Our Baby is 9-Months Old!!

Can you believe it?? Adam is 9-months old today! And, tomorrow he will have been home from the hospital for 4-months. Time is flying by.

"It's A Gas" Car Show

Today, we went to the "It's A Gas" Car Show in Lexington, which is a local fundraiser for United Way. It was a lot of fun. Matt drove the Mustang and participated in the show. His car placed third in its class! Cody was so excited about Daddy's trophy!

Great News from Our Visit to Surgery Clinic Today

Adam had his monthly appointment with Dr. Petty this morning. All went well. For the first time since he got sick, Adam is getting over half of the his daily calories from formula!!! So, he is going to get a longer break from his TPN - it will run for 12 hours and he will have a break for 12 hours! Lots to celebrate today... Thank you, Lord!

March of Dimes Awards Breakfast

This morning we all went to Winston-Salem for the March of Dimes Awards Breakfast. "Adam's All-Stars" was our team in the 2009 March for Babies walk this past April. Our team was awarded a plaque for the amount of money we raised. And, my dad and I both were awarded "Top Walker" trophies for the amount we raised as individuals. Thank you to everyone who walked with us and who donated to our team. We can't wait to do it again next year!!

Adam's New Skill

Look.... Sitting up all by myself!!

Tanner will be turning 16 on the 10th, so we threw him a surprise party tonight (after we got home from the beach)! I can't believe he's almost 16!!

Our Last Day/Night at the Beach

Tanner, Papaw, Nana, Adam and Cody

Adam enjoyed watching a round of putt-putt.

Cody having fun in the pool!

Good Times at the Pool

It was hot.... Adam was sweating, so his curls made an appearance.

Laying out by the pool

Cody in the pool

Cody going all of the way under... for the first time!

Ready to go to the pool

Wild Horse & Shelling Safari at Shackleford Island

After our tour Adam experienced his first time in the ocean.... well, he got his feet wet!

Cody and Tanner in front of the wild horses

Our First Day on the Beach This Week

Cody at the pool

Tanner, Adam and Cody

Adam chillin' on the beach (in the stroller, of course)

Adam's First Trip to the Beach

Nana, Tanner (my nephew), Cody, Adam and I left for the Atlantic Beach today. Here are a couple of pictures from Adam's first night at the beach. A few milestones here: Adam's first two teeth broke through his gums over the past couple of days. And, he rolled over all by himself for the first time (seen above)!! Daddy missed it, him and Papaw won't be here until Tuesday.

Pigs in the City - Lexington, NC

Today we went to visit the pigs in Uptown Lexington (fundraiser each year prior to the BBQ Festival - the pigs are sponsored by local businesses and painted with different themes). Here are a few of the pigs.

Another Weekend at the Pool

Surgery Clinic Visit

All went well with our visit to see Dr. Petty this morning! Adam was in a good mood and Dr. Petty was pleased with his progress. Adam weighs a little over 18 lbs. now. He is taking in 33 cc's of formula an hour (we are increasing this by 1 cc every 5 days now). Dr. Petty approved a little bit of a longer break from the TPN. It will now run over 14 hours a day, giving Adam a 10 hour break from the IV line. We are now moving to a monthly appointment schedule, so we'll go back in August. After our visit, we picked up Adam's prescriptions and visited a few of the nurses in the NICU.

After 5 months in the NICU, all we wanted was to have our baby home with us. But, we can't help but go back and visit each time we are there. We really miss our extended family in the NICU at Brenner's!!

Tomorrow, Adam has another busy day: play therapy with Dana in the morning, our first CAP-C interview after lunch and OT with Natalie in the afternoon.

The End of a QUIET Week

Last week was pretty quiet around our house with Cody being gone. We stayed around the house the majority of the time. Yesterday, was Uncle Bobby's birthday, so we had a cook-out at the pool. It was very entertaining for the kids and the adults! Cody missed out on a good time, but he has really enjoyed himself at Mamie's house playing with Tanner and some of his friends. Adam and I will be leaving in a little bit to head back to Burlington to meet them for lunch and Cody will head back home with us! Adam sure has missed his "bubba"!

Happy 4th of July!!

Nana, Cody, Adam and Matt watching fireworks

Swimming at Uncle Bobby & Aunt Shannon's

Laying out by the pool with my toys

We hope everyone enjoyed their day today!

We had lunch and spent some time at the pool with Uncle Bobby, Aunt Shannon, Breanna and Brett. Sam, Tammy and Colby were there, too. Lots of fun! Then, we headed to Asheboro for a cook-out with Nana, Papaw and Frank & Nancy (my God-parents). Dinner was great! After dark, went to Archdale to see fireworks..... (and, Adam slept through his first fireworks)!!

