Mooooooving into the weekend!

Last week was supposed to be a busy week but it actually turned out pretty quiet. We prefer it not being too crazy.

We had a pretty neat trip back to the NICU on Monday morning. The NICU opened up a new intermediate nursery (where babies go to feed and grow before going home) last June. To decorate, they hired a professional photographer to come take pictures of some NICU graduates. Lindy and Will were asked to be on the wall of graduates! For agreeing to have their pictures taken we will get a cd with all of the photographer's pictures on it that we can print anywhere. I never pass up a chance to get pictures taken! We got to see a lot of our old NICU nurses while we were there, including two of our favorite primary nurses, Cheri and Paige. Call us crazy, but we like going back to the NICU. We like seeing everyone and hearing the oohs and ahs!

After we left the NICU Lindy and I headed to PT to get her other brace. She now has both her braces and we are supposed to practice standing in them 15 minutes every day. It doesn't sound long, but it is. She doesn't want to stand for 15 minutes straight so it's up and down, up and down. And then I usually have to stop and fetch Will a couple times. The time drags by. Hopefully it'll get easier the more stable she becomes in them.

On Wednesday we had a visit with Governor Morehead. When we started with GMPS we had Susan as our teacher but eventually we switched to Lesley. Lesley just had a baby and is on maternity leave so we will have Susan back for a couple months. She was excited to see Lindy and see how much she has changed. She couldn't believe all that she was seeing and doing. It was nice to catch up with her.

Master Will has been one cranky little dude this week. But for good reason. Wednesday night I was cleaning his gums in the bathtub and I found a molar had come through! Poor guy was cutting a molar and I didn't even know. I've been watching a tooth up front and hadn't even realized his molars were anywhere close to coming in. The tooth I have been watching is so close now to cutting through and I think his other top molar is close to breaking through. He constantly has his hands in his mouth these days. Will also had a first this week - his first bloody experience. Last Sunday he was trying to scoot between two kitchen chairs and he got tangled up in the legs of them. He fell face first onto the kitchen floor. He cried and we tried to tell him he was okay and then we saw he was bleeding. Poor guy had a rough week.

Lindy also had another molar come through, this one on the bottom left side of her mouth. Unlike her brother, teething doesn't seem to bother her. Last Sunday Lindy got herself up on her hands and knees when she was in her bed. We are still hoping she will crawl on her hands and knees so we were excited about that. Lindy has learned how to give hugs this week. Nothing is sweeter than to see them lean into your shoulder for a hug. It's pretty sweet when I ask Lindy for a hug and Will hears me and comes from across the room to give me one. Then I have two sweet babies giving me hugs. Melts your heart! Lindy has continued to suck pretty well on her straw bottle. The biggest problem is that she isn't very consistent with how much she drinks. On Wednesday she drank 16oz from a straw bottle and only 2 from a regular bottle. Thursday she drank 5oz from a regular bottle and today she drank a lot from the bottle. She's slowly but surely getting there.

Today Drew took the babies to visit one of our church members so that I could get some cleaning done. Louise has cows out in her pasture so they got to go check them out. Drew said they enjoyed watching them and being outside. The good husband he is, he took pictures for me!

When I started this post I didn't think I had taken many pictures this week, but who am I kidding. Of course I took lots of pictures! Have a great weekend.

We got a new side by side double stroller a couple weeks ago and we finally put it together. How stinking cute are they?! Lindy doesn't love the straps but she does love seeing Will so close! He's so close she can easily get his ear. She loves his ears! The big girl can even drink out of regular straw sippy cups now! A caged monkey for sure! Sweet Lindy and a sweet baby doll. Will was still trying to wake up from a nap. No, he wasn't eating cookie dough! We use the bucket to store their blocks. He likes the sounds he can make. Two different times on this day Will took off one sock. I don't know if it was on purpose but it seemed that shortly after Lindy saw Will with one sock, she would then take off one sock. It was probably just coincidence but it was kind of funny to look down and see both of them with only one sock on. Silly girl - holding the pig with her teeth.
It's hard to see because of the blanket - but she is up on her hands and knees!
Cute church clothes. Will made himself comfortable - right on top of Lindy! She didn't seem to mind though.

