finally an update!

Well seeing as how we haven't posted anything since NOVEMBER (oops!) thought we should get back on the blog train.

Part of me kept feeling hesitant to write the next blog post. We're back at home now, Harrison is doing great and the Colorado days are behind us now. I felt unsure as to how to write a summary post of all that has happened. Now that we've begun the chapter of being back at home and raising Harrison, how do I sum up all the feelings I had and still continue to wrestle through from the last 7 months of our lives? I think if I were to keep waiting to be able to summarize all that has happened and tie it up into a nice bow, I would never write on this blog again! As much as I want to close that hard chapter and move on, it will continue to be something we process for a long time to come I suppose.

So how are we doing these past few months? I think Josh said it best when he said a few weeks after being home that we are finally able to ENJOY parenthood. The majority of parenthood in the NICU was terrifying and sad, definitely with some joy thrown in, but scary alot of the time. Now that we are in our home with our boy and he's doing great, we have just been able to enjoy him. It has obviously felt amazing to be back home. For awhile it felt very surreal to actually be back. There were sooo many days in CO where I would daydream about being home with Harrison and feel like that day was never going to come. So to actually be living it has been wonderful.

I have been staying at home with Harrison, which has been really fun to be with him and watch him grow. We were advised not to take him out much, especially around large groups of people, until cold season is over in late March. So that has been trying at times to not feel stuck and isolated being home all day every day. But CO was definitely a perspective check so days when I feel isolated, I try to remember that at least we are HOME and he is here with us! Josh is back to work on campus and enjoying meeting with guys again, leading a Bible study and speaking at some meetings. As the dust has settled it seems like I have been able to begin processing what the Lord had us walk through in CO. (I was so overwhelmed and exhausted at the time, I don't think I did much but survive!) Pray for that though, it is still alot to process!

So, how is Harrison doing lately you may be wondering? He's doing great, all 10 lbs 10 oz of him! (and that was a week ago so I bet we're about to break the 11 lb mark!) He was weaned off the oxygen slowly and fully came off of it in November. He no longer has to see his pulmonologist because his lungs look great! He still meets every couple weeks with a physical therapist who comes over to the house. She just teaches us some exercises to do with him and helps us fix any minor things that may come up (i.e. he was favoring facing one direction with his head so we got that fixed through stretches and exercises).

About every other week we see his pediatrician, who we love, just to check his weight mainly. He had a follow up appt for his eyes when we got back to NC and they said his eyes look great and we wont have to go back again for that until May. He gets followed up with an Endocrinologist every few months to check his thyroid levels. You may remember that he left CO on thyroid medicine and he's still on that. But he's on a lower dose of that now which means his body is beginning to kick into gear and regulate it on its own! Praise God!!

So all in all, he is doing really great! He is a very happy baby and we've really enjoyed how much he smiles, giggles and makes noises lately. He loves being carried around in the Baby Bjorn carrier thingie (thanks Abe and Arian for passing that down to us!) and enjoys his swing that he got for Christmas (he usually can't resist it and falls asleep within a few minutes of being in it!) He's been sucking on his fingers alot lately and drooling a ton. The nurse told us it probably means he'll be teething before long. And just last week he rolled over for the first time- from his belly to his back. And then a few days later from his back to his tummy.

We can't believe it but our sweet boy will be 7 months at the end of the month (corrected age is 4 months though). What a big guy! We can't thank you enough for all your prayers for Little Man! Pics to come in another post soon!