Thursday, August 18, 2011

NICU Reunion

Time sure flies!!  The NICU reunion falls on the first weekend of Aug every year.... for those of you who remember, Conner was in the NICU during the first one he was invited to.  Since we couldn't roll the isolette out to the courtyard, Conner didn't make that one.  But this year, Conner was pumped to go as he has been home for 5 months now.  We are just 3 months short of being home as long as we were in the hospital.  Which gives me an idea for our next day to celebrate..... Anywho!
Levi (and dad Lucas), Conner (and papa Mark - don't let the beard fool ya), Luke (and daddy Brady)

Since we were in the hospital FOR-EV-ER, we got to meet and get to know a lot of families, nurses, and doctors.  The reunion gave us the opportunity to touch base with a lot of the people that became like family to us over the past year.  The only problem.... not enough time to talk to everyone.  But it sure was nice to see everyone, and their babies!  Plus we got to rub in the fact that our Brewers are doing pretty well this summer! 


Xavier, Luke, Levi, Conner, Landon
It's amazing how much the little ones change once they leave the hospital.  However, it was a bitter sweet day in some ways.  I have to admit, it was pretty difficult seeing the other babies rolling, sitting up by themselves, playing with toys, and some even crawling.  It's hard not to compare.  Being in the medical field myself, I am always telling parents not to compare but to look at overall progress made by the individual child.... but boy is it hard to take my own advice sometimes.  Conner has come a VERY long way since he was born.  He was born earlier than most of the other babies.  He underwent a lot more complications/surgeries than some of the other babies.  And we were in the hospital longer than any of the other families we met along the way.  I remember seeing families come and go.  We were so happy they got to go home with their babies, but we were also sad to say bye to our friends.  The reunion got to bring most of us back together for a short time.  There were some tears, but mostly smiles.... lots of hugs and of course there was laughing!  It was a fun day.  We have a special bond with the other families from the NICU and always will.  We all had different ups and downs along the way, but we all have one thing in common - our little miracles!  I just have to remind myself, Conner is on his own time schedule and will be for some time, he will achieve great things, and will touch many lives.  Boy are we pround of our little miracle! 

Thursday, August 11, 2011

My Birthday Bash

 

 





Hi All,  Conner here.  Just wanted to say thanks for all the Kool Kats that made it to my BIG Birthday Bash.  It was a little miracle that my parents were able pull it off seeing my dad was out of town the whole week before the party.  Anywho, It was a ton-o-fun and I had a really really good time!  The Shay northerners made it, a bunch of the Servais clan were there, a few of my good friends, and even a few of my NICU nurses made the trip over to Cali.  And all the awesome gifts were just that.... AWESOME!  Since it was such a swell day, I thought I would share some of the pics that my mom finally uploaded to the computer (she is kinda busy these days).  Pictures are compliments of my crazy Aunt Kristi who made it back for my birthday all the way from TN.  Enjoy and be sure to read what my mom has to say about my NICU follow up the end of July and the big NICU reunion with all my pals the first weekend in Aug.




After everyone left, I finally got to relax!


Wednesday, August 3, 2011

First Try At Pictures


How Far Conner Has Come



July 19th, 2011


Here We Go

For those of you who have been following us this past year on Conner and Kaylee's CarePage site, and those of you who haven't, this is my first attempt at blogging.  The CarePage site will no longer allow us to add photos - we reached our max - and we all know photos are the best part. 

Just a Little Recap of the Past Year
-Conner and Kaylee were born on July 19th, 2010 at Mayo only 24 weeks into my pregnancy
-Kaylee was a fighter, but had to leave us on July 21st; she is our little angel
-Conner, after 9ish surgeries and 8 months in the NICU, came home on March 4th, 2011!!
-Conner just celebrated his 1st birthday and had a big Bday Bash on July 30th, 2011

We have a long road ahead of us, but we'll be sure to share each little miracle with you - that includes photos, once I learn how to get them up :)