a week ago... and now

One week ago.. this arrived via UPS.... our new double jogging stroller...

And this past Sunday... this happened... our jogging stoller broke trying to get it set up :o(.... I really hope they will take it back and send us a new one ASAP - I am SOOOO excited to get back into running.. I guess I will have to wait a little bit longer.

Besides... the twins LOVE the stroller - the few times that I had them out in it.. they fell asleep instantly... not a peep out of them!! This summer... most of their afternoon naps will be in this stroller!

Just for fun...

this past weekend was my birthday AND Mike's birthday.. yes we share the same birthday!! My parents were kind enough to come in for the weekend and watch the boys for us so Mike and I could have a night out... Thanks Mom and Dad!!! We had fun and the boys did great for my parents!! We had a great weekend.. Mike and my dad continued to work on the basement... the bedroom is painted and almost finished!! My Mom helped me with laundry and cleaning as usual but wow is that a wonderful help!! I hardly have to lift a finger when she is here.. she makes lunch... dinner... helps with the boys feedings.. changing diapers and clothes etc.. it is a nice break for me.. love it when she comes!

For school.. Brevin has to ready 15 minutes everyday and look who he reads to now!!! The boys love watching Brev read... it is SO cute!!

With the few nice days that we had.. I took advantage of it and wrapped up the boys and we went for a few walks.. they loved being in their stroller without being in the carseat.. it was great fun!!

That is it for now!

Nursery

Well... the time has come... the twins are in their own room now!!! Yes.. they have been sleeping in our room this whole time and finally last Saturday (Feb 27).. Just shy of 5 months old...they slept in their own bedroom for the first time!! They did great the first night and we love having them in their own bedroom!! It is not quite finished yet.. we still are needing a good rug for the floor and some curtains but for now.. we are very happy with the how it turned out!!!


Here are some pictures of their room!!

5 Months, February 28, 2010

The twins are 5 months already... can this be right?

Ian

Alex

This past month has been fun... watching them grow and do new things! The boys started eating cereal... wow are they messy with that! They are still not totally sure what to think about it but I have learned to give them cereal when they are not that hungry.. otherwise they scream because all they want is their bottle! I had to switch them to oatmeal because the rice cereal was really making them constipated. Here are some good messy cereal pictures!

It is so much fun reading books to these little guys... I will put them in their bumbo seats and they will just stare at me while I read - I would love to know what they are thinking! They also try to grab the book and try to get it into their mouths! Notice in the picture.. they are holding hands!



They both have started to really grab on to everything.. and I mean everything! when I change their diaper.. they are grabbing the sleeve on my shirt - grabbing on to their clothes which makes it tough to button back up.. it just makes me laugh because they grab on to things so fast. I will go to put them down and they are hanging on to the string from my hooded sweatshirt or have a handfull of my hair.. and their grip is tight!! They will grab for my nose and my glasses when I have them on. Everything they grab... they try with everything in them to get it to their mouth! They drool a lot... I literally go through 3-4 bibs each a day - if I didn't put bibs on these boys.. they would soak through their clothes - so I would rather change bibs than clothes that many times!!

Ian the past few nights started humming himself to sleep - this is really cute!!

Alex has started to hold onto a blankie when he goes to bed - Ian still gets swaddled so he cannot hang on to things yet but he will have a blankie at nap time during the day.. we don't swaddle him during naps.

Lately soon as I put Alex on his tummy... he immediately rolls to his back. Ian still doesn't show much interest in rolling over.. but they are both liking tummy time.. as long as I put toy infront of them!



Ian LOVES bath time - soon as I bring him into the bathroom.. he gets really hyper and starts kicking his legs and screams out of excitment... Alex likes bath time also but just doesn't show it as much.

Ian is almost sitting by himself - I will put the boppy pillow around him and sit with him but he can hold himself up for a few seconds with no help. They are just growing so fast. They both try really hard to hold their own bottles - I really cannot wait for this - it is still a bit tricky to feed them both at the same time but we are making it work... we put both in their boppy pillows and prop up a towel under their bottles - Alex does great with this... he lays so still and drinks. Ian is a wiggle worm and we usually have to hold the bottle for him.


