Ellie Rolled Over!

From February 2009

Whoa....breaking news in the Gramkow house. Lori called me today and said that ELLIE ROLLED OVER FROM HER TUMMY TO HER BACK! Yippee! I can't wait to see if myself. And of course, Lori said that she tried to get her to do it again, but she wouldn't! Here's a picture of Ellie and her good friend, Bridget (whom Ellie loves to watch go back and forth all day long!).

From February 2009

We're so proud..and looking forward to hopeful, good reports from the NICU follow up developmental clinic on March 3. We're actually going to go to Topeka and stay with Cousin Audrey on March 2 and pay a visit to the night shift nurses...so all of you reading this - I hope you're working March 2 or March 3! We can't wait to see all of you again!

From February 2009

Ellie's appetite, I'm happy to report is back! Wahoo! And I'm really hoping the croup is gone for good! She's feeling lots better and is back to her smiley self. Aside from her new news of rolling over, she's really taking a liking to hitting the dangling toys we put in her carset, her bouncy seat. She also looks at her bears on her mobile. It's funny, you watch her and its almost like you can tell she's thinking about hitting it, and then will kind of borderline spaz out hitting them. And then it's like she's tired again. We think it's pretty funny. We'll get it on video here maybe this weekend! So about the suspect old milk...well, there were a lot of factors, and I think that theory went out the window when she was still having runny diapers and spitting after eating fresh milk. It's interesting - maybe it just didn't want to settle. Things are better in that area now though! Prayers for Ben - he's been in the lab the past 3 days non-stop it feels like with a class project...also hasn't had much time to continue to work on last semesters classes still - those engineering classes, I tell you what! Also, please pray because he was really excited about a lead with Honeywell, and so far they actually have denied even an interview with him. He's still trying to contact the HR person to see what is up. He's frustrated because at the career fair, they sounded genuinely interested. I guess we just have to wait a little longer to see what God has in store for him!

From February 2009

Today's been a good day. I actually went and got my hair cut and am loving it! It's already about 100 pounds lighter..and I think it'll be a good do to have for someone on the go all the time! It's quite a bit different, but I think it's all good! Good work Stephanie Z. at Hair Experts. My good friend Alisha had to hold my hand, ok, not literally, but it was a big step...I think they cut off about 10 inches..and it was great to have girlfriend support! Too fun! Also, funny that Dr.Roles (my OB doctor) was getting her hair done in the next seat. It was fun catching her up with Ellie's latest. I had a really good time and Stephanie was way fun...so for those of you in Manhattan looking for a stylist, she's a good one! Oh, AND Alisha and I also went to Varney's to order our (and for ben too) GRADUATION GOWNS! Wahoo! Only 80 more days until all this hard work is paid off! I'm just a little excited about that! Ok, well, enjoy the pictures! Better get to feeding my little girl...and then the homework part....so I can actually do that graduation part...

My Shrinking Lap

From February 2009

Something is going on here, this little girl just doesn't fit on my lap the way she used to. She weighed 11 lbs 4 oz at the doctor's office when Mandy took her in for a follow up after the ER visit. Mandy points out that she is wearing 3 month clothes now.

Speaking of the dreaded ER visit, we think Ellie is still recovering from Croup. She will still have coughing fits now and then that usually end in spitting up. The last time she did that (20 mins ago) she swallowed it back down. Yuk, I gave her some gas drops just so she'd have something to wash it down with. Poor girl. She's sleeping it off now though.

We're not sure if the Croup is the only thing slowing her down these days. We thawed out some milk that Mandy had pumped shortly after Ellie was born because it is getting fairly close to the time when it expires. About the time we started giving her that she started getting runny stools. So now we're afraid that milk is giving her an upset stomach. That could very well be since it is clearly a different color that the fresh stuff she's getting now. I think it's a lot richer than the new stuff.

Meanwhile we just switched from size newborn diapers to size 1. The transition is not going so smoothly and the runny stools are not helping.

Whatever the cause we pray she get's healthy soon because we don't like seeing her sick.

Ellie's got croup...no fun!

