All About Caden!

Today is our baby boy Caden's two month birthday! He celebrated it by getting himself checked out by the doctor and receiving 4 immunization shots!! Can't get much better than that! Eck! He was a champ however, and didn't cry much at all. I have a feeling he's felt worse in his short lifetime! Our little boy is growing off the charts. He is over 24 inches long already and in the 100th percentile for his length! I knew he was a long one! He's almost 12 lbs already too (70th%) and you KNOW you can't be a baby Lloyd without an enormous head,...Caden's is 70th percentile there too!! (Reese is 90th and Gavin 70th!)

Here's Caden chillin in his baby swing earlier today! Doesn't he just fit the Gavin mold? He's the taller, darker version of his older brother...brown eyes and hair.

.....

Here is a shot of Caden from when we were in Galveston. He slept in his Pack n Play bassinet. He has a toy bug that plays music that he absolutely loves. One morning we woke up to find that he had not only found it in his bed next to him, he had actually gotten a hold of it...and wouldn't let go! So cute!

.....

His brother and sister are enamored with him! He's just the right size for Reese to sit him in her baby stroller and give him rides! After all, to Reese, he's "my baby!"

.....

Reese chattin' it up with a little visit to Caden's pad. They are quite fond of each other.

.....

Caden has started out being a very easy going baby. He never really cries. I think he literally goes a day or two without crying once. He just whimpers for food (eats like a champ!), a bum change and when he is tired (has solid sleep habits). He also seems content watching the world move around him. He is giving us smiles now (when we really work at it) and is working on rolling over. He's so easy going, I sometimes forget that I have a third child! The transition has quite frankly been a simple one from 2 to 3 for me. I'm sure I'll change my mind once he becomes mobile, but for now, he's our God sent delight! Our little slice of heaven!

On a Mission, the Brothaaas Lloyd!!

Christopher's brothers Bradley and Phillip entered the Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Provo, Utah today! They both will be learning to speak Spanish. Bradley was called to serve in the Chile Conception Mission and Phillip to the Honduras San Pedro Mission. They reported for service today and will serve for 2 full years. They aren't paid for their service, in fact, they pay their way every month while they are out. These two young men have hearts of gold and an unwavering faith....we are proud to call them our brothaaaas! We love you and can't wait for our first letter (or email for that matter!)!

This picture was taken just outside the lovely Forney Wal-Mart as they left Texas for Utah! They stopped by to say one last good-bye (their farewell and open house was last Sunday).

Halloween 2006

This year Reese just had to be a Care Bear, her latest indulgence, and Gavin wasn't going to be seen with the Bears,..so he went American GI style! Caden was just a pumpkin dressed little boy learning how to do the "Bumbo". Halloween is one of our favorite holidays and this year it was a little forgotten. It snuck up on us while we were busy this month,..we didn't even have a PUMPKIN!!! Sad day at the Lloyds,..however, the children did score on the candy loot! (A little parental quality control on the candy is always in order. ;-))

Life's a Beach!

This past week we joined Christopher on a trip to Galveston Beach. While he was wrapped up in a TABE Conference in the hotel, we enjoyed all that Galveston and the Gulf of Mexico has to offer. Not the Pacific that's for sure, and definitely not as clean as we would have hoped, but hey, it's all we can hope for being landlocked in Dallas. It rained 2 of our 4 days there but it didn't matter to us! Gavin has been asking to go to the "beach" ever since spending the summer with Sariah's parents in Washington more than 2 years ago!! Apparently the Pacific Ocean made a big enough impression for a then 16-18 monther, that he has never forgotten.

Here is Gavin and Reese checking out the Gulf for the first time! Reese has never seen the Ocean before. She LOVED it!!

Collecting sea shells by the sea shore.

I love Gavin's facial expression in this photo, it really shows his excitement of the day.While Gavin was collecting shells, Resse our little messy terror was collecting wet sand!! This was a view from our balcony at our Hotel! It had absolutely fabulous sunrises and sunsets! And right across the street from the beach!!
We hope to visit again soon. In the meantime, we are glad to have October be over with. We have literally been living out of a suitcase the whole month! Vacations, mission farewells, birthdays, family visitors, holiday parties and school trips! Whew!