Right now our schedule is this:

7:30-8am wake up... Bottle (5 oz)
Playtime
9:00am Cereal... 3 tbsp
9:30 - 10am nap
11:00 am bottle (5 oz)
Playtime
12:30 pm Cereal... 3tbsp
1:00pm nap
2:00 - 2:30pm bottle (5oz)
Playtime
4:30pm - cat nap
5:00 - 5:30pm bottle (5 oz)
Playtime
7:30pm Bath
8:00 - 8:15pm Bottle (5oz)
8:30 Bed

They pretty much put themselves on this schedule and it has been fairly consistent!

They have been doing really well lately on sleeping (knock on wood)... they for the most part will sleep through the night - maybe waking up once.. sometimes twice for their binky but no more feeding during the night!!

The BEST thing ever is... seeing how exciting they get when they see me - all I have to do is walk out of a room and walk back in.. they smile and get so excited - it is wonderful!

They are almost half way to being one year old - I cannot believe it. We are having SO much fun with all our boys - we are truely blessed!!

Happy 5 months!

My smiling boys

I feel like in the past couple weeks we have turned a corner and are finally getting a good routine down.. yes.. this almost took 5 months but with twins.. what can I say!! I started back to work this past week and it really did feel good to get out. I only work Sunday afternoons and Monday nights - it is going really well. We have an appointment set for Alex with a pediactric urologist from U of M on Wednesday, March 24. I am very anxious for this appointment... hopefully we can figure things out then.

That is it for now!! We have "Carnival Night" at Brev's school tonight and we are SO excited for that... it will be fun for the whole family! My parents are coming in tonight for the weekend... more work on the basement!!

Alex

Ian

Update on Alex

Yesterday Mike and I had to take Alex to St. Joseph hospital in Ann Arbor. For those that don't know.. Alex was born with an enlarged kidney and they have been monitoring it. Yesterday he had an appointment for another ultrasound which still showed his kidney much larger than the other. They then put a cathedar in him to see if he has Vesicoureteral reflux... they shot dye in the cathedar to see where the dye goes.. sure enough.. he has VUR "reflux". This is where the urine backflows back into the ureters (the tubes connecting the kidneys and bladder). But it not only goes into the ureters.. it backflows all the way back into his kidney. There are 5 stages of this and he is an advanced stage 4 in his left kidney and a stage 1 in his right kidney (stage one doesn't reach the kidney but it does backflow in the ureters). The nurse said to us that she was glad we were getting this done now and not a month from now. If Alex were to ever get a UTI (urinary tract infection).. that infection could backup into his kidney and that could eventually cause kidney damage. So... what is next is that we are going to be seeing a pediactric uriologist at Uof M to see where we go from here... Alex will most likely be put on antibiotics to prevent any UTI's from happening.

So.. that is where we are right now... I felt SO horrible for Alex.. that was not a fun appointment.. but we got through it and we are glad we went. We just ask now for your prayers that the upcoming appointments go okay and that hopefully this reflux can be easily corrected.
Also prayers for both babies as we are dealing with some colds.. stuffy noses and restless sleep!!

4 months old!!

Yesterday the twins turned 4 months! I can't believe how fast time is flying by... but it always does. The boys are doing great! They had their Dr. appointment today and here is where they are at:

Ian
16 pounds
26 inches

Alex
14 pounds 8 ounces
25 inches


The appointment went good.. the shots were hard... Ian didn't cry on the first shot but did on the second one.. they only each had to get 2 shots. Alex cried almost the whole time we were there.. he didn't nap much today so he is WAY tired.
We just have to work more with Alex on getting him to hold his head up more and work with him on grabbing objects - he doesn't do it much like Ian does. We also have to take Alex to UofM to get his kidney checked... he was born with an enlarged kidney and he had it checked at 1 month of age and now we have to go again... he might have reflux where the urine back flows up into his kidney and that might be the reason for his one kidney to be oversized. They will have to shoot dye into his system to see where the urine goes.. poor little guy! So that will be within the next 2 months... other than that.. they are both really healthy!


