The Foreign Times: January 2014

January Snow Days

The snow was falling pretty steadily by the time we walked out the doctors office after Evan's check up.

We had to pick up some groceries and I still had no clue if school would be let out early. Snow was not on the forecast for Tuesday so we were not prepared for the mayhem that was about the ensue.

By the time J text me to tell me that schools will have early dismissal, it was snowing pretty heavy. I left Walmart to get Javan. The roads were full and it took forever to get home. What normally is a 5min drive took 2hrs and it was not without incident. I ended up in a ditch. It was seriously such a scary experience. I am so thankful for the Lord's protection on us. If I was not hitched to this truck it would have been much worse.

A policeman who was off duty and driving his truck, got me and the kids and our groceries out of the car and brought us home. It took J another 2hrs to get home from his school. The school buses were not able to run so kids were stuck in the gym waiting on their parents to come get them. When he got home, he got a tow truck to go get the car. He text me saying 'you know its bad when the tow truck is sliding all over the road and it takes an hour an half to get your car pulled out'

Once that was over with, we were finally able to enjoy the snow

We didnt get that much snow but combined with all the ice and the really low temps it made for some interesting conditions.

The next day (wednesday) the kids went out to play with the neighbours. They had so much fun sledding down the hills.

Evan and I relaxed in his nursery most of the day ... I love this pic that J snapped of us watching the kids play outside.

And the best part of these snow days ... J was off work and didnt have evening classes so we all got to hang out together. They ended up getting the rest of the week off due to the ice so we was a nice break for us:)
~V

Evan - 2mth well visit

Evan had his two month well visit on Tuesday.

Just getting a pep talk before we left!

We were actually at the doctors office when it started snowing! So pretty to watch the snow fall while we waited on the doc.

He did not like getting his head measured

Look at his little pouty lip!

Dr. Crabtree came in to check on him

the worst part of the visit:( he got one shot.

The stats:

Weight: 7lbs 12oz / 3.2kg

Height: 20.5 inches / 52cm

Both height and weight barely put him on the chart (1%) but for adjusted age (he's technically only 3wks old) he is right on track for a newborn. Its so funny that he has not even reached his brother and sisters birth weight yet! Dr. Crabtree said he is gaining and will eventually move up the charts. Closer to 6mths we will see the gap close in between his preemie stats and his due date stats. I have to admit, as much as I LOVED my chubby, chunky babies it really is so sweet to have such a tiny little love :) He is just so tiny and cuddly and we love it!

He got one shot and was supposed to get the RSV shot but insurance is giving us/doc a hard time. When Evan was released from NICU the order for the RSV shot was sent over to the doctors office so he could get it there. He meets all the criteria (preemie, has siblings, parent works with kids etc) but our insurance denied it. Basically the shot costs $1,200 and he would have to get 6 of them so they insurance company doesnt want to pay. Dr. Crabtree says this happens a lot and it makes no sense at all. Overall we had a great visit. He is healthy and is gaining slow and steady and is sleeping decently so we have no worries. We go back late March for his 4mth check up.
~V

January 2014 in pics

Its no surprise that we've been taking a ton of pics, mostly of Evan but of the big kids too cos they've had a lot of fun this month. So here's a quick overview of January. I am doing Project365 (a photo a day) so some pics you've seen on Instagram if you follow me there and some are from my nice camera.

1st - happy new year and happy due date to our sweet bundle of love

2nd - Bath time for Evan

and he gets his hair done too ... he LOVES it

Later in the after we took the kids to paint pottery

and we got Evan's footprints done

we got two tiles of his foot prints cos they owner felt like she messed up the first one ... works for me!

later that night .... Javan was rocking Evan and he couldnt stop laughing at his baby brother cos he had the hiccups. He says, 'Omg his body is vibrating. It's like his heart is pounding in his stomach' So much fun watching Javan with Evan. He is way too eager for him to grow up so they can play. I want it to go as SLOW as possible!

3rd - Celebrating Norma's 40th birthday with dinner at Bonefish Grill (last time I was there was the night before my water broke!)

Eleanor and I have truly been blessed by Norma's friendship. Its one that goes beyond just friend and she is family. We stood by her side on her wedding day, held her hand the day she buried her first born and saw her through some very trying days that next year, rejoiced with her when she welcomed her baby girl and then later her baby boy. She and Kelvin are just amazing people and it was a joy to celebrate her. Kelvin is in Zimbabwe now so we really wanted her to feel special on his big milestone birthday. She had a wonderful evening.

J and Demaro took care of the kids - all 6 of them. This is pretty much how their evening went! THe big kids were great at entertaining themselves.

4th - Saturday mornings have been lazy snuggle days with my newborn and I am loving it

he's enjoying this swing - thanks Alisha for letting us borrow it!

5 - Evan is 6wks old

7th - kids dentist visit. pearly white are doing great. no cavities. orthodontist visit for Javan just to make sure his permanent teeth have room to come in and see if they need to pull any baby teeth

8th - Teeny Little Man

he's so little!!! I just love it!

Adventures in nursing at the mall

He seriously loves having his hair dried!

all bundled up and cuddling with sister

10. Smiles from Evan (6wks old)

12. Sunday smiles and its a sunny (cold) day!

15. Boyz in da hood - Evan had this cute hoodie outfit on and Ria loved singing Boys in the hood to him!

he's such a little sweet heart!

16. I've started putting Evan in his crib a little more to get him used to it.
*also realize I haven't shared pics of his nursery ... will have to do that too*

Bear PJ's - these were Javan's jammies. My mum brought them from SA before he was born and I loved them so I saved it and Ria wore them too and now Evan gets to wear them:)

17. Snaps for Daddy - during the day J will call /skype/face time on his break so he can see Evan but on days he doesnt get to, I send him pics throughout the day and these were a couple from today

Javan's first time feeding Evan - its no surprise that Ria wants to do everything for Evan. Javan usually is fine with it but this night he asked if he could feed Evan and of cos Ria started whining cos 'i've never done it before' so she stood and watched and gave him instructions the whole time.

19. Sunday smiles (also our 10yr anniversary)

20. Shelly and Ishi visit and Eva at is 8wks

Orange Leaf treat

and the tooth fairy visited later that night

21. After story time at the library we visited,

we visited Eleanor and Kadyn. And we had a sweet surprise when we looked outside and saw huge snowflakes falling .... for about 15mins! They were so pretty.

22. A box of love from Aunty Davash

This was Javan's outfit and we sent it for Kaden cos she loved it and she saved it and sent it back for Evan ... its been across the Atlantic twice now. Funny thing is I remember buying it. We were headed to Indianapolis and stopped by Target and both J and I really liked it so we just had to have it for Javan!

23. Evan (2mths) and Kadyn (4.5mths)

pic of the top is when Evan was 11 days old

25. Lego event at Barnes and Noble

and since they kids didnt want to leave the mall (and J needed time to study), we did a whole lot of window shopping, ate at Chik-fil-a and we read at Barnes and Noble for a few hours.