Christmas Eve 2008

Ethan's first picture with Santa Clause in his cute reindeer pajamas. Plus our tree, Ethan's first Christmas ornament, and our ornament for this year (notice that it's a family, I looked far-and-wide to find one like this).

Thanksgiving

Here are a couple of pictures from our Thanksgiving. I know, it's almost Christmas, but better late then never. We went to both grandparents' houses over the weekend. It was great.

Chris skiing with Wii Fit at the Barlow's.

Here is the entertainment at the Morse's. The Wii, the computer, and the baby.
Below: Chris and Ethan worn out.

The King of the House

King of Dad

King of Mom

King of the Floor
(Ethan fell asleep under his toy. He's actually laying on his side.)

King of the Couch

King of the Chair

I never realized how much control a child can have over Everything! Ethan is definitely the King of our House. Everything centers around him: when he sleeps, when he eats, when we can go somewhere, if he's happy, if he's sad, even if the house gets clean. He's only 5 1/2 months and already he rules over us. It's been fun getting used to our new life. I'm just grateful that we have him, and that he's home and healthy. Here's to the King!

How you know you're a NICU parent

-babysitting costs you $1-2k a day
-you present your child’s wet diapers to the nurse as a prized gem to
be weighed
-you only get worried if your baby stops breathing for MORE than 20
seconds…
-you kiss plexi-glass goodnight
-you start to wonder if it’s possible to wash the skin right off of
your hands
-you find yourself making a phone call about twice a day, just to see
how your baby is doing
-all of the sudden, preemie clothes look huge…and you notice your baby
could share clothes with the stuffed animals she’s getting as gifts
-you get excited over ounces and cubic centimeters
-you begin to refer to non-preemies as “fat babies”
-changing your baby's diaper becomes a highlight you call your friends
and blog about
-you spend more physical bonding time with a breast pump than your
baby
-the blanket your child is wrapped in weighs more than she does
-you know people who have children in their stomachs who are older than
your child
-visiting your child includes surveillance cameras, being buzzed in
over an intercom, a few sets if doors, giving a code, and other steps
that make you wonder if you are seeing your baby or stealing the hope
diamond
-you know enough medical jargon to at least be a doctor on ER or
Grey’s Anatomy
-you start to wonder if babies can communicate with each other through
alarms on their monitors
-you wonder if you could somehow fit into your baby's isolet...because
it just looks so dang cozy!
-your child bundles up like an Eskimo every time you come to hold her
-your child’s foot could guide Santa’s sleigh any foggy Christmas
Eve
-you have a tendency to jam your knee into the cupboards at home trying
to turn on the water to wash your hands
-you have scolded your child for having too low oxygen saturation or
heart rate
-you sweat bullets when you change your child’s Kleenex sized diaper
-you look forward to the night that your baby’s cries wake you up
-you find yourself wondering if it’s petty to hope your child
doesn’t develop a toaster-head, when it’s a miracle she’s even
breathing!
-you see pictures of friends taking their kids to Build-a-Bear…and you
think you’ve spotted a good Halloween costume for your baby
-you can tell when a picture of your child was taken based on the color
of bedding
-you find out about cluster care the nurses are doing with your child,
to avoid too much interruption, and wished your parents would have taken
the same approach with you as a teenager
-people ask you if your child will need to pass a car-seat test to be
able to come home, and you just smile as a picture comes into your mind
of your baby and 4 of her friends from the NICU all sharing the same
car-seat.
-you have a running game of “steal-the chair” with one or more
nurses/respiratory therapists
-you have see angels wearing scrubs, and have looked through windows of
heaven by peering through the glass of an isolet

Rene's friend got this from a blog and we thought we would share.

November 22nd

Ethan just wanted to say, "Happy Birthday, Grandpa Barlow."
And his parents just wanted to say, "Look how cute he is!"

Time for Fun

These pictures were taken back in October (I know I'm way behind). I was bending over to pick up something when Ethan ended up on my back. This is his first piggy-back ride. There is a back view and front view.
This is Ethan's "going out" outfit. My parent's took us to dinner for mine and my sister's birthdays. He stayed in his car seat covered up and slept the whole time. It was nice to actually leave the house as a family. Thanks mom and dad!

This one's for you Jen

Jen complained that we never have pictures of Ethan with his eyes open so here you go Jen.

Blessing Day (cont.)

Here are some family pictures taken after the blessing and luncheon. Marissa, Ricky, and Kambri even came down from Logan. This was the first time I saw Kambri. She is adorable and SO big compared to Ethan.

