0 to 2 in 287 Days...and Living to Blog About It!!!

Pumpkin Patch 2010

First of all thank you for all of your kind comments!  I started to reply to all of them but then realized it is Halloween weekend...and things are just really busy.  So, since all of you are such faithful readers, I thought I could send out one great big hug through a post, LOL! 

I don't need hundreds of people reading or following but it does help to know that I am sharing our journey with all of you:)

So, we went to the pumpkin patch on Friday.  It was a georgeous,  brisk but sunny afternoon.  We probably made it about 5 minutes before Gigi had a complete meltdown.  Gavin was totally digging it and Gigi wanted to get the h-e-double hockey sticks out of there.  Here are a few photos from our visit!  (BTW, I only took Gigi out of her snuggly warm infant carrier long enough for a few quick pics.  I promise it wasn't too cold:)

Pumpkin Patch 2009...family of 3.5!

Pumpkin Patch 2010...family of 4!

 

Is anybody out there?

Well, this is probably going to sound like a pretty pathetic post...but here it goes anyway!

I love blogging.  I love documenting our family's journey and sharing it with others.  I believe it has been helpful to others who have struggled on their journey to parenthood.  However, it takes A LOT of time.  And, let's face it, if you are going to put time into something...you like to think somebody is actually reading it. 

So, if you are reading this, even if I (we) don't know you, please leave me a comment and let me know it is worth continuing to exist in the blog world, LOL!  (I know somebody is reading it because I had 102 hits just the other day.  So either somebody is obsessively checking my blog or I really do have some readers out there:)  As an added bonus, if you leave a comment, I will enter you in a drawing for our Operation: Warm Christmas giveaway.  Please, please, please help me get the word out about Operation: Warm Christmas by linking it on your blog or Facebook.

Also, if you would like another entry, please "follow" my blog.  O.K., I think I am going to stop here at the risk of sounding even more pathetic, LOL!

Zoo Boo 2010

Here is a photo collage from Zoo Boo 2010.  As one of my friends on Facebook said, Zoo Boo, was a Zoo!  It was CRAZY  busy.  However, as zoo members, we felt it was important for us to go and support this wonderful event.  Going to the zoo is a new experience now that Gavin is finally starting to understand looking at the animals!  He really had a great time with his buddy Harper.  Gigi literally slept through almost the entire trip.

Stay tuned for pictures from the pumpkin patch and, of course, from Halloween!!!

 

Date Night...Who are you again?

Don't forget to leave a comment to enter in our drawing for Operation: Warm Christmas.  The deadline is November 1!!!  Remember to link to this post on your blog or link to Courtney Bock Designs on Facebook for additional entries.  Don't be shy!!!

On another note, we have been really trying to get out once a week or so for a date night the last couple of weeks.  Gigi and Gavin are both at a good point and it is a bit easier to leave them with a sitter.  It has been wonderful to say the least.  I feel like a new woman! 

So last weekend, we went golfing.  This was the first time I have golfed since April 2009.  We golfed with our friends Jo and Mike just a few days before Gavin was born.  And, as they say, the rest is history.  I actually played o.k. and the fall foilage was breathtaking.  Some quiet time away from our two little loves and a yummy dinner at the club that I didn't have to cook was just what the doctor ordered.

Then, this weekend we went to Cammie and Tom's annual Halloween Bash.  Seriously, my face hurt from smiling and laughing.  I didn't realize how much I missed being a grown up and hanging out with my friends.  It really was a blast!

And, we managed to squeeze in a quick dinner at our favorite local restaurant.  Here we are before heading out to dinner and the party.

And, last but not least, a photo collage from our Halloween fun!

Hope all of you had a great weekend!  Stay tuned for a post with the kiddos in their Halloween outfits.  We have our first of many fun Halloween events today!

 

 

Gavin~ 18 months, October 22, 2010

Don't forget to leave a comment to enter in our drawing for Operation: Warm Christmas.  The deadline is November 1!!!

