Christmas 2011

This Christmas was one of the best Christmases we have ever had! Traditions and holidays are more magical and meaningful with a little family of our own. I've had a very nice break from work getting to spend much needed time with Cache. We have been doing a lot of cuddling, laughing and playing. It has been so fun.
This Christmas I tried a few recipes that were so good! I made Berry Butter and Baklava from Pioneer Woman. My outcomes looked pretty much like her pictures which to me is a first! Also, I have loved smoothies again recently. I know it's weird because it is cold, but seriously, they are good. I especially love throwing in stuff from my basket which always makes it a little interesting.

This was a big party hit! I put a two layers of walnuts and a layer of chocolate chips. It was great!

This year was the Bradley's side turn Christmas. We had everyone come over to our house and sleep over. It probably wasn't the most comfortable sleeping on an air mattress (or the couch) but we had a blast. My mom made her traditional Cranberry French Toast which is to die over and snarf down as fast as you can. We got to Skype with Brad which as so great to talk to him AND SEE HIM AT THE SAME TIME! He is doing good and we can't believe that he is coming home this next year. Oh how the time flies! Here's a picture of Cache and I on Christmas morning and the "wrapping" I did this year and will probably do for the next few years because I bought so much of it!
Some funny things to remember: Cache loved watching presents being opened, had no clue what was going on, Santa got Cache a little play gym thing that he can swat toys and look into a mirror. He loves playing in it and talks to the toys like they are his buds. He was hypnotized by the Christmas lights this year. Smiled at the people behind us at church when they weren't even looking at him (so sweet), When Lance was feeding Cache in the morning he said, "Babe, we really need to get a savings account set up for Cache." Cache said, "Yaaaah." Right after. Weird and totally funny!!
Cache is is four and a half months old! Crazy how time flies! He has been a crack up these last few weeks and is making THE funniest faces and experimenting with noises. He has all sorts of noises that he uses now and is totally a charmer. He is all smiles and coos. However, when he is hungry he is HUNGRY! It's like he hasn't been fed before and is starving. He now weighs 13 pounds! Is getting chub everywhere and is getting the cutest cubby cheeks! We are just loving this boy and are so glad he is doing so well! Happy Holidays!

A Smile To Melt My Heart/ Update

Cache is 3 months! I can't believe how big he is getting! When his "Kids On The Move" lady came a couple weeks ago he was almost 11 pounds. We are shocked that he is getting chub on his arms and legs. He has started smiling and cooing which seriously melts my heart. It makes it so hard to put him to bed but of course sleep prevails! His "happy" sound is one of the best sounds I've ever heard in my life.

The background is sort of weird in this picture because our sheets look like they are the same color as the wall... ha ha

The last four nights Cache has slept all through the night. We hope this is a trend we are experiencing! The first night it happened Lance looked at me in the morning, "did you get up with him last night?" "No, did you???" We had a little celebration! I actually woke him up at 5:30 to feed him because he was asleep for 10 hours! Crazy town right? He ended up not having a polyp in his nose and we are so relieved that he didn't need anything special with that. As he has been getting bigger/older his nose has been a lot clearer. We haven't had to go to the doctor since fall break and we don't go until January so we are excited about that! However, if his belly button doesn't get better he will be having surgery on that.
My 24th birthday was a lot of fun. A mom in my class brought me some yummy fall bread, warm, straight out of the oven. That is what happiness is made out of! I had a wonderful yummy lunch break and it was amazing! Lance had to work on my birthday which was on a Saturday this year so I got a pedicure with my mom and we went out to lunch. It was heavenly and just the boost I needed! My mom watched Cache while Carson and I went to the mall and perused some stores finding some great deals on shirts which is always exciting (shopping with kids is just not the same). My mom surprised me with some Fiestaware which I am LOVING! Then when Lance came home, we went to dinner and watched a movie. It was a very nice day and I loved every minute!
This Thanksgiving was wonderful! We went to Lance's parents house in Altamont and it was lovely, peaceful and tons of fun! One of my favorite traditions that I have been able to be a part of with them is cutting down our tree on Thanksgiving day. We had such a blast! Charlie, Andy, Lance, Cache and I all went in one truck, while the rest of the family went in another truck. I just love the conversations we had up and down the mountain. Cache was really into it this year and snoozed through the whole thing-which was really nice! We hiked around the mountain side and found our winner for this year. Don't you really feel the push to get/revive traditions when you get married or start a family? I just love this tradition and we will be doing it FOREVER! Dinner was also lovely and yummy! I saw that a student of mine had "Muddy Buddies" in their lunch one day and I was craving them ever since! So I made those to snack on plus pop corn covered in white chocolate. I brought our favorite Broccoli, Bacon, Cheese salad and we had a wonderful feast filled with all the trimmings. It was great to hang out, play games, talk and just be with each other.
I love all the "In The Moment" posts I've been seeing around the web so here's mine:
Right now I am:
-Coming off the high of "Black Friday" No I did not camp out or do anything crazy. This was from the comfort of my own home online! Thank you anthropologie for for the great 50% off sale items! I got some seriously nice deals!!
- Loving the Michael Buble and the She and Him Christmas albums.
-wishing I could buy these
-wanting to make a paper chain for a "Christmas Count Down" because I am so excited!
-Thinking about applying to the masters program at UVU (I'm about 90 percent sure.)
-Mustering the will to deep clean my house in time for Cache's Baby Blessing (Next SUNDAY!)
-Hoping Lance took everything for his hunting trip.
-Most of all cuddling with my sweet, handsome boy.

