Liam's Progress...

Today Liam had his High Risk follow-up appointment from the NICU. There he was seen by 4 out of 6 doctors assessed in the following fields: Nutrition, Motor Skills, Hearing/Vision and an Over-all Assessment from his NICU Dr.

The first specialist he saw was for hearing and vision which he passed with flying colors. He cooperated and stayed quiet as he needed to be to complete the tests.
They were very pleased with where he was on the charts.

The second specialist was with the nutritionalist, who walked in and immediately was happy to see how big Liam is, and how healthy he looks. She gave me big kudos for continuing to exclusively bf, however she recommends delaying solids until he is 6 months ADJUSTED, which is 8 months actual!!! That is going to be hard. I am hoping to keep him off solids till at least 6 months actual. He's just like Jax when it comes to food, and already drools and stares at "big people" food. Lol

The third specialist he saw was the Physical Therapist who worked with him in the NICU. She couldn't believe how big he had gotten, and how well he ranked in his tests. He is in the 75% for his motor skills based on his adjusted age of 2 1/2 months. The tests were the milestones for a 3-4 month full-term baby... so overall he did great there.

When the final doctor came in, Dr. Bharti - he honestly didn't have much to say other than, continue with what we are doing, and that he is doing amazing considering his start to life.

They would like to see him again in 6 months to make sure that he is still progressing as he should.
I'm not surprised; I knew he would do well... I am just so happy they were thrilled with how well he has done since coming home!

After his appointment, we ran across the street and up to the NICU to visit some of his old nurses. Thankfully, the NICU was extremely slow with only TWO babies in the whole unit, but sadly that meant most of his nurses weren't there to see him. The ones that were there were glad we dropped by, and told us to come back any time. They too, couldn't believe how big he has gotten, and just keep saying how adorable he was, and that he was going to be a heartbreaker!!!

Today Liam weighed 11lbs. 4.5oz - which means that he is STILL gaining an ounce and a half every day, which is on the high side for a bf baby!!! Yay Liam!!!

That's all... Hope everyone is doing good!

Shylah

Florida Fun-time...

A few weeks ago, we were treated to a family vacation by our amazing family friends; Shooie, Papa Vito, Justin and Landon in Florida.

We got to spend a week together hanging out and having fun, and had a blast! We flew in on Thursday, May 26th and got in around 9:00pm after having a not so fun plane ride through the lightning storms. The flight itself wasn't too bad, but I definitely couldn't wait to get on the ground! While we were up in the plane, and descending into Florida, we got to witness one of the prettiest sights. We got to see a huge storm cell off in the distance, and lightning scrolling through the black clouds. It was very cool, and so pretty.

The next day, Jax got reintroduced to his "cousin" Landon - and soon the two of them were inseparable. It was so much fun watching them play. Of course it helped that the boys had almost identical playrooms, the same toys, wore the same size clothes, and were into the same Sprout shows. they got along so good, and followed each other around the whole time we were there.

Liam was just along for the ride, lol... and took in everything going on around him. I was so thankful that Vito was able to come into town as well and meet the newest. As big as we think that Liam has gotten, he looked TINY as soon as Papa Vito got his hands around him. :)

We got to take the boys to Aquatica for the first time... not sure who had more fun there. Jax and Landon getting to play in all the water, go down all the slides and take naps like superstars in the VIP Cabana... or Dean, who as soon as all the kiddo's were asleep, went and took full advantage of every single water slide. I passed on the slides and waiting in long lines for 35 seconds of fun, and ended up looking like a beached whale laying out at the base of the wave pool, using a life jacket as my pillow... Now that's what I'm talking about!!!

We also had an adult fun night in Orlando. Dean and I got to sing some of our favorite songs at a little Irish Karaoke Bar... (always fun to go somewhere new and sing, especially once we say we're from Nashville!). We had an amazing BBQ dinner and got to meet some new friends and just relax and enjoy the night.

On Memorial Day, we went to the beach and got to soak in some sunshine for Dean's Birthday! Unfortunately Jax had come down with something the night before, and was running a pretty good fever, so he didn't get to enjoy the beach that much. He ended up camping out in the back of Cherie's car, curled up in a little ball, asleep. Once he did wake up, he wanted NOTHING to do with getting in the ocean, and couldn't seem to keep his sandy hands from rubbing his eyes, which resulted in Dean constantly washing his eye's out with bottled water... We’re hoping next time we go, that we can go back to the beach and try it again. Of course I learned about 5 minutes before we were leaving, that all I had to do was draw letters and numbers in the sand, and then he didn’t want to leave… Go figure. That night we ended up just taking it easy, making dinner at home and finishing off the day with ice-cream cake to celebrate Dean and Justin's birthdays.

