Some nice pics form Christmas Eve at Korrie's house

The duo
Grandma and Trevor
Cousins 2007

My boys
twins with twins
This is such a cute pic of Olivia, but look at the boys faces. They are like 'how many more pictures do we have to smile for?'

The Wilhelms
The Gilbert's
Korrie and I

I just wanted to take some time to thank everyone for the wonderful gifts for the boys and myself and John. We are so lucky to have a wonderful family. Thank you to Korrie for hosting Christmas Eve again. What a wonderful time we had and the food was spectacular. Thank you to Diana and Jordan and Alanna for opening your home to us for Christmas and allowing us to have Santa visit te boys. This Christmas was so different and definately a new thing. We appreciate all that was done to make it magical!

Christmas morning at Aunt Diana's

stocking time
Santa left a note
coming up the stairs
Trevor and bumblebee
Connor was good at unwrapping
Connor loves his cell phone (and Jordan's slippers)

Vacuums were a huge hit!

The aftermath of flying wrapping paper!

Our inch worms from Nanny and Granddad

Our big little man lost his third tooth!

The school nurse gave him a keeper necklace to wear his tooth in all day.

Just in time for Christmas, Trevor lost his top tooth. He was so proud. The new tooth has alre

ady started to come in. This morning when he woke up, he had a $5 bill from the tooth fairy (top teeth are worth more-heehee).

I can't believe I forgot to share this!

The boys had their foloow-up appointments at the ped cardiologist on the 13th. they had an echocardiogram each and the findings were......................


NO MORE HOLES!!!!!!!! Both have healed their PFO's. All of Logan's VSD's were closed and Connor has pne very small teeny tiny will- probably-close- in- the- next-few-months VSD that the Dr said his heart is essentially normal.

They have normal hearts!!!!! No antibiotics are needed now prior to invasive procedures either! this is the best news!

Sorry it took so long to share!

Some nice pics of me with the boys.

These were taken at Thanksgiving at Korrie's. I finally opened it up to look at the file and found these that John snapped of us.

Quick update on us all...

I am sick. I have laryngitis. Please send me good vibes to make it through this weekend of work and that I am able to get well for our home visit.

Connor is doing better. Still giving him 'round the clock Benadryl and his rash is slowly fading. The rough spots are sloughing off (he's molting!!!) and he shoudl be back to normal (i hope) by Christmas.

We got about 1.5 inches of snow and more to come. I hope the roads are clear for our travels home. Snow on the grassy areas for a white Christmas- good. Snow on the roads- bad.


That is all for us for now.

After I had had enough of shopping yesterday

I posted this letter on my Twins board because they understood my pain.


Dear General Public,
I know it is not your fault that I am pissy because I waited until 10 days before Christmas to shop (with twin toddlers in tow) and they are out of everything I need, and the stores are crowded with other cranky shoppersbut yes, I am aware I am blessed, lucky, cursed, all off the above. I know they are cute. I don't giver a rip about your best friend's cousins sister who has twins. I dont care to know that they run in your family or not. I think they are Identical, but only DNA knows for sure. Yes, they are angelic when they are sleeping (we will be at your house at 4 so you can see the other side). I dont want to hear about how you really wanted twins. I know I have my hands full and I am glad it isnt you who had them, cuz you would suck at it. I dont know which is the eviler one. I really dont care to have any fricking small talk regarding them. We are not a circus side-show. I did not shower this morning and my hair is greasy. I would rather go unnoticed, but you wont let that happen.
I JUST WANT TO SHOP AND BE LEFT THE FRICK ALONE!!!!!!!!!!!
Sincerely,
Bitchy west of the Mississippi!

Santa 2007

The duo was like "Meh- he's a man- big deal" . Santa didnt phase them one bit and they were quite content to just sit in his lap. Trevor had bigger plans and that was telling Santa what he wanted and making sure Santa knew to deliver them to Fort Wayne at Aunt Diana's house, cuz that was where we will be staying.

Can't wait to come home to see everyone!!!! Just over a week now!!!!

mysterious rash

Connor had some of his rash, which was just a couple of spots onm his chin, cultured, and the culture came back E. coli. WEll, he did a 10-day course of antibiotics (Keflex) and those spots went away, but some new (many new) showed up. It started really on about Thursday with a few spots around the back of his ear. then Friday I went to give him his bath and this weird rash was all in the crook of his neck and along his jaw-line. That was when I found out about the original culture results. So I told the ped that things were worse and she had us go back in on this past Saturday. WEll she tested him for strep to rule out scarletina. she also said it did not appear to be fungal or yeasty due to how dry it was. There were few little tiny pustules, but nothing that we could culture. I gave her my history at my job and all of the MRSA I am exposed to, and after conferring with 2 other pediatrcians decided to treat him as if he had MRSA. She did a nasal swab culture and that was negative. He was put on Septra, we had to do antibacterial washed and put ointment in his nostrils. WEll- fast-forward to yesterday. He still was having the rash spread and his little eyes were swollen from him itching them. So I called the ped back and now we are thinking this is an allergic reaction to the Keflex, and possibly the Septra made it worse and he is allergic to both. So we stopped the antibiotic and are doing doses of benadrly every 6 hours to clear it up. At least I hope this is it. He is itchy and so miserable. WE will now have to schedule formal allergy testing and antibiotic testing for him sooner than later.

Because it's not always about the twins.....it's my turn to share.

