Our Precious little boy

Saturday June 27 Evan passed away that afternoon. Joel and I were completley caught off guard since Evan had had such a great week after being in the hospital. He had started cooing and smiling and we were able to hold him and even lay him on his back for a few minutes without him dropping. Towards the end of the week he had some congestion due to the tubes being in his nose and the oxygen blowing in constantly. Friday night he was a little cranky but nothing that hinted that he wasnt going to make it. Joel slept downstairs with Evan that night and Sat. morning when I came down Evan looked very bad. His temp. was only 92 and he just slept. He gave out some wimpers but that was about it. Thanfully our nurse lived in our neighborhood was able to come to check on him right away and she agreed that we needed to get hospice. By the time they got to the house Evan was not really responding and was gone within minutes of taking his oxygen off.

I want to thank all of the nurses that we've worked with from the beginning of little Evans birth. The care that we received made our journey so much easier and we were able to rest in knowing that he was in excellent care and a ton of spoiling. You deserve so much more than just a thank you with all that you did for us!

We want to thank our friends and family for all of the prayer, love ,support. Also a thank you is not enough for what you all did for us. You were all a great help and encouragement.

To our Harvest church family- What an encouragment to recieve so much love, gifts, support, meals and time away from their own families to a couple who's barely been in the area a full year. A huge thank you for demonstrating God's love to us during this time. We greatly appreciate your help at the house so that Joel and I could enjoy some time as a couple and your cards, visits and calls. We are so thankful that we are a part of your family.

To MOPS - what a blessing. Joel and I were taken back at the abundant amount of meals that were brought by some people that I knew from working in the nursery but a lot that were complete strangers. What a blessing to know that people were willing to give of their time to someone they didnt know. We want you to know we appreciated it. Little did I know at the beginning what a huge difference it made in my day knowing that a meal was coming and that time could be spent with my little man.

Again, thank you all for your time, prayers, love, support & gifts - we are truly blessed!

These are the last of the pictures that I have of our precious boy. I have over 300 but it's hard to think that this will be it. Most all of these were taken last week when he was doing so well. I am so thankful that we had such a great week with him.

Thank you again for all that you did. I cannot put into words how thankful and greatful Joel and I are to everyone who's been with us through all of this. Love Joel and Nancy

We had a chance to quickly put Evan on his back and take a picture of him in his cute VT outfit. He had just gotten up from a nap so his eye was a little puffy. We were putting Evan back in his crib and his monitor started to go off. We looked at Evan and he was doing just fine then we noticed his sock dangling over the crib. I cant tell you how many times Joel and I have yanked that pulsesox off. It's only connected to his toe so it's easy to get off especially when one of us steps on it as we're walking over to the crib. Good thing it doesnt hurt when it comes off!

Our little VT man!

Our little man is 7 weeks old!!!

Happy Fathers Day!

Evan gets good morning kisses before the day starts!

He was pretty alert before Joel went to church Sunday morning. We were able to get some good pictures in before he crashed.

Evan has gotten pretty used to the camera flash now. When I have it ready he just looks right at it when it flashes.

More Cuteness!

These pictures were taken a few weeks ago. Evan loves to be held by his daddy!

It doesnt get any better than this.

Over a week ago I accidentally scared Evan by patting him on his little bottom and watched his eyes get huge followed by him looking around for who had done it. I honestly thought he'd seen me. It was pretty funny though, so when Joel got home he tried it and it was an even better response. He can make the best faces!

And to those of you who wonder whether we squeeze his cheeks ~ yes! If Evan could talk he'd say ~ every time they go by they feel the need to squeeze, kiss or play with my chubby cheeks!

Doing better!

I love it when Evan does his poochy lip. Rarely do I get a chance to take a picture in time but this time it was a long extended one.

Some of you know we had a little scare with Evan last weekend which landed us in the hospital on Monday. Once the nurses got him regulated on the oxygen and nice and comfy he bounced back very well. I think it was all the extra attention he got. Evan loves attention but who could blame him. I think he's too cute to pass up a couple of snuggles and kisses with :)

We were able to come home Tuesday afternoon and have now turned our dining room and family room into Evans room and a sleeping room for Joel and I. We decided to take turns each night one sleeping downstairs with him and the other getting the adequate sleep we needed to make it through the day that way only one of us is tired.

Joel had first shift Tuesday night and it went very well for him. I slept without waking up until 7:00am which is a first in a very long time! My shift was Wed. last night and well the little man had other intentions for his mommy. He decided that since I'd slept so well the night before that we'd do an all nighter so he didnt go to sleep until 1:30 am and was up before 5:00. I think he and Joel made a deal. Suprisingly I'm not all that tired so it's working out just fine.

