Here are a few early morning snaps from today. The boys are 10 months old today - I can hardly believe that in just 2 short months they will be one year old. WOW. Even at 6am they are happy babies! More details to follow...
Friday, June 29, 2007
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Lots of catching up to do...
What a week last week! First, I need to give a huge shout out of THANKS to the grandmothers of my lucky babies. We were without Jessica (our Nanny) last week due to scheduling issues so in marched the Grandmothers to pitch in a help out with the kids. We are so fortunate to have family nearby that can help us out when we need it. And we appreciate you so much Gramma and Grammy! Thank you for taking the time out of your busy days to help out. My sister in law Susie once said to me at a family occasion that it is so awesome seeing her kids surrounded by so much love from their extended family. At the time she said it, I didn't fully understand how awesome that was but now I do. There is nothing better than seeing our kids flourish in the love of family that surrounds them. Watching them love their Grandparents is a neat thing to see, that is for sure. They light up when they see them, every time. SO, THANK YOU TO GRAMMY & GRAMMA - YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST!
I never came back to update on our evaluation we had on Wednesday. All went very well. Long story short, both kids are behind a bit, as expected. JD is operating at about a 7-8 month old level which is a bit ahead of his adjusted age; and Cole is operating at about a 5.5-6 month old level, which is a bit behind his adjusted age. The real vs. adjusted age is quite a confusing concept because they analyze some things based on their adjusted age (which is almost 7 mos) and some things are looked at based on their real age (almost 10 mos). That said, we are in a good place with both and we have our work cut out for us for the next several months. We have lots of ideas of things we can do to continue helping JD & Cole get caught up. It was a bit overwhelming at first since there was a lot to process with two kids - but once I sat down and thought through everything, it's really not that complicated. The bottom line is that both of them will develop at their own pace and eventually will catch up. We can help facilitate their development but as with any children, they all learn and develop differently. We were happy with the eval and will continue with physical & occupational therapy (especially for Cole's eating). His eating has improved tremendously over the last week so we are on the fast track now.
We also had a doc appt at Hopkins to have JD's feet looked at. They have been very curved (in a C shape) since birth and our pediatrician and therapist were both on the fence about whether or not it was a problem. So, we had him checked just to be sure. The ped orthopedic doc said nothing to worry about - he'll grow out of it once he starts walking. Another thing to cross off of the worry list! Better safe than sorry, glad we had it checked.
Due to our lack of nanny this week and in an effort not to overwork the Grandma's, I took the day off Friday and headed down to the beach for the night with the kids. It was a great day (which usually doesn't happen when I PLAN a day off) and the boys enjoyed themselves. We were with two of my best friends and their kids and all of the kids did great together (4 boys, 2 girls). It's always fun to watch JD & Cole watch the bigger kids. They are intrigued by them and love to watch them playing and running around. I've enjoyed traveling with the kids this spring/summer; they are doing pretty well with change of routine and sleeping arrangements. They are still not too mobile yet so it's a good time to be traveling with them. It won't be much longer and they will not want to sit still wherever I plop them down! Then the fun really begins...
I never came back to update on our evaluation we had on Wednesday. All went very well. Long story short, both kids are behind a bit, as expected. JD is operating at about a 7-8 month old level which is a bit ahead of his adjusted age; and Cole is operating at about a 5.5-6 month old level, which is a bit behind his adjusted age. The real vs. adjusted age is quite a confusing concept because they analyze some things based on their adjusted age (which is almost 7 mos) and some things are looked at based on their real age (almost 10 mos). That said, we are in a good place with both and we have our work cut out for us for the next several months. We have lots of ideas of things we can do to continue helping JD & Cole get caught up. It was a bit overwhelming at first since there was a lot to process with two kids - but once I sat down and thought through everything, it's really not that complicated. The bottom line is that both of them will develop at their own pace and eventually will catch up. We can help facilitate their development but as with any children, they all learn and develop differently. We were happy with the eval and will continue with physical & occupational therapy (especially for Cole's eating). His eating has improved tremendously over the last week so we are on the fast track now.
