Happy Zach-iversary!

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Zach spent his first night at our house on our 27th anniversary.  He doesn’t look happy in this pic but that was just one moment in time.  Check out his sleeper.  That’s the sleeper Corey wore home from the hospital when he was born almost twenty-five years ago.  Danielle sent two sleepers and I asked Mark which one we should put on him after his bath and Mark said “Corey’s”, so Corey’s sleeper it was.

We had a great night other than he likes to be held instead of sleeping in his bed.  That’s fine – I told Danielle we need to stop saying he’s spoiled (even though he totally is) and from now on we say he’s just very loved.  Nothing wrong with that.

He had mirror time in the bathroom with Grandpa Mark………..

He had a bath in the big boy bathtub…………

He had cuddle time with Grandma Teri…………

Great Grandma Carol came over in the morning to visit and brought him a teddy bear as big as he is………….

Great Grandma Carol had the teddy bear watch over Zach as he slept – sweetness………..

Cradle

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Twenty-six years ago, my grandfather built my first-born, Keith, a cradle.  It was the most beautiful piece of woodwork I had ever seen.  I loved watching my baby sleep in that cradle.  I kept it in the living room window so during the day, I could watch him sleep…………

I did the same for my second-born, Corey……………

Now it is Zach’s turn.  Danielle and I cleaned up the cradle and made all new bedclothes and bumper pads for it.  We spent a day sewing those things and making burp cloths and receiving blankets.  That little outfit in the cradle says “I make mud look good”.  Here is the updated cradle the day we made the new bedding……..

As a point of reference, and just as a sweet look back, here is Keith and Mark when Keith was born, weighing 8 lbs. 13 oz………………

That was a big baby, I thought, until I had Corey, who weighed 10 lbs. 9 oz.  Zach weighed 5 lbs. 11 oz. when he was born (almost half of Corey’s birth weight) and as of his doctor visit today, he weighs exactly ten pounds today.  He measured in at 21 inches today.  Keith and Corey were both 21 inches when they were born.  Keith was ten days early.  Corey was six weeks late.  Zach was six weeks early.  Zach will be nine weeks old tomorrow and still doesn’t weigh what Corey weighed when he was born.  Here’ a pic of Corey and me when Corey was born……..

The pain told me he was big when I had him (natural child birth – ouch), but dang he looks bigger than it seemed at the time.

Comic Relief

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We all watched Zach fight for his sweet little life.  Zach was in three hospitals in a very short period of time, the last of which being Riley Hospital in Indianapolis, where he was airlifted about twelve hours after he was born.

There was nothing fun or funny in the first week or two.  At some point, we found a ray of light and below are some pictures of happy moments from then up until now, in no particular order.

This is Corey peeking over the wall while Zach was in the NICU at Riley……….

This is Keith and Justin doing push-ups in the waiting room at Riley……….

This is the most handsome little baby boy, Zach, at home………………

Zach having tummy time on his star blanket………I’m not sure what his daddy stood on to take this pic (CORRECTION:  Danielle says that’s just how tall my son is – he wasn’t standing on anything – he IS a tall drink of water), but I dig it………….

Zach wearing glasses, at home………………

Danielle wanted to hold Zach but Corey didn’t want to share…………..

………….so he allowed her to kiss him………..how freaking sweet………….

Zach at Riley…………put me back…………it’s too bright in here…….

Corey and Danielle, aka Lady and the Tramp, when Danielle’s Mom took them out to dinner for Danielle’s birthday while Zach was at Riley………

Mark and Corey goofing with statues at Riley………………..

Mark enjoying some private time with Ronald McDonald at the McDonald’s restaurant in Riley Hospital…………

LIFE IS GRAND!!!!  I love my family!!!!

Socks for Zach (Pairs #39-43)

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Zach, being a preemie, had teeny tiny feet and ankles.  He was actually a kinda big preemie, weighing in at 5 lbs. 11 oz., but still there were no socks to fit him.  He had a yellow pair that the hospital gave him but needed more.  I tried soooooooo many patterns and nothing fit him so I did what I should have done first – I measured him and made socks custom to his foot.

Baby box!!!

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This picture is Corey and Danielle on Easter, opening Corey’s baby box.  I saved some of his shoes, his books, a file folders full of things from preschool and school, a calendar from the year he was born, the first outfit he wore (he wore it home from the hospital), his favorite pajamas and bathrobe when he was a boy, some of the little crafty things he made – just lots of the special things from when he was little.

