We'll Miss You

Our family lost a very special someone on Monday.

My grandfather -- Lily and Eve's great-grandfather -- passed away at a hospital on Long Island. He was 87 years old. When I think of Grandpa, the very first thing that comes to mind is how he'd have us cousins lining up every Christmas for that photo session at the kitchen table. Year after year, we'd all stand in our spots. (Or in the early years, sit on the table...) I also think of the videos. The big old camera set up on the stairs. Each person opening their present and showing it to the camera. I recall being rather ... impatient as a child. But those were good times and we'll always have the memories -- and the photos and videos -- to remember them by.

I also distinctly recall a swimming tube ... on Grandpa's head. At Tupper Lake. For those of you who don't remember, or never met or saw him ... this would be the tube in question. On his head. And if memory serves me, there were other funny head-pieces that he sported over the years. I only have the picture of the one. Looks like he ought to be steering a boat down a canal in Venice or something, doesn't it?




Before he was a grandfather, or a great-grandfather, Grandpa was a soldier. My father and brother followed in his footsteps and served in the armed forces as well. My brother is currently in the Marines. The three of them got together last year before my brother shipped out to Iraq and chatted about many things, but the one that will always stick out in my mind was ... them chatting about an old firearm.

We are going to miss Grandpa, especially around Christmas. But I am immensely glad that he got the chance to meet Lily and Eve and that we captured the moments on camera. Here he is with one of the girls, and Grandma with the other. And yes, I'm admitting it, I have no idea who they are holding...







We know he's in a great place now and someday we'll all meet again. For now, we'll have to content ourselves with memories, photographs and stories.

To the Family...and any one else reading this...

I'm sort of "discontinuing" this blog. I'm going to keep writing stuff, even though it's infrequent, but I'm going to only post to my Momma Kate's Ramblings blog, so if you have this one bookmarked or something, you can change it to http://mommakate2032.blogspot.com . I hope everyone can get over there and I HOPE I can start updating it more frequently.

Other blog...

For those of you who DON'T know, I have another blog that I update more frequently than this one. It's over at mommakate2032.blogspot.com so if you haven't seen anything up here, it's because I'm using that one. Pop on over to see Halloween costumes the girls tried on yesterday...

Videos

Hey all, some videos for you to enjoy...

Since I'm being lazy, pop on over to my other blog to see them.

Momma Kate's Ramblings

Enjoy!

We may be all right

I finally got a call back from the pediatrician.

After fretting ALLLLLL damn weekend, not sure what the heck his partner had said on Friday and not getting a call back from him. Worrying over what turns out NOT TO BE THE CASE.

He said he looked at the CT report and the fluid is around the outside, (outside being KEY) and he said that means it should go away on its own. We still have to go see a neurologist for more information and closer monitoring. And we are changing pediatricians since I can't believe they couldn't take one minute out of their day on Friday to make this clear for us. We were beside ourselves all weekend.

We can still use prayers and thoughts, since it still has to GO away on its own, not get worse. Thank you to all of you who kept Evie in your thoughts over the weekend. We appreciate it!

I'm nearly positive we have more CT scans, maybe even an MRI in the future, depending on what the neuro says when we see him or her (I'm hoping for a her for once...) Best case, we go in and they look at the first scan and say, keep an eye of out "this, this or this" and if you don't see anything like that, we'll see you in 6 months. Perhaps measure ourselves in the meantime, whatever, I'm a pro at measuring from NICU.

I think that's all for now. By the end of the week we should have the girls' medical records in hand to deliver to our new pediatricians, who were the ones who my brother and I saw as children. Let's hope they show a little more regard for our feelings and more care for the children.

Not so good news

The CT scan was easy as pie. Thankful for that.

But the results showed there is excess fluid. I'm trying to get a confirmation that it is OUTSIDE or AROUND the brain, not inside, which is the worse of the two. Doctors take forever and a day to call back. If they haven't gone home already. We go back to ped on Tuesday to "talk" and have to go to a neurologist for a consultation. We can expect more CT scans in the future. And the likilhood they'll be as easy as this one? Don't know. There was no contrast for this one.

