Chloe's remarkable progress

I had called Michael after work to ask which would be a better time to come...now, or after dinner.  He said, "now".  So off I went.  Her mom was coming when she got off work which would be about an hour behind my arrival.  This would indeed be perfect timing because it will give each of us our special time with the kids.

Valerie was put temporarily on high blood pressure medicine, and her nurse says, "you need to stay in bed and rest".  Not the thing to say to a new mom whose baby isn't in her room.  She has been spending as much time as possible with her, and understandably so.  I was hoping I could go down to see Chloe with her as to snap some shots, but it wasn't meant to be.  Besides, it's more important she go with her mom.  That's okay because I went with Michael, and we had many more surprises!




First of all, I just loved this little blanket made by volunteers who make a constant supply of gifts for those in NICU.  Valerie loves butterflies, so how perfect is this! :)



And of course, she looks so sweet being swaddled and sleeping so peacefully.



But then the nurse came in.  She needed to do all the stats.  Chloe peeked to see what was going on.
Everything is going as planned, so the nurse says she's taking out the IV feed, but leaving the needle in just in case they have to reattach.  The next 12 hours or so will be the next hurdle which we believe will be fine as she has made all goals set for her so far.  They want to make sure her electrolytes hold, stays hydrated, etc.  She is now officially off all assistance.  I felt so privileged to be in the room while she did all this.  :)



Boy, wasn't my day made when she asked if I wanted to hold Chloe.  Of course!  What new grandma wouldn't?  I showered her with lots of kisses.  Michael giggled as each kiss I gave I was stating the name of the requests made to give her kisses!!!!  Poor Chloe, all she wanted to do was feed.  She kept opening her mouth each time I leaned over to kiss her. :)




I was VERY excited to finally be able to snuggle Chloe.  She is very content.   The word out is that Valerie and Chloe might be able to go home tomorrow.  How awesome would that be?!  And, just as I thought, the timing was perfect because Valerie called down to let us know she was on her way down with her mom.  I am glad I had my special time. :)

Chloe

Clif and I are very excited to share that we are GRANDPARENTS!  Chloe was born May 14, 2013.  She is 6 lb. 13 oz. and 19 inches long.  Because of respiratory distress, she was placed in NICU with a CPAP and monitors.  As the same each day when we leave, we stop by NICU to see Chloe.  We left Valerie to much needed rest.  Bless her heart, she was so exhausted she fell asleep before we could say goodnight!  We are happy to announce Chloe has improved tremendously and is now in her private room in NICU.  What a special surprise for us when we arrived!  Valerie and Michael will be able to spend much more time with her there. :)



Clif went in first and snapped some pictures with his camera phone.  Michael for the FIRST time is holding Chloe.





When I went in, I was glad I had taken my camera tonight!  I got all teary-eyed.  I am so proud of Michael.  As you can see, she is breathing on her own, and her feeding tube is out of her mouth.  Michael informed us that after he talked to me at noon, Chloe was very agitated and fidgety.  The nurse had called the doctor to see if she could take off the respiratory tube.  She did.  But moments later, Chloe yanked the feeding tube out of her mouth!  They decided to leave it out to see if she would feed on her own.  Valerie went down, and fed her with the bottle.  She drank all 24 milliliters. :)



Michael tried to feed Chloe while I was there.  She wouldn't have any of it.  I think she just wanted to be held by Daddy.



She's just content being in Daddy's arms.  They will continue to monitor over the next 24 hours to make sure she continues to breathe and feed on her own without the assistance of technology.  They had to put the IV in her head because she kept tugging at it when it was in her hand.  They stated as long as she drinks enough fluid, that will come out tomorrow.



The red marks on her face is where all the tape was holding the tubes in place.  She just has on her monitors to make sure her levels are good.  While I was in there, her oxygen was at 100%, and the other vital signs were stable. 

We are VERY grateful for all the prayers offered to OUR FATHER in Heaven.  They are being heard and answered.  Praise be to God.  All Glory is HIS.  :)

A day of cooking

After we finished our hike (blog below), I decided it was early enough in the day to harvest the garden and make fresh salsa and spaghetti sauce.  We have an abundance of tomatoes!



Freshly picked.  However, I didn't put cucumber or green beans in my sauces!



These were the tomatoes I picked earlier in the week.  And you know, if you don't consume them, they will rot.  Why let a good thing go to waste?  I already gave away a dozen to family, friends, and neighbors.



I did make a salsa.  The only ingredient I had to purchase at the store was fresh cilantro.  It turned out quite tasty.  Not bad for one who doesn't like to cook!



I had made spaghetti sauce Thursday night to use in my stuffed green peppers.  It turned out so good, that I made another batch of it today.  This container full will go in the freezer for future use. 

My hats off to my sister Mary.  She has a HUGE garden on her 5 acres.  She cans, freezes, and cooks all the time.  One day of just making these two things was enough for me.  I appreciate what she does.  It's definitely something that has to be your passion.  And guess what?  That's right, it's not my passion!  I'd rather pick off the vine, and consume right away.

Lower Wekiva River Preserve

After our last hiking adventure in April, our friends whom we went that evening to play games with thought it would be fun to join Clif and I on one of our hiking adventures.  We agreed, and put May 11 on the calendar.  Our goal was to start the hike at 8am to avoid the summer heat.  By the time we got back to the truck at 10:30, it was already 84 degrees and humid.



We opted to park off SR 46 and walk the 1/2 mile connector trail.  From what we researched, this area would probably be the only shaded part of the hike.  And those that follow my blog, know I like to hike in the canopy as opposed to the pine/palmetto landscape. 



