Weekend, Laughing and Random Commentary

Hello all. We've been enjoying another nice weekend with everyone under one roof. Reed and I grocery shopped and then picked him up a new pair of church shoes. Side note there...has anyone bought kids shoes lately? We just got a nice pair of the little black and white saddle oxford shoes for winter (he outgrew his other ones...I was just planning to let him wear his summer ones all winter...totally uncouth, I know) but I was shocked by the price of them. Maybe its just me but shoes for Reed should be $20...max. Oh, and PS, they are navy and white...not black. I always thought they were black but at both stores I checked, they were navy. Weird.

Sorry, I got off track. We also had a visitor today. One of Beau's good friends who lives in Dallas came by for a visit. Gaines has actually had a couple of visitors lately. One of my good friends stopped in this week and my sister got to see Gaines for the first time since he's been home. We are still being very cautious about exposing him to too many people but I think Gaines appreciated getting to see a few new faces.

Speaking of Gaines he is continuing to do well. He had another great weight at this weeks' weigh in (he's 11 lbs 9 oz now). Right now they want him gaining one ounce a day and he's gaining just over that. We are so thankful that growing doesn't seem to be a problem right now. He's doing great on his oxygen and its all I can do not to bump his flow down a little bit. I'm not supposed to mess with it but its tough. Reed actually tested Gaines a little bit twice today. Thankfully his concentrator lets out an ear piercing alarm if the flow is messed with because Reed turned Gaines down to zero twice today. He didn't know better but the second time it happened there were tears involved. I don't think it will be happening again.

We arrived a little early for Gaines' physical therapy appointment this week so we stopped by the NICU to say hi. I think his nurses were happy to see him and they all thought he looked great. Our favorite doctor was on(I probably shouldn't call him our favorite because we loved them all but there was just something about this doctor that we really liked) and I mentioned to him about Gaines laughing these days. I could tell in his face that he thought it was a really good thing. I thought it was a big deal neurologically and talking to him confirmed that for me. We've only been gone a month but it was weird being back in the NICU.

I'll be working a lot of late nights this week so keep Beau in your prayers. He'll have Reed and Gaines by himself a good bit next week. Also next week our little Reed turns two. I cannot believe he's going to be two. Really I can't believe I have two kids under two. What was I thinking? Our house is ridiculously crazy at times but I really do love it.

Back to our weekend, I try and cook on the weekends when I have a little more time so today I made a big pot of chicken and dumplings. I'm always proud of myself when I make something that my grandmothers make. Tomorrow I'll make cupcakes to freeze for Reed's birthday. Being able to cook for my family makes me feel like a better mother for some reason.

I know this has been a completely random post but that's pretty much our life these days. Check out the video below of Gaines laughing. Its not his best laugh but it the best we could catch on camera...and ignore my annoying high pitched baby voice.

Love to all,

Brittany