Ian Smiling

Ian is doing a lot of smiling and cooing lately. He is getting cuter everyday!

A weekend with the Muellers - December 1st

Hi everyone,


We had an awesome Saturday! The Muellers drove up to spend the day with us. Those boys are getting so big. Ian was elated to finally meet Jason. He also got to spend some quality time with his Aunt. Mommy really had fun playing with the twins!

Russ and Jason chill out.

The boys are really moving now!

Kyle is intrigued by the doggies.

Ryan chews on the nukie!

Ian's Naked Baby in a Bath Photos!

Of course we had to put some naked photos of Ian taking a bath on the blog! Isn't he just the cutest! For some reason he has a big buddah belly and then he has a tiny hip area...this makes diapering tough!
Ian is a little modest and is covering up his privates with his foot!

Thanksgiving!

Ian had a great 1st Thanksgiving. We traveled to Clarkston, MI to spend Thanksgiving with the Parrott Family. We had a lovely Thanksgiving dinner with Mom and Dad Parrott.

That night we also went to the Clark's. We got to meet up with Roger and Rose and all of family! I forgot to bring my camera, but boy was it a show! Cory & Tom's 3 boys and Melissa & Jason's 4 girls were very entertaining. Ian got to meet his 3rd cousin Hadley who is one day younger than him.

Ian was thrilled to get to spend some quality time with his Godfather Ryan. They even shared a bottle! Hanging out with Ryan!

Daddy feeding Ian a bottle in the living room.

Ian was truly excited to meet the lovely Laura. He got to spend some time with her and realized that she could make him feel better. She literally stopped him from crying just by hanging out

Ryan and Laura

Let the record be set...Uncle Greg was the first person who came over for Thanksgiving. Friday the Parrott family came over and for a while, we thought Uncle Greg was going to be the only one to show. He gave Ian lots of kisses or cheekies.

Uncle Greg Chilling out!

Sara and Chris also came over for a visit!

Chris & Sara

Later in the night, Mike, Kathy, Rachel and Abigail came over. Abigail also brought her friend Madison. Rachel performed her dance to Mambo #5. Rachel also held Ian.

Rachel & Ian

Thanksgiving was an awesome time. Mommy was really excited to get a little break. Daddy even got to go out for a night on the town with his friends. The only bummer was that Daddy woke up super early in order to stand in line at Circuit City to find out that no flat screen TVs were left.

Mommy & Ian relaxing!

Ian's Favorite Place!

Ian's favorite place to sleep is his sling. If he is crabby and we don't know what to do (other than feeding him), we put him in his sling. You just need to carry him around for a little while and then you can sit down or do what you like. This is the best $1.00 that my mom ever spent at a garage sale.

Once he's asleep, you don't even need to carry him around anymore.

Ian all bundled up!

What he looks like from the outside.

Ian hanging with his friends - Nov 21st

I thought I would take some pictures of Ian with his stuffed animals in his crib! Don't worry, he doesn't actually sleep next to all of the animals, I position him differently, I just thought it would be a cute pictures!

Hand Prints - Nov 21st

When the people from work threw me a shower, I got the coolest kit for Ian's hand print and foot print. It comes with ink and the pictures frames. For quite some time now we've been meaning to get his prints, but we keep pushing it off. Seeing as he is over 1 month old, I thought I should get the prints before he gets to old. I tried to get the prints by myself, but that was nearly impossible. He didn't want to cooperate and he got ink all over himself and me! Here are a few pictures from my attempts!

Ian and Mommy's fingers!

Ian's face post op... notice I waited until he was sleeping to take a picture.

Stitch Removal & Pictures! - November 20th

Tuesday was exhausting. Monday night was a tough one and I woke up with a headache above my left eye...a.k.a. my sleep headache. Ian had is appointment with Dr. Smith (the surgeon who cut his pylorus and sewed it up) at 11:15 a.m. We got there with plenty of time and waited around. The appointment took all of 2 minutes. He simply took the steris strips off and cut the stitch.

