the best week

We have had some exciting things happening this past week.
The first is with Lilly.  We had her regular appt with our pediatric GI doctor this past week.  We have been seeing Dr. Verga very regularly since Lilly was born.  Her weight has been our constant struggle since she was born.  Sometimes, you feel others are truly invested in our progress, and I think this past visit truly made her happy.  We take great success in her accomplishments as well.  It really has been a group effort at times to get Lilly to where she is today.  I have had to had others want the best for her and also see the struggle that is our daily life.  At this visit, Lilly weighed 25 3/4 lbs (now that she is over 3, she weighs on the big people scale, no more baby scale).  This was a 2 lb weight gain from our last visit in January.  Many people would think that 2 lbs is a big deal, but it's like moving mountains for us.  The doctor was throughly pleased with this and so was I.  Normal weight gain for toddlers is 5-8 grams/day.  We have averaged about 4 gms/day.  With this last period, we gained 8 1/2 grams/day.  It was wonderful news.  Dr. Verga was tempted to reduce some of the medicines Lilly is on.  She continues to struggle with pretty bad reflux, which she takes medicine and in the morning and at night for, and she also remains on her eating medicine to increase her appetite.  We decided not to change a good thing right now, and see how she does for a little longer.  I asked if she should grow out of the reflux when she continues to get a little stronger and bigger, the answer was hopefully.  Some kids do and some are just left with this as if they had any other disease like diabetes.  Hopefully, this will continue to get better, because I know how bad it can make you feel.  I pray we continue to have our period of wellness and no one is sick (I know with 3 children, it's not likely to continue).   I pray that Lilly continues to feel well, and continues to eat well.

Alex also had his 3 year old check up this past month.  He weighed 31 1/4 lbs.  This puts him in the 30% for weight.  He continues to eat well and has done well lately without being sick.

The twins continue to progress with their speech and everyday is getting better.  their vocabulary and ability to understand them is also getting better daily.  We continue to receive speech therapy and will have to find somewhere to continue that when we get to Connecticut.

 Julian has also been playing baseball this season.  This past Friday, Julian had a wonderful game.  He got 3 hits and scored twice.  He did so great, it was so exciting to sit and watch your child do something so good that doesn't come naturally to him.  It is wonderful to see his hard work and practice pay off, and to see everyone get so excited for him.  We will miss the sports here in Easton when we move.  It is such a small community here, that he plays sports with the same boys, year after year.  The parents that coach really like Julian and want to see him do well and succeed.   Hopefully, we will find a similar setting at our new home.

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We are also in the home stretch of moving.  The movers come in just a  couple days and we will start this process all over again.  Hopefully, we will be in connecticut a little longer, but know it is all for the better.  A new chapter is about to begin and we can only look at it as a new beginning.  

APRIL

April has been so busy and I'm just now getting a chance to sit down and post our activities.

The big event we had was Julian's spring break. We flew to Atlanta to be with our families and to enjoy my sisters first bridal shower. We had so much fun, it hard to leave. We love being close with everyone and being in the south. It will always be HOME to us no matter where life takes us. We had a late flight to Atlanta and all the kids did great. I think its good to get them used to traveling early. They fell asleep toward the end of the flight and we carried them to get the car. All the kids loved being in Atlanta and we got to do many fun things. One of the most special things was seeing our family that we don't get to see often, especially my niece and the kids only cousin. They loved playing with Kinsley and talk about her all the time.

Our first outing was to the Yellowriver Game Ranch. The kids had a ball looking at the animals and try to feed them. It so much fun watching all the kids play together like they are old friends. I love that this new technology time allows us to talk face to face with each other. It helps families that live apart keep close ties with each other.

May May and PopPop with all their grandkids

An attempt to get a picture my 3.

These 3 could pass as triplets. I love seeing them playing together.

Checking out the yellow river

My big boy Julian

Holding hands and cousins that love each other. Priceless pic.