We also had a doc appt at Hopkins to have JD's feet looked at. They have been very curved (in a C shape) since birth and our pediatrician and therapist were both on the fence about whether or not it was a problem. So, we had him checked just to be sure. The ped orthopedic doc said nothing to worry about - he'll grow out of it once he starts walking. Another thing to cross off of the worry list! Better safe than sorry, glad we had it checked.
Due to our lack of nanny this week and in an effort not to overwork the Grandma's, I took the day off Friday and headed down to the beach for the night with the kids. It was a great day (which usually doesn't happen when I PLAN a day off) and the boys enjoyed themselves. We were with two of my best friends and their kids and all of the kids did great together (4 boys, 2 girls). It's always fun to watch JD & Cole watch the bigger kids. They are intrigued by them and love to watch them playing and running around. I've enjoyed traveling with the kids this spring/summer; they are doing pretty well with change of routine and sleeping arrangements. They are still not too mobile yet so it's a good time to be traveling with them. It won't be much longer and they will not want to sit still wherever I plop them down! Then the fun really begins...
Friday night at the beach we got a sitter and actually went out like the old days! We went to see a concert in Dewey Beach at the Bottle and Cork (the Cork!). Now, I'm really going to date myself by saying who we saw - and I had to laugh when I mentioned it last week to a young co-worker, they didn't even know who I was talking about. We went to see LITTLE FEAT. Remember them? They were really good for a bunch of old guys. There's nothing like a live band in my opinion so I loved just watching the live music - and music that I grew up listening to as my parents always had music playing. It brought back lots of fun memories! Needless to say, 6am bottles rolled around pretty quickly after a night out but we rallied pretty well. There was a day when 6 beers warranted no hangover; not so much anymore.
On another note, we are the proud owners of a swing set now. I had the opportunity to get a swing set for our yard from a new neighbor who moved into a house with one and didn't want it. After some arm twisting of my husband (who believes that swing sets are for girls, not boys?), I arranged to have it moved over to our yard on Saturday morning. When we got back from the beach, there it was, sitting pretty in the yard. What fun! I spent the day power washing it today and getting new swings hung up. The boys went for their virgin voyage on the swings this afternoon and loved every minute of it. I anticipate that this will give us endless hours of fun (and will save me MANY trips to the local park). It needs a few new bolts but otherwise, it's in great shape. It was a lucky find for sure!
Here's a quick clip of the swingers themselves...Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Therapy & so on...
I took some photos last week of JD during his therapy session. I had never taken any photos up until this point and realized that we will definitely want these to look back on.
We had a fun day in the pool in the yard (in between Golf score updates), complete with Daddy squirting the boys with a hose. We got some interesting squeals with that! We got lots of video of the pool but I can't seem to get it uploaded to the site properly. In any case, it was a great Fathers Day - complete with a great US Open finish!
Here are a few of J. working with JD on the therapy ball. I never in a million years thought that my exercise ball would be such a valuable tool for my child's development. Low and behold, it is.
I will take some of Cole this week and post those later. Wish us luck - tomorrow is our first full evaluation for the boys through the Infant & Toddler program that we have been participating in (6 month eval). We will have three therapists here tomorrow (PT, OT & Developmental Specialist) to evaluate both boys and let us know their progress. The Dev Specialist was here right after the kids came home from the hospital so I'm sure she will be surprised to see how far they have come. I'm VERY nervous about the eval and anxious to know where they stand. I am hopeful that we can get an accurate assessment of their progress and continue with the program to keep catching them up.
I'm happy to report that Cole is now eating food - yay! He turned the corner this weekend and seems to love whatever we put near his mouth. JD is still eating new things - both of them have really taken to fruit in the mesh chew bag. What a concept! Cole is getting closer to sitting up on his own; and JD is getting close to crawling. Cole is working on tooth #2 and JD is still toothless...I never knew how long it took for teeth to come in!
