Nap Time

Here are a couple shots I got of Noah while he was sleeping this morning. I never realized how tired you can get trying to put someone to sleep. Sometimes Noah decides he is going to stay up most of the night and in doing that he includes you as well.
I can tell when I get my nap during the day that I do a lot better at night if he decides he is going to stay up for a while. Leah has had the aches the last couple days so I have been trying to let her get some sleep at night. She seems to be feeling a lot better this morning and hopefully we want need a Dr visit for her.

Visitor at the house

I am not sure who took this picture of the deer but it was on the camera when I downloaded it. I guess I was asleep or out running around when this stranger came to our front door.
I decided yesterday to take back my new camera and just send my broken one off. We didn't like the new camera once we got it out and played w/ it. I guess I was just spoiled w/ my old one. I called Canon and they told me to send it back and it would probably be covered under warranty and even if it isn't the repair cost will be a lot cheaper than buying a entire new camera. So I am back to taking pictures w/ the old camera for about 2 weeks until I can get mine back.

My Granddad

Here are a couple pictures of my Granddad who is planning a trip to come visit in a couple months. He is coming up w/ family to visit my Mom and see his first grandson. He has two granddaughters from my cousin Melanie.
Granddad still goes hunting and fishing all the time and if I can ever get back down to visit him I know he will take me hunting. He has taken me hunting and fishing many times before, but I guess I didn't really get that hunting gene from him and I am unable to sit still long enough for a deer to come close. He has a great collection on his wall of deer he has taken during his life and they all have great stories behind them.
I can't wait till he gets here and will be able to hold Noah in his arms. It should be pretty special for all of us.

Babysitters

Here are a couple shots w/ the Grandparents that were taken yesterday. Mom and Dad came down to let us do some running around and Mom I believe held Noah the entire time we were gone. I showed Dad how to play poker on my X-box and I believe he played cards the entire time. So it was kind of like Mom babysitting two kids yesterday.
They had us watch our wedding video which has photos of both of us when we were younger and they believe Noah looks like his Daddy. Leah and I both think it is still to early to really tell and only time will tell but we can only hope he takes after his Mom's side of the family.

Like Father Like Son

Take a close look at little Noah's finger position in the close up. This was taken at the hospital by Mom and I guess he wasn't too happy to have his picture taken at the moment. Mom was so excited to get this picture of him to me for the web site.
I have a new bunch of photos from my parents coming down today so I will be posting them along w/ new ones. I broke down today while we were at Wal-Mart and bought a new camera so hopefully I will be able to get back in gear w/ the picture taking.
My parents came down today to watch Noah while we ran some errands. Leah got her hair cut and we did some random running around. They said Noah slept almost the entire time so I guess that means he will be up all night for us.Haha.
Thanks for coming down Mom and Dad.

Noahs first Bath

WOW! We decided it was time for Noah to experience his first bath. I guess Noah thought he was on the toilet w/ nobody aroung. The little guy let loose from both ends and he just wouldn't stop. We had to move him from the tub to the sink so we could just rinse him while we washed him. All in all it wasn't to bad and as you can see from the other picture what Noah thought about the bath.
I believe we are going to go shopping tomorrow for cameras since I got spoiled w/ my other camera. My parents are going to come down tomorrow and help w/ Noah so we can go out and get some running around done. I finally got all the paperwork filled out to add Noah to my insurance and for all my time off work. I will have to run all that paperwork over to my work tomorrow and hopefully it is all filled out right. With all of this time off work I am not sure if I will be able to go back. I am getting use to being a stay at home Dad already. I'm glad I am taking this much time off so I can help Leah w/ everything and I am pretty sure she is glad I am here as well.

Sleeping like a baby

Noah slept great last night and we were able to get some sleep ourselves. As you can see I even caught Leah in a little nap.
Leah cleaned out Noah's nose yesterday afternoon and she believes that helped him sleep since at his age he breaths mostly through his nose. I also bought one of those cool mist vaporizer to help keep the room moist. Poor Ginger(our dog) has got be tired, she gets up everytime we do whether it is me, Leah, or Noah. I am still not totally comfortable w/ the new camera but I guess I will keep on trying to figure it out.

