Marleigh Arrived Today!

My sister was scheduled for an induction early this morning.
She labored for awhile and I kept calling my mom to check on her and they said to take our time getting to the hospital so D and I decided to stop at PF Changs for a late lunch/early dinner before we headed next door to the hospital.

Of course, as soon as we got our food they texted to say she was starting to push. Just our luck!




We enjoyed a nice time playing with Denver and eating lots of yummy noodles!



He had to touch EVERYTHING! "We" dropped a spoon, my napkin, a toy, and a pacifier on the floor. It's a good thing he's adorable! ;)

We finished our lunch and headed to the hospital just in time for my brother in law to come out and say that they were going to do a c-section and at 6:13pm Marleigh was born!



She weighed 8 pounds and 12 ounces. Look at all that hair!



Wearing her first bow at 3 hours old!



Already holding her paci at 12 hours old.

Isn't she precious? We are so happy for my sister, brother in law and my sweet nephew Matthew!

Playing!

Yesterday, we went to sign our new lease but before we went over there we stopped at Gringo's to eat lunch.

We had never been before, and it was pretty good. It reminded us a lot of Chuy's.

Anyhow, there was a very busy little boy with us.


He sat in my lap for awhile and was very busy digging in his diaper bag.



He bent over and pushed against me as much as he could to get in there. He was busy playing on his bag for at least 10 minutes.

It was so cute watching him. He got very upset when his little hands couldn't pick anything up.

So I reached in and got a toy for him and then he was a happy camper.


We let him sit bedside me in the booth and he just played and played with his rattle.

When his daddy got through eating his lunch he picked our big boy up and held him for awhile.



He let him have his first taste of refried beans. Let's just say he wasn't a big fan!

All in all, it was a good lunch and he enjoyed playing in a new place.

I Can Do It Myself

This morning while eating his bananas for breakfast, Denver grabbed the spoon and decided he wanted to feed himself.



Isn't this little stinker adorable?

He tried and tried and then started crying when he wasn't getting anything. I took the spoon back and started feeding him again and he was a happy camper!

Baby Food Diaries: Bananas

This morning we started Denver on baby food. We decided to go with bananas since we heard they were the most gentle and we've battled so many tummy issues in the past.



He wasn't really sure what to think of them at first.



I love his facial expression! Like "what in the world did you just put in my mouth".



Then "maybe this isn't so bad".

Here is a little video of his first baby food experience.

A Major Decision!

Friday, D and I made a major decision - we decided to forgo renting another home and decided that we would "downsize" and move into an apartment.

A few things lead us to that decision.

First of all, with the housing market the way it is and so many people losing their homes - so many more families are renting homes which makes it almost impossible to find a really great home that doesn't have 15 other people interested in it. We've seen about 12 houses and the longest any of them have been on the market was 10 days. We started to put an application on a house when we were told not to waste our time - there were already 4 applications on it.

Secondly, the amount of money that you have to come up with is close to half the amount of a down payment. Ok, so that's an exaggeration but we were looking at roughly $4,000 when you think of application fees, security deposits, pet deposits, and first months rent. It's really pretty expensive!

And lastly, when I left my job last year, I (still) feel like its been one of the best things I've done but it was a big adjustment financially. It wasn't something we had been planning or preparing for so we just "had" to make it work and things have been tight. I can't imagine having to leave Denver after being home with him for this long so we knew if we would make some adjustments to our expenses, we could much more easily afford for me to stay home with him.

So, we looked around (online) at some apartments and viewed a community in person on Friday and went ahead and filled out the application, got approved and reserved our apartment!



This is a birdseye view of the community.



Here is the view pretty much standing in front of our apartment. We're so excited about the pool, hot tub and outdoor fireplace!



And last, but not least, here is a picture of our floor plan!

This is about 1,400 sq ft smaller than where we are right now so it will be a big adjustment and of course - we'll be storing a lot of furniture but D and I are both excited about this new adventure!

Wish us luck!

