Today

All is well at home today. Henry had a good night. He slept from 1045 til 4 AM (then I fed him and did a breathing treatment), and then slept again until 9. I took him back to the doctor today for a follow up at 10 AM and she said he sounded OK, but we did a breathing treatment in the office and she said he sounded much better after. So, she wants me to be very diligent about every 4 hour breathing treatments during the day (I don't have to wake him at night). He seems MUCH improved. Smiling, eating, sleeping, etc. YEAH!
Oh, and he gained 2 ounces in the past 9 days. Not much, but I was expecting him to have lost during the illness.

Sabotage!

My diet buddy, Amy Coffman, sent Henry (and family) the most wonderful get well soon bouquet. Problem you ask???? It is made of cookies!!! This is my diet buddy! Sabotage, I tell you :)
Anyway, the kids loved it and I had one cookie. It was fabulous! Thanks, Amy, Dave, and Ellen Bee!

More hospital pics

Can you tell the pictures from the beginning of the stay when Henry felt miserable to the pics of when he was beginning to feel better?
The picture w/ the man is our fave respiratory therapist (although, they were all wonderful!)..Dave!
(Clue: the red and purple outfit is from the begining, the rest are toward the end)

HOME!!!!

We're home!!! Yeah, after 6 days in the hospital it feels REALLY good to be home. Henry is doing well. He's still wheezy and raspy and we have to do nebulizer treatments 6 times a day. He is also on antibiotics (his ears are still red) and we have to go back to the pediatrician tomorrow, but he is happy, smiley and feeling MUCH better! We had wonderful care at Crouse Hospital. Thanks to everyone (EVERYONE) who helped and offered help over the last few days. Here's a list of our wonderful angels:
Sheila Spindler, Heidi Youker, Jill Kantak, Sue Hourihan, Kim Taffner....thanks for taking such wonderful care of our big boys. Thanks for feeding them, transporting them, taking them to school and back, picking Owen up off the bus, and giving them extra hugs and kisses while we were gone.
Heidi....thanks for doing our laundry and bringing me a gourmet lunch!
Sue...thanks for feeding my big boys and Eddie dinner! And me (leftovers at the hospital the next day :))
Grandma...for rescuing us and continuing to help us put ourselves back together
Robin Berry, Rebecca Alder, Stephanie Cramer, Lisa Hall, Mary Jo Lamowski......thanks for offering back up big boy help should the above group needed a break.
Michelle Hornsey...for taking Owen to theatre
Thanks to the huge group of other friends and family who prayed for Henry to get well quickly (it worked!)
Thanks to all the phone calls for updates. That helped us know Henry was in your hearts.
You never know the true heart of people until an emergency arises and I am beyond grateful that I have crossed paths with people who are filled with kindness. Thank you all......

Grandma to the rescue....

Still in the hospital w/ no immediate plans for discharge. I'm on a quick shower break before heading back. My mom (thank you, thank you, thank you) is en route and going to stay and help out for a week. The big boys are starting to have a tough time being shuttled from friend's house to friend's house. Not to mention I (and Henry) haven't seen them since Friday. Although, I don't know what I'd do without my wonderful friends. The things they have done for us has been absolutely amazing (I'll write more about that later, when I don't have to hurry back). Best case scenario: Henry will be home on Wednesday. Worst case: who knows? His pediatrician mentioned he could be on the long path and stay for many more days. The biggest concern now is that he can't keep fluids down, so he still has an IV he can't get rid of. But they are also concerned about him getting too much fluid (fluid overload). It's such a mess. Gotta run....my boy's awaiting!

Henry update!

Real quick.......took Henry to the pediatrician yesterday. While there he proceeded to vomit, choke, and turn blue at which point she called an ambulance and sent us to the hospital. We are still there (Saturday evening) and may be there a while longer. I left the hospital briefly today (which is why I'm writing this from home) and left Eddie there w/ him. But, Eddie is panicked so I have to hurry back. He's hooked us to cardiac monitors that keep going off and freaking him out. Anyway, he has RSV (respiratory syntial virus) and an ear infection. He's getting albuterol breathing treatments every 2-4 hours and antibiotics. He might have gone home later today if he didn't spike a temp of 103.5 and decide that he wants to throw up and not eat. So, maybe tomorrow??? If I don't write on this blog tomorrow...you'll know we are still there.

