Tales from Luke's crib

Boy! It has been a long week! I have had more appointments than any little one I know! I have gone to the "cardilologist" or something like that. He said that he doesn't see any obvious reason for my high blood pressure...well, OBVIOUSLY he doesn't live in my house! My brothers and sisters are all the reason a boy needs! It's constant noise. They way I understand it, they are going to help me sleep so they can look at my heart better. Dr. Overholt said something about a wayward artery...hmmmm. I think they are looking at my kidneys as well. Don't they know that my kidneys are just fine! They are the reason my amniotic fluid got as high as it did! If they would let a boy sleep instead of squeezing my legs, my blood pressure would be just fine!

Dr. Harmon saw me today. I weigh 6.5 lbs and am following some growth chart thingy great! Well, let me tell you...I'm not one to follow anything, I LEAD! (case in point...did I follow nurses? No, No, I figured out how to get them to come to me!) She thinks I can be off my oxygen within a month. I'm sick of having this thing in my nose, so I'm hoping for a couple weeks! Then, she sent me to get my feet poked again! She says she needs to make sure I'm making enough stuff in my blood. Of course, I am (at least I think so anyway). Hopefully they don't have to give me more blood of someone elses.

I got to see Brooke and Lena yesterday! Dr. Reddy even came to see me and checked my head. Ms. Brooke says it was a habit but I think Dr. Reddy misses me! I really liked snuggling with Lena too. I miss those nurses.

Mom says I have been fussy every morning, starting at 230 and going until 730. Mom has decided it is NOT cool! She said she's tired...that was my plan. I just figure I need some attention during that time. She thinks I need sleep. Well, I gotta run. It's time to eat and I might even get a brownie that Mommy made! I'll check you all next week! Thomason OUT!

Loon Magoon's Story

Our beautiful Emalie has her own special story. Emalie was removed from her home when she was 18 months old, due to circumstances she could not control. She bounced from foster home to foster home (6 to be exact) in the next 18 months. When Emalie was 3 (under a different name), I FOUGHT DHS to get foster custody of her. She was such a cute curly headed little thing. Lord, she was beautiful. She was staying in a foster placement with her brother (his story coming later). The foster family decided they wanted to adopt her brother and they were pushing for separation of siblings. I knew that Emalie would become a product of the system. Who could let that happen!? So, Joe and I took Emalie many times over the next month to prove we had established a "relationship" with her. DHS wouldn't even look at us unless we had a relationship with the children since it involved a transfer of counties...what a backwards system! I felt a true calling to give this little girl the home she deserved! The home she was in was trying to find something wrong with her so they could receive money for her until she is 18. How wrong was that!? So, Joe and I agreed to adopt this precious girl. Who knew what we would be in for!?

2.5 years later, and I wouldn't go back! Emalie has turned into a precious, firey little girl. She is 6 now and is awesome! She steals the hearts of those she comes in contact with. She knows how to use her cuteness, don't get me wrong! After trying dance, gymnastics, and soccer, Emalie has found her niche in Softball! Her natural talent shines through, even at 6. Her coaches are awed by her, and frankly, a momma couldn't be more proud. She has awesome quirks...like the way she says "shramp" when she wants shrimp. Her little twang is darling! She is still curly headed and would prefer to play with her brother's cars than her own Polly Pockets. Her nickname is Ema-loon-magoon, thus the name of this post. She is a happy go lucky little girl who, I'm HAPPY to say, doesn't have a THING wrong with her. So, take that and subsidize it, old foster family! Emalie is a joy to have and I can't wait to see what she does next!

Tales from Luke's Crib

Well, I am finally all settled in at home! You wouldn't believe the size of my bed! It's HUGE and doesn't have a roof! I have blue and purple fish to look at and a turtle. Mom says that stuff will have to come out of my bed, but it's nice to look at for now.

I went to see Dr. Harmon today. She says I look healthy at 6 lbs. even! I have lots of appointments in the next two weeks and a couple are up by Mercy, so I get to stop in to my old diggs and see my girlfriends! She is going to set me up with some machine to show my oxygen sats so we can get this thing out of my nose soon! I keep telling them I don't need it...my latest trick was when I unhooked it from my oxygen tank all together. It was great seeing mom freak out on that one! I didn't even turn blue!

I'm adjusting to all the noise here. My brothers and sisters are CRAZY about me! Mom doesn't let them hold me too often, she says I'm still too little and have too many wires. Maybe I'll keep these monitors around a little longer. They seem to offer a little protection from my sibs. We also have these furry things...I think they are called Cats. They keep sniffing my head to see what I am...as if they didn't know I was coming! Well, I thought I would post a nurse's favorite recipe a week until all the 'Spa de NICU' treats are posted, starting with Shannon's favorite...Peanut butter cookies!

1 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Cup Peanut Butter
3/4 Cup Oil
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 t. baking soda
1 t. Salt
2 Cups Flour

Mix first four ingredients. Blend in beaten eggs, soda, and salt. Slowly add flour. Roll small chunks on palm of hand to make a ball. Roll the cookie dough ball in sugar and place on cookie sheet. Press cris-cross pattern into cookie with fork. Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes.