Busy As Can Be

Well needless to say, we have been as busy as we possibly can be. Lance has been working six-twelve hour days a week for the past few months, I have been having super busy weeks at school with Parent Teacher Conferences and Pumpkin Walk. Not to mention still getting in the swing of things and establishing my class. Even though we are in the thick of it, we know we are so blessed. We have the energy to do the things we need to do and we have a lovely handsome boy in our lives. Cache is doing great. At his last appointment he weighed 7 lbs 14 oz. I just feel like every time we go to the doctor it's something else. This time we got referred to see an ENT specialist. Our pediatrician saw a little polyp in Cache's nose and we are seeing him tomorrow. We are also seeing our regular doctor tomorrow for shots and a check up! Good thing it's fall break. It's been crazy town here, but we have tried to stay organized and we have great help. I am so grateful for my sister! She is doing a wonderful job and sends me cute pictures on my phone while I'm at work. It's great.

Cache has been loving the cuddle time. I hope we aren't making some bad habits here, but we just love to have a cuddle nap in bed every once in a while. If he's super fussy we just hold him tight, lay down and he calms right down. Now that I think about it, yeah, we are probably doing some "no-no's" in establishing a routine but right now I don't care. I love it too much.

He started figuring out how to suck his thumb. Every time he does it his finders stick straight out like a fan and he has a serious look on his face. It's super cute! He also enjoys sucking his fist. We can tell when he is very hungry because he will be going to town on his hands and licking us when we pick him up. It's pretty hilarious!
Scout has been an angel! He has sort of been put on the back burner of receiving our attention. He has been so calm and even though he is curious about Cache, he is gentle. I are relieved that it's going this well!

6 Lbs. 6 oz.

At Cache's doctor appointment on Thursday he weighed 6 pounds 6 ounces and 19 1/4 inches long. I was shocked when I looked at the scale! He still is in the 0% for basically everything but he is doing great. When we were in the NICU the occupational therapists and the doctors all said to count him like he wasn't here yet until his actual due date. So if you go back 5 weeks on the scale, he is pretty close to where he needs to be. A little side note- it was weird for me in the NICU when a doctor would ask the nurse how old Cache is and she would say something like 38 weeks gestation. It's still weird!
Anyway, I go back to work tomorrow and I am excited, nervous and a tad bit sad. It's also a little weird because I haven't even met my students! It's going to be like the first day of school all over for them. Wish me luck!
It is hard having to leave Cache at home. However, it is so much easier leaving him at home with my sister then having to leave him at the hospital for four weeks not being able to hold him very much or be with him. We totally get to spend more time with him now that he is home then when he was in the NICU.


He has been so much more alert lately and it has been so much fun! He is starting to suck his thumb/fist and it is so fun to watch his development.
At our previous appointment Cache's doctor has to cauterize Cache's belly button. He had a central line in the NICU that went through his belly button and it wasn't healing as fast as we would like. At our appointment last Thursday it was better but still isn't healing very well so we are going to see a pediatric surgeon on Tuesday. Cache might have to have surgery on his belly button. I know, one more thing right? It's not an emergency situation, but it is something that needs to be taken care of and then hopefully we can be done with the hospital visits after this!

Things I Want To Remember ...

