NICU Halloween Party 2010

The Banner Desert Medical center where the girls were born holds an annual Halloween party for the graduates of the NICU. Last year we went and had a good time catching up with some of the nurses that took care of the girls after they were born. Here were pics of our girls one year ago:



This year they had so much fun because they were able to run around and have fun with the other kids. I had fun talking with some of the nurses and some of the new parents of babies who were born in the last year. The girls enjoyed snacks and playing with the other kids and decorations.

Addison;

Riley:

Addison:

Addison:



Riley:

Addison:

After some time we met with a family. Their daughter Zora was wearing the same costume that Riley was wearing. Little Zora was 14 months old but she was born at 25 weeks. She stayed at the NICU for 99 days and is now a happy healthy girl. She is still catching up with her peers due to her prematurity but she was doing great. She was darling and both girls had fun playing with her:










We had such a good time and the girls got to spend some time with children that had a similar start to life as they did. I was actually surprised at how many other babies were there who were born at around 24-25 weeks and had done so well. It makes me so happy to see that.

Happy 18 months!!!

18 months! Wow, this seems like another big milestone for the girls. Each month is a milestone but those birthdays and half birthdays seem a little more important. I'm looking back to pictures that were taken last Halloween and comparing them to now and I just can't believe how much the girls have grown in the last year.

Here were their pictures from last year:


I just love those bald heads. At the time I didn't realize how little hair they had. I always put bows on their heads to make sure they looked like little girls.

And again, here is now:



They sure have more hair but it grows in so strange with more in the back than in the front.

Some statistics on the girls.

Teeth: Addison: 8 Riley 12
Diapers: Disposable size 3's still. They will wear size 4's at night for extra protection
Food: They eat just about everything. They will try anything off our plates. The love yogurt, cheese, Mac N' Cheese, peas, and crackers.
Clothes: Size 18 months. Some things are still big and others are just right.
Shoes: They are between a size 5 and 6. Riley has a little bit bigger feet so she can wear the size 6's but Addison is closer to the size 5's.
Activities: Reading books, dancing to music, pushing toy lawn mower and vacuum around the house, talking, saying animal noises,shopping, and going to the park.
Words: Mama, Dada, Nana, grandma (sounds like g-ma), kitty, take this, uh-oh, no, ba-ba, and a few various other words.
Sleep: 10-12 hours through the night

We are so proud of our preemie girls that have caught up to their age group and give us so much joy. We are excited for their first year to actually trick or' treat and they have 2 parties to go to. I just pray that the next 6 months doesn't go by as fast. I can't fathom having them turn 2.

58 Degrees and Raining....>Woohoo

Finally Phoenix has got the memo that is fall and the weather is starting to change!!! I am so excited to see rain and feel the cooler air after still experiencing 90 degree temps in October. On the way to work today the temp in my car said 58 degrees and I instantly got excited. It doesn't rain very often in Phoenix so it is a nice change of pace although Arizona drivers don't know what to do when water is falling from the sky. They either drive like maniacs and cause accidents left and right, or they drive like a snail because they are too scared of water on the roads. After living in the Pacific Northwest for 9 years, I know a thing or two about driving in rain and even snow but the drivers in AZ have no clue at all.

Some other updates for everyone, Riley now has Roseola. It is funny to see her break out with the virus after Addie had it back in August. Riley had about 3 days of a high temperature and she was very lethargic and cranky. Then yesterday you could see the rash begin to start and she was almost back to her normal self. It was rough couple of days because all she wanted to do was be held by one of us, sleep extra naps during the day and then wake up several times at night which we are not used to after having them sleep through the night for so long. I'm glad the worst is over.

I had to make some decisions about how busy my life was and I decided that I could no longer coach the gymnastics classes. Somehow I ended up teaching 7 classes a day on 4 different days and that was pulling me away from the girls more than I wanted. I enjoyed the gymnastics classes so much but I hated leaving the girls so often. They barely saw me one week after I had several late nights at the gym. So I decided to put in my two weeks last weekend. I needed to prepare for starting my next Masters program and being away from the girls 5 days a week was not going to be an option. I started my first class last night and I have to say that I was completely thrilled with the subject matter and I found myself enjoying being in class for the 1st time. I have had other classes that I enjoyed but it was still school. The 4 hours that I spent in class last night felt like enjoyable. My program is a Masters in Adult Education and Training and last night we learned about the history of education. It makes me wonder if Jesse enjoyed his program as much as I am enjoying mine. We will have to have some good conversations here soon.

Tomorrow is my sister Sara's 22nd birthday! We will be celebrating tonight with dinner out with the family.

