17 Months

Another month have passed in this warp speed process of the girls growing up. I'm amazed at how slow life used to go prior to having kids and how fast it goes now that we are raising our two beautiful daughters. I was reminded of how much they are growing while I went shopping this weekend. I was shopping for my boss's new daughther and I got to go back into the infant section of the stores. You know, back where you bought clothes by months. After looking at the newborn clothes, I just could not believe that the girls were that small...well actually they were even smaller. They couldn't wear newborn clothes until they were about 2 months old. I picked up a preemie outfit just to remember how tiny they were and I could barely remember them being that small.

Here is a picture of Riley with her first preemie onesie. Her legs were so tiny that she barely filled the leg holes.

I also was reminded that I want to do the preemie onesie drive again this year where I take the onesies to the NICU for Christmas so the new babies have a present. More on that in another post soon.

All the reminising aside, I am so happy to see my girls grow and learn every day. I am happy to report that Addison is walking full time now. This last week, she finally figured it out and she prefers to walk now instead of crawl. She is still a bit unsteady and she will fall here and there but as soon as she falls, she gets right back on her feet. I love watching her follow Riley around. Riley is running all over our house and Addison is trying so hard to keep up with her. I find it comical since Addie is the older sister yet her younger sister started walking first. They both learn things at their own pace and I wouldn't have it any other way.

The girls are still pretty sick. We are calling in antibotics today since they don't seem to be getting any better. Addison seems to be having the worst time. Her nose just keeps running and it is so red and infected. We can't keep up with the snot that girl is producing. I hope that the infection clears up soon. Riley just has a slight running nose but we have kept both girls on rounds of Benedryl and Tylenol - generic of course. We hope the antibiotics will do the trick and the girls will be back to normal soon.

Happy 17 months girls!!! Mommy and Daddy love you so much!

GTKM - Get To Know Me

Here is a little get to know me question and answer post. This was inspired by "Cuz I'm the Mama" at Twenty Fingers and Twenty Toes . She has the two cutest little twin girls and I enjoy reading her blog and learning all about her family. You know us multiple mom's have to stick together and we always get a little therapy from reading about the trials and triumphs of raising twins. She tagged me and asked me to answer these questions:

1.) What is your favorite day of the week and why?
My favorite day of the week is Saturday, more specifically Saturday morning. During the week I don't get to see my girls in the morning since I leave for work a little before 5am. And baring any craziness out of the girls, they are not up that early to say goodbye to me. On Saturday, I get to sleep in a little bit and then I get to get my girls up for the day and we have quiet time together since daddy always gets to sleep in. I Cherish that special time we have together and the girls are normally their happiest in the mornings.

2.) Name one way you hope your child is like you and one way they are different from you?
I hope that my girls follow my love of sports. I'm hoping they enjoy gymnastics, volleyball and basketball like their mom does. Jesse I both hope they enjoy watching football and they can root for the Redskins like we do.
I hope that they don't need too much organization in their lives. I am very Type A personality and I have to have things a certain way. I tend to freak out a bit (understatement) if things don't go the way I planned. I guess this somewhat of a good trait when you are raising multiples because you need schedules and structure but if things go off course, I tend to lose it. I just hope my girls are a little more laid back like their daddy.

3.) If you could vacation anywhere where would it be??
I would probably have to say some private island somewhere. I would like to get further out of the country. We have been to Mexico but I would like to go somewhere half way around the world and enjoy a private beach or hut on the water. Mmmm..heaven.
4.) What was your favorite splurge pre-baby?
Watching TV was probably my major splurge. I used to keep up on all the bad reality and girly TV shows. Now I barely get any time to watch TV. That is good because my days are filled with my girls interests and I love that.

5.) Who is your celebrity crush right now?
If we are going on hotness alone I would have to say Tatum Channing is very yummy. I first noticed him in the movie Step up but he has done several movies since then and I could take me some Tatum Channing any day.

