The Amazing Jacob turns ONE!!!!! (although it's officially on Tuesday)

The official day is Tuesday, January 26th, but we celebrated this past Saturday with a party with close family and a few friends. The theme was Super Heroes. For a long time Jacob had been called "The Amazing Jacob" because of all the amazing things he and God were able to accomplish together after birth. So, the Amazing Jacob got a Super Hero party, complete with his own logo and cape.

There were many family members that traveled from far lengths to spend time with us (Jacob) for the weekend...all the way from Atlanta, New York, California, and Texas. The Amazing Jacob is quite loved by all! Here's a picture of GG and Aunt Jamie.

As the guests began to arrive, Jacob quickly became the center of attention. Just as it should be!

There were presents opened and directly put into the mouth...

There were smiles during cake time...

There were moments of distress...

...and then there were moments of play...as cake went flying all over MOMMY!

Of course there was food...

...and lots of decorations...

...a high chair that was ready for action...

...and a front door showing who would be the center of attention!

It was a wonderful celebration and full of great memories.
Thank you to all the people that made it possible.

Rollin, Rollin, Rollin, Rollin, What?

The title says it all. Jacob has finally showed us that he CAN in fact roll over. He has had all the steps for a while now, but never put them all together...until recently. This has been alot of work...and alot of stretching...and alot of practice...but it finally paid off!

Way to Go, Jacob!

Who needs oxygen???

So, this morning, I went into Jacob's room to change his diaper and get his day started....and this is what I walked into...

I promise you...I did not take them off and I don't know how the nasal cannula ended up behind his head on the bed, but nevertheless, that's exactly where they were. So, I snapped a picture and then snapped a picture of the Sat monitor as well. We were TOTALLY excited to see this!!!

The number on the left is his sat...that's right 100! Yay! The Amazing Jacob is showing off for you all...and we're pretty excited about it!

I love this picture of Jacob and Jackson. It's just precious and I had to share it with you all. Jacob is really beginning to look like a little boy and not a baby. (sniff sniff) And Jackson is so great with Jacob, he lets him do just about anything to him. It's wonderful.

Didn't you know that shoes are the latest and greatest in appetizing treats? Don't worry, he can't walk yet, so these shoes have never really been on the ground. :) But sooner or later we're going to have to let Jacob in on the secret...shoes are really pretty nasty!

For those wondering about Jacob's upcoming appointments...we've got Cardiology on January 25th and Pulmonology on January 29th. These are the two doctors that decide what treatment will be for lung growth, pulmonary hypertension, and oxygen requirements. We are anxious to see what they have to say about Jacob's need, or lack thereof, for the oxygen. Thanks for lifting him up in prayer about these things.

Thanks for checking in with us. Have a wonderful day!

It's Play Time!

Jacob's personality is really starting to show more and more these days. Here's a few pictures of him from the past few weeks.

This one is so cute...Jacob with his "laptop" and dad with his!

Jacob still hasn't figured out how to get the ball in the basket, but maybe soon! Looks like I caught Jackson in a yawn or something!

The days are going by so quickly. It's hard to believe that our little boy will be one year old very soon. Yikes!

My latest project includes taking all Jacob's medical records, insurance claims, TEIS information, and medical supply orders and putting them into a nice, neat, chronological, and organized binder for future reference. I have been putting it off for a while. As daunting as this sounds, it's actually been pretty amazing to go through all the paperwork. As I was reading his birth report last night, I was amazed at how technical everything was, and that I actually understood it. I guess that's what 101 days in the NICU will give you! Some of the doctors actually found ways to put a little bit of themselves and the personal things into their reports. For example, the NICU doctor on the night of Jacob's birth wrote that Jacob had pictures taken and was seen by mom for a couple of minutes before taken to the VCH NICU. It didn't feel like a couple of minutes, but I can still see that moment in my head. Nice that he reported about it. He thought it was important enough to note it.

Interestingly, I actually did find a mistake in one of the reports though...one doctor (that we saw all of 1 time) put in her report that Jacob received his surgeries while on ECMO.....when actually....he was NEVER put on ECMO. Pretty big difference! I guess she must have assumed that, or just glanced through a previous report and thought he had needed it with his previous history. Who knows, but I thought it was interesting.

