She's Home!

Words can't describe how ridiculously happy we are:)

Crossing our Fingers

On January 2, 2007 we brought our beautiful Little Flower home in this:

It is the sweetest little cable knit one-piece with little red and pink embroidered flowers (I love the details on the arms and legs). I adore this piece of clothing. I wish I had thought to buy one in every size available. The Little Flower outgrew it quickly. 

This is the morning after she came home. Same outfit (still clean):

We're hoping that tomorrow we'll bring our Superbaby home in the same thing.

We're ready!

More Visitors!

We had the pleasure of hosting more family from out of town last weekend. We visited the State Capitol (I almost spelled this Capital- I'm naught reel smart) building, the Madison Children's Museum, and of course the NICU:) I would love to have a few hours to sit and play around with Photoshop on our desktop, but until then here are a few pictures:

 

For the record, I love my in-laws. Part of the reason we chose to move back to the Midwest was so that we would be closer to our families. We want our girls to feel connected to and loved by their extended family. After each visit we are reminded that they are and it is such a comforting feeling to us as parents. 

 

Wordless Wednesday *

*AKA- I'm tired and I still have to pump before I can sleep but Superbaby's Paw-Paw, Aunt, and Cousin came for a quick visit and I just had to share a few pictures:)

Swimming Lessons

The Little Flower started swimming lessons a few weeks ago. Chris has taken her every week but because he was on call this past weekend I took her instead. I seized the opportunity to get some shots of my little swimmer. Here she is in her warm-up suit that I bought her when she was a few months old. I just knew it would come in handy some day:

This is her teacher, Jess. Little Flower talks about Jess all week long. Probably because she does cool things like this:

She's learning how to float on her back:

And jump into the pool:

And swim to the side and climb out of the pool:

And of course splash!

We were worried that she might not want to be left alone with the instructor but she did just fine from day one. I would like to think that's because she knows we are close by...

...watching oh so proudly:)

Rough Day

Yesterday was a rough day for Superbaby (and Mommy). She had an eye exam which required two rounds of eye drops and from the looks of it some sort of medieval device that holds the eyelids open. It left marks. I wasn't happy. This poor baby wasn't either, I could hear her cries from the waiting area:  

She had the same sad, grumpy look on her face the whole day. The nurse was saying this is a textbook "I'm stressed" sign for a NICU baby:

I'd say so. The VERY good news is that there are currently no signs of ROP (Retinopathy of Prematurity). A second exam will be done in a few weeks.

It was so warm here yesterday I decided to take the Little Flower to the playground near our house. All I can say is it's going to be a fun summer! She had so much fun exploring. When we arrived we were the only people there and she asked "Where'd kids go?" I explained that I was the only fun Mommy in town:)   

People really get out and enjoy it when the weather is nice here. It's one of the things we love about Wisconsin. The Winter is brutal at times but it really makes you enjoy the Spring! 

On my mind ...

I found this blog a few weeks back and have been following it ever since. I can hardly imagine what this family is going through. It's obvious their faith is carrying them through this time. I hope the thoughts and prayers of others are helping as well. 

Happy Birthday Cora

*You can click on the image above to donate to Cora's Playground* 

Four Weeks Old

When I walked into the NICU yesterday I was pleasantly surprised to see this:

Superbaby is now in an open crib! She is just over four pounds so she can now regulate her own body temperature. She suddenly seems much less intimidating to me. Now we just wait two to three weeks before she can attempt to bottle feed. She needs to take all feedings by bottle for 48 hours before she can come home.

Superbaby stretching (love this picture!):

And last but certainly not least, my very sweet blog buddy MamáChanga (who is a former NICU mom) sent me these darling blankets and hats:

She sent several sizes, I wonder which one will fit Superbaby the best:

Her mother made these:

Isn't it sweet that one would take the time to make and send such beautiful things to someone whom they've never met? I think so. I look forward to warming Superbaby with these soon. Thank you both so much!