Halloween Fun

Since I wrote last, Emma had her first school party. I was one of the Mom's helping and while the hour went by very quickly, it was also one of the most exhausting hours of my life! I really don't know how preschool and kindergarten teachers do it!
We took advantage of the great weather the weekend before Halloween and went to Boo at the Zoo with Dave's sister and her family. The kids had a blast! They got dressed up as Princess Aurora and a Moo Cow for Halloween and we went Trick or Treating in our neighborhood. Tyler didn't care for the hood on his costume, but he looked adorable in his costume. Emma really got into the spirit of trick or treating this year and we have had to spread her haul out over several days.

I finally made it to the allergist on Friday. Nothing showed up on the test to indicate what might be causing the hives I have been dealing with since mid September. Blood work was done, so we are waiting on the results of that. I'm not really sure what the next step is for the hives... We'll see what the allergist has to say after the blood work comes in.

Dave celebrated his birthday over the weekend. The kids and I took him out to Giordano's on Thursday night and then we celebrated with his family on Saturday.

That's really all our news for the moment!

The latest

We've continued to be busy bees the last couple of weeks and have been having lots of fun. We started the month celebrating Carol's (Dave's Mom) 65th birthday with a great dinner and wonderful homemade cake made by Julie (Dave's sister).
Dave and I took the kids to Konow's Pumpkin Patch on a day that was nearly 80 degrees outside! We decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather and the kids had a lot of fun. We all got to ride the "cow train" and Emma had a blast swimming in the corn and feeding the animals at the petting zoo. We were a little disappointed that the pony rides weren't there, but were very excited to come home with pumpkins and mums to cheer up the front stoop for fall.

Both kids had there flu shots this past week. Emma was a little bit of a drama queen, but got over it quickly. Tyler cried, but not for long. I took advantage of being at the doctor's office and weighed Tyler... he came in at a hefty 24 lbs 10 oz. The kid gained a full 2 pounds in a month! My little guy is definitely growing up. He's mastered the standing up and getting back down process and is working on taking a few steps while holding on to things. He's on the verge of being a cruiser. He's also trying to wave. Emma continues to like school and her dance class. This coming Sunday, we have an ice cream social at her school. I'm looking forward to seeing here room and seeing what all she is learning.

Dave is continuing to be super busy at work. I think he works too hard! I am continuing to battle the hives. The doctor puts me on medication and things are fine until I finish the medication... Then the hives come back. The good news is that this time, the dosage is much lower and the medicine is still keeping things under control. I have an appointment with an allergist in 2 weeks and am hoping he can help me pinpoint what is causing the hives so that we can get them under control for good.

I think that's all of our news for now... We have more fun coming up including Boo at the Zoo, Emma's first school party, and of course... Halloween!

Doctors and More Doctors

Going to the doctor/pharmacy seems to be a headline around here lately. But, we'll start with the good news!

Tyler had a check up at the pediatrician recently and got a big thumbs up. He weighed in a 22 1/2 lbs and was 30 1/2 inches tall (at 8 1/2 months), Emma's exact measurements at 1 YEAR! He has also really figured out how to pull himself up on things, so nothing is out of his reach! He's still working on how to sit back down, but he's figuring it out fast!
Emma is getting into the rhythm of preschool and really likes it. She LOVES her dance class! I'm getting the hang of the new schedule too and seem to be surviving.

I've had a rough couple of weeks. I've been fighting the hives since mid September and have now been to 2 doctors looking for help. Every time we think it's under control, they flare up again. After calling the doctor today, we are hopeful...

That's about all the news from our house... time to go read stories!

