The many faces of CarCar

CarCar, or Carson, has turned out to be our most expressive child.  She has a very comical "angry face" expression, which has lead us to refer to her as "angry CarCar."  A word to the wise, you do not want to anger CarCar.

There are actually quite a few things that seem to anger CarCar.

1.  A dirty diaper.

2.  Not being the first one fed.

3.  Smelling her brother or sister's dirty diaper.

4.  Her miracle blanket.

5.  "Non-Kissy-Kissy" outfits.

6.  Noise.

7.  Baths.

8.  Her vitamins and meds.

This list could seemingly go on and on.

A few examples of CarCar's expressions:

The beginnings of an "angry face."

Dear in the headlights look.

The "give me some damn food" look.

The "I'm pissed and an not going to burp for you" look.

The "why the hell are you so close with the camera" look.

Chris

Pics

A few random pics:

Hadley doing a little modeling on the couch.

The fighting amongst the girls has already started.

Reese's toes.

Reese's strange sleeping style. (Don't worry there is quite a bit of room for him to breath.)

Carson just chillin in her crib.

Chris

Father's Day

Happy belated Father's Day everyone.  

As I look back it has been quite a year for Rian and I.  A little over a year ago Rian was going in for a routine laproscopic procedure which later turned into major abdominal surgery.  After the surgery we had a few concerns about our ability to have children, which was later heightened after a visit with the Reproductive Endocrinologist.  To say he was blunt would be an under statement.

After many trips to Jacksonville and quite a few injections Rian and I had to sit an pray that the Doctors in Jax would be able to get her pregnant.  I remember that we had to go to Jax immediately after FSU beat Miami for the implantation.  It was pouring that night which made for a fun drive over.

The procedure went smoothly and now all we could do was sit and wait.  Two days before we were supposed to go to Jax for a test to see if Rian was pregnant she woke up with stabbing pains in her lower back.  After getting off the phone with the docs in Jax we headed to the Emergency Room.  They were concerned that it might be an ectopic pregnancy (where the embryo implants itself in the fallopian tube).  Eight hours later we learned that it was not an ectopic pregnancy and that we were expecting twins.  We thought, "Twins we could manage, it would be difficult, but we could manage."

On Friday we headed over to Jax for our scheduled appointment expecting them to confirm that we were having twins.  Little did we know that we would be in for quite the surprise.  The doctor there calmly scanned Rian uterus and counted the first embryo implanted, then on to the second.  Yep, we are having twins.  Then came the pause.....................hey I see another one.  HUH?  No that's not right, the friendly skilled docs in Tallahassee said that we were having twins so that is what we have accepted.  Apparently our plan did not mesh with the greater plan for us.  Luckily, during this particular procedure I was sitting.  The doctor and nurse commented on how well I was taking the news.  Apparently my ghostly shade of white didn't tip them off.  

The doctor then broke the tension with the "captain obvious" line of the year, "well it appears that I got you a lot pregnant."  Yes, apparently Rian's uterus was wearing the sticky football receivers gloves the day of the implantation.  Marcus Simms could have taken a few lessons from Rian's uterus on how to hang on to things (ie crucial fumble during the GT game).

Well, after that news it was pretty much smooth sailing.  Rian had the morning sickness and sore back, but she was a trooper throughout the whole thing.  You would rarely hear Rian complain about a thing, all the while teaching a full load.

Fast forward to the reason for this post, me becoming a father.  On May 13, our three little critters made their appearance and after a little bit of extra TLC from the NICU nurses they are all home.  Don't get me wrong I am exhausted, and sometimes extremely irritable but I wouldn't trade it for the world.  I cannot think of anything more rewarding than seeing the critters grow up.

Sorry for the long post, I was just reflecting on how crazy the last year leading up to this Father's Day was.

Now a few pics for you all:

Father's Day 2009

Reese eating Hadley's head.

Abbey and Hadley having a little chat.

Chris

Out on the Town.

The Meadows clan headed out of the house and hit Coldstream Drive for a short stroll through the neighborhood.  Our stroller finally cleared customs after its 19 business day trip from Germany.  I just don't know why an American company can make a good twin tandem stroller.  Those crazy Europeans are just head and shoulders above us in that field.  I must admit though, this is one pretty freakin cool stroller.  It is a double stroller that folds down to the size of a single.  That was needed in our household with our space issues.

