GITTYUP

Liam - 2 years old already!

2010-10-21T07:56:00.002-04:00

Liam turned 2 on Oct 13. Here are a few pictures we took of him. I think these will count as his 2 year pics. These are some of my favorites - mostly because of the different expressions.

Our return to Africa

2010-08-24T21:47:00.001-04:00

To our family and friends,

We have always talked about returning to Africa, but never knew exactly why we would go back. We have been listening, or maybe ignoring is a better word, and figured out the Lord was asking us to think about adoption. We feel connected to Africa through vacationing in South Africa and sponsoring a child, Mohamed Seid, in Ethiopia. This makes us feel like we belong or are part of the African family. So we have decided to begin the process of adoption from Ethiopia through Bethany Christian Services here in Holland and we are very excited!
This process is like being pregnant minus almost everything that has to do with being pregnant and for twice as long! Thank you in advance for your prayers and support and you are welcome to join us on this amazing journey!

Love, Tim, Jen and Liam DeHaan

Summer Fun Pictures

2010-08-12T17:50:00.007-04:00

The Tigers could use some help, so Liam is already training!

Liam loves the big lake

Mmmm, fudgesicles in the kiddie pools - does summer get any better than this?
I don't know where this face came from, but I thought it was funny.
What do you think he is thinking?

Taking a break at Pigeon Lake - this is usually where we put the boat in and just relax - as much as you can with a very active little boy.

No, Tim did not b-sit all 3 boys by himself, but he did have a great time playing with them. Trey is in the stroller and Liam and Carter are riding the monster truck wagon.

Liam's first Seadoo ride. It looks like he is asleep, but he's not. He kept saying "weee, weee" and "one, two, three, GO!" Usually he skips one and three and just says "two, GO!"

Practicing hoops - it's OK - Tim usually plays in his underwear too. Liam loves to help wash the vehicles. Especially now that he can climb into the bucket - it's just so much more efficient! the only problem is that someone has to pick him up and move him to get all four tires.

This is one of Liam's best buddies - Fin. He was born at the exact same gestation as Liam and his mommy was on bed rest at Spectrum too! This fall Liam will be 2 and Fin will be 1, just a few weeks apart. It does not look like a year separates then in this picture!

We have been water rats as much as possible this summer. Liam is loving every minute of it. He could swim all day -and he has.

We take a break every once and a while to dig in the sand.

Our handsome little man is such a ham!

IT'S GOOD TO HAVE GREAT FRIENDS!

2010-08-05T13:17:00.004-04:00

It's great to sit down and think about the great friends I have been blessed to have in my life.
I work with an amazing friend, and his name is Troy (It will take him a long time to read this post, so no worries!) Since the day I mentioned the movie "ONCE" with Glen Hansard and Marketa (The Swell Season), Troy realized we liked alot of the same music and took full advantage of that by having my listen and watch various musicians. He has now become a tripple gold member of itunes, if that is even possible, and just purchased the album from the group Mumford & Sons. I just listened to the song "Awake my soul" and found one of the best lines ever. The line reads, "Where you invest your love is where you invest your life" That is a very powerful line.
So be thankful for great friends and then check out some Mumford & Sons on youtube and enjoy!

DIRTBIKE KID!

2010-06-17T11:46:00.004-04:00

We took Liam for his first dirtbike ride last week on Tim's dirtbike when he was 4 yrs old. Just as we thought, he loved it!

Some 18 month Liam photos

2010-05-16T22:16:00.003-04:00

EAT,SLEEP, AND PLAY OUTSIDE!

2010-03-27T14:47:00.003-04:00

Liam loves to be outside. It seems we are out more than we are in these days. After breakfast he will bring you your shoes and wait by the door until you let him out to play. He would eat, sleep and play outside if we would let him!

He loves going for rides in his wagon but if I don't pay close attention I will turn around and he will be standing up like this - wagon surfing. He thinks he is funny, I think he is naughty.

Here we went to visit friends of ours who just had a baby girl, Elizabeth. This is Liam and her big sister Leah playing the piano way past their bedtimes.

The picture doesn't even do it justice, they were having so much fun laughing at each other while banging the keys. Good thing baby Elizabeth could care less - you two were loud!

St. Patty's Pacer and Parade

2010-03-13T13:55:00.004-05:00

On Friday I ran in the St. Patty's Day Pacer down town Holland. It was a 5K race that went from Centennial Park to Windmill Island and back again. It was cold but fun. This was my first race in a long time and it felt good to do it again.

Here we are at the start of the race. I ran with Jodie most of the way. We have been running on Mondays and Wednesdays with this group of girls and a few more that could not make this race. It is a fun group with girls at all different running levels. We started out walking and now we run a good 4 miles most days.

Liam loved to cheer everyone on. Tim said he clapped every time a racer would run by.Cam and Liam cheered together. They enjoyed being outside and watching all the people.

Finally, the end of the race. I got my best 5K time, I finished in 29 min flat. It could have been better, but I got a side ache the last mile, urg!

On Saturday we went to the St. Patrick's Day parade. Can you see that Liam is clapping again? He loves to clap! It was cold and windy, but the rain held off. The boys loved the fire trucks and candy. Kelly and I went down with Carter and Liam. Jenn and Rob met us down town with Cam. Rob was the candy catcher but I think he got more for himself than for the boys! :0)

Does he look happy or what? I made him wear this bow tie since you could not see his green St. Patty's Day shirt. In fact in the picture above, you can see all 3 boys are wearing the bow ties. I'm sure they will thank us one day for how cute we made them look!

Play, play, play!

2010-03-05T14:17:00.004-05:00

Liam has been getting into everything lately! He is so curious as to how things work. He loves to open and close doors and drawers. He isn't too bad at pulling stuff out, but he does have his favorites.

This day we took out his splat mat (from under his highchair) and played with soap and water. I just let him slash around all he wanted. It was too cold to go outside and with boys, sometimes you just have to let them get energy out. He loved it.

A few weeks ago I went to Diana's Playhouse with some friends from work. The kids are all around the same ages, so they had a great time playing together. This is Liam and Nolan playing the piano together.

Here are most of the kids taking time out for a snack. It was so cute to watch them all sit together.

Here is another one from snack time. Can you see Liam in the back trying to sneak snacks from Nolan? You'd think we never feed the kid!

This is kinda gross, Liam has snot running down his nose! He has been getting his molars in and this week was probably the worst of it, so we were glad to have distractions like Diana's Playhouse to keep us happy.

Lena and Liam riding the fishies together. We played for a couple hours and when we got in the car, I'm not sure we made it out of the parking lot before he fell alseep! He didn't even wake up when we got home and transfered him into bed. He slept for over 4 hours! That was totally worth it!

Here we are at home goofing around with funny glasses. Liam is so ticklish that he just squirms when you try to put these on his head. Leah was over to play and she thought is was hilarious.

Here is Leah and Liam having a little snack. Who says you can't have popsickles in the winter? These two played very nice together too. I love to watch them interact and you can really see their little personalities.

Another picture of Liam playing in the cabinets. I think he must have had a little help getting in this one. He could care less if you shut the door on him, as long as he can open and close it.

EVERYONE JUST SETTLE DOWN!

2010-03-02T12:39:00.002-05:00

Our computer was just returned after being stolen a couple days before Christmas. So within the next couple years, we will attempt to post something new!

A little catch up...

2009-12-23T21:55:00.003-05:00

Liam's first snow man! He was supposed to be taking a nap, but we all wanted to play in the snow instead. The snow was so sticky it was great for making snowmen. We are standing in front of the pine tree we had moved to the front yard. It was getting too big for the back yard, so now it can grow as big as it wants.
We decided to take a family photo with frosty, this was almost our Christmas card, but it didn't make the final cut.

I can't get up! I can't get up! Seriously, he could only crawl a little, but loved it anyway.

Snow fun!

I watched Norah a few weekends ago. We had a little slumber party. She did really well going to bed in her own room and she slept through the whole night. This is one of my all time favorite pictures of them! I wasn't going to post it, but I just can't resist!!!

Of course we had to let them take a bath to get some black mail for later. They just love to play together. Norah says "pinch butt" and gets Liam.

This past weekend we went to see Santa and opened presents with Carter.

This is just after we sat with Santa - they both got reindeer hats.

Liam wasn't sure what to think of Santa. At least he didn't cry.

Matching PJ's

2009-11-21T22:49:00.002-05:00

Carter came over tonight so his mom and dad could go out on a date. Liam loves to play with him because he shares so nice! We had a little snack and Liam ate his really fast, so Carter shared his. He even gave him one of his blankies.

I had to laugh when I put on Carter's PJ's because Liam has the same ones. So I made sure they matched. Too bad Tim doesn't have a pair.

At this point both boys were like - please stop with the flash - Carter put his hands up and Liam wouldn't open his eyes all the way. So we stopped taking pictures.

It was a fun night, they played so well together and they were both in bed by 8:30 without a fuss. Now, I just have to get Tim to go to bed...

Prayers For Finian

2009-11-13T10:09:00.002-05:00

Please Pray! Long story short - Friends of ours had a preemie boy at 30 weeks after 5 weeks on bed rest - sound familiar? Well, he was expected to go home 2 weeks ago, but a "spot" was found on an MRI scan and after much debate, he needs to have the "spot" removed. Liam's little partner in crime is having brain surgery today at 10:30. So I am asking everyone to pray for him - for complete healing and also for his parents to have the peace and comfort only God can give. Thank you to all the loyal blog readers!

A Bears Fan!

2009-11-09T20:58:00.002-05:00

I went to Chicago a couple of weekends ago and this is what I bought for Liam - a Chicago Bears outfit. Isn't it just the cutest? Now this is the only outfit that Tim wants him to wear, except when he goes outside to play, it's too nice for that (even though that is what I bought it for - a play outfit that dad could easily put together, you know, the Bears hoodie with the Bears sweatpants). Speaking of going outside, Liam loved the weather this weekend and spent a lot of time outside. He even ate his first worm, or at least half of one. Boys! Can you guess who was watching him? :o)
This is one of our latest tricks, climbing the stairs. He is so proud of himself. We have not put up the gate yet, he doesn't go very far when I'm not looking and he is very careful about it. But, the gate will have to come out soon, hopefully before we have a tumble. My mom said I tumbled at least 3 times and I turned out just fine, right? Or was that my brother... Hmmm... better get that gate out.

