Human boomerang!

Well... I have a little time to post and so I'll try to catch everyone up on what is going on around here. My friend left this morning and the house feels a little more empty (strange considering it is at times very full!) It was fun to have her over. Last night we played board games when my friend Carrie came over to play. We laughed and laughed. It was the type of board game where you must do silly things to advance towards the finish line.

"Wah wah wah Wah wah wah...." <---- The sound Tom made as a human boomerang. I had to do the hula and there was plenty of awful singing. It was a great time even if Kiley & Kara cried through most of it. It got a little difficult when I wasn't allowed to use my hands or arms....

Kiley & Kara go in for their 2 month check up on Monday. I'm going to talk to the doctor about their reflux and I'm hoping he will refer me to the specialist that treated Abby's issues. I'm also 99% sure that they are aspirating. The other day when I was feeding Kiley she aspirated some into her lungs. She turned purple and couldn't breathe... it was a little scary!! They also seem to choke and cough a lot so I might need to have them get video swallows done... great...

I don't know how to feel about all of their issues. Some days I really don't think it's fair we have to deal with this all over again... though they do say it is hereditary. There is a good chance that they will have me go on the MSPI diet again (milk soy protein intolerance). Thankfully this time around I have a better idea about what I'm getting into ... and there is a group in my online community that has a lot of helpful information and resources. I won't feel so alone if I have to do it again, and hopefully I can prevent myself from starving this time...

And just in case you are wondering... I won't stop breastfeeding...  A) I don't trust formula B) Formula is far too expensive let alone if it has to be specialized and C) They are better off if I don't stop.

I guess we will find out more on Monday. I really hope that he doesn't try to handle it himself first. Last time it took him 6 months to decide it wasn't working. I know this stuff... he isn't qualified to handle it. And I have two this time... I can't handle 6 months of it... not with Abby too. On a positive note, Kara is really holding her head up now! They are beginning to smile and coo... they are growing stronger every day!

Abby has taken to screaching... I really really hope it isn't a long phase. We are all ready to pull our hair out... or go deaf. It's like she's discovered a whole new octave! gah! Yesterday we went on a walk. It was nice to get out even if it was a little chilly. I hope the weather doesn't get cold again! The -30's were tooooooo cold. Tom's Jeep is still in the shop and it is very frustrating. He made an appointment to have it seen on Wednesday and they haven't even looked at it yet. They told him to call again on Tuesday or Wednesday. It's been there since Monday! Do they realize that I'm stuck at home as long as they wait??? Grrrr

Well I had better get some laundry done and I need to take a look at my online classes again. If you feel like it, leave me comments :) As much as you love to read my blog I love to see that people are actually reading it and I love to see the comments :)

Preety Toes

"God never gives you more than you can handle... sometimes I just wish He wouldn't trust me so much." This quote from Mother Theresa has been bouncing around in my head quite a bit. There have just been a lot of things going on around here that are pretty stressful. At times I feel trapped, at times I wish that I could just go back with my nursing buddies, where I would be struggling to get through the final semester of nursing school. But it wasn't meant to be for me... not yet at least.

On to brighter things. My amazing, awesome college friend stole me away for one brilliant hour. She treated me to a pedicure and we got a chance to breeze through the mall a bit. It was so fun, I had a chance to just 'be' for awhile, to laugh and enjoy my friend. We bought Tom his belated Christmas present (an air popper for popcorn) got ice cream from Dairy Queen and headed back home.

When Abby saw my toes she got really excited. She kept petting them and touching the fingernail polish. She wanted preeties too so I painted them for her. It was really cute. She kept tip-toeing all over the place, touching them. She was so proud.

Abby hasn't had a bottle all day either, which doesn't bother me since Ive been wanting to transfer to the sippy cup... the fact that she will not drink any type of milk or formula is more something I'm wondering about. She's drinking water but I would still like to make sure that she is getting enough of the vitamins and fats that she needs nutritionally.

But Tom is here with Pizza... I'll be back later to write more on Kiley & Kara.... for now it's time to eat!

One.. Two... Three...

Abby enjoys bread. To her it is not only a snack... but a great medium for creativity. At least that is what I told myself after she demolished an entire loaf that she had snatched from the counter-top. I'm not sure why Tom and I both assumed that when we saw her eating a piece, that she would stop at one. When we turned around she had the entire loaf sprinkled around the house like Hansel and Gretel. At least someone invented a vacuum, it must have been the mother of a toddler.

Coffee is brewing and I'm feeding Kara. Tom is sitting with Abby watching Dinosaur Train. Abby's consumption of the formula has dropped significantly. Yesterday I don't think she finished a bottle. I'm not sure if her stomach is a little off or she just doesn't want it anymore. She did drink out of her sippy cup so at least she was drinking fluids. We are having streaking difficulties with this one too. Yesterday, everytime I would go in to change a baby or make lunch etc etc... I would see her streak like a bolt of very naked baby. It's January here, if we're lucky it's 30 degrees outside. The biggest challenge has been her naps. Twice lately we have gotten her up from her nap to find her naked from the waist down... no diaper and the bedding ends up in the wash. Usually then she is cold, wet and naked. Not a great start to our afternoon! I put a onesie on her yesterday afternoon and this seemed to work. Hopefully it will again today.

