Saturday, July 01, 2006

More pics to catch up on......


Little Bug zonked out with his dragonfly bug close by to keep him company in dreamland.


Mama and Little Bug catching their morning zzzzz's together!!!


This is one of my first doctors at Children's Hospital. Ellen was on the team that evaluated me when I first came to the hospital on March 1, 2006. Thanks for following me every step of the way Ellen, I'll come say hi in September when my heart is all fixed and I feel better.


Cousin Derek always liked coming to see me at the hospital. I hope he doesn't forget about me now that I am at home!!!


Auntie Jacqueline and Austin on their visit to see me before I went home from the hospital. Hey guys, next time I'm gonna have mama and daddy bring me to your lake house for a visit by the water, OK?? I can't wait to take my first ride on a Sea-Do....Ok, I know mama's jumpin' the gun on that one because it's still going to be quite a while before I can do that, but I'm looking forward to it no matter what!!!

Catching up on pics from our final days at Childrens!


One of my last baths at Children's Hospital....


Here I am with my very own dietician, Claudia. She is so nice and she is helping Mama get things right with my diet so that I can get fat.


I love you nurse Genevieve....I'll be back to see you in September, OK!!


Auntie Teresa and Auntie Lynette came to see me one last time before leaving the hospital. I can't wait for you guys to bring my cousins to my house for a visit next time.


I'm crying really hard because mama just wiped yucky plaster on my hands and feet to make daddy a surprise.....I showed her though, I messed up the whole project!!! Somehow, mama finds this quite amusing!!!


Here's Little Bug with the Mariner catcher!!!


Daddy, Mama and Little Bug on their day outside, one week before I was discharged from Children's Hospital.


Here I am again with Mama on Mariner's Day. That Moose was so great. He gave me a cool duffle bag with a signed baseball and a small, stuffed version of himself. That was such a fun day.


Here I am in rare form.....I'm just teasing Mama with a little smerking, smile. Don't tell anyone, but I really do have lots of smiles inside....I'm just waiting for the right moment to let them all out!!!!


Hey, I bet this sight looks familiar to everyone. This is where the newscaster's usually stand to do their live broadcasts from Children's Hospital. Oh, by the way, I've stayed in the 2 far left rooms on the bottom.

Ok, here's some real talkin' from our Little Bug!

this is an audio post - click to play

A little message from us...

this is an audio post - click to play

Sounds of Little Bug!!!!

I hope you enjoyed a little of Connor's coo's.....I know I could listen to his beautiful voice all day long!!!!

Lovebug Hugs,
Lori and Little Bug

Finally, pics from Connor's First Day Outside...


The sun's so bright, I gotta wear shades!!!! I think my dad and mom need to get some new sun glasses that fit me!!!


Our happy family enjoying the sunshine and fresh air!!!


Oh how we adore our Little Bug!!!!


Could we be any happier????


Daddy and Little Bug takin' a rest on the Hippo!!!!

Friday, June 30, 2006

Coughs, sniffles, and sneezes.......

Oh these beautiful days of summer....Sun is shinning, breeze is blowing, sun tea brewing on the back deck, flowers blooming, butterflies circling the yard, and the smell of bbq grilling is in the air....Don't you just love summertime??? I know I do!!! It's been so nice to be home to experience the smells of freshly cut grass and all of the above. But for us, we must add coughs, sniffles, and sneezes to the list. What terrible colds we are fighting around here. I am still coughing and congested and Little Bug is beside himself with tying to cough up all the junk that's inside of him. How I hate to watch him struggle with this cold after he's been through so much already. I now know more than ever how moms feel when their babies are sick with the sniffles. We hurt each time we have to use that silly blue bulb and suction out their nose. We hurt each time we rock them and pat their little back and feel all that congestion on the inside. We cancel appointments so that we don't have to go out and we put plans on hold so that we can lay low and get better. I am realizing that it was one thing to be in the hospital with a critically ill baby and clearly another to be at home with a fragile baby who has the common cold. In the first experience we relied on doctors and nurses and the second we rely on the sacrfiices and love of dad and mom. It is such a pleasure being a mom!!! Even with the coughs, sniffles and sneezes barking down our door, I wouldn't trade this job for anything in the world.