6.) If a babysitter magically showed up at your door and you had 10 minutes to change and get out the door ... where would you and your significant other go for a fun evening??
If we are talking fun, Jesse and I would go out and play sand volleyball. Volleyball was one of our favorite things to do pre-kids. We played in several sand volleyball leagues and we had a blast and met so many nice friends that we really don't keep in contact with now.

7.) Do people ever question why you blog?
Not really, people understand this is my way of doing a baby book for the girls along with some therapy while raising twin girls. I don't want to forget these moments so if I blog, I can look back to pictures and what we were doing years from now.
8.) What color do you think looks best on YOU!!
I have to say I look good in either black or white. I am so very plain people tell me. I like white because it brings out my dark hair and eyes and black because it is so slimming.

Sickness Update

I saw my doctor yesterday and It looks like I have a nasty sinus infection. I was given antibiotics and some nasal spray to help me get better. Today I actually feel better than I have in the last 10 days. This is good because I have my gymnastics class to teach tonight and I want to be feeling better so I can keep up with my toddlers in the class.

I also took the girls into their doctor yesterday to have them checked. Addie was starting to show the signs of the cold too so I wanted them both checked out. Addie had a temp of about 100 at the appointment but that my be from the teething she is doing. She is working on her top premolars while Riley is working on her bottom premolars. The doctor was not convinced that they actually had an infection. He said they may just have a stuffy nose and nasal drainage at this point. He wanted to see how they did during the week and for us to call back at the end of the week if they had not improved and he would get them going on Antibiotics then. I agree that I don't want them on antibiotics if they don't need them.

Wish us luck that we all get better here soon.

Monday's With Aunt Sara

Since Jesse is taking a college course on Monday nights, we are having Aunt Sara come over to help me out with the girls. The girls just adore their aunt Sara and Aunt Sara does such a good job playing with the girls and keeping them entertained so I can run some errands and get things done around the house. By the time I get home from work, I don't have much energy to run around the house and swing the girls around. Sara is a full time college student and she is able to come over after her classes with a bunch of energy to keep the girls laughing and playing for hours.

I am so grateful for this help and I am glad the girls can spend extra time with their aunt. Jesse will be taking his class until the semester ends in December so we have Sara to help us out until he is done. I am also grateful that Sara does such a great job wearing the girls out that they go right to bed at night.

Here are the pictures from their fun this Monday:

Sara and Riley



Sara and Addie


While Sara was having fun with the girls, my mom and I ran out for some errands. We ran into the dollar store to pick up some small things for the girls to play with. We picked up some necklaces, bracelets, hats, headbands, and hand bags for the girls to dress up with. They had a blast with their new treasures.




Addie:

Riley:

Addie:

Addie:

Riley:

My Disneyland Souvenir

Out of all the fun we had at Disneyland, I had to bring back a nasty cold. I started to get a sore throat on our 2nd night in Disneyland and it was pretty bad the 3rd day when we were leaving. Then I was surprised when I felt a bit better on Monday when it was time to go to work. Well that was short-lived because on Tuesday evening after teaching my gymnastics class I was back to a bad sore throat, running noise, sneezing, and coughing.

This all came during the week that I was filling in for my gymnastics partner. She was going out of town on a vacation so I was doing her classes for her. So instead of resting, I was working both jobs and probably just making myself worse. At the gym, there really isn't a 3rd in command that could fill in for me because I was sick so I had to tough out my classes and I just hope I didn't get any of the kids sick.

My Saturday classes were the worst because I was in so much pain and I about lost my voice during the 2nd class. Later that day, I justified a milkshake by saying that it would feel good on my sore throat, and it did, but my waistline didn't need that at all.

By Sunday I was over the throat pain and it was all mostly upper respiratory. I have to blow my nose 100 times a day and I keep coughing stuff up. If I could get over that, I might actually feel like myself again. I am at work today, but I plan to take it easy and I only have 1 class of gymnastics to teach tomorrow so hopefully by the end of the week I will feel better.

