First NICU Harvest Party

We went to our first NICU graduate party. They have a Harvest Party in October where all the NICU graduates get to come dressed up in costume and see all the nurses and doctors and meet other families. It was so fun to see everyone! It was really crowded, but we managed to make the rounds and see most of our NICU family. We only snapped a few quick pics...it was so hectic. 

{Tess and Julie}

Julie was one of our favorites. She was a nurse on the night shift and took care of Tess most nights when she was on. She made bows for Tess, took tons of pictures of her, left us little surprises and gifts, texted us pictures of what the staff was doing at 4 am, made us laugh our guts out especially on hard nights and most of all loved Tess to pieces. We love Julie!

{The "good witch" Connie casting a spell on Tess}

It was so fun to catch up with everyone and show off our little black cat. They were surprised at how chubby she was and how great she looked. I love those people! They will forever be our NICU family and have a special place in our hearts.

Hazard...

So, we have been trying to "reshape" Tess's head in hopes of avoiding a helmet. Because Tess was on her stomach most of the 4 1/2 months she spent in the NICU (due to her digestive issues), her forehead is really narrow (although it looks pretty normal here). We have taken her to a plastic surgeon for evaluation and they suggested we try having her sleep on a foam doughnut at night. She has done really well with it and I think it has even helped some. But this is how I found her this morning...I decided that maybe it was time to take the doughnut away...we don't want her chewing on that thing!

Pumpkin Patch

We took Tess to a Pumpkin Patch...Linder Farms to be exact. We skipped the ride out to the pumpkin patch this year and opted for some pictures on hay bales with a few pumpkins intermixed. Tess still can't sit up on her own, so we did our best to prop her up and catch her as she slid on down the slick pumpkins. We caught a few cute pics. And being the crazy mom that I am, I insisted that we dress her up in her Halloween costume...the cutest black cat you've ever seen!

After pictures, we sat down for some hot chocolate and donuts while I fed Tess a bottle. She was getting fussy. Unfortunately, I forgot to pack the nipple of the bottle cutting our trip short. Oops. Rookie mistake. At least we got out and enjoyed the fall weather!