Both Ian and Alex rolled over for the first time a couple weeks back but have not rolled over since but they are very active so I am sure they will do it again. They LOVE their exersaucers and the jumperoo.. it is so fun to watch them reach for toys and play. They love staring at eachother - it is so cute... they will lock eyes on eachother and just smile away. Ian loves to be naked... when I take his diaper off.. he gets really hyper and starts kicking away and screaming out of excitment - it is funny!! Ian still loves to be held a lot... not very content on his own like Alex. They both love to watch their video show called eebee - it is super cute and they get all excited when I turn it on. They both love to sit in the bumbo seats. Ian holds his head up much better than Alex does... but Alex is getting there.. I just think he is so layed back that it just isn't on top of his list of priorities.

Naps during the day are very much hit or miss... I will maybe get a 1/2 hour out of Ian in the mornings - Alex could very well keep sleeping but I need to feed them at the same time so I am usually waking Alex up for a feeding. In the afternoon.. same thing... sometimes Ian will sleep an hour.. just depends on the day and then they cat nap for like 15 minutes a couple times before bed. They go to bed roughly around 9:30pm and then sleep till amost 8am. They usually get up a couple times during the night but putting their binky in their mouth usually works. Ian still needs to be swaddled at night... we don't swaddle Alex anymore.

They still eat every 3 hours.. about 5 to 5 1/2 ounces at each feeding. They are in 6 month clothes now... still wear #1 diapers but Ian is going to be moving on from those soon!

They are starting to really giggle now... they love being tickeled on their neck - they really laugh when I do that. They LOVE their little floor exercises that I do with them and giggle away when we do those.

Alex has figured out how to kick his leg in the bouncy seat to make it bounce - I remember Brevin doing this too.. so cute to watch!

They both love bath time - I have a good system down in getting them both their baths - it's a bit of a process but it works out well and they seem to love sitting in the tub.. they just don't like it when I take them out and they really don't like me massaging lotion on them so I usually hurry through that part.

They both drool a lot which is why I always have bibs on them.. otherwise I am changing their outfits way to much because they soak through them!

They really are such good babies.. happy babies. Brevin is such a big help.. if I am getting dinner ready and a baby starts to fuss... he will go over to him and entertain them for me.. they both LOVE to watch their big brother play. Brevin will even do the floor exercises with me... he will take a baby and so will I and we do it together. It is also cute in the car.. not sure if Imentioned this or not but when we are traveling somewhere... one of the babies always sits next to Brevin (we let Brevin choose what baby he wants next to him). If a baby starts fussing.. he will just lean over and put their binky in their mouth and just wait till they calm down.. he is always keeping an eye on them. He is such an amazing big brother!!

We are starting to go out a little more with the boys... I will admit.. it is hard going out with both of them... I still have not gone to the store with both of them.. there are no carts to hold both babies - I could take the stroller but then there is no room for groceries.. so I am still trying to figure out that whole thing. I usually just stay home and Mike will go on his way home from work. I am anxious for spring - just to get outside more and go on walks.. play outside..etc!

We are truely blessed.. I know I have already said this but I will continue to say it over and over again. We are so thankful to God for all our boys.

Karate

Almost a year ago.. Mike and I enrolled Brevin in Karate.. mostly because we wanted to boost his self confidence...his preschool teacher actually told us that he was very much lacking in that area.. we knew this but didn't know what exactly to do about it and she brought up Karate so we thought we would give it a try. The first few classes were tough - he sat on the side of the room or on my lap and cried... buried his head in my lap... he kept saying he wanted to do Karate but soon as we got to class.. he instantly was scared and just wasn't confident in himself that he could do it... it came to the point where the instructor told me that it might help if I was not at the class with him - when I was there.. he wanted nothing but to sit on my lap.. so the next few classes my friend Josie took him (her son Nick is in the class also) - it worked.. he was doing the class and soon I was able to come.. without him sitting on my lap and crying. He now loves it and does SO well at it... this past weekend was a belt promotion where he had to do his routine to earn his next belt - he did great.. we are SO proud of him!! Here are some pictures of him in Karate!!

Brev receiving his new belt

Me putting his new belt on him

Brev with Sensei

The class picture.. Brev is right next to the only kid in the dark blue uniform - on your right when looking at the picture.

WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU BREVIN!!!

First time out in the snow...

So yesterday it got up to over 35 degrees and it was sunny so... I decided to take all the boys out! Here is Ian all bundled up... he was not so sure what to think at first!

Ian LOVED being pulled around on the sled.. so much so that he fell asleep!!

Alex didn't want any part of being on the sled so he hung out with me in the backpack.. he fell asleep to!

