Abundantly Blessed

All My Boyz! 

Just how I love to spend the Holidays. <3

It's the hats.  

I made them all, and I love how adorable they look on all of us. 

All of us are wearing hats that I made.  

This year I was scrambling to finish the turkey and pumpkin pie hats just in time for Thanksgiving. 

I love how Festively they turned out.  

Next year we may need to wear a lot more orange. 

For the first years we were together, we would always go to Marion on Thanksgiving , and spend the holiday with all Eric's Grandparents, as well as lots of Aunts, Uncles, and Cousins.  When we had kids, we still went North.  It was the Tradition, and we weren't bucking the system.  

But Grandpa passed away in 2014, and our traditions have changed.   I kept thinking during all that old time, that I'd always wanted to go to New York City, and get a room like in Miracle on 34th Street, and watch the Parade from the balcony.   I know, I know, it's an Insanely Expensive Dream. 

Last year, we didn't have the money for that.  This year...  we still don't.  I may never get that dream to come true.  

In the meantime, I get to watch the Parade from Home.  

Jacob and I stayed in our Pajamas all morning, and we watched the Parade.  

After the Parade, we had "lunch" in front of the TV. 

Since we were due to have an early dinner at 4, we had midmorning snack bars, and a light lunch. 

Our Lunch was Charlie Brown Thanksgiving lunch of Popcorn and Jelly Beans.  

And while we ate it, you got it, we watched A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving.  

It had been a few weeks since I got to see Lisa, but she got a big kick out of our hats.  

I asked her to take a Cheesy Photo with me.  Daddy took it of us.   

We so silly. 

My Stepmom made 'turkey for dessert' too.  

These little turkeys were so adorable.  And she made some extra ones with no red, or regular candy corn, just so Sam could eat them.  Turns out those were a big hit.  I find all of our kids just generally do better avoiding red 40.  It makes them all a little crazy.  And that's a bigger problem when it's hard to send them outside to do laps, after Oma sugars them up, like this time of year.  

Remember that one time, when all 5 of them played sweetly?

Yeah, I had to take a picture of it.  

It didn't last.  

All 5.  

All 5 of them together were extra adorable.   

Lisa had been 'sick' for a while, so we hadn't been able to get all the kids together.  

They were Cute, but Crazy. 

After the girls left, the boys gathered up on the bar in Oma's Kitchen.  

I thought they looked pretty cute.   But it was soon time for Chris and I to go to the Game, while Eric took the little ones home.  

A Selfie. 

Opa hooked him up with facial tattoos. So I let Chris borrow my phone to take pics of us.  

A Portrait by Christopher. 

Chris took this of me.  It's completely unedited, and I love it. 

He always manages to get the best pictures of me.  

Chris at the Game! 

He's Ready to Rock!  

Opa bought him one of these giant foam fingers, and he was so thrilled. 

Opa and Oma and their Punkin Pie. 

I love this. 

All of us. 

Who's the Turkey? 

It's the hat, it really makes it. 

Oh, and silly Oma with the fingers. She hates getting her picture taken, but she's the silliest of us all.

He was So Ready to Cheer the Team! 

Welcoming the Team! 

We were practically Horse, with yelling before the game really got going. 

My favorite part of the game is when they bring out the flag. 

It brings tears to my eyes.  Once they had an Eagle circle the stadium, and it was beautiful.   

Not today, but I love how they bring out local Servicemen to hold the flag.  

Best Picture of the Day. 

Who's this turkey? 

He's Pat McAfee's #1 Fan! 

Happy Thanksgiving!

With Love, from our home to yours. 

Baby Blue

Last night we packed up our boys to go visit Baby Bryce, and kidnap his Mama and Daddy from the hospital to feed them.   He had gotten hooked up to the bilirubin light.  It's working really well, it just means they can't hold him as much.

I've been wanting to go up to the hospital every day.  But logistically it doesn't work everyday.   So yesterday, Eric and I went on a mission to find Preemie My First Thanksgiving onesies.  Turns out no such thing exists. But Carter's had a decent stash of Preemie clothing.  It still looked like it was going to swim on him.   However, Tuesday night, Scouts got cancelled, and we found ourselves with a smidge of time.  I wrote and asked if we could Kidnap Karl and Erica for supper. I remember how much it meant to me when people brought us food.  So when Eric finished his yard work project, I packed up all the yahoos and we headed north.  The boys and I hung out in the waiting area, while Eric visited.  Then I got to take my turn.