Trinity Trot!

We are a snow and snowboarding family, however, since moving to Texas, we have had to find some new hobbies, ones without mountains. Since June of this year, Christopher has aggresively taken up running as a new hobby. He is training for the The Texas Half Marathon in February 2007. So, as practice, he is running races to work up to the rigors of a half marathon. The Trinity Trot in Fort Worth was his first race and boy was he excited! Just a 4 mile run, but a start. Tyler, his brother, runs Triathlons and Marathons and agreed to be a running buddy for Christopher. Here they are just before the race this past Saturday morning. Here's Gavin a little disappointed he wasn't included in the race.
Gavin quote "Mom, I've never tried racing before, I should give it a try." Me, "that sounds like a great idea, we will look for an upcoming race that includes your age group." Gavin, "I have my new tennis shoes on right now and they make me run super fabulous, fanasticly fast. So I will just run with daddy and hold his hand if he needs help."
Poor kid, just after the race started, Gavin cried he wasn't allowed to just start racing today. So we are planning on a race this next month with him.

Reese enjoyed her own little race back and forth between the bushes and our camp out! Just keeping herself entertained. She's a little cutie!

Here's Christopher crossing the finish line. His personal best mile is 6 minutes flat. For this race, he ran a 7:12 minute mile for 4 miles. He finished second for his age group and 48th overall out of 319. Pretty good for his first race. He will only get better from here.

We are so proud of him and finding something that he really enjoys. Now that I'm not pregnant anymore, I'm jumping on the band wagon and will start training for the Tyler Azalea 10K in March 2007. With Gavin so interested, we just might make this a family affair!

Happy 2nd B-day Reese!

Our baby girl turned the big "2" today! We celebrated with her "Hello Kitty" party pack! For the second b-day we have a tradition of making cupcakes and little the birthday child decorate them. So Reese chose pink cake mix and cream cheese icing with pink sprinkles. Our friends Kaleb, Madison and Blakeley were on hand to help celebrate!


Reese lovin' the cupcake and ice cream action! She's thinkin' to herself, I need to get some of this B-day action every day of the year!
Her birthday prize was this kitchen play center with wrapped assesories! Very big hit with all the children!But of course, Reese, our little "pretty" princess, loved her sparkely play shoes the best (she got an 8 pack!)! She is a sucker for jewelry ("pretties"), shoes, hello kitty, and Spongebob Halloween DVD from Netflix!

Yes, Reese has entered the beloved age of the "terrible twos" in actual years, however, she has ALWAYS been our little messy terror!


This was Reese at our hotel in San Antonio,...she just had to go "potty" and grab a little snack too!

Where has all the time gone?

Well, October has come and is nearly gone. We have just been so busy these past few weeks. We still really haven't had a moment to breathe. We had Aunt Juila Bean come for a visit along with Grandma and Pa Haslam for a couple of weeks. We did LOTS of sight seeing and of course, we blessed Caden at church. **Mom, need those pictures from you.** We visited the Dallas Arboretum which was just beautiful with fall blooming flowers and a fun pumpkin patch! We did San Antonio and its Riverwalk and let us not forget,...THE ALAMO !! This family LOVES San Antonio for its fun atmosphere, night life ambiance on the Riverwalk and the Texas history of The Alamo! We go at least once a year. And the family visit wouldn't be complete without the TEXAS STATE FAIR added to our festivities! There was also shopping at some of Dallas' many Malls like Galleria Dallas . One day Gavin would like to test out their indoor ice skating rink located in the center first floor of the mall. Anyone ever been to the Tyler Caldwell Zoo ? Christopher likes it more than the top rated Fort Worth Zoo, I challenge his opinion, however it is a very nice Zoo for little ol Tyler! :-) The kids LOVED the penquins! All this, and Caden was such an angel! I REALLY am blessed again with a sweet, easy going baby. I paid my dues with Gavin!!! Can I get an AMEN from the choir!

I can't even give this post the time that it needs to do it right with pictures and details! I will have to get something together sometime and make a new post with fun pics later.

We all had a lot of fun, and we all we sad to see Bean and Grandma and Pa have to leave. ALL of us were spoiled,..that's for sure! You'll have to come for a visit again soon,..meanwhile, send me your files of pictures, since we have mostly video! Love ya!

