Sunday, June 29, 2008

Sleeping Babies Sunday

So I saw this post on Barb's blog about her sleeping babies and thought it would be fun to look back at pictures of Jack and Quent as sleepy babies too. She actually got the idea from Debi's blog about her sleepy babes. Cute idea Debi!

Here's my guys when they were little sleepyheads. They have always been great sleepers, thank goodness for that! They spent a lot of time when they were really small sleeping during the day in their swings. And that was a huge source of doubt for me, I was so relieved when I got them to sleep in their beds for naps. But they sure were cute little nippers!





Saturday, June 28, 2008

Obstructive Apnea it is

Yep, the official results are in.

Much to my disappointment and dismay, Jack has obstructive apnea and has to have the tonsils/adenoids out for sure. The sleep test said that he had 26 episodes of apnea in an hour. Now I don't know how many is a lot, but 26 sounds like A LOT to me. (although there were some of those that were called central apnea that are age appropriate for a 2 year old and he will outgrow those, but had to be counted in the official count)

I made an appt. with the ear, nose,& throat Dr. for July 18th and from then they will schedule his surgery to be sometime at the end of July/ beginning of August.

Of course I want to resolve this for him. He must be getting terrible rest and that could explain the impulsiveness, hyperactivity, and irritability he experiences sometimes. It is definitely some of the symptoms of apnea and some kids have been misdiagnosed as ADD or ADHD when later they would find out it was really sleep apnea causing the behavior problems. Or at least I am hoping that explains some of Jack's less fun behaviors. Not that I am saying he is at all near being classified as ADD, but some of the things that I have just considered "oh, that's just Jack, he is just all over the place and into everything" it would be nice if those things were lessened :) And it would give me even more justification in my mind for my 2 year old baby having surgery.

So, wish us luck on this crazy journey and here's hoping that a good night's sleep is in little Jack's future!

Friday, June 27, 2008

Happy Birthday
Aunt Ky-Ky !

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Check out our sweet new rides!

Today was our first big spin outside with our new tricycles!
We rode over to the post office to mail some letters after dinner.
Jack and Quent did great on their bikes and had so much fun riding and ringing their little bells!
This is going to be big fun all summer long!

Look at Quent on his big boy bike!
He is so proud!



Weehoo, Let's take off, Jack says!
He is actually pretty close to being able to pedal on his own.



And the really cool part for Mom and Dad is that they are super easy to push and steer from behind while the boys just hold on and keep their feet on the pedals.
These were a great choice
Aunt Jean and Uncle Jack!
Thank You !



Big bonus: The train came by while we were at the post office.
So we got to sit and watch these engines go back and forth
(what they were doing I have no idea, but the boys thought it was cool, so whatever)

In other news

Nope, no results from Jack's test yet. They say they should be ready tomorrow. Here's hoping.

But, here's some big, crappy news -
our cribs have been recalled!

Seriously, and it looks like what we have to do is get a voucher from the company for Babies R Us/ Toys R Us for the value of the cribs. But they can only be used for the purchase of a new crib. Which totally stinks because we were kind of hoping that if we had to get rid of these cribs we could just do the transition to the 'big boy bed' thing and not just go to different cribs.

So, basically I have to find a way around this "only valid on purchase of new crib" thing.
Hmmmmm...

Anyway, while I contemplate how to bypass the system and fool the man, I thought I would post the webpage with the product info so that anyone else with a Jardine crib purchased at BRU or TRU can check out if theirs is on the list too.

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Here's what happens when a guy just didn't get good sleep!

After we ate most of our (early) lunch...

"Momma, Jackie seeping"
"Yes, I know Quent"




Poor guy just couldn't hold out. He has never fallen asleep while eating before, he was just so wiped from last night's sleep study that he was just out.
It was cute though because he would take a bite and close his eyes while he chewed and then he finally just gave up on the eating and cuddled to his side and he was gone. Needless to say, we all took an early nap today :)

(if you look close you can see some of the blue marker from the test above his ear, most of the rest I got out earlier in the morning)

If you give a boy a kitchen...

He'll eventually use the oven as a garage for his cars!