Enough of my ramblings...thanks for checking in with us today. Please keep praying that Jacob will continue to make progress in his gross motor skills...it seems like that's one area where we need alot of help. Have a blessed day!

Rock Out!

Didn't know we had a musically inclined child, did you?

I had to use large rubber bands to hold the keyboard to the high chair...otherwise he'd find a way to throw it on the ground.

Portraits and Update

Back in November, we had some family portraits done by Mary Twitchel Photography and here's some of the photos she captured for us. Our sweet boy did so good and smiled quite nicely for the photoshoot. For Christmas we purchased photos of Jacob for our family members, and they loved their gifts!

Many people are asking for an update on Jacob's health, development, etc. Here's the skinny on the Big Guy...

He's weighing about 24 pounds and measuring about 32 1/8 inches (we had a doctor's visit today). He is wearing size 18 months clothes (mostly for the length) and size 4 shoes.

He can sit for hours and hours on end, and moves his torso as though he wants to be mobile, but has not started crawling just yet. When put in the crawling position, he will tolerate it for a longer length of time. He can stand (finally) for longer lengths of time and is working on balancing his weight.

He can use his thumb quite well and is working on incorporating his index finger with it. He can take things out of containers, but tends to throw them on the floor rather than put them back in. :) He LOVES throwing things on the floor. He can say words like "La La, Ma Ma, Ba Ba," and sometimes puts them together to make it sound like talking. He also makes loud grunts to call attention to himself. He can shake his head NO, and moves his body to the beat of music. He has started to wave his hand to say hi and bye. He loves turning pages in a book and making lots of noise in church. :) He has started curling his tongue in hismouth and is blowing raspberries some. He puts EVERYTHING in his mouth and likes exploring different textures on his tongue. He has 8 teeth, four on the top and 4 on the bottom, and is currently drooling everywhere...the molars are starting to come through on the bottom.

Medically, he is doing well. We have gotten through one bad cold, and a serious stomach bug with things coming out of both ends (if you know what I mean) with no medical problems. Yay. He's currently on 1/8 liter of O2, and satting great! In fact, we have stopped putting the bandaids on his face to hold the O2 in place and it falls out all the time. At night, we will find the oxygen around his neck, on the left and right sides of his face, and his O2 Sats are still great. We go back to the Cardiologist and Pulmonologist at the end of January for a follow up about his oxygen. Maybe we'll be able to wean earlier than expected?????? Maybe....just maybe????

Oxygen or no Oxygen our little Jacob is just the most amazing gift we could have ever been given. Every day with him is a reminder to us that God has entrusted us with a special person to raise and love. We were willing to give him back to God before he was born, and God, in his great love and mercy, gave him back to us. I will never understand that, but will never cease to Praise Him for it.

May you look at your life today and think about all the ways that God has worked to show you love and mercy. Thanks for checking in with us. Have a wonderful day.

Merry Christmas!

Jacob wishes everyone a very Merry Christmas today! Hope your holiday season is filled with lots of joy and hope this year. God has blessed us so much. Enjoy the smiles and laughter of Jacob's "first" Christmas.

Opening a gift from Uncle Josh, Aunt Jamie, and Cousin Audrey

"Pop goes the Weasel"

An outfit from PB and G-Jo (he's checkin it out)

He likes it!

He must really like the stuff from Uncle Josh, Aunt Jamie, and Cousin Audrey...look at that tongue!

These are his "I love Santa" pajamas!

Being silly with the Box! :)

So precious!

Christmas Eve was spent smiling for the paparazzi of family cameras! He's pretty good at it now!

"Reading" the Night Before Christmas with Daddy

Family Photo!

More Cameras!!!!!

Christmas Morning with Jacob. He came downstairs and Santa had arrived. The train was set up and he was riding...sometimes all by himself!

Opening gifts. He mostly liked the paper! :)

More noise please!!!!

You mean I can play as long and loud as I want to????

Even Jackson got into the presents!

Thanks for checking in with us today. Have a wonderful day!

I'm Ready for Christmas!!!!!