Caden's Homecoming!!

We are a wee bit late in posting our homecoming. Caden did indeed come home with us on Sunday afternoon. It was sweet bliss carrying my little boy from the Special Care Nursery to our car and home. Gavin and Reese are so in love with their little bro. Almost a little too in love! The amount of sibling smothering is sometime "OOC", and something we will have to work on. Reese refers to Caden as "my baby" and Gavin is a GREAT help with diaper changes and keeping Reese's hands out of Caden's face.
At Caden's doctor appt with his regular pediatrician yesterday, his health was right up there as if he were never sick! The doc was in such amazement and speechless! Power of medicine along with prayer and priesthood! Can't beat that baby!Here is Caden chillin with his daddy at home. In all, Caden spent 9 days in the NICU and 2 days in the Special Care Nursery. Now he is well and all ours! Bring on the all nighters! A special thanks to all those who have sent well wishes and prayers our way! We are forever grateful!

Off topic,...question and in need of advice for the breastfeeding ladies,..how in the world do you get rid of clogged milk ducts?

Caden Day 8 - A WEEK OLD!!

Caden is one week old today! When I went to see him today this is how I found him. (see pic) So peaceful and without his air assistance tube!!! I was so excited. He looked so healthy and such a cutie!!

He is now breathing on his own,..and passing the oxygen tests! One of the last things he needed to accomplish before he can come home. The only other treatment is for his antibiotics, and that will finish up on Sunday. So, the prognosis is good for a Sunday homecoming!

I just had to include this picture of him crying. Being that I only get to see him for a few hours a day, I don't get to hear it much! His cry is a healthy cry now; not one that sounds troubled and gasping for life.

Daddy was able to feed him during one of his sessions. He is now not on a feeding schedule of every 3 hours, but whenever he tells us he is hungry. He's setting his own schedule, just like any other newborn! And yes, that is another IV tube in his head!! He blew out the one in his arm, and had to have it back in the head again. He's blown out 2 in both hands, both feet and now in for a second round in the head! He just needs them out already! Poor baby!

And that is the progress for now. He is doing exceptionally well and will be coming home on Sunday. These last pictures are just for showing off a healthy Caden! Free from most tubes and with his eyes open! No eyebrows or lashes,...just like his mommy! But what a cutie! A little yawn to let us know he was done with the picture taking and ready for nap time again!

Caden's Day 6 & 7

Caden has been upgraded from his NICU crib to a nursery tub!! (see pic below) Yeah! He's just like all the other babies when not in the NIC unit! I love this shot of him b.c he is just chillin'! And he gets to wear clothes now!! He just looked more like my little boy today, more than ever! He doesn't seem sickly and acts just like a healthy little newborn! I was sooo thrilled! A close up of my little man. He is only on his breathing tube that "puffs" a small amount of air into his lungs every once in a while. The doc's tried to take him completely off of the air assistance last night, however, he failed the oxygen gas tests without it,...so, he will need to work on this before he can go home. Right now we are in the "no news is good news" stage. Not much to report other than he is continuing to get better. He takes a bottle of my breast milk at every feeding, every 3 hours. He gives a good holler at the nurses too when he's hungry! He drinks 30 ml a feeding, which is GREAT for him! Here he is at his 1:30 pm feeding, with his eyes open!! He's opening his eyes more and more and I just can't get enough of him! He is such a babe! He has such a little old man look to him that I just want to kiss him bunches!
Here's another feeding picture. I just can't stop taking pictures when his eyes are open! He is also gaining his weight back fast! He is now up to 8 lbs 3 oz!


We feel so blessed at his tremendous come back! The power of prayer is so real! Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and prayers. We know the Lord has heard and answered them! Christopher and I were just talking about how we feel like we are in a "blessing bubble" right now! We just feel really blessed and comforted in every aspect of our lives at the moment.
Caden has a discharge date of Sunday the 17th in the afternoon. They would like to move him to the "Special Care Nursery", however there isn't any room for him at this time. Yea, Caden!