That's my clever Quent!

The sleep test is over!

Last night was the sleep test and whoo boy am I still exhausted! (as is Jack by the way)

We arrived for the study at 8:30 pm and got Jack all hooked up and ready to sleep, I am thinking that he was asleep some where close to 10:30 or 11:00. There was no clock in the room, so I am not really sure. He had a hard time adjusting to all that stuff on his head, face, chest, side, back, finger, and then 3 belts wrapped around his little belly. He was quiet and calm just took a little while to sleep.

The techs came in the room a few times, again not sure how many - maybe 5 total, to fix something he had pulled off or to readjust placement of something.
What he hated the most was the nasal canula they use to measure his breathing in and out. He cried a lot after they put that on and it was a long while for me to get him back to sleep after that.

On the whole I think he slept as good as he could have given the situation, and they said he did really well for a little guy and they usually have to come into the rooms way more than that.
They were able to get all the info they needed, but the tech could not really tell me any results until the test was "read". Although she was in agreement that this would be the best age to have the tonsils out, he would do well, and it really is the only way to fix these kind of problems. So, without saying he "did poorly" she gave me the impression that he did have problems.

I would have called for the official results, but the boys and I were all napping until after the office closed, so I will call for those tomorrow. I slept horribly, even if he did not wake up for the techs coming in, I did. And then I would use the bathroom and take forever to fall asleep again. ugh. Although, this gave me the opportunity to listen to him at lots of points during the night, which I normally don't get to hear because I do not sleep in the same room with him. And boy can that boy make some noise. I never heard him stop breathing, and hopefully he didn't.

We got home about 7:30 this morning and Quent was happy to see us. (I am sure Daddy was too) Tom said that Quent did fine until he had to lay down in the room alone and go to sleep. That he did not like. So, Daddy had to go in a few times to help him out, but he said he was completely out by 10:00.

Other than playing catch up on sleep and dealing with a pretty cranky Jack today, we had an okay day. I think that Jack and Quent are both excited that Jack is back sleeping in his own bed, hopefully it will be a good restful night for all. I will update when we know the results for sure and what the plan will be.

**Thanks to my twin- mommy friends for their comments of support! It means a lot!

Now, I am super excited to sleep in my own bed tonight though :)

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Sleep test tonight

Oh my! Tonight is the sleep test for Jack. We are all packed up to go and after we have dinner and some play time, we will be going. Jack and I are going while Dad stays home with Quent.
It will be so weird for all of us.

I am so nervous about going. I am just sure that they are going to say that the tonsils are so much of a problem that they will have to come out. And surgery scares the crap out of me! I can tell myself all day that it is routine, the Dr. is good, etc., etc. I still am so upset about the thought of Jack going in for surgery.

I keep thinking about being in that outpatient surgery waiting area of the same hospital when Joshua had his surgery. Totally different circumstances and surgeries, but same scared shitless, helpless feeling.

Maybe he won't need the surgery, wouldn't that be great?!

Sunday, June 22, 2008

Tessa, my Goddaughter

Today was my niece, Tessa's Baptism. It was my honor to be asked to be her Godmother. I know that will always be a special bond between Tessa and I.

So, we all went to play and give the kids lunch at Rob and Abby's before the service. Then went back to their house for a dinner afterwards.

All the kids were really good in church (although a little bribe of Cheerios helps a lot!) And Tessa did fantastically! She only fussed when we dared to take the prayer card away from her that she was happily gnawing on. But was calmed instantly when the priest came over, picked her up, and carried her around while he talked. It was so cute. She just loved being the little star! There were 6 other babies being baptized today too, including a set of twins.

Since I was part of the service and Tom was busy with the boys, we did not take pictures with our camera, but when I get some from my Dad and Kyle + Len, I will share some. It was amazing how happy Tessa was for every picture, she would just pose and give the biggest grins. It made all the pictures really good, I'm sure.

Congratulations Sweet Tessa!

Nathaniel's Angelversary

Nathaniel Martin
Grew his wings on June 22, 2007
Forever Loved and Forever Missed

Amy and Greg,
you are in our thoughts and prayers
especially today

Friday, June 20, 2008

Holy Giant Twins Batman!

