It's still cold outside...

Wow I know... long time no write. Things have just been busy busy busy around here. The more homework I have the less I feel like coming on here and thinking about how I should put the day down in words. Plus by the time I get K&K into bed there usually isn't much energy for anything else.

Abby hasn't been feeling very well these last few days. Her nose is running like crazy and tonight I could hear her coughing downstairs in her room. I hope she doesn't get too sick. Poor baby. I was just putting Kara back to sleep and she looked up at me and smiled as if to say "You can't go to bed yet mom!" but her little eyes were too heavy and she couldn't help but go back to sleep. Kiley is OUT. She was just screaming earlier (along with Kara) I think she wore herself out. I hate the wild hours. From about 6pm-10pm they are just Craaaaaaanky. Nothing makes them happy, it's hard but we make it through it. My sister is here tonight and I love having her over. I feel bad that tonight all we got to do was hold crying babies... but maybe tomorrow we can do something fun.

Ok so what are the girls up to:

Abby's corner:

Abs is busy busy as usual. We are actually going to see an Occupational Therapist (OT) Kristen. They think that she might have a harder time with her sensory processing. It probably stems back from all of the issues we had with her reflux and the aspirating and how much pain she was in from all of that. For you and I if we got hurt we have certain ways we deal with that pain. Abby on the other hand will do things like pull on her hair (or pull it out), grind her teeth or run into things. Something about the pressure helping her pain. We are just trying to redirect her from doing that. They said it also helps her to do things using her muscles. She had a great time playing in the 'gym' with Kristen. She loved lugging around these weighted balls. One weighed 2lbs and the other weighed 6! She carried them like it was no problem. (Now remember she only weighs 24lbs herself) Most kids wouldn't enjoy carrying around a 6lb ball and playing with it... for 20 minuets.  She really did a great job.

We will probably continue to do this for 8 weeks. By the end of those 8 weeks I should have plenty of activities that I can do with her at home to try and redirect her behavior into a more positive manner. We went to Walmart to buy a few of our own weighted balls that she could play with (wow they are hard to find). I asked one of the employees if what was on the shelf was all they had. He said that yes that was all they had for weighted balls but that that they also had these special dumbells (sp?). I said that they wouldn't work because the balls were actually for her. He gave me the strangest look! I bet he was wondering why I was putting my 2 year old on a weight lifting program!! :o) 

Kiley's corner:
She is starting to make more and more noises. She still has the more laid back personality and enjoys being held. Her favorite afternoon past time is taking a nap (which mom loves). She is getting stronger and can lift her head up for longer periods. The lump/bump on the back of her head is still really pronounced in my opinion. I think I will bring it up at her next appointment to make sure that this is ok....

Kara's corner:
Kara is a talker, and a smiler, and a really loud screamer. (sounds a bit like baby Abby) She is REALLY strong and is rolling all over. She tips over constantly when I put her on her stomach. It's as if she says "HAH! So much for this tummy time!" She is also a cat napper which is completely opposite of Kiley. Nap, Awake, Nap, Awake... yeessh! Makes it hard to get anything done....

Well my battery is dying and I'm thinking it's time for sleep. Hopefully I'll be back sonner next time! I need more pictures of Abby... but she's just so darn fast! And being sick doesnt make for a happy picture.... Hopefully soon...

Roar

I got up early to do homework so I know I really shouldn't be writing on here... but I wanted to jot down a few of the things that happened yesterday while I had the chance. (aka it's quite in here)

Our neighbor E invited me to a Bible study yesterday morning. I wasn't sure if I wanted to go as the thought of a Bible study with 3 young children seemed a bit overwhelming. But I decided to give it a go and if it didn't work out we just wouldn't go back. E actually came and picked us up in her van (somehow we got all 5 kids into it- since all of them were in carseats) The lady's house was only about a mile away so it wasn't far. There was another little mom there with her little boy who was 18 months old. He was a little more shy and I think Abby was a bit overwhelming for him at first. It was really nice that she had someone her age there to play with though! She is also expecting at the end of August so between E's 2 boys and baby girl and my Abby and 2 babies there were 7 young children there. It was a hectic Bible study but honestly... there aren't many that are willing to allow your children to be in and amongst you. Which brings to question... why not? Now obviously we didn't get as many chances to 'dig deep' but maybe we should be having our children watching us meet with people over the Bible more often? Just a thought...

