A little break...

I'm taking a little break from the guys (Evan and Lucas) while they are happily entertaining each other in the exersaucer and jumperoo. I just have to say if you are thinking about babysitting in your home, call me...I'll tell you that its much more work than actually going to work! I thought it would be easier than this! Actually, it's not bad, but getting used to another child and dividing attention and the constant feeding, napping, changing, cycle gets a little crazy. Then on top of it feeling like since I'm home I need to keep up on the house (which, if you've ever been to my house, you know that means only the essential things get done...dishes, laundry, occasionally picking up!). And believe it or not, it's much easier when they are on the same schedule and need everything done at the same time. Now, someone might protest a bit, but at least the other one is getting their needs met until I can address the other one. And it's actually easy to feed them both at the same time. I prefer it, because if their schedules do not coincide, one of them is irate that the other is getting a bottle, even if it shouldn't even be time for them to eat yet!

Anyhow, enough ramblings about my day.
We just returned last night from a weekend trip to Dekalb, IL where my sister lives. She works on the campus of Northern Illinois University (the one that on Valentine's Day someone killed 6 people, gunning them down in a lecture hall). We stayed at her apartment and spent Saturday with our Aunt Brenda and her family, Tim, Grace, and Anna, and our Uncle Keith at the Jonamac Orchard. It's a huge apple orchard and pumpkin patch. You take a wagon through endless rows of apple trees, all varieties, and fill up a bag with the apples you want. You can pick an apple to sample and it doesn't cost a thing! Evan had a great time hanging out with his Aunt Mandy and cousins and great aunts and uncles.
I'd love to post pictures, but I forgot my camera. Brenda took several, though.

Evan's birthday party in Huntington is going to be October 25th, 11:30am, at our house (I think). We may use the church, but it would be much more convenient to use our house here in Huntington. I'm just not sure we'll have room unless we can be outdoors. So, the weather might decide where we go!

Alright, nothing else really new here. Have a blessed Monday!

This is Evan with Kristen, Vivian's mommy. We miss Vivian, but rejoice that she is certainly in Jesus' arms. Kristen said that Evan will have to find a new prom date.
Evan with his "aunt Kimmy." For those that don't know Kim, she and Mandy and I grew up together, as her dad lived next door to us. We had a blast growing up. She was in town from Colorado and was able to get over here to see us!
This is Evan taking his first wagon ride. Mom got the wagon for Paul a few years ago at Christmas. Evan is in the removable seat from the double stroller so that he doesn't topple over!
Yes, I'm a bad mom...I sat him up here on the counter while I made his bottle. Notice the hotdog buns that have been violently shaken out of their plastic bag (yep, I let him play with those, too.) I wish I had captured the joy on his face when he did that. Notice also the measuring cup he has and is licking...it is from the sugar canister that he removed the lid from. You can't see, but there is sugar all over his clothes. Let's just say, in all of this exciting stuff to do, he completely forgot he was hungry.

Joel is home now, he was released on Saturday. He's still pretty sore, but very glad to be home. Thanks everyone for your prayers this week. It was certainly scary!

Update on Joel

Joel is doing well. He has visitors every night. Mostly his soccer friends, and family that lives in town. He's been moved out of ICU, his liver stopped bleeding, he's able to get out of bed now, and they are talking about discharging him tomorrow or Sunday. He's still pretty bored, but it helps to be able to get out of bed. He's still pretty down about not being able to play soccer, and that they're putting Jojo to sleep...he's my sister Mandy's cat, but we've had him since Joel was two, so Joel grew up with him. This cat is pretty unique. The quintessential lap cat, who also had several quirks to make him interesting and lovable.

Anyhow, pictures of Evan to come.
HE'S CLAPPING NOW! It's sooooo cute...

My brother Joel

Please pray for my (Misty's) brother, Joel, as he is in the hospital right now due to internal bleeding from his liver. He was taken down during a soccer game, in which he's a goalie, and the coach thought he could have broken ribs, but instead became concerned about his liver after awhile and his ribs weren't tender. He has a 6 cm laceration in his liver, which can take weeks to heal, but the surgeon that spoke to him said that he wasn't able to play sports that involve contact for 6 months. This greatly upsets him, as he has friends that are seniors that he won't get to play with again. He also can't eat right now, and one of his/our cats is going to be put to sleep this week when he gets home. He's got a lot coming down on him at once, and he's pretty bored at the hospital, since he's on complete bed rest until he leaves. Please keep him in your prayers. He's such a wonderful kid. Really...it's so easy to say that about your own family or kids, but this guy is the greatest.

Preemie talk on RSV

Evan's lungs are represented by the third picture. At the end of the very small tubes are little sacs (alveoli) that need to fill up with air, in order for his blood to get oxygen to the rest of his body. His tubes are smaller than a term baby, and therefore when full of the mucous that RSV causes, he cannot get enough oxygen to the little sacs, resulting in his needing hospitalization because he'll need oxygen and certain meds to open his airways.

