Our amazing weekend getaway!

Happy Photos

Mady left Katy right
Katelyn

Madelyn

photos as promised

This was my attempt at getting a shot of the boys with Rocky. And you can see just how well that turned out.
Our moose, I mean puppy.

This is a rare sight, Aaron doesn't nap much anymore these days.

No, we did not get another puppy. We puppy sat for my brother over night, and this is how I found Jacob and little Rocky when I was going to bed. And yes my brother named his puppy Rocky too. As long as he doesn't name any children he might some day have the same as our kids names, it's cool!
Katelyn modeling Grandpa's shades. You can kind of see the teeth she's cutting on the top. Yeah, that's been REAL fun!
My 2 beauties!
Mady getting Grandpa's nose.
A normal feeding for the girls. I really do kind of wish they could hold their own bottles.

It's been a while since my last post. Everything is still pretty much the same with all of us. We're all staying healthy. YAY!!! But we're still being cautious because rsv season is not over yet. I can't wait for Spring to be here. The warmer weather and some sunshine will be so nice. Maybe we'll even, dare I say, venture out more!

So the babies are changing a lot these days. They are so curious and adventurous. Their favorite thing to do is get into the drawer where I keep all the diapers and baby wipes and pull everything out. They're no longer content to play in their excersaucers. That's like baby jail to them now! Both Katy & Mady are cruising around the furniture very well now. I know the day where they start walking is going to sneak up on us, and then we're really in trouble!
I'm also very HAPPY to report that Katelyn is finally sleeping through the night!!! So 15 months of interrupted sleep is a thing of the past! YAY!!!

Madelyn still continues to do very well in her therapies. We are currently working on the "milk" sign, and some sensory stuff. Mady is not doing the signs yet, but it seems that she understands their meaning. She's probably going to start seeing a speech therapist a few times a month. We have a meeting with the ST in 2 weeks where she'll kind of evaluate her speech and determine how delayed she is.

In other news, I've decided to add a few extra days a month to my work schedule. I am currently only working saturdays, but am going to be working a few thursdays a month as well. I'm excited about it, and my best friend Danielle and I have worked out some daycare trade.

Other than that, the boys are doing very good. Aaron is going through a bit of a frustrating phase right now. He wants (and expects) me to know the answer to everything he asks. Sometimes he asks things that make absolutely no sense to us, but to him it probably makes perfect sense. If I don't have an answer and say I don't know, or give him an answer that he doesn't like he has a bit of a fit! And he is becoming more and more of a Mommy's boy. Which I must say that I love. He's always been very independant, no time for cuddles, never cared if I left the house. But now he always wants to cuddle, sit in my lap, go everywhere I go. When I come home from work he tells me how much he missed me...it's kind of nice!

Jacob is working very hard on his reading. Ian & I got a hooked on phonics program to help him out, and WOW what a turn around it's been already. He is eager to read now, and enjoys it. It's so awesome to see your kid want to learn and really enjoy learning. He always has loved learning, but with this reading thing, it was really interfering with all of that. He's such a smart kid, and we're so proud of him.

That's about it for now. I've got some fresh pictures to share. My camera battery (and backup battery) is dead, so check for them soon! PEACE!

Me @ work

Karen Russell came to teach again at the store where I work (The Scrap Yard). It was fun to hang out with her, and be there during her class. I'm glad to have gotten to know her in the past few months, which made having her here, even more fun this time!

I am so lucky to be able to work where I do. I meet the nicest people, and get to be a bigger part of this incredible hobby which I LOVE! I enjoy it when people share their stories with me. Some are sad and tragic, but most are just wonderful bits of their lives, which I think is so important to preserve. That's why I do what I do...Scrapbook!

latest photos

Trying scrambled eggs for the very first time. Katyelyn (above) woofed them down.

Ian tying on Jacob's new belt at his testing.

Mady loves the rocking horse. She's able to hold on all by herself now. She even tries to rock back and forth.

Thought I'd post a list of what the kids are up to...

Jacob: He just passed his test in taekwondo to become a comoflauge belt. It is his 6th belt! Daddy thinks he'll be earning his black belt by the end of the year. Jacob's been back into martial arts for the past 2 months after taking a year off when I had the twins. He is loving being back in it. I think he enjoys it more and gets more out of it now that he's a little older. It's really helped improve his self confidence by 1000%. Which is what we were hoping for. He's been playing outside a ton lately (we've had great weather), and going to play at his friend's houses that are nearby. School is going o.k. He is still struggling with his reading, so Ian and I are going to buy a hooked on phonics program to help him along. He's really great at math, and problem solving, and he is one of the best behaved kids in his class!

