Life is Good :0)

All is well in the Smith household as Stella, her Mom, her Dad, and Brody their adorable dog figure out their new life together. Stella was busy watching the Jazz game when I left her on Wednesday evening and today at the NASCAR race in Las Vegas, Jason bought Stella a Jeff Gordon #24 baby onesie! I have a feeling that the only time Stella will be wearing it is when her Mom isn't around to stop Jason from putting it on her. Speaking of Jeff Gordon, Jason got his autograph today at the race. He signed the bill of Jason's favorite #24 hat but now, Jason says he can't wear it or it will "lose value" LOL. He was so excited he was trembling. We had so much fun. We have two more days left for the races and we are loving it. Here are some videos and photos that will show you just how close we get at this track. It's unreal. Good things keep happening to me for which I am extremely grateful. I am in the process of buying a new townhome which is just beginning the construction phase. I don't want to jinx myself, so I'll give you more info after I make sure everything goes well! We're back to the race track tomorrow and will send more pictures of our weekend later.
Love To All!

Welcome Home Stella!

What a wonderful day! To see Jason and Tawni at home with Stella was great! Jason met me in the driveway and said "Mom, it doesn't seem real that there's a baby in our house!". Although tired, they both are smiling 24-7 and so am I. The crib was going up tonight as I was leaving and it's beautiful. It's nothing like the cribs back in the day, it is truly fit for a princess. I neglected to bring an extra camera battery with me so these pic's are the only ones I was able to get, but I'm sure you realize there are many, many more to come.

Jason and Cortney are back in the throws of the lawn care business again which also makes Jason very happy. Both Cortney and Jason work at Electrical Wholesale Supply during the days and in addition they mow and maintain lawns for 9 months out of the year. Tawni is going to be able to be a stay at home Mom for awhile which we are all grateful for.

We are going to be gone Friday, Saturday and Sunday to the NASCAR race in Las Vegas this weekend, so I won't have the opportunity to see Stella again for a few days. As soon as I do, I'll post more photos!

OMG! Stella is going home on Tuesday the 26th

Can you believe it? We sure can't! Tonight she test drove her new car seat at the hospital. They make the babies sit in them for 1.5 hours all strapped in while leaving the monitors on them. I guess it's sort of like a stress test for them. We wondered if this day would ever come, and here it is even earlier than we thought! WHOO-HOO!

Ahhhhhh....Girl Talk!

Notice that something is missing? YES!! Stella no longer has her feeding tube!! YIPPEE!! She is doing EVERYTHING she needs to in order to go home! She will still be in the NICU for awhile longer, but she is doing wonderfully! She had just finished eating today when I arrived, and after I got a nice dainty "burp" from her she was off to LaLa land while I snapped pictures of us together.

Yesterday I had attended a funeral for a lady who was very special to me. Her name was Millie Roth. She left me with a letter that I will cherish always, telling me that she had loved me from the day I was born and wishing me love and happiness in my future. The Circle of Life has a special meaning for me today as I cherished my time with Stella.

Jason called today and they are planning on coming over Thursday night to pickup the car seat/stroller that I bought for them and Stella's nursery is in process. Tawni is so talented I'm sure the nursery will be very special. She's planning on Brown/Pink for her colors which will be adorable.

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday Jason, Cortney, myself and 7 other friends will be headed to Las Vegas for the NASCAR weekend. We have seasons tickets and look forward to this every year! The weather forecast looks perfect!!

A Long Time Coming for a Grandma!

I can't even begin to describe the feeling of actually holding little Stella in my arms for the first time. It was such a surprise, I had no idea when I went to the hospital tonight that I would be leaving with memories like these. She and I were the only ones there tonight (Tawni is going over later at night these days). I rocked her, hugged her and kissed her on her tiny little head. The tears welled up in my eyes several times as I held her and thought about what a delight she is going to be in our lives.
She is now bottle feeding regularly and Jason said today that they told them that Stella may be ready to go home in about 3 weeks. They are going to Las Vegas this weekend to pickup her crib.
I dream of being able to be the same kind of Grandma to Stella that my "Nanny" was to me. There wasn't much I couldn't get away with, but when I did cross the line, she could be heavy-handed...at least for 5 minutes. Making new memories is something I have loved to do with friends and family for many years. Now a new chapter of memories begin...Stella's Chapter and I hope to be the best Grandma I can be for her.

Quarantined

The latest news for Cortney is possible Mono! With that said, I am quarantined from the NICU until we know for sure. Jason is still in bad shape and Tawni is doing all she can to avoid getting sick as well.

Stella not only has been moved into a new room in an open isolete, she has a roommate! We suppose that's a good sign that she is improving so much but it does make us a little nervous to have strangers in her room.

I am planning on going over to Best Friends animal sanctuary tomorrow to pickup one of the dogs at Dogtown and take him for a hike with me. My favorite little friend Sydney who was one of the Clubhouse Dogs before The Vicktory Dogs (Michael Vicks victims) arrived, was adopted last month to his forever home. I was so glad to hear that. I have been such an advocate for that little dog. The ViKtory Pit Bulls are still being handled by staff only, but I hope to be one of the first volunteers that will be able to work with some of them. I hope that many of you have been able to watch the Dogtown series that was shown on the National Geographic channel. It received rave reviews and will be brought back again. Photos to come!