Drew and kids on their field trip today.

Louise with the cows and kids.

Check out the cow trying to get Lindy's hat!!

Happy Birthday Papa!

Happy Birthday Papa! We hope you had a great day. We love you very much! Love, Lindy and Will

Lindy gets her first brace

I hope everyone had a good week. It went by quickly for us. A lot of NC, even the beach, got snow this week. We just got a trace of it, barely anything. We were jealous of our friends and their snow!

Last weekend was a great weekend. GrandBob and Suzette came up last Saturday to babysit the kids so we could get out for a little bit. We ended up just running errands but we did enjoy dinner out. Last Sunday was a glorious day - my birthday. I turned the big 32. Lynn and Anna came up to take me to lunch and help me celebrate. My hubby made my favorite cake (chocolate with rainbow chip frosting) for me. I talked to all of my family on the phone and had a very good day.

GrandBob and Suzette Everyone celebrating my birthday!
Me and my delicious cake. Me and my adorable kiddos.

On Monday we had OT with Lisa. She worked with Lindy on feeding herself with a spoon. She got to see Lindy pull up to her knees on the coffee table.

Thursday was the big day for Miss Lindy. She got one of her braces for her feet. We went to the same place we go for physical therapy but another therapist actually made her brace. I forgot my camera so I don't have pictures of the process. She used plaster to create a mold first of how her foot should be. It was wet and cold and Lindy didn't much like it at first. Then she used this plastic stuff that she heated up and was able to mold it to the shape of Lindy's foot. Lindy had to sit very still so the therapist could make sure her foot was in the correct position. The only way she would sit still was if I was singing to her. I'm sure the therapist enjoyed my show! We were there for 1.5 hours and we got one brace completely done and the other one partly done. We have to go back on Monday to finish up the left one. We are to let her wear them for about 15 minutes at a time to begin with and then check her to make sure there aren't any deep red marks. Lindy doesn't seem phased at all by having it on her foot. The hard part is that Lindy never stands for 15 minutes. She just isn't there yet. So far I haven't seen any red marks at all. If you know Lindy you know she has the cutest little crooked toes. Well, not in the brace. They are lined up straight in the brace. The brace might eventually straighten them out for good - which I can't actually imagine! The more she stands the more we'll be increasing the time she wears the brace. If it appears to be helping her then she will have to end up wearing it most of the day. As for how long she'll have to wear them, we don't know. Just depends on how much they help her.

After her hearing appointment we headed to the hospital to get new ear molds made. We just couldn't get the latest pair to be quiet - always had some kind of interference going on. I almost had to move in and live at the hospital though. I left PT and drove to the hospital and parked in the parking deck. When I started looking, I couldn't find my wallet anywhere. I knew I had it at PT so I called over there to have them look around. The secretary did find it for me which was a huge relief. But that meant I had NO money to get out of the parking deck. I didn't even have an ATM card to get money to get out of the parking deck. I had no change in the car (used it all on the toll roads going to OH over Xmas). I seriously didn't know what to do. I finally asked the audiologist what they do if you have no money to get out of the parking deck. She wasn't really sure so she leant me $2!!! Thankfully we have gotten to know her pretty well - her husband is actually a fellow Methodist pastor like Drew. She saved the day. Lindy and I got to go home! Of course we had to go back by Comp Rehab to get my wallet and then we went home.

We finished up Thursday with a visit from our hearing teacher. We talked about trying to find a speech therapist with some knowledge of vocal cord paralysis. Based on everything we know Lindy is hearing, she really should be babbling by now. Right now we are trying to figure out what to do with her. We know Lindy can hear us and understand us but right now she has no way to talk back to us. We are actually going to start incorporating a few of the normal baby signs so that Lindy might be able to actually tell us something. If she did not have vocal cord paralysis then we would be shying away from sign language. We have chosen to teach Lindy using the auditory-verbal method, meaning we want her to hear and talk. Some children will rely on sign language instead of talking so they usually do not recommend signs. But Lindy is a bit of a different case so we are going to try a couple signs with her.