August and new milestones

Evidently, two kids is just too much for me to keep up with the blog! The highlight of our August was a trip to Wisconsin Dells. We stayed at Glacier Canyon Lodge at the Wilderness Territory and really enjoyed it. We had a 2 bedroom condo and that is the way to go with 2 little ones! It was a very relaxing trip... Tyler loves the water and fell asleep twice in the lazy river. Emma still seems to prefer sandy beaches to pools, but by the end of our trip she was more comfortable and "swimming" with her noodle.
In other news...
Tyler has joined the crawling crowd. If I thought he was into everything before, he has proven just how wrong I was! He loves exploring and is already starting to try and pull himself up on things. The pulling up/crawling combo has resulted in a few bumps and bruises... hopefully the pediatrician will understand when we see her next week! He is also up to 4 teeth and really babbles. This morning I could have sworn he said "Da da" just as Dave walked through the kitchen.
Emma had her first day of preschool yesterday and seemed to like it. She was disappointed that she had to use her red tote bag provided by the school instead of her polka dot back pack, but I think she's okay with the idea now. What has Emma REALLY excited is the fact that she will start dance classes on Friday. She will be taking Pre-Ballet through our park district. We found her a leotard/skirt combo and preschooler dance shoes at Target last week... she would wear them every day if she could.
We are looking at a busy fall schedule... Dave continues to work too hard. I am still taking my yoga classes, but I have cut down to once a week now that my intro deals and coupons have expired. My DAR and church committee work will be resuming now that school in back in session. We have fun adventures at the zoo and pumpkin patch planned for the next few months as well as lots of birthday fun... hopefully I'll be back with an update soon.

July Part 2

Okay, it's official, I'm a bad blogger!
The last month has been pretty quiet. Our biggest adventure was a weekend trip to Michigan in late July. Dave took a Friday off and we headed up to Warren Dunes State Park. Unfortunately, we were just ahead of a bad storm that was moving from the great state of Illinois. We arrived at the beach about 2 minutes before an announcement was made to leave the water and beach due to the approaching thunderstorm. It was a bummer to not make it to the beach, but it was really neat to watch the storm come in. We ended up going to our hotel in Benton Harbor and playing in the pool - Tyler LOVED the pool, but Emma wasn't so sure. The weather improved, so we went and explored St. Joseph. We did make it to the beach on Saturday, but we decided to stay near St. Joseph and enjoy Silver Beach because the weather still looked iffy. Emma had a blast and even loved the cold water!
Since we got back from the beach, nothing too exciting has happened. We've gotten to see Dave's family a couple of times and Emma has loved getting to catch up with everyone, especially Jack and Kyle, because everyone else was on vacation during July.
Tyler is now a mobile menace! He rolls everywhere! He has figured out that he can get onto his hands and knees, but not how to make them work together to move. But, he doesn't seem to need to crawl to get anywhere... he's already into everything!

July

To anyone actively following the exploits of the Breese Bunch, I'm sorry I've been such a terrible recorder of what's been going on lately. Here is a brief rundown...
In General:
We've been busy, but it hasn't been too crazy. We hosted a family picnic to celebrate Independence Day on July 3. On the 4th, we went to a reading of the Declaration of Independence by "George Washington" put on by the park district. We then had a picnic at the park and Emma had so much fun playing. She tried several new things because her Daddy was there. We ended the day with a cook out and Emma playing in the sprinkler and pool. Since the 4th, things have been a little more quiet. Dave and I were very excited to get to have a date this past Friday for just the 2nd time since Tyler was born. We went to see the latest (and last) Harry Potter movie then had dinner. The movie was awesome!
Tyler notes:
Ty guy joined the ranks of the upright on July 1 and has been getting stronger every day. One of his new things to do is get on his belly and really kick his legs. He looks like he is wanting to crawl and gets very angry when something is just out of his reach. Tyler's first tooth came in this weekend. It was a rough day on Saturday, but that mean tooth finally made it through.
Emma Notes:
Emma has been doing great lately. She's had a full schedule of play dates and fun activities and seems to be enjoying it. Emma has been working very hard at practicing her manners and her potty training. I've been so proud of her! Her new bed time routine now includes a trip to the bathroom after being tucked in, it's a little frustrating, but it is nice to see her listening to her body and acting on it.
Dave and I:
I have continued going to the hot yoga classes and enjoy it. I am always a little sore after class and the next day, but I am also able to do new things every week. Dave has had a rough week and a half. Last Sunday, he talked about feeling a "lump" near his ear and having itching spots. We thought he had been attacked by an insect of some kind. As the week went on, he continued to feel bad and finally went to the doctor and found out he had shingles. This past weekend, mainly Saturday and Sunday were really rough. Sunday night finally brought some relief for him. He continued to feel better, but very tired on Monday, so he stayed home from work. He was able to go back today and made it through the day. One of the hardest parts of the whole process has been that Dave has had to limit contact with Tyler who is too young to have had the chicken pox vaccine. Emma has done really well in understanding that Dave hasn't been feeling well and trying to be helpful and allowing him to rest.
Fingers are crossed that Dave will continue to feel better and our summer adventures will proceed uninterrupted.

