Twins 1st Camping Trip!!!

Posing with Daddy!

Nattie B!

Maggie Mae!

Whoo! Hoo! this is fun!

Can you believe she is letting us do this outside??!!

These sure are good Ritz Crackers!

These are cool chairs! But why did Maggie get the UT chair?

Hey Uncle Marty!

The girls did really good for their 1st trip. I can't say that they were any better behaved or any worse than they normally are at home. Sleeping, as it is at home, was still our #1 issue. They actually did pretty good at night but didn't nap much during the day. They are extremely restless sleepers and since I was sleeping with them I didn't get much sleep at all. By the last day I was so tired and ready to be home just to sleep in my own bed w/out babies!!! We had alot of fun but it sure is a whole lot more work taking 2 babies camping. Thanks to Anglique and Terri for all of your help. Dawayne thanks for helping Chet and hanging out with him while I got a little free time. And Marty....who knew you were such a baby lover??!! Glad to have an extra set of arms for holding.


As you can see we got some pretty good pics. I think Terri has some more that I will post later because I am actually in a few of those.

Pic of me and the Girls

I thought this pic turned out pretty good. Since I am actually dressed, w/make-up on and my hair is semi-fixed, I thought I would share it.

Thank you...

Debra, Stacy and Laura for your kind words. You girls are such a comfort to me!

Natalie...

She had another renal nuclear scan today and the urologist determined that she has to have the kidney surgery also. He said that she is worse than when she had the test in January. Chet and I were wondering that because she is soooooooooooo grumpy just like Maggie used to be before the surgery. Instead of calling her Nattie B we call her "Nattie BEAR"!!! She acts like an old hungry bear all the time. I was hoping it was just teething but I guess not. We haven't scheduled it yet because I want to wait until school is out. It will probably be sometime in mid to late June.
Please keep Nattie in your prayers. And please pray that her grumpy disposition is due to the kidney prob and she will be a different child after the surgery like Maggie is!!

My cuties!

A little time on the floor! Nattie left and Maggie right.

More play time. Nat lft and Maggs rt.

These two are my faves! Aren't they just adorable! I was putting away laundry upstairs while they played in there cribs. I knew one would cry if carried them downstairs one at a time so I just put them and the other things I needed from upstairs in the basket and carried it all down. HEAVY!!! I won't be doing that much longer.

Dinner wore Maggie out!

They both slept all night two nights in a row!!!

And by all night I mean from 9:30p.m until 8:00a.m. and this morning it was after 8am!!!! Woo!! Hoo!!!! It will be so nice if that nighttime feeding has been dropped.
Natalie is scheduled for another Nuclear Scan next Wed. 5/9. That will tell us her kidney function and how much it is draining. They said if it is the same or better they will just continue to watch it via ultrasound. But if not we may have to prepare ourselves for surgery for her also! So we will pray for results of the same or hopefully BETTER than last time. I can't help but wonder if maybe she just needs to have the surgery too. She is extremely irritable most of the time. And now Maggie is such a happy baby. I kept thinking it was teething but it has lasted for months now. Still no teeth so I guess it could be teething too.
Maggie has another uti. They called this morning and changed her antibiotic. Darn, I thought we were past this. It seems like we take two steps forward and one back.
I have some more cute pics but have to download them from the camera. I will try to get it done this weekend.
Until then....

Maggie's stint is OUT!!

It came out this morning around 7:45am. Thank God it is over with. She did not do as well coming out of the anesthesia as she did last time. She was hysterical this time and they couldn't calm her down. We could hear her in recovery screaming and I got very upset because they wouldn't just bring her to us. One of the docs came by and asked if I was alright and I said "NO!" I can't stand to hear her screaming like that. He went back and told them to take her IV out and bring her to me. As soon as she saw us she stopped crying. As soon as she got nested in my arms she went to sleep. Poor thing. She is doing great now. Sleeping alot but otherwise herself. She ate good once we got home. We are all just tired from getting up at 4am!! Hopefully this will be one of those nights that both girls sleep all night.
Funny twin bond story: Nattie was in a dead sleep in my arms while kids were screaming all around us. As soon as she heard Maggie crying she woke up and was terribly upset. That upset me even more!
Thanks for all of your prayers!
Erin P: I followed your blog for a long time right after your twins were born last year while I was in the hospital waiting for mine. I cannot believe they are almost a year old!