I didn't get to hold him.  But that's ok, I did get to reach in and touch these little toes.  He's so soft.  When I visited on Sunday, I got to touch his head.

They were trying to put him on his back, all swaddled up.  

He didn't want that.  He doesn't want to be bundled up.  

He's so feisty, and has so much personality. 

At first he was not a fan of the bilirubin glasses.   But he has finally decided they are ok. 

Before he got them, he hated bright light, and Mr. Drama King would put his whole bundled arm over his head.   Now he seems more content to just put up with it.  It's just hard to see his face. 

This foot cracks me up.  I always like to sleep with my foot kicked out a bit. 

He fits into this family well. 

Tiny but mighty.  

That's what one of the onesies said that we got them.  I cried in the store when I saw that one.  I have trouble.  I told her not to expect much from me for him for Christmas.  But I couldn't help myself.  Our own NICU experience is still fresh in my mind.  I remember Christopher's first Christmas, us missing all familial celebrations, and spending it in the hospital.  We were the first folks we knew that had a NICU baby.  But this time, we are a bit more prepared to help out.   And after being Blessed by such family members and friends when we've been in a mess, we can share it.   Looks like we'll be sharing for a while.  Bryce is amazingly resilient, and feisty.  I can't wait to see what he is going to grow up like.  And his parents, well, they are amazing too.  I didn't handle it as well as they are. But God gives us all the strength to handle these things.  

Bryce means Swift

So, this morning, I had a terrible case of ants in my pants.  I wanted to go to the hospital.  I wanted nothing more than to see my new nephew.  I wanted to make sure my sister in law was doing ok.  Having a NICU baby can be really tough.  

So, I decided to skip church.  I told the boys, I'm going to worship God and giving thanks for his creations in a slightly different manner.   As Chris put it, I'm going to see some of God's other miracles. <3

Mommy gets to hold Baby's hand.  

When I arrived, Erica had just finished pumping, and I they were letting the baby have a snack.

Apparently, even if the preemie is still too young to swallow (which he is), he can still absorb a bit of that Liquid Gold through the lining of the mucosa.   So they dip the paci into the colostrum and give him a snack.  He seemed to be a fan.  He was not a fan of people messing with him.  He was having a blood draw when I arrived, and his wee squeaky cry was almost heartbreaking.

Mommy gets to hold the baby for the first time. 

After they messed with him, they set Erica up with some kangaroo karry time.   

See how tiny he is!  

Once he got all bundled up on Mama's chest, he calmed down.   

This was my favorite photo of her that I took.  

Aww, the happy family.  

Here's another good one too.  He's so tiny.  

Daddy watches over them.  

It was an honor to witness this visit.  

Big hands, tiny hands.  

Erica looks so amazing after giving birth. 

Of course, this was a quick birth.  He shot out 20 minutes after she walked in the door.  They didn't even have time to check her yet until she told them she felt like she needed to push. 

Aww, aren't they sweet?!

They make a Beautiful Product!

By the time I had arrived, they had narrowed it down to two names: Bruce or Bryce. But still hadn't chosen one specifically yet.  Eric and I had discussed it the night before, when we heard Bruce was Erica's favorite, he thought Bruce from Finding Nemo.  "We're having Fish tonight!"  I was like, no way, Batman is her favorite, it's for Bruce Wayne.  I was right, I found out I won.  

He's a boy on the move.  He wasn't content to just sit and chill on her chest.  He kept scooterbugging down.  What a speedy little wiggler.    

Look at those long fingers!  

He is so long!  He's a skinny little mini, but he has these long fingers and long legs, and he keeps kicking them out.  

Finally he started to go sideways.  He'd wiggle his oxygen off his face, and squawk about it.  And we'd try to fix it, and that just made him angrier.  

He was actually happier on her belly than on her chest. 

I was kind of glad of that.  

This way I could get in and get some good shots. 

Look at all that fuzzy hair.  Even this early, he exceeds his Big Brother at birth in hair!  

When he was sideways, not only could we get better views of him, but he got better views of us. 

At first he just kept turning his head towards Karl every time he spoke.  Then he was opening one eye, the left, and it would flash open and we weren't sure if we'd seen it, but then he 

Then we got to see a flash of dark blue.  

Yup, there were two eyes open! 

Look at that face!  

So tiny, so amazing! 

This was my favorite picture.  

