6 and 2.

6 years ago may 4th was a really really rainy sunday. my sister, beth, was 29 weeks pregnant. i got a phone call that afternoon from my friend jeannie who was just with beth and told me that beth was dilating (obviously unexpectedly) and that she was in an ambulance on the way to the hospital (about an hour & 15 minutes from her home and an hour from ours - so basically the middle of us). matt drove (um, let's just say fast) and we made it to the hospital as the ambulance was pulling up to the ER. beth's husband was out of town (because, really who thinks your wife would suddenly be in labor 11 weeks early?

as we met with the doctors and realized that there was no stopping what was happening we quickly prepped for a delivery that night. it was a really scary time but we just held hands and didn't have much time to think. cohen russell kellogg was born that night and was about 2 1/2 lbs. we knew right away by his cries that he was heathy. honestly, it literally never once occurred to me that things wouldn't be ok with cohey.

for some reason, through all the scary parts, beth and i seemed to have found a million things funny. i stayed overnight with her in her room and the next day where sometimes we laughed so hard neither of us could move or breathe. it obviously had to be our way with coping with something so serious.

the next few weeks we all spent a lot of time in the nicu as cohen got stronger and eventually ready to come home. during those weeks in the nicu we stayed at a nearby hotel a lot. then i went to stay with beth to help out when cohen first came home. again, with the laughter. it's weird to say that during that time, beth and i have so many great memories together. and cohen just continued to do so well no one, even the dr's, could even believe it.

today cohey is a healthy, strong, funny, caring, growing SIX year old! i can't believe it. he's pretty excited about his new cousin and he, like everyone, wants ezzy home now!

may 4th also happens to be esme's 2 month bday. this was yesterday here but like everything i'm counting it twice for USA & RMI time just because.

happy birthday sweet cohen. i miss you so much and can't wait to get home to see you.


retro cohen

here he is, 1st day home. he had reached 4 lbs! (biz, email me a "now" photo and i'll include in the post)