Lindy is progressing in other areas though. She actually started waving bye-bye at the end of last week, but I forgot to mention it in my post. As usual, she puts her own spin on it. She raises her hand straight up in the air. But she does it in response to "Say bye-bye" so we are sure it's her version. We'll keep working on getting a little waving action. Her other big milestone this week is that she pulled herself up to her feet when she was in her bed. She has no problem getting to her knees but on Thursday she pulled herself right up to her feet. It only lasted a few seconds, but I saw it. Will and I were standing right in front of her when she did it. Hopefully she'll figure out how to do it other places as well. I see her trying it all over the place, she just hasn't gotten it anywhere else.

I feel bad because most of the time Will gets the short end of the posting stick . He just doesn't have as much going on as Lindy. On Wednesday he had his 7th tooth finally break through. He got one on the bottom right, next to his front tooth. One more is still on the way but should be through any day. He's been Mr. Fussy this week because of his teeth. Another new Will thing is that he will be having a great time and in a great mood until he sees his food. Then he starts crying and acting like he is starving. While you are feeding him he squawks the entire time. Makes for interesting (loud) dinners these days. The cutest thing Will has done this week is to continue to rub noses with everyone. After many attempts at getting him to rub noses with Lindy, he finally did. It is SO stinking cute! He puts his nose on her forehead! It's so fun to see them interacting. Will has also started giving us hugs. He leans his head down on your shoulder and lets you squeeze him and love on him. He's so sweet!

That sums up our week. We had a good dinner last night with our friends Mark, Mary Allen, Conner and Tyler. It was fun to hang out with and see the kids play. Enjoy a few more pictures.

Instead of Where's Waldo, this picture is Where's Will?

Drew found him inside the toy bin! Silly boy!
Does she love her brother or what?

Look at that hair!

Sleeping Update and Diapers

First , I can officially say that Lindy is once again a good sleeper! Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights of last week were pretty rough for her, BUT she NEVER threw up! Friday and Saturday nights I laid her down and she was asleep in 10 minutes. Sunday and Monday nights I laid her down and although it took her about 30 minutes to actually go to sleep, she never cried! She played with her music soother until she fell asleep. She has slept through the entire night each night after she has fallen asleep. Bedtimes are SO different and SO much better.

Second, I want to promote Huggies Overnight diapers. A blog reader, Becca, recommended them when Will had his week of diarrhea. She said they stopped all leaks. We didn't end up having to get them for him but we did end of having to get them because both of them were peeing through their diapers at night. Lindy was soaking her pajamas, blankets, and sheets almost every night. I changed her sheets on the bed 5 times last week. We even tried double diapering her and that didn't work! We got the Huggies Overnight diapers on Saturday and for the last three mornings they have both woken up dry!!! Thanks Becca for the recommendation.

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

Brrrrr….. We woke up to a chilly 11º this morning. We’re all in our comfy clothes with no plans to go anywhere.

This week was a relatively quiet week. Monday started out with a trip for Lindy to the physical therapist. Although she is still pleased (and amazed) by Lindy’s progress, she was concerned with her feet when she is in the standing position. Her feet roll inward at a pretty awkward angle. She loves to stand up but her feet positioning is stopping her from cruising. The answer is to put her in some braces, or splints. She will be getting braces called SMO’s (SMO stands for Supra-Malleolar Orthosis). She will have custom molds made next week. It will be similar to getting a cast. I don’t know the specifics about how long she will have to wear them. They are hoping with this added stability that she will be cruising soon and walking within 6 months. We will do whatever we have to for Lindy, but I’m not looking forward to something else for her to mess with. She doesn’t need toys, she has hearing aides, glasses, and soon braces! They will keep her plenty busy.

Tuesday the kiddos went for their monthly Synagis shot at the pediatrician’s office. Although the babies hate the shots, I love the weight checks and getting to talk with our doctor more often. Will weighed 20lbs 9.8oz and Lindy came in at 19lbs 7.8oz. She is catching up! Of course Will lost a little weight recently because of his week long bout of diarrhea.

