Earlier this month we had Chase baptized. We were fortunate that Bryan was stationed so close to us that he was able to drive down from Virginia and be there for it. Judy also drove down from Ohio so she could see her grandson being baptized in the same baptism dress that Ski wore, Bryan wore, Cadence wore and pretty much every cousin in the Haynes family! Ski was not happy that his son was in a "dress."

Notice Cadence... all eyes weren't on the princess!

At least she isn't dramatic!!!

Our family pic!

Chase and his God Parents Theresa and Bryan. They are also Jacqui, Matt and Cadence's god parents!

Judy and her boys!

My four babies!

Now that she has daddies attention again, the smile is back!

After the ceremony we invited some of our closest friends to join us for lunch at Morgan's Tavern and then back at the house for cake and ice cream.

GG brought him - and the rest of the kids - some pumpkins to carve!

Look at this pair!!

Just wanted to say thank you to everyone that came and celebrated with us. Especially to those of you that drove hundreds of miles to get here!!!! We had a great time!!

What we have been up to!

Well it was a great summer but too short as usual. The kids had a great time at their dads. They said it was one of the best summers they have spent with him. They came home two days before school started! Here they are on their first day!

Matt - first day of sixth grade! Hello, SIXTH grade??? I can not believe he is in middle school this year!!!

Jacqui on her first day of Seventh grade!!! She's mad because Matt is in the same school as her again!

Miss Cadence Evelina started dance class. She wasn't a big fan at first but then I bribed her with McDonalds and she started to catch on. Not sure if we are going to make it the full year but we are going to give it our best try. We may go back to gymnastics!!!

Here is the perfect example of our girl now a days.
Riding her bike in rain boots and putting on lip gloss at the same time.

My Chase!!! He's getting so big! And photogenic!!! Here are some cute pictures from the past few months of him!!

Look who's sitting up now!!!

I LOVE those chunky legs!!!

We don't have a thumb sucker this time! Instead, we have a finger sucker! Rock on!!!!

Tell me he doesn't look just like his daddy!!!!

The kids and I took advantage of the beautiful weather and went to the beach at sunset.

Anyone that knows my kids, knows that this picture is a perfect example of their relationship! Matt is trying to dig a hole in the sand and Jacqui is kicking the sand right back in!!!

The only way to describe this is "Perfect"

Chase wasn't a fan of the waves rushing around his feet!!!

For some reason it never occurred to me that they would "accidentally" get wet!!!

Me and my baby!

In Jacqui news - she made the volleyball team at school! 50 kids tried out and 16 made it! My baby was one of them! I'm so proud of her!

Love this picture of Matt keeping Chase occupied!

Oh and Michigan Football season started! I love the new U of M Jersey Ski bought me!!!!

Matt started playing the trumpet this year also! (Well Coronet - it's all we had!) He really likes it!

Jacqui is still playing her flute - the same flute I played, Genie played and Megan played!

I wish I could freeze this moment in time. They were actually getting a long and laughing together instead of fighting!!!

So that is what has been going on with us over the last few months!

Ohio Reunion!

The theme for this summer seemed to be family reunions. I went to three of them! But it was great to see all the family and meet members I've never met before! Unfortunately for the Haynes family reunion, Judy got really sick that day and wasn't able to attend. We were all disappointed.

The food was amazing - I don't think I've ever had a meal I didn't like that Aunt Katie has made!!!

One of my favorites from the day - I can never get a picture of Ski smiling!

We ended the evening with a huge bonfire!

Even though Judy couldn't make it to the family reunion we were still able to spend lots of time with her. Cadence was trying to do a dance while holding Chase.

What a great dad. This was his first time feeding Chase cereal!

GG and her Great Grandson Chase!

She's always doing some form of laundry - and it usually ends up being mine!!!!

I was soooo tired that day! My plan was to just close my eyes for a second...

How do you explain this???

We are hoping she doesn't get her dancing skills from her father!

It was a great time in Ohio! Saw lots of family, spent time with the GG's and Grandpa, and unfortunately I did lots of homework! By the time we got home, we needed another vacation!

Reogers City Reunion

This year Ski and I had to decide whether we were going to go to the Wisniewski Family Reunion or to the Festival in August because we couldn't do both. We decided to go to the Family Reunion! We haven't been to a reunion since the very first one.

