Its summertime!!!

God its hard to believe that summer is here and quickly reaching the half way point. Summer to Katie and I means great memories on the boat, the pool, and our usual trip to Florida. This year summer has taken on a more important meaning. That is great memories with our bug!

As you know Katie and I work hard so we can play hard. This summer has been no different with the little one.  Its great. This is a good excuse to be a kid again. So below are photos of our little man soaking up the sun!

I find it so hard believe that around this time last year we knew our little bug was coming but no one else did. We had not released the secret. Its hard to believe this was last year!

And this is now!

Its amazing how fast life changes, but I would not change any thing.

Change of view

So today it finally happened! The first sign of my little man getting older. No he didn't take his first step, he rolled over. I knew it would happen when I was not  home. In-fact one of the main reasons I hated going back to work is I would miss the milestones as he got older. Sure enough while at work I get a call from my wife. She says "Honey Check your phone"!!!!!! I knew before checking. I asked did he roll over?, She responded " Just check your phone!" So like a good husband I stopped what I was doing and checked my phone. Thanks to the modern iPhone I was able to witness it first hand. I was very excited my wife caught it on video.

I am guessing he got tired to staring at the floor and needed a change of view. We have to be extra careful now where we lay him. I can not be one of those careless people who let their babies roll of the sofa or bed.

We we all know what the dreaded next milestone will be. What every parents hates to watch their kids go through.... Teething. I just cant wait for that to start happening! NOT.

Summer time is here!

Well summertime is here! What better way to spend it then taking our little man to the pool! Today was the first time I have been in attendance to see him sit and relax in the water. He has been a couple times before to a pool but I had to work. Today was a blast watching him splash, cry, and relax on his mommy!

Ok I am ready!

What better way to document the occasion then with my water proof camera my wife got me last year. Ignore the date on the pictures. I didn't notice it was wrong. Don't call DFACS! I didn't take him swimming in February

Mom, I am not so sure about this!

Well the water isnt that cold. I am ok as long as your close.

Oh yea this is the life!

woo that tired me out. To the pool nap tent please.

And after a good nap every baby is hungry. This is what he did to me to let me know of his displeasures. This is going to be one of those videos that I treasure for ever!

He is growing so fast. I cant wait to see what its store with my little man this summer!

Boat ride

Some of you may know that my in-laws are big boaters and they have a house boat on the Tennessee river. I find it only appropriate that we should get Noah accustom to the boating life early. His nursery is boat/aquatic themed and he will be addressing his grandfather as captain, but nothing gets a child ready for the boating life then a ride on the boat. Not just one ride but two so far.  So today we packed him up, headed north over the river and through the woods to grandmothers house we went!

Every man needs a good boating outfit. 

The grandmother or (Admiral) as we refer to her while on the boat briefing him of the rules. 

The captain giving Noah his first of many lessons on the water. 

He loves his time with the Captain. 

Noah driving solo. (of course we have to hold him up to the wheel)

Ok time for the exam. All eyes are on you!

Oh My first mate did well!

What better way to celebrate then stripping down to your diaper and getting some R&R

And no boat trip would be complete without our first family photo on the boat.

Seeing our family together in a photo is such a joy for me, but it also made me think of how much life has changed since my first boat ride Katie took me on in 2008.

Or the first one after our engagement. 

 Man life has changed so much but I would not trade it for anything else in the world!

Dedication of Noah to his creator.

For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him. Therefore I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord.  (1 Samuel 1:27)


For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! (Psalms 139: 13-18)

These are my two favorite verses about babies. 

Katie and I share many beliefs. (Thats what makes us so compatible.) We are both Christians, Neither are pro-choice( We stand firm on our views of abortion) , Both have always wanted to be parents, And both of us firmly believe Noah is a gift from us from God. So what better way to show our beliefs and praise God for our son then a public dedication of him back to his creator. 

So the party started on Friday May 10, 2013 with a dinner and class with the other families that were dedicating their children to God. There were quit a few. (Noah was born around the same time as 4 other couples in our Sunday school class alone).  We met the Childhood pastor, listen to some pointers, had his photo made, and rehearsed for the event on Sunday morning. It was good fellowship with a few of our church friends.

