Ho Ho Ho

Santa found himself a new elf this year...I think he will do a great job!

Attitude of Gratitude

I am Grateful...

*to be a Mom

*to have a little boy who is finally gaining weight

*to spend time with family

*to not fly on a plane for Thanksgiving

*for my new love of sweet potatoes

*for my sons 'do

*for our 'Mock Christmas morning' two days after Thanksgiving

*for New England in the winter

*for Good Health (we've certainly learned to NOT take it for granted)

*A husband who changes poopy diapers

*To have the gospel of Jesus Christ in my life

*for Grandma BG hosting us this year

Moo-hawk

We could not decide between two costumes for David. So he was BOTH. He was a cow with a really sweet Moo-hawk AND he was a frog who charmed all of the princesses. We made appearances at several parties and had a blast. We were so lucky to have Aunt Shalece, Aunt Whit, BG and cousins the week before for some Halloween fun. Basically you can't go wrong on Halloween when your husband works for a candy company!

Check out the Mooo-hawk

At Daddy's Office!

Mr. Frog was so warm and cuddly

Mr. Frog and his princess (Aunt Shalece)

Here's to 30

Happy Birthday Clint, they say 30 is the new 20! I am looking forward to these next 30 years. Thanks to all who came to help celebrate! Steven pulled off a successful surprise visit and it was a blast.

Goals for the next 30 years: 'spend precious moments with the ones that I hold dear'.

This picture perfectly portrays the craziness of Clint's birthday. He had an unexpected (unsolicited) birthday gift this year. He was told yesterday that he has a Staph infection in his foot due to a recent surgery he had (see previous posts) and the infection has moved to the bone. Now he has osteomyelitis and will need a PICC line and IV antibiotics for 4-6 weeks. Not the ideal 30th birthday I must say. But how nice that the pharmacist remembered his special day!

It's Halloween...

So why not go to the Statue of Liberty! Isn't that what everyone does on Halloween? Steven surprised Clint for his birthday so we took advantage of the day to play tourist. Of course we celebrated Halloween....just the week before. Here are a few pics to document the occassion....

Uncle Steven we had sooooo much fun. Please come again soon!

Tick Tick Tick

I really think that somewhere between the delivery room and the post-partum recovery room someone implanted an alarm clock inside baby David that is set to go off every 20 minutes! Without fail, nap time is always 20 minutes. I've heard about the '45 minute intruder' but no one has instructed me on the '20 minute invader'. We love our little guy, he just can't miss out on the action...just like his mom and dad! Happy 3 months baby David!!

Don't Leave Home Without It

Let's just say this has SAVED us! David is happier and mommy and daddy are happier. Thank you Little Remedies for this wonderful invention!

High Flying

At 2 1/2 months old David made his flying debut out to Colorado to meet the rest of the Kofford Family. As the only grandchild and only nephew he had some BIG SHOES to fill. He traveled great and I think won the hearts of all of his Kofford Aunts and Uncles. It was so fun to see all of you we miss you already! Let's just say that David was held 24/7 for about a week...he even napped in their arms. We are working on re-introducing him back to his crib because he clearly forgot what it was for that week we were away. We miss you all and can't wait for Christmas! Thanks for a great week.

Grandpa Kofford discovered 'the magic' hold. I know it looks awkward but David loved it

Grandma Koff took LOTS of walks with David. Outside is his Happy Place.

Thanks Grandma for coming to NJ you were a lifesaver.

Uncle Kev vying for 'favorite uncle' status

Aunt Christie and Aunt LeAnne just hanging out up at Vail

Aunt Shalece discovered David LOVES TO DANCE

Uncle Steven: A natural with the Baby Bijorn

With so many people to hold me I may as well take advantage of it

David's first swim in the pool. Sorry Daddy he just could not wait.

Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Kofford meeting baby David

Big D meets Little D

Clarification

It seems that I owe some of you a few more details regarding my last post---a little clarification if you will.

About two weeks ago Clint got up in the middle of the night and as he walked around the bed I heard an "ouch that hurt". I was half asleep and he asked me to look at the bottom of his foot and tell me if was bleeding, he thought he stepped on something. Still half asleep I check out his foot and said "no, it's fine let's go back to bed." So a few hours later (and a little more coherent) Clint looked at the item he had stepped on---a needle. As he looked more closely he realized that it was only half there and had a blunt end on it. That meant the other half was in his foot. It was Sunday morning and we were getting ready for church. Clint asked if I would try to get it out. Being Nurse Nancy I sterilized some tweezers and a pair of surgical scissors that I had and attempted to extract said need from his foot. I could not see it and decided to stop picking at his foot for fear of hitting something that could cause more harm than good.

I figured we had no choice but to pay a visit to the ER. I asked him if we should get ready for church or head straight to the ER. We both had obligations at church so logically we went to church first. Clint drove himself later to the ER. They took an X-ray and sure enough there was about an inch long needle in his foot. The ER doc did not want to pick at it for fear of hitting a nerve or ligament. So he gave him a Tetanus shot, but him on Antibiotics and referred him to a Podiatrist.

