Lots to Show off...

I have lots to post..But for now...I'll let you stare into these beautiful, deep, soulful eyes!

Doesn't he have a striking resemblance to the Gerber Baby? I think so!

Eight MONTHS

The days seem to whisk by without hesitation. It leaves me wondering what day it is and then I find myself amazed that the days passed have come and gone. My baby is growing like a weed. He ceases to amaze us all.
They've ramped up his vision & occupational therapy in addition to adding in a physical therapist. Everyone is baffled at his progression. When I went to the second dose of his neonatal follow up clinic, I was greeted with the same reaction from the dietitian, nurse, pediatrician and physical therapist. They each had their concerns and many red flags while reading through his history. After evaluating him, they each anxiously informed me he was nowhere near the condition they would have assumed he'd be in. With that bit of info, it might trigger a question of why would they increase the therapy? They feel that if there could be something that either they're missing or hasn't presented itself, they want to grasp the window of opportunity and minimize anything that possibly could be in his future.
He's still a little behind with a few things, that is to be expected. His back and neck muscles aren't near as strong as they should be. He was in a hospital bed for four months so it comes as no surprise to anyone. In fact, they are indeed very pleased with his capabilities where they stand.
We have our few little exercises to do each day. He really doesn't mind...that meant just that much more time with mommy!

He is:
reaching for and holding his feet
staring at his hands
laughing at his mommy-brothers-sister-and-daddy
rolling onto his tummy on either side
grabbing the dogs hair and holding on for dear life
sleeping from 9:30 pm until 6:30am
wagging his tongue like a dog
singing to hear his own voice
sitting very well in his bumbo
and continuously stealing my heart

He is such a sweet, patient, loving, happy, kissable little angel. He continues to defy the odds. Lincoln was meant to be here. He fought so hard just to get his little body and be with our family here on earth. He is such a strong little guy who is never willing to give up. Hmmmm sounds like he fits right in with the other kids we have :) Without fail, I am always reminded that miracles exist and Lincoln will ALWAYS truly be our miracle. I don't know what we did to deserve such a special little spirit, but I'm sure glad he's ours!

Oh Me Oh My

Yep, another month...come and gone. And we're still keeping him. And no, you can't buy him...he's not for sale! Lincoln's 7 months old .... His adjusted age is 4 months!

We still have our occupational therapist, vision specialist, and nurse coming every month for check ups. The OT say he's doing really well and everything that is expected of him. The nurse feels the same way. In fact, the last time she came he had gained 10 ounces in less than two weeks and she was SUPER excited about that. The vision specialist feels Lincoln is on track as well. But when we went to the neonatal follow up clinic, the opthamolgist observed that Lincoln definetely had an injury from either the brain bleed, hydrocephalus, infection from the shunt, or the actual pressure. He diagnosed him with Cortical Visual Impairment. Now, how severe is it? We don't know yet. We do know he can see though. The opthamolgist said just the fact that he makes eye contact and tracks things is HUGE. He diagnosed him with having 20/200 vision or worse, which is considered being legally blind. I think we'll know and see the bigger picture when Lincoln can communicate with us what he is seeing. So for now, we'll just keep hoping for the best and trying to teach him the best ways possible to learn to see!

Can't wait to see him running around in these one day!

Bless This Child

We were SO super happy to finally be able to bless Lincoln....
He is such an amazing little boy!
He was PERFECT through out the whole thing. My lovely husband does such an amazing job at speaking. He is so eloquent in his choice of words and never shows any signs of stage fright. He definitely lets the Spirit speak through him.

After Sacrament, we had a little get together with all of our family and friends. Everyone visited and filled their tummies to their hearts content. To all those who came: I know it gets a bit squishy when we're all together at my house, but I woudn't have it any other way. We're so glad to see all of your support for our family, it makes my heart happy!

A Few Firsts

My aunt paid for my airline ticket to photograph my cousins wedding on the 15th of May in Virginia. So, that meant me and little Linc had our first little vacation together. This was a trip of many firsts for him. He laughed for the first time as I tickled him under his chin on the 13th.

The day I was flying back home, we took a little tour of D.C. His first time, my second.

He met a guy with a really cool name....

Unfortunately I had the wrong settings on my camera and the battery died right after the picture was snapped (we're totally out of focus). And coincidentally Lincoln and I were in red, white and blue.

My mom definitely made the trip, she couldn't miss the wedding of her baby sister's child.

She was excited to make the rounds and see the sights. Oh, the one with the goofy face on the right is my cousin Shyanna, the brides little sister.

And on his first plane ride, Lincoln was EXCELLENT both there and back. When we pulled into DC and stood up, a few people commented how they never even knew there was a baby right behind them. He slept most of the way and enjoyed being snuggled a bunch.

We had a very enjoyable trip.

BUT...we were glad to be able to say "Home Sweet Home."

Can't Get Enough!

We had the NICU Preemie Reunion this last Saturday. One of the things they asked of us was to bring a current picture of our preemie. So, you can bet I got the camera out and started snapping away.

I keep hearing this song on the radio. Never once did I hear it while he was in the hospital, but I feel it describes how I felt to a "T"

Iris by The Goo Goo Dolls:
And I'd give up forever to touch you,
Cause I know that you feel me somehow.
You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be,
And I don't want to go home right now.

And all I can taste is this moment,
And all I can breathe is your life,
And sooner or later it's over,
I just don't want to miss you tonight.

And I don't want the world to see me,
Cause I don't think that they'd understand.
When everything's made to be broken,
I just want you to know who I am.

And you cant fight the tears that ain't coming,
When everything feels like the movies,
Yeah you bleed just to know you're alive.

And I don't want the world to see me,
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand.
When everything's made to be broken,
I just want you to know who I am.

He was making so many funny faces it was cracking me up! I think he's getting used to a big camera in his face all of the time now. He definitely puts on a show :)

Alright Mom, gettin' a little tired here....this is hard work, you know!

And where are the pictures from the reunion you ask? Oh why, there's a simple answer to that... I had my camera in tow, but as I went to take pictures, I found out I had no memory card! My camera has no internal memory (or at least I haven't figured out how to make it work yet) and so no pictures!

It was fun seeing familiar faces and meeting new ones as well. The kids had a lot of fun. I tell you what, they sure know how to put on a party! There were hot dogs, cotton candy, sno cones, popcorn, brownies, donuts, games, face painting, bounce-houses, and the life-flight chopper.

Lincoln turned 6 months old!

Mr. Lincoln turned six months old! There's been a lot of change around here.

He LOVES his hands and fingers...so a whole lot of this...

He smiles a lot too...so, much of this...

Lots of sleeping...

Not much crying...

And LOTS of GROWING!...

Not to be excluded: endless loves, snuggles, hugs and kisses!

Lincoln is now 10 pounds 2 ounces. He is rolling to his side, pushing himself backwards with his feet, cooing, and smiling. He loves to be tickled and he L.O.V.E.S his family!