C. had a great first Fathers Day...unfortunately the photos I took of Daddy & the boys did not come out very well (much to my dismay); but here is one of proud Grampy with the kids. It's a crummy photo quality but you get the idea.
We had a fun day in the pool in the yard (in between Golf score updates), complete with Daddy squirting the boys with a hose. We got some interesting squeals with that! We got lots of video of the pool but I can't seem to get it uploaded to the site properly. In any case, it was a great Fathers Day - complete with a great US Open finish!Happiness Gives...
This article appeared in our local paper last weekend and I thought it was great advice for anyone and everyone…anytime. Enjoy.
1. Decide to be happy. Intention is the best indicator of how you'll feel in future, so make a choice to increase your happiness. Deciding to be happy will direct your thinking toward activities that will bring joy into your life. It also attracts people who want to share in that joy.
2. Value happiness. Your choices are based on your values. If you regulate happiness to a low priority in life, other choices will take precedence. Where's happiness located on your list relative to work, taking care of others, spending money, etc.?
3. Happiness is an inside job. You are the only person who has the power to decide whether or not you'll be happy. No external situation can make you happy or unhappy - not another person and certainly not any thing. It's how you choose to respond to a person or an event that determines how you feel.
4. Think about happiness. People who are unhappy dwell on their problems, and find fault with themselves and others. That's not thinking - that's wallowing. Thinking involves solving your problems, and determining how to bring out the best in yourself and others.
5. Think about what you want. What do you think will make you happy? Picturing positive outcomes allows your brain to orient itself to mapping out steps to move you in the right direction.
6. Be happy now. Stay aware of the progress you're making to bring yourself joy. Celebrate your success. Ask yourself what small step you can take today to build and broaden the positive parts of your life.
7. Practice appreciation. Look for three things each day for which you are grateful and write them down on your calendar. The more you practice appreciating what's good about your life, yourself and other people, the bigger your happiness bank account will become. Then when negative events affect your balance, you'll have plenty of positives in reserve.
8. Practice forgiveness. Bad things happen to good people. Good people make bad mistakes. There's nothing you can do about it other than forgive and move on to making yourself happy again. When you hold onto bad feelings from the past, you prolong your suffering. Don't give unhappy thoughts a home. Let negatives drift away.
9. Create positives to counterbalance negatives. You need to generate a minimum of five positive moments to offset the negative emotions that are automatically aroused by a bad situation. Keep a list of what makes you happy, and generate at least five of those experiences to neutralize the negative.
10. Do it anyway. If you don't take action to make your life better because you don't feel like it, you're enslaving yourself to your bad feelings. It's especially important to do something to feel good when you're feeling bad. Being proactive rather than reactive will stop your body from flooding you with stress chemicals and allow it to restore healthy biochemistry.
11. Practice being happy. Happiness is like a muscle - it gets stronger the more you exercise it. Keeping yourself happy is like staying in shape. You'll become better at it the more you do it. It will become easier to do. And eventually it will become a habit that you'll really miss when you don't do it.
12. Make others happy. Doing good things for others will keep your relationships working well because what goes around almost always comes back around. Knowing that you're a person who makes other people feel good also will give you a deep sense of satisfaction about who you are as a person.
13. Attitude creates gratitude. People appreciate those who have a good attitude. A "poor me" attitude only gets you poor results no matter how much you do for others. If you want to be respected for your efforts, be the person who provides lots of positive reinforcement for the contributions of others.
14. Keep your spirits up. You can face any challenge in life if you have faith in yourself and the higher power. To renew your energy, you need to make time to replenish your spirit through meditation, prayer or communing with nature.
As hard as it might be sometimes to remember these things, it's worth it in the end. Life's too short to be unhappy!
1. Decide to be happy. Intention is the best indicator of how you'll feel in future, so make a choice to increase your happiness. Deciding to be happy will direct your thinking toward activities that will bring joy into your life. It also attracts people who want to share in that joy.
2. Value happiness. Your choices are based on your values. If you regulate happiness to a low priority in life, other choices will take precedence. Where's happiness located on your list relative to work, taking care of others, spending money, etc.?
