We're Back!

We returned from our Disney trip yesterday.  It was fabulous!  We had so much fun!  We wish we stayed longer!  We are already talking about when we can go back! 

Pictures and details coming soon ....

:-)

What's Been Happening

Whew - its been crazy around here.  I swear that, when the girls turn one, I will have aged 10 years.  Life is nuts around here, and many times, Ellis and I don't have a chance to catch our breath.  But just when I swear I'm going to lose it, Carter will give a big belly laugh at something Will says, or Catie looks up with me with big beady eyes and smiles, or Will throws his arms around me to give me a hug .....

This past week, the girls got pretty sick, and so did I. Not sure what kind of virus we all got caught up in - frankly, mine just might have been stress-related.  But the girls got a nasty cold that left them not eating well, throwing up once a day, having diarrhea and making Carter wheeze so that she was put on breathing treatments.  Its been fun around here to say the least.  And we just about canceled our Disney trip.  But they are slowly getting better - better enough that I feel okay about leaving.  And my parents are beyond awesome for being willing to watch the twins for 5 days while we head to Florida, especially because they aren't up to par.

But before we embark, I needed to get some info down on how the girls are, what's been happening, etc

The Girls

Catie now weighs a little over 13 pounds and Carter is a little over 16 pounds.  Catie is just starting to try and sit-up and Carter will be mastering it shortly.  Carter is also on her hands and knees rocking like crazy.  I'm afraid she might just be crawling when we get back from Disney!  They are very much enjoying their excersaucers and jumperoo, and Carter loves it when she holds onto your fingers to stand up on her feet.  Carter is quiet and independent while Catie is a sensitive little booger who will let you know in a heartbeat (with a might strong scream) if she is not happy with what you are doing!  The two of them are so different - I'm starting to get a little worried they are not going to get along!  They do not want to play together.  Carter is always taking Catie's toys and making Catie cry.  (Carter is a little more coordinated and get grab Catie's toys quicker.)  Yikes - I hope this improves as they get a little older. 

I picture that Catie is going to be the really girly girl who screams at the sight of a bug or cries hysterically when there is a stain on her new dress.  But she is also going to be super funny, sweet, and very loving.  Carter will be girly too, but quiet and independent, keeping tabs on her sister and Will.  I see Carter becoming the responsible "mom" of the group.  I wonder how right my predictions might be...I am already very wrong from what I predicted before they were born.

Catie loves her paci, her horse toy, her lovey, and she loves to chew on everything.  She is also a huge cuddler.

Carter loves to talk, jump, kick kick kick, and shake things like crazy (sometimes to the detriment of poor Catie who has been hit before by a toy or two).

Although lately its been knocked of kilter by this nasty virus, the girls have been eating solids really well.  Carter is eating all kinds of stage 2 foods and, surprisingly, really likes the ones that are mixed with chicken! Catie isn't quite as much into food like her sister, and I'm mostly giving her stage 1 foods that she tolerates better.  They get 3 bottles a day at breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Carter moved off of Neocate some time ago and on to Nutramigen.  When we get back from our trip, we'll see if she can tolerate Similac Sensitive and maybe finally move to regular formula.

Will

Will is such an outgoing, smart, talkative, hilarious little boy.  He does not sit still for one minute (unless his favorite cartoon or movie is on).  He is the happiest when someone plays with him, and his best, melt-your-heart question is: "Will you play wis me?"  (He has a little trouble with "th" sounds but it makes his voice just so sweet!)

Will loves his sisters, for which I am so thankful.  He is awesome with them, and is very good at hunting down a paci for Catie in a crisis.  If they start wailing, I will get Will to come talk to them and he inevitably makes them laugh at what he says or does or sings or dances.  They love him to death!

I am proud to say that Will really is just about accident free in the potty department.  He still wears a pull-up at night, but he is good at going by himself when he needs to go.  ... Thank Goodness!!! Hooray!!

He is almost dressing himself completely.  He knows some key letters, like "A" and "W" and "B".  He can count very well to 20 (sometimes missing a "teen" number or two).  He can recite any of his favorite books to you and can sing a zillion songs from memory.

He is still totally attached to his lovey - a blue bunny he got when he was born.  She is slowly starting to fall apart but he will not sleep without her.  Oddly, he prefers for her to be cold and will whip her in the air around and around till the air "cools" her at night before he snuggles up with her.  :-)

At almost 4 years old, Will is 40"high and about 32 pounds. 

Bye bye Buzz and hello superheros.  It is all about Spiderman, Batman, the Incredibles, and other superheros in this house now.