Back to wiping noses and comforting cries!!!!
Lovebug Hugs,
Lori

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Just you & me Little Bug!!!

Well, the time came again yesterday to say goodbye to daddy again as he went off to fly!! We sure do hate to see him go, but we know that he will be back soon to fill our hearts with more love and smiles. Last night when Connor and I laid down to go to bed I whispered in his ear, "It's just you and me Little Bug." This is the 1st time since Connor's been born that we've been here at home and Randy has had to leave. All the other times we were in the hospital, so these next 10 days should prove to be an adventure for Connor and I and Abbey.

We still have yet to find our rhythm around here. There is still much to be put away and much to be organized. My goal is to have it all done by the time Randy gets back. I'm sure we will have more productive days once we are organized. We are still fighting off the "crud". I'm feeling some better but still coughing and sneezing. Little Bug has a terrible cough and runny nose and he just seems miserable. He is such a trooper though. Even in the midst of not feeling well he is talking and cooing all the time. It is sooooooo cute!!! I'll have to do an audio blog so you can all hear just how cute he sounds.

We have had appointments to keep up with since coming home from the hospital which makes the day pretty hectic. Yesterday we saw our cardiologist in Tacoma, Dr. Steffaneli, and he did and echo-cardiogram on Little Bug. Nothing too impressive to report except the fact that his PA Band that he had done when we were at Children's is quite loose and so we are going to have to monitor that pretty close because it's not restricting as much blood flow as he would have wanted to see. We will go back in 2 weeks and if it hasn't improved, Connor will go on another heart medication to help relieve the pressure in his lungs.

We've seen our pediatrican twice now since being home and today Connor's weight was at 10 pounds 10 ounces. That's right, he's definately growing!!! He'll be 11 pounds before we know it!! Dr. Oriel said there really wasn't much I could do for this terrible cold, except to let it run it's course. So, we will lay low for the next few days and see if we can fight it off!!!

I wanted to let everyone know that the special Evening Magazine edition on baby Jonah will air on Thursday at 7pm on channle 5. I hope you will be able to watch his inspiring story and get to see a glimpse of his little life.

I must run for now as I hear Little Bug waking up from his afternoon nap. Believe me, it is the best feeling in the world to hear him waking up right here in our own house surround by our own things and our own sounds. Oh for the little things we take forgranted. Never again in this household will we forget to thank the Lord for the simplest of blessings. Off to love on Little Bug. I keep trying to make time to post pictures because I know there are a lot to catch up on. The bad thing about posting pictures on this blog is that for some reason it takes forever. You can only post 5 at once so you have to repeat the process many times over. Anyway, enough of that, I will keep trying to get them posted. Thanks, as always, for all your prayers. We love you.

Lovebug Hugs,
Lori

Monday, June 26, 2006

Home Again!!!!

After 3 and 1/2 days at Children's, we are home once again. They discharged us yesterday afternoon so we are finally at home trying to get things put away and organized. Connor still has a terrible cold and he has an awful cough, but the hospital said he's just going to have to let it run its course. The heat doesn't help the situation for him. He was pretty irritable today with lots of fussy moments, but I can't blame him. Hey, he doesn't feel good and then he's boiling hot on top of everything. Randy and I are still fighting off the cold symptoms as well and to top it all off, Randy got word today that he is leaving on another trip tomorrow. So, back to the real world, huh? Connor and I are going to do our best to get bette, stay cool and GET ORGANIZED!!!!!

Thanks for all your prayers as we headed back to the hospital last week. We still need your support to stay strong and keep in the battle. We've got 3 months of fighting to do before Little Bug goes back into the hospital. Let's keep the prayers going that we don't end up back at Children's for other reasons and that we can spend these summer months getting him fattened up and having a lot of summertime fun.

Lovebug Hugs,
Lori