Happy Thanksgiving!

We have much to be thankful for this year and top of our list, not surprisingly, is little Lucy London.  She is such a joy to us and we are just so THANKFUL to have her home for the holidays.  We are also thankful for each and every one of you that read this blog and keep Lucy and our family in your thoughts and prayers.  So from us, to you, Happy Thanksgiving! 

We have successfully made the move to Minnesota.  Lucy did great on the trip!  We left Denver around 6:30 on Sunday night and drove to Lincoln, NE, where we stopped around 3 am until 10 am.  We then headed the rest of the way to Princeton, MN - Lucy slept 90% of the ride, except for short breaks for lunch and diaper change and for a good hour when she cried through Minneapolis rush hour traffic (we didn't much enjoy that stretch, either!)

We've enjoyed the week at my parents so far, where Lucy got to meet all her her cousins on my side of the family and a good portion of the extended family as well. 

Other than that, we are getting settled, getting used to COLD weather - waking up to sub-zero temperatures in November takes a little getting used to - and finding our new routine before we start doctors visits in a few weeks.

Lucy continues to grow and learn new tricks to show off to all the new people she meets - like blowing bubbles and letting out squeals when she is excited!

Getting ready to move to Minnesota!

For those of you who were wondering, that last blog was written by Jason.  If it is 1:20 in the morning, you can bet that I am sleeping!  To his credit, he has been awesome and taking on daddy duty by himself as I finished up in the office this week and spent some time out saying goodbye to Colorado friends.  He even ventured out with the Baby Bjorn and black and pink diaper bag to take her to a doctor's appointment by himself - her's a picture...feel free to giggle - it's definitely NOT what he thought he'd be doing 5 years ago!

Tomorrow, we are moving to Minnesota!  I can't believe that it's finally here!  We've been talking about it and planning for it for such a long time - we thought it would happen a couple of months ago, but alas, Lucy had her own time in mind!  Jason and I are both ready to move on from this one-bedroom apartment and have a little more space to spread out.  Although, this place worked out great for us this past month as we shuttled Lucy to her appointments.  We are busy packing the temporary stuff that we moved and eating the random food left in the cupboards - pretty sure out last meal will be mayo, prunes and tortillas!

Lucy continues to thrive at home.  She's up to 13 lbs, 8 oz (that is a two pound gain since we brought her home 4 weeks ago!).  And...she passed her swallow study on Wednesday!  That means that we can start to try to bottle feed her.  It is very slow going...she is great a sucking from a bottle, but when she gets liquid in her mouth, she doesn't really know what to do with it so starts to cry.  Our instructions are to try once or twice a day and the thought is that she will eventually get used to sucking, swallowing and breathing at the same time.  We are so excited to be moving her forward with this next skill.  She is also able to roll from her stomach to her back (since she still hates tummy time!) and loves to sit up and look around at the world.  We visited some of our old NICU friends this week and everyone seemed surprised by how well she is doing holding her head up and how big she's gotten.

Just think...our next blog will be from MN!

What do you do at 1:20 a.m.?

If you asked me what I was doing at 1:20 a.m. about five years ago, I'm sure the answer would be much different than what I'm doing at this very moment at 1:20 a.m.

Five years ago, I was living in Lancaster, Pa., and had absolutely no revelation that I'd be getting married anytime soon. It would be a Monday night/Tuesday morning and this time of year, it would be dart league.

When I moved to Pennsylvania, my buddy Nate (one of my groomsmen) talked me into shooting darts. We played a lot at the little haunt we'd frequent for wings, games and other things, but right about now, I think you know I'd probably still be awake. In the summer, it was English darts - the kind you see everywhere. In the winter, it was American darts, a very different game with steel-tipped wood darts and the game was called "baseball." We were the Quality Inn Monday Knights. We even had our own mascot, Monday Knight Skiles, one of our friends who shot with us. I will have an American dart board in my mancave when the time comes.

Now, as I sit at my computer, talking to some people on Facebook (brother-in-law Barry included), I've just warmed up Lucy's food. She's still on continuous feeds and that means either Abby or I have to wake up and fill up the pump. This usually occurs at 1 a.m. and around 5 a.m. I say usually because I'm more apt to get up (or still be up) at the 1 a.m. refill.

We're about a week away from leaving Colorado fully. As mentioned in previous posts, Abby's dad and I drove our stuff out to Minnesota a few weeks back.

Now, all we have here is clothes and some personal things like computers, phones and mail.

So I'm now wide awake and instead of doing any work for the magazine, which I've put in a lot of time into, mainly because we also have a bustling web presence, I figured I'd do a super secret update. I don't think Abby knows I post one of these until one of her friends or parents comments on it. So basically, that's the opening you guys need to narc on me for writing at such a wee hour (especially if you're in the Eastern Time Zone, where it's well after 3 a.m.).

