We're home

We made it home! My parents and I drove from Destin to Columbia, SC yesterday, spent the night, and then I continued home to Fayetteville and they headed back to Florence. Thanks SO MUCH to my parents for the trip to FL, going WAY out of their way to help me drive back, and for all the love and help with the boys. It was a very nice 2 weeks and I feel relaxed and refreshed. The boys and I drove the last 170 miles this morning, and once again, they were champion travelers. I even left them in the car while I ran into the house and vacuumed the family room really fast. The dogs had free reign of the house while I was gone, so there is a lot of cleaning to be done. At least the family room is pretty clean so the boys had somewhere to play. I'm about 75% done unpacking and am getting ready to take the boys for a nice walk. It's really pretty outside and I think a relaxing walk would do us all good!

The boys each tried the "homey" look with my cousin Zach's hat. He's about 6'3" and only a freshman in high school. The boys loved him!!!

Sippee cup...CHECK!

I've been working with the boys and sippee cups for a few months now. Brandon took to it very well but not Connor! I decided to try a straw sippee cup with him instead...and low and behold...HE DRANK IT!!!!!! They are really hard to clean, but hey...at least we're on our way to getting rid of the bottles. I don't forsee complete bottle freedom until March sometime, but we're on our way!



Thanks mommy...I like this one better!!
Yum yum mom!

More Pictures from Florida

Here are some more pictures from Florida!

This is the view from our balcony. Yep...those are waves!
Brandon was VERY interested in the sand! He went right for it...of course he ended up eating a handful or two
Mommy...what the heck is this stuff?????
Connor didn't venture off the blanket much....I was surprised
Here are the boys with my grand father...their great grandpa Yibby and my dad.
Not a fan of the sunglasses
Connor just wanted to play with my water bottle. I bought him a sippee cup with a straw on it...maybe he'll like it and we can start to get rid of the bottle...hmmm....
We had homemade turkey soup at my Grandfather's condo. Connor snuggled up with grandpa Don!
Now that the boys are on the move, they are trying to figure out HOW to get around. Here's Connor trying to get his tom toms, but then getting stuck under the chair!
Mommy...HELP!

This condo has been very nice, but I'm ready to head back home to my carpeted house. The tile floor isn't very forgiving for toddling babies.

Diaper Derby

This is a video from last week that I just haven't been able to post!

The boys are eating a lot of new things. They like pumpkin, apple pancakes (made with bisquick, milk, and applesauce instead of egg), cheese, and frozen peas. They both chowed on the frozen peas today...easy dinner for me!

Pictures from Florida!

Lots of fun things have happened this week so far. Brandon is talking up a storm now! Connor is OH SO CLOSE to pulling himself into a standing position!!! Connor also discovered the trash can today...of course I got a picture of it. He's into absolutely everything now, and I'm getting really quick on my feet! He gets a certain look in his eye, and when I follow the direction of his stare, I can usually put up whatever it is he's getting ready to pounce on. Both boys have been angels this week and are soaking up all the extra attention they've been getting. It's been nice to be able to walk around the condo complex or on the beach while the boys sleep. There's always someone inside, so that means I CAN LEAVE!!!! My cousins Zach and TJ love the boys, and Brandon LOVES Zach!



I LOVE TRASH...anything dirty or dingy or dusty!

BUSTED


While the boys were down for their afternoon nap, Dad, TJ and I went on a SUPER long walk on the beach. It rained all morning but it started to clear up around noon. The sun was trying so hard to poke through the clouds. I managed to get a couple neat pictures.



This was, at one time, a jelly fish. We saw 2 dead ones on the beach yesterday, but I didn't have my camera on me. This one was a little chewed up by some lucky sea gulls!!! My aunt Jo picked up the yucky dead one yesterday...freaked me out! GROSS!

Brandon his another AWESOME milestone today. He actually did this for the first time last Sunday, but I didn't see it! He did it tonight 3 times in a row!
Watch the clip to see what Little Man did!!!!!!

We're here?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Yes...we're already in Florida! We were planning to spend the night in Alabama, but reached the hotel at about 1130 am! Why stay when we can drive? So we stayed on the road and arrived in Destin at about 6 central time! I fed the boys dinner, kept them up a little late and put them down. Connor had a little bit of a hard time going to sleep, but he usually does when we travel. They were also in the car from 3 am est to 6 pm cst...that's 16 hours in a car. They did wonderful all things considered. They are down for their morning nap and I'm going to join them! I drove all but the last 200 miles and only got a little 45 minute nap. Needless to say, I'm exhausted! Mom and Dad are heading to church and I'm heading back to bed. The condo is very nice and a lot like home! After the boys eat lunch, we're going for a walk! I'm not sure if we'll make it over to the beach or not...depends on the wind. It's windy, but beautiful outside. As you can tell, we have wireless internet access in the condo as well! WOO HOO!

