Growing Up

Katelynn is growing up so quick. She is eating like a champ and I do not know where she puts all that food. We have her eating us out of the house and Noah barely eating, but I guess he is just in one of those to busy to eat phases. They are both sleeping through the night and it is great.

Hanging w/ the Hulk

When we went to the Salem indoor carnival the other day Noah was able to meet The Hulk. We were on our way out when The Hulk stopped us and asked if he would like to have his picture taken w/ him. Noah was a little hesitant at first, but once he knew his fish was safe he was fine and let them take a picture with The Hulk as long as he could hold it.
The Hulk was there on behalf of a place called Fun Times in Salem.

Indoor Carnival

We were able to take Noah to the Salem Carnival this past weekend and had a blast. He rode a lot of the rides by himself and seemed to enjoy almost all of them. On the train ride I believe he was just about to get sick due to the man running the train spinning him a little to fast until I had to say something and have him slow it down. Noah also won a goldfish by throwing a ping pong ball into a cup and it only took 21 throws for him to get one in. Once he got his fish it became his best friend and he would not let it go, but he did like to shake the bag it was in to make the fish swim. We all split a funnel cake which was great and overall had a great time. Maybe next year Katelynn will be able to go, but this year Papa stayed at home and kept her company.

Shredder Time

This is the result of being alone for a short period of time. I was downstairs w/ Katelynn and Noah was upstairs alone with the shredder. I guess he decided to spread the rips of paper throughout the entire house. Uncle Joe was actually the one to catch him spreading the paper trail.

We had a great Holiday and I hope everyone else did as well. Noah and Katelynn were spoiled with gifts as expected. I have just become lazy on putting post on here, but I think I will try to get back into updating it at least a little more often.

Noahs horse ride

We took the kids to the festival in New Castle this year and we had a great time. Noah was able to ride a horse and he seemed to really enjoy it. We were a little worried, but he did great and never was scared. We had never been to the festival, but it was really nice and we plan on going next year as well.
Our house might be finally getting started after this week since the septic system has finally been approved and we have the permits to put it in.

Happy Halloween

Noah was a vampire this year for Halloween. Noah went to downtown Bedford for trick or treating and had a great time. He would walk up to a house and instead of saying trick or treat he would say please, and than once he got his candy he said thank you and blew everyone a kiss. We also went to the Elks Home in Bedford which is an assisted living home. They set up in the lobby and let kids come in to get their candy so they can see all the kids in their costumes. Noah and Katelynn were a big hit at the home and brought lots of smiles out. Noah did really good and Katelynn slept through the whole night so we had to collect her candy for her. Hopefully next year they will get to go together and Noah can show his little sister how to get lots of candy.

Noah goes to Halloween Festival

Noah went to a Halloween festival with his sister, Mom, and Nana. They had a good time and Noah was able to play with some other kids. They went in a kids Haunted House and got to go on a hay ride.

New Pictures

I know it has been quite a while since I have posted anything new, but our camera cable was not working and I have been unable to transfer any new pictures. We have also been pretty busy caring for two young ones, trying to get our house started and working. Katelynn is doing great and she is up to about 10lbs now and she has caught up and passed the average even getting a slow start being 8 weeks early. She is sleeping more and more at night so that helps out a lot. These pictures I added were the day Katelynn came home from the hospital. I will try to get the blog back up to date now since the camera is working again.

Katelynn has finally made it home!

We were able to bring Katelynn home from the NICU on Saturday afternoon. She is doing great and Noah seems to be taking to his sister like a pro. Noah likes to help out with taking care of his sister. We have a full schedule this week with doctor appointments for the whole family so maybe after this week we can relax and get the new lady of the house all settled in.

Noahs Jeep

We got this jeep for Noah on his birthday so he could ride around the Funny Farm. I don't believe he has totally figured out that he can go anywhere with it. He has only drove it a couple times and he really doesn't have the steering down yet. I think when he gets a little older he will really enjoy it.

Katelynn is over 4lbs now, and doing great in the NICU. She is getting closer and closer to coming home. She is very close to moving to a crib soon once she is able to regulate her temperature without assistance.

