An official toddler...

Brayden officially began walking last week. Here is a video that we took of it. Let toddlerdom officially begin...

Let the boating season begin!

We are so excited to be here in Atlanta for the boating season! We have already gone 3 times and are loving it. Brayden is a terrific little boater. He is so good about not fussing when he has to wear his life jacket, he loves to help drive the boat, ride the tube, and splash in the water. This last trip, he and Grandma got some ducks to come over and they fed them crackers together. The boat is still magic and can still lull Brayden to sleep. Here are some pictures from our trips so far. Em water skiing. I was a little out of shape but hey...come on now..i had a baby 6 weeks ago so its ok!

Jason got some really great air on some of his wakeboard jumps...unfortunately this was not one of the successful attempts.

What a stud muffin!

Brayden driving the boat with Grandpa. He was so tired and it mesmerized him so much he feel asleep right them on Grandpa's lap and the wheel. It was pretty funny.

The water was a little cold but Brayden didn't mind getting his legs in the water and splashing around.

Jason slalom skiing.

We teach them young how to waterski and wakeboard. Brayden has already learned how to hold the rope.

Dad, in his old age, couldn't bear getting into the cold water without a wetsuit.

Lots of progress for London....

I am so happy to report that London is doing much better. On Thursday, London got her oxygen taken off since she does not need help breathing any more. On Friday, London graduated to a crib from her isolette! Today, Sunday, she got her iv turned off and is back to her normal feeding amount. Hopefully she can begin taking bottles again tomorrow. London is getting big...she is 4lbs. 2.8 oz. She is now as big as Brayden was when he was born and the funny thing is that she looks so huge to me now and I remember thinking how tiny Brayden looked when he was born. We are so happy that London is doing better. All she has left to work on is eating and then she can come home! Yay!

Check out all that hair!

London's new crib!

Our sweet London Taylor Sessions (given the middle name of Taylor after Brooks and AmyAnn who set Jason and I up.)

London Update...a few set backs but some progress once again...

These past couple of days we have been sort of at a stand still with London progress. On Saturday and Sunday, London got really sick and couldn't keep anything down at both ends of her poor little body. She lost about 4 ounces and so the doctors did a bunch of tests to see what was going on. She got put back on an IV and all of her feedings were stopped. They thought she might be lactose intolerant or that she had colitis or that she had some virus. She got put on no contact and then reduced to only contact precautions, meaning that we had to wear gloves and a paper gown in case she had some disease. They were able to rule out colitis and all of her virus tests have come back negative. We are still waiting on one virus test result to come back. The doctors think that London has a milk protein allergy. They started her back on a special formula, neocate, yesterday and she has done good on it so far. We are hoping that they can try and wean her to another type of formula that is cheaper (the one she is on is about 40$ a 14 oz can and special order only). Today they were able to turn off her oxygen since she is doing good breathing on her own and if everything goes good today they will be able to put her in a crib tomorrow. The doctors are cautious about making lots of changes because they don't want to stress London out. We hit 6 weeks old on Saturday. I can't believe it has already been 6 weeks! London's gained back most of the weight she has lost. She is 3 lbs. 13 oz now and has grown 2 inches since she was born. We are hoping that she can begin taking a bottle again on Monday or so. No word on when she can come home yet but for now we are just hanging in here and glad that London is doing as good as she has been. Until then, we will continue the daily trek to the hospital...not much different i guess from when she will first come home and we will make about 3-4 trips a week to the pediatrician to check London's progress.

(On Sunday, I was talking to my visiting teaching companion and she was telling me how they had a baby at 26 weeks that did not live because it's lungs were not developed enough. It made me think of how grateful I am that London is doing as good as she is since that is only a 3 week difference. )

We are so grateful for everyone's messages and support and love. They make a huge difference and help us keep going! We will keep updating everyone on what is going on. (I didn't put up any new pictures since London has been covered in tubes recently and that isn't very fun...hopefully some new ones soon)

All I want to do is...

Brayden is such a true blue little boy! He wants to grunt and groan and play with his trucks and toys. He loves to be loud and hear himself talk. All he wants to do is walk around and go outside. He loves being outside! He makes the funniest faces as seen here in these pictures. He is growing like a weed and is getting to be a heavy chunker and we love him!

London Update: A long and frustrating week...but she finally got a bottle!

We have now hit the 5 week mark. London has had lots of ups and downs this week. Her breathing has been all over the place and so she still has her oxygen on. She is still in her isolette since she can't quite maintain her own temperature yet but she is close. London is up to 3 lbs. 14oz...were almost to 4 big pounds! She has been having trouble with her digestive system and bowels again and so they did x-rays this afternoon to see what was going on and they are watching her to see is she has developed N.E.C. (pronounced "neck") ( i think that is the initials for it...i don't know). They will do another x-ray tonight and then tomorrow morning to see how things are looking. So that means they put her back on an iv and are holding her feedings for now until they figure out what is going on. On the positive side, London got her first bottle on Friday. She did really well with it. I had prepared myself for the worst since Brayden had such a hard time learning to eat but London did really well. She drank half of the bottle and then the poor little thing was so worn out she went to sleep but I am not complaining...15 out of 30 cc's is good! (That's 1/2 an ounce she drank). She only gets one bottle a day and then rest of her feedings are done through a tube since she doesn't have enough energy to do more right now...or so the doctors tell us. We are trying to take it one day at a time but it can be frustrating. After 5 long weeks, I am ready for London to come home. But, I am grateful that she is getting the care that she needs and is doing as well as she is. Things could be a lot worse. I have to keep reminding myself of that. I am cherishing my sleep at night though since I know it will all go out the window when she comes home and then a chance of a nap during the day with Brayden and her will be slim to none. It is nice to have some energy again and not be pregnant and to wear regular clothes...well most of them. If I actually started running or something maybe they would all fit but I will get there eventually. We are hoping for a good week so that London is closer to coming home and being with us!

London Update...my purple girl...

Just trying to keep everyone updated on our little London...
It has been an ok past week...some progress and some low points. Last Sunday, they had to give London a blood transfusion because her blood count was so low. She was also having trouble breathing and kept D-stating (forgetting to breath and dropping her heart rate). They increased her calorie rate yet again so she is on a super super high calorie formula plus human growth hormones. Currently, London weighs 3lbs. 7oz. They are working on weening her out of her isolette since she is almost 3 1/2 lbs...the bench mark for being in a bassinet/crib. She still has her oxygen on but we are still hoping that she can get it off soon. I can't believe it has been 4 weeks since she was born! London got a stuffed lamb from Grandma Rupp which is actually a 3 inch finger puppet and yet it is almost too big for her little size and she can fit her whole hand in the finger hole. The first picture is of London in a premie onsie...still huge on her! I have to say that this hospital is great at dressing London. They have so many people donate blankets and clothes. We have gotten onsies and little dresses and blankets and hats...she is a purple girl...she looks terrific in purple with her dark hair.

This picture shows a great representation of how little London is...compared to the 3 inch finger puppet...

Video of Brayden walking...