Outside Projects!

Lets just get caught up in pictures. I'm tired and we have a screaming baby tonight so I don't have a lot energy to put into the post!

Lets see who you think the boys look like...

Spencer with my picture. He's wearing my outift that I wore home from the hospital.

Easton

Nolan

Spencer wearing my hospital hat.

Easton

Nolan

Spencer wearing an outfit of Ryan's.

Easton

Nolan

The landscaping has started! We can't wait for it to be finished so we can finally enjoy our backyard! They are putting in two retaining walls and a paver patio with a walkway from our back garage door.

  

These pictures tell a different story. Nolan is not our sleepy baby! He's only going about 3.5 hours between feedings at night. Even though Grandma and Grandpa took him one night we are still feeling very sleep deprived!

 Just like Spencer he likes to sleep with something over his eyes!

 For the last 3 out of 5 nights Spencer has asked to sleep on the floor. Whatever works!

More Random Pictures From The Week.....

(Nolan 6 weeks, Hadley 12 weeks)

Gavin came over to play...

I finally finished the play area in the basement. The boys love it down there.

This is what you get when you take the crayon away cause he's eating it!

 We've had so much going on around our house with workers outside and people bringing furniture inside. The boys love sitting and watching everyone work. I'm happy they actually sit for 5 minutes straight.

 Monkey see....Monkey do!

All 3 Monkey's! This just sums up our life!

And the mother of the year award goes to .... ME! Whatever works sometimes!!

Spencer continues to love being a big brother!

 This weekend we went to a house warming party for one of Ryan's co-workers. Julia and Nolan are 2 weeks apart. Notice how Nolan is always holding his head.

We took a tour of my Grandpa's old house. My Grandpa Juel built it in the 50's. I've often heard many stories about this house and how unique it was for it's time and how people would drive by just to look at it. So it was fun to go back and visit this house. In 1972 my parents went to prom and stood on these steps to have their picture taken. It's fun to recreate those memories!

 We hung out at Grandma and Grandpa's house for awhile on Sunday so the boys could play together. This picture has trouble written all over it!

Thanks to Grandma Julie and Uncle JB for watching the boys so Ryan and I could go to dinner tonight.

Recovering....

First, I will let you know how Mr. Nolan is doing. He's doing great, much better than last week at this time! We had a follow up appointment on Thursday at the clinic. His doctor thought he was doing so much better. He weighed 10 pounds 8 ounces. He has continued to gain weight and he hasn't shown any signs of being sick. I will just keep my fingers crossed that this was just some nasty viral infection and that we can now move on.

The day we were admitted to the hospital Nolan turned 1 month old. Overall he's a great baby.  I'm convinced he spends more time awake that asleep. His sleeping is still a bit rough. We've had a few good nights here and there when he did 4 hour stretches but we're back to his not so good sleeping habits. Both Spencer and Easton were great sleepers so I guess we were bound to have one that isn't. Currently he eats around 11:00 pm, 2:00 am and 4:00 am. After the 4:00 am it seems as though he can't rest and is up every hour just for a snack! Hopefully we will get his sleeping figured out one of these nights. During the day though he's up for a few hours eats and then sleeps for a bit. He's not a fussy baby when he is awake, he's just awake.

Spencer and Easton continue to surprise us with how much they grow and change each and every day. Easton has been talking up a storm and has so many new words. The best is he finally says Mommy. He never says it to me but at least he can say it. Spencer loves to be a big helper or the big brother. Ryan and I left Nolan in his car seat a few times in the living room and when we came back Nolan was on the floor. Spencer knows how to get him out on his own.

Easton has been talking about "poopy" lately. I let him go naked one night after his bath when he started saying the word. I put him on the potty to see what would happen and nothing. The next night though Ryan put him on the potty after bath and he actually went poopy on the potty. So we brought the potty ring back out and put him on it every now and again. I won't keep my fingers crossed that he will be easy to potty train but one can hope!

Bedtime had become an issue again with Spencer. Some nights he will come out 15 times asking for things or wanting something. It's turned into such a game. Both Ryan and I are tired of it so we've decided it's going to end. We are trying to break some bad habits that we created by delaying bed time and playing a little in his room before reading books. For some reason Spencer thinks it's fun to sleep on the floor. That's one thing we will give into if it means he will stay put in his room.

Nolan has also started testing out sleeping in his room. I've put him down for some naps in his bed and one night he even started out sleeping in there.



We are still exploring our new surroundings at your house. One night we took the boys over to the tennis courts to run around.

We are taking advantage of living in the cul-de-sac. Spencer and Easton also enjoy playing with the neighbors. We even had our first knock at the door asking if Spencer could come out and play.

First of many hockey games in the street.

The neighbors have four kids: Megan is eight, Sam is four, Lucy is two and Charlie is five months.

