Summer vacation

Its been a long time since the last posting. A lot has been going on since then. The babies had their 15 month check ups, and passed with flying colors. Both are growing "appropriately". Alex is on the 45 % for his weight on a full term baby curve. Lilly is still not on the curve yet, but has maintained her on curve since birth. Considering where she started, 18 lbs 2 oz is a respectable number for my 2 lb baby. The doctor didn't have any complaints so I will have to be happy about that, he thinks they both look great. Alex did have a ear infection and a slight cold, so we did post-pone the shots until he is all better which was fine with me.

We then left for our vacation thursday night before 4th of July. Julian had already gone down a couple days earlier to meet Mary in SC so Chris and I just had the babies to drive down with. We left at bedtime, and we had a long 15 hr drive ahead of us. We hit road construction, which prolonged the drive. The babies were tired of sitting in their seats, as were we, but we did finally make it to seabrook for our vacation. First we had Chris's family meet us there to enjoy the holiday. We had a great time at the beach, pool, seeing fireworks, and enjoying being with our family. Then we had my best friend and her family come stay with us for a few days. Julian got to play with his friends and I got some good girl time. We had so much fun seeing them, we only wished we were able to do it more often. Then a few days later, mom and dad came down to begin their vacation. We had such a great time that it was hard to leave. It was so much fun watching our kids have so much fun.

We then wrapped up the vacation with a trip to Atlanta, stopping in Lexington for a couple of nights. While in Atlanta, Chris and I were able to spend the night out and have a wonderful dinner while we had so many people that could help watch our kids. It was a great way to spend our 11th anniversary. We've done so much in 11 years. We have lived in 6 states in 2 countries, had many jobs, both finished our masters degrees, and had 3 beautiful children. We've had some ups and downs getting here, but at 33 years old, I couldn't imagine my life any other way than to spend it with my wonderful family.

We finally came home 3 1/2 weeks after we left, but it was a wonderful trip. Thank goodness, Anne was so sweet to fly home with me and the kids so we didn't have to try the drive again.

no time this summer

I have found that with Julian out of school, I have no time for any extras in the day. We are so busy entertaining during the day and then I am done in the evening, so the computer is taking a back seat right now.

Julian finished his kindergarten year. I can't believe he is in 1st grade now. It didn't bother me so much until he brought home his yearbook on the last day of school and I looked at his picture from the beginning of the year. He had grown up so much and changed so much from just the start of school that it made me realize how fast he is going to grow up. Hopefully, he will always be my sweet boy that like having his mommy with him. I took him out the other day so that he and I could have a special day without the babies to see Toy story 3. It was so sweet, he asked me that when he goes to college if he can print out a picture of him and I so he can take it with him so he can always see me before he goes to bed. I love him so much.

The babies just turned 15 months old. The are doing really well. Doctor was very pleased with their progress. Alex is walking and getting around well. Lilly is is walking with assistance, and he wasn't concerned she's not quite there yet. We still have ups and downs with lilly's eating, but he also said that was a normal toddler action, so I try not to worry so much about the downs.

Alex weighs 23 lbs 4 oz

Lilly weighs 18 lbs 2 oz

They love playing outside. Here are a few pictures.

Baptism

" All things bright and beautiful, All creatures great and small, All things wise and wonderful; The Lord God made them all."

"All thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children." Isaiah 54:13

We had a great weekend. We finally scheduled to have the babies baptised. I felt really bad it took this long. We just wanted to the babies to be a little older due to their prematurity before we took them to church, and then it was hard to find a new church that we all enjoyed going to and felt connected to. We did find a methodist church nearby that we had been going to (Chris and I have been alternating taking Julian, it's during the babies nap time so we have been leaving them at home), and Julian has really enjoyed the sunday school. Typical for us, the pastor that's been there 17 years is leaving at the end of the month. He was really wonderful and every sunday, it felt like he was talking to us. It was nice that he was able to baptise the babies before he leaves. He told us in 24 years he had never baptised twins, so it is special that he will always remember us. It was a very special day to have most of our family there with us for that special event. It is important to chris and I that our kids know god's grace and love. Without that, I know the my kids wouldn't be here. He definately had a hand in their births and existance with our trouble getting pregnant. Baptism is the start of the babies relationship with God, and hopefully they will live a life to practice their faith and commitment to him. We also had Jess, blake, and Kelly stand with us to profess their commitment to help teach my children God's love, and their commitment to be there for my children to love and protect them. It was truly a special day.