Aaron: He's been cracking us up lately! He's been saying the funniest things. The other day I asked him which baby was sitting next to him, and his reply "ours" I asked him what her name was he said "baby girl" Then he looked at her real good and said "which Mady is that?, Oh that's cable butt" (aka Mady May McMabel Butt). He also still tells us Merry Christmas every night when we tuck him in. And his nightly prayers HAVE to include "and please God help me to remember to go peepee and poopoo in the potty amen" Aaron is still in love with his trains and plays with them daily. His favorite movie right now is The Polar Express, which is a welcome change from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. And the biggest news of all is that he is almost fully potty trained!!! Still has an occassional accident, and needs to wear a pull up to bed. Man is this a wonderful thing! He just told me he was ready, and he's been doing fantastic!!!

Katelyn: Katy has turned into a little charachter. She's been very social lately, and loves to have conversations. She will point and then look at us very seriously and say something in baby gibberish and wait for our reply. She has also picked up the "more" sign. And will do it over and over while she's eating. She also does the sign for "eat" but usually does it when she wants her binky not food. She loves her taggy blanket and carries it around and snuggles it to her face. She's also started cruising around the furniture, and is getting more and more adventurous in her mobility. She's also cutting her upper eye teeth right now, which is gonna look a little funny since she doesn't even have the top front teeth yet. She's doing very well with the introduction of some table foods and loves to eat cheerios, scrambled eggs, rice with veggies mixed in and icecream.

Madelyn: She's filling out quite a bit and is actually fuller looking in the face than Katy is now. Her eating habits have improved, though she is still texture sensitive and doesn't like any lumps in her food. She hasn't quite mastered cheerios yet, but will play with them and throw them from her tray, occassionally putting one her mouth to explore. She is also beginning to cruise around the furniture and takes little side steps while holding on to the couch. She crawls at lightening speed when she sees something that she wants. She continues to make progress with her voice and speech. Her vocabulary consists of dada baba and sometimes mama. Her voice can go from very soft to very raspy tones. She really likes making sounds and LOVES clicking her tongue on the roof of her mouth. We imitate her sounds back to her, so that she learns the foundation of having a conversation. Her therapies have been slowed down a little and she is not receiving any physical therapy anymore. She sees two therapists bi-weekly now instead of one or two people per week. Mady is a little sweetie and is always happy and smiling!

I've got some recent photos that are still in my camera, so hopefully I'll get them uploaded soon to share! I've been sick the past 5 days with the same cold everyone else had. We've all been taking extra vitamins to help boost our immune systems. After a full month of sickness, I am really hoping that we all get and stay well.

Prayer request

Please say a prayer for some friends of ours... Jen & Nick (my brother's best friends) just found out yesterday that the baby girl she was pregnant with died in utero. Jen was about 6.5 months pregnant and went in for a routine ultrasound where they discovered something was wrong with the baby.

They tried to give the baby a blood transfusion in utero (their only hope of saving her), and it failed. Jen will be delivering the baby this evening via c-section. Please pray for them during this extremely difficult time.

needed a dose of cuteness

Mady left Katy right...cute huh? And I didn't even pose them like that!Our little snow fall
Mady May McMabel
Katelyn
Aaron looking out at the snow
Thought a dose of cuteness would be nice, since lately it's been lots of doses of crankiness and sickness and medications, and being stuck at home...blah blah blah blah blah!!!

So there's the latest photos of all the kiddos. We got a very light dusting of snow the other week, the boys had fun playing in it for about 5 minutes. I kept freaking out about them stepping in snow covered dog poop! They don't have any boots, so they had to wear their normal shoes. So I ruined all the fun with my poop paranoia.

Today was miserable around here. Katelyn's cold is moving into her chest, so if she continues to sound the way she did today we'll be heading back to the peed tomorrow. Madelyn is full of snot again, so now starts round 2 for her. Aaron's just been pretty moody, so when he starts getting like that I know his tylenol is wearing off.

O.K. I had every intention of making this a whine free post, but I just can't do it! But I'll stop now before I really get going. Time for some hot cocoa and some down time.

Just a quick little post

UPDATE: So the appt at the peed's office was a bit crazy. Jacob's school called @ 1:45 saying he was sick and needed to be picked up. He was not sick at all, just didn't want to be at school for the last hour and a half. I was a bit furious at him to say the least. From the school we went straight to the peed's office to check in a bit early hoping they'd get us in a bit sooner. They did not. They were completely swamped, seems every child in our town is sick at this moment in time. So all 4 kids and I sat in the waiting room, which was soooo not fun at all. Katelyn was extremely fussy, then Mady started in since there must be something to cry about after all. Aaron was very clingy and wanted to be on my lap the entire time we were there. And Jacob sat sulking, since he just found out that he is grounded from basically everything for playing hookie for the 3rd time in a month.