4 Month Stats

Denver,

You are 25.5" tall (70th percentile)
You weigh 18 lbs, 1.8 oz (94th percentile)
You wear 3-6 month clothes and pajamas.
You wear a size 3 diaper.
You no longer sleep through the night, and you get up 2-3 times to eat every night.
Mom started adding rice cereal to your night time bottles and you love it.
You just came home from your first hospital stay, which was very scary for mom and dad.
Even though you've been very sick, you are still smiling all the time.
You are such a happy baby!
You love watching the little animals on the Fisher Price app on mom's phone.
You love going out to eat with mom and dad and looking around and watching everyone.
You like to sit on mom and dad's lap and look around.
You have recently started trying to grab anything you can get a hold of.
You tried baby food for the first time this morning and you were very unsure of what we were giving you.
Bananas were your first food!
Mom gave you a frozen banana in your fresh food feeder and you loved it!
You had your first teething biscuit but you won't chew on it you just like to suck off the flavoring.
You love to prop your feet up on anything near you.
You've been sick the last couple of weeks so you have slept a good bit in the afternoons.
Mom had to give you pedialyte for the first time and you liked the orange kind the best.
You love for Dad to lay on the floor and play with you.
You take all of your naps and sometimes sleep at night, in your bouncer.
You have started to play with a couple of your rattles.
You noticed the remote, and want to hold it and chew on it all the time.
You like for mom to prop you in the corner of your crib so you can sit up on your own.
You love to be rocked to sleep.
You no longer like to be held when you are eating, you want to be put down.
You are such a sweet little boy with such a sweet smile.

Food Snatcher!

While we were taking a break from looking at houses, we stopped to get some lunch.

Denver wants to sit up & look around so badly but can't quite on his own yet so I let him sit in my lap while I eat. Today, I was talking to D when all of a sudden he starts laughing.



I look down and that silly little boy had taken a chicken strip off my plate and was trying to get it in his mouth. He gave up on that and just waved it around!



After a struggle, I got the chicken strip back and he stole my napkin.

He's become quite the little thief!

He's so busy by the time you get something out of one hand, he has something in the other one!

4 Months Old!

Denver is 4 months old today! I say this every month but I can't believe how fast the time is flying!

Today, D and I met with a realtor (again) to go see some houses so Denver went and visited his Aunt Melanie for awhile.



He borrowed cousin Marleigh's bumbo so he could help Aunt Melanie do some laundry.



Then when cousin Matt got home, he explained his math homework to "baby Denver".



He had a great day and was on his best behavior for Aunt Melanie! We got home and took our first "month" picture in his bed (somewhat) sitting up!

My sweet boy was all smiles!

We have his 4 month check up on Tuesday so I'll post his stats then!

We're Moving!

Thursday, I kind of let my mouth get me into a tricky situation.

Let me explain. We've been renting a home for 2 years. Originally, we talked to the owners about possibly leasing to own the home. About 6 months in, we decided that we were not interested in purchasing the home. When we spoke at the end of our lease, the owners asked us if we would be willing to stay in the house while they tried to sell it. They couldn't afford for the house to sit empty so in return for us staying they would pay for a company to come in & box our stuff up & move it and they would also add to the contract that we would have 45 days to leave instead of the standard 30 days. Sounded like a good deal so we agreed.

All was well until this summer. All of a sudden, they started acting weird to us. Like all of a sudden, we weren't taking good care of the house or true yard. They came out to work in the yard and were pretty short with me when I went out to talk to them. I overheard them making comments about us being lazy in regards to the yard. I wish I had pictures to show you how "bad" the yard (did not) look and remind everyone that at the time - it was 110 degrees outside and I was 8 months pregnant & on bed rest while my husband worked 6-7 days a week. We managed to keep it maintained but apparently not to their standards.

They started showing the house quite a bit which we were accommodating towards then it started getting really frustrating. They kept breaking verbal agreements and arrangements that we had made about showings and such. Thankfully, they didn't have any showings scheduled for the first 3 weeks we were home with Denver but they quickly picked back up & continued.

Right around Thanksgiving it started getting much worse and December was just a nightmare. We actually had people show up at the house with no notice and barge right in. I explained to them that they could see the house if they would give me a few minutes and they ignored me and toured the house with me in pjs and Denver screaming! When I called to talk to the owner about it, she wouldn't answer my calls or return my texts.

Our last agreement was that they would give us at least 2 hours notice before a showing. Thursday when wee were in the hospital, I get a text from the owner saying that they were showing the house right then & that she had explained our situation to the realtor so they could excuse our mess (which she didn't even know if we had one or not, she had just assumed). I was so mad but was in the middle of talking to the Dr about Denver and couldn't get back to her. A couple hours later I get a call from my sister saying (who was at the house taking care of Coco) that someone had just shown up to see the house. She told him that she didn't feel comfortable letting him in since she didn't know anything about a showing and he told her "you don't have to let me in but there is a lockbox on this door and I'm coming in"! Can you believe it??? That sent me over the edge!

Our 2 hour notice was ignored, they were rude in assuming we had a mess, totally disregarded our belongings, the realtor was 2 hours late to the showing and then was that rude all while we were in the hospital with our sick infant (and she knew that) I totally lost my temper and called the owner. Not surprisingly, she wouldn't answer my call and I might have gotten a little crazy on her voicemail and said that we just needed to leave.