He came home from school with this about a month ago:

Most of it makes sense, but a couple things took us a bit.  His favorite subject shopping?  That is because one of the centers in his classroom is a little grocery store with a cash register and empty food boxes, etc.  Its a reward for the kids to play in that center.  I've since learned that he loves to play with the puppets in the puppet theater and is good about sitting down quietly with a book in the library center.  His favorite sport hockey? Yea ... he means "Cocky!"  It took us forever to realize he learned Cocky's name wrong and pronounced it "hockey."

Other goings on

Faith.  Awesome, life-saving, Faith.  Faith is our new babysitter who comes every night Mon-Thurs from 5:45 to about 8:30 to help us with the twins, Will, or whatever. She makes bottles for us, puts the girls to sleep...it is the best decision we ever made to enlist her help.  I only pray we might hang on to her for a while.  Coming home from a long day of work into the girls "hell time" (i.e. 5-7pm) is really really really difficult.  I guess some mom's can do it just fine, but I am totally willing to admit that I am not one of them.

We had an FOL at the Os that included the girls for the first time.  The girls had a wonderful time and were so well behaved - I was impressed with them!  For the first time, the kids finally outnumbered the parents.  And come springtime, we'll be outnumbered by one more addition.

Speaking of new additions!  HUGE NEWS!! I am going to be an aunt again and Will is going to have another cousin in Texas!  Yes, my brother and sister-in-law are expecting a baby in June.  I am beside myself with happiness for them.  They totally surprised all of us - I was pretty sure they had just decided not to have children.  And then my brother called me at work to tell me and I about fell out of my chair!  Mary had her first ultrasound last Friday and everything looked great!  I am not making any secret of the fact that I am hoping for a little nephew...purely selfish for Will.  He needs a boy relative close to his age...he has 2 sisters and 2 girl cousins!

Will had his annual Thanksgiving program at school.  He did wonderfully, sang all the words, and would look at Ellis and I when he sang the song or when it finished and laugh with excitement and pride.  Seriously, I love that little guy!!  (I mean, how could you not with that cute little face?)

Grandma didn't make it this year because she stayed home with the sick girls so Mom, Dad and Bapa could watch Will.

Carter had her first ride on a swing and literally giggled with delight the whole time!  And Will has finally learned to swing all by himself.

And yes, we told Will about Disney today.  He was so excited - I wish we'd videotaped it.  He jumped up and down and ran and gave me a big hug.  But then, alas, he was very disappointed that we were not leaving for Disney that. very. minute!

Shhhh....Its a Secret!

But in just 3 weeks, Ellis and I are taking Will to Disney World and staying in one of the Disney resorts that has this:

Despite the fact that Will's infatuation with Buzz is waining, I think he will still practically pass out in excitement when he sees this.  With everything that has been going on in our lives the past 6 months, I am beside myself with excitement about our upcoming trip.  Will needs it and Ellis and I definitely need it.  (Anyone who knows me well and knows my love for Disney would understand the level of excitement here.)  I still don't know how I convinced Ellis to go to Disney over Thanksgiving instead of gorging on turkey, except that the prospect of trekking twin infants back and forth for turkey celebrations was not hugely appealing.  But we are headed down the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, staying for 3 magical days, and headed back on Saturday to beat the traffic and have Sunday to spend with the girls.

This would not even be possible if my parents had not agreed to watch the girls for us.  I am so incredibly grateful to them! 

We have not told Will, and might not until we start driving down to Florida.  Two reasons: 1) Will would constantly ask if we were going tomorrow, tonight, today, etc and 2) most importantly, we do have twin infants and anything can happen with them.  If we end up not being able to go, I want it only to be my heart that was broken over it - I couldn't stand to see Will's face of disappointment if we had to cancel.

But I'm dropping hints to Will, gearing him up for the vacation. I occasionally show him the Disney website and we check out videos about the attractions at the parks.  We talk a lot about the fact that Buzz, and Woody, and Mickey and Cinderella, and the Incredibles, etc etc all live at Disney World and it would be fun to go one day.

I seriously can NOT wait!

Happy Halloween!

A Special Celebration

This morning we celebrated the girls' baptism.  It was a wonderful ceremony, they behaved like angels (not crying once through the whole service), and I was reminded of how blessed we truly are.

Pajama Time Fun

Little Carter is starting to get a little length of hair on her head.  So of course I couldn't resist trying out a bow for a few minutes!

GO GAMECOCKS!

Will went to see his very first college football game this past Saturday - and wow was it a first game for him to see!  The Gamecocks beat a #1 ranking team at home for the first time ever.  Go Cocks!  Will did a pretty good job in the stadium.  He was overwhelmed but excited with the entrance of Cocky and the team.  And was very enthused at first -- but then started to complain that it was "too loud" and just wanted to go "back to the tent" (where the tailgate spot was).  So, at halftime, I left with Will and Daddy stayed with our friends to watch the Gamecocks win.  But Will and I had a great time back at the tailgate spot, finishing watching the game with lots of other Gamecock fans and Will had a blast learning to yell "Game!" "Cocks!"  After we won, he enthusiastically high-fived any fellow Gamecock fan and yelled "Go Gamecocks!"  Its was too cute.

