Checking in

I think we are all feeling much better now. Nate is still fighting his cold, but seems to be doing better. Now dad has the flu - poor guy. AT least it hit after the trip to Texas he took with Marcus last weekend. We have pictures of Nate available at Smiles by Wire through JC Penny - you can take a look at them by going to the following link.

www.smilesbywire.com and entering in the following as needed.

Customer Name: Gail Backus
Access Code: LTP40102036048JCP
They are only available for another month or so - but they are really cute!

Tomorrow is Halloween - I'll unfortunately be traveling, but figured we weren't planning on taking him out anyhow - maybe to just one neighbors house. But he does have his "Baby's First Halloween" outfit - its just an orange shirt with some stuff on it. But cute. Yes - I'm traveling again next week - hopefully it will be a much better trip than this past week - it was horrible. I have audits at my Indiana plants - not fun. They almost failed last week. HOpefully this next trip will be easier. I'm still looking for a job - but still have this one too - so that is good. Just not much out there at this time - everything is either entry level or way too far away. So we'll see. A few poeple have my resume right now - I just hope to get the interviews. Andwho knows - maybe one of the people buying my company will hire me - so far they haven't aske to interview me oh well.

Better go - today is Craig and my 5th wedding anniversary - its beautiful out - just windy. Dad is coming to babysit while we go to a movie and nice dinner tonight. WE talked him into spending the night so he doesn't have to drive home. Good thing he's feeling much better.

Love you all -
Gail, Craig, Nate and little Fudd too!

Backus - House 'o' Flu

HI all - yes - we have it the flu bug! Its NOT fun. We have concluded that Nate had it last week and was sick on WEdnesday. Then Craig had the bug on Friday - we thought it was food poisoning. But when I became sick early Sunday morning - we quickly decided we were wrong. It is definately not a fun thing, I think its hit me the hardest. The boys kicked it in uner 24 hours pretty much. I'm home again today - feeling tons better than yesterday -but still not great. So I figured -take a sick day! Fun -

Other than that - we are doing well. Craig and Nate went to dad's house yesterday to see the family. Aunt Doris, Uncle JOnny, Aunt Chris and cousin Paula were all out to HOwell. I feel bad I couldn't visit with them -but knew I didn't want anyone else to get the flu bug. Craig said they had a good time. Nate was a good boy - and was talking up a storm to everyone. He's been talking all weekend! Just a little chatter box - its quite cute.

Well I'm going to venture to eat something for breakfast - wish me well!

Exciting (sick) week

Well its been exciting. We had our first ER visit on Sunday - all is well. Nate's finger was cut a little while cutting his long finger nails. It wouldn't stop bleeding and his doctor told us to take him in. WEll the hospital probably laughed at us. But he's fine - he was a jolly little baby in the little room. And the bleeding stopped. WE decided he didn't need a stitch either.

Today I had to stay home and take him to the doctors. He was acting like he was getting the flu the last few days. But of course as soon as we get to the doctors today - he's acting like the healthy, happy little boy! Basically - now he has an upper respiratory infection - but not bad. WE are still treating it with over the counter drugs. They said his lungs and heart sounded good. He'll go back in NOvember for a his 4 month check up and get more shots. I've made the appoitnment so Craig can go with me - ha - wait till he sees what they do.

All is well - Nate's been happy, smiling, kicking and laughing all day! He finally ate again (he wasn't eating much the last 24 hours either) and now finally taking a nap.

I'm off to Howell with him later to meet dad - we are going to the grief group together tonight. And tomorrow back to the office to hear more rumors. I've already gotten some phone calls at home today to hear what is "happening". So we'll see. The best is to hope one of these companies needs a corporate environmental person to keep things in line - so we'll see. Maybe they'll let me work from home. But if rumors are correct - there will be significant pay cuts unforutnately - at least the unions were given that speech last night.

Better go - need to get the diaper bag ready for tonight.
Gail

First night away

WEll I survived my first night away from Nate this week - so that was good. The next month I'll have a few more over night trips unfortunately. My boss is being cool and trying to limit it as much as possible. So that is good. And yes - still working. We'll see how long it lasts - it changes every day with the rumors.

We all have ANOTHER cold again. Craig and Nate should be at the tail end of thiers - and I'm just beginning. Lucky me. Today we are going to get Nate's 3 month pictures taken. I'm planning on having him wear this adorable sweater my cousin Kim made for him and maybe the hat too! If I can get it on and he'll keep it on. I love hats on him and he hates things on his head -s o we'll see who wins that fight. Craig's going too - so I hope to get one of the two of them together. DAd and my grandma will also be there - we just happened to plan to mee them at the mall today. And then going back to HOwell for a little cook out.

I better get going - still need to give Nate a bath today and get all of us going.
Love,
Gail marie

Pictures are Updated!

You can find two more files of Nate pictures over to
the left! Yeah!

You can see Nate with his grandma Liz and grandpa
Doug! Even Uncle Marcus finally had some free time to
pose with Nate! you can also see Natalie in there
too!