I just read this on another multiple mom's blog.
Had to share.
Check out this news story about a set of twins whose combined birth weights were more than
23 pounds!!
Wow!

Those Darn Flip-flops!

Okay so everyone wears the thong flip-flops. The ones that go between your toes.

Well, I hate them.

I try and try to like them. You can barely find a sandal that does not go between your toes. They look cute, I hear other people like them, but jeez, I just cannot seem to get used to them!
Let me tell you about it...

Today we went to Borders for their 11 am storytime. (wore the flip-flops) Quent loved it and sat for all the stories, Jack had to occupy himself in other ways but for the most part he did stay near Gramma and that was good. We did have a couple of instances where he decided it would be funny to take off running from us.
You can't chase a toddler through the aisles at Borders in flip-flops.

Later this afternoon, I had the chance to go to the mall by myself today to get some shopping done for this weekend. (thank you Gramma and Papa) And in a serious lapse in judgment, decided to wear the flip-flops, and since I really had no other shoes with me I kind of had to. They don't take to kindly to barefoot shopping in the Genesee Valley Mall.

Anywhoo, I had to get a new something for me to wear for Tessa's baptism on Sunday. I am her Godmother and I gotta look nice, right?! I wanted button down shirts for the boys and brown sandals for them, too. That's it. Quick trip, right? HAHA

*Now you have to understand I also shop a little more leisurely when I do not have 2 toddlers in a stroller with me. I can take my time and really look at all I want to look at.

So, I started at Burlington - had a return card with some money on it and thought I might be able to find something for the boys there.
Tried on some clothes for me. ICK ICK ICK (waste of time)
Found some cute sandals for the boys AND on sale - Cha-ching!
Did not like any of the button down dressy/casual shirts there for the boys.
Got the shoes and left.

On to Children's Place.
They had one plaid shirt that was semi-cute, but only one and um...I have 2 kids.

Went to Lane Bryant for me. (duh like you thought I was buying boys clothes there :P
I looked at every corner of that store and all the spaces in between.
Tried on dressy shirts and dresses. lots of them.
Wasn't really feelin' any of the outfits I had picked.
On the way out of the store, spot a shirt by the door and dragged myself back to the fitting room to try it on.
Actually, it is kinda cute.
Bought it!

Checked Macy's for boys' shirts.
Nothin'.

Right about now is when I notice that my left foot is hurting pretty bad. Specifically that spot between my big toe and the 2nd toe where that sandal is rubbing the skin right off.
I could probably find something for the boys at JCPenneys but that is down a whole other hallway than where I am at and then I am parked all the way at the opposite end from JCPenney's. That's normally not a lot of walking. But normally my toe is not screaming at me "stop stop!" either.

Here is where I do the total girly thing and suffer through the pain that my shoe is causing just to be able to continue shopping! But I did find very cute stuff for the boys there, so it was semi-worth it.

Upon closer inspection of said foot, I am missing a decent size chunk of skin from the side of my toe. Therefore, I will not be attempting to wear the flip-flops again for a little while.

Too bad my Croc flip-flops just came in the mail today...

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Alex's Birthday

Here are some cool pictures of Tom swimming with the boys at Alex's Birthday party!




Happy 5th Birthday Alex!
he's on the left, his friend Braedan is with him



Quent had a blast trying to figure out how Alex's many motorized vehicles worked! This is Aunt Jean helping him figure out the quad. What is hilarious is that he randomly stands on the gas pedal and is pleasantly surprised when it actually moves!





Jack on the other hand was not so into actually being in one of them when they were moving.
He had his own way of getting those things around! That's my determined little guy!


**Again, no sound on these ones because I took the video with the regular camera

That might actually catch me up on the happenings for now - HOORAY!

Big Love to all my loyal readers (all 10 of ya :)
Later Taters! (but not too much later this time hopefully)

2 year visit to the Doc

Jack and Quent had their 2 year old well child check on the 13th (my 'little' brother Len's birthday)

Happy 29th Birthday Uncle Lenny!

