Brandon...

has started walking with his walking toy! I haven't been pushing him to walk yet since he just started standing up a few weeks ago. He obviously is ready though!!! He walked across the family room while holding onto my fingers. Connor can go across the whole house while holding onto me! It won't be too much longer until these guys get moving! I'm definitely looking forward to NOT having to carry them both everywhere. Once Connor starts walking, I can hold onto his hand and carry B. Can't wait!

March of Dimes

Thank you SO much to everyone who has donated to the March of Dimes. I'm OVER half way to my goal, and it's not even been a week!!! It's good to know that I have so many friends and family who support me and what I believe in. Thanks again everyone!!!!

Movin' the dirt

I must be totally INSANE...wait...I KNOW I'm insane. I had this wonderful idea that we could use the dirt the contractor dug up for the foundation to fill all the glorious holes Jade and Rena have provided us in the back yard. I got the boys down for their morning nap, plugged in the baby monitor on the deck, gloved my hands and dug in! I didn't realize that once dirt is packed down, it doesn't go a long way. I stopped counting at 30 wheel barrels full so I'm sure I hit at least 50 loads of dirt. Keep in mind, I did this all by myself and after a rough night with the boys.


If you can't remember how much dirt was there before, look down at the previous blog posting.
DIRT BE GONE!!!! I wish I could have waved my hand, recited those words, and watched the dirt magically move to the other side of the yard.
The girls come in and out the the doggy door so much that they have pulled a lot of ground away from the door. That is where the majority of the dirt went. I missed the bluegrass of the midwest!!! We don't have grass in NC, but we have a lot of dirt, silt, dust, and weeds!

These pictures are mainly for Eric so he can see how much I managed to build up the ground by the back door. Rena could almost fit under the concrete slab...that's how bad it was.

Brandon cried last night from about 830 until 1130 or so. I'm not sure what time he stopped, but I was on the phone with the 24 hour nurse. I was concerned that there might be something wrong after his vaccination, but he hasn't had a problem before. He ended up in bed with me until 1 or so, and I was finally able to put him in his own bed. He cried again this morning for about 30 minutes before falling asleep for his morning nap. Even though he was up so late, he was up bright eyed at 7 this morning. Oh yeah, Connor was up until about 11 last night as well! So after a rough night with the munchkins, not much sleep for me, a trip to the grocery store, and almost 2 hours spent moving dirt, I'm going to pop a few motrin for the sore back I'm going to have tomorrow, get my kids up (they are talking in their cribs now), feed them lunch and then we're all going to lay on the floor and play. My time card is punched for the day...whew!

Construction Zone

Construction has finally started on our room addition. They came and dug the trench for the foundation and the concrete is scheduled for Monday. Once that has a few days to settle, the mason will be out to do his thing. Here are a few pictures...



I get the lovely task of moving all that dirt to fill in the holes Rena and Jade have dug. Fun for me!

Brandon finally did it!!!!

The boys received their final RSV vaccination today. Every time they get one, they have to be weighed in order to determine the size of the vaccination. I'm proud to report that BRANDON WEIGHS 20 POUNDS NOW!!! He has steadily gained 1/2 pound each month. I can finally turn his car seat to face the front! If you think about it, he's right on track because their adjusted 1st birthday was yesterday. So, they are technically one year old now. Connor weighed in at 24 lbs 13 oz...no worries there!!! Here's a cute picture of them from today. It is supposed to hit 80 degrees so I broke out the shorts. They have the adjustable waist bands in them and they are FANTASTIC!!!

March for Babies

Every year around mother's day, Fayetteville hosts the March of Dimes MARCH FOR BABIES! This year, I decided to team up with our friends, the Hartmans! Their son, Reese, was in the NICU with Brandon and Connor and they've become friends of ours. The boys and I are taking part in the walk this year and are looking for your help! We'd like to raise $500 under our name to add to Team Hartman. Obviously, the money will go to further research into premature births. If you can donate, please do so through my webpage.
Thanks so much! Every little bit helps

http://www.marchforbabies.org/katedanko


Brandon weighed 3 lbs 10 oz
Connor weighed 4 lbs 1 oz

Swingin' away in Fayetteville...

...not quite wastin' away in Margaritaville, but close enough! I've been scouting out all of the parks in Fayetteville to find the best ones! Ft. Bragg has a brand new one that will be awesome once the boys start walking. In the meantime, we have one park that's really close to the house that has a 1 mile trail around it. We'll walk the trail 3 times and then play on the baby swings. I found a park in Haymont, which is a very nice part of town and kind of ritzy. The park is right in the middle of a neighborhood. The boys can swing on those baby swings and then we can walk through the neighborhood so I can get my workout. Here are a few pictures from today at the Haymont Park.


