aspen alley

This morning we got up and drove to Aspen Alley, on the highway past Encampment. We were a weekend too late, I think. There was several inches of snow up there and the aspen trees in Aspen Alley were dead and didn't have any leaves left. :( It was pretty with the snow and fog, but would've been breathtaking with the yellow leaves! Next year we will have to go a weekend or two earlier.

Some more pictures from our drive:

Here is the fog moving in. I'm glad I got pictures of this when I did, because on our way back you couldn't even see the lakes anymore!

football weekend

This weekend was busy with football. Friday afternoon Brecken and I packed up and went to Lingle, where Josh's team was playing. Saratoga won, 34-22. I really enjoyed sitting in their visitor stands- it was right there on the grass, in front of the track, so Brecken could get down and crawl and I didn't have to watch him like a hawk to make sure he didn't eat rocks! After the game Lennie served the boys dinner in the school gym. We didn't get back to Lennie's house until late- Brecken was soooo tired. It was 11:00 before we got there. Then we got up early on Saturday morning so we could go to Laramie for Josh's JV game there. It was cold and windy so I didn't stay for the whole game. My sister and Ryan were there too, so we left early and took the boys to lunch. We got home yesterday afternoon, and despite sleeping the whole trip yesterday, Brecken was TIRED. He fought hard to stay awake but finally gave in at 6:45 last night. He has never gone to bed that early! And he slept straight until 5:45 this morning. 11 hours is unheard of for him. He came to cuddle with Josh and I after he woke up this morning and then slept some more, until 8:30. He was one tired boy!

going home

So at this time on Sept. 26, 2006, I was at Kristen's apartment waiting for Josh to come get Brecken and I. I got to the hospital that morning, bright and early, just in case I happened to miss the pediatrician when he came for rounds before he went to his clinic. I didn't even bother to bring Brecken to his hospital room, I just hung out in the nursery with him, waiting, waiting, waiting. FINALLY Dr. Klep came and checked B out, and gave us the go-ahead to get out of there! I thought my face was going to burst with the big smile that was on there. I got Brecken dressed in his going-home outfit and took his "First Photo" picture that all newborn babies get when they go home. He was 2 weeks old by then, but we didn't get to get it taken when we were in Laramie originally because he was flown out of there.



Then the nurse got all our papers for me and helped me to David's car- he was on a business trip that week so I was lucky enough to have use of his car. (Even though technically I wasn't supposed to be driving for 4 more weeks due to my c-section- but what's a lady to do when she's by herself?!) It felt weird to be leaving the hospital with B in his car seat and me WALKING him out- most new mothers get to ride in the wheelchair. :)



It was cold that day, I remember that. We had to go to Wal-mart to get some things I needed for Brecken at home that we didn't have time to get before he was born, and then he and I hung out at Kristen's for the rest of the day. Josh had to work AND go to practice, because his boss wasn't being very understanding about the whole thing, so he didn't get to Laramie until late that evening. I was never so glad to see him though- I was beyond excited to be going home with our little guy! We stopped a couple times on the trip to make sure B was OK- he was, just sleeping and at one point was holding on to the blanket on his lap- we thought that was the cutest thing. :) The house was pretty quiet when we got home because the dogs were still at Craig and Lennie's house. I remember putting Brecken in his crib when we got home and he was SO TINY in that big huge crib.

Boy, how things have changed.

one year ago

One year ago, I was getting ready to feed Brecken my last feeding of the night before I gave him back to the nurses to keep in the nursery in Laramie for the night. I would head back to Kristen's apartment for the night, but I don't remember sleeping that much, because I knew the next morning we would be released from the hospital FINALLY! What an exciting night that was- knowing it was time to pack up our hospital room for the final time, get his going home clothes ready, and get ready for Josh to come get us and TAKE US HOME!!

drive

Josh went out on two ambulance calls today and had a coach's meeting this evening to watch film. I got bored at home so I loaded Brecken up and we went for a drive up the mountain a little way while the sun set. The colors are getting beautiful up there!

rainy day

Cold and raining today. I wanted to drive up to Aspen Alley and have a picnic and see all the pretty trees, but that will have to wait until next Sunday I guess.

