A snow day and a milestone...

Today is snowy, cold, and a great day to stay in. We had to cancel some morning plans because Collier was up most of the night with a cough, stuffy nose, and a bit of an upset tummy. Some of it is teething, and I hope the rest is just a quick cold that will pass. The last thing we need is to spread sickness around our house!

So, this morning, I got up and scrambled around looking for a clean cup for Collier. I couldn't find a lid anywhere. We seem to have 10,000 cups but only 5 or 6 lids because he chews through them. I made a wonderful discovery...rotten cups hidden behind his crib! 

He has stashed cups back there before, but these were pretty disgusting. I am going to have to keep a closer eye on his hiding spots. 

Good morning to me!

Collier was a little grumpy this morning, but nothing makes our sweet boy feel better than a beautiful tutu. :) And camo, of course, for good measure. 

I got to snuggle this little man for a while, and he was making some of the sweetest baby faces at me. I even got a smile or two, but couldn't catch those in a picture. 

Landry enjoyed some baby snuggles of her own. She is crazy, crazy, crazy, about holding her "tiny brudder." I think he could take it or leave it! Ha. 

And now to the milestone...

Today is 3 weeks from the day that the surgeon told us *in his opinion* that Parke had a 0% chance of making it another 3 weeks! 

We aren't seeing any changes at this point in his health. Parke is continuing to be strong, eat well, and grow like a normal baby....an extra special normal baby!  

I told you guys that I knew he was going to beat that prediction...he doesn't seem to like deadlines. :) 

I remember a blog post I wrote before Parke's birth talking about how I knew he was going to be a fighter. I honestly didn't picture 6 weeks in my wildest dreams. "Fighter" in my mind meant that we would have a few days rather than a few hours. "Fighter" to me meant that our children might have the chance to get a quick picture with him at the hospital instead of him being swept away to an area they couldn't visit. "Fighter" doesn't even seem like a fit word to describe our precious son anymore. He is a miracle, a blessing, and bright light in our family. His life, no matter how long it ends up being, will forever change our family. Our kids will never be the same, and I am SO thankful for the lessons of love and life that they will learn through his presence in our family. 

These moments are priceless...

If you would have asked me 6 weeks ago what our family would look like today, these would not have been the pictures in my mind. Preparing for Parke's short life, we didn't even know for sure that our kids would have the opportunity to meet him. These past 5 1/2 weeks, the moments that we have shared as a family of 5, and the love that has surrounded Parke's miraculous little life has just been amazing. 

Some of my favorite moments and memories have come in the evenings. When our wonderful visitors head home, we bathe the kiddos, get in our pj's, and snuggle like crazy on "daddy's bed." (Apparently, I don't sleep there...ha!)

There are lots of kisses, wall climbing (see picture below), dancing, wrestling, and a crazy amount of giggles and smiles. 

(Collier breaks down when we take the baby away!)

These moments are priceless! 

We are okay! :)

I have had several texts and emails the past few days checking in on our little man...y'all are so sweet! I'm sorry I have been behind on updating. Life just got busy this week! We are back in a normal routine, and the three babies keep my hands tied up most of the day. My goal has been to get up and to do some Bible reading, prayer time, and update the blog every morning before the kids get up, BUT going back to being up multiple times during the night is getting me down. :) 

Parke is really a great sleeper, but he is still little and needs to eat every 3 hours. Micah and I take turns getting up to feed him on the weekends, but I try to take all the shifts during the week. Looking back, I was SO well rested when I only had one child. With two, I was a little sleepy. With three, I'm exhausted. I know these days will go by quickly, and I feel so fortunate that Parke is still here to wear me down. Ha! 

Maybe, just maybe, I will find time for a nap this week!

So, this little booger had an appointment on Wednesday with our cardiologist from Little Rock. We didn't have to drive down, he actually flew up to see a few patients that day. It was really great! 

Parke is continuing to gain weight, and he is at 7 pounds 9 ounces now. That isn't as much weight as they wished he was gaining, but to me, it is SUCCESS! Honestly, with never thinking he would take a bottle, I am absolutely thrilled that he is thriving. 

They checked his oxygen levels, blood pressure, and listened to his heart. We did not do another echo-cardiogram. From everything they checked, it sounds like Parke is staying pretty stable for now. 

Because of some of the coarctation, his blood pressure is much lower when they take it on the lower half of his body. However, they are still able to feel a pulse there, which is pretty surprising. 

