July 4th Holiday

We went to the beach with mom and had a great time and great weather. N. Myrtle Beach is where my mom’s waterway condo is located, so we frequent the OD area of the beach and it was absolutely packed. Thank goodness Tommy and Amy would go over early and set up our canopy to mark our spot. There was traffic too but we just stay in our little area and get around just fine. Jayden really wore herself out on Saturday, she loves to dig in the sand and run back and forth to the water to get buckets and then pour them into digging sand, which is great with me because the sand is less likely to become airborne. This was Carden’s first trip to the beach, to be truthful he didn’t play much in the sand because it wasn’t too long before he had it all over his face and too close to his eyes, so he would sit in our laps until he fell asleep in “the bucket”. Also at OD area they have a mobile amusement park that features kiddy rides. We went there one night and Jayden rode the flying dragons, tea cups, race cars that slide out in corners, Berry Go Round, the carousel 2 times and to my hesitant approval the kiddy roller coaster, that ended up being too rough and had the operator stop it. We watched fireworks at Calabash, Carden loved them but Jayden is still not sure about the loud bang, but did get a few oooh and aaah’s our of her though.

Something crazy is going on…

Last week they started to dig up our street which has been a slight inconvenience but not to bad, this week they are paving. We’ve had this really large neon sign parked in front of our house since Father’s day weekend it normally reads: “no street parking from Park to Queens”. Last night we came home and someone had hacked the sign, now reading “zombie attack evacuate”, we had people stopping in front of our house all night long taking pictures, I’m sure it has covered facebook. It was fixed by 9am this morning.

Yippee

Yippee - Carden is sleeping through the night, well 85% of the time for the last two weeks. He went for his 6 mos. check up and weighed 15 lbs and 9 oz, which makes him in the 19% of an average full term baby in weight and he's 27% for height. He out weigh's Jayden at this age. All else checked out well and we go back at 9 mos. and will not have to do any shots. Carden is starting to learn to hold his own bottle, which is good because he can start on juice in a Sippy cup when he is ready.
Jayden is still a big help with Carden and loves getting him his toys when he's crying, helping feed him the baby food and takes a bite or two herself. We've been going to the pool at the "Y", while putting Carden in child watch, she absolutely loves it, and they have the fun type of kid pool with waterfalls. We signed her up for swimming lessons that will start mid July. Jayden is still potty training, I'm trying all the tips my friends are giving me but feel it's really going to kick in when she starts pre-school late Aug.
Jay and I have been well. Jay went to the 600 with his dad and friends and they had good weather this year, yeah! I did a 24 hr. bike race on a 5 person women’s team, which is always lots of fun. I also was able to go to my Dirt Diva women’s trip mid June. Father's day was just hanging out at home then cookout with Jay's dad, just the way Jay likes it. We've also done a race or two. At Wednesday night's USNWC race Jay placed 2nd out of 6 sport men 45+ and I got 6th out of 20 sport men 36-44, this heat makes it tough for all.
This weekend we are heading to the beach with mom, it will be the first time Carden will hit the sand, hope he doesn't take too much home in his mouth.

