Grandpa's Visit and more pics

Tommy's new bed...okay for just a few days during Grandpa P's Visit. April 3, 2007 Tommy 14 weeks, 1 day old.

We had a nice, too short visit with my dad. The kids really enjoyed his stay and he enjoyed the kids. Didn't do too much as Larry's new job kind of has long hours...but it was nice to visit. He also got to watch the first few minutes of Robby's first soccer game of the season...bad mom forgot the camera. Come on, I brought Tommy's bottle...priorities!!! Robby's team tied 3 to 3. Not bad for the first game. We only stayed for a few minutes as the soccer feilds are terribly windy and I am under the impression that Tommy doesn't care for the wind :)

Whoa, Kimberlyn said she did this on her own...her name perfectly backwards!


Tommy's favorite security blanket...Kaitlyn's hair! 4-3-07 Tommy 14 weeks, 1 day old.


Grandpa and Robby saying goodbye.


Thomas admiring himself and his surroundings in his bed...so darn cute! This morning, 4-5-07. 14 weeks, 3 days old.


What a good big brother...Robby feeding Tommy his bottle tonight.


Emma (dog) seriously confused as to whom the baby really is....

Okay, okay, okay...here I am to update the blog!!

What a natural, Kaitlyn 'kangarooing' Tommy!! Kaitlyn did this all by herself trying to help comfort Tommy when he was fussing. This is how I held Tommy while he was in the NICU. 3-27-07 13 weeks 1 day old.


Oh, FYI did you know if click on the picture it will enlarge it....
Just as I'm thinking no need to update this blog as it appears nobody visits as there aren't many comments... I hear either in phone conversations, email or what have you that you do in fact read this blog! So...I'll try to do a better job at updating!

Today Tommy is 14 weeks old and doing great. At his weight check this am he weighed 6lbs 7 ozs. Due to the fact that there are still RSV (serious respitory virus) around here Tommy will be getting another RSV shot to help guard him. Doc wanted to add HMF to help Tommy gain closer to 1oz a day (he's gaining just 1/2 oz a day now) and I asked about just supplementing with special preemie formula. We MAY be taking another 'hop' on a C-5 in a few weeks and formula would be way easier to bring than frozen breastmilk! Tommy can breastfeed, but is much better at the bottle (imagine that) and my milk supply is dwindling away since him coming home...I am not able to pump as much as he takes in daily.

Tommy doesn't need another weight check until his RSV shot which will be in a week or two.

Oh, the latest on our Germany move! Or should I say on our Altus stay?!? The Germany assignment was not a good move for Larry's career...on Friday we got news that effective 6:00am this morning he was going to be a Wing Exec. working directly for the Base Commander. This is an awesome job for his career and we suspect it will keep us in Altus another year. We honestly have NO CLUE when or WHERE we will eventually move!

Well, onto the pictures...enjoy! Oh...why don't you leave a comment too :)

Here's Tommy on March 26 (13wks old) rolling over!!! He was waiting for his bottle to be warmed and not so happy. Larry was trying to distract him from his hunger pains and laid him on his tummy...he fussed and cried and finally rolled over to his back!! he did this three or four times! Ahh, how fun!!



Please don't report us...isn't this the cutest. Again, I wish it weren't so blurry. Warlock was very interested in Tommy. 3-26-07 Tommy 13wks old


At the park next to our house...
Tommy and Mommy at the park watching the girls.
What cute sisters!
What a face...Kimberlyn 3 1/2 years old.
Then we have our dare-devil...Kaitlyn 7 years old.




Daddy feeding Tommy a bottle. 3-27-07 13 weeks 1 days old.


Ut-oh...what's this! I pray she doesn't seriously take to this habit again....



March 29, 2007 Tommy 13 weeks, 3 days old
Tommy melting his Mama's heart!
Tommy squishing his Big Sis right out of her bed!
"What?!? Just help me down, PLEASE!" Kimberlyn always finding trouble!

