‘TIS THE SEASON’

  

 

We have had such a great holiday so far. Kingston is so into Christmas this year. Some of his highlights have been going to North Pole Experience in Greer (I highly recommend if you have little ones) we got to see Santa’s Workshop! He helped build toys, drink special hot chocolate, have story time with Mrs. Claus and of course sit on Santa’s lap to tell him his LONG list! My side of the family did the polar express in Williams and all of the kids had a great time! We are so excited for the boys to open gifts! Hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!

Update...What we've been upto in the past 4 months!!!

Wow- What can I say, life is hectic with my three kiddos!! We have had a lot happen to us in the time we have been away to the blogging world!! Here are some of the highlights from these past months....

James (aka Jimmy) TURNED 1!!! Our crazy little j man had his 1st b-day on August 2nd! As you can see, he had a BLAST eating his very own cake! (family tradition) He loved being in the spot-light for his special day and had a great time at pops and amma's!

Kingston (aka King) also had a b-day, on August 21st! He turned the BIG 3! We had a great party for him and he got some great gifts! Just to name a few... REAL golf clubs, REAL bow and arrows ( from papa of course ) REAL binoculars, spider man scooter with ALL of the appropriate gear and much much more!

We kissed that tiny 2 bedroom condo good-bye and moved into a new house in October and couldn't be happier!! We now have enough breathing room for the 5 of us! The boys have a great backyard to play in and enough space for their very own play room! We love our new home and will update with pics soon!

Grant is doing so amazing! He is such a miracle and a blessing to our family, we couldn't imagine life with out him. He has GAINED 7.5 lbs since our last post, and now weighs 12.6 lbs! I know that is still tiny for an almost 7 month old but for him, it is HUGE! (the other boys weighed that at 2 months) Not only has he gained weight but he has out grown his hormone deficiency and no longer has to be on meds for the rest of his life...that's right-NO MEDS!! Here is a picture of our perfectly healthy little boy!

Mike and I have been lucky enough to have a couple of date nights. We are so thankful to our family for being brave enough to take on all the kids so we can have a few hours to ourselves!

Mike is also THAT much closer to being done with school! I'm so proud of him... and also can't wait for him to be done!!

Glad I was able to take an hour and update! Kids are now awake, so duty calls.

My life with 3 boys!!

So I find myself super busy these days!! Whew! Having 3 kids is far different than having 2! Life is so hectic now that Grant is home, the boys all seem to need something at the same time and im still trying to get the hang of things!! The boys (mainly Kingston) LOVE Grant soooo much! James is still a baby himself so he doesn't quite get it yet, but he is starting to come around. Kingston is so cute with the new baby... he says Grant is his baby and Jimmy is mine.
I also find the older boys doing things i've never seen before! I walked into the kitchen the other day and I found Kingston standing on the counter!! He pushed his stool in and climbed right up and got into the snacks!! He had asked me to get him some apple sauce but I guess I didn't get around to it fast enough...so he took it upon hiself...kinda scary...it would hurt real bad if he fell!

So I find that Kingston is being more independent and Jimmy....well Jimmy seems to be going the other direction!! He some how got into the swing and put Grants suckie in! I think he is trying to tell me something!!

With 3 boys the house is NEVER clean anymore!! It now looks like this 99.9% of the time.


Now onto my miricle baby Grant! He has been doing so wonderful since hes been home!! He is starting to gain weight and just gets cuter and cuter! We are so greatful that hes here with us and so happy he is doing so well!
papa DeWitt came to see Grant and was so cute with him. great papa is 93 years old and still kickin! Its so nice that he is still around to meet our kids... he is an amazing man and I look up to him so much.

GRANT IS HOME!!!!

Yay!! Grant got realeased on Sunday morning and is home and doing well!! We went to his dr. apt today and he has gained an oz since being home and now weighs 5lb 4oz! We are so blessed to have him home with us and we are trying to get used to having a new born again! We have gotten about 2 hours of sleep since he came home...I check on him about every 2 minutes! He has a check up with his endocrinologist (hormone doc) tomorrow... he has a rare condition in which he doesn't produce his own cortisol and has to be on medication called hydrocortizone to suppliment for it. Cortisol is a hormone that helps keep your body temp up so its very important that he gets his meds on time! We hope it won't be a permanent condition and we should find out more tomorrow!! If it is we know we can deal with it and are so blessed that this is all we have to worry about right now. It has been a LONG 9 weeks in the NICU and its finally over! WAHOO!!

I love the 4th of July!!

We had such a great weekend up north for the holidy!! The weather was amazing, it was so nice to get out of the heat and enjoy cool weather for a couple days. Kingston played non-stop outside! The boys had such a great time playing with cousins and going to all of the festivities! Kingston loved the fireworks...Jimmy was confused! haha I can't believe how many people were there! It gets bigger and crazier every year! I think thats part of the fun! Can't wait til' next year!!

Playing in Kingston's truck! Kingston puts all of his fake guns in the back and says he is going hunting for elk and rabbits! Just like papa!

Mallory and King at the parade!

Waving to the horses! Kingstons favorite part!

Just thought this was cute!

nana and papa!

Sisters and mom! We have such a good time when we are together!

Trying to keep James in the shade! It didn't last long!

This pic cracks me up! They are relaxin' in their shades and eating snacks! SO GROWN UP!

Me and the hubby at the fireworks!!! I love him sooo much!

I love to see the magic in all the kids eyes while they watch the fireworks!!