We then had everyone to the house for lunch and had a great time with the company of family. Living further away from everyone as always been hard for us, as well as everyone else to see us. But it was really special to see everyone take time out of their busy lives, and work schedules to be here for us. I wish we could all live close together, but for now, Chris's job has taken us to different places. One day, maybe it will be easier to get together, but for now, I am grateful for the visits.

Lilly looks exhausted here because she slept after the baptism for the rest of the service with Anne because she missed her morning nap.
May May and PopPop sitting with babies in church with their lovely outfits that Mary had made from her wedding gown. The looked adorable.

Lilly getting baptised. She was just kind of like what is going on. She did great though.
Alex after his baptism. He even had a little chuckle with the sprinkling of the water.
The Stanford's. Hard to see Alex because he is turned around backward, and Lilly is asleep. Best we could do.
The pastor
Papa and Lilly

Lilly loves riding on Julian's toys with him. she is going to be the little daredevil

Kelly and Julian lighting a candle for Lilly and then Jess, Blake and Julian lighting one for Alex.

memorial weekend

We just got back from my parents house this for memorial weekend. We had a good time getting away. It's nice to be able to leave for awhile and have a few more hands to help out. We got to spend time with my whole family. Jess and Blake were there and the babies did surprisingly well on the trip there and home. We took the babies on their first boat ride, and went to Greenport NY for lunch. The are boat babies just like Julian. They all took naps on the boat (including Julian). The sound is great to help put kids to sleep. Everyone is doing great. Julian has his last baseball game this week, and we have snack stand duty, so still trying to figure how we are going to pull that one off with the babies, but we'll manage. Then he only has 7 more days as a kindergartner. He is my little man. Everyone in CT commented on how sweet and loving he is. He truly is a very good little boy. I really lucked out with all my kids.

now we are getting ready for a bunch of company to come and celebrate the babies baptism. I feel bad we waited this long, but with the babies being so premature, and the move, and trying to find a church, we just couldn't do it any earlier. But better late than never, Right? We look forward to having everyone in town. We love company.

Here we go again

I don't know how I went almost an entire year with 2 very preemie babies without any colds or illnesses. I'm sure making up for it. Last night, Lilly and I spent the evening in the ER. She has been having some GI stuff again. She started not eating so well last week, after she had been doing fantastic. Then over the weekend she stopped drinking her bottles. Took her to pediatrician yesterday and they couldn't find anything specific wrong. No fever, only a little diarrhea. She is cutting some new teeth, so possibly she just hurts. Well we went to Julian's game and she threw up the bottle she took 3 hrs earlier, and had only had 2 oz earlier that morning. She had not had a wet diaper all day, so they recommended we go back to ER for some hydration. 3 hrs sitting in a waiting room is not fun, but finally got back and they did think she needed a iv for some fluids. So now we are just trying to keep her hydrated so she doesn't need that again. And, I pray really hard that she will get over whatever is wrong and she will resume where she left off. It was sooo nice to watch her eat and actually want to eat. Little things to be thankful for.

When I was pregnant, and her condition she had, they worried about her non-essential organs not being perfused as well. Then at only 2 lbs, her gut was the big concern, on how she would digest food. It really has been our only problem, but at times is a really big problem. I don't know if her little system still isn't mature enough to handle the little things that most people wouldn't be bothered by.

Pray that we can stay out of the ER for a while. That is one place I really don't want to be a regular.

Happy "Adjusted" Birthday Babies

Tomorrow is the babies "adjusted" 1 yr old birthday. It feels like we celebrated it so long ago. I guess 2 months is a long time. I know the first 2 months in the hospital also felt like an eternity. There was so many ups and downs, and scary days in the beginning. Now, we are doing really good. Alex, just got over his cold that turned into pneumonia. He did have some rough days through that, but has proved that he is strong time again. It is the hardest thing in the world to watch your baby hurting and sick. I took him to the doctor the first time, and got the standard, "it's viral" thing and just to watch it. The second time they both had ear infections, at least we got antibiotics. The third time, a ER visit, and x-ray showed pneumonia, changed antibiotics. 3 days later, still no better, trip back to ped and got a breathing treatment and sent home with an inhaler (which he hates), but it did the trick. The ped questions whether this was a pneumonia or something called reactive airway disease, which is similar to asthma. You can't diagnosis asthma in kids this young so they call it the other. He said it would look the same on x-ray, and the breathing treatments were the trick to recovery, not antibiotics. The cold could have been the trigger for his lungs to fill with so much fluid and constrict so much. He definatley was a new little boy after the breathing treatment. It was like he had relief, and could breathe better. He said we just have to see if it reoccurs and treat aggressively. If it is reactive airway disease, he could outgrow or maybe develop asthma. Just wait and see. But, thank you so much to those of you who cared so much and called to check on him.