Brecken stood all on his own last night! Actually, he did it on Friday night too, but only for 3 seconds so I didn't count it. :) Last night, he was standing at his ball popper with a ball in one hand and batting at the one coming out of the tube with the other hand and he probably did that for a minute! He wasn't supported on anything- just his own two feet!!

Josh's team lost to Lusk on Friday. 24-6 or something like that. Haven't heard how the JV did yesterday, Josh called Heath but didn't hear back.

Liliana Michelle

My friends Greg and Michelle welcomed their first baby into the world on Wednesday! Welcome to the world, Liliana Michelle! She was 7 lbs, 13 oz, and 20 inches long. And she's absolutely gorgeous!

a laugh

I always have to laugh when people use the following excuse for being late: I was in the library today and a lady walked in looking for the teacher she was meeting with. She said, "I'm sorry I'm late, I wanted to be here an hour ago but I got stuck in traffic."

Now, WHERE IN THE WORLD would she get stuck in traffic around here?! Encampment is all of 300 people and none of the streets even have stop signs. Saratoga has no stop lights in the whole town. You have to travel an hour and a half to find a town with more than 5000 people in it. Where is the traffic these people talk about?!

They must not realize that we're not dumb and we know that ridiculous story is a complete lie.

We have to go to Heath and Peggy's house at 7:30 tonight. We better leave now in case the traffic is heavy.


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(excuse all the lines. Brecken likes touching the buttons on the computer.)

skinny minny

Brecken had his one year check-up today. I'm a bit sad to report that he only gained 2 oz. in a month. That's right, TWO ounces. I thought the scale was lying to me. He's "up" to 17 pounds, 2 oz. That's still way below the charts. Dr. Jake said if we're comfortable with waiting for blood tests, he'd like to give Brecken until 15 months to see some good improvement. I'll keep monitoring him every month to see where his weight is, and I think if we don't see any improvement at all again next month, I'll ask for the blood tests. My thinking is it's better to get him tested and nothing be wrong than to wait and maybe miss a problem that needs attention. I'm not exactly sure what they would test for, but Diabetes is one of them. I'm sure he's just a skinny minny like I was, but I'd rather know for sure. I looked in my baby book tonight and at one year, I was 16 lbs, 12 oz. and 28.5 inches long.

Anyway, he is still 29.5 inches, like last month. As far as we know, anyway- I don't think length measurements are very accurate on babies since they move and squiggle- they draw a line on the paper where the head is and then strech out his legs and draw another line, then measure between those two lines. So we think he is 29.5 inches. :) Still has a big noggin, same as always. :)

He had to get four shots. It was horrible. Actually, I think it was more horrible for me than it was for Brecken. Josh has always held him for the shots, but he had football practice tonight so I had to do it. I was told that the Chicken Pox and the MMR shots were going to be pretty bad. Brecken cried, but only for a minute and then he was fine. The nurse said he was one of the toughest kids she's ever had to give shots too, since he didn't really cry! I got him out to the car and he was smiling already. I buckled him in and he immediately tore off all four band-aids like he thoguht they were for sissys and he's been playing and smiling ever since we got home. What a trooper. Much better than his mommy. :)

pictures

The picture above is one of the many beautiful ones Stacey captured this past weekend. We got to see them all last night and I am in love with them! You can see the rest at: http://www.flickr.com/gp/8125773@N08/790C8n

I'm so excited about them- they are absolutely GORGEOUS, Stacey! You captured my little boy perfectly!!

flying

I booked tickets for Brecken and I to fly to Chicago in December. My grandma is turning 90 and we're throwing a big party for her since she's not in the best of health anymore. I wish Josh could go, but that's his 2nd week of basketball and has a game the day of the party, so it will just be myself and Brecken. My mom and dad are flying out too, so I got tickets on their same flights. My mom and dad are flying from Gillette though, so I'll meet them in Denver. I now have to figure out how to get Brecken, the stroller, our suitcase, and the car seat from the car to the airport, and then how to get Brecken, the stroller, and the car seat through the airport all by myself!

...and your world comes to a screeching halt.

