Juliette's first documented smile

There were some unconfirmed, and highly suspect, reports of smiles before today, but for the record we are marking 11-10-07 as the first smile. And have the tail end of the proof right here!

Daddy daughter date!

Audree and I had a great time on a little daddy daughter outing. Aside from some a brief mishap with a slick pair of shoes and a waxed patch of floor Audree thought bolling was great. She even beat dad's lowly score, and note the fantastic job she did on the fifth frame... Perhaps next time I should keep the bumpers up too.

Above: Contemplating a tough split

Halloween!

Audree had two preschool parties this year (MWF and TTh). She went as a Hula Girl and Little Red Riding Hood (which was also her Haloween evening costume).

We almost got a costume on Juliette but it didn't quite work out so she went as herself and slept most of the time anyway.

Pumpkin Time!

I thought we had a photo of our pumpkin family this year but apparently I didn't take it. Here are some shots of Audree's in-progress and Juliette's.

Louisburg Cider Mill

We took the girls to the Louisburg Cider Mill and Corn maze for a fun Saturday morning. Here are a few photos:

Night of the Living Farm

We took Audree to 'Night of the Living Farm' at Deanna Rose Children's Farmstead and and a great time.

Here are some photo highlights:

Cousins

Can you believe these girls are just one month apart?! Don't look so concerned Juliette... just because Sable's head is twice the size of yours doesn't mean she's going to eat you.

I spy with my little eye...

...something small!

But she is growing. Juliette weighed in at 6lbs today, what an achievement!

Out for a Stroll

We took the girls for a walk to the park today. (Juliette's first big trek outdoors) The weather has been perfect lately so we thought we would make good use of it. More-or-less an uneventful excursion, but still fun filled.

Homeward Bound

This afternoon we were able to bring Juliette home. So far she is doing great. She had great nurses and care at the hospital, but it sure feels nice to have everyone in one place.

Audree was so excited to have her sister home!

Not long now

Juliette is nearly ready to come home. At 5lbs she is almost back up to her birth weight. In the early morning she pulled out her own feeding tube. If things go well today she may be heading home tomorrow. Here is a quick video of her resting on the bed.

A Little Extra Help

Have you ever laughed so hard that drink came out of your nose? Well it's not quite so funny when it's going in your nose!

Like a lot of preemies, Juliette started to get tired by day 3. The nurses put a tube into her tummy to help her get the food she needs to grow and go home. Hopefully it will only be in for a couple of days.

Happy Zero-eth Birthday!

In celebration of Juliette's B-day Grandma & Grandpa baked a cake which Audree helped decorate. They worked really hard on it and Audree was so excited to eat the decorations.

After making sure her cousins and self had pieces with flowers on them they enjoyed the beautiful creation.

Audree said the flower decorations tasted great after gobbling her's down... Mommy said they tasted like wax.

The leftovers were shared with the nurses on the night shift; which, apparently, was a big hit.

New Addition!

We were thrilled to welcome Juliette to the family on Friday. Her arrival was early but otherwise uneventful.

Stats:
Weight 5lbs 2oz
Length 18 1/4"

At the Circus

Audree and Dad went to the Circus (one of her favorite places to go). We had a great time and saw a number of exciting things including an elephant that painted a picture using it's trunk. We are still not quite sure what the painting is of, but that's beside the point.