where were we?

I am so behind on blogging! We had some major internet issues that have finally been resolved by having a tech come out. But now there seems to be so much I need to blog about...and honestly I just don't have the time. So I'm just going to write a bit of a quick update to get all caught up. Probably a bit in a list style format.

The girls are adding more and more to their vocabulary. Katelyn's favorite thing to say is "Mady NO NO Mady!" She's so darned bossy! Mady's favorite thing to say is "Jacob" she actually goes around screaming it at some point everyday.

We've all been sick over the past 2 weeks. Started with Jacob having strep and the stomach flu all at once! It was the sickest that kid has ever been. Then Aaron got the stomach bug, then Mady, and so on until we all ended up having it. Thank God it seems to be over finally! Now it's time to bleach and lysol the heck out of this house!

Katelyn is obsessed with shoes and purses. At the tender age of 2, I can only imagine how much worse it'll be when she's a teenager!

Madelyn is baby Landen's second mommy. Every time he comes over, she NEVER leaves his side. She shares her blankets and binkies and dollies, and everything else she loves with him. She even tries to pick him up! Which is hillarious since he weighs only about 6 lbs less than she does! But she's got the nurturing instinct!

Late last month we got some really good snow fall...which is rare around here. I have some really lovely pictures of all the kids enjoying a snow day that I promise I will share soon!

I have been devouring books lately...reading 3-4 in a week! I forgot over the years how much I LOVE to read. Now I just make time for it...instead of watching tv I read.

Aaron is obsessed with Johnny Cash and Elvis. I've said it before, he's a unique one!

Jacob has been doing very well with his reading...getting new glasses helped. He's flying through his reading lab assignments. We are so proud of him...he's been working hard all year! Everytime he passes to the next level, I take him to the bookstore so he can buy a new book. It's a great reward system that he very much looks forward to.

I joined a gym about 2 weeks ago! Man I didn't realize how out of shape I was until I tried a spinning class with Danielle. She is a machine I tell ya! Cause after an hour of that I seriously thought I would die!!! But she's a great motivator, it's nice to go to the gym with your "in extremely good shape" best friend...it's kind of like having your own personal trainer!!!

The new park opened down the street from our house FINALLY! The kids have been loving walking down there on nice days and playing.

I'm flying out to Sacramento tomorrow for a few days to see my Grandma. We just found out that she has stage 4 lung and brain cancer. I wanted to be able to spend some time with her before things get really bad. My Dad and my Brother are also flying there with me. I'm looking forward to going back there and being in her house and seeing the city I grew up in. It's been a very long time...too long.

Well I think that about sums it up! Now I must go put 2 little princesses down for a nap, clean my house, and start packing for my trip! I promise to post a TON of photos when I come back to make up for a month of no blogging!
PEACE!!!

eye doctor

The girls had their 6 month check up yesterday with their pediatric opthamologist. This is the first time that he didn't need to dialate their eyes...and what a great visit it was because of that! It made for a much shorter visit, and no holding screaming babies down to get the drops into their eyes. And if I haven't mentioned it before, it is much more torturous for me, because I have a huge eye phobia! It's a miracle I can get through my own eye exams, let alone their's!

So we got pretty good news! Mady's eyes have always been great and they are staying that way...so YAY! And Katy's eyes seem to be holding their own, and not getting any worse. She has a mild case of strabismus and is farsighted, but the issues have not progressed, so that means no glasses for her right now. I was so excited to hear that! We were pretty certain in august at her last appt. that glasses wer inevitable. So this is great news! The visit was our best yet. It's always so nice coming out of one of their Dr. appts with such great news. And it seems to be happening more and more often! Dare I say that they are finally overcoming many of their preemie obstacles?! A happy day indeed!

addressing a few things

Just wanted to answer a few questions that have popped up a few times.

