• Boy Oh Boy – NICU Time with Sweet Kaelan

    'Meeting sweet Little Pumpkin for the first time!  Brings back so many memories of NICU!'

    Recently, I had the opportunity to spend a week in Colorado with family. My cousin Renelle Broughton (who is like a sister to me) had her little one early and was spending a big part of each day in NICU. I was able to spend time with her, her husband Eric, and their new sweet little one Kaelan! It was a precious time for me.

    Words cannot express how honored and truly amazing it was me to spend time with this awesome Momma, caring Dad, and adorable little guy. Not to mention to have the chance to experience NICU from a totally different perspective from when the girls were in it over 10 years ago. Kaelan won my heart immediately and I am grateful for Renelle and Eric opening their home, sharing their precious boy with me, and everything during that crazy busy week.

    Thankful for a chance to spend some extra time with my Aunt, Uncle, cousins, my parents, and other extended family over the weekend as well! Wish I lived closer to see them and their little guy grow up. Love you guys! Lots of hugs, kisses, and prayers always from South Carolina! Thankful for an awesome husband Jake Hayes for taking good care of our two chickies while I was in Colorado that week!

    'The goodies we put together for Kaelan!'
    Goodies for Kaelan!
    'Momma waking him up for the next feeding!'
    Renelle is like a sister to me and it was wonderful spending the week with her.
    'The most adorable little feet!  He was not too happy with us doing the footprints, but we got it done!'
    He was not happy about getting his footprints done and into the baby book, but his tiny little toes looked so stinkin cute afterwards!
    'He was a trooper taking his bottles!'
    Precious time with Renelle and her sweet little bundle of joy.  I cannot tell you how amazing this week was for me to spend with her, Eric, and her adorable baby boy!
  • Flashback Friday: Sharing, Sleeping, & Surgery

    Brina and Karlie sharing a pacifier

    Brina and Karlie sharing a pacifier

    Today our Flashback Friday hits when the girls were only between 1 – 2 months old after coming home from NICU.  They shared everything and could sleep peacefully in the most unusual positions.  It was much easier to get their pictures at this stage because they were not mobile yet.  Thankful for these little blessings.  It doesn’t seem like these days were that long ago.

    They were preemies and came home on heart / apnea monitors for the first few months.  You can see the wires coming out of their clothes in many of the early pictures.  We never had to worry about them stopping breathing because the monitors would always alarm if they did.  It wasn’t long before we got used to it.

    During this time Karlie also had to go back into the hospital to have surgery.  Her stomach wasn’t getting the milk she was drinking and she was throwing up after feeding.  It was pretty scary taking our little one back in for surgery.  Watching her being wheeled off to the operating room in the huge crib broke my heart.  Thankful for Doctors and their help during this time.

    Sharing a boppyc

    Baby sleeping pile

    Karlie with her feet crossed and propped up on the wallc

    Somehow Karlie managed to scoop herself until her bottom was against the wall and had her feet resting up on the wall while snoozing away.

    Karlie getting ready to come home from the hospitalc

    Karlie resting after surgery with her huge IV bandage

    This pillow thing is getting  oldc

    Brina hanging out in the pillow.  She thought it was pretty cool standing up at first, but decided after a few minutes she would rather be free.