Well, the Gramkows just got back from the ER, yes, it's 5:30 a.m. After listening to Ellie cough and wheeze until about 2 am, I decided to call the pediatrician on call who said to take preemie Ellie into the ER. They tested for RSV and it came back negative, praise Jesus! The final verdict was croup. They gave her a steroid shot and a breathing treatment and she's already sounding better...another praise there. Needless to say, we are very thankful that she wasn't admitted. So, I get to stay home with Ellie (as the ER doc said no daycare for Ellie today) and call Dr.Duff later today to see what he wants to do about follow up. Good night...I think I will be sleeping when Ellie does today (especially since I actually haven't gone to bed yet!) Oh...motherhood! :) Please continue to pray for Ellie in battling this!

Prayers for Ellie

Please pray for our little Ellie. We believe she is sick with a cold. She's got some congestion going on and it's just hard to hear her breathing. We're keeping a close eye on her tonight, and will see if we need to go to the doctor. :( I don't think I'll get much sleep tonight.

Love....

From February 2009

From February 2009

From February 2009

From February 2009

Happy Late Valentine's Day...yep, that's how things are running at the Gramkow house these days! I absolutely love Valentine's day and it was fun celebrating Ellie's First Valentine's Day with her! She also had princess valentines to give to her cousins...and the rest of her small friends' are going to be in the mail soon...hopefully. I just rejoice and sit back and think about how far Ellie's come and just fall in love with her more and more every day! Every smile, every coo, every "I'm comfy" noise...yep, I love it all. We are so blessed to have this little girl in our lives! Words cannot express how grateful we are that God chose us to be parents to this little girl. Ever since we've been home, I've become quite the blog addict. There are quite a few babies that I follow...their progress...their parents testimony of dependence on God...yep, been there! It's neat to be able to pray for others in this way, even when I don't know them...such a neat thing about the body of Christ. How neat. Good job on that one God. This weekend was exceptionally special for me AND it was a big step for me! Ellie had her first trip to someone's house other than the Doctor's office or Lori's! Yep, we went to Uncle Wade and Aunt Caryn's house! My parents and my sister Wendy (and boys) came to Manhattan to see the Kansas crew. I was really nervous. It's still cold and flu season...and boy, you should have seen how much hand sanitizer I took with me there! It was nice because Wade and Caryn have a basement, so we pretty much restricted all the kids to the basement while Ellie got to hang out with the adults. My sister Wendy Jo got to hold Ellie Jo for the first time! It was so great to have her here too, she actually stayed with us in our apartment and took some feedings, so we could get some sleep! What a blessing! Ellie went to the Doctor for a weight check and we were SO proud of her weight! She's now 11 lbs. 2 1/4 oz.! (and yes, I still have to include the 1/4 oz!) Oh, and SHE GOT HER SYNAGIS...and on TIME! 28 days, our home health nurse actually came on Thursday and administered it. The parents as teachers educator didn't actually come because she called and said she had a bad cold. We rescheduled. It was so great for me to hang out with the family and see them marvel over Ellie's smiles and coos! It's starting to feel "normal." And I know that it's our choice to keep Ellie in lock down during cold and flu season...just makes me nervous thinking about her getting sick again! But..well, it was a good step for me. I sure prayed a lot this weekend though, and still continue to pray that Ellie doesn't get sick. I know everyone washed their hands, and we kept the kids far away...there I go worrying again. It's hard because I know I can't keep her away from everything...she will get sick sometime...how about just not yet...ok, God? Well, another start of another busy week for the Gramkows! How many days until Spring Break? Blessings and Prayers from Team Gramkow

My Dad's a Geek

From February 2009

From February 2009

Oh, how we love Ben. But this onesie (compliments of Aunt Anna) is pretty funny. :) Let's just hope that the onesie status helps Daddy Ben get a job! :) The career fair was yesterday for Ben and he felt pretty encouraged by it. He's got some leads and actually is interviewing with a company here in Manhattan as we speak (GE Aviation I think it what's it's called). So there are some options out there that he's more excited about than others, but we're just praying that God would guide us where we are supposed to go next. He's now most excited about a job at Honeywell in Kansas City - something about engineering and optics - which would be a perfect fit for him based on his previous 50 years of education in physics and electrical engineering (Ok, it hasn't been that long) :) Also, he's got a phone interview with General Dynamics (where he actually interned two summers as a computer science major) within the next couple weeks too. That one is in Arizona, but they also have a site in Bloomington, Minnesota that he told them he was interested in. (I know Wendy, you're probably really excited here! I was too!) Honeywell and Lockheed-Martin are coming back to interview him on campus in March. So more waiting! Oh, great news too - the synagis is in my refrigerator! It came yesterday with no problems this time! PRAISE JESUS! Now home health is coming on Thursday afternoon to administer it and it'll be right at 28 days! Wahoo! Kim, our Parents as Teachers educator is coming on Thursday also! Fun fun!

