Gingerbread houses!

Ok, well really "graham cracker" houses.  But, really the same thing, right?!  I was really trying to be intentional about planning fun and meaningful activities for Emma this Christmas season- especially since we are at home, inside, for most of our days right now.  I remember making little "gingerbread" houses when I was young, and it is just so fun to create with candy.  She had the BEST time!  Aunt "Isa" came over and really did all the work with her while I fed and tended to the boys.  Emma loooves "Isa"!  Actually it's "Isa and Todd", because she can't seem to say one without the other :)

Emma really only wanted to put gumdrops on the houses.  She wanted to hold on to the candy canes, and she discovered that the mini marshmallows tasted pretty good, so not many of them made it on there.  We will definitely do this again next year!  We might even attempt to bake our own gingerbread.  We shall see.  (See the cut on her poor little chin from the cookie cutter!)

Christmas Baking

I had so much fun baking with Emma this Christmas!  Even though she can't help me very much, she still loved watching me make the goodies.  She would help "stir" and cut out cookies, but she had the most fun decorating the cookies with sprinkles (well, and eating them of course!).  We made lots of sugar cookies, peanut butter balls, and brownies.  I usually go all out with Christmas cookies- experimenting with new recipes, and sending the goodies off to the neighbors and Jared's co-workers.  But, as you know, my time is a little limited now :)

We had a little drama in the midst of all the merry making.  One day when we were getting ready to decorate cookies, Emma was sitting on a chair and playing with the cookie cutters on the kitchen table.  I was trying to get everything together...I turned around and the next thing I know she is screaming on the floor holding cookie cutters in her hands.  When I get a good look at her face, I discover that the edge of a cookie cutter put a deep gash in her chin.  Sooooo, I put everyone in the car and we head to the pediatrican to get it looked at and probably get stiches.  Thankfully Dr. Brian thinks he can just "glue" it back together!  I don't know why exactly I thought it would be okay for her to play with cookie cutters by herself.  Where was my brain???  Ohh.  Right- it is being sucked out by two precious babies! :)  I think I'll be investing in some good plastic cookie cutters. Although I think they would still do some damage if she fell on one.

I am so glad that Emma likes helping me cook.  Some of my most precious childhood memories are times spent in the kitchen with my mom and my grandma.  I remember making sugar cookies and cinnamon rolls with my mom when I was probably 3 or 4.  She showed me how to cut the cinnamon rolls with dental floss and I thought it was the coolest thing ever.  I even had my own little rolling pin and cookie cutters for making sugar cookies!  My grandma was an amazing cook also, and I remember helping her bake cakes (always something southern, like carrot cake or red velvet), and watch her put them together.  I hope that Emma one day looks back on these moments as some of her favorite memories.

Life

Wow, it has taken me forever to update the blog!  I can't believe it has been 2 months since my last post.  Ethan and David are 3 1/2 months old now, and Emma is quickly approaching 2 1/2 years old.  The days are long, but how time has flown by since they were born!

All I really have time for right now is getting pictures up.  Here are some random pictures from the last 2 months.  More coming hopefully in the next few days.  We decided to play it low-key and took Emma treat or treating in our neighborhood this year.  We bundled up the boys in the double stoller and had a great time walking around to see our neighbors.  She loved getting all the candy, and just about walked into everyone's house that we went to.  She was a kitty in a tutu :)  



Emma kissing Ethan :)



Ethan snoozing



My happy girl!



Precious David



Sweet girl

Ethan smiling at mama

Emma eating chocolate peanut butter balls that she made with mommy!  She loved them :)

They're home!

Ok, so they have been home for 3 weeks and I am just getting around to updating the blog.  Life has been busy with 3 little ones, but so sweet!  I love having everyone at home.  Ethan and David have been really easy babies so far.  Which is so wonderful since I am learning to juggle caring for them and Emma.  They only cry when they are hungry, sleep well in their cribs, and seem to be very content most of the time.  God has blessed us so greatly.  I prayed throughout my pregnancy that the twins would be easy to care for, sleep well at night, and that they would have tender hearts toward God.  What an answered prayer!  Poor Emma was very colicky and fussy when she was a baby, but thankfully we haven't experienced that this time.