How do I tell the girls apart? Well lots of people ask how I can tell them apart, and honestly it's not hard for me. To me they actually look very different. There are a few physical differences that are easy to detect...Madelyn has 2 birthmarks, Katelyn is bigger in height and weight (and it is noticeable), Katelyn's voice is loud and strong, while Madelyn is raspy, Katelyn's eyes go cross often, Katelyn's face is longer while Madelyn's is a bit rounder. Most of our close friends and family can detect at least one difference that helps them to tell who's who. But for me I have never mixed them up...though that was a huge fear of mine throughout my pregnancy! Daddy on the other hand does mix them up from time to time, and our boys do it too!!!

Are you a professional photographer? What a great compliment! But no I am not. I have had a love of photography for many years and know a bit beyond the basics. I also have a really great camera, and know how to use it. (it's a canon Drebel) But when all else fails I use picasa to freshen up my really bad photos. It's a great program that is free and very user friendly.

How long did the girls stay in the hospital? This question has come up a few times, and I haven't talked much about their NICU stay on the blog. The girls were born at 27.5 weeks. So that's 12.5 weeks too early! Katelyn was in the NICU for about 10.5 weeks, and Madelyn came home on their due date 12.5 weeks after they were born. Both had a rough first few weeks, with being on and off the vent. Mady ended up having a PDA ligation, which is what caused the damage to her vocal cord. Katelyn had no equipment or feeding tubes when she came home. Madelyn had O2, an apnea monitor, and a feeding tube. All of which she was done within 3 months of coming home!

What is Madelyn's voice like? Her voice is getting stronger and stronger as she gets older, and more mobile. She sounds raspy when she talks, but her voice is getting clearer. She still has a weak cry, but she can definitely be heard. She's come a long way! We work with a therapist twice a month, and Katelyn is also a huge contributor to her progress.

How are the girls appetites? They have pretty typical toddler appetites actually! Madelyn is a bit more picky than Katelyn is. And she eats less of her portions. But I'd say they are doing pretty darn good, and will try just about anything offered to them now. Mady's texture issues aren't so much of an issue anymore, so they both eat pretty much anything now.

I think that about covers it...but if you have a question go ahead and leave a comment so I can answer it.

Also I'd love to give a personal message to Shannon and Angie...I am so happy to have contact with you girls! I still remember like it was yesterday how we all rooted each other on while being hospitalized. It was amazing to have you guys going through it right along with me...that message board was my rock for many many agonizing weeks. I'm so glad we all got our happy ending, and look at all 6 of our kiddos now!!! Such miracles! All going through the terrible 2's together. I still go back from time to time and look at our "hospitalized girls" posts. It was something else what we went through, and no one else understood it like you guys! So glad that we can connect through blogging!

Back ON

After about a week of no internet, I am so happy to be back in my comfy cyber-world! I don't spend huge amounts of time online or anything, but going without it was like taking away a drug from an addict! haha! Well maybe not quite that bad, but I did miss it! It's been fun to get caught up on emails and all the blogs I read so faithfully. Good times!

And I've got some well check visits to report from yesterday's appointments. We were a little late with the girl's 2 year check ups (should've been back in Nov), but oh well it was nice to take a little break from our pediatrician's office. Of course the break may have not done Madelyn any good, because as soon as we walked into the door of the office she started into hysterics. She warmed a tad when Dr. F came in and started his exams. Of course only to start back in again when it was time for shots. Doc loved seeing them so aware of their surroundings on this visit...so if there is any good in a hysterical 2 year old, I guess that would be it. Katelyn was so brave and only cried during shots. She sat patiently while Dr. F did his exam, and as always asked me about a billion questions. She was very intrigued with the Doc's bubbles that he wears around his neck. It was not quite so traumatic for her like it was for her sis.

And for sizes...

