Yesterday, Brenna's friend, Chase, had his 5th birthday party. It was a pirate party with a treasure hunt. Each guest was given a treasure map with color coded destinations. At each stop they received a different piece of pirate garb and by the end of the hunt, they were all decked out like pirates. It was lots of fun! Brenna has mad sword fighting skills and kept up with the boys pretty well. She discovered the sword glows in the dark which is crucial when fighting at midnight on the high seas.
Last night, Brenna had a nightmare. Did she say she wanted her Mommy? No. Did she say she wanted her Daddy? No. Did she say she wanted her Teddy Bear? No! What I heard from down the hall was, "I want my french fries!" Um, I guess we've eaten at Old McDonald's one too many times.
I just love the baby blue and brown combination of this outfit! If brown would have been in style when Brenna was a baby, I'd have dressed her in nothing but pink and brown. If you're wondering about the look on Austin's face, I had just taken his pacifier out of his mouth. The pacifier was green and it just didn't go with the outfit. If he could talk, he would have said, "Mommy, are you trying to make me cry? I don't care about color coordination". To that I would have said, "Too bad baby, these first couple of years are the only shots I'm going to have at color coordination!" I figure after that it will be super hero t-shirts and sweat pants...all the cute stuff will be taboo.
While Brent's Mom, Carol (aka Mimi), was out visiting last month, Brenna requested we go somewhere "fun". This is a standard request, since all of her toys at home are "sooooo boring". We don't always oblige the "go somewhere fun" request, since "fun" ususally equals "money". We wanted to show Carol around downtown and she wanted to shop for souvenirs, so we packed up all the baby stuff we could think of and headed to the Discovery Gateway, Salt Lake City's children's museum. Brenna had lots of fun playing in the child-sized playhouse, grocery store, farm and water activity center. Austin was a trooper and snoozed in the Baby Bjorn carrier.
On the trip downtown, we stopped in at Polly's work for a little lunch with her co-workers. We meant to see Temple Square, but Brenna was so anxious to get to the "fun" that we totally forgot. (We did end up taking a quick trip to Temple Square on the way to the airport though.) On the way back to Herriman (aka Arizona), we stopped in at Carmax to see Brent and visit with this co-hearts in car crime. Carol enjoyed getting to see where we both spend our days and meet the folks we work with.
It was a pretty long day, and even though we packed 6 diapers and 4 outfits, we managed to run out of everything and had to stop at Walmart for an emergency replenishment of diapers. Thank goodness Austin doesn't go through the diapers like that anymore. Brent was considering taking on a second job to fund his diaper habit!
Here are a few pictures of Brenna having fun at the museum and a few pictures of our visit to Temple Square. We happened to run into Aaron, Brent's co-worker, at the square and he took the group photo for us...small world.
Don't you just want to kiss my chubby cheeks?
Austin is doing well. He's growing, sleeping, eating and filling up diapers just like any new baby should. When we visited the doctor last Friday, he weighed 9 lbs 14 oz! No wonder my back is starting to hurt...big lug. We are still trying to find the right combination of eating and sleeping positions at night. Last night, he didn't go to sleep until almost midnight, but arms-out-swaddling and sleeping on his side yielded almost 4 blessed hours of sleep. That's a huge improvement from the 1.5 to 2.5 he'd been doing since we came home from the RSV hospital stay! We'll see if that combo works again tonight. The best sleep comes from car rides and laying on Mommy's or Daddy's chest. Hey, who can blame him there. He also loves to snuggle in the Baby Bjorn carrier, so that might be the answer when I start working from home in the next couple of weeks.
Knowing that this will be our last adventure with babies, we are trying to soak up every moment and not lament the trials and tribulations although that's a tall order at 2 or 3 in the morning. I think it might be harder to go back to work this time than it was with Brenna, but go back I must.
I hope you enjoy the photos. I'll try to post 6 week pics in the coming days.
Staring off in the distance (yes, the distance is only like 12 inches away)!
If I could only lift my head up and move it exactly where I wanted it, that pacifier would be mine!
Is tummy time really necessary? But look at me holding up my head!
Things were going along just fine. I was getting used to being at home with Mommy, Daddy and Brenna. The dogs weren't scaring me every time they came up to try to sneak in a lick or two. Grammie, Grandpa and Mimi had come for a visit which I really enjoyed. Then all of a sudden I got this thing called a cough. It started out small on Sunday; just an annoyance, but by Thursday, I was not feeling so good. It hurt really bad every time I coughed and all I wanted to do was sleep. Waking up to nurse took a lot of effort, and I could only stay awake for 5 to 10 minutes to eat. With the weekend coming up, Mommy and Daddy thought it would be best if I went to see the baby doctor. Uh oh, I'm still not over the circumcision thing, so this didn't sound like a good plan to me at all. I'm only 4 weeks old, so I guess I don't get much of a say in these things.