Christmas in Florida!

Well, we're heading out to Florida tomorrow morning at 3 am. The boys do very well when we drive through the morning, so we're going to do it again this time. It kinda bites for us, but it's all about the kiddos!

Mom and I went to Lexington on Wednesday and I was able to see a few friends and she was able to go to a quilt shop. It was awesome seeing our old neighbor and my friend Jen Amos...SHOUT OUT TO JEN!!! It's amazing how much Lexington has changed since we moved almost 4 years ago. The hospital is growing even more, and I heard the mall is HUGE now, but we didn't make it to that end of Nicholasville Road.

On Thursday, Dad, the boys and I did some shopping all day! We went to Target, Sams, the mall, the new shopping center up in Crestview Hills, Bed Bath and Beyond and Linens N Things. The boys seemed to really enjoy going into new stores and were in a great mood all day....until we got home. Poor Brandon was screaming all afternoon and cried himself to sleep. I tried everything to comfort him, but was at a loss. Come dinner time, I decided to stick my finger in his mouth to see if there was maybe a tooth...and sure enough...THERE WAS! B finally got his first tooth!!!! Had I known, a cold washcloth, baby orajel or a little Motrin would have done the trick. It's ok...it's a constant learning process for me.

Also on Thursday, the boys decided they are too big to be eating pureed food anymore. I think it feels good on their gums to chew! So, we've graduated to pieces of food! They have been eating peas, carrots, green beans, noodles, cheese, cinnamon apples (this was new tonight!), fresh peaches, bananas, and toast. It's amazing how that just kind of came over night! I'm going to try tofu on them for protein reasons this week. We'll see how they like it! I still want to wait another month for meat because the meat-in-a-jar doesn't excite me at all! 2 more months and we can switch to whole milk...I CAN'T WAIT!!!!! Connor is doing better with his sipee cup, but he has good days and bad. He'll do it one of these days.

We are all packed and ready to go. I'm going to head to bed and try to get a good 4 hours of sleep before it's time to get back up and drive. Dad rented me a few books on CD! Nothing helps a long drive other than a little smut on a long drive!

Here's a picture of my nephew Benjamin and my sister Ann! They are both home from the hospital and we hope they have a wonderful Christmas as a WHOLE family again!!!!!

December in Ky...

Well, it's colder than blue blazes here in KY. I left NC with 80 degree weather and was greeted with 20 degree weather and snow in KY. BUR! We made it to KY in 12 hours...which is 2 hours quicker than the last time. The boys are AWESOME travelers! After I got them settled Saturday night, I headed to my best friend's baby shower. It was nice to see her as well as some old friends from high school. On Sunday morning, we packed up and headed to Indianapolis to see Ann, Gabe, Noah and Benjamin.


Here is a picture of the boys in front of a HUGE tree at the hospital where Ann and Benjamin are.
I'm serious...it was HUGE!!!

I finally got to meet my 4 week old nephew and snuggle with him. He's almost 8 pounds now and it's hard to believe the boys weighed that COMBINED when they were born! I can't find the picture of me and Benjamin on my mom's computer. I don't think she would appreciate me waking her up right now to find it! I'll post it later.

After the hospital, we headed to Ann's house and had Christmas with them. Noah gave the boys each a book...2 of his favorites.... A Thomas book and a Cars book! THANKS NOAH...he even wrapped them himself!



Auntie Ann and Uncle Gabe gave the boys the Leap Frog Alphabet set for the fridge...or our metal front door...and the Fisher Price learning phone. Brandon was ALL ABOUT his phone!

I have a few more pictures to share and will try to get those up soon!

Heading back to KY

My Christmas plans have changed! I wasn't able to find anyone else heading towards GA or FL to caravan with, so I'm going to head back to KY for a week and then head to FL with my parents. This way, I'll get to spend some extra time with my family, see my prego friend, see my NEW baby nephew, and have a little help with the boys. Mommy needs a break! I'm thinking a pedicure might be in store for me! Dad is on his way to NC now and we'll be heading back to KY about 3 am tomorrow morning. That seemed to work the best with the boys the last time, so we're going to attempt that again. Hopefully we'll be able to bypass the nasty weather that is supposed to hit through the mountains. I'll be in Florence all week, and mom and I will head to Lexington on Wednesday so I can see a few friends and so she can go to a quilt shop. If any of my other Lexington friends want to try and meet up with us to meet the boys, let me know! On Saturday, we'll head on to Florida to see my Grandpa and a few other aunts and uncles and cousins. Hopefully we'll have an uneventful trip home unlike this time last year. Stranded on 64, no cell phone service, 7 months pregnant, front end of the car on fire, and snow...that wasn't fun!

