NICU Reunion

September 18th we were lucky to attend our 2nd Waukesha Memorial Hospital NICU Reunion. It's a little get together for anyone who is a graduate of the WMH Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. Will was a proud resident for nearly 7 weeks after he was born and we became quite close with a number of our nurses.

We are so blessed to have access to a Level 3 NICU and Will was saved daily by the angels who are there. They are truly special people who saw this scared mama through many scary days and nights, and just as many uneventful, let-him-grow, lets exchange recipes because it's 1 am and these little nuggets are just sleeping, nights. :)

It was truly emotional to reunite with them, and even more so that they remembered me, almost 4 years later. Will is one of a few preemie buddies attending the NICU reunion, and was so excited to see one of his BFF's Brody there to wreak a little havoc.  I waited 7 long weeks to be sure one day I'd watch him tear it up like that, and I think those nurses did too.

BIG Train

My sweet Nani is a woman after my own heart. She likes to make an entrance. She loves a big splash. And she is all about making memories. She's taken all of her grandkids on a "BIG train trip". My sister and I were the first, and we went all the way to Chicago at the tender ages of 4 and 5. Nani promised Will she'd take him on a BIG train ride when he was finally potty trained. A laborious sticker chart and just under a year later, we were on the Amtrak to Illinois. We didn't go far, just the small town of Glenview, but it had a restaurant, library, and ice cream stand, so Will was good to go. He loves his Nani just as much as the rest of us, and we are so blessed to have her (active, funky, funny self) in our lives.

Turning Summersaults!

Everything is allllllllll "I CAN DO IT!".
Of course you can kid. That's why God gave you a mom, and safety gear, and the paramedics.
But I digress.
Right now, this kid is a tumbling maniac. Decided this was his new project and will practice it anywhere. Including but not limited to: the backyard, the living room, the movie theater (as The Lion King 3D is exiting) and McDonalds. Impressive eh? :)

Alllll Out of Order But....

Just want to get everyone updated on some of the things we've been up to since we last checked in.  The most recent, and most fun, has been starting PRESCHOOL!  Yes, folks, he has finally mastered potty training, so he was ready for the big leagues. We started the Bethlehem Lutheran Little Lambs 3 year old preschool program at the beginning of September, and it has been....interesting. On the first day, I got to attend with him through the whole 1/2 day program, and he loved it. He was chosen as the "Prayer Helper" for that week, they got to look at some cocoons and chrysallises forming moths and butterflies and read "The Kissing Hand" which has become a new tradition for us. I proudly dusted my hands thinking, look at this brave boy.

Then came day 2. My mother in law is being charged with dropping him off daily, since the program doesn't start until 8:45. With that, she got the pleasure of having him peeled from her body by the teacher as he sobbed uncontrollably. The preschool director assured me that he was fine withing minutes and happily doing a project. Mmmmkay. I'll just take her word for it.

Every Tuesday and Thursday since has been met with "I don't wannnnnnna go to preschool!" and "I'm never gonna have fun there!" and "I"m not eating snack or doing playdoh or ANYTHING! EVER!". But every Tuesday and Thursday night he's all smiles and shows me the projects he's practiced and promises he'll "Never cry about preschool again. EVER!".

I definitely think he might be learning a thing or two though:

Oh My My...

What a busy summer it's been!
I can't believe I've slacked so much on updating this blog. We've been busy, I guess I've been hoping you've been busy too, too busy to notice?? :) Anyway, I'm gonna throw up a few random photos, to give you a glimpse of what we've been up to, but I promise to dedicate some blog time soon, to get some REAL stories of our crazy world!

A Growing Group!

Not only do these kids keep growing, and growing and GROWING, this group gets larger and crazier every year!  We're up to EIGHT children under the age of FOUR!  I was thinking back to when we took this picture:

And we thought it was the craziest and most difficult thing EVER.  There was crying, shifting, hat removing, nuk-finding, waving and clapping for smiles, newborn Brody falling over....

Then, we tried this one:

Then this one:

And again:

Then THIS one:

And here we are now...

Wow. We're getting GOOD at this.

As our group grows, and the kids grow, I am continually overwhelmed by how blessed we are for the friendships we have formed. My friendships and bonds with my girls. Will's connection with each new little friend. The men in our lives who are the best daddies I've ever known. Growing to love each of these little ones like they're my own.  We are lucky to have so much love in our life and I don't care if the sheer volume makes my eardrums burst, I'm happy to sweat and jump and clap like an idiot to snap a photo of our ever-growing family.