After that, we went to Glenbrook Mall for Ian's pictures. He had a 1:10 pm. sitting, but mommy did not have time to eat before that, so we ran to the food court. After that, we went to get the pictures taken. It was in a corner of JC Penny's that did not seem to have any air flow. It was stifling hot and there were kids running around everywhere, so I was nervous that Ian would catch something. Nonetheless, we finally got our turn. He was being a little angel and she took one picture and of course he started to cry. We tried a few different poses to see if that was the reason for crying, but that didn't help. We got out the nuk, and that didn't help. So, I decided to change him which sent him into a raging cry and he started breaking out (he gets splotchy every time he cries). We decided to let another group go ahead of us and we took a break for "lunch" even though he had just finished eating at the Dr's office. Anyway, we finally got back to our seating because the people we let go in front of us had a few outfit changes and the mom was complaining the whole time that there weren't Christmas backgrounds for infants (hello! Your baby can't hold up it's head, what kind of poses do you think she can do?). He ended up being a good boy and it didn't take long to get a few shots. After your sitting, it takes 20+ minutes before you can view your photos, so Ian and I looked around JC Penny's a bit. Then, we finally viewed the photos. He had a few good ones, so we ordered a bunch. We got a 10 X 13 in B&W which was more expensive and a matted frame to go with it (at 40% off). I haven't told Russ how much the total cost was, but hopefully he will understand!

After that, we headed home. My headache had returned in full force, so I stopped at BK to see if food would help my headache (my headaches are usually caused by hunger or sleep deprivation). That didn't work, so I had to take a nap half way home! Whew! What a day.

Russ was a sweetheart and let me take a nap when I got home. He even cooked dinner. I am so lucky to have an awesome husband!

Going Out in Fort Wayne - Saturday Nov 17th

Saturday was a big day for us all!

I woke up super early to drive to town and get my hair cut at 8:15 a.m. I had almost completely forgotten about my promise! Eric and his family were too nice to call and bother me about getting my hair cut. I wanted to go to Expressions Salon because they are the best in town...I don't know if anyone remembers my last "really short" hair cut that essentially gave me a mullet. Anyway, I went to Kerri, who comes well recommended. I called the salon on Thursday and they told me I could come Saturday or in a month +. Well, I a month+ was not going to work because Jillian goes into bad Chemo at the beginning of December. I had a whole 2 days to pick out a hairstyle. I went with a bob like Victoria Beckham. It ended up okay. It looks pretty cool from the back, but for some reason my cowlick makes it funny on the left side. I don't love it, but my hair is decent and it doesn't take that long to style. The good thing is that hopefully Jillian will have her wig in time.

Anyway, then I drove back to Claypool and Adam and Kris picked us up. We went to get our Neon that was in the shop and then hit BW3 for the U of M game. Despite their loss, we had a great time! Ian thought it was okay, but he didn't like being changed in the bathroom. I brought a bunch of bottles (I thought ahead and pumped the night before), so Ian was content. We had a great time! It is so nice that Fort Wayne has a no smoking rule. We can take Ian out to eat anywhere and not have to worry about second hand smoke.

Sorry that we don't have pictures of the game...we didn't bring our camera. Russ took a picture with his cell phone so maybe he will post that later.

Coming Home

Our trip home was eventful. A few miles out of Fort Wayne, our check engine light went on...so we promptly turned around and headed for the closest dealership. Our neon's catalytic converter went bad, along with a few other minor things.

The girls were really excited to come home...although they really enjoyed the kennel. Apparently, Dora is enamored by a certain boy dog.

The girls were excited to be home.

Ian's Emergency Surgery

So I came home to a husband and a puking baby. Apparently, while mommy was out, daddy was having a tough day. Ian did not hold down anything. He was projectile vomiting. My mom had called me on the way home from Chicago and told me about Pyloric Stenosis, so I was really worried the whole drive home.

