34 Weeks

Nixon is 34 weeks and is now 8 months old. He had his first Christmas and it was a success! He had a little bit of a rough week with sleeping, but I'm hoping we're on the up and up. We took a little 8 month photo shoot at Grammy and Pa's house, and they turned out great!

 His smile melts me. He's such a sweet boy (when he's not being ornery).

 His signature two fingers.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!

33 Weeks

Nixon has had a little bit of a rough week. He started with a fever on Saturday and it's been a little rough ever since. We had his 6 week post-6 month appointment to do a weight check. Not the best news. He dropped in weight. Because of that, they're wanting me to add fat to his diet and actually suggested adding butter to his meals and start with some formula as well. I was a little nervous because he cries at the sight of a bottle. But I agreed we'd do the things necessary to get his weight up. They also wanted me to take him to get his blood drawn so they could run some tests that would rule out anything wrong healthwise. 

They had me go up to the next floor where the phlebotomist took about 15 minutes putting bands on his arm, switching it from the left to the right repeated times. After a while, he finally told me his veins were too small and he didn't want to risk poking him and not hitting the vein, which I understood and appreciated. He told me to head over to the hospital where they had another office that supposedly had smaller needles (which they didn't, but whatever). We sat in the waiting room for a good 20 minutes, mind you, he had only gotten about a 45 minute nap that day, and I struggled to keep him happy. We finally got in and the phlebotomist checked both arms. Side note* There were 3 tests that the pediatrician was wanting to get done. Unfortunately, because Nixon doesn't weigh much, they could only draw 5ml of the 15ml they needed. They told me I could come back about a week later, but I kindly told them there was no way I could get him back in with the holidays and us moving and by the time the labs got back to the pediatrician we would be moved. So, while trying to console my screaming child they were able to get the blood drawn and we will get the results at our next appointment on the 30th. 

Until they,  I am trying to get him the fattiest foods I can without just putting butter in everything. I got some full fat yogurts and some other high calories foods for him to eat. I also thought I would try a bottle today.. and he took it!!! I may have had to add in some apple juice, but the fact that he saw it, didn't scream, and actually took it is a HUGE success. I'll gradually reduce the amount of juice in the formula, but right now, I'll do whatever I can. 

With all of that out of the way, here are his 33 week stats:

Height: 28.9in (93rd percentile)
Weight: 14.12 lbs (1st percentile)
Head circumference: 43cm (14th percentile)

Here we go again..

I mentioned a few days ago that there were some big things potentially happening soon. Well, that potential has turned into actually happening. What's new for the Thomas family?

Ethan is going back to school to take prerequisites for dental school. What? I know.. it was unexpected for us too. But there's more. We are moving to North Carolina in 2 weeks to take those classes. And if all goes as planned, once he's gets accepted to dental school, we are hoping to join the Air Force through its scholarship program.

Surprise!

This all came about Thanksgiving weekend when we were at my sisters. We were all hanging out and discussing futures, jobs, etc. Ethan grew up wanting to be in the medical field, but when he got back from his mission, he decided to go the business route. He worked hard, got his degree in business management and has been working ever since. As we started evaluating where we want to be in 5 or 10 years, Ethan just didn't feel that climbing the corporate ladder was something he wanted to do. We had been praying to get some insight as to where and what we should be doing.

Cue Kara and Steve. We mentioned that he always wanted to go into the medical field and they basically said, "Why don't you?" It truly felt like a lightbulb had gone off. Why don't we?

We went up to bed that night and spent some time researching different options, looking at prerequisites, the works. We continued to talk about it the rest of the weekend and continued to get as much information as we could.

Fast forward to Thursday of last week. We had prayed and researched, and prayed a researched and finally came to the conclusion that we were going to do it. We called all of our family and let them know. While there were some who were a bit surprised at the change, we have felt nothing but love and support from all of them. Ethan will be attending University of North Carolina-Charlotte, and we will be living at his parents house until we can find a place of our own.

I'm not going to lie, I have some raw emotions running through me. I am so excited for this new journey, but I know it's going to be a long, hard road. I love it here. I love this home that we have been fortunate enough to live in. I love the friends that we have here and it's hard to think we may not see them again. Sure, we have social media and technology, but nothing can beat sitting around the table with some food and just talking about life. I am going to struggle with being so far away from my family. My mom and sister are two of my best friends. Moving to California was hard for me because I was moving away from my parents, but I knew my sister was just a drive away. I no longer have that. I can't just pick up one weekend and decide to visit. And while it may not seem like a big deal, a two hour time difference is a lot when you need to have a "good cry" with your mom. And knowing that I'll probably only see her once a year.

While I have all of those emotions and feelings of anxiety and sadness, I know that this is going to be an awesome experience for our little family. We get to be around a lot of his family, and Nixon will get to know his Grammy and Pa better than he ever would have, had we stayed out here. People keep telling me I'm going to love it out there. And you know what? That's probably true. I want to be the kind of person that can love anywhere they live and can make it home. That's my goal. To embrace this and enjoy it, because for right now, it's only for a short period of time, and then we'll be off somewhere else for dental school most likely.

So there is it. Our big news. Talk about ending the year with a BANG!