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 .
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| 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.
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| Jack at Chili's |
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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!
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| 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. |
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| 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. |
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| 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. |
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| Hanging with dad before he leaves for training. I think he's teaching Griff how to e-trade. |
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| Seriously mom? Another picture. |
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| Pawpaw Lloyd on his 68 birthday with all his grandchildren (except the one that Tessia is carrying- making his debut in September) |
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| Aunt Cel and Uncle Richard live right through the woods, so they come visit a lot. |
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| No telling what Griff is thinking here! |
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| 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. |
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| Griff and Mawmaw |
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| 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. |
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| 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. |
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| Reece, Griff, and Uncle Andy at camp. |
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| 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. |
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| This pic was taken on June 8!! Look at how much Jack has grown! |
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| 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.
