Mea culpa, mea culpa...

I am so very sorry for not posting for soooo long.  The tiny two are both home and things here are just a bit crazy!  Matthew is healing well from his two surgeries in July, with the exception of a recent infection in one of his incisions.  That too is healing.  Other than that Matthew is growing & learning and doing so well weighing in at 8lb 14 1/2 oz (as of Aug. 20th).  Ezekiel is growing and learning as well, now at 7lb 10 1/2 oz (also as of Aug. 20th).  Zeke has had a couple of little bumps in the road.  Last weekend he was once again at Sky Ridge.  Admitted Friday the 13th...uh...yea.  Anyway, he had a little lung infection that was causing him to have hypoxia (oxygen levels too low) and is therefore now back on oxygen.  He was only there for 3 days, thankfully!  In the process of trying to figure out what was wrong we found that he has a hole in his heart called an ASD.  We have been to the pediatric cardiologist and we think that this will have to be closed.  Hopefully later when he is bigger so the surgery can be just a catheter procedure and not open heart surgery.  We are looking for the "symptoms" that come with this and we are hoping not to see them for a long time!
  The big brothers are doing pretty well, of course we do have the typical behavior problems...uh-hum...slightly aggregated by two tiny babies in the house and not the attention they are use to from mommy & daddy.  This, like everything else shall pass.

I will TRY so much to keep this updated more often.  So far this post has taken me a day and a half! Frequently (like every 2 minutes or so) being interrupted by crying big boys, fighting big boys, screaming babies, phones ringing and hunger, alas I have almost achieved my goal!!
So, enjoy your day, love the quiet moments, revel in the noise, smile in the face of the mess, and look around so you can be in the moment!
Lots & lots of love to you and your family from,
The Brothers Buckley xoxo!!

Bath time for Matthew!

Bath time for dinosaurs!

the line for "dino bath"!

Dr. Gabe!

Bath time for Zeke!

Ahhh, this is the life!! (Zeke)

Sweet dreams lovies!!xoxoxo

The results are in...

It is pyloric stenosis.  Surgery is scheduled for 11am tomorrow (Saturday) lots of prayers please.  It is a simple & short surgery & hopefully he will thrive after recovery.  It would be nice to have him be a happy baby again!

One step forward, two steps back

Well, here is what's goin' on.  Matthew did come home last week, when he was here he was very fussy & not eating well & projectile vomiting.  Sunday afternoon we noticed that the small hernia he had was much bigger, much bigger.  So on Monday morning I brought him with me to visit Ezekiel & get the opinion of the NP in the NICU as to if we should go to the ER.  When they saw how big it was they called the urologist & by 2pm Matthew was in surgery. He had a double hernia repair  They admitted him back into the NICU & he is still there.  He has lost more weight & is still vomiting (all the way across the room).  There will be another ultrasound of his abdomen sometime today.  It could be pyloric stenosis, and if that's the case he will have to have another surgery. We just have to wait and see.
  Ezekiel is home and doing okay. He's a lot more fussy than usual, but the change in surroundings & having had his shots 2 days ago could be the reason for that.
 It's been a bumpy ride this year so far & we are holding on tight!
Hope all is well & healthy for you & your family!
Lots of love from,
The Brothers Buckley

This is the week!!!!

This is the week!!!  I will have a house full with all 4 boys HOME!!!  Matthew came home this morning & Ezekiel is coming home on Thursday!  Hooray for the "tiny two"!  So far (all 3 hours) have been going okay, just trying to figure out where everything is going to go.  Matthew had his first bottle at home, ate 50ml's, then proceeded to throw up 30 of it.  Oh well, I hope it goes better later!  The big brothers are excited and out of sorts, but they will eventually adjust.

Zeke will miss you until he comes home too Matthew!

Gettin' ready to go!

Look at Danny's face, ya think he knows his life is going to change?

Home sweet home!

Welcome home Matthew, we are so happy you are here!

Nap time!

Lots of love to you from,

The Brothers Buckley xoxo

What Daniel createth, Mr. Clean magic eraser taketh away!

Daniel decided he wanted the bathroom door to not be so plain & ordinary, so with BALLPOINT PEN he jazzed it up a bit!

pretty!

Mr. Clean magic eraser to the rescue...

Abra-ca-zam!!!

WOW!!

Here are the pictures of the Brothers that I couldn't get to work yesterday.

Enjoy!

Mr. T-ball! the Gabe at bat for "the Rockies"!

Gabriel the firefighter! At the fire muster, so much fun!!

Fight that fire Danny Boy!!

