PICTURES!!

The past few weeks here in Indiana have been miserably HOT!  Temperatures have been well over 100 degrees on several days, and just too darn hot to do anything outside with the girls.  This past Friday evening, we had a nice break from the heat so we decided to take the girls to the park.  This is the park that the girls party should have been at.  This was the first time that we actually let the girls roam freely and just explore.  Prior trips only included playing on the swings.  Let me tell you....the girls loved the freedom!!  See for yourself!

Addison loving having things to climb on!

Addison mesmerized by the shadows.  She was really into trying to "touch" my shadow for a little while.

Love this picture....Addison roaming about.

The girls also took in a little tic-tac-toe time!  I'm not sure who won?

Alexis enjoying trying to "drive" the train for awhile.

And what's more fun than crawling through the tunnels?  In the bottom picture you can see that I had to crawl through as well, Alexis was just sitting in the middle of the tunnel and I had to "rescue" her.

And of course, we had to stop for a photo op with Daddy on the swing.  It was near impossible to get all three of them to look at me at the same time!

Alexis loving her freedom!

The girls were in love with this dinosaur looking thing.  Alexis is part monkey, I'm convinced of it!

Addison made sure that everyone was following the "playground rules".

Future Goalie's??  The girls were in love with the soccer goal!

This is probably one of my favorite pictures.  I just love how happy my girls were "frolicking" through the park.  The smiles were endless and definitely contagious!!

Here are some random pictures from the past few weeks.....

Terry & Alexis at the gym this weekend.

Me & Addison at the gym this past weekend.  LOVE this picture!

Addison swinging at the gym.  Smiles like these melt my heart!  I can hear her giggling just looking at this picture!  Love it!

Alexis at the gym, always crawling on, up or into something.  See, I'm telling you she's a monkey!

Alexis after her "at home" pedicure.

Alexis always pointing at something.  She is a very curious gal.

The girls playing in our back yard.  Don't you just want to squeeze them!

No news is good news RIGHT!!

No real news to report on the girls lately, but I realized that I hadn't blogged in a while so I wanted to do a quick update.  The girls are definitely progressing into more and more of a toddler phase everyday.  My babies are growing up so quickly.  Every morning when I get them up, it seems as if they had gotten bigger overnight.  It's becoming more and more difficult for me to carry them both at the same time and I no longer feel comfortable getting them both up in the morning and carrying them downstairs together.  This is a good thing!  It means they are growing and gaining weight, which is what we need them to do!

They continue to keep us on our toes as they become more curious about exploring things.  Nothing is safe in our house anymore.  Every toy and every object is a step stool and assists in the aid of climbing onto anything they can thrust their little bodies onto. 

Addison has become obsessed with socks and shoes.  Anytime anyone has shoes or socks on she will point and repeat "socks" several times until you acknowledge the fact that you are wearing socks or shoes.  She's becoming more vocal everyday and is developing more of a personality right before our very eyes. 

Alexis has become a real sweety lately.  She loves to cuddle, give hugs and kisses.  She is still our rough one, but has a super sweet side.  The other day she was trying to hug Addison but was so rough that she knocked her over.  It melts my heart every time I see my girls try to hug and kiss each other.  I know that some day they will be the best of friends. 

The girls continue to do well with eating.  The transition to cow's milk went very well and we are so glad to be rid of the nasty job that making formula was.  We are working on the transition from bottles to sippy cups and everyday it seems that they are getting better with it. 

I can definitely say that right now I'm really enjoying being a Mommy to these two beautiful girls.  Not that I wasn't before, but as they start to develop more and more into little people they become more fun and such a joy to be with.  They continue to amaze me everyday and I feel so blessed that our girls continue to thrive and beat all the odds.  Until next time....

We survived!

Yes, it's official we survived the girls first illness at home.  Not really something to be excited about, but we are so glad that it's over and that they are feeling better!  Addison was so pitiful and would just crawl up in my lap, lay her head on my chest and say "ouch" in this sad little voice.  It broke my heart to see her in pain and not be able to fix it.  The bug didn't slow down Alexis much, but she also had her share of pitifulness (is that a word?) as well.  I literally felt helpless not knowing exactly what was hurting them.  I can't wait until they can actually vocalize exactly what hurts. 