Here is Zach wearing the outfit that Corey wore home from the hospital nearly twenty-five years ago.  So sweet.

For Zach….

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This is a little set I made/bought for Zach for his baby shower.

The colors in the picture do this set no justice.  The blanket is crocheted using Hula yarn in the color “limeade”.  I big big thanks to Joanie for sending that yarn to me.  It’s really beautiful and “limey” but the picture doesn’t show that.  The hoodie is made with ILTY (I Love This Yarn) worsted and has crayon buttons.  Joanie also addicted me to hoodies, with the Knitting Pure and Simple Easy Baby Cardigan.  We will henceforth call her “Joanie, the enabler”.

Here’s a pic from Danielle that shows the limeade a little truer – still it’s brighter in person……….

The jeans were just a sweet little pair of jeans we bought for $1.00 at a resale store.  The shirt I bought and then applied this iron-on applique to complete the theme……………

The picture is a little blurry but you can see that it was personalized for Zach.  It was all wrapped up and I attached a box of crayons to the package.  Really cute, if I do say so myself.

I also made him a t-shirt with Legos, Corey’s favorite toy in the world when he was a child – Keith’s favorite toy too.  They played with them constantly – couldn’t get enough Legos in our house.  Mark and I always heard “my guy” – “your guy”, as in my guy will do this and you have your guy do that – always my guy your guy.

We bought them the Lego set that goes with that picture – it’s called Lego Ville Baby Zoo.

I switched out the little girl’s face and put Zach’s face on the t-shirt.  Cute kid!

In honor of Mark, the magician, I had to make a magician t-shirt for Zach also…………..

It says Caution – Magician in Training.

Here’s a pic of the star of the show – we put his name tag on his back with the cute little monkey on his bum…………

And here’s Zach with Uncle Justin and Uncle Keith after the shower………..

Here’s a cupcake tower I made for Zach’s shower – it has his name and little pics of himself in each cupcake.  The flowers are from Corey and Danielle’s yard……….

And finally………..these flowers were another centerpiece………..they are also from Corey and Danielle’s yard – beautiful roses…….

I’m here!!!!!

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I’m here world!! Here’s how I started my journey. I scared everybody by deciding I wanted out early. Here are the doctors trying to save me at Saint Anthony Memorial Hospital in Michigan City.

Here’s a picture of Mommy and Daddy after I was born. Look how happy they are to have me.

From there, I was taken by ambulance to Memorial Hospital in South Bend because they have a really nice NICU. Mommy and Daddy missed me so they got to talk to me on Skype.

Memorial Hospital decided I needed a really good cardiologist, so they sent me on my first helicopter ride. I wasn’t even one day old and I got to ride in a helicopter. The helicopter took me to Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis.

Look at all this crap they have me hooked up to. I’m still cute as a button though.

Daddy was so sad. He was worried about me and was missing Mommy because she was still in Michigan City. He wanted to be in both places at once.

They let Mommy out of the Michigan City Hospital so she could come see me and Daddy. Isn’t she a pretty Mommy? See that blanket I’m laying on – the blue one? Mommy made that for me – it’s the first blanket she ever crocheted.

This is my little hand saying HELLO WORLD!

Here is a picture of us as a family – this is Daddy, Mommy and ME!!!

Hey – guess what? I didn’t open my eyes for a few days but look…………I am opening them for Mommy and Daddy now.

Mommy and Daddy – I love you!!!

I Heart Thorpe!

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Thorpe – what’s not to love? I love this pattern and I love this yarn. This is my second Thorpe – this one is for Justin for his birthday. He picked out the yarn at Joann’s (on sale 2/$5.00 – nice!). The yarn is Deborah Norville Serenity Chunky and the color is Seven Seas. Gorgeous. The pattern doesn’t call for a ball on the top but we all decided we like the ball. I added a ball to mine also. Danielle is getting a Thorpe for her birthday too – hers is nearly done.

This is a little of what we did on Justin’s birthday party weekend. We all went shopping and ended up in the baby clothes department at Meijer. Fun fun. Here’s Keith and Corey looking for baby clothes for Zachary.

And here are Corey and Danielle picking out some outfits.