New Pics!

Maggie goes Hollywood!!!



Busy at play! I love these saucers!!!



In Granny's lap the day before Maggie's surgery.



Nattie



This is my favorite new pic! I was trying to capture the handholding.



Bri takes Nattie on an American Girl Horse ride!!!

Maggie is doing....

WONDERFUL! You all were right when you said babies are so resiliant! It is like she never had major surgery. She is happy and smiles all the time. She keeps us laughing because she smiles so much. She has a dimple in her right cheek and it is just so darn adorable you can't help but just laugh at her. She is going to be the one that doesn't get punished when she really should because she is making us laugh!! We call her Smiley!
Both girls are very close to sitting up on their own. Still NO TEETH!! But they, especially Nattie, have been so irritable and chewing on everything. I can't keep Nattie's hands out of her mouth. I wish they would just pop on thru and give them some relief. Orajel is helping although they hate it.
I'll post some pics soon.
Gotta go somebody is crying!

Easter Pics!

Maggie's home!

Getting sleepy!

Feeling well enough to play for a few minutes.

Nothing would do but Mommy! Look how sad her eyes look!

A wagon ride to get her to sleep. Worked like a charm!

We got home today about 11:30am after a terrible, long night. Maggie's IV came out yesterday and they thought she was going home so they left it out. Late in the evening when we were still waiting to hear from the doctor the nurse came and told us that she had a UTI and that was the reason for the fever and they were worried she would become septic so they wanted to keep her one more night and give her IV antibiotics. So later in the evening, after she had fallen asleep, they came in to put the IV in. God it is so hard to watch your baby screaming while they are doing something like that to her. They finally got it in and gave her pain meds thru it along with the antibiotic. They also stuck her finger for a CBC. And would you believe the nurse dropped her blood into the sharps box??!!! AHHHHHHHHH!!!! They left the room and just when I finally got her back to sleep another nurse came in and said we have to stick her again!!! I was ready to kill somebody!!!!!! For some reason Maggie's blood was very thin and when they stuck her she bled like crazy especially the 2nd time. It looked worse than it was I know but blood was everywhere, all up her arm, on her blankets, all over the nurse and Maggie was screaming!! They finally got everything done to her but neither one of us slept much all night. The doc woke us at 7 to tell us she could go home!!

You thought that was bad?? I'm not finished yet. We get home and I change a poopy diaper and see something white that looks like a wire hanging out of her and I FREAK!! I called the doc and they told us to bring her in because it is the stint coming out. It rarely ever happens. Of course it happened to Maggie. After an agonizing half hour of her screaming while they were trying to poked that thing back up in her with a catheter, pee and blood and poop going everywhere, they finally got it in. My poor sweety is absolutely exhausted after the last 24 hours. She has cried so much and so have I. She slept alot this afternoon and evening and is sleeping soundly right now. She has been eating well since we have been home. I knew she would eat better once she got back on home turf.

We are so glad to be back home. I missed Bri and little Nattie terribly. Hopefully the worst of it all is over with. Please continue to pray for her. Mostly for a quick recovery and total healing of the kidney and ureter.

Update on Maggie....

Maggie is a trooper!! She did great!! The surgery took about 3 hours, a long 3 hours for Mom and Dad. Her ureter was completely blocked. It also went into the kidney at the top of her kidney not where it should so they had to move that to the correct place. They removed lots of damaged tissue from her kidney. He said it was HUGE! They took out probably more than a baseball size amount. They wouldn't let her eat last night and she would not rest. Finally Chet and I demanded to feed her about midnight and she ate and went to sleep. She slept on and off last night and ate on and off. Early this morning she developed a low-grade fever that they are keeping an eye on. The doc said to get her up a lot today and if the fever stays below 102 she can go home this afternoon. They took the catheter out a few hours ago and she is filling up diapers!! So please continue to keep her in your prayers and I will update as soon as I can.

6 Month Stats

Their 6 month checkup was today. I cannot believe how big they are getting.

Nattie: 15.15lbs., length 25", head circ. 42cm. She is in the 50th percentile on weight. At 2 months she was in the 10th percentile on weight.

