Birthday Around the Corner!

Well, it's been a while since I have last updated! The month of March has been super busy and is flying by entirely too fast!!

We are gearing up for Connor's first birthday party, it will be rather small... mainly family with a few friends this year. Next year, we can hopefully do a big shin-dig. I am hopeful that we can live a normal life, not isolated away from people this summer. :)

I have been reliving our life almost a year ago. I remember the bed rest for 3 days with the constant fear of my baby not surviving being born at 28 weeks. I remember the first cry I heard as soon as he was born and then rushed to the NICU. I remember it killing me not being able to meet Connor until Saturday night when he was born Friday morning. I remember all the emotions of seeing my sweet man at 1lb 8oz for the very first time. I remember the absolute exhaustion of going back and forth to the NICU twice daily. I remember the amazing day that Connor was able to come home with us 3 months later. I remember the amazing support and prayers from all of our family and friends, even people we had never met. I remember everything, as if it were yesterday.

I thank God everyday for this amazing miracle that he has blessed us with. The journey to get pregnant and Connor's first year of life has been rough but completely worth it, and I would do it all again for our little man! I would like to share a few photos from his first few days of life and from his birthday shoot last week.

2 days old- The first time I got to hold his hand. If you look closely, Josh's wedding band is on his arm.

3 days old, resting on his side

7 days old- the first time ever being held. We placed Connor on my chest (kangaroo care) for body heat & to hear my heartbeat

A YEAR LATER: God surely does some amazing things!

Life is good

And here we are, March 1st!
I can't believe how fast this year has been flying, 24 more days and little Connor will be a year old! I don't even want to think about that quite yet, happy but sad at the same time.

Connor's eating habits are SLOWLY starting to improve. While we are still waiting to hear back from our insurance company on going to Marcus, we continue to work on this issue. After discovering last Thursday that Connor had bilateral ear infections (ouch!), he seems to be a little more eager in the eating department. He still refuses any and ALL formula. His new found love is water from a water bottle, he loves to squeeze it. This seems to usually result in a bath from the bottle, he will swallow a little. I have started making homemade baby food, I mean have you tried some of that jarred stuff?! This way I can make it any consistency and it tastes & smells 100% better. I am able to get food in his mouth, not eagerly, and he typically swallows it. I do wonder if I will ever have that "baby bird" that just opens wide! Hopefully things will continue to get better. My prayer is that we can work through this without requiring any extra therapies...only time will tell :)

Today has been such a beautiful day! Connor had a photo shoot with Cynthia Pace. Every year she does a Angels & Sweethearts Calendar, that goes to the March of Dimes. So, Connor is going to be in the contest and had his pics taken today for the contest. In April, she will post all the "angels" on her blog and there will be a voting session to see who will be in the calendar. I would love to see him in the calendar, but most importantly I love everything this photographer does for March of Dimes. She was simply amazing with Connor, I have not seen him cackle that hard in a long time! I will post the link for the voting once it is available, I am hopeful that we can get several votes :)

WENT FOR A WALK ON THIS BEAUTIFUL, 80 DEGREE DAY!

Connor has recently discovered that he can start to move about all by himself! OH NO! Our house is far from baby proofed yet!! He hasn't quite mastered down the crawl, but he is scooting backwards while on all 4's. He still refuses to roll from his back to tummy, but he has managed to wiggle himself around the floor. I believe within a couple more weeks, we will have a wild man all over our house!!

I PLACED C IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS BLANKET, LEFT THE ROOM FOR A QUICK MINUTE & WHEN I CAME BACK THIS IS WHERE I FOUND HIM!

WIGGLED HIS WAY UNDER THE COFFEE TABLE