And i just could not resist posting another picture of my Jolly Green Giant. This is trick-or-treating in action. We have lot's of layers under that costume and we still ended up puting another hat and coat on. I'm so glad the weather has warmed up for a while. Did we skip winter? I hope so.

Halloween '09

2009-11-03T21:20:00.003-05:00

Just a few pictures we took this weekend celebrating fall and Halloween.

It was so nice out on Sunday, we even got to play outside.

Liam loves to watch Uno (our dog) run around. He doesn't even mind a few kisses.

We carved pumpkins too. Liam was way more interested in eating the pumpkin.

The final product! If you can't tell, it is two ghosts with the moon behind them.

And finally, here is the Jolly Green Giant! He had a fun filled Halloween and got lots of candy that mom and dad get to help him eat!

Happy 1st Birthday Liam!

2009-10-19T22:43:00.006-04:00

Last week on October 13, Liam had his first birthday. We celebrated with a party the Sunday before. We had a movie theme where Liam was the star of the show. Tim made a video of Liam's first year with pictures and video. It is amazing to think how far he has come and all the things he has had to overcome in the past 12 months. He started out at 3lbs 13 oz, 17 inches and now he is 19lbs 13oz and 28 inches. I love to pull out his preemie clothes and remember when he used to swim in them. Now he can't even get his foot in one of the leg holes. He is such a happy little boy who brings more joy than we could have ever imagined. We love you Liam!

To go with the theme we had movie theater food: hotdogs, nachos, pretzels and of coarse, popcorn. I even made the dessert - cupcakes - to look like popcorn. We decorated the basement and we all hung out down there. I also made the birthday banner you see hanging, it says Happy 1st Birthday. The "thank you's" for coming were boxed movie candy with thank you tags.
Liam was not that into opening gifts, Carter and Austin were way more into it. Liam just wanted to crawl around.

When it came time for cake, Liam wasn't sure what to think of everyone standing around. First we sang to him and then watched him eat. He stared at the cake for a few seconds, but after a little taste, he was totally into it and didn't care who was watching.

He would dig his hands in and just suck on his fingers. He was surprisingly calm, yet consistent - one bite after another.

This was bout the time we realized that he had probably had enough. He sure payed for it the next day too. He had the runs so bad his little butt was raw. He recovered by Tuesday his real birthday.

We decided to skip the cake and just have panCAKES. He really likes those too, but I think he missed the frosting. We hope you had a wonderful first birthday Liam and we look forward to celebrating many more!

Mackinac Island - Finally

2009-10-12T21:33:00.004-04:00

It's a good thing you can't get kicked off your own blog - otherwise we would be banned for never updating! Life has just been so busy, but so much fun too. Liam is such a joy and Tim is not so bad either. We have really enjoyed the little bit of summer we had and now, I guess we are skipping right to winter? Well, we did manage to get in a little vacation in with just the 3 of us while it was still nice. Mid September we went up north to Mackinac Island for a weekend getaway. We left Friday and took our bikes, burley and buddy Liam. It was fun riding around the island, taking pictures, throwing rocks, eating a few (Liam) and just enjoying the scenery. Liam fell asleep on our ride around the island. It was really cute, but I couldn't get a picture because the camera was siting next to him! I hope this one of him at Fort Mackinac will do. He is going to fire the cannon.

And what would a trip to Mackinac Island be without ice cream? We got ours to go and we sat by the water to wait for the ferry boat. We drew quite a crowd as we let Liam devour this special treat.
It wasn't long before he got the hang of it. Apparently Tim wasn't feeding him fast enough. Liam thought he could do it better himself.
Ahhh! Brain Freeze! That's what you get when you eat ice cream too fast. He loved every minute of it. Can you believe he actually ate carrots and broccoli after that?
So excited to watch the boat come in. I think he could have stood there all day watching it.

Then we got on the boat to go back to Mackinaw City. We picked up dinner and went back to the hotel (after a little shopping of course). We were excited to get back to go in the water park at our hotel. It even had a lazy river, which was Liam's favorite. I loved the two big water slides. One was like the black hole and the other was more open. They went surprisingly fast and it wasn't busy so you could go over and over again. The water could have been a little warmer. Liam's teeth were chattering by the end. Now quite the same as his bath water. I think he would have liked the hot tub.
After a long day, we retreated back to the room were we all got ready for bed. Here is Tim and Liam brushing their teeth together. Liam slept great in the same room as us. This was the first time he has ever slept in the same room. We put him in the pack and play and he was so worn out that he just fell right asleep.

On Sunday we stopped at the bridge to take some pictures. This is one of my favorites. Liam slept most of the ride home, waking up to eat lunch and play a little and then asleep again until we were about 25 minutes from home. he is a great traveler and I think we will take him again!

Tomorrow is Liam's first birthday! We celebrated on Sunday so I will update those pictures by Christmas time - I promise!

Liam's New Favorite Toy

2009-08-28T21:27:00.003-04:00

Liam had a doctor's appointment today - Here are the current stats:

Weight 19lbs 3oz (15%)

Height 27" (5%)

The doctor said he is ahead on his motor skills and is impressed that Liam can walk with his radio flyer wagon. Way to go Liam!

Beach Day

2009-08-26T21:01:00.004-04:00

Liam loves the beach. We tried to get a cute picture of him in the dune grass, but he just wanted to eat it.

It was an overcast day at the beach, but we had run anyway. Liam played in the sand and went swimming in the lake.

He gets really excited when you get close to the water. He could watch the other kids play by the beach all day.

He still isn't too sure when you put him in the cool water. He really prefers his warm tub. The waves were good size that day and when one would crash against Tim's legs, Liam would cling on really tight. Here he is pointing to the Sea Doo and asking Tim to get him a ride - only if he can drive.

On Tuesday Liam started to walk behind his push toy. He can cruse around the living room now. He loves to crash into things so our walls and moulding will be all dinged up in a few days! I will try to get some video of it this afternoon. It's really funny to see such a short little guy walking! He is so proud of himself too!

Crackin' a Smile

2009-08-20T12:53:00.002-04:00

It's a guarantee, no matter where Liam is he will be smiling!

Liam found a waterfall on Pigeon Lake on Saturday.

Playing on what use to be 6' of beach in 2008.

Jen's ride was in desperate need of new tires. It turns out that when you purchase new tires these days they automatically come with new fancy 18" rims as a package deal! I blamed it on Liam's addiction to cool looking rides.

Norah's New Baby Doll

2009-08-17T20:35:00.002-04:00

Norah loves her real baby doll - Liam. She loves to play with him and he loves to watch her run around. We put Liam in his Radio Flyer wagon so she could push him. They both were laughing and having a good time.

Then Norah decided she wanted to ride too. I'm not sure if Liam was reaching for Norah or if he was trying to push her out. It's a small little wagon, but they both fit and they laughed some more.

Then Norah had to hug her baby, and not just a little bit, she needed to hug him a lot. She kept saying "ba-by, ba-by" and squeezing him. Of course we just let her - it was too cute.

Catching up on this last months photos...

2009-08-15T23:00:00.003-04:00

We've only been able to get the boat out a few times this year so far. Of coarse Liam loves to drive the boat too. Anything dad does, he want to do too. The lake water is finally getting warmer so we can swim as well. Liam is much fonder of warm bath water that the cool lake water.

We took these pictures when Liam was about 9 months old and had one tooth. Now he is 10 months old and has 2 teeth - both on the bottom. I haven't been able to get a good picture of them yet. But I thought these were cute anyway.

Liam started crawling yesterday! We had a big day swimming with Kelly and Carter, but as soon as we got home, I put Liam on the floor to play and he crawled right to me - about 5 scoots. He has got a ways to go, but he is getting it. He gets frustrated fast and would rather just walk.

Bath time is his favorite - well, at least a close second to dinner time. this week he has really taken to splashing in the tub. He has always splashed some, but this week it has been big splashes where I have to close the shower curtain or he will soak me and the floor. He laughs and laughs and thinks he is so funny.

I recently got him this duck tubby. It's easier and takes less water to fill than using the whole tub. Plus he is such a wiggle worm that I don't have to worry about him clunking his head as he tries to stand! Yes, he actually did manage to pull himself up once.

Look for another update soon - I've got lots more pictures to post!

Say Cheeeeeeese...or I guess ohhhhh works too!

2009-08-13T23:23:00.001-04:00

PINKS ALL OUT

2009-07-15T21:39:00.002-04:00

What an awesome weekend at Martin 131 Dragway! I am going to start by bragging about Liam a little bit. He is the best kid ever, and if you don't believe me then just ask! I'm pretty sure he is already a full blown gear head and loves fast and loud cars. Liam had the time of his life hanging out at the drags and playing with some new friends he met.

Jon Genzink and myself were 2 of 13 cars chosen out of 450 to be feature cars for PINKS ALL OUT. That in itself was more than enough to satisfy our entire weekend. Featured cars meant that we would both be guaranteed some airtime on PINKS ALL OUT TAKES (a separate show from PINKS All Out)and we had a free pass to lane 5 for racing with all the cameras on us. We also had Rod Dejonge in our group showing all 450 cars at the track how to do a wheelstand in a Jeep, and it was awesome!

The weather for Friday night to Saturday morning called for heavy T-storms so Jen and I decided to fold the seats down in our motor home/Ford Excursion and spend the night there. Liam slept through the night like normal while Jen and I were up till 3am listening to a dozen punks having a party right in front of our truck. The storm finally hit at 5:30am and we stayed perfectly dry!

Saturday morning Jon and I lined up at 9am to race. We had a racers meeting with the PINKS crew and got ready to race. I was 3rd in line to race until one of the track staff spotted all the cords showing on my drag tires and said they were unsafe to race. I then had to go back to the pits and try to find another set within the hour. This was apparently an answer to my prayers because I knew they were bad but thought I could get two more runs out of them. They were bad enough that I would pray the entire 1/4 mile that they wouldn't blow and then God sent the nice guy to tell me no more racing until you change your tires.

Jon had another set of slicks at his shop in Holland and Brad and Dave Haan were just leaving for the track and were able to pick them up. They were given a VIP pass to the pits by the PINKS crew. If that wasn't all cool enough, Peter Root (one of the PINKS producers) escorted them on our golf cart to the pits, waited for us to change the slicks and then brought me back to the track around all the racers, stopped the next two cars in line just to allow me to make my pass! That was better than any Hollywood story I have ever heard.

