Two years ago...

Two years ago today... a piece of my heart left me. Troy was born still into our hands. I can still feel the emotions and feelings from that day. I still feel the sadness that we felt that day. I still miss my little man. You would think that having the twins would totally make all the sadness go away but it doesn't. I still wish with all my heart that Troy made it in this world.. that he was alive and playing like a 2 year old should play. It still just breaks my heart. Please don't get me wrong... I know how blessed we are to have a healthy 5 year old boy and 2 healthy twin 8 month old boys. I am so happy to have the family that I have.. God has blessed us SO much! We still have an empty spot in our lives though because Troy isn't here. The fact that we held him and touched him made him such a big part of our lives and he still is and always will be... I still think about him EVERY single day.... there will always be a special place in our hearts for him. We miss you Troy and love you so much. Thinking of you today and always!!

8 Months

Here we are at 8 months already.. it always seems like I just posted the last months update and we are already on to the next month!!

Ian and Alex are learning new things everyday... I could just sit back and watch them all day long discovering new things.. it is amazing!!

Here is where we are at... Both Ian and Alex are now saying "da-da" and just today Alex started saying "ma-ma".. I love it!

Alex still likes to clap his hands.

Ian is still so close to crawling but hasn't figured it out yet... he scoots backwards but that is it... he loves to get on all fours and rocks back and fourth.

Ian LOVES to be as loud as he can... LOVES to scream.. he sometimes screams so loud that he makes Alex cry! Ian still wants to be held a lot and not very content on his own.

Ian is a biter!! He has already grabbed Alex's leg and put teeth marks in him.. that was not fun. Ian will grab my face and try to bite me.. he is fast and strong and has already bitten my nose, chin and my ear! His teeth are sharp! We have to watch him close because he is so quick to pick something up and put it in his mouth!!

Alex finally has some teeth.. he has 2 now.. on the top.

Alex is a lot more calm than Ian. Alex can easily play by himself on the floor or in his exersaucer for a long time. He loves to watch eebee and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse... I do admit.. I put these shows on to get a little bit of house works done.

Both Ian and Alex smile a lot and love to giggle!

Alex still doesn't care for his fruit puffs.. we keep trying.. he may eat one or two but then that is it... where Ian will pick up a fist full and shove it all in his mouth!!

They each eat cereal in the morning with one fruit each.. then at lunch they each get 2 veggies and then at night before bed.. they get more cereal with another fruit. They still get about 5 bottles a day.. I am trying to get rid of the noon bottle but they are having a hard time with that.. they love their bottles!! They drink about 4-5 ounces at each bottle feeding.

They are on a pretty good schedule. They each take a 1 1/2 hour nap at 9am and then another nap at 1pm and they will sleep till 2:30-3pm. They are in bed for the night at 7:30 - 7:45pm and then on the good nights.. they will both sleep till 6:30am. They are doing great on this schedule!!

We just came back from Memorial Day weekend up in Ludington at my parents cottage.. we had a fabulous time.. the weather was wonderful... we were able to go to the dunes off of lake Hamlin and play in the sand and water... we also went to Ludington State park beach. Ian and Alex both experienced the sand for the first time.. it was fun to watch. I filled up buckets with sand and they just kept putting their hands in it and feeling the sand. I put their binkies in their mouths so they wouldn't try eating the sand.

At the state park the boys experiences the lake for the first time.. we put them in the water. Ian sat down and loved it.. he kept grabbing at the sand in the water and tried putting it all in his mouth!! Alex took a little while to warm up to the water but after a bit he loved it and had so much fun!

Brevin also had a great time.. the water was nice enough to go tubing so he did that with daddy while Grandpa drove the boat. Brevin also played on the blow-up jet ski... played in the water and also built a few sand castles and played with his new buddy Dylan. It was hard to come home.. we just love going to Ludington and can't wait to go back!!

Here are some recent pictures of the boys on their 8 month birthday and pictures up at the cottage.

