We have smilers!

Ian started smiling on Saturday, May 11 and Briggs started on Wednesday, May 15 and it is the best thing ever! We've had to work pretty hard to get little smiles so far but it is so rewarding when they grin. It melts my heart. We're still working on getting good pictures of both of them because they get a little camera shy, but we did capture a gem of Ian.

I need to work on getting the actual video right here on the blog, but for now follow the link HERE

We like to call this "Smiles for mom, goats for dad."

HUSBAND SAVES THE DAY!

Things I Love: One Month

Ian

Weight: 7 lbs 0 oz (low)

Length: 20.5 in (12th percentile)

Head circumference: 34.3 cm (low)

We like to call that "tall and skinny" haha!
The pediatrician does think he'll make it onto the charts next month.

Briggs
Unknown/Bite-sized
He never had a real one month appointment but at 6 weeks his weight is 5 lbs 6 oz

Ian

I love when you smile in your half-sleep state when I sing you songs

I love that you are getting just chubby enough to grow out of preemie diapers and into newborn ones

I love your hair. It is so much fun

I love that you like getting your hair brushed

I love that you only cry when there's really something wrong, like no food in your mouth when you're hungry (That's the most common problem)

I love that you will sleep in four hour stretches at night

I love that you enjoy bath time

I love that you still fit in all your newborn clothes (but you are starting to stretch out the smallest ones)

I love that it looks like you're going to take off crawling already when you do tummy time, you're definitely going to be a mover

I love that the pediatrician thinks you are the most handsome baby she's seen and wants to take you home (secretly your dad and I think she'd send you right back with how noisy you are!)

I love that you're getting some chubby cheeks

I love that you finally figured out the whole nursing thing

I love that you have discovered your tongue and stick it out all the time

You cried when you got your second Hep B shot. It made me sad. But you quickly calmed down when your daddy snuggled you. 

Brigham

I love when you are wide awake, content as can be, and just look around with your big sweet eyes. You are very observant.

 I love how your binky takes up half your face

I love how mellow you are

I love that you will hold in your own binky

I love that you are still such a peanut (not eating for 10 days will do that to you)

I love when you suck in your bottom lip, you look like a turtle

I love when you lay on your back and stick your legs straight up in the air

I love that you can barely stay on your back because you're back is so rounded you nearly instantly roll to your side

I love that you can still easily wear preemie diapers and newborn clothes. This momma doesn't want you to grow up too fast!

I love walking into the hospital and finding your nurses snuggling you, it's the next best thing to me being there loving on you

I love that you win over everyone who walks into your hospital room. They all think you are the most beautiful baby ever.

I love that you are getting such good care at the hospital... not loving so much that you're in there though.

I love that you can somehow wiggle clear down into your blankets so your head is completely covered

I love that you sleep with your legs all curled up

Both

I love that their hair stands straight up after a bath. Especially Ian's.

I love that they both like their hands up by their face

 {Briggs}

{Ian}

I love when we take a binky or bottle out of their mouths, their lips stay in the same position and they keep sucking

I love that they will curl up in a ball when we burp them on our shoulder

{Briggs}

I love the startle reflex

{Ian}

You both favor your right side

You both sleep better when you're swaddled like a straight jacket and your arms are tucked in

You grunt all the time... awake or asleep

And if you were wondering what Ian was up to while Briggs was in the hospital... he was getting some serious love from Mimi and Papa Rich.

We are absolutely loving this stage. Having children was the best decision we've made. We wouldn't trade the 5 years we had before they arrived, but it has truly been a joy. We constantly look at one another and talk about how lucky we are to have these two sweet boys. Our life is perfect for us.

Home Stretch: Briggs Update

Wow. It has been a long time coming but we are on the home stretch! Our little boy has been doing so great and we know prayer work. This week they had tapered him off TPN and were giving him a bottle with small increases of 5ml each day, which progressed to increasing every other feed instead of just daily! As of today he is NG tube free, PICC line free, and taking 50ml in a bottle with an estimated discharge date of tonight or tomorrow! We are ecstatic! It has been two and a half weeks of worry, driving, praying, and tag-teaming between home and the hospital and we cannot wait for it to be over.

We've been very blessed with good care for our little guy and seen prayer work as he has progressed so well through the treatment process. We just cannot wait to get our two boys back together and love on them at home! Briggs has spent 26 of his 36 days alive, in the hospital so we feel that he has used up all his trouble causing days and needs to give us a break for MANY years.

I do feel like we almost need to relearn our baby because we've been apart for so long. We also need to help him distinguish his days and nights because right now he's all mixed up. We may have a few long days ahead of us, but we wouldn't have it any other way than together. Thank you everyone for your thoughts and prayers. We know it has helped our Brigham heal so well with no set backs. We feel so blessed.

EDIT: Saturday came and we went home empty handed. I think I hit my breaking point then. We kept hearing "it'll only be one or two more days" and I was tired of hearing those words. I was ready to take my baby home NOW! I felt like we would never get him home. I feared that the requirements for him to come home would change and he'd have to eat more and more before being released. Fortunately we did not have to wait many more days and were able to bring our sweet boy home Monday May 6th. When Jesse got the call that they would release our Brigham, he immediately called me and told me to hurry and get to the hospital before they change their mind! Let's just say that Ian and I rushed around and were out the door by 12:20pm a new PR. haha. Which in our defense we only got the phone call at 10am and I had to shower, eat, pack the diaper bag, load up Ian only to have him wake up and decide he was starving, so then I had to feed him. 12:20 was impressive for us.