Welcome Home Grady!

Grady came home to an eager welcoming committee today. The kids had gone all out decoreating the house for the occasion, and they were just giddy with excitement over finally being able to meet their new baby brother. One of th most challenging things about being in the NICU is that the kids were unable to come visit him. That sure was hard for them to understood, because they had really looked forward to coming to visit the new baby in the hospital when he was born. It's been a long week for all of us. It sure is good to be home.

Rooming in at the NICU

Although the doctors never could determine what caused Grady's infection, they determined that a full seven day course of antibiotics would be necessary before he could be released from the NICU. We were fortunate enough that they had a room available so I could stay in the NICU even after I was discharged from the hospital on Thursday. That meant that those middle-of-the-night breastfeedings could continue--hooray!

The last three nights of our stay, Grady was actually able to "room in" with me. He was no longer on oxygen or a continuous IV, and they had the room set up to monitor all his other vitals remotely, so it worked quite well. It was very nice not to get a phone call from a nurse every couple of hours whenever he was ready to eat. Instead, I was with him personally and could take care of him directly.

We have felt so blessed this week, knowing that Grady was in good hands and that our Heavenly Father was watching over us. It is truly humbling to be surrounded by so many babies with such serious complications. All week long, Grady got called "huge, " "enormous," and other such large names, because at 8 pounds, he really was big compared to the little 2 and 3 pound premies around him. I've always marveled at the miracle of childbirth, but after spending a week in the NICU, I realized that with so many million things that can go wrong, it really is miraculous when everything goes right and a healthy baby is born. Thank goodness for all our little miracles.

Please Welcome Grady Colm Hummer, weight 8lbs 1 oz, lgth: 21 3/4, head size: xl

"And you thought you were havin' a rough day..."

Face to face time at last.

"I have a head ache this big, and it has baby excedrin written all over it!"



Baby Grady unfortunately will be extending his hospital stay at the NICU (newborn intensive care unit) due to infection causing rapid respirations and other symptoms..."you are in our prayers little one"



Some of you may be asking, "Why Grady Colm Hummer?" Well, here is your answer. Any baby that can tie his umbilical cord into an Tri-looped Celtic Knot deserves a good Irish name! The delivery doctor kept saying, "Look at that, look at that, an Irish knot" and held it up over and over again. Apparently he was quite impressed.

Dance Party

One of the kids' favorite pastimes of late is picking out a CD and cranking it up for an impromptu dance party in the family room. The funny thing is, they have the most interesting "rules" for their dances. For instance, proper dress code must be strictly followed. (On this particular night, Keaton was forbidden to participate initially, so he disappeared for a while and came back upstairs in "dressier" clothes, at which point he was eagerly welcomed. Delaney has donned her dress of choice--a hideous hand-made hand-me-down that we inherited from someone a while back, and I have been trying unsuccessfully to "lose" ever since. Why are these outfits always the favored ones?) As for music, they are rather picky in their selections. The current fave is a rather grueling Christmas album that has gone previously unnoticed in our collection. (The fact that it is March, not December, is not what makes the album grueling; it's not just any Christmas album, it's aVince Gill/ Olivia Newton John collaboration, I'm sorry to say.) Also, some dances are "solos" only, meaning the kids cannot touch each other at all, and other dances are "combos", where they hold hands, dance in syncrhonization, etc. It is quite entertaining, actually.

So last night, as I'm sitting with my swollen feet elevated, my back pulsing with its usual aching throb, I forgot myself for a while as I realized that this is one of those fleeting moments that I want to remember forever--all of us in the same room, enjoying a silly, simple pleasure. The video doesn't even come close to capturing what I felt in my heart as I watched my little goofballs perform for me. If this moment can't last forever, I hope the fun times can.

My Little Man

Keaton got his very first suit yesterday. He was so excited, and kept saying, "Now I'm just like Daddy!" It made getting ready for church today much more pleasant than usual, because he enthusiastically got dressed all by himself. He looks awfully handsome, if I do say so myself. I can't believe how quickly he's growing up. As he is quick to remind me on a daily basis (several times a day, actually), "I'm almost five, Mom, I can do that by myself." 5 seems to be the magic number for him. He sure is looking forward to his birthday in two months.

Now, if only we could work on staying put together during church. We've got to work on keeping that tie on his neck and not in his pocket!

Hand Made with Love

The girls both needed new dresses recently, and since their homemade Christmas Eve nightgowns were such a hit, I decided to try my hand at sewing some dresses. Keep in mind that I technically don't know how to sew all that well--just what I've picked up here and there through trial and error--and almost never using a pattern. So, with plenty of help from Grandma Stevens at translating the foreign language found in the instructions on the pattern, I was able to complete their dresses without any major mishaps.


The fact that the girls get so excited over "the dresses that Mom made" makes it all worthwhile. They're already putting in requests for their next ones.

19 days to go...

...but who's counting?