Well there has been a LOT going on lately! Everest is now 7.5 months actual, and 5 months adjusted. He is doing wonderful! Rolling from belly to back, and from back to both sides(doesn't QUITE get over to his belly yet). Playing with toys like crazy! He now reaches for your face when you hold him. and he can "sit" for a few seconds when you put him in position! We had our first tooth pop through I found it yesterday! He put my finger in his mouth and it wasn't just gums! What a big big boy!
We had a very nice christmas, but it was A LOT of running around. With all of our familes it was go go go for 4 days. We enjoyed spending time with our familes though. Everest got a little stressed, because we didnt have normal naps during the holidays, but I think he is back to normal.
He has had a slightly stuffy nose, but I think that is due to the teething.
Jason and I are in the process of planning our ceremony/reception for our freinds and family. We originally got married at the district justice. It is a lot of work!
The NICU surivial kits are underway and going well! I have about 10 put together right now to take up. My good friends at Kindercare have put a donation box at the center, so hopefully we will get more help!
Here is a link to the news cast done on the survival kits.
http://www.wgal.com/video/22041263/index.html
Below are some pictures from Everest on Christmas morning at home. He was very excited to see his Giraffe "bike"! haha What a silly, happy, beautiful, miracle he is!

Been too long!

Hello Everyone!
I am terribly sorry it has been so long since I have posted! Everything has been going great for us!
Everest is growing and growing. We were at the pulmonogist on Monday and he weighed 14lbs! He is going to have a bronchoscopy done in about 6 months because hes such a noisy boy. He has laryngomalasia. But we are just making sure there are no other issues. Also, they told us, his hemangioma(big red birthmark) on his chest could also grow inside his chest wall and be on his lung. But other than that everything with his lungs is going very well!

He had his first synagis shot at the begining of November, and he wasnt very happy about it.

Everest is still having a tough time on his tummy. He just doesnt understand that he can use his arms to push himself up! He is struggling. His head control isnt great still either. He still "loses" it. We have been working with his OT, and now a PT to help. We are using an exercise ball, the arm of the couch, our chests, a rolled towel, and fun toys to help him out. HOPEFULLY we get better at this soon.

I am hoping to get decorating for Christmas soon! I am so excited. I know he won't remember it but its just such a blessing to have him with us.

We go back to the doctors on December 11th for our 6 month well visit, and his shots.

I am going to post some new pictures of him! He is such a happy smiley boy!

Pumpkins, Vacation, and back to work

I went to a local farm and picked up a pumpkin for Everest's First Halloween! I carved out the insides, and set Everest in it and took his picture :-D
We took a family vacation to Massachusetts on October 17th. Our first "getaway" as a family! We had a wonderful time! We saw the highest peak in Massachusetts, Mount Graylock, in turn giving Everest his first summit! We took a 10 mile hike and saw money brook falls. Everest did fantastic on the hike. The foliage wasnt as good as we had hoped. One of the locals we talked to said they had a storm about a week before we got there and wiped out the leaves.
It was the first time Jason and I both were in New England. We were about 5 minutes from the NY state boarder, and the one trail we hiked we actually were on the state line which was pretty cool.
I went back to work Monday, and it has been going very well! I am happy to be back work. I miss Everest but I am happy to be back to work. He has been home with Jason, and they are doing great.
He is sleeping through the night consistantly. Growing like a weed! We have our NICU follow up on 11/4. He is 5 months old already! I Cant believe it.

Here are some long awaited pictures of Everest :-)
He is gonna fight the camera haha

caught the tail end of a smile

Very excited and kicking his leggies

Bath time! one of his favorite times

1st time in his stroller! He loves it and its very versitile! will last us a long time!

Little Colts fan!

Chase laying down with Everest. Too cute!

another partial smile caught

What ma, my belly isnt that big!

growing so big!