She is just like her brother

This is a shot of Noah(top) when he was in the hospital and the other one is Katelynn. I believe their is no doubt they are brother and sister. Maybe this is just how they both feel about being in the hospital. Katelynn is doing great and she is gaining weight everyday. We hope in the next couple weeks she will be able to come home w/ us, but we want to make sure she is ready. The staff at RMH NICU have been great and I do not believe we could ask for better care of Katelynn. We still believe Noah does not really understand that he has a sister, but we all seem to agree he will figure it out pretty quick once she comes home.

Katelynn Elizabeth Franks

We finally named our little girl the other day Katelynn Elizabeth Franks. I know we took our time getting a name, but it was a really hard decision and we didn't get as long to think about it since Katelynn came a little early. She is doing great in the NICU at RMH and we still hope to bring her home in a couple weeks if all goes well. Leah is doing great as well and we are visiting Katelynn everyday till she comes home. Noah still hasn't figured out he has a little sister, but I am sure once we bring her home he will be in for a surprise. Dad brought his scooter to the hospital one day and I was able to give Noah a tour of the lobby with it.

Noah has a sister

Leah gave birth to a 3lbs 2oz, 15 1/4" long baby girl on 8/8/08 at 11:28pm., The baby and Leah are doing good and we are all just resting up in the hospital. No name yet for the little gal, but we are working on it so we can actually start calling her by name. Baby is in the NICU right now, and they told us to expect her to stay till the due date which was October 2nd, but maybe earlier if everything goes ok.

Leah admitted and Induced

Leah was admitted to the hospital on Tuesday for monitoring of her blood pressure and other labs for preeclampysia. We thought she might get to go home this weekend since she was doing so good, but than her blood pressure and vitals have changed and they have induced her and she will give birth tonight or early tomorrow. Leah and the baby are doing great, just waiting on the doctor to tell us it is time. We are crossing our fingers and hoping for a healthy baby, but we understand the risks of a 32 week delivery as well. According to the doctor baby is looking good so far. We still have not picked a name out, but I guess we are now against the clock to figure it out. Thanks for all the phone calls and visits, I will try to keep everybody posted as we get through this pregnancy.

2nd Birthday

Noah turned two on July 16th and we had a couple different parties for him. We had a small party at the Funny Farm and also we took Noah to Chuck E Cheese. He really seemed to enjoy putting the tokens in the machine more than actually playing the games.

OBX trip 6/08

Here are some random pictures from our beach trip a couple weeks ago at OBX. Noah had a blast and actually enjoyed the beach a little more this year. We are planning another trip down at the end of this month, but this time we are going to spend a whole week. We took Noah to the Aquarium at the beach and we all had a great time looking at all the different fish and sharks.

Fishing Trip on the James

I went fishing last week w/ a bunch of guys I work with at the Fire Department on the James River. We had a blast and the float we did lasted about 9 hours. We caught a lot of fish, but the big one of the day was this musky. It is the biggest fish I have ever caught out of the river and it weighed somewhere around 12-15 lbs. It took a while to get him in the boat, but the guy that was in the boat w/ me did all the work while I just prayed we could land it. This was my actually the first musky I had ever seen and it was a pretty impresive fish with its teeth that you know could just take your hand or fingers right off. We took some pictures of it, and than released it to be caught another day. The guy I was with Jon believes it is the same musky that he caught a couple years ago as his first musky so that was pretty cool. Now I have to say I am getting hooked on musky fishing and I can not wait to go again. We will be heading to the OBX tomorrow to stay thru the weekend so hopefully I will get to do some fishing there as well. This will be Noahs second trip to the beach and I hope he enjoys it as much as the first.

Firestation visit

I took Noah the other day to my fire station to show him where I work. He really didn't seem to interested in the firetruck but, he really liked the big garage doors we have there. I think he could have stayed and watch them go up and down all day long.

Fishing w/ Papa

Noah, Papa and I went fishing the other day at the Funny Farm Lake. We didn't catch very many fish but we had a good time. Noah hasn't really got the fishing thing down yet, but I think he will enjoy it later. Right now he just enjoys throwing rocks into the pond.