Feeding the bunnies

Stacy and Kins and Pop Pop and Alex.

These deer were way overfed this week. The game ranch was really crowded for spring break.

Bath time together and watching shows together.

Our lunch date together.

Trying to get a group shot at the Stanford's house after dinner.

Easter egg hunts at my grandmother's house during my sister's bridal shower.

At the airport on our way home to PA at 6 am in the morning! Not a great time to fly but the kids all do great.

"Babies" turn 3!

happy Birthday sweet babies!!!

Alex and Lilly turned 3 yesterday! I still call them the babies, and at some point someone is going to tell me they aren't babies anymore, but I can't help it. I will always call all my kids my babies, no matter how old they get. I think it's fitting that they were born on the first day of spring. Spring brings life to everything around us and things start to look up after a bleak winter. That's exactly what they are to me. They brought more life to our family. They were born to start fresh and grow just like the flowers of spring. They had had a rough winter and needed to come see us. I can't believe it's been 3 years since that day. Things are definitely much more hopeful and future brighter than that day 3 years ago. The babies are doing wonderful. They are very active, healthy, smart children that continue to thrive and develop. Their speech is improving dramatically. They can definitely communicate their wants and needs. They continue to have some twin talk and have conversations between each other that I don't understand. It's great watching them interact and to see their personalities continue to grow and define themselves.

Lilly is a girly girl. She loves jewelry, shoes, clothes, makeup, dolls, and is the social one of the 2.

Alex loves all things trucks, balls, curious George, and is a HUGE mommy boy. If he could be permanently attached to me, i think he would love it.

We had to move out our 3 year old check ups due to some recent colds. (it's been the story of my life this winter) So we will see how that goes in a couple weeks, but I don't foresee any problems, They are developmentally right on target. The only issue we still have is Lilly's weight. She remains under the curve, but always grows. She is still a little birdy eater, and doesn't usually put eating on a high priority level. She eats a great variety of food, just hard to get lots of calories in her. Alex still loves to eat, and eats most things I give him. Alex still has one preemie side effect. When he gets cold, they always end up in his lungs. His little runny noses typically end up with a very congested cough and antibiotics. You can tell his little lungs needed more time to develop, and have some lasting consequences but other than that he is a wonderful, loving, little boy.

Birthday day was pretty quiet but still turned out to be a nice day. It was just myself and the kids here to celebrate. Chris was traveling this week. Having the kids birthday so close to each other it's hard for everyone to come for both days, another downside to living far away from family. I feel like I have to pick and choose which child's birthday I want family to come visit for, and the twins are still pretty young and i don't think understand yet. So, next year they are due a big birthday party. i hope I managed to give the babies a great day.

The babies got the biggest smile when they got to blow out their own candle on their own cake. And they loved it when people sang happy birthday to them. You could tell they felt really special and soaked in the attention.

The cakes turned out really cute. They did the princess and the prince look to decorate.

both sticking their fingers in the icing to get a little taste.

Another treat in the day- Dee Dee and Papa sent them each a balloon bouquet with a stuffed animal. They love balloons and this also helped make their day.

Our day ended up at the park while Julian had his first baseball practice for the season. Their other love is to swing and thats what they did. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed one of our few days in a long time that we've been able to play outside.

Big smiles for mommy. That doesn't happen much anymore. They are getting to the age where they don't like to take their pictures.

And this is my 3 babies. The loves of my life. they are so special.

This is the other major thing that we having going on (as if our life wasn't crazy enough). We are in the process of moving soon. I can't believe how fast this is going. We are set to close May 15 on our PA house and close May 18 on our CT house. It will be so nice to be in CT and be together again. Chris has been traveling a lot, and I will have my family close by. A luxury we have never had and will be so thankful to be able to have our kids be so close with my parents. The house is moving right along, and everything is picked out and in the works. Lots to do until that time. We like to keep things lively.