End of the school year party

Today is Logan's last day of school. Yesterday was his end of the year party. He loved eating pizza and watermelon with his friends. He had fun showing me everything on the playground. He had a wonderful year at RDS and we are glad he will be returning next year too.
Here is a sample of Logan's end of the year artwork.

So many new friends along our journey

One of the many great blessings along our journey is the great friends we have made. Most of them we never would have met without our unique situation over the past several months. One of these new friends is Lindsey Culver. We first met Lindsey when she brought us dinner while the boys were still in the hospital. Lindsey was just one of many who provided food for us from November til April. Can you believe we had meals provided for us that long? It was incredible. Lindsey e-mailed me the other day offering to stop by and take pictures of the boys. Here are two of them. If you would like to see more please go to her website: www.lindseyculverphotography.com.

Nathan at the limb deficiency clinic

Nathan had his first appointment at the limb deficiency clinic today. We went to Children's South where he met Dr. Law, a pediatric physiatrist (rehab doctor). He is one of only two in this state, both located less than 15 miles from our house. He was very pleased with Nathan's movement and the length of his remaining arm / wrist (meaning his amputation is only his hand and not a large portion of his arm). While Nathan will be presented with the option several times during his life, he does not think Nathan will ever want prosthesis. Dr. Law thinks Nathan will have such good usage of his wrist he would be able to hold a pencil. Since he was so young he will also learn to adapt to his left hand very well. The end of his wrist has great sensation in it and a prosthesis would deaden some of his feeling. Nathan will go back to this clinic in 9 months. He will follow up with Dr. Law and Kristi his PT at the PT office in 6 months.

Newborn Follow-up Clinic

Nathan and Owen had their appointment at the Newborn Follow-up Clinic today. This clinic is for everyone born in this area under 1000 grams. Several different doctors and therapist saw the boys today. Our appointment lasted 4 hours. The nutritionist thought the boys were doing well. Owen is gaining 25 grams a day and Nathan is gaining 35 grams a day. This is the average of their weight gain since they left the NICU. At the boys corrected age of 2 1/2 months they are still measuring small, 3rd percentile, but they expect them to pick up soon. We saw the audiologist today. Owen no longer has fluid on his ears!!! He passed the hearing test on his right ear but not his left. He is returning in a week for a 2 hour hearing test that gives the doctors a very detailed analysis of his hearing. Nathan still has fluid on his ears. He will be returning in a few weeks for the same hearing analysis. Both boys are having appointments scheduled with an ENT at Children's Hospital. The boys were also able to see Sally, their OT from the Brookwood NICU at the clinic. She felt Owen was feeling a little tight in the hips so now we are going to see her once a week for a while. I am glad she wants to follow the boys so closely.

An afternoon outing

We had a great family outing this afternoon. We all went down to the trail. This was the first stroller outing for the little guys and they did great. We took Logan's little bike with us and he had the best time riding.Logan riding in the "tree tunnel". Logan loves riding on all the bridges.Our double stroller
Nathan riding
Owen riding
Logan leading the way!!My four guys!!Logan is ready to just walk by the end of our journey.

The last few days

The boys turned 6 months on Friday and Owen is already interested in playing with Logan's toys!!! When Nathan and Owen are near each other they enjoy touching.Preston went on men's retreat this weekend (it was my birthday present to him). He had a great time. The three boys and I had a great time together. My parents came over both evening and brought dinner and spent a little time over here to help out. My brother was able to hold both boys together for the first time. All three of them seemed to really enjoy it.Logan was also able to go to a friend's birthday party. I am very grateful for my friend, Sarah, taking him with her. I know Logan really enjoyed going to Pump It Up. It was good for him to get out of the house for a little while, since his brothers still are not able to leave.

Preston's Dad and Donna came over for their weekly Sunday afternoon lunch. They always bring veggies from Homewood Diner!! All three boys were excited to see their Daddy when he got home.Logan is becoming a lot more adventurous with his eating. He will now eat just about anything we put in front of him. His favorite thing to eat on Sunday afternoon is friend okra, green beans, mac and cheese and bread. Last night we gave him manwhich for the first time. It is not something we eat around here much but it is good every once in a while. Logan thought it was great.

