Trevor and Tiny

Learning to walk together.....

http://s32.photobucket.com/albums/d1/gilbertkimber/?action=view&current=DSCN2091.flv

The boys do so much these days. Aside from driving us nuts, they are becoming little communicators too. When Connor is doing something naughty, when I tell him "NO" he hides his face or looks away-kind of like an ostrich that hides it's head. So funny! Both will shake their heads "no' before I even get the chance to say it and then look at me like they are proud of themselves for knowing they were doing something they shouldn't.
Both are waving too. It is so cute. I will try to get more video of them doing thier little antics.

Trevor likes his new school a lot. He especially loves riding the bus. The whole Tornado thing has him a little scared and he is having a lot of anxiety of a tornado coming. Every night we have to watch The Weather Channel to show him what the weather is going to be like. He even acquired a new protector "tiny" the T-Rex. He is the defender at night time. I feel bad for Trevor that his first experience witht he weather here was a bad one. Kind of reminds me of how Korrie and I used to pack up our pillow cases with our worldly goods everytime it would storm- just incase we had to run for the basement. This is because a tornado went down Washington Center road when we were about 8 or 9 and Dad woke us up in the night screaming "Tornado, Go to the basement" !!! We were so scared and you could hear it go over the house. Luckily that did damage only to the tree tops and never really touched down. I can truely see where Trevor is coming from.

Meet "seek" and "destroy"- the Dynamic Duo!

Logan and the TP
No, the cabinet doesn't have legs. That would be Connor.
ooooohhhhh.....what's in here?

Looks like we are getting back 2-fold what we did to Mom and Dad as toddlers. They are into EVERYTHING!!!! Every time I turn around, a new discovery is happening at the expense of our belongings. Luckily, nothing has broken, but geez...how much babyproofing do we need to do? We have gates in front of the TV, computer, shelves (so books cannot be pulled off) at the stairs, in front of the bathroom......ect. And it is not just one, but both of them, conspiring against mommy and daddy.

Weathering our first storm

Living out my storm chaser fantasies.... WEll, this was yesterday and it was Trevor's first day riding the bus. His bus stop is right outside our door, so I sent him out. Nasty storms were off to the west and were supposedly heading our way at 60 mph. This storm had already produced one Tornado which touched down in Japan, MO. Well, It supposedly was headed right for us, but ended up taking more of a northern turn, so it missed us. We ended up with a few sprinkles and sunshine. Well, I sent Trevor out to the bus stop when all of a sudden all (and i mean ALL) of the tornado warning sirens started to go off. It was so loud out! Trevor glanced me a look so I had to go out and stand with him. The clouds were really billowing off to the west and I was able to snap these pictures. This is the tower that produced several tornados. It was the southern most tip of the storm line. I was quite prepared with my camera in hand to catch a tornado, then run like hell for the basement.

new experiences

You got it! That would be Khalua in Connor's hands.....

Having the new apartment lends the babies to explore territories they werent allowed to at our old house. The newest fascination is the fridge- and yes, they can open it! YIKES. I am wondering if they make enough childproofing equipment.....

We made it! New to the St Louis area!

