You talkin' to ME??

Trick-or-Treat

Halloween was fun for me this year. I got to dress Emma ans Brennen in matching costumes. Emma was Dorothy and Brennen was the scarecrow. We went to a friends house to trick or treat and scored some good candy. Emma even got a whole snicker bar at one house! Being the kid he is she gave it to her daddy because it was his favorite. Emma had fun and Brennen slept through most of it. It sure was an adventure trekking in the snow though

Fall Storm

This year snow came early. Our Fall storm brought us 17 nches in the Denver Metro area. In one part of the mountains they got 4feet!! Snow is always welcomed if you don't have to go anywhere.

Anderson Farms

We made our 3rd Annual trip to Anderson Farms in Erie, CO. This year Uncle Travis was here to go with us. We also went with some new friends that we meet who recently moved from Dallad, Texas. This was Brennen's first trip to the farm. He didn't really care much. I got my rib ion a stick and Bo got steak on a tick. I think they sold just about anything on a stick there. We say a baby Alpaca that was just 24 hrs old, some pretty crazy goats and of course the best Pumpkin patch around cant wait until next year. Emma always look forward to the Pumpkin Patch.
She pretty much talks about it all year long.

Cheekies

Those cheeks always make me smile. Looks like Brennen is ready for the winter

Cousins finally meet

Just 2 months apart, Brennen and Baby Garlic (Emma's name for Scarlett)finally meet!!

First Day of ALL DAY school

Is it Christmas already?? Emma started going to school ALL DAY this year. The bus pickes her up at home at 8:22am and droppes her off at 3:35pm. Emma loves riding the bus and going to school all day. She has 2 teachers now and cant stop talking about all her new friends, Robert, Charlie, Manuel... I havent heard her talk about any girls though. Maybe I might be in trouble.

The Royal Gorge

A thousand feet up in the air over the Arkansas River. The Royal Gorge Bridge is an awesome sight. It sure was windy up there.

Focus on the Family HQ & Elich Gardens

Some other fun places we went were The Focus on the Family HQ down in Colorado Springs. They have a cool play area for the kids, a Soda Shoppe set up as if you were in Whit's End (Adventure in Odyssey) and it was all interactive. We also went to Elich Gardens (formally Six Flags) I hadn't been on a roller coaster in a long time. I forgot the rush you get from riding those things!

The Coors Factory Tour

Drove down to up to Golden to go to the Coors Brewing Factory. It's a FREE tour that takes you all though the factory. At the end you fer 3 8oz samples. Pretty good deal to me! Emma got to make a penny ans use her "Big" muscles as she says.

Nana and Jaime came to visit this summer for 10 days. When they came Emma said it was like Christmas because they had so many bags and gifts. In one of the B=bags was this "Blue dress" I don't think Emma went 10 days before she didn't wear it for at least an hour. She says she has to wear it because it makes her a Princess. I'm sure the crown and "glass" slipper light up shoes help.

Arapahoe County Fair

This summer went by pretty fast. We decised to check out The County fair. It was pretty small compaired to the LA and OC fairs I'm used too but it was fun and Emma had a blast. For the life of us we could NOT convince Emma to go on any rides. When she saw the slide she was determined to go down it. I liked the licture so much of her sliding down with her daddy i entered it in a "Summer" photo contest on Shutterfly.com. Who knows if it will win?? Maybe? Who knows?

FINALLY! Emma wanted to hold Brennen

10 weeks 9 lbs 9 oz

Brennen is getting bigger right before our eyes. At his doctors visit this last week he was 9lbs 9oz Doctor seems to be happy with his weight gain. He is definitely still small for his age but considering where he started he is doing well. We are STILL trying to get him off the O2. He has another test this week sometime and God willing we will be able to start weening him off the O2. Cant wait for the day we don't trip over the long cord running through our apt!! Thanks for your continued prayers for Brennen and our family.

Family of 4

Brennen turned 2 months old yesterday. Hard to believe he has only been home for 3 1/2 weeks of that. We are still working on getting him off the oxygen. He is much more alert and is very fond of his pacifier. Even just over these past few weeks I have noticed that he is a much different baby than Emma was. Brennen is much more demanding when he's hungry or needs some attention. Emma is doing pretty good adjusting to being a big sister. I still haven't been able to get her to hold him. Brushing his hair after a bath is as closes as she will get.

VBS

This was a big week for Emma. Her baby brother came home AND it was VBS week. Emma looks forward to this week every year. This was her first year not in the pre-school program and it was a big difference. She go to make all the crafts and bring them home and share them with us. This year the theme was Crocodile Rock. The slogan was "Fear Not." Everytime someone would say 'God is with you" the kids would respond with shouting "Fear Not." What a great message for little kids to learn. It's something as adults we often forget.

Brennen is finally home!!

