Tuesday

 Good morning Tuesday.

As I sit here next to my sweet Cooper listening to Roman squeak on the floor and watching the news my heart is heavy. I said goodbye to a great man on Sunday. My Grandpa Dean was 86 years old. He spent his life working every minute he could. It was rare to see him sitting still unless he was in church. He was a strong Christian who never shied away from sharing the gospel of Jesus. He was a hard man to know at times but we love him so much. I am so happy that he is at peace now. 

I am so happy to be home with all of my boys. I spent yesterday with my mom and brothers remembering good times and making fun of each other (it's how we show our love 😉). It was exactly what my heart needed. I got home late last night after my boys were all in bed. It is so wonderful to wake up to happy baby noises and love from my sweet boys. 

The next couple weeks will be bitter sweet as we finish saying goodbye to Grandpa. Hold your loved ones close. Their time here is limited. 

Nicole

Sunday Morning Snuggles

 Happy Sunday! 

I love Sundays. Sundays to me are quiet. They are a day to recharge. I get my weekly dose of Jesus. I can always use more Jesus in my life. 

Growing up we always took naps on Sunday. With 3 little boys in my life naps don't happen very often for this momma. I plan to bring that tradition crack when my kids are older. 

I'm starting my Sunday with some puppy snuggles from Miss Penelope, my favorite blanket, coffee and Harry Potter. I've read these books at least 5 times. I've been reading them with my oldest son Cooper. I kinda got sucked in so I'm reading ahead while he's at his dad's. perks of being the mommy. 

My sweet Roman is in his walker singing me a song and Houston is watching some weird movie... 

Have I mentioned I love Sundays?

Nicole

It's Time To Plan Our Big Day!

After 2 1/2 years of waiting, and fighting, and waiting more my divorce from Mr. Wonderful is FINALLY official. This has been a very long time coming. I have been divorced in my heart for years but I am so relieved and excited that it is official!

Now this means that I get to move on with my life!

I get to plan my wedding to the love of my life. Houston picked my shattered heart up and put it back together. He helped me thru the hardest part of my life. I will forever be graateful to him for that. I can't wait to be his wife! 

Now comes the fun/challenging part of planning a wedding. We are also in the process of buying a house. If we buy the house that we really want we will have our reception in the back yard. It is this awesome log cabin style home with an AMAZING view. I'm trying to keep my hopes in my pocket but its getting to be a challenge.

We will be getting married in August so it will be very warm. We are going to have a cocktail party for our reception. I'm thinking lots of sunflowers, twinkle lights and candles. I want it to be fun and laid back. Good food, friends, family, fun and laughs. I have this picture in my head of what I want it to be. I really hope I can make it happen.

This week I will be meeting with our photographer. We will also hopefully be writing an offer on the house we want.  

Lots of big things happening this year!

Nicole

Sunday Morning

This is what my Sunday morning looks like. 

The dogs are chewing on a ball of yarn. The baby is finally sleeping well now that it's morning (and in my bed no less). There is micilaneous trash and junk piled on just about every surface. There is no where near enough coffee in my cup to make me want to clean it...

It's not perfect but it's real life. That little baby might keep me up all night and take every ounce of energy I have to give but he has my whole heart in his tiny little hands. 

I'm gonna go back to perusing Facebook while I caffeinate. 

Happy Sunday!

Nicole

 

Roman Michael

It's been exactly one month since we welcomed this little miracle into our lives. It wasn't the smooth natural delivery I had envisioned. Houston wasn't by my side to hold my hand while I pushed. They didn't put him on my chest so I could snuggle my brand new baby boy. This little guy made his appearance over 8 weeks early. My water broke on a Saturday night. We went to the hospital here in Elko. I was started on magnesium (yuck!) then flown to Salt Lake City early Sunday morning. The magnesium successfully stopped my contractions. I was also given 2 steroid shots to speed up little man's lung development. I was moved up to the postpartum and I spent the next 5 days there in the hospital on bed rest. Poor Houston had to go back to work the Monday after I was put in the hospital. Roman was at 31 weeks gestation. Our goal was to keep him in until 34 weeks. 

Unfortunately after 4 days Roman's heart rate started dipping. They started me on magnesium again and the dips lessened so they took me off. I wasn't able to eat while I was on magnesium. Once they took me off and I was able to eat Roman's heart rate started dipping again. My doctor decided to do a c section because the dips were caused by him putting pressure on his umbilical cord. It turned out the cord was wrapped around his neck. Unfortunately Houston was too far away to make it in time for delivery. He made it about an hour later. 

