27 days

It's been 27 long cold days since we have posted to the blog. It has been busy....Josh putting in some major overtime at work, we geared up for the holidays, took a trip home, and are winding down from all the excitement today. Henri had his four month check up since I posted last....and it went great. He weighed 11 pounds even on the 15th of this month and was just a half an inch under two feet long! The pediatrician is thrilled with his progress and so are Josh and I. Developementally he is on target in every category, but his startle reflex is still fairly pronounced. The MD says it is nothing to be worried about! Henri also had his first of I am sure many colds this month with a cough and sneezing. Other than a few longer nights....it didn't seem to phase him! Henri is now sitting up and continues to roll over when placed on his belly. He loves to hold things and it enamoroed by his hands....they are in his mouth ALL the time. The trip home was nice...Henri met his Aunt Grace, Uncle Paul, and cousins Ben and Nick for the first time! The amount of gifts Henri racked up was unbelievable. Next year we will need a U Haul. And most of all....we remember the reason for all of our joy and happiness this season.....Happy Birthday Jesus....to a GREAT God!



The tree at papa and gg's house....these are the gifts for three grandkids and two kids and spouses.....



The tree at our house with all of Henri's loot. Carson was doing his offical inspection of everything.



All three grandkids together....Anna is all about baby Emma and baby Henri...loves to kiss them on the head!

The Holiday Season

Thanksgiving is over and it is time to usher in one of my favorite times of year! Josh, Henri, and I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy Holidays. Henri is beginning to get in the mood for Christmas and his four month birthday is nearly upon us. Although this is NOT his Christmas outfit......I could not resist. We hope you all enjoy.

6 pounds!

Henri went to get his second synagis shot the other day.....boo for shots. Two days later he is still not feeling well. Although, there was this wonderful side effect of having to get his synagis shot. Well...excellent for mom and dad. It's official..Henri was 10...count them 10 pounds even. He has gained a whopping six pounds in three months. We are so thankful that he eats like a champ and is gaining weight so beautifully. This picture was taken on the way to the library the other day to check out some new books. I think it screams "I'm way to cool for preemiehood!"




This is one handsome 10 pound baby!
p.s. Thanks Aunt Andrea for the awesome winter hedgehog hat!

3 months

Today is a big day....three months ago today Josh and I experienced the best and worst day of our life all at once. The payoff.....a beautiful baby boy that we can not imagine life without! He has exhausted us in ways we did not think were humanly possible this past three months, but has also smiled for the first time, rolled over, and began to giggle at mom and dad. In other amazing and great news....he is sleeping for up to 4.5 hour intervals at night!!! Henri was last at the pediatrician in early October weighing in at 8 pounds 4 ounces. That always brings up the usual question...."How much does Henri weigh now?" Well....we honestly do not have a clue. Henri goes back to the pediatrician in the second week of December....if we had to guess, we would say over 10 pounds. Here is what we do know....he is healthy (thank God everyday!) and getting HEAVY to carry around. Josh and I are thankful everyday for the normal milestones and his health. We figured a few pictures of comparison would help everyone see his amazing growth....Enjoy!



Small beginnings...this is Henri with his turtle while he was in the NICU...he was 3 days old here.


Here is the turtle now...pretty soon Henri will be holding his turtle.



As and added bonus..this was the outfit that Henri came home in....we might add that is was to big on him! Well done son.

Baby's 1st Halloween

So Henri decided to be a pumpkin this year....with the input of mom and dad of course. We will let the picture montage speak for itself! Enjoy!

Multi-tasking again.

Things getting done in life tend to take a back burner once you bring an infant home. You are worried about making sure your baby is getting enough stimulation when they need it so their brain will grow, keeping them healthy and happy etc. Josh and I spent a whopping $35 on this contraption they call a Peanut Shell. It is an infant sling made of soft material. It is by far the best $35 we have ever spent. It not only lulls Henri to sleep when he is fussy, it allows us to get things like washing bottles and cleaning his nursery finished.




