Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Long Nights, Laxatives, and Lafayette

Again I apologize for the gap between posts.  As you can imagine, sitting down and blogging is not on the top of my list right now. When these rare moments occur when both boys are asleep, I try to rest as well.  We are entering our 3rd week at my parent’s house with the boys.  It was been 11 days since Grady has seen the boys and he will be arriving in 2 days to see us- just in time for Father’s day.  I can’t wait to see what he thinks about how much the boys have changed.  I send him pictures everyday but they just don’t do the boys justice.  They get a bath every other night and then its weigh in time.  My dad, who has quite the collection of random items that he has accumulated  over the years, happened to have a baby scale in our attic that he had gotten from an old pediatrician in Alexandria so after bath time each of the boys gets weighed . 

Griff is weighing in at 11 lbs. 4 oz and Jack is 10 lbs. 5 oz!! Can you believe how much they have grown?

The nights are getting better but are still long- mom gives me a break a lot and she will sleep in the room with the boys and then we both get up during feeding time.  As of now, we only get up once to feed them and thankfully – they both get up at the same time.  It’s quite amazing how they both start stirring at the same time- even if they are in separate rooms.  We finally had to put them in separate beds since Jack flaps his arms a lot during the night and hits Griff in the face.  Griff is like a sleeping bear so we dare not risk him being awakened.

We did have to bring Jack to the dr. for a problem that he was having with reflux.  The dr. recommends that we put cereal in Jack’s milk to prevent food from coming back up- he has been doing great since we have starting this but cereal in milk can cause other issues.. . . like constipation.   They say twins do everything together and this includes getting "stopped up" together.  After talking to drs, nurses, and friends, I decided that more needed to be done.  Prune juice only seemed to make their tummies hurt worse and with each passing day, the boys seemed more uncomfortable . . .so our last resort was baby suppositories. UGH! It worked great and the boys felt much better but that is something that I hope I never have to do again. . ever! We have taken lots of precautions to keep this from happening again- I eat lots of prunes in an effort to get that in their system.  It makes for long days and nights when tummies are hurting.

Last weekend, I needed to go to Lafayette to get some more continuing education hours for my optometry license.  They are offered all over the country and at various times but when would I have more help than I do right now? So, I called on my cousin, Sandra, who agreed to make the journey with me to watch the boys while I sit in class for two days.  Sandra was a huge help and considering her daughter is 17- her baby instincts kicked back in and the weekend was a success.  Staying in a hotel with twins is a challenge.  We had the minivan completely full of their stuff.  Grady has always given me a hard time when it comes to packing- he says I bring too much stuff! Now I realize that my baggage just got downsized to fit all their accoutrements, as Grady likes to call it.  We had bouncies and diaper bags and basins for washing bottle and nap nannies and the list goes on.  Not only do you have more stuff to pack but going places just takes so much longer, partly because getting the 2 ton double stroller in and out of the minivan takes me FOREVER but these two little guys can draw a crowd too.  Going through the hotel lobby took a lot longer than I expected with all the people wanting to stop and see the babies.  Of course, that part I don’t mind. We love to show them off but when strangers stop me – I can almost see the germs jumping off them onto our boys.  During our first night at the hotel, Jack had a really dirty diaper if you know what I mean- hotel rooms are pretty confining so we knew we didn’t want to be cooped up with that diaper until the maids came around the next day. Luckily I had a ziplock bag and what’s the commercials say- “Locks freshness in and odors out” well we wanted to do the opposite of that (keep the odors in) but I thought it would work until the next morning.  As I was getting ready to go down to the convention the next morning, I grabbed the odorous ziplock and heading for the elevators- thinking there would be a trashcan along the way- NOPE, so onto the elevated- quick – put the bag in your purse before someone sees you. Doors open- lots of fellow colleagues heading down for the convention too, hadn’t seen me in a long time- wants to see pictures of the boys, so the rest of the elevator ride is spent oogling over the boys' pictures and when we get to our floor, I see more people I know and just completely forget about the soiled diaper in my purse . . .until about 20 minutes into class when I start digging for a pen. WOW! Dollar General storage bags don’t work as well as Ziplock.  Thankfully I was sitting around friends that have kids and everyone completely understood- what a mess!  One night while we were in Lafayette we took the boys to Chili’s – very close to our hotel, not very expensive since I probably wouldn’t get to eat anyway, and a little on the loud side so our boys wouldn’t disturb anyone if they were to start crying- the perfect trifecta  for infants in restaurants. 
Jack at Chili's
Napping in the hotel room. If you notice both boys are only in their diapers- Sandra was getting ready to change their clothes but they are such messy eaters- it was just easier to let them eat sans clothes.  I'm sure this won't be the last time I let them eat shirtless!