Phone calls at 6:30 in the morning are usually never good news. Josh's phone rang at that time this morning and it was our babysitter, calling in sick. Those are the worst calls. Your world just about comes to a screeching halt- now what are you going to do? We feel really bad today, because good ol' Dr. Jake, who has today off and was planning on working on his new fence, is now babysitting Brecken instead. His wife Deb usually does it for us but she works at the hospital in Rawlins on Tuesdays and Jake stays home. I hate when the babysitter is sick!! Not only do we have to scramble to find someone to take over for the day, but then Brecken has a really bad day because he's not used to going to a different house. Oy.

We had a fun weekend. We got up and went to Cheyenne on Saturday morning so Stacey could do B's one year shots. I think we got some great ones- we went to Frontier Park and found a little path that goes through a tree area, and there was a little stone shack down there too. So we took lots of pictures there, and then in a different outfit took a bunch in her pretty backyard. Brecken liked smiling for the camera. :) She now has 3 of them up on her blog, so make sure you check it out! http://staceyjphotog.blogspot.com

Then Sunday morning we got up early and went back to Laramie to drop B off with Kris and David. We met Heath and Peggy there and we went to the Bronco game in Denver. What a crazy time that was!! We had stopped at the store on our way into Denver and got sandwiches and chips to eat in the little park across from where we parked so we didn't have to spend a fortune on food at the stadium. Our seats were up in the upper level but only 6 rows up. Pretty good seats. There was a Raider fan right in front of me that wouldn't shut up and I thought a couple times there was going to be a fight. Yikes. But there wasn't. There was a lightning delay though. It happened right as Peggy and I went down to get something to drink and then everyone else came down beneath the stands too- I thought we were never going to find Josh and Heath. But we did. And then there was overtime, so we got home pretty late. After the game it took forever to get out of the stadium, then forever to get out of Denver. After picking up B, we got home at about 11:30. We were both pretty tired last night.

hooray!

Josh's football team won last night against the #2 team in the state, Sundance! YAY! Sundance is who we lost to two years ago in the State Semi-finals. So it was a good win last night. We won 28-7. Saratoga had a couple really good interceptions, including one that was run back for a touchdown. Our guy was wide open and the ball was thrown right to him. He could've walked back to the endzone and still scored. :)

Here's a funny story: The other night we were at Heath and Peggy's house for the traditional coach's get together before the game- and Brecken crawled into their kitchen, found the dog's water bowl, and leaned his head down to drink it like a dog. What a silly boy.

We're off to Cheyenne here in a little bit, and we'll be gone all weekend. Go Broncos!

airplane ride

Exactly one year ago at this time, Josh and Brecken were getting ready to go in the Flight for Life jet! I asked Josh after they landed and he called, if they had in-flight snacks for him. He said they had a cooler and the nurse said to help himself. :) They send a pediatric nurse and a respiratory therapist as the flight crew- I thought that was pretty neat that they sent specialists for specific problems to be the flight crew.

Then: all ready to get into the airplane

Now:

i'm so jealous.

I thought the Children's Hospital was amazing while we were in it last year. Amazing. The only complaint I had was that the little cubicles we were in were tiny, and you could barely fit the bed, two chairs, and the nurse in there. You had to do a lot of stepping over cords. Here is an article about the new Children's Hospital, with a slideshow of pictures. NOT THAT I WANT ANOTHER CHILD IN THERE, but I'm so jealous- what a beautiful place! And the NICU looks incredible- couches for the parents (much needed!), TONS of room in there, and lots of windows. I wanted windows so bad- I had no idea what it looked like outside because we had no windows!

http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/health_care/article/0,2808,DRMN_25396_5692042,00.html

happy birthday!

Brecken turned one today! This morning before we went to work, he got to "open" his present from his Gram and Gramps. I say "open" because it was too big to wrap, so we just put it together last night so he could see it this morning. They got him a Mickey Mouse fire engine that plays music and makes lots of sounds. It's like his tractor from his Grandma and Grandpa, you can ride on it and push it too. He likes to get up behind it and walk with it. He also loves pushing all the buttons and dancing along with the music.

Tonight we had dinner at the park with all the coaches and their families. He got a big board book from the preschool teacher in our group. And the gift that probably had the most thought put into it was from Deb's daughter Morgan. She's 3. She picked out a toy from her own toy box to bring to Brecken- a car that plays noisy sounds. Brecken loves it. She also had her dad write on a piece of paper, "Happy Birthday Brecken, Love" and then she signed her own name and drew him a picture. What a sweet present!