Brevin also had a great time playing in the snow with his friend Nick... they built a snow-fort... they are so much fun to watch!

It was a great day!!

January 9, 2010

It is still very weird to be writing/typing 2010... it has been a while since I have posted. We had a wonderful Christmas and New Year! The twins did so well staying at Grandma and Grandpa B's house... so well that they actually were sleeping 9-10 hour nights!! Christmas was so much fun... Brevin had a blast and he great with all the craziness!! The twins did well too.. if they got overwhelmed.. they just went to sleep.

We are getting back into a routine now... Brevin is back in school... he is still doing Karate and looking forward to playing soccer in the spring! We are working on getting the twins back into a routine also.. they have not been sleeping well at all.. getting up a lot during the night but last night they both slept 8 hours. Ian has decided not to nap during the day... he went all day yesterday with only 1/2 nap total... I thought night time was going to be horrible but he slept through... 10:30pm till 6:00am... Alex slept through also but we did have to get up twice to give him his binky.. we was stirring and starting to cry. Anyway.. we are getting there.. it is hard trying to get 2 to sleep through the night... but like I always say.. in blink.. they will be 5 and heading off to Kindergarten like Brevin!

I am really looking forward to this year... last year we did not make it up to Ludington.. to my parents cottage at all because of the pregnancy... I am so excited to take the whole family up there to hang out and hopefully relax a little bit.

I do love winter but honestly cannot wait for spring.. to get the boys outside and go for walks.. to go to Kensington park and hopefully get back into jogging.. just need to get a jogging stroller now for the twins. I am just itching to get back into exercising and get back into shape!!

The boys are growing SO fast.. their next appt is the last week in January.. can't wait to see how much they weigh!! They are in 3-6 month clothes right now and still wear #1 diapers but I honestly think Ian could go into #2 diapers.. he is a chunk!! Alex is still smaller than Ian but he is growing just as much! They still eat about every 3 hours.. drinking roughly 4-5 ounces at each feeding.. sometimes they go 4 hours inbetween but they are much happier if it's only 3 hours. They giggle now which is so fun and they smile a LOT.. they LOVE their big brother and love to watch him play... They are "talkers"... it is so cute when Mike and I hold them.. they look right at us and just jabber away.. like they are really trying to tell us something.. it is so cute! Ian is really becomming a momma's boy and Alex is more of a daddy's boy. Alex is still much more content to hang out on his own.. he still loves the TV and we have started putting the baby einstein movies in.. he will sit through the whole show and just smile and giggle away... Ian likes it too but he would rather sit on my lap and watch it!!

We think Ian is teething already... he drools a ton.. we have to keep bibs on him because he just soaks through his outfits!! He also will stick his fists in his mouth and just chew away so I am curious if he will pop an early tooth.... we will see!

Here are some recent pictures of the boys.

Happy New Year...

2009 had a lot of ups and downs for our family but I am SO excited to be bringing in the new year with my precious boys!!

Mike and I have been so blessed with these little guys... and our big guy Brevin.

Wishing everyone a happy New Year with lots of happy times to come!!

Merry Christmas

Just wanted to pop in to say Merry Christmas

to all my "blogger" friends....

I hope and pray that you ALL have a wonderful day...

knowing that this is a day that can be hard with loss of loved ones...

loss of jobs...

loss of a marriages...

loneliness...

heartache...

I pray that you all feel Gods loving arms around you!

Christmas Dream

Christmas is only 8 days away!! Amazing!! I am very excited this year to celebrate with my 3 boys (4 counting my husband). It is a dream come true that we have 2 more little ones with us. I never imagined that this Christmas, 2009, would be the Christmas that my dreams came true.. that God blessed us with three amazing children... Mike and I still cannot believe that we are the parents of 3 boys here on earth and one little boy in Heaven...

This Sunday is my wedding anniversary - it will be 8 wonderful years!! Mike is seriously the most amazing husband (and father).. we have been through a lot together.. with moving to Howell and making our home here... meeting new friends... the birth of our son Brevin... the miscarriage we had in 2006... the stillbirth of our son Troy last June 2008... the death of my father-in-law...and now the birth of our twins... and for so many more things...God brought us together for a reason and I could not be happier... all that we have been through.. the good and the bad... to have Mike right there next to me and me next to him has just been the best gift!!