Yesterday we had a lot of fun with dad taking Nate to
the pumpkin patch and apple orchard! It was a lot of
fun - we have a lot of cute pictures there. I'm going
to submit some for a picture contest from the apple
orchard.

Other than that - I still have a job! Not sure for
how long - but at least the pay check went through
last week too! So that was good news. Off to bed -
all 3 of us are fighting colds again.
Love Gail

Survived 1st week back

Hi All - yup - its Saturday morning! Nate and I survived our first week into the groove! He caught a nice cold at daycare too! But seems to be doing well - just a cough and stuffy/runny nose. And the thrush may finally be going away! Yeah!!

I did survive the week - it was sure a long one with all the rumors abound at the office. One minute we will not be there in a few weeks, the next we're there till June. So who knows - someone but they sure aren't telling us much at all. I guess its a waiting game. I can handle that for now - its a pay check. And it seems no one did anything really while I was gone - lucky me - at least life is busy at the office while way too quiet (so many people are just gone).

Today - we are all going out to Howell. Nate and I will hang out with Grandpa Doug while daddy takes Grandpa Ron to a rock show. We thought we'd have more fun at the house with Billy Jean and maybe get a glimpse of Uncle Marcus for a few minutes. And yes - we finally have a picture with Uncle Marcus actually HOLDING Nate - one of these days we'll have Craig post everything to the site link.

Nate's getting really big - almost 3 months old! YIkes! And a little chunk - but a cute one. And all the blonde hair is coming in - its still very light - so you can't see it too well in the pictures - but it is there.

Talk to you all later!

1st Day

Well Nate and I both survived the 1st day yesterday. he seemed to do really well at day care. i called and they told me he was doing great and wished all new kids adjusted as well. We knew he'd be a trooper. I made it through too - couldn't wait to leave early to go get my hands on the little guy. It took me over an hour to get there from my office. not a fun drive. But loved seeing him when I got my hands on him. He was definately a happy little guy.

work is just work - nothing has changed unfortunately. So we'll see how long I have a job here - keep your fingers crossed.

Gail

Back to work

Well I'm back to work in the morning and Nate's off to day care. It will be interesting to see how Craig and I do tomorrow. HOpefully we can keep Nate up late tonight and he'll sleep till 5 am again! He's been doing good the last week or so - sleeping 6-7 hours at night! We like that. Unfortunately its still getting up at 3 or 4 am! Oh well - we are just happy for a solid block of hours like that - doesn't sound like many people get that.

My company sounds like they MAY (yes a big maybe) have an investor - so that will be good. I may get to avoid the unemployment line for now! Yeah - after a month with no pay check that will be good.

Nate was at his Day care - Childtime - last Friday and seemed very happy. We hung out for a few minutes with the care takers and other kids. He was smiling and just had fun looking at all the stuff. So that is exciting.

HOpe you all check out the pictures on the family photos on this site. We are trying to keep it updated. We'll let you know how this week goes.

Nate's Doctor's Appointment

Nate survived his two-month check-up!

He's 13 pounds 9 ounces and 23 1/2" long. He can now officially be referred to as "Hoss." He had three shots today which included 5 vaccines, and I've been informed that I get to go to the 4 month checkup to help "hold him down." :-(

Overall, the doctor was pleased with his progress. (Which also means we've passed the two-month parenting test, and he won't be calling social services on us!)

I posted many new pictures to the website, so feel free to check them out. There's a Nate folder, and Nate 200408 folder, and I'll keep making news ones for each month.

Take care,

Craig

Good Nights sleep!

Wow - we had a great night last night. Actually a lot the last week or so. Last night Nate slept for 7 hours! That is the record. WE've had a few 6 hour nights in the last week and were happy with those. Now we just have to get those hours a little later - typically its 3 or 4 am when those 6-7 hours end. But we are still happy with all of those.

He's now trying to get his lunch and sleep for the afternoon. He hasn't had much of a nap this morning, so he's due for a good nap this afternoon. Getting into a little pattern, so we'll take it. We are confident we'll get more or a routine once we start day care in a week. Looking forward to that as well.
Gail

2 Months Old today

HI everyone - thought its been a while I better put out a little update. Its been a busy few weeks with visitors. Over labor day weekend, Nate was able to meet his Grandma Liz! We all had a great time - went to Bronner's in Frankenmuth, visited the day care to get things set up and even had a BBQ with some family and friends! Nate had a grand old time - he really enjoyed meeting and getting to know grandma Liz. Lots of pictures were taken, so when we get some time, we'll get them all posted to the site for all to see.

This week Craig has off for vacation so we are hanging out as a family - its a lot of fun too! Today we are meeting some people for lunch and tomorrow Nate and I go visit SArah and Tommy. I worked with Sarah and Tommy is her little boy - he's a month older than Nate. We figure they can be close buddies as they grow old.

Next week Nate has his 2 month check up and gets some shots. That should be interesting - grandpa Doug is going to go with us to that. Giving me the moral support mostly! I'm sure they'll tell us he's growing fine and the thrush is going away too!

