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Cute Videos

Maryland Trip Pictures

Here are a few pictures from our recent trip to Maryland to "La Casa de Fred"

Connor-man is SOOOOO close to crawling. He's at the point where he gets mad when he can't get somewhere he wants to go. They grab for EVERYTHING now! I can't leave anything on the floor that isn't OK for babies.
Bridget ironed the boys' outfits for their pictures and Lucy laid right on top of them...silly kitty! I had the boys' pictures taken but didn't order any to really send out to people. I'll be posting them online as soon as I get the email confirmation. Anyone who wishes to purchase some will be able to!

The whole reason I went to MD was for Bridget's annual Halloween/Birthday party. The boys wore their festive jammies, and slept through the ENTIRE PARTY! YAY for good sleepers. Since I didn't have time to prepare for a costume for myself, I just safety pinned smarties to my pants and went as a "Smarty Pants" Super creative...NOT!

Baby Bumbo Seats

I saw on the news a few days ago about the BIG recall on the Baby Bumbo seats. Thanks to my family and friends who have notified me about it! Apparently, babies can fall out of the seats and obtain skull injuries when the seat is placed on an elevated surface. Forgive me for being blunt, but DUH! They are meant only for the floor...not for kitchen chairs or table tops! Bumbo screwed up when they made a tray to snap onto the seat because it makes the seat look like a booster seat. There aren't any straps to strap the seat to a chair or other elevated surface and common sense would tell you to leave it on the floor. I'm going to continue to use mine as it was intended, on the floor, because Brandon is still not sitting up on his own and needs to strengthen his muscles correctly. I'm still going to contact the company, but I'm not sure how they will handle my chair since I bought it used. We'll see.

We made it...HOME

The boys and I made it home at about 8 tonight. It was a very rough drive back as far as the boys were concerned, but we made it. I'm tired, exhausted, slightly crabby, and I really just want to get in my own bed. So good night everyone! Connor got his first tooth and is SO CLOSE to crawling. I hope to get some pictures and videos up soon.

We made it!

As most of you know, the boys and I attempted our first long trip all by ourselves. We arrived to my sister's house in Maryland safe and sound. We had some nasty weather, but I was still able to stop twice for diaper changes and feedings. Of course we hit traffic when we were driving around the beltline, but it wasn't anything we couldn't handle. Connor was more than ready to get out of his car seat so we sang "wheels on the bus" A LOT! They are sleeping soundly in their pack n plays and we're watching HOUSE from last night. I'll be turning in myself very shortly. I'm pooped! We might try to run with Bri and her neighbor tomorrow morning...rain permitting. Other than that we don't have much going on. I'll try to get some pictures as the weekend goes on. Bridget's Annual Halloween Birthday party is happening on Saturday...YAY!

Some cute videos

The boys are VACCINATED

I got a phone call this morning from the pediatrician's office that the boys were approved for their RSV vaccinations and that the vials arrived! So, I packed them up and we headed up to the office right after lunch and they administered the shots. Because of their size, it was 2 different needles for each of them. LOTS of crying...poor little guys. Connor is 20 lbs 12 oz and Brandon is 16 lbs 8 oz. They will receive this same shot every month between now and April. The cost of the vaccinations was increased this year to 1,800 PER SHOT. So take 1,800 for child per month for 6 months... that's over $21,000. That's more than I paid for my entire college education. Thank goodness for insurance!

Another cute one!

This is how I found the boys this morning...can't get any cuter than this!

More pictures

Random pictures!

Trying to Move

The boys are really trying to move now...and when it happens...WATCH OUT!

Fall Creature

The boys and I were on our way out the other day, and I saw this little creature on our pumpkin! I'm not an insect expert by any means, but I think it's just a really pretty grasshopper. Does anyone have a better idea?

Another first

Connor had his very first bath SITTING UP tonight! He's been sitting up for over a month now, but I've been very scared to let him sit up in the bath until tonight. When he's playing with his toys and sitting up, he can catch himself before he falls...so I figured it would be ok to let him sit up in the tub. His reaction when I say him in the water instead of laying him in the water was perplexing! He wasn't quite sure what was going on. He soon started splashing and playing with his Sassy foam letters. Below is a video commemorating the experience.

Baby push ups

Here are the boys trying to MOVE! Connor is SO close! Brandon gets where he needs to go by rolling around!

I've had a few people ask me what the boys need for Christmas. We are so cramped on space that I would really appreciate no big toys. No toys in general really. They have a lot already and I know of a few things that have already been purchased..hehehe. I know gift cards aren't very personal, but that's going to be the best way to go. Kohls, Target and JC Penny are their preferred places to shop...especially Target!!! We also have savings accounts set up for them that we chuck money into each month. If you would like to make a donation to that, let me know!

On the subject of being cramped...I think it's time to say bye bye to the bouncy seats and the swing. I can count on my fingers and toes the number of times I used the swing. That was the one thing everyone said I HAD to have...in all honesty...I didn't use it all that much. BUT...the boys were in the NICU for a long time, so things might have been different if they weren't. I'm going to pack those things up and put them in the garage. You never know if we'll add to the family again someday. Am I crazy..YES...crazy about my kids.

Let's EAT!!!!!

Dress up

I don't "dress up" the boys very often because they still spit up a lot, and we really don't have anywhere to go on most days. Today, it was chilly outside and we needed to do our bi-monthly trip to Sams so I decided to go all out and dress them like cute little boys today. They are sporting new jeans and long sleeve onesies from JC Penny...the latest in twin fall fashion! HA! Brandon even has the "male model pose" going on in this picture!


Connor can push himself all the way up with his arms now. All that's on the floor are his little chunk a monk legs! I predict he'll be crawling, or at least up on all fours, by Thanksgiving. I've been trying to get a picture of it for Eric and haven't been successful, but I'll keep trying. If you think about it, he'll be almost 8 months adjusted age at that time, so he seems right on track! I heard Santa is bringing each boy a walking toy for Christmas...guess we'll have to just wait and see!

They are both eating VERY well, especially Brandon. They eat about 1/4 cup of cereal and a veggie twice a day now. Connor always finishes his, and Brandon will usually finish all of the dinner feeding and will leave just a little bit left over in the morning. I attempted to make them carrots yesterday (since we'll be starting those on Wednesday) but they came out looking like Witch fingers. I don't think anything that looks like that should be fed to my kids! HA! I'll just buy carrots. So far, I've made everything else myself, so I'm definitely saving some major moolah! It won't hurt to buy the carrots. We'll start green beans after they pass with carrots, and then we'll add bananas. I hear that most babies LOVE bananas, so I wanted to wait on that as long as I can. HAPPY EATING!

Halloween Preview

I had an officers wives' coffee to go to last night, and the boys went with me dressed in their halloween attire! I bought these little jammie sets for them at the used kids clothing store! Connor looked so cute in the Frankenstein hat, and he actually wore it all night long! I'll have more pictures of them at their first Halloween Party when we go see my sister in Maryland!

Eating Like BIG BOYS!

Well, we're definitely making our way through the solid foods! So far we done sweet potatoes, apples, squash, rice cereal, and oatmeal. I'm going to add in carrots next week. I'm still making their veggies and storing them in the freezer and it's working out very well! I get out a few "cubes" of food each night and put them in the fridge. They are ready to serve the next day! I had a few rough days trying to get Brandon to eat, but I really think it was due to his ear infection. I also moved them to their booster seats to feed them instead of their bouncy seats or Boppy pillows. That made a BIG difference.

More videos for Eric

In this first video, Connor is showing what he thinks about the George Michael song that just played on the radio...



These are two kinda boring videos of the boys drinking their bottles. Once again, this is something that Eric is missing out on. I try to get a short video of EVERYTHING the boys do because let's face it...he's missing it all :( He won't see them in person until they are almost 14 months old! If you listen closely, you can hear Connor chugging! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Another One for Daddy

This is a video especially for Eric since he misses this every single day!

Sleeping babies

Instead of "dancing cheek to cheek" the boys are "sleeping feet to feet." Tonight was "clip nails night" and they were in the perfect position for me to clip all 20 toesies!

Connor makes 2

I'm glad I had Connor with me this morning at Brandon's recheck because he, too, has an ear infection. The doc assured me that they will be coming in regularly for little things like this because of being a preemie and flu season. Still no word on whether their RSV vaccination will be covered...I hope so! They put in a referral for Brandon to see an ENT specialist. Hopefully that will get approved and we can get some tubes in his ears before the end of the year. Connor is also on some antibiotics now and we'll be going back to have them both checked again next Wednesday. Brandon's blood culture came back negative which is good. That means there's no other infection brewing somewhere else. She said his ear is definitely looking better. Connor is a hefty 21 pounds and Brandon finally hit 16 pounds! YAY!

Have boys...will wrestle

My good friend Lori, who has the triplets consisting of 2 boys and a girl, told me that her boys always love to "play wrestle." It's not usually anything violent or mean, but just boys being boys. I decided to feed the boys naked the other night since most of it ends up on them anyway. Afterwards, I sat them next to each other to snap a few shots for Eric and a mini wrestling match transpired.