Monday he went to the podiatrist and was told sure enough he would need surgery. An OR was not available until Tuesday. Clint's foot continued to swell and turn red. By the time we took him to the hospital for surgery on Tuesday he could not move his two small toes. The only problem was that his mother was flying in to visit us and her planed landed the exact time he would be in surgery. So David and I dropped him off, saw him in Pre-op and then jetted to the airport. It was an outpatient surgery and said he should be recovered and ready to go home in about 3-4 hours...just enough time to get to the airport and back. When we returned he was still not out of surgery. What should have taken 5 minutes ended up taking 2 hours and 40 minutes. The needle had moved and was up against a ligament.

Clint also has a HIGH tolerance for pain and LOW tolerance for pain meds and anesthesia (or so we found out). He had a hard time waking up and they continued to pump him with morphine (too much in my opinion). As a result he felt rather queasy and was not fit to go home. They transferred him up to the floor because the outpatient surgery center was closing for the night. His blood pressure was about 100/48 and he was as white as a ghost every time he tried to raise the head of his bed. He needed to be able to walk with crutches, eat and use the bathroom before they would discharge him. The admission nurse came into the room to ask him some questions in anticipation of him staying the night. Clint said, "absolutely not, I am going home tonight. No offense to your institution, but I want to go home." He was adamant yet he was pale and unable to sit up. We waited a few hours and by 11:30pm they deemed him ready for discharge. Even though he 'lost his cookies' on the way to the wheel chair they still let him go home...I think he was trying to cover up how miserable he felt for fear they would keep him over night.

He has now been on crutches for over two weeks and I am the official chauffeur to and from work. He just kept saying, "All because of a stupid needle." The irony of it all is that I DON'T EVEN SEW! We still don't know how that needle got there.

Blessing Day

Blanket made by Great Grandma Kofford

Blanket made with love by Great Grandma Glover

Today we blessed David Clinton Kofford. Grandma and Grandpa Kofford flew out for the weekend and Grandma BG and Aunt Kimmy drove down from Connecticut. It was a wonderful experience to witness Clint blessing our baby...even if he had to hobble up with crutches and relied on Grandpa to carry Baby David. David is truly our little miracle and we feel so privileged to be his parents. It is a little overwhelming to think what a responsibility that is to teach him and help him to grow up and make good choices. We already feel so blessed to have him in our little family. Just don't grow up too fast....

Needle in a haystack

What do you get when you cross a needle...

...with one of these?

* One husband with a needle stuck in his foot

* One trip to the ER

* One trip to the Podiatrist

* One outpatient surgery

* One husband VERY drugged up after surgery and refused to stay the night in the hospital

* One baby who slept through most of it (what a champ!)

* Officially one driver in the household for at least a month

* And one grandma on her way into town to save us all

(it has been a busy week to say the least)

Tis the Season

It's college football time again. Baby David is ready---

Are you???

Can you guess his favorite team?

Go Cougs!!

We had some fun with a little photo shoot with David at 7 weeks old. Thanks to Sunny and Nate for the sweatsuit. He loved the outfit so much he choose to have a major 'blow out' in it right after this photo session.

Now do you see why he is so happy?

Time Flies

I AM ONE MONTH OLD....and growing fast!

Photo Session Gone Wrong

Dear Photographers of the World,

HELP!!!

1) Taking pictures of infants is not as easy as some make it look

2) A three week old baby LOVES to squirm... They DON'T hold still

3) If you don't believe me, scroll down to see my failed attempt

4) I am open to suggestions, anyone??

This is the best one of them all. I love pictures of baby feet and this was as close as I got.

Nap Time

I woke up from my Sunday afternoon nap and the house was completely quiet...almost too quiet. I started to wonder where everyone was. I checked the garage---cars and strollers present. I checked the couches---no one sleeping. After searching the house high and low I found this.....

Yep, it made me melt. I love my boys. My husband works wonders while I am sleeping. Thanks babe.

The Fan Club

To all of the friends and family that have come to see David, brought meals, sent well wishes, sent flowers, given hugs and kisses, called, stopped by, done our laundry, taken David for walks, changed his diaper, and helped us celebrate his arrival we say........

THANK YOU!

For those still thinking about coming, David says " Hurry up, I am growing fast!!!"

Here are a few visitors we got on camera:

Clint's best friend from childhood days visiting all the way from Budapest

Grandpa Keith (aka 'Grand Dude') visiting his newest grandson

Uncle Chris attempting to gain 'favorite uncle' status

Please note the smile on David's face!

Grandma BG was the first official visitor only minutes after the delivery.

Grandma BG and David share the same Birthday

Look what the stork delivered

DAVID CLINTON KOFFORD

has arrived!!

Born July 22nd, 2009

Weighed in at 10 lbs 3 oz

22 1/2 inches long

His cousins already refer to him as "Big D" as his birth weight surpassed what most of them weighed at 1 month of age. He is healthy and strong and growing each day. We feel so blessed that the delivery went so smoothly and in just one week he has added such joy to our little family. Here are a few pics to wet the appetite. More to follow....