First momos, then the debacle with Lily in NICU and now this. I thought we were finished and could go on and be happy and normal, but NO, not us. I'm so very ready to get goods news right now. I just want this stupid fluid to GO AWAY on its own. I don't care how, evaporate, drain, whatever, but GO AWAY. If it's around the outside, supposedly it can. But he head has gotten bigger each measurement. So whether that means the fluid has increased or not, I don't nkow. I suppose we'll be needing CT scans on a schedule to determine that. I HATE THIS. Simple as that.

I'm pretty sure the doctor said it was around, so we aren't the worst case scenario. I was so hoping that it was just a big head, like so many of our relatives have. I suppose i was hoping we would have dimo twins to, but that never happened, I shouldn't be that surprised.

Prayers are greatly, greatly appreciated.

Big Head Brigade

Well, it seems Evie has joined the big head brigade. At the girls' 15-month check up, the doctor charted her head size and it is off the charts again so he ordered a CT scan, which is scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday. Then he proceeded to explain the areas that COULD have retained water, if it is a water retention problem, and which one would be left alone and disappear on its own and which one would require surgery.

Decidedly not the type of thing to tell ME.

I understand that they have to, but still...

So we somehow have to get an over-active 15-month-old to remain sleeping in a strange place, this big machine thingy all around her, for 10 minutes. So not possible unless we drug her...

The doctor said to keep her awake for 4 hours before and give her Benedryl. I'll give it a shot, but I don't see Evie, who walks everywhere and never stops moving, being still without help. (I get that they can strap them there, but still, that would mean still but screaming brains out instead...)

Here's crossing our fingers she "just has a big head." More on Friday...I hope. Depends on how fast CMH reads the thing.

N.C., Florida and a milestone

Long time no update! Been busy. We drove down to North Carolina to visit Eric's cousin Michael and his family, Chris, Audrey and David, down in Winston-Salem. We all had a great time playing with the kids and the girls got to try a bunch of new foods -- including shrimp gumbo. Evie got her first split lip when she toppled over and smacked into an armchair, but she weathered it well. Here she is fast asleep a few minutes after she did it...



Lily had a GREAT time in the playroom, and here she is living it up there... (those are audrey's legs behind her!)



After N.C. we trekked down to Florida to visit my parents in Fort Myers. The girls had a good time with their grandparents. They got to play with bubbles (in Evie's case, EAT them in this picture...)



They also went to the beach...



And Evie wasn't keen on the wet sand on her knees when she crawled off the towel! She has a sort of "ugh" look on her face!!!



And for some fun the girls each tried on Grandma's old wig that she doesn't use anymore. At least I don't THINK she does...



They also got to visit our old favorite restaurant, which we won't be going back to since it has changed owners and is no longer worth the money or the hassle of going there. So here we are for the last time at Wahoo Willies on Fort Myers Beach.



When we get the pictures, we'll have to put them up, but the girls also went to visit their great-grandmother, my Aunt Kathy and Aunt Eileen, cousins Lauren and Shannon; visited the Calusa Nature Center again; and went to visit Mildred and Dolly again.

The MILESTONE I mentioned. BOTH girls can now take about 6 steps on their own! Lily went from NOTHING to doing that tonight! What a birthday present, huh? I turned 26 yesterday, so that is a great present for me!

Until next time, enjoy the pictures!!!!

"Kitten"

Long time since I have REALLY updated, so here's a cute thing for you.

Many who own cats have probably found them with a bird or mouse dangling from their mouths, calmly waiting to be let into the house (*ya-right, not happening) or prancing around with their catch.

Well, meet OUR new kitten -- as she was dubbed by Eric:

Evie has taken to carrying things around in her mouth. Just like a kitten would do! So far I've found the two pictures, a little bird she carries around by the tail feathers, stuffed babydolls, stuffed butterflies, teething toys, anything she has the jaw power to carry. It's rather cute actually.

BUT on the flip-side. I have removed all kinds of paper, plastic, bits of STUFF I can't identify from its resting place in the roof of her mouth. Yup, the other day she was EATING andI got to the fifth spoon full and noticed something peeking out her mouth. YEH, she was storing it up thereto chew after her meal or something.

Thank goodness Lily doesn't have a chew/dangle-things-from-mouth fetish too or I'd be totally grey by now.

So Lily doesn't feel left out, here is a Lily-bad-hair-day photo (she was REALLY grumpy and just woke up):

Birthday attendees

To those who came to the girls' birthday party, or who send cards, we are SOOOOO behind with the thank yous I wanted to let you all know they HAVE been printed, and we are going to send them out as soon as we can! It took longer than anticipated since I made them from scratch instead of buying a Pooh design. We're sorry they are taking so long...but they ARE coming.