Friday afternoon, Mommy took me to the baby doctor. The nurse calls us back to the exam room and gets my weight. Holy cow, I'm over 9 pounds! I gained almost 2 pounds in 2 weeks. Breast milk has been "berry berry good to me"! That was about all the good news I got that day. The nurse talked to Mommy about how I had been doing, and she brought in a monitor to see how my oxygen levels were. Now I'm only 4 weeks old, but even I know the importance of oxygen. Apparently my oxygen levels were not up to snuff, since the nurse went out in the hall to call the doctor to the room immediately. The doctor came in and listened to my breathing and my heart and watched my tummy to see how hard I was working to breathe. He asked the nurse to give me some oxygen and my levels shot right up where they should be. I felt so much better with that lovely air streaming into my lungs. Maybe this doctor guy isn't all bad after all.
The next thing I know some guys all dressed in blue came into the exam room asking Mommy lots of questions. I wasn't really listening; I was just happy to have that lovely air still coming my way. Mommy put me in my car seat and I thought we were going to go home. Instead of getting into Mommy's car we got in a thing called an ambulance. The guys in blue strapped my car seat down to what looked like a bed. Again I didn't mind as long as we were moving and the wonderful air kept coming. The guys in blue gave us a ride to a big building called a hospital. There the nurses took over. They stripped me down, weighed me in my birthday suit (still over 9 pounds; yay me), and gave me the once and twice over. Sometimes they let me keep the wonderful air and sometimes they took it away. I didn't like it too much when it was gone. I kind of felt groggy and listless without it.
Now with nurses, you kind of have to keep your eye on them. One minute they are cooing and cuddling you wrapping you in warm blankets, and the next minute they are sticking tubes up your nose trying to suck the gunky stuff out. I REALLY don't recommend having this done; it is not pleasant at all. They tried to tell me that I would feel better after, but I had a hard time believing them while it was happening. The other thing that nurses do in your "best interest" is stick a thermometer up your bum. Is this really necessary? I would tell you if I was hot wouldn't I? I wasn't!
Daddy and Brenna arrived shortly after we got there. It was crazy hair day at Brenna's school and her hair-do and outfit was a big hit with all the nurses and doctors. That was fine with me. It took the spotlight off me for a minute and the poking a prodding stopped. Another doctor came in to check me out and told Mommy and Daddy that he wanted to do an x-ray of my lungs to make sure I didn't have something called pneumonia. Brenna went with us to the x-ray room. It was her job to make sure that Mommy and Daddy didn't wander off. She held their hands and made them stay put. She's so responsible that Brenna.
After the x-ray, we went back to the exam room. The nice nurse in the pink scrubs came to tell us that we were going to spend the night in the hospital, since I really needed the wonderful air (ahh) and the suctioning (ugh). She also told us that the x-ray was negative for pneumonia. Now, I'm not sure what that is, but Mommy and Daddy seemed relieved, so I was too. The other thing she told us was that I had a virus called RSV, Respiratory Syncytial Virus, and that's what was making me sick. The virus had led to Bronchiolitis which was making it hard for me to breathe and creating all that junk in my lungs. She told us that there was a room ready for us upstairs. She seemed very excited that a room was ready and we wouldn't have to wait a long time for one. Again, I didn't really care as long as the wonderful air kept coming and Mommy and Daddy didn't leave.
Mommy's friend, Pam, came to the hospital and took Brenna to get some dinner. Aparently hospitals are pretty boring when you are four, and Brenna was very excited to get the chance to hang out with Pam. Later that night, Pam brought Brenna back to the hospital with some things for Mommy to be able to spend the night. Brenna decided that she wanted to sleep over at Pam's house. This kind of surprised Mommy. It was the first time Brenna had slept away from our house without Mommy or Daddy. She's such a big girl. I hope I'm that brave at four.
I slept fine that first night, but Mommy didn't do so well. There was another baby in the room with us and he cried all night long. It didn't bother me a bit, but Mommy kept waking up trying to figure out if it was me or the other baby crying. Saturday morning Daddy came back to the hospital, and aparently he didn't sleep very well at home all by himself. I guess he's not as brave as Brenna! Pam brought Brenna up to the hospital after a morning of breakfast eating and play. Pam, Brenna and Mommy left for a little while to do something called "retail therapy". One of Pam's favorite stores, Hip and Humble, was having a sale that she couldn't pass up. Daddy told Mommy she should go along to get some fresh air and take a break. After shopping Pam took Brenna to Stephanie's house for an afternoon of play. Stephanie is another one of Mommy's work friends. Brenna had a blast playing at her house with her two kids, Connor and Quinn.
