Happy Birthday Lucas!

Hard to believe that Lucas is already one month old today! Hopefully within the next few weeks he will get to join us at home only a mile down the road. He has grown and changed so much over the past month so we thought it would be fun to share his progression. Please do not be too critical of the quality of the video, especially the song transition mid video, we tried really hard. We love you Lucas!

New Digs

Our apartment has needed a transformation in order to get ready for the arrival of the little fella, so in the past few weeks we got rid of a large tv (thanks Jason for the use of it for the past year) and I did another manly thing building a dresser from IKEA. We rearranged some things and found some fabric bins at target to fill with bath supplies, diapers, books and clothes for Lucas. Notice in the picture that the bike still has a spot in the apartment, thanks to Ashley's fabulous Christmas present.

This is how they determine how much he nurses, they weight him pre and post and convert into mL. His weight here is not his actual weight, though yesterday he did weight 4 pounds 8 ounces!

Lucas also had a change of scenery at the hospital, with his weight about 1800 grams he no longer needs to be in an isolette because he can regulate his body temperature on his own. This means he can now do two of the four things he needs to do before we can bring him home. He is breathing on his own and regulating his temperature, all he needs to to now is nurse or bottle feed all of his food and sit in a car seat for 90 minutes. He is eating pretty well and is almost ready to go up to three feedings a day! We still feel so blessed that he is doing so well and though we are anxious to bring him home we are patiently waiting until his health warrants him leaving the hospital. 

What a precious little boy! 

Special thanks to Natalie for sending us her "backup" camera. Our nurse was making fun of me taking so many pictures of Lucas and thought he maybe did not like his photo-op, but I just kept snapping and ending up with some fun pictures. 

Home Sweet Home (For Now)

Some of you may be wondering what does little Lucas do all day long in the NICU. During our visit today I thought I would document a few of the areas that he frequents. In general Lucas is doing fabulous, he is breathing well, got to move to the feed and grow section of the NICU, no longer has an IV and is taking his feedings pretty well. He is back up to his birth weight but because he is so small they have to progress very slowly with his feedings as to not upset his little stomach. 

 This is wear Lucas spends about 22 hours a day. It is his own personal Isolette complete with heart rate monitor, blood pressure cuff and oxygen saturation readings. He has a few small storage bins for his diapers, beanies and other various supplies. We have tried to tell him to enjoy the storage space because he may have more here than he will at home! The isolette helps block out all the noise so he can direct all of his energy to growing. They say he likes his new home and rarely cries. Mom and dad like how quiet it is in this side of the NICU, but it is pretty difficult to change diapers in an isolette!

 This is the rolling recliner that Mom and Dad get to sit in when they snuggle the baby. It is very comfortable and plus as you can see from the picture.

I love this picture of Lucas and Ashley! I think it is easier to appreciate the size of his hands and head when you see them next to Ash's petite hands. He always looks so peaceful and at home when he is with his Mom, probably due to the fact that he still should be inside of her belly! We are so grateful that he is doing so well and look forward to the day when we can take him home whenever that may be!

Pregnancy Progession

Ashley has always taken very good care of herself, this is no new information to anyone who is reading this blog. We thought it would be fun to track the progress of Ash's belly as she drew closer to delivery. We had a fabulous plan of taking pictures of her every two weeks right before we went to church so she would always look her best. The following is the progression of this little girls little belly!

Week 24: The first time we decided to take a picture, possibly due to the fact that prior to this time it was impossible to even tell that she was pregnant. I think in this picture she is pushing out a little :)

Week 26: Rest assured Ashley did not wear this to church this week, pretty sure we were running a little behind and so we took this after church when she had changed into some comfy pants.

Week 28: If you notice our tree looks far superior in week 26, this week it looks a little droopy and dead. Ash still looks fabulous and if you squint you can see that belly.

Week 30: here she is pregnant as can be. Feeling great and proud of her little belly and enjoying the Christmas season with family.

Week 32: First family picture. Lucas decided to make an early entrance on January 14th at 3 in the morning and weighing in at 3 pounds. I am convinced that the reason he chose to come early was because he knew who his mother would be and could not wait to come and be with her. As can be seen in the picture and heard in the NICU the boy has some fight, which is good, all the nurses and doctors know who Lucas is and have heard him when he is not swaddled. It was a sweet experience to hold our son for the first time and feel like a family, Ash was a little upset that when she holds him he quickly falls asleep but when I do he looks up at dad for the whole time. 

