NICU Stuff

Just taking a little break from my normal blogging to post this gem. And yes, unless you are a NICU nurse you won't get most of this. :-)

You might be a NICU nurse if...

*You scrub your hands like a surgeon

*You measure age, not in years, but in weeks and adjusted weeks.

*You plan your day in 3 hour increments.

*You believe that unspeakable evils will befall you if the phrase, "wow, it is really quiet" is uttered.

*Finding poop in a diaper makes you cheer because you are obsessed with NEC and suspicious all your babies have it.

*You like to give glycerine suppositories out like candy- (for same reason above).

*You recognize that feeding tubes can be time-savers.

*You hear 4 or 5 different types of all-to-familiar beeping in your sleep.

*You recognize that taping is an art-form.

*The admission of a 28 week antepartum patient makes you antsy.

*You could describe poop about a dozen different ways…(eg. Meconium, transitional, green, yellow, yellow-seedy, brown…)

*The IV team won’t come to your unit… YOU are the master.

*You measure weight in grams, and kilos

*You know that kangarooing has nothing to do with kangaroos.

*You know that “Feeder-Grower” isn’t a description of a lawn care product.

*You’ve ever referred to a baby as a ‘glow worm’.

*You’ve ever cried at the discharge of a patient, because they felt more like family.

*You take pride in making up a “cute” bed for your patient.

*You believe: if the baby is quiet, be scared.

*You’re patients don’t use a call bell when they need you- instead an orchestra of 3 or more alarms of different tones get your attention.

*You’ve witnessed a preemie escape mission…they made it as far as the portholes.

*You refer to sweet-ease as ‘a shot of happiness’.

Happy 33 to Me!

Yep, I turned the big 33 on Nov. 12th. We spent the weekend in San Antonio. Big shocker, I know. But we actually had a reason this time! Mondo's step-sister turned 15 and she had a big party or "Quinceañera". I had never been to one so it was kind of exciting. We took the kiddos and they had a great time playing with all of their cousins.

This was on Friday night. Caleb met his step-cousin for the first time. They are actually only 3 weeks apart. The looked like little twins and played so well together!

Ethan and one of his favorite cousin's GG. He actually lives in Arlington.

The next morning we drove all over San Antonio and Mondo showed us where he used to live and go to school. We also stopped at a park and let the kids play.

In the park there was a train that drove all around the park. It was a fun little informative ride about how the park came to be.

All excited for the ride to start!

That excitement quickly turned into fatigue for one little person. We went to bed late the night before and it caught up with him. He would've passed out but the train kept blowing it's whistle and he would jump. Poor guy.

He finally got some peace and quiet and fell asleep while "reading" a book.

We got some frozen custard for a birthday treat for mommy. Yummo!!

The next stop was my favorite Chinese restaurant Formosa Garden. Yum!! The kids enjoyed the noodles and rice. Look at that chop stick master!

Caleb didn't quite get the hang of the chop sticks. He doesn't even use silverware most of the time. He'll probably go to kindergarten still eating with his hands. My little caveman.

All dressed up for the big party! This was the best pic I could get of these two goofy goobers.

What's this? Oh...a birthday cake for me!! Mondo's dad suprised me and got me a cake! It was waiting for me at out table at the party. How thoughtful! And it was much bigger than this picture shows. It probably wasn't the best idea for me to take it on the long trip home either. I still have hot pink icing in my car.

The party girl's cakes.

I didn't get a great picture of her. But look at that dress!

I just love this picture. That is Mondo's brother-in-law dancing with Caleb. They danced together a lot! Juan said he was suprised at how well he followed him.

Caleb and Daddy. Silly face.

Mondo and his brother Abel.

Me and Mondo's sister Erika (GG's mom).

Ethan and Mommy. :-)

The little twins. Aren't they adorable?? Of course they wouldn't both look at the camera.

Ethan dancing the night away.

Look at that little turkey. He kept putting his hands on his hips and shaking his butt around. So funny!

And we lost one! He wasn't actually asleep but he was exhausted! I think we left around 11pm. We went back to the hotel, took showers, and they passed out! But don't worry...they slept in till 8am. (Sigh) It doesn't matter when these critters go to sleep. They're up bright and early!

The next morning we stopped by the Riverwalk on our way out for some pics.

This is their new goofy smile.

I was stunned when he posed himself and said "take a picture of me!" There is hope!!

The one nice picture I have of me and the boys and there is a bright spot over my face. Dang.

Had to stop in the mall for a Smurfy pic.

On our way home, we decided to go try some places off of Man vs Food. Mondo remembered one called Juan in a Million in Austin. The guy on the show had a challenge of eating a bunch of breakfast burritos. The place was in an interesting part of town and was packed.

We were all excited until we took a trip to the bathroom and were totally disgusted. We tried to erase that mental picture but then our food came...and so did the flies. Literally 5 or 6 flies swarming our food at the table. We shooed them off of the kids plates while they tried to eat and took our food to go. Although, we thought about what the kitchen might look like and lost our appetite. Juan in a Million = Juan's Home for a Million Flies. Gross.

After doing a little shopping at the outlets in Roundrock, we stopped for a "Texas size donut" at this place. God bless my husband for his awesome memory of Man vs. Food! The donut was a bit smaller than what I pictured a Texas size donut would look like but it was still yummy.