The Pylorus is the muscle between the stomach and the intestines. It is a radial muscle like the sphincter. In some children around 3+ weeks old the muscle gets too large and does not let anything pass from the stomach to the intestine. This is diagnosed by an ultrasound and fixed by a simple surgery. Essentially, the Dr. cuts the pylorus to weaken the muscle so that it will let the food through.

Russ called the Dr. and she told us to go to the ER. It was such a long day! We went to the ER at about midnight and they did the preliminary tests and he checked out just fine...his electrolytes were okay and his skin was the appropriate color. Then, they did the ultra sound. The results came back positive for pyloric stenosis, so I had to pump so they could do another ultra sound while he was drinking. That also turned out positive. The whole thing took forever. It seemed like we were waiting for everything.

Next, they sent us to Lutheran hospital in Fort Wayne for his surgery. It was about 6:00 a.m. and Russ had to drive through the pouring rain to Fort Wayne. It seemed like the longest drive ever. We were both exhausted and I was trying to stay awake with Ian to make sure he didn't choke on his spit-up.

Once we got to Lutheran (around 7:00 a.m.), it seemed to take forever. The pediatric surgeon who saw Ian was Dr. Smith. Unfortunately, he didn't see Ian until after church. The worst part was that Ian had to empty his stomach, so we could not feed him all day. Luckily, the IV helped keep his hunger down. The nice thing about the hospital was that Russ and I took turns napping. Russ ran home (1 hour) to take the dogs to the kennel. When he was on the road, they came in and told me that Ian was going into surgery...now. We had expected to speak to the Dr. first, but the OR opened up, so we were trying to get in. I got to speak to the Dr. and the anesthetist and he went to surgery. A 1/2 hour later, the surgery was done. We ended up staying until Monday.

Ian's incision

Mommy's Day Out - November 10th

I pumped all week so that dad had enough milk to take Ian all day on Saturday. I left our house at 5:15 a.m. to drive to Bridget's house. I drove through the fog, so I was late...and incredibly scared for my life! Once at Bridget's we piled into Kim's vehicle and she drove us to South Bend airport. After that, we boarded the train for the 3rd Annual Chicago Christmas Tree Lighting and Window Viewing.

Once there, we stopped at Starbucks (this is a tradition) and looked at the Macy's windows. This year, the window had a nutcracker theme.

Next we went to FAO Schwartz in Macy's when I heard an announcement for Martha Stewart's Christmas Crafts (or something like that). We went to the event center to check it out. We got a bag with a Martha Stewart ornament, chocolates, Martha Stewart Living, and a mesh Macy's shopping bag. We went straight to the refreshments and grabbed a bottled water for the road. Karen and I went to the Christmas Sugar Cookie decorating workshop and the rest of the girls learned how to trim a tree. Half way through, Martha came to visit. It was fun seeing a star, but we weren't too impressed. Kim even said "HI" to her, but we were told that it was a short obligatory hi. She got a nod back.

After that we went to eat at Heaven on Seven. I pumped in the bathroom...it was pretty awkward, but you've gotta do what you've gotta do. I also had a Margarita! That was awesome.

It was a fun day, but it was tiring carrying my breast pump the whole time.

I got home at around 12:00.

Kris and Adam come over for dinner!

We had our first official visitors at the Dam Cabin. Kris Burdine and Adam Finley came over for dinner on November 9th. We had a great time! Russ did a great job preparing dinner. We ate steak, salad, mashed potatoes, and Kris brought carrot cake. It was so nice for mommy to have "social time." Adam is natural with babies. I am pleased to announce that Ian was the first baby that Kris has ever held!

Out and About in Fort Wayne - Nov 7th

We left for Fort Wayne at the crack of dawn in order to get to Russ's 7:30 a.m. Dermatology appointment. That went well!

After that, we went to the Brick House for breakfast and went to Granite Ridge Builders to look at our home prints. We checked over all of the change notices and signed our final documents. That means that our home should be finished April 7th - 5 months after signing!