A handsome boy

EARLY morning smiles

Around 2:00 am I heard our little guy making some unusual sounds.
We had fed him a little over an hour and we usually listen for him in case he spits up. For whatever reason Evan decided to stay awake after this feeding and when I heard the noises I jumped up to check on him only to find out that he was smiling really big. He seemed to be laughing. He was quite amused about something he was looking at and was just going to town with those smiles!
Man what a time to do that when I didnt have a camera. This is definitly one of those times when I wish we had a camera on him at all times to catch all the cute moments. He stayed awake and had his fun at least until 3:00 or later and sure enough was ready to eat a little after that.

Here Evan is trying to figure out what the design team was doing on HGTV. Joel was changing his diaper & we have to change him fast when he's on his back so that his oxygen doesnt drop but sometimes he gets distracted and does really well. This time the TV was on!

This little guy is such a daddys boy!

sleepy boy!

Our new position for little Evan is on a nice fluffy pillow propped on the couch with us. He seems to really love laying on it and falls asleep rather quickly.
His oxygen level stays pretty high being in this position, so we also like it.

A quick diaper change on the floor and a binky and we're good to go!

It's hard to believe it's already Wednesday! Evan is still hunger driven at night and wakes up right on cue for his food. It's kind of funny when you think about how they can be in such a deep sleep and when that clock gets to almost 3 hours he's as wide awake and ready to eat as he can be.

You're tired when...

Ok Joel and I find ourselves repeating sentences to each other because the sentence came out in a jumble or we're so asleep we just didnt get it the first few times around. Yesterday I caught myself feeding Evan and i'm getting ready to pour another amount of milk in the tube & noticed that the "milk" was heavy and when I looked I was holding my diet coke getting ready to pour it in. I had to laugh and Evan just looked at me like I'd lost it.
Last night Joel rolled over and I kept telling him "you're going to squish Evan!" I thought I was holding him and Joel kindly reminded me that Evan was sleeping soundly in his crib. It took me a minute to realize that I was dreaming. I also did a little talking in my sleep, Joel told me that I would question him about feeding Evan which Joel hadnt done cause we feed him together. Yep more sleep for me!!!
So all those times when I said oh I'm tired, little did I know what tired really was.

1 month old TODAY!

Evan and I went outside to get some fresh air while Joel went around and took some pictures of our flowers. Doesnt Evan look thilled to be outside with his little Tech hat? :) Ok he pretty much stayed asleep the entire time but I did get an eye for some pictures.

We found out that a cat got 2 of our baby bunnies. I wanted to get a hold of that cat! Sorry for those of you who love cats :( Currently we cant find the rest of the babies. I'm really hoping that momma bunny has moved them somewhere safe.

Evan has such beautiful big eyes. At this point they are still a dark blue but they are starting to have a tint of green/brown right around the center.

This little guy is a daddys boy! He loves to be with his dad and will watch him where ever he is.

It's fun to watch Evan watch Joel especially if Joel goes out of his sight. Evan will keep looking that direction until Joel comes back.

Hungry!

ICE CREAM!

I couldnt resist laughing when Joel was eating his bowl of brownies and ice cream. Evans eyes got huge and kept his eye on what his daddy was eating!

However, Evan is not an ice cream fan. Yes, I've already given him a little dab on his binky and I got a frown.

SOOOO scrumptious!!!

Our delivery guy came yesterday and gave us a package. Joel and I opened it to find these gorgeous strawberries! OH MAN were these good. No we havent eaten them all. We are straddling them out through the week. Hopefully they will make it that long. This was a wonderful surprise sent to us by my great friends back in Colorado. I miss you guys!!!

Baby Bunnies!

Joel, Evan and I went outside for a little while and grilled some burgers. While they were cooking Joel went around and took pictures of my blooming flowers. He came back and said he found a rabbit hole and there might be bunnies in it. Sure enough we moved the fur away and there was a hole in the ground near my new flower garden and there were 2 baby bunnies inside. Ok once I saw these adorable little things I wanted to go find a little bunny cage and put them in it. Our neighbors let their cats roam everyday and I know they will find these little guys. I just dont know how wild bunnies work as pets. Can you blame me though? One look at their tiny little faces and you're sold :)

Time Flies!

My first red Amorillas bloomed this weekend! Mom and dad brought a lot of bulbs for us a while back and we have them everywhere. We have really enjoyed watching them bloom at different times. Evan has been given some adorable outfits. This one is my new favorite.

Ok I couldnt resist posting this picture. I was giving him a bath while Joel took the pictures. This time I let him just lay in the water and he fell into a deep sleep he was so comfy. He's so long he can't lay all the way down in the tub but that didn't keep him from relaxing. I finally had to take him out & lets just say he didnt take that too well. He was quite upset.