Alright, that's way more typing then I have ever done. The end result is, we all had the time of our lives and none of us are $10,000 richer. Maybe next time! I posted a Youtube video of some of our passes, just go to Youtube and search tbob80, then click on PINKS ALL OUT.

This is Peter Root from PINKS with Brad Haan driving.
This is Brad and myself changing slicks faster then a Nascar pit crew.

Liam with Grandpa DeHaan and ear protection!

Liam tried to convinced me that he can go faster in the Ranger and thus win the 10,000 dollars. My response was, who is going to step on the gas for you?

I told Liam he needs to practice with his own Ranger!

Popsicles

2009-07-09T22:13:00.004-04:00

What would summer be without Popsicles? This was Liam's first attempt at eating a Popsicle. He loved it. No real surprise there, I have yet to find some food item he doesn't devour. And of course he was upset when it was gone. I think he thought his mommy didn't share fare, but I do think he ate more than I did, plus he had some of grandma's! It must have felt great on his gums because he was teething big time. Sunday was the first day I could feel his first sharp little tooth coming though.
Last week Liam stayed in G-ma and G-pa's Huyser's boat. Tim was gone all week to Colorado with the church youth group and I thought that it would be too long for him to go to daycare on the days I work because that would have been over 13 hours 3 days in a row! So G-ma volunteered to watch him since she had vacation that week anyway. Too bad it was such a crummy week. I don't think Liam cared too much but I know G-ma wished it was nicer weather. My mom thought that Liam had to have his exersaucer along because he loves it so much. It was a good idea - especially with the weather. He can stand up around it now and he even attempts to walk around it. You have to help hold him of course or he would fall face first. this kid has no fear!
Grandpa came to visit him every night after work and even spent the night once. He is quite the baby hog. When he is around he's gotta have the grandkids. He like to walk with Liam and show him off. here he put on his sun hat - cowboy style with the sunglasses. So far he keeps them both on. I'm sure it won't last long.
G-ma got lots of use out of her stroller. They even got a little wet, but Liam didn't care. He loves to go for walks. This is him on the Grand Haven Pier - taking a break. He is yelling for g-ma to put down the camera and start walking again. He doesn't really like to stop.
After such long days outside Liam was ready to sleep. G-ma said he loved sleeping on the boat and he slept until about 8:oo every morning. I don't think g-ma knows the no blanket in the bed rule - what do you think? Well at least he was comfortable. Thanks G-ma and G-pa Huyser for taking such good care of him!
This weekend we are going camping at the 131 Dragway (Martin, MI). Tim is racing his truck in PINKS All Out! It is a TV show that airs on the SPEED channel. I think there is about 350-400 cars racing and there will be only 16 in the feature. We dropped off the truck tonight and got our spot in the pits and Tim was already interviewed by one of the PINKS crew members. The guy was leaving the track and seen us pull in and he turned around and followed us to our spot. He was excited to see something different that would be racing. There isn't a lot of trucks and probably non that are as lifted as Tim's so it kinda draws a crowd. We are definitely not the fastest, but it is fun to watch. It should be a good time, our first experience with Liam in a tent. I will report back next week with the details!

Many Faces

2009-06-23T21:11:00.002-04:00

Liam has been up to so much since our last post! He has had an ear infection, is trying to cut teeth, rolls over - a lot - and is sitting up on his own. He is not crawling yet, but he is getting closer. He just has to pick up that big belly.

Here he is drooling all over. He will laugh at pretty much anything Tim does.
Oh, what big eyes you have!
And more laughing at his daddy.

Does this look say "here comes trouble" or what!
I just couldn't resist putting this picture in. Tim made this wagon before we got married. In fact, Logan Muyskens rode it in our wedding. Since then, Tim has made a few adjustments including newer, bigger tires. For those of you who don't know, this wagon looks just like Tim's sand drag truck. I will have to post a picture of both of the trucks next to each other. Liam isn't too sure about riding in the wagon yet, but I'm sure he will come to love it - especially since it has a cooler in the back to hold all his bottles :0).

2009-05-31T17:23:00.001-04:00

Finally Tulip Time!

2009-05-13T21:26:00.003-04:00

I am a little behind on posts lately. So I will start with Tulip time and try to catch up from here. We had a great time this year - Liam's first tulip time. He wore the costume I made for Carter last year. It was kinda snug, but so cute.

He loves to stand up like a big boy and he sucks his lips in a lot - when he doesn't have his fingers in his mouth! You can't tell by the pictures I post because I try to weed those out.

This is my dutch dance partner, Missy. She looks so cute with Liam, they are wearing the same style of dutch costume - the boys Volendam. Missy got in lots of trouble this year dancing. I think she got yelled at every night for wearing too many earrings and having bobby pins in instead of hat pins. She is such a rebel! (or is it just the crazy costume inspectors?)

Carter and Liam came to watch me dance a few nights. I think they love the attention from all the tourists. Aren't they just the cutest? We also went to the parade on Wednesday. Carter loved it - Liam could care less, as long as he gets fed and gets a nap!

From left to right - Jenn and Cam, Abby and Rylee, Kelly and Carter, Me and Liam, Jill and Hudson. What a fun night! I can't believe we got everyone in the picture - and no tears! The kids did pretty good considering it was getting to be past their bed times. It's a riot dressing them up in these silly costumes just to get a few good pictures.

I couldn't resist posting one more of Liam. He is just starting to sit up on his own. Right after we took this picture I let go of him to see if he could sit by himself and he leaned a little too far towards the tulips and did a face plant in the dirt! He didn't even cry, he was far too interested in the grass. It was hard to get him to look up for a picture he just wanted to stare at the ground. It really makes me wonder what he will be doing at this time next year. I bet it will be even harder to get a good picture!

Mother's Day

2009-05-11T22:11:00.001-04:00

A quick post from Tim and Liam to the best mom ever!

Baptism Invitation

2009-05-02T15:44:00.003-04:00

All family and friends are invited! We understand it is Mother's Day, but didn't want to miss anyone who may want to come. So you are welcome to witness and celebrate with us on Liam's special day. If you are planning on lunch, just call or e-mail Tim or I so we know how many to plan on. We appreciate everyone who has been involved in his life. He has come a long way in such a short time. There have been so many prayers prayed for him and he doesn't even know it yet. We have a long and happy road ahead of us as we strive to raise him as a child of God (so we would love it if the prayers kept comming!).

Easter Pictures

2009-04-16T13:03:00.002-04:00

Do you think Liam enjoyed his Easter basket? He thought it was so funny! He got a life jacket, swaddle blanket, snack dispenser and candy . Some of the stuff he had to share with his dad - like the candy! Our little stud on Easter morning.

We went to my mom and day for lunch,

and Tim's mom and dad for dinner.

Liam had a great day visiting both grandparents and playing with both of his cousins. We were surprised that he even made it to Easter because Missy and Mandy babysat him on Saturday night. Just kidding - he had a great time, thank you girls for taking such good care of Liam while his mom and dad got to go on a date with friends.

YFC Bowling!

2009-04-02T14:03:00.002-04:00

Tuesday night we went bowling with Rob and Jen Augustine. It was a fundraiser for Youth for Christ. We had a great time, but we realized our Wii bowling skills are a little better than our real bowling skills. We decided to take Liam along and he did great. He even managed to sleep with all the noise! I only took a few pictures, but I think this was the best one. I don't think it even needs an explanation.

Weekend

2009-03-19T17:19:00.003-04:00

This past weekend was the first time we were able to take Liam outside without bundling him up. We all enjoyed the sunshine and warmer weather. This was also the first time that Liam and Uno, our dog, have gotten to meet. They really like each other. Liam didn't even mind when Uno insisted on licking him...

even on the face!

We all went for a walk and on the way back home, Tim thought it would be funny to let Uno pull the stroller. She did pretty good, but I didn't let her go far because as soon as she sees a rabbit or squirrel she takes off! At least it made for a good picture.

The Doctor Will See You Now

2009-03-12T19:21:00.004-04:00

My parents are currently in Florida on vacation. Yesterday they called to tell me that my dad was not feeling well and they thought he maybe had food poisoning. Well, turns out it was appendicitis and he had to have an emergency appendectomy (removal of his appendix) this morning! So I dressed Liam up as a doctor to send him get well wishes. He is drawing up a dose of get well medicine in the picture below. We hope you have a speedy recovery so you can come home safe.

Play Time

2009-03-06T13:21:00.002-05:00

Liam has been starting to reach for toys a little. He can hold them in his hand, but not for long. He loves to play but his favorite thing to do is talk. If you talk to him he loves to coo back. It's like we are having a real conversation. Ha! I talk, then he talks, I talk then he talks. I think he is going to be full of it when real words come!

What a sweet little face, I can't get enough of it!

Look At Me!

2009-03-01T22:11:00.003-05:00

Not much new here in the last few weeks. The most exciting thing for Liam is that he has discovered his tongue. It's so cute to watch him stick it in and out. He also loves to suck on his hands now - when he can find them or get them up to his mouth. His little arms are getting so chubby he can hardly bend them to get his fists to his face.

Ha ha, Liam's mommy is so funny!

Sometimes he smiles so big that he looks Chinese!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2009-02-13T22:25:00.002-05:00

Liam's first Valentine's Day and he wants a kiss from you! He is stretching out his arms for a hug too!

Liam hopes you have a better Valentine's day than his mom. She isn't getting anything! Can you believe that? What a rip!

Norah and Liam

2009-02-12T22:14:00.003-05:00

Last week Friday I got to watch Norah for a few hours while Amy ran some errands. Norah is so much fun. She talks a ton - in her own language of coarse. It is so funny to watch her try to say baby. She says "BAY - BEE" but keeps her mouth closed. Try it - that's exactly how she sounds. She was very gentle with Liam and just touches his hands and feet. She loved to watch him in his bouncy seat. She liked it even better when I put the toy bar on it. Then she just wanted to eat the toys. I hope you can come over again really soon Norah! We love you!

I got to feed Norah breakfast so I thought I would try out Liam's caddy seat - just for fun. When Norah was done with it I left it up. When we were eating dinner that night Liam was awake, so Tim put Liam in it. He is still too small, but he can hold his head up well, so he sat the whole time we ate. I think he liked it.