Brandon far away...
Brandon up close...YAY MOM!
Connor far away...
Connor up close...THIS IS SO MUCH FUN!

Funny thing...

I couldn't find Brandon's tooth brush last night after they went to bed. I brush their teeth at night, and then let them play with the brush to make it seem FUN! They usually crawl around with them until I put them down for the night. When I couldn't find B's, I assumed it was in one of their toy bins. NOOOO...I found it in the washing machine today!!! Brandon must have hid it in the laundry basket last night! I happened to find it before it made its way into that dryer...thank goodness.

The boys got a bucket of snap beads for their birthday from some friends of ours. They love to play with them and love the bucket they came in even more. I'm slightly anal when it comes to picking up their toys at night and like to make sure that I have all the parts for each toy blah blah blah. The dogs have snatched a few of their things!!! Anyway, Eric and I couldn't find the 16th snap bead and I just figured it was under a couch and would find it the next time I steam clean. Eric went to put his running shoes on when he got back to Iraq...low and behold...one of the boys put that 16th snap bead in his shoe!!!! I guess they wanted Daddy to have a momento! At least I know where it is now!!!

The Guess the Danko results...Connor was on the top and Brandon was on the bottom. I thought it would be an easy one for anyone who knows the boys. If you look closely, Brandon has a few eczema patched on his left cheek. Also, Connor's 4th tow on his right foot still has his little preemie birth mark on it. It's getting lighter and lighter, but his toe still looks a little red! Congrats to those who guessed correctly and SHAME ON YOU to those who missed! Try again next time!!!!

Eggs...the hypoallergenic kind!

I found some old easter eggs in the garage, filled them with oyster crackers, threw them out in the front yard and let the boys play. I actually did this on Saturday since it was SO nice outside. They had fun putting the eggs in the bowl and shaking them. Now, they have figured out how to open them and eat the oyster crackers inside. Oyster cracker filled eggs???? YES...no candy for my kiddos yet! They eat too well right now and aren't picky. I'm not about to give them something that could change that!


Connor says YAY FOR EGGS
Brandon double fisted it
In the bowl...
Bettina and her dog Beine came over for some fun too
Connor was cracking me up today with this egg! Once they figured out how to open them, Connor realized he could chew on it. So, he put it in his mouth and started crawling around with it. I was laughing so hard because it made him look like a bird with a yellow beak. This picture doesn't quite show how funny looking he was, but it's cute nontheless.

Easter

We hope everyone had a wonderful Easter weekend! The boys and I spent the day with the Brown family. Scott is a dentist with Eric and they have 4 year old twin girls. Twin madness let me tell ya! I tagged along with them to church and the boys were total angels! Then we made our way to their house for a delicious brunch. Theresa can definitely cook..let me tell ya! The boys enjoyed ham, homemade "eggless" blueberry scones, mac and cheese, and jello. Today was the first time they've had ham and jello! They loved the ham, but Connor wasn't too sure of the jello...oh well! Theresa set me up with some leftovers!!! YAY! I even brought my own tupperware this time since I usually end up stealing hers. The boys were pretty rotten the rest of the day since I screwed with their "schedule" by taking them to church. It's just not something I can do with them right now. We went to the park for a nice long trail walk and now I'm waiting for them to fall asleep so I can crash myself.



I had to change the format of the comments on the blog because I'm starting to get spam comments. I want to leave the blog public, but if this doesn't solve the problem I'll have to make other changes!!!

Baby Proofing

I did the normal baby proofing a few months ago like the outlets and just keeping everything out of their reach. However, their "reach" is becoming bigger. Brandon and I were rolling around on the family room floor today while Connor was just chilling and talking to the couch. I noticed that Connor got quiet...which isn't a good sign. Brandon and I stopped goofing off only to find that Connor grabbed the container of Cheerios, OPENED IT, and dumped it on the floor...cheerio dust and all. He was taking fist fulls and shoving them in his mouth. They just finished their afternoon snack, but apparently I didn't feed Connor enough! Once B realized what was going on, he jumped right on it! After I cleaned up the mess, I put them down for their nap and spent their afternoon nap screwing in locks on my kitchen cabinets. Fun stuff let me tell ya.




Here's a cute picture of B from yesterday that I meant to post. Think someone is teething????

Yesterday, I experienced another "first" It was the first day that I have not changed one single diaper since the boys were born. Bridget changed them all...I think that included 3 or 4 poopie ones. There might have been a day while the boys were in the NICU that I didn't change any, but I know it's been at least 1 full year since I've had a diaper changing free day. Thanks Aunt Bri!