The Wisniewski Family Tree

Bean Bag Tournament!

This year Pork, Kathy, Larry and Ann were in charge of putting on the show! They did a great job!

He took his job seriously...

The Ski's of North Carolina...

Below are just pictures from through out the day!

At the end of the day we had the Auction.

Before we started Aunt Vick read a really nice letter she had found from Busia.

The next generation of Wisniewski's!

Great job on the Reunion Pork, Kathy, Larry and Ann! It was a success and everyone had so much fun!

My six week vacation in Warren Mi!

This summer I spent 6 weeks in Warren, Mi with my mom! It was great to spend so much time with her. She was such a big help to me with Chase and Cadence! Plus she cooked dinner every night and I didn't have too!

My dad even drove in from Vegas to see me and the kids also! He stayed at my mom's house and I didn't have to go back and forth trying to see them both. I'm so lucky that they get along so well!

Now that my dad shaved off his mustache he looks so much like my Uncle Jay!

While Aunt Coleen was here we all went to Green Field Village. Here they all are in birth order...again. At my mothers insistence...again!

For the 4th of July, we had a BBQ at Aunt Jackie's new house. Her and Twin worked so hard that week to get the outside looking so nice.

Here we all are eating. It's just not a party if we don't see Megan's crack...

Megan and Twin

Aunt Janet and Aunt Dee Dee!

My mom knows I hate pig tails and braids because that is what she always did to me when I was little. The minute I left her alone with Cadence she found herself with the same fate!

My mom and dad were also able to see Chase get his first taste of cereal! The poor boy was going through so many bottles he needed something else to fill him up!

Not exactly sure what her problem was...

...but feeding Chase made it all better!

Whenever I go home I always try to go see as many people as I can but sometimes I just don't have enough time. I've kept in touch with Mr and Mrs Adair for many years. She was my cheerleading coach from 7th grade until 11th grade and Mr Adair pretty much had his hand into every sport at Fitz!

That night after I went to see Mr and Mrs Adair, I also got a chance to have a "Cheerleader reunion" of sorts! Here is Nancy, Bobbie, Theresa, Kasey and Me.

It was such a great vacation at home! Even though I was there for 6 weeks it seems like it went so fast!!! I hope to be able to do that again soon!

The Craig Family Reunion

So back in June I went to Michigan for a month and a half. The whole reason that I went was because my Aunt Colleen, Uncle Tom, and my cousins Jolene and Craig came in from Idaho. Back when I was little, my Aunt Colleen would come every other summer by train with Jolene and Craig and stay at my Grandma and Grandpa's. For years, my Uncle Tom stayed in Idaho and most of us didn't really believe the man existed because none of us had met him! Anyway, because they were coming in, we decided to have a family reunion. It's been so long since we've all been together at once. Here are the pictures:

It all began with these two people - Tom and Eleine Craig.

This is actually how "I" remember them...


They had 4 girls and 1 boy. (My poor Grandpa!) Here they are in birth order because my mother was VERY adamant that they stand that way. Everyone made fun of her of course.

Colleen, Bonnie, April, Shavaun, and Shawn

Here they are with their spouses - there was no one there by the name of Ken to stand with my mom...

Here are all the cousins. It's been 15 years since we have all been together like this.

Here are some pictures of all of us cousins from over the years. This was Tam's wedding. (I'm always one to point out the obvious!)

This was all of us in Owosso when my Aunt April and Uncle Bill used to live there. I'm going to say this was the mid 90's sometime! The reason I can tell this is because I have a god awful perm that I let my mother talk me into. We all know better then to take any type of hair advice from my mom and Aunts - I must have been vulnerable at the time.

This was the summer Jolene and I had to wear the exact same outfits everywhere we went. I think this was also the summer all of us kids got kicked out of every place we went for acting like fools. Specifically, the time I tried to politely give Jeremy a french fry at White Castle and he hit my arm, sending it sailing right into the plate of the nice gentleman sitting at the next table. Our moms started screaming "THAT'S IT!!! Get out to the car right now!!!" and we giggled and laughed all the way there! That same day we got kicked out of the thrift store for running through the aisles with the cart chasing each other. My favorite from that summer though was when Jeremy and Craig were acting up at the mall and Aunt April came at them with one of the clothes hangers. I will never forget Jolene's face when she leaned over and said "Aunt April's RUDE!" I should probably never complain about my own kids acting up!

