My camera has had it's last hurrah. Well, technically it still works, but it's only a matter of time...This is what happened:
And this is how it happened:
Getting Cohen out of bed is one of my favorite times of day because he is usually so happy and smiley and we play a little bit before he gets up, although this day he was a little cranky. He pulled the little lens cover and one of the little closers that covers the lens (all technical terms) off the front of the camera.
Thankfully, my sister in law Christine heard about my plight and is loaning me her old camera, which is nearly the same as mine but a little bit older. But, since it's so similar to mine, I already know how to use it! Thanks, Christine!
Happy first day of summer!! I have always loved summer, but I just realized that I haven't had a summer "off" in quite some time. I've been working in the summers since I was younger, probably the majority of summers from high school on. Now that I'm only working part time (and I get to choose my own schedule), it's like having a summer off. And so far, it's been wonderful. We haven't had that many nice days yet, but I'm hoping they are coming sometime. It's so nice to be able to look out the window, see the sun, find someone for an adventure and GO! I don't have to sit inside, working in a place with no windows and wishing I was outside. Having a little person to share it with makes it even better.
Anyway, we are taking a brief hiatus to find some more sunshine. I will leave you with this video for Cohen's first birthday, in case you've been needing an episode of Cohen.
As I was working on this video, I was overwhelmed thinking about the number of people that care about us and our boys. We have felt so loved and supported, so thank you, thank you, thank you for being a part of our lives!( p.s. You can click that little square in the bottom right corner of the video to make it bigger)
I know there has been a lot of diaper talk lately, but I can't help it. I am just so excited about this project. It has been really healing for me to be able to put some of my energy towards this.
Anyway, besides diapers, what have we been doing?
Mowing the lawn. Putting our feet in the grass. Running outside anytime we see the sun. Scooting. Sitting up for more than 3 seconds. YES! That's right, Cohen is almost officially a sitter. He can sit for several minutes but still gets a little too excited and falls over sometimes. Sewing diapers. Oh, sorry! Getting $65 worth of clothes for $20 at Old Navy on a recent shopping trip, I was pretty proud of that (it came out to $2 a piece if you are wondering, under my $5 budget!). Thinking about weeding my front little garden. Spitting up everywhere. Cleaning up spit up from everywhere. Starting a new reflux med. Planning a birthday party. Getting excited about summer. Working. Making plans for summer. Eating scones. Going for walks. Planning our annual Memorial Day camping trip.
Yep, I think that's about it. Here's Cohen's version of what we've been up to. He has milk all over his face because whenever he drinks his bottles he thinks it's fun to hold on to the nipple and try and put it in his mouth which makes milk go everywhere. This happens about 30 times during an 8 oz bottle.
A certain little fellow has taken to rolling tummy to back AND back to tummy! Yesterday he rolled across the floor. Generally, he rolls onto his tummy and gets mad and fusses until we roll him back over, or he rolls himself back over. We now have to thread his oxygen tubing through his clothes (down his shirt and out his pants) so that he doesn't get himself all tangled up.
Cohen is also enjoying his schedule. He is sleeping better at night, taking better naps, and drinking 8 oz at his feeding time.
My mom came to stay with Cohen yesterday so we could go to church. We have only been one other time since May and it was so wonderful to be back and see some of our church family. We also can't wait until spring when we will actually get to take Cohen with us!
I made Cohen this cute little pair of Seahawks slippers yesterday. I also made him a little pair of shoes, but they are too small.
During Cohen's naptime today I made this "C" for his room. I really like how it turned out. Now all I need is the shelf to put it on. Or maybe I will get the rest of the letters to his name and spell it out above his crib. We'll see.
I have to be honest, I start listening to Christmas music early. Like at the beginning of November. This year, there have been a few songs that I have heard before, but I never really heard. There are songs that I relate to more or listen a little harder to now that we have a baby and also now that we have lost a baby. The song "Joseph's Lullaby" get's me every time. I think about Jesus as a baby and I wonder what he knew. If he knew what was coming or if God spared him and just let him be a baby. There is one line that says "You have a long road before You, Rest Your little head...Lord, I ask that He for just this moment, Simply be my child" and there were so many times in the NICU holding Cohen that I just wanted him to get to be a baby. Not a tiny baby, born too soon, fighting more things than most of us will in our entire lives. I just wanted to protect him and let him just be. I think that's how God must have felt watching his baby boy coming to earth, knowing what was in store for him. And maybe Mary too, I wonder how much she knew of what would happen to her son. Something that has stood out to me in our journey is that God knows. He knows what it's like to lose a son, his baby boy. He watched his son die and he knows that pain. He gets it, and that has been a huge comfort to me.
And lastly, an episode of Cohen. He is quite social and has been "talking" quite a bit. He loves to play with Dad when he gets home.
Today is my wonderful sister Karen's birthday. We stopped by in the morning to drop her off some birthday coffee and show her Cohen's onesie. Cohen also made her a little birthday card that he wanted to drop off. He loves his auntie and always has lots of big smiles for her. Cohen also made this special video for his auntie.
We love you Karen! You truly are an awesome aunt and Cohen is lucky to have you for one. I am so glad you are my sister and you have been such a huge support to us this last year. I am so glad you were there the night the boys were born and that you got to hold Carter. That will always mean a lot to me. We hope you have a wonderful birthday, you so deserve it!!
We made this slideshow in honor of Cohen's four months in the NICU. He and his brother are the toughest little guys I know. We are so, so proud of you Cohen for all that you have been through, you are a little fighter! Happy almost 5 month birthday.
(For some reason its really small on the blog so if you want to see the video bigger you can click here)
Cohen has officially been home for one week. Today's weigh in: 10 lbs 5 oz! His newborn clothes are bursting at the seams. I will get over my denial that he can't possibly be moving onto 0-3 month clothes. It's so weird when we think about the days where we could never imagine him fitting into even the teeniest tiniest clothes. He is eating like a champ although he still pretty much only feeds at night. We will see his pediatrician next week and ask about letting him wake up when he wants to eat instead of just tube feeding him every three hours. We have been slow to make too many changes because we want to make sure he is still getting enough so that he has enough energy to support his heart and lungs.
His home health nurse came today and I had lots of questions about his feedings and his sleeping. It's hard for me to know what are "normal" baby things and what are still preemie baby things. But I feel like we are starting to get to know him better and make some decisions based on that. We will make another appointment with his pediatrician next week to talk about some of our questions. All in all, everything is going well! Cohen has started being a lot more vocal, making little baby noises and even crying once in awhile when he needs to let us know something. He has been loving his play time, laying on the floor and kicking his legs. Last night he even put one of his toys into his mouth all by himself! It's nice to start celebrating real baby things like kicking and eating toys instead of celebrating good lab work, oxygen weaning, and chest xray improvement (although those things were great too!)
Here's a video of our little fellow that we got last night during his play time. Kinda long, but he's cute so it's okay. (sorry if you tried to watch it before...I may have gotten distracted and forgotten to actually put the video on. Oops!)
For those of you (Lindsey and Bridget) who have decided that Baby B is your favorite, here he is waving! And if you look really close you can see his heart beating!
And here is Baby A just hangin' out, you can really see his heart beating! :)