We took the blue blaze trail and continued to the red blaze trail until we looped back to the 4 mile marker.

I must admit, I was a little apprehensive taking this hike because what Clif was able to read from other blogs, this trail isn't well marked, and some backtracking had taken place.  Well, I am here to say....unless you don't know how to read a map, this was one of the best marked trails we've been on in a while.  We hiked a total 5.8 miles in just over 2 hours, taking a side jaunt to Katie's Landing, assessing animal tracks, and observing wildlife.



Katie's Landing is only 1.1 mile from where we parked, and they had bathroom and water facilities.



Back onto the trail, Clif and I were correct in our assumption that the only shaded part of the trail was the connector.  We hiked through my least favorite landscape for the 4.5 mile loop.  However, we did see quail, wild turkey, a snake, and a gopher tortoise.  We also saw many tracks in the sand...field mice, rabbit, armadillo, deer, bear, bobcat, turkey, and raccoon.



Kim and I posing.  Her husband, Peter, raced ahead so he wouldn't be in the picture.



Mr. Tortoise actually stayed posed long enough for me to take his picture, then he slowly turned and walked away.  They are a protected species in the state of Florida.

Attached

It is amazing to me how attached you can get in such a short period of time.  Shortly after the announcement of Stephen and Amber's engagement, they called to ask a favor.  Sure.  What mother doesn't extend such things to her kids?

They had a dilemma with one of their dogs.  Pearl, a coonhound, was baying profusely, and even though they had an in-home dog sitter, it seems it just wasn't enough.  Pearl, you see, is a rescue dog that Stephen and Amber have had only a couple months before their big trip.  She is still a work in progress.  Anyway, they needed the dog out of the apartment until they could decide what to do.



Being a natural dog lover myself, I agreed, and brought Pearl home.  Only who knew they would find a new home so quickly (especially being on vacation)?!  Pearl needed a home where the owner would be with her on a regular basis, and provide the training needed.  They had found a home for her within 24 hours! 

Who would have known how hard it would be to take her to a new family.  It appears it will be a good fit because as soon as the father came outside, Pearl wagged her tail, and immediately ran to him.  I will miss her.  :)

Engagement

Clif and I are happy to announce...Stephen and Amber are engaged!



They are on a 2 week vacation to the New York to visit her family.  They made a brief stop in Washington DC along the way to visit Arlington and the War Memorials.  She is in the Army Reserves and has already done two tours to the Middle East.

 Stephen proposed to Amber on the Wine and Cheese Train in Strausburg, PA Saturday night.

Congratulations!
We love you!
Mom and Dad 

Rock Springs Preserve

Today Clif and I decided to get an early start, and venture off on a hike in Lake County at the Rock Springs Run Preserve.  This is a wildlife management area, that is bordered by both the Rock Springs Run river to the south and Wekiva River to the east.  Being we got there just 15 minutes after they opened, we hoped to see lots of wildlife.  Well, sad to say, the only wildlife we saw were wild turkeys and ticks....lots of ticks.



I was very excited starting off on what we thought was a 9 mile loop.  This would be perfect as we have to dinner/game night engagement with some friends.  We'd head down to the river and be done by 12-1pm.  The scenery is beautiful as you can see.



We had parked in area 2, and decided to take the spur to the Pond Trail which then connected to the Challenge Trail.  Early indication is that everything would be well marked.



I even got more excited when I realized we'd be hiking in real woods with a canopy.  Those that have followed previous blogs know I don't care for hiking through miles of palmettos and sand.



Once we had come to the area where you could either complete the Pond Trail or continue onto the Challenge Trail, we soon realized why it has this name!



I was perplexed as this was the actual trail.  Obviously it is not maintained or has much foot traffic.



 Clif is standing directly in front of the trail marker (we were on the white blaze trail that is a 9 mile loop).



There he goes, so I will follow even though I am weary.  I couldn't stop for any pictures along the rest of this portion as I needed both supports of the hiking sticks to bushwhack my way through. :)



Clif was able to get some pictures though with his camera as I made my way through.



This was one of the areas where we collected the most ticks.  We would stop at each small clearing and swipe them off our clothes.  We were thankful that we wore long sleeved shirts and pants.



We finally come to an area that recently had a fire.  I think it was one back this past Feb.
Anyway, there was no end in sight as to how far we'd be hiking after all, does this look like there is a river nearby???



But once to the other side, (about 2 miles or so) and trying to acclimate our position to the map, we were back to bushwhacking our way through.  Our goal was to get to the Rock Springs Run which is a popular canoeing river that ties into Wekiva Springs Run.  We had a hard time identifying the trail blazes.  Clif would go ahead as I talked to him, and once he found a blaze, he'd yell for me to catch up.



We finally made it.  Across from where we came out at the river's edge is where we hiked a couple months ago at Wekiva Springs.  I had blogged about Big Buck Camp in January where we hiked a 10 mile loop.



Continuing on the loop, I was now getting very frustrated.  It was already 1:00, and we had already hiked 10 + miles.  It was clear that the map or the trails weren't accurate.  It is advised, "stay on the marked trail to avoid getting lost".  Well, that's all fine and dandy if you knew where you were on the map in relation to the trail blazes you were following!!!  None of these roads were on our map.





How's this for ya?!



I snapped this shot when we got back to the truck at 3:00pm and 14 miles later! Old Road 433 is where our truck is parked about 1 1/2 miles to the north of the Lake/Orange County line.  I'm just glad we finally made it back.  I was exhausted.