Tis the Season!

Wesley giving kisses.

Showing off his standing abilities.

          


              

Check out those brown eyes. Watch out girls!

 

Max wasn't feeling so great so I was thrilled we got some great shots of him.

Our little Miracle Men. 20 Months old.

Max cuddling with Daddy.

Smiley even when sick. What a guy.

Not completely sure what Wes is doing, but I like it anyways.


 Thank you Lindsey Iverson for taking these adorable pictures.

Happy Thanksgiving

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!  This year we are extra thankful. Both our boys are home, fairly healthy, and making big strides in their development.
We have amazing family and friends who love us. A church that supports us in immeasurable ways. And a God that holds us tightly and leads us through our ups and downs.
We have come so far since last year! God has truly blessed our little family. 
Thank you for you thoughts and prayers. We are so touched.... I don't have words to express... THANK YOU.

God Bless you on this day. Have a fantastic Thanksgiving.

Love,
Mark, Kate, Max and Wes


 

Max is On a Roll!!!

Max's ween went great Friday. We can do half hour weens twice a day at home! Pulmonology would like us to take the first week easy. Max has been having some "off" days lately so they want to ease into the process.  If he does well this week we can do 1 hour weens the next week. We are ECSTATIC!!!!! The process has begun!!! 
It is so fun when we turn the vent off. Both boys look around to see how it got so quiet in the house. Max gets so proud of himself. He sits up super straight and giggles at himself. It is soooo cute. Wes crawls over to Max and stares at him. I think he is wondering where all of Max's tubes are.
It is such an amazing feeling. I am so proud of Max. He is absolutely amazing. We didn't expect to start this process already and he is handling it like a pro. We feel so....I can't find the right word. It is just wonderful!

Max's BIg Day

Friday (Nov. 5)Max is going to have an the opportunity to have a vent ween. They (Pulmonology) will turn his vent off for 1 hour and see how he does. If he handles it we will get to try it at home. And then, as the days go by we can slowly increase his time off the vent until he is off all day long (he will remain on the vent at night for a while yet). This is a HUGE step! We are thrilled that we are even talking about it. Please pray that it goes well. And, that he can continue to take steps towards being less dependent on his ventilator.
Thanks for your thought and prayers! We appreciate all of them. God has blessed us with these amazing boys. I am so excited to see what God has in store for them.

NICU Buddies

Some of our NICU buddies came over for a photo shoot yesterday. We had a blast!!!
I made the tutu's and tie onesies for the kids. I have to say they turned out pretty cute.

The line up of the kiddos. Sooooooo adorable!

Max, so handsome sitting up like a big boy in the chair! Kisses all around!!!

Wesley pondering the chaos of the day. This was towards the end of the photo shoot, he was exhausted.

Times they are a CHANGIN!!!

Wes and Max in the tub together! I know that is "normal"  for most families, but in our house it was HUGE! The boys loved it! Splashing and giggling the whole time.

This pic of both of them in the tub is a true depiction of their personalities. Wes is mischevious and .....well naughty. Max is cautious and careful. SO CUTE! 

I love this picture.     Aug. 2010

Wes is now standing up by furniture and crawling EVERYWHERE! He is into everything. He loves to "help" me sew. He plays with my sewing machine petal and picks up all the threads on his pants.        Sept. 2010

Max is giving all of you a kiss! He is hilarious. He sits on the floor and bounces, plays the drums on his little stool, and watches everything. You can almost see his brain trying to figure out how things work. Maybe he'll be an engineer like his uncle.                    July 2010

Wesley playing in a box just like all kids do. So cute, he thought he was pretty cool.                    July 2010

Max at feeding therapy. This picture is before he actually started doing anything. About 5 seconds after this picture was taken he was screaming.                       Oct. 2010

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GREAT Changes!

Max and Wes are doing GREAT!

SIZES: Max is still our "Big Guy" he is 29 inches long and 23 and a half pounds.

Wesley is 27 inches (I think, sadly I am not good at all the boys details). He is still 17 pounds. He is still struggling to gain weight.

DEVELOPMENT: Max is starting to roll consecutively! He rolls over to toys or to grab one of his tubes. He is hilarious, he likes to stick his bottom lip out and then smile really big. My Dad can make him do it on command. It is so fun! Max is also sitting up on his own. We set him in the sitting position and he'll sit up playing with toys and talking to Wes. He loves to talk, he is our chatty boy. Max is also still teething, the poor kid has been teething for months. He has one of his front teeth and four on the bottom. When he smiles it is adorable because his huge front tooth pokes out. He a big fan of zerburts, ( sorry, I'm not sure how to spell that) he just giggles and giggles.

Wesley is rolling EVERYWHERE! He loves to roll across the room to steal the toys Max is playing with. He is also sitting up. He loves to sit and play the xylophone. He hits the keys really hard while closing his eyes because it is so loud. So fun. He recently started standing up next to furniture (we stand him up next to it and offer minimal support). It is one of my favorite things. He gets so proud of himself and just beams.

The boys therapists are very happy with all the progress they are making. Hearing that makes me a happy Mama!

We recently had appointments at the pulmonologist. Both boys are doing fantastic. Max was able to go down on her vent settings! He is in charge of all his own breaths and his pressures are lower than before. I can't tell you how exciting this is! We have finally begun the process of getting rid of the vent. Mark and I realize that it is still going to be a long road, but we are ecstatic that it has begun! If his wean is successful we can go down from 3 breathing treatments to 2. ALL GOOD THINGS!!! Wes had his appointment yesterday. We are able to get rid of at one of his breathing treatments, and if all goes well we can get rid of another in a few weeks. He still on a little oxygen when he sleeps but that is it. We have a wireless baby all day!

Thank you all for your support and prayers. It is amazing to see your prayers in action. The boys are thriving, we could not be more happy with all their progress. Please pray that they continue to develop and grow. Specifically for Max's lung development and for Wes to gain some much needed weight. He is also still struggling with retching. We still are not sure why he is doing it, or how to stop it.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. You support, prayers, meals, landscaping, help, gifts..... No words will express how blessed we have been.

I forgot how to post pics. As soon as I figure it out again I will post some adorable updated pictures.