Sunday, October 26, 2008

Parker is 12 months, 1 week....Callie is 7 weeks!

Parker

Taking his first steps
That major rite of passage is almost here, if it hasn't happened already — some time this month, your baby may take his first steps alone. (If he doesn't, don't worry — it takes some children several more weeks or months to start toddling.) If he's like most children, your little one will take those early strides on tiptoe with his feet turned outward. Keep the camera ready to capture the moment!

New kinds of play
Your baby's play probably will start shifting from mastering his fine motor skills — he's got that thumb-and-forefinger grasp down pat — to exercising larger muscles. Some children this age have an attention span of two to five minutes for quiet activities, although your child's favorite games may not be all that quiet.

Your child probably thinks it's fun to push, throw, and knock everything down. He'll give you a toy as well as take one, and he likes games where he can put things in containers and dump them out again. This works well with blocks in buckets or boxes and with pots and pans, which he can nest inside one another. He'll thrill to the loud sounds of those pots and pans banging together, too.


Callie

Reaching out
Your baby's hands should be mostly open now — ready to reach out to the world. In the early days of your baby's life, grabbing was mostly automatic and instinctual and she couldn't let go if she wanted to. Although she can't really grab objects just yet, she can hold things placed in her hands. And, once she wraps her hands around something, she might not let go so easily. She'll also begin to try and bat at objects, so keep potentially dangerous objects far from your little one's reach. This means not holding hot liquids or sharp objects while you're holding her.

Learning begins now
You may notice short periods of time when your newborn is quiet and alert. This is prime time for learning: Your baby's brain will grow about 5 centimeters during her first three months!

Use these calm intervals to get better acquainted with your baby — talk to her, sing to her, describe the pictures on the walls. She may not be able to add to your conversation just yet, but she's learning nonetheless.

New textures for her hands to feel and new sights and sounds (all in moderation) are all learning opportunities. Even bath time becomes a laboratory for understanding life.

Eyes can track objects
With both eyes now able to follow things consistently and well, your baby can track a moving object much better, something she may have been able to do for only brief periods since birth.

The stores are packed with developmental toys, but you'll do just as well with everyday objects. Pass a rattle or a bright plastic ladle horizontally in front of her. Then try moving it up and down. This should attract your baby's attention, though she probably won't be able to smoothly follow things vertically for another three months and diagonally for another six months.

You can also play eyes-to-eyes by moving very close to her face and slowly nodding your head from side to side. Often her eyes will lock onto yours.

Remember, your baby is an individual
All babies are unique and meet milestones at their own pace. Developmental guidelines simply show what your baby has the potential to accomplish — if not right now, then soon. If your baby was premature, keep in mind that kids born early usually need a bit more time to meet their milestones. If you have any questions at all about your baby's development, ask your healthcare provider.

A New Adventure....

Cory and I spent a lot of time talking about if I should be a stay-at-home mom when Callie was born. It's what we both want, but not really financially possible right now. And although my work schedule at my current job was only 2 days a week, it was hard for all of us to commit to that again. So, I decided to leave my current position at Riverview. It was a very hard choice because I love my cowokers and our patients so much. But, as I'm surely learning, the choices that we have to make for our families aren't always easy.
It's funny though, how the Lord puts opportunities in front of us and sticks us right where we should be. Only a couple days after resigning my position, I was offered something I just couldn't refuse... a per diem position at KGH in their "special care nursery". I decided to accept the offer. As most of you know, preemies are now a passion of mine since Parker was born. I had to jump at the chance to help these special babies and their parents. It works out great too because it's a major pay increase and so I won't have to work as many hours and I get to choose the days or nights I work. Not that pay matters when you will be doing something you really feel a calling for.
And more great news..right now KGH is what's known as a level 2A nursery, which doesn't really take care of babies that are too too sick, but still need extra care. Now, KGH is expanding their nursery and is seeking approval from the state to be able to operate at a higher, more intense level of care. That means taking care of even sicker babies, which is scary, but a good scary. I'm starting orientation tomorrow, so I will keep the blog updated as much as possible with all the exciting things to come. Never a dull moment!
Cory is also looking for a full time job until the business is really up and going enough to support us on it's own. So if anyone hears of anything, let us know!

Cool Sears Program






Found this awesome post on http://www.butfirstwehavecoffee.com. I'm sure I will definatly be taking advantage of this program now that Parker's growing up! The post is about



Sears hosts a neat program called Kidvantage. As long as you purchase kids clothing and/or shoes, they will replace the item with a new one of the same size/brand if it wears out. Yes, you heard me right! If your little fellas, crawling on their knees to play cars, wear a hole in their knee, you wash that pair of pants, take them back to the retail store and they replace the garment! And boy, do those 5 and 6 year olds go through the jeans!

Some stores/states require you keep the receipt. Be sure to find out when you go in and sign up. One state we lived in did require one to bring the receipt back in with the garment.
After $100 has been spent on the Kidvantage program, you receive a coupon, attached to the bottom of the receipt, for 15 percent off your next purchase.