New Camera Good to Go

I got the camera to work tonight and as I was getting it dialed into the computer I downloaded all the pictures that were still on it. Here was one of Leah at her 10 year class reunion I took of her. Their was also pictures of her from almost 2 years ago when she was studying to become a PA. The other picture is of yours truly that Leah took today so I could see if I could get it to work on the blog.
I guess we are back in business w/ the camera problem, but I am still upset that I broke the camera yesterday. I am going to call Canon tomorrow and see if they can help me out.
Hopefully Noah will sleep tonight a little better than he did last night. Leah tried cleaning his nose tonight so he would be able to breath a little easier.

New Camera Maybe

Here are a couple more shots from the in-laws yesterday. We had a great steak dinner w/ all the trimmings and than cake and chocolate ice cream for dessert. Ginger took a dive and swim in the pool to cool off from playing catch. She is still learning how to swim and is still not that comfortable w/ the deep end. She will go about half-way across and than she chickens out and turns around to get back out.
Leah found her old digital camera so we are going to give it a shot and try to use it for our new pictures. Hopefully it will work fine and I will try to post some shots from it later tonight as long as I can figure it out.
We took Noah by the office today to show him where his mom works. He weighed 5.8lbs and his ears and lungs looked good. If he would quit using the bathroom so much he would gain weight a lot quicker.

First Long night w/ Noah

Noah decided he did not want to lay down and sleep last night. This all started around 1am or so. We normally feed him and he falls right asleep but last night he would lay down and about 5-10 minutes later start squirming and crying. He sounds a little stuffy so we believe he is just having a hard time breathing. I finally fell asleep a little after 4 and thats when second shift Mom got up and she said she didn't get to sleep till after 7 this morning.
We are going to take him over to the office today to listen to his lung sounds and have him weighed to make sure he is still gaining weight. We are also going to look at new cameras since my is out of commission.

Uncle Joe's Birthday

Uncle Joe's birthday was today and he turned the ripe old age of 31. He looks young for 31 dont you think. He seems to be glad to be back in the states and is ready to start working on his career in art. He showed us a lot of his work he did in London and it was really good. Maybe Noah will pick up some of his talent at art because Leah is a pretty good artist as well. No chance of him getting any art talent from me since I can't even draw a stick figure right.

With all the good things happening and fun stuff I have some bad news. I guess while I was over the in-laws house tonight I was keeping the charger w/ the camera due to a low battery and sometime while we were leaving I guess the pressure of both in my pocket broke the lense. So for the time being I guess the picture taking might slow down until I can get this one fixed or buy a new one.

Relaxing Afternoon

Noah had a Dr's appointment today that was just a follow up to his weekend stay at the hospital. Everything was fine and we were in and out in no time. Noah's weight was I believe around 5.10oz. So he is only a couple ounces away from his birth weight.
After we got home we were both feeling drained. We made some phone calls and than we crashed on the couch. It was nice to just relax and take it easy for a change. We actually have no appointments planned for tomorrow and that is very nice. Tomorrow will be the first day that Noah has not had an appointment or been in the hospital since he was born(knock on wood).
Leah's older brother Joe comes in tonight from London and his birthday is tomorrow so we are going over and having dinner at the in-laws to celebrate. I think Joe will be 31 years young tomorrow. We will try to get some new photos of little Noah an family tomorrow.
The boss is feeding Noah so no spell check or grammar check tonight. Scary isn't it, but I am sure she will read this when she is done and let me know any corrections.

Gansta Baby Franks

Little Noah hats are all too big and they like to fall down on his face while he is squirming all over the place. Leah and I think he is just after that gangsta look and we believe he pulls it off pretty good. Joe and Martha came over last night and brought Ginger back so she could visit w/ her new little brother. Ginger has been really good so far and she is actually very protective of Noah. I bet once Noah gets a little older Ginger will go everywhere he does and be very protective of him.
His first night back home went fairly well with a couple long feeding sessions. He lets you know real quick once you lay him down if he is still hungry or needs a diaper change. Leah is doing a great job since pretty much every time he gets hungry she has to have her hand in the feeding due to breastfeeding, or just pumping the milk for me. We go back to the Doctor's office today to meet w/ the nutritionist who has really helped us out w/ Noah.

