Happy Birthday Zach!!

Zach eating his favorite French Toast for his birthday breakfast!
Well its official Zach is 2!! I cant believe what a whirlwind 2 years it has been :) I've definitely a roller coaster of emotions today just thinking about it!

2 years ago to this minute after 2 pushes out came Zachary, a 1 lb 9 oz very early little boy. It wasn't like anything you see on those baby shows on TV. It wasn't an exciting moment, full of crying baby and happy tears of joy. It was a scary moment where the Dr held up a tiny peanut of a baby, who was dark, almost blue, and not moving or making any noise, just before they whisked him into another room. I didn't get to hold him, i didn't get to kiss him or tell him how much I loved him. Joe was able to go into the room and talk to him and see him just as they were about to intubate him. 2 years ago right now i was scared to death to name this little boy, because I didn't know how I could handle it if he didn't make it. After 2 excruciating hours i was finally able to go up and see him, and it was a bit much to take in, we walked in to see this tiny little boy who was literally skin and bones, who we weren't able to touch because it would break his skin. He has tons of wires, and tubes and all sorts of things hooked up to him, but he was the most beautiful little man i could possibly imagine. Right from the start he was handed his first hurdle, as they found blood in his lungs the next morning, and he did great and got past it. Then he came down with his first bout of pneumonia at 4 days old, but again he handled it well. Then on his 2 week birthday he opened his eyes for the first time! What an exciting and amazing feeling for us!!

Then he came across the biggest hurdle he would have to face still to date in his 2 years of life. He developed NEC which almost took his life. I have never seen anyone fight so hard and overcome so much to stay here in this life. One of Joe's co-workers said it perfectly, he told Joe that whenever he thought of Zach laying there in his little isolate and the veil is was so thin for him at that point, and he pictured him laying there with his parents (us) on one side, and his family members through the veil on the other side, and every day he made the conscious decision to keep fighting and stay here with us, and i cannot thank him enough for fighting so hard to be here. I cannot possibly imagine what exactly it is, but i know that there is something special this little boy is here for, to go through so much and pull through so many things that he should have not survived, it really is amazing! :) I am so glad he was so strong and pulled through because i cannot imagine my life without him, he really has brought such a joy in our lives! He is absoultely my hero, and I look up to him so much, I dont know that I would have the strength to pull through everything he has, and im 24 years older than he is!

He is such an easy going, laid back little boy who has completely stolen my heart! I love you little man! Thanks for staying so strong!

We had a very fun family day, grandma and grandpa trout went to church with us and then afterwards we came home and Zach had some lunch and took his nap, then when he woke up we played with some of his presents from yesterday before he had his snack a piece of birthday cake with 2 candles in it! and we sang him happy birthday which he loves! After that he got 1 more present, a front loader truck that goes with his dump truck he got a couple months ago :) he LOVED it! :) We had a really fun afternoon playing with all of his fun new birthday toys and books! Its been a great birthday weekend!!

Zach's 2nd Birthday Party!

We had Zach's 2nd Birthday party today (his birthday is tomorrow) and it was a BLAST! we had a lot of famiyl and close friends show up and had a great time hanging out! Thanks so much to everyone who came!! I'll have a bigger post tomorrow on his birthday!! but here are some pictures from today!

Thanksgiving Point Petting Zoo

So today (Pioneer day!) we had the day off soo we decided to try to come up with some sort of fun family activity, since we never get a chance to go out on an activity together (except for grocery shopping, lol) and we decided to go to the little petting zoo at Thanksgiving Point.

We all got to sleep in (YEA!!) and Zach even slept in till 8 and joe got him up and let me sleep in till 9! (isnt he great!) then we watched a little of the Days of '47 Parade on TV, zach loved to see the floats, and then we got ready and headed out!

I have never been to Thanksgiving Point myself, so I wasnt quite sure what to expect, but it was SO cute!! We first started off with these cute little baby goats, which Zach LOVED, he went right up to the fence, and tried to stick his fingers in and pet them, but ill be honest i was afraid they would bite his fingers, so i kept trying to keep his hands away. But he eventually snuck his hand out and pet one of them on the nose, and was so proud of himself! Then we went next to some bigger goats, and sheep which he was just fascinated with. As we were heading over to the other sheep pen we passed a rooster and it cock-a-doodle-do'd and scared the crap out of Zach, so he was a little fussy after that. We went over and looked at this big beautiful Clydesdale horse, which he loved but all of the horses were either eating of sleeping so we didnt get to see any up close (until later!) so next there was a little pond with ducks and geese, but he wasnt too interested with those or the pig pen, so we decided to head over and try the pony ride. he was very interested as we walked up to it, and then was pointing to all of them as they walked by as we waited in line. When I went up to put him on the horse he was a little nervous, and hesitant to let go of my shirt (which he didnt let go of for the first 3 rounds) then he got the hang of it and let go of me and actually held onto the saddle :) he was smiling and then he would let go and then hold on again. Then he was starting to get a little sleepy, so we took off to go home for a nap.