Oh Danny boy

the Gabe!!

The big Brothers!

Look at the almost double chin on Ezekiel!

Matthew dreaming of the jungle!

Lots of love to you from,

The Brothers Buckley!

The Brothers sickley!

None of the brothers are feeling so well, boohoo.  Here's the rundown:
   -Ezekiel's respiratory rate is all over the place.  He can't bottle feed when his rate is over 60 & it always seems to be at least 60 when he's awake.  I've watched it go from 34 to 111 in a matter of minutes.  He is so tired & sleeps most of the time, which is probably what he needs most.
   -Matthew is throwing up, not spitting up, throwing up!  He is having such a hard time & it's so sad to see him be so uncomfortable.  We'll see what the Dr's say, we have tried changing his formula and so far that has not yet helped.
   -Danny Boy has a cold & is super cranky.  Snot wiped from his nose onto his cheeks, heaven forbid he learn to use a tissue!! (I know I know, he's only 2...almost 3 but sheeze)  I hope he's over it soon...please...
   -Gabe, well he doesn't really "have" anything, but boy-o-boy it is meltdown city every evening just before bed.  I don't know what his deal is, maybe it's an age thing, a summer thing, a t-ball thing, all I know is it better be an OVER SOON thing!!

I tell ya, mama needs a drink! (teeheehee) Seriously though, I can't stand to see my kiddos struggling and not be able to fix it with my magic mommy wand.  I love ALL my boys to heaven & back and would never trade them for anything, snotty nose, cranky, pukey, tiny fast breathing and all!

  Hope all is well & healthy in your world!

Lots of love to you from,
  The Brothers Buckley

PS- I'll try to post new pictures tomorrow!

The Tired Two!

     These boys are sleepin' & sleepin'.  Matthew is just tired, probably because he is growing sooo much so fast.  That's a lot of work ya know!  Matthew is now about 5lb 14oz!  He is trying to eat from a bottle, but it's such hard work!  He has the idea, he just can't quite stay awake enough to eat a whole feed, he literally falls asleep in the middle, (then he sometimes chokes).  "Suck suck suck, breathe, suck suck, breathe, suck su...zzzzzzzzzzzz" seems to be the pattern!  That's okay, you know my motto slow & steady wins the race! 
  Ezekiel gave us a little scare on Sunday, about 2am.  He had a brady & had to be stimulated pretty hard to come out of it!  Thank goodness it was 2am & not when I was there.  So, that gave the Dr's a clear signal that something was not quite right.  They did a CBC (complete blood count) and found that his hematocrit level (red blood cell measurment)(Crit for short) was quite low.  Low crit levels lower the oxygen levels in the blood & cause anemia.  So poor Zeke was (& still is) super tired.  (When he had the transfusions when he was born it was because of this same reason.)  To treat him he was given epogen shots everyday for 5 days & if that didn't bring up the numbers he was going to be treated with another blood transfusion.  But...they did a count early this morning and he was at 29.4 (good levels are in the 30's) so no transfusion!  YEAY!  Ezekiel is now weighing in at about 4lb. 4oz!!!  He looks like a totally different kiddo!  He has not been working on bottle feeds because we want this crit issue to be resolved before going on to the next step.

     The BIG boys are doing super well!!  Gabe started T-ball and it is just about the cutest thing I've ever seen!  These kids do so well and all of them are so sweet and super charged about being on a real team!  Danny-boy is the official cheering section for his bro! "GO Briel yeay!!!  Good job Briel!  Hhhhiiiiiiii Briel!"  then Gabe shoots a semi-shy sweet huge smile our way...melts my heart!

  Mommy & Daddy are well too, both in good health, praise God!  We are just soaking it all in and wondering how on earth we got so lucky!  What a life we have, enchanted I tell ya, blessed & happy beyond anything we could ever imagined!  God is good...ALL the time!

Lots of love to you from
The Brothers Buckley!!xoxo

Oh, the sweet boys!

This preemie onesee is BIG on Zeke!

Sometimes Danny gets bored at the NICU...

The latest & greatest "toy" at the Buckley house!

(It was a gift from our wonderful neighbor)

this picture is entitled "Blister"

...oh...CUTE boy!!!

That's a BIG binky for a little boy! (Zeke)

Snuggle time with my tiny Ezekiel

This one is just for perspective

these are the tubes & cords attached to Ezekiel

This is how they get their feeds through the NG tube. 

I want this at home for nighttime feeds!

Zeke feet!

Precious Matthew

!

ZEKE!

Together again!!