We look sweet and innocent...actually all I ever hear about is how Tam was so great and that it was me and Jeremy that caused all the trouble!!!


This was before Bobbie, Genie, Megan, Leah and Corey!

And here is the fourth generation of Craigs! Just as the long line of family members that came before them, they too make fun of their mothers every single chance they get!

They played outside the entire time.

Jacqui, Matt, Cadence and Chase!

Here is the most recent picture of Leah, Jacqui, and Kyla. I have one of them at several stages of their little lives starting when they were all about 2-3 years old.

Leah, Jacqui and Kyla - around 8-9 years old.

Leah, Jacqui and Kyla - 2/3 years old. Tam swore up and down that this wasn't Jacqui!!!

Here are more pictures of the reunion.

Uncle Bill (No one warned him what he was marrying into and he reminds my Uncle Shawn every chance he gets!), Uncle Shawn and Bobby. It was at Bobby and Tina's wedding that Tam snuck me so many orange juice and vodka's that the bride ended up holding my hair while I threw up in her toilet. Such special wedding night memories! We also have video's of me dancing and the more drunk I got, the more I shook my butt! But, then again who can forget my debut at their wedding when I sang the B-52's song "Love Shack" at the top of my lungs? "TIN ROOF - RUSTED!" Did I mention I was 16? I blame you Tam...I still can't drink Vodka to this day!

Uncle Tom (he DOES exist) Aunt Shavaun - we all call her Aunt Dee Dee and I don't even know why, Aunt Anita and Uncle Todd. In every picture you'll see Aunt Dee Dee making this face because she hates pictures - she's saying "Oh get that camera out of here!"

Tam, Tina and Aunt April. Aunt April is the more wild out spoken of all of my Aunts and my mom. You can rely on her as someone to call if you roll your explorer three times while your mom is on vacation. (Even though she really thinks your about to tell her your pregnant! - right Genie!) She's also the one who will tell you straight out if you look stupid. I think she's the one that came up with the phrase "I'll beat your ass!" that we are all so famous for saying to each other! Best of all though, she's the one that always makes me my favorite foods when I come home! Taco salad, Sweet and sour weenies and BBQ meatballs!

A great picture of my mom, playing with a one year old all the while a pack of cigarettes hangs out of her pocket. Yes, we represent the Warren / Hazel Park area!!! Let's just say my mom is the easiest person to make fun of and she's always got the story wrong. It doesn't matter what the story is - she is going to mess it up! When I was in the Marine Corps and got promoted to Lance Corporal, she'd call my barracks and ALWAYS asked for Lance Colonel Mader. Next thing you know I'd hear "Mader, your mom is on the phone!!!" They all knew...

"Mean" Uncle Shawn and Chase

And by "Mean" Uncle Shawn I mean the below picture - he used to chain us up in milk cartons. This particular picture is Jeremy inside there. He also used to handcuff Tam to the staircase and freeze her barbies heads and pull our pig tails and tie us up with rope (although we would run past him with a rope and scream "You can't get us!!!") I make him out to sound like a monster but he wasn't! We all loved him and constantly did stuff to get him to do these things! He is a genius when it comes to cars, or electrical work, or pretty much any type of renovation that needs to be done and whenever any of us need help with anything he's always there. His daughter Leah will never know the torture we went through - and it's a shame really!!!!!!

Jenny from the block was there - she's started out as Genie's friend but now she's been adopted into the family as one of our own!

This is a classic "I'll beat your ass" look that Tam gives often! Isn't CJ adorable. I think he needs a little brother or sister!

Me, Matt and Jeremy. When Jeremy and I were little we were inseparable. They said we looked so much alike that we could be bookends - and with that we got the nickname "The Bookends". When Matt came along, the resemblance between me Matt and Jeremy was amazing. He's like the third bookend.

Here we are when we are little. Lets focus for a second on the plaid pants my mother dressed me in. There are countless outfits like this that fill our family albums...