NO pictures, just me blogging my heart. This has been a difficult week for me. This weekend, On Sunday morning to be exact, for the first time, I had to pronounce a resident dead. I have been at my family's bedside when they've passed away, knowing death was expected and imminent. But this weekend, a gentle man- someone I hardly knew- passed away. Unexpectedly, in his sleep. He was doing well, but when my CNA did rounds, he had just slipped. He was a DNR (do not ressucitate), but I was so shocked. I stood there, just looking, listening, waiting for a breath, something. Anything to prevent me having to do the inevitable. But he was gone. I was given the responsibility of calling his death. And I am having a hard time dealing with it. Then not an hour later, another woman coded. I had to call the code, initiate CPR, call 911. Alot of responsibility for one night. And I don't know if it is just the holidays, and remembering all of those who have been with us and passed, but something has just upset me about this. I know in nursing, there are a lot of things we have to get comfortable with, but this didnt sit well with me. I know I will get past it, and it will make me a stronger person. But for now, I just needed to talk about my feelings and let it out a little.

Thanks for listening.

A quick pass through Lone Elk Park

A lonely little buck- totally unphased by the cars.

Many times we were told to go visit here and see the wildlife. WEll, some work was being done on our bathroom, so I decided to go take a drive to put the babies to sleep. I drove through and didnt see much, but when I got to the end, there were some elk in a herd. I knew I would have to go get Trevor after school and bring him back. I didn't have my camera either, so I wanted to snag that. It is literally only 10 minutes from my home, and we are whisked away amongst hills and valleys on a paved driving tour of wild animals. WE arrived and Trevor was excited. I didnt tell him where we would be going, just that he would like it and it was an adventure. Boy did he ever! There were WAY more animals lurking about than when I was there. We first came across many elk. Then we went to the Bison area and saw a herd of Bison.

After, we were confronted by a huge male elk grazing. He was only 6 feet away from the car!!! He was totally oblivious to the cars gawking at him. His antlers were enormous and impressive. I tried to say that he might be a helper for Santa, but Trevor is too smart. He also made note that "Elks have yellow butts, mama".
He was fascinated that they ears had yellow tags on them. I told him they were protected and if they got lost, the rangers could help them find their way back home. He thought that was cool.
Another really great thing the park has is a World Bird Sanctuary where they have live birds of prey. Trevor says we have to go back to see the bald eagles, hawks, vultures, owls and other birds.
So we had a great little "field trip" to make the day. It was free and a drive at your own pace. sort of thing. Again, I am in awe at the many things this area holds for us to do. What a great area for learning and exploring and raising very smart kids!

ahhh the first Christmas with VERY mobile twins...

I love this picture because it shows how truly fast they are. I turned the flash off and got a good idea of thier quick movements. They were in wonderment of the tree when they saw it. It sits, lit, but not decorated. We will get some plastic cheapo ornaments this year as I am not having them wreck my good ornaments. We will be home with the family anyways. Soon will have some good pictures taken, but for now, this will suffice.

Growth and development update

We went to the pediatrician for a G & D check-up. It is a very late check-up as they were supposed to have one at 18 months, but you know how that goes.
We have a great pediatrician. She had thoroughly read through thier files, so when we got there, she already knew about them! I was quite impressed.
Logan weighed in at 23lb 2 oz (6th %) and was 32.5 in tall( 15th%). His head circumference was 49 cm (65th%). Connor weighed in at 24lb 2 oz (15th%) and was 33 in tall (30th %) . So he is 1 lb heavier and 1/2 in taller which is still consistent with thier G & D pattern. His head measered exactly the same as Logan's, so brain development is terrific!!! The good news is.....THESE FIGURES ARE ACCURATE WITHOUT ADJUSTING THIER PROGRESS FOR THEIR PREMATURITY!!!!!!!!!!!! At their 1 year check-up, they were -5% on the growth chart. When they adjusted for prematurity, they were only in the 1-2 percentile. So they are finally tracking on the chart for peers their actual age with NO ADJUSTMENTS!!!!! This is huge! The ped was so impressed with thier growth, especially when you look back and read about all of the health concerns they have had along the way.
The only real concern at this point is their speech. They only say about 5 words consistently, and should be saying by age 2 about 50 or at least mimicking more speech than they do. If by thier 2 yr appointment they are not as improved as they should be, we will bring in speech therapy. But I can live with that!

Here is the plan for the next few weeks leading up to their 2 yr visit in January....

*blood tests to test for celiac disease (gluten intoloerance) and blood count to check the progress of anemia
*hearing tests to r/o hearing deficits related to speech
*echocardiograms to view the status of their holes in thier hearts, and a visit with the pediatric cardiologist.
*a visit with a pediatric dentist due to poor enamel, development and discoloration on Connor's teeth (likely due to antibiotics in the NICU) Logan will be seen too, although his teeth are not as bad.
We will be busy, but we are finally getting things done!

Grey's Anatomy 2025

Connor
Logan
Connor explaining the "symptoms" !

My gorgeous boys Fall 2007

Look how big they are!!!!

Logan
Connor

Football pics...... fall 2007

Fun game of football
3 boys
Connor- future Payton Manning
Logan

Connor loves his sticks
Logan was done with pictures.

New fashion trends

As mentioned before, the boys feel a need to creatively express themselves. This would be in the form of new fashion twists on tried and true apparel. Today's fashion is the "who says boys can't wear skirts with no shirts" fashion. Below, Connor sports the 'bam bam" fashion. These things, albeit funny, are very aggravating when out in public- yes, they do this in public. I have no idea how to break them of this annoying habit they have. As you see, pinning an item is no challenge when you can just go through the neck, right?

eating like big boys now.

Logan
Connor
Big boys

I decided today that it is time that we start using our utensils. The boys took to it right away and were excited about spooning the food into their mouths. Since most of what they eat is adapted to be picked up, the large chunks were easy to maneuver on the fork and spoon. The utensils were from Nanny last Christmas and are by far the best ones for learning. the others were too hard for them to grasp. These are perfect.