May was such a fun month because the first 8 days of it were spent back home in Texas with our wonderful family and friends! I shared pics from Peyton's party on the last post, but we did a lot more on our trip as well....
The day after Peyton's party was a wonderful day as well because we had Peyton dedicated at Sharon & Don's church, Bethel Presbyterian, the same church Lawson was dedicated at. We have always loved their church, but it became even more special to us last spring since they were so supportive when we were in Houston....they prayed for us, brought us meals, and I went to the women's Bible study every Tuesday which was a huge blessing since it was really my only outlet. Thanks to everyone who stayed to see Peyton dedicated..it was a very special morning indeed!
After the dedication, my best friends all came over for lunch. We were supposed to all get together Christmas of 2009, but that never happened because of Peyton's surprise arrival, so we finally got together again! One of them wasn't able to make it at the last minute due to her boys having fevers, but she was there in spirit! The reunion wasn't near long enough, but what a blessing it was to just hang out with my best friends and their sweet kiddos...one of them I met for the first time that day, and the others had all grown so much!
Here are Lawson and Reese playing together on the bed....they are long distance buds :) And here they are hugging when Reese had to leave...so sweet!!!!
On Monday, the very next day, we had 2 doctors appointments lined up and we went back to the NICU to visit old friends :) It was totally unplanned but it turned out this was May 2, a year to the day that Peyton was discharged! So neat to be back exactly a year later...as we got off of the elevator it felt like we'd never left! I guess once you spend 125 days somewhere, it feels sort of like home in a weird sort of way....let's just say you become very familiar with the place! Here are some pics of Peyton hanging out with some of his old nurses, doctors, & therapists. They loved seeing him and were amazed with his progress....praise God!
We also had appointments with the High Risk Infant Clinic there since Peyton is in a preemie research study of theirs. It was a great visit and once again the doctor was amazed at how much he had grown and how well he had done this past year.
Next we went to the Opthamologist who did his laser surgery. We knew she would probably tell us Peyton needed glasses since we knew his left eye was getting nearsighted, but it turned out to be a lot more nearsighted than we thought :( She also took pictures of his retinas (poor Peyton never likes her visits....we had to leave for 30 minutes b/c she said they cry so much while they do it), and we were able to see where the laser had burned the blood vessels on the back of his retinas and why the left eye was going nearsighted, a side effect from the ROP & surgery. We got glasses for him as soon as we got back to Colorado, and we have to patch his good eye 2 hours a day so that the left eye is forced to work and doesn't go "lazy." Here is a picture of him in his glasses, although we are getting him new ones soon that are plastic and have a headband so that they are more practical :)
Although we had mixed emotions about the whole thing, as it's not the first thing you want for your 1 year old, but yet we feel so blessed at the same time that he can see and that this is all he is having to deal with considering his history! We are definitely starting to get used to them now, and so is Peyton....he does a good job at keeping them on most of the time. In fact he didn't fuss at all when the guy put them on him...the man couldn't believe it and said "they always fuss!" Not Peyton--he's never fussed about them, but is sneaky about it instead; he'll take them off as soon as you walk out of the room sometimes!
Then Tuesday, it was on to our "Texas Tour" as we call it! We went first to see "Grannie" (Papa's mom) in Georgetown. It had almost been 2 years since our last visit....she was also on the schedule Chistmas '09, but God had other plans. And then we never saw each other while in Houston because I had to stay in Houston, and Grannie was undergoing radiation treatments for breast cancer, and thank the Lord she is doing great now! We had a wonderful visit, and I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful grandma....wish we could visit her all of the time.
On Wednesday, we stopped in Temple to say hello to Steven's grandparents, Dell & Burt. They hadn't seen Peyton before either, so it was good to see them! They took us out to eat some fried chicken for lunch---Lawson loved it and Peyton even loved the mashed potatoes---he wanted them much more than his baby food! No pictures of this visit, unfortunately :(
After lunch we headed a little further to Gatesville, where my other grandma (Cici's mom), "Nana" lives. We had so much fun at her house, as usual. I couldn't wait for the boys to play in her big backyard and sure enough they loved it! My cousin, Tara, also came the first day with her 2 precious daughters, so we all had a great time. Nothing better than being home with family and grandma's food :) Nana got to see Peyton in the hospital, but what a change since then...here are some pics of our wonderful visit!
While in Gatesville, we also got invited to see a good friend and fellow VP with Arbonne, Jessica, who now lives in Gatesville as well. Her, her husband, and their daughter live on a wildlife preserve of all places, so we were able to drive around and see all sorts of different wild animals, such as a huge elk and even zebras! Here is a pic of all of us at their wonderful log cabin home. Lawson also loved their big yard and swing!
On Friday, we hit the road again and stopped in College Station on the way back to relive old memories! It was so great to be back at A&M after all these years...neither one of us had been back for at least 6-7 years, so a lot had changed, but yet a lot was still the same. Oh, the memories!
Then we left good ole' College Station and made one more stop before getting home. We spent the night at "The Ranch"! Our longtime friends, Molly & David, invited us to stay with them at their family's ranch, and we are so glad they did....we just wish we could have stayed longer! It's a wonderful getaway and the kiddos love it b/c there is so much to do and so much open space
Finally, it was on to Papa & CiCi's house to spend our last day and night in Texas. We had a wonderful day outside in my parent's big yard....Lawson loved walking around in his boots and riding the lawn mower. Grammie & Poppie came over to exchange cars, celebrate Mother's Day, and say bye. Aunt Ash also joined us and we had a great dinner together. It was a great ending to a great trip!
Lawson loves his "Amazing Airplanes" book and always talks about the "flight deck" and now he got to sit in a real one on the way home! Thanks Captain!
Now for the Rest of May......!
Snow in May---what?!
Ran the Jr. League 4K run with the fam...don't be deceived....I ran the whole way, but not with the double stroller :) Just running it was a stretch since I literally haven't run in the past year and a half!
First Sunday back to go to church in awhile....Yay for the end of RSV, flu, & cold season!
Lawson helping daddy rake the dead grass :(
Lawson and his new "fake" smile :)
The morning after he fell down the entire flight of wooden stairs for the first time...thank God he just had a cut on his right eye....however it was only 2 days before we took some professional pics...gotta love that timing!
Peyton lookin' cute in his new glasses and trying to walk! He is getting a lot better at walking on his own and tries to walk wherever he can now. That is a big change for this month, as well as a surprise trip we made to the dentist. I noticed the enamel on 2 of his top teeth was just coming off! Turns out that it is called "enamel hypoplasia" and can occur in preemies. He will probably have to have kid crowns in a couple years or so because of it. And hopefully it doesn't affect his permanent teeth but it can. Another preemie surprise but thankful that once again it is something that can be taken care of :)
That's it for May....some videos to come in the next couple of days :)
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