Today Zachary is 2 months old. How did that happen so fast? We went to the doctor yesterday and I cried almost as hard as he did when he got his shots :( He is still too little to get Tylenol, so he was pretty miserable last night. He cried more yesterday than he has in the 2 months of his sweet little life. His stats yesterday--7 lb, 19 1/2" long, and not even on the charts for weight or height for a 2 month old. We'll do a little dance for him once he makes the charts :) Seriously, how has it been 2 months since this little boy entered the world?
Emerald has had a cold the last week. I hate it when my kids get sick in any way. They are so sad and pathetic and I can't do anything for them. She has been a trooper, though. She is really getting into torturing her little brother these days. She's also been a little bit of a drama queen. Emerald is proving, yet again, to be a fantastic big sister. She always wants to hold Zach and be in his face--kind of hard on us this week since she's been sick. She is doing a fantastic job with her letters lately. Seems like her reading skills develop more and more each day. By looking at her, you'd never guess she was a short pudgy baby any time. She is sprouting up tall and thin and it is so hard to find pants that fit her well.
Calvin has been a fantastic big brother. Last night was really the first time the kids have heard Zach cry much. Calvin was so concerned for his brother. "Uh oh, mommy-o, daddy-o, Za-ry crying, Za-ry crying." Said to us with the most sad, please help him, voice I've heard out of Calvin. He is always wanting to hold Za-ry's hand and talk to him in a super-soft voice, something that seems odd for us from Calvin :) Calvin has taken to fighting back with Emerald and has learned the art of sitting on his sister if he doesn't get his way. He's been a little whiny lately and is forever asking for "my Bo-Bo" (his monkey). He loves helping us out with Za-ry's diaper (put in trash) and doing everything himself. His independence is really starting to shine thru.
You may have noticed our March of Dimes badge on the side. Look for a post soon to describe it. Is is really almost March? My year is flying by. We've had some fantastic weather lately. 2 days this week were in the 60's and we all enjoyed some outside time with our neighbor friends. Missing those Texas winters right about now :) Unfortunately, the warm weather is just a teaser and now we are going to have more cold weather, yuck!
I'm off to another photo shoot. A wonderful photographer from my church, Julie, is wanting some "practice" on newborns, and wants to use my boy (and I don't mind at all). Hope we get some good shots. We had some great pics from Angela when she was here. Check out her blog, AE, on my blog roll on the side bar.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Happy Due Date Zachary!!!
It's amazing how much 8 weeks can change a little man! He looks so precious and innocent here.
Our first photo of our little man. Wearing his CPAP. Arent' we lucky he is free of all those tubes now?!
"Wearing" my little man inside my sweatshirt to keep him warm. Is this what it would have been like 9 months pregnant?
Today is the day Zachary was supposed to be born! Today is the day we will refer to as the next year progresses and we try to figure out Zachary's age. I know, very few babies come on their actual due date. When you hear me refer to this date, I completely understand that it could have been highly possible for Zach to not come on this day. However, he entered this world 9 weeks early and surprised us all. In terms of age, we will forever use his real birthday, Dec. 27th, as the date to figure his actual age. We will also reference this date, Feb. 25th, as a point in which to figure his adjusted age. So, today Zachary's true age is 8 weeks old (9 on Saturday), but his adjusted age is 0!! It is funny how he doesn't act like a brand new newborn, he acts older. However, he doesn't act like a 9 week old baby, he acts a little younger. I figure he will fall in between the spectrum for the next year or 2 and then we won't even remember the silly 9 week difference at all.
