101 Things You Should Do Before Your Kids Leave Home

Hurry! Hurry! Get in a blog post before the baby wakes up! Miller is 10 weeks today and last night we completed a big milestone. He slept in the nursery in his big boy crib! Andrew and I were so excited when we woke up this morning from a successful night. We have had a hard time deciding when to do certain things with Miller. Yes, he is 10 weeks but his corrected birthday makes him 2 weeks old!! He doesn't really act like either. My dad thinks he is developmentally 7 or 8 weeks. Doctors say the first year of a premature baby's life you go by his due date but he just doesn't act like a newborn so needless to say Andrew and I have been a little confused. We will get the hang of it. Miller is such a good baby, doesn't act premature in the least bit and is the best cuddle buddy in the world.

My friend Lauren came over the other night to play with us and bring dinner. After she left, I opened a gift she had brought over. If you know me, you know I have a serious obsession with reading and books. Lauren gave us 101 Things You Should Do Before Your Kids Leave Home.The most common advice we have received from parents is "Enjoy every moment because before you know it he will be grown." After we put Miller to bed, we read over the list and I fell in love with it. We are really going to make an effort to do all 101 things (maybe not the Sail Over Your House in a Hot Air Balloon, not much for heights). I am going to keep the book out regularly to remind us. There are some really great ones: Open a Snow-Cone Stand, Plant a Family Tree, Teach Your Kids to Write Thank You Notes, Share Family Recipes, Join a Parade, Spend the Night in a Zoo, Show Your Kids That "Old Folks" Don't Bite, etc.

We have already started one. #40 is Take It To The Lord in Prayer. This really was the theme of our lives from December to February. We were so grateful for all the prayers for our son and Andrew and I spent more time in prayer than in years past. Now that Miller is home, before I lay him down at night we sing his lullaby and then say prayers together out loud. It is my favorite part of the day. We pray for our family, friends, babies in the NICU, nursery and bellies and give thanks to all we have been given.

I would say we completed #64: Pile Up the Pillows, Dim the Lights and Watch a Movie, but then I would have to admit to Miller that his first family movie was Jackass 3D and well...who wants to admit to that!? Ha!! Although, I will say Andrew and I laughed so hard, it was pretty funny, except for the porta-potty one, I had to close my eyes.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!! We are looking forward to a great party with friends tomorrow night in celebration of Theresa and Chris's upcoming nuptials.

Sleeping in his crib! Yay!!

Super excited about Mike Anderson!

Sweet smile!

Getting bigger every day!

Big Ole Yawn!

From 20 to 3 to 3588

Well, we have been home now for one month with our sweet little baby and it couldn't be better. Miller is a fantastic baby. He is funny, sweet and looks just like his daddy. I have turned into "that mom" who posts a picture of her adorable baby on Facebook almost every day. I need a picture intervention!! Andrew and I are enjoying being parents. It seems like we comment daily that we cannot believe Miller is ours.

Being a mom is great. Trying to fit into pre-pregnancy clothes...not so great. I am not too worried about it though because I am starting to work out again and if I can just put down the sweets, my old clothes are not far from reach. I say this now, but when I panic on my first day back at work because I have nothing to wear, I may be singing a different tune. Our household goal: Mommy losing weight, Baby gaining weight.

I am soooo ready for flu and rsv season to be over so we can rejoin the world. Miller has lots of buddies he needs to meet and I need some lunch dates and Target trips. Once we are back in a normal routine, Andrew and I plan on volunteering with March of Dimes. We did not know much about premature babies or what it took to nurse them to health. We feel like veterans now and want to give back to the community that helped our son. We are big advocates of the Willow Creek NICU including all the doctors and nurses. We believe Miller was given the best care possible.

Now I am going to be "That Mom" What a little cutie!!

Have a great week!!

From Room #20 Downstairs to Room #3 Upstairs

People always say that you just can't imagine a love like the love you have for your child...and they couldn't be more right.

Our son, Miller Andrew Dolan, came into the world on January 14th, 2011 at 5:48 a.m. After 6 weeks of medical bed rest at Willow Creek, I went into labor at about 2:00 a.m. Brooke was staying with me and called Andrew right away. One of our most favorite nurses (we have a few:)), Angie, was assigned to my room that night and was able to be in the operating room with us to take pictures. The most fabulous Emily Hinton was there to perform the C-Section and Dr. Cole so graciously was there as well. I could talk for days about Emily and how she has helped Andrew and I through this process. I also need to give so much credit to our nurses for getting us to this point. With my water breaking at 26 weeks, I don't think we really had any idea how the situation would have been had I gone into labor. The fact that our nurses and doctors were able to get us to 32 weeks 3 days is, at the very least, a miracle.