Aunt Anita and Chase. When Uncle Shawn married her, apparently I welcomed her into the family by grilling her with questions such as "Do you have AIDS?" There are many moments like this in my childhood where my mother just swelled with pride over my actions!

Megan's boyfriend Twin. His name is really Ishmael, and he doesn't have a twin.

Here they all are sitting around talking. It's one of my favorite things about going home. We all sit around like this and talk, tell the same stories over and over, make fun of each other (usually my mom!) and eventually we laugh so hard that one of them pee's their pants. They even take bets on who is going to do it first. Every Wednesday since my Grandmother passed away in 1997 we have had what is called "Girls night" at one of our houses. My mom, my Aunts and my cousins all get together and play games, talk, laugh etc. They rotate who is going to bring the treat. They celebrate everyone's birthdays and have girls night Christmas every Christmas. We've always been very close and girls night is a way to stay that way!

That night after the reunion the majority of us cousins all went out to the bar. It was definitely a lot different then our days going to Major Magics together! Don't ask why my head is doing that. I have no idea!

My cousin Genie - her alias is Cinnamon...she's always fun to have at the bar!

We should have seen this coming...

No pole is safe when she is around!

I don't even know what to say here...

It's a family thing I guess!!!

We were all so surprised that Jeremy came along with us! Usually years go by before we see him because he's always with his friends or his band. Plus he danced!!!! It was so good to see him again and hang out with him! Especially since we were inseparable when we were little!

Theresa came out with us too! One awesome thing about her is that she realizes how close we all are and bought us all a shot to do to celebrate being together again! It was such a great night! I love this picture because there is a similar one of the three of us the summer before our senior year before any of us had any worries! Now here we are 15 years later! It's amazing how close Jo and I are even though she lived in Idaho and I only saw her for two weeks every other summer. Me her and Jeremy called each other "The buds!" and told Craig he'd never be part of "The buds" Such lovely children we were!

Jolene and I had a rough start though - this was the first time we met each other. She bit me on the neck...

We got over it though as you can see! We were 16 here!

My little cousin Craig isn't so little anymore either! Last time I saw him he was only 14. Now he's like 6'4" and was the ladies man that night! I couldn't get over the fact that he could drink. Then he reminded me "I'm 28 years old!" Yeah, I guess he's qualified to have a beer or two!

His women hanging all over him!

Jolene wanted to hear NOTHING about her little brother and women!!!

And then there is Tam. She's definitely not the huggy person she is in this picture. Too many Chocolate Cake shots for her! However, what she and I really want to know is how I got so much taller then her here! (Tam, it could be because I'm standing on a shell!)

And one last picture of our night out - my sister Megan, her boyfriend Twin and Theresa. Look how happy Megan looks with Twin! He's a great guy for her - although before I got there she scared him into thinking I was really mean and would start yelling at him the minute I walked in the door. No wonder he seemed to stay away from me for a few days! What she should have warned him about was her and I yelling at each other! Oh it's always good to be home!!!!

And there you have it, the people who helped make me who I am today! When I think of my family, I don't just think of my mom and dad and sister. I think of all of these people. My mom and dad and aunts and uncles and grandparents - they helped raise every single one of us cousins. We've laughed together and cried together and made fun of each other when someone had a tantrum. We've picked each other up when one of us we're down (Or when one of us DROPS the other on our knee leaving a scar - TAM!!!) and we've celebrated just about every accomplishment each of us has ever had. And it all started from two people - Tom (King) and Eleine Craig.

This is a picture of my Aunts and Uncles just 7 months before my Grandpa passed away. They had a long happy life together but what they left behind is just as amazing!

Matt's Birthday

I know - it's been two months since I've updated this blog but it's been a little busy and stressful around here! Still, I couldn't let Matt's 11th birthday go by unnoticed!!!

So as usual - with each birthday, I can't believe that he is another year older. This time 11. It's just that his birthday (May 9th) is on Mother's Day weekend every year and that is special to me because of everything I (and Cody) went through with him. It is truly a miracle that my boy, born 3 months early and weighing 2 lbs 10 oz, is even standing here today.