His little heart is strong, and his body seems to be accepting all of the problems as normal right now. 

Parke has a significant leak in something called the tricuspid valve that we expected would end up making his heart stop fairly soon. It, obviously, has not. 

We are so thankful that he just keeps fighting and hanging in there! 

We left the appointment with plans to see our doctor again in one month. Another reason for him to stick around longer. :) 

We talked with our doctor about our long-term plan for Parke, and we really don't have one besides just taking it day by day like we have been. We are moving forward and planning our summer vacations with him in mind and praying for God's will to be carried out in his special little life. 

Excuse my extremely tired eyes in this picture, but I just love Parke's precious face at his appointment. He looks like a big boy! 

It's hard to believe that we fell in love with this....

really, just the idea of this, months ago. 

I love looking back at his ultrasound pictures and seeing how much he looks like them. I prayed to be able to kiss those lips, squeeze those cheeks, and even wipe that nose! God has been so good to us! 

Two of a Kind

I am the luckiest mama because I have 3 of the most precious babies in the world. :) Seriously, they are absolutely adorable, and I know I can't possibly be biased. Ha! 

You've heard a lot about Parke lately, but I'm in desperate need of updating you on Landry and Collier. These two monkeys keep me hopping. They are busier than busy, and I love how much they change and grow everyday. They love each other so much, fight like cats and dogs, and miss one another even when they are just in separate rooms. Life with these two is a joy! 

Landry Elise: 3 minus 2 months 

(she LOVES talking about being 3!)

Landry has us laughing all the time. She is so funny, and she knows it. 

To update you on her, I'm just going to share some of her most recent quotes. 

-Instead of "Pop Goes the Weasel," Landry thinks it is, "Fox-n-a-Weasel"

-Her new food request is Peanut Jelly, no butter. 

-She loves to tell people, "No way Jose!"

-Landry does not like milk at all. Every time we try to make her drink it, she tells us that it is "spicy milk!"

-"I don't have a tail, I have a booty." :)

-Instead of saying, "That's a good idea!" Landry says, "That's gonna be an idea!" 

-She thinks that she can control every situation by making demands because I'm pretty sure that at 2 1/2 the world really does revolve around her. She told me these two things the other day...

"Mama, I don't want it to rain outside. I want it to be pretty. BE PRETTY outside!!!" 

"I will take turns, but I want it to always be my turn." Really? She's kind of smart. :)

-Her newest baby doll is named Arm. So, at this point we have Amy, Pinkie, Starbuck, Ella, and Arm. Who knows what my grandchildren will be named some day!

Sweet Collier: 18 months

18 months kind of snuck up on me. I was okay with 16 months, okay with 17 months, but 18 months just sounds so big! The time from 18 months to 2 years for Landry was huge. She changed SO much, and I am starting to see a lot of changes in Collier...even on things that we aren't working on. 

He is saying many new words, asking questions, following some instruction (ha!), and really acting interested in learning new things. He is still extremely wild, but I am starting to see the light at the end of this 6 month long tunnel of craziness. He is starting to focus on projects, sit still for more than 20 seconds, and not be as frustrated with trying to express his needs. 

He is such a sweet boy...loves to snuggle, loves his mama, loves to read books, and still loves his green blankie. 

He and Micah are starting to do "boy things" together more often, and Collier loves being outside with his daddy. 

Collier has started paying more attention to Parke over the past few weeks. He wants to give him kisses constantly, and after EVERY kiss he says, "Awwww. I sweet!" 

He has started walking up to the toilet and asking to go potty. I have put him on there a few times, but he hasn't actually gone. He tells me every time he does #2 in his diaper, but it is always after the fact. 18 months just seems so early for a boy to potty train! I'm trying to hold him off, but I did buy him some underwear the other day at Target. Landry said, "Oh yea! Collier gets to wear panties on Monday!"  I'm not sure when we will actually start the process...we have a few other things going on right now. :) 

Thanks for reading my sometimes boring updates on my sweet kiddos! I blog instead of scrap-booking, and I love to look back through our "blog books" and see what the kids were doing at different ages. 

I'm Learning A Lot

You already know that Parke is teaching our family a lot about life. He is teaching us to trust, teaching us to love more fully, teaching us that family doesn't mean blood, teaching us that joy can be found in the midst of trials, and so much more. 

Beyond all of that, there is something that I have learned through his life that I would like to share with you....