We were glad to see our doctor because we had something we really needed to talk to her about – Lindy and her sleeping. For a long time Lindy was considered a good sleeper. When they were little we ‘sleep trained’ Will and now we just lay him in his bed and he goes to sleep. I can just put Lindy in her bed for naps and she will fall asleep by herself but it’s not the same story with bed time. When we would put her in her bed, she would go crazy. She’d cry so hard that she would throw up all over herself. Therefore Lindy got rocked to sleep every night of her life. Sometime before Christmas though, things started getting worse. We would rock her and put her down and she started waking up 2, 3, sometimes 4 times a night. We felt like we were back to the newborn days. Drew and I thought it was gas waking her up. Every time you picked her up she would burp or toot. We were already giving her gas drops so we didn’t know what else to do. After talking to the doctor though, she convinced us that Lindy was pulling our chains. She said she has gotten smart and knows she will get picked up. Monday night I let her cry in her bed and I was convinced she was TRYING to make herself throw up. After crying for 45 minutes Monday night, she burped and then fell asleep by herself. After talking to the doctor we have doubled her gas drops in her last bottle and we are now letting her cry. It seems to be getting shorter each night so we hope we are making progress. We are letting her cry because she hasn’t been throwing up on us. That’s a huge step that she can cry hard and not throw up. Every night this week, once she has finally cried herself to sleep, she has slept through the entire night until at least 7am. We hope we have gotten a hold of this little sleep situation and are changing her little ways. One of us always sits in her room on the floor by her bed so that we are there if she does throw up. We're always worried she’ll choke on it or something so I want one of us near her.

Some good Lindy news of the week is that she has become a sucker – as in one who sucks on a straw! At the beginning of the week she was consistently sucking 2oz of her milk at a meal. All week she has slowly increased the amount. Last night at dinner she drank 4oz and today at lunch she drank 5oz. She is working her way off the bottles!

Willy Will has had a pretty quiet week. He continues to walk more and more each day and is getting pretty good at it. We think he’s really trying to talk to us. He seems to be repeating us sometimes when we say words like bath, ball, night night, etc. I’m sure no one else would know what he is saying but I think he’s really on the verge of saying real words.

I guess that sums up our week. Hope you all have a good one. Make sure you celebrate on Sunday the 18th – it’s my birthday!!!!!

Will loves his nesting blocks Doesn't he look like a little boy (not a baby) in this picture?

Doesn't she look like she is having SO much fun? She pulled herself up to her knees in her bed and she loves bouncing around. I love this picture!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE her new dress she got for Christmas!
Some sibling love pictures

Monday night the babies took their first bubble bath. They had such a good time. They love their bathtime! Unfortunately I talked to a good friend yesterday and we were talking about urinary tract infections. She mentioned that her sister had them as a child and she never could take bubble baths. HUH? Lindy is on a daily antibiotic because she had a UTI in the NICU. I had never heard that bubble baths were bad for UTI's. Therefore Lindy might have taken 2 bubbles baths Monday - her first and last!

Will's new favorite place to play/sit. We don't condone his sitting here as we're sure it's not made for kids to sit in!

Will has enjoyed rubbing noses with me this week. He thinks it's so funny.

Staying warm in fleece today.

Finally, Will in Aunt Anna's Christmas present.

New Videos of Lindy and Will

A couple new videos of Lindy and Will. Will is blowing in the tube in the first video and making funny noises. I think it's so funny. When he sees us laughing at him he will start laughing!

Lindy and Will love their music and dancing. They are really enjoying some Beyonce right now. Will is all about his 'Single Ladies.' You'll also gain a little perspective about little Miss Lindy. She looks all sweet and innocent but she's not. She loves pulling Will's ears and has been known to completely pull him over.

Words, Walking, and Teeth

We are finally getting back in the swing of things after Christmas. It has taken me awhile to get all the decorations down and Christmas presents put up.

We have had a good week. Monday started with an OT appointment for Lindy. Lisa (Go Gators!!) feels like she is doing really well. She really wants us to work on letting them feed themselves with the spoon. I don't know if I'm ready for the mess involved with this. I need to loosen up some so I don't hinder their developments!

