Date Night

Last weekend Michael and I had our first date night since Peyton was born. I was so excited but definitely a little nervous about leaving the boys. Peyton had just been released from the hospital and Patrick is a handful right now, so it can be a little overwhelming! Luckily, Big and Allie were up for the challenge!

Right before we were about to leave for our date, the dogs got out of the house and ran away. Typical, right? When they get out they run really fast in any direction their nose leads them. Michael tried to look for them for 20 minutes but did not have any luck. We were so excited to get out of the house alone that we decided to go on the date anyway.

We went to Flemings to celebrate my birthday, our anniversary and Peyton. Lots to celebrate! It was so yummy and really fun to have my first glass of wine since Peyton! I definitely missed it!

After we got back I put Patrick to bed and Michael went out to look for the dogs. A huge storm was coming, so we were really worried about them. Michael had to run through a couple miles of woods to find them. They had chased a fox into a hole and were barking their heads off. Luckily he found them right before the storm hit! So glad he found them and everything turned out okay.

Thanks to Big and Allie for watching the boys so we could have a much needed date night!

Peyton- 1 Month

Peyton is one month old! Here are a few pictures of Peyton at one month.

So happy that he is finally starting to open his eyes more. For the first couple weeks he would barely open his eyes. He had some blood vessels that popped during birth and it has finally healed.

He is very attached to his pacifiers. 

He is also a daddy's boy which i'm not used to since Patrick is a momma's boy. Peyton loves sleeping in Michael's arms and its really the only place he will take long naps. Peyton is very cold natured, which makes cuddling with Michael, who is extremely hot natured, just perfect!

He has been quite fussy recently and i'm not sure if its because he feels bad or if he has acid reflux. Still trying to work on what's upsetting the little guy so much!

Cooing, love this face

Enjoying his playmat

Sweet little boy had a rough few days at the hospital this week. I noticed he felt very hot in the middle of the night and he was very fussy. We had a few thermometers in the house but I couldn't get any of them to work. There was a forehead thermometer in Patrick's room, but I knew it wasn't very accurate for newborns. When Patrick woke up I took Peyton's temperature and it read 99.5. I decided I would let him nap and check again after the nap. When he woke up I took his temperature again and it was 99.7. However, his forehead felt much hotter to me. I called the doctor and they said to bring him in immediately. My doctor was out of the office so I saw another doctor. The nurse took his temperature and got 101.3 and ran out to get the doctor. I heard the doctor yell to another doctor that she hadn't seen this baby yet but it was a three week old with a 101 temperature and she needed him to come look as well. I knew it was pretty serious after I heard that. She quickly looked him over and called in another doctor to look at him too (i'm guessing that's protocol with such a young one). The doctors told me we needed to go immediately to Vanderbilt's Children's Hospital and that they would be expecting us. She explained that any temperature over 100.5 in a baby younger than 6 weeks is taken very seriously. She said that I should prepare myself for what would happen at the hospital and that they would act very quickly and there would be many tests done as well as a spinal tap.  They are very careful with newborns since they have not built up an immune system yet and something very minor could be very tragic for them. It was very hard to watch the amount of antibiotics Peyton had to receive and all the tests!

We checked into the emergency room for all the testing around 1:00pm and didn't get into the room we would be staying in until 7:30pm. It was a long few hours! They decided to send us to the NICU since Peyton was so young. They told us to plan on staying there for the next 48 hours (at least). Michael and I both stayed during the days and Michael left in time for Patrick's bedtime. Allie and Big kept Patrick after school which was a huge help!

Peyton ended up having a minor common cold and we were so thankful! It is really scary having your newborn so sick! Although, it was sort of funny that every nurse that first saw Peyton said something to the effect of "oh my goodness that is a big baby." They also commented on the frequency he eats. The boy sure does love to eat! He gained over 2 pounds in 3 weeks! I think they are so used to seeing premature babies that i'm sure my 9 pound baby looked huge compared to the other 4 pound babies!

Here is a picture of my little buddy hooked up to all his machines. Heartbreaking! Really makes you thankful for a healthy baby! I really felt sorry for the other families who had been there for months.

So thankful to have my sweet little Peyton back at home!

Patrick's 2 Year Appointment

Patrick had his 2 year appointment last Friday.  He weighs 25 pounds, 8 ounces (20%), is 35 inches tall (70%) and his head circumference is 55%. He is still tall and lean. We also had his iron levels checked again and it was 11.4. The minimum normal level for a 2 year old is 11.5. They checked him twice just to be sure, but got 11.4 both times....so close! They will check it again at his 3 year appointment since it is below normal and he is still technically anemic. It is a vast improvement from his 18 month appointment! Patrick was a champ at the appointment. No crying when they pricked his fingers and he didn't kick and scream when they checked his ears like all of the previous appointments. He did keep asking to "go in Momma car" and "go drive Momma car"(i.e. get me out of here!).