Our last day, Justin, Dean and I took Landon and Jax to this little splash park that’s right around the corner from their house. What a cool park! I wish we had one of those in our town. I think the boys had more fun there then they did anywhere else… and even though Jax was still miserable, he had a lot of fun running through the fountains, sliding on the slides and swinging with his new buddy! After spending about 2 hours at the park, we went back to the house, got packed up and had to say good-bye.

We’re hoping to get back at least one more time before summer is over, and hopefully once Liam can enjoy a vacation too.

Thank you Cherie, Vito and Justin for letting us stay with you, and showing us a really fun time while we were there!

Xoxo,
Shylah

Street Corner Symphony...

On Friday night I got to go to the Street Corner Symphony concert at a little venue, Ella's here in Greeneville.
When I first saw Street Cornery Symphony, it was on the TV Show, "The Sing Off". They were on the 2nd season, and were absolutely amazing. They didn't win, but they sure should have. After seeing them last night, I am in complete awe... They are sooooo good!

Street Corner Symphony is an all a'capella group from Nashville. You might think that wouldn't be as good as a band, but let me tell you, they are!!! They use no instruments, and have six guys that do all the instruments by mouth. I think they are one of the best show's I've seen, and that's with living in Nashville for 5 years!!

I also, ahem, got to get up and sing with them... Haha, but this time, I wasn't running up praying I wouldn't get arrested, I was volunteered, with two others and got the privelage to sing with them doing all the backgrounds... what song? Oh, yeah... I totally rocked "The Lion Sleeps Tonight".
It was so much fun to listen to them, and hang out with a good group of friends and family! I am definitely a fan and can't wait till August when their album comes out.

The Adventures of Jax and the Letter "C"...

So the other day my mom sent Jax a "present" in the mail... Nothing big, or fancy in anyway, just the letter "C" from Jaxon's bath set , that we had accidentally left behind at her house in WA, over a year ago.

He has always missed it, and made sure that we remembered that when going through the alphabet, that the sequence went something like, " A,B, oh no!!! Where is letter C??? Oh it's missing! Fiiiiind letter C pwease!" So same thing every time, "Honey, the letter C is at Gramma's house! I'm sorry sweetie, we'll have to call Gramma and tell her you neeeeeeeed it".

Time went on, and eventually Jax forgot about it, and would go on with other letters, boats, cups, etc. We always talked about not forgetting to bring it home on our next trip, replacing the set, or making one out of the zero. We never did.

This past visit, when my mom came down to see us, she promised us that she'd mail it, but she wanted Jax to call and remind her. Boy did he. "gramma, where's is letter C? Oh, it's missing. Gramma send me letter C. Ok buh-bye".

So mom kept her word, and sent him the letter C. And then... Well and then it just gets ridiculous. First Jax wouldn't put it down. He carried it everywhere, and when bath time rolled around, all he cared about was that ABC, was actually ABC... THEN, he wanted to sleep with it that night, and the next... and the next.So for the past 3 weeks, we've done nothing but look for the letter C, bring it to dinner, to the store, in the car, , to nap, etc... It's so funny! We aren't sure if Jax just has completion issues, or if it's because it was a "present". Now that the letter C is back home with us, we've had a hard time keeping it away from him, as well as ALL of the letters. We catered to one letter, and now C-Z, green ball, blue ball, Frogg, Ernie are all in bed with Jax on a nightly occasion. I think he's smarter than I give him credit for, since we tuck him in, and then he asks for one letter at a time... I'm pretty sure he has just figured out how to completely manipulate Mommy, as well as stay up a little later... lol.
Just another day in the life of...

Happy Mother's Day...

What a Mothers Day it is for me this year. I am so very blessed to have the two most beautiful boys, happy and healthy and home.

This day could have been a very bad day for me this year, had things not thankfully gone the way they did with Liam. I am so proud to be Jaxon and Liam's mommy, and to have such an amazing husband to share my life with. I can not imagine my life without both of my boys, and it's days like today - where I actually take the time to reflect on how lucky I truly am, to have Liam here with me today.

I woke up this morning to Dean and Jax preparing pancakes with strawberries and whip cream, and a whole bunch of cards, and gifts from the boys.

Jax and Liam went in together, and got me this beautiful family tree display from Hallmark, and I can not wait to get it (it's been backorderd, but should be here soon)

And from Dean and my mom, I got to go pick out some new flowers to plant and two baby lilac bushes that hopefully will be in full bloom next year!!

Dean thought that I would just like to sit around and enjoy my day today, but after pulling weeds and getting my new flower bed ready, enjoying time outside with the babies, and just getting to hang out with my family, I had a GREAT day!!!

Hope all the mommies I know had a wonderful day as well!

Xoxo

Shylah