The boys were super excited to see Dr. Holloway, they say his name so well and that really impressed the Dr.! He had a med student working with him and Jack was in love with her and spent much of his time being held by her which was hilarious! They are both doing great and are right on track and even ahead in some areas!

Here's the stats:

Jack is 38 1/2 inches tall (off the charts for his height) and he weighs 29 lbs.
Quent is 37 1/2 inches tall (same thing - off the charts) and he weighs 31 lbs.

They got to be weighed on the big kids' scale and stood very nicely for that. We had our last immunization until we are 4 years old! Yippee! (one that they could not get at the 18 mo. visit because it was technically 2 days too early - crazy) They were very big boys for that too.

Here's our only issue/ concern. Jack has been snoring really loudly lately and I thought his tonsils looked a little big, but what do I know, the only thing I have to compare it to is what Quent's look like. Well, they look a lot big to the Doc! The Doc says that they are touching his uvula (the hanging down thing in your throat). Yes, not good. Next step is that they are touching each other, really not good.
He needs to have a sleep study done to see what kind of problems the tonsils are causing with his breathing at night. And if the test shows that he is having moderate to severe problems, he will be seeing an ENT to have his tonsils taken out!

*here's where Momma starts to panic a little*

My baby might have to have his tonsils out! Surgery on my 2 year old baby! ugh
I can tell myself over and over that this is fairly routine and it would be outpatient and he would be home that night (see I have already jumped to the conclusion that he needs to have the surgery, horse before the cart thing for sure) But my anxiety is in high gear for sure just thinking about the possibility (probability) of surgery.

The sleep study is scheduled for the night of the 24th, so here's hoping Momma can keep it together until we know for sure. And even after we know would be good too.

The weird thing will be that this will be the first time that Quent and Jack will be apart to sleep at night! They sleep in their own cribs but they are literally right next to each other. That will be the interesting part of that night is seeing how they each do without the other.

where to start?!

I feel like I have so much to catch up on!

Let's start with the boys and swimming.
My Mom and I took the boys swimming last Tuesday (see what I mean by not caught up!), we went to Outdoor Adventures. That is where Betty, Tasha, and the kids were out camping that week. We went swimming in the indoor pool (best to avoid the sunburn - although I got burned while we played at the park later anyway, no one else - just me). It was the boys first time swimming this year and after the initial fearfulness of the big pool they had a really good time!

We got to wear the new (well, new to us) swimsuits that I got at the Mothers of multiples sale. They worked out great, with the floats built right in the suit. They are slightly difficult to get in and out of, but jack and Quent seemed to have more freedom then they would in a floaty ring.
They look like this:
I'll have pictures of them swimming in them in a later post, but this day we were all inthe pool so there was no one to take the pictures!

After swimming we ate lunch and played at the park there. The boys were exhausted. Jack especially and he was sleeping in his car seat after a few minutes on the road. It was a really nice visit, you know we just don't see our Aunt Tasha enough!

Monday, June 16, 2008

Birthday Celebration #2 - "the threat of the storm"

Sunday, June 9th, was the day of Jack and Quent's birthday party at our house. It was a hot day and kind of humid too, but they looked super cute in their sleeveless Detroit Tigers short outfits. We tried to keep cool by staying in the shade and escaping into the coolness of the central air.

The boys were having fun playing outside on the swingset and with all the kids. it seemed like everyone was having a good time despite the heat and humidity.

Then the sirens went off.

We found out there was a tornado watch and a severe thunderstorm warning. So, everybody rounded up and went in the house. Other than the threat of a natural disaster, it was okay because it was time to do the birthday cake anyway!

They both love to sing Happy Birthday,
and they were so happy when they each got their own song!


Jack making his birthday wishes



Quent is just a little excited ;)



Quent needed a little help blowing out his candles, luckily Avery was there to help!


Mmmmm cake and ice cream


But these cars that came on the cake and pretty cool too


Anywho, so we are all in the house at this point and it is storming to beat the band outside (that was so a term my Gramma would use:) The power goes off and comes back on 5-7 times. Honestly, I lost count and jeez I was BUSY hosting a party! So, it finally goes off. For the last time. Luckily it is still pretty light out and we do okay with some candles in some of the dimmer areas of the house.