K&K are still really fussy. It took me almost 30 minuets to do a 10 question quiz yesterday. It was really frustrating!!!! Not to mention that I was sorely sleep deprived yesterday. I couldn't sleep during Abby's nap because A) Babies were up and B) I had a mountain of homework to tackle. (One of my classes is trying to kill me, I'm sure of it!)

Later though Abby must have sensed that I was dragging. I put the babies in the nursery and just laid down on the couch. She thought we were playing a 'ni night' game. So we laid on the couch, she grabbed a blanket and we watched a few 'toons' while she drew 'preeties' on her little magnet board thing (can't think of the name) She managed to do this for almost 45 minuets! Never in the history of Abby has this happened before. I'm so thankful she did this because even if I couldn't sleep I really needed that time to just lay down.

Ok I need to get back to homework :( Tom's mom is coming up today. She is going to watch the twins while Abby is at the doctor's office tomorrow with me. Hope she doesn't mind my messy house! It's really really really low on the priority list right now.

Her lion needed to lay next to K&K. We picked that up for her the other day at Hobby Lobby. Since I was unable to get her anything for VDay I thought this was perfect! It is a pretty cute Lion.

Night Time Musings

What a whirlwind of a week it has been. I'm sitting in the recliner holding Kara and avoiding more homework that feels like it is just piling up. I did manage to complete two of my quizzes tonight, one amidst Kara's crazy screams... but I have one quiz due tomorrow, an assignment from last week due Friday, a test in another class... and a few discussion topics, readings and other things to do....

Where do I find the time... I ask myself that a lot. I'm just trying to survive this crazy semester... just trying to get through it.

On another positive note... I've found one more thing to do other than my homework. Photography. It is something that I've been dabbling in for awhile and I'm so excited to be getting more involved in it. A few people have asked me to do photos for them and I'm so excited by this! You may wonder if I'm crazy for taking up 'one more thing.' But it is something I need... it is a stress reliever, it makes me happy and I really just enjoy it. In the end if I 'fail' at this I will at least gain many beautiful pictures of my girls.

So what have we been up to... We drove down to Tom's parent's place this weekend and had a wonderful time visiting. I don't believe we had been down there since Christmas! Abby loved seeing Grandma and Grandpa D and playing with them. She actually does very well down there now and while she leaves many little 'reminders' of her being there... at least she hasn't destroyed their house completely! It is always fun to go down there. It was a nice change of scenery and just felt like a mini 'vacation' (which we could all use!)

While we were at church she hurt her arm and this made having fun a little harder. We had it looked at by the doctor today when she got her stitches out and the Dr thought it was 'nursemaid's elbow' where the joint gets dislocated. This is the 4th time she has hurt her arm like this and this last time it took 24 hours for her to use it again. Poor baby. She did very well getting her stitches out though and it was quick, easy and painless. (Apparently she had taken one out already because there was only one left in when we got there...

How have K&K been? *sigh* Hard. It's just been that type of week...

I've hardly slept the last two nights. The girls are waking up constantly and I can hardly keep them asleep. On top of this at night they have had screaming fits where I can hardly calm them down. I think the Prevacid is losing it's effectiveness. After some research I learned that the form the Prevacid is in for the girls only has a short shelf life. Therefore... screaming...angry babies=new medication needed. Hopefully Tom can grab a new set for them. In a way it's a little funny... here I had started to think: "Maybe we didn't need the medications? Maybe there wasn't anything wrong with them." or "Maybe the reflux wasn't that bad and I was just tired since they were so young..."

HAH. If anyone want's to experience a TRUE reflux 'attack' come by my house at around 7pm-9pm and watch... you will never want to do it again. They scream, and scream and scream... nothing works, you can feed them ,change them , cuddle them, put them in swings, give them a bath.. nothing... works. And by the end you are so sleep deprived, so frazzled that you can hardly stand it. It's not 'crying' or 'fussing' it is Angry blood curdling screams that just grind on you... for hours.


Well I should try and look over a few more things of homework... or go to bed which sounds a lot better. I hope tonight goes better than the last!

Something I think about a lot:

Being a mother is a job that is more frustrating, more exhausting, more difficult and more rewarding than I ever dreamed it could be...