The Precious Things in Life

The precious things in life...

mainly our children.

We love our kids and they have brought us so much joy,

and laughter,

headaches,

tears, and

everything in between.

(wait until they are teenagers).

Jake is now 2 weeks old and is doing very well.

He sleeps very well at night, and

has been nursing well.

The biggest problem that we have with him

is trying to get the diaper on him when we change him

before he pees everywhere.

Ali is also one of our joys,

and we celebrated her premature birth once again

by supporting the March of Dimes.

We raised $410 this year in honor of her survival.

It was just Ali and me this year

at the March of Dimes: March for Babies event.

She had a lot more fun because she was able to do more being a toddler:

get her face painted,

make crafts,

play in the moonwalk,

look at the firetruck,

see the dogs (as always),

eat hot dogs (which she is always up for),

and walk and run to anything she wanted to see.

It was the 75th Anniversary for the March of Dimes,

and they had pictures of premature babies that were submitted.

Ali made the wall.

We had a great time.

We are very grateful for those that donated to support the work

of the March of Dimes.

After all, every child/person deserves a fighting change to live...

they are the precious things in life.

Jake & Ali

I feel so blessed to have Jake and Ali in my life.

Now that Jake has been home a week,

I have seen more of why I enjoy being a dad.

It is the joy that irradiates from Ali's smile

as she runs to give her mom a hug.

It's the calming peace in Jakes face

when he is sleeping in his crib in the middle of the night.

Or the pain I see when Ali hurts her finger and she pleads for comfort,

and squeezes my neck when I pick her up.

I see the pleasure in Jake's eyes

when he is rocked to sleep.

Ali's birth made me realize how precious life can be,

and how fragile life can be.

Her birth at 29 weeks (11 weeks premature) influenced me to
help in whatever way I could for
children that are born premature.
(Self disclosure: this can make a dad cry) :)

Ali in the NICU - October 2010

We support and encourage others to support

the mission of the March of Dimes.

The March of Dimes helps

moms have full-term pregnancies and 

research the problems that threaten the health of babies.

Each year since Ali has been born we have walked
for the March of Dimes and raised money to support
the lives of other babies being born premature.

March of Dimes 2012

We would like to invite you to donate to this cause as well.

You can also invite others to do donate too.

Donations made to the March of Dimes help fund:

- research that will get us closer to stronger, healthier babies.

- pay for printed materials to be distributed to moms in your community

- give moms and babies the health care coverage they need

- comforts families with babies in the newborn intensive care.

A donation can be made at our team page:

http://www.marchforbabies.org/ALI_amazinglittleinfants

We are appreciative of any gift that is made in honor of Ali and her life.

As a Thank You, we will also be giving away two gifts.

For every $5.00 donated, you will have a chance to win ether of the following:

- 2 tickets to Birmingham Barons Game (May, 4th 2013)

- $10 gift card to Applebees

(will be selected through randomized application, 

#1 spot will win the tickets, 

#2 spot will win the gift card to Applebees.)

Don't wait because the March of Dimes walk is on April 27th, 2013.

In One Week!

You must donate prior to the time of the walk to be entered.

A Video of Jake

We have arrived from the hospital.
We have been home since April 15th.

Ali loves having Jake around.

We have also enjoyed him at home.

Nothing like getting to snuggle with a baby...
that doesn't
squirm everywhere
wanting to get down,
run, and
play.

We have felt so blessed as parents to have these
two sweet angels in our lives.
We hope the best for them.

Here is a video of some more pictures of Jake.

Jake Meets World

Welcome Jake Ryan Westenhofer!

Jake weighed in at 8 lbs. 6 oz 

and 

is 21 inches long.

He weighed 6 lbs. more than Ali weighed when

she was born 11 weeks premature.

Quite a difference.

We are so excited to have him here with us.

And we were excited to finally see his adorable face.

Delivery went very smoothly without any complications.

And mommy was very excited to finally to get to hold him.

Jake right after being born.

He also got his first bath.

Which he did not particularly enjoy

except

for when they washed his hair.

He liked the scrubbing on his head.

They even made him a small little mohawk in his little hairs.

We are very excited for many different reasons to have this

new bundle of joy

in our family.

Waiting for Baby #2

We are currently in the hospital...

waiting...

waiting...

for baby #2

By the way, we decided on a name.

Drum roll....

JAKE RYAN WESTENHOFER

Contractions are consistant right now, but

Jake is not quite ready to come.

Ali will be surprised to see Jake,

her little brother,

and our second treasure and joy.