Just surviving

I don't like this time in life when raising babies. I am surviving which means I don't really get to enjoy my babies as much as I would like. I am tired. Makes taking care of babies that much harder. Thankfully, we have found some help. There are some women in our church that are willing to help out a few days a week. I am very happy at the idea of having an extra set of arms to help hold, feed, change diapers, and let me get a nap in once in a while and get some time to play with Nate.

We had an appointment last Thursday for Jonathan. He had another ultrasound done on his hips. The tech said that both his hips look great! We were keeping an eye on his left hip. We saw his Dr after and he also said that his hip looked great! So, no more ultrasounds or need to be seen by Dr Anderson and best of all, no braces! Whoo hoo!!!

Last Wednesday, I took the boys to the chiropractor to get adjusted. They both had some issues that I needed Dr Gina to address. She took care of both of them beautifully as usual! I was worried about Riley and the way he held his head. I was thinking he has torticollis. Dr Gina did take a look at his neck and head and said that he did indeed have a bit of torticollis. She did some muscle stretching and massage on his neck and then adjusted his neck. I let her know that I was doing massage on his neck also at home. Because of the torticollis, his head is misshaped. Dr Gina knew that we were going to see Jonathans orthopedist the next day so she wanted us to have the dr take a look at Riley's head. Dr Anderson took one look at this head and said that he has plagiocephaly. It is a malformation of the head. The way Riley lays his head, allows his bones to shift so his head takes on a weird shape. We have been referred to a plastic surgeon at St Johns. I have no clue why a plastic surgeon, but I have heard he is the best when it comes to plagiocephaly. We may end up getting Riley a helmet that helps reshape his head. I don't know more than that and will keep you all updated as we go along.

I have finally come to terms that I am no longer able to nurse both the twins full time. My body just can't keep up with the demands of two babies. I have tried all there is to keep up my milk supply but it wasn't working. I am going to continue to nurse Riley, but Jonathan will get mostly formula. As much as this hurts me, this is what needs to be done. Jonathan just isn't happy after nursing. He just isn't getting enough. I am not through nursing Jonathan completely, he still gets to nurse when Riley isn't and I will continue to pump and he can have what I pump. I would like to nurse them for as long as they want to. I was able to nurse Nate till 18mos. If we go that far, I will be very happy! I just don't want to lose my nursing relationship with my boys at all. I have a feeling that when they start eating table food then I can start nursing Jonathan more and maybe even get rid of the formula except at bedtime. I just need to get through the next few months.

I am so proud of my nephew, Ethan! He lost his first tooth! A call will be going out to Ethan this afternoon and I can't wait to hear all about it straight from the source! You can read about this exciting time from my sister-in-laws blog, Sunshine is Delicious. The link is to the left of my blog.

I better get some breakfast eaten before one of the boys decide they need to get up.

Have a blessed day everyone!

Pictures of Nate and Jonathan

Our old camera was broken after the twins were born so Jason went and bought a new one the next day. I was determined to see if the old one could be fixed so I could use that for myself. I knew how to use it and upload the photos to the computer and flickr. I took the camera in to get fixed and the guy quoted me $300 to fix it. Ummm, no thanks. Jasons new camera was less than that brand new. So, I guess I need to learn how to use the new camera. Thankfully it has an Easy button. It does everything for me! So, yesterday, I decided to get some pics of the boys. Riley decided he needed a nap instead so I only got pics of Nate and Jonathan. Here are a few pics of them.





The 2nd one is Jonathan just hanging out on the blanket. The first one is of Nate. He had to get in on the mix and get his picture taken too! I hope to get some photos of Riley today. I have a picture frame that has 3 frames in it that need some photos. I like the one of Jonathan here and hope to get one similar of Riley.

Enjoy the photos!

Life as usual

As usual as can be with 3 boys! Life has continued since Jason went back to work over a month ago. There are some days I wonder if I will make it through. I look forward to the weekends even more now.

