Christmas is coming!

Christmas seemed so far away, and now it is so very close!  I just sent out our Christmas cards, and I always include a link to our blog.  Our card this year includes pictures of our foster daughters, and there just isn't room enough on the card to explain the family situation.  So for all of you  checking in to get the scoop--here it is! :)

We received our official foster care license from the state of Ohio on Ryan's due date last January, the 16th, to be exact.  (He was already 16 days old at that point.)  We received our first foster care placement on June 13th.  Little Miss T is four years old.  She is spunky, energetic and very nurturing to her baby sister.  Little Miss D is the same age as Ryan.  We essentially have twins for this moment in time.  Miss D is the sweetest, happiest baby ever.  She loves to dance and could probably be walking by now if she wasn't so busy dancing and bouncing!  While we would love to adopt these girls, their mom is working hard to get them back.  They will most likely reunify with mom sometime after the new year.

If you're keeping track, that means that right now we have a 5 year old, 4 year old, 3 year old and 2 11 month olds.  Life is BUSY!!

 Alex is five and a half and started kindergarten this year.  He is learning and growing so much.  It is so fun to watch him learn to read.  He surprises me almost everyday with something new that he knows.  I always ask "How do you know that?!" and he replies "I just learned it!"  He loves his role as the biggest brother.  He is very helpful with the babies, especially Ry-guy.  He loves to have some "Ryan time" in his room at bedtime and play and wrestle with him.

Noah is three and a half.  He is growing so fast!  He is much taller than Alex was at this age.  He started preschool this year and is doing great.  He recently learned how to write his name.  For a while, he would write NOH and then ask me to write his A for him.  :)  He is my independent guy.  He will go into new situations, usually, without any hesitation.  He recently went on his first plane ride.  He ran through the airport, onto the plane, sat in his seat while I went on to my seat in a different row, and waited patiently for Ma to join him.  He is so brave.

Ryan will be one on January first!  He is such a happy guy.  We call him Ry-Ry or Ry-guy most of the time.  He is a busy guy and loves to play with all of the kids.  He started walking this month.  He toddles everywhere now.  He also loves to clap and play peek a boo.  While he is definitely a Mama's boy and loves to cuddle with me, he also lights up when his Daddy walks in the room.  One of his favorite things is a squeeze hug between the two of us.   He also has his four front teeth and looks like a little chipmunk.

We have, thankfully, had a very quiet year with our heart issues.  Noah has remained healthy and active despite his hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.  We keep a close eye on him, but he is doing great.  Ryan tested negative and does not have the gene!  We are so blessed.  I came through this third pregnancy without any changes to the structure of my heart and am feeling great.  I am due for a new defibrillator sometime after the first of the year.  I will also have my leads extracted and start fresh with a whole new "system."  The doctor who normally does my lead extractions up at OSU is leaving for NYU, so I am on the search for a new doctor.  (Lead extractions are tricky, and only performed at certain hospitals with experienced doctors.)

We traveled to Minneapolis last week to visit Medtronic.  I was invited to speak at their quarterly Cardiac Rhythm meeting.  I was able to share our family's story and share with them how much their work impacts us.  It was a great trip.  I met the engineers and product designers that have created my last three devices.  Over lunch, they shared lots of information and even showed me the next device I will get and the "guts" of it.  They are simply wonderful, giving, kind people.  My amazing doctors, Dr. Knilans and Dr. Jefferies made the trip as well.  They support me so much and it meant so much to me to see them in audience as I spoke.  There were about 400 employees at the meeting and they live-streamed it to several thousand more around the world.  It was such a great trip.

Life is full, life is crazy, and life is good.  We are blessed every day by God's provision and direction. We pray that you are blessed as well!

What a day

I want to write this post, not to remember how all of this happened, but because so many people were praying for us today, I believe you should know how everything played out.  First of all, THANK YOU for your prayers.  It has been a whirlwind of a day.  I reached out to a few people, and I've had love, prayers, scripture and offers to help flooding in all day.  God has truly surrounded us with such an amazing support system.

Last night, around bedtime, Noah started complaining of chest pain.  We snuggled with him, calmed him down and Grant slept with him all night.  The first words out of his mouth this morning were "My chest hurts."  Never what you want to hear from your child with cardiomyopathy.  He ran around and played this morning, and didn't seem too far off of normal, except for stopping every once in awhile to grab his chest and complain.  He ran up to the bus stop and threw snow balls with Alex the whole way.  But once we were loaded in the car to drive to his preschool he said he wanted to just stay home with me.  This is my social, on the move, loves his preschool and his friends, little boy.  Something was clearly not right.  We turned around to go home, and I called the pediatrician.

