Elizabeth's First Birthday Party

Last Saturday, after having a fun lunch with Brian, Lisa and Henry Lawrenz in Fort Worth, we headed to Elizabeth's first birthday party. What fun! Nora got passed around and around. She also received her first lip kiss from a boy other than her daddy! It was so cute! Barrett Starr was being so sweet to her and then just went ahead and laid one on her! Love it! Wish I had a picture to post of that! Kathy was so sweet to send me some pictures of Nora over the past two weeks that she has spent at their house and a funny one of Elizabeth and Nora at the party. Too cute!

Update on my Dad

Thanks to everyone for all of your thoughts and prayers surrounding my dad and his health. At this point, he is still in ICU. As of today, he has been there for 26 days. That is hard to believe. He had to have surgery last week to remove his gallbladder and the doctor ended up putting in a tracheotomy. Needless to say, we were not thrilled about them putting in a trache, but we were told over and over again that it would be the best thing for him. My mom said that he was doing better over the weekend, but we had a set back earlier this week. It always seems like it is a step forward and then a few steps back. I keep praying for more steps forward.

As of tonight, mom said that he looked better and he seemed to feel better. He keeps trying to talk to her, but she and the respiratory therapist are having a hard time reading his lips. Plus, he does not have the strength to write anything down. The doctors are going to move the feeding tube out of his nose and insert into his stomach tomorrow as long as everything looks good. I think that would have to make him feel better. They are also doing physical therapy since he has been in bed so long. All good signs.

Please pray for my daddy's continued healing.

We Survived!

So, we all survived my first week back at work. Thank goodness! It was a really hard week, but we made it through. Monday and Tuesday were definitely our hardest days, but as the week went along things got better. It was definitely hard to leave Miss Nora that first day, but I know that she was smothered with love by Kathy and her nanny, Jennifer. Kathy sends me text messages each day with Nora updates. It is so sweet. Plus, she has taken pictures and videos of our sweet pea as well. How amazing is that?!?

Sarah Henline brought us dinner that first night as well. I guess she knows first hand how tough and overwhelming it is to leave your baby for that first time. Team Riss is going to bring us dinner this week as well. What amazing blessings! Our Sunday School Class rocks! They have loved, fed, prayed, counseled and uplifted our family so much over the past few months. Thank goodness for amazing friends!

11 Weeks Old

It's hard to believe that Miss Nora is 11 weeks old today! Time really does fly by - it's amazing! We had to take her to the doctor's office today for her 2 month (a few weeks late) check up. It appears that Nora is going to give Reese Liner a run for the money. Nora weighs 12 lbs., 8 oz (90%) and she is 24.25 inches long (97%). Whoa! I guess what they say about breastfed babies is true! She is a chunk of love. It looks like she is getting her daddy's height and her momma's thighs...

Nora had to get 4 shots this morning as well. That was not fun. She cried and cried. Plus, her face got so red, it looked like she was about to explode! Not a good look for a cutie pie baby. She has been fussy ever since. Poor baby - she is definitely having a hard night. Hopefully she will get some sleep and feel better in the morning. Bring on the Infant Tylenol!

Back to Reality

Miss Nora and I are back in the Lone Star state. We flew back to Dallas late last night. It was great to come home to Mark, but so hard to leave my mom and dad. Nora was a trooper once again on the flight. There was an sweet Grandma across the aisle from us. Nora wanted to sit up almost the entire flight so that she could talk and smile at her. She must know a Grandma when she sees one! I know that she already misses my mom and her Granny. She got pretty spoiled while we were in Alabama. Imagine that...

It is still kind of bizarre to be back. Nora, my mom and I were in such a routine. I know that mom misses us already. She probabaly doesn't miss the 2 a.m. feeding though! Just kidding - my mom was such a huge help with the baby. I don't know how she did it all. None of us were getting enough rest between hospital visits and lack of sleep.

It was really hard to leave my daddy. It seems like every time we visited (you can only go into ICU for 30 minutes, 5 times a day), he would either be doing ok and not so great. I feel like we are constantly on a rollercoaster. They were hoping to take him off of the respirator yesterday, but he had a fever and was too weak. Plus, they had found an infection on his mitrovalve that leads to his heart. Hopefully the six week course on antibiotics will take the infection away. The last visit I had with dad was pretty hard. I saw him at 2 p.m. on Saturday before we had to finish packing and head to the airport. He was awake and able to look me in the eyes. He also was able to nod, so I know that he understood that I had to leave. That still didn't make it any easier. I tried not to cry, but that doesn't seem to be possible these days. It was really hard to walk away.

Isn't it amazing how God provides at the most important times? Just a few minutes after I walked out of ICU, our friends from Birmingham, Allan, Valerie and their cutie pie son Carter, walked in the door. They had driven down to see us and pray for my dad. How amazing is that?!? I think I am still in shock from Allan's phone call the day before telling me that they were coming. Wow! Valerie is about to give birth in a week and they still came! Anyway, it was so great to see them and catch up. I wish that Mark had been there too. He and Allan have been friends since they were in high school. Before they headed back to Birmingham, we all held hands and Allan said a sweet prayer for my daddy. Whoa ... that is all that I can say.

Mom calls Jeff and me after every visit when we aren't there to give us an update on dad. What a trooper she is! Thank goodness for all of the support we have received from our pastors, friends and family. I had so many people tell me that they are going to be there to support her since I had to leave. That makes me feel better, but I still wish that I was there.

