Caption Contest...

Okay..so, here's a little something new. I know that not everyone comes on here to read my long-winded blabberings about our little adventure...I know there are some of you out there who just skim through the blogs for the pictures (my wife, Stephanie openly admits to this practice...you guys probably also just go through and pick out all the marshmellows in the Lucky Charms boxes too...don't you!!)...

In any case, for those of you who don't know me...I take tons of pictures...my family has learned to put up with me...and even the NICU nurses have just come to accept that when Avery's mom comes to visit, she brings along the paparrazi..

So, looking through all my pictures that we've got of Avery so far... I won't even tell you how many there are :)... I always just make captions of them in my head. I figured it would be funny to hear what everyone else would come up with...so, I'm going to start posting a picture here and there, and everyone can comment on what they think would be a good caption. It can be funny, or thought provoking, or just fitting. And if anyone can think of a prize we could give...I'm all ears (Avery does happen to have more food storage in the freezer than we even do right now...but I don't think that would be an appealing prize for anyone who has graduated to solid foods...)

So, here are 3 pics, you can comment with your ideas for captions, just label them 1,2 or 3...

#1


#2


#3

Babies belong in their mother's arms...

Going through this difficult time... we try so hard to focus on the positive. We have so much to be grateful for...we have be so very blessed. Plus, complaining and focusing on the negative makes the minutes seem like days and they drag on and on. And yet...we're human. Steph and I seem to have a lot of talking time lately... long drives to the hospital, quiet moments at Avery's isolet, tired breaks betwen pumping. We try to motivate each other, look on the bright side, comfort and support one another. Most of the time, we just look at each other and laugh...what in the world happened to us three weeks ago!?!?! Sometimes...believe it or not...we actually complain.

I have my own reasons for why this has been hard...but for a minute, I want to give credit to my sweet wife Stephanie. She, like so many other mothers out there in similar situations, deserves a special award. Mothers in general earn a lifetime of gratitude from their children and the fathers of their children for the physical and emotional adventure of pregnancy they enjoy and endure to bring each of us into this life. The prize that waits at that journey's end...is for the mother to take her new child in her arms, and begin this new life together.

But for some moms...the time for them to savor that sweet moment is delayed. I can't tell you how full of gratitude our hearts are that our little Avery is so healthy and growing so strong! But...I can't tell you how difficult it is to see your amazing wife go through all the travails of pregnancy and the miracle of birth...and then leave the hospital a few days later...mother without a child.

Stephanie is so strong. I can't imagine how it must truly be for her. For me...it's amazing to be a part of my child's life at such an early stage...a time that is usually reserved intimately for mother and child. Now, she shares her private time with me and we walk these final weeks together. How do I ever make it up to her? What a gift I have been serendipitously given...but somehow at her expense. My promise to her, is to give her every moment of this life to mother her sweet children till this hole in her heart is overflowing...

I held my baby girl in the moments after her birth, and never wanted to let her go. I thought there would be nothing greater than just holding her in my arms. But then, a few short days later, I saw my wife take her baby in her arms...and the planets aligned in our little universe. This was how it should be, mother and child. There is nothing more right in this world than a baby in its mothers arms. And mothers need babies to hold...

In a perfect world...there would never be a millimeter of plexiglass between a mother and her child... but all the plexiglass in the world can't keep a mother's love from her baby...

So many of you who read this are mothers, with children of your own. I know that they are of all ages from grown to still in the womb. Each of us have our own difficult times to endure in this life...and have advice to give as we learn from them. I don't pretend to know very much at all about this life...but from what I have learned in these few weeks since we have had our baby...I do have this to pass on to you: hold your babies...hold on to them... cuddle them, rock them, tickle them. No matter how old they are...cherish that physical bond you have with them...whether you get it anytime you want...or it's for a few precious minutes twice a week. Don't ever take a single moment of it for granted...

We sit in the dim lights of the NICU and I watch Stephanie hold that sweet little girl and I see my whole world sitting there. The love I can physically feel coming from that little union opens up the pages of my life and I see days to come of laughing and playing, exploring and discovering, achieving and succeeding. There is nothing more that I enjoy nowadays, than seeing my wife hold our little girl. I don't quite understand why things are for us right now they way they are...but I do know this: There is a day coming, not too far off, when this wonderful little mom won't have to put her baby back after holding time. That day will make all of this worth it.

I love you Steph...Avery is the luckiest little girl in the world to have you as her mom.

Pump, pump the jam...

Here we sit in a quiet little room outside of the nursury... the only sound to be heard besides our chit-chat is the "whew-shhh-shhh" of the small contraption in the corner that looks strangely like a time machine...attached to my amazing sport of a wife by some small clear tubing and two bottles, that I pretend are bull-horns at some big sporting events...probably more often than I should- but Steph is patient with me. We have made our share of fun little games out of this ritual we repeat every 2 1/2 hours... some of which include count-downs similar to the space-shuttle launch.

I guess our little games help distract us from the fact that we are missing the third member of our little breakfast club... we always make sure to include her by putting on a slide show of recent pictures or telling stories about her or sharing dreams of the future. They say it helps stimulate the milk production...but I think it's survival technique. No one tells you about this part of becoming parents! Oh wait... no...EVERYONE tells you about it...but you really don't understand what it's like until it's you. That's just how it is. And it's a whole different world from anything we've heard about, when your baby is in the NICU. It's not that we are ungrateful in the least for all of the miracles we've seen in the past few weeks....but that little machine is a poor replacement for that sweet little girl sleeping away cozy in her isolet.

But we'll make it...together you can do anything. Steph is doing an amazing job at feeding our baby long-distance... and my small token is that I'm getting really good at washing those bottles. Avery is doing her part by keeping her food down and growing. She's up to 11 ccs...and they are going to start fortifying her milk today.

Well...there goes the machine... I've got to lable the milk...run it to the freezer and give our little angel a kiss goodbye through the plexiglass. We're late for our nap...again :) I hear you never really catch up from here on out...