Bottles and Burps

We now have a new world record holder - a bottle taken down in two gulps!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours! Thank you so much for your prayers, support and encouragement. You all have touched our lives and blessed us so much!

Out of the incubator!

McKinzie is now in a crib! She is maintaining her own body temp and doing great!

McKinzie is also learning to eat on her own and taking in half of her meal before she falls sound asleep, which is amazing for her preemie age!

She now up to 3 lbs 10 ounces!

Dad and McKinzie bath time

On Sunday Dad and McKinzie had bath time - we're still not sure who had the most fun!

It's official - three pounds!

If McKinzie had full control of her nervous system she would hold up the cutest three fingers you've ever seen because she weighs 3 lbs exactly! We've also started mom and McK feeding time, so that is our next goal to reach!

All swaddled up

McKinzie is now maintaining her own body temp, so she gets to be swaddled! She even wears little shirts. This was one of our goals to reach, so one down and two to go! She was so alert and with big eyes as I was holding her today. She also had a visit from her uncle Jake! So it was a great day!

McKinzie's new home

McKinzie has a new home! She was moved over the weekend to a new wing of the NICU - a great sign of progress. She's so small compared to the other babies, but she'll get there!

There are three goals McKinzie will need to meet before we start talking about the trip home. She will need to take in all of her meals on her own (she has a tube to her tummy right now), maintain her body temperature on her own, and breathe on her own without any oxygen support. Right now she is resting and working on all three!

This is McKinzie's first bath!

She was wrapped in a blanket to stay snuggly and warm. She did great and seemed to enjoy her spa time!

Even though the camera couldn't quite capture it, she kept her eyes wide open, taking it all in! She was wrapped back up and looking so content!

... being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippeans 1:6

Update on little one: Wednesday, Dec 6

McKinzie is up to 2 lbs 10 oz and still growing! She is steadily increasing the amount of breast milk she gets every 3 hours. Today McKinzie had a second brain ultrasound, and the results showed no bleeding in the brain, again! Thanks so much for your prayers and support! McKinzie is a gift, and her life has been so richly blessed!

Coming Soon: McKinzie gets her first bath tomorrow!












Meet our girl:
Weighing in at 1 lb 14 oz, McKinzie made her early appearance on November 9, 2006. We were fortunate to be at Baylor Medical Center in Dallas, TX, which will be McK's home for a little while.


McKinzie was put through several diagnostic tests to check for kidney and heart function and possible brain bleeding. Every test gave the same result - that she is small but mighty!

It was extremely important for McKinzie to be touched as little as possible, so we could only watch her through the isolette. We were able to cup her if she needed to be comforted.













For the first two weeks McKinzie was on a ventilator to help her tiny lungs breathe. She also had an IV in her right arm, which is huge when you're less than 2 lbs (check out the pink club).











Time under the sun lamp was also doctor's orders.

Once she was off of the jaundice light we were able to start Kangaroo Care - for an hour a day we can hold her (wired and all) skin to skin. It's an incredible joy!

McKinzie is now gaining weight and changing daily! She is taking low levels of oxygen through her nose - so now we can hear her sweet voice! More and more McKinzie has her eyes wide open and looks around, even following our voices. She also loves to grab dad's finger! The nurses keep telling us how blessed we are and what a gift she is. We couldn't agree more.