Then we came home and opened the rest of his presents. From Josh and I he got an Elmo laptop to play on. It has 10 or so keys on it and Elmo talks. It's pretty cute. We had him another present but somone else gave it to him so we have to exchange ours for something else. Loree, his babysitter, also gave him 2 presents. A book, and a Little People brand toy carwash. How fun. That was really nice of her.

Let's see- one year ago at this exact moment, 9:00, I had been moved to my own room at the other end of the maternity ward. It was a small room, because they knew my baby wouldn't be staying in the room with me like all the other moms. I told Josh that next time we have a baby, I don't want to be moved down the hall because that doesn't mean anything good! Brecken was under the oxygen hood, and I was begging a nurse to help me down to the nursery so I could see him. We had had a couple visitors, and Josh had to take them to the nursery to look through the window at him since he couldn't come to our room. That's another thing I want differently next time- I want a big room, with my baby with me in it, and the visitors can come IN my room and hold him and not have to look through the window at him!

Well, both cats are outside and it's supposed to get below freezing tonight, so I better go find them and go to bed. Both of my boys are already.

one year ago

One year ago today, I was sitting in a hospital bed, in labor, worried about what was about to happen. I hadn't eaten since about 11:00 that morning, and they wouldn't let me eat, in case I was to go in for a c-section soon. (turns out, I was.) They had tried to stop my contractions with a pill, and it didn't work. They tried to stop my contractions with a shot that HURT LIKE THE DICKENS- it stung so bad. The nurse said it would, but I never expected that much pain. And it was all for nothing because I kept contracting. The doctor on call (who I didn't like, by the way) did some ultrasounds and pushed on my belly to get Brecken to swim head down, and he did, for the first time ever, but then later that night I felt him swim back to head-up position. The nurses kept having to come in and reposition my monitor, because Brecken was moving around so much he kept knocking it off. I KNEW he swam back to the head-up position, but the dumb doc-on-call wouldn't believe me. I counted down the hours until he went off-call and my wonderful doctor, Dr. Keeler, came on shift. Nobody would let me eat, and it is VERY mean to make a pregnant woman with hypoglycemia not eat, especially when everyone else in the room was eating in front of me!

I know I keep saying this, but I really can't believe that was a year ago. I still get super emotional thinking about that rollercoaster ride we went on starting a year ago today, and I don't suppose that will ever go away. I woulnd't change anything that happened, I would keep it exactly the same, because I feel like Josh and I both are better people for going through what we did. You can never understand what it's like to be the parent of a preemie until you've been there. Sitting in the NICU day in and day out is a very draining thing but it brought Josh and I closer together, and I feel like we have a bond with Brecken that nobody else can experience unless they've had to do it too. And I still wonder, to this day, what has happened to little Joseph, who was in the Infant Care Center (ICC) next to us- he had a cleft palate and a short lower jaw, and his dad was terrified to do anything about it because he didn't want that poor baby to have scars. He did have surgery, and I hope he can breathe better because of it. He couldn't breathe and he would panic. And little Sam, who was also a 36-weeker but born with Down Syndrome- he sure was a cutie. And Karson, across the hall from us in the ICC, who was a 28-weeker that had been there a month already when we got there. And Gia, who's cubicle exploded with pink stuff. And that poor mommy and daddy next to us in the NICU who had to take that sweet baby off life support after being alive on it for 3 days. What a horrible decision to have to make.

See, now I'm all in tears. Denver Children's has a new hospital opening up- I'd love to see inside it some day (but on my own, of course- not because I have a child in there!). They are also opening up their own Ronald McDonald house so the other one can be used by the other 2 hospitals surrounding it. Both places hold special places in my heart!

Brecken's crying- I better go put him to bed.
Love,
Kara

"but little boys' knees are SUPPOSED to be black!"

That's what Josh told me yesterday when I said B needed a bath because he had black knees. B has been on a bath strike in the past couple weeks- screams and screams when we put him in, like it's burning him! It isn't- the water is the same temp as always, but he hates it anyway. Last night he wasn't sure about going in again, and started to cry, but then Ditka got in the bathtub too and B decided he'd be OK taking a bath.