Ian

Alex

LUDINGTON

Mother's Day...

I had a wonderful Mother's Day.. eventhough I had to go to work but I woke up to Brevin and Mike walking into the room with breakfast!! A sundried tomato and spinach frittata, fruit, toast and coffee - what a wonderful way to wake up!! Mike had got me a new vacuum which we have been needing but I still have yet to try it out myself.. Brevin is loving this new vacuum and has swept the whole house at least 5 times now!!!

I am SO blessed to have the children that I have and the husband that I have - I cannot thank God enough for putting them in my life!

Thanks Mike and Brevin and of course Ian and Alex - it was truely a special Mother's Day.

7 months!

IAN and ALEX

IAN

ALEX

Ian Sitting

Alex Laughing

We are at 7 months already! The twins are growing up SO fast... I know I say this in every post but I just cannot believe how fast it goes.

Here is what they are up to...

Ian has just started sitting up... he can sit for a few minutes... still a little wobbley but doing very well at sitting... Alex still doesn't care to sit.. but he did just sit yesterday with Ian while I read two books... they stayed sitting the whole time! He (Alex) is getting SO close to crawling.. he scoots backwards and is able to move in circles.. if he sees something that he wants.. he starts moving in circles and will roll to get it.

They love to be read too... I have 2 books that I read to them... Zoo Pals and "B" is for Bear... they get so excited when they see me pull those books out to read to them... they just watch me read.. they must like my voice.

As soon as I lay them in bed for their naps or at night... they both immediately roll on their bellies... they sleep that way now... it is cute because Alex tucks his knees under his chest and his butt sticks far up when he sleeps.

Ian has 6 teeth now... 2 on the bottom and 4 on the top... I have to be quick when feeding him because he bites the spoon and won't let go!! No teeth for Alex yet.. I keep checking because I know he is close but nothing has popped through yet.

They are eating veggies and fruit now... they get a fruit in their cereal that they have in the morning and they get 2 veggies for lunch... they love peas and sweet potatoes! Other than peas and sweet potatoes.. they have had squash, carrots and green beans. As far as frut.. they have had pears.. peaches and prunes (only when they get a bit constipated)...I still am making my own veggies and will start making my own fruit as they come into season... I am also still making my own baby wipes - I love them more than the store bought ones!!

I just started working on some sign language with the twins... I did this with Brevin and it was so nice to know what he wanted.. I only do a few basic things like Hungry, Thirsty, Tired/Sleep, please and thank you... it worked really well with Brevin so we will see how it goes with the twins!

Both twins are blowing raspberries.. they love to do this while cereal is in their mouths.. I should probably wear an apron while feeding them because I tend to be wearing their food when they are done!! I have tried giving them those Gerber puffs... Ian eats them so fast and loves them... Alex doesn't care for them at all.

They still love their bottles more than anything... it is so nice because they hold their own now... they still like to drink about 5 ounces at a time. We still put them in their boppy pillows for their bottle feedings.. it is the perfect position for them but we now put them on the floor.. we used to put them on the couch but now they roll over and are on the move the second they are finished drinking.

Ian is in 9 month clothing and probably could be in some 12 month and Alex is in 6-9. They both wear #3 diapers... Alex really could still be in #2 but we don't want to buy 2 different sizes.. we will get that totally mixed up!

They still love to watch their eebee video and now they love to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse - they just laugh and smile when they see Mickey. Brevin is also an entertainment.. they love watching their older brother!

The both still love bath time... Ian will play with toys in the bath tub and Alex just kicks away non-stop... we love bath time!!

Both are such good and happy babies.. they smile and laugh a lot! Both love to be tickled!!

Happy 7 months boys!!!

Teeth, Teeth and more Teeth

For Ian that is... he popped his first tooth on April 16! The funny thing is... it is his top left tooth that came through. Then yesterday I felt another tooth... right next to where he right top tooth would be... then today.. his bottom 2 teeth are JUST through and his top right tooth.. I can feel the roughness of those teeth.. so that is 5 teeth.... poor little guy.. he is dealing quite well I must say...