Birthday Fun

Well Cory and I survived our first year as parents...well, more like Parker survived Cory and my first year as parents! We celebrated Parker's first birthday on Saturday with family and friends with a small get-together at our house. With all the chaos, I didn't get any pictures so if you were there and happened to get pictures, please email them to me! I did get lots of good video though. We played "Parker Trivia" with questions about Parker's first year. We gave the prize to Catlin, Cory's little brother. Afterwards though, I was looking through everyone's papers and saw that cousin Tiffany and little David should have won!! So sorry Tiffany, if you are reading this...I owe ya one! Parker had a blast though. By time we got to his cupcake and presents, he was pretty pooped. In fact, he didn't even make it through opening presents. Cory and I ended up doing it for him. He got lots of great presents!! He didn't really know what to think of the cupcake. Maybe too sweet for him? He wasn't really into his pizza either, which he usually chows down on. Too much excitement to eat I guess.
Callie slept through the whole party, but decided to get up about 2 minutes after everyone left. Guess she wasn't really in the partying mood either. I can't believe only 10 more months and we will be celebrating her first birthday.
It's hard to remember our lives just 1 year ago in October of 2007. We weren't even parents for the most part of the month, and were just living life. Who would have known in just 1 year, we would be parents to 2 babies!! So let's see what 2009 will bring us!

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Pumpkin Patch





My sister and her family and my mom all decided to take the little ones to the pumpkin patch at The Country Mercantile. It was so fun! We went on a hayride, listened to a live band, went to the petting zoo, sat on tractors, climbed a huge haystack, and finally, picked out some pumpkins. We were all pooped afterwards and Parker passed out! Callie actually slept through the night that night from all the excitement. Don't worry, she was up every 3 hours again the next night. Bummer! Cory was still recovering from his kidney stones, so he didn't get to come. Hopefully next year.
It was really fun to go to something for the babies...not that they will remember anything from this year. There aren't very many family things to do in the Tri-Cities, so we really enjoyed the day. I wish they had more things like this around here. If any of you readers know of any inexpensive, fun family activities, let me know!

Monday, October 20, 2008

Just wanted to share that Callie was weighed and was 8 lbs, 14 oz and 19 inches! What a big girl for 6 weeks old!

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Easy Peasy Dinners!

So here is another cool blog out there. This mama is eating only crockpot meals for a year and blogging all the recipes with reviews too. Thought I might pass it along...http://crockpot365.blogspot.com/. We are all so busy, crockpots are the best! I only use mine for chili and pot roast, but this blog has really inspired me!!
Cory had his lithotripsy procedure yesterday. Everything went well...I guess! (The dr. never came and talked to us, so we aren't really sure what to expect.) We are straining his urine, but nothing yet. They also took his stent out, so thank God that is out too. Cory is still having pain, but his pain medication does not work. I guess in 10% of the white male population, hyrdocodone does not work...the ER doctor seemed to think Cory falls into that category. Man, one of those things knocks me out! So he's still walking around the house moaning and groaning! We had our second wedding anniversary on Tuesday too...what a way to celebrate! lol!

Monday, October 13, 2008

Where have I been?!


Wow, how time has gotten away from me the past few weeks! I'm sure you guys are wondering what is going on with Cory. Well.... he has been through the ringer, that's for sure! He has been in and out of the hospital due to being in so much pain. He had a kidney stent placed and was just admitted to the hospital again a couple days ago for pain control. He just got home this morning and is actually more comfortable. On Wednesday he will have a shockwave treatment called lithotripsy. That will hopefully break up the kidney stone. When the doctor placed the stent, he tried to break it up, but it was too large. That's also the reason why he can't just "go up" and get it out. After that, he will have to pass the stone and then he can have the stent removed a few days later. Whew! I can't imagine! Ouch, huh? We can't wait till all this is over.
Parker is almost 1...only another week! He is getting his first haircut tomorrow, which will be so fun, but also sad at the same time. Seems like only a few months ago he was born and we were just settling in as a family. Anyways, we are just getting things ready for his first bday party. We are just going to have family over and have cupcakes and hang out. Nothing too over the top!
Callie is doing great too. Six weeks old now. She is still getting up a couple times a night, every 3-4 1/2 hours, eating 3.5-5.5 ounces at a time. We switched her formula to similac sensitive because she was have extreme gas that seemed painful and real runny stools. The formula seems to be working great. She is much more comfortable and grunting and pulling her legs up a lot less. I can't wait for her appt. in a couple weeks so I can see how much weight she's gained. Cory and I think it's so weird to have a baby so alert and awake all the time while so young. We joke that Parker didn't wake up until after Christmas when we brought him home :)
Other than that, we are getting ready for Halloween. Parker is going to be Superman and Callie will be a ladybug. How cute! Can't wait to take lots of pictures.