I just took Patrick to the appointment so I could focus on him and ask the doctor a bunch of questions. Even though it was just a doctor's appointment it was nice to be able to focus on just my big boy! He doesn't normally like sweets, but when I asked him if he wanted to get ice cream afterwards he got so excited. I think he really enjoyed my full attention too.

Patrick is doing great in his big boy bed. The baby does occasionally wake him up, but he normally goes right back to bed. We have also been going to the park almost every day after school to wear him out which I think is really helping. My dad has also really helped out by taking him on the days we are pretty tired. He loves going to the park with Big!

Swinging at the park with Dad

He is still a terrible eater. His diet pretty much consists of hot dogs, yogurt, cheese crackers, fruit snacks and milk. I talked to the doctor for a while about what to do about his eating and he had a few suggestions all of which are going to be very very difficult! The doctor commented that Patrick seems to be a very stubborn child so we will have to be very consistent. I'm not sure I am ready for that with a new baby, so we might hold off until we get in a normal routine!

Patrick is also doing great with Peyton. He loves to "carry baby" and asks "where baby"is a lot. Peyton is a loud screamer and Patrick loves to say "baby crying" over and over. I think he is trying to tell me to make Peyton stop crying, but it doesn't quite work like that! Patrick has also developed a really shrill scream. I think it's in response to Peyton crying so much and Patrick wanting to be louder. We are working on it, but it isn't going so well. Hopefully he quits soon and gives my ears (and constant headache) a rest!

Love my big boy and I am going to work on scheduling some more one on one time with him soon!

4 years!

Happy 4th anniversary to my wonderful husband! So blessed to be married to you and share in the fun of raising our two boys!  Here's a little walk down memory lane...

Our wedding day

1st Anniversary Trip to Vegas

2nd Anniversary celebrated by dinner at Flemings- A couple weeks after welcoming Patrick

3rd anniversary trip to Napa

This year we are celebrating our anniversary at Fleming's where we first met and got engaged.  We have been to Fleming's every year on our anniversary so it is a fun tradition for us!  We are also celebrating the birth of our sweet little Peyton with our first date night since he was born!

Peyton- 2 week update

Peyton had his two week appointment on Monday, April 15th (his due date). He is doing really well and the doctor was really impressed with his weight gain! He has gained over a pound since the hospital. He is a really fast nurser and likes to nurse very often, so I am not that surprised!

Peyton ready for his 2 week appointment at the doctor's office

For a little comparison here are Peyton and Patrick's stats at their 2 week appointments.

Peyton- 8 pounds, 2.5 ounces (25%); 21 1/2 inches long (75%), and his head circumference is 20%.
Patrick- 7 pounds, 1 ounce (15%); 20 inches long (25%), and his head circumference was 15%.

Patrick and Peyton look so much alike as babies, but you can definitely tell that Peyton is a little bit chunkier :)  He has little rolls on his arms and they are just precious! He also has so much hair! Peyton is a sweet little baby and puts up with a lot of yelling from his big brother! He has his days and nights mixed up, but we are slowly starting to get him back on track. He also loves his pacifier! Pretty nice to have a baby that likes a pacifier!

Here are a few pictures from the past couple weeks of Peyton

1 week old

Precious little face

Big Brother wanted some pictures taken too

I am sort of obsessed with Patrick's hair! How precious are those curls?!?!

Peyton at 2 weeks

And this is what the dogs have been up to.... hunting for chipmunks. They have been pretty successful. The chipmunk population is quickly decreasing in our area :(

Peyton's Newborn pictures (and a couple of Patrick too)

First, here's a couple pictures of my big boy at 2. He was a little overwhelmed and not into taking pictures, so we only got a couple of him.

Patrick is a wild child and these pictures capture his personality perfectly!

I really wanted a picture of Patrick "carrying baby" since he asks to carry baby about 100 times a day, but he wanted to show off instead of sit still for Zach, so this is the best we could do!

Patrick being silly

My second precious little blessing

Love this picture of Michael and Peyton

Big yawn

Peyton threw a fit after I undressed him (he is very cold natured). Zach offered to come back the next day to capture some more of Peyton!

Peyton was 5 days old in these pictures. So tiny! He has already grown so much since these pictures!

Sweet little toes

The pillow was a gift from Nana and looks so cute in his room!