It’s been a long time

So sorry it’s been a long time since I’ve posted an update on our family. We have been very busy, the details are below but in short the kids are great. Carden went through a colic spell in March and April, acid reflux, spit-ups and now teething, who knows what’s next, looking back he makes Jayden look like a dream baby. Carden goes for his 6 month check-up this week, he is sitting in the Bumbo seat well, sitting in the high chair to play and eat rice cereal w/ apple sauce and sweet potatoes, and he’s great at tummy time. I assume Carden will weigh over 15 lbs by 6 mos. which has surpassed Jayden at the same age. Jayden is still potty training and I will leave it at that.
In March I did a 4hr. mountain bike clinic for Davidson College that I got paid for, yeah! It went well and I have a hope that they could use me again next semester. Also in March Carden was circumcised, it was the new type with the plastic ring, all went really well, we were expecting a rough first night but amazingly you could hardly tell anything had changed based on his temperament. Eight days of healing were uneventful. I’m glad we waited to have this done when he was a little bigger and stronger instead of the day before leaving the NICU.
Easter was crazy since Jay was on call, but we had a great time. I had posted some pics on the Kodak photo gallery website of this weekend. Jayden went to an Easter Egg Hunt in JC & Judy’s neighborhood on that Saturday that she really enjoyed, when we pass by the house that hosted, she still talks about looking for eggs in that yard and wants to do it again soon. On Easter Sunday, Jayden loved looking for her basket (which was in the bathroom) and hunting for eggs inside and out. We hosted lunch at our house and thank goodness Jay didn’t have to work much during that time period.
We went to the beach with mom in April, it was sunny but still chilly, Jayden was able to play in the sand and loves digging holes, adding water, running to the ocean and looking for seashells. It was Carden’s first road trip, we woke everyone in the condo up at 5 am each morning but all was fine.
Next up was Cousin Katie and Lawson’s wedding. Jayden was a flower girl with Lawson’s niece; Dayton, she’s 4. The girls did great at their part, Jayden just had a couple slip ups, one the way down the isle, which is long at Covenant Presby., she saw me and wanted to come sit with me instead of standing up front. I just pushed her along and put her on her “x” and it worked fine. Some of the ceremony the girls came to sit with Jay and I, then went back out to their spot just before exiting, Jayden didn’t get all the way to her “x” but rather stopped in the middle of the isle star struck at Katie and they had to walk around her. Lucky for Jay and me, these little blunders were taken as cute. Great reception at The Big Chill, Jayden danced all night long and finally just before Katie was leaving Jayden said “can we take all these people home with us”, she was asleep before Jay turned into the driveway. Thanks again to Charlie and Lynn for the great rehearsal dinner at Ruth Chris’s.
One of my best friends Tracey got married to Scott at Pretty Place, which is a marvelous open air chapel with a killer overlook, super near DuPont, my favorite place to ride. This is the first time since the NICU spending the night away from Carden, not just one but two nights. The whole wedding weekend was packed including Tracey’s surprise day at the spa with lunch provided by Cathie and me. However I felt so bad for Tracey and Scott due to the weather for their wedding, the beautiful overlook backdrop turned to pouring rain, cool temps and thick fog, not great for pictures. This never got Tracey or Scott down, you could tell they were enjoying every minute of it. The reception was at Conastee Falls Country Club, with full dinner, dj and we stayed hours. Of course we did some riding at DuPont. It was a well needed adult weekend with a cabin in the woods.
We had a play date at the “Bounce House”, Jayden was scared for a while, once I got her to do the big slide on my lap a couple of times, and she was hooked. Hopefully next time she will have less introduction time. Also Jayden has gone swimming for the first time. It was at the Harris Y in their zero depth pool; she wore a life vest and still got scared a couple times. I was within arms length all the time; I hope to go again soon.
Jay and I have done a couple races that we are proud of:
I did the Dilworth Crit. and got 14 out of 22, doesn’t sound to good but I have a lot to learn at the road racing side. Jay and I raced a 6hr. event as solos, we stated from the beginning that we’d ride together even though he is faster at the start and I might have been faster at the end, 55 miles later we crossed the finish line together. I got 2nd in women and Jay 14th in men. Most recently we both raced at the USNWC, part of a state series held at our local course. The 19 miles took me 1 hr. 46 minutes and Jay just 3 min. less, we had great races, me 3rd out of 6, Jay 7th out of 31.
Jayden and I had a girl’s day one Saturday, we rode a 14 mile urban ride as part of Bike Week, and then we left and went to Granny’s 50th surprise birthday party. Linda’s sister Mary Helen planned the whole thing and really left no stone unturned. Each of us ladies got an hour massage, wow. We didn’t get home until late but, it was fun.

A Warm Sunny Weekend

Jayden is in my Cousin Katie’s’ wedding on April 17th, here in Charlotte. On Friday Jayden and I went to Mecklenburg Bridal for Jayden to try on her flower girl dress. The other flower girl is Dayton; she’s 4 yrs. old and was in town, so it was great for them to meet. These photos don’t show it but both dresses will have a navy sash, which has not arrived yet. No alterations needed, I’m just hoping Jayden doesn’t out grow it in the next 8 weeks.
Jay and I had a great time racing our bikes in 60 degree weather, we both have no idea how we did in the series, was just good to be out there. Char and Linda came in town, saw us race and spent the night. They also took the night shift, for me that was two nights in a row I got 7 hrs. sleep.
Jayden has now done #2 in the potty 5 mornings in a row, we don’t seem to make it the other times but that’s one less messy one. She still likes to help take care of Carden, she’s known how to put his “Passy” in but last week she fed him a little bottle while he was in the bouncy seat. It actually was a big help so I could keep going to get out the door on time.

