Homecoming Christmas

Oh the Happiest Christmas,
Is a Homecoming Christmas,
With the Snow Flitterin' Down
To the World seems new.

Bright Candles Burning,
Old Friends Returning.
The wishest of Children
Coming True.

And the Happiest Wishes
Are Just Old Fashioned Wishes:
May your days be Merry,
May your sorrows be small.
May the ones you love,
Be near you.

That's the Happiest Chirstmas Of All

On Friday night, December 1st, Susan and Jeremy were blessed to attend the Michael W. Smith concert in Sioux City, Iowa. We had fantanstic seats, as shown in the picture above (taken from our seats in the second row). We loved hearing the Christmas music and enjoying a great date night. Since Alixandra is coming home tomorrow, we felt comfortable leaving the NICU for a few hours while Grandma Stoltenow stayed with Alixandra in the hospital.

On Saturday, we got to enjoy the Homecoming Christmas that Michael sang about. We brought Alixandra home from the hospital!! It was so great to put her into her own clothes and to strap her into her car seat. We even stopped to take some pictures on the way out of the hospital.

Mom, Dad, and Alixandra in the NICU room

A cute tree outside the NICU decorated with baby supplies

Riding home in style in a Pink Cadillac!!

It's great to be home now as a family!!

Meet the (Grand)parents

Battling an unexpected ice storm, Jeremy's family was able to come to visit Alixandra on Sunday. The drive took longer than expected so they didn't arrive until late on Sunday night. Needless to say, they were anxious to get to the hospital on Monday morning!!

Because she was born almost 5 weeks early, Alixandra had to stay in the Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) for her first week of life. This meant that only 4 people could visit her at one time. We also were required to "scrub in" for 3 minutes each time we entered the NICU. It sure makes for a long 3 minutes when you're waiting to see your grandchild!!

Auntie Susan (pictured above) was super excited to see her new niece and really enjoyed holding her. It was neat that she and Aunt Lora were able to come up to Sioux Falls after the Thanksgiving weekend.

For a few days, Alix needed some special treatments, like an IV to make sure she was getting enough nourishment. She also had a little bit of jaundice, so they put her under a "billi" light. To protect her eyes, they had her wear some cute purple glasses, shown below. She was already working on her tan, but she won't be able to got topless ever again :o).

On Wednesday morning, Alixandra was removed from nearly all of her cords. It was much easier to hold her and to cuddle her without worrying about disconnecting a wire. She sleeps for most of the time, but when her eyes are open, it's quite a treat.

More to come . . .