In baby news, the girls are 22 and 23.5 pounds as of their appointment June 13. Lily is still out in front weight-wise. She is also an inch longer at 30 inches. Both girls are doing well in speech and physical therapy. Not much else new to relate. They aren't walking yet, though both can stand by themselves. Evie does it more and for longer periods of time. Still no words, but more babbling each day.

For your enjoyment

Just wanted to share a few pictures of the girls. I finally found the camera cord buried under a pile of clean laundry that hadn't been touched in ... a while. Seems to happen a lot in this house. It's all over, but at least it's clean!

First up is a cute picture of the girls playing in a laundry basket. (Fitting isn't it, there are clean clothes laying on my table, but an empty laundry basket ... well not when the girls are in it, but still.)

Next we have Evie, appearing to be a bit shy. She ISN'T shy in any way, shape or form, but she looks a little bit like she is in this picture. Either that or she is being coy. I'd love to know what is on her mind. And the picture after that is one of Lily, smiling broadly as usual. I swear I love Lily's smile SOOOOOO much. She is so EASY to get a good smile out of for a picture.

And I want to share these two because in both pictures the girls are STANDING BY THEMSELVES. Even though Lily's hand is offcamera in her picture, it's only because I couldn't back up quickly and she tries to lean forward to reach me again almost everytime. I just know it is only a matter of months before they are walking, then running, then probably hands-first diving off the couches or something...

All right, that's all for now folks. I have a bunch of cleaning to do, and it is downpouring outside so we MIGHT lose power as our lights ALWAYS flicker like mad in the rain. Heck, they sometimes do that when it ISN'T raining here.

First Birthday party!

First is a little photo story of our birthday party yesterday. (Our actual birthday is Wednesday...) There aren't many pictures of gift opening and whatnot because it was a CRAZY mess of kids handing me presents and trying to stop Lily and Eve from eating the paper strewn about. We also didnt' get too many people pictures. Or many pictures in general! But here is a little bit of their special day! When I have more time (working tonight) I'll try to write more about it.



And next is a video of our cake-eating antics!

So close!

The party is right around the corner! We have about 25 people who are definitely coming, so that is a decent size party for our house! To those who can't come, we'll have to find a time to get-together with you all! Anyone who hasn't RSVPd, or e-mailed, please try to so I have a final count and know how many burgers and hot dogs to have!!!

We have those, and people are bringing macaroni salad, potato salad, swedish meatballs, spinach dip, cookies/desserts and some people are bringing chips and other sides. We are providing the dogs and burgers, the cake, sodas, water and juices for the kids. We have pretty much everything but have to call tomorrow and order a cake. I wanted a more definite count first, but ah well! I stink at planning parties! We have just plain pink plates, because I can't afford to do the Pooh party settings. But I am going to do my darndest to get a Pooh cake! The girls love Pooh!!! We are praying for good weather otherwise it will be a PACKED house and that might not be so pleasant. Since it's at 2 p.m. I'm hoping the girls will not need to nap for most of the time. They usually nap at 12:30 til about 2 and then again at like 4:30 to 5 p.m. We are going to dress them alike this time around, but probably not as they get older and want to be different (if it comes to that, we aren't going to fight them!!!)

We had a little party with my parents and brother and with my brother's friend Kelly. The girls got a Pooh cake that my mother made and Evie was happy to grab a fistfull and pull it off the cake. Lily was dainty and fingered it like I did as a baby. Then I gave her a cut piece just her size and she smooshed it as she intently studied it. Even took a bite! They enjoyed their gifts from that. My brother bought them pink Yankees jerseys and shorts, which we so CUTE. He also bought them a shopping cart play "yard" that goes in their seat and a cup that you can rinse their hair with easier. The girls will get another season out of the jerseys, they are almost like dresses on them now!!! Check it out!

You can kind of see the Yankees wording. But of course it makes Lily look like a SUMO wrestler...she doesn't normally look that chubbo!!!

And so she isn't left out, here is Evie in her Jersey staring at some DVD she filtched from the shelf...

About the party...

