Four months already...time flies

Well, as of Friday, Thomas was officially 4 months...YEAH!! He has become quite a character. The funniest thing he does is smile and makes silly faces at you when you smile at him. He has begun cooing and let me tell you it is so cute. We took him to his great-grandfather's 72nd birthday party Saturday and everyone could not get enough of him. By the end of the day, he was exhausted...so was I though :) HE is growing by leaps and bounds...in fact, I had to get rid of some of his clothes...tear...because he couldn't fit his chubby butt in them. Oh how time flies. Here are a few pics to let you all know what we've been up to.


Hanging out with my cousin Katie Bug


Cheesing it :o)


Going Bye-bye in style





Chillin and Nappin with Peyton


Sitting with Daddy in my church clothes


I love this pic...the look on his face and his little hat makes him look like a little baby thug..lol

Happy Father's Day Daddy...and Grandpa, too!

This year was Tommy’s first father day and I felt pretty ridiculous b/c due to my lack of employment; I was unable to get him an awesome gift. The plan was getting him a gas grill had the money saved from months ago, unfortunately...life happens and that money inevitably went to some unexpected bills. Of course...that's my luck. Tommy had told me before that the "Father's Day" thing was just another money making holiday for merchants and blah blah blah...Whatever...
As many of you know, Tommy is quite attached at the hip to his pool league. And of course they would have a week end long tournament in Ft. Wayne father's day weekend...I mean why not??? It's not like any of these guys are father??? Right???
Anyway... Tommy left Saturday morning and said he wasn't sure if he would be back last that night or sometime the next day. Basically, it depended on whether or not he moved won his matches to move on to the next round. (Of Course, I was hoping he didn't move on...DON'T tell him, but I wanted him to be home for Father's Day...His 1st father's day at that).


So, with that in mind, I snuck a card that I had gotten him weeks ago into his suitcase with his phone charger...I knew he wouldn't get in there later that night.
Later Saturday evening, I got a call saying that he was moving on and would be staying the night. I know he could tell I was upset but what could I do.
Hours later, and I mean around 3am, Thomas is tucked in, I'm in the kitchen getting his 3 am feeding ready and guess who walks in the door?

And yes, he found the card...





It may have just been another day, but he was going to be home to spend just another day with me, Thomas and Peyton.

We ended up letting Daddy sleep for most of the morning and afternoon and went to visit my dad. It was a pretty great day.



We went out to dinner with daddy that evening. Thomas and Peyton love their daddy and I am so thankful for him.



I know I don't tell him enough but I really am thankful he is in my life...pool and all!

MIdnight Feedings

I remember the first time I talked to some of the nurses in the NICU and they told me that Thomas would benefit from G Tube feedings. I was nervous and apprehensive about the whole idea but through the training and every three hour feedings, I think I could probably give him his feeding with my eyes closed.
I remember (lol) one of the first times I gave him a midnight feeding. For starters, let me just say that I had excellent trainers in the NICU as well as the classes we took so I was prepared ahead of time before conducting a feeding at home. I remember Brooke (One of Thomas' bff's in the NICU) told me ~REMEMER~ when you get a new feeding syringe to take the cap off before putting in the food. SO...in the midst of the night, half awake, I go to get his feeding start...of course I DID NOT remove the cap from the syringe, and to make matters worse, used to plunger to push the formula in...you know, to get it started. Wouldn't you know...Thomas and I had a Neosure bath...I hear it's good for the skin :)
Now, weeks and weeks later, I can laugh about it...that night...it wasn't so humorous.





On a different note, Thomas is doing quite well tolerating his bottle feeds. I've even bumped them up to about an ounce about two or three times a day. He does really well swallowing with his feedings as long as I add a bit of rice cereal to each bottle.



I can't believe how big he's getting. He's such a big boy!!

The Many Faces of Thomas

As I said before, Thomas has become so full of personality and has many faces to prove it. I thought I would share a few of my favorites with you.




All clean...I think he looks like he's ready for a boxing match...maybe UFC?!?!?




He's just too cool!!!





I love this face!!!






Shhhh...zzzzzz!!


~WARNING~ If you see the following face, he is more than likely working on a poo...FYI :o)



OR...this one!



Lol...I love my little boy...and all his funny faces!

