and I was on a roll too

I've haven't blogged in 2 weeks!!! I was doing so good with posting just about daily for most of september too! The girls are over their viruses now...ended up taking them to the Dr to check out their ears, and take a look at their rashes that took forever to clear up. Doc confirmed that it's just a virus, and he's seen a lot of the same rash on lots of kiddos lately. No ear infections YAY! Aaron came down with the same symptoms minus the rash, but was over it quickly. Now it's business as usual around here. I got a saturday away to go scrapbook with some friends last weekend. Today was Tatum's baby shower, which my mom and I hosted together. It was a fun time! I can not wait till my little nephew arrives. Just a month and a half to go! We also attended Jacob's open house at school...it was hectic, but nice to get a closer look into his school world. Talked with his teacher Mrs. P who we LOVE! Jacob had her for Kindergarten, and she switched over to teaching 2nd grade last year...and we were lucky enough to get her again this year. Also got to chat with both of his reading teachers. Jacob has been struggling with reading, so he gets extra attention in that area every day! And then the kids all got a treat of icecream sundaes in the cafeteria. Aaron really enjoyed being able to go into Jacob's class and looking at all of what Jacob does everyday. He also had fun sitting at his desk, and pretending it was his class!

With basketball starting soon, and Halloween coming up, it's just going to get more and more busy around here! But it's a good kind of busy...and I so love fall! So I leave you with some photos...

The girls had their first oreo cookies and this was the result!

Katy

Mady

Jacob's classroom...Jacob loved showing Aaron aroundAaron sitting at J's deskShowing Dad "Mountain Math"

And I couldn't resist posting this profile shot of my beautiful sister-in-law (to be) That's my nephew in her belly!!!

Peace!

sickies

Not a lot of time for blogging today, the girls are both sick with colds, and Aaron is still trying to get over his. Both girls have been a bit lathargic today...lots of cuddling with blankies and a bit of t.v. watching. They loved baby einstien thismorning, and I caught the 3 of them sitting on the sofa watching together. It's just about nap time, and I think I'm going to lay down too!

If you can't get enough...

Then here are some more pictures of the girls. I took these thismorning. Been having fun playing with my camera and taking random photos of the kids. Aaron wouldn't cooperate for any photos thismorning...and Jacob was at school, so it's just the girls for this post! Hoping to get some good shots of the boys on a nature walk soon...stay tuned!

Madelyn...she was angry about Katy taking away her cup, so she took it out on her dress!

A quiet moment

That's Katelyn with the red cup she swiped from Mady

Katelyn

this doesn't happen very often...both girls sitting side by side long enough for me to get a photo

Madelyn trying to figure out how to get down

eye candy

This is for all my scrapbooking friends. Some of my more recent artwork. Oh how I love to play with photos and words and paper and glue!!! click on the collage to get a better view :)

Discovery

We went on a little adventure on thursday. Jacob was at school, and the 3 little ones and I decided to go for a nice walk and followed a trail through the wetlands next to our subdivision. During this walk we discovered the trail leads straight to a park that we've never been to. We spent 2 hours at this little tiny park...it was so nice and quiet, and secluded. We were the only ones there, and I used the opportunity to do a nice photo shoot. Hope you enjoy the photos...I think they turned out so beautiful, so had to share many of my favororites with you all!
Mady trying to give Katy a little push
On the meri-go-round...you don't see these at parks very often anymore
Aaron sittin in the swing...he doesn't much like the swinging motion, but likes to sit and have a gentle push every so often

Katelyn loving the swing
Madelyn tasting a large piece of bark
Something on her hands? You can see the brown birthmark on her right hand very clearly...it keeps growing with her hand. It's one of 2 birthmarks she has...Katelyn has none!