Family Portraits

We had some family portraits taken while Eric was home on R & R. I really wanted to go to a private photographer rather than a chain studio, so it's taken a few weeks to get our pictures! If you want to see them...here's where you go...

www.kristinrailtonphotography.com

Click On-Line Proofing
Click Family Gallery
Click on DANKO

You can order right from the site...so have fun viewing!

Just Another Day

Tuesday was just another day in our house! BUT...I finally went and got my massage Eric bought me for Christmas and it was WONDERFUL! On the way back, I stopped at Sams to pick up a few things to make a meal for one of the other wifes in Eric's group. She had an unexpected surgery last week and I didn't want her to worry about trying to make a meal for her family. Of course, when you go to Sams you get boxes, and we all know how much babies love boxes.

Brandon crawled right in there and made himself at home while Connor...
was attached to me leg! He is definitely becoming my appendage
The boys got a wooden puzzle for their birthday and the knobs on each piece are about the size of their pacies...so in the mouth they went!




After their bedtime milk and after I brushed their teeth, we all got on the floor to watch the first 30 minutes of American Idol. Well, I watched while the boys crawled back and forth over me.

Rena the LION! ROAR

Most of you know that I groom the dogs once a month. Unfortunately, Eric didn't get around to it while he was home last month. I HATE doing it! Anyway...enough complaining. Bridget helped hold the pups down while I attacked them with the clippers. Jade did fine...as usual. Rena on the other hand had such matted down hair that I had no choice other than to shave her bald. Yes...she is no longer a dog but a lion! Eric did however find time to shave her tail completely which made me VERY unhappy...but it's just dog hair. She looks MUCH cleaner now and smells sweet!


I found a Turkey Tenderloin at the store the other day. I've never had it before and thought I'd try it. It was SUPER yummy. I coupled it with some grilled romain. I had to take a picture because it looked pretty. I even managed to get the criss cross grill marks on it...without even trying! We ended the night with some yogurt, skim milk, and chocolate syrup shakes. Not bad at all!

On the deck

It was a beautiful day here today, so Bri and I took the boys on the deck. They had fun trying to eat the dead leaves and had fun watching Jade and Rena chase each other around the yard. They are such sweet boys!

Guess the Danko #3

This is the third edition of GUESS THE DANKO, but it's also a little on the blackmailing side. If you are easily offended by bare baby bottoms, don't look down! You know how to play the game...guess the Danko by leaving a comment, but don't cheat to see what other people think!




Mohawk Brandon!

Connor's hair didn't go into a mohawk very well. Instead, he decided to see how far he could get his body wash container into his mouth!

Supporting the Turtles

Aunt Bridget (my sister) takes great pride in all 6 of her nieces and nephews. Traditionally she buys them each a Maryland Terrapins outfit. For those of you who don't know, Bri is working on her doctorate in Psych and has been published 3 times. I'm a very proud sister, to say the least. It was almost 80 degrees here today so the boys were in shorts...Terrapin shorts of course! Bri is coming to visit us tomorrow and I can't wait! I haven't seen my sis since Halloween, which is also her birthday, so I'm super excited to see her!!!

I hardly ever dress the boys in the exact same outfit, but today was a special occasion.

GO MARYLAND!!!

My NEW Floor!!!!

Well...it's in! Here are some pictures...


BEFORE
Tearing up 2 layers of linoleum
Still tearing up...
All torn up....
Some sticky stuff to even out the floor...
Laying out the floor...

All done!
The boys are checking and inspecting the floor!

Connor was clapping and kicking his feet in excitement.

I signed the contract for the room addition yesterday! The brick mason should be out in about a week and half. I'm worried about it, but very much looking forward to have more space!

Brother...OUT

It was beautiful, sunny and 70 degrees here yesterday, so I opened the back door. Connor wanted Brandon to go outside...

Scary Day

I'm not sure if you all have heard, but there was a rocket attack in Iraq today. This is where Eric is stationed. No need to worry...he's ok, but it happened very close to him. He said he heard and felt the explosion and started to gather his heavy duty gear. Here's a link to the article about it. All I have to say is continue to support the troops. They deserve all the support and prayers!!!

http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/03/ap_casualties_031208/

Tuesday Happenings

Today was just another day in Danko Paradise! The boys are definitely into EVERYTHING. I was cleaning up in the kitchen and Connor was very quiet..here's why!

I put the clothes back in the drawer and watched him do it again!


Doesn't it look like Brandon's playing the "swiffer" guitar???

Brandon was being very helpful with the laundry today!





They started reading to each other...so sweet!

Later on, Connor got very quiet again while Brandon and I were playing in the family room...here's what he was doing


Look at his little hand holding onto the crib rail!

Totally tuckered out

Here's a video from the other day...