Dr. Dine has been treating patients for 30+ years.  I know this because he was one of my doctors for my whole childhood.  He is regarded as a great diagnostician.  He evaluated Noah and determined that his liver was enlarged.  He called down to Children's Cardiology to get their opinion because, apparently, an enlarged liver can point to heart failure.  Cue my anxiety.  Our wonderful cardiologist wanted us to come down at 1:00.  That afforded me just enough time to coordinate all of the bus pick-ups, lunch, etc. and still make it down to Children's.  My husband, immediately left work and came home to go with us (there's nothing quite sweeter than watching your husband love your kids so dearly).  My mom also left work and came to my house to watch the other kiddos.  Off we went.

Upon examination at the hospital, it was determined that his liver was NOT, in fact, enlarged.  The cardiologists believe he has costochondritis, an inflammation where the ribs connect to the sternum.  A few days of ibuprofen and he should be good to go.  It's not dangerous, it just hurts.  His EKG was normal, well, ok, "normal" for him.

So, okay, there are a number of ways in which to interpret all of this.  #1--the pediatrician got it wrong, or jumped the gun.  He mistook something else for an enlarged liver.  Knowing him and his reputation and experience, I don't really buy it. #2, the cardiologists blew us off or missed the enlargement of the liver.  Again, knowing these cardiologists and the fact that they evaluate heart failure patients all day long, I don't buy it.  So what happened in the 2 hours between the 2 appointments to Noah's liver?  My explanation--God healed him.  Is it a cut and dry healing?  No.  Could either of the doctors have been wrong?  Absolutely.  But I choose to believe in the power of prayer and that God was at work today.  So thank you, all, for your prayers.

There were many moments today when my mind would race and I would envision tests and hospital stays and a new "normal" for our life with our little guy's life having a different tone to it.  I envisioned us starting  down the path of "full time heart patient" rather than a kid that just happens to have a heart condition.  But tonight, my sweet Noah ran, jumped, played with his siblings and I got to tuck his sweet sleeping body into his own bed in our house.  What a blessing.

3 months in

We have had the girls for over three months now.  We have definitely hit our stride.  When the girls are at visit, our home feels empty without them.  Three kids feels E.A.S.Y.  (Not something I EVER thought I would say!)  We have our bedtime routine down pat.  The kids argue and share like siblings.  The girls are bonding with us.  Little D lights up with a huge smile and starts flailing and kicking her arms and legs, snorting and laughing when I come pick her up from Sunday school, the childcare room or a visit from mom.  And we are bonding with them, as well.

It is still hard.  Excruciatingly hard some days.  There are a lot of times when it feels like too much.  Those are the times that God chooses to show up.  Usually quietly.  Sometimes loudly.  To remind us of why.  And we are renewed.  For another day, hour or minute.  Until we cry out again, and He shows up again.  It happens in the most unexpected of ways.  I took a trip to Kroger with just the babies and Noah while T and Alex were at school last week.  (Again--this felt luxurious--I JUST had a three year old and two eight month olds....easy! Oh how my perspective has changed!)  I was picking out some meat at the meat counter when I heard a woman exclaim "Oh!"  I turned to look and she had clasped one hand to her chest and was looking at D and Ryan in the cart.  They were sitting in the cart (it was a twin cart with two baby places by the handle), and they were holding hands.  This woman continued, "I'm sorry.  They just touched my heart."  And she began to cry.  "They are just so innocent and young.  And then we mess them up!"  She was a black lady.  The picture of a little black girl and a little white boy, holding hands, totally unassumingly and loving each other so sweetly just overwhelmed her heart.  As it does my heart many times a day.  D and Ryan are so sweet and are so stinkin' cute when they play together.  (Even though Ryan does pull her hair and she yanks him down by the back of the shirt sometimes...true siblings!)  The other day, D crawled over while I was changing Ryan's diaper and leaned down to kiss him right on the mouth!  Ryan is the only one she's given kisses to so far.  :)

Grant and I were in the throes of bedtime a few nights ago, and all of a sudden realized what was happening in front of us and we stopped to watch and listen.  Noah had pulled out his "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" book and was singing the song to D and turning the pages for her.  It was such a sweet moment.