Katelyn 20lbs 8oz 31.5" tall
Madelyn 19lbs 30.5" tall

I think the best part about the visit was that Dr. F did a little chart cleaning session, and cleared out 4 meds that the girls aren't taking any more! He also went over a lot of our previous concerns that they have now grown out of, or have thrived past. It was exciting to revisit those things, and remember how far they've really come. And so wonderful to realize how awesome they are doing! Basically gross motor wise they are pretty typical 2 year olds! Both girls have speech and cognitive delays, with Madelyn's being more on the moderate side. The best part though is that those things can be worked through even if they are moderate to severe. I just loved leaving there yesterday with no huge concerns or worries! For once we didn't talk about anything but positive things and really focused on what they ARE doing, as opposed to what they are NOT doing. It was nice to just accept where they are right now in the moment. This is HUGE for me! I'm telling ya good stuff !

My two princesses

Aaron trying to get Mady's feet (at least I think that's Mady)

Katelyn with her problem eye

glimpses of Christmas

I don't have much time for a long post covering all the Christmas festivities...so here's some photos for now.

new glasses and a few favorite photos

Jacob had his first eye exam a couple days ago, and it turns out he can't see as well as he should. He is farsighted with astigmitism, just like his mama! So here's his new look...short hair with new glasses :) I think he looks so cute!
caught this little beautiful moment last night! Aaron is so sweet to his sissys (most the time anyway) That's Mady he's planting one on.
And a sweet photo I took of Landen sleeping on me a couple weeks ago. Is he not just the sweetest little thing?!
Right before bedtime Ian ended up with both girls on his lap. I got lucky with a great shot of these 2 daddy's girls.
And my favorite of the boys decorating the tree greatly improved with some nice photo editing...love it!

words

It's been a while since I updated about the girls speech and other developments...so thought I'd do this list style. One list for each girl

Katelyn is really chatty. She can repeat/copy quite a few words back to us, and has a growing list of words she uses everyday.

• stop
• eat
• no
• all done
• baby
• nite nite
• baba (used for bottle or cup)
• bye bye
• mama/mommy & dadda
• hi
• owie (she says owie, no, owie when I want to change her clothes or diaper)
• uh oh
• mine
• shhhh (she loves to sush her siblings)
• whoa & weee
• taykoo (thank you)
• puppy
• key (kitty)
• bee bee (binky)

I'm sure there are a few more that I am leaving out. We are working on her saying Mady, she is getting good at saying mammy for Mady. And we try to get her to say Jacob & Aaron but she hasn't gotten it yet. Her language skills are developing more and more each day! There's a lot of gibberish that she says that I wish we could understand. She carries on and on sometimes in such a serious way, and nods her head and shrugs her little shoulders while in conversation. She still loves to yell, and scream and is very vocal while protesting to something. She also talks to her babies in the same gibberish, while feeding them babas and carrying them around all over the house. But I think her most favorite activity of all is trying to boss her sissy around. She thinks she's the boss, and yells at her and takes things away from her A LOT! And you can tell by her tone that she's trying to boss her around when they are talking in their own little language. It is very funny to hear them carry on in gibberish to one another, seemingly understanding each other's every word.

So now on to Madelyn. She has made some great speech developments in a pretty short amount of time. She's no longer silent that is for sure! She has gained so much sound, and so much volume to her little raspy voice.

• mommy/mama & dada
• baba
• no
• bye
• hi
• uh oh
• whoa
• takoo (thank you)
• nite

Most of her vocabulary still consists of mostly sounds rather than words. She has become fluent in gibberish, and really tries to make conversation (especially with Katelyn). We really believe that Mady would be even farther behind in her speech if she didn't have her sissy to converse with and teach her things. She has learned many sounds from listening to Katy. Her therapists also believe that Katelyn helps Madelyn with a lot of the developmental issues that we work on. It's actually quite therapeutic to have a twin to play and learn things with! Madelyn's personality has changed a bit over the past few months. She's no longer as quiet and reserved (at least around us). She now has become a bit of a bully, throwing things and hitting people. We are trying to teach her that kind of action is unkind, but it's like talking to...well a 2 year old! She's still very much a baby in so many ways that it really surprised us to see this kind of aggressive (very toddler) behavior. It's obviously a communication thing, and she does it out of frustration. In some small way it's nice to see her kind of fight back and not just take it when Katelyn knocks her over and takes her binky. We are actually working with her therapists to develop a visual type of communication for her. It will consists of pictures of needs and things that she can easily identify and point to, or bring us to communicate. Hopefully that will help her frustration with not being able to tell us what she wants or needs. So we are very excited to have that prepared and ready to implement during her next therapy visit.