End of Summer BBQ

It is sad to say that we are still experiencing summer like conditions here in Phoenix but we are finally on the downswing into cooler temperatures. Thank goodness!!! To celebrate the change, we got together with family at Aunt Shannon's house. It was also Aunt Jennie's birthday along with a few other birthdays that were missed and coming up. The girls just love being around all the family but they are so shy when we first get there. Eventually they warmed up and got passed around to visit all the family members. They had a blast playing on the trampoline and pushing the big ball around the backyard.

I enjoy those family get-togethers so much. In a society that gravitates towards material things, it is just nice to sit back and make good family memories.

Riley visiting with Aunt Shannon and Jennie


Sarah and Riley

Jesse and Addison

The Moore's have a pet turtle and the girls got to touch and check out this neat creature. They still think every animal is a kitty since we have 3 cats in our house. Anytime any other animal is around them or in a book or on TV, the girls say "kitty" we try to correct them but it is so darn cute to see them say that.
Here is Riley getting to know the Turtle:

Addison

Riley

Addie and Daddy

Addie

Addie and Sara

And this is what happens when you try to pose both girls together. I am serious...this is how so many of our photos turn out. Riley was not having it at all.

But then she gave us a goofy grin

Mommy and Riley

Mommy and Addie

Mommy and both girls

Addie playing with the big ball

Addie and Cousin Nick playing together, so much fun!

Halloween Costumes

Here are the girls Halloween costumes. Riley is our Lady Bug as her nick name has always been "bug". Addison is our adorable Bumble Bee. I tried to get some photos taken but it is sooooo difficult to get them both looking at the camera. I will be purchasing black tights and little shoes to finish out their costumes before Halloween arrives.

And yes, it is still hot and in the 90's here in Phoenix so we probably won't need any jackets to wear with their cute little outfits.

They are learning so much

I really love this age. The girls can communicate with us, they listen (well some of the time), they respond to questions and tasks, and they smile and give us kisses all the time.

I still miss my little babies but I love watching my girls grow into beautiful little people with minds of their own. You can almost see their minds at work as they try new things and understand how things work around them. Riley is obsessed with turning lights out. After her bath I always let her turn out the hall light when we are done. She gets this big smile on her face as we walk down the hall. She would throw a holy fit if I didn’t let her so I let her do this every night. Addison loves taking the caps off of all my bathroom lotions and potions. If she knows I am taking a bath, she will run in there and help me put the caps on and off of all the things I am using. I have to be careful though or she may run off with them. Riley also likes to partake in the bottle cap games.

Both girls just recently learned how to blow kisses. I started doing this to them and they will put their hands to their mouths and attempt to blow you the kiss back. It just melts my heart to see them do that.

The girls are really getting into football season with us. They love to cheer for the Redskins and clap when they score a touchdown. I think they have a little ESP going on because they tend to know when a good play is coming up because they start cheering before the play begins, and often they are right on.

If I tell them that we need to get ready to go “bye bye” they will run to the basket where their shoes are and start trying to put their shoes on themselves.

They are obsessed with ice. If anyone goes into the refrigerator, the girls will come running and they absolutely have to have a piece of ice to suck on. Luckily we liked the crushed ice and they can get a little piece that won’t allow them to choke.

Both girls know what it means to wash their hair. They will walk around the house and I will ask them to wash their hair and they will start pretending to wash their hair. So stinking cute!

Riley loves to help me do the laundry. She will put all the clothes from the washer into the dryer and then she waits around for me to fold the clothes. She will then take the piles into the specific rooms or to daddy or grandma if I ask her to.

Addison’s favorite word is no. If you ask her any question she will say no or shake her head. I love to ask her if she wants a bag of candy and she always tells me “no”. If only this would last when she actually learns what candy is.

2 years ago yesterday

A kind friend reminded me that it was my 2 year BFP(Big Fat Positive Pregnancy Test) anniversary yesterday!

Two years ago yesterday, our dreams came true. We finally saw two of the most prettiest lines I have ever seen. After years of not preventing and 10 long months of trying, we had finally conceived. I have special thanks to our RE who was amazing and got us pregnant on the first try at IUI. The little magic drug Clomid allowed me to ovulate 2 eggs and amazingly we caught both eggs.

Our first ultrasound:


9 weeks gestation, our two gummy bears

I remember testing the day before and getting a negative. I was not very optimistic about our chances after the BFN (negative test). I went ahead and tested again because several friends were keeping track of my cycle and they were very anxious to hear the results. I took the test first thing, got undressed, and got into the shower. I then remembered about the test so I picked it up off the edge of the tub and low and behold, there were two pretty pink lines. I then began to cry and cry. I couldn’t believe it had finally happened for us and I was going to be a mommy. I think back fondly to this day as it is 2nd best next to the day the girls were born. My life has changed so much over the last two years. We are so blessed to have the two most happy, beautiful, wonderful girls. Mommy and Daddy love you so much.

