Lincoln's First Easter

Lincoln's first Easter was pretty layed back! Unfortunately, he didn't get to participate in any Easter egg hunts... BUT... he did {love} his new little bear the bunny brought him.

Can't wait for him to grow older and teach him the TRUE meaning of Easter! When his big sister, Savana, was asked why we celebrate Easter, her reply was: "candy." I guess there's some big lessons to be learned!

So, how is it exactly having Lincoln home? A lot of people have asked and each time my response is something like..."We're happy, Life's wonderful, Everything is just perfect!"...which is ALL very true.
For a little more in depth detail:
Lincoln sleeps with mommy and daddy. Yes, I know, I said not another child of mine would sleep in my bed. He just sleeps SO much better with us. He will wake up two to three times. Luckily he does really well with breast-feeding and so we take advantage of that at night time. The doc's really want to make sure he still gets the extra nutrition that he needs. That is why we can't fully eliminate bottle feeding. I'm okay with that. We'll do what we need to do and in due time we'll work with what is at hand!
He takes multiple naps through out the day still. He really enjoys his swing and bouncy chair! When he wakes up he wants to eat RIGHT away! He has a few times through out the day that he stays awake for at least an hour or so. He loves to look around and take in all the new things to see and hear. Morning time is his favorite! Pretty much every morning, he'll lay on the bed and just grin and grin. He can get super wiggly in response to his happiness.

Grandma and Grandpa Brown

The first bath I gave to Lincoln, he was NOT so happy about. Now, he thoroughly enjoys bath time! Though, he's not so sure about afterwards when he's cold. I routinely put baby lotion on him and he loves his palms rubbed.

He is a very popular boy!! We have an occupational therapist come to our house twice a month and a nurse once a month. Lincoln has been to multiple routine doctor's appointments, with Dr. Berry, since being home. Everyone in the office loves to see him. This next week is going to be C.R.A.Z.Y. I have a different appointment for him Monday through Thursday.
I still can't believe he's home. Everyday I hold him and just shake my head in disbelief. I'm wondering when they will come in and whisk him right back to the hospital. This boy is SO SUPER kissable! I've had a bit of a sore throat the last couple of days, so I've had to try to contain myself. Let me tell ya... it's not easy!!
We love having Lincoln home and are so glad to be on with our new journey in life!

Just a few...

......of Lincoln's newborn pictures!
Since I'll be sending out birth announcements, I don't want to spoil the fun.

In the meantime, these are a few that didn't get on the announcement, but

I still {loved}.

There were actually quite a few that I liked and so the announcement got flooded

with pictures!

Here I am

How time flies when you're having fun!! I can't believe it's almost been two weeks since we brought our little Linc home! I CAN NOT put into words the pure and utter joy it is to have him out of the hospital and home with his family where he belongs. We've had a few busy weeks with dr's visits, in-home occupational therapy appointments and doing ABSOLUTELY nothing. The first visit was with our Dr. Berry. The first time he met Lincoln was when he delivered him. He hadn't seen him since. So, we took him in and got them reacquainted. He just wanted to get squared away on his current condition. Then the following appointment, he gave him the gift of circumcision (poor guy!).

We met with the team, nurse and occupational therapist, who will be coming into our home a couple of times a month to keep tabs on his weight and developmental progress. The second visit we had a surprise visit from Annie, his OT while he was at UVMRC. We LOVE her!! Too bad she's not his permanent OT!! I have to throw this little story in just because it's classic!!!.... As we were waiting for their arrival, this last Thursday, I was tidying up the living room. Luke had had a bit of a runny nose. With five minutes to spare, I turned around to find that he had left a snot trail all across the couch. Uh ya...that's what I said, a snot trail, much like that of a snail who creeps along his way. I caught a glimpse of him in action on the last one. He had been bobbing his head down on the couch, then would take a step over to stamp the next clean portion of his canvas. I had to get a wet towel and scrub down the couch. That little trick left the couch wet, which in turn, left me no choice but to admit to our guests what had just happened. I pulled out a couple of chairs from my dining room for them to sit on. Children....GOTTA love 'em.

Lincoln is such a little joy. They acted pretty worried in the hospital about how his long term eating habbits would be. Let's just say, there need be no worry! He LOVES to eat. I've heard it a million times, but they say the babies just tend to eat better once they come home. It's true...it's just true! They're with the ones they love getting constant - consitant care and that makes them flourish. I am SO glad to say that the hospital is in the rear view mirror. I knew it would feel good, but I had NO idea how good that good would be! I seriously just want to stand on top of a mountain and scream my joys!! I'm also just i.t.c.h.i.n.g to get out, go on a vacation and just explore! I feel as though I have just received the gift of sight after being blinded and just want to go out and take as much of it all in as possible. Honestly, this feeling is so undescribable and maybe but only a few can relate to. GIVE...that is the other thing I'm deeply desiring. There were SO many that gave to us and I just want to show them my gratitude. (Hey...if anyone has any unique ideas on thank you gifts, please fill me in). For now, I'm working on his birth announcement...so exciting :)!