There are hard times for our boys.  Alex asked me the other day what would happen to him.  I asked him what he meant by that and he said "When will I be a foster?"  His young little heart didn't fully understand why T and D came to live with us and was dreading the day that he would be sent to live with another family.  It just broke my heart that he was worried.  It opened the door to good conversation, however, and he is now fully reassured that he will stay with us.

Grant and I are tired.  We are run down.  We have the girls 24/7, except when they are with mom for 8 hours a week.  We did have our 10 day vacation, back in July, that seems like so long ago.  My parents should have their certificate to babysit soon, and we will have a much-needed date night.  It is wearying to always be "on," and know that we can't escape.  When we were overwhelmed with the boys, we'd just call a sitter and leave for the evening.  Now, that's just not a reality.  We have had to get creative and do date nights at home.  We've had to create "escape" right here in our own living room with 5 children sleeping peacefully (or, not so peacefully) right down the hall.  We have grown so much in such a short time.  We've had to lean on each other, support each other, exercise grace and compassion for each other, and work more as a team than we ever have before.  And it's good.  It's honest, hard work.  I collapse onto the couch next to the love of my life at the end of every day weary, bone-tired and satisfied from a hard day's work.  And they are always there with me--God, my number one and the personification of perfect love, and Grant, my number two and the love of my earthly life.

"Twins"

I have really been struggling with how to blog about fostering.  I'm not able to share many details about the girls, and it's really hard for me to not just tell everything.  So here goes....

Fostering is hard.  It just is.  Caring for five children five and under is hard.  No two ways about it.  But it's good.  And sweet.  All at the same time.  We are growing, THAT is for sure.  Growing as parents.  Growing as a family.  Growing in grace for each other.  Growing as husband and wife.  And we are learning.  Learning to manage the chaos that is five children.  Learning to manage the daily grind of paperwork and appointments that define fostering.  Learning to keep our tempers short and our grace for everyone long.  Learning which battles to fight with CPS and which to let go.

The two babies are so very different, and yet so much the same.  It is amazing to watch.  Ryan is a few days older than Miss D.  He has never had a bottle, just slept in a crib for the first time (as opposed to in my arms), and never wanted for love and attention.  Miss D has had the opposite.  And yet, to look at them, you would never know the difference.  They are both happy, smiley babies.  They are both starting to crawl and move around the room.  Ryan is slightly ahead, as he's already pulling up and standing, but my kids tend to be freakishly early walkers.  Miss D has gained another pound--she's up to 15.5 pounds and in the 25th percentile.  The pediatrician thinks that by 9 months you'll never be able to tell by looking at her that she was failure to thrive.

I always wanted twins when I was a little girl.  I wanted twin girls.  They've just always fascinated me.  I had such a sweet moment yesterday as I was sitting on the floor being crawled on, drooled on and pulled on by the twins.   (Confession--I call the babies "The twins" in my head, even though they clearly aren't.)  I had the thought "Boy--no one ever tells you about *this* part of having twins!"  And then it hit me.  What a gift.   I am thrilled to be able to experience being a "twin" mom for this short period of my life.  It doesn't look like what I thought it would.  One boy and one girl.  One black and one white.  But yet so attached to each other.  They talk to each other.  Steal each other's binkies (I feel like the binky police most of the time!).  Share toys back and forth.  I get asked at least once a week as we are out and about if the babies are twins.  And it just makes me giggle.  I never thought God would answer my childhood wishes and prayers for twins in this way.  I know it won't last.  I know Miss D will go back home, but I am going to soak up the experience while it lasts.

Changes

Wow.  I just clicked to come write this blog post and I'm blown away by the change in our family.  The picture at the top of our blog was taken in November.  We had two sons, age 4 and 2.  Now, just 7 short months later, I have 5 children to care for.  We added Ryan on the first of the year, and last week we added two foster daughters.  Gaining 3 children in 5 months has been quite the whirlwind.

We got a call last Sunday about a possible 9 month old foster daughter.  We found out Monday morning that she was placed in a different foster home.  Just a few short hours later, we got the call about T and D.  Since this was our third placement call, I didn't let myself get too excited.  Sure enough, over the next three days it was a roller coaster of changes and emotions.  Finally, at 1:30pm on Thursday the 13th, we got the call that we were getting the girls.  They arrived two hours later.  Miss T is 4 years old. She is energetic, talkative and spunky.  Miss D is 5 months old (only a few days apart from Ryan) and super sweet with heartbreakingly beautiful eyes.  We've dived headfirst into the foster care system.  We've had 4 meetings with social workers, scheduled 3 doctors visits, scheduled a visit with the GAL, had numerous phone calls, and filled an accordion file with paperwork.  And that's just after one week.