To all who are interested in attending the girls' first birthday party -- the time is confirmed at 2 p.m. and the invites are on their way. It is 2 p.m. May 17 here at our house. We would LOOOOVVVEEE as many of you to come as possible, especially those of you who haven't had a chance to meet the girls. Please drop me an e-mail at kat2032@verizon.net or gimme a call at 518-672-4903 if you want to RSVP. (Get a headstart on the invitations, which give you the phone number at any rate!)

If anyone who IS coming wants to bring something to eat, let me know that too because the more the merrier. I'm not a great cook so it works out well this way. Macaroni and potato salads, swedish meatballs, desserts are all definites. But if you have a hankering to cook, tell me!

Hoping to have a crowd and soooooooooo sorry about the late notice. Been a bit busy and I JUST finished designing and printing the invitations. If you DON'T get one, I might have the wrong address for you, but you're invited!

Here is what the invite looks like:

On the Move

It's been a while since that post with Lily's first crawl and BOY are the girls completely different kids already! Now they both crawl, both can kneel and play with toys, both can stand on their own at the gates or in bed, and both are advancing in leaps and bounds with their play. I swear, Early Intervention, who is coming tomorrow afternoon, is going to find that in the month since the referral, the kids have completely changed. Maybe even caught up!

And their first birthday is right around the corner. For those family and close friends who read this, YOU'RE INVITED, even if you didn't get an invitation yet. (Because I haven't had a chance to send any...) The party is May 17, a Saturday, at 2 p.m. at our house. You can get their later if you so desire, but not much earlier if you can help it! Anyone is free to bring some food if you like, as well, though there will be food there.

Back to the babies. Let's see, they can both hold their own bottles now, though we are still behind in terms of chewing anything. Perhaps they'll be far enough behind in speech to qualify for a speech therapist! I wouldn't mind as I don't have a clue how to help them learn that. I mean, I look like a cow chewing grass trying to show them how to move their mouths. And all they do is smile and laugh at you!

They are definitely a lot more fun now that they can play. They have gotten good at picking up little tiny things, and so we ahve to be extra careful in the house now. They still beeline for the dog food dish if they get out of the corral we use to block them into one and half rooms of the downstairs. We can put things in and take things out of boxes and toy bins now too, which is nice, so they can pull out their own toys if they really want to.

All right, back to work now...I've got a deadline to meet!

BIRTHDAY PARTY

All right everyone, we have set the date for their birthday party! Seeing as their actual birthday falls on a weekday, we are having the party on May 17, a Saturday, at our house. We'd love it if you all could come and celebrate with us and we decided to do it at 2 p.m. so people traveling don' thave to leave really early and don't have to be gone really late. That is still a LITTLE open to negotiation, but the date is a definite.

Anyone and everyone in the family is invited, of course, and we'll get invitations out as soon as we can, but please save the date! We hope to have good weather, because the house would be a BIT tight if we don't, but at least we have parking availability! And it's easier to deal with the babies here than to take them elsewhere.

Oh, and JILL! I totally forgot what you do for a living! If you wouldn't mind e-mailing me, kat2032@verizon.net, I'd love to ask you a couple questions! I'm still waiting for the EI woman to call me back about coming out to talk about the girls and see if they are even eligible, but in the meantime, I'd love advice!

Take care everyone!

Developmental appointment

Well here I thought the girls were doing great! BUT the developmental people are "worried" and so we got a referral to early intervention. I didn't know there was a specific WAY in which the girls were supposed to be playing, versus just picking things up and moving and toying with them. But I guess there is! So when they focused on one toy, or when they held two but didn't care to "figure out" how to hold a third in front of them, they are considered behind for their adjusted age. Actual is 10 and a few weeks, so adjusted is 8 and a few, nearly 9 months.

Lily plays more, bangs things, slides them around, passes from hand to hand, but doesn't tend to hold one toy in each hand. Eve does much the same, but held things in both hands a little more. So Lily is further behind there, totally not how I figured it!

They aren't making enough sounds either, apparently. They make dada, baba, mama sounds, but no vowel sounds really. It's all so confusing. If they hadn't been NICU babies I doubt we'd even be doing this.

It remains to be seen whether early intervention will deem them eligible when they come evaluate them. We'll have to wait and see next week. Of course, I'm WORKING next week, go figure.