What's Been going on.....

We've had a full couple of weeks! The week leading up to Father's Day was supposed to be pretty calm, but Tyler threw us for a loop. He spiked a fever on Monday night - almost 103! He was better Tuesday, but his fever was back Tuesday night. That meant a trip to the pediatrician on Wednesday and the verdict was a virus of some kind. Thankfully the fever stayed gone!
We also got to spend some time with our new neighbors. Jennifer and her kids came over to play and Emma had so much fun. The youngest member of the new neighborhood family is a little girl Emma's age, so we are looking forward to getting to know them better.
Father's Day weekend was a lot of fun. We went to our nephew's (Jack) last regular season baseball game on Friday night, had an impromptu BBQ with neighbors on Saturday, and celebrated Father's Day and our BIL's birthday on Sunday. Dave was VERY excited about his Father's Day gifts... He got several gift cards to put toward getting his Apple iPad.
Last week was another one that was a lot more exciting than it was supposed to be. Tuesday evening found me mowing the lawn and then folding laundry after getting cleaned up. I had the TV on and heard that we had a tornado warning - Dave didn't hear that because he and the kids were watching a movie. We got the kids and camped out in the laundry room because the weather guy mentioned that potential tornadoes were "rained wrapped" and would be hard to see. We got settled and then the storm came through with lots of wind and knocked out our power. Thanks to Dave's Red Cross radio, we had a flashlight and were able to tell what was going on. After a restless night, we woke up to no power. The kids and I spent the day with Dave's parents and that was a life saver! Thankfully, the power came back Wednesday evening. Cable and Internet came back late Thursday afternoon, but it was Friday morning before the phones were back.
On Saturday morning, I tried a hot yoga class at a new studio here in town. It was difficult and there were poses that I couldn't do, but it was fun and I'll be going back. Saturday evening was our turn to host our church dinner group. Emma and Tyler worked very hard to entertain everyone. Sunday was family adventure day and we took a train ride into the city to explore. Emma was a trooper and walked A LOT!
So far, this week has been exciting too. We had a mini family adventure last night after dinner. We went into the village and stumbled on the weekly free concert that we had forgotten about. We enjoyed the music while Emma played at the park. We moseyed over to our local ice cream shop and then tried to take a walk afterwards. It was a great day!

Productivity

It wasn't all that long ago that I measured productivity by how much got accomplished. Deadlines met, items ticked off the "to do" list, etc were all part of the productivity measuring stick. 3 1/2 years and 2 kids later the way I measure a day's productivity have changed a lot. Last Thursday is a perfect example... I did get a few "chores" done, mainly the things that have to happen for a family to function, but not near what I intended to do. Even though the things on my mental "to do" list didn't get done, I still consider it a productive day because my kids and I had fun. Instead of vacuuming and dusting (or whatever it was I had planned for the day) I spent my time coloring and playing Chutes & Ladders with Emma. We read at least 5 or 6 books and snuggled while watching a movie. My job as Mommy may not have the financial rewards that my previous career had, but I'm still "productive" and loving every minute of it.