Tired!

Took Henry back to the pedi yesterday and she said he's worse and still wheezing, but OK. She was hoping that was his peak worse day. No such luck. I've been up since 1:30 AM w/ a sicker little boy. Poor thing sleeps about 15-20 minutes moans, coughs, cries and repeat. And, he spiked a temp, too. Talked to the pedi this AM and she wants me to bring him back. UGH! At least, TGIF!

Tutor Time

Owen has been tutoring Emmett in math facts in the evening. It's so funny! And the crazy thing is that Emmett is actually listening to Owen and learning simple addition. I'm going to have such a hard time holding Emmett from kindergarten next year. (the cut off for NY is December 1 and Em has a September bday). He's 100% academically ready. Socially, probably not. He still likes me a whole lot and lacks confidence in unknown social situations. But hey, at least he knows basic math facts.

Vitamins and more...

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Headed back to the pediatrician today. Henry's wheezing has gotten worse (he slept 8 hours last night, anyway :)) He's not eating well and he threw up this AM. Although, I think he might have thrown up solely because of those HORRID vitamins (poly vi sol) that they're supposed to take. Absolutely disgusting!!! I know breast fed babies really need the vitamin A in the vitamins, but I don't know if I can torture him w/ those drops every morning. What did the rest of you mommies do?

Lots of lovin'....

MOM: these are for you!

Sorry for the naked baby pics, but I couldn't figure out how to expose his fat rolls w/o exposing everything. Hopefully, he'll forgive me some day :)

2 months old!

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Henry had his two month check up today and my teeny newborn is no longer so teeny. He weighed 12-1 today and was 23 inches long. This means he's gained 5 1/2 pounds in 8 weeks. No small feat! He was supposed to get four vaccines today too, but he was wheezing. I'm certainly not going to win "mom of the year"...I had no idea! He's had a stuffy nose/cold for a while, but I didn't know he was wheezing too. His pediatrician said it was bronchiolitis. Hopefully, he's not on the same asthmatic path as his brothers. So, vaccines are postponed until further notice.

Clarification (by request :))

NO! I'm not putting a swim suit on in one month. Well, I may put one on w/ a long t shirt over it. Yes, we are going to an indoor waterpark en route to Eville. I figure Henry will need to be carried in a front pack anyway. Other than dipping his tootsies in, Henry won't be swimming either.
I am down 8 pounds in two a half weeks (weighed myself this AM, Amy Coff, and I'm down two more :)), which is 21 pounds since delivery and 30 until pre pregnancy (now if I hadn't gained 50 pounds while pregnant.....). I continue to DDR (w/ the boys) for about 20-30 minutes 5 + times a week. Not sure how many calories I'm really burning....but it has to be better than nothing. You would not believe how good the boys have gotten at it, too!

Hello

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Henry is two months old now and he still sleeps constantly! I mean he is probably up for a couple of hours total for the day. I'm going to enjoy it......it can't last forever!

Good news all around....

Not only was it Eddie's birthday yesterday, but we also had a lot of other fun reasons to be happy!
1. Henry slept 7 hours last night!
2. Henry's picture shows him in his first 3-6 month old (thanks, Michelle Hathaway!). It fits!
3. It's a three day weekend!
4. Emmett, Henry, and I got through the grocery store without Henry waking up and NO trips to the bathroom!
5. This one is the most exciting: I made banana bread yesterday from my Deceptively Delicious book and Owen proclaimed it to be, "the best banana bread I ever made." (but still not as good as Mrs. Sheila's and Mrs. Sue's :)). They like it....they like it.... And it contained a half cup of pureed cauliflour, whole wheat flour, and egg whites (shhh...they'll never know!)

Eddie's birthday

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My handsome husband turned 34 yesterday. This photo is the extent of our celebration, and although it doesn't look like much, we had a good time. I made him his fave dinner: meatloaf (gag!), Stove Top (double gag!), and steamed brocoli (triple gag!). We're having a Wii playing party today with some of our good friends, so that will be fun.

Thanks, Aunt Jeanette!

Thanks, Aunt Jeanette, for the great booties/slippers you made for Henry. He loves them!

He did it (again!)

Even without the supplemental bottle, Henry slept 5 1/2 hours last night! Hopefully, this means he will sleep at least this long from here on out, right?

