TIMOTHY IS HOME!!!!!!!!

Last week was a week we have been waiting and praying for since Timothy was born -- we found out at the beginning of the week (after his bronchoscopy went well with no major issues found) that he was probably going to get to come home, and after 11 weeks in the NICU, he was able to finally come home to us last Saturday -- on Jared’s 30th birthday!!!! It was the best week ever!! And since he has been home, he has been doing AWESOME!! He of course still has some little issues left to overcome (quite the job keeping up with all his medicines that he’s on, but of course completely worth it just to be able to have him home!) -- weight gain and his jaundice levels (caused by the TPN he was on so long) being the most serious issues, and he has been doing so well on his eating ever since he has been home!! We just had the most exciting news today at his doctor’s appointment -- he’s finally had a normal healthy weight gain after this week, and the best part -- his direct bili levels went down by almost half!! There is no way to even explain our relief and our joy at hearing that news today. And what an angel of a baby we get to have in our house these days!! He is the sweetest, happiest, and most good-natured little guy ever -- it is the most wonderful thing in the world to get to enjoy him at home now and see him finally feeling so content and secure and being able to make him so happy… Such a gift that we will never take for granted again -- seeing and having him as a normal, healthy baby.

Our first family picture of 6! (Finally!!) :)


So we had to take a picture of this… :) I have been pumping ever since Timothy was born -- hoping to get to nurse him (another exciting event, making last week the best week ever!) But this is a picture of what our crazy freezer has been looking like, storing all this pumped milk… :) And this isn’t even all of it -- we ended up having to buy another little freezer (obviously due to lack of space), plus all the milk I had stored at the hospital as well… But it all ended up being worth it because Timothy is nursing now!! They let him start having breast milk in the hospital last week, and I even got to try nursing him for the first time, and he has ended up being an awesome nursing baby!! (Who knew it could be possible even after being 2 ½ months old and never having nursed before -- another prayer answered for me!) And he is doing so awesome!! Ever since he has been home, he hasn’t been having any issues with throwing up or even spitting up like he was in the hospital! And apparently he is doing good with weight gain on breast milk now as well!! We are just so thankful! :)

Don't you just love that worried look on his face - as if to say, "Am I really expected to eat all of this?" :)

It was such a neat gift for Timothy to get to come home on Jared’s birthday -- of course the best present he could have wished for!! Such a happy day… One we will always remember! :)

Well, Brielle, Samuel, & Colette had only seen their new little brother one time -- the day after he was born -- before the regulations started at the hospital with no visitors allowed under the age of 15 during flu season… So this was definitely a day they had been waiting for -- to finally get to see their new baby brother!! They were so excited to get to see him again for the first time, and they have been having so much fun ever since, having him in our home now!

We just feel so very blessed right now!!! :)

Our Thanksgiving

We were very excited to have my family come to visit us for Thanksgiving weekend this year!! They were tons of help with all that ended up happening last week with Timothy at the hospital -- again, making it a fun experience for our kids rather than a stressful one! We were very thankful to have them! We ended up going to Golden Corral for our Thanksgiving meal (again due to the busyness of the week), and it was actually a fun little afternoon we had there -- and no mess to clean up afterwards! :)

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Timothy’s first Thanksgiving was of course spent at the NICU, but it was still an exciting day, as we knew it was going to be one of his last ones there!! :) He actually had his carseat trial that day (making sure he doesn’t start de-satting while sitting in his carseat for an hour and a half) -- and of course he passed just fine! :) We also took this other picture that day too -- before we started packing up all his stuff -- to show what his little corner of the world looked like for his first 11 weeks of life… Quite the menagerie he had built up there! Also very exciting those first few days we got to hold him without his pick line and all his cords and wires attached to him...

Timothy's Milk

We had a momentous occassion yesterday!! Timothy has not been doing so well on his eating and weight-gain thus far, so they decided to make an exciting change yesterday. I've actually been pumping this whole time, in the hopes that he might still be able to nurse eventually (our freezer is completely packed with stored milk!!) Well, yesterday, I finally felt like I was pumping for a purpose!! They are letting him have 10% breast milk as a part of his diet now - mixed in with his formula, in the hopes that it might help in his weight-gain! So anyway, I am just SO excited that it really may be a possibility for him to have all this milk eventually!!!!! So yesterday was Timothy's first time, in his 10 weeks of life so far, having breast milk! VERY exciting day for me yesterday!! :) This is a picture of our happy smily boy as always in the NICU yesterday... (Sorry it's a little blurry - but I just love that smile!)

