Some Fun Pics

First, I just read my last post...sorry about all of the typos. James was crying and I didn't get a chance to proofread it before I posted.

Second, I was informed I left out that Thursday was Dave and my 4th anniversary. After James went to bed, we went out to eat to a local place in the village. It was very yummy!

Tomorrow James sees his surgeon for a follow-up visit. His eating is going much better, so the surgeon will be able to order a new cookie swallow study for the following week. Hopefully he can pass it this time...the kid has to be seriously parched!

We are very excited to see friends and family in Indiana over Memorial Day weekend!!!

James was happy at the beginning of the photo session.

By the end though, he was giving me this face. He definitely has a personality!

This is the "I'm tired" face. Nap time!

One of my new favorites. We were picnicking at Point State Park by Dave's office. James was people watching.

A Busy Week...

It's been a fun and busy week.

James has his 6-month review with his therapists Monday morning. Short story: he still qualifies for therapy and there adding a physical therapist to his list of specialists. He'll now see at least 3 therapists a week, 4 every other week. We're going to be busy! Monday evening Dave's parents arrived into town for the week.

Tuesday Dick started in on the porch project. Dave wants to repaint the porch, but first they have to chip and sand the old paint away. Dick's on his own while Dave's at work. Sharon, James, and I made a meal plan and then headed to the grocery store. Laundry was piling up, so I got some of that done too. We went out to dinner to "Quaker Steak & Lube." They specialize in ribs and wings. It was pretty good; however, we ended up there on all-you-can-eat wing night so it was a bit crowded.

Wednesday Dick worked on the porch some more and Dave worked at work. Sharon, James, and I went to the outlet mall. James is growing out of all his clothes so I needed to hit up the Carter's sale. We also picked up some work clothes for Dave and some presents for some birthdays I few special nieces have coming up. There was a traveling $5 Christian Book Store and I got a few things from there too. My favorite are 2 kid songs CDs filled with fun music to sing with James.

Thursday Dick was back out on the porch and the porch roof (this got added on to the project list). James had therapy in the morning. He is getting much better at eating. He opens his mouth for bites now and doesn't spit out nearly as much. I introduced him to peaches spinach and peaches this week. He likes both.

Friday Dave took off to help Dick on the porch. They've finished the front porch now, but have decided that the should do the back steps too. The porch roof has one more coat before it's finished. Sharon, James, and I ran some errands in Robinson. I got my rings cleaned and picked up some lamps at IKEA for Scott and Jennie. In the afternoon, James had therapy and he hated every minute of it. They're helping him sit up on stools so he can build his core muscles. We also rented and watched "Invictus" after James went to bed. Dave loves the true stories and this one did not disappoint.

Today is Saturday and it's raining. The porch roof and back steps will have to wait for the next day without rain...probably Monday. For now, Dick and Dave are working on fixing the ceiling in the office that got damaged when our roof leaked over the winter. That should take the morning and then we can go eat somewhere fun!

Hopefully they'll be able to get all there little projects done before it's time to head back to St Louis. Dick and Sharon are leaving on Wednesday. James and I are going to hitch a ride to Indy and then spend the long Memorial Day weekend there. We have plans to be in C-ville on Thursday and West Lafayette on Sunday. The rest of the time, we'll be around Mom & Dad's. Dave is driving in Friday night after work to join us.

Off to get James a nap.

9 Months Old Today

James is such a trooper. You would never know he just spent 3 weeks in the hospital (except for the tube that follows him around)!! He loves to shake his head and smack his lips together now. He is so close to sitting on his own. All his doctors and therapists are plesed with his progress. Considering that he was 6.5 weeks early and has spent 3 months of his life in a hospital bed, his development is spot on. James' 3rd tooth cut through over the weekend. He now has 3 on the bottom. He loves to smile and laugh these days, although it's still hard to capture on camera. The camera always seems to distract him from what he was smiling about. James is looking forward to showing off for all of the upcoming visitors! Pics to come soon when blogger isn't mad at me!

No-No Mommy

I got a new camera for Mother's Day!! I attempted to get a few videos of James to share. He's working on sitting on his own, but isn't quite ready so he falls a lot. But don't worry...he's had worse :) Hope they work...sorry they're sideways.

Some Fun Photos

James Patrick turns 8 months old

The Isenburg Grandkids at Easter

We look a little annoyed with someone :)

James' first Easter egg hunt

James enjoying some sweet potatoes.

Settled in at Home

It's so nice to be home again. I missed my own sheets and pillows...the smell of the hospital linens made my nausea worse. 16 weeks now, so maybe it will go away soon...

James is doing well. We haven't had any more problems since our trip to the ER Monday night. James is still a good night sleeper and not a good napper. He likes to get a good 12 hours at night, which we love. I'm still working on getting him back on a nap schedule now that we're home. I think he's finally ready to only have 2 naps, but it's hard to tell at this point. He seems to be loving the late afternoon nap, which is helpful for me so I can get dinner prep out of the way.

James' occupational therapist came 3 times this week and she's already noticed an improvement in his swallowing. We'll probably get his swallow study repeated the last week in May/first week in June. Hopefully he'll be ready to start taking liquids then.

James is finally off the high-calorie diet and down to where a "normal" baby should be. He's been on the regular-calorie diet for 1 week now and the grams are starting to come off. Since he's in the 80th percentile he has some weight he can stand to lose. :)

James has started smiling and laughing a lot more lately. It is so cute! He likes to shake his head in the no-no fashion when he's laying down now. He thinks it's hilarious when we do it back to him. He also likes to smack his lips together now too. I think it's his way of blowing kisses because we give him loud smooches all the time.

James has been introduced to green beans and sweet potatoes so far. He has liked them both. We tried a formula/rice cereal mixture, but he hated it... spit it all out at us. He only takes 5-10 bites at once right now, but he's getting better. ...I haven't been enjoying the baby food diapers, but I suppose I'll get used to it.

A Crazy Monday

7am: Wake up to surgical team approving discharge for today!

8am: Dave heads off to work so he can get some things done before discharge.

9am: Discharge set for noon.

10am: Turn off James' feeds and disconnect him from all monitors to get ready for discharge!

11am: Dave returns to load 3 weeks worth of laundry, etc. into the car.

12pm: Meds aren't ready. Pharmacy says will be ready at 2:30.

1pm: Get some lunch and tuck James in for a nap while we wait for meds.

2pm: Still waiting.

3pm: Pick up meds at hospital pharmacy and head home.

4pm: Nurse arrives to teach us how to use the feeding pump James will be on at home (before we even have the pump).

5pm: Dave gets McDonald's for dinner for us :) while we wait with the nurse for the pump.

6pm: Medical supply company finally arrives with feeding pump...only 2 hours late.

7pm: Realize James' J-tube is clogged and feeds won't work. Call the on-call surgeon. Put James to bed...he hasn't eaten since 10am.

8pm: Surgeon calls back. James needs to come in to get his tube fixed. Surgeon says to pack a bag because he'll probably have to be re-admitted. (Get James out of bed).

9pm: Arrive at ER at Children's Hospital. Surgeon begins working on de-clogging J-tube.

10pm: Still trying to de-clog J-tube.

11pm: Finally get J-tube unclogged (PTL!!!) with some creative methods. This is great news because now we don't have to stay the night!

A little after Midnight: Arrive back at home....so tired!


But now it's Tuesday. We are home and the tube is working!