From February 2009

Look at me all bundled up to go to Lori's! Also, check out my cool NIKE shoes from Heather! I'm stylin!

Getting Stronger

So Sweet!

From February 2009

From February 2009

This outfit is for you Grandpa Weber!

From February 2009

I love how her hands and arms are moving so fast they are a blur!

From February 2009

Look, I can hold my head up better now!

From February 2009

Rest Filled Weekend

Well, another week has passed with the Gramkows. Phew. Although I was really looking forward to a restful weekend. It's turning into a rest-filled weekend, but because we seem to be all sick! :( Well, Ben's officially been sleeping with some major congestion since last night. So, I've been hanging out with Ellie, but my throat's not feeling the greatest either. I thought Ellie was getting sick a couple days ago - just had more runny nose than normal - but it was a one day thing and she's not showing any other symptoms of being sick. He eating patterns have been low and REALLY frustrating for me! But we're tugging along. I think single parents are amazing! I don't know how they do it! It's been a challenge not having my partner in crime helping out. Prayers for a speedy recovery for him. He's also still working on classes from last semester. AND the Engineering Career Fair is on Tuesday. Please pray that God would open up some job leads for Ben. Jeanette, our occupational therapist, came on Tuesday and evaluated Ellie. She said Ellie's favoring "turning her head to the right" has evened out more. We've been pretty intentional about changing her diaper changing table direction, the way her head faces when she sleeps, etc. She's also loving her boppy pillow and will look both ways quite a bit. She'll come back in another two weeks. We're also having the home monitor RT come on Monday actually because they have to download all of Ellie's data off the monitor - the memory is full! I think that's pretty good lasting this long after we've been home. It usually fills up faster with the more episodes. Good news on the synagis - there are supposedly no problems this month and it's supposed to ship out on Monday, be here Tuesday. The home health nurse will come Tuesday afternoon. We'll head back to the Doctor this week for a weight check. So I'm really curious to see how much she weighs this time! Crazy that it's only one more month until our NICU follow up appointment - March 3. The time is going by so fast. Although with all my life roles right now, I'm not to disappointed with how fast it's going. Prayers for me there too. It's a lot. Some days are better than others, but I just find that I am absolutely exhausted at the end of the week! Please pray for strength for both Ben and I. Blessings and hope the rest of you Kansas Folk are enjoying this beautiful weather while Team Gramkow is snoozing and resting inside. Go away cold and flu season!

New Records

I never thought I would ever find myself saying this, but I'm just so glad that Ellie's pooping patterns are improving. Now I think I am starting to know how the rest of you moms out there feel changing stinky diapers! I thought I would also update you that Ellie still does have her princess calendar....and she got a gold sticker the other day because she ate 100 mLs...yes, I know I need to start talking in ounces these days! So a little over 3 ounces! We're so proud and today, she impressed us again. Two records in one day: 3 stools and 680mL (for the day, so that would be around 22 ounces) !!! Wahoo! She's gotta be 10 pounds by now! ALSO .... HAPPY FIVE MONTH BIRTHDAY ELLIE! I seriously can't believe it's been that long! Happy Birthday to Uncle Greg and Uncle Wade too! Still smiling these days! Too fun...so sorry I haven't kept up with posting. Have a test coming up this week, so you might not hear from us again for a little while. For those of you who periodically check, I've decided I'm going to post every Saturday. :) Others during the week might just be extra surprises! :) We'll go back to the doctor next week, and believe it or not, but next week is when Ellie's due to get her next synagis shot. We got changed back to the first insurance, so hopefully THIS time, it'll be ok with out any major drama! Lord, we are so thankful for this precious gift of life who has now turned 5 months old! She is such a blessing to us. Please guide us as parents and help us to love and care for Ellie the best that we can amidst this busy student schedule we lead. We are forever grateful that you've provided for our needs thusfar. We rejoice in your creativity in our smiley little Ellie. Please be with the babies in the NICU tonight as I think of our time there often... Until next time...blessings from team gramkow!