* Now here is where I have to make a side note that we have a doomed history of crap happening at parties that we host. Terrible weather, ambulances called, I mean really weird stuff, so it only stands to reason that it should happen again!


The boys open their gifts - which by the way they loved, Quent more than Jack but what kid doesn't love cool new stuff and Jack just doesn't like to sit still. What is so cool is that they are just as excited about getting clothes or jammies as they are about the toys and fun stuff! I thought that was cute.




All in all I think everyone had a good time. We all did here. After some 'real' food for dinner and a much needed bath, Jack and Quent crashed for the night. And Luckily again, it was still light enough out that we could see to get them to bed. Now some of the cleaning up after the party was done by candlelight, but oh well.

The initial estimate was that power would be restored by Tuesday 11pm, and we lost power on Sunday afternoon. Oh My! Thank goodness our wonderful neighbors brought back bags of ice for us when they went out for ice so that we could pack the fridge and freezer with ice.
Thank you Charlotte and Chris!

Our power actually came back on Monday at around 3 pm. Yippee! We had survived just fine and never once had to go into the icky, icky basement! (see this post for an icky basement story) I seriously do not know how all those people would have fit into the cramped basement that we have, thank goodness we didn't have to find out.
The power issues took out some stuff in out house for good though - our modem/router was toasted and we had to wait for the new one so I was offline for a few days - ouch! The rest of the computer stuff was fine, all was plugged into a surge protector including the modem, but the modem is connected directly to the phone line, so we think that's what got it.
The microwave display is really whacked! It still seems to work fine, but you can't rely on it for the time. And lastly (that we know of) The window fan in our room is just kaput. Not too bad, could have been so much worse.

After all that, The 2nd birthday bash was still great and I have a whole new appreciation for electricity!

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to my wonderful husband Tom!








He's the greatest hands-on Daddy there is!
Jack and Quent LOVE him so much
and so does their Momma!


***************

Happy Father's Day to my Dad too!
A great Dad to me and a great Papa to Jack and Quent!
We Love you Papa!

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Jack and Quent's Birthday: Celebration #1

Jack and Quent got to spend the night at Gramma and Papa's house on Friday night and wake up there on their birthday. (My Dad has some cute pictures of them just awake as they are singing Happy Birthday along with Elmo) Tom and I were at Tom's Dad's wedding out of town that night.
We picked up balloons and cupcakes and celebrated at my Mom and Dad's with Len, Kyle, Rob, Abby, Avery, Tessa, Gramma and Papa. They were really cute eating their cupcakes, so true to their personalities!

Quent loves him some cupcake - green frosting and all.
He ate almost the entire thing and was very green to show for it!
This boy does not turn down food, especially if its sweet.


Jack, on the other hand, chose the yellow cupcake and after he ate most of the frosting was pretty disinterested in whole thing and wanted to be "cyeen up" (cleaned up).
After he was clean he moved onto buckling the strap on his chair, after I would unbuckle it.
over and over and over...


And here's little miss Avery. Do you not just love the little pigtails in ribbons?!
She was the most organized eater of all. She ate most of her pink cupcake, but was fairly clean in doing so. Is it that she is a girl or is it that she is 5 months older that makes the difference?


A shot of the 3 all rowed up


Don't forget Tessa!
Although she was too little for the cupcakes , she found ways to have fun too!
She is such a happy, smiley baby girl!


Later, after all the kids (and some of the grown-ups) had naps, we all packed up and went to my cousin Jeff's open house for his High School Graduation.
Congratulations Jeff!

When we got home that night, the boys got to open their presents from Momma and Daddy. There were outside toys, sandbox toys and the best thing of all: a train set!
You can see from the pictures below that it was the big hit, we waited to open presents until after we fed them dinner because we worried we would not be able to get them to eat, but then it was very hard to get them to leave the train to go to bed. But it was so much fun watching them enjoy it!





Happy Birthday Big Boys!