The bad news is that I passed this on to Riley and it is so hard to see your child who doesn't know how to blow her nose, deal with the congestion and running nose. She doesn't want to eat for anything. She is just picking at her food on all three of her meals. And even after ordering Olive Garden - her favorite, she just picked at the ravioli instead of gobbling it up like she used to. She is tolerating us using the nose syringe and the saline to clean out her nose at least.

Jesse also reported that he is getting sick today so It looks as though we are passing this around the house. I hope that Addie and my mom stay healthy.

I am the Face - Supporter

I am putting this blog post out there for the many friends (online and in real life) that are the face of miscarriage, stillbirth, and infant loss. October 15th is the National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day.

I think about my own story and how close we were to losing the twins at 18 weeks. If we were not monitored as closely as we were, we could have lost the girls and have a very different story than we have now. Due to the early monitoring, the medical staff was able to put me on bed rest starting at 18 weeks and that allowed me to stay pregnant much longer than if I would have been working and walking around. I had 3 hospital admissions for bed rest and medication to keep my pre-term labor at bay. I was so lucky to get my girls to 32w6d gestation which gave them a good start in life.

I can only imagine the pain these mothers have gone through when losing a child. No mother should have to bury their child and yet 2,000 women in the US alone lose a baby every day.

We need to get more awareness and support for education on this topic. If you want to support the cause, visit I am the Face and learn more about it. As I have met such amazing women who have lost a child, this cause is near and dear to my heart.

Developmental Assesment

The girls were seen on Monday to have their development tested. I am happy to report that the girls are doing many skills at or around their chronological age. We are no longer talking about their adjusted age when determining the skills they should be doing. Both scored closer to 18 months with their language and personal social skills. They were right on with their fine motor skills but we can work on having them stack small objects on top of each other. The therapist recommended using 1 inch blocks and having the girls stack those 2-3 blocks high. The could put on block on top of another but they didn't do it very gently and going up another block would have caused the tower to fall. The girls are just learning the finesse with their hands and the ability to use the fingers to manipulate the objects rather than slamming everything together.

Addison still needs some work on her gross motor skills, ie. walking. Addison can walk...she just chooses not to. She has walked across the physical therapy room several times but she would prefer to crawl if you let her. The therapist recommended buying her high top shoes that have a little arch support to help her little feet. She watched Addison walk barefoot and she could tell that Addison was using her toes a lot to stabilize herself which really slows down her walking. The hard sole shoes can help stabilize her feet more and allow her to walk more easily.

This will be their last assessment since our therapist is leaving Phoenix Children's Hospital. She going off to work on her own so we may see her another time but we would have to be private pay and bill our own insurance which may be a mess to get through.

I am just happy to see the girls catch up to their peers and work on progressing like normal 16 month old toddlers.

Disneyland 2010

We had such a good time on our Disneyland get away with the girls. I was so impressed at how well the girls handled the change to their routine and how much they enjoyed the whole experience. Disneyland is such a magical place and I was so happy to be able to take my girls to experience it all for themselves.

The trip started out on Thursday evening. We didn't get on the road until about 5pm which is just about dinner time for the girls. They ate their dinner in the car and settled in for the long ride. We got some happy pictures of the girls in their car seats all covered in their blankets.




After about an hour, the girls started getting tired and they didn't seem to understand why they were stuck in their car seats rather than taking their baths and getting ready for bed. We had a couple of melt-downs before the girls cried themselves to sleep. They slept most of the 1st leg of the trip until we stopped for a bite to eat in Blythe. The girls were able to get out of the car, stretch their legs and play for a bit while the adults got some dinner. Then it was back on the road we went. The girls fell back to sleep better this time after we put them in their pajamas.