Family Thanksgiving Stuff!

So Brielle brought home a family turkey project from school, that her family was all supposed to help her decorate in any way we wanted... So we decided to do it for Family Home Evening last week, and the kids absolutely loved it - picking out different things to decorate it with (noodles, beans, glitter, stickers, etc)... It ended up being a really fun little family activity, and Brielle was very excited to take the finished product back to school with her!

The school also had a Thanksgiving lunch last week, that families were invited to come and share in with the students, and we all ended up being able to go! Samuel and Colette were so excited to feel like such big kids, eating lunch at the school cafeteria! And Brielle loved getting to show us where she eats lunch every day... It was a fun experience (especially since we're not sure what kind of Thanksgiving meal we're going to end up having ourselves this week!) :)

Update on Timothy

Timothy - 2 months old

10 lbs. 8 oz.

Timothy turned 2 months old last week and we had a very exciting Xray!! (Still no fluid in his chest cavity even with him eating now)!!! We were so very thankful and relieved - we are hoping so much that this means the leak has hopefully healed. He is still slowly continuing to eat more and more formula every day, which is making him feel so much more happy and content these days, although the poor thing is having quite the time with spitting up, throwing up, reflux, etc. (all that fun stuff) during the actual eating process... We're sure his body needs time to adjust to food inside of it once again... He has also been having troubles with a weird stridor noise that he's been making, and is most likely going to have to have a bronchoscopy done sometime this week to find out what is causing it. We are hoping and praying it's not another serious issue! But for now we are just so thankful that all is going well in relation to the chylothorax and that from the looks of things, he will not need surgery!! Thank you to everyone for all your constant prayers, love, and support! :)

Our Halloween

The kids had a very fun Halloween this year! We had a Witch, Darth Vader, & a Fairy Princess! They were definitely entertaining to go trick-or-treating with -- Colette especially was constantly mumbling the funniest things - after every door, she'd be looking in her bucket and saying, "That's so nice for me!" She couldn't believe all these people were giving her candy... Samuel loved to be the brave one whenever they came upon a "spooky" house - he would march up to it so proudly to prove he was not scared - when his sisters were much more hesitant. :) And when we got home, and he dumped out his candy, he gave Jared and I quite the surprise when he shouted, "Holy Crap!" (Or in his language - "Ho-wee Twap"!) :) We'd never heard him say that before - we were definitely cracking up... And our ever-social Brielle -- she was more excited about coming home to hand out candy to trick-or-treaters -- she was literally flagging people down from our doorway, so they would come to our house to get candy! Funny kids... They sure make the holidays fun... :)


These were their scary faces for Halloween - (above) - of course it's kind of hard to see Samuel's! :)

Timothy's First Halloween

Well, Halloween was definitely an exciting day for our little Timothy in the NICU -- he got to eat formula again!! After 4 1/2 weeks of being N.P.O. (not eating), he had his first day of the slow process we are now going thru - building up his feeding amounts on a special formula (low in the fats that run through his lymph vessels) called Portagen. Of course it was a very tiny amount of the formula that day (majorly diluted), but it was still an exciting day because it finally began the process! (And he actually did seem to notice the difference somewhat - he liked it!) And so far so good - it's been a little over a week now, and still no signs of the fluid building up in his chest cavity again! He just started on full-strenght Portagen yesterday - still a small amount, but no diluting - all formula now!! He definitely likes it, though I'm sure his body is going to take some time to adjust to food again... Lots of spitting up and he's had some issues with a weird stridor noise lately... Still, we're going in the right direction!

This is Timothy listening to a tape that the kids made for him - we taped them singing songs and telling him stories and saying nursery rhymes, etc... He actually enjoys listening to it and hearing their voices - his eyes get so big, as he tries to figure out where it's coming from. We're hoping this will help him to know them a little better when he comes home! :)

Timothy Bruce Ray - 7 Weeks Old

First Halloween!