Yesterday home health came out and weighed Zachary--7 lb on the nose. If he had arrived this week we figure he'd be an almost 8 pound little man. Ouch!! It is hard for me to imagine carrying a baby this large. I had to throw in the picture above where I was cuddling with Zachary inside my sweatshirt. That's the closest I can get to imagining what it'd still be like with him inside me. It seems like forever ago that I felt his little flutters pressing against me. (I have figured out a few of his "signature moves that I recognized from inside. From day 1 he has this way of stretching his legs straight out, feet flexed. I just know he did this inside, too.) It seems like forever since I was laying in the hospital trying to stop contractions to keep him in a little longer. When I look at him he seems so large to me now. I look at him and he has nearly double his birth weight. His cheeks are so chubby and his cute double-chin makes me smile. It evens seems like quite a long time since we've made those long drives back and forth to the NICU to scrub in, and anxiously wait for 'permission' to hold our baby boy. We feel so totally blessed with the way things turned out!!
Zachary has begun to smile such sweet smiles at us. They are pretty faint for now, but last night he lit up with quite the large smile at his mommy. It was enough to make my heart melt and bring happy tears to my eyes. It is so sweet to see that little boy smiling up at us. He is sleeping great (knock on wood) and we have to wake him once during the night to feed him. He then goes right back to sleep. We are thankful for that!! He sleeps throughout the noise of our chaotic house, and I am thankful for that, too. He is eating pretty well. We just couldn't be more pleased with his continued progress. We officially move on from preemie diapers to newborns today. We also outgrew the length of most of our preemie sleepers this week. Proof that they do grow up too fast.
I have heard a lot of people ask me "why do you think he came so early?" Who am I to question something that we figure God had planned? There has never been and never will be a true, definitive answer. Skip and I assume that it could have been due to the 2 vessel cord. Perhaps if he had stayed inside longer he wouldn't have received the proper nutrients. Perhaps he would have had problems we wouldn't have known about. We are true believers, and we know that God makes a lot of choices for us for one reason or another. God chose for Zachary to come and be with us early, and that's all I need to know. I guess we just got lucky to know that Zachary was taken care of in a way that we all knew he was safe and sound. Plus, we got a little bonus time with him. :)
For my own journaling benefit, we have had a little countdown ticker in the upper corner of our blog for the last 7 months or so counting down the days until our due date. I left it up there even after Zachary was born b/c I found it humorous to see how many days to go before he was supposed to be here with us. It used to say things like "39 weeks, 4 days 3 days to go" Today is says "40 weeks 0 days It's go time!" I think that is pretty sweet.
Happy due date Zachary!! We love you and are so happy you came into our family. Even from the beginning you were quite the surprise. We just assume that you will continue to fill our lives with sweet surprises!! Although you came early, we feel lucky to have gotten an extra 9 weeks to hold you, see you, and love on you. You just couldn't wait to come out to meet us, could you??
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Valentine's Day Pics
You will see a LOT of pictures to follow. We had a big weekend and I wanted to post lots of pics. I will go back and explain them later. I found an easier way to upload them, but it only lets me put in 4 per post. I'll have to figure that out later. So, for now, lots of posts, sorry. Gotta run for now, but had to repost this picture, for it is the one that best explains my kiddos.
Valentine's Day-Part 8
Nana thought this reminded her of the old cell phone commercial asking "how many bars do you have?" We thought it was pretty cute to have them all lined up side-by-side. I can't believe how big Emerald and Calvin look, and how little the babies look!
Here are the 3 youngest. Zach is 7 weeks here, Josiah is almost 10 weeks, and Simon is 5 months. He was so happy for these pictures. 
Valentine's Day-Part 5
Emerald told me to stop "flashing in Zach's eyes" b/c he "doesn't like it anymore". I thought this picture was sweet, showing how much she cares for her little brother already.
I couldn't believe how much she has taken to wanting to hold Zachary. Sometimes she is a little too much of a mommy and thinks she can do it all by herself. She is good about telling us when she is done, and then is patient as we remove Zach from her lap.
Valentine's Day part 2
The kids love having Gwen over to babysit them. She is a really good babysitter, and we are lucky b/c she is right across the street from us! Here they are making her read yet another story to them.
Our first attempt at getting all the cousins in for a picture. We can't get the purple dress off Emerald these days.
Aunt Laura spending some time with her newest nephew.
Simon and Zachary comparing sizes of hands. I think Simon wins!
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