13 weeks!!!

Robby and Tommy...how cute, not posed...too bad it's blurry. Tommy 3 months old...Robby 9 yrs old
Kaitlyn and Tommy 12 1/2wks old.
Kimberlyn and Tommy 12 1/2wks old.
Tommy with a 12" ruler just to give you more perspective on his size. He's 19" stretched out (at least that's what he measured last week)....taken today....13 wks old!!

Robby and Kaitlyn's first time to babysit Tommy....ALONE!!! Larry and Kimberlyn ran to the store and Emma (dog) had gotten out of the gate! A friend had just stopped by, and had seen her on the way over...THANKFULLY! SO, I knew just where she was and drove to get her! The kids did fabulous!

Grandma E's visit, Tommy 12 1/2 wks old.
Real quick...we had a fabulous visit with Grandma E. (my mom), it was nice to have her here. The girls took her bowling while Robby went to Chuck E Cheese with a friend one day. We had to do something cool, it was Spring Break! She went back to FL on Saturday and then Kaitlyn and I went to a nice lunch in OKC, just the two of us. We then went shopping before heading back to Altus. We were tired!

Tommy is doing great, he survived a day away from me, and I survived too. Larry has a greater understanding of home difficult it is to get stuff done at home while caring for Tommy :)

This morning Tommy had his weight check at 13 weeks old (just 1 1/2 wks old adjusted)...6lbs 3ozs, again a bit on the low end for gaining. This was 3 ozs in a week and they want an ounce a day! This week was with out HMF. We'll give him another week to gain better before adding HMF. It seems that he spit up a lot while on the HMF supplement.

Today we are stopping his caffiene, and if he does well over the next week or two we'll completely disconnect his monitor at home. He's only using it at night, but we must continue using it to be sure he doesn't need the caffiene.

He will go back to the doctor for another weight check on Monday and will also have his ears screened again??? I guess he's high risk and it's recommended to rescreen at 3 months of age. Tommy turned 3 months old yesterday.

Now I'm off to the dentist as I missed my appt in January....take care!

6 pounds!!!

Okay, on Monday he was actually 5 lbs, 15.8 ozs....otherwise called 6 POUNDS!!! YEAH! SO exciting! He's doing great.

My mom made it in just fine...now we are just visiting. I'll update again on Monday after our next weight check...if the weight keep spacking on he can stop his caffiene, which in turn means he can come off the apnea monitor too! Then he'll be just a plain and simple NORMAL newborn baby!!

11wks 6days old!

Kaitlyn feeding Tommy for the first time! 3-13-07 11 weeks, 1 day old

Robby feeding Tommy fo rthe first time. 3-17-07 11 weeks, 5 days old
Robby in The Toughest Cowboy play at school. 3-13-07

Robby after the play not wanting to be photographed...he just wanted to drink Dad's soda. He was tired!

Okay, I wanted to give some updates and add a couple priceless pictures.

First, we can no longer say Tommy isn't born yet?!? See when he was first born he was 11 weeks 2 days EARLY and we had to treat him and remind each other that he wasn't supposed to be born yet. So the joke was "don't forget, he's not born yet!" I took him to Walmart for pictures on Wednesday since it was his due date! Wednesday was also a special day as it was Tommy's 4 weeks home mark! I'm afraid the pictures will turn out half cheesey, but for $5 and not having to drive far they'll do. We splurged and spent a few pretty pennies on some specialty professional pictures a few weeks ago, I just wanted a quick shot of him on his due date. At any rate, when you wonder what he's like here at home, try to recall how your 4 day old baby was at home! He sleeps all the time! He has some fussiness in the evening, some nights worse than others. Last night he was great!

One of the stinky things (now that the NICU scene is over) for me as a mom since I keep good records of the kids (babies) is when they do their firsts and stuff...I have no clue when Tommy will do his first smile, roll over, sit up and such. The other three did everything very close together age wise. Tommy probably will too if we use his adjusted age. BUT DARN IT, I want to see him SMILE NOW! I guess I have another month or so for a true authentic (non-gassy or dreamy) SMILE! I will say the boy has an adorable dreamy smile now.

