Family

It's that time of year again where we spend time over the holidays with friends and family.  My mom has been rummaging through the old family photos and found this one of my brothers and I.  Typical snapshot of the Tatum boys.  It has been so good to be back in Fresno close to family.  I am glad that we have been able to spend time together now that Jenn and I are closer.  Especially now that we have Kaleb and Abby as a part of our family its great to have all the Aunts and Uncles and Grandma and Grandpas close.  

When I look at this photo I feel so blessed that my brothers and I have the relationships that we do.  I know so many people who's family's have broken relationships and people never speak to one another.  I am so glad that as brothers we have the bond that we do and I pray that we never lose that!  I hope we turn 40 and are still wrestling around on the floor when we see each other.  (Sorry Megan its what we do)  I hope we continue to find time to play together and snowboard and all the other expensive sports that our father raised us doing that we can no longer afford to do now that we have left the nest.  

Matt and Megan.... See you soon, hopefully we can make it down to your pad soon.

Luke... Have fun in your last semester, but not to much you still have to graduate 

Much Love

Kaleb and Abby Pics

Here are some more recent pics of the kiddos

Kaleb still loves to stand on daddys hands

Abby enjoying bath time

Kaleb is being good big brother!

I love my sister

All smiles

Abby's silly face.  She likes to stick her tongue out at daddy

Of course i am handsome I'm a Tatum!

Update on Abby

Sorry it took so long to update again. Abby and Jenn were released from the hospital on Sunday morning. They are both home and doing great! Abby saw the doctor yesterday and she has gained 2 ounces since Sunday, which is a good thing. Her color is looking great and she is adjusting well. Kaleb is doing good as well adjusting to being a big brother and a helper for mommy and daddy.  Jenn is recovering well from surgery and is already walking up and down the stairs.

 

Here is the Family in the hospital

Kaleb couldn't wait for Abby to get out of her chair so he could take it for a test drive

Kaleb held his little sister for the first time and was gentle with her

Abby is such a great sleeper and she loves to just lounge, kick back and relax

Thanks again for your prayers!

David and Jenn

Abby Update September 20th

Here is the update for today.  Abby is doing well and getting better all the time.  Her breathing and eating have improved and she is almost in our room for good.   As you can see Jenn penciled in the plan for the day "Get Abby Out" of the nursery.  I was able to stay the night with her last night and she did great through the night. 

Here is our first picture with all three of us together.

If you would like to visit give my cell phone a call and we can talk about what might work.  We should be leaving the hospital tomorrow morning if all goes according to plan.

Abby Update September 19th

So we had a little scare last night.  Abby was having a hard time keeping food down and she was spitting up a little bit.  They ended up having to drain her stomach contents because she wasn't digesting her food.  Our best guess from our local expert swallowing technician (my dad the speech pathologist) is that she had some amnionic fluid in her stomach.  We know that she had some in her lungs at birth and thats why she needed extra oxygen and the time to dry her lungs out.  

We think that she had some in her stomach as well which offset the PH in her stomach.  The fluid probably made her stomach PH + and counteracted her stomach acid not allowing her to process her food.  Now that her stomach has been emptied and she has had the time over night to recover she is doing better.  Hopefully she had time over night to recover and build up some stomach acid.  Jenn fed her again this morning and she expressed interest which was a great sign.  Our goal today is to feed her when we can and ween her of the IV so we can have her in our room with us.  We had a brief scare but we are hoping this morning with make a turn for the better.

Jenn is doing great and recovering well.  Kaleb is having tons of fun at Grandma and Grampa Tatum's house letting them spoil him.  (Matt, Meg and Luke, we can't wait to see you guys tonight!)

Thanks to everyone who has been praying for her!  We appreciate it more than you know.  More pictures and news to come later today.

David and Jenn

Abby with a pink bow

Update on Abby

Mommy's first time holding her baby girl!  She got a chance to try and feed as well.

Watch out Kaleb you have a new baby sister.

Abby is doing better.  She is completley off the oxygen now.  She is still in the Nursery until her breathing slows down and she is able to feed a little more so she can get of the IV.

She opened her eyes for a little while, a gorgeous dark blue, its like looking into her soul.

Thanks for all the prayer and support Abby is doing well and progressing.  We cant wait to have her in our room.

Abigail Elizabeth Marie Tatum

So.... Baby Abigail decided to work on her own timeline and come earlier than scheduled!  

(you know how women/girls are) What the heck i thought we were scheduling this one!  Anyway, Abby was born last night at Saint Agnes Hospital at 4:58pm.  She weighs 6 pounds 12 ounces and measured 19 inches long.  Her initial apgar score was a 8/9.  She is doing well but having a little trouble breathing since she came early and her lungs were not completely prepared to breathe yet.  

Right now she is still in the nursery being watched her levels are starting to get better and we cant wait to hold her.  Her heart rate is a little high and she is breathing a little rapidly but she is doing better than last night because she has progressed off of the oxygen.  She is on an IV to stay hydrated right now since we cant take her out to feed yet.  Jenn is doing well considering she just had surgery last night.  

Jenn and Abby are both doing well, we would appreciate your prayers for both a fast recovery for Jenn and for Abbys lungs to get nice and strong so she can progress out of the nursery and into our arms.  Thanks family and friends for all your support!

I will keep this updated as we know more.  More pictures to come, especially when we get to hold her.

Kaleb's first stitches

So Kaleb and i were skateboarding today like we normally do and he decided that he wanted to step off the board.  He stuck his toe in front of the front wheels which sent us both flying over the front of the board.  Unfortunately, Kaleb took all the damage.  We went to the emergency room and waited forever.  The end result was a Kaleb getting 5 brand new stitches to the chin!  He is totally ok and took the whole process like a stud.  We came home and he was back to all his daredevil antics like nothing ever happened.   Needless to say i felt horrible, but what can you do, he is a boy and a tough stubborn one at that.  

Here is Kaleb in the Emergency Room with his gown

Here is a chin shot this evening and a close up of the stitch work

Well i guess you live and learn.  Im not looking forward to the bill!  

P.S  Baby Abby is doing great, shes still due October 2nd, which is coming fast!

The Tatum Boys, Man vs. Wild

So this last week my brothers and I (Matt the middle brother, and Luke the youngest) decided that we would brave the great outdoors.  We drove up to our trailhead and hiked about 11 miles the first day up to lake Woodchuck.  The second day we explored some more hiking to 2 more lakes and putting in another 5 miles or so.  The third day we hiked back out of the wild laying down another 10 miles or so.  Needless to say it was a blast, and i have blisters to prove it!  Here are some pics of the trip, there are even some i cant show 

(its the Tatum boys what can i say).  

Here we are before we started.  

Here is what the hike looked like on the first day.  Gorgeous! 

Our hike the first day took us to Woodchuck Lake.  I was fortunate enough to see my very first Woodchuck!

Here was the Sunset on the first day and the Lake the next morning.

On the second day we found some rocks to jump off into our second lake.

And here we are on the mountaintop.

Kaleb Dribbling the Soccer Ball

Thats right hes only 10 months and hes already dribbling the soccer ball like a pro. Watch out Beckham here comes Tatum!

Kaleb Walking

Kaleb is starting to take his first steps. He thinks it is so funny, especially when he falls.

Ahh the joys of Fatherhood

My stomach hurt after this little episode of Kaleb making farting noises on Jenns shoulder. It sounds like he is actually farting but he is doing it with his mouth.