As for Alex.. nothing.. no teeth have come through yet.

Neither twin is sitting up yet.. I try to sit them up but they immediately push back. Alex has started to scoot backwards on his belly - crawl backwards so it is only a matter of time until he figures out how to go forward.. wow.. is my world going to change when that happens!!

This past weekend has been quite the busy weekend.. Mike ended up going into the hospital Saturday night with Pancreatitis again... it seems to be about every 5 years that he gets it and we have NO idea why... he has a scope test lined up for Friday, June 11 in Ann Arbor. I am SO thankful that his family was here (his mom and sister Judy)... the "attack" came on at Brev's t-ball practice... I was home with the twins and Mike was at the practice with his mom and sister.. Judy ended up taking Mike to ER.. mom stayed at the field with Brevin and came home with a friend of ours that was there with his son. Mike ended up being in the hospital till Tuesday night.. Brev and I picked him up from the hospital at 5pm.. right after Karate. My mom came in on Sunday and stayed till Tuesday to help me with the twins so I could go and visit and sit with Mike. Anyway.. he is doing MUCH better.. I was so worried in the beginning that something more serious was going on.. I hope the test he has in June will tell us something. But I just want to thank Mike's Mom... Judy and my Mom for all the help they gave me!!! I could not have gotten through the weekend and the beginning of the week without them!!!

That is it for the update for now.. Oh.. we did finally receive our new stroller to replace the one that broke.. it is SO nice.. a lot nicer than the one we had! The babies love it and are starting to take their afternoon naps in there again while we go on a long walk!

Here are some recent pictures of the boys!

With their new shades on that Gramma B got them

Playing.. or... wrestling with eachother!

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Update and trying out some videos

I am trying to attach some video's of the boys.. not sure if this will work or not but I am giving it a try... 2 of the video's I taped with the camera turned sideways... I don't know why I did this but I cannot get them to turn correctly so sorry.. they are sideways but those videos I took when I gave Ian and Alex green beans for the first time... their faces are so funny!! The first video I posted is of Ian and Alex.. I taped them with the intention of showing everyone how much they roll all over the place but soon as I started the camera video.. all they did was stare at me and did NO rolling at all... stinkers! ***update*** I posted those video of Ian and Alex eating green beans for the first time in the above posts!!

We are officially on some solid foods.. well.. puree food anyways!! Green beans... peas... I just made a batch of carrots and sweet potatoes are next.. yes.. I am making my own baby food and I love doing it!! I have also tried those mesh baby bags that you can put whole foods in and let the baby suck on the mesh bag - I have put chunks of banana in it and Ian loves it!! Alex is still not so sure about it. I put a picture of the puree foods that I made and a couple pictures of Ian and Alex sucking on their mesh bags of banana!!

Another thing that is new is that both boys are now holding their own bottles for all the feedings!!

Right now... Ian has an ear infection that we are trying to get rid of... Sunday night (april 4) he slept horrible.. I don't even thing he slept a straight hour.. so on Monday.. Mike got home from work and took both boys to the walk-in clinic and I took Brev with me to the gym... sure enough.. Ian had an ear infection so they put him on an antibiotic and a numbing drops. He is doing much better - last night he went to sleep at 8pm and slept till 7am... not a peep out of him.. he so needed that sleep!! So now both boys are on antibiotics.. Alex in the morning (for his kidney relux) and Ian at night.. so far I have been doing well with keep track of it all!!

That is it again for now!

The video's follow the pictures.. enjoy.. hope you can see them!