Four generations: Grandpa Morse, Marissa, Kambri, Great-Grandma and Grandpa Morse

Four generations: Grandpa Morse, Rene, Ethan, Great-Grandma and Grandpa Morse

Grandpa and Grandma Morse with Ethan

Cousins! This is Kambri and Ethan's first picture together. They are exactly 7 weeks apart.

Kambri with Aunts KyLee and Tayci

Blessing Day

On September 21, 2008, Ethan was blessed by his dad. Many relatives and friends came to support us and get a glimpse of Ethan. It was only a glimpse because we took him home early. We're sorry that most people haven't been able to see him yet, but we're trying to keep him as healthy as possible. We'll be glad to show him off in the spring once the cold and RSV seasons are over. Until then, here are more pictures.

When he was in the hospital the NICU Parent Support Organization gave us this white and blue outfit. We thought it would work quite well for his blessing outfit. The afghan was made by my Grandma Greene and given to me at my wedding. I couldn't decide on just one picture so here a couple. His facial expressions are SO cute.

Trekkie in Training

On September 5, 2008, I woke up and walked into the living room to see this...

and this...
They were watching episodes of Star Trek -Voyager to be exact. I couldn't believe it, well, actually I could. You see, Chris and his parents are major Trekkies. They've seen (and own) every episode of Star Trek multiple times. Before I married Chris I knew only this about Star Trek: there was a guy named Captain Kirk, a spaceship called the Enterprise, and a saying,"Beam me up, Scottie". I had seen a couple minutes of one of the movies and that was it. However, by default I am becoming a Trekkie. I have seen many episodes and a couple of movies. My favorite series is Deep Space 9. In fact, while I was pregnant with Ethan I would sneeze multiple times a day and it reminded me of Kira when she was pregnant. Apparently Bajorans don't get morning sickness; they just sneeze a lot. To top it off, I have even been on the Star Trek ride in Las Vegas and had my picture taken with Quark. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would watch Star Trek, ask questions about, and even have conversations with people about it. Oh well, it's not the end of the world or universe.

Chris is just curious. How many of the Brent Barlow family members are Trekkies? If you would respond he would love to know.

Measuring West Virginia Style

Ethan was having "Tummy Time" when Chris (who served his mission in West Virginia) had the crazy idea of showing just how big -or little- Ethan really is. His torso is 1 DVD long, his whole body is 2 DVDs long, and his width is 1 DVD case wide. It makes me wonder how people measured things before we had the standard or metric systems. What would they compare things to that was the same for everyone? Cooking pots, barrels, plows, saddles. Hmm?

Walking Burrito

Chris swaddles Ethan up pretty tight at bedtime. Ethan usually wiggles his arms out, but this time he managed to get only his feet out. We called him the "walking burrito" (even though he can't move very far).

Great-Grandparents

Four generation picture: Ethan, Grandma Honey, Grandpa Honey, Grandma Barlow, & Dad.

Sleepy-Head

I've slacked off a little lately on updating the blog. I'll try and get some of the pictures from when we first came home up soon, but for right now here is something adorable from today. Ethan has been asleep for almost 5 hours (he's still asleep as I post this) and we were trying to wake him up to eat. We changed his diaper, tickled his feet, and then decide to try something new. It's too cute not to share.

Home Away From Home

We had seven different "homes" while at the NICU. First in Nursery A, then the rest in Nursery B. We were even in the overflow area downstairs for a little while. What's cool is that this was our first and last spot in Nursery B. We went full circle and were very happy to be going home. Ethan weighed 5 lbs. 9 oz. and was close to 18 inches long at time of discharge. We're so proud of him.
Going home outfit.
The carseat was barely small enough. We had to pull the straps as small as they go so it would hold him in. Once he was in the car he loved it. He was sound asleep by the time we got home.

Firsts

Ethan's first bottle. The occupational therapist showed Chris a new technique to make the transition from bottle to nursing easier. It worked! Ethan did great and Chris was happy for the chance to hold and feed him.
First grandchild. Ethan is the first grandchild on the Morse side, and this is Grandma Morse's first time holding him. She was so excited that she even started crying (no surprise there).
First time in mom's favorite outfit. It's cowboys and horses and absolutely adorable!

Beatle Bug

The nurses would rotate Ethan's sleeping positions to help keep the back of his head from getting flat. This is my favorite one, and it always reminded me of a beatle bug. The second picture is a little fuzzy, but it gives you an idea of how he would curl-up around the towel.