Good news! Brennen is home!! He looks like a little peanut in his car seat but he will grow into it fast I'm sure. He weighes 6lbs 5oz now and is on the lowest setting of O2. His doctor will let us know when its time to take him off. I am so happy to report that he is home and doing well. One night down... 18 yrs to go

NOT a fan of water

A few days ago we gave Brennen a real bath. He wasn't too happy about it. It looks like Brennen has a milk allergy. It's not 100% for sure but they are feeding him lactose free formula and it seems to be working well. We are hoping that Brennen will take to his new formula and also take his feeding with a bottle and not have to use the feeding tube. He is on the lowest O2 setting there is. He is still at about 5lbs 13oz. We noticed that the nurses got a package of newborn diapers so it looks like he'll be moving up from preemies soon. Hopefully Brennen will be home soon. We are anxious to get the Boeckner 4 started!!!

What a cry

Baby Brennen grunts

Brennen Video

Brennen is 5 lbs 10 oz as of tonight

Lightning Show

Had a lightning show tonight. Here is a little bit of it

This cost me a cookie

Went to take Emma to visit Brennen today. This is the closest she has ever been to him. It took about 5 minutes of begging and a promise of a cookie from the cafeteria for us to get her to get close enough to take picture with her brother. Brennen will start his feeds again tomorrow. They decided to just finish up the full 7 days of antibiotics before starting the feeds again. He is up to 4lbs 14 oz. Hard to believe that is how big Emma was when we took her home. Brenne will probbaly be pretty close to being out of preemie clothes and diapers by the time he comes home. Still don't know when that will be, but everyday is one step closer

A little set back

Brennen has had a little set back. He has a pocket of air in his bowel. It leaves room for infection to grow and cause some problems. The good thing is that the docs found it before the infection was able to grow. Thank God! The set back is that they had to stop his feeds and put him on antibiotics as a precaution. After that they will start his feeds slowly. Another cause could be a milk allergy. In that case if they start feeding him again and he gets the air pocket again. The docs will go from there. In the meantime He is just sleeping and growing and getting stronger. 5 more days of meds and then we start the feeding process again. Poor little guy had to get poked again for an IV but hopefully it wont be for to long. He is doing a really good job starting to suck. He LOVES is "B" If he can practice while he gets better then the learning to feed
process should go much smoother once we can start to bottle feed. The nurse even mentioned that after he get better from this he sould be able to be moved into a crib rather than the isolete. One day at a time. Everyday we are closer to taking him home. "Be still and know that I am God" Psalm 46:10

Visiting Brennen

Gaining weight

Brennen is growing!! He is now 4lbs 7oz. He gained 2 oz in 1 day. That's pretty good for a little guy. He is breathing on his own with the a little bit of O2 help. He is IV free!! He is taking his feeding well and had no need for extra help. He is still being fed through a tube. Soon we will be able to start teaching him to take a bottle. We visit Brennen everyday at 8:30pm during his cares. We (by we I mean me) change his diaper, put on clean jammies, hold him and let him know we are there. We've gotten to know a few of the nurses and Brennen has even had 2 different nurses sign up to be his primary care nurse. Please keep Angie and Sandy in your prayers as they are taking care of our little boy.

Daddy's First Hold

We went last night to visit Brennen and were happy to see that he was taken off the C PAP and but on only the nasal cannula. So far so good. He has been breathing on his own and is looking pretty good. His feeding continue to be increased. He is almost up to an oz. per feeding. The nurse told us that he has started to have big boy poops, cant wait for those. They also took him out from under the photo therapy lights. Looks like his jaundice is gone. Daddy got to hold his son for the first time last night. I'm sure you can tell by the picture that this made him very happy.

Vent free!

Today Brennen was taken off the vent. He was in this little bubble for about 3 hrs before they had to put him back on the C-pap (the next step after the vent, but before breathing on his own) Two steps forward one step back. He's working as hard as he can to get breathing on his own. We will just have to wait and see when that will be. He is taking his feeding very well and the nurse continues to increase his feeding everyday. We are taking it day by day.

Brennen Ryan is Here

Brennen Ryan is here and letting the world know it. For being a premature one he sure has alot to say. He came into the world on 5/19 at 8:48pm via C-Section, weighing in at 4lbs 3 oz. I tried for as long as I could to keep him in there but my body just wasn't having it. He did require some help
breathing. Docs said it should only be a few days for him to be on the vent. That would allow him to take his feeding better and have to work less in the meantime to maintain his breathing.

DHH Track & Field Day

Today was the Deaf & Hard of Hearing Track & Field Day. We headed out this morning to a local high school to participate in a day of events.

As always Emma had a great time. She wanted to wear a hat and said it was like "Auntie Ella."
Emma got to go under the Parachute and jump

in the Potato sack race. Emma decided that she wanted to race in the opposite direction that everyone else did. Oh well. Its all in the name of fun. Luckily the weather was

beautiful so it wasnt too hot.

Disneyland 2009

This summer Emma went to Disneyland with Gamma, Nana, Ha bout it, and Auntie Ella. Mom and Dad didnt get to go this time. Next time for sure all the Boeckners will be there. All 4 of us!!!

Palm Sunday Praise Singers

On Palm Sunday Emma and her Sunday school classmates sang on stage. They sang a few bible songs. Emma didn't really sing, she did more of a palm branch show/fight with the other kids. Either way it was nice to see her up there enjoying herself.