As far as the visit went, Aaron went first and low and behold the poor kid has double ear infections (AGAIN). Other than that he checked out o.k. Katelyn does not have RSV (thank God), but does have an ear infection in her right ear, and conjunctivitis (also known as pink eye) in both eyes. Since Aaron and Katelyn didn't fair so well, the Doc decided to check out Mady's ears too, just to be safe. She thankfully got a clean bill of health. Since pink eye is pretty contagious the peed we saw gave me an extra refill on the eye ointment so I could give it to Mady if she comes down with it. Can I just say SWEET! Because if she does come down with it, I obviously will know exactly what it looks like, and that's one less extremely painful (on me) trip to the peed.

And that's that!


Katelyn is sick still (or again). It seemed like it was going away and she was on the mend, but then yesterday she woke up all sick again, and today her eyes are so puffy and spewing ickyness. She looks very pitiful and so I am taking her to the peed today. I even settled for a different doc, since ours is booked until tomorrow. Hate that! Anyway I'm a little freaked out that it may be RSV. The girls are not getting synagis this year, so I'm a little bit spazzed out about it!

On the other hand Madelyn is feeling better, and is only coughing a bit (could be reflux related). All the kids have the lingering cough from their colds still though.

Well, wish us luck at the peed today. Our appt is at 2:45, so I'll update when we get back!

Multiples in the womb

I thought I'd share this program from the National Geographic Channel. It's called multiples inside the womb. It shows real life pictures/video of multiples in the womb and 4d imaging. I really wanted to point it out because they do a portion on momo twins, which is what Katy & Mady's gestation was. It will be airing on Thursday at 5:00 pm PT on the national geographic channel. So if any of you are interested in seeing all of what momo twins have to go through in the womb, and the battle they face from the very beginning, I highly recommend watching this program. I've not seen it yet, but am looking forward to watching it.

In all of the countless ultrasounds we had done, we really got to see quite a bit of their development. There were times when they were so tangled up that you couldn't tell what limb belonged to what baby. Their cords became so tangled and knotted that it resembles a big ball of yarn. They had dopplers done on their cords daily after I was admitted to the hospital for constant monitoring. I remember minutes after they were born, my peri came and showed me the ball of mess that they had created while swimming around eachother for those 27 weeks. It was horrifying to see what could've happened. There were SO MANY knots. I was so thankful I had received such great care and they were able to catch their cord accident in time. A cord accident if you don't know is when the cords are knotted and pulled so tightly that it cuts off the flow of blood and oxygen to one or both babies. In this case both babies heart rates were in jeopardy, but Katelyn's was plummeting. I cannot even express in words the fear that completely overcame me.

Now in retrospect I feel completely blessed and so incredibley thankful to God for taking care of my sweet girls. We have had such an amazing outcome. Unfortunately that is not always the case. We have both our girls with us, and so many lose one or both babies. The rarity of this type of identical twin pregnancy is a good thing. It is the second rarest type of twin conception after conjoined twins. It is something that is not supposed to happen. All which happens just because the egg splits later than it's supposed to. In momo twins it splits after the 9th day of fertilization. In conjoined twins it splits after day 12. Noramally in identical twins the egg splits at about the 4th day after fertilazation!

Anyway I just wanted to share a little bit about momo twins with you all, and to really bring some light to how unique and miraculous these babies are. Of course I think all babies are unique and miraculous. But seeing my babies battle for the chance just to be born makes me thank the Lord that they won that battle. That they are here, and happy and healthy. So much to be thankful for...So very blessed.

On the mend

Watching Baby Einstein. These photos were taken about a week or so ago, before they got sick. Katelyn always claps (last photo) when it's over, and it goes back to the menu screen, where it plays her favorite mozart peice. It's her favorite part of the whole dvd. I could probably just leave it on that menu screen and she'd be happy!

The girls seem to be on the mend from their nasty cold viruses. They are starting to act like their old selves again, and we actually left the house yesterday! HOORAY!!! They are once again sleeping and eating pretty darn good (sort of). Madelyn is still coughing a bit, and has some post nasal drip, so her appetite isn't quite back to normal yet.

Katelyn continues to wake up every night for a bottle. I can't complain though, I'm glad she's taking those extra calories. She's been laughing a lot today (which is rare), and acting silly.

Madelyn turned into a cuddle bug while she was sick, which is SO NOT HER! But yesterday and today she's back to her normal go-go-go self.