To our Nascar friends, the season is finally here! Enjoy the Daytona 500 today and remember that all of us will be at the Las Vegas race Friday Feb 28 thru Sunday March 1st. That is unless our little Stella comes home that weekend.

Lots of hugs!

A Valentine For All of You!

Tawni took these pictures on Valentines Day. I wasn't able to go over due to Cortney now having the Bronchitis that both Jason and I had. I was afraid I might carry the bug to her so I stayed away. Hopefully I'll see her this weekend. Tawni's email said that Stella is almost 4lbs now. That is such good news. She continues to eat well and is even nursing from her mom for several of her feedings. That is a HUGE milestone for our precious Valentine. She is no longer in a covered isolete and has been moved into a different room in the NICU because she is doing so well. My heart is so full of thanks for everyone who has helped us through this time. As I look at the Vistor Count here on the blog and I see that there have been almost 950 hits in a little over 35 days, I realize how many caring and loving people I have in my life.

Here are few more pic's of our Stella, the last one she is looking right at you and waving hello.
Love
Glenda

Sssshhhhhh.....

I stopped by the hospital today after a nice long hike with friends and found Stella all dressed, sucking on her binky that she was holding all by herself. She looked so cute! After a few minutes the binky popped out so I took advantage of the moment and after putting her binky back in her mouth, I played with her little fingers and held her head. She's doing so well, we are so very happy!

Videos Times Two!

Here's the video I took on Thursday evening. In the second one, that's my hand with the glove on playing with her hat. As a reminder, the little tube in her nose is how they feed her. She understands being hungry now and this is about feeding time. You can see in these videos that she is looking for her dinner!

Here's Looking At You Kid!

The first time that Stella actually made eye contact with me was such an incredible moment. Although she doesn't stay focused for a long time, in that nano-moment you know she is looking right at you. As I was taking pictures on this day, her eyes would follow me as I would move.

Stella is awake alot more these days. She waves her arms, kicks her legs and pulls all kids of faces. She acts very much like a newborn does but she is just a mini-version! She has gained over a pound now and we are thrilled at her progress.

In this picture they have a little cap on her head because they had given her a bath and her body temp goes down. The little handmade hats help get the temp back up to normal.

It snowed in St. George for the SuperBowl! We all got together for a Superbowl Party at Steve and Sandy's and watched the snow fall on Coral Canyon's Golf Course. Other than cheering for the losing team, I had a great time. These pictures are of me and Jason and then Sandy, Me, and Sharyl.


I have another video I took of Stella but it will take more time than I have today to get it uploaded. I promise to work on it this weekend for you in between work schedules and a day hike on Sunday with a group of friends from work.

Love You all!

3 lbs 3 ozs and rising!

The news of the week is that Stella is gaining weight quite nicely. She is eating 27ozs of food through her little nose tube and is handling it very well. Now whenever they feed her they try to give her a binky so that she associates the feeling of getting a full tummy with sucking. The next step will be for her to try to eat on her own without the feeding tube. I don't know when that might happen but she's doing so well it could be any time.

Last night I went out with friends for dinner and didn't get a chance to see Stella so I'm planning on going over tonight after my stop at the gym. I hope to have more photos for you tomorrow!

Stella sends her love to all and so do I!

3 Pounds! Whoo-Hoo!

Stella Was Born Three Weeks Ago Today!

It's hard to believe that three weeks has gone by since our little nugget arrived. I apologize that I have no new photos tonight. I went to the gym after work and was planning on going to see her in the morning. When I got in my car after my workout, my car just drove itself to the hospital! Of course, not planning this, I was empty handed in the camera department.

I can tell you that tonight was probably my favorite night with her. She looked beautiful and peaceful. The nurses said she's doing really well. Her eyes were opened most of the time and she was cooing, yawning and stretching as if she were bored with the whole thing. They had a black and white polka-dot bow on her forehead and all of her bedding was pink. From the first time we heard her sneeze which was very early on, she sneezes over and over and over. I think Jason said the record is 7 in a row. Tonight she sneezed 5 times, all little "choos" that come right after another.

Here's the best part about tonight. The nurse needed to change her blanket so she asked me if I wanted to lift Stella up and hold her so they could change her bed! I was so excited!! I gently lifted under her head and then under her ever-so-little butt and voile'! I was holding my beautiful grandaughter! She was looking up at me as I held her up near the top of of isolet. I'll tell you what, unless you've held 2lbs 14 ozs in your hands, you have no idea how LITTLE it really weighs! That my dear friends and family was the best experience I have had in my life, the only exceptions being holding Jason then Cortney for the first time. Stella just hung out while I stared at her in wonder. I spoke to her through the little doors while holding her head and feet and even hummed a few songs to her. It was definatley a special time for Stella and me.

So, tomorrow is another day, I will take my camera with me and hope to get some more fabulous photos of our little one. By the way, a local television station did a special on the NICU and Stella was in it! She's already made her tv debut. First she's a Blog star, now a tv star!

Happy Weekend Everyone and special hugs to Liv, Jody, Ashley, and Kaydee cause I'm thinking about you!