A Good Sunday

Sunday we took Marino hiking at Sugarloaf Mountain for the first time. We did two miles (down and up the blue trail). He walked the whole time...he was definately tired at the end, but so were we! I was proud of him for doing it.

We may have sung the Dora the Explorer "We Did It" song once we got back to our car...

Then we headed over to Monique and Dexter's (aka our only family that are Saints fans) to watch the game with them and other friends and the REDSKINS WON!! HURRAY!!!

snOMG 2010!!

Ok, enough with the snow already! It was a novelty the first couple storms, but this weekend we got 30 inches of snow. 30 inches, folks! That's a lot, even by my upstate NY "snow is no biggie" standards.

It was a blessing in disguise, of sorts, however, since apparently I have c.diff again and was sick all weekend (and still am sick). It's a good thing I didn't have to go anywhere, because, um, I couldn't. If you're keeping count, this is the FIFTH TIME I've had c.diff in 19 months. The last time was in September. I've really just had it. I didn't even call the on-call GI doctor (they're still not in the office because of the snow), I just started taking Vanco this morning. Tomorrow I'll call my GI doc and get a game plan. Honestly, there's not much I wouldn't do at this point to not have to worry about this infection coming back again. Just the fear of it coming back impacts my life (anxiety) and when I actually have it, I can't function normally. It's even more frustrating knowing that I got it because of a completely avoidable mistake. I went to see a MFM (Maternal Fetal Medicine specialist) in December (one day I will be brave and post that story) and he told me the whole reason the doctors gave me antibiotics after I had Marino was that they thought my incision was infection because it was oozing. It was oozing because I was in DIC, so I was loosing fluids and blood from everywhere inside of my body. So, had an MRI been done initially, they would have seen it wasn't an infection, I wouldn't have been given antibiotics and I would have never gotten c.diff in the first place (you can only get it if a. you're on antibiotics, so your good bacteria are decreased b. you're exposed to it, which is hard to avoid in the hospital and c. you have a weakened immune system). Anyway, it's even harder to swallow knowing the whole thing was avoidable and now this infection is the bain of my existence.

Now that I got that rant out of the way, here's what you all came here for...pictures of the boy (and the snow).

This is our backyard Saturday morning (it was still snowing).

Front yard on late Saturday afternoon (no more snow after this).

Evan made Marino his first "snow shake" (snow, milk, sugar and vanilla extract). He wasn't that into it... he took 2 sips and said "all done"

Daddy and Marino made a card for Grammy Deb's birthday

My aunt gave me this play tent as a hand-me-down from my cousin Clare. This was the perfect weekend to use it (and it has a very appropriate igloo theme).

Sunday, we all went over to Grammy Deb's to watch the game/celebrate her birthday. Marino loved the singing happy birthday part, but he was weirded out by these sparkler candles.

When I asked him if he was rooting for the Saints or the Colts, he said "Colts." My sister-in-law convinced him otherwise by the end of the night.

Max, trying to get some food (yes, he needed a sweater, did you see all the snow?)

Marino ate pizza for the first time - he loved it! He kept going back to Evan saying "bite?"

Side eye to anyone getting too close to his pizza...

We were very lucky that we all had off today. There's no way I could have gone to work with my belly acting the way it is, so it was a blessing to have off. Tomorrow, I do have to go to work (Marino and Evan will be home still), so I'm hoping I can make it and not have to take a sick day.

Thoughts and prayers for the end of this c.diff are welcome (as are any unique suggestions for how to get rid of it for good, if anyone has any).

Labor Day Weekend

I can't believe summer is over! We had such a great summer (particularly compared with last summer, where we spent all our time at the hospital or locked in the house). We had a very busy, fun-filled Labor Day weekend, the last summer weekend:(

Friday after work, Evan took Marino to his first football game. Evan's cousin Sam is an awesome football player in his senior year of high school, so Evan took Marino to see him play. As you can see, he was trying to get Marino in the spirit in the car...

Here's Marino watching the game with Grammy Deb and having a bottle.

Sammy is #21

Saturday, we got some of our friends and the kids together for a picnic at Wheaton Regional Park.

Here's Brian trying to teach Marino how to catch a football.

Can you believe Aaron is pulling up to stand already? He's only 6 months!

Russell with Kaylee and Marino

Marino, Aaron and Raiden in the baby jail

Rahsaan, Gina and Evan at the park

Crystal and Brian

Evan cracking up...Marino is going to town on the watermelon. He freaked when I tried to take the rind away...I think he would eat the skin if I let him!

Mama and Marino getting ready to ride the little train

Kristal and Gabrielle on the train

Marino and Gabby enjoying their train ride

On Sunday morning, Evan, Marino and I got up early and drove to Asbury Park beach to visit with Sonia, Wil and Catalina. As you can see, it wasn't the greatest beach day. It was very windy and the waves made it unsafe for swimming. But we had a good time playing in the sand and visiting.

Here's Cat, braving the wind.

Evan and Marino - I love this picture!

Cat and Marino playing ball

Sonia and Cat trying to stay warm!

We got a chance to meet Brandon (below with Marino) and his parents, Karen and Stu, at the beach. Karen and I are on the same Preemies message board and since Brandon and Marino were born only 2 days apart, we've been chatting for a while. It was great to meet all of them and very cool to see Brandon and Marino play together. Brandon is ADORABLE!!

Marino has a beatnik beard made from sand in these pictures. Scat!

Marino did great at the beach - he was even walking on the sand, which is not easy!
Daddy and Marino checking out the waves (they were big!!)

I love this one, too!

You know how there are some things in life that make you smile from the inside out? Watching Cat and Marino playing does that for me...I just love to see this!

Isn't Cat precious?!

Marino's walking improved immensely over the weekend, and he was walking from room to room at Sonia's house! As you can see, walking does bring with it some new challenges for Mama....

Of course, Cat and Marino played with one of their mutual favorite toys: the water table.

And then Cat decided Marino needed a sponge bath after getting so sandy at the beach!

This morning, Marino woke up the whole house and then we went to breakfast. Cat and Marino did a good job of entertaining each other (not so much at keeping food off the floor).
Here's a short video of Marino walking. As you can see, he's gotten a lot sturdier - he's not just stumbling forward anymore (in case you're wondering why he's pantsless - he walks much better when he doesn't have pants getting in the way!).