Miller weighed a good 5 pounds 11 ounces and was 18.5 inches long. He is the prettiest baby I have ever seen and the love we have for him is like nothing I have ever experienced. It is hard to see him laying in the incubator day after day but he is a fighter and has done so well at this point. The NICU staff has told us to be prepared for setbacks and I would love to be able to say that I will be prepared but I think if we do it will probably hit me like a ton of bricks. He has done nothing but progress so that is all we are used to. He is eating well, staying off oxygen and regulating his temperature. He has the sweetest temperament and smiles when we talk to him. I love getting to hold him and we are starting to get to hold him more. When you get pregnant you just can never imagine that you wouldn't be taking your baby home with you that first night you go home or having someone tell you when you can hold him. But, there are much worse things in the world and I have to say that he is a true miracle, a God-Thing. I am thanking God every day for giving us this baby. He is more than I could have ever hoped for. It is tough having a premature baby and we don't know when we will be able to take him home but we are going to make it.

Thank you for all of the thoughts and prayers. Please keep them coming.

Love and Hugs,

Ali

Luckiest Girl in the World

Regardless of my groundhogs day moment every morning when I wake up in the hospital, I am the luckiest girl in the world. I have the most amazing husband. He is so good to me and is doing an exceptional job taking care of me. It has been quite entertaining to send him out to buy me something like a bra (wow...what I would have done to watch that occur...the bra could have fit my head as a hat...I laughed so hard I cried), or trying to explain to him what a velour suit is and how to pick one out (will be witnessing his purchase later tonight). My friends have been beyond anything I can say or describe. Visits, nail paintings, hair cuts, lunch, memory foam matresses pad for Andrew, a nice tv, controversial Christmas decor (hospital rules aren't very giving in the way of Christmas trees) and lots of laughs have made the stay so far seem fairly easy. My doctor and nurses are my saviors and have been so unbelievably good to me. I am sure I provide plenty of entertainment with my guests, make-shift hair salon, etc. Above all else, I have a sweet little busy body in my belly you has minded him parents and stayed put for almost two weeks. Miller, we can't wait to see you but we will wait unit January 25th!! :)

I am sitting here watching 16 and Pregnant...life could be much worse. These poor girls who think babies are easy, their boyfriends will grow up and that it will be easy to graduate and go to college, it is so sad to see when reality hits them. I have been addicted to this show for years and continue to have my addiction in the hospital.

Here are some funny pics from our stay so far:

Camille giving me a fabulous haircut!!

I had to take a wheelchair ride so my newly cut and styled hair could have an outing

Jess came to visit and had no idea what she was going to walk into. Haircuts and Leslie selling her Stella and Dot jewelry, which is super cute. Jessica was able to multitask in my room:)

Shea putting in the newer, nicer tv. We can actually see the screen. Thanks Petersons!

Friends coming to visit.

The Unexpected

You read blogs of pregnant girls, families, and others all the time. Your heart goes out to those who are having some trouble and pray for them and hope it doesn't happen to you. My water broke this Saturday evening with Miller being less than 27 weeks. We were annoyed in the ER when they said we wouldn't be released for an hour after the test results came back fine which makes me laugh so much now because little did we know.:) I was leaking amniotic fluid and was admitted into Willow Creek right away. I will be here for the duration of the pregnancy and we are hoping to keep him cooking for 7 weeks and then the doctors will induce at 34 weeks. My friends, family and husband have been unbelievably supportive and fun. My room is decorated with lots of Christmas cheer and I am never for a lack of conversation as so many friends come visit and keep me company. My friends have been soooo amazing! I have small moments when I start to cry because I am scared for Miller or miss sleeping in bed with Andrew or I miss my students terribly but I know there are so many worse situations in the world. We have always had such a blessed life and that has not changed. Miller is going to be a healthy, strong baby, I can just feel it. We want to thank everyone for all of the prayers, kind thoughts, gifts, meals, etc. Andrew, Miller and I are the luckiest people in the world.