Here I am multi-tasking once again.....what you can't see is that Josh is also cooking dinner.



None of the activity really seems to be bothering H man.

ONE YEAR

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Here is an incredibly loud shout out to my brother and sister-in-law.
Happy first anniversary Lad and Katie.....hope you have a wonderful day! We love you both.

Jealousy

Ok folks....so this one is hilarious. Josh and I are definitely settling into the new world of parental exhaustion. Josh was upstairs blissfully unaware in a coma and off duty. I was downstairs on duty. Now, a little explanation...for me, the hours of 0500-0800 are the worst for me. I am more tired then than at 0200 in the morning, it's weird. So, at 0545 the other morning Henri was in need of being nursed, so of course, I hop to. Henri nursed in the bed with me and I walked to the foot of the bed to place him back in his pack 'n play. In my haze I thought there was a blanket in the bottom of the pack 'n play, soooo, like a good parent I was going to clear everything but the baby out. As I went to grab the blanket...this is what I grabbed instead!



Carson seriously thought this pack n' play was placed there souly for him.

Who Dey

Emma wants to know what Henri's soothie is all about?



A tired mommy with her boy (this one is for you Andrea) in our Sunday best!



The gang...my brother looks thrilled eh?



Mel with her two favs...minus our little Anna. We will get her next time for sure!

Well....tomorrow is a big day for our Bengals. I do hope that my boy continues to bring them good luck. Henri recently met his Aunt, Uncle, and cousin for the first time....here are some of the shots from the big day...and to boot...our Bengals had a victory! Enjoy.

2 Months

Aunt Katie meeting Henri for the first time....she was so happy to finally get to love on him!



Uncle Jason's first meeting....he is being his silly self, but really loved seeing the big boy!



In other news...Henri took his first visit to the pumpkin patch! I'm pretty sure he slept through the entire experience.

Henri turned 8 weeks old this past Saturday and has celebrated it by taking a trip to the pediatricians office. Unfortunatley he has to get four shots all at once, which I must say, he verbalized some pretty serious disdain for the whole experience. The great news...he weiged in at 8 pounds 5 ounces. He continues to grow proportonately which is very encouraging, and we no longer have to supplement his breast milk with formula! We have several new pics of Henri and are happy to report a growing baby....we will let the pictures do the rest of the story telling! Have a gander!

Anna the Big Girl

Check out those baby blues!

So Anna is just two short months from her 2nd birthday, and she is bigger than life. She truly enjoys being a big sister to Emma and is so gentle with her. Her vocabulary continues to grow, and she is full of energy! Her eyelashes have even grown since I saw her last in June, and here are some pictures from our recent visit. One thing is certain...she still looks like me when I was that age. Enjoy!

Onesies

Oddly enough Henri did end up having sweetease during his circ!

So this is a picture montage for all the girls that made onesies for Henri. There is a picture of him in each one from 0-3 months.....the others will be coming.... Stay tuned. Thank you to everyone who has helped create cuteness!

Resemblance

Although I maintain it is much to early to tell...we hear a lot....Who does Henri look like? These pics are Josh and I at three months...so a bit older than Henri. Take a gander at the poll and let us know what you think.
p.s. Don't mind my ears...I grew into them nicely.

Week Six

Henri using his play gym for the first time.



Carson thinking the play gym was for him.



Both my boys....man I'm lucky.



Tummy time...Henri is really getting strong...he is able to lift and turn his head from side to side when he wants to!



Just some all around sweetness.

