For Jan

Logan left, Connor right
The Colt's hats and mittens for their birthday are so very cute, as you see. Thank you Grandma Jan and Bob!

Trevor has strep throat- but here is a funny too.

I kept him home yesterday because he was so tired (insomnia due to his meds) and he started to say his throat hurt. Well, this morning he was really crying about it, but i thought he was faking . He had gotten an exposure notice earlier in the week for strep, so I decided to take him in and sure enough it is strep. She said it was flamin' and turned positive right away. Now he is milking it- crying and all -Men! But to his defense he just now started to run a fever- so it is probably gonna get worse before it is better. She said there wasnt much pus, so probably early.

Here is the funny tho...She looked in his ear and said "there is a foreign body in there". I was like huh and flashed a glance to Trevor and asked him if he put anything in his ear. He insisted absolutely not. So I thought maybe a Q-tip or something. She was like "no, it is a white, round disc " So I thought well maybe the plastic from a clothing tag or something. WEll, she goes and gets these forceps to grab it, but it was stuck. So she used a loop to loosen it and when she pulled it out, it was a googly eye. Ya know, those crafty eyes that wiggle? W T H? I have NO IDEA how it got there. So Trevor was like 'So that's what was making that sound when I shook my head" So we got a laugh out of it.

So lets now hope that the LOCO duo doesnt get anything. But they were nice enough to say if they got symptomatic they would call in a script so we didnt have to go in. She said likely they will get it .

My ADHD Child

My ADHD Child a poem by Tracy Nicolaus

He's bouncing off the wall, a superball gone insane,
He runs through your world like an off-rail freight train
Interruptions are constant, tantrums galore
When it's time to do homework,he's gone, out the door.

The drama is constant, oh his foot fell asleep,
He moans and he wails, the theatrics run deep.
School is a nightmare, the teachers are lost
If they only could see, he is worth the cost
He is brighter than most, as most these kids are
And with patience and love,I know he'll go far

But the crap I must take from "well meaning friends"
"Don't let him do that!" "Oh, these rules that he bends!"
"You're not a good parent". "Your child's really rude"
"His temper's outrageous." "He has hands in his food".
He hears this and wonders, just what's wrong with me?
I tell him, "You're special, you have ADHD"."

Now ADHD is a gift from above.
It teaches us grownups how to strengthen our love.
It helps teach your teachers, no two kids are the same
You have awesome energy that could bring you great fame".
"You don't need much sleep, you never wear down,?
You're silly and funny, when you act like a clown,

You've felt lots of pain from what people have said
But you pray for those people when you go to bed".
"So you try every day to make a fresh start
For God gifted you with an extra big heart."

As I look at my child, he sees through my soul
My heart feels like bursting, as I realize my goal.
I know this young boy like no one else could
He's a blessing to me, he's strong, and he's good.

So I'll love him and guide him through the worst of the worst
And he'll make a great man (if I don't kill him first).
I'm kidding, of course, 'cause I know what's to be
When I look in his eyes, I see a reflection of me.

If you got this far, I thank you. Many close family and friends know what we deal with on a constant basis. But this poem really struck me because it truely shows the stings of having a child with a disorder. Trevor is a sweet boy with a HUGE heart and big brown eyes that melt your heart. He has challenges and it is sometimes hard to see the goodness. I just wanted to share.

Connor-future American Idol (and a jealous little twin)

Ok, so we were watching American Idol last night and Connor decided to get his microphone and break out into song. But Logan wasnt having Connor get all of the press time. I was laughing so hard at these videos. Sorry they are so dark.

Such serious boys...

I love shooing with the natural light right by a window.

I love this pic of Connor. I love his little lips.
Logi and his blankie.
I love this pic of Logan. The curve of his little cheek and his eye.
Logan gazing.
Connor loves to climb up on the loveseat and then climb up in the window to stand on the window sill. I thought this pic was very cute, but a bit dark.

Splish splash I was takin' a bath....

We had lots of fun the other day with the tinted tub water which made for nice bath pix. The boys love bathtime. afterward, we snuggled in our towels which nanny got for us for Christmas.

Connor

Logan is forever drinking his bath water-ew.
Splashing is so fun

Our new towels

Logan

Connor

It's been almost 2 years....

Logan

Connor

...and our love for our blankies is still going strong. WE will never be able to thank you enough Wendy. They have been washed more times than I could ever count and the little patches have since fallen off (I saved them in a baggie in their memory boxes). Lately the latest fun thing to do with the blankies is to put them over our heads and act like ittle ghosts. they giggle so hard when they bump into each other.

Meeting up with old friends....

September 2006

January 2008

Logan and Ava have a thing for each other- could it be true love?
Hoodies rule

Many of you may remember in september of 2006, we met up with a friend I met on my twins message board named Trish. She lived in Columbus, OH. What some of you may not remember is a post of mine shortly after the twins were born stating that Trish's twins were born at 26 weeks, just 6 days after my boys. Ava and Sophia both came into this world weghing under 2lbs a piece. Sadly, at 9 days old, Sophia passed away. Ava was a huge fighter and the smaller of the two. She has endured all of the odds, even having neurosurgery for her skull fusing too soon. She is a true little miracle in our world. Since Sophia's death, they have tried to have another baby, and Trish had a miscarriage. Then 21 weeks ago, she concieved again. And guess what....She is having another set of twins! This young mom has been blessed twice spontaneuosly with twins! This time around, she moved back home to the St Louis area to live with her grandparents and get top-notch care. Her hubby continues to live in Columbus as he is stationed there in the Navy. So since trish moved to the smae area as us....we had to go see she and Ava. Look how much they have changed.

They are all soon to celebrate their second birthdays- 3 very true little preemie miracles.

MWAH! finally realizing they are brothers

The boys would always give kisses to everyone else, but when asked to kiss their brother, they looked at me like I had no idea what I was talking about. Well today, I said, "Kiss Logan, Kiss Connor" and they looked at each other and planted a big wet one! Of course I was there with a camera in hand.

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!