Just a little promotion of Willow Creek: I cannot imagine a nicer facility with better nurses or doctors. I love all my nurses. I love visiting with them and get excited when they are back from their shifts. Dr. Hinton, Dr. Seale, Dr. Patridge and all the doctors from Parkhill have been so informative and helpful. We are certainly in the best hands in Arkansas. The NICU here is also exceptional. We feel very prepared for what might be up ahead.

Here are some pics of what we had been up to before this all happened:

This was the day we went in the hospital in the morning. Bear had her head on my belly. She never really does that. I am a firm believer that dogs have incredible intuition and I think maybe she knew something was going to happen that day.

Andrew putting together Miller's crib

Almost 24 weeks here

My Belly Club kiddos

At Dallas Cowboy Stadium

We had a great weekend with friends in Dallas for the Hog game vs. A&M. It may be the hardest I have laughed in my entire life.

CSC: Dream Big Event

This was last night: my first ride in a wheelchair. It was our "Friday Night Date" We went and toured the NICU and got to take a ride around Willow Creek. It was a beautiful night. Theresa brought Bear up to me today and I got to meet her outside and give her lots of hugs. It was a great day. We had an ultrasound this morning. I have 5 cm of fluid and Miller weights 2 lbs 8 oz. I am so proud of how tough he is! He is happy, healthy and growing.

Love and hugs to everyone. Will probably be posting a lot more, have plenty of time in the hospital to do it:)

Ali

Here's Hoping

1. I hope Miller's crib will be here soon. I can hardly wait for Andrew and I to put it together and to put his finished bumpers in it. Seems very official.

2. Now that I have given my blog a much needed face-lift, I hope I will post more often.

3. I hope I can catch up at work after being sick in bed for two days.

It's the little things, isn't it?

Our Bun in the Oven: Andrew Miller Dolan

I am making myself laugh as I think about how when I originally started this blog that I thought "This will be great, one day when we are pregnant, I will keep everyone updated on how the baby is progressing, nursery decor and other things." Well, now at almost 23 weeks I guess I can get started.

We are so blessed to have a little boy growing in my stomach. I have always wanted to use my maiden name when we got pregnant and if we were having a little boy. When we found out at 16 weeks, we didn't even have to think twice about his name. We also wanted to include Andrew in his name so originally it was going to be Miller Andrew Dolan, but then we realized his initials would be MAD and I just didn't think that was a good idea (Andrew thought it would make him an NFL star). I asked my students who go by their middle name if it bothered them and they said it did not so he is going to be a middle name man and Miller it will be. At our 20 week appointment we were able to see that he is very healthy, happy and was kicking his feet up to touch his forehead. We were laughing so much. He has a little extra fluid in one of his kidneys so we will have another ultrasound in two weeks to make sure the fluid hasn't grown. Dr. Hinton said it was nothing to be alarmed over and we just feel so happy he is doing so well.

Being pregnant is interesting, like an alien takes over your body. You just don't feel like yourself. I am tired all the time and cannot remember anything which has made for some hysterical moments in my classroom. My kids are patient with me and they love the little guy already. They make me laugh as they talk about the progression of my belly growth and oddly enough most pregnancy questions come from my boys. It's very entertaining.

My belly is certainly becoming large and in charge but I am getting used to it. I am trying to stay active: walking, playing tennis, etc. I know I am not going to be the pregnant girl who only gains weight in her belly and you can't tell she is even pregnant from the back, but I am okay with that. I know I will have the ability to lose the weight and the outcome will be well worth-it. I can already picture pushing him in the jogging stroller after school and I will have the summer with him to try to get back into good shape.

His nursery is progressing. My parents were very nice and have painted his room and bathroom. His room is cadet gray and his bathroom is pumpkin custard and grass green. I really love it. We have ordered his crib and I am finishing his bumpers. Sarah and I took this on as a project for our boys and I think it was a great idea. Sarah's are finished and look fabulous! These boys are going to have great rooms. I have his chair and ottoman in a sky blue microsuede and just ordered peekaboo nesting side tables from CB2 for next to the chair. I will post pics as we start really progressing.

We have lots of pregnant friends which is really fun. Lots of girls to share information, questions, etc. I am very excited about the holidays and know it is going to make pregnancy really start to fly by. Hope everyone is well. We are about to head out to Gusano's to watch the Hoggies beat South Carolina. Happy Saturday!

Love and Hugs,

Ali