Here are a few things I want to remember about Cache. Month 1
He:
loves to be wrapped up tight but his hands always make it out some how
knows when medicine is in his bottle and drinks it slow till it's gone
loves to be held tight
hates to be bounced when being held (stresses him out!)
grabs his hair or my thumb when he eats
does NOT mess around when he is hungry
takes a while to burb
eats a whole whopping 70-80 mL now!
hates to be naked
usually cries when he is being dressed
likes baths once he is in the water
loves tummy time, specially on dad's tummy
likes Blake Shelton, puts him to sleep every time! (Specially this song)
only cries when he wants something
loves to be held (We think because we only were able to at certain times in the NICU. sad or what?)

sleeps 3-4 hours so far
wakes up about twice a night
likes his back rubbed
is getting his dad's hair line and cowlicks
finally fits into newborn size diapers and almost new born clothes. Not quite.
produces a lot of boogies
doesn't mind when they are being sucked out
likes his car seat and car rides
likes the moby wrap
is always awake at 8PM wide awake
favors his left side when he is sleeping
stares at the little blue owl on his rocker till he is asleep when he sits in it
makes a lot of laundry, like a load or two a day!
toots loud, like a man!

makes this face every so often but is NOT crying! Maybe just a nightmare? Hurt tummy?

Home And Thriving

Home! Cache is home! But first, here are some lasts. One of his last nights in the NICU. Shortly after this picture his tube got professionally taken out by the nurse. I thought I had a picture of it, but it got deleted some how. After my last post of going "back and forth" with progress, Cache took off. Every nurse and doctor told me that it would happen and I guess I couln't believe it until he really did. After that post he did one day of 4 feedings which he took his full amount and then after that day the feeding tube was just used for his medicine. He did a 12 hour request, then right after that he did a 24 hour request and then he did a day of demand. They took the tube out and he ate like a regular baby all day and night long. To pass that test and to be able to be discharged he had to gain 20 grams and he gained 30!! We were so excited after the nurse did the math, we just new that we were going home!


To us he is getting so big! He left the hospital at 5 lbs 5 oz. We are still loving the hair! He could almost use a trim in the back, it's getting a little mullety.

Last bath in the NICU, this was a couple days before he got discharged and he was being Mr. Cute that day. The nurse put his hair in a faux-hawk, isn't he handsome!

I feel like we should call his discharge day "gotcha day" like they do with adoptions. For exactly 4 weeks we were just able to be Cache's "visitors" and now he ours. See the little yellow band on my arm? I am so glad that I don't have to check in and sign in at the desk on the 5th floor, go down to the 4th floor, and go through 2 security checks just to see my baby. He was discharged on September 12, at 9:40 AM. Here he is seconds before we put him in his carseat, no monitors or feeding tubes, just a regular baby ready to go home!

After we put him in his carseat we were ready to go! Thankfully he passed his "carseat test" so he was able to sit in the back seat by his self and he did great!

Thanks to nurse Lisa, we got some great pictures. After we got all of our stuff packed she asked, "did you bring a camera? You brought a camera right?" and after I told her yes, that in fact I did she was the photographer for the morning. I love this picture. I know that I already look tired! It was hard to sleep the night before because we were so excited, like first day of school or the night before christmas excited. Then I had to be there early to feed Cache, make sure everything was in order, sign papers, talk with his doctor, pack up etc, ect...

Lisa also sent us something in the mail a few days later that we left at the hospital. She made sure we got all of the stuff we would want from the hospital so we could start making a baby book for Cache. What a great lady! We sent her a thank you note back, hopefully she gets it! She was one of our favorites!

Here is Cache's one month picture! We went to the doctor and he is 5 lbs 10 oz and 18 1/2 inches long. We just love our doctor, he was actually my pediatrician and he is so funny. On discharge day he was telling the nurse and I a story and some swears slipped out. I just love that guy!

You wouldn't wish this experience on anyone but Cache did come home on a nice little schedule from the NICU. From pretty much day one they always fed Cache at 2, 5, 8, and 11 am/pm if he was hungry or not. So when he started doing request and demand he stuck pretty close to that schedule. Now that we are home he does great and sticks pretty close to those times. We also feel like we are good enough caregivers for Cache because we had to pass off things like bathing and CPR, we had to go to classes and we had occupational therapist helping us with feeding, we got so much information and help, it was really nice for first time parents.

Thanks to all the great people around us we have just been taken care of! Family and ward family bringing us dinner, my great sister in laws threw a baby shower and we have just had so much help! We love you guys!

