Family Reunion

On Sunday 4-26-09 we had a family reunion on my Mother's side. This is the side we are closest to as we live in the same town with 99% of the family. It was a fun time. Kyrah did very well even though it started at noon, luckily she took an hour and a half nap that morning so she was energetic up until about 3 or so then she started getting crabby. She is a lot of fun now. One of her favorite things is running. She likes to run up to someone (usually Daddy) and pretend to "get him" then she runs away, then runs back - she does this over and over and all the while she is smiling and laughing her but off. Her words are coming along. The most common ones are Ma Ma, Da Da, please (which comes out as eeesss), baby and hot. She also says bee-bee for almost everything. She says that when she wants something.

Here is Kyrah riding her little giraffe.

Aunt Connie and cousin Jessie feeding the twins. They love to eat! Finally Jessie has a baby that likes her. She tries to pick up Kyrah all the time and Kyrah just does not like her for some reason. Probably because she doesn't see her very much.

Kyrah and 2nd cousin Sophia kissing at the family reunion. Sophia is one month older then Kyrah.

We tried several times to get them to kiss. Kyrah has recently started sticking her tongue out when she gives kisses. She licks the babies all the time.

Start of Summer

The weather has been wonderful this week. Although it is hard to dress for this weather - the morning starts out chilly then it warms up. So Thursday I dressed her in a long sleeve shirt and pants that I thought was thin enough that if it got hot it wouldn't be a big deal. Well this is what ended up happening at Grandma's house.

Now why she is riding around in a red cart is beyond me but it made her happy for a good 5 minutes so we just let her enjoy.

While Kyrah was running around getting into everything the twins hung out in their seats on a swing. They seem to like the fresh air and were sleeping pretty good.

Later that night we learned that Kyrah is no longer so gentle with the babies as she was at first. I think now that she is knows they are not going anywhere she is being a bit more aggressive. In the picture above it looks all nice and cute, but the next thing she did was try to shove their heads together. She is also starting to grab their hands or feet and will squeeze them - so far it hasn't been too hard or at least we have been able to stop her before the twins get hurt.

This has been a rough week for Kyrah - she was sent home from daycare on Tuesday with a fever of 102.3 - scarry. I took her to the doctor and she had the start of ear infections in both ears and a red throat so she was home from daycare Wed and Thursday. Her fever finally broke Thursday AM so I took her back to daycare today and then they call me and tell me she has a rash on her body and is so cranky. Luckily they kept her until 3:45 and Dennis came home a little after 4 so I didn't have all 3 by myself for too long. On Wed and Thursday morning I had all 3 for a few hours until my Mom came over and took Kyrah to her house. It is not easy, but it is doable. I think once the twins get on a better schedule (and by that I mean Broden) having all three around by myself will be easier. And once the twins can go in an exersaucer where I don't have to hold them all the time it will get better.

They are doing well. Both of them have had a congested nose for two weeks now. I took them to the doctor but she said it was just a small cold and to run a humidifier and to use saline drops.... not much help if you ask me and they still have it, but I know they are too little for most medicines.

I still only get about a 2 hour stretch of sleep at a time. We have started putting them in their crib in their room at night, but even if it is not my turn to get up to feed whichever is due, I still wake up when I hear them cry so not a very restful sleep, but I know it will not be forever.

Happy Easter - 2009

Happy Easter - 2009! It only took 4 times chasing the Easter Bunny for Kyrah to connect all the pieces. At her first egg hunt she picked the eggs up and threw them. At her second egg hunt at the neighbors house, she picked the eggs up and carried them around. At her third egg hunt at a local church she picked the eggs up and gave them to whoever was around her. Finally at her last egg hunt at Grandma and Grandpa's house she found the egg, picked it up and put it in her basket. It was a learning process for her. We had a great Easter. The weather was a bit chilly, but there was no stopping Kyrah from going outside -she would scream all the time when she was in the house and go stand by the door.

She of course looked adorable as did the twins. Here is Raya in her fancy Easter dress. Raya later changed into a cute outfit from Aunt Tina - it had a duck on the bib and on her butt. Raya is doing what she pretty much does all the time - sleep. She is great in that she can sleep through most noises.

Broden was just wearing a blue pooh bear outfit, but he still looks adorable.

The closest I could get to getting a picture of all 3 kids together is holding Kyrah next to the twins while they were sleeping -plus Broden only laid down on the couch for about 20 minutes before he had to be picked up.

Wow look at all the eggs the bunny laid. We only had 7 of the 11 grandkids there that day (2 of which were the twins) and we had over 100 eggs in the yard - each kid got 15 or so eggs.

Kyrah did a great job of finding the eggs. She still wanted to just walk around with them in her hand so we had to convince her to put them in her basket.

Wow look at all that loot! She also likes to pop open the fake eggs and see what is inside. We had to watch what she got though - small M&Ms are a choking hazard. Actually, I rarely give Kyrah straight up candy like a candy bar or things like that. She does get suckers and she ate a peep, but that is pretty much it. Her "treat" at our house is a fruit popsicle or a cookie every now and then. She likes sweets, but I don't give them to her that often.


Recently some of my favorite things is watching Kyrah run - it is that toddler run that is stiff legged and she sort of bounces along. The other thing is when she grabs Daddy's hands to walk with him. Seeing this tall 6 foot man with a little cutie patootie holding his finger walking together just melts my heart.

Today, easter Monday, I dressed Raya in her sassy cheata shirt and of couse that meant she had to wear her puma socks - it was a big cat theme day for her...


Broden and Mommy stayed in their pjs all day!

Puppy!!!

Look everyone - Grandpa bought "me" a new puppy! I love puppies - they go Woof, woof, woof.

Hey puppy - where did you go??
Uh-oh puppy has my pretty Easter dress...