Growing Boy and other updates

Tyler had his 5 month check up last week and he is a growing boy! He weighed in at 18 pounds 6 ounces and was 27 1/2 inches long. He got an overall thumbs up for his development. YIPEE for Tyler!

Emma has been loving her new swing set and we've been having a lot of fun outside playing.

Other exciting news.... Dave got his bonus and we celebrated by paying off the home equity loan for all of the home improvements we did after moving in.

Is Baby Oragel safe?

Last week, I made an off hand comment on Facebook about Tyler teething and needing to get oragel to help him trough it. A friend of mine who owns a day care in San Antonio sent me a message saying that she had been told by the state that it's unsafe and can reduce the oxygen levels in a baby's brain. A simple Google search later and sure enough, there is a FDA warning about not using Baby Oragel and similar products without a doctor's guidance. I called our pediatrician to get their take on situation.
They told me that they stopped recommending Oragel and similar products over a year ago because they have read reports that too much at one time can reduce a child's gag reflex. Our doctor didn't know about the latest FDA warning. I hadn't seen anything about it until I went looking. Since being told about the FDA warning, I have seen the information on multiple websites, but none of them are sites I would look at on a regular basis.
It boggles my mind that the FDA can issue a serious warning about a product and that information is not shared with the general public in a way that parents can make informed decisions about the care for their children. The product is also on the store shelves without any kind of warning that the product may be dangerous. How is it okay for the FDA or any other agency to issue warnings that a product may not be safe, but it is still being sold on a regular basis? For anyone who wants to read the FDA warning, here is the link:

http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/ucm250029.htm

Memorial Day

We had a great Memorial Day. After a weekend of crummy weather, Summer finally decided to show up on Monday. It was a great cookout at Dave's parent's and Emma had so much fun playing with her big cousins - especially running through the sprinkler. Tyler had a blast showing everyone how he can laugh and giggle.

Now, I have to get on my soapbox for a minute. On Sunday, I braved the crummy weather to run a few errands and was very disappointed by the number of stores I saw that had signs saying they were going to be open on Memorial day. What is going on? Memorial day is a federal holiday and a National day of Remembrance. When did that turn into a big day to go shopping? Is there really anything so important that it can't wait a day or be planned ahead for? I really wish people would remember what the day is about and send a message to retailers by not shopping on our national holidays.

Summer?

The weather continues to tease us. We get a day or two of warm weather and sunshine then it rains and gets cold again. BOO! The worst part is that it almost always tends to get yucky on the weekend...
Dave has diligently been working on Emma's swing set put up when the weather is nice enough on the weekend. It is getting just a tiny but closer :)
We celebrated my birthday this past weekend. Saturday we had dinner at Red Lobster then went back to Dave's parents for gifts and dessert. Sunday we went to church and then had a nice day at home. Dave tried a new recipe from my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook and made dinner for me. He did a great job!

Charities?

I know charities do a lot of good work and I wish that I could do more to help a lot of them. I would love to cure cancer, send an ill child to summer camp, buy bullet proof vests for the police, etc...
But, I have a pet peeve when it comes to charitable organizations - unsolicited address labels! This bugs me because these "charities" are spending the generous donations of other people to solicit more money. The money being spent to print and mail these address labels (note pads, magnets, etc) could be spent to achieve the mission of the organization. I would love to know the number of envelopes sent out every year containing address labels that never get returned containing a donation.

Grow Baby Grow

Tyler has had a big could of days. We had a wonderful day on Sunday and he really enjoyed getting some Grandma and Aunt Julie time. On Monday, he tried and actually ate rice cereal. Today, our little guy rolled over for the very first time! It's so neat to see him reaching all these milestones. It is amazing to me that time goes by so quickly, it seems like just yesterday that we were bringing him home from the hospital.

