Happy-Supposed-To-Be-First-Birthday

Well folks..........




Being 16 Months Old is Tough Work



• Today is the day Conner and Kaylee were supposed to be born. Soooooooo, lets all sing "Happy-Supposed-To-Be-First-Birthday" to them :)



Our Angel Kaylee, 7/21/10



8 Months In / 8 Months Out

Today it has been 8 months since we brought our little miracle home from the hospital.  Conner has now officially spent the same number of days home as he did in the hospital - well I suppose it's a little off seeing we had several overnight outpatient visits and several long days in Rochester - buy hey, who's counting. 

It just makes me think back to the night we brought him home.  All the emotions that were present that evening.  EXCITMENT that we finally were all sleeping under the same roof in the same house as a family.  COMFORT of being about to sleep in our own bed again.  Being NERVOUS about remembering to give Conner all his medications and get his feedings started.  FEAR of doing something wrong or ending up back in the hospital.  ANXIETY about having to give Conner shots every day.  OPTIMISM of watching Conner finally begin to be a baby and not a patient.  SADNESS of leaving behind all our new friends in the NICU - nurses, doctors, and other families that became part of our family and helped us through some hard times.  JOY in finally getting to put our son to sleep and not have to leave.  LOVE for our family and GRIEF for the daughter we did not get to bring home with us.  We learned a lot those 8 months in the hospital, more than anyone wants to have to learn, and we have learned even more the past 8 months that we have been home.  Our joruney is only starting and I can't wait to see where it takes us.....

how can you not love that smile

Not so scary this Halloween

For those of you who remember, last Halloween was pretty scary for us all.  It was Oct 27, 2010 that Conner gave everyone a scare.  Not to any fault of his own, Conner spent Halloween last year with the scariest costume ever - his belly was cut open, there were lines and tubes everywhere, and candy was the least of our concerns.....



One of the less graphic pictures



Now, Halloween 2011, we have quite the turnaround.  This Halloween was as it should be.  There were pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns, candy and trick-or-treaters, scary movies, and one really cute Cat in The Hat - granted the hat is a little big, but we made due.  What a miracle!

Dad & Conner
Havin Fun!



The Pumpkin to the left was going to be Conner costume last year





Darn Hat!