We arrived finally. Of course knowing the Gilbert's, nothing could really go smoothly. We left about 8 hours off schedule and this was late. WE decided to stop in Terre Haute, IN to rest in a hotel, but it began to snow very hard so we ended up in Cloverdale, IN just off of I-70. We stayed at a dive of an EconoLodge and I wouldn't even let the twins crawl on the floor (gross!). WE slept all of 3 hours and then got back out on the road. I in the van with the twins and 2 cats, and John driving the 26 foot Uhaul. It was snowing and sleeting very hard. We got back out on the road and John and I were conversing on the cell phone and were discussing on whether or not we should really be driving. We had already passed several vehicles that spun off the road. We were talking to each other and just passed a rolled-over van and another stranded vehicle when I said to John "I sure hope that isnt one of us". I no sooner got the words off of my tongue when the van began doing a series of 360 turns before landing backwards in the median ditch. I was screaming in the phone and John watched us spin in his rearview. I began crying. We were all OK. Babies never knew what happened and the cats were meowing loudly. John went on to the next exit (which was a one-gas station town) to call for help. He got ahold of a wrecker, but they had shut the freeway down due to the # of accidents and were not allowing any tows. Luckily I had a full tank of gas. We sat for 45 minutes and an Illinois state trooper came to rescue. He asked how many were in the vehicle and I told him, myself, my twin infants and 2 cats. He looked and me and said "I'm not taking the cats, ma'am". this cracked me up. I stuffed blankets around them to keep them warm and we headed to join John. 2 hours later, they opened up the freeway again and allowed the wrecker to pull me out of the ditch. The van was OK and we got back on our Journey. It was scary and the wind was very strong and snow still blowing. We drove slower than the speed limit, so the final leg took us about 4 1/2 hours. We finally made it and there was blue sky and sunshine.
Korrie, Mom Deb, Diana, Jor, Alanna and Trevor were all behind us by about 3 hours. Our movers had cancelled, so we stayed in a hotel that night and I was relieved to stay somewhere with a soft bed and a nice shower.
We got up the next morning and the movers came about 1pm. They were done by around 6pm.
We have been here a week now. All 5 of us have been ill with a cold or the flu or something nasty. We are recovering. It has flown by. I just cannot believe how quickly it has happened- us moving here and all. We went exploring today and are in shock and awe at the amount of shopping around us. All of these new malls and shops to venture to. It is exciting!

I want to Especially thank MomDeb, Korrie, Diana, Jordan, and Alanna for making the journey here to help us move and unpack. We couldn't have done it without you! (well, we could have, but we would not be alive to tell it).
Pictures and updates to come. This is the first day we have had internet.

Our new custom T-shirts

A friend of mine on my message board made these custom t-shirts for the boys. I just love them. They are so cute and she did a great job!

Well, It has beena crazy week and the boys were quite ill at the beginning. they each went to the DR last Friday and had horrible ear infections and bronchilitis. We had to do steroids again and do breathing treatments. Now we have to do a breathing treatment daily until April. On Monday, we got RSV shots to keep the RSV bug away. Sofar, they have been spared, but manage to get bronchiolitis from other viruses. One virus caused them to get hives everywhere. This time they had red dots all over, but we think it is a side effect of the chicken pox vaccine they got Jan 22. Since they were sick, it is a possibility.

We are on the mend and have a follow-up appt at the pediatrician tomorrow morning. this will be our last visit with her. WE lOVE YOU DR SMITH!!!!! She is truely the best!

Bys last weights are still hovering in the 18 lb range. Not much growth occuring. Funny, we are still in the infant carriers. Can't do the new seats until 20 lbs.

Gotta go pack!

soon to be our new home

Here is the town home we will soon occupy when we move to St Louis, MO. Actually our address will be in Manchester, one of the many little suburbs of St Louis. We are very excited about this move, but nervous just the same. The countdown started yesterday. We are now less than 2 weeks away from our move on Feb 17th!

Logan is a cruisin' machine!

Yep! Yesterday Logan realized he could pull himself up and he naturally took to cruising the furniture! WooHoo!
Funny, Mom Deb was over tonight and she said that it was really getting difficult to tell the twinks apart. They even had me confused at one point! AS Logan continues to fatten up, he and Connor look so much alike!

The long overdue one-year update.

In big boy outfits. Lo and Co were trying to look thier biggest for their one-year birthday
I love these photos. Their party was at aunt Korries house who so willingly hosted the party for us. We thank her immensely!! I cought these photos of the boys, who were looking out her sunny patio window. I love the lighting and that Logan would not look at the camera. I was able to catch his sweet smile in his reflection.

WE went to the pediatrician for our 1 year check up.