After he woke up we played a little and then went out for dinner, which was so fun, he LOVED it and it was nice to go out the 3 of us, that doesnt happen too much. Then we picked up some cupcakes from the store and head up to the hospital to visit Erin, our favorite night time nurse Zach had in the NICU, and say hi, and drop off some birthday cupcakes and a thank you (being as we are so fortunate enough to have Zach here with us today because of them and everything they did for Zach. We cant have a holiday without thinking of them) We are hoping to get back over there Tuesday afternoon and visit Margaret (oh my we love her!!) so we will have more to post then!

Zach's 2 Year Pictures

Well we took Zach in today for his 2 year pictures, and then has a yummy lunch at Tucano's! (yum!!) He was a little apprehensive at first, but then he warmed up and we got some CUTE smiles out of him!! I cant believe how far he has come!! He will be 2 a week from tomorrow and I have NO idea where the time has gone!

Time for a new trashcan

So Zach has this strange obsession with soda cans... i think its the old covet what we cant have thing... so, this afternoon sneaky boy managed to get a can out of the trashcan, and was caught in the act, then tried to flee the scene as quickly as he could possibly bum-scoot...

I guess its time to get a tashcan with a lid...

The Story of Zach

so, i thought i would post the link to the story of Zach and his birth and all of his fun NICU stuff. :)

http://www.shareyourstory.org/webx/.ef34559/4

preemie stuff

So i was reading a friends' blog tonight and came across this, and decided to steal it for myself, lol...

Ever get tired of family/friends etc... telling you to just get over your baby/child being born premature read what a NICU nurse on my site had to say....brought me to tears (((hugs))) hmmm - at what age of your child's growth did you stop being a preemie mom? Who waved the magic wand and took away all the fears of your child dieing before you could see her/him, and once born the terror of falling in love in case they died -- being able to only touch a hand, denied the right to even change a diaper! bathing in a cup, pumping until you thought Daisy the Cow had nothing on you -- learning medical skills, terms and mind mazes that would boggle the mind of a second year medical student, passing through the locked doors of NICU like a visitor to a prison. at what age did those experiences NOT happen? yes, the baby is older now -- but what about that first year? the endless appointments, OT, PT, ST -- jumble the alphabet, you'll come up with a medical appointment... and then what about the following years -- every little milestone passed caused a release of long held breath that this was one more 'normal' (there's that horrible word again!) baby thing Your child was born early -- that makes you a preemie mom -- and just because your baby is older doesn't change the birthdate -- time will sooth the terror, lack of sleep will blur the details -- wear that title with honour -- because you moms know it represents a battle of epic proportions waged not only with medical personal, annoying nurses, insensitive (stupid) family members and 'friends' with both feet in their mouths -- it represents all the internal struggles each of you went through, and fought and perhaps are still fighting -- wear that title with honour - because when someone says 'they're older now, get over it' or 'just be thankful they're here' you can smile inside and know with certainty that you know better than most others what it's like to face sickness, and death and pass through the valley and come out the other side -- wear that title with honour - because that's your birth story and there is no reason to apologize for an experience that no sane person would willingly choose, even for their worst enemy wear that title with honour - because you know when you hear about babies being born early your heart aches and cries for those parents and you are capable of a compassion that very few others even know is necessary and face it -- they'll always be your 'baby' -- and when they're 56 they'll probably still be asking for allowance and to borrow your brand new car

Zach's 1st steps!!!!

Big news!! Zach took his first steps today!! i cant even believe it!! He has been getting much braver lately letting go of the couch when standing and all of that so this afternoon I decided what the heck, lets try and see what he does.. and much to my surprise he took quite a few steps!! Right before his birthday too!! (last year he sat up on his own the week of his birthday!) and also right before his Physical Therapy appt Wednesday! They are also going to be so excited! Thank heavens Joe was home from work so he was able to see Zach take his first steps as well! :)

An early birthday surprise! :)

So we went to toys r us today to get a couple birthday presents for Zach (22 days if anyone is counting!) and we randomly came across this WAY cute Nemo picnic table, that was originally 39.99 but then was a return so it was marked down to 20.00 (which i thought was a gret deal!) So we asked a guy who worked ther if we could double check to make sure all the pieces were in there since the box was open on the shelf. So he came over and pulled some of it out and looked, it was all there... YEA! so as he was putting everything back int he box it ripped, so he turned to us and said he could give it to us for $15... SOLD!

So we go up to the checkout with the table and his other presents and when i started to tell the check-out girl that the guy in the back had helped us and since the box was ripped.. and she interrupted me (before i told her the price he had said) and said, oh he said he could give it to you for $10, so we said ok, and off we went with our happy, much cheaper than expected early birthday find... so we decided to put it together when we got home since the box was all ripped :) and Zach had quite a fun time sitting at his new table after we got it together! :)

yes yes, we finally did it :)

so... we've been comtemplating the blog for a while, our great friend autumn has a great one, and some family members have started one and now a couple of other great friends of mine from college so i figured what the heck :) so i will try to keep it updated as much as i can :)