It's just that easy! These sound so good, I may go whip up a batch for myself! Well, these are the tales from Luke's Crib for this week. Tune in next week to catch an update on my eyes and heart! Thomason out!

Unsung heroes (and heroines)

So, I have heard this over and over..."WOW!!! How do you do it all?" Well, folks, I'm nothing special. I'll tell you how it is done. Enter this story's heroine...the Mercy NICU nurse. These people are fantastic! I have come to the conclusion that they really have the toughest job I can think of. Every day, these nurses are put in charge of tiny pieces of people's hearts and lives. They are given the awesome responsibility to care for the tiniest of tiny, and they are nothing short of amazing.

Every day, around 3 PM, I walk out of this hospital, leaving a piece of myself in the trusting hands of the NICU nurses. Can you imagine this responsibility? They understand that when mommies can't be here, they are the voices of these babies. They feed them, clean them, and cuddle them. Every Thursday, when Luke is one week older, I bring them treats. They can't figure out when I have time to do it, but what they don't understand is that it is the least I can do for them since they have taken such good care of Luke. These women (and men) are the real heroes to me. Without them, we would not have the blessing of baby Luke! Thank you NICU nurses (and enjoy all your treats!)!!!

Passion

So, I believe you should be passionate about everything you do in life. If you run, run passionately. If you cook, cook passionately. If you ride a scooter, do it with some passion, for crying out loud. There are several things I am passionate about, and here they are.

1. My children-I never understood the momma bear syndrome until I held my children. I'll post their stories later, but the moment Emalie was placed in my arms as ours officially, Momma Bear set in. I try to rear my children with the same passion that my parents raised my brother, sisters, and me with. When they want to be involved in something, we are all involved. If they hurt, I hurt.

2. My husband- I love my husband with everything I have. Things have been hard on us for the last several months, between home and the hospital, but he has been a rock. He has taken care of things when I have not been able to. He has taken care of me when I was an emotional wreck. Seeing him with his children chokes me up. He's amazing.

3. My family- I have a great family...great siblings all raised by great parents. If I can be half the momma my MoomooKitty was to me, I'll succeed in raising my children. My mom is amazing. She is a victim of chronic pain in her foot, yet you'd never know it. She keeps going and is not going to let a foot keep her down. She plays...which I think is so important and I need to start doing more of myself.

4. My job- I love my job. I love teaching kids just a small piece of information. I hope at least one of them will decide to be a teacher because of having been in my class. I like the team I work with, but that's not why I teach (and we ALL know it's NOT for the money). I teach because I love those kids. Many of them don't have parents that talk to them, so in a way, us teachers take the place of their parents. I have to have passion to take on some of the kiddos I have.

5. Weather- My husband doesn't understand this one. I LOVE the weather. It terrifies me, but I LOVE it. There is something so mysterious about tornadoes and thunderstorms. It's a science experiment every time. You never know really what they will give you. Everytime there is a flash of lightning, the thunder is like a present! How big will it be!? I had never seen, much less experienced, a tornado before moving here. I am amazed by them! So, I will remain glued to the TV if severe weather is coming. Mostly because i'm passionate about it, but this also refers back to #1.

6. Doing something for me- I started running before I had Luke and enjoyed it. I was finally getting into it when I got pregnant. I started running again this morning and it felt GREAT! I am looking forward to my first-post-last-child-5K! I love to scrapbook. I like crochetting. Sometimes I like to curl up in a corner and read. And I love starbucks. That is always something for me. So...with that being said, I"m going to go get one just for me!

Following through

The truth is, I'm horrible about following through with things. I have a hard time doing it with my children at home, my students at school, and others around me. I probably won't follow through with this blog either. Sure, it'll be entertaining for a while, but then life will get busy and I'll get bored with it. This is the way things go in my life. I start with really good intentions, but then things get boring to me. Maybe I need more stimulation than the computer can provide. The only thing I have REALLY followed through on is coming to the NICU daily to check on the little Thomason that makes us the "Thomason 6" and my marriage to my husband (I think I have even slacked in that a little). I have always been this way. When I was a kid, the bunny was great (at the beginning), but I hated walking outside to feed it. Eventually, my parents fed it. In college, calculus was great, until I got bored with it (my parents didn't bail me out of that one...I failed the course). My geology course was a total bore, so I didn't do the homework (managed to pass that one though...now I love the subject, but wish I had paid more attention). I have the best intentions to start an agenda at the beginning of every school year so I can keep all my dates straight. I make it through the first month, the fall behind on it. The point is, life keeps happening. Unfortunately, this also means I fall behind in friendships. It WASN'T my fault that the 1/2 marathon didn't happen though. I got pregnant. That, of course, was the ONLY reason I didn't run that (that and the early morning training runs...but I'm going to start back up on Monday!). I am going to commit to follow through on ONE thing. I'm walking for the march of dimes in May. I need to raise money, but that is not what this post is about (see later post). I have also followed through on bringing snacks every Thursday for the nurses at Mercy Hospital. Why Thursdays? See later post about Luke. So...I'm following through...at least until I get bored...........