Saturday evening, we put the girls to bed at their usual time.  They both were mega crabby and were fighting everything.  They were super wiggle worms while trying to change their diapers and put on their p.j.'s.  They were just 100% irritable.  We gave them their bottles, a dose of Motrin, an extra hug and kiss and put them in their cribs.  About five minutes later Alexis starts screaming, like a scream I've never heard before.  We usually can tell the difference between a "dirty diaper cry" a "I don't want to go to sleep cry" and all the other random cries that each girl has.  This was a cry that made Terry and I both run upstairs pretty quickly.  Alexis had hurled, not thrown up, but literally hurled all over her crib.  She was covered in vomit pretty much from head to toe.  Her sheets were covered and it was a nasty mess.  Of course, We had just given the girls a bath about 30 minutes prior, so back to the tub she went.  And also it would figure that we had just changed the sheets on the girl's beds and her extra set of sheets were in the washing machine.  Luckily, we did manage to find a random crib sheet that someone had given us in the girls closet.  Terry gagged his way through cleaning up the crib while I also tried not to vomit while giving Alexis another bath.  The whole time Addison was standing up in her crib trying to figure out what was going on and why she wasn't being included in the chaos. 

Once we finally get the mess and Alexis cleaned up, we tried again to put the girls to bed.  Apparently they had other plans.  They spent the next hour and a half fighting going to bed.  Terry and I took turns trying to rock two very cranky girls to sleep.  It really made me thankful that our girls usually do not fight bed time and are generally very good sleepers! 

We are very glad that this bug is out of our house and our perky little girls are back to their cheerful ways.  I'm hoping that we stay germ free for a long time!

SICK!

I knew that it was only a matter of time before the girls contracted some form of illness.  With the exception of spending three months in the NICU the girls have been fairly healthy.  We've been fortunate that they have gone a little over 15 months without getting sick.  This week has been a whole different ball game!

It all started Tuesday during the day.  Addison was feeling warm and was just a CRAB-O-LA!  She has this high pitched whine that sometimes I'm convinced could shatter glass windows.  When I got home from work her temperature was close to 102 degrees.  I called the pediatrician and she said that if she doesn't have any other symptoms to just treat her with Tylenol and Motrin.  She said that if any other symptoms develop to call her back. 

Wednesday when I got home from work Terry looked like he had been run over by a truck.  I walked in the house and immediately heard the whining.  Addison looked flushed, had glossy eyes and just wasn't her perky self.  Terry said she had been mega fussy all day and she had been running a fever off and on throughout the day.  After cuddling with Addison and trying to make her feel better, I noticed that she had these red spots all over her body.  My first instinct is crap, she's got the chicken pox.  Not being sure exactly what chicken pox looks like, I text'd my neighbor and she came right over to inspect her bumps.  Dr. Trina to the rescue!  She wasn't sure, but thought that it could just be a heat rash from Addison's fever breaking.  I called the pediatrician again and she said that if it is indeed the chicken pox that they do NOT want her in the office because it is so highly contagious.  She said to just treat her with Motrin and extra hugs and kisses. 

Thursday morning I get the girls up and notice that Addison's rash/bumps have spread to most of her body.  She looked better and was acting better, just with the exception of having some spots.  Terry's Mom was over to watch the girls while Terry went to the doctor.  She mentioned roseola.  As soon as I got to work, I immediately googled roseola.  I now have pretty much self-diagnosed Addison with roseola.  Roseola is a version of the measles virus and is common in children between 6 months & 3 years of age.  Yep, you guessed it....I called the pediatrician again.  I asked her what she thought about our diagnosis.  She said that she concurs that the symptoms I've described are conducive to roseola.  I really wanted to take her in just to be checked out, but the doctor said that if her fever has broken, and if she is starting to act better, that she wouldn't do anything other than  look at her.  She said that because it is a viral infection, it just has to "run it's course".  Thursday evening with Addison was much better.  She did still seem a little "less perky" than normal but was much improved over the past few days.

