BYE, BYE GIANT TONSILS!!

Well, and the adenoids too.

Jack did spectacular today for his surgery! He had a little rough go when he first came out of anesthesia with being in pain and just the effects of having anesthetic, but once we got the pain under control he was much better - snoozing on Momma's shoulder. That made Momma feel better too.

His procedure was at 7:10 this morning (we were actually there at 5:45, ugh) and we were home by 11:00 am. He was bouncing around and playing with Quent, who was SO happy to see "Jackie", and with Len and Kyle. He has done really well keeping fluids going in and even eating some soft foods here and there. I made Jack lay on my bed with me to watch Cars and rest, but I was the one falling asleep, not him. He and Quent did take a great nap (WITHOUT THE CRAZY SNORING!) and both are now lounging with Daddy after a snack. Jack is definitely feeling the effects, but is doing well considering. Hopefully the rest of the recovery will go this smooth.

** Jack got WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL care today, especially because Aunt Jean was there to make everything easy and comfortable. You really did make this experience the best it could be for ALL of us, THANK YOU SO MUCH AUNT JEAN!! WE LOVE YOU!! **

I do have some pictures of him at the hospital that I will get up sometime tomorrow, thanks for your well wishes!

The countdown is on

Tomorrow is surgery day for Jack.

Of course, both boys have been healthy for months and just yesterday Quent started sneezing and being stuffy. Let's hope it just stays with him. I am not sure what would make them not do the surgery for Jack, but I do not want to even be in the position to wonder. The waiting and anticipation is hell enough this time, i do not want to anticipate it again!

So, today is just staying home and getting everything packed for Jack and in order here for Quent. My brother Len and his wife Kyle and staying with Quent tomorrow while we are gone, so he will be in good hands. He may wonder where Jack is when he wakes up and throughout the day, but he will have fun with Len and Kyle.

I need to call today to get the time that he is scheduled for surgery (weird that they only plan the day before, but I guess that way if anyone does cancel because they are ill then they don't have to redo it all the time). He will be one of the first surgeries of the day because he cannot eat/drink and he is too little to wait too long. It will be an early morning!
We are planning that he will have to stay the night, they said that it is not a sure thing that they will keep him, but because of his age they will want to watch him more closely, so he is more likely than others to have to stay. Hopefully, he will not have to, but we will be prepared just in case.

My Mom and Dad will be there with us too, and Aunt Jean (who works in the same day surgery unit) will make sure we are well taken care of for sure. But it is still super scary.
For me I mean.
At this point Jack has no idea, he is too little to try to explain this to, so we will do some talking tomorrow and hopefully we can make it as easy for him as possible. Momma will do her crying/ falling apart after I have to leave my baby Jack for the procedure.

On the upside, he will be so much better for having had this done. He will sleep better, breathe better and hopefully feel better all around. Because he is little he will most likely bounce back quicker and have virtually no memory of it later on.

So, wish us luck and keep us in your prayers for smooth sailing through the surgery and a speedy recovery!

Adventures Galore!

I decided to make a slide show of some of the pictures of the cool stuff we did this week. It was a fun and busy week!
Included in the slide show is:

*Jack and Quent washing up some toys for Momma and loving getting to play in the sudsy water.

* Sierra came over to spend the day and go with us to get haircuts and play at the park - 2 parks in 1 day! The boys loved hanging out with their cousin Sierra and she is a big help to me. The pictures are from playing at the park with our Mothers of multiples friends.
Thanks for all your help Sierra!

* Yesterday, (Saturday) was the Summer party at my Uncle Steve and Aunt Sue's house. They have a great backyard and had some super fun stuff for the kids to do. The weather was beautiful and we all enjoyed a great day outside with my Dad's side of the family, eating yummy food, talking to everyone, and watching all the kids play! It was also Tom and my Dad's birthday (but we are doing the official celebration of that today so more on that later.)
I got some really good video of the boys playing at the party, just need to figure out all the technical stuff of getting it up and I will try to post some of that too.

We are going to be so sad when summer is over, we are just having a ball with the boys outside this year!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to My TOM!!

Happy Birthday to My DAD!!

Happy Birthday to Tom's DAD!!

Yep - they all have the same birthday. Funny story...

When Tom and I first started dating we had gone to see Titanic, that was the big blockbuster out that winter of 97/98. As we sat, waiting for the movie to start in a PACKED theater, we started talking about our birthdays and such. You know that getting to know you kind of stuff. Well, he said that he had been born on his Dad's birthday, July 26th.

WOW - that was my Dad's birthday too - AND did I mention that both of our Dad's are named Robert, but called Bob. Weird. And very Cool.

Jokingly I said to Tom, "Well when is your Mom's Birthday?!"
"It's on the 31st of November", Tom says. November has no 31st, Tom. "Okay, well whatever the last day of November is."

NO WAY. That is my Mom's birthday too! And (oh yeah it gets weirder) both of our Moms are named Mary!!

So to recap: Both of our parents are Bob and Mary, and the Bob's have birthdays on July 26th (of different years) and the Mary's have birthdays on November 30th (again, different years).

Is that cool or what. Also, Tom's Friend/college roommate/best man's father was my advisor when was at MSU. We were so meant to be together.

Have a great birthday GUYS!

ps - I have a bunch of pictures from the week of fun stuff that we did all week and will have a bunch from our fun-packed weekend. So, I got to get busy catching up on all that good stuff!
Be looking out for that!

These boys just come up with the funniest stuff!

"Look, Momma, Woody is a takeen a baff"
(look, Momma, woody is taking a bath)

"Siddy Woody, he a takeen a baff wiff his boots on!"

(silly woody, he is taking a bath with his boots on!)

"Jackson turn a peechur - cheese!"
(Jackson's turn for a picture)

Jack takes his hat off and repeats after Momma
"whoa gotta cwazy haiw"
(whoa - you got some crazy hair!)

It has just been one of those silly baby days, we started the morning by Quentin coming into our room and getting up on our bed. He cuddled next to me and then pulled back to get a good look and said as he pointed to my head on the pillow,

"Momma haiw awl messy!"

complete with the crinkled nose and furrowed brow look. Priceless.
Thanks Baby, and good morning to you too!

Friday Foto Finish Fiesta

Here is Candid Carrie's latest idea for a cool linky post for Friday!
Check out who else is playing at her site!

I just have 2 boys who love their accessories!
They have always loved to wear hats and these are just 2 examples.
Quent is above and he went through a stage where that bowl was on his head most of the day! He loved that thing and he was too cute wearing it too!
Jack is below that and is wearing (not too happily) a paper hat I made one day while we were coloring. Don't you just love that "Mom get his stupid thing off my head" look that he is giving me!

One long post

Yes, it will be a long post. I have been so bad about posting all the cool stuff we have been doing, so this will be the BIG update for this week - Mostly because we have been busy doing fun stuff and partly because I am exhausted!
This week has also been 'get used to the big boy beds' week. So, we have all been a little sleep deprived from that and trying our best to work it out. They are improving, but they still are too excited to jump out of bed whenever they get the chance, like at 6:00 am - ugh! They do like the beds though and there have been no need to coax them to their beds at all.

MONDAY

We had the Ear,nose,throat Dr. appointment. Jack did great! No doubt, Jack will definitely be getting the tonsils and adenoids out. (not that I was unsure about it before, but somewhere I was hoping that just maybe we could avoid that surgery)
So, he is scheduled for July 31st for the surgery.
Wish us luck, Momma will be a basket case!

TUESDAY

There was a super fun playgroup with our Mothers of Multiples group at Flushing Park. We took our picnic lunch and played on the big wooden play scape. Jack and Quent had so much fun, it was hot and sunny, but they did not seem to care. My fellow twin Mommy and blogger friend, Barb, got some great pictures since I did not have our camera with us (good job Momma). Thanks Barb!
You can also check out her Twinkies' blog for more cute pics of the day!

Playing in the sand and fighting over the 1 truck

riding the tire swing, did not last long, but it was cute while it lasted!

Quent chatting with Sarah and Jacob

4 boys all lined up barking back at the barking dogs in the yard behind the park
Funny!

