Can I Mom?

Can I eat underneath my chair today?

Traveler

Here are the pictures of the day, and the story that goes with them.

We are going on a trip! Yeah! We are leaving town. Tomorrow evening we will be going to Texas for the weekend. Some of our family live in Texas, and a trip to visit them has been long overdo.

I always like to travel in a clean car when we are going on long trips. Tonight I cleaned the trash and other non-essential items out of the car.

Ryan was my little helper....

New Discoveries

My apologies for not posting a picture yesterday. It was a busy day, and I had to run some errands last night. You see a big challenge with preemie hibernation is that my Wal-Mart trips must be done after Ryan has gone to bed for the night. I can't complain too much though. Last night the store was nearly empty of customers. It was quiet, and I had some much over-do "me" time. The down side...I probably spent too much money. Oh well.

So here are some pictures taken over the last couple of days.

This is Ryan's new way of "holding" his bottle

(if you want to call it that).

In this position he sucks nothing but air, but he has fun doing so. Speaking of holding his bottle, Ryan knows how to hold his bottle for eating. He just chooses not to do so. Occasionally he will hold it for a few minutes of the feeding, but he really prefers to hold his hands over his eyes and play with his fingers.

This is another new discovery of our little man.

Since he is quite mobile now we've been calling him our rocket man and rightfully so. The only problem is that his favorite place to speed to is the dog dish, particularly when there are the tasty morsels of dog food available for the dining pleasures. We have started using anything available to create barricades blocking his route to the kitchen. He has discovered the way to freedom and to his doggy cafeteria is over the beanbag. I expect the dogs have revealed this secret information since this is their route past the barricade. At any rate, yesterday Ryan discovered that if he can launch himself over the beanbag life would be great. He almost succeeded.

As you can tell...he was quite proud of himself.

Have a blessed and wonderful day. Give praises to our Lord for he is our Everything!

Julie

New Links

Please look to the right of this page to find links to other stories. God is working in these families, and I'm sure they would be blessed to have more people reading their stories and praying for them.

http://prayforcoy.blogspot.com
This is the story of a little preemie with a story quite similar to Ryan's. He was born at 23 weeks. He is still in the NICU. He is doing well, but he has had a few setbacks that we were spared. God is working in his life and the lives of his family. Please read their story.

http://cfhusband.blogspot.com
This is an incredible story that I'm sure with daily readings you will find yourself drawn to read the updates everyday. God is working in their lives also. This is a father's account of their story. His wife has cystic fibrosis (CF) and was preparing for a double-lung transplant when they found out she was pregnant. Her little girl was born prematurely and has been in the NICU for about 7 weeks. She still has a long way to go and many obstacles to overcome, but God is good. She is doing quite well even at her tiny size of little over 1 pound. The mother is now waiting for new lungs. She is on the list to receive a double lung transplant. This story is amazing. This story will inspire you and bless you in many ways. Please read their story.

http://oliviaandlogan.blogspot.com
This is the story of a family who had twins born early. They were also 23 weekers. The little boy has already gone home to Heaven. The girl is at home with her mom and dad. Read their sweet story.

More links to come....

Thanks.

Look What I Can Do...

I May Be Shy, But I'm Still Cute!

This is Ryan playing with his Elmo. We started noticing that everytime Elmo says something and especially when he laughs Ryan turns his head and gets this sheepish little grin. It is so cute. He has now started doing the same little head tilt and grin thing when new people are around. This is his "I'm shy, but I'm still cute" look. So if you see us and you talk to Ryan don't be surprised if this is the look you get!

(This video has sound)

February 25, 2008

February 24, 2008

Story of the Day

Instead of just a picture of the day I give you

"The Story of the Day--Through Pictures"

"Wow! What's this?"

You can probably see where this is going already...

And the results of swimming in the dog dish...

A very wet baby!

Date Night

Yesterday we went on a family date night. We had a blast, and the thing is...we never lever our car! Since it isn't safe for Ryan to be in public places because of all the illnesses affecting everyone we couldn't take him inside a restaurant, and everyone who could have watched Ryan last night was sick. We just decided to make it a family outing, and I think all THREE of us enjoyed it completely. We started by eating at Fazoli's. We went through the drive through and then parked in a quiet place to eat. We let Ryan get out of his carseat and sit/stand on our laps in the front seat. He ate cheerios while we ate our Italian food. He loved standing and looking outside the windows. Next...it was time for dessert. We put Ryan back in his carseat and went to Braum's. We ordered two sundaes. Ryan got to join us in the front seat as we parked our car and ate our desserts. It was wonderful. Ryan and I haven't been out of the house for the most part for over a week. It was great to have family outing!

We still need your help to raise money for the March of Dimes. Please join our March for Babies team. Go to http://www.marchforbabies.org/503506 . You can sign up to join our team on the website, or you can give an online donation that will be credited to our team account. All money will be donated to the March of Dimes to help save other babies like Ryan. I'm considering some fundraising ideas, and I have a good friend who has joined our team to help out. The walk is May 3rd at the Myriad Gardens in OKC. We would love to have friends and family joining us on that day to celebrate the miracle God has given us.