Lilly and Julian are doing good. Lilly (knock on wood) is eating great, for the moment. Alex has actually slept through the night a couple of times.

Julian is winding down with his first year of school. Can't believe I almost have a 1st grader. Time just flies by.

mother's day

I feel like I start every blog off with "where do I begin". I guess the life as a mother of 3 is going to feel like this all the time. Since the last blog, Chris and I have been enjoying Julian's baseball games and we've been spending more family time together which is so nice. The babies, especially Alex, had a cold for a couple weeks prior to mother's day. I had taken them a couple times to the pediatrician. Peds are getting sooooo conservative in their treatment now, which is hard for me because I am sooooo a fix it kind of mother, and nurse. I've been very worried about this cold because it has seemed to settle in Alex's lungs, which I don't know how they will respond to this due to him being so sick at birth. Why doctors won't prescribe a decongestant, I have no idea, and will likely bring that up at tomorrow's follow up visit. It's so hard to watch your little babies, have a hard time breathing, hurt so bad with a cough and you can't do anything for them. They just recommend "supportive measures" for colds now. Well, humidifiers, and saline spray doesn't do anything to make them feel better.

We made it to mother's day, with good days and very bad days, but was hoping this was going to be a great day. Chris was so sweet and surprised me with a day at the spa that included a limo ride there and home, so I didn't even have to drive. He was going to brave the day with the kids alone. I was so happy that he did this for me. It was so thoughtful, and he really wanted me to have a special and relaxing day. It was great. I got pampered with a facial and a long massage. It was just what I needed. The day was going good for me, but I could hear Alex on the phone coughing so bad, and he was really having a rough day. He would have coughing fits that lasted so long and he was starting to gag and throw up with them. So as soon as I got out of the limo when I returned home, I scooped Alex up and we were off to the emergency room. We got there and thank goodness there was no wait, and they took us right back. The doctor was really nice. Alex's lungs sounded pretty good for how bad he was coughing, but the doctor ordered a chest X-ray because of his history of premature birth and severe respiratory distress and pneumonia at birth. Well, the x-ray showed he had a right lower lobe pneumonia. Just what I was hoping to prevent, and what I had worried about. They changed his antibiotic and sent us on our way. Well, 3 days later, cough had not improved at all, and I was off to the doctor again. Mom had come down to help me and see Julian play his baseball game monday night, and she also got to go with us to Julian's music concert at school Tuesday. Julian was thrilled that she came to see him do these things, which was really a neat treat for him. I love it when Julian feels special. It made him feel really good that Dee Dee came to see him and he got some good one on one time with her. It was also nice to have another nurse's opinion about Alex, and she agreed that he needed to go back to the doctor.

Thank goodness the doctor was nice and acted appropriate, because I was ready to attack. I was ready for someone to make my baby feel better. She gave him a breathing treatment in the office and sent us home with an inhaler. It has really started to help and give him so much needed relief. He is starting to show some energy and interst in playing again. I am so happy, it doesn't appear that he is hurting so bad now. I am just shocked that it took so long for this to happen.

It didn't end up being the best mother's day, but it was great because my husband tried so hard to give me a special day. Mother's day is always a time where we are thankful for our mothers, which I truly am. I wouldn't know what to do without mine and Chris's mom. But for me, it is a day that I am thankful that I was lucky enough to become a mother of my 3 beautiful children. I am the lucky one and truly have been blessed beyond belief. Motherhood did not come easy for Chris and I. It is something that I dreamed for and prayed for and we had to work really hard for this to happen to us. I could not imagine my life without the opportunity to be a mother, and I could not have asked for anything better in my life. So, I look at mother's day as a gift for me in itself that I was blessed with the responsibility to take care of Julian, Alex and Lilly. They are and will always be my mother's day gift.