We're Home

Well, the past two weeks have been a roller coaster of "fun".
Nicholas was discharged from the hospital last night and we are finally home and resting.
Nicholas still has the pneumonia, probably will for the next few weeks, but we have plenty of medicine to help us fight it! He is definitely worn out and it shows in his crankiness and his willingness to lay around on the couch- as he is now doing!
We're still watching his fluid intake to make sure he doesn't get any more dehydrated but he seems to be doing pretty well!
His surgery scars are just about completely healed although his throat does hurt still. That should go away in the next week or so.
We received such amazing care while at Goryeb Children's Hospital. The nurses, doctors and techs were amazingly caring and compassionate. They were not only concerned for Nicholas but also for our well being and comfort while there.
I was able to stay with Nicholas all day and night and grandma and pop-pop would come up and relieve me constantly so I could run to the cafeteria or just pop out of the hospital for a brief moment. Pat was there every night after work to spend time with Nicholas and give him a break mommy!
Thank you so much to every one who called or texted or stopped by or sent over something a little special for Nicholas. We cannot thank you enough! We appreciate all your thoughts and prayers and we are sure that they have helped Nicholas do so well!
It looks like we are finally nearing the edge of the forest and hopefully this will be over soon!
For obvious reasons, I did not have my camera with us in the hospital but I was able to snap a few shots of Nicholas with my cell phone.
These are from the first day or two.
Thank you again!!

Quick Update

I haven't been able to write because our little man is in the hospital. (I know a lot of you already know this from my emails) My mom is there with him now so that I could see Addie and take a break and I just wanted to let you all know that we appreciate your thoughts and prayers. Nicholas has pneumonia and it looks like has developed asthma. We're also dealing with dehydration because his throat is still sore from his surgery. He's doing ok. His spirits are kind of low which I think is the worst part of this. He's getting the very best care possible and is exactly where he should be. We're not sure when we're being discharged, things are very much hour to hour right now!
Thanks for checking in and keep the prayers coming!

I Spoke too Soon

Well, I spoke WAY too soon. I thought we were out of the woods with our boy Nicholas. Turns out we are nowhere near the edge of the forest. Nicholas has not been getting better and his fever, since Friday, has not broken. Yesterday, I took him into the pediatrician because I was trying to avoid a revisit to the Emergency Room. The pediatrician ran a few brief tests and gave Nicholas some medication in a most uncomfortable place and then directed us back to Goryeb Children's Hospital and our friends at the ER.

We, Nicholas, my mom and I, arrived at the hospital and waited roughly a half an hour, after being recognized by the registration attendant. We were called in by probably one of the nicest nurses/techs I have ever met and experienced, Jack. We headed back into the treatment area of the pediatric ER and within 45 seconds of being placed in a room we were greeted by the same doctor we met with on Saturday. He began caring for Nicholas without any charts or preliminaries of anything. Both he and Jack were wonderful with our scared, but brave, little guy. Nicholas had an exam and it was determined that we needed to run blood tests and get some x-rays of his chest. We also needed to have an IV started because he was borderline dehydrated. The plan was quickly set into motion and Nicholas braved his chest x-ray like a champ. Within 10 minutes of the x-ray being done a preliminary diagnosis was handed down- Nicholas has pneumonia. From there came blood tests, IV antibiotics and lots of IV fluids. It was up in the air about whether or not he would be admitted and actually came down to the last 5 minutes we were in the hospital. Part of me, as crazy as it sounds, wanted him to be admitted. I wanted the "comfort" of knowing there were trained and skilled professionals watching over my son and taking care of him. The other part just wanted to get him home and let him relax and be comfortable in his own space and bed (Actually our bed!). He was not admitted. We left the hospital late last night and are headed back to the doctor today for another check up. Our boy is on high dose antibiotics and lots of fluids. Hopefully, that will clear this thing out of him in the next week or so! Any thoughts and prayers you can send our way, are greatly appreciated!
Thanks for all the calls and texts, we're sorry we didn't get back to everyone but we will!

Addison Update

We've been so consumed with Nicholas and his recovery, as we should be, that we've "neglected" to update on our not so small peanut, Addison.
Addison will be turning 1 next month and we can't believe an entire year has already gone by! I can still VIVIDLY remember the morning we found out we were having Addison and now we'll be celebrating the big 1!!
Addison is tipping the scales at over 20 pounds so we're just counting the days until she can face forward in her car seat and enjoy the array of Diego and Dora flicks that grace our minivan. She has 4 teeth that are completely through and she's working on two more. By her birthday I'm guessing she'll have all 6 with a few more coming in. She is moments away from walking. She refuses to sit down anymore and demands to stand and cruises around the entire house. She's become quite the pro with her push walker toy and I'm just waiting for the day when she comes running into our room in the morning. (After having propelled herself out of her crib, of course!)
When I say that she eats everything in sight, I'm not kidding! For a few months now she's been enjoying stage 3 foods and we've been introducing table foods as well. She loves her biter biscuits and her stars- as you can see from previous pictures. She's had refried beans, guacamole, ice cream, pudding, yogurt, and she's even on whole milk already! The Pièce de résistance is that these past few days while spending time at grandma and pop-pop's Addie took a little mini trip to "Italy" with her food choices. Addison sampled pizza, which she's had before, lasagna, meatballs and sauteed broccoli rabe! I was shocked when I found out! She is quite the little eater and we couldn't be happier! Last night she even tried my first foray into French cooking and ate my Supreme of Chicken with balsamic shallot sauce!