3. Happiness is an inside job. You are the only person who has the power to decide whether or not you'll be happy. No external situation can make you happy or unhappy - not another person and certainly not any thing. It's how you choose to respond to a person or an event that determines how you feel.
4. Think about happiness. People who are unhappy dwell on their problems, and find fault with themselves and others. That's not thinking - that's wallowing. Thinking involves solving your problems, and determining how to bring out the best in yourself and others.
5. Think about what you want. What do you think will make you happy? Picturing positive outcomes allows your brain to orient itself to mapping out steps to move you in the right direction.
6. Be happy now. Stay aware of the progress you're making to bring yourself joy. Celebrate your success. Ask yourself what small step you can take today to build and broaden the positive parts of your life.
7. Practice appreciation. Look for three things each day for which you are grateful and write them down on your calendar. The more you practice appreciating what's good about your life, yourself and other people, the bigger your happiness bank account will become. Then when negative events affect your balance, you'll have plenty of positives in reserve.
8. Practice forgiveness. Bad things happen to good people. Good people make bad mistakes. There's nothing you can do about it other than forgive and move on to making yourself happy again. When you hold onto bad feelings from the past, you prolong your suffering. Don't give unhappy thoughts a home. Let negatives drift away.
9. Create positives to counterbalance negatives. You need to generate a minimum of five positive moments to offset the negative emotions that are automatically aroused by a bad situation. Keep a list of what makes you happy, and generate at least five of those experiences to neutralize the negative.
10. Do it anyway. If you don't take action to make your life better because you don't feel like it, you're enslaving yourself to your bad feelings. It's especially important to do something to feel good when you're feeling bad. Being proactive rather than reactive will stop your body from flooding you with stress chemicals and allow it to restore healthy biochemistry.
11. Practice being happy. Happiness is like a muscle - it gets stronger the more you exercise it. Keeping yourself happy is like staying in shape. You'll become better at it the more you do it. It will become easier to do. And eventually it will become a habit that you'll really miss when you don't do it.
12. Make others happy. Doing good things for others will keep your relationships working well because what goes around almost always comes back around. Knowing that you're a person who makes other people feel good also will give you a deep sense of satisfaction about who you are as a person.
13. Attitude creates gratitude. People appreciate those who have a good attitude. A "poor me" attitude only gets you poor results no matter how much you do for others. If you want to be respected for your efforts, be the person who provides lots of positive reinforcement for the contributions of others.
14. Keep your spirits up. You can face any challenge in life if you have faith in yourself and the higher power. To renew your energy, you need to make time to replenish your spirit through meditation, prayer or communing with nature.
As hard as it might be sometimes to remember these things, it's worth it in the end. Life's too short to be unhappy!
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Ramblings...
I feel like I have so many random things swirling in my head these days. I looked back on my calendar from last year and at this time I was 17 weeks pregnant and creeping up on that half way mark. I remember being so impressed at how good I felt and how easy the pregnancy had been. My belly had really popped and was growing more each day. I was enjoying the summer and getting the boys room painted and starting to think about decorating it. It was this week a year ago that I registered at BRU; knowing that the end might be tough, I started to let myself get those things done "just in case" my days were numbered. Little did I know - in two more weeks my cervix was going to give way and into the hospital I would go.
The reason I checked my calendar yesterday is that my body somehow just associates this time of year with where I was this time last year. I've been waking up every morning with a funny feeling; an indescribable feeling. If any of you have experienced this, how do I put it into words? There is an overwhelming sense of thankfulness and recollection EVERY SINGLE DAY. Almost like I'm afraid something bad is going to happen and I better be thankful for this day. It's a strange place to be. There is even a tv show that is on right now (Hells Kitchen) that I followed while I was hospitalized last summer and that is a keen reminder of those hospital days. It's hard to even watch it. I can't help but wonder, will these associations with things last for a while or once this one year milestone thing is done, they will stop? I guess it might just be God's way of reminding me of how lucky we are - maybe He is forcing me to reflect back on last year to remind us of our blessings...