Maggie: 15.3lbs., length 24, head circ. 42cm. She is in the 30th percentile on weight. At 2 months she wasn't even on the charts on weight!!!!

I just can't believe how far we have come. I know the doctors in the NICU kept telling me it would happen but it was so hard to believe at the time. But look at them now!!!

Get this; Brianna's 6 months stats: 15.8lbs, length 25.75"!!!
So the twins are right on track!!

I know it's been a while....

But I haven't had any new pics and the girls haven't done anything new. Yesterday we took them to have professional pics made in their Easter dresses. We took a few pics at home first and as usual they aren't very good. We have got to invest in a better digital camera. They looked so sweet though that I just had to post a few.

Nattie still doesn't want to roll over from her tummy to her back although she is very close to rolling from her back to her tummy. Not much longer and she will be sitting up by herself I think. Maggie rolls like crazy! They are so cute right now and starting to be such fun. They laugh and smile. All I have to do is make eye contact for a big smile. They are very vocal! I don't mean crying, they just talk baby talk alot and loudly! They really are pretty good babies. They love to get out in public. If only they would sleep! Yes, sleeping is still a really big issue. Not napping well or sleeping at night. Oh well, I guess someday we will sleep in this house.

Please remember Maggie in your prayers. Her kidney surgery is next Monday the 26th. I will update as soon as I am able to. Until then....

New pics and some updates...

Here are a few bath pics. I can't get them to smile for the camera for anything but they really do smile alot especially Maggie. Maggie is in the white towel and Nattie in the yellow.

We are back on solids again and doing pretty good with it. Maggie will eat as long as you shovel it in. Isn't it funny if you go back a few months in my blog and read I was asking you all to pray that she would learn to love food and eating. Isn't God great? Wow, Did he ever answer those prayers. Weight wise she is about to pass Nattie up. Now Nattie likes the solids o.k. but nothing like Maggie. I think sometimes she could take them or leave them. They have been sleeping a little better since starting them back. Me? Well I hope squash and green beans are good for my complexion. Surely that cereal is like a mud facial or something??!! Ha! Ha!! Yes, I have been wearing alot of baby food. One day after I had just shoveled a mouthful of peas into Maggie's mouth she let a big sneeze!!! Bri walked in the room just in time to see it and said green stuff was flying thru the air!! It really was funny even though Maggie and I and everything around us was covered in peas!!!

I really think they are cutting teeth. They are drooling so bad and chewing on their fingers constantly. Nattie has been really irritable for a few days too and run a fever of a little over 99. Hopefully we will be feeling or seeing something in there in a few days.

Oh, I almost forgot the biggest milestone......THEY ROLLED OVER this weekend. Maggie on Friday night and Nattie on Saturday morning. Everytime you put Maggie on her tummy she flips over. Nattie still has to work pretty hard as she is very impatient and hates tummy time!

That's about it until next time......

Baby Dedication

The girls did pretty good considering they were really sleepy by the time it started and past ready to eat by the time it was over. I am posting this pic although it is not very good. As I have said before our digital camera is not very good and it was kind of dark in the church. I tried to crop it and lighten it up some but it made it grainy. At least we have the ceremony on a DVD.

New Pics!

Big Sis helping out while Mom attempts to cook dinner!

So cute in their little valentine outfits!

A little tummy time! Dang those blue eyes, you get

red eye in every pic.

And last, Mags sleeping. Oh, life can be so hard on a little baby!!

Baby Dedication

We are having the girls dedicated at our church on February 10th. We are christian and this is a ceremony that our church does for babies every 3 months. So there will be a bunch of babies. We are excited about it though. It is kind of like their debut! I took some pics here at home yesterday of them in their christening gowns but they didn't turn out very good. I will post one or two when I can.
O.K. I decided to nix the oatmeal for now and the rice went back in the bottles. Neither of them were sleeping good without the rice and the oatmeal was just too hard on their tummies. I don't think they are ready for solids yet. I am going to wait another month or so and try again. The good news is that they are taking more ozs. in a day now than they were a week ago and the best news is NATTI SLEPT ALL NIGHT 3 NIGHTS IN A ROW!!!!! Please God let it continue!! The bad news is that they are not napping well at all during the day and it makes for extremely grumpy babies. I am not sure how to remedy this problem. I do have them both down right now and just pray that they sleep for a couple of hours. They really need an afternoon nap whether they think so or not! Ha! Ha!
I will post some pics later!