 Week 33: After 10 days in the hospital, hundreds of blood pressure checks, blood draws and semi-sleepless nights Ash got her last iv taken out this morning. More important than the hundreds of nurses and doctors were the hundreds of prayers and fasts offered on behalf of our little family. We truly feel blessed by the multitude of tender mercies that have been extended unto us by the goodness of the Lord and have felt his sweet spirit with us on so many different occasions. We look forward to taking home little Lucas in the future and are just glad we have time to purchase a car seat, throw a shower or two, prepare the apartment for his homecoming and buy a diaper or two!

The Prodigal Son

The prodigal son is an account of a father and two sons. The younger son gathered all that his father gave him and proceeded to waste his substance with riotous living. A famine arose in the land and he began to be in want, so much so that he desired after a meal meant for swine. The son returned home to ask forgiveness and plead for an opportunity to be a servant in his father's house, but instead is welcomed home with open arms and a fatted calf by a father who dearly loved and missed his son.

There is a modern day story that closely resembles this parable of the bible, Tiger Woods. Tiger was a son of Earl, blessed with extraordinary golf talent and spent much of his life in riotous living. Two years ago he was on top of the world, winner of 14 major championships, countless other tournaments and the first billion dollar athlete. Then in Thanksgiving of 2009 it all came crashing to a halt on a fire hydrant outside his mansion. The coming months brought out more and more details of his riotous ways and led to the squandering of about one quarter of a billion dollars in a divorce settlement. He spent the next two years trying to rebound from the disaster that was his life. He played golf poorly, lost sponsorships and most importantly lost his family. He clawed and climbed back hoping to one day regain the life of luxury he once knew. There were many bumps and bruises along the way but at long last the journey is over.

After over two years Tiger found himself in a familiar place, the 18th green holding a trophy. "For he was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found."

Welcome back Tiger!

Finally Christmas!

I have been looking forward to Christmas since September (Tyler has delayed the Christmas music until November) and have been anxious to set up a little tree in our front room/kitchen/dining area to fill our 475 square feet with the smell of fresh pine! Now it is so hard to leave the cozy confines of our little apartment, as we speak I have not left the side of our tree for the past 16 hours. We picked up the tree on Monday for family night at Smith's. I thought that Tyler could muscle the tree the 6 blocks to our apartment but I forgot that the tree was taller than him and probably rivaled him in weight as well. Luckily for us there was a tree still wrapped and so we tossed it in the back of Tyler's car    and with the top sticking out the back window we headed home.

March Madness!

Can you imagine a sporting event any better than the NCAA basketball tournament? I can't. The all day affair of college basketball games just brings a smile to my face to even think about. I can vividly remember coming home from school as a young man (and even an adult coming home from college) and running to the basement to sit and watch game after game, all without ever taking off my backpack. My dear sweet mother would usually make sure I was properly nourished during these times and my dad and brothers would watch by my side (though in recent years my mother has become quite the sports fan). I can remember my dad waking me up one night from my sleep to watch Chris Webber call a timeout he did not have in a championship game,  Homer Drew setting up a game winning shot for his son Bryce during a Valpo game, who can forget Northwestern State hitting a three from the corner to beat Iowa, and The Jimmer (no need to say any more). The only way to describe this is pure madness and I love it.


This year there will be a new reason why March is the most wonderful time of the year, I am going to be a DAD! Yes that is right the madness that is March is going to take on a whole new meaning this year. I do not know what to expect but I do have the benefit of observing many wonderful parents in my life. I am reading parenting books, studying the scriptures to try and find ways to be a good parent and mostly I just watch in awe at the strength of my wonderful wife. She gets up every morning (except Wednesday because we sleep in that day) at 5:30 to go to an exercise class, she comes home and gets ready to march off to school to spend the entire day with 20 second graders and she does not complain. I am lucky that she is the women carrying my baby boy and I am sure he will be blessed because of her physical strength but more importantly her spiritual strength. Many people have asked me if I am worried about being a dad, I always respond that I am not because I am married to Ashley. She is so skilled with children and I just have to follow her lead. Ashley will deliver in March, take her maternity leave and I will be in charge of sole care of baby boy Standifird when she returns after my graduation. I am excited for this time and hope we can find a jogger stroller for the little fella so I can hit the provo trails in April! We are so excited to be parents and hope we can follow in the footsteps of our amazing brother and sisters and parents, we are only worried about where he will fit in our 500 square foot apartment, its a good thing he has small parents!