Good 'Ol Boys

Good 'Ol Boys

My boys are better now. Nic just has a slight cough left over. But everyone is happy again and mom can sleep through the night. We took this picture at meeting last night. They look like such little men with their hats. They are getting SO big. I have been going through the computer organizing the hundreds of pictures I have of them, and I tell you.... to see what they look liked when they first came home..... what a difference!!! They are now 14 lbs., more than twice their size when they came home!!! It just makes me teary eyed to see how far they have some.
I was thinking how funny it is when you have your own kids you notice the littlest things. Like, normally when you hear a baby it's just babble or gibberish to you. But when it's YOUR baby you notice the new sound or "word" he's using today. That cute noise they have never made before, or that noise they are using over and over again-- that is a word to them!! And it just makes you smile!!! "ooooahhhh" was Nicolas word for a while when he would get really excited!!! Now he and Ethan are giggling when excited!! I have some video of that I will post soon.

Sorry I got all sentimental on you there.... just needed to record some memories.

Sick

Ethan is getting better but then Nicolas got sick. He saw the Dr. yesterday. He is on antibiotics now as well since his cough was getting worse. Trevor has also been sick and went to the Dr. today. I can not wait until everyone is well again. I am VERY tired. Ethan was a good sport even though he was sick, Nicolas on the other hand not so much. It's funny because under normal circumstances Ethan gets upset more often than Nic, but Nic has been mad about being sick, and when he gets mad... oh boy he get MAD!!

The results from Nicolas' EEG came back good!!! No seizure activity so we can now ween Nicolas off his medicine. :)

Silly Ethan sticks out his tongue when he gets excited now Ethan (L) Nicolas (R)
Handsome boys

Nicolas: "whoop! whoop! whoop!"

awww... what a cute smile!

Let me give you an update on the past week. This morning I took Ethan to the ER because he's had a bad cough that was getting worse. It was causing him to vomit all his feedings and then he was choking on it. It was a long weekend. They did find he has the early stage of pneumonia so they put him on antibiotic and sent us home. I am just glad we caught it early enough. He is doing OK.

Last Monday Nicolas had an EEG (that is a test were they put a bunch of wire leads on his head to monitor his brain waves). It is a routine procedure since he had a seizure. They just want to check to make sure everything is ok to let him be weaned off his medication... yippy!!! I haven't noticed anything abnormal about him so I am sure the results will come back fine. The seizure was probably from his nervous system being too immature. The neurologist will call and let us know the results soon.

I hope you enjoy the pictures!!!

Things we have learned having twin infants

1. Do what is best for you and your family, not what everyone else thinks is best (this is #1 for a reason)
2. Baby swings are a life saver
3. Anticipate when babies will be hungry - or else be prepared for lots of crying
4. Always change babies before feeding to minimise spit up- but make sure you follow #3 first
5. ALWAYS use a burp clothe when burping to spare your clothes, and use a bib to spare their clothes.
6. Hold baby upright after he's done feeding and burp- right away!!!
7. Whoever is feeding the baby/babies rules the universe (can you get me the remote? water? turn off the light....?)
8. Keep babies on the same schedule!!
9. There is A LOT of laundry and it will NEVER be done!
10. Buy the large 40in. X 40in. swaddle blankets, the little one do not keep baby contained!!
11. Accept and/or ask for help
12. Twin babies are like celebrities: Be prepared to be stopped in the store, at the restaurant, everywhere and be asked to take a peek.
13. Prepare several bottles - at least a half a days worth - and put them in the fridge ready to be warmed for next feeding so you don't have to take so much time with each feeding.
14. Have a color system (Ethan=blue / Nicolas=Green) This helped us with the bottles since they got different amounts of food and different meds.
15. Sometimes babies will cry, you don't have to pick them up every time.
16. Cherish the moment
17. Happy parents = happy babies
18. Use car seats with bases, I don't know what I would have done without that!!
19. Use nursing cover with a strap that goes around neck so baby doesn't pull it off you and you flash everyone.