I am so happy that Grandpa and Grandma bought me a puppy that they are keeping at their house!!

I am tired of chasing the puppy - lets just go for a ride with it...

1 month old Twins

Happy 1 month old Broden and Raya yesterday April 8th. Wow this first month has gone by so fast. Broden is close to 6 lbs and Raya is close to 8 lbs. They are the two most opposite twins ever! They look nothing alike, I wouldn't even guess they were in the same family. Broden loves to be held and almost needs to be held or else he will cry. He eats randomly - it may be 2.5 hours, 3 hours or 1 hour and it could be anywhere from 1 ounce to 3 ounces. Although in his defense on eating he is having tummy troubles so we are trying to get that worked out. He is now on Similac Alimuntum a pre-digested formula (which costs $29 for a small can - ouch!) and he also started acid reflux medication. Hopefully this will help his tummy not hurt so much. Raya is a great eater - 4 ounces every 4 hours, sleeps well inbetween feedings and hardly ever fusses. Doesn't need to be held - but seems to enjoy it when we do hold her. She sticks her tounge out all the time - just like older sis Kyrah does, he doesn't. He is hot natured, she is cold natured. Dark hair for her, lighter hair for him. I swear if I did not deliver in the smallest hospital ever where they were the only babies I would think one of them was switched. The only thing these two have in common is that they both grunt A LOT!! He does it more then her, but when they are both grunting it sounds like we are living with a bundch of pigs or dinasours. All in all it doesn't matter how alike or different they are - each one is very special and I love them to pieces.

Broden is losing his hair. It actually looks like he a little old man that is going bald and he has just a little in the middle so it is like a come over.

Oh surprise surprise her tounge is out!

Daycare Easter Party

Kyrah had an Easter party at daycar on the 8th. I like going to visit her at daycare and see how she interacts with the other kids and see if she listens to the daycare workers. I have not been disappointed yet. She listen's very well and likes all the other kids at daycare. When Donna told them to sit on the butts so they could hand out treats she did exactly what she was supposed to do. She even got up at her turn and gave her treats out to the others.

It took her a few minutes to figure out what to do when she had to hunt for eggs - she just liked being outside. Actually whenever you mention the word outside to her she runs to the door and will stand there and scream until you take her out. But once I pointed an egg out to her she went to it and picked it up then threw it like it was a ball. With a Daddy that has played baseball and softball his entire life it is a pretty safe bet that this kid has learned the phrase "throw me a ball" and pretty much anything that resembles a ball shape gets thrown.

The next challenge was convincing Kyrah to put her egg in her basket. She pretty much just carried it around. We have to work on that part.

And just because these pictures are adorable... last Saturday while Daddy and the twins were sleeping in Kyrah and I were doing our usual morning routine when she found her hat and mittens in her closet so she had to have them on and walked around the house with them on for 30 minutes are so.

How cute is she!

Doctor Visit Update

Broden and Raya went in for a weight check up today 4-3-09. Raya weighs 7 lbs 10 ozs and is 20 1/4 inches long. She has gained 1.5 lbs in 2 weeks - wow what a little grower she is. She is eating 4 ozs of formula at each feeding and the doctor said that is probably more then she should be but if she is content to stick with it. She eats every 4 hours or so. I think she eats so much because of her stay at Cardinal Glennon. They made her eat a certain amount when she was there and if she didn't eat it they gave it to her in her NG tube (basically put it directly in her tummy) so my theory is that her tummy expanded then to hold more food. Everytime we asked if this was necessary to make her eat a certain amount the response we got was "if she doesn't eat she doesn't grow". She is in the 25% for height and weight. She is a wonderful baby - always very content sleeps well -sometimes at night she will sleep for 5 hours, doesn't have to be held, but likes it when she is... just overall she has been wonderful.
Broden came in at 5 lbs 12 ozs (woo hoo!) and 19 inches long. So he has done well since his birth gaining a pound and a half. He is still pretty skinny if you look at him, but he is losing that alien - bug look - you know little head big eyes. Don't get me wrong - he is completely adorable, but he does have a bit of a alien look going on - a little more chub and it will go away. He is out of preemie clothes because they are too short for him. He is skinny enough to still wear preemie, but he can't stretch out in them. He is eating 2-3 ozs every 3 hours, but he is having some issues with spitting up and not being content inbetween meals. He may sleep for an hour then wake up with a 30 second cry then go back to sleep and he seems to scrunch up like his belly hurts so we are going to try him on soy formula. I tried gas drops for a week but it didn't seem to make a difference. I am not thrilled that they may be on different formula but I hate that his tummy is upset. He is not even in the 5th percentile for height and weight, but he is growing and gaining at a good pace which is what matters.
Today we had our second official outing - we went shopping. It was Grandma, my sister Tina and me and the twins. They did great - slept a lot didn't fuse about being in the car seats - good little shoppers! I just get side tracked a lot because people stop me and ask about them which is fine.
Kyrah is doing well, she is adjusting to having the twins around. At first she had to be next to them and kept touching them, now she will ignore them unless me or Dennis is holding them, then once she touches them or puts a "blanket" on them a few times she will wonder off to do something else. Bed time is still the hardest part because she likes to be held (and I love holding her) before she goes to bed, but if one of the twins needs to eat... well the baby wins and Kyrah has to either sit next to me or lay on the floor on a pillow - usually with a bit of crying. We have been practicing her egg finding skills. She likes to open the fake eggs and see if anything is inside - she will be all ready by the time Easter arrives.
I have been doing very well. Yes I have to pop two Tylenol each day to ward off the headache from not sleeping enough and live on diet dr. pepper, but overall I am doing great. My incision is healing great and I even went for a jog today. My first time running in probably two years. I am hoping to get back to running my 5Ks this summer.