STATS: Logan- 18 lb 5 oz , 27 in long

Connor 18lb 14 oz, 26 3/4 long (though I think he is just as long as Logan)

They are still obviously small for their age, but are doing so well. Logan will have another early intervention evaluation for his wobbliness and tremor. The pediatrician thinks this is due more in part to hypotonia (low muscle tone) than to a cerebral palsey type. She thinks Logan would benefit from some physical therapy to help build his truncal muscles and help him keep up more with Connor. Connor has met almost all of his developmental milestones for his chronilogical age. He is pulling up and cruising with only one hand holding on most of the time. Lo will pull up to his knees, but he gets pretty wobbly.

There are no teeth in sight. I asked if it was an old wives tale about the enamel being stronger in teeth that erupt late, and she told us that it was not. It has been proven. So hopefully we will have very healthy teeth too. This does not stop the boys though. They are eating table food and use those gums just like teeth. WE will continue on formula until they are 15 months old and then can make the switch to whole milk. They love the toast and pasta pick-ups the most.

We want to thank everyone who has helped us through this first year of twindom.

Our first birthday party!

Connor
Logan
The devoured cakes
waiting for the cake
The cakes as designed by Aunt Diana! MMMMMMM! Thank you for doing such an awesome job!

Our one year pictures

Mommy's dearest friend, Aunt Jodi, took these pictures of us tonight. They turned out really well. See how much we have grown?

I was not prepared for this.

Today is mom's (Deb's) birthday, but it also marks a time when I was the most scared I have ever been. Today, it has been a year from when my water broke with Logan and thus began this journey we have been on.
I was at work, and I thought i would be adventurous and go back and read my posts on my message board from a year ago. Instead of having any sort of fondness, I broke down crying and just lost it. This year has been the fastest emotional roller coaster ever. It was like reliving the suppressed feelings I thought I had long forgotton. The feelings of inadequacy and feelings of failure and guilt. Guilt because my body wasn't strong enough to carry the babies to term. Guilt because they went through so much struggling in the NICU. Believe it or not, everyday is a reminder of the fact that they were born early. They are so small. They have challenges. they are behind cognitively and physically. Yes, we celebrate each milestone, but we are also reminded of the fact that they are behind.
I look at them everyday, they are little miracles. They beat the odds. Yet today I am sad. I thought revisiting those words I had written would make me relieved that we overcame, but I think just the opposite happened. Instead of grieving then- having to be strong for the babies, I am grieving now. Grieving the loss of a blissful pregnancy, grieving the loss of the ideal delivery and all of the expectations I had. Grieving the fact that I had to leave my babies behind for 3 months to grow and develop-something they could not do inside of me. It has been the best and hardest year ever. I am thankful for their little lives everyday.

Dinner and a show-trevor entertains during mealtime.

http://s32.photobucket.com/albums/d1/gilbertkimber/?action=view&current=1-12-06momsbdayandvariouskids.flv

minigilberts, a new breed of kid

I took pictures today and It really dawned on me how short thier little legs truely are.

What's mine is mine, and what's your's is mine.........

OK, so here we are 2 weeks before they turn one, and they are really cracking me up. This morning, Connor had a spoon (yeah-like they dont have umpteen million toys) and Logan saw it, so he crawled over to Connor to snag it. He snags it, Connor cries. Connor snags it back, Logan cries. Mommy goes to get another spoon to keep the peace and they start clinking them together like a sword fight. Well, Connor gets an idea........he wants two! So Connor snags Logan's spoon and crawls away with both. He plops down and starts waving both in the air like "VICTORY" as poor Logan cries. :(
Then, I am changing Logan on the floor and Connor crawls over to Logan and grabs ahold of Logan's penis like "hey, i have one of these, but I've never seen it before". Too funny.I am sure it is just beginning.........

Some more pictures.

In the playhut with big brother
Connro left, logan right palying the chime garden
more fun in the hut
My sick boys. They have been so cranky trying to get over this illness.

Connor pulled up for the first time today!

The milestones are coming like a meteor shower! I cannot believe we are here. Just a year ago, I was still pregnant and on bed rest. Now here we are, about to turn one in just 17 days!

Despite Connor's smile, he and Logan are still very much under the weather. We are planning a party at Aunt Korrie's house on the 13th as a combo between Simon and the duo.

Fun with Trevors light-up swirly thingy...