Nate is doing fine! He is just talking like crazy! I talked with my Grandpa the other day and he asked if Nate was talking and of course I said yes and then I realized what he was getting at. Does he talk alot like me! I told Grandpa, yes!! My Grandpa likes to tease me about my chatter. I do like to talk! Nate is into Mighty Monster Trucks at the moment. He likes Meteor, Junk Boy, Little Tow and Big Foot. I wonder what he will like after this. Will he go back to Thomas or Bob the Builder again? What about tractors? He seems to jump back and forth with what he likes. One thing that never changes is that he loves to be outside. The other day, he wanted to go outside so bad and I kept telling him that it was too cold. He still insisted on going out. So, I opened up the front door and had him step out onto the front porch in his jammies. I asked him if it was too cold and of course, he said No! When he gets something in his brain, he won't let it go. Mmmm, wonder where he gets that from?!! Thankfully we had a couple of nice warm days so we made sure we got outside to play. He loves when the neighbor boys are out too. Lots of boys to play with!

Riley and Jon are doing fine. Growing like crazy. They are making lots of eye contact now and are focusing more on things like our faces which is pretty cool. I have gotten a small smile out of both of them but I am waiting for them to crack big smiles!

Jonathan is my sleeper. I can always count on him taking good naps. Other news for him: Since he was breech, we need to keep an eye out on his hips. The second of Feb we had an ultrasound done on his hips to see if there was any concern. His right hip looks fine but his left hip is off a bit. We now have a pediatric orthapedist on our list of dr's. Dr Anderson saw Jon last Thurs. Dr did say that Jon's left hip is loose. We don't need to do anything in the way of braces right now. We are going to have another ultrasound done the 19th of March and then see Dr Anderson right after. Dr said that his hip could take care of itself and if thats the case, then no braces are needed. We will see what time will do between now and the 19th. Dr Anderson was wonderful!

Riley is my eater! When he nurses, he's all business. He is also a mamas boy. He loves to be held. Good thing I have a sling to put him in! He has red hair and it sticks up! Cracks me up! He gets lots of comments on it. He has battled 2 colds so far, poor thing. He has had to sleep in the bouncy seat so he could breath. Just last night I put him in the crib to sleep. He is also starting to coo. It is so fun to watch him. He can really get into it!

Both of their personalities are starting to emerge. Jonathan is more laid back and Riley is a mover and shaker. All 3 of my boys are going to do great things when they grow up :)

The twins had their first long car ride a few weeks ago. I took all 3 boys up to my folks in Springfield, Il. The babies slept the entire 1 1/2 hours. Nate just chilled out in the back seat. My parents were excited that we were coming to visit. They can't get enough of the grandbabies. We took some time and went to visit my sister-in-law and her boys. My brother was on his way home from Chicago so we didn't get to see him. Nate had a great time playing with his cousins. Tiffani got her baby fix with the boys. It was so much fun watching Nate play with his cousins. They are a hilarious bunch!

Jason celebrated his birthday the 21st of Feb. We went to lunch at TGIFridays. First restaurant outing for the twins. They did great! After that we chilled at home. Jason opened his gifts. He got new memory for the computer, some things for game nite, and a book. He also got to have breakfast in bed. I made biscuits and gravy for the first time. He was happy with that! Nate woke up and gave him a balloon. Nate and I were sneaky and hid the balloon in Nates closet so daddy wouldn't know. Nate did a good job keeping the secret! That night, we went to Americas Incredible Pizza Company with tickets and such that I won at our trivia night at church in Jan. We took our good friends Ben and Laura and their son Logan. Everyone ate for free and played for free. It has pizza and games. Think Chuckee Cheese but bigger and better.

I tried looking for photos of the twins so I could update you all but I cant find the new ones Jason just took a while ago. Here is a link to his blog since he seems to have the photos. Photo hog!

http://buckyworld2.blogspot.com/2009/02/riley-and-jonathan-mid-feb.html

Enjoy your Sunday!