Home Sweet Home

We are finally back home and loving it. As you can see in the picture that I have somewhat of a sweet tooth and it is finally satisfied at home. Noah and Mom are doing fine. We hope we can get back to a somewhat normal routine now. We came home and got Noah settled into his crib, and than both of us crashed on the couch. I was so excited about sleeping on something that had a cushion thicker than a notebook. Another thing I am so happy to have control over is the remote to the television. Those remotes at the hospital are not made for a channel surfer since they will only go up on the remote.
All of the staff at the hospital were great but I sure hope we do not see any of them again till baby #2. I feel like we have already learned so much w/ Noah and we both know we will have to learn a lot w/ him by trial and error.

Homeward bound again

OK, we finally got the good news that we can go home and take Noah w/ us. Everything came back normal and he is doing fine. They think that he could have been a little earlier than first thought so he might have just needed that extra week in the hospital to regulate his temp. We are so ready to get back to our own bed and eat some good old junk food(ice cream and chocolate).

The little BOOGER got me!

Even though I have been told numerous times and heard multiple stories about changing little boy babies I did not learn a thing. Early this morning around 4 Leah was up feeding Noah and everything was going normally until she finished and asked if I could check his diaper while she did something else. Again it is 4 in the morning so I promise you I am not totally even awake, but function just enough to get me back to sleep.
So there I was checking the diaper and sure enough it was a dirty one and everything so far was going as well as it can for changing a diaper. I pulled the diaper out and reached down to get another one when all of a sudden their was a yellow geyser nailing me all the way up my arm to my shoulder. Before I could get the river under control the floor and my right side were soaked.
After the shock wore off and laughing about it, I finally "learned" the hard way on how to change a baby boy's diaper. I guess some things you just have to learn the hard way. At least he didn't aim straight and nail me in between the eyes.haha
Hold on, let me get the boss over here to edit my posting. OK, she made some minor changes and gives it her approval.

Jerry and Noah

Here are a couple more shots of me and little Noah yesterday at the hospital. I am trying to get him into watching sportscenter with me and I think he already likes it. Noah is already winning the hair race because I think he was born w/ more than me. I can't really tell how small he is until I see him in the photo w/ me and that he looks so tiny.
The other picture is of Joe, Diane, and Leah right before Joe went to London for college. Joe finished his masters in illustration while over there and he is coming back Monday the 24th. It sounds like he is ready to get back home and start concentrating on his art career. I will put a link to his web site of art on here and I already put one of the tree top flyers of va site. He is already selling some of his artwork so we are hoping he will remember us once he gets famous. We all know that he is very talented and wish him the best. I believe Joe's plans are to move back home and work on his freelance work for a couple years and see where that leads. Joe said he will help me work on my websites to make them a little more user friendly and nicer once he gets settled in. Not only is he an artist he is a computer guru as well.

Finally have a picture w/ me holding Noah

I finally got out from behind the camera so someone could take a couple pictures of me and Noah. Leah has been wanting to get a good picture of all of us together and this is the best one I could find so far. I am sure their will be plenty more.
Noah is doing great so far and actually nothing new except they checked on the last test they are running and they said it looks good so far but they still want know anything until late Sunday. We are hoping to take Noah home tomorrow and not have to spend the rest of the week living at the hospital.
Mom and Dad came down today to give us a little break to run home and shower, shave and just get away for a while. You can see Dad is riding his scooter around and he loves it. That little scooter sure helps him out so he doesn't have to wear himself out walking so much. It was a nice break to leave but we both felt weird not having Noah around to watch.
Both my parents and Leah's parents have been so good to us and they are helping us out all they can and we both want to let them know how much we appreciate them. We are lucky to have all of you guys helping out and the staff here said we have some really nice families.