On Tuesday Lindy had an ophthalmologist appointment with Dr. Weaver. It was a pointless appointment. He didn't dilate her eyes and so for about the 5th time we agreed that she favors her left eye but that she can see with her right one. He put a patch on her left eye and watched her and said, "She acts like it's a useful eye." I've been trying to tell him this for awhile. He still wants to continue the patching 2 hours a day. ugggg. This means someone has to be with Lindy the entire two hours. If you set her down and turn your back, the patch is off. It makes for a long two hours. Especially since there are things I need to do with Will, like get him dressed and ready. After our appointment we went down to the hearing department and picked up her hearing aides and new ear molds. Her hearing aides have been sent back to the company twice because of this horrible static sound we kept hearing. I have heard the sound once since we've gotten them back but when I turned them off and on again it went away. We are having issues with the new ear molds. Our audiologist switched materials on us and they don't block out the interference as well as the old ones. Lindy has gone back to taking them out of her ears a lot too. Previously she hardly even touched her hearing aides anymore. It's hard getting used to a new set of ear molds when you've had the old ones for awhile. I have a feeling we might be making a return trip to get more ear molds made with the old material. On Tuesday Lindy also had her hearing teacher come for a session. She went through the results of the all the testing she did before Christmas. It wasn't as bad as I had imagined. She has a hearing age, which is when she started wearing her hearing aides consistently. Based on her hearing age, she is doing pretty well. We all agree that if Lindy had two good vocal cords that she would probably be babbling by now. Darn vocal cords gotta ruin everything.

It has been a week of good progress for Will. The best is the progression of more solid poops instead of diarrhea. It slowed down a bunch Sunday and Monday and was pretty much gone by Tuesday. Then he turned into a really fussy boy because he is cutting 3 teeth right now. The fun never stops! Will has really started walking a lot more this week. More than the few steps he'd previously been taking. He is starting to choose it a little more as his mode of transportation. The biggest news is that we've finally decided to count some of the things he 'says' as words. He has been babbling 'mama' for awhile but there was just no intention behind it. Last weekend I felt he said it with a little more intention so I counted it. Then Tuesday I was changing his diaper after a nap and he still had his pacifier. I said something about popping it and he said "pop." Finally Drew, and our friend Janice, heard him say 'dada' last night so we are counting that as well.

Lindy has been working very hard this week on pulling up. Because she isn't crawling on her hands and knees it is much harder for her to get up. I'm really working with her on how to go from sitting to her knees, and then to pull up to standing. Once you start working on it then she must do it over and over and over until you make her stop. She's a determined little girl. On Wednesday she did pull herself from sitting to her knees by herself. She can also get to her knees in her crib. Before long we'll find her standing! She is SO proud of herself when she gets to a standing position (with help). Lindy's big teething news is that she finally had a molar break through. She has worked on those suckers for so long. Our OT noticed she had actual bruises on her gums from these molars. One corner is finally through on the top right. I dread the day Will starts getting those molars!

That wraps up the week in our household. The babes had their favorite babysitters watch them last night so that Drew and I could go out and have a joint birthday celebration. We had a wonderful dinner out!

Someone asked if Lindy smiled all the time and although it's not ALL the time, she does smile A LOT of the time! These coasters are some of Will's favorite 'toys.' He can spend so long playing with these, stacking them one on top of the other.
Lindy practicing her standing skills.

Will got a grocery cart for Christmas and it came with these eggs in the basket. He thinks the eggs are a phone though! He tries to talk on the eggs all the time!

Lindy was checking out one of her new toys. I can't figure out which she liked more, part of the packaging or the toy.

She judges her toys by how they taste.

Look at the height difference! Poor Lindy got her mommy's height genes!

I think Lindy's face is so funny in this picture.

Will testing/tasting his new toy.

Look alike babes. Lindy is wearing Will's hand me down pj's!

I sent Lindy to her bed to compose some music on her piano. It must have been hard work because I found her lying on the piano.

Nice outfit Will!