It might also be due to the fact that my cousin just had a short bout with NICU (they are doing well, by the way. Baby Mina came home Friday and is thriving). Or that a fellow bedrested MOMs Mom delivered her baby girl twins at 26 weeks and 5 days last week - Andrea weighs 1 lb, 8 oz and Lily weighs 1 lb, 12 oz. They are constantly on my mind and as I talk to D. every few days, I'm thrown right back to where we were last August. Those babies are doing fine for now but I'm worried - that first week to 10 days is the "honeymoon" period and then reality hits. She hasn't been able to hold the babies yet - her arms must just ache. Anyway, say some extra prayers for their family as they push along day to day and hope that their babies pull through.
We spent the weekend at the beach last weekend with some friends. It was awesome to be away - both we and the kids had a great time. Of course we drank too much and stayed up too late but that's part of the fun. I'm still in recovery mode this week. We had some great family time.
The reason I checked my calendar yesterday is that my body somehow just associates this time of year with where I was this time last year. I've been waking up every morning with a funny feeling; an indescribable feeling. If any of you have experienced this, how do I put it into words? There is an overwhelming sense of thankfulness and recollection EVERY SINGLE DAY. Almost like I'm afraid something bad is going to happen and I better be thankful for this day. It's a strange place to be. There is even a tv show that is on right now (Hells Kitchen) that I followed while I was hospitalized last summer and that is a keen reminder of those hospital days. It's hard to even watch it. I can't help but wonder, will these associations with things last for a while or once this one year milestone thing is done, they will stop? I guess it might just be God's way of reminding me of how lucky we are - maybe He is forcing me to reflect back on last year to remind us of our blessings...
It might also be due to the fact that my cousin just had a short bout with NICU (they are doing well, by the way. Baby Mina came home Friday and is thriving). Or that a fellow bedrested MOMs Mom delivered her baby girl twins at 26 weeks and 5 days last week - Andrea weighs 1 lb, 8 oz and Lily weighs 1 lb, 12 oz. They are constantly on my mind and as I talk to D. every few days, I'm thrown right back to where we were last August. Those babies are doing fine for now but I'm worried - that first week to 10 days is the "honeymoon" period and then reality hits. She hasn't been able to hold the babies yet - her arms must just ache. Anyway, say some extra prayers for their family as they push along day to day and hope that their babies pull through.
We spent the weekend at the beach last weekend with some friends. It was awesome to be away - both we and the kids had a great time. Of course we drank too much and stayed up too late but that's part of the fun. I'm still in recovery mode this week. We had some great family time.
The kids are quite the little travelers these days, aside from some sleeping issues in a new place - ugh. We visited our friends (The G's) who we introduced a few years ago and set up on a blind date. Two kids and 3 homes later, they reside just outside of Rehoboth Beach in a beautiful home. Our kids enjoyed spending time with their kids too - it's always fun to watch kids interact with each other; especially the first time they meet. Wyatt loved the boys and cracked us up when he would try to remember who was who. He would insist that Cole was JD and JD was Cole...what does a Mom know anyway?
JD & Savannah hit it off early!
And after a 3 hour drive home, I couldn't believe what good spirits the boys were in! I couldn't resist dragging out the camera.
Summer is FLYING by - before we know it, it's going to be fall again. I wish time would just slow down a bit. I'm trying daily to stop and smell the roses.
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Prayers needed...
Ironically, as I was at a meeting last night for Isabels Gift and brainstorming on how to help NICU families, my cousin was re-admitting her 4 day old baby to NICU in Denver. Please say a prayer for Mina Jane who is currently being treated for suspected meningitis. She appears to be on the upswing but we're still holding for more news today.
Also, we learned yesterday that one of our fellow MOMs club friends lost her husband suddenly this week to a brain aneurysm. He was working out of town and died. They have 2 older children and a set of young twins. I cannot imagine what she & her children are going through right now with such a sudden loss.