I also wanted to say thank you to my husband for serving our great country! We wouldn't have the freedoms we do without brave people like him! Thank you!!!! I love you so much and am proud to say you are my husband!

Here are a few pics from when Mike was in the Marines! These are from when he was deployed and on ship in the Philippines!

What a HUNK!!

You can't see his face in this one but I thought it was a great pic! He is the one on the left!

Many faces of Grant....

I love this little boy soooo much!!! He is doing great! His two brain bleeds have completely resolved on their own! We are still waiting to get the echo on his heart done but we know he will be okay no matter what! He is so STRONG!! After I got done feeding him today he was being so cute and kept on smiling when I would talk or sing to him! I still can't believe how much he looks like his brother Jimmy...they both look so much like Mike, it's just not fair!

COME HOME SOON GRANT!! WE ALL WANT SNUGGLES!!!

back in the incubator!!

Well Grants crib stay was short lived! He was only able to regulate his temp for 12 hours after they took him out of the incubator! So back in the box he goes! They just think he doesn't have enough body fat to regulate it on his own. He had dialation on his right kidney a couple weeks ago and they did a follow up test today and it looked great! They also did a brain ultrasound to check on his brain bleeds and we get the results later on today...we hope they are gone! They have to do another echo on his heart, I guess they heard another murmer so they have to make sure nothing major is wrong. He has come such a long way and we are so proud! He weighs 4lb 7oz and looks alot like Jimmy! We hope our stay in the NICU isn't too much longer...we want and need him home! I will update soon with more pics! Love to all!!

6 weeks in the NICU!!!

WOW!! it has been 6 long weeks in the NICU! Grant is doing so wonderful...finally!!! They moved him from his isolate today and into a BIG BOY crib!! He is able to be in a crib now because he was able to regulate his own temperature for 2 whole days!! He has also accomplished feeding from a bottle...this is a HUGE step for him! He is now getting 35cc and is able to eat most of it all by himself, sometimes he is too worn out and they give the rest through his feeding tube. We are so happy that he is doing so well and know that he is that much closer to coming home! We think it will be another 3 weeks before he is strong enough to come home but we cant wait and couldn't be more proud of the progress he's made! He is so strong and we love him so so much! The nurses and doctors have all been amazing and we are so thankful to them all!!

Mike got to feed him for the first time today! He is such a proud father...you can just see it in his eyes when he looks at him... he did such a great job at feeding him, he was calm as can be and Grant loved it! I LOVE THEM!

Trip to Pima and Update on Grant

We have been busy little bees lately!! Mike had a couple of days off work so we were able to go up to Pima for a couple of nights earlier this week. We had such a great time! Kingston was able to play outside pretty much non-stop for 2 days with his cousins. I think he had the most fun with his uncle Hunter!! Hunter has about 5 horses, 30 rabbits, and 10 chickens in a coop! It's like a mini farm and Kingston absolutely loves it! He even has his own horse that Hunter let him name, Kingston some how came up with the name 9.8?? Don't kids say the funniest things sometimes!!?

Kingston with his baby horse 9.8...

Feeding the chickens all by himself!

Kingston is riding 9.8's mommy, she is so good with all the kids!!

Jimmy playing with the rabbits was so hilarious!! He didn't understand why these 'stuffed animals' moved! He would pick them up and they would jump out of his hands! It entertained him and us for quite some time!

Golfing in the backyard is always fun! They try to see who can drive it the furthest...Mike always wins of course! They are being silly posing for the camera!


I of course can't do a post without talking about my little angel Grant! He is starting to do better again. The poor little guy hasn't been able to eat for about 10 days now! He has been on antibiotics for the NEC in his intestines and while he has the infection he isn't able to eat! They were able to do a small surgery on him 2 nights ago to put a central line in...its pretty much an IV that is close to the heart...with this they are able to stop poking him for IVs every day and able to give his meds and up the calories through his TPN. He surprisingly weighs 4lbs 6oz now, which is crazy cause he hasn't been eating! The TPN nutrition is obviously working! However they are a little concerned because he seems to be holding on to a little extra fluid from his blood transfusion...just something we will be keeping an eye on! As far as breathing goes he is doing great!! Just on oxygen but otherwise completely breathing on his own! We can't wait to have him home and we love him so so so so so much! Thanks for all the prayers, he has already gone through so much and we know he wouldn't have gotten through it without the man upstairs! Love to all!!

The end!

Another update on Grant...

We got a call this morning around 6 am from Grant's NICU Doctor...I hate when they call you cause you know its not good news. Grant started having blood in his poop which is a sign of infection. They did an x ray and sure enough he has an infection on his intestines, this is horrible news...however it always seems that Grant gets the better of the problems if you understand what I mean, such as with his brain bleed he has a stage 1, not a stage 4, heart murmur went away with meds, not surgery...... so we are hoping it will be the same for his intestines. They are treating him with antibiotics for 10 days and while he is on them he cant eat so he will probably lose some weight...but we hope that the meds will do the trick! The last thing we want is for him to get surgery on his intestines, its very dangerous and life threatening. Good news is he is off of the cpap and breathing on his own through a nasal prong!! He will be a month old in 5 days, it has been the hardest month of my life. I just want to be able to hold him and take care of him like a normal baby. We are trying to stay positive but just cant help but to feel upset about the situation and want a normal life for Grant and our boys... This to shall pass I suppose! We will press forward and do the best we can, we know Grant is!!!!!

We slept with his bear so it would smell like home... they let him cuddle it!!