Tub, car seat and bags

I went from bathing the boys separately, to together, back to separately, and now that Brandon can sit up better...I'm back to bathing them together. They have fun screeching and splashing!

Brandon finally got a new car seat. Connor outgrew his in September!!! Brandon looks super comfy in it...don't ya think?


My sisters bought the boys each an LL Bean bag with their name embroidered on it. THANKS ANN and BRI!!! These are for their birthday in January, but they wanted me to open the present so we could use them on our trip this weekend. Of course, I put the boys inside them and took a picture.
Brandon has his check up today with Dr. Bellian and his ears look good. He continues to make more sounds and different sounds. We're going to keep him on the Rondec (allergy medication) because it cleared up his eczema 100%!!!! I'd rather do that than use steroid creams on him. He passed his hearing test, but was on the low range of normal. We're going back in a few months to have it rechecked, but at least he's in the normal range now, and not failing!

My favorite...

The following video has to be my absolute favorite BY FAR!!! I was talking to my girlfriend Trish (HI TRISH!!) and I got off the phone with her to try and get this on video...AND I DID!!!!! They were doing this for about 5 minutes...Enjoy!



Connor figured out his ball popper today, and he was very proud of it!

Guess the Danko...ROUND 3!

Ok...I think this is an easy one...but you never know....

Starting of a new week

Well, it's Sunday night and the new week is approaching. We had an uneventful weekend and are ready to get on with this week's tasks. We have 3 Christmas parties to attend, a doctor's appointment to check on B's ears, and hopefully Melissa our baby sitter will be coming over on Tuesday so I can get a break. I haven't had one in 2 weeks and I'm starting to twitch a little. HEHEHE. Brandon continues to make big strides since he had his tubes put in. He is talking more and more AND...HE'S CRAWLING!!!! I got a little video of him crawling. Sometimes, he'll rock back and forth and lunge himself forward. It resembles a lazy leap frog...he does it in the video. Both boys are into everything and love exploring when I have the baby jail down. Connor got his little finger pinched in the gate to the baby jail, so I have to keep it shut from now on. I'm sure that is only pinched finger #1 of very many.



Brandon was being very goofy during dinner tonight. Let's face it...my boys are goofy all the time. Wonder where they get THAT from!?!?!?!! They had pieces of steamed carrots for the first time tonight and did very well with them. I'm going to starting introducing more finger food very slowly! They catch on pretty quickly to new things, but I don't want to overwhelm them and have them possibly revert back. For example, Connor took his sipee cup the very first time I gave it to him, but now he doesn't want to have anything to do with it. One day at a time. Enjoy this cute video of B!

Ahh...the weekend!

It's finally the weekend! It's not like it really matters, because I do the exact same thing everyday...no weekend break for me!

The boys and I took some yummy snacks up to the NICU today. Those nurses were such a big part of our year, and I thought they needed a little something special. I made lots of cookies and other chocolaty and peanut buttery snacks for them to "nosh" on! Funny thing...Brandon was allergic to all of it...so I really needed to get it out of the house. I hope they all enjoy it and think of us while they do. There is no way to really repay these ladies and gentlemen, but I'll continue to try to. Thanks again Cape Fear NICU. All of you were our angels this year!

Even though the boys are in separate beds now, they still try to be by each other. So sweet! I was really bummed about them being separated because I love to go in and look at them every night before I finally make it to bed. However, this is how I found them during their morning nap, and it was just as sweet and rewarding for me. I love sleeping babies!!!!