Now that he is in 5th grade, this will be the last year that I will bring cupcakes to his class for him to share. I have done it for both Jacqui and Matt from Kindergarten on up. The past few years the theme of his birthday cupcakes have been baseball. Here he is wearing passing out cupcakes to his class wearing the birthday shirt that Mrs Mirise got for her students to wear on their special day. She's such a great teacher!

Chocolate cupcakes, white frosting, red stitching...

On his actual birthday he had a baseball game. So again, I made him cupcakes to share with his team. Chocolate cupcakes, white frosting, red stitching...

They all sang happy birthday to him while his coach held him high above everyone!

After the game, Robbie spent the night and he opened his presents. Don't worry - he got more then sunflower seeds. I just figured I would get him some that he could hide before Ski got to them!

He's also decided that he's going to make it a tradition to go to Hooters for his birthday dinner. So Matt, our family and 20 of our closest friends took up half the restaurant.

King ended up at the kids table...he thought he could keep them under control. Can't you just see the authority in his face. They all look scared don't they!

Amber ended up at the other kid table...

Jacqui always loves when Matt is the center of attention. Can you tell?

Again the cake we took to Hooters was a chocolate cake, white frosting, red stitching. Can you sense a theme here. But that is what my boy wanted so that is what he got. I had a few issues with this particular red icing.

Of course I made sure to let them know that it was his birthday so they brought him up and sang Happy Birthday to him while he did this hula hoop.

Then he got to pose with the Hooters Girls. I'm sure your all shouting "Mother of the Year!"

Well Rachel shares this particular award with me because she threw her son at them to pose for a picture too. Miss Cadence had to get her big old head in there because no one can pose better then she can and she'll be the first one to tell you. That, and she let me know that one day she will be a Hooters Girl too. You can imagine the pride that I felt that day...

Happy Birthday Matt! I love you buddy!

Our Early Fathers Day

When I was pregnant, we went to the exchange at Camp Lejune and as I walked past the photo center they had the cutest military baby portraits displayed. So for Fathers Day I decided to take the kids there and get them done. These were actually taken in April when Chase was 3 weeks old but if we waited for actual Fathers Day, he probably would have fit into Ski's Cammies by then!!!

Cadence wasn't the easiest model to say the least. She didn't want to take a picture in her dads Cammies, she didn't want to hold the flag, she didn't want to do pretty much anything that I asked - BEGGED - her to do. Which is why it is such a miracle that these pictures turned out as beautiful as they did! Well actually, if we are being honest, I had to bribe her with pizza and Chuck E Cheese.

Here she is with the pizza I promised her... do I know how to deliver or what?

Chase Maddox

Well we've been home for almost two weeks and it's been great having Chase with us finally! I'll tell you, life hasn't slowed down since he's been born, in fact I would say it's gotten even more crazier. We are right in the middle of baseball season and that is busy enough without a newborn baby! But he fits right in and just tags along with us where ever we may go!

Now that is a sturdy table...

Cadence is so happy to be a big sister. She does "Big Sister Jobs" such as throwing diapers away and giving him his pacifier! Her helpfulness only lasts so long, she's already told us that she is "Mad at doing big sister jobs!!!"

There's nothing like cuddling with a new born baby!

Look at that sweet little face!!!

Cadence is still the apple of his eye, but I'll tell you Ski is so proud of his son! He's great at showering them both with attention!

The Big Campout

While Ski was still on Paternity leave, he and Cadence decided to camp out in the backyard. Oh she was sooo excited! And what a big help she was putting up the tent!

She is full of poses!!!

They picked one of the coldest nights to do this camp out! It was like 45 degree's that evening but she was not letting that hinder her from sleeping outside! I told her to put on her warm footy pajamas but I was told that there is no pajamas in camping!!!

Every camp out needs a water bottle and a flash light!

Oh and a straw hat. You don't go camping without a straw hat!!!

They sang songs and played guitar...

They read Ballerina stories and Ski told her a ghost story (which scared her so much she is still talking about to this day!)

She was out within a half hour of getting in the tent and Ski was left cold and bored...for about 30 seconds until he himself fell asleep too!

What a great dad! These are the times she is going to remember for the rest of her life!

It's that time of year again!

Well we are back at the fields again! We are neck deep in ball this year. Ski is managing Jacqui's girls softball team, Matt is on the Cal Ripkin church league, and Ski is on two leagues. Plus we just had a newborn baby and Cadence is a job all on her own! Let's just say we are spread a little thin and usually have something EVERY SINGLE night of the week until June!