He will grow new lung tissue until he's 7 years old. The most important time to keep his lungs healthy is until age 2, when his lungs will finally be as functional as a full-term baby's lungs. This is dependent upon his being healthy through this next RSV season, October-March/April. It was quite an accomplishment to keep him healthy when he came home from the NICU through the end of the season last year, and we were successful because we didn't take him anywhere there were crowds of people (church, Wal-Mart, etc.) and we had guests wash their hands when coming in the house and asked them to stay away if they were sick. However, it is still possible that even though most of these precautions will be taken this season, he could still get RSV somehow. Please follow the links below to learn more about RSV and how it affects preemies.

http://www.preemiecare.org/rsvfaq.htm
http://www.preemiecare.org/LungsTrees03-4.pdf

We are not being overprotective. This is standard care for a preemie. And our job.

More pictures....

I love my piano that mom got me. My favorite thing to do, of course, is bang the heck out of it!

This is how we clean Evan up after a particularly messy meal. Thanks Aunt Brenda! (She bought me the shower head as a baby gift...absolutely invaluable!)

I just don't think that there are any words that are needed to accompany this picture. Enjoy!

This is Evan and his new friend, Lucas. I am babysitting for Lucas now that I've quit my job as a music therapist for Meaningful Day Services. I really do enjoy it, but the stresses of caring for two babies similar ages are great. I salute you, Mom! (Who raised twins while my dad, a trucker, was gone through the week!)

Evan is eating ice cream for the first time. It is strawberry. Don't worry, he didn't have an allergic reaction. I thought it was okay because they make baby food with strawberries in it.

This is Evan playing with his Aunt Mandy. She came to visit from Dekalb, IL for Labor Day weekend and spent two nights with us. Evan loved it!

Evan hanging out with Grandma Sheila and Grandpa John, at Aunt Mandy and Uncle Andy's house. This was the weekend of Davin's b-day party!

Evan's cousin Davin is tearing into his first birthday cake! Davin turned one year old on September 9th. He was born on Mandy's birthday, so he shares his birthday with his mommy!

Long time, no see!

Scroll down and go backwards, because I posted pictures after writing the post and they ended up getting on there backwards, I think.

It doesn't look that bad, because I think it was squash or something lighter. But it had also sort of dried over the time I had let him sit and play, and tried to feed him from my spoon. So, even in the close-up, you can't see how dirty he actually was. It was bad. :)
He was such a mess! While we were easing him into eating foods, I had to just let him make a mess, feeling the food between his fingers, and playing with a spoon as I put food on it. Notice the trash bag. Needless to say, he got a bath just after this.
The first time Evan was actually excited to eat! In case you couldn't tell, it was carrots!
This is what happens when Grandma Rhonda gets him ready for bathtime.
Evan's trick in the swing. I was in the shower and came out to find him hanging off the side of it. It had stopped swinging because while these battery-powered swings are self-sufficient, they also depend on an even weight distribution. Evan obviously had thrown it out of whack.
Evan playing with his cousin Davin while we were there at the 4th of July. We enjoyed fireworks downtown Nashville, watching them from a distance on a bridge. Evan loved them.
His "before my first haircut" face. We had to cut his hair because he was growing a mohawk. And before you judge me for cutting my baby's hair while he was so young, you must know that I think the mohawk is the most back-woods hilljack thing you can do to your kids. AND I'm not into the three-year-old with a mullett look, because his mom was not willing to cut his hair!
His "after my first haircut" face.

Here is Evan with his adoring fans, Lindsey, Ashleigh, and Mackenzie. They are Laura's daughters, one of his primary nurses in the NICU. We went to the zoo with them back in June. It was a lot of fun, and Evan really did enjoy watching the animals.

SO sorry its been so long since we updated! Blogspot changed something with the log-in or username or something and for awhile I couldn't get in, and didn't have the patience to reset everything. I kept waiting for it to be resolved, and kept trying to remember my password, but ended up resetting it just now.

Anyhow, Evan's been busy since the last post. He's finally learned to eat baby food very well (if he likes it!) and is now rolling over both ways and can sit up totally independently. His therapist from First Steps continues to work on his putting weight on his arms so that he may crawl soon. He very adamantly resists this. He wants to stand and bounce ALL THE TIME!

I'll post some pictures so you can see what he's been up to!
I feel like there should be so much more to say, but with it being nearly three months since I was able to post, I feel like I don't quite know what else to say!

We just spent last weekend at his cousin Davin's 1st birthday party! His birthday was Tuesday, Sept. 9th (and so is his mommy's!). It was a great time to spend with everyone. John and Sheila (Evan's grandma and grandpa Briles) flew in, and all of Andy's immediate family and their respective families were there.

Hope you enjoy the pictures!