So here we lay on my bed, Lincoln and I, as I jot down our history and he kicks and coos.

LIFE IS GOOD

Four Months

We celebrated Lincoln being four months old by....doing absolutely nothing BUT cuddling at HOME! It was wonderful. No rush to take Luke to the sitters. No need to lug my pump and pump kit around. No anxious feelings as we pull into the parking lot at the hospital. No need to make sure to get in a few hours of visit before being kicked out.

He was able to sleep in his OWN bed. Not sure that he quite likes it though. Everytime we put him in, he wakes up minutes later wiggling and protesting. I'm trying to figure out if it's the bed, or if he's too smart for his own good and KNOWS mommy and daddy will hold him. Our first night was long. He acts much like any other newborn and wakes multiple times in the night. I think it's a bit of us trying to get to know each other a little better too.

Scottie is so anxious to be able to hold him any chance he gets. Luke and Savana will be keeping a bit of distance since they have a little cough. I'm assuming that's why Savana is giving a bit of a 'tude in this photo.

I think it's fair to say.....he didn't really like his bath. From the beginning, while undressing him, he let me know he wasn't into it. We made it quick. You just can't resist a freshly bathed baby!

It's been a perfect day!

Surprise!!!

I know, I know, this was all so.....sudden! When I called in on Sunday, they informed me he was doing REALLY well and if he had another good day and night they would consider sending him home on Monday. Well, it happened! He's here. None of us can really believe it. It's so surreal. Our children are ecstatic. Scottie wants to hold him non-stop and Savana is excited to tell everyone she knows the good news. Luke keeps reminding us how he wants to call him Bubba. As for Scott and I, we couldn't be any happier. Our hearts are so full! We wanted to make sure we thanked everyone and so here the list goes in no particular order (and if we've forgotten anyone, we sincerely apologize):

Mom and Dad Skeem
Mom and Dad Brown
Amanda
Kellie and Ashley
Conan and Sarah
Shawn and Chelsea
Kevin
Amber
Michelle Lundberg
Mark and Kim Peterson
Jon and Danielle
Reny and Michelle Hew-Len
Megan Bradshaw
Bishop Moss
Carrie Moss
Jenn Messick
Lisa Lara
Rachel Weidman
Janae Jackson
MULTIPLE members of our Slate canyon 15th ward
Jessica Hayward
Dr. Steve Minton
Dr. Cheattam
Dr. Charlene
Dr. Riva-Cambrin
Occupational Therapist Annie
NICU nurse Sarah
NICU nurse Heather
NICU nurse Linda (A.K.A. NICU photographer)
NICU nurse Ashley
NICU nurse Jenn
NICU nurse Emily
NICU nurse Margaret
NICU nurse Brent
NICU nurse John

All of our friends, and even those who did not know us, who constantly kept us in their prayers

Last but certainly not least.....Our beautiful children who sacrificed SO much during this time Scottie, Savana and Luke!

And of course there's no way we could forget to thank our Heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ!

Another surgery down

Well, hopefully this will be the last one for a long time, if any! Lincoln was scheduled to go in yesterday morning at 8am to have a new shunt placed. When we got there, his potassium levels were off so they wouldn't continue on with the surgery until they could get them regulated. Just our luck! Basically, they would give him a bunch of fluids over the course of three hours, along with another solution(not sure of the name) and he would have to urinate the extra potassium out. If they couldn't get the potassium down that day, we would have to re-schedule surgery for Monday. I was a little nervous you could say. By 11am they were ready to re-test and lucky for us, the potassium was down lower. At about 1:15 they took Lincoln in for surgery. He did really well. When we went into see him, he was wide awake. He was still on the ventilator, but they were trying to wean him off of it. He was NOT happy! He was wiggling and would not hold still. He was trying to figure out how to get the ventilator tube out of his mouth. After they finally decided to take him off the vent, he was extremely content. The neuro-surgeon said he was very happy with the outcome of the surgery. He was very anxious to get Lincoln home. He questioned the reasoning for him having to stay. We informed him Lincoln was only taking 50% of his feeds orally when he needed to be taking the entire 100%. He was trying to storm up some ideas to bribe the NICU to get Lincoln home. We let him know we fully encouraged his idea! Hopefully this week we can get pretty serious about making things happen. When all said and done, it's up to Lincoln. Somehow, I'm going to arrange to be with him as much as possible through out the week to help him master this. I know he can do it. Hopefully with the shunt in place, he will be feeling better and more up to eating what's expected of him. I *HOPE* we're in the home-stretch. This is were my faith comes in again!