On to the pictures:

Note:  We did not take the critters out on a walk in the Serengeti or the jungles of South America, we just wanted to keep the mosquitoes off, hence the crazy looking netting.

Reese wondering what the hell this white stuff is.

The beginning of our maiden voyage in the stroller.

A side profile of the stroller.  Abbey is still trying to figure out what it is.

Carson giving her all too common "I am angry about something" face.

......and Reese makes three.

Reese if finally home at the ole abode.  He came home Thursday evening with a few bells and whistles.  Reese was put on some O2 to help with Oxygen saturation.  He will also have to wear a heart monitor to make sure that he does not have any low/high heart rate episodes.  But we are so happy to have the little big guy home.

In order to bring Reese home Rian and I had to "nest" at the hospital with him to make sure that we knew how to work the machinery.  Let me just say that the room that we stayed in was not the most spacious.  It made the post-pardum rooms upstairs look like palatial villas.  Actually I believe that the inmates down in Starke, Florida have bigger accommodations.  Luckily we didn't have the threat of Ol' Sparky hanging over our head.

The bed that we had to sleep on.  Note that it is smaller than a twin.  I feel really sorry for larger people that have to "nest" there.

Notice the jail cell like sink over in the corner.  Luckily we had some CSI: NY to take our minds off of the surroundings.

After our stay at the fabulous four star resort we brought the big guy home.  Dad finally pried one of the kids away from mom to carry in.  One out of three ain't bad.  I will leave you all with some pictures from the homecoming:

Being very careful not to trip on our child unfriendly side steps.

Abbey wondering how many of these damn things are we going to bring home.

The Meadows Three all together - already beginning to plot the hell-raising.

Abbey on guard.

Abbey making sure that Reese is actually in his crib.

Chris

BIG NEWS!!!!!!!!!!! - AGAIN

To start off Reese is still at the hospital, we had a minor set back but nothing major.  He apparently suffers from the syndrome affectionately known in the NICU as "wimpy white-boy syndrome."  Apparently premature white-boys are not the strongest and most determined babies.  He is apparently just lazy when it comes to some things.  Reese will most likely be coming home this week with a few accouterments, some O2 and a monitor.  This is a short lived thing, probably about a month.  Keep your fingers crossed.  The doctors and nurses tell us that this is an extremely common thing.

Now on to the super huge news..................................Rian is now gainfully employed!!!!!!!!  As many of you know Rian was not retained by Leon County due to budgetary cut backs.  This was probably the best thing that could have happened to us.  The timing could not have been better. Now there is no need to live off of the toss-out from the government.  You all will not be seeing Rian down in your local unemployment line.

She was hired by Florida Virtual School to teach High School Economics.  I had never heard of this place until a few months ago.  Rian submitted her resume and then had to travel down to Orlando for an interview, two weeks after the C-section.  I have to give Rian a little kudos for being such a trooper.  She was told some good news a few minutes after her interview and received the official invite to join the team a week later.  So now Rian will make more money and get to stay home with the little critters!

That's about all for now, hopefully next time I post it will concern Reese coming home.

Chris

News 6/5/09

Hadley is now getting firmly entrenched in here new home and routine.  She is doing very well as are mom and dad.  She is currently feeding every four hours which gives us a chance to catch some sleep.  She has met her dog and it appears that the two like each other.

Hadley also was kind enough to let me test out my new camera lens.  She struck a pose or two.

The newest news is that sister number two is home!  Carson was able to get out of the clink on Tuesday.  She is doing very well at home and has gained 6 oz since coming home.  We had her first doctors appointment today, which went very well.  As you can see from the picture below the car seats that we got will not be useful until they are over twenty pounds and forward facing.  Luckily we were able to find three infant carrier seats that would fit across the back seat of the jeep.

Mom and Dad with the two girls.

Hadley trying to avoid the paparazzi during a feeding.

Hopefully the next post that I write will be to let you all know that the little big guy is coming home.

Chris