That evening Meredith, another of Mommy's work friends, brought Mommy and Daddy dinner for a break from cafeteria food. After they ate, Meredith came upstairs and snuggled me for a little while. Mommy kept telling Daddy how lucky they were to have friends like Pam, Stephanie and Meredith who come rushing to your side when you need them. I know it made a difference to them to know that Brenna was in good hands and having fun, so they could concentrate on taking care of me.
Over the next couple of days, the nurses worked at getting me to not need the wonderful air so much and to not need the suctioning. I was all for the latter, but wanted to hold on to the former. Finally on Monday, I decided that I could do without the wonderful air, and the doctors let us go home. You should have seen how fast Daddy got all of our things packed up and out to the car! We even made it out of there in time to get Brenna to gymnastics.
Well, that was my big adventure to the hospital. I'm doing much better now. My appetite is back and I'm not so groggy anymore. I go back to the baby doctor tomorrow for a check-up, and hopefully he will say I'm right as rain. I heard Mommy tell someone that she is going to pack a bag just in case...but I know that she won't need it. I've had enough poking, prodding and monitoring for this short lifetime!
When he sleeps most of the day, these moments of wide-eyed alertness are few and far between. This was taken on Feb 27th, so he was 15 days old.
These are a pair of genuine Roper cowboy boots sent from Brent's Dad. I swear that if Austin's foot is a size 2 during the summer, he will be wearing them with shorts. They are too cute! Thanks Papa David! Austin wants to know when his pony will arrive!
Brenna is about to age out of the pre-school gymnastics class she has been taking for the past 1.5 years. Lately she has been showing the signs of boredom, so we decided to move her up to the next level. This is a pretty big deal, since Level 1 takes place in the "big gym" with all the other gymnasts. Her pre-school class was held in a smaller room with pint-sized equipment and no distractions from other activities.
Yesterday was her first Level 1 class with a new teacher, Gia, and new class mates. She immediately struck up a friendship with Kaylee, the older sister of one of Brenna's pre-school classmates. Kaylee took her under her wing, showed her where they meet at the beginning of class (Mommy didn't even have to go with her), and helped her do some of the harder activities when Gia was helping other students.
The structure of the Level 1 class is a bit different from the pre-school class. In the pre-school class, they go from one activity to another in a circuit. In Level 1, they spend 15 minutes on an apparatus and then cycle over to another one. This really gives them an opportunity to work on a particular skill for a decent length of time. Last night they worked on the beam, the floor (back rolls, cart wheels and hand stands), the bars and the vault.
Brenna had a blast and proclaimed herself ready to be in the "big gym" for good. Gia said she did great and could tell that she had learned a lot from Megan, her pre-school teacher. Thanks to Megan for being so patient. I don't know how she does it!
Sorry I haven't kept up with my blog as diligently as some may like. This sleeping, eating and filling my diapers takes up more time each day than I thought it would. So where were we? Oh yeah, Day 2 was not so good with the circumcision thing. On Day 3, we did something called "going home". Mommy was sure excited to get out of the hospital. I'm not sure why. The nice nurses brought her medicine when she was hurting and the dietary ladies brought her meals whenever she was hungry. What's not to like? She kept talking about how uncomfortable the bed was and how she couldn't get any rest. Ha! Just you wait Mommy!
Anyway, we waited around for the baby doctor (still watching him like a hawk) and Mommy's doctor to check us out so we could leave. Boy, was that a process. Who knew I needed so much stuff! There were diaper bags from the hospital with lots of goodies, flower arrangements (sure wish I could see that far; I'm sure they're beautiful), luggage, cameras and Brenna's toys. After several trips to the car, Daddy said we were ready. The nice nurse wheeled Mommy out to the car, and I rode in this think called a car seat. Lots of straps holding me down. Not quite sure if I'm liking it, but both Mommy and Daddy gave me no choice...something about safety...whatever I'm a boy aren't I supposed to live on the edge?
We arrived home, which for me wasn't much different...still sleeping, eating and filling my diaper, but Mommy and Daddy sure did seem happy. I think I heard Mommy sigh with relief the first night she slept in her own bed...something about how soft the sheets are. Too bad she won't get to spend much time in them! ;)
All smiles at 6 weeks! Check out my dimple...cute huh?
Sitting with big sister. He looks so much older here.
I'm a happy baby and now I can show it!
Feel the burn...one thousand one, one thousand two. 
It's hard work being a Longhorn fan
