The Babes' 6 month appointment

Let me start out by saying that I'm a little behind but I have many good excuses :)

About 2 weeks ago we had the 6 month appointment for the babies! Wow! 6 months! I can't even hardly believe it. In one sense it's flown by but in another sense it feels like the days have dragged on at points. It is different because for 2 months I wasn't able to have both babes at home with me as they were still in the hospital. So, I've only had them both home for 4 months. I just can't believe that my babies are 6 months old already. Jeesh!

I headed to the appointment by myself as Mark had to be out of town that day for work. Madalyn stayed at the house with Mark's mom and I braved the doctors office by myself. Let me just say that I wasn't looking forward to it at all. I have no problem taking the babies places by myself - the issue was just the with going to the doctor. I knew they would both have to go through the routine of undressing, getting weighed, getting checked out and then getting vaccinations. It was just a lot to think about doing by myself and I was SO nervous.

The nurse helped me to get them undressed and she took one and I took the other. We weighed them and then took them back to the room to wait on the doctor. While we were waiting on the doctor, both babes were extremely cheery and happy (which helped!). Samuel did decide to spit up all down the sleeve of my shirt which was rather disgusting. It's a good thing I had another shirt on underneath. I played with both kids on the table until the doctor came in.

Samuel's weight - 11lbs 14oz
Hannah's weight - 13lbs 1oz

The exam went well. Dr. H said that both babies are doing extremely well. He put both babies on their stomachs and they are both very strong for their age (their adjusted age is 4 months - 2 months behind - so for developmental stages and what not we go by the adjusted age). Both are developmentally right on track... they are beginning to reach for things, they can sit up when held (good head control) and they are rolling from their bellies to their backs. Hannah is a little bit stronger but that's understandable as she's bigger. Both did well on their bellies - Sam even was a little stronger on his belly. Dr. H said that by next appt (2 months) they should be able to sit up on their own. He then talked to me about getting them flu vaccines and the RSV injection. Because they are preemies, they are recommended to have the RSV injection - which isn't a vaccine but rather an injection of antibodies to help build up their immune system. If they were to catch RSV it would be rather bad as their lungs are less mature than a full term baby. They will each get an RSV injection every month until March.

The bad thing about the injections was that they each got their regular flu shot in the office and then I had to bundle them up and take them upstairs for the H1N1 vaccine. They both were very much upset by the time we got upstairs and I made it worse by having them get another vaccine. I was super stressed out with two screaming babies but I did well for being by myself. At one point a nurse came over and said, "we've been over at the desk trying to figure out who needs the hug more - mom or the babies." I sure was glad when that was over!

I'm so thankful that both babies are doing extremely well. I was given the go ahead with feeding them cereal which the Dr. said should help with Samuel's spitting up. So far it's been going well. They are doing great with it! It's so fun to watch them - I love that they light up when they see each other, that they light up when they see their big sister, and that they are extremely happy babies! They love to hold hands and touch each other when they are laying next to each other. Having twins is definitely a blessing and I'm so excited to be on this journey. As hard as it's been in the past, I'm so thankful for my two beautiful, healthy babies!!!

**As a side, I took them in last week for their RSV injections. I took Mady with me this time so it was me and the 3 kiddos. I had the babies undressed and laying on the table. Mady climbed up on the end of the table to watch them receive their injections. Samuel got his first and let out a big ole cry. I think Mady was surprised because she then began to shed a couple of tears. She kept saying "hold me mommy." I had to remind her that it was okay and that I couldn't hold her right then because I had to hold the babies. She went and sat on the chair on the other side of the room so she didn't have to watch when Hannah got her injection. Samuel had calmed down by this point and then Hannah got hers. She let out a cry, Samuel let out a cry as well (maybe a sympathy cry) and Mady again said "mommy, hold me." So I had 2 babies crying and my Mady just about in tears. The nurse was chuckling and all I could do was giggle. I felt bad but to keep from losing my mind I just had to smile. In the end the babies settled down and Mady got a sticker --- yep, she got the sticker but the babies did all of the "work!"

Happy 5th Anniversary!

Yesterday, November 13th, was our anniversary... FIVE years! How exciting. There's something fun about hitting the 5th one. I am so blessed to be married to such a wonderful husband and such a wonderful dad! I couldn't have asked for anything more. I love you babe... SO much! Thank you for loving me, protecting me, and believing in me. You are awesome!

About 2 weeks ago we were sitting in our Sunday School class at church and we had no idea what we were doing for our anniversary. We had thought about going to Chicago for the weekend but that just seemed to be a little "too busy" for me. In our class we were studying a DVD lesson on Love and Respect by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs and his wife Sarah. It was fascinating. That morning, the leader told us that Dr. Eggerichs was actually going to be in Peoria the weekend of the 13-14th! We both looked at each other and knew we wanted to go! We went home and registered and then realized... we should probably find somewhere for the kids to go!