And some VERY BIG EXCITING NEWS...Madelyn said MAMA for the first time yesterday!!! And she said it in the sweetest softest voice (not raspy like she normally is), so CUTE! Of course I got all teary eyed like I always do whenever she amazes me with her vocal capabilities. Just awesome that girl is!

We've been having some icky weather, lots of freezing rain and ice. Jacob's been home from school for 4 days now since it was a holiday weekend, and there may not be school tomorrow either. the boys have been watching movies, and built lots of block towers (which the babies so kindly knock down every time). They also have been making forts with their blankets on Aaron's bottom bunk. Good times! But they've been nitpicking about everything to one another and causing me a few mild manic moments! I think we'll do some arts & crafts if there's no school tomorrow. Keeping them busy, and distracted from wanting to pummel eachother is key to staying sane!

Peace

I guess I didn't knock HARD enough...

in my previous post about the girls staying healthy. Because they are now both sick with colds. VERY VERY runny noses, and lots of coughs. All of this resulting in two very unhappy little babies, who won't eat much or sleep for any long period of time. So far no fevers.

I'm nervous to see how they handle their first colds. Katelyn's had a bit of a stuffy nose before, but nothing like this. And did I mention Mady is teething?! The next few days are going to be brutal!!!

Can't wait...

To receive this gift that I ordered for myself with some of my birthday money. I ordered the "my favorite outfit" pallette. Toting around my very large digital slr camera won't be so bad anymore! Maybe I'll remember to take it with me when I go places too. I am always accidentally leaving it behind.

A sad day

"In the arms of the angel, fly away from here
you're in the arms of the angel, may you find
some comfort here" Sarah Mclachlan

Goodbye sweet Emily

Every micro preemie's parents nightmare has come for this family. Please keep them in your prayers.

I can't imagine what they are going through right now. All those fears and emotions that were there when our girls were in the battle came flooding back. We are truely blessed. I feel so much pain for this family that I know only through their blog and our preemie support group. My tears, prayers and thoughts are with you.

Big girls

Don't they look so cute with their little pony tails sticking straight up?!

These two have been doing so much BIG girl stuff lately. They are pretty much at the same level of milestones now! Which is absolutely amazing to me. Remember not too long ago when I dreaded the phrase "catch up", thinking that Madelyn would never be able to catch up to Katelyn's milestones. Wondering constantly what was wrong with her, if she had cerebral palsy, will she ever eat? Well I can finally say that I can breathe a little easier when it comes to Miss Mady. She is showing us what she's really made of. She's spunky, and energetic. She is a determined baby! She's worked VERY hard at everything she's learned to do. It definitely didn't just happen over night. She has worked with so many therapists since August to get to where she is now! She is AMAZING!!!

She is eating much better, though she is still very sensitive to textures. She eats the Gerber stage 2 baby foods pretty well. And she's now eating about 6-7 oz of formula in each bottle. We are still fortifying her bottles with extra calories, and adding the thickener to it. She sucks it down like an old pro now! She is also getting better about not waiting until she is half starved to eat anything. Which means that her system is maturing. She finally gets the signal from her brain that she's getting hungry and is able to handle a whole feeding at once. She's much more mellow about feeding time now because of it. It doesn't feel like an exhausting battle for her anymore. And her size show it! She's just as big as Katelyn is now. I'm not sure the exact weights, we haven't had a weight check since the last time I reported.

As far as gross motor skills, Mady is surpassing all of our expectations. When she first started therapies back in August we sat down with her therapists and set out goals that we'd like her to achieve. They generally like to see kids striving towards accomplishing their goals and hitting them at 6 months from the start of the program. Madelyn has accomplished probably about 90% of her goals in this area already! In fact she's doing so well, that we are probably going to discontinue her physical therapy next month. She's learned to sit, get into and out of sitting position, pull herself up to stand, sit back down, crawl well (without dragging her legs), hold objects well with both hands, interact with toys (cause & effect.. though this is on going), clap, babble with her cute little voice that's getting stronger and stronger! She says baba and dada.

She's just about caught up to her adjusted age of 10.5 months. With the exception of self care skills (like holding a bottle), speech, and some cognitive stuff. She will also still be getting therapies for her sensory issues. I just can't believe how far she's come! She plays with her sissy, and loves to try to steal her binky, toys, blankie or anything else she has for that matter. She's fiesty! It's very cute to watch them interact. You can tell that Katelyn is the older one. That one minute makes a big difference. Mady follows Katy around the house. Wherever Katelyn is, Madelyn is. She wants to do everything like her big sissy!