Last night and all throughout the early morning today, Alexis was waking up.  First at 11:45, 1:15, 3:30, then again at 5:30.  We knew it was inevitable, but we were hoping that Alexis wouldn't catch it.  Bummer!  Alexis woke up this morning with a fever as well.  So we started her on the same course of treatment....alternating Tylenol and Motrin and giving her a few extra cuddles and kisses. 

We are hoping that this bug will be out of our house soon!! While I'm glad that it's nothing major, it is still hard to watch your children struggle and not be able to tell you exactly what is wrong. 

MOOOOOO!!!

Over the weekend the girls officially made the transition from formula to cow's milk.  We got the ok from the pediatrician that she was happy with their weights, and we could make the change.  Let me tell you WOW, I love pouring milk from a gallon jug so much better than I like measuring, mixing and making formula!!!!  I'm sure that going to the grocery store twice a week to buy milk is going to get old, but you will not hear me complain for one second!  I would much rather buy 3 or 4 gallons of milk each week than 6 or 7 cans of formula!

Our pediatrician advised us to make the change on the girls own schedules.  She told us to kind of play it by ear and feel it out to see how the girls react to the change.  She said sometimes you might need to take a week to make the transition or it could just happen in a day or two.  Once again, my little angels never cease to amaze me!  They didn't even bat an eye at the change.  Saturday morning we got up, did our usual breakfast routine but minus making a pitcher of formula.  I gave them their bottles of milk and they started drinking it as if they weren't any the wiser.  I think being on a toddler milk-based formula also helped with the transition. 

I can't tell you how much I love these two little gals!  Each day they amaze me more and more.  They are starting to really understand what we say and can follow simple commands like, "get me the ball" or "stop trying to feed your pancakes to the cat".  Every day they become more and more like toddlers and less and less like little baby girls. 

15 MONTH STATS....

Here are the 15 month stats of the girls....

ALEXIS

*Weighs 18 pounds 12 ounces & is 29 inches long.

*Wears 9 month clothes.  Some 6-12 months, but a lot of Carters Size 9 months.

*Now wears Size 4 diapers....we've officially switched to Costco's Kirkland's brand (thanks Jody for the recommendation) after a diaper burn from the new "dry max" version of Pampers Cruisers.

*Still holding strong with only 6 teeth.

*Will eat just about anything.  Not a huge fan of carrots.

*Babbles A LOT but is frequent in saying....DaDa, MaMa, Ball, Cat, Yuck, Hi, Bye (the pediatrician said that they should have a 6-10 word vocabulary at this point)

*Waves, Likes patty cake, gives fives, Loves anything to do with any type of ball, Loves to hug and love on any stuffed animal.  Also is a huge fan of her Little People toys.  Can show you 1 finger to tell you that she is 1 year old.  Is working on "so big".

*Is definitely the dominant of the two.  She rules the roost.  She is always stealing Addison's toys, but also loves to try to kiss & hug her sissy.  Addison has not yet been receptive of her affection because Alexis is a little rough. 

ADDISON

*Weighs 17 pounds 4 ounces & is 29 1/4 inches tall.

*Wears 9 month clothes.  Mostly Carters 9 month size.

*Wears Size 3 diapers.  She has a skinnier tushy.  Also has switched to Costco brand diapers after a pretty severe diaper rash from Pampers Brand with dry max.

*Has 8 teeth.

*Will eat almost anything.  Also not a fan of carrots.  She seems to be a little pickier than Alexis but will eat just about anything we give her.