I haven't written a few days, things have been a little stressful around here. Kiley & Kara's reflux issues seem to be getting worse. I've been debating calling the doctors about it but so far haven't. They have their 2 month check up on Monday (I think) so I'll probably try and bring it up then. Kara will drink and arch her back and cry and then get back on, then get off, on, off, on, off... it's frustrating. Both girls are throwing up, projectile vomiting everywhere. Spitting up I can deal with, the constant puking where they are soaked, I'm soaked and the crib sheets or our bed sheets are soaked, that gets a little more frustrating. Then of course they are both angry because the milk has shot out their noses. It always surprises me that after puking like that the first thing they want to do is get back on and drink... something I'm not thrilled about.

With Abby I used a homeopathic med called Colic Calm, it helped more than the drugs did for Abby. I've been using it on Kiley & Kara with moderate success. The first night I got 4 hours of sleep in a row (amazing!) so I was excited to try it again. The next night they puked... several times after drinking it. So it didn't really help their tummies. I'm also wondering if the rashes that are covering their faces and that flare up once in awhile are eczema. I guess we'll find out more later.

They are both getting more and more alert. It is fun to see them look up at you and give you a baby smile that melts your heart. Every once in awhile we catch them cooing back and forth to one another. (I love this picture of them both passed out on our bed after I finally got them back to sleep)

My college friend is staying over with us for a few days. Abby enjoys hanging all over her. We might go out for an hour or two as she wants to take me somewhere without the kiddos. My mom said that she would watch them for a little while. My classes are starting this week and I'm feeling overwhelmed with them. Hopefully once I adjust to the extra work it will get easier. One of my professors wants us to buy a textbook that is impossible to find. I've had two other people help me look but all that I can figure out is that the book is out of print.... what? How do you teach a college class with a book like that? (It's a wellness class)

So.... if you feel up to it, keep us in your prayers this week as I juggle everything.

Oh and Abby counted to 10 yesterday.... "One, Two, Three, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten!" Notice anything? :)

3D!

At Last! A movie date with my husband. My wonderful mother offered to babysit the girls for an afternoon so that Tom and I could go out together. His boss had given us $50 towards Spezia (a restaurant) for a Christmas present so we decided we could eat lunch there and head for a movie.

For the second week in a row we made it to church this morning. I averaged... probably 5 hours of sleep last night out of the 11pm-8am evening hours. If our church started a little later it would have been easier to get there, 9am is for us... just hard. But we managed to both get showers, get all three girls changed and fed... myself a coffee and out the door by 8:45am.... The roads were a little icky but I was so excited to finally make it out of the house! It was fun to see the way the drifts have swallowed the houses around here. There was one drift that was probably 10 feet high! We were both actually able to sit through the whole church service. Abby did pretty well actually. We sat next to quite a few families with children and next to my aunt's family and I think that helped. I also packed along 2 little boxes of raisins that Abby enjoyed 'sloooowly' eating out of the box... and dumping them on the floor. Sadly, although we were able to stay in church and listen to the sermon, I wasn't able to hear much of what was being said. Some day! It was fun to talk to people after church again... and I was finally able to get the cookware that had been sent along with the meals that were given to us when the twins were born. One of the families lives right here in our town!

Today was the first time I had been away from the twins. It was really nice to get out and have a nice dinner without worrying about Abby throwing a fit or trying to run away... or the babies crying. It was even nicer to go see a movie! We saw Avatar in 3D, I wasn't sure it was really worth the 10 dollar tickets but since the last movie we saw in the big theaters was for our anniversary date in June... and our next date will probably be awhile... we broke down and spent the 21 dollars. During the beginning credits they asked for us to be 'green' and give back our glasses.... for 10 dollar tickets I was keeping my glasses!!!! (Abby had fun with them after we got home, so it was totally worth it!) The only thing we regretted was not getting there earlier because the theater was crammed with people and we ended up staring straight up at the screen. I really wasn't expecting the movie to still be so popular that you couldn't show up 20 minuets before and get a good seat. Oh well... we still had fun. It was interesting that some people brought their small children. The mother behind us kept having to read the subtitles to the kids... and there were some violent scenes that I wouldnt have wanted my girls to see... I hope the little girl doesn't have nightmares tonight!

But we both really enjoyed the movie, it was a lot of fun. The girls all did great and Kara & Kiley took the bottle with no troubles at all. My mom did say that Kara seems to have a little harder time handling the faster slow of the bottle (similar to how Abby was)... not that I am surprised at all. She also has the worse reflux of the two. But everything turned out to be just fine. I'm not sure what our plans are for tomorrow. I'm really hoping that the girls sleep fairly well tonight. I'm so tired my eyes are heavy and my body just aches. It was really hard to not want to just curl up and fall asleep in the dark theater.

Both babies are on their way to sleep so I should get to sleep while I can.... night!