More

Okay, we all want "more" of something. More vacation time, more money, more chocolate :) Lately for Emma the "more" has been hugs and kisses. Its really cute! At night when I tuck her into bed we have to do Mommy hugs and Mommy kisses then we have to do Emma hugs and Emma kisses and finally, we have to blow enough kisses that her room is "full." She is doing something similar with Dave in the morning when he leaves for work. He can't get out the door until she has given him 4,5, or 10 hugs and kisses.
It's really great to see how affectionate she is being - she even likes to give hugs and kisses to her little brother.
It really warms my heart when she calls me back into her room at night for just one more hug and kiss...

Check Ups

Last week was a busy week and a couple of our many stops were the dentist and pediatrician.
Emma had her first dentist appointment on Monday with Dr. McGuire (the same dentist Dave and I go see.) At first she was excited about getting to "ride" in the fun chair, but she got a little nervous when she first met the doctor. He was great with her! I was really impressed with how Dr. McGuire eased Emma into the exam and got her to open up so her could check her teeth. She came away with a clean exam (little plaque, no cavities), a sugar free lollipop, and a new tooth brush.
On Wednesday, both kids went to the pediatrician. Tyler weighed in at 16 lbs 4 oz and is 25 1/2 inches long. That's in the 95th percentile for weight and 80th percentile for height. Emma is 38 inches tall and weighs 33 1/2 pounds. She is in the 75th percentile for both height and weight. Both kids got a thumbs up from Dr. Kathy for their developmental progress.

Birthday and Baptism

I'm terribly late in getting this entry posted - Sorry!
We celebrated St. Patrick's Day with my Mom and Dad (aka Gigi and Poppy) arriving from Houston. On the 18th we went into Lincoln Park and visited the Peggy Notebeart Nature Museum and the Lincoln Park Zoo. After spending a LONG time on I-55 (the plus side is Emma took a long nap) we had a wonderful dinner at Red Lobster to celebrate our wedding anniversary. The 19th was a quieter day - we did a few things to get ready for Emma's birthday party and we went to the Morton Arboretum Children's Garden. Emma had so much fun getting to do things with her Gigi and Poppy.
Sunday, the 20th, was a big day for our house. We started our day at First United Methodist Church were Tyler received the Sacrament of Baptism. After church everyone came back to our house for lunch and Emma's birthday party. Both kids got lots of neat things~ They (and us) are very lucky!
Tyler is now 3 months old and has discovered that he can giggle. He has also flirted with sleeping through the night. He isn't consistent about it, but it is still really nice when it happens!
My big girl is flirting with giving up her nap. I thought the nap was gone for good and we were trying "quiet time" at the old nap time, right after lunch, with limited success. But, there have been several times that Emma has dozed off in the late afternoon because she really isn't ready to be nap free. I tried something new today and we waited until just after 2 PM to start quiet time. She ended up falling asleep! Yippee!!! I can't believe it's already the 1st of April... time is flying!

Milestones

Tyler turned 2 months old on February 27, 2011 and celebrated the day by smiling for the first time. He has also discovered that he has a left hand and likes to try to eat his fist.
Emma has also been achieving milestones. Last week while we were reading stories, she took her little pointer finger and touched the characters in the story and counted to six. Her motor skills are also improving and she can now put some of her puzzles together on her own. It's amazing how much kids can change in just a few days time (it seems that way at least). Potty training is also continuing to go well. We still have to remind Emma occasionally to make sure she makes it to the potty in time, but there are lots of times when she goes all on her own. We need to start working on her going out in panties instead of pull ups to start building up her confidence.
Dave and I have our 5 year wedding anniversary coming up in a couple of weeks and we celebrated this weekend by going out to dinner and a movie. We saw Adjustment Bureau at Gold Class Cinemas. The movie was good and the theater was awesome!

Time Flies!