This week, February 7-14, is Congenital Heart Defect Awareness Week. I'm not asking you to share this, to wear a certain color on a certain day, or anything like that (not that there is anything wrong with those things). I just want to share...to tell you what we have learned over the past several weeks. 

While we were at ACH, I found out that 1 in every 100 babies is born with a congenital heart defect (CHD). I also learned that CHDs are responsible for the most deaths in the first year of life than any other birth defect. I really had no clue! I totally took for granted that Landry and Collier were born with no complications. 

Some CHDs require surgery, some do not. Some can be lived with, others cannot. There is so much information on the internet about these conditions, and if you're interested in doing some research, there is a lot to learn!

Also, I haven't shared before, but I am going to list Parke's heart conditions for you. I've had several people ask, especially those who have found our blog through having their own children with heart issues. There is a big community! 

I'm copying these directly off of the discharge papers from ACH...I am NO expert on what each of these are, but we have been studying up and learning a lot about our sweet boy's heart. He is extra, extra special! 

Parke's conditions are: 

Complex Congenital Heart Disease

Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome

Double Outlet Right Ventricle

Mitral Atresia

Hypoplastic Aortic Arch

Coarctation of the Aorta

Tricuspid Insufficiency

Small Atrial Septal Defect

Parke is amazing. He is a miracle. He is the strongest person I know, and I will say it again and again....I am PROUD and HONORED to be his mama!

Day 33!

A Reason To Celebrate!

Some of our most precious friends put together a 1 month birthday party for Parke Henry. It was a special day for our family, and it was so much fun to celebrate with a small group of friends. Parke was surrounded by wild kiddos and lots of other babies...it was just perfect! 

The kids played so hard and totally wore themselves out. They both slept hard last night (despite all the sugar!). 

The birthday boy was passed around and loved on a lot...just the way it was supposed to be! 

Happy 1 month (and one day now) birthday to our little miracle! He has doubled his original life expectancy, and we hope he just keeps going and going. 

Parke's pediatrician was partying with us last night....those are his lovely daughters holding Parke in a few of the pics. He gave me permission (probably because I didn't ask, I just told him...ha!) to give P a tiny taste of icing for his special day. Honestly, he wasn't a fan. :) 

Parke received several cards at his party, but I have to say that this was my favorite. Emma's mama sent me a picture of this earlier this week, but it was so sweet that they wanted to give Parke the actual paper. Emma is 4 years old and was asked to write something she was thankful for at church last week. She was thankful for baby Parke. :) I love that our friends' kiddos lives are being touched by Parke...we don't know the reason he is here, but God certainly does!

Love, love, loved yesterday. Thank you to everyone for the sweet messages, wishes, and prayers for Parke!  

Let's Catch Up

This could easily be several blog posts, but I don't easily come up with the time for that these days....so, you're getting it all in one. :) Also, some of the pictures are duplicates from Facebook, so if we're friends on there, you will just be EXTRA caught up! 

Before I share pictures...Parke is still doing great this morning. He is resting well, eating great, and continuing to be just perfect. He is not struggling to breath and doesn't seem in any distress like he did a little bit before we went to Little Rock. He is back to "if you didn't KNOW he was sick, you wouldn't know." I like it that way!

 We had such a perfect and normal week. You saw pictures of our lazy day and other things we did, and it just kept getting better from there. On Wednesday, my mom and I took the kids to the public library. She has taken Landry before, but I had never gone. It was so much fun! I will say...never, never, never, never, ever will I take all 3 kids by myself and do this. I should say...never, ever, ever until they are old enough to listen, potty on their own, not pull every single book off the shelf, and try to run away. It was exhausting, but so worth it! 

They had story time, sang songs, played games on the computer, and just really enjoyed themselves. Sweet Parke rested peacefully in the stroller and didn't make a peep!

The next morning, Landry was so excited that she and Parke were "froggy twins!" I've mentioned this before, but when things match, they are automatically twins. :) She is SUCH a proud big sister, and I love watching her with "her baby!" 

Sweet snuggles before bed! A Gibson pile-up, if you will. :)

Dado and Nana came over to celebrate Parke's 4 week birthday with us on Thursday.  Landry keeps my dad laughing, and I love to see them together! 

As we speak, Micah is finishing up our Saturday morning breakfast (that I was actually supposed to be cooking...thanks honey!). Today is going to be full of snuggles, play-time, and tons of love. I couldn't ask for anything more special than our family of 5, so I am heading off to enjoy every second. Please continue your prayers for our little man....he is so amazing and every day with him is such a blessing!