Maggie's Surgery

Please keep Maggie in your prayers. Her surgery is scheduled for March 26th. We had to push it out that far because we have no family here that could help with the other two kids. So my Mom can come up that week. In a way I am glad it is a ways out and then on the other hand I wish we could just do it and get it over with.

Today has been a bad day. Both girls have been extremely irritable. I think they are really gassy. Today is the 3rd day of oatmeal. Maybe their tummies are just adjusting to it. I hope tomorrow is a better day for both of them. Natti didn't sleep all night again last night! Starting about 3:45 I was up and down with her. I decided that since their reflux seems better I would omit the rice cereal from their formula. My thoughts are that without the rice in it they would eat more ozs. in one setting. The formula has more calories, protein, fat, and carbs, so it should keep them full longer. Right? Well they only ate more one time today. Unfortunately is wasn't the last bottle before bed. I could barely get them to take that one at all. Especially Natti and she's the one I wanted to eat more!! Oh well, maybe they will do better tomorrow.

Funny thing is when Natti woke up at 3:45 she was talking and laughing and I just laid there until she started fussing. When I went in she was completely unswaddled(I swaddle tightly and tie a cloth diaper around them! Houdini!) kicking her feet like crazy and looked up at me and smiled and squealed!! Her first squeal of delight and I had to play it down. I wanted so bad to pick her up and play with her, she was so darn cute!!! But I just reswaddled her and gave her the paci and she turned her head and closed her eyes. Of course it didn't last, I was up and down with her until 5 and she finally went back to sleep until 6:25 when I fed her and then she slept for another hour. She did take a 2 hour nap today, thank goodness!!
That's all for now....

4 Month check up

We are a little behind, they are actually 4 1/2 months but they had RSV shots and their kidney tests at 4 months and I just couldn't do more shots too. Ped. says they look great! They are on the charts in weight and heighth and head circumfirence. With their adjusted age (3 months) it puts them in the 40th and 50th percentile!!! Wow! Brianna was never that high on the charts and she wasn't a preemie. She was just a small baby until she was about 4 and then she caught up with other kids her age. So with that being said, I am happy with their weights and heights. Natalie weighs in at 13.1 lbs. and 23 inches long and Maggie is 11.14 lbs. and 22.5 inches long. We got the go ahead to start solids. Since they have had rice cereal in their bottles for reflux since they were about 6 weeks, he said to start with oatmeal and progress from there. This is when it starts getting fun. Maggie is sleeping all night most nights. Natalie was before Christmas and I don't know what happened to her but now she is waking up several times a night and she just wiggles and squirms constantly. Half the time I end up putting her in bed with me because I get tired of getting up and down to give her a paci!! I am getting a work out in the middle of the night! The ped. also said that maybe solids will help her start sleeping better.
I still haven't heard from the Urologist about Maggie. I haven't called them because I just don't have the heart yet to actually schedule the surgery and start counting down days. And I just keep prayng that by some miracle it will start opening up and she won't need the surgery.

Brianna just got a report card and she is on the honor roll!! 2nd time this year. If we could just get her to stop talking so much now. Like mother like daughter! Ha! Ha!

I have great news about Joseph. Some of you don't know but he is my older son, 20 almost 21!! Whew!! Yes, I am too young but I am feeling older everyday. Anywho, Joseph is a very talented piano player and has been playing with different gospel quartets for the last couple of years. It has opened the door for wonderful opportunities for him. If you know anything about gospel music you have heard of the Kingdom Heirs?? He was contacted by them last week and told that they had heard wonderful things about him and would like for him to come and play for them. He did and a few days later they called him to come again and offered him a position in the group!!! He will be playing at Dollywood from spring to fall and then traveling the winter months. As a matter of fact the Kingdom Heirs will be here in Louisville in February and Joseph will be with them. I am so excited for him. He is thrilled. God has truly blessed him with this musical gift and I am so glad he is using it in this way. Go see him if you get the chance!!

Well that is about all for now. I have more pics but need to download them. The girls are out and I was awake most of last night and needless to say I am exhausted so off to bed I go too!

Until next time....