Here are some pictures from their first games! Jacqui's sponsor is Little Caesars Pizza!

It only took 4 years but she's finally down and ready without having to be yelled at first!!!

So proud of my girl who went from starting in the outfield all those years ago, to finally finding her way to third base! She's also learning to pitch and rumor has it she's doing pretty good!

All Ski wanted to do this year was help coach. That turned into him managing the whole team. He's a great leader though and the team won their first game 11-6! Nice dip in your mouth Honey!

Giving Jacqui a few pointers!

Matt has a really good team also! Not sure how both of them ended up wearing orange this year though.

The one thing that this boy is completely serious about is baseball and is always completely focused! He encourages his teammates and always has his head in the game.

First batter up!

For Christmas he got his own catchers gear and it worked out great because when he got to the team they asked who wanted to catch! He's also at third just like his sister and he's going to be pitching as well sometime.

My boy is a big target and is awesome at stopping the ball!

We're Home!!!

It's been an exhausting week both mentally and physically but we made it through and Chase is finally home with us! I would like to Thank everyone so much for all of your support and your kind words of encouragement. We really appreciate it and I'm sorry if I wasn't able to respond as much as I wanted to over email but I was checking it on my phone because the hospital didn't have free WiFi.

Here we are on our way out of the hospital! It was so great to dress him in something other then the infant gowns they put on him there.

We are a little crowded now with two car seats again!

This is the day I brought Matt home - it's been a long time since I've had two car seats at once!

Baby Chase Update: He'll be home soon!!!

Well, Chase is a week old today and there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel! The spot on his lungs is gone and he's been eating great ever since we started feeding him every 4 hours. He's been eating 55 - 60cc at a time. It was like a different baby over night! Here is a picture of him and his big sister together yesterday. I have yet to get a picture of the four of them together. The hospital isn't the best place for a photo shoot! So far there has only been one time where Cadence has been jealous. She didn't want her dad to hold him at the hospital today because she wanted him to hold HER. The fact that she had no nap didn't help matters at all. She could care less if I hold him though. Daddy's girl, what can I say!



I've also included a video of "Miss Thing" doing the Cadence Show to her favorite song "Had a Bad Day!" This girl loves to put on a show I'll tell you! Just watch all of those facial expressions!

Happy Easter Everyone!

As you all know, life is a bit hectic for us these past few weeks but it is Easter and we wanted to make that as normal as possible for the kids. So last night between feedings we sat down in the middle of the kitchen floor and dyed eggs. We are finding out that a dozen eggs doesn't go very far the more kids we have! The three of them got to do 4 each and let me tell you all the complaining I heard - especially when I reminded them that Chase would be here next year and that would be one less egg each. Oh the unfairness of it all!

Here are the eggs that Jacqui and Matt were the most proud of - that and the fact that they could also dye their hands in the process too!

This morning everyone was able to sleep in a little and I tell you it felt really good. Every Easter it seems for some reason Jacqui wakes up on the wrong side of the bed and she's a real Peach - so I call her my little Easter Peach. This morning was no exception!!!!

Here are a few Easters of the past with my little Easter Peach! This was 2007...

And this was 2006...

Cadence was so excited to find out that the Easter Bunny hid the eggs that they colored and also put candy in her basket that she needed to find!

Jacqui had to get her big old head in there and got Matt's basket for him after he found it. Even though she already knew where it was, she knows better then to tell him before he finds it because of the guilt trip that would follow after!

Cadence needed a little direction but eventually found hers also!

Even Chase got a basket full of baby stuff! The bunny didn't forget him just because he is in the hospital!

Another Easter tradition that just kind of happened is that Jacqui's basket is always hid so well that she is the last to find hers. Again, tradition lives on.

I have nothing to say about this...

We didn't want to leave the kids all day and we also didn't want to miss feeding Chase so we decided to do the noon feeding at the hospital and then pick up the kids, eat lunch / dinner at the Golden Corral (Jacqui's favorite restaurant) and then spend the afternoon at the park.