Stats on the twins 6 month appointment

We had Ian and Alex's 6 month appointment today!! Here is where they are at:

Ian
18 pounds 11 ounces, 75th percentile
28 inches, 95th percentile

Alex
16 pounds 15 ounces, between 25th and 50th percentile
27 3/4 inches, 90th percentile

The appointment went really well... the shot went good too!! We found the key to making the shots a little more easier on the boys... we massage their legs before hand and while the nurse is about to give the shots.. Mike gets the boys laughing really hard... Ian never cried on the first poke and didn't cry much on the other 2. Alex cried a little harder but calmed down right away!! I am so thankful that Mike is there to help me.. it is a lot of work with both boys!! Brev went too this time.. he played his DS the whole time and did really good - he went into the waiting room while the boys got their shots... he didn't want to be around for that.

Ian has a little eczema that we need to start treating.. nothing bad though. Alex is dealing with some constipation issues so we are going to start him on a little prune juice.

Other than that.. they checked out fine and are growing so fast!!!

The past couple nights Alex has decided to sleep on his tummy... I will go in and flip him over on his back only to find him on his tummy again in the morning.. the Dr. today said it was fine if he slept on his tummy so no more flipping.. it was just making me a bit nervous.

Still no teeth and it doesn't seem like anything is close to coming through as of yet.. although I know they are teething.. lately Ian is trying really hard to put my face in his mouth - he will grab my face, open his mouth really wide and then try to bring my face to his mouth.

I think that is it for now... it seems like they are just lately trying and doing all sorts of new things.. it is fun and exciting seeing them explore new things!

6 months!

6 months is here!! They boys are getting SO big... growing up so fast - I wish I could freeze time for just a little bit.

Lots of changes have happened this past month.

Ian has been getting out of his swaddle that we do with him at night so we decided to stop swaddling him... the first night was horrible... he was up every single hour! The second night - MUCH better - not a peep out of him so lets hope this continues! Alex will wake up during the night also but all he does is talk.. he doesn't cry.. just likes to chit-chat until we come in and give him his binky. I did end up ordering bumpers for their cribs... they are rolling around everywhere and will end up with legs and arms hanging out of the crib... Alex has bumped his head a few times so I decided it was time to get some bumpers and hopefully make their sleeping more comfortable!

They are both rolling all over the place... Ian rolls on to his tummy whenever we lay him on his back... Alex has done this but doesn't do it very much... he more will spin in circles on his back.. it is really funny!! Ian is also starting to hold his own bottle... Alex... he just puts his hand down to his sides and would rather us feed him... he is still SO layed back!!

Alex LOVES the jumperoo - we swear his is going to launch himself right out of there.. he jumps so high!! He also still will bounce himself him the bouncy seat - kicking his left leg - he really gets himself bouncing!

Ian is really practicing sitting up and is doing great with it! Alex.. not so much - he would rather be on the floor playing than sitting!

No teeth yet!! Alex is starting to get rosey cheecks and Ian still drools like a faucet and he chews on everything... from his fingers... to Alex's fingers... to my clothes.. anything he can get his hands on... I check everyday for teeth - Brevin got his first tooth at 7 months so I would think we are getting close to seeing a tooth pop through!

I am planning on starting them on solids this month... veggies and fruit.. they are already eating oatmeal and are loving it.. they get cereal about 2-3 times a day.. they sometimes prefer cereal over their bottles! I am actually planning on making my own baby food.. the veggies and the fruit - I have the food steamer and processor.. now I just have to find the time to start!! They boys have their appointment this Friday with the dr. so we are excited to see where they are with weight and height!!

Last week Alex had his appointment with the pediatric urologist to review his test results with us on his kidney reflux... the appointment went really well.. the dr. didn't see his case as severe as we thought... so... no surgery required at this point.. the dr. really thinks this will correct itself. We have another follow up appointment in September - if his kidney is still enlarged then we will talk about surgery but he really thinks we will see it back to a more normal size! We are so happy about this!! We still have to keep him on an antibiotic just to prevent any possible urinary tract infections.

That is it for now.. I am sure I will add more later as I think of more things!!
Happy 6 months boys!!

Here are some pictures!!

Alex and Ian

Ian

Alex

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