We made it into the Disneyland area around 11:00pm my dad's GPS took us to the wrong spot that was nowhere near the hotel. We had to drive around in circles for a while but we finally found the hotel. The girls woke up as we started unpacking. I think they were very confused as to what was going on but they did pretty well considering everything we were putting them through. We got their pack n' plays set up and were able to put them back to sleep pretty easily.

They girls slept until around 8am which allowed the rest of us to get a little sleep before we went off into the park. We all got ready and strolled down to the entrance of Disneyland:



As we were walking through the gates, I was overcome with emotion. Disneyland holds so many memories for me as a kid and I was so excited to see my girls experience the Disneyland magic. The girls had so much to look at and they loved every second of it.

Our first stop was into Toon Town and we got some pictures of the girls on a trolley and playing around.







Then we found Goofy's garden and the girls had a blast going through his garden house and playing on the equipment in the garden. This part of the park was perfect for toddlers that may not want to wait in line for rides. They were able to get out of the strollers and climb all over everything.

The girls played on Goofy's piano:

Riley sat with Nana on Goofy's chair



Addison on Goofy's Chair

And they climbed onto the pumpkin out in the Garden



Riley relaxed with Sara on Goofy's couch:

And they played in the tunnels:



We all had so much fun and they girls got tired after a while. The hotel was just right across the street and it was easy to go back and forth to allow the girls to rest.


On the first evening we bought the girls their Minnie Ears and got their names embroidered on the backs as a Disneyland tradition. The girls didn't like wearing their hats. As soon as we put them on, they took them off. It was hilarious trying to get pictures before they could pull the hats off. As the night wore on, we put jackets on the girls to keep them warm and we put their hoods on. We then decided to put their hats back on on the girls loved that. They didn't want to take the hats off at all if they had the hoods on first. It was so cute to see them run around with those hats on being silly. Riley was running off making friends with people and being a goof ball.



And Addison was giving us the biggest smiles, they both melted my heart.

The next day we got off to a late start. It was my dad's birthday so we let him rest and take his time before going into the park. We didn't spend as much time on rides on the 2nd day. My dad and I ate together while Linda Sara took the girls on a few rides.

Linda and Riley

Sara and Addie

Dad and Linda

me and Riley at the end of the 2nd night:

The girls did much better than we expected with all of the disruption to their schedule. They played hard and slept hard. They did even better on the ride home with little crying on the 6 hour trip.

We stopped to eat lunch and we got pictures of the girls in their "1" thing "2" thing shirts my dad bought them.




Overall it was a great family vacation and we hope to bring the girls back in a year or so when they are bigger and can experience more. We will stay at the Disneyland Hotel this next time to give the girls the whole big experience.

Latest Professional Phots

We took the girls in for some new professional pictures. I had wanted to get them done around the 15 month mark but things slipped away from us. The girls are now 16 months and they have grown so much since the last pictures taken on their birthday. I was a little upset with JC Penney's because they used to allow you to post the digital copies of the photos to facebook and the blog but now they no longer allow this. I was extremely frustrated about this new change to their policies and I'm not sure if I will go back. Luckily my dad was able to capture the images so I could at least post them on the blog. I keep the blog as the girls' baby book instead of doing a traditional book so I need a photographer or a photography place that offers the digital copies regardless of what I purchase. I alwasys spent around $80-90 each session so why can't they humor me with the digital copies???

Riley had a large bump and bruise on her forehead but you really can't see it. Both girls are going through an awkward hair phase. The hair on the top of their head seems to grow much slower than the hair on the back of their head, giving them a mullet type of look. I think I may cut their hair to give everything a chance to even out....I just haven't decided yet. If anyone has any suggestions let me know. Riley has more bangs than Addison...Addie takes after her dad with her hair line but she does have little hairs in front that my grow in later.

Here are the photos, keep in mind they are not the best quality because they were captured from the online album so they have lost some of the luster.





Addison and Mommy

Riley and Mommy

Riley





Addie: