has the time gone? This past month you have grown so much and are such a big boy now!!! You weigh in at 10 pounds 5 ounces. You are eating better every day. You still don't love food (which amazes me) but you are starting to want to eat more. You are moved up to 4 ounces a bottle and still up calorie count.

You are the best sleeper ever! You don't even cry when you wake up in the morning. If we did not have a video monitor then I would not know you were awake. You are still sleeping in Mommy and Daddy's room but you are in your pack N play now and you seem to love it. You go to sleep around 7:30 and sleep until about 7:00.

You started smiling a lot more this month. I love to see how happy you are. I have yet to get a really good picture of your smile because you are fast! You found your voice this month too. You talk all the time making for some great entertainment. You found your fingers and toes as well and love to eat them.

Right after you turned 5 months we had your first 4th of July! We had so much fun. We cooked out with Nini and Tyler and Tiffany and her kids. Then we all went to see the fireworks at our new church.

We love you baby boy! God blessed us so much when he gave us you.

Show us your life... Mantels

Show us your life... Mantels!

I am linking up with Kelly's Korner this week for Mantels. This is what our new mantel looks like. I am not  thrilled with it, but it is what it is right now. I can't wait to see what you all have on your mantel. Our old mantel was nothing at all like this and our TV now sits above our mantel so that has been a challenge.

Show us your Life... Bathrooms

I am linking up with Kellys Korner again this week for tours of bathrooms. We are continuing to decorate our new home and I have gotten so many fabulous ideas from these home tours. I have a list a mile long of things I want to accomplish before school starts. I was looking at my calendar this week and realized we are already 1 month into summer! Where has the time gone? I better get busy.

This is our downstairs half bath. I have never had one of these before so this has been a challenge for me to decorate. It is small and I don't want to over clutter it. I still want it to look cute though! I found this thing that goes around the sink at IKEA and loved it. It has a towel hanger in the front of it but I have not found a cute towel to go there yet. I think I want something with a pattern on it. I am thinking about putting baskets on the shelves. We are going to change out the mirror to an oval black framed one this week. I got it at Kirklands.  

You can't really tell but this sign hangs on the wall in the half bath and it says As for me and my house we will serve the Lord.

I also got this at IKEA this weekend. I'm looking for things to go on it.

This is our master bathroom. Our color scheme right now is brown and turquoise. I brought everything from our old house and most of it I still like. There are somethings that I want to change. I would like to add a tall vase in the middle of the counter that divides are sections. The one sided sink thing is not my favorite but I am getting more used to it. We hardly ever get ready at the same time so that helps with me needing more space them him!

Show us your life..... Kids rooms

I am linking up with Kellys Korner for Show us your life.... Kids rooms.

We recently moved and had a baby , so we are no where near done.

Carter's new big boy room:

Collins' Nursery: his room is still a work on progress since we were not ready for him to be born 9 weeks early!

Getting back to normal

Things have started to calm down around here now. For that I am grateful! Ryan finished teaching summer school on Thursday and is now home with us everyday. For that I am grateful! Carter has started to feel better and has slowly began to eat again. For that I am grateful! Collins hit 10 pounds and has probably this week hit  11 pounds. For that I am grateful!

God is so good all the time.

Surgery Day

Carter did so well at the surgery appointment. He did not freak out until we went back to the pre-op room and he saw the big bed. I climb in the bed with him to calm him down and then the nurse brought us the loopy meds. She tried to give them to him but there was no way he was going to take it from her so I said I would try. I told him to lay on the pillow and just did what any mom would have to get her child to take the yucky meds that burned his throat, I bribed him. I squeezed his cheeks and opened his mouth and down those meds went. Then I of course gave him the stickers I had promised. I was worried at first that the part he had spit out would make the meds not work, but I was wrong. Within 10 min. he was a whole new kid. He was talking about wanting to go swimming and playing in the dirt. They told him he would be going for a ride in the big bed and he went like a good boy. He looked back to see if I was there only once. I could see the operating room when I walked by and cried just a little.

It took about 45 min and he was done! They took a picture of his tonsils next to a large sized safety pin to show me how bad they were. I was glad we did it once I saw those huge tonsils. He had some issues with his tummy once he woke up so we stayed a little bit longer than normal.

Once we got home he just wanted me to hold him so we snuggled in mommy's bed and watched cartoons for the rest of the day. Day 1 and 2 are supposed to be the best days because the scabs have not started forming yet. 3-7 are said to be the much harder! Tomorrow should be  interesting with it being day 3.

Big Day Tomorrow

We got a call today that Carter's tonsil surgery would need to moved up because our doctor was going to have to go out of town at the end of July for a few weeks. Normally this would not be a big deal move it up to end middle of July. However, this year will be Carter's first year to take swim lessons and there was no way I was going to cancel that. So, go figure the only other time he can do it is tomorrow. My "OCDness" kicked in right away and I was freaking because I did not have anything ready! I had this big plan to shop for just the right foods, get a few new toys to keep him entertained at the hospital and hello prepare him for the idea of going to the hospital and having the doctor look at him. He is not the biggest fan of the doctor. Who could blame him! We go to the doctor a least once a week for Collins right now and he sees all the poking and prodding that goes on there.

So I decided that we would go to see Grandma Niece and go swimming and then come home and make brownies that are super gooey so maybe he can eat them after surgery. I am hopeful that this all goes well tomorrow. The only experience I have with getting tonsils out was mine at 26 and it was the worst thing I have ever gone through.

A 3 year old and a 3 month old

 It's about right that this post goes up when Collins should be 3 months old! Both of the boys were born on the 20th of the month and lucky for me when Carter turned 3 Collins turned 3 months. It was a day of 3's in our house.

Carter you are 3 years old now....

Things you love:

• Pizza
• Orange Juice
• Playing outside
• The dirt
• Swimming! you are a fish
• Your family
• Going to Church
• Weston, Peyton and Pierce are your best buds
• Cleaning!

You have had a lot of changes in your life this year. We moved from your first house and lived with Grammie for 6 months, you moved to your toddler bed and your big boy full sized bed, we moved into our new home, mommy had a baby in her tummy, you got potty trained, AND you got a little brother! WHEW you had a busy year from 2-3.

You are all boy! You love the dirt, getting sweaty, and playing outside. You have a huge heart and are so kind. You are the most helpful little boy I have ever known. You amaze us everyday with your memory. We can never get anything by you. We are so blessed to be your parents!

We love you Carter Keith

Collins you are 3 months old...

You weigh in at 6.5 pounds now big boy. You sure have come a long way! You are on new formula now that we had to get a prescription for. It has really made a huge difference for you. You are not fussy anymore and you eat a whole lot more. You are still having reflux issues but we are hoping you will like the new medicine and this will pass too.

You are such a great sleeper. You go down at 7:30pm and sleep until around 5am. You have a very sweet sprit. You love to look around and see what is going on around you. We took you for your check up at the eye doctor and you can see now!

You stay awake a lot more these days, but you still sleep more than a normal 3 month old. You love your swing and your bouncy chair. You still sleep in your nap nanny chair for naps and at night time. We will continue this until we get your reflux under control.

We are so blessed to have spent these past 3 months getting to know you. We could not imagine life without you and love seeing you grow.

Collins 3 months                                  Carter 3 months

I can't believe how much my boys look alike.

We love you both so much!

Month to Month

We are playing catch up for the past 3 months and posting the month by months. I can't imagine why I have not been able to do that yet. HAHA! I hope you enjoy Collins at 1 month.

Collins you are 1 month old today sweet boy!


You weigh in at 4pounds 2 ounces and growing! Today was a huge day for you. You were able to move out of your incubator and into your first big boy bed. Mommy and Daddy have been waiting for this day to come for what seems like forever. Ms. Erin even made you a special welcome to the one month club sign to hang on your bed. You are now part of the 1800 grams club too!

You are able to regulate your own body temperature and this means you are one step closer to being able to come home.

We have loved having this sweet baby in our family for the last month. It has been tough but we would not change a thing. We can not wait to get home and see what it is really like to be a family of four.



Carter and Collins look so much alike! It is so weird for us. Here is Carter at 1 month. I forgot about his really bad baby bumps at this age. Poor Guy.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mothers Day to all the wonderful mothers out there! Those of you who this is your first time to celebrate mother's day, I hope this is the best day of the year for you. I still can't believe this is my 4th mothers day and that this year I am blessed to be the mom to two wonderful little boys. If you would have asked me last year if today would look the way it does, I would have told you no way. We had been trying to have another baby without being succesful after the loss of our angle baby. We had a rough month this time last year after two very long unsucceful rounds of doing IUI. Little did we know that 1 month from now 1 year ago we would becoming pregnant to our new little man. Tonight my heart hurts for all of you out there who have been longing to fill your life with a baby. No matter what never loose faith that the lord will fulfill the desires of your heart. Continue to hold true to knowing God has a plan for your life even if you can't see it right now. Tomorrow I will continue Collins journey home from the NICU.

On our way to the NICU...

After I had Collins all I could think about was what would come next. When would I be able to see him? When would he be ok? When would we get to go home? Little did I know that these questions and so many more would take weeks to figure out.

I had told Dr. C. and the nurses that I wanted to try and make it to where Carter could see the baby before they took him to the NICU. We knew this would be the only way for him to see him before he came home since children under 16 are not allowed in the NICU during RSV season. They had told our family and friends which elevator the NICU doctors and nurses would be taking Collins through to get from the delivery floor to the NICU floor. The hospital plays a little song when a baby is born so they said when you hear the song go to the elevator. You can only imagine how many people were at that tiny elevator. Carter was able to see his baby brother for a short time. It was so good for him to know the baby was not in mommy's belly anymore and that he was ok.

From 12:38 - 4:00 was the longest time ever for me. I had to wait until I had gotten back to my room and was able to move my legs before they would let me go to the NICU to see the baby. I knew he was breathing, at that point they had not intubated him, and that he weighed a whopping 2.15 pounds. That was it. All I wanted was to get down to see him. Later that afternoon I was able to go and visit for the first time. I was still on a lot of meds for my current condition so things were a little hazy. I found out later after becoming such great friends with the NICU nurses that they laughed at me the whole time. I was their entertainment that day. HA! When I got there he had been intubatedand was on C-PAP with lights for jaundice. Neither would last long but for me that was the worst thing in the world. I just wanted to hold him and tell him I was there. His little body would not permit it. It needed time to adjust to being outside in this world.
We knew right away what a fighter we had on our hands.

Collins' Birth story

Collins Birth Story: This is long warning :)



On January 13th I started having symptoms of high blood pressure at work. I went to the nurse to get checked. Sure enough I was running really how on both top and bottom numbers. I went to the doctor that afternoon and was 150/100. They decided to do a test over the weekend for pre-eclampsia. What a fun test that was! If any of you have ever had to do this you totally know what I am talking about.  When I went in on Monday it was negative. Woo Hoo we were all very excited. They told me to come back on Tuesday and get checked again. Tuesday, I was still running high. They said I should not go to work on Wednesday and see if that would lower it. I went in on Wednesday, January 18, and was 166/122. Then everything started happening really fast. They said we are admitting you to Labor and delivery. I heard the doctor call into the hospital and let them know I was coming. This is when I started to realize that things were not going to go as we had planned. Funny how things work out. My doctor and I have been together for the past 15 years. So, he knows me pretty well. I think he could see the panic starting to set in so he came in and told me everything that was about to happen. He said that he needed to admit me to prevent a stroke since my blood pressure was so high. He thought that he could keep it down and keep me on bed rest in the hospital for the next 6-8 weeks. My friend is a nurse there so she drove me over to the hospital and waited with me until Ryan or my mom could get there. My first concern was Carter. He was at his babysitter and needed to be picked up and taken care of. Thank goodness for great friends. Tiffany was right there to pick up the slack that day. She went and got him and later brought him to the hospital to visit before taking him home with her for the next few days. Ryan’s sister and Tiffany switched off watching Carter for the week we were all in the hospital.

When we finally got settled in at labor and delivery things started moving in fast forward. We would be told you will be here for a long while then that there would be a possibility they would take the baby. This went on for 48 hours. Ryan’s step-mom came in on Thursday morning and sat at the hospital with us all day. They monitored me every 30 min. Dr. C came in on Thursday and said he thought that I needed to go ahead and get 2 rounds of steroids to help develop the babies lungs in case of an early delivery. We had an ultrasound done around noon and saw the baby. He was measuring on time and was right at 3 pounds. Later that evening we were told by one of our night nurses to prepare to have the baby the next day. She was under the impression that they had decided to take him since my pressures will still running so high. (Freak out moment happens here) We went ahead and called all of our family to let them know what we had found out. We began praying that Gods will would be done. I had a friend that had both of her babies at 32 and 33 weeks who I called to get as many tips on delivering early as I could. Bless her heart she talked with me for hours just trying to calm me down and prepare me for the reality of having a 9 week early baby.

The next morning Dr. C came in around 9 and said it was baby time. They prepped me for a c-section and Ryan and my mom were there to hold my hands. The NICU doctor came and talked with us and said just pray he comes out screaming that means his lungs are working well. So, that is what we did. We prayed he came out mad. That was one thing we got good at during this whole adventure. We prayed for specific things everyday. We found that it was easier to think it terms of 1 thing at a time then all the things that were happening or could happen at one time. At 12:38pm On January 20, 2012, Collins Oran Harrison came out screaming at the top of his very efficiently working lungs.

Praise God. 2 pounds 15 ounces and 16 inches long

More to come……

A New Chapter....

Hello again blog world! After much debate and talking with so many of our friends and family through the past 15 weeks, we have decided that I will start blogging again to keep our loved ones updated. I am excited to share with everyone the past 15 weeks of our lives and the many more to come. I am working on putting together Collins Birth-Day post now and I should have it up today. Thank you so much to all of you for your kind words, thoughtful gifts, and many prayers. We could not have made it to where we are today without all of you. May God shine in your lives like he has in ours!

From this to this in 31 weeks :)