Our Newest Cousin

Braxton has been excited for months that he is going to have a new baby boy cousin. Now he just needs to get rid of his runny nose so he can go see him.

Jeff and Julie had their boy two weeks early because her water had broke. She delivered around 10:30 and he came out weighing 7 lbs and 7 ounces. Later that night they found out that he had Down Syndrome. The doctors took him to the NICU and put him on Oxygen. Then later he received a feeding tube as seen in this picture. However, today while I was there he was able to have the feeding tube and oxygen taken out. He was able to latch on and eat and then take over an ounce of bottle after that! We are all so happy with today's progress. Things are already moving forward! Julie hadn't seen him with his eyes open all day yesterday because he was so sleepy but today she was able to hold him for 20 minutes with his eyes open! Also, we found out yesterday that he doesn't have a heart problem which is common with babies with down syndrome. We are so excited to have him in our family. I wish I could call him a name but they still haven't decided on one yet! The board the nurses had written in Julie's room with information on it said Jeff + Julie = ? I'll update later with a name announcement!

Mollie loves her baby and talks about him all of the time. She has been spending a lot of time with us and we love it.

Summer Vacation: Day 1

Today I shoveled our cement pad in front of our garage. What a HUGE mess. I have huge blisters, my back hurts, and I really felt for all of those farmers digging coragates this time of year.

Needless to say Braxton was rolling around in the mud puddle today while I worked and Brooke slept. He is my little pig. He likes to call himself a hippo.

Track Meet

We took Braxton to his first track meet when he was 2. He received lots of ribbons and thought it was the greatest thing ever. In fact, all year he would talk about how he needed to practice for his "meat truck." He would run in circles for hours!

Braxton and Brooke had the opportunity last Saturday to compete at the Hershey Track Meet in Ontario. They both did very well considering it was raining and freezing cold. We are definitely not the fastest family but we sure have fun trying! Braxton got a white ribbon (3rd in the 100) and a green ribbon (5th in the 200) and Brooke received a white ribbon (3rd in the 100). There is another one this Saturday and I am hoping the weather will be a little warmer. We have had an unusually cold and rainy spring.