She's been starting to use words, too. Grandma and pop-pop taught her where her nose is and she's learned how to say bread and book. She imitates just about every sound she hears, things like Boo and Moo. We're teaching her all the animal sounds and she's almost got cow and dog mastered! I'm thinking, for my sanity's sake, I may want to slow down on the talking and just let her tackle the walking! :)
We head back to the doctor in the middle of March for her one year check up and we're expecting high numbers! ;) Keep checking back for pictures of both kids. As Nicholas gets better we're trying to snap more pictures of the two of them together because it's really the only way to get them to slow down!
So, there you have all you wanted to know about our almost 1 "peanut" Addison! :)

Snow Day...Sick Day

Well, it has been QUITE a few days. Let's recap....

Wednesday everything was shut down up here. Luckily for me, school was closed for the day due to some bad weather- lots of snow and ice. We lost power pretty early on so after a few pictures, I packed up the kids and everything that they would need for Wednesday and the next day at the hospital and we headed down to grandma and pop-pop's to stay warm.

ICE

Enjoying breakfast just after the power blew before it got too cold!

Addison refused to look at the camera and would only stare at her big brother!

I caught her dumping out the star puffs to snack on while I was getting everything ready to go!

Thursday was Nicholas' surgery. His surgery was one of the first of the day so we were at the hospital nice and early and actually got into the operating room early which meant the procedure was done early. It was a horrible feeling to see my little guy "pass out" from the gas but I knew I was leaving him in excellent hands. The surgery went very well and the doctor was really happy with the outcome. We waited for what seemed like forever- an hour or so- to be called into recovery. Once in there we began the roller coaster that has been the past few days. Nicholas was doing pretty well, or as well as could be expected after major surgery. He looked miserable and was clearly uncomfortable. The nurses and doctors were WONDERFUL! He did not have a fever at that point was horribly clammy and cold and nauseous. He was loaded up with a bunch of pain killers and anti-nausea meds and eventually fell asleep. We were in recovery for roughly 3.5 to 4 hours, about 2 hours longer than the doctors had anticipated. We took our little guy back to grandma and pop-pop's for a little bit where we showered him with puddings, milkshakes, lollipops, and tons of ice cream. We headed home and had a somewhat rough night of coughing fits and lots of pain. The poor little guy took it like a real trooper. Friday dawned and I thought it was a whole new day. Nicholas appeared to being SO MUCH BETTER. He played, took his medicines, enjoyed time with grandma and ate like a CHAMP! Friday night rolled around and the new day was done. Nicholas spiked a fever and soon became increasingly uncomfortable and grouchy- as you would, too! Another rough night followed by this morning. Nicholas' fever went up even more and we were off to the hospital for the morning. We had some things checked and looked at to make sure there was no pneumonia or extensive infection developing. Luckily, there is not. The doctor at the pediatric ER in Morristown was WONDERFUL! (I've said it before, I cannot say enough good things about the Goryeb Children's Hospital!) We loaded Nicholas up on a bunch of his medicines and headed to grandma and pop-pop's. I wanted to stay close to the hospital because there was a chance of the fever going even higher. Plus, grandma and pop-pop are so great with Nicholas and making him feel better no matter how crappy he feels!
Nicholas slept most of the day away today and is currently sleeping next to me on the couch. He's in pain. He's miserable. He's taking it like a real trooper. This surgery, as every doctor we've spoken to has said, is major surgery for anyone but for a little person like our guy it's even worse. To top it all off, the medicine he's on tastes TERRIBLE! I can't tell you how hard it is to see your little one suffer like this but I know that the surgery was for the best and completely necessary.
Thank you to everyone who has sent your thoughts and prayers, we so appreciate them and so very grateful for them! We're sorry we haven't been in more contact but as you can see it's been a little nuts! Thanks and please continue to remember our little guy in your thoughts and prayers over the next few days and week.

This was taken in the hospital this morning.
Nicholas never just falls asleep like this.
Poor little guy!

This was taken tonight in a brief moment of being awake.

Happy 3rd Birthday!

Yesterday was Nicholas' 3rd birthday!
We celebrated by throwing a small party with family.
Nicholas really enjoyed himself and played all day with his cousins and aunts and uncles.
It was a really nice time and we were so happy to see everyone who could make it to celebrate with us!
Thank you to everyone who was so generous and giving!
We are so grateful!

The Birthday Boy

Pulling Open the Pinata

Pop-pop and Addison
(She is smiling even though it looks like crying!)