Our big boy is 4 months old! Four months on 11-13-09, Friday the 13th! I still can't believe how much he has grown. Last Friday at the doctor's office, Liam weighed 12 lbs! He is catching up in his weight, now we are just waiting for him to catch up developmentally. He is right on for a 2 month old, so we are thankful for that. He may not fully catch up until he is 2 years old. Happy 4 month birthday Liam!

Is Summer Here Yet?

2009-02-10T20:37:00.003-05:00

It was so warm out today that I thought I would put on my swim suit and get out all my beach toys. I was ready for the beach, but mom said it wasn't summer yet, so we just pretended to play in the sand instead.

I've been smiling and laughing a lot more lately.

Mom and dad love trying to catch the giggles on camera.
I still love to sleep and I can do it just about anywhere!

Pouty Face

2009-02-04T21:00:00.002-05:00

This is Liam's pouty face. I've been trying to catch it on camera for weeks! I think it looks like he is trying to hold his breath because he is mad. I just have to laugh at it! Sometimes he gets a really big "U" shaped frown. I'll keep trying to get that one too.

This is 20 seconds later, happy again. What a goof ball.Liam and daddy having a starring contest. So do you think they look alike?

Good Sleeper

2009-01-31T00:11:00.003-05:00

Liam has slept for 9 hours the last 2 nights! He is such a good little guy. We are very fortunate that the is so content. Even when he wakes up he doesn't really cry. He grunts a lot and lets out a few yells. A few weeks ago I read an article that said babies cry on average 2 to 4 hours a day. Wow, not our Liam. Maybe 15 to 30 minutes if he gets fussy at night, but not very often. He is so happy and we can't wait for him to start smiling and laughing more!

No More Iron

2009-01-29T06:33:00.004-05:00

Last Friday we went to the doctor again for another weight check. Liam was 11lbs! I can't believe it. He is finally outgrowing his newborn clothes. Liam also got his hemoglobin checked again (every two weeks) to see if he still has anemia - low iron. This was the first time that his hemoglobin looked good so we can now be off the iron drops! Yeah! This was the last remnant of his prematurity. We are so happy to be done with iron. We had to mix it into 2 bottles a day and Liam did not like it. It comes with some yucky side effects not to mention the yucky taste.

We don't really care too much for tummy time. Unless it is on mommies chest. In the picture below Liam is giving me the stink eye for making him do a few push ups.

He is just too cute. We had his 3 month pictures taken with Carlia Faye Photography. Grandma Huyser got us a photo package there for a shower gift. He will get his 3, 6, 9 ,and 12 month pictures done there. You can check them out at http://www.carliafaye.com/. You have to ENTER SITE, select PROOFING, click on me and Liam and the password is: liam. Enjoy!

Happy 80th Birthday Great Grandpa!

2009-01-26T21:28:00.003-05:00

This past weekend was Grandpa Huyser's 80th Birthday. The whole family went up north to the South Fork Lodge for a celebration. We had a blast. We even made the birthday boy stay up until midnight for a champagne toast!This is the youngest and the oldest in the family, Liam and his Great Grandpa.

This is Gisele, the first Great Grandchild. She loves to be a big helper and feed Liam or even change his diaper. She loves all the kids. It's funny when they start to put together who is related and how. She kept pointing out Dan to me and saying this is Norah's daddy.

On Saturday we all went on a sleigh ride. Great Grandma stayed in the warm house and snuggled with Liam instead. It was too cold for him to go, maybe next year Liam! When we came back I found the two of them taking a nap by the fire. It was too cute.

We got a few pictures of Great Grandma and Grandpa with all the Great Grandkids. It sure is hard to get everyone to look at the camera let alone smile! We made shirts for all of the kids. They all matched, but had a different saying. Gisele's - my fingers may be small, but I've go Great Grandpa wrapped around them. Jacob's - Great Grandpa's Super Star! Norah's - I get my good looks from my Great Grandpa! Deacon's - My Great Grandpa thinks I'm a keeper! Liam's - Great Grandpa's future fishing buddy!

It was a great way to celebrate 80 years and we are looking forward to many more fun times with our Grandpa! Happy Birthday Great Grandpa! We love you!

We're Wireless!

2009-01-14T20:39:00.003-05:00

Are you talking to me?

Riding horse with Dad!

Can you see my smile between these chubby cheeks?

Yup, the monitor came off on Monday! It was perfect timing with me going back to work. Liam loved all his sitters. Monday, Liam had a major blow out with Grandma H. and we decided to just dump that onesie! Tuesday, he got to play with cousin Norah. She figured Liam was another toy to play with and kept pulling out his pipe and putting it in her mouth. Today Liam went to Kathy's house and the kids tried to skip school to hang out all day at home! Logan even wanted Liam to take a nap with him. When Tim went to pick him up, Brooklyn told him to go home because she wasn't done spending time with Liam! So he went home and I picked him up on the way home from work and that was still too early! I think we found our new day care :). Thank you all for taking such good care of Liam!!!

My transition back to work went well. It was fun to see everyone and catch up on the latest gossip. My work week is now over and I get to hold Liam until Monday, that's right, never put him down till Monday!! He's going to be a mama's boy, and I don't care. I guess that would be lying, because Tim and I are going on a date Saturday night and G and G DH are coming over to watch Liam, but I'm sure they won't put him down either!

Double Didgets!

2009-01-11T16:47:00.003-05:00

We had another weigh in at the doctors office on Friday, Liam officially weighs 10 pounds and 2 ounces! I now call him my 10 pound tubby. He is going to be 3 months old on Tuesday, but his adjusted age is only 3 weeks old. He is finally on the charts, coming in at a whopping 3 or 4 percent for weight. We did not measure him, it was just a weight check, but he is probably still not on the charts for height. Poor kid doesn't have much of a chance when it comes to height, but I'm sure he will get the weight thing down pat.

I am going back to work Tomorrow! Yikes! I don't know if I even will remember how to do my job. I haven't been to work since late August. I feel bad for my first patient/injection of the day. My injection skills should be like riding a bike - I hope. Once you learn it you never forget it. I am looking forward to seeing everyone and catching up with them at work. This first week we have Liam going to family instead of daycare in hopes to ease me (more than him) into it. My mom will watch him on Monday, Amy has him on Tuesday and Kathy (close enouph to family) has him on Wednesday. I thank you all in advance for taking such good care of my munchkin.

HAPPY 2009!

2009-01-02T21:17:00.005-05:00

Like Kelly, I also only took Pictures of the boys!

Liam had a great first New Year's eve. He got to hang out with some of his best buddies, Jace and Carter. Jace even bought them all cool matching New Year's t-shirts. Caden was there too, but he is too big and too cool to let mom do this stuff to him now that he is going to be a big brother!

Aren't they just the cutest! Jace and Liam are jealous of Carter's hair. They wish they could have Mohawks too!
Thanks to everyone for coming to the bash! We had a great time. I must say it was quite the party. The boys cheated at catch phrase, Brad and Dave sang sweet on the rock band, Dana and Adam got to play the Wii for the first time and Missy got puked on (can you guess by whom?!). Tim and I ended up ahead at the end of the night, we now own a PS2 and some new dishes! Happy 2009!!!

Christmas Pictures

2008-12-30T08:38:00.002-05:00

Christmas morning in front of the tree at mom and dad Huyser's house.
Liam could fit inside most of the gifts under the tree.
This picture is from Christmas Eve with the DeWitt's and Huyser's. These are the 5 great grand kids from left to right - Gisele, Liam, Norah, Jacob and Deacon. They are all dressed in their Christmas pajamas. We had a special guest at Christmas this year - Santa came! I didn't get pictures of him because we had the video camera out instead. He brought gifts for all the kids. It was a lot of fun.

Great Grandma and Grandpa Huyser with all the great grandkids. Christmas was really fun with Jacob and Gisele running around, and by next year the other 3 will be running around too!

Cabela's Trip

2008-12-28T20:03:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was Liam's first trip to Cabela's. The weather was not very nice, so we decided to take a drive with Grandma and Grandpa Huyser to the Cabela's in Hammond, Indiana.

Liam slept most of the time - no surprise there. We put him in this little kids chair. I think he could have took a nap there just fine.

Then Tim tried to feed Liam to the animals, but they were not very hungry.

REMEMBER

2008-12-26T10:49:00.002-05:00

REMEMBER by: Tim DeHaan

Discussing Parenthood
The day you found our you were going to be a mom
The moment you told dad the good news
Keeping me a secret until the right time
Calling family and friends
Preparations for the nursery
Registering for gifts
Weekly updates by e-mail
Every precious ultrasound
Every beautiful heartbeat
Every silent breath
The memorable vacation to pictured rocks
Racing dad's truck
Every movement and every kick
Celebrating with family
Celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas
Taking me to church
Praying for me
Loving me
Reading to me
Singing to me
The day I was born
The tears you shed
The hour you held me
The last breath I took
The lives I touched
The lives you touched
The lives I changed
The faith you have shown
The love you experienced
The trust you believe in

I felt your touch
I recognized your voice
I will forever be with you
In every gentle breeze
In every silent whisper
In all you tears
I love you so much,

Forever and for always,

Addison

Christmas is almost here!

2008-12-23T06:33:00.000-05:00

Liam had another doctors appointment yesterday. He now weighs 8 pounds, 7 ounces and is 20 inches long. He is still not on the charts for percentages, maybe in another month or two. He also got three shots and a heel poke. I wasn't prepared for that, but he did good. Liam let out one big scream and he was done. He pretty much fell right asleep. His hemoglobin (iron) is still low, so we continue to be on a supplement for that. The monitor he is on for his apnea got downloaded last week and we got the results from that. We were hoping to be done, but no such luck. He apparently had 2 real events so we have to endure that stupid thing for two more weeks! Can someone please invent a wireless one? I can handle the electrodes, but the cord hooked to the box that we constantly have to lug around drives me nuts!

After Liam's doctors appointment we went to Great Grandma and Grandpa Huyser's house so Grandma got to hold Liam while Grandpa fed me goodies! Liam slept a long time and missed his afternoon feeding. I thought he would be cranky at night, but he just slept. We put him down at 10:30 and he slept until I woke him up at 7 this morning! This was the first time he has slept through the night! I hope it continues, but I'm not counting on it.