Never did I think that I could love someone so much!

So... with all that said... I am looking forward to this Christmas... to have the family I have - how exciting it was for me to hang 2 more stockings up this year... I just cannot thank God enough for all that he has given me!!

Here are the newest additions to our tree this year:

Ian and Alex's ornament

Angel in memory of Troy

Brevin's favorite ornament.. Tom and Jerry!


Two new stockings hanging!!

WISHING YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

2 month check-up

The boys had their 2 month check-up - wow are they growing!!

Here are the stats:

Ian

11 pounds 5 ounces, 23 inches long

Alex

10 pounds 8 ounces, 22 1/2 inches long

It's funny because when I look back in Brevin's baby book - at 2 months Brevin was over 13 pounds!!

Their Appointment went really well - I was going to attempt to go on my own but after telling Mike about them getting shots... he met me at the doctor... I am SO glad he did.. the appointment took about 2 hours and the shots were not fun but they boys did so well!!

So what are they up to now? Well.. they still eat about every 2 1/2 to 3 hours and eat between 3-4 ounces.. sometimes they only take 2 ounces but they sure do love to eat... when they are ready to eat they are ready.. not very patient with me taking the time to warm up their bottles!

They love their bouncy seats and their playmat... Alex could lay on the playmat for a long time. Ian.. well.. he would rather me hold him and walk around. He will lay on his playmat but not as long as Alex does. Alex is more content on his own than Ian is.

They both hate the hiccups - soon as they start.. they fuss till they go away.

Ian still has more of a softer cry than Alex does.. when Alex cries.. he just sounds mad.. Ian sounds sad.

They both love music... right now I have Christmas music playing a lot and they really seem to like that. They love looking at the Christmas tree and all the decorations that I have up.

They both smile a lot now - Alex will smile at anything and it is easy to get him to smile... we still have to work a little bit harder to get Ian to smile but they both coo a lot and I love that!!

They both really don't like tummy time but it seems that they are getting close to rolling over.

Ian really loves his binky... Alex could probably go without.

They both love their bath now... I turn up the heat to get the bathroom really warm and I use an apricot baby oil in their bath water that makes them smell SO good.. they like their lotion massage after baths too.. I give them their baths on Mondays and Thursdays because that is when Brev is in school all day and I can take my time.

They both get mad at me because I kiss them all the time and they get a bit annoyed with that!

I could literally stare at the boys all day long - their facial expressions just make me smile and laugh... they are such good babies!!

Now for my 5 year old Brevin... I am so proud of him... a few nights ago he read "Go Dog Go" by Dr. Seus to Mike and I!!! I cannot believe he is reading already it is so much fun to see how much he is learning in school - he is doing so well and is such a good boy - we had parent/teacher conferences and his teacher said all good things about him.. he listens well and is doing well in class. He just loves school and keeps saying that he wants to go all day every day!!

Brevin is adjusting well to the babies - he is very patient with everything and pretty much goes with the flow... he is SO gentle with the boys. He loves to take my camera and take pictures of his brothers.


As for Mike and I.. we are doing well and getting used to two babies... feeding them at the same time is a breeze now.. we just put them in their boppy pillows and are able to feed them together.. I can usually prop up a blanket just right to hold the bottle so I have a hand free to burp the other baby. I do wish I had 4 arms to hold them when they are both crying but it is working out okay... it only gets a little tense when the babies are both crying.. the dog is whining to go out and Brevin needs lunch... well.. I first let the dog out because that would create more work for me to clean up a mess he would leave if I didn't let him out!! :o)


So that is what we are all up to right now... days are going by fast - I can't believe Thanksgiving is here and gone already... we had a wonderful time in Holland/Zeeland... we were busy needless to say but it was great to see family again... Mike made it upnorth with my dad and brother hunting... no one got a deer but they all had a great time... I stayed back and visited with family and friends... the one picture is of Brevin and my friend Heidi's 2 girls - what a great time to catch up and let the kids play!!


I can't wait for Christmas... we are going to try to make a visit to Santa this weekend - Brevin is making his list of what he wants Santa to bring him for Christmas!!


Here are some more recent pictures!!
Thanks for reading!!

The twins with Great Grandma and Grandpa GG

Ian with Aunt Marianne