I just happened to catch it with my phone, I was trying to catch a photo to send to Grandma.  He looked right at me, and blammo, I got a great shot!   Well, a little zoomed in, but still, a great shot!

For some reason, the phone decided to take this shot with the flash.  Ugh! 

It was pretty dark in the room.   

Baby did not like the flash.  But I think he forgave me after a minute. 

He kept opening his eyes to look at Daddy!

It's not my best shot, but check out how schemy our little Speedy Pete is already!  

He's checking to see if Ma is looking while he tries yanking that tube out of his nose. 

He likes to pull a fast one. Ha Ha!

The nurse came in and busted him, she didn't believe us that he had slithered down by himself, that he didn't want to be kangarood on Erica's chest.  Nope.  So she bundled him up with a hat.  He was not amused.  She didn't believe us that he didn't want to be bundled on her chest... until she tried to make it so.  The whole process was exhausting.  Being born is such hard work! And the nurse said, oh you're so feisty, and fast, just keeps kicking those feet out.  Not surprising at all.  He's fast when he wants to be.  

After he was taking a look at Daddy, it was Daddy's turn to hold him.  

Karl's a natural.  

He was totally unphased by all the cords and things.  He did really well with him.  

It's so strange, I remember this guy laughing and cracking fart jokes as an 8 year old, now he's a Dad!

They had to get that darned oxygen tube back up his nose.  

Teamwork! 

Isn't it great?!

During our conversations about the names, I asked what they meant, because I thought maybe the meaning would help give them some insight as to which name to choose.  So I googled Bruce, and it was English for thick brush.  Not too bad for a thick haired sweet baby brother.   But Bryce, that was from Celtic for swift.   Now, not to prejudge, but I knew which name I was voting for.  But I remained reticent.  Diplomatic, I said nothing.   So I began jumping up and down for joy when she replied moments later, it's a Good Thing we chose Bryce Phillip.

Perfect!   For Bryce means swift.

A New Member of the Family

Disclaimer:  I didn't take these photos, but Mom Willman and Eric.

Tonight, we had a big surprise.  While we were organizing clothes in Jacob's room, and cleaning up we got a strange text from my mother in law, it said OK. When we were done, we sat down for a moment to rest before putting yahoos to bed.  And a bigger note came through - apparently Mom's first note was to let us know that Erica was headed to the hospital in premature labor contractions.  But before Mom could tell us about that, the baby was here.  He was just ready to come.  Dad's taken to calling him Speedy!

They immediately headed north to Carmel, because the baby was born at 33 1/2 weeks and went straight to the NICU.  Blessedly, Erica was fine.  And surprisingly, so was the baby.  They of course, put him on oxygen and started and IV him on antibiotics and such.  My inlaws raced to the hospital and got to see him.   Eric and I both wanted to go too, but it was bedtime for boys.  We opted to send just Eric, because I had gotten to go first when Cole was born.  This was his turn.  They don't say many words, but these brothers have a bond, especially during a time of need.

This picture Mom sent made me fall in love at first sight.  

It literally took my breath away.  

After the boys were down, Eric headed north too.  

Later, Eric sent me these photos from his visit. 

He was allowed into the NICU to meet the baby. 

He's so Long!  16 inches and 3 pounds, he's all bones!

I see a lot of Cole in there.  

He doesn't have a name yet.  They thought they had 6 more weeks to figure it out. They know his middle name will be Phillip, just like Karl's.   But he's got a choice of first names, Bruce (like Bruce Wayne, is Erica's favorite choice), Bryce, Blake, and Henry.  We'll see which name fits him best. In the mean time, I think I'll just call him Speedy Pete.  Eric's Grandpa used to call Karl Pete, because Mom picked names one couldn't nickname, but Karl's middle name is Phillip, so he called him Pete. I'm not sure why, but it seemed to fit him, and we all smiled when Grandpa called him Pete.  So I'm going to call the baby Speedy Pete.  

Karl also had to go home for supplies. They hadn't packed anything.  They had no spare clothes, and hadn't even packed phone chargers.   It looks like they're going to be in for a long haul.  He should be in for a few weeks.  The rule of thumb is until he would be normally full term.  Maybe he'll be home by Christmas.  He's a Miracle. 

While Eric and his parents were visiting they let the new Mom and Dad go visit.   

Normally they don't let so many family members into the NICU, but it was a special night.  

Happy Birthday Baby Boy!