Headlining the All Star Preschooler Comedy Tour....

I swear I think this kid thinks he's on stage. At all times. I maintain that I don't know where he gets it.

First, there's the constant singing. He sings EVERYthing these days. On his way to daycare: "We're off to find schoo-ool, We're off to find schoo-ool, We're off to find schoo-ooool!"  And often, "I don't want tooooo" with dramatic flair. (enter, jazz-hands. I'm not even kidding).

Then, there's the big "explanations". This week, "No kisses today mom, I'm a doctor, and doctors don't kiss. Now hold still while I fix you".  After whacking me with the aforementioned foam sword "That's part of my story mom, 'William.then.hits.his.mommy.with.a.sword". Everything is part of his "story". He always says it like he's reading from a telegraph. Stop.

Lastly he's been trying to figure out jokes. He seems to know that knock-knocks must be the basics, so he's starting there, but he can't quite figure out a punchline. He is HAPPY to oblige in a HUGE fake laugh to my old stand-by of "orange who". Oh well, I can't tell jokes either, unless I read them in Maxim magazine, so they probably aren't the most appropriate ones to tell him.

I'm not sure, but I think he gets that he's a funny kid, because he seems to know when it's time to put on a show. Maybe he gets it, maybe not, but to quote him today (please read in dramatic voice): Yes, MOM! I.under.STA-AND".

What We've Been Busy With....

Spectacles, Testicals, Wallet & Watch...

So I haven’t updated this blog since DECEMBER??? Really? How is that even acceptable?? Anyway, so much has been going on that I guess I’ll forgive myself, but still, I know those of you JONESING for a little Will need your updates, lol! :)


We’ll roll back a bit and just let you know that we had a busy, busy holiday season as usual. With our entire family local, it was a lot of running around so that everyone could spend a little cheer with Mr. Will. Santa was good to him, and so was everyone else. He got a pretend shaving kit that he’s enjoying with Dad, and lots of great car stuff. I think his favorite though was his pirate sword. This kid is OBSESSED with Pirates. The eye patch, the hat, the bandana, the sword, the treasure, he loves it all, and spends a good part of his sweet little life saying “Aaarghhh Matey!” (and then beating me or Jeff with a foam sword—good times).

Fast forward through a few weeks and it’s been a flurry of PT and doctors appointments. He got some night-splints …that’s right folks, orthotics to wear at night. While neither of us have the heart to make him wear them to bed (yet—we know we’ll have to succumb in time) that is even more time in the “passive stretching” stages of getting those heels down.

He also was referred to a pediatric ophthalmologist because of a “wandering” left eye. We again made the trek to Children’s and saw some sweet people who recommended glasses. I’ve known since Will was a baby that he’d likely end up in glasses at some point—he was 12 WEEKS premature, on oxygen for SEVEN weeks, and comes from a long line of poor vision. Even still, it broke my heart to see him in specs. It’s just one.more.thing. BUT, he’s a happy, healthy guy and I know I can’t complain. Plus, he’s cute as all get-out in these things. He also looks JUST like Jeff. As my cousin Shannon said—just put a little goatee on him and he’s a mini-Jeff. Too funny.

Last thing we’re still working on—dun dun duuuun: Potty Training. He is officially “Potty Training Resistant”. Apparently that means nothing other than, he can do it, he knows how, there’s nothing stopping him, but…him. He just doesn’t wanna. Oy. I want to be more stressed out about it, and when he has full conversations with me and I realize, holy crap (literally), you’re still in diapers???? I do get a little flustered, but I remain fairly confident that I won’t be sending him to college, or even kindergarten in Pampers.

Other than that he’s just getting funnier and smarter every day. Entertaining me with his CONSTANT chatter. When I correct him he usually says, “Yeah, that’s what I was talking about” or when I start to get flustered with his behavior he tells me “whoa, whoa, whoa Mom…settle dowwwwwwn”. To top it all off, he’s as sweet and loving and kind as ever. He’s not a rough boy, he’s definitely a friend. He pulled me in for a hug the other night, kissed me and said, “I love you baby”.

Love you too big boy.:)