HUGE thanks to Mary and Bryan and Alice and John for letting us have some AMAZING tickets and a fabulous parking spot!  Thank you guys so much for inviting us to join you.  It had been a really long, hard week for us and this was just the Saturday that we needed. And another huge thanks to my parents for watching the twins for like 8 hours so that we could go tailgate and watch the game with Will.  It was an extremely exhausting but very fun day!

The ESPN Gameday RV going by ...

Before the game, Will filled up on popcorn and Grandma's chip dip (that Mommy made for the game) -- real healthy, I know.  This morning, Will said "Chip Dip and Popcorn and Fruit Snacks and Juice.  That's a lot of treats!"  Well, at least he acknowledge how unhealthy his diet was Saturday!



Will watching the band play right before the team came out. 



Proud Daddy with Will.  Daddy is a longtime, avid Gamecock fan so he loved being able to bring Will to his first game.



Goofy boy - on our way back to the tailgate spot at halftime.  He totally changed once we left the hot, cramped area of the stadium.  A 3-year old definitely just needs space to RUN!



6-month Well Visit

The girls went for their 6 month well visit last Friday.  The doctor was pleased with their growth and especially their starting to eat solids.  Carter is in-line with an average 6-month old as far as development.  Catie is more in-line with a 4-month old, particularly because of her weight.  But he said there was no concern - they were growing as he expected preemies would.  Carter got the go-ahead to stop her reflux medication because I suspected she did not need it.  So far, it has made no difference since she went off of the Prilosec.  She also got the go ahead to start drinking juice in the afternoon and stop Neocate.  I have a couple of cans of Neocate left, so we'll use those and then try her on soy formula again.  Because of Catie's size, I am keeping her with formula in the afternoon, and Ellis still gives her a "dream feed" around midnight. 

They are both doing so well though, especially on their tummies.  We have a lot of fun playing with them when they look up while on their stomach.  I can't wait until they can sit up (but I CAN wait until they crawl).  They get a big bowl of oatmeal in the morning mixed with bananas, a fruit and a veggie at lunch and a fruit and a veggie at dinner.  Sometimes they eat really well, and sometimes they don't.  The solid feeding does take a lot of time though with twins!  Especially in the morning when both girls are starving and fussing for me to shovel it in! :-)

Here are their stats:

Carter: 14 lb 12 oz (25th percentile) and 26 inches in length (50th percentile)
Catie: 12 lb 1 oz (<5th percentile) and 24 inches in length (5th percentile)

Last weekend, despite her tubes, Catie got yet another ear infection.  :-(  Seems to be a perpetual problem we are going to have to deal with -- and that poor little Catie is going to have to deal with -- for a while until she outgrows it.  Right now, the pediatrician is trying to treat her reflux in hopes that will help curb the ear infections.  (Apparently reflux causes ear infections too.)  She is on a whole teaspoon of Prilosec twice a day, poor thing.  Thankfully, she doesn't mind taking the medicine at all. Daddy stayed home with her Monday, but she did better throughout the week.  The goo is still coming out of her ears (so gross!) and if its still bad in the morning, I have a feeling we'll be headed back to the ENT again to see what he says. 

6 months old

I love these little t-shirts.  They say "1 of 2" and "2 of 2".  My little girls turned 6 months old on Thursday.  In the last picture, I put their first onesies on them - the ones they first wore in the NICU.  They each barely weighed 4 pounds back then and those brown, flowery onesies were a little big on them. Seriously, that seems like a decade ago.

I took these pictures on Friday, but was not pleased with them (I'm sure you can see why - nice and dark and blurry).  Had every intention of re-taking them, but life with twin babies and a 3-year old...well, its never a dull moment.  So, I figured I'd better at least post these - its better than nothing!  :-)

New pictures and updates

Time tends to fly by around here and I am miserable about taking pictures of the girls as a result.  I suppose 20 years from now they will ask: "Mom, why do you have a million pictures of Will when he was a baby, labeled week by week and month by month of his age when they were taken, but have just a few, sporadic ones of us?"  And then I will reply - "Well there is a big difference between having one kid and having 3, dear.  And thank God for your Bapa."  Here are a bunch of really cute ones he took last weekend:

Carter

Catie

Will and Bapa

Will's favorite toy of all time - as of 3 1/2 years old

Carter and Catie are like peas and carrots.  They go together but are just so incredibly different.  They look different, they act different, they like different things ... and I love that!  Carter is longer and chunkier than her sister (and I mean chunky in a cute, baby fat way), weighing 13lb 14 oz as of a couple days ago.  Catie is short, with tiny feet, and weighing 11lb 7 oz as of a couple days ago.  Carter is stretching into big diapers and bigger clothes (size 3-6 months), which is making things a little difficult. I finally have to start separating the clothes in drawers into Catie's sizes and Carter's sizes. 

