My little beauties

This past week, Lilly had an appt with a new GI doctor here in hartford.  A negative about moving, is trying to find new doctors, but we figured we would go back to where it all started, Connecticut Children's hospital.  I was worried about what he would say about Lilly, since our last doctor was pretty conservative and didn't get overly concerned about Lilly's weight.  He was pretty nice and we liked him but as I expected he wanted to change some things up.  Lilly has been taking 2 meds for her reflux and 1 for her appetite.  He wanted to stop her Nexium since it could have long term consequences for prolonged use.  I was hesitant but know that we were going to have to try soon.  We've just been doing really well, and I haven't wanted to rock the boat.  So we decided to stop that one and see how she does.  We are going to try to cycle the appetite med so that the is weened a little from it.  He was pleased with what he saw from what he expected from reading her diagnosis from the other doctor.  He was expecting more of a bony child and was pleased to see that she does have some meat on her little bones.  

She did weigh 25.7 lbs (right under 5%)

almost 36 inches tall (15%)

 This is how they lay on mommy to watch tv while Lilly is sleeping.

Since we were at Hartford hospital where they were born, I decided to walk over to the NICU to see if we could see our primary nurse they had while they were there for 7 weeks.  Unfortunately she wasn't there, it would have been nice to show her how much they've grown and how far they've come since their days there.  It would give me hope as a nurse to see your work with a patient have such positive outcomes.  

I didn't think it would effect me walking up to the doors of the NICU, but as I did, it brought back so many memories.  Those days were so bittersweet.  I had these 2 babies that I had desperately wanted and I had to visit them daily in the hospital and watch them fight every day.  Some days were better than others but it made being there seem all too real again.  Usually when I look at them, those days seem so far away.  But, being there again, it was all right there and seemed like it was yesterday.  They do show me how strong they are on a daily basis to have started with such odds to overcome.  Love them so much!!

More summer activities

This summer has been full of activities.  I've been trying to keep everyone busy and happy while no one is in school.  One thing we did was take the kids to see Ice Age in the movie theater.  This was the twins first experience with going to a movie.  They did wonderful.  Alex sat for the entire movie and was interested.  Lilly did really well, and only got up once to walk on the stairs for a second.  Thank goodness the movie was not crowded at all.  They also loved thier popcorn and snacks.  I would definitely want to do it again with them.  Lilly has asked for a girly movie next time.

 Another fun activity was our neighborhood's block party.  We are so happy to be in a neighborhood full of kids ( I think we counted 30)  They do this every year and are so happy to be back to this kind of neighborhood.  They arranged for the ice cream truck to make a visit.  (you would think he would love this street with this kind of turn out).  We enjoyed a water slide, our bouncy house, a cook out, and late night smores over a fire pit, and enjoying neighborly company.

 Chris and I also took the kids to the beach one weekend.  The good thing was that this is only 30 minutes from the house.  The bad thing was that this is not a southern beach like we are used to.  No warm sandy beaches.  These are made up of seashells and very hard to walk on.  The kids had fun before it started to rain.

 Another negative was that this water was FREEZING.  There was no way mommy was getting in with the kids.  Thank goodness daddy was  a good sport and went swimming with them.  I prefer the warm South Carolina ocean and then I'm all game for a good swim with the kids.

 We babysat the dogs while mom and dad were away for a week.  They kept the kids busy and they enjoyed having them here.  The dogs found their home away from home on our couch.

 Chris and I also took the kids to the Connecticut Science Center in Hartford.  They were having a dinosaur exhibit that we thought the kids would enjoy.  Above is a hurricane tube that creates hurricane force winds.  They thought that was pretty neat.  Below, is a setup of Loctitie products that we had to have the kids pose by since PaPa and daddy work there.

 And here are the dinosaurs.  They were a little taken back by the big dinosaurs that made noises.  But had a lot of fun running around looking at them.

Julian's sailing lessons

Julian has been enjoying sailing lessons this summer.  One of the benefits of living near the shore.  We get to enjoy some activities that aren't the typical, and gets to expand his experiences.  He has really enjoyed it and it's been fun getting to see him learn something new.  He has met some new friends and hopefully he enjoys this and will continue this new interest.  

 You couldn't ask for a prettier place to sit and watch your child participate in a sport.  We've had really nice evenings this summer and to sit and look at the water with your child in a sail boat was pretty neat. I did have these two to keep up with while we were sitting there, but they did pretty good overall, and love the water as well.  They say they want to sail when they turn 8.  I think we are raising a family of boaters.

 Julian pulling his boat out after he was done.  They have to learn how to put the sail boat together and take them apart.

 Little Mrs. Priss sitting all grown up looking watching Julian.  What am I going to do when she's a teenager.  Alex still sitting very close to mommy.  I can always count of him staying close by and not wanting to stray too far.

Julian also spent the last 2 weeks at a all day sailing camp.  He went with a boy he met at the evening class and they really enjoyed spending the days together.  He was exhausted when he got home, which is a good thing.  They kept them busy and they spent the entire day on the water.

Now, football season has begun.  Last year we had the awakening to the gravity people put on kids sports.  They take this stuff serious.  So, now we are practicing 4 nights a week until school starts.  Evenings are very busy.  I will have busy nights juggling the 3 kids, dinners, baths, bedtimes, and football.