He did it!

Yeah! Henry slept from 10:30-4:30 last night! That's 6 full hours! While exciting, I'm a little nervous. We had a bottle of pumped breast milk that I decided we needed to give to him to make sure he'd take the bottle before I go back to work. (he took it, although he wasn't all together thrilled!) So, Eddie gave him 4 ounces and then he stil wanted to nurse more. So...now I'm wondering if he slept so long, because he had that extra 4 ounces at bedtime. That combined w/ nursing probably amounted to 7-8 ounces and I'm doubt he's getting that much from me right before bed. So, maybe he's waking around 2-3 because he's hungry. Time will tell. But I'm not about to start supplementing, so if that's the case I'll just have to get up more in the middle of the night.

Separate room update!

It turned out to be a pretty good night :). Henry nursed at 10:30, 2:30, 6:15, and 8:45. That's almost two four hour stretches! And, best of all....after feeding him I laid him back down in his bed and he went right back to sleep. At least, I think he did. That's the beauty of him being in his own room ........not sure what he did, but I KNOW he wasn't crying! But best news of all: Emmett and Owen let us sleep until Henry woke us at 8:45! Emmett moved into our bed about 5 Am, but went back to sleep until about 7ish and Owen woke about 7ish, too, but they went downstairs to the Wii while we slept. Maybe the Wii is a blessing.......it sure makes for a happy mommy and daddy!

Cooking Club PARTY!

I hosted our monthly cooking club at my house on Friday. It is one of my FAVORITE girls night outs and I look forward to it monthly! It was casserole night, and I got some super yummy recipes that I will hopefully add to my regularly cooked meals list. Someone that night told me that once you cook a meal four times it becomes part of your regular meal rotation. Interesting, eh? Needless to say, I went over my weight watcher points (I'm sure of it!). The fun started at 6:30 and the last five people left my house around 11:45. This video is a scene of Amy and Kim doing DDR. We got some exercise! After this we tried out Carmen Electra's Striptease video (it's on demand cable!). (Just don't tell Eddie we did this I'm not sure I want to give him any ideas :))
Eddie did a awesome job making himself and the kids disappear for the evening (minus Henry). He sat (um...slept) through a Veggie Tales movie, went to dinner, then hid in the basement w/ them until bedtime. What a man! (Ok...maybe I should practice the striptease video :))

Henry is looking particularly angelic tonight......

At the soccer center today one of the other soccer moms said that Henry no longer looked like a newborn. So true, but so, so sad! Henry is sleeping in his own bed in his room tonight for the first time. I'm hoping I get a little more sleep this way. Fingers crossed.

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Cheese!

Supper success!

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For Christmas my mom got me the Jessica Seinfeld book, Deceptively Delicious. It's all about adding fruit and veggie purees to recipes to "trick" the kids into getting food and veggies into their belly without a fight. Last night was my first attempt. My good friend and neighbor, Sheila, came over w/ her kiddos ecause both of our hubbies were working late. We made the chicken nugget recipe from the book and added sweet potatoe puree (my dad got me a Magic Bullet to puree!), flaxseed, and other healthy ingredients. And....it worked!!! The kids ATE IT! We ate it, too :). Very yummy! Sheila and I were high fiving one another behind the island after they took their first bites and proclaimed "good!".

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Another cute one

Snug as a Bug

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Thanks, Dena and Terry. This is the great warm up/fleece I got with the money you sent (a thank you card is in the mail :)). I thought you might want to see a photo of it. It's perfect for keeping Henry warm on the way to taking the big boys to school. I ususally don't have time to get him dressed before we leave, so I put this on over his jammies. PERFECT!

Good Morning

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A good morning smile from Henry to start your day!

Owen and Emmett got power scooters from Santa for Christmas. Owen took off on his right away, but it was a little big for Emmett. It's for ages 8 and up and the handles don't lower below what you see. Eddie had been running along side him when he used it, but yesterday the weather was gorgeous, Eddie wasn't home, and he wanted to try it by himself CRAZY! That thing goes fast! I envisioned myself in the ER w/ him after he broke a leg and the doctor saying , "What were you thinking letting him ride an electric scooter?"
Thankfully, although he took one hard spill...no broken body parts, yet! Oh, the other big problem w/ it is that he can't pull the hand brake to stop it. His hands are too small!