7 months old

The boys are growing so fast!!! They are now 7 months old (4 months adjusted age)

They are now rolling over from their belly to their back, reaching and grabbing their toys, "talking" a lot smiling, giggling, ploting and scheaming.

They love to sit and stand now so they can see the world from a whole new veiw!! All Ethan wants to do is stand now.

seeing doubble

Nic (L) Ethan (R)

Daddy was being silly with Ethan

This is a couple months old but it was so cute I just had to share it

Mike's Wedding 4-17-2010

This was at my brother Mike's wedding. It was a beautiful day for an outdoor wedding. The boys were so adorable in thier little suits. They were really tired here, I had just woke Ethan up for some pictures but he didn't care; usually he's a little ham. I will get some more pictures of them in their suits soon for you to see.

And here they are later that night, they were very tired.

"Beary" special boys

Here are some picture of some "Beary" special boys in their cute bear overalls.

What do you think the boys are thinking / saying in this picture??

Leave your caption in a comment.

We are having a hard time getting the duo smile. We can only get one smile at a time caught on camara so far

Nicolas smile

Ethan smile

Ethan's "beary" cute!

Nicolas has found his thumb

video @ 6 months

Family photos

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. A lot has been going on. So let me bring you up to date on how the boys are doing. They have grown a bunch!! Ethan in now 12lb. and Nicolas is now 12.5 lb.- They have more than doubled their size since they came home 3 months ago. It hits me every now and then that they are getting bigger and they aren't going to stay my babies, so I am just trying to enjoy every moment. They are cooing and making all sorts of sounds. They love to "talk" to us. And they can get so excited!!! I just can't explain it, it's just awesome. I will post more pictures and progress real soon.

(Trevor has Ethan and I have Nic in both pictures below)

Assembly
3-27-2010

4-3-2010
Wedding

Get to know the boys

Nicolas likes :

• to smile in the morning
• to spend some quiet awake time by himself
• his swing
• his mobile
• being swaddled
• being talked to
• being cuddled
• his thumb
• to sleep
• toy keys

Nicolas dislikes:

• 
  
  not to much acctually

Ethan's likes:

• Lights / fans
• to scocialize
• to know everything that is going on
• being talked to / to talk a lot himself
• to smile a lot
• to wiggle
• his swing
• toy keys

disikes:

• waiting for food or for anything else for that matter
• being alone
• tummy time

All dressed up

The boys are growing so fast now. It seems there is something new everyday! They are smiling more, cooing more and they even slept 8 hours one night this week! It is so rewarding to have them responding to us so much now. It makes everything we went through in the first months seem so far away. All that I think of is how happy we are now.

Nicolas had a Dr. appt. last week with the Neurologist and that went good. In 2 months they will do an EEG on him and if that looks good he can be weened off the phenobarbital he is taking for the seizure he had when he was just a few days old.

A couple weeks ago I had been relieved from the weekly weight checks since the boys are gaining well. *whew* Our next check-up is this Friday.

The weather is finally getting milder so we took the boys out in the ministry for the first time Saturday then again Tuesday! They like to ride in their car seats so they did really well.

Below are some pictures we took Sunday when the boys were all dressed up. Enjoy!!

Nicolas "I'm the boss""You're FIRED!!"

Ethan

-5 months-

Nicolas

Ethan

The boys are doing GREAT!! They wiegh in at 9 lb. 10 oz. and 8lb. 12 oz. They are smiling a lot! But of corse for the above photo shoot they wouldn't give me any smiles. But they are cute anyway.

Eye Dr.

This week Nicolas had a Dr. appointment with the eye Dr. and it went good. His eyes are all healed up! --- Both the boys had retinopathy of prematurity- that has to do with the growth of the blood vessels in the eye. The last 28-40 weeks of gestation is when the eye rapidly develops. Since the boys were born at 25 weeks that mean their eyes were very immature. They have been watched closely by an eye Dr. and their eyes have now matured and healed!!! Ethan's eyes were OK before he even came home.