*Will say just about anything you tell her to.  Her most frequent words are... Da Da, Hi, Bye, Cat, Ball, Yuck, Ouch, Set (as in ready, set, go), Nice (We are always telling them to be nice to the cat.  I think she thinks the cats name is "nice")

*Waves, pro patty caker, gives fives, likes to play peek a boo by covering her eyes with her hands, does "so big", can show you where her nose is and where your nose is, shows you 1 finger to indicate her age, Loves the "head, shoulders, knees and toes" song, but only if you play along and touch each of her body parts while you sing it.  Loves her Little People toys and her play cell phones.  (She actually holds the phone up to her ear & says hi)
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We did get the ok from the doctor to switch the girls over to cow's milk!  YEAH!  We are waiting until the weekend to incorporate our changes since it will also involve adding another full meal and eliminating a bottle from the girls routine.  We find that it is easier to make schedule changes on the weekends when there are two people around to help manage any crabbiness that goes along with changing things up.  We did have a long discussion with the pediatrician in regards to regular milk versus organic milk.  I was very surprised by her answers and the information that she provided us.  Just curious....what's your opinion on organic milk??

We were also hoping that the girls would have weighed enough to upgrade them into their bigger car seats.  They only have a few more pounds to go before we can do this.  They will still continue to ride backwards for the time being. 

All and all the appointment with the doctor for their 15 month check ups went fairly well.  There are a few issues that I would rather not discuss at this time.  Nothing serious, but I'm not up for having a debate with anyone right now about these issues.  I will keep you up to date as more information regarding the situation becomes available. 

In a Funk....

I apologize for my lack of blogging lately.  I guess you could say I've been in sort of a "blogging funk" recently.  I need to post pictures from the Fourth of July and just some other random pictures from our daily activities, but I just haven't felt up to it.  I'm not quite sure why that is and I've been trying to figure it out.  The only thing that I can think of is that some pretty significant transitions are about to happen and the fact that Baby Hope has been on my mind A LOT lately.

Lets start with Hope.  Over the past week, the one year anniversary of bringing our girls home from the NICU past.  While I know that this should be a great milestone, I can't help but think about our little one(s) who never got to join us on this crazy journey.  I know that God took her from us for a reason and that she is watching over and protecting all of us, but I still wonder why?  Will it ever get easier?  Will there ever be a day that goes by that I don't ever question what it was that I did wrong?

Saturday morning I was sitting out on our back deck having a cup of joe before the girls got up.  Out of no where it started raining while the sun was out in all it's glory.  So I moved to our covered front porch.  Almost instantly the most beautiful rainbow covered the sky.  In my heart, I know that was Hope gracing us with her beauty and giving me a sign that she's ok.  She's was smiling down on us and reminding me that she is an angel protecting us all. 
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15 months?  How is it possible that the girls are going to the pediatrician for 15 month check ups this afternoon?  We are hoping that the doctor will be satisfied with the girls weight gain and will ok the switch from formula to cow's milk.  While I'm worried about making the transition, I can definitely say, without a doubt, that I WILL NOT MISS MIXING, MEASURING AND/OR MAKING FORMULA!!!  I also will not miss the dent that formula makes on the bank account every month.  Just a rough estimate.....but Terry and I did the math.  We've used approximately 250 cans of formula over the last year.  250 X $20= $5000.  That's just a rough estimate.  Some of the formula was $25 a can and some was $18.  But we will be glad to have a little more money in our pocket book each month.

The girls seem to be doing very well.  I will post their weights and their current stats in the next few days.  I'm just curious....am I the only mother of a preemie that is always waiting for the other shoe to drop?  For some reason I have trouble accepting the fact that my girls are thriving and doing well.  I thank God every day that they are progressing, but I secretly dissect every move that they make.  I wonder if every sneeze is RSV sneaking into our house.  I wonder if Alexis crawling backwards is an early sign of autism.  I wonder if Addison's brain hemorrhage is the reason she didn't walk earlier.  I can't help but want the absolute best for my girls.  I think this is why my eyes are always peeled, in hopes that if something is wrong, I can catch it early.  Who knows?  Maybe I'm just being a crazy overbearing mother?? 

They originally told us in the NICU that we wouldn't start to fully know the affects of Addison's brain bleed or the affects of the girls being born so prematurely until they reached 18-24 months.  As each day grows closer I become more and more terrified that something isn't going to be right.  I know that no matter what their future holds, I will love both of them as much today as I did the day they were born.  I just wish that I could be a normal parent and be able to take my children to a pediatrician's appointment without being petrified that she will give us bad news. 