Catching Up

Sometimes I wonder how the days just slip away from me. I have several moments throughout the week where I make a mental note to make a blog post about something fun, exciting, or funny and the next thing I know, a week has passed and I forget all about the blog post I was going to make. I try to get the important things down but sometimes I even forget about those things. With as much as I have going on these days, it is no wonder I have little time to blog.

The gymnastics coaching is going really well. I have fun teaching the kids and I like the little get away time that comes with coaching. However, I still feel as though the coaching can be an obligation and some weeks, it is a little too much. Right now, I coach 2 classes on Tuesdays, 1 class on Thursdays, 1 class on Fridays, and 2 classes on Saturdays. The little extra income is nice but the time away from the girls is hard. I would be happy if I could get rid of the Friday class but there is no room in the schedule to move that class around or find someone else to do the class. So for now, I am keeping up.

As for starting school, I just don't know if I can start another masters degree right now. If I wasn't doing the gymnastics coaching, I think I could keep up, but now with two jobs and us moving soon, I just don't see how I will keep up. Maybe I should wait until after the holidays to try to tackle that next degree program. The 2nd masters is not a needed degree but it will help me with the curriculum to teach adults and I really want to get into instructing courses at UoP or another online University for supplemental income.

As far as my 1st job goes, I just got a substantial raise at work which was a long time coming. This new raise will help out quite a bit. This raise brought me up to a goal that I have had a for a few years to hit this pay bracket. The only sad thing was that we were so busy this weekend that Jesse and I couldn't find any time to go out a celebrate my new raise.

On Saturday I taught my gymnastics classes that went really well. Then I went home and picked up the girls to take them to Braedon and Cohen's birthday party. Brea's son's birthdays are 5 days apart so the last two years, they have had a combo birthday party. The party was a blast despite the fact it was an outside party and it was over 100 degrees. The girls played with water balloons, spray bottles to keep cool. They enjoyed all the fresh fruit and made quite a mess of their outfits. I kept them hydrated well enough and they were worn out by the end of the party. Riley is still getting used to not getting a bottle during the day. She uses her bottle as comfort when she is tired and she screamed the whole way home because she didn't have a bottle. That poor girl needs to learn that she is a big girl and doesn't need her bottle.

The rest of the weekend was spent getting ready for the Garage Sale we are having this weekend. We are doing the sale on Friday and Saturday to get rid of all the things we don't use anymore and make it easier for us to move. We are still waiting to see if the offer will go through on our house. We did look at a few other houses this weekend and found one to fit our needs. It is a 4 bedroom 2 bath house with 2500 square feet and a 3 car garage. The girls could have their own rooms which is something I go back and forth about but it would be nice to have the option. The girls had fun running all over the empty house. The house is next to a grassy area that the girls could play in. And there is a park across the street. I don't know if things will work out for us to get into that house but we are praying it does. Jesse hasn't seen the house yet because he got strep throat this weekend and couldn't come out to see it. My mom went with the girls and I and she agrees that the house is perfect for our needs. We are hoping everything works out.

The girls seem to be getting better each day. Addison's poor nose has cleared up and the antibiotics seem to be doing the job. They are sleeping better and seem to be happier babies.

I think that is all our updates for now.

Update on Addison's Heart Condition

If you have been following our blog for a while, you know that Addison was diagnosed with a heart condition called SVT. See this blog post from the 1st time she had her episode SVT People that suffer from SVT have an irregular fast heart beat. When she had her first episode in the NICU, her heart rate got up to the high 200’s. She has had a few other episodes since the 1st one but not as severe. We have been taking her to the cardiologist every couple of months to have her checked out. She had been on medication since that 1st scare that was to control her heart rate but she was weaned from the medication a couple of months back. When we saw the doctor, she said that Addison looked great and since she has not had an episode since she was weaned, they didn’t need to see her back for a year! We are so happy to learn that she doesn’t have to go back and she may be growing out of the condition as well.

The doctor said that as kids get older they can tell you if they are having a racing heart. At this age it hard to know if she is having an SVT episode. We have been told that she will get pale, cry a lot, and refuse to eat. We really haven’t noticed that out of her so I think we are on the way to a more normal life for Addison. We are glad she doesn't have to go back for a year also because she absolutely hates to have her heart monitored and get her blood pressure taken. She screamed the whole time and got herself all worked up to a heart rate of 180 but as soon as she calmed down, the heart rate came down.

Please pray that we continue to have 2 healthy girls.