Our sweet boy made his appearance at 2:52 p.m. on July 22nd. He weighed 3 lbs 7 oz and was 17 1/2 inches. He came out screaming so no need for any ventilation or oxygen. He has been a strong boy since that first minute. 

He spent 3 weeks and 6 days in the NICU at St. Mark's Hospital. The staff was amazing. Roman being in the NICU was so hard for all of us. The NICU does what is called Cluster Care. Roman was fed, changed and his vitals were checked every 3 hours. We were encouraged not to bother him in between so we spent a lot of time driving back and forth to the hospital. 

For the first 3 weeks Roman was in an isolette (which is basically a baby incubator) because he wasn't able to maintain his own body temperature. While he was in it we were only allowed to hold him twice a day. We looked forward to those times with our little man so much. It was so hard to see him in that little box but not be able to hold him.

Roman was able to come out of the isolette after about 3 weeks. Once he was in an open crib his last hurtle was getting all of his nutrition by mouth. Up to that point he had been relying heavily on his ng tube. It was like one day a switch flipped and he decided he was going to eat from the bottle all the time. The day they took out that ugly tube we almost cried. Once he mastered that it was just a matter of making sure he kept up his progress. 

He was discharged on August 18th. Less than a month after he was born. All of the doctors and nurses we talked to before he was born told us to plan on being there until around his due date which was September 17th. He came home a month before we expected. 

We were lucky enough to have Houston's brother Cameron and his wonderful wife April to stay with during all of this. They live about 10 minutes from the hospital and they opened their home to us. Having a home to go to between feelings and at night made a world of difference for us. I don't know what we would have done without them. 

To say we are happy to be home is the understatement of the century. We have an amazing support group of family and friends that got us thru with their love and support. We are so blessed that our baby is so healthy. Being in the NICU and watching the other babies struggle really puts things into perspective. 

We are going to enjoy watching our little super hero grow so much! 

Here are a few pictures of our journey. 

The look of love on daddy's face 💙

 

Meeting Cooper for the first time. 

And Nixon. 

First time he got dressed. 

No more tube!

We're outta here!! ✌
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 

 

 

Mondays

I always knew that once my kids started school for real, Monday would take on a whole new meaning. I just didn't understand how much. 

We just started our third week of school for my munchkins. Cooper is still loving Kindergarten. However, he does not love having to get up and eat breakfast in the morning. Is it really so hard to eat a fresh homemade waffle without me having to remind him to keep eating every two seconds? Apparently it is.

Maybe one morning I just won't feed him and see how he likes that.

Then again, maybe not.

Nixon only goes to school on Tuesday and Thursday. This means that the other three days of the week he yells at me because he wants to go to school but can't. And by yells I mean screams.

This morning he came very close to getting squished like a bug by traffic. He ran away from me and darted into the road because he didn't want to sit in his booster.

Yes my heart stopped.

Yes I swatted his naughty bottom. It doesn't happen often but he earned it that's for sure.

Okay I better get on with my day.

Happy Monday!

Nicole 

Back To School They Go....

Well I guess "back to school" isn't quite the truth. 

My boys both started school in the last 2 weeks. 

 This little cutie started Kindergarten!

It wouldn't be a Cooper picture without his dirt bike.

My little Nixon Mark started Preschool. He was SO excited.

I was not so much, but I kinda was. It was very confusing.

He is only going 2 days a week, for 3 hours a day so it isn't too terrible.

In getting the boys ready to start school this summer I had it in my mind that I would have some extra time on my hands. You know time when both children are at school and my house is clean so I can sit on my patio and read a book, have coffee with a friend, do any of the hundreds of projects I have pinned on Pinterest...

I could not have been more wrong. It is all I can do to keep up car pool, doctor appointments, Open Houses, Laundry, Dishes, etc.

I don't even want to talk about the last time I mopped my floors. 

I have the nagging feeling that I need a little more organization in my life. A solid plan of attack. Something to help me keep it all strait. 

Fortunately a little over a month ago I ordered something to help me with just that!

It should arrive today.

I am excited to say the least.

I'll post pictures and more info when it gets here.

Is the anticipation killing you too?

Hehe

Nicole