I can't believe that it's almost March and that Tyler will be 2 months old on Sunday. Where has time gone? Things are continuing to go well with both kids growing like crazy and life is full, but thankfully, pretty uneventful!
Tyler did have to go to the pediatrician on Monday to get 2 shots that he wasn't able to get at his 6 week check up. He did well and didn't fuss too much. One piece of really good news... Dr. Kathy looked at Tyler's left eye to see if the "whatever" she saw at his 6 week check up was still there and it WASN'T! YIPEE!
Emma is taking a new park district class, her first where I drop her off. She seems to really like it and so far the teacher says she is doing well. The class is only 45 minutes, so Tyler and I hand out in the hallway with the other Moms. We are hoping for some nicer weather so we can take a walk in the village.

Doctor Appointments

Tyler and I both had our 6 week check ups this week. He is currently 22.5 inches long and weighs in at 12 pounds. That puts him in the 75th percentile for both height and weight. He got several shots and did great! He could have had two more shots, but his pediatrician didn't want to poke the poor guy FIVE times, so we will go back in two weeks. After that, we should be able to be on a normal "well baby" schedule.
My 6 week post baby check up went well and I have been given the all clear to begin exercising again. I still have about 6 pounds to lose to be at my pre Tyler weight (we won't talk about how much I REALLY need to lose), so be able to get back to the gym is appealing.

Growing and Snowing

Tyler and Emma are both doing well. Tyler is now 5 weeks old and becoming more and more alert every day. He is trying to hold his head up more often, especially when being burped, and is doing a good job for short periods. He likes looking around and trying to figure out things around him. His crib aquarium is a favorite and he's starting too like his play mat. Emma continues to be a fabulous big sister. A new favorite past time is helping us when we feed and change Tyler. She is also doing a fantastic job with her potty training. She is taking herself or telling us more and more often that she needs to go. We are so PROUD of her!
I have officially experienced my first Blizzard (other than the kind that they sell at Dairy Queen) and am so glad that the experience was from INSIDE the house. It started snowing yesterday (Tuesday) and didn't stop until sometime after 8 this morning. The winds last night were absolutely crazy and I made a futile effort to clear our driveway. As of noon today, the news was reporting that our village received 21 inches of snow. It took Dave and our snow blower about 3 hours to clear our driveway - and that was with the help of a neighbor and his snow blower! We took lots of pictures and will try to post them soon. Now that the blizzard is over, it is supposed to get super cold tonight and tomorrow - NOT looking forward to that!

Weeks 3 and 4

Okay, I'm a full week late, but I took Mr. Tyler to the doctor last Monday for a three week weight check and he came in at 9 lb 8 oz. He had gained a full 17 ounces in a week! The doctor gave us a thumbs up and said we don't have to come back until his regular well baby check up.
For the most part, things are going well. Tyler did develop a bad case of diaper rash when we switched from his new born size pampers to the size 1 pampers. We don't remember if the size one pampers are the "sensitive" version or if the have the dry max in them. We started using the Target brand size ones and the icky diaper rash seems to be clearing up!

The New Normal

Dave went to work for the first time in 2011 last Friday, January 7, and since then we have been working on getting settled into a routine and figuring out what the new "normal" is now that we have two kids. Things are going pretty well for the most part. We've had a few episodes of jealousy, mainly when Tyler is fussy and requires more of my attention, but Emma really does love her little brother.
Emma has really shown what a "BIG" girl she is the last couple of weeks. She has started doing a few small things without having to be asked - mainly putting her dishes in the sink after eating and wiping her hands after meals or snacks. She has also made a leap forward with her potty training and is starting to go more often on her own (without us having to remind her). On top of all that, she also really likes to help with Tyler. She has been giving us lots of opportunities to praise her and we've been working hard to try and keep some of the old "pre Tyler" routines to allow her life to be as normal as possible.
Tyler had a visit to the pediatrician on Monday to make sure he was gaining weight like he should. Babies should be at or above their birth weight by the time they are 14 days old (that was Monday for Tyler) and he came in right at 8 lb 7 oz. Since he had only gained 3 oz in a week, which is pretty much the bare minimum for what he should have gained, we are going back next Monday for another weight check. The doctor suggested that we start making Tyler's bottles a little bigger since he gained the minimum in weight and was consistently draining the bottles he was getting. He's up to 3 1/2 ounces at a feeding and is eating about ever 3 hours, so he shouldn't have any problems packing on the pounds :) The timing of the doctor's visit was perfect... we had noticed that his right eye had been getting "gunky" on a pretty regular basis, so I asked about it. Turns out the poor guy has a blocked tear duct. This is a big deal if it happens to an adult, but it pretty minor for babies. I have to give him a little mini facial massage periodically and eye drops 4 times a day until next Monday night and that should clear it up.
I am slowly, but surely, getting back into the swing of things around the house. I do have to be a little careful to not over do things, but it is nice to feel like things are returning to normal.