We are spending tonight in Asheboro. Tomorrow, we are going with Nana and Granny to meet Mamie, Jake and Tanner in Burlington for lunch. Cody will go home with them from there and spend next week in Oxford.

A Couple New Pictures

Cody's Home (for a few days at least)!

Playing ball outside

Watching "Bubba" play outside

It's Wednesday, and Cody is back from Pigeon Forge. He enjoyed the rest of his trip! He'll be home until Sunday, then he's going to Mamie's (my sister, Amy) house for a week.

Adam has had a good week. He had to get some immunizations yesterday. Of course, he wasn't too crazy about that. This morning he had play therapy with Dana. He enjoyed that and his nap afterwards!

The Kids in Pigeon Forge

Playing putt-putt in Pigeon Forge

Kelsey, Adam, Cody, Brett, Breanna

We Survived Our First Vacation!!

Adam hanging out in the arcade

Cody riding go-karts with Matt

Cody at the pool

Adam at the pool

Brett, Cody and Breanna at WonderWorks

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We made it to Pigeon Forge safely on Thursday. The four of us stayed in NanNan Barbara and PopPop Bob's camper. Uncle Bobby, Aunt Shannon, Breanna and Brett were in their camper to the right of us. And, Uncle Danny (NanNan Barbara's brother from NJ), Aunt Jan and Kelsey were in their motorhome to the left of us. We did a lot of running and a little resting. Adam did well and we all had a good time! Matt, Adam and I got back home today. Cody decided to stay and come home with Uncle Bobby on Wednesday. We should have a quiet house for the next few days!

Mid-Week Follow-Up

Resting after therapy

Adam's OT evaluation on Tuesday went well. He automatically qualifies for occupational therapy due to his feeding issues. The plan is for them to work with him on taking some things by mouth and to work with him on different gross-motor items. This service will start in a couple of weeks and he will see his therapist, Natalie (who also works with me in the school system), once a week.
This morning, Adam started his one-hour play therapy sessions with Dana (through Easter Seals). He enjoyed playing in the floor and sitting up with her. He will also have play therapy once a week. After both of these visits, Adam was pretty worn out and went straight to sleep!

Now, to continue our busy week..... we are leaving first thing in the morning (when Matt gets home from working night shift) for our first vacation as a family of four! We are meeting Matt's family in Pigeon Forge for a long weekend. We will be back on Sunday!

Monday.... the start of a busy week

Today has been non-stop. We were at Baptist at 8:30 this morning with Adam for a few different appointments. He had to get an x-ray first (the surgeon wanted to check on his gut to make sure all looks the way it should). From there, we were supposed to go to surgery clinic. Dr. Petty was tied up with an emergency, so they went ahead and drew Adam's blood for his weekly labs. Adam had a 10:00 appointment with Heather for a physical therapy evaluation. All went well with that, he is on track with his adjusted age. He will go back in August to be evaluated again to be sure he is still on track. After PT, we headed back over to Baptist to see Dr. Petty. Adam is doing good. Starting this week, he will get a little bit longer break from his TPN (IV nutrition) in order for it to run 16 hours a day.... yeah!

Nana and Papaw brought Cody back to the house this afternoon, so he and Matt could go get their hair cut. We also had to go register Cody for Fall C-Ball tonight.

Adam has his occupational therapy evaluation with Toni tomorrow and he will start play therapy with Dana on Wednesday.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to everyone! This morning we went to preaching at Sophia Baptist Church (the church where I grew up and where Matt & I got married) to surprise Papaw for Father's Day.... Nana didn't tell him that we were coming to church. This was Adam's first visit and very emotional for all of us. Preacher Bill had us stand up and introduced Adam to everyone. It was a good morning. After church, we met Granny and Uncle Jeff for lunch at Main Street Steakhouse in Randleman. Matt had not been there before, and he enjoyed it. After lunch, Nana let Matt and I take a nap while she watched Cody and Adam..... that was absolutely the best part of the day!

Tonight, Cody is spending the night with Nana and Papaw because Adam has a busy morning tomorrow at Baptist.

Happy (Almost) Birthday, Caitlyn!

Sheriff Cody

Sheriff Adam

Today we all went to Caitlyn's 5th birthday party at Misty Grove Stables in Concord. (Her actual birthday is next week.) Cody rode a horse, played with bubbles, ate pizza and had some delicious home-made ice cream cake! Lots of fun for Cody today and Adam enjoyed watching!