Just when you think things are bumping along well, we get these sudden reminders of how fragile life can be. Tell those around you how much you love them - you never know what tomorrow brings.
Also, we learned yesterday that one of our fellow MOMs club friends lost her husband suddenly this week to a brain aneurysm. He was working out of town and died. They have 2 older children and a set of young twins. I cannot imagine what she & her children are going through right now with such a sudden loss.
Just when you think things are bumping along well, we get these sudden reminders of how fragile life can be. Tell those around you how much you love them - you never know what tomorrow brings.
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Trouble...
I turned away for no less than 20 seconds and JD was all wrapped up in my purse - and on his way to roping Cole in too! Doesn't take long does it?
We're up to new tricks!
Cole shows off once he realizes he's on camera! How about that smile? And can you hear JD yammering in the background?
JD sits...and then crashes (right on his noggin)!
JD sits...and then crashes (right on his noggin)!
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Cole's first "FIRST"
I knew that there was a reason that Cole was putting EVERYTHING in sight into his mouth including my fingers, his toes, all toys, anything COTTON that came near his mouth and he even managed to get a diaper in there at one point (a clean one, of course).
COLE CUT HIS FIRST TOOTH! And better yet, he did it before JD! Now, not that I compare them all of the time (I try my best NOT to do that) but it sure is nice to see my little underdog do something first! JD always has made the milestones first since he was bigger and a bit healthier at birth. Our little late bloomer is leading the charge with his choppers...
We had the boys 9 month well visit today and they are right on track. JD weighed in at 18 pounds, 12 oz (I thought he hit 20 and was a bit disappointed that his gut looks bigger than it really is) and Cole was 16 pounds, 5 oz. JD is 27" long and Cole is 26" long. Their heads are still on the large side so we have a while longer before they grow into them I guess. We're still trying to figure out where the big heads came from - Chuck and I have absurdly SMALL heads. In fact, we can both wear kids hats - sad but true. In any case, at least our kids won't be tagged with having to wear childrens hats and sunglasses for the rest of their lives like their parents.
Cole is rolling around now like JD - doing his best to hold on for dear life to his toys when JD starts rolling his direction. And frankly, Cole braces himself pretty well when JD starts coming since he'll usually steam roller right over him to get whatever is on the other side. That is, after somehow grabbing all of the toys along the way to take with him. He's really very entertaining to watch.
JD gets frustrated very easily (someone recently mentioned that was much like his beloved Uncle T?) when he can't get to what he wants - we're working with him to help him learn how to use his legs to propel him forward instead of crabbing backwards into every wall and permanent fixture before freaking out that he's stuck. He still loves his jumper and is slowly eating us out of house and home. He loves ALL baby food and most recently has found the new fondness that all babies have with cheerios. He's the entertainer of the family for sure - just a good natured fun little dude. This picture gives a little glimpse of what we're in for. T-R-O-U-B-L-E.
Cole is smiling 99.9% of the time these days - as long as I keep him pumped with tylenol to keep those teeth numb. No really, he is a happy boy and just loves attention. He also loves to sleep and has become our champion sleeper. He's still more of a fan of his bottle than he is baby food - but we're working on that. His reflux has left him with some feeding difficulties so we're going to have an Occupational Therapist come out and take a look. He's getting better at it every day but it's a slow process. If this is the worst of our issues after having a 2lb preemie, I'm ok with that. I know that someday he will grow up and eat real food so not to worry that he's a bit slower on the food plan. He too enjoys the jumper but he's not nearly as insane in it as his brother. His personality is certainly more laid back and he is always observing - very intently. He loves nothing more than to watch and listen to whatever is going on around him. He studies things that he holds very closely and often times watches his own hands with a fascinated look on his face. He's still as patient as a saint - and rarely complains about too much. Here he is with his new "taggies" from his Great Aunt Kathy!
That's about it for updates...we're in disbelief that it's been 9 months already since the kids came into this world...won't be long now and I'll be posting pictures of their 1 year birthday. Time flies when you're having fun!
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