Why is it so hard to Let Go and Let God? 

Official Tooth Count!

Sadly, Terry's last surviving grandparent past away last weekend and Terry had to unexpectedly make a trip to Chicago.  This meant that I had to take yesterday off work.  I fully expected to be dealing with two mega fussy babies since the past few days Terry has been telling me that the girls have been extremely cranky, fussy and whiney during the day.  This also held true for the past weekend so I was prepared to take on a rough day. 

Nope, the girls were perfect angels.  They slept in just a little, only 15 minutes, but every little bit helps right?  They ate a perfect breakfast and lunch.  They went down for naps and slept nearly three hours while I got a bunch of stuff done around the house.  We went to the park and had a fantastic day. 

As I was changing Addison, she was laughing at me singing a stupid song to her.  My stupid song was an attempt to get her to hold still during the changing.  She grinned really big and I swore I saw something in her mouth.  I finished her diaper and pinned her down in an attempt to get whatever it was in her mouth out.  There was nothing in her mouth, but to my surprise Addison now has four top teeth and four bottom teeth.  This again explains the massive crabbiness the past week or so.

Alexis still maintains her two bottom teeth and four top teeth, but she slobbers like a St. Bernard so I'm fairly certain that she is also working on two more bottom teeth.

Official tooth count = 14

Here are a few pictures of the girls playing in our yard.  Again if you don't know by now...Addison is my blonde hair, blue eyed beauty and Alexis is my dark hair, dark eyed little angel.  Alexis won't hold still for long enough to take a great picture.

My Gym!

Last Saturday the girls had their first trial tumbling/gymnastics class at My Gym.  All I can say is that this place is great and the girls had a fantastic time.  They will definitely be going back.  See the below pictures.  (And yes, I am aware of how many germs float through a ball pit.  If I hadn't just seen them dump new, sanitized balls into the pit the girls wouldn't be playing in it.) 

If you don't know by now....Alexis is the dark hair and Addison is the blonde hair.

Looking for suggestions....

This past week Terry has been telling me that Alexis has become the master escape artist.  She has figured out how to take apart her gate and escape her fenced in area.  I didn't believe him.  Last night, Terry went out to the hardware store to purchase some zip ties to secure the gate so she can't take it apart.  I still wasn't convinced, but whatever.  So, last night why Terry was at Home Depot, I had started working on dinner.  I was browning some hamburger and I hear Addison giggling.  I look behind me and Alexis is in the kitchen at my feet.  She had really taken apart her gate.  Little booger!  Terry was able to zip tie it together so if she figures out how to escape now, she is pure genius!!!

Here's what I'm looking for help with.....

When Alexis escaped, Addison wasn't far behind.  I figured as long as the girls stayed out of trouble I would just let them play in the kitchen while I finished up dinner.  Alexis opened one of the cabinets and proceeded to pull out the giant turkey roaster pan.  She started smacking it with her hand and laughing.  I handed her a plastic spoon and she banged her little heart out.  I only wish that the video camera was close by.  I did manage to get a few pictures...... 

Addison says, "banging these pots is super fun sissy!"

Alexis my little goober!

Even with the messy hair, I still LOVE this picture.

Addison, always trying to eat everything!

Addison, I'm not quite sure what she is up to here?

Both girls thought it was funny to crawl in and out of the pans, but apparently banging on large roaster pans is also hysterical.  While I must agree that it was pretty cute and funny to watch my girls to this, it made me realize that we need to get our butts in gear with baby proofing more of the house.  I've been reading online reviews for cabinet and drawer locks, but none of them really have great reviews or safety ratings.  Does anyone have any suggestions on what works best?  We have 22 cabinets (yes, we have a lot of kitchen cabinets, but this also includes the 3 bathrooms) that we need to secure and probably 12 drawers.  I don't want to break the bank but I'm also not concerned about price as much as I am safety.  Any and all suggestions are welcome!!