Six month check up

Nathan and Owen had their 6 month check up today. Owen is now 9 pounds 9 ounces and 19 1/2 inches long. Nathan is 8 pounds 5.5 ounces and 19 inches long. Their doctor is very pleased with their growth. We plan to start to boys on some rice / oatmeal cereal when they turn 7 months old. Owen also has a pulmonologist appointment on June 14th. She believes they will be able to get off their apnea monitors at that time!!! They boys were not very happy getting their shots, but their Mom and Dad are glad to have all of their immunization out of the way until their one year appointment. They are cleared to not have to go back to the doctor until their 9 month check up. By the way, if anyone is looking for a pediatrician, call me. Ours is the best and will be glad to recommend her to anyone.

Just a few fun images

Here are just a few fun things happening around the house.
This is my Mother's Day bouquet of flowers. It was also accompanied by a donation to the March of Dimes. Here are a few shots of Logan playing tennis. We always have to get in some playground time too. The boys have lots of burp cloths, most of them with their first initial on them. The other day Logan asked if I would make him a cloth with his letter on it for wiping his face. We go through burp cloths like crazy, so while I was at it I made two more for the boys.

Medical Updates

The boys are having some great reports from their doctor visits. Nathan went to the eye doctor on Monday and is now cleared for just routine appointments. His ROP is gone. Nathan had been seeing his eye doctor weekly while in the NICU and then every two or three weeks since he came home. Now, he does not need to see an eye doctor for 6 months!!! We were very excited with this news. Owen is still seeing the retinal specialist. He has an appointment again on May 26th. Right now his ROP is completely gone in his right eye and he has just a little bit in his left eye. We are hoping this next appointment can be Owen's last with the retinal specialist and we can then switch over to the regular eye doctor.

The boys had their first in-home physical therapy meeting with Hand In Hand (their therapy provider). Preston and I were very impressed with the therapists that were in our home. The boys are doing really well. Since their due date was March 2nd, this is the age they measure them for their development. The therapist also told us that a lot of milestones have to do with weight. The boys are still about regular newborn size (I believe weighing in around 7 pounds and 9 pounds). She did lots of playing with them and some little exercises. We just need to continue playing with them, like we do. We also need to make sure when they lay down some of the time their head is to the right. They definitely have no problem doing it - they just favor the left. We just want to make sure they don't favor the left so much they make their muscles tight. I think they heard their therapist because they have already been looking to the right a lot more.

The boys 6 month appointment is Friday. I will be sure to post their new weights. Hopefully we will also be able to begin some baby cereal with them.

Smoothies

Preston has started making these delicious smoothies. They are made up of avocado, banana, strawberries, blueberries, kiwi, pineapple and some Only 8 vanilla frozen yogurt from Edgewood Creamery. They are delicious!!!!

Fun Stuff

Preston and I were able to sneak away for about 1 hour to go and play tennis together. We had a wonderful time. We joined the Homewood Parks and Rec, so now we are able to do lots of activities. There is a little sidewalk connection from the back of our neighborhood to West Homewood Park. So, in order to save some time, we just rode our bikes over. We played a quick five games, and then headed back home. We like playing tennis, but have not done so in about 6 or so years. Preston's Mom watched Nathan and Owen and Logan was at school. Last week I bought Logan a tennis racket so hopefully we will get him out there soon.
We now have a lot of Logan's old toys here. We are beginning to play with them with Nathan and Owen. Some of them are too big and a little too advanced but we are still working with them. I figure it is better to work ahead of their level and help them reach those goals too.
The boys are both progressing really well. Owen has started rolling over!! Both boys are doing a great job lifting up their chest and getting their legs up too. They are starting to smile in response to us and we definitely get their attention when we talk.

Logan is still enjoying school. He has three weeks left and has learned so much stuff this year. He is shaping up to have a full summer with Kidlife Week at Dawson, swimming lessons, and school T, W, TH this July. We figured it was good for him to go three days a week for the month so we could schedule any follow-up appointments to boys have at that time. We also hope to get in a family trip or two this summer. Logan is enrolled in M-F, 4k at Riverchase Day School next year. We decided not to enroll him at first, thinking we would be back in China by then. Then we decided to enroll him because the boys will probably need until they are one year of age before they will be able to return. I was really glad we were able to get him a spot, with our late decision. Five day a week 4k was available, so we snatched up the opportunity.