I am heading back to work tomorrow morning after being gone for 3 months. Talk about reality hitting you in the face. UGH! Tomorrow is going to be a hard day. The Sutherland's are opening their house to Nora for their nanny to watch her for the next five weeks until she begins going to Prince of Peace. I know that she will be loved on by Kathy, Jennifer and Elizabeth, but it is still going to be hard. Hopefully I can make it there for a lunchtime visit!

This Week in Pictures...

Nora at her baptism. This is what I wore when I was baptised.

Our family photo at the baptism.

Pastor Brooks (who married Mark and me) holding Nora after he baptised her.

Cousins Maxwell and Nora. I really think that they look alike.

Maxwell at the bay

Getting Hayleigh with water down by the dock

Not totally sure what was going on here. Looks like the big girls were playing survivor!

Mom had me take a break from the hospital on the 4th of July. Mark and I took the girls to Lulu's to eat. Yum! I had to get my usual, fried green tomatoes and LA Caviar. I also threw in a margarita - I definitely needed one. We also took the girls to the new American Girl movie (totally recommend it), ate dinner with Mom and went out on Kelly's parents fabulous boat to watch the fireworks. We had a great time.

Kelly and me on the boat heading out to see the fireworks.

Mark and me (can you tell that I was completely exhausted?!?)

Classic Miss B! Just love it!

Noah and Hannah. Love that smile!

Mark and the Big Girls

Nora in her Orange Beach hat and cover up from Grandma.
Thank goodness her head doesn't fit in the hat yet, that would be a bit scary!

Nora's first trip down to the dock. Hanging with momma before we put her in the water.

Nora's first time in the bay. A right of passage in this family...
I think that she is part of the 6th generation of our family to visit the bay since the land was purchased over 100 years ago. How cool is that?

A sweet kiss from Nora's big sisters. They just adore her!

Bentley, Hannah and Hayleigh posing in the pool at Kelly's parents house.

The Most Bittersweet Week...

So, this has been the most bittersweet week of my life. Nora and I arrived at my parent's house Monday night. Mom and Dad were so excited to see our little sweet pea. Nora and I flew in early so that we could spend time with Mom and Dad before the hoopla of the weekend and next week started. We were going to have the baby baptised by Dick Brooks, the pastor who married us. Mark's parents were coming for the big event and my parents were hosting a party after the church service. Mark and the girls were leaving Dallas on Friday night and driving part way here with a goal of arriving in Orange Beach on Saturday afternoon for a fun week of vacation at the beach.

Very early Tuesday morning, Mom had to call 911 since my dad's blood sugar level (he's a diabetic) went extremely low. The paramedics came and took Dad to the hospital. He was treated and released that morning. He got home and started feeling a little better after getting some rest. Mom and I were watching him closely while getting things ready for the party and getting Mamaw's house ready for the Newman gang. Dad seemed to be recovering, slowly but surely. However, he was really weak and irritable on Thursday afternoon. He was nauseated at dinner, so we encouraged him to go to bed and rest. He felt really badly that night and early the next morning. Mom and I kept debating what to do. He felt like he was able to get up for a bit at some point, but fell. He was complete dead weight. Mom and I had to pick him up. I then called 911. He was admitted to the hospital and put in the ICU at that point. We later found out that he had been bleeding internally for some time and had lost almost all of the blood in his body.

Things seem to have gone from bad to worse. Thank goodness we have been in town. The doctors did a scope on Sunday morning, right before the baptism. They found so many places where he was bleeding and tried to minimize the damage. The procedure was successful, but my daddy has never come completely awake since that time. He was so agitated that he was making himself worse. My mom, brother and I had to make the decision yesterday afternoon to have him temporarily put on a respirator and a feeding tube. I hope that no one has to make this type of decision for their parents. All of the medical staff has told us that the goal is for this to be temporary so that his body can heal and all of his levels can get back to normal.

Mom and I have been at the hospital constantly. It is exhausting to say the least. At least Mark has been able to spend some time with Hannah and Hayleigh and do some fun things at the beach. Baby Nora has been such a trooper. Thank goodness we have been blessed with such a good natured little girl. As of tonight, he is doing relatively well. They are working on getting his levels to where they need to be. At this point, it is just a waiting game.

My dad had insisted that we go ahead with the baptism. It was a hard decision to make, but we went ahead and dedicated Nora to the Lord without my Dad at the church. It was an emotional service and baptism. I'm not sure if there were many dry eyes, especially my sweet mom and our family. They mentioned my dad throughout the service. I'm sure that he felt all of the prayers being said for him.

Please pray for my sweet Daddy. He is such a good man. I know that the Lord is looking out for him and has a plan. I just don't want him to suffer.

The Plane Ride

I am happy to report that Nora is the new Dream Baby. Sorry for the demotion Will! Nora did great on the plane. Thanks to everyone for their advice! Em - I read your comment just before we left for the airport and I did exactly what you said. It worked like a charm! Thank you, thank you! I even got comments from other passengers that Nora did great! She actually slept through security, even while I was getting her in and out of her sling. Craziness! I think that I looked like a pack mule walking through the airport, but we made it and I felt like a huge success! Crazy how motherhood changes your outlook on life...