Remember When: NICU 1 year later

 I still continually find myself saying how thankful I am for the 32 hours we had with our sweet baby Hoden before he was whisked off to the NICU. Those hours were so peaceful and incredible blessing to us. I know that that time we had with him made the weeks thereafter more bearable. I can't imagine the wreck I would have been if they had taken him away without me getting to hold him, nurse him and just plain get to know him. I consider those hours the biggest miracle of all, my Heavenly Father answering the prayer in my heart. 

Happy Birthday Hoden!!!

The day you were born was a perfect day. We snuggled and cuddled you. Admired your perfect ten fingers and ten toes. Stroked your adorable double chin and perfect pot belly. You were the perfect image of health., you nursed like a champ and slept well. We paitently waited for your first black tar poop. That day we were full of hope for your future, we knew that you would accomplish great things.

 We had no idea that just 36 hours after you were born you would have Dr's incredibly concerned. Or that just the day after you were born you would be taken from our loving arms and ambulanced to a bigger and more advanced hospital. We didn't know that our precious perfect baby would need multiple surgeries to correct his birth defect. 

On that day he was just our perfect sweet healthy baby boy. Which is exactly what he is today. 

At his appointment this morning he was 22 lbs (60th percentile), 29"" tall (45th percentile) with a huge noggin.

One Year Ago Today

Pardon the awesome 9 months pregnant shot. I know I look like a giant bumble bee :) but oh well still pretty cute at least. I have no idea why I was all dolled up but maybe it was just because I needed to feel cute after a long day of furiously nesting making sure everything was all ready to go.  I probably soaked mopped floors, organized closets, cleaned bathrooms or who know maybe I just took a good long nap.

What I do remember is that that night we went to Texas Roadhouse and that I stuffed myself full of delicious steak. We were a happy little family of 3.5. We enjoyed each other's company and tried to forget about how nervous we were about becoming a family of four. We were also incredibly excited! We knew that Mr. B was going to love his new baby brother, G. was excited to have another awesome son and I couldn't wait to have itty bitty newborn to cuddle and carry. Life was perfect that day. What a blessing it was to have such a perfect day to help us through the harder days that would follow. 

Labor Day Part 2- At the Zoo

After a record breaking HOT July and August, September brought a much needed overcast day. It felt amazing to be outside without sweating to death. What made it even better was the awesome people we got to spend the day with. G's cousins came into town for a visit and we all went to the Zoo together. It was a blast even if the kids got tired fast and got a bit cranky (okay that was just my kid, see the picture bottom leftish). Anyhow . . . such a great day. Fabulous food, family and fun :) just how we roll. 

Birthdays and Labor Days

This weekend was so much fun. It started with us going boating and we sadly did not bring the memory card on the camera. Face palm. . . Anyhow, Saturday it was my birthday (this picture is from celebrating the week before though) and we packed up to go camping. It poured BUCKETS it was insane. So ten minutres after getting there we headed back down the mountain. We ended up speding the night with one of the families we had inteded to camp with. The next day turned out to be even more rainy up there so we spent the morning hangning out outside then headed on back home. 

So yep I am 26 years old :( I really am pathetically sad to not be 25 anymore. I have been blessed beyond belief. They have been wonderful amazing years. But I know that the best are yet to come. 

Baby Food: Homemade Baby Food

A repeat photo but its a favorite

We followed some fabulous ideas from this blog and got started with some steamed carrots. We tossed them in our blendtec on batters and then poured them into ice cube tray. We then took some of the carrots and some spinach from the fridge and made a blend. Hoden wasn't too impressed with either kind at first but overtime he has really started to like them. He primarily feeds himself out of a reusable food pouch like this one, that we reviewed here. 

 

Don't be scared. Its super easy and totally worth it. 

Baby Food: Little Green Pouches Review

We primarily let baby Hoden get him solid food from finger feedings but for things that are not easily cut up or when we are on the go we needed a better solution to awkward baby food containers. He did pretty well with the puree pouches but at 1-2 dollars a pop those things are crazy expensive. We poked around Amazon and bought the Little Green Pouches. I like that they hold a whopping 7 ounces and therefore are good for older kids too but as you can see from the picture they are huge for a under 1 year old. 

I like that they expand at the bottom and can stand up on their own while filling but the opening is just barely to small to pour a jar of baby food into it (uber frustrating) and a serving spoon is also hard to use as well. We primarily plan to use them with homemade baby food so we will most likely use a makeshift pastry bag to fill them in the future (ziploc baggy with a corner cut off). 

Be really careful if you have a budding Picasso on your hands like I do. He decided that my lovely concoction of spinach and carrots would make fabulous finger paints. He kept his naked body inexplicably clean but the high chair and the floor underneath were a different story. 

 We are glad we spent the extra money to get pouches that are 7 oz instead of only 4oz for when our kiddos get bigger (older kids enjoy applesauce and yogurt in them). But I do wish they were much easier to fill, and a bit cheaper. 

* I was not provided any compensation for this review, we purchased our pouches off amazon, although diapers.com has a good deal on them as well.