Almost immediately afterward, I got a text that said she couldn't jeopardize her job for this "personal business" but she would accept our 30 days notice.

So, with absolutely no idea where we are going and a baby recovering from a serious illness - we are moving! It had been a long time coming but we at least we're planning to find a new house before we gave our notice!

Pray that we can do all this packing & moving without me having a nervous breakdown!

We're Home!

They released us this morning!


This is the reaction we got when we told Denver that he was going home!

All three of us were so ready to go home!

This (stressed) momma has only had about 12 hours of sleep in the last 6 days. I'm praying that Denver not only continues to get better, but that we can all get some rest!



My sweet boy ready for bed! It looks like there is so much on his little mind!

I'm just so thankful that he's feeling better and that we are all home. Thank you all for your prayers and support!

Feeling Better

After two miserable days fighting with a nasal cannula, the Dr & nurses felt comfortable enough to remove Denver's oxygen and I snapped this picture right after they removed it! Oh, he was a happy boy!

Denver, Darren and I played for awhile today. He looks so much happier than he has in a week! You can tell that he's really starting to feel better.



He even seemed to rest better today!



And he felt good enough to play with his toys!



And all of that playing wore him out and he conked out for a really good afternoon nap!

They are keeping him one more night for observation and a few more breathing treatments but we should be heading home tomorrow morning.

On The Road to Recovery

Denver received a few special gifts today. This one is from his mom & dad.



He finally has an appetite! He's been able to drink milk & keep it down. He's up to drinking about an ounce and a half at a time.



My poor boy!



After a long day of IV meds, fluids and lots of breathing treatments - he finally looks like he's on the road to recovery!

We're In The Hospital

Yesterday evening Denver seemed to be getting worse pretty quickly. After he woke up from a late nap I went to change his diaper and he was really hot. I took his temperature and it was 101.1 so I called D & told him that I was packing him up so we could take him to the hospital when he got home from work.

We went to Texas Children's Hospital and were immediately sent back to be checked. In less than 10 minutes (a nurse listening to him breathe & taking his temperature) they told us they would be giving him a room immediately and after an examination would be moving us up to a regular room.



This picture still makes me cry. I have never felt so helpless in my entire life. I would have done anything in the world to make my sweet little boy feel better & take his pain away.



They had to try in both arms and one foot before they could get his IV placed in his foot. His skin was so clammy & he was a bit dehydrated so they said that it was way more difficult than usual.
They got him set with IV fluids and have him a couple of breathing treatments before they moved us upstairs to our room.



That bed honestly took my breath away.



Seeing my sweet boy in it, made my heart hurt more than I have ever imagined it could.



He started sleeping on his side while we were there. I think it was probably easier for him to breathe because regardless of how you put him down, he always managed to get back to that same side and in that same position.

So far, we're told that he has a severe case of RSV and pneumonia in one lung.

They are doing everything possible to make him better as quickly as they can.

Just keep my baby boy in your prayers!

Breathing Treatments

We've been giving Denver breathing treatments every 4 hours around the clock, with baths and vapor rub (baby rub).

We start the breathing treatment and he gets so upset and just cries and screams - its so heartbreaking. The only good thing is that they told us he would take more in that way. After we finish our breathing treatment, we take a warm vapor bath in a steamy bathroom and then I rub him down with baby rub and get him clean pjs on. He's sleeping very little because he's having a hard time but we have been able to get him to take short naps throughout the day.



Is this not the saddest thing?



My sister watches him for a bit today so I could drive all over town to look for a Nosefrida. I found one (and it works miracles) and she was able to use a sleep positioned and get him to nap for a bit.




Even sick and going through all these treatments, he's the cutest kid ever!



Since he's been sick - he doesn't want me far from him. I felt so bad leaving him to go to the store. Since I've been back - he's held onto me and hasn't let go. My poor sweet boy.

One Sick Baby!

Denver got sick on Friday - he sounded wheezy and was congested and started having a bit of a cough so we'd been watching him and giving him his inhaler but last night all of the excitement must have gotten to him because when we woke up this morning he sounded horrible.
So, I called the after hours number for our pediatrician and got the only appointment for today. We went in and they listened to Denver and decided that we needed a nebulizer and to start breathing treatments.












You can tell in his little eyes that he doesn't feel well, poor baby.

Keep our sweet boy in your prayers. We're hoping that he'll be on the road the recovery quickly.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year


Love, The Fountains