Katelyn is saying more and more sounds! Just the other night she started repeating mama a lot. Now it's her favorite thing to say. I LOVE hearing her say it! She can also repeat hi! She loves to give kisses, nice big open mouth wet ones. She loves to play peek a boo by pulling her blankie up to her face and popping her head up, then I say peek a boo and she giggles or smiles so big! She also loves to be held and snuggled. She'd be happy to just be held all day long. Where as Mady is much more go go go all the time. She doesn't have time to be held! Katelyn now protests being put down, and crawls up to me and puts her arms up, if I don't pick her up she'll start to cry. It's so stinkin cute I just can't resist. She also protests to having things taken away from her now. She's definitely getting a mind of her own.

Katy loves to eat in her highchair. She loves food, and is doing great with textures. She can eat diced peaches or pairs, cereal puffs, and other lumpy stuff. She likes to try what we're having. She's eaten spegghetti, bread, rice, mashed potatoes, and other stuff from our plates. There's only a few things so far that she won't eat.

She is still having her episodes, though the topimax helps tremendously. I accidentally skipped a dose a couple weeks ago, and she was having one right after another pretty bad. We know that she is defintately benefiting from being on that medication. She will be seeing her nuerologist again soon for a follow up and meds check, which reminds me I need to get something scheduled soon.

The babies are staying healthy so far this cold/flu season. (knock on wood) The boys have had a few colds already, and are actually sick right now. I hope that all of our handwashing, and lysoling is helping to keep them healthy. I feel a bit under the weather today. Really hoping it doesn't end up a sinus infection.

And today is my 30th birthday! Just another day in domestic bliss around here! (said with a tiny bit of sarcasam)

Peace!

some more favs from the holidays

a few holiday pics

Jacob lacing up his new heelys.
Aaron's gianormous train set from the big guy!
Katy tried really hard to rip open the packages. One we got them open all she cared about was the paper and ribbons though.
Here's the twins with one of my beautiful cousins. Melina is so great with the babies, she can always get them to calm down and go to sleep in her arms. She's a natural. (Katy left Mady right)


Madelyn Christmas morning. She was not at all interested in opening gifts. But she really loved the bows. She didn't like me putting them on her head too much though.

The last few weeks have been pretty crazy! As I'm sure it is for most people around the holidays. We had such a wonderful Christmas. We spent Christmas eve with Ian's Dad & Stepmom. She always makes delicous food, and we visit and eat and exchange gifts. It was a great visit even though I ended up with a migraine.

Christmas day was really cool. It's the first year since we've been married that we got to stay home and chill. The kids got to really take time to enjoy their gifts and relax. We hosted a BIG Christmas dinner here at our house. My Mom, Dad and cousins came around 2:00 to help me cook and visit. Then everyone else showed around 4:00. Lots of good food, and good company and great gifts!

Jacob's favorite gifts: Heelys (the shoes with wheels in the heels), star wars video games, and his new fuzion scooter (which was very hard for Santa to find)

Aaron's favorite gifts: Imaginarium train table set (from Santa), GeoTrax train set (from Uncle Jeremy), Thomas Train stuff (from Grandpa Reg)...do you see a theme here?! He's been yelling out "all aboard" very loudly since Christmas.

The girls got some cute outfits and a giant school bus play structure thing that Santa brought. They also got some board books, and some weeble wobble stuff, and too much other stuff that I can't think of right now. They didn't get the whole Christmas thing yet this year, and were definitely more into playing with all the sparkling bows and ripping the wrapping paper than anything else.

Ian was off from work from the 22nd till today. We really didn't do much of anything during our Christmas break. The babies had no appointments of any kind! So we just stayed around the house a lot.

New Year's eve was low key too. We were invited to a small kid friendly party, but we opted to stay home, eat a bunch of junk food and play "Life" the Sponge Bob edition that I got especially for that night. The boys made it till around 10:30, then fell asleep watching a movie in bed. Ian and I watched the ball drop, and headed to bed shortly after. We are so boring!!! We didn't even drink champagne!

I am looking forward to some normalcy in 2007! Less tears and sorrows and more joy and happiness. The babies are doing great! Staying healthy (knock on wood), and the only thing I'm not looking forward to is turning 30! Yes this year should be a good one. I'm not going to miss 2006, I'm glad it's over!

So now it's back to reality. Back to work for Ian, and school for Jacob (well almost, he came home early with a sore throat today). And Mady has 2 therapists from EI coming later today. They will be very pleased to see all that she's learned in the past 3 weeks! I will post more on both babies and some pictures later (probably tonight).

For now I must go play nurse to my sick 7 year old, and feed a hungry toddler. The girls are taking their nap, so hopefully I'll get some chores done! wishful thinking.

Peace!