After the park, we all went up to the hospital for Chases evening feeding so the kids could see him. Cadence also wanted to bring him his Easter Basket so he could see it. This morning when Ski fed him, he did GREAT! He ate the full 45cc in a half hour! This evening he just wasn't feeling it. He was very sleepy and didn't seem hungry at all which has been one of our concerns. Obviously we aren't doctors but it just seemed like he was being fed too much, too soon between feedings and so he didn't want to eat it because he just wasn't hungry. This always feels like one step forward and then two steps back.

So we talked to the doctor today and he explained that one of the antibiotics he is on will hurt his kidneys if he gets too dehydrated which is why they push for him to eat so much. This makes sense but no one ever told us that before and the lack of communication is a little frustrating sometimes - especially since there are like 7 doctors that are rotating on call and each are making different decisions. But the doc agree'd with us and decided that we would offer Chase a 60 cc bottle at midnight and let him eat what he wants. Then we will wait four hours to feed him again and let him get hungry. They will offer another 60 cc bottle and again let him eat what he wants and just see how he does kind of on his own. They have a policy that they will not let a baby eat longer then 4 hours and that is fine. He feels that over night will not be enough time to dehydrate him if he does not do well with this new plan. So we will see tomorrow how he does on his own! Here are a few pictures of our time with him tonight!

I love this picture. Ski and I are in this together as a team - in sickness, and in health.

I hope everyone had as good an Easter as we did. It wasn't the day of tradition we usually have but we made it special none the less because our family was together.

So here's the deal...

When Chase was born, we noticed that he was breathing really heavy and wasn't eating like he should. I mentioned it to the nurse and she took him down to be assessed. They did some blood work and it showed a higher white blood cell count then they liked, and it also showed his oxygen wasn't as high as they would have liked to see. So they did a chest Xray and it showed a small spot that they were concerned about and said it could be pneumonia. They started him on antibiotics and said they would repeat the chest X-ray the next day.

Well the next day the X-ray showed that the spot was still there - no bigger, no smaller. We were under the impression that they weren't really worried about it and their next major concern was his eating. It seems that he is a very sleepy baby and when he gets a bottle he only eats like 10cc before falling asleep. He also doesn't know how to suck, swallow, and breath at the same time so he panics and starts breathing really heavy. So we had to start force feeding him basically. In the mean time, he also became jaundice and needed to go under the lights.

I was released from the hospital without him because we really have no idea when they are going to let him go. We thought he would be going home tomorrow (Easter Sunday) but learned that the doctors decided it would be better to put him on the full course of antibiotics for 7 days to make sure that he did not have pneumonia. More of a precautionary thing. His breathing has gotten a lot better now that he is learning to eat but he still can't stay awake for his feedings. He starts off really good and then just falls asleep and he's done. They have a feeding tube in his nose also. They want a minimum of 45cc at each feeding. Whatever he doesn't drink on his own gets fed through the tube. That is pretty much where we are today. Ski and I have been running back and forth to the hospital 2-3 times a day for feedings and we are exhausted.

We are also trying to get kids to baseball, and all the other things we have going on in our normal life as well as making Easter happen this year for Cadence. It's been a little stressful but Ski and I have each other and we are a great team so we are making it happen. We also have a great support group of friends here that have been helping us out a lot with the other kids. Shannon, Anthony, Ken and Amber - We really appreciate it!!!

As I was being wheeled down to the car in the wheelchair last night after I was discharged I was sad as I realized that I left the hospital without BOTH of my boys when they were born. But just as Matt fought and made it, Chase will too and we will all be back together again soon. Below are some pictures I took of him today at his feedings.

Here he is under the bili lights. His blood work showed he is doing better and doesn't need to be under the lights anymore!

Ski is a pro at feeding him now. The nurses taught us a few tricks to get him to eat and he got him to eat 42cc today at his afternoon feeding. I was so impressed at how good he was at it!

Not to mention what a natural he is at getting him to burp!

Look at that little face. Breaks my heart to see him with that tube down his nose!

Mommy and her baby boy!

Okay it's 1:30am - I'll try to update nightly after we find out what is new. Right now I'm going to bed because I'm exhausted and I have a major headache. The Easter bunny is coming tonight too so I have to make sure everything is ready for him!!!! Hope everyone has a great Easter!