10.4 months and growing strong!

Here are a few glimpses from last week. Little Aberdoodle is crawling ALL OVER THE PLACE and George is trying to pull up and mastered going from laying on his tummy to sitting! Abigail weighs 17 lbs. and George is 21 lbs. now. Abigail has started pushing things around the room to help herself walk, like boxes and chairs; George is standing and rolling lots. George cut his two front teeth (one this past weekend) and Abs has a new incisor. They are talking up a storm--especially to each other--and laughing all the time. As I write this, they are in their nursery keeping each other from taking a nap. Now that George can sit up in his crib, he can see his sister and finds it oh-so-important to catch up on the day (or decide how they are going to plot together to finally catch Louise the cat). We have a whole new twin challenge ahead with that milestone. Since George is sitting up so well and they love water, see the glimpses below of their beloved activity, bathing in the big tub!

On Friday, as I was awaiting the arrival of Grammy and Grandpa (who were taking care of the babies for the weekend while Matt and I took our first twin-free trip), Abigail became quiet. When I peeked in to see what trouble she was into, she discovered that toilet paper is waaaaaaay fun to unroll and though it didn't taste very good, she wanted to try anyway!


Matt and I spent the weekend in Plano for Dave Gannaway and Stephanie Rex's wedding----such a blast! It was great to be with Matt's buddies from law school, especially since we knew the twins were in great care. I loved hanging out with Jenn Freisen too and we both had brunch with her on Sunday before heading north on I-35.
We wish Dave and Steph many years of happiness and can't wait to see your pics of Costa Rica!

NO TUBES!!

Surprisingly, no tubes today! Our new ENT felt that because G was infection-free today--praise GOD!-- and showed no hearing loss--even more praises--, it would be fine to wait until he got another infection to do the tubes. Miracles do happen!!

The doc did a mini-procedure on G, strapping him to the papoose board and cleaned out the earwax from both ears. G screamed louder and harder while Matt was holding him in the examination room than in the procedure room....he cried during the minute long extraction but quickly recovered when I whisked him up in my arms and his daddy stroked his face. We feel certain that he will do just fine during tubes. I am really, really glad we chose this route without anesthesia (no offense Josh, if you're reading!).

So now begins the waiting game again. If he gets another infection in the next month, we go straight to tubes. If two or more months pass, then we have another exam and then possible tubes. And we don't even get to collect $200 as we pass "GO". Hopefully we can make it through the rest of the summer and if he still results in tubes, maybe they will last at least through this next cold/flu season.

All I know is I'm thanking the good Lord above!

Baby Georgie's ears

Please keep George in your thoughts and prayers today as he will be having tubes put into both ears at 4:45pm. We feel very optimistic that this will cease his duration of 4 months of ear infections. It is very frustrating that after our diligence of virtually no medication during pregnancy (except for a few doses of Tylenol and steroids to stop preterm labor)and nearly eleven months of breastfeeding that George has spent the last four months less 1 1/2 weeks on antibiotics.

I do not share our practices out of pride but as a reminder that we make all the efforts we are able to do and hope that the non-controllable things are in a less critical place because of it. We also feel confident in the method of using no anesthesia by his otolaryngologist and are prayerful that George will not be uncomfortable for long. Hopefully his discomfort and fear will be quickly relieved since the procedure for both ears is about 10 minutes in length and the numbing drops take effect within 3-10 seconds. We are also glad that Matt and I will be able to be right there with him through the whole thing and he can have his pacifier.

As several people have shared with us, cognitively I know that this is a simple procedure that is done on many, many children every day. But this is OUR baby and it's never been done on HIM before. I know he will come out just fine and feel so thankful that he has not had any hearing loss to this point. Who knows, having his ears drained might help him to crawl right out of the exam room!! (wink!)

Adventures in Oklahoma and West Texas...