The boys continue to keep us busy. A few weeks ago I posted what I've learned so far being a mom of three little boys. This week I learned how important finding the right parking spot is. The best spot to park is next to a cart return. I have a lot of space and I can load up the boys in the cart before going into the store. My advice to others if you see a mom with a van full of kids don't park so close to her so that she can hardly get her kids in and out. It amazes me at daycare when other parents do this. They of all people should know. If your wondering how I manage getting my three little boys into some place we look like this. I carry Nolan in his carseat on one arm, I carry Easton on my other hip and Spencer walks along side holding onto the car seat. To say I have my hands full is an understatement but it works!

These two make life interesting yet fun! Zoey is always waiting for food to hit the floor.

This weekend we took the boys to the Pepper Fest Parade in North Hudson. Spencer and Easton LOVED going after candy. Easton wanted to eat it all right away. Spencer on the other hand liked looking at how much was in his bag.  It was a long parade and we didn't make it through the whole thing.

Ryan's attempt at keeping the sun off Nolan's face while he ate.

Saturday night was parent's night out at daycare. The boys went to a prom themed party at daycare while Ryan, Nolan and I enjoyed a dinner out. I've given up on the idea of going out to eat with all three boys so it was nice to get out.

We also got all of the proofs back from Nolan's newborn pictures. Here's a few more.....

Nolan's Hosptial Visit!

Here's the recap from Nolan's hospital visit....

Friday while visiting Ryan at work I noticed he was covered in a head to toe rash. He also had a temp of 102.2. We went to the clinic to have him checked out. His doctor ordered blood work and a urine sample. It took a poke in the arm, hand and finally they were able to get blood from a vien in his head. Next the nurse had to cath him 3 times before he finally had urine in his bladder. He also had to get a shot of antibiotics to cover him in case he had a bacterial infection. She wanted us to come back the next day to be checked out and get another shot of antibiotics.

His fever continued through the night and we were back at the clinic early on Saturday for his other antibiotic shot. The doctor said his labs were all looking "ok" and that most were indicating that he had a viral infection not a bacterial infection but she was still waiting for the blood cultures to come back. She said she would call if anything changed but wanted me to follow up on Monday if things weren't better.

His fever still continued 100-101 over the rest of the weekend. He was irritable and just wouldn't rest. Our nights were long. He was also having diarrhea. He acted as though he was in pain. Anytime I would touch him he would just cry out. He just wasn't right! On Sunday evening his temp was 101.3 so I gave him Tylenol. While sitting in the chair he started throwing up all over me. That was the icing on the cake so it was off to Children's Hospital we went.

They told me they too would want to draw blood, get a urine sample, start an IV and then finally do a spinal tap. Things went smoother this time. They got urine on the first try, they started the IV and drew blood off of that first. I decided to step out during the spinal tap. I wouldn't be able to hold him so I didn't think I could watch. The doctor told me it was unsuccesful. They weren't able to get enough fluid for cultures. After all that she told me we would be admitted to the hospital so that he could get IV antibiotics until we figured out the cause of his infection. In babies 2 months and younger they treat them until they figure out the cause instead of trying to figure out the cause and then treat.

That was a long night. He was up every hour eating and fussy. I think over the night I slept a total of 20 mintues. Children's Hospital is a teaching hospital so I felt like we had a care team of about 10 taking care of him. He had medical students, residents and nurses all watching over him.

His Crib

They came in with a plan Monday morning but after watching him and checking him over, the plan changed. (Side Note: I learned Nolan had a heart murmor. It's a common thing for newborns). He had still been running a temp and still seemed very irritable. They decided to continue the antibiotics for a bit longer and they wanted to do another spinal tap. They were trying to check for meningitis.

The 2nd spinal tap didn't go well either. I think they poked him a total of 3 times and still weren't able to get enough fluid. Very frustrating. I just keep telling myself he wont remember this right? So back to the orginal plan. We stopped the antibiotics and Tylenol. We monitored him over night to see if the fever would spike again or he showed signs of infection. He surprised us all and seemed to make a turn for the better. His fever stayed around 99 for most of the night. He actually slept a 4 hour stretch! He also was eating more at each feeding.

Once they stopped all IVs I could get him dressed. It didn't take long though and he peeped all over during a diaper change. That's how I knew he was feeling better!

Tuesday morning his labs came in. There was one lab value that would kind of determine if we stayed or went home. They were checking for inflammation. This value had been up (more in the viral range then bacterial range). The good news came back it was back to near normal. So with normal labs, no fever and being able to eat well we got the OK to go home! The final conculsion is that he must have picked up a nasty virus somewhere that his little body just couldn't handle. Who knows where he got it from I'm just glad he's feeling better!

Hopsital green just isn't his color!

Dressed and ready to go home!

Both Nolan and I were happy to be home. He took a long nap in the swing and I took a long shower! We follow up with the clinic this week but I'm hoping and thinking all will be ok. Thanks to everyone for all the positive messages, thoughts and prayers sent our way. He sure is a little trooper!