There have been moments filled with lots of joy, moments filled with lots of fear, and moments filled with lots of stress.  Through it all, God has been guiding us, protecting us and showing us that He is here, right here--in the midst of laundry piles, tears, new hairstyles and children everywhere.

The parenting devotional that I read everyday had this verse listed for the day we received the girls:

"Be assured that from the first day we heard of you, we haven't stopped praying for you, asking God to give you wise minds and spirits attuned to his will, and so acquire a thorough understanding of the ways in which God works.  We pray that you'll live well for the Master, making him proud of you as you work in his orchard.  As you learn more and more how God works, you will learn how to do your work.  We pray that you'll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul-not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, thanking the Father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bring and beautiful that he has for us."  Colossians 1:9-12

I don't really have words to describe how these verses touched me.  They were exactly what I needed to read to prepare for the girls' arrival.  I have returned to these verses several times this week to remind myself of our goal--to make God proud of us as we work in HIS orchard and to remind myself of HIS glory-strength that he freely gives.  If you are praying for us, please pray these verses over our household.

I only have a few minutes before the babies wake up, but here are a few God moments from our first week:

1.  Grant and I had recently changed our foster occupancy to include 2 children, age 0-5.  (Instead of 1 child age 0-3.) The paperwork hadn't been filed yet.  The social worker called and asked us about the two girls, and asked us to make an exception and take 2 children instead of 1, and a child over the age of 3, NOT KNOWING that we had already changed everything.  It spoke volumes to me that God knows exactly what is going on.  It also told me that they were having a hard time finding a home for these girls, and it was a true need.  God knew these girls would need us and had us set things into motion to have them before they were ready for us.

2.  I am having to learn how to do T's hair.  Her hair is so different from mine.  Not only did my best friend send her mom over to teach me, but I ran into two different friends at Target who were able to guide me in products to buy for her hair.  It seems like such a little thing, but I really want Miss T to feel beautiful, clean, cared for and put together.  God was (and is) right there with me, sending me people at just the right time to help.

3.  My Strategy for Mothers group has AGAIN stepped up to bring us meals.  They just brought us meals three times a week for 6 weeks when we had Ryan.  They are again bringing us yummy meals as we adjust to life with 5 kids.  What a blessing.  These women do the work of God quietly and steadfastly following his will.

4.  Watching little Miss D and Ryan snuggle and play with toys together.  So sweet.

5. Hearing Miss T say "Never!" while reading "The Pigeon has Feelings Too!"  The pigeon books are a family favorite.  To have her know the words, and enjoy this book after just a few short days at our house gave me such a burst of joy deep, deep in my belly.  She loves being read to.

6.  Watching Miss T prance around Winton Woods water park in her bright pink bathing suit, pigtails bouncing, running through the water she was scared of 30 minutes earlier.

7.  God spoke to us through a dear friend at a time when doubts were running high.  God gave her an overwhelming sense of peace for our family and of how marvelous God's love is for our family and for these little girls and for bringing us together.

8.  This song:

I WILL LIFT MY EYES By Bebo Norman

God, my God, I cry out
Your beloved needs You now
God, be near calm my fear and take my doubt
Your kindness is what pulls me up
Your love is all that draws me in

I will lift my eyes to the Maker
of the mountains I can't climb
I will lift my eyes to the Calmer
of the oceans raging wild
I will lift my eyes to the Healer
of the hurt I hold inside
I will lift my eyes, lift my eyes to You

God, my God, let mercy sing
her melody over me
and God, right here all I bring
is all of me
Your kindness is what pulls me up
Your love is all that draws me in

I will lift my eyes to the Maker
of the mountains I can't climb
[From: http://www.elyrics.net]
I will lift my eyes to the Calmer
of the oceans raging wild
I will lift my eyes to the Healer
of the hurt I hold inside
I will lift my eyes, lift my eyes to You

'Cause You are and You were and You will be forever
the Lover I need to save me
'Cause You fashioned the earth and You hold it together, God
so hold me now

Ryan is 6 weeks old!