Merry Christmas, New Baby, and the New Year

We woke up Christmas Eve to a blanket of snow on the ground and more snow coming down. Dave took Emma sledding on a nearby hill and the hill was small enough that she was even able to go down by herself. She LOVED it!! We went to the 4 PM "Family" service at church and let Emma try joining us in "Big church" - it was definitely an experience! After a quiet dinner at home, we opened gifts from under the tree, and Emma kept finding a new favorite thing with each package that she opened. Christmas morning, Emma was amazed that Santa ate the cookies and chocolate milk left out for him. She loved seeing the surprises he left for her and seeing all the goodies in her stocking. We spent the afternoon and evening with some of Dave's extended family and had a lot of fun visiting with everyone.
On the day after Christmas, we actually braved a few of the stores to take advantage of a few sales. The rest of the day was spent resting, doing laundry, and trying to put the house in some kind of order.
The biggest piece of excitement for our little family actually came on Monday, December 27. We got Emma settled with Shannon, the babysitter, and headed to Hinsdale hospital. We welcomed Tyler David into the world at 4:40 PM. He weighed 8 lb 7 oz and was 22 inches long. We found out on Tuesday that Tyler had a pretty bad case of jaundice (made worse because of a conflict of our blood types) and was going to go under the lights. From about 10 AM on Tuesday until 2:30 PM on Wednesday, we could only see Tyler for about 30 minutes every couple of hours so he could eat. A small exception was made on Tuesday afternoon when Dave brought Emma to the hospital to meet her little brother for the first time. Tyler's bilirubin levels came down enough that he was allowed to leave the hospital with me on Wednesday afternoon, but we were due at the lab and pediatrician the next morning. After lab tests on Thursday and Friday mornings - we got the bad news on Friday that Tyler had to go back to the hospital because his levels were approaching a dangerous level.
Tyler and I rang in the new year in the pediatrics unit of Hinsdale hospital while Dave and Emma stayed at home. He was under the lights beginning at 1 PM on NYE and was only allowed out to eat and get his diaper changed every two hours. While in the hospital, Tyler had his very FIRST family visitors. Dave's cousins, Sandy and Sheri, had planned to come see us for lunch on NYE and were already on their way to our house when we found out we were headed back to the hospital. They were nice enough to stay with Emma for a little while so Dave could join us briefly at the hospital - just long enough to realize that there was no point in both of us sitting up there staring at Tyler in the incubator. Sandy and Sheri ended up joining us at the hospital to meet Mr. T. It was so nice to see them, even if the setting wasn't ideal. Dave and Emma joined Tyler and I at the hospital for New Year's Day and were there when we got word that we could take him home.
Sunday, the 2nd, was spent with Dave's parents, sister, and her family so that Tyler could meet some of his extended family. Everyone was very excited to see him and we had a great dinner - we even got to bring a second night's worth of dinner home with us. :)
On Monday, Jan 3 - We got the best present ever - the pediatrician gave us the news that Tyler was out of danger and could go on his own feeding schedule vs the forced schedule he'd been on. Since then, we have been trying our best to get settled into a routine. Dave goes back to work on Friday, so that will be our first big test.