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Here is the picture of the day from yesterday. Since I'm late, I'll give everyone 2.

March for Babies

Today more than 1400 babies in the U.S. will be born prematurely. The rate of premature births increased almost 35% between 1981 and 2005. In Oklahoma alone the rate of premature births increased 26% between 1992 and 2002. 13 babies die every day as a result of prematurity/low birthweight. About 1 in 8 babies in the United States is born prematurely.
The March of Dimes mission is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality. Here is just a few of the highlights of what the March of Dimes has done to help save babies like Ryan:
1970s—Indomethacin Therapy. the drug indomethacin could be used to correct patent ductus arteriosus, a heart condition common in premature infants. Ryan would have had to have heart surgery without this drug.1980s—Prevention of Newborn Jaundice.development of a drug to help prevent newborn jaundice. If left untreated, newborn jaundice can damage the brain and central nervous system. Ryan received treatment for jaundice for more than 2 months during his stay in the NICU.1980s and 1990s—Surfactant Therapy. surfactant therapy to prevent and treat RDS. Surfactant is a detergent-like substance produced in the lungs that aids in breathing. Since surfactant therapy became widespread, infant deaths due to RDS have dropped by over two-thirds. The March of Dimes continues to support research to develop new and more effective surfactant therapies. Ryan was diagnosed with RDS. This drug is by far the one thing that probably led to Ryan's survival. 1990s—Nitric Oxide Therapy. the approval of nitric oxide to treat newborns with persistent pulmonary hypertension (PPHN), life-threatening high blood pressure in the baby’s lungs that often interferes with breathing. Brandy was on nitric oxide during her hospitalization after her heart surgery.1990s—Fish Oil Therapy to Prevent Preterm Delivery. research studies found that fish oil capsules may help prevent preterm delivery. Since 1996 the March of Dimes has invested over $300,000 to support this and related research. I am currently taking fish oil per recommendation of my OB.
We want to help fund the research and work of March of Dimes. Last year this community, with the help and guidance of the local high school students, raised a fantastic amount of money to help our family with medical expenses. All monies that were not used for our medical expenses were to be given to help other families with premature babies. Let's do it again! Ryan was premature. Brandy was premature. My brother David was premature. Think of all the other families here in our community or within our realm of influence that have dealt with the trauma of prematurity. Some have taken their miracle babies home, and some have said that final good-bye. We feel incredibly blessed to have our little miracle home with us. By statistics he only had about a 20% chance of surviving. God has given us a miracle. God saved his little life, and God has great plans for him...I just know it!
Please help us raise awareness about prematurity, birth defects, and infant health. We have started a team for the March for Babies. If you would like to be a part of our team and help raise money, or if you would rather just donate to this incredible cause please go to our team website: www.marchforbabies.org/503506. You can even donate online. If you have any questions please don't hesitate to e-mail me.
A few final notes...I have very little experience with walk-a-thons and fundraising for things like this so please be patient and provide any advice as you see fit. And for my wonderful English teachers...all the statistics provided came from the marchofdimes.com website. I give them all credit for all preceding information supplied.

Pajamas

Here is the picture of the day.

Reality Around Here

Okay...so this is reality around here. If it offends, disgusts, or in any way makes you want to scream that's okay, just don't yell at me. This IS reality at my house.

"Bosco, can I have a taste?"

"Mmmmm. I think I like it."

Of course I don't regularly let Ryan eat the dog bones. It just so happened that he got there faster than I could get to him. And who could resist a picture like that?....

"Crumbs"

My little helper above is cleaning the tray on Ryan's highchair. Again this is a reality in our house. Don't be too alarmed though, I disinfect, clorox, lysol, etc. everything on a very regular basis.

By the way, you can leave comments by clicking on the "comments" below each post. It will have a number before comments indicating how many people have left comments. It will probably open up a pop-up window that allows you to read other's comments and leave your own. Pardon my pitty-party for a moment, but I would love to hear from people. We've been living in isolation since late October, and the lack of interaction with people is starting to really get to me. I'm not complaining entirely. I absolutely love staying home with Ryan and wouldn't trade it for the world. I miss talking to adults and going to Wal-Mart or anywhere else for that matter. Our season of isolation won't last forever, but we still have 2 more months to go.

I thought I would do a little catch up. I think it would be pretty neat to have a "picture of the day". Of course I may not get to post a new picture each day, but I'll try. So...here goes.

February 11, 2008

February 12, 2008 February 13, 2008
February 14, 2008
February 16, 2008

February 18, 2008 February 19, 2008
February 20, 2008

Birthday Greetings

Yea! All the puppies have new homes.

Now I want to start using this site to share with you a little part of our life...mostly through pictures. I hope you enjoy. To start things out right I'll share a short video. This is Ryan getting a birthday greeting call from his MiMi.