I can't believe my baby boy is already 6 weeks old!  At the same time, it's hard to remember life with only two boys!  Ryan is a sweet, happy, content little baby.  He loves to be held, and would be happy to snuggle all day.  He's a pretty easy-going baby as well (I think since he's the third he just KNOWS that he has to go with the flow!).  He is proving to be my best sleeper.  He will sleep at night from around 8:30/9:00 until whenever I wake him up in the morning (usually around 7:00), with only waking once or twice to eat.  I have to say, being semi-well rested with a newborn is such a nice change!  It also helps that Alex and Noah are in a great nap time routine--Alex plays in his room for an hour and a half or two hours everyday while Noah, Ryan and I all nap.  I am so glad that I was persistent in teaching him how to be alone and entertain himself.  Such a life skill, and such a lifesaver for this mama!

Alex and Noah have each adjusted well to our new addition.  Noah was a little extra whiny and clingy for several weeks, but has settled back into his normal spunkiness.  They love their little brother.  They will both cover him up with blankets and talk to him if he cries. Alex has shared his special tiger stuffed animal with Ryan as well.   It's sweet to see them love him.  

Poor little Ryan came down with bronchiolitis this past week.  He ended up having a relatively mild case, but it was scary that he was so young.  His cough and congestion are still hanging around, which means he's extra snuggly.  The little chunker has had no problem gaining weight, however!  We took him in last Monday for a sick visit, and he weighed 9 pounds 8 ounces.  Just three days later he had his one month appointment.  He weighed 9 pounds 14 ounces.  Quite the gain, especially for being sick!

Lessons from Mary and Joseph

I recently had to write an article for Alex's preschool newsletter.  Here is what was on my heart:

Even though Christmas is long past, I learned a lot from the Christmas story this past December, and saw the stories in a new light.  Christmas allowed me to grow and change, both as a mother and as a daughter of God. 

My husband and I have been on a journey to adopt a baby girl for over 18 months.  We’ve hit roadblock after roadblock.  I was doing a pretty decent job of keeping up my morale, my faith in God, my stamina until last May.  We discovered that we were unexpectedly pregnant.  To say the least, I was not thrilled.  My heart was in adoption.  I went into somewhat of an emotional and spiritual tailspin as I questioned God:  “WHAT are you doing?  YOU called us to adopt, and now THIS happens?”  And so on and so forth.  Not my finest moments.  Then I heard a sermon about Mary in December.  Mary had quite the unexpected pregnancy.  Not only was her pregnancy extremely unexpected, but the child was to be the son of God.  Mary handled herself with such grace and poise.  I was ashamed.  I knew that this child was a gift from God, cognitively at least, but I finally felt it in my heart.  This child really WAS a gift from God.  He was trusting me with another child to raise into His family.  My perspective shifted and changed, thanks to the Christmas story.

Then, the very next week, I heard a sermon on Joseph.  The theme of the sermon was immediate obedience.  Joseph was told to marry Mary, in spite of her condition, and he did.  Immediately.  There are several other instances, in the Christmas story, where he obeys immediately.  So often, when I feel called to do something by God, I want to email my small group, email my moms group, talk it over with my family, receive prayer, etc. and then AFTER receiving confirmation, follow through on God’s call.  Those are all wonderful things, but what a blessing it would be to God if I just immediately obeyed, without question.  The other half of it, Joseph obeyed when it didn’t make logical sense.  I’m sure everyone thought he was crazy.  No one would have faulted him for quietly leaving Mary, as he planned to do. 

Grant and I had stalled on our licensure for foster care.  After hearing the sermon about immediate obedience, even when it doesn’t make sense, we gathered the rest of our paperwork that night.  We submitted it the very next day.  And now, as of Baby Ryan’s official due date, January 16^th, we are licensed foster parents!   I’m sure no one expected us to pursue foster care while I was 9 months pregnant.  Certainly, by the world’s standards, it didn’t make sense. 

Hopefully our adoption journey will come to a conclusion sometime in the near future.  It has been a journey with many bumps and valleys, but I have no doubt that God has used everything to make me into more of His image.   And, Ryan has proved ever since his birth that he truly is a blessing to our family! 

