Dinosaurs!

Today we went to the Dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point and had so much fun!!
Today was a reminder of all the fun reasons it is to be a mom... I love to see their excitement and joy at learning new things (dinosaur bones are "so cool") and I love when they are well behaved! (It's also nice to get out of the house...) My Niece Hayley went with us, and made everything more fun, Peyton and Hayley love to play together, and it was definitely a day when two kids were easier than one, because they entertained each other.
Ryker slept the whole time in his carrier :)
What a fun day!








I told Peyton this shark eats little boys who disobey their parents.... but he still wasn't scared of it, just fascinated by all the teeth!


As an added bonus, all the kids fell asleep in the car on the way home!
Aaaaaah sweetness...

Blessing Day

Ryker was blessed today, which is always a fun experience for the mom to hear the wonderful blessings for her baby! Ryker was blessed with a strong body and a healthy mind, and that he and his big brother Peyton would be good friends! I can't believe it has been 2 months!! What a whirlwind! From the NICU to my CHUNK of a monster now! We are officially in 3-6 month clothes, and I am finally getting a little more rest at night. Ryker is so big and healthy, and he is such a good baby! He is very content and loves to cuddle!

Trains, Trains, Trains

I LOVE having family so close! It has been so great to have help with Peyton so that I can crash! (I really miss sleeping...)
My blessed Mother-in-law, Pam, has taken Peyton in the evenings; and on Saturday my parents took Peyton and his cousins Zekie, Isaac, and Caleb to the Train expo at Thanksgiving Point. Peyton was so excited he has been telling everyone that he saw "Thomas the Train!"
Here are a few fun pics...

My new boyfriend

So I have a new crush.... it's Handy Manny. Yes, I know he is a fictional cartoon character, but just listen to my reasons:

1. He is a nice guy
2. with a sexy accent
3. who can fix things



4. and the most important reason of all, he entertains my toddler long enough for me to shower!

Yes, I love Handy Manny

Christmas homecoming

Christmas morning...



Peyton loved Christmas and all the presents, he kept asking me today, "mama, where's my presents?" He thinks every day should be a day with presents!



We love, love, love the Geo Trax train, Peyton had to help dad set it up, and hasn't stopped playing with it since.






Merry Christmas! Mark and I had a wonderful Christmas this year, and we did get to bring Ryker home Christmas afternoon. The hospital called at around 11 am, and said: "Ryker's Bilirubin screen was good so he can go home today." Mark said: "were on our way." We drove right to the hospital, me still in my PJ's... I at least brushed my teeth... and snatched Ryker up before they could change their minds! It has been wonderful to have both my son's home, I haven't stopped hugging either one!

So far Ryker has been an excellent baby, he even tried to sleep through the night... Knock on wood, I know I should be grateful, but my preemie can't sleep through the night! He has to eat every 3 hours!! So I had to wake him up last night to eat! crazy, but true...

One of "those" parents...

So it's a -no go- for bringing Ryker home before Christmas. It looks like possibly the 26th or 27th. All because his bilirubin is high. He has to be on the lights for at least 24 hours, and then off the lights for at least 24 hours with his bilirubin level coming down. He is gaining weight and doing well in all other areas, so I guess "mom" (me) kind of flipped out a little bit. (I guess I'm not a little pushy, I'm at lot pushy...) I got really mad at the doctor for making him stay at the hospital for Bili lights. I think the conversation went something like this:

(Me yelling): You mean my son is going to stay at the hospital, in the NICU, costing 10's of thousands of dollars a day; getting care from 1 nurse to 3 babies, when he could be at home getting care from 1 nurse/mom to 1 baby at home?!?!?! So a nurse is going to feed my baby a bottle when his mother could very well nurse him at home, all for billi lights?!?!?!?
(Doctor, very calmly): Yes.

So now I'm one of "those" parents, talked about by the nurses during report... "watch out for that Taggart mom..."
The charge nurse even came to talk to me/ calm me down today.

I know what these parents are like, and now I am one. Mark has his hands full, I think he wants to blame it on post partum hormones, but we all know better; I'm just like this...

So pray for Mark; he has a baby in the NICU and a crazy wife!

Christmas pictures of Ryker and yet another update...

Ryker is off oxygen, his IV antibiotics are completed, he is nursing well, passed his hearing test and is alert and doing great! However, the "U" wont let him come home until he has completed college.......

Seriously though, he should come home tomorrow unless they can come up with a reason to keep him, I think they like him too much.... the Doctor says he just has to gain weight and be off the bili lights for another day....

I was pretty pushy today though, I brought in the car seat so they could pass it off and made them do all of his discharge stuff, so that if his bilirubin screen is good tomorrow they can just let me take him home!

The "U" has been really great though, they even had a professional come and take these pictures of Ryker for us. Mark and I love them, so I thought I would share them with everyone!