Long story short, a small group from our church volunteered to help us out by watching our kids for us! What a blessing! Two ladies (one of which had an older set of twins herself) watched the kids from 6pm until 10am the next morning at which time one of the ladies switched out duties with a husband! It was a pure blessing. We are so thankful for church family like that! It was so encouraging knowing that our kids were being cared for and even more encouraging that one of the moms did have twins so we knew she wouldn't stress out too much!

We had a magnificent time at the conference. I would definitely recommend it to anyone if it every comes to a town near you - definitely worth the time. I have a whole new outlook on my marriage. The basic premise was Ephesians 5:33 where it says "However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband." We, as women, are commanded to respect our husbands and our husbands are commanded to love us, their wives. Isn't it interesting that we are commanded to do this? We are commanded to do things that usually don't come natural to us. We as women speak a different language than our husbands. We are looking for love. Our husbands speak the language of respect. They want our respect. The model that Dr. Emerson Eggerichs has built is that a wife's respect motivates her husband to love her more and the husbands love for his wife in turn motivates her to respect her husband more.

I could go on and on... That was just a tiny bit of the conference. He also talked about love and respect in regards to our sons and daughters which was just as wonderful. It was just really good! Dr. Emerson Eggerichs has written a couple of books that I would recommend checking out!

It was so fun to celebrate 5 years! I'm looking forward to many more!!! We had a wonderful weekend of rejuvenating our marriage and getting on an even better track for the future. Oh, how important that is! Thank you to our friends for watching our kids and Thank You Lord for the truth and power of Your Word!
This is my anniversary present... a diamond anniversary ring. it's a little hard to see but absolutely perfect! It's almost like my wedding band but has 15 diamonds across it instead of 8. THANK YOU babe! I absolutely LOVE IT!!!

There's never a dull moment...

Tonight, my friend and a I shopped at our favorite baby / kids sale, One Week Boutique. We look forward to this big sale twice a year and even volunteer by delivering promotional items to daycares so that we can shop early. The public can shop on Friday and we were able to shop today. I can't even explain how awesome this sale is.... everything you could think of for a baby or kiddo is for sale... and usually there are multiples of each item. I usually get birthday and part of Christmas taken care of when I shop. Some of the things I purchased this year: Unopened packages of diapers for the twins at a greatly reduced price, unopened complete dress-up kit including gloves, rings, dress, tiara, necklace and shoes for $5, a princess jewelry box for $1, a unopened power toothbrush with matching dora toothpaste for $2, cans of formula for $0.50, a carseat that goes in our van for Mady's baby.. and the list goes on.... (by the way, she's going to absolutely go nuts when she gets the carseat as she's been hauling her deer around in the van with us wherever we go in her infant carrier). Anyway, I love this sale but back to the point of my story...

My friend and I both sent our kids off to church before we got home. Her dad took her son to church and Mark took our kiddos to church. She had called me on the way and said, "You'll never guess what Dad let "J" out of the house wearing... shorts, a long sleeve t-shirt, and his bright green rain boots!" (Mind you, it's freezing outside!). I giggled until I arrived at church and saw what my daughter was wearing... pants that were too short for her so everytime she sat down or bent over her... well, her dad would say "say no to crack!" ... if you follow me... She also had on flip flops, her hair was a mess, both pockets were inside out and hanging down, and she was wearing her bright blue flowery spring coat!

I stuck my head in her class to joke with Mady's teacher about what she was wearing. She said, "yeah, I knew you didn't dress her because her hair wasn't done up all cute... and everytime she bends over we get a show!" We both got a good laugh out of it! Poor Mads! We love Daddy so much though! I learned later that Mark had fallen asleep on the couch and woke up right before he was supposed to be leaving for church. They were in a hurry to get everyone fed and to the church and not be late so I suppose he has a good excuse..

On another note, Mady said the funniest thing tonight. Mark was in a small fender bender on Monday (not his fault) and he was telling me that his Dad had called and asked about the accident. Here's how the conversation went at our table tonight...
Mark: "He (dad) asked about my accident."
Mady: "Daddy, did you poop your..."
Mom: (cutting off Mady pretty quickly) "no, Mads, we're talking about a different kind of accident."

can you tell what has been talked about in our house lately? And speaking of accidents, Mady is on her 3rd night of wearing "princess panties" to bed in the evening and not having any accidents! She's been wearing a pull up only to bed for about a month now and they are always dry in the morning so this week I decided to get rid of all diapers! I love it that she's not even 3 yet and she's completely potty trained... and she did most of it herself! Praise God that I'm not changing 3 little bottoms.... well, 2 little ones and 1 big one :)

A Salute to a Fallen Hero

I just got back from a long trip to Cleveland to visit some clients. I don't mind the trip as I enjoy the people at my facilities out in Ohio, but I just don't like being away from my family.

