Settling down

We have had quite an eventful year up to this point. From not knowing whether Claire would make it or not... to spending a month and a half in the NICU with her...then to having her home with us, healthy and keeping us on our toes every day. We've also watched Owen grow so much these past months, he has gone from being the baby to becoming a big brother who can be the sweetest and the sneakiest little man. We just bought our first house together and although still in the unpacking stages of moving in, have begun to truly feel at home. It seems like with all that has happened over these past months, the dust is finally starting to settle.

Miss Claire is now 4 1/2 months old and weighing in at 8 lbs 12 oz today. She had her third echocardiogram last week which showed she still has a ASD, VSD's, and a PDA... but she is still asymptomatic so no surgery is needed at this time. We took her up to the family cabin last weekend and I was a bit worried about how she would do with the altitude gain (from 4500 ft in SLC to 8200 ft) but she seemed to be fine. We still feel like it's a daily struggle to get the calories in her that she needs, but she continues to maintain a steady growth rate.

Jake and I are still alternating our work days so that we can avoid daycare. It seems harder this time around since it oftentimes feels like we're single parents during the day, then just see each other for a couple hours at night during the dinner/get ready for bed and collapse time. I guess this is how it goes for a lot of families...

We haven't given up the dream of owing our own land and having a little farm. We're hoping that buying a house will be a step in that direction since it will give us experience with our yard (urban gardening??) and hopefully a little equity. Till then we just keep taking things a day at a time.