Carving our Jack-o-Lantern

The kids wanted to do a silly face this year for our Jack-o-Lantern... We actually got a little bit of help from them for once, getting the seeds out -- although it took a lot of encouragement! We had a fun little family night together doing our jack-o-lantern... (Oct. 30)

Our First Snowfall!

Well, as of this point, the weather is perfect these days, but a few weeks ago, we actually had a couple of snowy days (in October!!) We were a little worried about what that was going to mean for our winter, but luckily, the weather has warmed up a bit once again, and we are having some beautiful days around here for now. Those few days it did snow, the kids were so excited, of course, to get to see it and watch it from the windows, and for Brielle, to get to go to school in it! (And Timothy got to see his first snowfall out the hospital window!) These pictures are from October 28 - our first day of snow for the season!

Update on Timothy

So Timothy is going to get to try eating again tomorrow (for Halloween!) -- a special formula, called Portagen, which is low on the fats that go through the lymph vessels where the leak is... He will only get to try a tiny bit at first, and slowly get more and more as the days go by, as long as he does okay with it and the fluid doesn't start building up again. Best-case scenario, if he does fine with the feedings as they are slowly increased, he will be up to full feeds on his own (with no IV fluids) in 3 weeks! We are definitely praying that is what happens and that he will not need surgery. That is the plan at this point...


This is just a little video of him to show how fun and interactive he is getting when we talk to him, and how big he is already getting - trying to talk, himself! (He'll be 7 weeks old tomorrow)... We can't believe it! This video is from Oct. 22...

Ward Party & Festive Timothy

So we had our ward Trunk-or-Treat this past weekend, and the kids had a blast! We've got a Witch, Darth Vader, and a Fairy Princess this year! They are VERY excited about Halloween! Timothy got dressed up that weekend as well -- in a cute Halloween outfit from his nurse, Katrina! Of course he wasn't necessarily excited about dressing up, but he sure got a lot of oohs and aahs at the NICU! :)

Soaking in the Tub & Cuddles w/ Mom

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It is quite the job to bathe this poor boy with his pick line in, trying not to get it wet amidst all his wiggling as he is getting so big! He's still not too sure what he thinks about his baths... :) He is definitley a cuddler! And he sure can melt you when he looks up at you with those huge blue eyes of his... :) (Oct. 23)

Awesome Primary Nurses

Timothy has some really neat Primary nurses, as they call them, who are the nurses assigned to him whenever they are working. Katrina, his night nurse (Oct. 24 - Top), who has gotten him on quite the awesome sleeping schedule right now and who likes buying him adorable outfits to wear! And Lois, his day-time nurse (Oct. 16 - Bottom), who actually made this beautiful blanket just for him, which you can see over the top of his crib in the background... We are so thankful for the awesome nurses at the NICU!

Our Three Cuties

Here's just some fun pictures of our three cute kids at home during the month of October... Always keeping life happy and fun! :)
(Oct. 16) -- "Movie Under the Stars" on base - their first time w/ cotton candy! (Oct. 18) -- Sunday best; (Oct. 20) -- Bubble bath fun! (Oct. 22) -- Brielle at her dance class...

Grandpa Ray

We also got a fun little visit from Jared's Dad for a day, and Timothy got to meet his Grandpa who he was named for! (Middle name). Definintely a special event! We were able to do a little birthday cake celebration for Grandpa with the kids while he was here too -- his birthday had been a few days earlier... So that was a fun day! (Oct. 17)

Grandma Ray

The kids definitely had a fun time with their Grandma Ray while she was here with us! She was able to be here and help us for a week and a half -- we sure appreciate all our wonderful family! :) (Oct. 16 & 13)

Funny Boy

Timothy has the best concerned/paranoid look you've ever seen! (And he definitely has every right to) -- always seems to be asking, so what are you going to do to me now... or when are you going to start feeding me?! Poor guy... He also loves to have time on his mat on the floor to stretch out and kick his legs. He's getting so big! (Oct. 18)

Cuddling with Timothy

Timothy loves it when we let him lay on his tummy with us! Completely zonks him out... :) (Oct. 17)

Brielle's Award

We were so proud of Brielle this month in her class at school! (Every month they choose a few students from each class who have demonstrated the "Character Count" for the month) -- which was Respect this month -- and Brielle was one of the students chosen from her class! They had an assembly to present the awards, which we got to see her at -- it was a fun little school event for her! (Oct. 13)