Got Aaron to pose somewhat in front of all this beautiful folliage during our walk Katy with a blackberry stained face

the girls loved the meri-go-round
trying to pick a dandelion
Mady loved the sound of her hands banging on the metal...it entertained her for quite some time
pushing the tire swing


yummy! lots of blackberry bushes along the way

Aaron waiting for us to catch up...he loved running ahead, and would stop and wait for us when he noticed he was a little to far ahead WEEEEEE!
Lovin it!
Katelyn trying to get the hang of walking in the bark chips

a little on the girls

Mady...reaching for me to pick her up not sure what Katy was looking at
this is one of their favorite things to do now...they can both get up on the couch!
The last few weeks Katelyn has learned even more new words! Just today I heard her say diaper and mine! I knew she'd be the first one to use the word MINE ;-) She's also been saying nite-nite...which sounds more like nye-nye...so cute! She's also become very vocal when things don't go her way! She is loud, and can throw a good tantrum with the best of them. One of her favorite toys right now is a rocking horse (actually it's a caterpillar) and if Mady is on it, she will literally throw her down! If Mady puts up a fight (which she usually does), then it ends in Katy screaming! Mady usually plays on the little rocking horse, so I think Katelyn just thinks the caterpillar is HERS!

Mady has been wanting to go everywhere with me. If she sees me heading to the door with my purse she runs to the door expecting to go too. If I say "no Mady it's not your turn for bye-bye", she cries in this heartbroken sort of way. So needless to say, she's won a few times and gets to run to the grocery store or something with just mommy :-]

Well, the girls are done with their lunch, so now it's bottles and almost nap time!!!

Peace

Hello, Hello

I am amazed at how many visitors our blog receives. I know we have a lot of great faithfull readers who check in with us often. We also get lots of people that pop in while researching information about monoamniotic twins and or preemie realted issues. The whole reason I named this blog mono-mono preemie twins: Katy & Mady, is so that people can find us while they are looking for information. I wanted to share our stroy with others who are needing support. I also wanted to share with our family & friends what our family life was like. I only wish that I had started it much sooner. But now our little blog is over a year old. We've had nearly 16,000 visitors (the site counter is wrong now, since I changed the blog format). So I'd love to have a section here where everyone who visits us can sign a guestbook and say hello! I'd love to be able to show Katelyn & Madelyn (& the boys too), that so many people cared about them, and took time to smile with us, and worry with us, and be there for us. So please take a second and tell us hello, who you are, and how you found us. I'd also love to know how long you've been reading about our crazy adventures!!! Just click on "comments" below this post and type us a greeting. You don't have to have a blogger account to post a comment! And thank you to everyone for your support, thoughts, and prayers...it has meant a lot to all of us!

This boy

This boy had a very bad day today. This boy had a day of pain and of suffering. This boy had a severe migraine today.

It started out with a bit of an upset tummy and a mild headache. It ended with vomiting and severe headpain, a trip to the urgent care clinic, and crying in agony of any little noise that made the pain so much worse. This is something new for him, something that I hope he'll never have to go through again. Something that I recognized from the tears in his eyes and the whimper of even the sound of a whisper. I am praying that this will not become a chronic occurance for him, though with a family history of migraines that just may not be. It was extremely hard watching him go through it, knowing full well exactly what he's feeling. There was nothing I could do to comfort him...no touch of comfort, no soft kisses, no consoling with mommy's words, no medicine at home that would help this kind of thing...Nothing. He was given some pain medication with codiene, it helped him rest and relax. It also made him vomit. He has never been so eager to be in a dark quiet room to just sleep...and so he does, and so he rests.

Just a day

Yesterday was a full day around here. Chaotic, and at times difficult. I've been watching my friend's children a few days a week, so at times I just feel like Im being pulled in too many directions. Having 5 kids in the house all 4 and under is a challenge (it was 7 kids total until this week)!!!

I try to keep them all busy with some fun activities during the day, usually coloring or a game or playing outside. But there are times when they watch a movie or a show. And so I put on an Elmo movie, and this is what happened...

These 3 little ones watched almost an entire Elmo dvd together. Katy & Mady have just started to take notice when the t.v is on...they'll stare at it for a short bit here & there, but they LOVED Elmo! I mean what toddler doesn't right?
Ummm o.k. how sweet is this?! I just can't believe I had my camera in my hand and ready! He's a sweet little guy, and loves the "baby girls". And just to give you all a reference of size, he's only 3.5 months older than the twins!

And then there was this...Mady has her days of being super sensitive to basically everything. It has to do with her getting overwhelmed and overstimulated. When she gets like this she litterally climbs on me and stays there for however long it takes her to feel o.k. again. It was well over an hour maybe even 2 this time before she would even consider being put down. It's not just an I want my mommy kind of thing, it's an I NEED my mommy to feel safe and secure. And so I got this shot from my lap, so please exuse the blurry head chopped off shot. I just thought it captured "us"