Our week...

Isn't that the cutest picture of Jacob. These are the kind of smiles that we get all the time around the house. Jacob is pretty content and happy most of the time. In fact, when we left the NICU, one of the doctors told us Jacob has a great disposition and that most kids that have been through what Jacob has been through don't want to be bothered or touched and seem cranky alot. We are truly blessed. :) This week we decorated the Christmas Tree, did some shopping, and spent some time with friends...in addition to the normal routine of therapy appointments. :) It was a great week. Here's some pictures of our fun!

Jacob and Jackson with the Christmas tree. Jacob doesn't seem thrilled in the picture, but he does seem to like the lights. Also, somebody needs to talk to the photographer, because the tree was cut completely off. Hum...I wonder who would do that???? Maybe Jacob is thinking, "Mom, don't you know you're cutting off the top of the tree?"

This is Jacob helping me decorate the tree with his ornament. Last Christmas, before Jacob was born, Papa Bear and Gramma Jo gave us this train with Jacob's name on it. It was a way for us to celebrate his "first" Christmas and to always remember him. When we received the ornament it was bittersweet because it was special, but at that time Jacob's prognosis was not great, and we honestly did not think he would be around to put it on the tree himself one day.


This picture was taken after about 5 hours of Christmas shopping. Ha! He was so tired that he was twitching...or maybe that was because of all the shopping... Who knows???

The latest milestone that Jacob has been working on is standing. For SOOOOOOOOO long he did not put ANY pressure on his legs. When you would hold him up and try to get him to stand, his legs would just bend and he would fall to the ground. We have been working on this since we came home from the hospital and it's finally beginning to pay off. In the picture I am holding his bottom, because otherwise it sticks out and he'll fall. We are so proud of this progress...

Caution: Picture contains 2 CDH miracles...

This picture is of Jacob and Rory. Rory was born about 3 weeks after Jacob with Left Sided CDH. After his surgery he was placed on ECMO for about 7 days and went home 2 days before Jacob. Jeff and I became very close to Jen and her husband Chad because we were able to share the Joys and Struggles of the daily life in the NICU. While we were there, there were two other CDH babies that did not make it home--Heaven became their first home. It's hard to be together and not think about those other babies too.

Thanks for checking in with us. Have a blessed and hopeful day!

Elvis !?!?

This post has nothing to do with Jacob...

I have a friend that makes cakes and she has been asked to submit a cake design for Elvis' 75th Birthday. She is one of 4 artists. PLEASE go and vote for her to do this cake. It would be an amazing opportunity for her business.

Click on the link and her cake is Option C.

Vote for Brooke's Cake

Thanks so much!

A Glimpse of our Week...

It's been a great week with Jacob. He was able to fight off his cold with FLYING COLORS! Yay! We never had to go over 1/4 liter of oxygen (the amount we came home from the hospital in June), and his congestion and cough never settled in his lungs. Thank you for your prayers and concerns for him. This makes us feel so relieved because now his body is getting stronger and more capable of fighting off colds and such. This is a really big step for him!

Jacob continues to progress in his fine motor skills. He is now clapping on his own, he can grab small things with his finger and thumb (pincer grasp), and bangs things together with both hands. Pretty much, anything he can hit, bang, and chew on...he does. Here's a video of his clapping. He is watching TV...which is why he never looks at the camera.

Jacob is also making strides in his gross motor skills too. He continues to get stronger and stronger. He is super sturdy sitting on his own, and he can reach very far in front of himself and pull back to a sitting position with a little work. We are trying to get him to put more and more pressure on his hands and knees. Usually, he cries any time you put him on his hands and knees...but...I turned on a Baby Einstein video, and voila, he stayed in this position for over 10 minutes. HA! Now any time we want to work on strength training...we pop in a video. :) The blanket roll underneath him is a trick that our PT told us to do. It gives him support while working on the strength in his arms and legs.

Here we are hanging out on the floor. Somebody's head popped onto my leg, begging for some attention.

Not much to say about this picture. It's just funny! Why does every parent do this to their child when bathing them?

Thanks for checking in with us this week. As always, have a blessed day!