So yesterday Henri hit another milestone in life...he turned six weeks old. Josh and I can not believe what has transpired in the past six weeks...a lifetime of stress, lack of sleep, and miracle after miracle to say the least. I have to give a shout out to Josh...he has been amazing these past six weeks. I never doubted his ability to be a great father, but he has also helped keep me grounded and been extremely encouraging the past six weeks. I am a lucky girl, and Henri is a lucky boy. Henri's quiet alert time is increasing a little each day, so I recently put together his play gym...what I found out is that there are actually two newborns in the house...the pictures will surly explain! Another amazing thing happened this weekend...Henri was able to have a poop without going into utter hysteria. He simple looked at me and pooped...anyone with preemie experience will certainly understand the importance of that event. Henri has not been weighed in over 2 weeks not, but I noticed today that he feels much heavier in his car seat. Josh, Henri, and I had our first family outing today. We went to Forest Park for a walk...and hour and a half walk...it was awesome! Henri slept the entire time and overall really seemed to enjoy the fresh air.

In other unrelated (but VERY important) news....our Bengals pulled a win today against the Steelers....it was one of the happiest moments of the day. And look at the even brighter side...if this were the end of the season...we would have a winning record! WHO DEY!

The nursery.

The glider was a gift from grammy and grandpa Graham.



The pack n' play is our changing table for now thanks to mamaw and papaw Byrge.





And just in case any of us forgot where this project started...whew.

Drum roll pleeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaasssssssssssseeeeeeeeeeee.....the construction of the nursery is officially finished. Ok, so it's been finished for two weeks, but we have not had the time to post about it. We actually have a crib and mattress as well, it is just not assembled in the room yet. The changing table is on the way this weekend. Josh and many many other hands had help in making the nursery possible, but I must say I am extremely proud of the work Josh did in there. Henri will really appreciate it the stories and pictures some day.

The life of a turtle

Bath time....this is the quick moment before utter and total meltdown occurs! Althouh he does enjoy having his hair washed?



On an unrelated note...Henri's first Bengals game was the day after he turned a month old. This onsie is still about 5 sizes to big, but he wore it proud! He looks so natural in it right?!



One month turtle picture.



Henri is one week old here with his turtle.

So we are clearly behind on the blog entries, please forgive us...life is in process! Henri is keeping both of us VERY busy. Last Sunday he turned a month old. That meant it was time for a size comparison picture with his turtle. Speaking of his turtle...we need to name him. I may add a poll to have voters pick from a list of favorites? If the picture doesn't do it justice, perhaps the cold hard facts will do....Henri went for a weight check at the pediatrician this past Monday. His weight was 5# 14 oz....yes that is right...he has gained an unbelievable 2 pounds since his birthday. Josh and I certainly are amazed, and his pediatrician seems to be as well! We are allowed to nurse him more and get rid of some of his bottles with fortified milk in them...which is great for Henri....less iron fortified breast milk! He continues to have longer periods of alert time and loves when his dad sings to him. He truly hates bath time right now, but if mom has any say in that matter he will begin to love it!

Henri at Home

Henri is obviously not worried about anything going on around him.



Daddy is sleepy, Henri loves this position.



This was Carson's first encounter with Henri and Carson was honestly afraid of him...quite apprehensive.



Two happy parents leaving the NICU for the last time with a perfect little (very little) boy. We had no idea what we were getting into in this photo obviously!!

So it has been quite a while since we updated, excuse the time lapse. We are currently immersed in the every 2 hour fog of caring for a preemie at home....and it's going great. Henri is handling everything much better than both mom and dad. He seems to just do his thing and it works great for him. There has been immense progress on his nursery, and we are currently just waiting for his crib to arrive! Pictures and a blog entry to come soon on that. In the meantime, it should be said that Henri had another trip to the pediatrician yesterday. He weighed in at a whopping four pounds fourteen ounces. The amazing thing about that...he has gained an entire pound by his three week birthday!! He is really a champ. Henri is really not a fussy baby and seems to know exactly what he wants..now if mom and dad can just work on picking up the ques as soon as he gives them to us we will all settle in a bit more comfortably. All in all we are amazed at Henri's continued progress at home and look forward to a less rigid routine with him as he grows bigger.