Back to Work

So, I talked to my nurse manager today about coming back to work (sigh). My first day back is going to be January 30 and I'm only go to work 8 hours a week until further notice. I'll probably do 8 hours a week for a month and then go to 16 hours a month thereafter. I think it will be OK. Henry will be 10 weeks old at that point and hopefully sleeping better. And, some weeks the 8 hours will be 2 7-1130 pm shifts, so Eddie will have the boys that whole time. The other weeks are one 3-1130 shifts and my neighbor (and good friend) is going to watch the boys from 230 pm until Eddie can pick them up around 430 pm. I'm so lucky that I can work my schedule that way.

January Thaw

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What a beautiful day. It was 65 degrees and a good portion of our snow banks have melted. Yeah! Unfortunately, lake effect snow is in the forecast for the weekend. UGH!

Baby Name Post

Here's the link to the top 100 baby names by request. Amy, let me know if it doesn't work and I'll look it up for you :)

www.babycenter.com/0_top-100-baby-names-of-2007_3637303.bc

Interesting

List of Top 100 baby names for 2007 was just released. Owen was number 40, Henry number 85, and Emmett not in the top 100.

Going to regret this in the AM...

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Eddie and I have spent the last 90 minutes doing Dance Dance Revolution while Henry slept peacefully (and the other boys, too). We bought another dance mat so we can do it at the same time. Addicting! For the record, I beat him all but one time!

Hen-ro

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Owen and Emmett have taken to calling Henry, Hen-ro. No idea where that came from. Toni - can you tell his eyes are slate blue from this photo? Notice the birth mark kind of up his right nostril...the red coloring? Doesn't he look chunky?

Henry's video

As requested, Henry on video......

DDR and Weight loss challenge

I got DDR (Dance Dance Revolution) for our Wii as a Christmas gift. The idea is to dance the baby weight off! My friend, Amy Coffman, and I are having a weight loss challenge. I have 38 pounds to lose to get down to my pre pregnancy weight (sounds a little daunting...that's what I get for gaining 55 pounds) and Amy has baby weight to get rid of also. When we are skinny (or at least no longer fat!) we are going to treat ourselves to something involving warm weather and shopping. How's that for incentive? Anyway, the boys love to dance dance too and Emmett looks hysterical doing it! He can follow it pretty well, although in this video he's doing a lot of jumping.

Who's putting whom to sleep?

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On my own! 6 weeks after Henry's arrival and I'm on my own. I'm sad, but it was definetely time. I've been spoiled. Day 1 hasn't gone completely as planned. I was meeting friends at Barnes and Noble at 10:00. I was right on schedule until Henry decided he needed to eat at which point my shower went right out the window (even though it's been two days since I've showered!). Spraying body spray all over, we headed out by 9:45. Barnes and Noble was fun, but we had to leave early after Emmett pinched me while I was talking to a friend (what's that about?). He came home to his room. Eddie came home for lunch. I gave Henry to him and laid down w/ Emmett for a nap. 20 minutes later Eddie woke me. Emmett's still napping and Henry is asleep on my nap while I type this. Shoo!

New Blog

My sister in law just started a blog! So, if you want to check out some pics of my cutie pie nieces, check it out: http://familyess.blogspot.com

Thanks!

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. Anymore mommies out there? Leave your ideas, too. I guess I'm pretty close to the point at which most of you moved them. I'm a little (OK, a lot!) jealous that so many of you got your kiddos to sleep 6 hours so early! I NEED SLEEP!!!
Today's my dad's last day...he ran to the store for me. It was either that or stay home w/ Henry, because it is SO FRIGID here I didn't want to take Henry out. He opted for the store :).
And, my Christmas/New Year's cards are in the mail. Yipee!

Henry is 6 weeks old!

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Everything gets easier after the 6 week part. I remember that well from the other two. Henry is awake more during the day, smiling more, and seems to be on more of a routine. I'm thinking about moving him to his crib in his room, instead of sleeping next to us in his bassinet. But, he's still up usually around 11, 3, and 6 so I'm not sure I'm ready to physically get out of bed that much yet. Tell me....how old were your babies when you moved them to their bedroom? I can't remeber what I didi w/ the other boys? Hit the comment button below and let me know!