What a strange cat we have! I've never seen a cat that likes the bathtub.

birthday party

We went to a birthday party this morning for Loree's son Carter. He turned 2 today. Brecken got a favor bag, even, with some crayons, a popper toy, and some sunglasses. He likes his sunglasses, because he always wants ours. :)


We had hot dogs for lunch and then a Mickey Mouse cake. B has decided he hates hot dogs, so he didn't eat too much. He thought it was pretty fun that Mom and Dad stayed at Loree's with him today, though. :) He showed us all the toys.

As we were leaving, Josh's pager went off. So we hurried and got B in the truck and we dropped Josh off at the ambulance barn and B and I took the truck home. As soon as we got home, B took a nap. I took one with him. :)

Then, we've just been playing this afternoon. I've dug dog food out of his mouth twice, so I put the food up on the table. We played outside, and we played with Ditka. Brecken was giggling up a storm, and Josh and I looked over, and Ditka and B were playing with the balloon that we got at the party. B would throw it and Ditka would bat it back. It was pretty cute. Ditka is a good playmate for B.

much better

Josh team played much better yesterday and beat Soroco, CO 39-8. They put their young guys in during the last part of the game and that's when Soroco scored. They held them to 0 points until right there at the end!

We went up to Heath and Peggy's house after the game with pizza. We didn't get home until 11:00. Brecken was asleep on their beanbag in the living room, with Macy (the 2nd grader) sleeping right next to him. It was his first sleep-over. :)

Craig and Lennie were here for the game but then went on to Lyman for the weekend. They'll be back tomorrow night, I think.

Right now, Brecken is sitting on the floor laughing hysterically at Ditka, who is playing with anything he can find. Brecken thinks it's hilarious. We are going to a birthday party later this morning- his daycare lady's son Carter turns 2 today.

a broncos game

Yesterday was school picture day. The Senior class always helps out with that, in order to make a little extra money. I'm Senior class sponsor, so not only was I here helping, but it was in my room. The guy from the photography place got talking with me and it came up that he has season tickets to the Broncos games, and he needed to sell the tickets for the first four games because he isn't able to go. He had four tickets for each game, so I went and asked Heath if he and Peggy wanted to go with Josh and I to the Raiders/Bronco game. So, that's what we'll be doing on Sept. 16th! We're going to Cheyenne on the 15th to have Stacey take Brecken's one-year pictures, then we'll stay the night in Cheyenne and on the 16th we'll bring B to my sister's house so he can play with Ryan for the day while we go to Denver with Heath and Peggy.

It's Friday! Hooray! Josh's team plays Soroco, CO here in Saratoga this afternoon. Go Panthers!

a new kitten

B and I had to go to school tonight. It was open house night from5:30-6:30. Yuck. I don't like those nights. Josh had practice and thena fire meeting, so I had to bring B with me.

Brecken got a new kitty for his birthday. One of my 2nd graders had them at the football game last week and was "selling them for free". They sure are cute little things- there were two of them, both solidorange just like Nugget. Brecken LOVED them. They sat on a little boy'slap and SLEPT during the football game!! A teacher Josh works with took one home. I told Josh that I almost brought one home because B loved it so much, and HE actually said, "Well, why didn't you?" Micaiah's mom subs at our school so the next day I told her I'd take the other one home. She brought it to me after school yesterday. That kitten came right in the house, jumped on the couch, and took a nap! Then he followed Brecken around all night. He went right next to him while B crawled, and rubbed his head on B's, and it even got to the point where B had to push him away!! The dogs are pretty excited, and we have to keep the kitty in the cat cage while the dogs are in, until they get used to him. Right now, the kitty is in the cage in the living room and Hogan is laying down staring at him. Charlie doesn't think too much of him, but hopefully she'll learn to like him so she's not lonely when we have to go out of town!

I think we'll name him Ditka. I wanted Satchmo, but Josh hated that, andI can live with Ditka.

I took some engagement pictures for Beth and Jeff this past weekend. You can see them on the internet at http://www.jeffreyandbeth.shutterfly.com/ It was fun- they're so easy to photograph!