I feel Pretty!

Danny and I got to have a fun night out on Friday night and the boys got to have a sleepover at Grandmas. It was so awesome! Grandma brought the boys home Saturday afternoon and we had a nice visit. I began to notice that Myles was being kind of quiet which, if you have kids, you know can often mean some kind of mischief is being made. Sure enough. Grandma went into our room to say goodbye and then gasped and laughed and told us to get the camera. When we got in there I couldn't even help but crack up! (Despite the fact that my expensive makeup was all over the place) The look on his face was priceless, it was a mix of "this is so fun and I am doing something horribly naughty and getting away with it." I guess he'd seen me do it enough times he just had to see what all the fuss was about. We had a good laugh!

Christmas!

We had a really nice Christmas this year. It was so fun watching Myles open presents and be excited about everything. Both of the boys got well spoiled by Grandparents and Aunties and Uncles. Well, we all did :) Danny's family came down from Oregon so we spent Christmas Eve with my family and Christmas Day with Danny's. It was nice to get to spend time with both of our families.
We got Myles a little bounce house for Christmas (not sure what I was thinking, it doesn't fit anywhere in our house!) We thought he would run out and want to jump on it, but he said "No, I want to open my presents first." Haha!
There were two major highlights for me this Christmas. The first was a few weeks ago. I had been waiting for the right time to tell Myles about the reason that we celebrate Christmas. We had gone to look at Christmas lights and had seen a nativity scene which he knew included baby Jesus. At lunch the next day he said "I saw Jesus last night. Who is Jesus Mommy?" It was a cute innocent moment as we read the nativity story and i explained it all, and he looked at me intently and listened as I read. And then after i was done, he said "let me tell YOU a story, Mommy...." and proceeded to read me three stories in a row with the same enthusiastic voice I had just used. It was priceless.
The second was my gift from Danny. We had gone to New York at the beginning of the month and while we were there we managed to make it to The fifth avenue. I was very excited and really wanted to go to Tiffany&Co. Well, it was Sunday evening so by the time we made our way down fifth ave they were closed. We ran out of time and didn't get to go back.
Christmas morning the last present under the tree was for me. Inside was a little blue box tied with a white ribbon. I opened the box and there was a beautiful silver necklace with a medallion that is esentially four circles intertwined in the center. He told me that the four circles represented the four Men in my life; God, Danny, Myles and Nolan. (Special thanks to Lee for haulin' it all the way back to fifth ave from Jersey! It means a lot to me :)

Deck the halls

We decided to let Myles decorate the tree this year. It was so cute watching him put everything on the tree so carefully. Yes, Myles was careful and meticulous! If you know him, you know that is VERY uncharacteristic of him. He likes to throw things. He put all of the ornaments in one place at the bottom of the tree. We dressed the kids up in their red jammies and had a fun evening of decorating and watching How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Myles' new favorite movie, go figure. He likes when the Grinch steals the presents.)
I am enjoying watching Myles' excitement over Christmas. He loves looking at the lights and decorations, and can't wait for "Santa Closet" to come and bring him presents. We are learning about the real reason for Christmas, but at two years old "presents" is what sticks out. It's a good way to make him behave though!
We went to visit Santa at our mall the week before last. It was actually a very pleasant experience. No line, and he called Myles by name just from hearing me say it once. He asked Myles what he wanted for Christmas and he actually understood when he asked for a "Lightning McQueen shirt". Haha! I thought it was pretty funny that he asked for a shirt.
Well I'd better go, going to make sugar cookies with Myles. I have a bazillion things to do and my house is a mess, but making cookies with my boy is much more fun!

New York City!!

We were so blessed to be able to take a little trip to the BIG city for a few days to get away and have some fun. The best part-we got to go without the kids!! Thanks to Nana and Grandpa (Danny's parents) who donated air miles to us so we could go and came down and watched the kids for most of the weekend, and to Grandma and Grandpa (my parents) who watched them for the rest of the time. It was fabulous, we got to see most of the big stuff; The Statue of Liberty, Times Square, Rockerfeller Center, Empire State Building, Grand Central, Grenwich Village, and lots of other things along the way. We ate the hugest sandwiches I have ever seen at the infamous Carnegie Deli and stayed out late every night (still being on west coast time and all) It was very cold, but so awesome to see the city all lit up for Christmas. We saw all that we could in two-and-a-half days, but we definitely have to go back. There is so much to see, it would be hard to see it all in a week!

