In our neck of the woods

A rundown on what's been going on lately:

-Brianna came home from the hospital on Thursday
-Eric started to potty-train himself
-Pedro is realizing that 2 weeks off for the baby does not add up to a vacation
-Annaleise started play center for the summer
-And we're all trying to figure out how to function as a family of 5

In more detail:

-Pedro and I were both tired and frustrated with the NICU thing. It was a blessing in disguise though. We had time to catch our breath (sort of), I had time to bond with the baby without the chaos of the other 2 kiddos. I got a few nights of sleeping through the night which I haven't had in months. But I also struggled with going to the hospital 3 or 4 times a day. It seemed every time I was in the elevator or walking down the maternity hall or just anywhere there was a couple leaving with their newborn. It caused some pretty bitter feelings and I was wishing I had Pedro's poor eyesight so I could just take off my glasses and not see a thing around me. However, the nurses in the NICU were wonderful and I knew Brianna needed to be in there so she could come home healthy. 5 days have never seemed so long to me.

-Eric fell in love with the hospital potty and would sit on it non-stop whenever he came up to visit. He has got pooping in the potty down to a fine art. We haven't had to change a dirty diaper on him in more than a week. Hope it keeps up. He loves Brianna. He hasn't tried to sit on her or poke her eyes out...yet. When she starts crying he's right there saying "Don't cry Brianna, don't cry baby." Too sweet. He's also fallen in love with sitting in her swing. He likes to tell us now that he's a 'big baby.' To me he looks huge, but he's still my little boy.

-I think Pedro is hanging in there by a thread. He's tired but he keeps on going. Up til now. He's coming down with a fever...oh goody! Luckily for me I know this routine. He does this a couple times a year. He gets chills and will shake for hours and get a fever, so I just pump him full of water. Then he sleeps it off and eventually the fever breaks, usually in the middle of the night, and by morning he's feeling back to normal. So, we'll just hope for the best and hope it's only an overnight thing and that it doesn't linger for a day or more.

-Annaleise is in playcenter twice a week--gives me a breather. She loves the baby. She's wanting her to grow up fast so they can start playing together. Unfortunately she has also realized that mom and dad aren't up to par at the moment, so she's taking advantage of it.Maybe in a week or 2 we can pull things back together.

-Brianna is a sweet baby. She sleeps all the time--a preemie thing I guess. It's pretty nice, but does complicate feeding her. She's supposed to be eating every 3 hours, but I can't get her to wake up. She averages about 5 hours in between feedings. When I try to wake her up at 3 hour intervals she sucks for 10 seconds and falls asleep again. Last night she fell asleep at 9:30 and didn't wake up until 4:30 this morning to eat. Needless to say she was starving when she woke up. Tomorrow she goes into the doc to make sure her breathing is still good. I'll have to ask him for pointers on how to get her onto a better schedule. We also found out today that she is a projectile pooper. She shot poop across the room twice today while I was changing her bum. Eww, gross, but not my first baby to do it. Thank goodness for carpet cleaner! Anyways, we just love her to pieces.

And that, in a not so short nutshell, is what's happening with us.