Don't worry, I'm still going to post some pictures of Liam. These are the ones that didn't make the birth announcement/Christmas card. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

This is the one that was on the card - just the full size version. I didn't know if you could tell on the card that he was in his stocking. We had quite the time getting him in and out of it. We almost had him stuck in it! I had to hold the stocking while Tim pulled his arms! I almost didn't want to post this next picture, but I thought is was too cute. This is when we tried to literally hang him from the stocking. He almost fell out!

Merry Christmas!

2 Parties Down...

2008-12-21T20:42:00.004-05:00

Friday night we had a Christmas party at Dan and Amy's house with our friends Larry, Moni, Corinne and Danielle Marlink. It was a ton of fun - as always, and I forgot the camera! Grandma had hers, maybe I can add pictures if she could figure out how to e-mail them to me. Liam wore his shirt that Carter bought him, it is green, red and white and reads, "Good things come in small packages!" Norah had on a cute shirt too, hers read, "what Santa doesn't bring me Grandma will!" Isn't that the truth!

Saturday night we had another Christmas party with the Verbeek side (Tim's mom's side). We always have a great time with them too. We did manage to remember the camera and took a family photo. Our family sure has grown over the past few years, it is awesome! We will have at least one more next year as Joni is due in early May. Thanks mom DeHaan for having us all over! We love having Christmas there because she decorates so well. She actually puts up at least 8 full size christmas trees - all decorated in different themes or different kinds of ornaments. She is so brave to put them up with all the grandkids running around. They learn they can touch with just one finger, how cute!

As we were taking this picture, Chip (a.k.a. Christian) said, "Awe, ha ma," which is what Grandpa Verbeek used to say to Grandma all the time. It made us lauph, but we sure do miss you Grandma and Grandpa!

This is Nate, Em, Tim and Dalton. They all look cute except for the one making the funny face!

This is Aunt Jo, mom DeHaan (Judy), and Aunt Jane. They take a sisters picture every year at Christmas. We can't wait to see you all agian this summer at Hess lake!

Happy Due Date Liam!

2008-12-19T08:39:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, Dec. 18, was Liam's official due date. It is just crazy to imagine him just being here. He is getting pretty big, so I'm glad I didn't have to deliver the chunker he is now! We celebrated the occasion with a few friends. Brent and Candace Nienhuis had invited us over to their house for a welcome home Liam/happy due date party. It was ton of fun. We shared food and fellowship and even played a few games. But Catch Phrase is being saved for New Years Eve. Candace had everyone write down advice for us on little cards, then she put them in a fold out album for us to keep. Then we paired up and everyone got to decorate a onesie for Liam. They turned out great. It will be fun to dress him in them all. Thanks Brent and Candace for opening up your beautiful home and Thanks to all are great friends for coming to celebrate with us. We love cute gift you all put together. It is a bucket with lots of stuff Liam will need this summer to go on the boat! What fun that will be!

A visit to Santa

2008-12-16T18:27:00.003-05:00

On Monday night I decided to take Liam to go see Santa Clause. Even though the weather wasn't the greatest, I needed to get out! So I dressed him in his Santa's Little Helper outfit and headed to Treehouse Books in downtown Holland. I figured that would be the best place to go with the least amount of kids. Turns out that it's totally free there, you just have to bring your own camera.

Liam did great! He stayed awake the whole time. Santa said this was his smallest visitor so far.

This is not Liam screaming, he is actually yawning.
What do you think Liam asked Santa for Christmas this year? Daddy says he must have asked for a 1965 Shelby Cobra, mommy thinks he asked for more kisses!

2 Months Old!

2008-12-14T00:38:00.002-05:00

Liam has officially turned 2 months old and is still not due until next week!

He has come so far in such a short amount of time. The 2 pictures below show a great comparison. He has filled out all over, but I love to see his hands and leggies and especially his cute double chin. I would never have guessed we would be pushing 8 pounds by 2 months. Mom and Dad DeHaan bought us a baby scale and brought it over tonight. We will get a better weight tomorrow when we strip him down for bath time. It will be fun to watch his weight growth more often now. Thanks Mom and Dad DH!

Liam struggling to breathe on his own just days after being born.Liam 2 months old practicing the ninja moves he loves to do. And I think he is starting to loose some of his precious hair!

A Few Pics

2008-12-07T23:26:00.003-05:00

Liam went right to sleep after we took pictures of him for a Christmas/birth announcement card. We sure tired him out! Mom and Liam taking a break in between takes.
Liam's first camo outfit. We just had to laugh when we put this on him!

Second Doctor's Appointment

2008-12-06T09:34:00.005-05:00

So yesterday we ventured out in the cold snowy weather for Liam's doctors appointment. He now weighs 7 pounds and 2 ounces. That means he has gained over an ounce a day since his last appointment 2 weeks ago. Now we can stop waking him up every 3 hours during the night to eat. I am happy about that because I didn't want him getting too used to waking up all the time at night. We also got his memory monitor downloaded. Liam didn't have any real alarms (so surprising considering how much it went off!) so he is off the caffeine! Do you think he will get those caffeine withdraw headaches :0) ? Liam will have another memory monitor download in two weeks and if he continues to not have any alarms, then we can get rid of the monitor! That will be a happy day! Now he is only on iron, twice a day. Liam had to get a toe poke in the office to test his iron. He didn't even wince! I think having him in the NICU made him tough. He is so used to getting poked and prodded. His iron is still a little low, so we will check again in two weeks.

This was his 2 month check up. We went over the 2 month milestones and surprise, Liam isn't doing any of them! Considering he wasn't even supposed to be born yet, we aren't worried. At least now we know what we can work on over the next 2 months. The one thing we have been doing is tummy time. He can pick his head up pretty good, but he doesn't always like it, so he will either cry or just falls asleep.

Last night I didn't set any alarms, but Liam woke me up at about 4am. I put his pipe in twice which got me to about 4:20, then I decided he was really hungry and he needed to eat. He had made it 5 hours. I was happy with that! When I was crawling back in bed, Tim woke up and wondered why I had fed him, I told him because Liam was crying and he had made it 5 hours! But he was really asking why I had fed him. I think he was disappointed that he missed out on the middle of the night feeding! So he got up at 7:30 to feed him while I slept in. Who says you can never sleep in once you have a baby? Thanks Tim!

Thanksgiving Weekend

2008-12-01T11:37:00.003-05:00

Here is our little family on Thanksgiving morning. Liam is wearing his turkey bib. We went to mom and dad Huyser for lunch, then to mom and dad DeHaan for dinner. Liam slept most of the time. He managed to set off his alarm during prayer at lunch and a few times during dinner. I think he felt left out because he was in the bedroom by himself while the rest of us were eating a feast! Maybe next year you can sit by the table Liam!

After we were all stuffed it was time to feed Liam. First we changed his diaper and Gisele helped me out with that. She liked to hold his feet.
Dan, Amy and Norah came right before dessert was served... how convenient! Gisele and Norah liked to play together. At one point we even had Gisele holding Norah as she stood up. I can't wait to watch all of the great grand kids playing together at Christmas.

And of course I went shopping on black Friday. We've gotta continue the tradition, even though there wasn't any big sales I was trying to hit. My mom and Kelly and I always go. This year Moni and Tammy (my mom's girlfriends) went with us too. We have a blast filling the car to the max with all our packages. We really have it down to a science. I'm not going to give away our secrets, but we got a ton done and even managed to get in breakfast and lunch! I finished all my shopping in one day! Thanks to Tim who stayed home to watch Liam. They had fun too. Tim said they watched Ice Age 1 and 2. When I got home they were both still in their jammies. It was too cute!

Yes, we're still here...

2008-11-23T23:22:00.003-05:00

It has been so nice being home with Liam and Tim this week. We haven't done much, which is great. We have had time to just sit together and love on our little guy. He pretty much just sleeps and eats. We have to wake him up every 3 hours to eat. I take the 2am and Tim takes the 5am. We'll see how that goes considering Tim goes back to work tomorrow (Mon). Liam is up to 55mL's - almost 2 oz of breast milk. We increase his feeds a few mL's every 2 days.

Our first outing was on Friday morning to the doctor. Liam checked out just fine. He weighed in at 5lbs 15 oz and 18 inches long even though he was still not due for another month! It is crazy to think he is supposed to be in my tummy yet. I can't imagine what it would be like if I was still on bed rest.

OK -I better try to get some rest because 2am comes too fast! I'll post more pics soon.

We're HOME!!!

2008-11-18T22:09:00.004-05:00

This is Liam waiving goodbye to all his wonderful nurses that helped take such good care of him!
Taking a little cat nap while waiting for the doctor to give us the discharge instructions.

Three strikes and your out right? Well, at least in Liam's case. Today was the third time they said he was going home and we are outta there! Tim took a half day off in anticipation of Liam maybe going home. They wouldn't give us a for sure answer because he didn't finish his 16 feeds in a row until 11:00 today, and then the doctor had to give approval after that. We didn't get the official go ahead until 2:30 and we were gone just after 3.

I finally got the car seat checked yesterday and we both took infant CPR today. So everything was set, we just needed Liam! We are a little nervous about being home, no nurses to rescue us, but we are ready. He is on a monitor for his heart rate and breathing, so that is reassuring or it just freaks you out because the alarm is really loud. It hasn't gone off yet and we hope it stays that way.

He has really got the eating thing down, lets hope he has the sleeping thing down too - even though we will have to continue to wake him up to eat every 3 hours until he gets a little bigger. It is so fun to watch him sleep. He makes little noises and it sounds like he is laughing. It's so cute. We're going to try to catch it on tape. It's just something that you hope you will always remember once they get big and start to talk back!

We apologize for not really calling anyone and letting you know we are home, but we have just enjoyed this time together and wanted to sit and relax and be together - it's been a while. Thank you for all the prayers and support, Liam so often reminds us that God is good.

Low Hemoglobin

2008-11-15T22:42:00.003-05:00

Liam was up to 8 feeding in a row as of this morning. Then I called to check up on him and he decided to get really tired. His nurse ordered more labs to check his hemoglobin again. It was still pretty low (8.2) even though he was on iron, so they decided to give him an infusion of blood. He had to get an IV, which he hasn't had in a long time. With all this going on, they thought it best to let him rest during his feedings, so back to zero and we start the count over again. We really thought tomorrow we were going to be bringing him home. They even have all of his discharge papers ready. I think this is the third time they have given the hint that he will be going home and Liam decides otherwise. We are trying to stay really positive. It may take a few days for him to catch up and regain some strength again. He did take his 5:00 and 8:00 bottles tonight, 2 down, only 14 more to go!