Alisa is a sweet friend of mine from Shreveport who was also getting her hours in Lafayette- she came up to our room to get some loving from the boys.  She has Eli, who is not yet a year and one on the way.  She is such a great mom and some how balances it all. She brought us supper at the NICU on our anniversary and that was such a special night for Grady and I.

Granny Benoit comes to the house every other day to offer a helping hand.  It is such a great time for her since this is her 11th and 12th great grandchildren and she loves holding them. 
 

My friend Allison came over to visit with her little girl Avery.  Avery is 10 months old and into EVERYTHING! I will definitley have my hands full when the boys are that age.  She brought the boys these precious boxer shorts.  I can't wait to put them on the boys.


Hanging with dad before he leaves for training.  I think he's teaching Griff how to e-trade.

Seriously mom? Another picture.


Pawpaw Lloyd on his 68 birthday with all his grandchildren (except the one that Tessia is carrying- making his debut in September)

Aunt Cel and Uncle Richard live right through the woods, so they come visit a lot.

No telling what Griff is thinking here!

My cousin, Russell, and his wife, Melissa, and their little girl, Cassie.  They also brought Tucker, who is 10 months, but he was too busy to take a picture.

Griff and Mawmaw

Jack's hair has all fallen out on top- he looks like a little old man. He reminds me of my high school algebra teacher! His complection is beautiful- I hope that he stays this olive color.

We brought the boys to our Family Church Camp.  Growing up, I went every summer and had such a blast.  Andy and Tessia have brought their kids for the past few years.  They did great during the service - Uncle Andy and Aunt Tessia sure do love to hold the boys.


Reece, Griff, and Uncle Andy at camp.

Jack is learning from the Professional Napper, my dad.  They take lots of naps like this. Jack loves to sleep on his tummy and dad just loves to sleep- so this works out well. This pic was taken on June 14 and now check out the next one.
This pic was taken on June 8!! Look at how much Jack has grown!



This is Griff looking at Grady the day he got back from training- they were both checking each other out.



We also celebrated Grady's first Father's Day while he was here and had the boys Christened at our church.  Brother Emitte Belgard conducted the service, he has Christened my brother and I as well as my brother's two kids.


Overall the boys are doing great; they are eating more than I ever thought they would since our days in the NICU. We are constantly reminded of how fortunate we are to have two strong, healthy, although gassy, growing boys.  We do miss Shreveport but are so grateful to be able to spend some quality time with my parents and in Deville.  Being away from your home town and then coming back can sometimes be hard but I have loved it.  So many people are interested in the boys and there is never a shortage of baby rockers that volunteer to come and help out.  Its been great!! 

It will probably be a while before I post again. Our move to Florida is coming up and once I get settled, we will update you on the boys and our new home.  We are very excited to start living in our permanent, well, the most permanent home our boys have ever know, house.

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Here we go again

After being at home for 12 nights, it is time for the boys and I to pack up and move again.  Now that we are in a pretty good routine, we are going to change it up by moving onto the the boys' third home in their short lives.  We have loved every minute of having our boys home.  Although we don't let a lot of people come visit, it has been a pleasure to welcome some of our closest friends over to meet our precious boys.  As their mom, its not unusual that I think that they are beautiful and can stare at them for hours, but its such a delight to see the look in others eyes when they meet our boys- especially those who have prayed for them well before they even arrived. 

Jack and Carolle have been such a delight to have in our lives.  We are so sad to have to leave this wonderful couple behind. 

Connie works with Grady and she definitely makes his life a lot easier.  Having several grandchildren of her own, she looked at Jack with such delight- you would think she was one of her own.

I enjoyed the company of my wonderful friend Doneen, who also has twin boys (turning three soon) and she is such a inspiration to the kind of mom I want to be to my boys.  She is currently potty training her boys so I will be calling her for advice on that and plenty of other areas too. I don't have a picture of Doneen with the boys. . . Sorry.

Aunt Cel and Uncle Richard came to visit the boys several times in Shreveport.  The boys have enjoyed having their great aunt and uncle visit!




Moving out