We went for their 6-8 week checkup (they were 7 weeks last Monday) on Thursday and they are doing great.  Here are some things going on with the boys now:

• Ethan weighs 6 lbs 9 oz, and is 19 1/2 cm long.  David is 6 lbs 8 oz and 20 1/2 cm long.  They have been doing such a great job growing!  Gaining more than an ounce a day, which is exactly what we want.  They are off the charts for their weight and height since they are premies, but that is ok.
• They are nursing about 4-5 times during the day, and take 3 (70-100 ml) bottles of pumped breastmilk during the night/ early morning.  They will usually go 5 hours between feeds during the night (yea!), and about 2-3 hours during the day.  I take the middle of the night feed, and Jared does the early morning feed.  It is working out really well!
• They are getting a little bit of head control, lifting and turning their heads.  They haven't really developed a "social smile" yet, but I do see sweet smiles when they are sleepy.
• Ethan loves to be swaddled, while David likes to stretch out.
• They still look a lot alike, but I can tell them apart pretty easily by now.  I thought they might be identical a few weeks ago, because apparently the egg can split before implantation, resulting in 2 sacs and placentas.  Their features are very similar.  They even have the same little dimple in their chin like their daddy.  And the same blood type- O negative.  But their faces are shaped a little differently.  Ethan has a longer, narrower face, while David has a rounder, fuller face.  I think Ethan head is still mis-shapened from delivery, but hopefully it will round out soon.  So that is how I can tell them apart!  Ethan also has a scar on his arm from a botched IV, and David has a little birthmark on one of his knees.
• They are still sleeping together in one crib.  They love being close to each other.  Sometimes they will start fussing and I'll come in to find one of them sucking on the other one's head or arm!  While they were in the hospital the nurse told me that one time David was sucking on Ethan's knee.  Needless to say, Ethan did not appreciate that!

 Ethan (left) and David (right)



Pictures of David- 7 weeks



Pictures of Ethan- 7 weeks



snuggling

David and Ethan are getting 2- 33 ml bottles of breastmilk a day now, and breastfeeding once a day.  The rest of their feedings are still given through the NG tube.  They are doing really good!  They will take the first 20 ml easily with the bottle, and then the nurse usually has to force down the remaining 10.  They were both 3 lbs 15 oz today!  Almost to 4 lbs!!!  They are both off their O2 sat monitor, and doing a great job regulating their body temp too.  So the main thing we are waiting on is getting them to eat on their own!  David pulled out his NG tube twice today.  I hate that they had to put it in again, but it least we know he is getting stronger and has a little fight in him!  I love these boys so much!

Week #3 in NICU

Ethan and David are doing great!  On Monday they started learning to breastfeed and take a bottle of breastmilk once a day.  It was a slow start, but today Ethan took 16 ml and David took 12 ml when they nursed!  Ethan is 3 lbs 14 oz today, and David is 3 lbs 12 oz.  They are growing great!  Here are some pictures from this week.

They were snuggling together today!  Precious brothers!  They love to be close to each other.

Pictures from the rest of the first week and Update

Ok, I am finally going to catch up!  I may just have to post pictures later, because that can be time-consuming.  Nothing else really changed much the rest of the first week.  The babies both came off of the phototherapy by the end of the week because their bilirubin levels were down.  They were both able to come off oxygen from the nasal cannulas and have been breathing completely on their own ever since!  I've been able to hold them every day, which is pure bliss :)  Here are a few more pictures from the end of last week:

David

Ethan

Ethan when he had the nasal cannula

On Monday they turned 1 week old!  Yea!  They did head ultrasounds on both boys to check for any bleeding in the brain, which is fairly common with premature babies.  Everything came back completely normal- praise God!!!  That was such a relief.  They are going up with their feedings (pumped breastmilk through their feeding tubes) every day, and they are tolerating it wonderfully.  It is so cute to watch them being fed.  Their little eyes get heavy toward the end, and sometimes they will even suck on their thumb or fingers.  They are happy boys with a full belly.  On Tuesday they moved them into the same isolette so they could be together!  It is so precious to see them right next to each other!  Makes me happy that even though I can't be there all the time with them, they have each other!  Also they were able to increase their feedings enough so that they could stop their IV fluids.  Now that they no longer have IVs they can begin to wear premiee clothes :)  Finally, I got to hold both of them together at the same time on Tuesday.  It was incredible to be able to hold both of my precious babies!  Ethan kept stretching his little arms and head, pushing David over.  And David was content as could be, slept the whole time.  Today (Wednesday) their bilirubin levels had gone up again, so they had to separate them again to start the phototherapy again.  But hopefully they will get it out of their system in a couple of days, and then they can be together again.  They have almost come back to their birth weight- Ethan was 3 lbs 7 oz, and David was 3 lbs 5 oz today.  They are adding a human milk fortifier to my breastmilk to add some calories and help them bulk up.  I think that about covers the last few days!  They are doing amazingly well, and we are so thankful to God for all He has done and is going to do!