So yeh, they aren't as caught up as we thought they'd be and they want us back in 6 months at developmental. They didn't comment on head size or anything, so I'm guessing that is good to go seeing as they did measure them. And they didn't think they would be eligible for any physical therapy assistance, just possibly speech and play therapy. THANKFULLY, EI is at home, so I wouldn't have to lug them into an office for that. And hey, if they are eligible, perhaps I would have something to look forward to that would break the monotony of the week.

Anyone have EI experience that they can share?

Eve in the Jumper!

Hopefully you can SEE this one...

Update

Today was Lily and Eve's February RSV shot appointment. They did well and I learned they now weigh 22 pounds each. So it's out with the infant carrier and in with the new "bigger baby" car seats! I can't believe I was lugging around over 44 pounds of stuff when I went into the office today! I won't have any trouble building arm strength I don't think!

Other than that no new news. Still only two teeth erupted for both girls but they are probably close to getting a third. Lily enjoys her Johnny Jump Up but Eve hates it. They can sit pretty well unassisted, but they WILL topple and can't get up on their own. Both girls love to stand if you hold their hands or support them somehow and they can roll easily now. Still no crawling, but they are able to get their stomachs off the ground now so that might be their new milestone. Still no words or anything, just lots of different sounds.

They love their solid food -- some things more than others. So far they have had carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, peas, green beans, bananas, applesauce, rice cereal and apples and cinnamon, prunes and I believe pears. We are going to try some other stage 2 stuff soon, since they are 7 months adjusted and 9 months actual age.

Pics for you:

One night Lily was not going to sleep very well, as she had been fussy for a few nights in a row, and so I gave her this toy mirror to play with. She quieted down and when I went in to check on her this is how I found her sleeping. (Mind you I put her down on her back...and she was playing with the mirror on her chest.) I just had to take the picture because I kept thinking to myself, maybe she thinks she is sleeping with Eve and that was what it took to get her to calm down and nod off! Of course the girls only nap together, they don't sleep together at night but they used to so I can think to myself what I want and I thought it was too cute!

This picture is of Miss Eve, who was playing with napkins on Grandma and Grandpa's kitchen table. Lily enjoyed them too, a nice inexpensive way to entertain the kiddies! Of course you have to watch that they don't EAT them, but it is fun to see them have so much fun with paper. I'll try to get up more pics of it and we have a video of both playing with the napkins too! If I ever get around to posting it!

Thanks!

Quick shout-out to my Aunt Kris! Wanted to say thank you for getting us that formula, it is going to be a HUGE help when they reach that stage and we really appreciate it. I'll e-mail you personally when I get the address from Dad. I lost all my addresses AGES ago! :-)

A pic for all your enjoyment:

New tricks

Today the girls went to the pediatrician to get their monthly dose of Synagis for RSV. They weighed 21 pounds each! The doctor didn't check their length, but they were 27 inches last time. We might try measuring them ourselves and see if they've grown. BECAUSE of their new weight, it is time to change from the infant carrier car seats to the next step up because the carriers are only approved for babies up to 22 pounds! So we chose the Safety First seats for 22-40 pound infant/toddlers and 40-100 later on as a booster seat. We will get a LOT of use out of them and they are middle of the road in terms of price. Of course this means no mean nifty snap the carrier intot he stroller anymore. We have to take the babies in and out of the carseats. A new little challenge when we have to go out!


In other baby news, Lily cut her too bottom teeth! And Eve has one coming through on the bottom, but too little to take a picture of yet. Both girls roll all over the floor and both can sit up without support until they topple over. They can't GET into a sitting position alone, but one step at a time, right!? They both make new funny faces and are doing a lot more interacting with toys on their seats and on the ground with them. They seem to realize that some actions cause toys to make a sound and try to do it. They are 8 months or so actual age and about 6 1/2 months adjusted. We go back to the developmental pediatrician in April and we'll know how they measure up developmentally then. Hopefully, they'll be caught up! Wouldn't that be awesome!



Here are a few pictures:


Lily's teeth...


Eve's funny face:


Lily and Eve sitting in the crib:

For Karen, who was looking for the cords...

Karen, I heard you were looking for pics of the girls' cords and I moved them into the photo album so you should find them if you click on the "Photo Album" link on the right side of the page. I realized they weren't in the baby's subalbum on my Photobucket account! Let me know if you have a problem finding them: kat2032@verizon.net!

No time for more posting but I'll get to it...I really will...blame the twins for rolling all over the floor at the moment and Eve getting stuck under her activity bouncer seat...