Wow, Gavin...I just can't believe it...18 months!!!

Gavin 17 months, September 22, 2010

Gavin 16 months, August 22, 2010

Dear Gavin,

All I can say is that you are truly such a joy and a love!

*  All four of your incisor teeth are in.  Honestly, I think you have sixteen teeth.  But, you really don't want me to take a look.

*  You love to drink Yo Baby smoothies for breakfast and drinking out of a straw is one of your newest tricks.  You also love chicken nuggets, macaroni and cheese, and your VERY favorite right now is apples.  You literally ate them off of the tree at the orchard.

*  You LOVE to say "football" when you throw the ball around with daddy.

*  One of your favorite things to do is to go swimming at the indoor pool at the club with mommy and daddy.

*  Your favorite books right now are Tails and Pat the Bunny.  You basically love any touch and feel books or books with flaps.  You love to help mommy turn the pages.

*  You love to eat your snack at the counter like a big boy.  We are working on getting you to sit on your bottom.  Every time you want up, down, in, or out...you say "Get Down!"  This is your universal term that means you want a change in scenery.

*  You love to give high fives.  After you high five, you say "yay or dude!"

*  You still love your mommy and me tumbling class.  Every single time you do something good your cheer for yourself.  You clap and say "yay."

*  You love giving kisses on the lips.  Although, you haven't gotten the memo that people like you to close your lips before going in for the smooch.  So, you tend to slobber all over whoever you are kissing.

*  You love "helping" your sister bounce in her jumperoo.  She just laughs and laughs at you!  You get a real kick out of making her smile.

*  You wear mostly 2t clothes but can still fit into a few 18 months items.

*  You head to bed around 7:30 and sleep until about 7:30.  You almost always take just an afternoon nap.  It is usually from 1-3 or 1-4.

*  We went on our first vacation as a family of four to the Lake in August.  You had a blast with your friends!  It was truly a kids paradise.  A week of fun in the sun with four other kiddos!  You turned 16 months on the first day of the trip.

*  We went to the apple orchard for a little fall fun.  It was 82 degrees in early October.  So unseasonable for our area.  You loved it so much and even helped daddy eat an apple before we got back to the barn.

*  We are very excited for Halloween.  You are going to have a little party for all of your friends on Halloween with crafts, yummy food, and trick-or-treating.  We can't wait.

You literally learn something new every single day.  Your curious nature makes it exciting to be your mommy and daddy.

 Love,

Mom and Dad

Operation: Warm Christmas...Blog "Give Away"!!!

Welcome to the first ever blog "give away" for 0 to 2 in 287 Days!  I am so excited to share this exciting item with my blog readers.  Here is a little background before the big unveil:)

There are few things in this world that can truly shake you to your core.  Having your daughter whisked off by a team of doctors to the NICU is certainly one of them.  Having your poor husband trying to decide who he should be with first, his wife who is still in the delivery room after an emergency c-section or his baby girl who is being hooked up to a variety of machines to help her.  Overwhelming, blurry, yet still beautiful perfectly describes the day that Gwyneth was born.

The NICU team was actually pleasantly surprised by her size, four pounds 10 ounces.  Apparently, she was a good sized baby for 33.5 weeks.  They seemed to think that her stay in the NICU would be a short one and, although we would be taking home a tiny baby, we would be going home in the next couple of days.  One LONG month later, we finally took our baby girl home.

When you are a preemie, size is just one of many factors.  Gigi needed help maintaining her body temperature and breathing during the first part of her NICU stay.  Once she had these things more under control, we began to focus on her eating.  Her eating was and still is a challenge for her.  However, you can tell by her chubby little cheeks that she is managing to catch up.  At her 8 month cardiologist appointment the other day, she weighed in just shy of 17 pounds (24th percentile) and height was 27 and 1/4 inches (53 percentile).  This is great news because she spent a significant part of the first six months of her life not even on the growth charts.  Her Atrial Septal Defect is healing nicely and we are hopeful that she will not need surgery to repair it in the future.  We are just so proud of our little girl and each milestone she hits is comparable to climbing Mt. Everest in our book!

