a big day at the gardner household!

So after reading a fellow preemie mom's blog I got the courage to TRY again with Kaleb and the potty (way to go Nevaeh and Levi!). (her 1 1/2 year old can do it, kaleb's gotta at least try! lol) Much to my surprise there was no fighting, no arguing, no screaming and no crying, he has been wearing underwear all day and has gone on the potty twice and only one accident! WOOT WOOT!! I was pretty convinced we were going to be changing diapers at his high school graduation! I just hope this is it. He's pretty adament about it, doesn't want to bring diapers to nana's and so forth. We are just elated!!!

Now the big Zoe update!
She came home from the hospital on Sunday night after her spinal tap came back clear. She was so very sick and they just couldn't figure it out, her white blood cells were pretty normal but some sort of white blood cell bands were elevated which indicated her inside was inflammed. Her fever was up to 104 and her blood work remained "off" until Sunday. They think she had a few things like maybe the flu and some other bug, no real difinitive finding, just kept a close eye on everything. Her pediatrician and the one that was on call during all of this were on top of her like crazy. They were calling daily and having us bring her in daily up until yesterday, she is pretty much back to normal just having formula issues. They say it could be colic, eeeeekkkkk! It's crazy here from 3pm-10pm! Zoe is now 10 pounds 6 ounces and seems healthy now! She was kicked in the butt by whatever made her sick for a week, it's nice to have her back. She goes back down to Milwaukee on the first to have her hemangioma by her eye looked at, she will be 4 MONTHS OLD THAT DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WOW!! Time has flowen by with her!

That's about it here, Bill survived his vasectomy, Zoe will forever be our baby! He had an interview at work yesterday for a supervisor (shift support) position at
Bemis so he is hoping he gets it! That's it, just getting ready for Halloween!! Hope everyone else is doing well!

Not so lucky anymore

Well we hit our first major road block with Zoe. She is very very sick and has been since Sunday. Zoe has had massive diarreah and vomiting since Sunday morning and fevers off and on. She would be either Vomiting or totally refusing her bottles. We took her into the ER on Monday night because she was dehyderated so they gave her an anti nausua injection and she started keeping her bottles down. All she would do is scream if she was awake which is about 5-6 hours at night. With all the diarreah she lost the top layer of skin on her little butt no matter what we do we can't get it to go away. We have started to let her go diaper less for a bit daily. The ped. said that there is a couple things going on.
1. she has thrush which they said was because her immune system is weakend from being so early
2. She does have something intestinal going on but they aren't sure what so they are going to take blood tomorrow if she is still this way
3. The screaming is from cramping and gas
She is miserable so they stopped her formula and is pretty much on just pedialyte or a soy formula. They want to give her intestines a break. She doesn't seem to mind it:) As for good news, despite all of this she is now a straight 10 pounds! WOW!

Kaleb just got over a nasty cold. He is loving school and gets upset that he can't go everyday! He is just full of it lately, making us laugh despite the pure exhaustion. He has been constantly wanting to help me with everything, dishes, laundry, vaccuming. When Zoe was feeling a bit better she was on the floor doing some tummy time and Kaleb thinks it's just hilarious to play peek a boo with her. He had her making the cutest noises. He loves his baby sister!

Well that's about it for today, wish us luck tomorrow!!

Zoe's pictures

The hemangioma

Zoe's hemangioma has growen significantly in the past few days so we have an appointment to see the dermatologist down at children's on october 1. They are going to look at it and see what they want to do. They weighed her and she is now 9 pounds 2 ounces, HOLY BABY GIRL!! Zoe also got some Zantac for her reflux and she has been a totally different baby, IN A GOOD WAY! She is much happier! Well that's it, just wanted to do a quick update!

Zoe's Shoulda Woulda Birthday

Today is bittersweet. Today is Zoe Lynn's due date. It is much easier to deal with having her home and I just couldn't imagine facing today without her here. She is doing very well lately. Staying awake and alert a bit longer during the day, eating about 4 ounces every 3-5 hours and gaining steadily. Her hemangioma is unfortunately getting bigger, our ped said if it reaches a certain part of her eye that we need to call him before our next appointment and he will be sending us down to Children's sooner to have it taken care of. Her appointment is October 1 and sadly I know I will be calling him, probably within the next couple of weeks. We had Zoe's pictures done and they turned out so perfect, once I can figure it out I will scan them and put them on here. She is about 8 pounds now but facing horrible reflux. No matter what we have tried she still suffers from it and is starting to give us a little bit of a fight when it comes to feedings. We are going to push the doc to put her on some Zantac or something. Other then that not a lot going on with her, just the normal!

Kaleb met his teacher Wednesday and he absolutely loved it and blew Bill and I away with how much he has growen up! We walk in and as everyone knows Kaleb is usually really shy but the teacher asked his name and he goes "me? I'm Kaleb Gardner!" Then he went off and played with the other kids while all of us parents sat and listened to his teacher explain the school year to us. Kaleb was just chatting away to all the kids! Then he comes up to Bill and I asked him how he liked his class and he said he loved it but that we had to go now because he was at school!! I LOST IT AND STARTED BAWLING!! He starts his actually class without us on Monday so we will have to see how that goes!

Andrew is doing well in kindergarten, just a few minor adjustments but he feels a ton better about it now that one of his friends from preschool started there. He has been better behaved at home also so I'm wondering if the behavior issues this summer weren't just boredom!

Things have started calming down at home now. Zoe's appointments are becoming more spaced apart since she is doing so well. Kaleb has been getting up with Andrew in the morning now that we have a routine going so they are adjusting well to school hours. It's odd to not have to fight with the boys at 8pm when it's bedtime! They get up at 6:30 so by 8 they are more then willing to go to bed! Bill and I have found a nice schedule so far that is working out nicely! The big news around here is that daddy has his vasectomy scheduled for the 19th of this month! Zoe will forever be the baby of the 3. He's terrified but feels better about him doing it then me since I would have to go back into the hospital and his is just done in the dr's office. The doctor said he does nothing but drink a few beers from a cooler next to his recliner and watch tv for the weekend, that part he LOVES! We are in the process right now of planning a little trip up north to Antigo to see all of the family up there, we know we wont be able to make it for the family christmas party due to Zoe's immune system and lungs being still fragile. (Can't wait to get up there and see all the new little ones!!!!)

That wraps it up here, hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the cool down as I know we are!