We are also working on weaning both girls from the bottle. They are both drinking very well from a sippy cup, so now the only reason for a baba is for comfort. They are now having only 2 per day. One before nap, and one before bedtime. Soon we will cut the naptime one, but I think the bedtime bottles will be the hardest to cut out. They love to snuggle with us right before bed and drink their babas. So we will see how it goes. Binkys are a whole nother story. I'm in no rush to get rid of those things. And I am not ashamed!

MadyKaty

Well that's all I've got for now. Peace!

A bit around our home

Just wanted to capture some of the little things in our home that are making everything feel very merry & bright around here.

This is just something I made last year with some of my scrapbook supplies. I never framed it last year like I wanted...still haven't picked up a frame for it, so it just hangs on the inside of our front door.
Love this one of the boys, even though the color is horrible (my fault for not fixing my camera settings) defintitely needs some work in Picasa.
Our poor tree is constantly losing it's decor. This has been an ugly battle...so only about the top 1/4 of our tree has any decorations left on it. It has also fallen over once, and has been vertically challenged and just does not want to stand straight in the stand...it pretty much is quite sad looking!

KatelynMadelyn

I picked up those little wooden sleighs at craft warehouse...I painted them and added glitter and rubon words (peace & joy), and now they hold holiday treats.

Our advent calender...the boys love getting their treats everyday as we countdown to Christmas.

Ian also hung lights on the outside of the house and on our hedges...so it's definitely looking festive around here!

Christmas tree hunting & an early Christmas surprise

Ian had an unexpected friday off last week, so we decided to head over to Volstedt Farms to get our tree. Last year we did the whole u-cut adventure...you can read about it in our archives from last year. It was an experience that need not be repeated! So we selected a beautiful tree from their nice tented already cut tree section. Took about 5 minutes to pick the tree, they shook all the loose needles for us while we went into their greenhouse for hot cocoa and sugar cookies...I also found some fresh cut mistle toe to hang from our archway. We paid and Ian roped it to the top of the minivan. It was lovely...even more so because we didn't get the double stroller stuck in the mud this year! Another perfect example of why picking a tree in 5 minutes is a must!


These beauties are my Christmas gift from my father-in-law and his wife. They are top of the line LG Trom front loading washer & dryer. They wash 3 times the amount of clothes in one load and use 72% less water and energy!!! For the first time since my grandma was here when I was on bedrest with the twins, I have all of our family's laundry completely DONE!!! Except of course what we are wearing :) They are amazing! I really don't know how I got through life without these before. Words can not express how thankful I am to receive such an extravagant gift that will make life so much EASIER for us!

After a week of decorating our house is beautifully decked out for Christmas! I plan on taking some photos of all the festive decor, and our family photo in front of the tree hopefully tonight, so I can include then in our Christmas cards. Will post some of those in the next day or so! Hope everyone is having a delightful time with all your holiday planning and preparations!

November in photos

Ian was in charge of the turkey this year. We had a lovely dinner with family at my parent's house. Ian did a turkey in a deep fryer this year, and I think it was the best turkey I've ever had! We really missed Ian's mom & Robert and Grandma. MaryAnne and Grandma both had the flu and couldn't make it.
Daddy has his handsfull! With a little help from my sweet cousin Amber
Mady loved aunt Brenda's pumpkin ice cream pie

Katelyn digging into her thanksgiving feast.

I remember these days...trying to grab a quick bite with a newborn.
Great Grandpa meeting his 6th Great Grandchild (at least I think it's 6 now)

And some birthday highlights....

Mady really enjoyed playing in her cake this year. Last year she hated it! She was still extremely sensitive to textures and especially with things on her hands...it was much more a fun happy experience this year.Katelyn really dug in, and especially loved all the sugary frosting!