Everest has been doing fantastic! He had his first occupational therapy visit on Thursday. Angie is out OT. She is from Schreiber Pediatrics and is wonderful. :-) She was pleased with how Everest is moving. She was saying that we would like to "get rid" of the corrected age and have him function from his birth age. So we have a long way to go but we are doing well! He is smiling more and more, and I have yet to catch a big ol' E-bug smile on camera. It melts my heart to see him smile.
We had a visit to Dr. Iantosca, our neurosurgeon, and he is pleased with Everest as well! He said his shunt site looks wonderful. We don't go back until the end of January, and at that time we will have a CT. He said that way they have a "baseline" of what his ventricles and shunt look like internally and that way IF he were to ever have a malfunction or infection, they can go from there.
We also went to see Dr. Clapp on Friday. She is our pediatrician and we love her to pieces! She said Everest is doing great. He is 11lbs 6oz and is actually on the growth chart for his birth age now! After our appt. with Dr. Clapp we walked to the main hospital and went to the NICU to visit :-) We saw Rach one of our favorite nurses and she was loving Everest up!
Saturday was cousin Devyns 6th birthday. We went and it was just a small family party. Devyn was teaching me on his new chalk board. I will post some new pictures here shortly, once i get them on the computer!
We had dinner with some of our favorite friends too! Everest and I met Chase and Audrey, and Chase kept Everest content while we started to cook. We made asparagus lasagana, mmmm! Miss Sarah and Ape came and we had a wonderful dinner.
Jason, Everest and I are taking a small trip to MA next weekend! I havent been on vacation in almost 2 years :-0 Hopefully the foliage is peaking when we go!

Just an update

Well I was just writing to update about our week/weekend. On Friday Everest SMILED at me! it was quick and short lived but it was a smile! I have been playing with him and he seems a lot more interested and tells me lots of stories which is nice :-)
We are getting into our bedtime routine. We eat a bottle, then rock and read a story in his room w/ the lights dimmed. And then I will wrap him up and put him in his crib. He is doing pretty well! We do that around 9, and he normally wakes up around 130 or 2. We eat a little and go back to bed! He wakes up again around 6 or 630, and eats and falls back to sleep for a while again. Then he seems to be up for the day! He takes a little power nap here or there but for the most part hes awake. So we are getting there!
We went out to lunch with my dad and Angelica, my grandma, uncle Matt aunt Andrea and cousin Hailey on sunday. it was nice! and then Everest and I hung out with Jasons mom while Jason and John went to shoot their bows.
We have a busy week!
Neurosurgery appointment is Tuesday, and we get the car inspected too haha and then Thursday we have his OT coming for the first time and Friday he has his 4 month check up! Saturday is Devyns 6th birthday!
No new pics yet! I will update those soon!

Early Intervention Evaluation

Yesterday we had early intervetion come out to evaluate Everest. In the state of PA(our county anyway) they evaluate by their actual age not corrected age. So they looked at him as a 3.5 month old not a 6.5 week old. ANYHOW, things went really well. I was concerned b/c hes not very social, he will look at us but its sorta boring I guess and he'll look away. He hasnt smiled AT us yet either. So the OT played with him a little bit and they asked us a bunch of questions about him. He scored below average for a 3.5 month old. The OT noticed that he lays his head to the right(which he does all the time not no the back or the left side) and he reaches across his body with his left arm to the right side. She said babies learn best at "midline" which is basically pulling each arm to the center of their body. We have gotten some ideas on how to help him come to midline and also some ideas for play time to get him to work his neck muscles and eyes, and become more social. They are going to keep a close eye on his muscle tone since he is at high risk for CP.

Other than that, things have been pretty "normal" around here. We are STILL working on trying to sleep at night. He is so spiratic in his sleep its just so hard to get a schedule. We are going to work on a bedtime routine.

In 2 weeks Everest and I are going to take a trip to North Carolina to visit Megan and Gatsby! I am so excited about that, its a long drive, but we will manage!

Here is Laney Lou and Gatsby at Speewell Forge and Here is Megan and I on our way to Philly to visit my dad and Angelica!