This is after his infusion. He was really tired and didn't open his eyes too much. They took his arm out of his shirt to put in the IV. You can really see how chunky his arms and cheeks are getting. Even his little hat is getting too small.

In Liam's Word's...

2008-11-13T09:53:00.003-05:00

"Dad, seriously, would you put down the camera already? I think we have enouph pictures, besides, I need my diaper changed and I'm hungry."

"Oh, this pipe tastes so good. I think I will just close my eyes and go to sleep."

"I love my blankie. Do you see it has my name on it? Mommy said that her friend Kathy got it for me. Her mom makes lots of these. Mine even has cars on it!"

"This is grandpa and me having a good talk. He said I have to start eating better so I can come home. He said I would really like it there and I will even have my own room with no other kids in it!"

1 Month Old

2008-11-13T08:00:00.004-05:00

I just thought this picture was so funny!

It looks like he is saying "arrrg," like a pirate.

This is Tim and I giving Liam his first bath.

We have to do twice before he can go home.

Aren't these booties adorable? One of Mom DeHaan's
small group friends made them for us. They fit perfect!

This is Uncle Kieth, Aunt Mary and Ashley. They came to visit on Sunday. They each got to hold Liam, but he just wanted to sleep!

Today Liam is 1 month old. I can't believe it. It sure does fly by. I can't imagine home much faster it will go once he is home. He is really improving. Yesterday he had 5 bottles in a row. It takes him about 25 minutes to finish 1.5 oz, slow and steady wins the race, right?

Well, Liam's nurse last night said that their census is way up. There was 96 babies in the NICU and 7 more on the way. Her goal was to discharge all the babies in Liam's room in 48 hours! Yeah right! I told her good luck and I could help her out with one of those babies! There are 8 babies in Liam's room right now. I thought is was full with 6! It gets really tight in there, so we probably won't have any visitors until he comes home. We want him to get maximum rest in between feedings so he does better. It is so busy in his room, I'm surprised he can get much sleep at all, but he doesn't seem to mind. he continues to gain weight, last night he was up to 5 lbs 2 oz. Way to go Liam!

5 Pounds!

2008-11-11T22:38:00.004-05:00

As you can see, Liam likes to lay with his arms up.

Liam now weighs 5 lb 1 oz! He had a bit of a ruff weekend. Sunday night he continued to drop his heart rate so his nurse decided he needed some blood work done. His hemoglobin was a little low, so they started him on iron. They said this may be why he was D-stating (dropping heart rate). They also put him on caffeine again. This helps him to remember to breathe. It takes him a few days to catch up. Today was better than Monday and hopefully tomorrow will better yet. He is definitely getting chubby cheeks and already holds his head up. Our new goal is for Liam to come home when they say he can come home! (Thank you Mr. Obvious)

A few of Liam's visitors

2008-11-07T21:51:00.003-05:00

These are a few of Liam's visitors this week. He hasn't had too many because we can only have 2 visitors at a time. It's hard to fit everyone in - especially when grandparents get first dibs! They love to visit Liam and he loves it too. We are hoping that Liam will be home within a week or two, so if you want to see him at the hospital - call us soon, otherwise as long as you're not sick, you can visit when he is home.

This is Tory Yount, one of our pastors wives. (clarification - we have more than one pastor - our pastor does not have more than one wife!)

This is Missy (the church wife). She thinks Liam looks like her.

Proud Great Grandma and Grandpa DeHaan - the oldest holding the youngest in our family (at least currently - this family grows fast).

Uncle Matt checkin' out the little man. We think Liam picked up a lot of Matt's qualities, especially the apnea. Aunt Joni and Austin came to visit too, but we don't have a picture of them. They were busy checking out the fish tank when the camera was out.

Kelly came to visit too, but the pictures went on her camera - check out her blog!

2008-11-04T22:18:00.007-05:00

To all you Blog Stalkers out there - sorry we have not updated enough for you (Auntie Barbie). We will continue to do our best !!!

Here is the latest on Liam...

Day 23 :

We just got back from visiting Liam. He had another big day. His nurse said he was very awake and alert for his 8:00am feeding, so he got a bottle and finished it all! I was there for his 11:00 and 2:00 feeding. He is starting to wake up with out my help before he needs to eat. This is a great sign that he is progressing! He got 2 additional bottles today - both from me :0) and he drank all of those too. I hope this means we can continue to increase the amount of times he gets a bottle and decrease the tube feedings. I think Liam is ready to have the tube out! Monday when I was there to visit, he had pulled it out himself! Oops, too bad he had to get it put right back in.

As you can see in the picture on the left, dad had a hand in getting Liam dressed. He has this onesie in red and blue. In the picture on the right, mom is feeding Liam a bottle. The more you eat the sooner you get to come home! He is currently at 4 lbs 7.5 oz. If weight gain was the only requirement to come home, he would be here!

I had a meeting with Liam's doctor on Monday. I had a list of questions for him, obviously the biggest one was when can he come home. I didn't get an answer to that question. It's up to Liam. It does not go by weight or age, just development. I guess we will only get a day or two notice when it is time, so we better be ready. Our goal is to have him home before Thanksgiving.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

2008-10-31T16:47:00.004-04:00

I dressed up my cutie as a little pumpkin! All the nurses loved it. They said he wins the costume contest. There actually were other mom's who dressed their babies up too. I wasn't sure if that was okay or not, but I thought I just had to get a few pictures. Tim can't wait to go up tonight to see him. We'll have to take more pictures then and probably some video.

Liam continues to do well. I even got to feed him his bottle in his costume. It made burping him and taking his temp a little challenging, but we managed.

Can you guess where the costume came from? They don't sell preemie costumes, and I didn't have time to sew one, so I went to Build-A-Bear! It was suggested by a few co-workers - thanks girls!

I'm holdin' my own - temp that is.

2008-10-28T23:13:00.003-04:00

Liam was moved to an open crib today! Well, he actually wasn't moved, but the top of his isolette was moved up and he is no longer under a heater. It is up to him to keep himself warm. So far he is doing great. We keep him wrapped up in a blanket to help him stay warm. His temperature probe was also removed. I'm sure he was happy about that because it is a disk that was taped to his abdomen and it had to be moved every twelve hours. It would be like you removing an 8 inch round sticker from your belly twice a day - yikes!

Tonight, Liam had a few visitors - Uncle Dan, Aunt Amy, Ross and Sarah. They must have been good luck because after they left, Liam sucked down an entire bottle feeding - 34mL's! He managed to do it in less that 10 minutes without spitting up. Way to go buddy! We are so proud of you! His nurse said he must really want to go home, we think so too. So thanks for all the prayers, they are working!

This picture is of Liam all bundled up. His isolette is still down, but they did move it up after this, I just didn't get a picture of that. I guess I was too excited.

Grandparent's Day!

2008-10-27T22:01:00.006-04:00

It was a grandparents weekend! They all got to hold Liam. He must have enjoyed it because he slept most of the time.

Today he is 2 weeks old. He is back to his birth weight (plus one ounce) at 3lbs 14 oz. His feedings are going great. He is fed every three hours, 32mL's each time. Twice a day he gets bottle fed. I try to get there to do both of those. Today he managed to drink just over half of the 32mL's at each of his bottle feedings. That is awesome! Tonight he was wide eyed for at least 15 minutes while we did his care - Tim claims it's because he was there, I think it's because we stripped him down to his tighty whitey dipey.

Sleep, Eat, Poop!

2008-10-24T14:56:00.004-04:00

Today Great Grandpa and Grandma Huyser got to visit Liam!

He was very excited when Great Grandma got to hold him - he smiled

at her every time she talked to him - really!

This was the outfit we had to change into after we pooped
through our safari jumper. How do I look in green?

Grandma Huyser got to hold Liam for the first time on Thursday!

Liam's isolette - the blanket was made by Great Grandma Huyser.
If you look close, you can see I put a little pumpkin and a bat on the front.
Happy Halloween!

Wow, Liam has got down his routine! Yesterday was the first day that I was able to try to breast feed Liam. He sucked a few times, but not much. The lactation consultant said he was doing great. He is trying to "nipple" twice a day now, either on mom or a bottle. This was exciting because we didn't think he would start this until Sunday, but he is tolerating his feedings so well now. He is up to 32 mL's - just over an ounce - with added calories. He doesn't get much from the bottle, so we still feed him though his tube. Hopefully he will pick up on the suck, breathe, swallow thing in the next 2 weeks. Last night he weighed 3 lbs 10 oz. He continues to gain, slowly but surely. He managed to soil his first outfit last night. I got another little surprise when I changed his diaper. This morning as soon as I was putting him back into the isolette, he dirtied his pants again, but he managed to keep it in the diaper this time. Thanks Liam!

BIG DAY

2008-10-22T22:02:00.002-04:00

Liam had a big day today. First, he got moved from the NICU side to the NIM side (intensive care to intermediate care). This is one step closer to home! Then his IV came out, so all his nutrients are now coming from his mommy, but still through the tube to his tummy. Sunday he will be 14 days old and his nurse says maybe we can start to try him feeding from a bottle. One requirement to go home is to feed for 2 days straight on his own from a bottle. Also, since he has less attachments, I can dress him now. So kelly and I went this morning and filled his drawers with blankies and outfits. We put on a little top with a pair of pants. It actually fit pretty good. It was the smallest preemie outfit he has and it is so cute on him. We are getting more and more comfortable handling Liam. It was really hard at first because you felt like you were going to break him. But now we can take him in and out of his isolette by outselves and we can do most of his care - feeding, changing , temps on our own. Tonight he even gave me my first dirty diaper. I was putting him back and he let one rip! I was so proud! The nurse said it was nothing compared to what he gave her the night before. She called it a blowout. I think he lost a little weight with that because now he is at 3 lbs 9 oz. He is up to 28 mL's of milk and 30 mL's is 1 oz. So he should be gaining at a good rate. Tim just checked our car seat and he has to be 5 lbs to ride in it. Not sure what happens if he is ready to go home before he reaches 5 lbs, I guess that is something we will have to ask tommorow. Tim suggests to stap him in the car seat and then strap Liam to him.

Sun Tannin'

2008-10-20T22:00:00.003-04:00

Cashed out under the bilirubin light - getting a sweet sun tan.