Carter can roll from her back to her stomach, and will move around quickly doing that if you're not careful.  Both girls are doing very well on their stomachs.  Carter is very laid back and tends to watch everything around her carefully while Catie is very needy and sensitive and likes to be entertained by others.  Catie never stops moving and kick kick kicks and squirms when she plays on her back.  She is so much like her brother when he was a baby that it is almost eerie.  Catie has also become a champ at eating cereal and ate nothing but baby food bananas last night, scarfing every bite.  I'm going to try some sweet potatoes with her for the first time when they wake up from their nap today.  Carter is a little behind on eating solids, but she is getting better and better at eating the cereal mixed with bananas.

Both girls LOVE their brother.  He can make them smile and giggle in an instant, especially when he "joins" them in the bath (see picture in post below).  And Will is just growing into the cutest little man.  He is learning so much now that he is in a preschool classroom.  Just last night, he showed Ellis and I how he could count to 10 using his fingers, and I asked him how many people were in his family and he named each of us on his hand till he had 5 fingers and declared "5!"  He does so many adorable things and says so many amazing things, its hard to keep up! 

But he is smart as a whip and you've got to watch it because he will turn something on you in an instant.  Your children can teach you a lot about yourself.  I guess that a lot of times when Will won't listen or I'm getting exasperated, I will say something like "whatever, Will."  Well, he started saying "whatever" to me when I would ask him to do something, and he got in trouble for saying it.  And that's when I realized he learned it from me because any time I say "whatever" he will point out that "that is not nice Mommy.  Don't say whatever!" 

I wish I could say that Will was free of pee pee accidents.  But he isn't.  He does great at school, but continues to have one or 2 at home.  He will go days without having one, and then have like 3 in a day.  Its really frustrating.

This past week, both Catie and Carter came down with nasty colds yet again.  I took them both to see Dr. Trey on Thursday morning because I thought Carter had another ear infection and thought he should take a look at Catie too.  Carter had a low grade temp and was not eating well.  It turned out Carter had another infection in her right ear, but Catie - the one who barely had any symptoms - had a severe, terrible ear infection in both ears.   Dr. Trey was ready to refer us for tubes and even slid us into an appointment time that day.  So, I took yet another unexpected day off of work and the girls got tubes.  I hate putting them through the procedure, but I am SO happy that we have had it done.  They were immediately feeling better Thursday night.

Despite the fact this has become such a long blog post, I have got to write down what happened to me at the ENT waiting room - for memory sake.  Their appointment was at 10:30, so Ellis was just going to meet me at the waiting room.  I was coming from the pediatrician's so I told him I would get there early, fill out paperwork, and feed the girls before the appointment.  It does not occur to me anymore to worry about handling the 2 on my own.  I'm just used to it.  Well....the "incident," that was hands down the worse public experience thus far with the twins, just might make me think twice from now on.  I wheeled the girls into what turned out to be the TINIEST waiting room you have ever seen and it was packed with people and babies.  I barely wheeled "the bus" into a corner, and signed the girls in.  I sat down to start filling out the paperwork (and it was a LOT OF PAPERWORK!!), and Carter began to cry.  I picked her up only for Catie to start crying.  So, there I was, holding Carter and bouncing her up and down to try and calm her, trying to hold a bottle for Catie who was still in the stroller ... it was a balancing act to the nth degree.  Every time one of them would calm down, the other one would start to scream, and then the other one would start screaming again louder.  And they cried for 45 minutes until right before Ellis arrived. No joke.  They cried for 45 minutes.  At one point, I just laughed, looked at the waiting room of people and said "this really is as bad as it gets."  Eventually, the people in the waiting room and I would just sort of joke back and forth in the moments when the wailing died down enough to hear.  (Thank goodness this is a pediatric ENT so the parents understood what I was dealing with.)  At one point, someone said something to me about what it will be like to have 2 when they grow a little older, and I said "I know. I already have an older son."  As if on perfect comic timing, all the heads in the waiting room turned to me.  And then the lady asked me how old he was.  When I said 3, there literally were gasps, and murmurs, and "oh wow!"s in the waiting room. It was hilarious!  By the time Ellis got there though, I had lost my sense of humor and was ready for help.  And angry that the ENT office never offered to let me go ahead and get in a room to try and get a handle on everything.  They would not let me back there until all the paperwork was complete.  Needless to say, I was utterly exhausted by the end of the ENT visit, as were the girls.

Whew - see? Lots happens around here and I just need to jump on my blog more often to do quick updates rather than waiting weeks and have an essay-worth to say!