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.

Random shots

Here are some random shots of Noah as we venture around together here and there. He is able to get into anything and everything now, and he only slows down for naps. I believe he is starting to show his terrible twos already as well with incredible temper tantrums. We are trying to work Noah on his patience but I believe that is something he surely got from me. We are planning on taking Noah to the fair at the Ronaoke Civic Center this weekend so he can ride the Ferris Wheel. Hopefully we will get some good photos of him while we are there. The one picture is of Noah at the mall while Mom was trying on clothes he decided to go looking for her under the fitting room doors.

Number two is on the way!!

I know it has been quite a while since I have posted anything, but it has been crazy around here lately. We finally sold our house and got that behind us,so now all we have to do is build a new house. Also I guess the bigger news is that we are expecting number two around the first of October and we found out Noah will have a little sister. We were happy either with a boy or girl just as long as she is healthy. I am going to try to put some new pictures up soon to show how Noah is growing and he is getting into everything. He has a fasination with garage doors, and he will watch them go up and down for hours at a time. We took him for a walk in our old neighborhood and he made sure to point out every garage door and he wanted to play with them all. I'm afraid the ones at the Funny Farm are going to be wore out in no time with the way he abuses them.

Easter Train Ride

We were at the mall yesterday and they had a train set up for kids along with the Easter Bunny for pictures. Noah is obsessed with trains so once we saw it we knew he had to ride it. He seemed to like it, but he actually just sat on Moms lap and took it all in.

It has been a while since I last posted due to the whole family being sick. We all had different version of the crud over the last week and I am glad it is over.

Today is Leah's birthday and she is back at work. We went out for dinner last night and we might go again tonight for her birthday depending on how tired she is.

Love those trains

Noah loves his train set and unfortunately he likes to change the track setup all the time by destroying it. We put it back together a little different every time since usually I can not remember how it was set up. Instead of flying planes when he gets older, he might be a train engineer.

Noah playing in the snow

Nana, Leah and I got to play in the last snow w/ Noah. He really liked riding on the tube down the hills. Only problem was we forgot to get him so gloves for the snow. He did not seem to mind since he was having so much fun.

Mr Piano Man

Here is Noah playing the piano w/ Leah filming. Papa will have to start giving him lessons soon since he is already figured out how to turn it on and beat on the keys. He loves to dance while he plays, but I think he might have been a little camera shy this time. He actually has his own little play piano, but I think he likes the real one a little more. Hopefully he will take after his Mom, cause I have absolutely no music talent or dance moves in me.

Xmas Pics

Here are some shots from our last Christmas.

Merry Xmas

Merry Xmas and Happy New Year to everyone. Noah had a great Xmas and I am trying to get some Xmas pictures up for the site. I believe Leah took these with her new camera. We all had a great Holiday w/ friends and family. Unfortunately I did not get my gift I wanted for this Xmas and that was to sale our house, but maybe 2008 will turn around for us. Looks like Noah finally got Nana to slow down long enough to take a nap w/ him.

Vacation Time

We are getting ready for our trip to Mississippi in a couple days. It has been quite a while since I have visited family so this should be a lot of fun. We are all crossing our fingers that Noah will do ok for the long drive. This will be by far his longest time spent in a car, but I feel he will do just fine. Noahs favorite thing to do now is play on a slide. These pictures were taken near my parents house on a school playground. Papa put a slide inside his house and Noah loves to go up and down it. It also has a little room underneath it that he loves to get in and hide.

First Deer

I finally killed my first deer the other day, and it only took me 34 years. I am not your typical hardcore hunter, but I have went many times w/ no luck. This year I went at the Funny Farm and the first day I saw a doe, but couldn't get off a shot. The next day I went I got into a treestand and only about thirty minutes into it a doe came out and laid down in front of me. I almost took the shot, but decided to wait just to see if a buck would come along. Sure enough maybe an hour later this buck appeared and I became very nervous. I lined it up in the scope and pulled the trigger, but the deer jumped straight up and started running full speed right at me. Unsure if I hit it I continued to keep the gun on it till it finally started walking about 100 feet in front of me and I thought well maybe I missed, so I shot it again and this time it went down. After all was said and done I believe my first shot hit him in the neck and the second was the fatal shot. I was so excited I did not know what to do next so I just sat in the stand to make sure he didn't take off running again. I finally got down and walked over to it and found it was a six pointer. I would of called my Granddad right than if I had a phone because I knew he would be so happy I finally shot one. I talked to my Mom and she told me that his first deer was also a six pointer so I thought that was pretty cool. I believe I am hooked now, and hope I can get another before the season ends.

Halloween

Here is some shots of Noah during Halloween this year. He didn't really get the idea of going around and getting candy, but he sure liked the candy. We tried to get him to carry his pumpking so he could put his candy in, but all he wanted to do was throw it. We only went to the Funny Farm and the office, but we had a good time. Maybe next year he will catch on better.

Messy Noah

Here are a couple videos of Noah making a mess eating pizza w/ Leah and Papa. He is a pretty funny guy when he tries to feed himself. I am not sure if any of the food even makes it to his mouth. I believe this is video evidence of how Noah surely takes after his Mom.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngFaLYyHcaw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgiiZ61lgnQ