Brandon has the most sensitive skin I have ever seen in my life. He woke up 2 days ago with some red spots on him and I thought they were bug bites of some kind. I asked my neighbor to come look at them, and she said they definitely weren't bites. I packed both boys up and headed to the peds office. It was a Friday and I didn't want to wait all weekend if it was going to get worse. I don't remember what the doc said it was, but it's another form of his eczema. He has spots on him that look like targets. She said to keep him loaded with oral Benadryl and that topical creams wouldn't work. When he woke up this morning, the spots from the previous day were gone, but more appeared in different locations. I think it's strawberries! Eric's mom said they made his eczema flair at time when he was a child, and the boys have been getting fresh strawberries in their yogurt the last few days. Today was day 4 of introducing strawberries, so I think I'll lay off of them for a while. It's becoming a guessing game with him and I'm very scared to introduce too many new things. So, we're going to take our time with the foods just to make sure he doesn't have a bad reaction. I have carrots cut up into small pieces, steamed, and frozen waiting to be picked up by little sticky fingers!!! Once they master carrots, I think we'll move to apples. They can handle banana bits now, but don't like to touch them...silly boys! Pasta is next...once I find one that doesn't contain egg or wasn't manufactured at a plant that handles other egg products. I'm on a mission!!!!

Here's a picture of B's poor face today. It was already better tonight, but I'll still take pictures everyday to try and track his spots. It looks like someone beat him up...my poor little man!



Oh yeah...it was a sunny 75 degrees here today!!!! The boys and I walked for over an hour and it felt great to get outside. They slept most of the way, but I thoroughly enjoyed the fresh air. I know a lot of my readers have snow...WE DON'T!!!!!!!

Vocalizing

Both boys have become very vocal lately. Brandon makes MUCH better sounds now that he has the tubes in his ears. Sometimes it's hard for me to tell their voices apart now. Brandon's sounds were muffled and monotone, but not now! I finally got a little footage of him talking. Connor has developed this new noise he likes to make when he's playing or just happy. It almost sounds like a bird call of some kind. It's almost like he's laughing, but his mouth is closed and he almost forces the sound out. The last video is of Connor getting stuck between the couch and the end table. That's what he gets for being Mr. Nosy Pants! Enjoy!

Some videos

These are some videos that go with the pictures I posted last night....

This one is Connor saying HI



The boys sharing the learning table



Connor climbing all over me and blowing raspberries on my leg!!!

Playing together

Now that the boys don't get to sleep together, they do seem to interact more during play time.


They LOVE their learning table. Connor is doing what I call the "kick stand" pose. He'll put one leg out to balance himself so he can reach ALL THE WAY OVER to the buttons Brandon is pushing. Connor always steals Brandon's toys, but Brandon usually just rolls the other way to get a different toy. I figured that I'm not going to take the toy away from Connor unless Brandon is mad or Connor is being too forceful. Why break up something that isn't a fight? I'm sure I'll have plenty of battles to settle later on. Let boys be boys!

Brandon will wait for Connor to dump the toy bin and then it's a race to get to the toys!

Separated :(

Gone are the days of walking into the nursery to see the boys hugging each other:( I'm serious...this separation was harder for me than it was for them! Connor cried off and on for 3 hours the first night I separated them, but I had him in the Pack n Play and he couldn't even see Brandon. They did much better the next night.


Here is what the back wall of the nursery looked like before I set up the crib....
Here it is after. They normally face each other through the ends of the cribs and talk to each other.

This is the very last time they slept together. This was the morning nap AFTER the first night they were apart. Connor was so tired, that he fell asleep sitting up and then just fell forward. I didn't have the heart to move him, so I just let him sleep. He was very excited to be with his brother again.

I'm sure they will eventually learn how to crawl over the crib to each other, but for now, I'll leave the cribs facing each other. I'll probably have to separate the cribs later, but I want them to be close to each other. They spent 31 1/2 weeks smashed together inside me, 9 weeks apart in the NICU and the last 7 months together again in the same crib. I can't believe how much they are growing!

I'm looking forward to my trip to Florida so Great Grandpa Yibby can see the boys and show them to the sandy beaches of Destin.

Results are in...

I finally got the results of Brandon's allergy test today. He has what they classify as "severe" allergies to nuts and egg whites. I know egg whites is a very common allergy among infants which is why you shouldn't feed them eggs before the age of 1. I was going to introduce egg yolks to them next week, but I think I'm going to pass on that. They don't HAVE to have eggs, but it was a very good source of protein. No biggie though. I'm glad I have my Epi Pen and will carry it with me everywhere. I was also going to introduce plain elbow noodles, but the whole wheat ones I have in the cabinets contain egg whites. I'm going to get on line tonight and do some research on foods to substitute and foods to stay away from. I'm on my way to become an expert label reader! I already read labels and stay away from hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup, and I guess I can add nuts and egg whites to that!

I separated the boys into separate cribs this past weekend. I think it was harder on me than it was on them, but they have transitioned well. I'll try to get some pictures and other videos up soon. Right now, the yard containing a massive amount of leaves is calling my name! Have a great week!