Now for the fun part...the give away!

A special opportunity has come our family's way.  An opportunity to be a part of something beautiful.  Courtney at Courtney Bock Designs has asked us to be an Affiliate Partner for her community service project Operation: Warm Christmas.  What is Operation: Warm Christmas?  Operation Warm Christmas 2010 is a charitable effort to enrich the lives of premature babies, still born babies, and parents during their stays in a Newborn Intensive Care Unit.  The pledge of Courtney Bock designs is simple.  They will donate 100 receiving blankets specifically designed, sized, and weighed appropriately for premature infants.  After that 100 blankets, they will continue to donate one preemie receiving blanket for every one Classic Receiving Blanket sold  from their children's textile collection.  (information taken from Operation: Warm Christmas promotional pamphlet)  Gigi is actually one of the babies featured in this promotional material:)  The photo below was the one used.  It is hard to believe that is even our Gigi girl. 

So, why are blankets so important in the NICU?  Well, for us personally, we received a couple of blankets that people had made and donated.  Below this paragraph is a picture of one of our hand-knitted NICU blankets and hats.  It was and is still SO special to us.  I literally rotated between the blanket pictured below and another one and brought them home at night, since I couldn't bring my baby girl home.  It smelled like her and helped especially while I was trying to pump that liquid gold for her.  I don't know who made the blanket, however, I will always be grateful to that amazing person.  And, let's be honest, we were way more fortunate than others.  Gigi wasn't born that early.  Her stay in the NICU wasn't for months and months.  It was for one month.  All along we knew it was going to take some time but she was going to get better.  Not everybody has this good fortune.  For somebody that has lost their little one, a blanket like this would be one of the few things they had left to cherish.  I hope I never, ever have to know this pain.  However, I am more aware now than I ever was that it is a reality that many people have to deal with. 

If you are interested in being entered in a drawing for the beautiful receiving blanket pictured below, please enter the give away.

Please know I am not receiving anything in return for this give away other than the satisfaction of knowing that by selling more of these beautiful blankets...babies and families during some of their darkest hours will be blanketed with love.

Entries will be given by:  (You can get up to three entries!!!)

All entries must be submitted by midnight November 1st.  I will post the winner the following morning.

*  Leaving a comment on the blog post below.  (Facebook comments will not be counted.)

*  Adding a link to this post on your blog and letting me know via comments below.

*  Sharing a link on facebook to Courntey Bock Designs Operation: Warm Christmas!  or becoming a fan of Courtney Bock Designs on Facebook. (Again, let me know below, if you have shared the link on Facebook.)

Also, if you want to help, please think about the people in your life that might enjoy one of these special blankets as a present and hop on over to www.CourtneyBockDesigns.com and place an order.  Remember for every blanket sold, one will be donated.  Orders must be made by December 10, 2010 to insure Christmas delivery.  If you are local, you can also head over to Orange Tree because the blankets are for sale there also!  Plus, it is a really awesome gift store in our area.

Gigi thanks you all for supporting this great cause from the bottom of her heart!

XOXOXOXOXO

Apple Orchard

Well, time is flying and fall is in full swing!  We visited the apple orchard last Sunday and it was a whopping 82 degrees.  Totally unseasonal for our neck of the woods but beautiful all at the same time.  I created my first photo collage to share on our blog.  I am totally getting into photo editing and am actually hoping to take a photography class...in all of my spare time, LOL!

Also, please stay tuned for an exciting post sometime next week.  I am going to do a "give away" for something that is very near and dear to our families heart.  I can't wait to share the details with you!

Believe it or not, Gwyneth is eight months old and Gavin will be 18 months old a week from Friday.  I will also be posting their updates and milestones in the next week.