Caden's Day 5

Today was a really good progress day. He took his first bottle for his 10:30 am feeding. He ate 12 ml and then fell asleep. Little bugger. That was the only feeding he did by bottle,..but it was progress! Here in the picture he's sucking on his binki. You'll also notice the IV has been moved back to his left hand. Last night the nurse was doing something with the IV and Caden jerked his head and caused the IV to break his vein and leak some solution under his skin causing his left eye to swell. I don't know if you can see it that well in this picture or not, but it's swollen. When I first saw him this morning, he was awake and we locked eyes for a few moments. Mine immediately swelled with tears. I know he is going to be alright, but I worry about everything like any mom would.

The doctor told us that he may have gotten pneumonia or some kind of virus that caused all these problems with his lungs in the first place, but we may never really know for sure. They want to keep him in the NICU until at least Saturday to complete his antibiotic treatments. This will help ensure that there won't be a relapse of the illness. The hole in his lung seems to be healing quickly because the x-rays don't show an increase in the leaked air outside his lung.

In other news, I was discharged today. And we won't even begin to go into the emotions that were unleashed when I had to leave my new baby alone at the hospital.

Gavin and Reese are real troopers and have been extra good for their babysitters this weekend. We are definitely feeling all your prayers. Thank you!!!

Caden NICU Day 3 & 4

Day 3 (Saturday Sept. 9) started off without much change. Caden was still on the ventilator to aid him in breathing. However, they were trying to wean him off of it slowly and by 11am he was down to 10 ventilator assisted breaths a minute. The rest of the time he was breathing on his own. He was scheduled for another x-ray later in the afternoon and Christopher’s mom took Gavin and Reese around Dallas to run errands so Sariah could get some rest. We figured if the NICU didn’t call to update us on anything, nothing had changed. So when we went down there again later that evening, (around 8pm) we were surprised to find Caden totally off the ventilator! Instead he had nose inhaler tubes pumping normal air to help keep his lungs inflated while the hole in his right lung heals. He still had the feeding tube in his mouth and the oxygen monitor in his umbilical cord. But he was making awesome progress! We were very excited and couldn’t help but snap a picture.

Day 4 (Sunday Sept. 10) we woke up excited to see Caden again. So we went down to see him after Sariah had finished pumping a few ounces of milk. When we arrived we learned that he had been fed through his tube! So he wasn't relying solely on his I.V. for his nutrition anymore. The nurse was glad to see we were breast feeding and pumping milk to feed Caden. He was resting so soundly that he wouldn't wake up to take a bottle. His next feeding was in an a few hours and the nurse was going to take the oxygen monitor out of his umbilical cord so we could hold him!We also noticed that his I.V. had moved from his hand to his head during the night.The hour finally came and we were able to hold little Caden. He still wouldn't wake up for us enough to feed him. It's important that he be awake because he needs to be aware of the suck-swallow-breath rhythm of feeding. Otherwise he could complicate his condition. So Sariah got to feed him some breast milk through his feeding tube, and was very happy to finally hold her little baby boy.Daddy was very proud too, but ended up bumping the I.V. in Caden's head which sent off a flurry of alarms and lights. Doh!

Later we met with the doctor and he said they wanted to keep Caden in the NICU for at least 10 days from the time he was admitted to keep the antibiotics in his system and keep monitoring him.