Well, it made for some cool pictures at least.

Happy New Year 2007

Well, this has probably been the worst new years eve in awhile. EVERYONE is ill. Logan and Connor have yet another sickness and are so congested and coughing and have goopy eyes. these pix are of them yesterday. thier little eyes look so pitiful. John and Trevor are sick. Trevor awoke in the middle of the night covered from head to toe in hives. He woke me up crying because he was so itchy. I was irritated with him and after an hour and a half of his whimpering, I got up to put lotion on him and turned the light on and saw hives everywhere. Boy, did I feel horrible. I gave him Benadryl and he went back to sleep. Connor woke up wiht his both eyes sealed shut with gunk. Lagan woke up with boogers smeared in his hair. Sorry to be so graphic, but it is just sick city here. John has a respiratory illness going on and is feeling horrible. Yesterday he could barely get off of the couch. And last, but not least, I woke up this mornign with a very sore throat and aches everywhere.

Thsi family has seen better days. Have a Happy New Year everyone!!!!

Logan crawling

Going......
Going......
It's mine!!!!!!!

NEWS FLASH!!!! Logan crawled!

That's right. Logan took his first crawl forward last night 12/29/06! He was a bit wobbly and only went a few feet, but he did it! He also almost got himself into that sitting position. Soon I will have 2 mobile guys (what is a mom to do?) I will try to catch pics of him tonight. Way to go big guy!!!!

Such very handsome boys! Christmas 2006

Trevor
Connor and Logan

I couldnt be a happier mom. I am so blessed to have 3 beautiful and andsome boys.

Merry Christmas to everyone and get ready for the new year!

the final countdown..

Connor amazed by the tree
Our new finger food addiction
11 month old picture
Connor can pull yp this far!
Well, the boys are now 11 months old. Wow, it has gone by so fast. They are both sick at the moment with a virus of some sort. Trevor too. Tis the season for germs. So in jsut 28 days, the twinks will be a year old. Logan weighed 18 lb 5 oz at the DR's on Thursday. They are fitting so well in thier 6-9 month clothes and we are looking to hte 12 month size soon. I cannot believe it. I never though at the beginning of fall that they would be here already.

we are resting now so we can enjoy tomorrow at Aunt Korries and see everyone. Of course, plenty of holiday pictures will follow!

Our video year in review

Make photo slide shows at onetruemedia.com

Connor is an official crawler!!!!

Yes, rest assured that the brain is developing rapidly! Connor is officially crawling full force. Watch out world, the twins are becoming mobile. Now if I calculate that back tohis adjusted age, he is already ahead of Trevor's development. Connor crawls up to items and is already tryingto pull up on them. More pix to come!

Peace Love, Harmony.......what Mom? We were playing nicely!

Logan is in the red diaper and Connor is in the green diaper.

Outtakes from our Christmas photo shoot

For the finished product, you will have to wait for Christmas cards. Sorry about the low quality, but I used my photobucket account to post these. Anyway, we spent a good hour trying to get all 3 boys to pose for Christmas pictures. Trevor wasnt having it. His sweater was too itchy, he said smiling was "stupid". Ahhhh, to be 6 again. The boys just wanted to crawl away (backwards, the only way they go). It was exhausting, but we got some great candids to look back on. I will next post my favorite. Both boys are sooo crabby. We are pretty sure they are teething. I sure wish they would just break through. They are trying so hard to crawl forward. I will have to get some video of that.

New skills abound....

We have mastered a new skill!!!!! Both boys have mastered self-feeding of simple Gerber pick-me -ups. Woo hoo!

Mending quite well!

Logan and Connor are finally on the mend and doing better. They are starting to get on the go very quickly now. Connor is sooo close to crawling and tonight really was getting that he could move forward, but then he would topple onto his face because he would forget to move his hands. It is happening so fast. tonight also, I held both boys by the hands standing up and they made a couple steps forward.

Grandma and Paka gave the boys their Christmas present early which is the SuperYard (top picture). It is a very nice safe-zone where only the babies toys are and they can play and roll around in safety. We absolutely love it.