The Birthday Boy and His Cake
(That's a special "I'm 3 years old bib" from his Aunt and Uncle and Cousins!
Nicholas has one for each birthday!!)

Addison being amused by Pop-pop and Uncle Mike

Michelle, our main photographer, and Addison!

Nicholas and his Stella Cousins

Aunt Janet and Addie

Nicholas learning something new from Pop-pop and Uncle Mike

Nicholas and his cousin Matty

Paging Dr. Stella

These next few days will be spent getting ready for Nicholas' 3rd birthday as well as preparing him for his surgery on Thursday. We bought Nicholas a number of books recommended by the Child Life Specialists at the hospital as well as talking with him about what was going to happen on Valentine's Day. I found out today that we won't be able to get in for a tour of the hospital and operating room before the surgery but the Child Life Specialist at the Goryeb Children's Hospital was wonderfully helpful!

She spent about 25 minutes on the phone with me this morning giving me all sorts of tips on how to prepare our little guy for Thursday. She then offered to make Nicholas a bag of "goodies" to help him get familiar with what was going to happen and what he was going to see. I headed up to the hospital today and met with her for a little bit longer and picked up Nicholas' goodie bad. I was keeping my fingers crossed for some scrubs but no such luck! ;)
Nicholas received a surgical mask, a surgical hat/hair protector, an anesthesia mask, some stickers, a band aid, a Dr. Mickey picture to color and an entire coloring book about having surgery that he actually sat and listened to and then colored. He did really well as we talked about what was going to happen. I think he will probably be scared, I am and would be, but I think a few more days of talking and using the masks and hat will help him. Here are a few shots of his first try at getting into his doctor gear. I'll have to hang on to these just in case he really does become a doctor!

Showing us how to use the anesthesia mask.
(This was the part I thought he was going to hate.
He seems pretty ok with it being over his mouth and nose!)

Nicholas' post anesthesia face

Dr. Nicholas Stella

Checking Out His Dr. Mickey Picture

The Bravest Little Guy I Know

This is Nicholas, in case you didn't know, and he's the bravest little guy I know!
Nicholas is having what I consider to be pretty major surgery next week. He's having his tonsils removed and his adenoids removed and he's having another set of tubes put into his ears.
Nicholas has had surgery before, it was quick and easy, really nothing compared to this.
This surgery is necessary because Nicholas is starting to lose his hearing again. He's starting to lose his balance and he's having problems talking and breathing. We're also beginning to see that Nicholas might be having problems with tasting his food and that could be causing some eating problems.
This surgery should actually help to clear up all of those things. This surgery is actually like a mini miracle for our little guy.
Nicholas went for his pre-operative testing today and he was just so very brave.
(Mommy, not so much.)
He sat on my lap and let the very nice, and skilled, nurse stick him with the needle and "hunt" around for a vein. He cried but I think it was more from this completely different and pretty scary experience more than the pain. Although, I'm sure the pain was pretty painful!
He just did so great! I didn't bring a camera to snap any shots but you can imagine him being brave and wonderful and calm.
Nicholas turns 3 this Sunday!
We planned a small party but everyone is welcome!
If you're in the area and you have some partying vibes in you, feel free to stop by!
We'd love for everyone to be here to celebrate our brave little guy!
Nicholas will be celebrating his 3rd Valentine's Day in the operating room and we ask that all of you think of him and pray for him.

This is Nicholas and he's turning 3 this Sunday and he's the bravest Little Guy We Know!

It's a Beautiful Big Blue Thing!

GO BIG BLUE!

Did I call it or what?
:)

GAME TIME

Well, the game is on.
The Giants were first to score and I'm still holding strong to them winning.

We'll see...
I thought I'd take this opportunity, during the "sad" Super Bowl Commercials, to post
some Game Time pictures from today!
We've had quite a full day today...food shopping, baking, cooking, and just having a nice time!

Father and Son getting ready for some Football!

Nicholas showing us how he gets ready to throw

This was after a tackle by Daddy

I had her attention for a brief moment then she became captivated by something else...

A Very Cute picture but I'm going to start passing the camera off to Daddy...
There are no pictures of Mommy with the kids!

What you can't see is that on his lap are his snacks.

"What are you talking about?!?! The Giants are DEFINITELY going to win the Super Bowl!
It's my first one, they wouldn't disappoint me!!"

Pre-Gaming

Tomorrow's the Super Bowl and while my first choice during the season is usually the Eagles, I will be wholeheartedly and enthusiastically rooting for the Giants.

I even will go so far as to say that the Giants will win.
That's right, they're going to win and beat that baby Tom Brady into a pulp!
Ok...enough "trash talking".
Here are a few pictures from last night with Daddy and then today at Grandma and Pop-pop's.

Addison loves playing with her big brother!
They play with Nicholas' Crash and Smash cars on a regular basis!

Our handsome almost 3 year old big boy!

Isn't this a sweet picture?

One of the best...this was shot 20 out of 40

Too Freaking Cute!!

The end of the night...we barely made it up to bed!
He had to walk himself up to bed since I can't carry him...he would stop every few steps to do this!