Ryan's Newborn Photos

Our awesome friend and photographer, Kim Melendy, came over to our house to take some newborn shots of Ryan when he was two weeks old.  She did a fantastic job!  Here are some of my favorites:  

Ryan Raymond Anderson

We started 2013 off with a bang!!  Ryan Raymond Anderson made his way into the world on January 1st, 2013 at 1:32pm.  He weighed 7 pounds, 6 ounces and was 20.25 inches long.  He, of course, has lots of reddish blonde hair, just like his brothers!

We had had a long, extremely fun Christmas week.  My brother, his four kids, wife and dog left on New Years Eve morning.  The four of us spent a quiet day at home, putting away Christmas decorations, playing with new Christmas gifts and relaxing.  We didn't even tell Alex and Noah that it was a holiday and put them to bed at their normal times.  I was in bed at 9:30pm.  Grant came up to wish me happy new year, and I don't even think I opened my eyes!  We were all nice and well rested when I woke up at 7am to a little two year old wanting to snuggle.  It was then that I realized my water had broken!  I called for Grant, who was not convinced.  (Okay, so I *may* have had a false alarm, or two, or four, during this pregnancy....)   We decided to give it some time and see what happened.  After about 10 minutes, it was clear that my water had indeed broken.  Grant got into super-dad mode and started packing and calling people and moving at warp speed throughout the house while saying "This is NOT a drill!" The problem became, WHO do you call at 7am on New Years Day?  EVERYone is tired from the night before.  Thankfully, Mom and Dad were willing to come watch Alex and Noah while we went to the hospital to get things started.  (Uncle Scott and Aunt Lynne were a HUGE help and came to watch the boys soon after so that my parents could be at the hospital for the birth.)

We arrived at Christ around 9:45am.  It took awhile to get the resident to come check me, test me for amniotic fluid (which was negative, despite the fact that I was, in fact, sitting in a puddle on the bed...), call my OB, call my cardiologist, get the Medtronic rep to come to the hospital to disable my device, hook up heart monitors, etc.  I had a WONDERFUL nurse who coordinated everyone flawlessly.  (And gave me an awesome bear hug as I was getting my spinal/epidural.)  I think that this was the smoothest c-section I've had yet.  The anesthesiologist was fantastic.  I felt good the whole time.  Ryan came out crying and screaming with very healthy lungs!  He cried and cried, which was such a wonderful sound!  He was so active in the womb that he had tied a knot in his cord.  It was a good thing that he came early.  If he had pulled it tight, he could have been a stillborn.  Thank you God for watching over my little wiggle worm!

I finally got to hold Ryan on the way to recovery.  He latched on right away and nursed for 35 minutes the very first time!  He is a champ.  While in recovery, I found out that the hospital planned on moving me to the cardiac floor for 24 hours for monitoring, but planned on keeping baby up on the post-partum floor.  They had a breast pump all ready for me to use for those first 24 hours.  As soon as they told me, I refused.  I was not willing to not see my child for his first 24 hours of life!  After a long, drawn out process, involving LOTS of hospital personnel, a request to be transferred to Children's Hospital, and some very kind nurses, they agreed to let me stay on the post-partum floor while being monitored by the nurses from the cardiac floor.  

Big brothers Alex and Noah came to the hospital to meet Ryan later that evening.  They were both very unsure of what was going on.  They were both very quiet and not themselves.  As the week progressed, they opened up a little more each time they came to visit.  We had lots of other visitors as well.  Gramee and Papa, Shelly S., Missi K., Laura K. all came to visit at the hospital.  

He is named after Grant's brother, David Ryan, and best friend, Ryan.  His middle name is after my maternal grandfather, Raymond Chauncey Dickerson.  

Ryan is a great baby.  He's been a great nurser ever since his very first time.  He is a very content baby, as long as he is being held.  He cries through most diaper changes and bath times.  He seems to be the best sleeper out of all 3!  (At least so far, knock on wood!)  He already is giving me a 5 hour stretch at night.  He'll nurse and then go right back to sleep.  His brothers love him very much and are very helpful.  They say "Hi Ryan!" LOTS of times through out the day and like to bring him toys, clothes, blankets, binkies, etc.  

Ryan had his first cardiology appointment this week.  His echo and EKG don't show any signs of the HCM.  He does have some trabeculation in his left ventricle.  It could be nothing, or it could be worrisome.  We sent off his genetic test.  We should hear back within a month.  If he does not have the gene, he'll still be followed by cardiology just to make sure his left ventricle continues to perform at a high level (probably about once a year).  If he does have the gene, he'll be followed pretty closely (every 3 months or so).