Good news so far

The doctors came in this morning and said Noah was doing fine, and as of now they think his low temp might be due to dehydration. Noah was having some minor latching problems in the beginning and they believe he might not been able to get enough fluids. He has been removed from the heat lamp this morning and they are checking to see if he is able to regulate his own temp. Sleeping at the hospital last night wasn't too bad since Noah is sleeping almost 4 hours between feedings now so that really helps. His last weight which they took around 9 this morning was 5lbs and 11ozs. That is almost his birth weight which was 5lbs 12ozs. They tell us that the earliest we will be leaving is late Sunday afternoon pending all tests come back negative. I can't believe Noah is almost a week old, it feels like over a month and we are both loving every minute of it.
Just to let everyone know that as long as we are home together all of the post from here on out will be edited by Leah. I show her the post after I create them and she kindly points out all my mistakes in grammar and punctuation. So from this point on until further notice all the post should read a little smoother.

Hospital Photos

I had to post some new pictures of Noah while we were staying at the hospital again because Leah wanted to show everyone how well he is doing. Noah has had the works done too him today and so far everything has come back negative. I know he looks like they are rebuilding the six million dollar baby here but he is actually resting and eating very well. Looks like if all the test keep coming back negative like they have we will be leaving Sunday afternoon. Noah has gained around 7 ounces since his lowest weight and that is great relief to us.
When I am at our house my cell phone gets terrible signal and I dont usually get my messages until I leave the house to go somewhere.By than I still forget to call you back so if you called and I missed you I will get back with you as soon as things calm down and I gain some of my brain cells back.

Back in the Hospital

I was up feeding Noah early this morning and noticed he was a little chilly so when I laid him back down I gave him an extra blanket to stay warm. We got up this morning and he was still cold so we checked his temp which came back around 95.3 and that to low for us. We called the office and they had us come in today to be checked out. After multiple temp takings his temp. was still running about the same, but Noah was active and eatting like normal. The doctor told us that he was not comfortable w/ his temp and he wanted us to be admitted to the hospital so they could raise his core temp and run some test to find out whats going on.
We were both overwhelmed at first and felt like someone had just took our breath away telling us we couldn't take Noah back home w/ us. Finally after realizing that this was in Noah's best we agreed and took him over to the hospital. They brought us right in and drilled us w/ many questions and started baking Noah w/ the little heating lamp. He should be well-done in no time under that lamp haha.
We will have to stay in the hospital for a minimum of 2 days and maximum of 7 if they find any infection. I guess it is back to eating yummy hospital food and sleeping on king size single sofa recliners.. haha. It isnt that bad and whatever it takes to get the little man able to back home w/ us we are both ready to do anything. We will keep the site updated as soon as we find out new info on our little super star Noah.

Scary Moment for Daddy and Noah

Uncle Robert(Leah's younger brother) stopped by tonight to see us and the baby. Robert was showing me the face little Noah was making while he was feeding him. Dr. Granny also came by w/ Joe bringing another awesome meal and brownies and ice cream for dessert.
Sorry I have been slacking on the pictures but yesterday when Noah was at the doctors office he had lost almost 12 ounces of weight and they said that was more than they want him to lose. They helped us w/ some pointers to help feeding so he is eating enough and it looks like it worked since today when we took him in he had gained a little over 1/2 ounce and they were just hoping he would be the same and not lost anymore weight.
I also had a crazy panic moment when for the first time I was giving Noah some food by bottle when unknown to me that a baby can drink to fast and become chocked. I was watching him drink his bottle thinking this is easy when all of sudden he gives me this OH @#%$ look and I notice his mouth and lips haved turned a blue color. Being trained as an EMT really helped since I forgot everything I ever learned and all I could think of doing was yelling for Mom to get there fast. I started rubbing and patting his back when Leah came in to help. It took Noah a good 5 minutes to start crying again, and let me tell you it took me hours to get comfortable again. We told the doctors about it at the office and they said it happens quite often and its no big deal, well all I could think was this is something you should tell new parents before it happens so they dont have a heart attack.
We are all doing fine now and I am back to feeding him w/out shaking to bad so we are still trying to put some more weight on him before his next doctors visit. This sleep thing where people tell you "its over rated" or "you can sleep when you die" is for the birds. They dont have kids, but I can not complain Noah sleeps between 3 and 4 hours between feedings at night so we are adjusting pretty good.