Six hours

Six hours…
We reached a milestone in that about 5 days ago Carden went 6 hours between feeding which gives me hope that we will start to get more sleep at night. He went from 9pm – 3am, so need to shift it a little. I knew it would be a little bit before he did it again but we have had one other time this week we went 5 hrs. so that gets me 4-3.5 hrs. sleep in one stretch. We went to the doctor yesterday for his 2 mos. Vaccines and he weighed 9 lbs naked and 9.5 lbs w/ clothes and diaper on. Just this weekend he smiled as a reaction to a face I made, he’s only done it a time or two but we know there’s more to come. Also Carden’s neck is getting very strong and he’s bopping that head around a lot.
We got Jayden registered for pre-school which does not start until the last week of Aug. but she got in, yeah. She will be going to the Harris Y Pre-school Academy with 15 other 2 yr olds but possibly in Sept. can get into the 3 yr. old class if space available after she turns 3. In the photos above, she has a chocolate mouth because dad gave Jayden her very own pudding (fat free of course) the other night and she gobbled it up like it was going to be taken away. She also is such good mom to her dolls Mary and Baby Amy, copping me with what I do with Carden. We are still in the middle of potty training and probably will be for a while.

Snow day

We don’t get to many snow opportunities here in NC but it was nice for Jayden and I to play a little this weekend. The first day was kinda frozen over and we mainly sled in the backyard. Sunday the melting started and we could make a snowman. Once we built Frosty, Jayden wanted to build another so we built Frosty’s baby (not pictured).
Carden is 7 weeks old and growing rapidly. We went to the doctor today and he weighed 7 lbs 12 oz. He’s growing too fast for me; I’m already missing my little 5 lb., 6 lb., and soon 7 lb. baby boy. He really is a true infant/baby now; he’s grown out of 4 of his preemie outfits, on occasions he will go 4 hours before the next feeding at night. He’s off his monitor, and the freedom to walk with him around the house is wonderful. He also is starting to want to hold his head up more and more, right now about 30 seconds at a time. His beautiful complexion has disappeared temporarily to give way for a little baby acne but we know it’s short lived. Our biggest dilemma is his diaper rash, we’ve been to the doctor 4-5 times trying different tricks, hopefully today’s visit will be the magical one.
Jayden still likes her brother and doesn’t want to give him back yet. She will jockey for attention from time to time but fairly harmless. She continues to do well with her potty training; we had a couple successes with #2 this past week, yeah! Jayden also put her coat on by herself yesterday, of course with verbal instructions by mom but otherwise I didn’t help. Jayden also got her hair cut for the first time a couple weeks ago; she did great and was not scared at all.
Jay and I are really enjoying our addition, yes it’s a lot more work for now but it’s fun to just stare and smile at what a miracle we’ve been given. Jay had to spend 2 nights in Atlanta last week on business; I managed just fine but was looking forward to him coming home. I’ve been able to bike about 2 times a week recently, which feels good to be back out there. Jay and I also managed to race a couple weeks ago, it was fun but muddy.

Carden is home!!!

Carden arrived home on Tuesday Dec. 29, 3 weeks after his birth. Now that it’s been 2 weeks after his arrival, he doesn’t seem like a preemie to me other than he wears preemie clothes, he’s so strong and acts like a normal infant. He is a good baby, he sleeps great, eats pretty good if he’s awake. Carden came home on a monitor to alert us of any Bradycardia; similar to sleep apnea in adults. We’ve only had one alarm, which we think was the pad coming off false alarm, scenario just didn’t add up. Jay loves having him monitored, I wanted to be rid of it asap, but I’ve grown to count on it too, it gives me confidence to sleep and not worry about any of his sounds. He’s really like an old man with all his grunts and groans. Carden likes baths except when it’s feeding time. We went to the doctor today for our 3rd weight check, he’s 6 lbs 2 oz., he grew 1.5 oz/day since previous appt., yeah going in right direction. He has worked up to nursing him every time except when he’s fed 2 servings of 22 calorie formula, he’s come a long way from being tube fed to now. I could tell he was eating right for his cheeks are chubbier, longer legs and I think his hair has grown too. Carden will not be able to go out in public until he is atleast 2 months and maybe well into Feb., just for the fear of catching a cold symptom that would impact him severely. He has been given the 1st dose of the RSV shot ($1,000 per shot, thank goodness for insurance) because he was born <37 weeks, it’s flue season and has a sibling younger then 5. Jay’s aunt's neighbors baby died of RSV, so it’s nothing to mess around with. I’ve already seen so many changes in him, he can follow a rattle with his eyes and most impressive he can hold his own “Passy” in, Jayden didn’t do that until she was 2-3 months old. We are just soooo excited to finally have him home with us. I love my days with him just sitting in the sunroom, nursing and cuddling him, he’s so precious.
Jayden just loves him to death, the “little mommy” in her is shining through. Of course she wants to hug, squeeze and kiss him often and sometimes it’s not as gently as I would like. She also wishes he could play with even his toys. Jayden is also in the middle of potty training, she kind of regressed while I was in the hospital but now that I’m home all the time she has been doing very well, especially this past week but far from exclusive “big girl panties” just yet.
Sorry it’s been so long since the last time I wrote, I’ll try to do better.