We just got back from visiting Liam. He is up to 18 mL's for his feedings and keeping it all down and digested. He enjoys his sun tan under the bilirubin light. The nurses are going to check his labs tonight to see when he can come off the light. We did his 8:00 care which included taking his temp, changing his diaper, feeding and weighing him. His weight is going up. Tonight he was 3 lbs 9 oz. We put a pipe in his mouth when he was feeding so he can get the idea that when he sucks he gets fed. The next step will be to try a bottle. If he gets that down, then he can get rid of the tube down his tummy.

In other news, Tim's toe hurts. He won't stop complaining about it. That is all.

Kangaroo

2008-10-19T15:14:00.004-04:00

This is the Kangaroo hold that Jen and Liam enjoyed. I think I see a smile!
Such a big yawn for such a littl e guy.
Back to sleep again.

Saturday Jen got to do Kangaroo with Liam which means Liam layed skin to skin on Jen's chest for atleast an hour. It was awesome! They also took the CPAP off again and Sunday(today) we seen it in the garbage, so hopfully that means no more CPAP for good. They bumped up his feeding to 12ml again and he digested all of it. While Jen was changing his diaper, Liam decided she was taking way to long and he turned on the fountain and made a little mess, Dad thought it was great! All in all, Liam is doing wonderful and we thank God everyday for that, for a perfect little miracle.

Yesterday I also had a baby shower. My BFF Kelly planned it with the help of Jenn Augustine. It was awesome! I was so impressed with Kelly. She really is turning into quite the Martha Stewart. She'll deny it, but it was just perfect! I have to admit it was nice to not have to be on bed rest during the shower. Thanks to everyone who made it such a fun time. Great food, family and friends. You are all so special to me and I apreciate all the support you have and continue to give Tim and I. I will upload shower pics tomorrow. We have to get ready to go to youth group now.

Dirty Diaper

2008-10-17T22:12:00.004-04:00

Jen went to visit Liam today and he continues to do well. She was able to hold him for an hour! They took him off the bilirubin light and he gave us his first mighty little poop. One nice feature of the Helen DeVos Childrens Hospital is that we are able to call the nurses at any time for updates and that has been very helpful. We often call in the morining and at night. They love to talk to us about Liam as much as we love to listen. It sure is great to meet such loving and caring people every day. The nurses tell us that he has the most perfect nose and we definately agree. By the end of the weekend, we are hoping that Liam can come off the CPAP once again and breathe easily on his own.

We plan on returning to Spectrum tomorrow after Jen's baby shower to hang out with Liam. Hopfully we can update with some more good news then.

Milestones!

2008-10-15T12:43:00.003-04:00

Sorry for the delay in updates! I'd rather spend time with Liam than type :0). Liam is doing so good. Yesterday He was taken off the ventilator at 1:00 am and put on the CPAP. Today at 9:00 am he was taken off the CPAP and is breathing all on his own! The nurse said he was fussing in the morning and pulling on the CPAP machine and as soon as she took it off he was a happy camper. He was put under the bilirubin light this morning to help with jaundice. This was expected and part of protocol but is kinda cute because he has little goggles on his eyes. Another big milestone this morning, Liam got his first meal. This is much sooner than I anticipated. He was fed 6 mL's at 8:00 am through a tube down his mouth into his stomach. At 11:00 am the nurse checked to see if he digested any of it. It is very common for preemies to take a while to get used to the milk in their tummies. But, our little Liam digested all of it! So he got another 6 mL's at 11:00 am. What a good little guy!

Pictures of Liam!

2008-10-13T21:28:00.006-04:00

Here he is! Make sure and read the below post for the full labor and delivery story! I (Kelly) went up to see the little guy tonight and he is ADORABLE!!! As promised I told Tim and Jen I would get some pics posted for them.

Yep, a matching scratch to match daddy's scar on his forehead. :)

Proud mommy and daddy...aren't they a cute family!?

Daddy helping to change his first diaper.

Ah, success, and a hand shake from Liam.

Mommy helping to get his weight checked.

Saying goodnight.

He is a strong little guy and is doing wonderful!

Updates on little Liam

2008-10-13T20:39:00.002-04:00

24 hour recap:

Last night Jen went to bed feeling fine, well feeling pregnant, but feeling fine. Jen wasn't sleeping to well and woke up around 5 am with more than normal contractions and some back pain. She took her medicine an hour early to see if that would help. By 6 am it wasn't any better. We called the doctor and were instructed to return to Spectrum. We no sooner got in the car, and Jen was now very uncomfortable which gave Tim the right to speed!! Upon arrival at the emergency doors, we were taken right to the birthing floor and hooked back up to monitors. Jen was dilated at 2-3cm and very rapidly progressed to 5-6cm. Even though at that point we knew delivery was inevitable, Dr. Cook still wanted to slow the process down with magnesium drip to allow the steroid shot to take full effect. At this point, our parents were both here for the rest of the ride. Things kept moving quickly, and by 3:41pm after several hard pushes(I sure am glad to be a guy) Liam was born. Jen had a couple seconds to have Liam lay on her chest, he had a quick cry and then the neonatal doctors took over and tried the CPAP. He didn't last at all on that, so they had to intubate him. The Grandparent got to see him for a quick second before he was taken down to the NICU. They then reported back to us Liam's height and weight. He weighed in at 3lbs 13 ounces and measured 17" long! Thanks to the steroid shots, he is already stronger than his dad and will never be aloud to play professional baseball.

We were able to go see him at 5pm with our parents and that was awesome! Jen says he looks like his dad, so look out ladies! We got to touch him, change his diaper, and weigh him in the incubator. Kelly arrived at 7pm and was able to go visit Liam with us as well. Kelly is also going to put some pictures on our blog as soon as she get home.

The next step is to take out the tube that helps him breathe and back on the CPAP. If all goes as planned, he should be doing that by morning. This will make it possible for us to hold him very soon!

Another huge thanks for all the prayers and support, it means a lot to us daily!

Welcome baby Liam!

2008-10-13T16:19:00.002-04:00

IT'S A BOY!

Born at 3:41pm

Liam Marcus DeHaan

If your wondering how to pronounce it, say the name William and then drop off the Wil.

Liam is doing great in the Nic. U, and that is all we know so far. Jen and Tim are doing great as well!

More updates to come.

Gitty Up to all and thanks for all the prayers!

Bailout/Rescue Plan?

2008-10-11T19:59:00.004-04:00

Nothing crazy new going on at the DeHaan house. Jen is completely bored and ready to just go outside and run around. Kelly Meeuwsen and Jen Augustine are throwing Jen a baby shower next Saturday, so that is very exciting to look forward to. Friday, we received our first Spectrum bill and it was only $33,478.18 dollars and that translates into about $1,000 dollars per day. What a deal! We decided that since the national debt is only at a quadtrillion, we would just add our bill to that and pretend everything is alright. Next week, we plan to go on an exotic vacation, being pampered to the max! So we thank you for paying your taxes :)

It has been 38 days on bed rest. Another big thank you to everyone for supporting us in so many different ways.

33 days on bed rest!

2008-10-06T20:20:00.003-04:00

I had my first Dr.'s appointment, since I've been home, today. It went great, a big thanks to Kelly and Carter for Driving me there (Kelly did most of the driving). It was very uneventful except for Kelly nearly losing control of Carter and I in the wheelchair going down the parking ramp! The Dr. thought I was doing so well that I don't need to see him for 2 weeks. My next appointment is scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 21. They will measure the baby then. Tim thinks they should measure the baby every time - I would love that too, but I don't think our insurance would love it and they probably would not pay for it either. So, we will just trust that he is growing big and strong. Today is my 33rd day on bed rest and on Thursday we will be 30 weeks!

Is it fall outside, because I wouldn't know!

2008-10-04T17:55:00.004-04:00

Sorry for the lack of updates, but not much new happens when I just lay around watching the day go by. This past thursday marked 29 weeks and all is good. Thanks to my friend Kelly and my mom, the house is clean and all my sewing projects have been hidden from me so I have no temptations to finish my projects. A huge thanks to Jen and Alex DeWitt for letting us use their laptop this entire time. Another thanks to everyone who has brought us meals and other goodies. We are currently watching Michigan play a horrible football game and yelling at the TV.

For all of those wondering if I am looking more pregnant, we took a picture today and decided to share it with the world, or at least the world of blogging.

Surfing Wireless

2008-10-01T12:27:00.002-04:00

Just a quick thanks to the one and the only (thank goodness) Brad Haan who hooked us up with wireless internet at home so Jen can still post on the blog! Brad is cool.

A change of scenery

2008-09-29T15:45:00.003-04:00

I'm on my way out! I have had a great weekend with little to no contractions, so I am being released today. Actually I am discharged already, I am just waiting for a ride. My mom works across the street and she should get out at about 4-4:30 so she will bring me home to save Tim a trip to the hospital. I had my cervical length checked just before lunch and it went up a little to 13 mm. The baby was also measured. He is already up to 3 lbs! I can't believe it. That is another goal achieved. Since we are both doing so well, the Dr's said we can manage this from home. So we will have a change of scenery for a while. I will continue to have the same routine at home, only getting up to eat and go to the bathroom. I will also have regular Dr. visits once a week. I am scheduled already for next week Monday. I will continue to take Procardia at home to relax my uterine muscles. My Dr. said that 2/3 of people with shortened cervix will go on to deliver full term (over 36 weeks) and 1/3 will still have preterm delivery (36 weeks or before). Please pray that I will continue to follow the Dr.'s orders and stay down with all the temptations that will come with me going home. Tim already told me that he is going to lock up my sewing machine. That might not be a bad idea!

Another year older

2008-09-26T18:43:00.003-04:00

This is my cake that Jen ordered me from the Cafeteria.

Well, it's my birthday and I'll cry if I want to, laugh if I want to, scream if I want to, sleep if I want to, eat junk food if I want to, flush the toilet 8 times if I want to, eat a Spectrum grilled cheese if I want to, wear an adult size diaper if I want to, and not update the blog if I don't want to but it's too late because I am already doing that! I am 28 years old and own two houses, one at Spectrum and the other in West Olive.

Enough about me. Jen is doing ahhhh ,no Jen is doing no no he he he he erase that. OK, I will answer for her since she can't make up her mind faster than I can type. She is doing just fine and there are no major changes with the baby. He continues to grow and so does Jen, just kidding, alright maybe just a little in the belly.

