Lincoln .. future Ridgedale Rocket

Ok Daddy, why am I in this waiting room with screaming kids and did I hear someone say Dr. Teich?? NOOOO!!!!!!!!!!
At least he was all cute in his Ridgedale basketball shirt and cool new shoes.. (Thanks Snively Family!!)

Hey Mommy, I think I'm a LITTLE bit more important than that stinky Indian chicken you're burning so drop the spatula and PUSH ME!!!!

He is really unhappy with the hat... but that's no excuse for him trying to flip us off.... what did he REALLY learn in the NICU?? I bet it was his neighbor with the pimp-stick that taught him that!

I guess he's had enough basketball for the day!!

Ohhh what a situation we have here... Linc and Kitty dangerously close...

Uhhh are you people seeing this?? Kiki Sue is in love with my Daddy and it's just wrong!

Yes, he is a cuddler!

At Cole's basketball game (Linc's first ever)... clearly disturbed by the frigid Cardington gym and ridiculously loud buzzers and whistles...lol

Lincoln is doing great! He is at 14 ml/hour of Pregestimil.. which is amazing considering it took us months to get past 3!! He is on TPN for 18 hours a day and Pregestimil pump for 22. He is 16lbs 6oz and growing every week! His lab work is still good... nothing to worry about yet.. which is amazing! We are getting spoiled by having our nurses help out.. now I know why people have nanny's!!!! Our day nurse cleans his room, packs his diaper bag, makes his formula, does therapy, organizes everything, AND tends to Lincoln when we are away.. it's such a relief to have our nurses. I'm able to go to work again, get groceries or do whatever needs to be done and I know he is well taken care of when I'm gone.. we have our day nurse now on Monday and Wednesday from 7a-6pm. We have our night nurse Tue/Thur/Fri from 8pm-7am. We have 56 hours of nursing every week that we must use so we opted to schedule all their hours during the work week so we can have our weekends alone as a family... it's working out very well. Linc's nurses adore him and he feels the same. Linc's in-home physical therapy begins this Tuesday with a guy named Tom... hope it goes well... Linc is doing great with his milestones but needs a little work on strengthening, thanks to his many months flat on his back with fresh wounds!! He has made such progress since he's been home.. we are so proud of him! No worries... he is great and has no signs of any major problems.. we are soo amazed by him every day.. if he's mad at you he will pinch you.. hilarious!! Or if he's frustrated he will throw something.. we love it! If you even begin to say 'peek-a-boo' he laughs.. even when he's mad or tired.. just something about it that gets him every time.. (thanks to Cassy in her hamster voice!) We've learned to make the most of the weekly Children's Hospital appointments.. thanks to the fact that our G.I. team is amazing... they are so funny and genuine... we love Dr. Balint, Patti, and all our nurses etc.. at the clinic.. they are awesome!!! HIs appointments are all-day events for sure but they are necessary and we don't mind... His last eye appt showed the hemorrhage in his left eye gets better every time.. they said it is breaking up nicely and does not affect his vision.. they will see him in 3 weeks to check again but are not concerned at this time.. One issue he is having is that he refuses to take a bottle or anything orally.. so no baby food or juice etc.. this is a common problem with short gut babies that have never relied on being fed orally.. but we are hoping we will finally get some occupational therapy soon to help him overcome this... it's discouraging but we will get through it like everything else. We are still adjusting to the medication schedules and daily rituals but we get better every day....

Oh, and we have to add that we made a 'fan' page for Lincoln on Facebook.. as a joke at first but before we could delete it he already had like 18 fans.. so we went with it.. lol.. we add videos and updates a little quicker but less detailed on there... if you are on facebook it is "Linky Dink, Micro-preemie miracle' ... we tried to shorten it to just Linky Dink but it wouldn't let us... We will keep updating the blog.. we enjoy it and it helps us keep a journal of his precious little life... thanks for visiting and thinking of our little guy...

Chubby Linc!

With his g-tube between his toes...haha...

Exhausted from beating Lebron again at P.I.G.!!

Ready to watch the Buckeyes play!  Linc had his game face on but Daddy was still laughing at the Bigfoot beef jerky commercial!

It's a beard of babyfood peaches...

Oh yeah, toy?? I'm getting pretty tired of hearing you say 'blue... Lion..roaaaarrrrrrrr!'

Where do I start with this photo...hmmm... well we just realized Cole had never actually held Lincoln so we put him on his lap...all cute and smiley.. and just as I'm going to get the camera I hear Lincoln have a BIG POOPY!! Hahahaa.. Cole was MORTIFIED... and I will quote him here "GET HIM.. MOMMMM GET HIMMMM I'M SERIOUS...THIS ISN'T FUNNY'  I took a few pics after cracking up first but laughed for hours.. poor Cole!  Again, NICE PARENTING MOM!

Cole and Kiki Sue!  She's 105 years old and still kicking!  And I'm sure you can tell by her facial expression that she is NOT a big fan of Cole!!  HERE KITTY KITTY KITTY!  I think here she is really wishing for her claws back!

Thank ya, Thank ya very much!  He and Cole are obsessed with Elvis.. good impression Dink!

I just had to include this pic of our house after Greg decorated it... he made the 'R' on the front and Cole loved it! Oh, and then he proudly took this picture!  Love him....

Oh yeah??   So Lebron is saying he wants a RE-MATCH? Bring it on!

Cole, go get your NERF gun, I'm gonna shoot me some annoying HUGE mice!  Hurry!

Haha Cole.. still looking for your new Nintendo DSi?  Hmmm.... it's definitely NOT under my blankie... try the litterbox.. just a thought!

Lincoln is doing well... He loves being home... he is sooo much fun.. and he is also sooo spoiled!  Haha, no really.  He needs constant attention, but we are more than happy to give it to him.  Big brother Cole is such a huge help.. he can always get Linc to smile and laugh..and of course, Linc cracks Cole up with his funny sounds and behavior... he's a funny little guy!  His appointment today was good.. eye exam showed the hemorrhage starting to break up, which is good, and it isn't affecting his vision.  His gastro weekly checkup showed good blood work and weight gain.. we are increasing his g-tube feeds to 13ml/hour and tpn is staying as is, with an additive of Pepcid to the tpn.  Everything else is great!  He was 16lb 3oz today... He loves watching the big tv but he gets upset when commercials interupt his favorite shows.. soo funny!  Spoiled from his little crib flatscreen that only played movies with no irritating commercials (which we of course have installed in his new crib too)!  He also loves his new Leapfrog Bear from Aunt Terra, Uncle Austin, and Isabel.. it says his name and is adorable!  He got soo many great toys for Christmas.. it's fun to bring new ones out to play with him.. School is back in session which means Cole and Greg are busy busy busy!  But we are adjusting to life with the little man home and all his meds and routine and it's really not that bad.. it's all worth it.. and it's really no big deal when you get used to it.. I know it's probably alarming to people that have never dealt with these issues.. I know I would think it would be so horrible and impossible to deal with the medications, injections, pumps, tubes, needles, etc..  if it wasn't us in this situation.. but you adjust and it becomes your new normal... and we are happy.  We are looking forward to the day that he can be free of all these things but until then we take one day at a time and are enjoying every minute of it!