Tommy is doing fabulous. He's up to 80cc bottles. About three or four nights ago we decided since he was 5 1/2 pounds he should be able to go for longer stretches at night. He had no problem with this. He has taken his 9:30pm bottle and then he will normally fuss a bit (if it's a fussy night) and go to bed. He wakes consistently on his own around 2:15am! So, he goes about 5 hours in between bottles at night. He makes up for it too, he drinks about 10-15 more cc's at that feeding! Compared to 3 hours, this is a fabulous break for us. He then goes another 4 hours to 6:30am a normal feeding time to start our day on schedule. For those who know me, nothing has changed...we have a hard-core schedule to follow here!

Tommy went to Oklahoma City to the eye doctor on Friday...GOD IS GOOD...he does not need to be seen again until he is 3 years old!!! He shows NO SIGNS of ROP (Retinopathy of Prematurity)... Dr. Scott said congratulations, what a great feeling. It is such great news to know all is well. That was the only thing left from him being a preemie to be followed up on. Now we only need to make sure he's gaining...we had to do this with Robby too, no big deal!

Tommy goes for his weekly weight check tomorrow morning. I suspect he's right at or just over 6lbs! Since he's been eating more at each feeding, we've done the HMF every other bottle. He feels so heavy now...I don't know how we handled Kaitlyn at 9lbs 7ozs and Kimberlyn at 8lbs 7 ozs at birth. I will say, they look absolutely HUGE when I look at their baby pictures.

Tomorrow after his weight check we are headed to Lawton for the kids' dentist appointment. Great way to start Spring Break, right? Then we'll head to Oklahoma City to visit Glenda. Kaitlyn has been missing her so much, it'll be great to see her. We'll stay the night, Tommy's first overnight trip!! We'll then pick my mom up at the airport on Tuesday. Sometime in the middle, maybe we'll get some shopping done. The big kids are needing some new pants. They have about two nice pair now and will need some when we move to Germany in May, as Germany's May weather is a bit colder than what we are used to. Shoot, the hottest month is July, I believe I read the average high in July is 84 degrees! I'm afraid we're in for some serious weather shock?!?!

I'll update Tommy's weight on Tuesday night or Wednesday!

11 weeks old!!

Well...big news! Tommy gained 8ozs in 7 days! The HMF supplement really must have helped...that and he has been taking more milk at each feeding this past week. 5lbs 9ozs
Tommy is doing very well. Loving all the attention his siblings provide, most of the time anyhow. The kids really adore him...see the pictures!

10wks 6days 3-11-07 (last night)


10wks 2days 3-7-07



3-3-07 9 1/2weeks old. Hanging out in brother's bed.


Kimberlyn loving on Tommy. 3-7-07 10 weeks 2 days old.
Close up shot of Tommy being held by Kimberlyn. 3-7-07 10wks, 2days

Quick update...

Well, no pictures right now...I'm exhausted. Tommy has proved he's a real newborn now as he's decided 8pm on (last night it was until 1:30am) is not so "happy hour!" You know that normal evening fussy time all babies have while trying to unwind from the day??
We went for a weight check today and to get shots...he weighs 5 lbs 1 oz today. The one is not a shot, but an oral drop to protect him from the rotovirus...NASTY virus. Please say a prayer that Tommy doesn't have a reaction from this one. Rotovirus is serious and scary. Kaitlyn had it as a toddler. The child vomits and gets severely dehydrated.
Due to him not gaining enough, we're adding HMF (human milk fortifier) to add calories to my breastmilk. He was on this in the NICU. We asked about mylicon drops for Tommy's happy hour as it may be due to gas...we'll see if it helps tonight.
We go back on Monday for another weight check...

I'll try to get some more pictures in the next day or so.