Nice full bellies!
Connor - I GOT YOU BRANDON...you're mine
Look Mommy...I GOT BRANDON!!!!
Brandon - Mommy..why does he always insist on grabbing my ear...of course he grabs the one with the infection in it.

Connor woke up from his nap with a 101.1 temperature, rosy cheeks, and he was pulling on his ears. Motrin tackled the temperature, and I hope these are just teething symptoms and nothing more. We're going back to the doctor tomorrow to have B's ears rechecked, and I think I'm going to have her check Connor's too...might as well!

I love Halloween

I love everything about Halloween. The decorations, special treats, and of course my sister's birthday! She's our family goblin! I made these cupcakes to take to the officer's wives coffee this Friday night. They were pretty easy and look awesome!

Update on Eric

Eric is doing well! He's keeping busy providing dental care as well as kicking some major butt in the organized sports offered. He and his buddy, Kenny, ran a 10 mile race and finished it on Sunday. They are also the horseshoe champions and mighty fine ping pong players! There's nothing Eric loves more than a good challenge. Way to go guys!

Trip #8

We made trip #8 to the doctor since I got back from my trip to Kentucky. Brandon hasn't slept through the night all week and didn't go to sleep last night until 5 this morning. I got up and fed them both. Soon after, Brandon started coughing, choked on his own spit and threw up his breakfast...into the bath he went. I packed both of them up and headed to the doctor's office. I dropped Connor off where I used to work and the ladies were awesome enough to take him while I dealt with B at the pediatrician's office. After 3 hours, we determined Brandon has yet another ear infection and petikia (reddish bumps on the skin). They went ahead and pricked his little toe to check his WBC which turned out to be high. Next, we packed up from the peds office, picked up Connor from Utley & Knowles, wolfed down a cheeseburger the girls bought me, and headed to the hospital diagnostic center to have more bloodwork drawn to find out what kind of infection was going on...other than in his ear...if there was one. Next, we had to go to a certain pharmacy to get an antibiotic to be injected into B's leg. Our insurance wouldn't pay for it from the peds office and that's why I had to go to the pharmacy to get it. Stupid! Then we headed BACK to the peds office to have the shot administered. From the time we left and returned to the peds office, B's temperature increased by 2 more points. They gave him the shot and we sat there for 20 minutes to make sure he wasn't going to have a reaction to it. None! YAY! We finally headed home at 3. The ladies at the peds office kept saying...I don't know how you do it all...all by yourself. Thank goodness for relatively well behaved infants and caffeine! We'll be heading back on Monday to get the results of the bloodwork and to recheck his ear. Oh yeah...another 10 days of augmentin. The referral for B to see the ENT still has not been sent to my pediatrician's office from the military hospital. So I guess I have to call back up there for the third time and get ugly about it. If people would do what they SAY they are going to do, my life would be much easier on crazy days like today. It's obvious that he's going to need tubes since this is the 3rd infection and the 2nd one in the last month. I'm going to talk to the pediatrician on Monday when we go back in for B's recheck and ask if she'll refer him directly instead of waiting for the audiologist to send over the paperwork. It's 845 and the boys are in bed...not asleep yet...but at least in bed. I'm going to do the nightly laundry, starting of the dishwasher, and a little picking up while they fall asleep. Hopefully B will sleep through the night so I can too...Mommy is officially exhausted!

Mission Accomplished

Now that the boys have almost mastered cereal, we'll start veggies this weekend. I decided to make my own and not pay the ridiculous prices for the jarred stuff. Let me tell you how easy it was! I made a batch of sweet taters today. I baked them in the oven for an hour, the skin peeled right off, pureed them, and plopped them in ice cube trays in the freezer until tomorrow. I made 104 tbsp and it cost me $1.27. If I were to purchase that many tbsp from Gerber, it would have cost me almost 6 bucks. I think that's a HUGE savings considering we're just now starting foods! YAY! I'm going to do squash and carrots this week as well, and start with the sweet potatoes this weekend. I bought a magic bullet to use to get a better puree than what my electric chopper does. I also got the book called Super Baby Food. If anyone else out there is interested in making baby food themselves, this book is awesome. It tells you how to microwave, steam or bake every single veggie and fruit! It's very thorough and very easy to follow. It also has good ideas for toddlers meals. I picked up 2 books at the used store that are full of recipes for baby foods combining fruits and veggies together in yummy combinations. Stay tuned to see how the taters go this weekend. Time to buy Brandon his booster seat!

Playing nicely

Even though Brandon was up almost every hour last night, he was still in a decent mood today. He rolled over into Connor's lap for some "brother kisses"

Connor's Day

Connor would like to tell everyone about his day today..