Apologies for those seeking new pics lately...our computer has made a habit of freezing up and not running programs appropriately...it will be "going under the knife" over the next week or so until we can figure out what's up.

We had a fantastic time with Evie, Kirby, Mom and Dad the week after July 4th. The girls had a great time with the babies and George and Abigail grew to adore their cousins!! We had an unexpected adventure when we went to Turner Falls Park (1 hour south of Norman) on Monday when Pop's minivan died and we were stranded. We spent the morning/early afternoon swimming and having a great time and upon driving away, a part in the engine broke and we had to pull over in the park. After several hours, the tow truck came to get the van and towed it to Ardmore (22 miles away) and Matt showed up in his boss' surburban like a calvary beaming over the hill!! We were thrilled that he took off work and came to rescue us! The girls were great sports about the situation and they passed the time by playing in the creek across the road (thank goodness we were still in the park). The babies were absolute troopers--they alternated napping and watching E&K swim. We got back to Norman around 7pm, all exhausted and relieved to be home!
We also went to Pauls Valley to visit Pop's Aunt Marie and cousins Ruth, Doris, and Carl and aunt Sis while they were in town (they rode the Amtrak train down to Ardmore to pick up the van--a silver lining to the situation as the girls had never ridden a real passenger train and the van was covered under warranty.)














Thursday morning, the girls and Nana and Pop loaded up and traveled to Lubbock where Matt, the babies and I joined them on Friday night. We spent the weekend with Sherry, Doug, and Brad at Sand Creek Ranch....such a fun retreat!! We rode four wheelers, dirt bikes, shot b-b guns, swam in the pool, fed the horses, watched gorgeous west Texas sunsets after the thunderstorms, made s'mores, and gazed at the stars and moon through the telescope. The babies loved being with everyone and we were completely relaxed and content...it was so nice to be in the country that we stayed an extra day and came home Monday. (more pics will be posted later from other cameras)

We arrived home to find HUGE VEGETABLES IN OUR GARDEN!! Look at proud Farmer Matt!

Twins, twins and more...

Nana, Pop, Evie and Kirby are up for the week to celebrate July 4th and hang out with their cousins. We have had tons o' fun and many adventures to "make memories" as Kirby says. Here are a few glimpses of the week so far....

Stay tuned for more pics...we are all heading to the ranch in Lubbock this weekend to visit Sherry and Doug...

Tagged!

I'm a sucker for these things. This is the second one I've done today. Thanks for the tag, Sasha! Look below to see if your "it!"

A. Attached or Single? Attached (happily married for 7 years!)
B. Best Friend? Blessed with many...
C. Cake or pie? Cake AND pie, topped with ice cream!
D. Day of choice? Saturday
E. Essential item? a good morning smooch from my honey
F. Favorite color? today, bright green
G. Gummy bears or worms? worms, sour
H. Home town? Shreveport, LA
I. Favorite indulgence? bread pudding without raisins but add bourbon sauce
J. January or July? both, july for swimming, january for Matt's bday and skiing
K. Kids? Two and we are also done!
L. Life isn’t complete without? my precious family
M. Marriage date? June 23
N. Number of brothers and sisters? youngest of 4
O. Oranges or Apples? depends on my mood
P. Phobias? snakes
Q. Quotes? "Ginger Rogers danced every move that Fred Astaire made, she just did it in high heels and backwards."
R. Reasons to smile? where do I begin, the simple things in my life
S. Season of choice? Fall
T. Tag 5 people: Wally, Alicia, Lauren L, Mattie Moo, Christy
U. Unknown fact about me? I make beautiful Lee Michael's bows
V. Vegetable? love them- was a vegetarian for 15 years until I got pregnant...
W. Worst habit? being controlling...
X. X-ray or Ultrasound? Pregnancy ultrasounds!!
Y. Your favorite food? today, margaritas with good tequila...is that a food? ;)
Z. Zodiac sign? Leo
Z. Which zoo animal is your favorite? giraffes