Katies mom spent  a lot of time on making his outfits for these two events. This was his outfit for dinner Friday night. 

All the ladies loved his outfit. He is such a laddies man but thats a whole different story. 

Sunday morning my mother and Katie's family attended the event. We dropped them off in Sunday school while Katie, Noah, and I went and consumed the free breakfast.  During the 11 o'clock service is when we dedicated him with 10 other couples. The dedication reminded me of my very important role in raising Noah correctly and helping him to find his way to Jesus. I pray in todays deteriorating world I succeed with the task I have been given. I also hope Gods blessings continue on my household and most of all my Son. 



Below are pictures from the event. 

 After the main event we had both sets of parents over for lunch. We grilled hamburgers on the grill. We hung out, talked, and played games.

Katie's family

Close up of Noah's outfit made by Katies mom. He outgrew the hat after measurements were taken the previous weekend.

Noah and my Mommy. 

This day also happened to be Katies first Mothers day. Man with everything happening it SOOOO snuck up on me! In all the hustle Noah at atleast gave his mother and both grandmothers flowers and cards. 

I can personally say Motherhood fits Katie perfectly. It amazes me to see the love between her and Noah. She has a new glow about her. I have never heard her really complain about it. I get so excited when I see them both smile and each other. I must say I love our little family! 

Wimpy white boy syndrome

Nursing school, it seems like it happened so long ago. Every person who has ever experienced nursing school knows they cram a lot of information into your brain in a short amount of time. The instructors don't really teach so that you will retain the information, but more or less they teach you the skills needed to pass the nursing boards.

I can tell you there was a lot I didn't like about Nursing school. One of the rotations I absolutely despised was the OBGYN rotation. I had no interest at time of my life in pregnant females or delivering babies. Despite my dislike for the OBGYN rotation there was one thing I remember.  I remember the day like it was yesterday. She was discussing something called wimpy white boy syndrome. What is this you ask. Its basically an unofficial diagnosis given to white male babies. Apparently white male babies are more fragile, have a harder time during the transition phase of delivery. (This is the time when the baby has to adapt to life outside the womb.) A few things the babies have to do are normalize and maintain temperature, blood glucose, learn to breath ect.) Fast forward 4 years later and I was living what my instructor talked about. I really had a baby with wimpy white boy syndrome.

You have all read the birth story and how Noah decided to pull his plug early. He was born at 36 weeks and 6 days. One day shy of being considered "full term".  This one day lacking in the womb left him in the premature category. After a few days of reflecting on his life and his abilities during the first week I could really see what my instructor was talking about.

After Noah's delivery the nurses quickly focused on his breathing. He was breathing to fast and he was retracting. They threatened him with taking him to the NICU. After being threatened with this he seemed he corrected his unwelcome behavior.

Later we quickly noticed he wasn't really feeding well. He seemed to lack a strong suck reflex and wasn't doing a good job of rooting. Due to his lack of reflexes Katie had to expel her colostrum and place it inside his mouth.

In the middle of night he woke up screaming. We knew he was hungry but could not get him to eat. He just didn't seem to know what to do.  We called the nurse and got some formula. We placed some in a bottle and stuck it in his mouth. He didn't know what to do with this either. He was lacking his suckle reflex.  This was the beginning of our high maintenance wimpy white boy.

We ended up feeding him with a syringe and small tube. He practiced his sucking reflex on our finger while we injected the milk into his mouth. We did this around the clock every two hours.

Later on the first day we noticed him turning a lovely shade of orange. They ran a Billirubin test and discovered he was turning jaundice. The physician decided we would wait until the next morning to see if he continued to climb. Sure enough it did increase. He decided to initiate phototherapy.

Our little pumpkin was sent home on a billibed and needed to be tube fed every 2 hours.

After a couple days on the phototherapy his liver decided to start breaking down the billirubin. Every thing turned out great! You would not know looking at our son today he was such a wimp when he was born.