One thing about this apartment we're at is you have a sense of cabin fever at times. No, I'm not about to break into an episode of The Shining (although we did see the infamous hotel inspiration up in Estes Park two years ago), but we don't have much space. I'm usually glued to this kitchen table working during the day. Sometimes Abby has to prod at me just a bit to unglue my rear from the indentation that used to be a cushion.

Being a father scares me.

I think every parent is scared when it comes to raising their kids at one time or another, if not all the time. I worry about how I'm holding her right. I'm hopeful she'll just speak up and say "I need to be changed," or "I want to sit in the boppy."

At four-and-a-half months old, she's not about to break into prose. By the time some of you read this, I will either be on baby duty while Abby does some things at the office or would have just survived baby duty trying to keep Lucy from crying until mommy gets home.

Last time was an adventure. She cried for about an hour straight. Just cranky. There is no such thing as an effective manual to keep a crying infant from well, crying.

I try picking her up, walking her around, checking her diaper, sitting her in the bassonett, on the boppy, under her mat thing that has the toys dangling from above. I try sitting her on my lap ... you just don't know sometimes.

One of my biggest worries is holding her properly. With her g-tube, it has to be an unpleasant feeling for Lucy to be held the wrong way. I'm almost too slow and too meticulous trying to avoid a mistake. Abby has said I'm pretty much not able to do anything when I'm holding Lucy, that's more for fear of screwing something up than it is being lazy. At least that's what I'd like her to believe (insert snickering emoticon here).

I'm happy to get back to Minnesota. One of my friends on the wrestling message boards joked me the other day about willingly going back to Minnesota to be closer to my in-laws. Most of those in-law jokes don't apply here. I only spent 18 months in Minnesota the last time I was there and despite the bone-chilling cold, the black chunks of ice caked to your wheel wells and the mosquitoes, Minnesota is the best place I've ever lived.

I think my stress level will be reduced, as will the travel, and I too have friends nearby. We won't be on an island anymore. Having Lucy around friends and family is something important to me. I want Lucy to have the things Abby had growing up. I had some of it, but in large, there is very little in common between our family dynamics. That's not a shot by any means, it was just vastly different.

I remember complaining to my mom about going to my grandparents house because I didn't want beets and crabcakes for lunch. My grandma Eugina (mom's side) would pretty much have the same spread each time we went up. My grandma Eva (dad's side) would have a more normal spread. But even though I didn't like the hour ride up there, I enjoyed my time when I was there and I want Lucy to know her grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. My family was mostly spread out from Connecticut to Louisiana when I was a kid.

I've been on two family vacations with the Los-Bryant-Braun clan and it's been great. I didn't have many family vacations and I might have only seen my aunts and uncles anywhere from once to four times a year. Even with the issues Lucy has gone through already in her young life, having that support system close by helps relieve the uneasiness I feel. I don't want to be an inadequate father.

Sure, I'll be working a lot and I feel a lot of responsibility resting on my shoulders to bring the wrestling magazine back to relevance and prominence. But ultimately, being able to work in a field I enjoy and have the rest of my nuclear family in a happier place will make everything work out.

Plus, The Busch Family (they're like a family of my own) have a sweet cabin down in Wabasha.

So that's what I'm doing at 1:40 in the morning in 2012 ... rather than sleeping on my couch in a one-bedroom apartment in Lancaster.

I wonder how old Lucy will be when she finally asks why her name is tattooed on my leg?

November

We have a Vikings Fan!  Thanks Auntie Jenny for the team-themed hat!

We can't believe it's November already in our house!  Excluding today, the weather in Denver has been gorgeous - 70's and sunny - perfect for taking walks in the neighborhood and enjoying the last few days before winter sets in.  Especially since we'll be in Minnesota just in time to brave the frozen tundra for the winter!

Lucy has had follow-up appointments with the pediatrician, neurosurgeon and pediatric surgery units since our last post.  All gave her a great report - we are so glad that we live close enough to walk to her appointments now so we're not spending 3 hours on the road for a 10 minute appointment!  She got a new G-Tube last week - it's still leaking intermittently and a big pain.  I can't wait until she can eat orally instead of having to be fed through her G-Tube.  We have a follow-up swallow study scheduled for Wednesday of this week, so we are hoping that shows her airway is being blocked off when she swallows and that we'll be able to slowly introduce oral feedings.

In addition to doctor's appointments, I went into the office one afternoon this week - leaving Jason on baby duty by himself!  They did great - and I even managed to only text a few times to check up on them!  We've been spending the rest of our time reading, napping and discovering our fun toys.  Overall we are feeling good about where she is developmentally - although she hates tummy time (it can't be too comfortable with a G-Tube and we have to schedule it when she's not eating!).  After a short bump in the road after daylight savings time, Lucy's been doing a great job of sleeping through the night and we're starting to figure out her daily nap schedule.