The Texas size vs a regular donut.

The kids enjoying a regule size donut on the way home (and sporting some new shoes!).




Caleb dancing with Uncle Juan. It was dark in there so it's hard to see.

Ethan dancing his favorite dance. I think it's called the Cupid Shuffle.

Happy Halloween!

I'm happy that Halloween is now falling during the week so I am off of work! This year we did the usual. We went to trunk or treat at church, trick or treated in the neighborhood, then handed out candy at home.

This is the first year I "dressed up". Caleb wanted me to be Batgirl. This was as close as it got. He said next year he will be Batman and I will be Robin.

I was suprised that Ethan wanted to be Captain America. I figured he would be something from Star Wars. But he made a cute Captain America. ;-)

Caleb wanted to be "black Spiderman". He is into bad guys. Hmmm....

Of course Spiderman and Captain America had to battle!

Trunk or Treat at church. Caleb's mask didn't last long.

Spongebob!

Toilet paper toss. Haha!

My sweet neices Caitlin and Hailey.

Superhero squad! Maybe next year we'll get Daddy to dress up.

Of course we had to visit Halloween land at Nana's.

Trick or treating in the neighborhood. It was very hard to keep track of those two dark costumes running in two different directions!

We thought this was fake...until we took a picture next to it and found out there was a person under there! Caleb wasn't scared. He whacked him with his pumpkin!

Family Retreat

The weekend before Halloween we attended the second annual family retreat for our church. It was in Glen Rose at a retreat center. We had a great time again. It's nice to get away for a couple of days and just be outside with the kids. We stayed in cabins that kind of looked like a low budget motel room. :-) But we really only slept in them so it was ok. I have tons of pictures so I'll let them tell you about our weekend!

The retreat started at 9am but Ethan had his last baseball game that morning so we were late. We got to Glen Rose around 2p and played soccer for a little while then headed to the zip line!

This little pond is on the way to the zip line.

Caleb did a little fishing while Ethan was waiting for the zip line.

He wanted to do the zipline with me but then he saw one of the teens and ditched me. :-( He didn't do the zipline last year so I was shocked when he said he wanted to do it. I thought he'd get to the top and then change his mind but he hopped right off as soon as they told him to!

Waiting with his buddy Will to do the zipline.

Just hanging out.

All done! No sweat.

Here's me hanging on for dear life. I zipped with Summer's husband. Mondo was conveniently taking care of Caleb. Mmm-hmmm....

Caleb trying to stop us from crossing the street. This is his new thing. Poor guy thinks he's actually big enough that we can't pass.

The kids had fun riding in the back of the car from the zipline to our room.

Have you noticed that Caleb has had this "cape" on in every picture? He put it on before we left the house for Ethan's baseball game that morning and didn't take it off...at all...until bed. He is my little superhero. He said he was Robin.

The kids played in this sand for hours. It was a volleyball court but they didn't play volleyball.

The adults played a little basketball during some free time.

I think someone needs a sandbox for Christmas. He kept burying his guys in the sand. I had to do some deep digging to find Spiderman. I thought he was a goner but luckily I found him.

His cape looked a little like a dress when he put his jacket on.

Mmmm...you have to have yummy smores around a campfire at night!

At the end of the night after a campfire devo, we all gathered to play games. My boys seemed so big. I remember last year we went to bed early while the others played games because the kids were tired and cranky.

Not this year! They stayed up till 11p!

Caleb played with the younger kids and watched a movie.

When he got tired of Beauty and the Beast he opted for Mondo's phone so he could watch his beloved Smurfs.

The next day we got up and had breakfast, church, then a group picture. Here is Caleb attacking one of the adults. Luckily he has two grown boys so he knows all about handling rough boys.

The kids went back to play on the "pirate ship" aka Noah's Ark.

Most people left after the picture but a group of us hung around and went on a hike. This picture doesn't do it justice. It was a steep hike down. Especially with a bunch of kids!

But it was worth the adventure because we ended up here! The kids (and adults) practiced skipping rocks for an hour.

Will and Ethan skipping rocks. They were so excited when the finally figured out how to do it.

Mondo showed Ethan how to do it. Ethan was so intent watching him. So cute!

Someone stole Mommy's glasses.

Mondo, Mark, Scott, and Eric. Apparently it was Smurf day.

Maggie and Caleb. Future couple? They are if you ask Ethan. He wants Caleb to marry Maggie so him and Will can be "real brothers". Why is my 6 year old obsessed with marriage? Mondo and I must be providing such a good example. ;-)

On our way home. It was only an hour and a half drive but someone was so tired and refused to go to sleep.

Someone else passed right out.

We stopped for lunch about halfway home. Caleb acutally slept on me for almost the entire meal. He was super tired because he never does that!

At church on that final morning, each family was given a tree to plant where ever we wanted. The theme of the retreat was "branching out". We named our tree Charlie, like Charlie Brown. It is a sad, scrappy little tree that I hope one day will grow big and tall!

How cool will it be when these two are all grown up and can sit under the shade of little old Charlie. Let's pray he survives the winter!

Here's a video of Ethan going down the zipline!