Elliott Hampton

Elliott Hampton
Elliott Hampton

Saturday, August 20, 2011

8 weeks old!




Trying capture his elusive smile.











And now I dance and smirk.





Daddy's 1st nail trimming. The event ended as soon as it commenced.





Now, I dance.





How can I resist smiling while wearing these ridiculously huge pants?


Okay, that's enough. Take them off of me. I'm swimming in them. Swimming!




















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Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Is the summer really over?

Elliott has surpassed the 7 lb mark! He weighed in at 7 lbs 2 oz at the pediatrician's office on Monday! Elliott's pediatrician is happy with his growth and he is right on target, developmentally. I can hardly believe he will be 8 weeks tomorrow!

Here he is just after his vaccines. He was such a trooper!






Tuesday, I started work. The upside (aside from the obvious VERY helpful paycheck and satisfaction of impacting the lives of young kiddoes) is that Mark gets the opportunity to hang out with and care for Elliott without my intervening. He and Elliott are developing their groove. It's so sweet.

Oh my, oh my, oh my it was so difficult to leave this little guy:











Sorry so light on the pictures. I have tried to catch several shots, but by the time I unlock my phone (my work email required I put a password on my phone, very secure and very inconvenient) the moment is over.

See my new passy?




Check out this baby clothes bouquet from the beautiful Miss Watercutter!






Goodnight friends. Notice my hat fits my head!


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Sunday, August 14, 2011

Pictures and Call for addresses

As you can imagine, life is pretty busy with a 7 week old. Mark returned to join in the fun, so E and I are pretty happy campers. We traded our Jeep for an Outback, so now the stroller has a comfortable home that is not the passenger seat. Elliott is growing so much; he weighed 7 lb 3 oz on Friday before his bath! We have a pediatrician appointment tomorrow morning for E's 1st round of vaccines and I begin work on Tuesday. Time is really flying!

I ordered "Announcements" today, so send me your address if you would like one.

Here are a few pics:


Thank you Aunt Heidi and Uncle David for the awesome aero onesie!
 Are you ready to see my sweet dance moves? Check out my routine:






 Thank you, Great Aunt Jill and family for the super cool activity gym! I can't wait to have tummy time on it. My Cardiologist says I have to wait until I am 12 weeks post-op.







I am pretty proud of the pirate blanket my momma made for me last week.
  Thanks for the crib piano, Grandma Sharon! I love it!





So proud of my new ride!


Alopecia also affects neonates...Just you wait, I will have a full head of hair in no time!

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Friday, August 12, 2011

A serious baby

He is so serious when he is awake! When he sleeps, if you watch carefully, you are apt to Be rewarded with a glimpse of a grin! I have yet to catch it with my camera (phone). I'm determined to eek a smile out of him while awake.

I uploaded all of my E pictures onto my shutterfly account a few days ago. I will admit that it was tough seeing Elliott's post op portraits. Of course he is serious. The majority of his life has consisted of very serious faces peering down at him. I am doing my best to avoid looking at him with anything but a goofy smile. He is likely thinking, "Great, they sent me home with this lunatic?!"

This week, I have been making trips to set up my therapy office. Shaving several hours off of my days with Elliott has been difficult. Where is my trust fund? Or my astronomically large bank account that marks me as independently wealthy so I can stay home with Elliott, and Mark can join us permanently, and we can stop fretting over insurance? Oh yes, it doesn't exist. Hm.

This week, I had a benefits meeting with the school district. I was grateful the room was dark and relatively empty. Hopefully the other women at my table didn't notice my silent sobs as the benefits specialist unveiled the horrible package they inappropriately call benefits. Insurance premiums are over 700/ month! The coverage is high deductible, high patient responsibility. For instance, each visit to the ER is 250.00 right off the bat. Our discharge orders state several scenarios which require an ER visit for Elliott, whereas other kids may not require the ER. The benefits specialist encouraged that we use "urgent care centers." not helpful. I understand that they are trying to keep people from abusing the ER, but I wish that there were special provisions for special circumstance families. I guess that's Medicaid. The benefits staff were so nice, although their programs are not. Don't even get me started on the retirement accounts. I was truly spoiled in terms of benefits by the City of Lubbock, although my paycheck was awful, and upward mobility was stagnant. Oh well, welcome to Education.

All of the people I have met thus far have been wonderful. I know that, despite my complaints about benefits (which is simply an American issue- not just my district and not only felt in the field of education), I made the right decision choosing Klein.

Here are a few pics:






This was two weeks ago, in the hospital:






This was yesterday afternoon- same outfit:






Just but longer and it will be too small for him!







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