Ian started spitting up excessively Tuesday night and spit up all over mommy on the couch.

Ian and Dad hang out on the Red Couch at Granite Ridge Builders.

Russ the Lumberjack!

After church we went to the lot and Ian and I got to watch Dad be a lumberjack. He loaded up the truck with wood for Grandpie Enz.

There were so many trees that we ended up hiring some people to chip all of the branches. It was well worth it. It would have taken Russ weeks to do.

Just a note: Don't ever pay a tree service guy a deposit. We ended up getting scammed by the guy that was supposedly doing work down the street. Apparently, the guy does tree service work, but has also been known to scam a ton of people. He brought his kid along to the scam for sympathy. Oh well, at least it was a small scam and we have learned our lesson.

Ian's first day at Church! November 4th

Believe it or not, we actually got ready in time to go to 10:30 church! Ian had a great time at his first WCC church service. We went in the quite room so that it wouldn't be so loud on his ears. We were the only people in there, so Ian even got to eat at church (eating is currently his favorite thing to do, so I used my privacy cape and he had a great time!) It was nice to go to church again. We didn't stick around too long after the service because we didn't want him to be exposed to all of the germs.

Alissa and Arlene Visit - Nov 2 & 3

Alissa and Arlene came for a visit on the weekend of the Nov 2 & 3. Alissa had an interview at St Francis University in Fort Wayne on Saturday, so they drove down on Friday and stayed at our house. It was great to see them! Arlene and I hung out on Saturday while Alissa went to her interview.

Alissa got in, of course, but she is waiting to see if she will get into Iowa, La Cross, or Madison before she accepts. It would be super cool for Alissa to be so close, but then she would have to be away from her soon to be husband Seth.

On a happy note, we finally found Godparents for Fila and Dora. As you can see by the picture below, Auntie Arlene was a major hit with the dogs (especially Dora). Arlene has agreed to be Dora's Godmother and Alissa has agreed to be Fila's Godmother. Now I know I can die and everything will be as it should be. That way, the girls will still get to see each other every now and again...they truly are a pair and it would be a shame to split them up.

Group photo...Dora sneaks a kiss on Arlene.Alissa and Ian

Arlene and Ian

Ian in Swing

Ian and Mom Napping

Ian Goes Home

Welcome to the World, Ian... not graphic video

Video of lan Being Weighed

Ian's First Bottle - Sunday

My "Medela Pump in Style Advanced - the Metro Bag" came in the mail on Saturday, so Ian had his first official bottle on Sunday November 4th! He took it like a champ! No problem!

Tree Time!

Superior Tree Service came over and cut down the trees on our lot. It was amazing to look at our lot after the trees were down. You could barely see the grass because trees were everywhere! They came the day before we closed, so Russ took a 1/2 day and went to cut and clear the trees that were in the Purdy's yard.

View from the park
Side view of the house to give you perspective of how many trees there were!

Closing on the 1st of Nov

Hi everyone,
We officially closed on our house on November 1st. 1505 Park Avenue officially belongs to the Purdy's from Ft Wayne. We are pretty excited because we think they will be great neighbors. They bought the house as a summer home and will hanging out with their family on the weekends. Paula even brought Ian a Birthday gift during the closing!
~Homeless Becca & Russ

Ian & Fila

Fila is perplexed by the baby. She loves to sniff at all the new baby stuff. If she had her way, she would taste him...she tries to get a lick in here and there, but so far, mom has been able to protect Ian.

Dora is not as interested in Ian as Fila is, but she has recently shown some interest. I think Dora misses the attention the most.

Fila being good.

Fila trying to get a taste of the baby.

Our Little "Punkin"

Hi all,
Here is our little punkin! Russ started to crave our pumpkin and thought it would be fun to see how Ian looked in it! Believe it or not, Ian didn't really mind. We never did finish carving the pumpkin, but this was by far the cutest pumpkin we have ever made.
~Becca

Ian Bouncing Away

Here are some cute pictures of Ian relaxing in his bouncer.