On my way back today, I followed a van into a gas station. He very slowed pulled off of the interstate on the off ramp, onto the frontage road and into the gas station. As each interminable second passed, I got more and more agitated. He was driving so slow. He pulled into the gas station and I zoomed around him. I pulled into my slot, popped open the gas flap, filled completely up, ran inside and used the restaurant, ran back outside, figured out my gas mileage for my trip, started up my car and started to pull out. And that's when it hit me...

I looked up and saw this seasoned gentleman still putting gas in the same van that I followed into the station. I realized that he was taking his time, enjoying himself (unlike some of us). He has learned to slow down, to enjoy life and take a deep breath every once in awhile. So what if I broke the gas fill-up speed record? Who cares that I can run into the restroom, do my duty before most guys even make it to the stall? I want to take a page out of this guys book...to slow down and enjoy life for a few minutes.

I was still contemplating this situation when way down the interstate, I beheld an amazing site...

As I drove down the interstate, I saw all kinds of red and blue lights flashing coming from the opposite direction. As I watched, I saw 16 cop cars followed by literally 200 motorcycles w/ the American flag on their bikes, followed by a black van...followed by a hearse. As I gazed, this hearse was followed by literally several hundred cars all in a single file line on the interstate, and then it dawned on me that this was the procession for the local soldier who recently was killed in Afghanistan and today was his funeral. I pulled over along with all of the other cars going in my direction. I looked up in my rear view mirror, and I saw the most amazing site...the guy behind me slowly got out of his car and with all of the world watching, in his formal fatigues, he stood erect saluting this unknown comrad, a fellow soldier. His intensity was undeniable. His attitude unyielding. His loyalty a proclamation and his passion unparalleled.

Several hundred cars passed with their lights on and a funeral sign attached to their window, and then a I saw a great site: 2 cop cars were following this entire procession with their lights on, not allowing anyone to pass this 5 mile long bereavement ceremony. I can imagine that someone way back in this holdup was getting irate that the speed on the interstate was so slow. They wouldn't realize that they were following a funeral procession, but that they were just going slow. Hopefully the firetrucks and policemen at each overpass on Interstate 74 would give it away, but if not, I learned something today: slow down and enjoy life. Enjoy the life that I have that has been earned through the scars and stripes of these fallen heroes. The American flag that was waving in the wind of those motorcycles stands for a freedom that I've taken for granted but today my perspective has been changed. I want to thank those that have helped make my life possible. My level of gratitude for them is difficult to communicate but is nonetheless very real.

One Year Anniversary!

I just celebrated my one year anniversary with Usborne Books and so I thought I would blog about it!

On October 20, 2008, I signed up to be an Usborne Book Consultant and I've loved every minute of it! I initially signed up so that I could simply build Madalyn's home library but the more I got involved with Usborne, the more I just couldn't stop.

My family and I love books. Mark and I have implemented a weekly reading night - usually on Tuesday evenings - where we all (minus the babies) spend the evening with a few good books and no distractions. Mady even looks forward to these evenings. I love promoting literacy in my own home and in the homes of others. I'm extremely passionate about sharing my take on literacy and with Usborne I have the opportunity to do just that with many different people in many different circumstances.

Since starting a year ago, I've had many opportunities with Usborne. I am currently doing fundraisers with two different schools in the area in which 100% return goes to the school and the students! Awesome! I've also done home shows and various booth events! I love it! I get to meet new people and introduce them to some great books!

Our books are 85% educational and non commercialized. We have over 1500 titles in our Usborne catalog. 80% are non-fiction and under $10!!! We also acquired Kane Miller Publishing this summer... Kane Miller books are multicultural stories from all around the world. We have about 100 titles in that line. We are also coming out with a new 12 book series later this month. It's called Conspiracy 365. Usborne has the exclusive rights to this series. There was even a big write-up about it in the magazine, Publishers Weekly. It's supposed to be magnificent!

I love selling books part time. I love that I can promote something that is so important to me... and I can do it whenever I want.

If you are interested in seeing some of the books that we have you can visit, www.ReadingGeneration.com

Thanks to all of you that have supported me in this past year! I love what I'm doing (in my free time) and I love introducing parents and grandparents (and even schools) to great books!!!

Happy Reading!!!