We all caught a cold last week- all at the same time!! I was so tired after being sick and taking care or the boys being sick as well that by Sunday I got up and attempted to get ready for meeting and just couldn't do it. Trevor took care of the boys while I went back to bed at 10 AM and didn't wake till 3PM!!! And I still went at bed at a decent time that night!! I really needed to get caught up on sleep!!

Oh, and the boys are 5 months old tomrrow!!! The top picture is Nicolas - he took hold of a toy for the first time and he really likes his new toy. The second picture is Ethan peeking at us from his swing.

Weight gain is up

Raising twins keeps you so busy making sure all the basic needs are met that sometimes you forget to stop and enjoy this moment. Then when you take a moment, you realize just how worth it all of the work and lack of sleep is. Especially last week when the boys started smiling and cooing.... I have been waiting for that moment.

I took the boys to get weighed today and they gained really well this week!!! Nicolas is up 11 oz at a grand total of 8 lb. 11 oz. and Ethan is up almost one whole pound to 7 lb. 11 oz.

Great job boys!!

P.S. There are 16 oz to 1 lb.

weight gain

The boys went to the Dr. Monday and had some shots- they were SO brave. Our only concern right now is the issue with weight gain. In two weeks Ethan had only gained 1 oz and Nicolas 3 oz- The Dr. wants them to gain 1 oz per day. That's about 2 lb per month. So we are on a very strict eating schedule at night again. It is easier to keep the schedule in the daytime but nighttime is SO hard. I get SO tired when I have to wake up so often. - They are both already on higher calorie soy formula and they are taking 3 oz per feeding now. Nicolas doesn't spit up very often, Ethan still does; but learning how to burp him has helped some.

We are done with breast feeding. I am glad I kept up with it for as long as I did especially for the circumstances we have. It was emotional to quit sooner than I wanted, but it was also emotional trying to do it and having so many issues. It was really wearing all of us out. It is kind of a relief just making a decision about it instead of going back in forth with it.

Take #1

Take # 1- Nicolas turned to suck my face Take #2 - AWWWW......

Little Helper

We had a little helper Sunday - Thanks Rebekah

Than the cat joined us

Feeding time (Ethan)

making friends

Today the boys made some new friends. Talon is almost three month old, Nicolas and Ethan are four and a half months (but still little in comparison)

Talon, Ethan, NicolasEthan wasn't so happy about having his picture takenThanks for coming to visit!

Swings

Tonight the boys are chilling in their new swings. Ethan Nicolas

I would not have it any other way. Having these kids is the best thing for me. I love being their mommy. Life has it's challenges - but I don't freak out like I thought I would. I feel life in the NICU has taught me what things are really worth stressing out about and what things just aren't important enough to stress out about.

Last week we got the boys swings and the boys really like them. Gives me a bit more free time. I also got a 'peanut shell' sling. That has helped in giving me an extra 'hand' when they don't want to be put in their swings. They are still small enough that I can put both of them in there for now.

Breast feeding has been SO hard for us. I don't know what I am going to do. To quit or not to quit. I guess I shouldn't feel like quitting would be failing, I know my circumstances are very out of the ordinary. But I just feel like I got cheated out of a lot with the premature birth and the extended hospital stay and I don't want to be cheated out of this too. But I am saying it is hard.

We got an OUTRAGEOUS electric bill this month.... So we are in the process of getting the house insulated this week to help. But then we found out today that our heater is not working properly.... That would explain our bill... so we also need a new unit. It still heats, but it just uses a lot more electricity than it should. Oh, the joys of owning a home!!

Here are a bunch more pictures - ENJOY!

Feeding time

Nicolas is very expressive with his eyebrows Nicolas: "I can hold my head up all by myself"
Nicolas: "let's play"Nicolas and his Fishy

Nicolas 4 mos. old

Nicolas deep in thought

Ethan

Ethan