You've got personality

It's amazing how quickly a child changes. Thomas has started to show his personality and it is way to cute. The noises he makes...the cute faces he creates...And now he is even stating to crack smiles and coo. It is remarkable the progress he has made. I'm so proud.

Can't Forget Peyton

Three years ago on June 16th, a little rambunctious lovable ornery little "Bugg" was born. I had been bugging and bugging (No pun intended) Tommy that I really wanted a puppy. When I say bugging, I mean in his face everyday leaving pictures of cute puppies that needed adopted on his screen saver...begging him to go to the pound every time we were out...I was persistent.
One day, as luck would have it, Tommy seen an ad online for three Bugg pups. Little did he know that one of the "annoying pictures" I has bestowed on his computer screen respectively was infact those same puppies. Only a few blocks away from our home, we contacted the breeder and went to see the little guys...should I say little guy and girls. When we got there, I feel in love...absolutely feel in love with these precious little pups. For those who do not know, a "Bugg" is a hybrid between a Boston terrier and a Pug. The breeder insisted that the pups would be great household pets...and I'm sure she would know considering she had about 20 different animals (cats, dogs, etc) in her home. I sat my purse on the floor and picked up this chunky little brindle colored pup and was smitten. I adored them...all three of them...Puppy breath and all. As I play with this little gal, I turn and notice that the other little girl was climbing in my purse. It was too cute.

I put the other down and immediately knew that the little explorer in my purse was the one.
...If you are wondering what happened to the little chunky pup, a friend of mine adopted her. We didn't even know until about a week or two after she got her. She had brought pictures into work and we just made the connection.

I have babysat for them both together and believe me, they are a handful.

Three years later, we are still fighting with the curiosity and rebelliousness of that pup but wouldn't trade her for any of the others. She is definitely spoiled and knows it but is one of the most loving dogs I've ever known.

She definitely completes our family and keeps me especially on my toes.

My Hero

For those who may not know, my son has Pulmonary Atersa with a VSD. Basically, Thomas' pulmonary artery did not develop and the blood that should flow through it into the lungs is unable to do so. As of now, he has tiny vessels that are pumping the blood throughout his lungs but unfortunately, they will not be able to do so forever. Eventually, Thomas will need a very risky and quite complex surgery to take these vessels and fuse them together to create a larger vessel in hopes of providing the proper amount of blood flow throughout his lungs. Doesn't sound like much fun, huh?
Like I said before, he also has a VSD which is a small hole in the bottom of his heart. The VSD is a walk in the park to fix compared to the latter. Thomas however, is a fighter. After spending his first three months in the NICU that little baby has been through quite a lot for the short period of time he has been here.

Thomas went from going back and forth on a ventilator to a CPAP to a high flow cannula, a regular cannula...To currently no oxygen at all, he was poked and prodded with tests after tests, a heart cath, G-Tube placment, and much more...

Don't get me wrong, these tests were neccessary and I am thankful and graatious to all his doctors and nurses that took such good care of him in the NICU...But really, he has been through more medical crap in his few days than many will in a life time.

But...he has adapted so far and is becoming quite a little character. I wish I could trade places with him but of course we don't always get what we want. All in all, he has been such a little trooper and quite a fighter. I wish I had as much courage as he has in his little pinkie. He is so strong.

As for now, we wait. Wait for the cardiologist to say ~OK~ Let begin the process of preparing him for one of many difficult surgeries on his precious little broken heart. Until then, he is home with his Mommy and Daddy and Peyton get bigger and stronger. He has gone from 4.5 lbs. to a little over 10 lbs. I swear time goes by so fast and he is getting bigger everyday...For that matter, bigger by the minute!

The unexpected

I decided to start blogging mainly because I am a new mom and want to share some of my experiences with friends and family. If you know me at all, you are well aware of the fact that my son was born two months early due to preeclampsia and toxemia. Of course premature births are never expected and regardless his was unavoidable, but I still think that everything has a purpose and everything happens for a reason. In our case, we did not ask to have a baby with so many medical issues but that is what God gave us. I would not give up my beautiful little boy for anything and thank God for him every day. Many times things happen and we just don't know or understand why. I have to tell myself many days that God doesn’t give us anything more than we can handle. In a way, I kind of wish he thought of me as a little weaker, maybe my baby would have been born without a broken heart.