I promise gym pictures will be up soon!  Sorry for the delay!!

A Tale/tail of two.....Well, pony tails anyway.

There has been much discussion in our house lately in regards to haircuts.  This is something I'm SO NOT ready for yet.  I'm not sure why, but in my eyes, having the girls get their first hair cut means that I have to accept the fact that they are not babies anymore.  I can't do that yet!  Wasn't it just yesterday that we were bringing them home from the hospital? 

Terry still thinks that at least Alexis needs a "trim" to help tame her wild mane.  He probably is right, but I just can't bring myself to take them for a haircut.  Yes, eventually I will give in, but for now bows, clips, and pony tails will have to suffice.

In the past whenever I tried to put bow or anything in the girls hair they would pull them out.  If they didn't pull out their own hair accessory, then Addison would pull out Alexis' or vice versa.  So we hadn't really done much with hair products.  Now in an attempt to delay haircuts we decided that it was time to try again.  Here are some pictures of the girls with their first pony tails:

I wish I could tell you that Alexis was doing something cute like blowing kisses in this picture but she isn't.  I think she actually was in the process of running away from me while I was trying to take her picture.

Alexis again.  It's nearly impossible to get these munchkins to stand still for a picture anymore.

Alexis giving me the evil eye.

Alexis plotting how she is going to break free from her "fenced in" area.

Addison more excited about the pony tail holders than her actual hair do.

Addison Grace

Addison:  Those eyes get me every time!

Addison running away from me.

Over the weekend we celebrated Father's Day at Terry's Mom's house.  The girls were super excited to have a new place to run around and play.  We attempted to get a photo of Daddy with his girls, but as I previously mentioned....It's near impossible to get the girls to sit still for 10 seconds.  Here's our best effort:

Alexis pink & Addison blue (And Uncle Keith on the left)

Monkeys I tell you!!  (Cousin Lila popped in on the left)

See what I mean?.....nearly impossible!

And the one halfway decent picture that I get.....Terry isn't looking at the camera.  UGH!

You may remember almost a year ago, some pictures that we took of Alexis and Clifford at Ga Ga's house.

Well It seems that this past weekend, Alexis enjoyed Clifford a little more than she did a year ago....

I just love that grin!

Alexis riding Clifford with Cousin Lila.

The girls have their first tumbling class tomorrow morning.  We are all very excited so stay tuned for pictures!

What a difference a year makes....

 

Wow!!  I can't believe that the above picture was taken a year ago.  Man, how things have changed.  This was Terry last year on Father's Day in the NICU.  Alexis (left) had only been home for a few days, and Addison (right) was still perfecting the use of a bottle.  Terry looks a little stiff and uncomfortable in this picture.  Let me say, he is not that anymore!  He is SUPER DAD!!!  The girls are very lucky to have such an amazing Daddy who loves them so much!!

I've been trying to make a card for Terry from the girls.  Unfortunately, our STUPID camera decided to crap out on me again.  Here are the best pictures I could get.  (We have decided on a new camera but every time it goes on sale, it sells out.  I have a rain check to get it, but we are just waiting for it to be back in stock.  I can not wait!!!)

I love this picture of Addison.  If only my stupid camera didn't mess it up! 

Yes, this is typical Alexis.  Every time she sees the camera she runs.  I guess she doesn't like having her picture taken?  Every time I tried to get her to hold the sign she would put it on her head.  Little Booger!!

In an attempt to get the girls to sit still, I pulled out their toothbrushes.  It worked for all of about 30 seconds.  Addison determined not to look at the camera!

While this is not the best picture in the world, I'm still shocked that I managed to get both girls to sit still and both look at the camera at the same time.

Another toothbrush distraction picture.  Alexis is still learning which end she is supposed to put in her mouth.

Failed attempt #645 to get a picture of both girls looking at me.  But I still love this picture anyway.

Even though Addison has a blank stare on her face, this is one of my fav's.

I can't say it enough......We are very lucky to have Terry. 

It's very apparent that he loves his girls as much as they love him!!  Happy Father's Day Terry!!!