I go back to work on the 20th - so wish me luck! I'll be back at Oxford and probably need to travel a lot in October.
UPdate more next week
Love the Backus'

Just an update

Hi all - just an update for everyone out there. Last week I had my doctors appointment and I'm good to go! This coming Friday will be 8 weeks! Can you believe our little man has been around for 2 months almost! But I"m planning on going back to work on the 20th. We'll see how that goes (rumor is that the company will file Chapter 7 and close the doors on October 2nd) - so who knows.

The whole house had a cold last week, so dealing with a baby that has no idea what's wrong was tough. He didn't let us sleep too much at the end of last week. But the saline drops and the bulb thing help to clear out his nose. We ended up at the doctor with Nate yesterday for thrush in his mouth - so now we have medicine for that. Poor little thing. But he seems to be doing really well - no fever (or very little the doctor was not too concerned) and his chest and lungs sounded good! He's a little chunck now - weighing in at 12 pounds 6.5 ounces! We go back in 2 weeks for his 2 month check up and start all the immunization shots then as well. So that will be fun- planning it so either dad or Craig can go with me. Not sure how well I'll hold up with all the shots! But Nate is having a good old time- he's so much more attentative and trying to be active. He loves to play on the floor mats and kick his legs. Especially during changing time! Its his new little game - even did the "ride the bike" dance for the doctor yesterday. He's starting to smile too! Its the cutest thing I've seen, but of course, I'm prejudice! He was adorable yesterday morning when Craig went to say good bye for the day, he just smiled up at his daddy! He just loves his daddy and looks like him too.

WE had our first over night guests this weekend too - Rob, Janet and the kids were here - so that was fun. Rob and Janet are Craig's friends from Rochester, NY - we had a lot of fun. This weekend grandma Liz is coming for a visit. We aer all excited and desparately trying to clean house (its getting there). Nate can't wait to meet his grandma - that will be fun. WE have some plans to take her to Frankenmuth and then have a little BBQ over at our house on Monday! And what ever she would like to see - we're up for it.

Better run - talk to you all later.

Nate's Hearing test

Nate was a little trooper yesterday and survived the hearing test. He was a great little guy and slept through it all. The technician didn't really care for his noises (he's a noisey sleeper just like his daddy). But she told me he passed and his hearing was ok. I'm not 100% confident that she knew what I asked and what she was saying - there was a slight language barrier - but I decided to take the positive road. Grandpa Doug was also great to help us out yesterday getting us to the doctors office and back! He even stayed and we all met for dinner (Marcus, Craig and us)

Today - Nate had another adventure, He went to see where daddy works and to meet his co-workers! Everyone thought he was adorable and so calm. Guess we need to takea video of Nate at 3 am fussing. I've been up since about 3 am with only a few hours of shut eye since then. I'm exhausted (and fighting a cold). Tomorrow Nate has his first baby-sitters officialy. Both grandpa's are coming to watch him while Criag and I go to a wedding! So that will be fun - fun for us to get out.

Now next week we need to plan a trip to my office for Nate to meet some of my friends.
UPdate more next week
Gail

Quick note

Well we are having a much better last few days. The weekend was really rough with the new formula - thought it was working on Saturday because Nate slept great - but realized it was just having him out side all day at the two birthday parties. Nate got to meet the Wilcox clan so taht was fun, he napped for most of it. And then he met Craig's co-workers at another birthday party.

Anyhow - very early Monday morning when I was up around 3 am and didn't get back to sleep at all - I realized the gas issue was still bad. The poor little guy seemed to be in so much pain - it just wasn't fair. I had been told by many people that Nestle's Good STart worked well for your kids and I also talked to the nurse at the doctors office. She recommended something called Nurtamigen (which is more expensive). I looked at the prices at the store - the Nurtamigen brands were pretty much double in price of anything else we have used. Therefore - I decided to take advice from all of you and try the Good Start first. And heck - good advice so far. The last 48 hours he's been on it and still trying to get the other out of his system. But the gas pains seem less severe and less frequent. He'll always have gas - we all do - so I figured as long as its not too painful - we'll keep trying the Good Start! Yeah! Now I want all of you to keep your fingers crossed that it will work.

Yesterday we had another big outting - my friend Kris and her family came up from Indiana and hung out with us all day. so that was nice. Tomorrow dad comes to help me take Nate to the hearing test -again cross your fingers that he sleeps through it so we can get it completed and pass! If not - we'll deal with what we need, it can't be that bad.

I'll try and update the site later this week once we know more on his hearing.

Nate's ENT appointment

Well as expected, not much happened at the specialist today. He said its very early to really determine any hearing loss. HOwever, he understood all the nurses and Nate's doctor want to have him retested. So basically, we will go to another office next Thursday for them to do another hearing test. Please pray he'll be asleep for the test so that it can be completed. That was the problem at the hospital.

Other than that - all is well. He's sleeping now and trying to get used to this new formula - we'll see how this one works or go back to the other.