The boys at home

What can I say, they are just so cute together! I had to snap a few pics while I could. (But I am not biased or anything) Myles will hold Nolan whenever I let him, and Nolan LOVES it! I put Nolan down on Myles bed the other day and he fell asleep there for a couple of hours while we played in Myles room. He definitely doesn't like to be "left out". He naps in the living room in his bouncer, he just won't do the crib during the day. He sleeps well in it at night though!
Nolan smiled at me for the first time on Wednesday! It was so cute! He stated cooing a little too. He stuck his tounge out at Daddy for the first time the other day, too! He has developed so much in the last couple of weeks. He is getting very strong and holding his head up really well!
And Myles. Myles is very... two-and-a-half. Strong willed and twitty! But he has great spirit and tenacity that will be a good thing one day (or so Daddy says, let's hope he's right!) He loves to sing all sorts of songs but his favorite is still "How great is our God", followed closely by "Wheels on the bus". He makes up songs, too. Those are MY favorite :) He also loves to read and has memorized many of his books. He'll get them all out and recite them to Nolan and I, it's pretty cute! He is a sweet boy, he just has his "moments". So.. I guess i'll keep them. They're cute enough.

Little Punkins!

Here goes attempt number three at trying to update this blog! I always start it and don't finish. Maybe I should make them shorter, then there is a chance it will get posted....
So our little Nolan has grown, he's over 13 lbs now, close to double his birth weight! He is a very sweet baby and sleeps alot. Myles loves him so much and he is a great big brother. He likes to help any way that we let him. Nolan already looks up to his big brother...anytime Myles is close to him he just sits there and stares at him with big eyes. He is going to follow that boy around like a little puppy dog when he is older, I can just tell.
I took the boys to get their pics taken in their costumes the other day. Myles is a fireman and Nolan is a dalmation, Nolan slept through his first photo shoot and I had to bribe Myles with a new car to get him to sit still for five seconds, but I got a cute picture!

Last Sunday we went to the pumpkin patch with Grandma, Grandpa, Liz and Keith. Myles had fun picking up all the little pumpkins and sitting on the big ones. He got to feed the goats and go on a tractor pulled hay ride! Afterward we had a bbq at Grandmas and Nolan got to meet Gigi (my Grandma) for the first time :)

Nolan is HOME!!!

It has been a long day so I am going to keep this short.. Nolan is home, and we are so incredibly happy! God is so good! Nolan is doing well and nursing regularly. We have had an enjoyable evening of just letting Myles see him and get used to him, and we have been holding our baby boy and staring at him. (without the watchful eye of the nurses) We go for a follow up check-up at the pediatrician's office tomorrow morning to check his weight and stats, so hopefully he will have a little weight gain. He seems so peaceful and relaxed, I feel like he knows that he is home and loves it here.

I will add more details and pics later but right now it is time to put Mr. Nolan to bed, we are pooped!

Thank-you again to everyone for all of your prayers and support :)

love,
Rachel

Update on Mr. Nolan

(Monday 8/28) Just a little add-on... We went to see Nolan last night and he nursed like a champ! We brought Myles with us and the nurse brought Nolan to the door so that Myles got to meet him in person! He loves his baby brother, he said "Hi Nolan! I'm Myles" and he gave him kisses. It was very sweet. It was so nice to see our baby's little face with nothing on it. No more tubes and tape, just cute soft little cheeks and eyes and teeny baby lips. Oh yeah, and I think he has mama and brother's "cabbage patch kid" nose :)
I just have to add the Myles has been such a good boy through all of this. He had gotten to spend some time with Grandma and Grandpa, and Auntie Liz and Keith, and Auntie Christy and Uncle Chris. I don't know what we would have done without all of them! I think Myles has been enjoying getting to go places and get spoiled :)



(Sunday 8/27) First of all, I would like to thank everyone for their prayers and kind words. They have helped tremendously through this difficult time.
I am so happy to report that Nolan is doing SO much better. He was taken off the CPAP on Friday and put on a little bit of oxygen. Then yesterday, they decided that he was ready to try and eat a small amount from the bottle and he did GREAT!!
He was sleepy at first, but once he got a few gulps he loved it and sucked it down. He ate really good every three hours after that yesterday. We went in to feed him a bottle this morning at 11:30 and he drank it all (15cc) in about thirty seconds and then looked for more. So the nurse said if I wanted to I could try nursing and of course I jumped at that chance. He latched right on with no problem (Myles didn't even do that) and ate for 10 minutes! He got so full that he just sacked out right there. So we snuggled for a while, which was so nice :)
I called to check in on him this evening at 5:30 pm and his nurse said that she had just taken him off the oxygen altogether!!! We are so excited and can't wait to go see his little face with nothing on it! On top of all that, Myles will get to see his brother for the first time tonight! (through the window, but still better than a picture) All good things today :) We are so happy that he is making such great progress, God is so good! Now we just have to get him nursing regularly and gaining weight, and transition him off the IV. Hopefully he will be home within the week.

Unfortunately mama is not doing so hot. I don't want to bore you with details but I had a blood clot when I left the hospital and have been to the ER for my symptoms since, but things have gotten worse. I am hoping to see my Dr. tomorrow because it is getting hard to sleep. I am having chest pain and some weird head and neck pain, but thank goodness for the pain meds they gave me when I left the hospital :) They at least allow me to sleep a little. Anyway, I would really appreciate your prayers because I just want to be well so I can take care of my babies!

Here are a few pics but if you'd like to see more you can check them out at: http://picasaweb.google.com/DRPCSolutions