Walker at 2 months

Walker turned two months old on Saturday! How the time has flown, I cannot believe he is 2 months already!

He weighs about 8 pounds (8 lb, 2 oz on Monday!) and is eating about 80 ml of breast milk every 3-4 hours.  In the evening he is usually eating every 2 hours for a 6, 8, and 10 feeding and then going about 5 hour stretches in the night. Which we love. He's staying awake for maybe 3-4 hours total per day.  Which is newborn-style, which is what stage he's technically in.  We go for his follow-up eye exam this week so I am hoping to hear that his retinas have matured and we don't have to go back for a while, but I know God is taking care of him whatever they say.  (he has to go every 2 weeks and get his eyes dilated and stay for a 3-4 hour appointment until his retinas mature or he unfortunately could possibly develop a vision problem but we are praying that doesn't happen.) He's wearing newborn clothes and fitting in them perfectly.  He's wearing size newborn diapers but will be moving to size 1 sometime this week (mainly because we're out of newborn after this bag and we don't want to buy more and not be able to use them).  Walker is a generally happy baby and just wants to eat, sleep, and be warm. He takes a "soothie" pacifier sometimes but isn't really crazy about it just yet.  I wish he'd take the Nuk ones so I could hook it onto more paci clips but oh well. The 'soothie' kind are what they used in the NICU.  

Now for pictures, in his own room to boot!

Nope, don't want to take pictures on this huge day bed!

Ok, this is better at least I have a companion

I will look right at you.  but I will not smile yet.

hey teddy, are you smiling? I'm not, don't give in!

mama.  I told you, I'm not ready to smile while I'm awake yet.  You'll have to settle for my sleepy dreamy smiles for now.

Ok, the rocker is fine. But this pillow is huge!

Now we're lying down, teddy? What's the deal-i-o?

Ok I am just going to eat my hands until you give up, mama. I'm all done.  

PS I forgot to mention that CC also made his curtains in his room.  See next post about his room to see how great they turned out!

Walker's Room

Here are some pictures of Walker's room! I think he loves it already :) (the few minutes he's been in there-he is still sleeping in a bassinet in our room)

Before as our guest room: (we already had his crib put together)

Here's Walker's room!

The bookcase my daddy built for me when I was little

 My Grandmother's dresser without the mirror attached

Thanks for helping me hang the artwork, CC.

Day bed with a trundle underneath.  Still needs some navy pillows by CC and me.  Someday...

Look at all of his gifts and books he was given!

Thanks CC for making the bumpers!

And the adorable monogrammed pillow!

That's it!

Due Date

Today is Walker's due date! I had no idea that I would have an 8 week old baby on his due date.  He is doing really great at home and we are just loving having him here instead of up in the hospital.  He is getting a little confused about his days and nights, but we honestly hardly care [well, ask me at 2:00, or 3:00, or 4:00 AM and I might have a different response!].  Seriously, though, I am thankful he's doing so well.

Savannah, you look really pretty today, can I take your picture?

"No Mama"

Oh come on Savannah, let's at least take a selfie! "NO PICTURE!"

Heading out the door. Savannah to school and Walker to work [with mama!]

She is such a proud big sister!

Anyway, we are so happy Walker is here, and I am glad I am not in labor right now.  Although I would have definitely skipped the NICU experience, I am thankful for the way things turned out and feel blessed by so many people who took care of us and are still taking care of us!  God is good :)

For my memory, the blog posts I'm wanting to still catch up on:  Walker's room, my 30th birthday party, and our weekend pictures.

Walker at 1 Month

Walker had his first monthly birthday in the NICU unfortunately but the nurses were really sweet to help me take pictures of him with his little sticker while he was getting weighed on October 23.  He weighed right under 6 pounds, 5 pounds and 15.4 ounces.  At one month, Walker was eating 45 ml every 3 hours by tube, and was still on oxygen, feeding tube, and several medicines.  He wasn't doing very many new things since he was still quite sick.  Preemies will tend to be behind in development for the first year, at least, for the number of weeks or months that they were early. So Walker will be doing things about 2 months behind the full-term baby's milestone chart.  He will catch up by 1 to 2 years and we won't be able to tell I'm sure.  I don't know his length but he still has a full head of hair, and his eyes are getting a little lighter.  I think they'll either be dark blue or green/hazel because they are already lighter than Savannah's which are brown.

Now for the pictures!

Pumpkin Patch Visit #2

Birc didn't get to go on her school field trip, so we went on a Saturday out to the same pumpkin patch we went to with her class.  Savannah got to get her face painted again, which was so exciting for her. ;)

And the lady at the check-out gave her a sucker!

Halloween 2013

Flapping her "Tinkerbell" wings.  Hilarious.

This is her Tinkerbell POSE.  Hands on her hips and one toe pointed out.  SO CUTE.

We had a great time teaching Savannah about "ticky teating".  We can't wait for more fun holidays as a family.  Savannah was Tinkerbell this year and an adorable one at that.  She unfortunately had 4 Halloween events she was invited to, so she had to dress up 4 times.  I thought that would be great, getting lots of miles outta this costume, but come to find out it ITCHES.  She cried and cried every time we had to put that thing back on.  Even with shirts and tights on underneath, it still bothered her.  Walker wasn't able to have on any costumes on Halloween so I just took his trick-or-treat bag up to the hospital and put him inside it to take a picture!

Fall Carnival at our church

 Savannah is SO excited about getting her face painted anywhere possible now! She loves it!

Not a great pic of her, but what she wore on Halloween to school.  We sent her costume with her to school, because they had a big party too. That marked time #2 in the costume. 

The third event was a fun party that her friend Reed invited her to.  There were treats and painting pumpkins and other kiddos to play with!  I took no photos there, sadly.

Fourth and finally, it was Halloween night! CC and Grandad came up to see her trick-or-treat, and then we trick-or-treated at Anna and Aaron's and Nana and Gran's, along with a few neighbors.  

She was apparently feeling about how I looked at this point.  Please remember we still had a child in the NICU and I am working, so excuse my horrible un-showered self.