Day 2 NICU Update

Just a quick update....
When Caden was born via c-section he had difficulty breathing right from the start. However, after about 4 hours he became stabilized and we got to take our little man in our arms. As the day went on (Thurs. Sept. 7) we noticed that he seemed to be wheezing and uncomfortable most of the time. He also would NOT eat (from me or a bottle) and when he would (you could tell he wanted to) he would choke on it or throw it up. He was also born with low blood sugar, so not eating was causing him to crash out with dangerously low levels. About midnight we noticed Caden's color not looking so hot and saw that his blood sugar was in the teens (below 45 is not good). We also noticed he was working really hard to breathe. Chest X-rays showed that he STILL had fluid in his lungs. After vacuuming out time and time again, he was not getting better. That's when "Dr. D" a Neonatologist with Dallas Presbyterian Hospital took a look at him and admitted him to the NICU around 5:30am (Fri. Sept. 8). This photo below is his first that was taken right after being admitted. Later that afternoon, we discovered through blood test that his white blood cells we elevated and that meant infection. The fluid in his lung had become infectious, so they started antibiotics right away. That's when he had to go into an oxygen tent (shown below). The tent is a more effective way to get oxygen to a newborn. An adult would use an oxygen mask, but an infant is annoyed by a mask and constantly fights to get it off its face.
The tent only worked for so long. While his little lungs were working so hard to breath his right lung blew a hole and collapsed. This was due to the right lung working so hard to compensate for for the left's infection. Caden needed to be put on a ventilator (shown below). The ventilator goes down his airway and breaths essentially breaths for him, giving him time to rest and his body a chance to find the strength to heal. This was around noon the same day. The tubes irritated him and his excitement made it hard for the nurses to stabilize him and he had to be sedated for the rest of the evening.
We can't hold him nor feed him. He is only receiving nutrients through IV. He needs to be off the ventilator in order to be feed through a tube in his stomach. We need that to happen before he gets jaundice. So we pray for his infection to start clearing up and his hole in his lung to repair itself quickly. We are SO fortunate that his condition is NOT life threatening. He just needs to get well, so we can feed him and raise his blood sugar and take him home. We are not sure what long term effects might arise from this experience, however, we pray for his long term health as well. Especially going into the cold and flu season now.
Caden really didn't like being touched because for the past day every time he was touched, he was poked or inflicted necessary pain. When I was able to to finally see him and hold his little hand, I was so emotional when I realized he knew his mommy and her touch and held my finger....AH,I LOVE MY LITTLE MAN!!

We will have an update on Day 3 (Sat. Sept. 9) soon. Christopher will also be working on a little video presentation once we get back to the house. I will be going home on Monday the 11th (Gavin's B-day!), and sadly, it will be without Caden. Right now our hope is that he will be discharged the following weekend. Keep the prayers coming,..we feel them already!

Caden's First Day

September 7, 2006

Caden Benjamin was born at

4:58 am.

Sariah was scheduled for a C-section at 7:30am but he felt he had waited long enough and would not wait any longer, putting Sariah into contractions and labor at 1:00am in the morning. At birth he weighed

8 pounds 8 ounces

and was

21 inches long.

More pictures and video coming soon. In the meantime, please keep Caden in your prayers. He is having a hard time breathing. Liquid in his lungs caused an infection that has caused one of his lungs to collapse. He's in the Neonatal ICU and is a fighter. He will be there at least for the next 7 days, we pray that that will be all he needs. We will keep daily updates on his progress here on the blog.

Thanks for your love, friendship and prayers.

Gavin's First Day of School!

First day of school, first day of school (insert little Nemo voice)!!!! Gavin's first day of pre-school was today and boy was he excited! He chose to wear his "Ireland" shirt in honor of his uncle Tyler. Reese is hammin for the camera while Gavin is being bashful! .....

"Army" backpack ready to go! Mr. Cat is also in the background,..he came by to wish him a great first day of school this morning!

.....

Can we go already? Gavin didn't have any trouble saying good-bye to us when we went to drop him off at his classroom. While walking him up the steps to his classroom he found a baby lizard and he picked it up. He told me he wanted to throw it on his teacher, Mrs. Lewis! (Can you tell what child he is going to be in the classroom?!) So, we brought it to his teacher and Mrs. Lewis was so excited he came to share. She grabbed a bug cage and had Gavin put the lizard in to share with all his classmates. Everyone quickly gathered around and Gavin had instant popularity! I was thrilled to see Gavin so happy and making new friends. He really has a talent for making friends. As I was saying good-bye, he told me to "leave already, mom!" On my way back to the house, I didn't expect to get emotional over him growing up and leaving me for school, but I did. What can I say! I was just so happy for him...I didn't cry though! And that in itself was a miracle as I am full of raging pregnancy hormones!

After picking Gavin up from school, he told us that he wants to go to school "every time the sun comes up in the morning"! I think he enjoyed himself! He actually started to cry that he had to LEAVE school at the end of the day. Poor kid!

Reese was really sad that she couldn't stay. I wish she were old enough! For a private pre-school, their tuition is quite affordable. She missed Gavin at home too and kept asking when we could go and pick him up! So much for mommy and me time with her!