Back and Forth

So remember the other day that I forgot my phone? Yeah, well I forgot that I left my lights on that day too (which I didn't even need to use them! I think my brain is going a little wacky). And my lights don't automatically turn off. Result? Racking my brain for any numbers I can remember and using the courtesy phone at the hospital (which I was thinking to myself the other day "why do they still have those?") and calling for a jump. THANKFULLY Kelsey and Wayne came to my rescue and got my car going. Now that was a really bummer!


Cache is doing well, he is just growing, growing, growing. To us he seems so big! He is 5 lbs and some change. Not sure the exact on the ounces but it's close to a quarter of a pound. The last few days we have been doing some back and forth with progress though and can I just say that it is hard having your baby in the NICU? We went from 4 a day feedings to 12 hour request back to 4 a day feedings. Request is when Cache tells us he's hungry by crying or fussing, you know, what babies do when they are hungry. To pass he has to take the minimum amount and eat every three to four hours. So he doesn't eat through the feeding tube at all for 12 hours if he takes his minimum amount. He did great wanting to eat every 3-4 hours but he failed in taking the minimum amount. So we went back to 4 a days for 2 days and then tomorrow he will try 12 hour request again. If he passes this time he will go to 24 hour request and then he will go on demand where they take the tube out and he gets all his feedings regularly. To pass this test he needs to show that he can eat regularly and gain weight. Let's hope he does well tomorrow because failing the first time was really hard to take. Like, really hard.

We tell Cache about all of the fun and cool things he has here at the house to entice him to do better, you know some extrinsic motivation? Well this sock monkey from grandma Ames, Scout and among other things have been on the list so hopefully he will find those motivating enough to come home. har har har
Here is a picture of Cache with out his feeding tube. You might wonder how I snapped this one? Oh because he totally grabbed onto it while I was holding him and yanked with all his might and in a split second it was out. Tape, tube and all. See how his cheek is all irritated? Yikes!

4 feedings and 3 Weeks in the NICU

I am writing this post from the hospital and I forgot my phone at home. Bummer. The real bummer is all of Cache's recent pictures are on it so this post is just an update, no exciting pictures. Bummer. Anyway we have been bumped up to 4 feedings a day! Yesterday he did every other feeding through a bottle. It was exciting! He did really good his first two feedings and then okay his third feeding and not so okay his last feeding, he was a little sleepy. Today we are trying two feedings back to back and I just got done doing his first one. He got 40mL which is just six shy of what his feeding amount is right now. Then we will try again at 2 to do a regular feeding. Hopefully he will take most of that feeding, but if not we will just practice for the next couple days doing one back to back and then the rest every other (through the tube and regular bottle feedings). Word on the street is you are at this phase for a couple of days because they get so tuckered out.
We also got to bring his car seat in and he was a champ and totally passed his "car seat test." Also, our baby can hear which is great! He passed that test too. He got put on acid reflux medicine and iron which is normal for preterm babies. All in all we are doing good. It's crazy to think that yesterday was our three week anniversary of being here in the NICU. In the words of Cache's doc this morning, "I think we may be at the end of this stay." And oh I hope he is right. I just really want to have him home! However, the nurses have been great! There are several that I think could be my new best friends. They are so personable, nice and genuinely care which is awesome. If you have to be in a situation like this, it might as well be as pleasant as it can be.

3 Feedings!

Today we got the go ahead to start doing three feedings! What an accomplishment and a celebration! Three times to change his diaper, three times to take his temperature, three times to hold him, and three times to feed him! What a great day it was. He took 32 milliliters once and a whopping 40 milliliters twice! Lance has Friday's off so he was able to get in on the action today too. The even better more important thing was that he took all three feedings fully. He didn't have to use his feeding tube for three feedings! We are making progress and it feels oh so good. Today was one of the best days that we have had in the NICU.


Here we are getting in on some cuddle action. He has been so alert lately it's been such a treat! He has been looking right at us and we couldn't be more excited we come and he is wide awake.

Tonight was bath night and he just loves his baths! He still hates being naked and cold, but hey, who doesn't?? We are becoming pros at bathing and we can do it pretty fast if we tag team. We love being there for bath night even if it means we get home late, it is SO worth it.
Tonight when our nurse weighed him, he weighed 4 lbs 11 oz! We are sure excited about that! The occupational therapist gave us a prediction that this might be our last weekend in the NICU. We are not trying to get our hopes up, but if that is true, that would be the best gift. Oh and another celebration is that my ring fits again. Yay for me.