Not going home yet

2008-09-25T11:27:00.002-04:00

I just talked to Dr. Cook. He said I could go home, but he would like to see how I do over the weekend. So I agreed. We will see how I do, how many contractions I have, and make sure I don't progress over the next few days. On Monday, we can talk again. I could have gone home, but I don't want to regret it later. I am still at risk for preterm delivery and it is hard to know when to come in and I fear when I do figure it out it may be too late. So I am going to stick it out a little longer. Besides, I think Tim really wanted to spend his birthday up here on Friday - sorry Tim :o( Our next goal is going to be 30 weeks. I do think our little guy is ahead (don't all parents think their kids are special?). He is a little ahead in weight, last measurement being 2 weeks ago at 2 lbs 1 oz. He must be at least 2 1/2 lbs by now. This is a picture taken a few weeks ago. If you can't tell what it is, it's a foot. A really cute foot!

Hangin' in there

2008-09-24T11:51:00.005-04:00

Once again, things are staying stable. I continue to have contractions, but not too many. Today I got another cervical length measurement. It got a little shorter, from 18 to 11 mm. They also checked to see if I was dilated at all and I'm not. So that is great news. Since I have been doing so good, the Dr.'s think I may be able to go home. I will still have the same routine at home, but at least it will be a change of scenery. But that is still up for debate. They are going to have me get up and walk around today. He wants me to get up 9 times and walk around the halls for a few minutes. Then tomorrow we will check to see if it changes my cervical length at all. Tomorrow is a big day because we will also be at 28 weeks gestation. Everyone is so excited about that. It is a really big goal for us! So we are hanging in there, taking it one day at a time. Please continue to pray for us, we appreciate it!

To smart for my own good.....

2008-09-21T10:17:00.004-04:00

Did you know that a pennies terminal velocity is 64 mph? I didn't know that until today and now I feel like a much smarter person!

Did you know that coir dust is a renewable resource made from coconut husks? It was formerly a waste product left behind during coconut processing!

move over Einstein, Tim is taking over.

Remember:

When life's got you down, Gitty UP!

Self Portrait

2008-09-19T16:01:00.003-04:00

Here is me making my best fish face. I took a few self portraits the other day when I was bored. I don't really have any new news to report, so I thought I would add a picture to make this post interesting. I'm still taking procaria and the doctors say they are running out of things to entertain me with. They let me see the NICU, talk to the NICU Dr.'s, have wheelchair rides, and put me in three different rooms, what else is there? I told them I don't mind being boring, it's better than making them work hard! But, I did get a good suggestion to start quizzing them everyday. Maybe I could stump them with a difficult question... Hmmm...

TWO WEEKS DOWN

2008-09-18T11:27:00.004-04:00

I am 27 weeks along today. We reached our first goal! Now our next goal will be to make it to 28 weeks. I think we can do it. I had another cervical measurement yesterday. It was 16 to 19 mm in length, which is a little shorter then last time, but still within the same range. The Dr.'s were pleased with that, so I am too.

Yesterday I had some excitement with the McCain/Palin rally at the ford Field house. I could see the secret service men on the roof of the building next door. They were up there all day with binoculars, but I didn't see any sniper riffles.

Today I got to have lunch with some of the other girls on the floor. It was sponsored by March of Dimes and the NICU (neonatal unit here). Lunch was brought in from Panera Bread. I had a turkey sandwich with cheese broccoli soup - don't be jealous Tim! It was a nice chance to get out of my room and meet other moms who are also on bed rest. One mom has been here for 4 weeks, one 3 weeks, me, two weeks, and lots of others who have been here around one week or less. Three of them were pregnant with multiples, and one mom is here for the third time on bed rest and made it 6 weeks and 8 weeks last time she was here. We mostly talked about how we ended up here and how far along we are or if we had other kids at home. I wish I would have asked what they all do to pass the time. Maybe I could have gotten some new ideas. Tim's friend Troy seems to think I need to learn to play the banjo while I'm here. Wouldn't that be funny? Hey, you never know what kind of talent I will get to thank baby DeHaan for :0).

TOO FAST FOR RADAR!

2008-09-16T18:58:00.003-04:00

I just locked Jen out of her room so I could write this top secret message to everyone. I made it here in 28 minutes and that is after stopping at Jimmy Johns for dinner to go because they are truly freaky fast and freaky good! Alright, I here nurses trying to break down the door so I have to go, so please don't tell Jen I was breaking the law speeding. I just blame it on her license plate for saying GITTY UP!

Another Day...

2008-09-16T16:25:00.004-04:00

I guess 5 days off any meds was long enough. Dr. Cook came in this morning and decided I should start Procardia again. It's just a pill I have to take every 6 hours that relaxes smooth muscles. The uterus is a smooth muscle, so it should slow down the contractions. He didn't seem too concerned, he just wants to be proactive.

You must be wondering what I do all day, so here is a little insight into my day. The Doctors and/or interns round at 6-6:30 am. They come in and ask me how I'm feeling, if I've had contractions, check my breathing, my belly and my legs. Then just as I start to fall asleep again, at 7:15-7:30, the nursing assistant comes in to take my vitals - blood pressure, temp, pulse, and oxygen. I try to catch a little more sleep before my breakfast comes at 8:05. After I eat, I get hooked up to the monitor. The monitor checks the baby's heart rate and movement as well as contractions. After that, I take a shower and watch the today show while I check e-mail or do a puzzle. Before you know it, lunch arrives! Afternoons are the longest. I usually get a few visitors which helps to break up the day and the Doctor will come in at some point to discuss what was seen on the monitor. Otherwise I read, play on the computer, watch a movie or take a little nap until 4:00. That is when the Ellen show is on. I try to watch that, it's funny. Dinner comes at 5:15 and Tim comes at 6-6:30, depending on how fast he drives. We hang out, play games, watch movies and eat chocolate. During the week he tries to leave by 10:00. I get ready for bed and read a little, I usually fall asleep between 11 and 12 at night. Exciting, I know, but I've already made it 13 days! Praise God, every day is a gift! Thank you all for the continued love and support you show us. We love you all!

Where's McDreamy?

2008-09-15T15:36:00.004-04:00

Not much to report since Saturday, of course that is good news. I continue to have a few contractions, but no pain. I have been going out in the wheelchair this weekend. My latest adventures have been to the gift shop - I didn't buy anything, can you believe it? Well, I forgot my purse, so that kinda limited me. I think this is the longest I have ever gone with out shopping. It's been 12 days, that's nearly 2 weeks! I might have to browse online this afternoon...

Today I ventured to a restaurant down stairs for lunch. My mom, Jenn Augustine (+Cameron), Abby Lawrence and I went. We even sat in the booth, so it didn't even feel like we were in the hospital.

A few people have asked about my doctors. I go to Maternal and Fetal Medicine here in GR. There are 4 doctors in the group, Dr. Cook, Dr. Rightmire, Dr, Zuidema, and Dr. Shaik. I like them all, but I usually had seen Dr. Cook in the office. Now they all come visit me - along with their interns. There are days were I feel like I am on Grey's Anatomy because the Dr. will come in the room with about 5 interns - all in lab coats with clip boards reviewing my chart, but Tori says they are not as hot as they are on TV, I agree. And where is McDreamy and McSteamy? It sure would make my stay much more enjoyable if I had some eye candy to look at :0) At least my McHusband is dreamy and steamy, he, he.

WHEELCHAIR PRIVILEGES

2008-09-13T16:25:00.002-04:00

I got wheelchair privileges this morning! After breakfast I was hooked up to the monitor again, I was still having a few small contractions, but I am still considered "stable". The Doctor said I can now sit up a little or have a wheelchair ride. So, we took a tour of the NICU at 3:00 this afternoon. They currently have 96 babies being taken care of there! It was amazing to see. We hope we will not end up there, but if we do, I feel very fortunate to have access to the top 10 neonatal unit in the country.

Tim and my mom are ready to play a game of Skip-Bo, so I gotta go!

2008-09-12T21:52:00.002-04:00

It's Friday night and I have been off all my meds for over 24 hours. The doctor wants to see how I will do over the weekend and we will do another cervical measurement on Monday. I am having a few contractions but they are mild.

I switched rooms again. I now own the large suite at the end of the hall, room number 4425. It has a great view, but laying down in my bed all I can see is the sky. Atleast it lets in plenty of sunlight.

My favorite husband is here to spend the night, so hopefully Tim doesn't show up!! Well, it's time to watch a movie and I chose "Broke Back Mountain" while Tim was in the bathroom. The end of this blog seems to be a bit funny because Tim took over and started typing and he is a funny man!

Gitty up

Do you have your bags packed?

2008-09-10T14:14:00.004-04:00

We found out we were pregnant with baby number 2 in early April, just before Addison's original due date. Everything was going great. I was seeing a specialist in GR every 2 weeks for ultrasounds. They would measure the baby for growth and measure my cervix for length. My measurements have been from 35-40 mm every time, until last week.

On Thursday, I went to GR for my ultrasound (US). I new right away something was wrong. It was the fastest US I ever had. They asked me, "Do you have your bags packed?" I was like no way - what for? Well, they didn't even let me get up. I had to be wheeled right over to the hospital. My cervical length had shortened to 18 mm. Which means I was about 60% effaced. When I was hooked up to fetal monitors, it showed I was also contracting! I couldn't even feel it!

Since then I've been poked and pushed on more than I can count! I have been on several different meds - Magnesium Sulfate being the worst! I was given steriod shots to help develope baby's lungs, sleeping pills, stool softeners (I can't believe I just wrote that!) and who knows what else, but he is totally worth it. I hope he is much easier once he comes out.

Today has been a good day. It is day 7 of bed rest. I get monitored once in the morning and once after dinner. Last night and this morning I have showed no contractions and little DeHaan's heartbeat remains strong. They took me for another ulstrasound and my cervical length was 21-23 mm and it didn't shorten with pressure! So I am doing great!

Please continue to pray for me, Tim and impatient baby boy DeHaan. We want him to say put for as long as possible. I appreciate all the cards, calls, e-mails, visits, thougths and prayers. We love each and every one of you who has taken the time to let us know that you care. Keep in touch! This is just one more way for us to connect. I'm sure I'll post again real soon.

2007-10-16T19:32:00.000-04:00

Well, it's official, we are bloggers.