After we got a slushee for the ride home which the boys loved, what a big treat! Quent kept saying "Thank you Momma, thank you Momma. Good treat Momma" It was so cute.


WEDNESDAY

It was Potter Park Zoo Day! It was also L&L Zoo Days, which meant that the zoo was packed with everyone with free passes, including us!
My niece and nephew, Sierra and Brendan came along with us. And thank goodness that they were there! They were such a big help with the boys, there is no way I would have done this alone. So, thank you cousins!
We also went with Barb and Kerry from our Mothers of Multiples group and their families. It was really busy there and impossible to stay all together. We ended up losing the others pretty much as soon as we were in the place and never could find them. But I hear they had fun and we had fun too. You can check out their adventures on Barb's blog.

The penguins were a big hit with everyone!

We all wished we were swimming in the pool too.

Jack as a lion! ROAR
Brendan and Sierra are behind him

Quent's cute little lion face

Jack and Brendan balancing along a short wall
while we were all taking a drink break.
It was SO HOT and HUMID that we had to make sure everyone was drinking enough and getting breaks out of the sun.

Jack and Sierra checking out the coral reef exhibit that had a "Nemo" fish!

Quent and Brendan looking for Nemo

Quent sees him, right there on the left!!
Oh he was so excited about Nemo and Dory!

Tried to get a picture of the cousins together -
didn't quite work out the way I had hoped, but here we are!

Jack catching a ride with Sierra

Quent and Brendan making our way out of the zoo

After the zoo, we went to visit Tom at work and say hello. We then headed home and had a wardrobe change, then it was off to get Brendan to soccer practice. Both Jack and Quent cried when Brendan had to leave - sweet. Quent was sound asleep when we dropped off Sierra at home, but Jack got to meet her puppy, Max, and got lots of slobbery kisses. He said Max's ears were "fwoppy" and they were! He got that from our Dog book that they love, smarty.
We stopped at Gramma and Papa's for a snack and a visit before heading home for dinner with Daddy.
This night they were asleep before they hit their pillows, WHEW!

THURSDAY

We spent a day at home!
It was blistering hot and humid again and my sunburns needed a break so we spent the day catching up on stuff around the house. (no one else got any sunburns, thankfully. I am just ridiculously sensitive to the sun and sunscreen just never cuts it)

I made cookies for our Uncle Dan, my Dad's brother, and took them to him when Tom got home to be with the boys.
Feel Better Soon Uncle Dan!
Jack and Quent were great while I mixed up the cookies (to bake while they slept). Here they are playing with their letters on the fridge - YES - pictures of the giant refrigerator that I LOVE!

Good job my little guys!
Momma thanks you!

More to come later as the summer adventures continue!

Hello Big Boys...Bye Bye baby room!

Here's one last look at their room this morning before the transformation began.
Oh, my babies are growing up :(

Quent posing with the cribs

That's our baby room, rocking chairs, changing table and all!


And Now -

Quent in his BIG BOY BED!

Jack is all covered up in his BIG BOY BED!

This is all that's left of the other stuff in the room.
We tried to minimize the amount of trouble there could be,
we'll see!

Ahhhh, I think Quent could get used to this (or at least I hope!)

Jack is still in constant motion so this picture of him looks a little goofy,
but he seems to like the bed too!

Oh Momma, what are you crying for? We like these beds so much, maybe we will stay in here instead of take that bath. - Really we had to force them out of the beds to get into the tub!

The move has been made.
The recalled cribs are at the curb (minus some crucial parts that will need to be returned).
The boys napped in their new beds. Well, with some help.
After 4 visits to the room to return them to their beds, i just stayed and laid on their floor until they were out. All in all, it took longer than usual, but we're hoping that once the newness wears off we can get them to STAY in the bed to sleep.
I got big dreams, huh?

Tonight, the same happened. I stayed in the room and put Jack back in the bed over and over for about 45 minutes,then Daddy came and took a turn until they were asleep. I think even though they are technically old enough and skilled enough to handle this move, I wonder if they (and it seems mostly Jack) are mature enough for the move. Can't turn back now.
Fingers crossed that they do okay through the night.
Still dreamin' big!

Hey, if anyone has any great "this worked for me" advice about making this transition easier, any and all suggestions would be welcome :o)
*especially from you twin Mommas!

Tubby Time!

I am playing a Linky Sunday Game that Debi has thought of again :)
This time we are sharing pictures of the kiddies in the tub!
Here Goes!

Here's little Jack, back when the baby tub was still in the kitchen sink.
He always loved his baths.

This is Jack again with Momma being silly! We were getting ready for the bath and he couldn't figure out what was in his head! Notice the poor chapped cheeks and chest from teething :(

This is an amazing feat for Quentin! He loved having a bath in the baby tub, but not this big, scary, grown-up tub. So, for a while we put the baby tub in the big tub, then eventually graduated to this seat. What a big boy!

And later, Quent became the water boy.
Loving every minute of splashing and being wet in the big tub!

And today...
Jack and Quent in the tub tonight, playing and being silly with their shampoo - dos!

Friday's Foto Finish Fiesta

I decided to participate in Candid Carrie's Friday Foto Finish Fiesta
for something fun and different today.
I saw that Debi over at Who Says 8 is Enough? was playing
and it looked too cute, so here we go!

Okay, so it is supposed to be one favorite foto,
but you can't get the full story with just one foto - you need the series!

These pictures were taken when Jack and Quent were 5 months old. They are being very entertained by their Daddy, my darling husband, Tom.
Now, Tom used to work for a YMCA Camp (in fact he was working there when we met, but that's a whole 'nother story) ,so Tom knows a lot of silly camp songs. He is singing and doing the hand gestures for a song called - I don't even know the name - but you may just recognize the words below if you were ever at camp or in scouts.

The boys LOVED this song when Daddy would sing it. It was so cute to see him singing and being so silly just to get his kids to laugh! Just one example of how he is a great Dad!
It was a big hit on our house for a long time!

Here's how it goes:

Mary had a little lamb,
Whose fleece was white as snow
And everywhere that Mary went
She threw it out the window!
The window, the window!
The second-story window!
High low, low high
Throw it out the window!

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall
Humpty Dumpty had a great fall
All the king's horses and all the king's men
Threw him out the window!
The window, the window
The second-story window!
High low, low high
Throw him out the window!

(you can add any nursery rhyme you want to it, the kids love it!)

The trampolines have arrived!

Uncle Lenny and Aunt Ky-Ky had ordered these super cool trampolines for the boys' 2nd birthday a long time ago. They were ridiculously delayed in shipping and Auntie Ky-Ky nearly had to take someone's head off to get them shipped at all! (you go Kyle) But after much frustration on Uncle Lenny and Aunt Ky-Ky's part, they came, are put together and have been delivered to Jack and Quent in Papa's truck today! (thanks Papa!)

Thank you Uncle Lenny, Aunt Ky-Ky!!
The pictures below should show you just how much we LOVE them!



And today we jumped and jumped and jumped and jumped....

The Children's Museum

Today we met up with some other Twin buddies at the Children's museum. I have not been there in a very long time, but it is so much nicer than I remember and I like it before! We had a great time! What a wonderful idea Barb!

We met up with Barb and her 19 month olds, Sarah and Jacob. Also, Brooke and her 16 month olds, Liam and Brenna, and big brother Braedan who is 5 yrs. old. And Kerry and her 4 year old girls, Anna and Megan came to play too. All in all 4 SETS OF TWINS! It was quite the event!

I have some pictures of the boys at their favorite things (ie: the things that they were able to be still at long enough for me to get a picture!) As you can imagine, they were usually running in 2 different directions :)

Jack is rocking out on the trash can drum

While Quent plays along with the bells

Very cool Fire Truck, Jack played here A LOT!
you could ring the bell and drive, big fun

Quent takes over the controls in the helicopter

Jack found some buttons, and he loves buttons.

These buttons changed the tones of the music that played when you walked on the floor,
cool cause and effect.

Quent really liked this car race game, he liked the cars on their own,
but once he knew that they would go fast down that hill, he was hooked!

The other Moms that went with me got some really good shots too - check out Barb's and Brooke's blogs for their pictures. They both got better ones of all the kids eating after we were done playing. It was cute, all of them lined up in their double strollers!