Monday, September 27, 2010

9 Months

Holy Moly where has the time gone?!?

Last week, I took Maddox and Lukas to their 9 month well-baby check-up. Dr. B was very impressed at how much they have grown. As usual, I'm going to split this up by baby so they each get their chance in the spotlight!

Maddox

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Maddox weighed 17 lbs 5oz (50th percentile) and was 27.5" long (75th percentile). Dr. B said when looking at her height to weight ratio, she was the "perfect" weight for her height! WOO HOO!

Maddox's Milestones
• Crawls
• Pulls ups
• Stands alone unassisted (this is funny to watch, because she will let go of you and stand on her own then sit down and shake her head no)
• Shakes her head No
• Waves
• Uses a Sippy Cup
• Has two teeth on top and two teeth on bottom

Maddox's Food Faves
• Grilled chicken, Hamburger meat, Tilapia (or anything meat)
• Beans (Black, Garbanza, Pinto, Black eyed peas)
• Kiwi
• Sweet Potatoe Fries (Cinnamon, EVOO, & a little Sea Salt baked to perfection)
• Oatmeal with Yogurt
• Blueberries

Maddox has actually become really interested in anything that we are eating. This makes it very hard for me to eat, because anything I have she wants.

What's in your wallet?
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Lukas

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Lukas weighed 21 lbs 4 oz (75th percentile) and was 29.5" long (95th percentile). Dr. B again said when looking at his height to weight ratio he was the "perfect" weight for his height. WOO HOO (again)!

Lukas's Milestones
• Crawls (my iPhone was replaced so I lost the video :( I'll get one soon)
• Pulls up (however, once he is up..he isn't sure how to get down so he gets pretty fussy because he won't let go and actually sit down)
• Stands alone unassisted
• Waves
• Does the "More" sign
• Uses a Sippy Cup
• Babbles (Ma Ma, Ba ba Ba, Buh Buh Buh)

Lukas's Food Faves
• FRUIT (he loves, Peaches, Pears, Kiwi, Strawberries etc)
• Chicken
• Yogurt and Oatmeal
• Carrots
• Cheese
• Sweet Potato Fries

Both of the babies had to get tested for anemia. Which means they had to have their fingers pricked and held until enough blood could fill a vile. Lukas was a champion and it didn't take him long to fill the vile (and he didn't cry once). Maddox had to be pricked twice and even though it took a while to fill her vile, she didn't cry once either!

Dr. B and his Nurse J both commented on how happy and well behaved our children were.

I always recommend using Diapers.com . We have found that they offer the best price we can find for formula and diapers (Tax free and with free 2 day shipping) AND their customer service is outstanding! It also helps us to budget how much we are spending on diapers and formula. Their slogan is "We deliver everything but the baby"....hmmm.. Maddox and Lukas seem to be pretty big fans of the shipping boxes:

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I found these SUPER cute Texas A&M outfits that I HAD to have for game days...after calling and locating..begging and pleading..I finally found them and had them shipped to me from College Station..

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Lastly, my son found the Boudreaux's Butt Paste....ugh

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Friday, September 24, 2010

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember forever for it is etched on my heart ♥ 

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The idea for {this moment} was taken from SouleMama  

Friday, September 17, 2010

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember forever for it is etched on my heart ♥ 


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The idea for {this moment} was taken from SouleMama  

Monday, September 13, 2010

My Testimony

Cody and I are so very Thankful for our children. I've never really discussed our journey to Twins, so today, I'm going to give you a synopsis. I should warn you that this post may be TMI for some, but I'm ready to share our story and my testimony.

In June of 2008, Cody and decided that we were ready to start a family. We stopped all forms of birth control and went on a nice relaxing vacation to Puerto Rico (we figured we would need it, because we would be parents soon). Little did we know, the road ahead was going to be a bumpy one. After I stopped taking the pill nothing happened and by nothing I mean no period or ovulation. We waited and waited. I charted my basal body temperature, used ovulation predictors (OPK's) and every other thing you could think of to help the fertility process. Several of our friends became pregnant during this time. I'm not sure if it was our deep desire for a baby that made us notice EVERYTHING related to babies or if it really was everywhere. I started feeling sad, bitter, and emotional about everything. I prayed and prayed that we would get pregnant.

In October in an attempt to let my body regulate itself without the use of medications, we tried accupuncture for 12 bi-weekly sessions. At the beginning of November and my second to last accupuncture treatment, I started. WOO HOO. We were so excited. That excitement soon turned to heartache when the time of the month approached in December and nothing happened. I wasn't pregnant and hadn't started.

I called my OBGYN and scheduled an appointment. They would see me the end of December. I met with my doctor and explained everything. He told me it sounded like I had Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) and gave me a shot of Progesterone to initiate a cycle and said sometimes it "resets" the body. He also told me "that it takes a 'healthy' average couple 6 mos to a year to conceive". I had read that...I had read everything. I was hopeful. I charted diligently and tested. January came and went....nothing happened. Two more shots of a higher dose of progesterone, several blood tests and a Hysterosalpingogram test later, we were in the month of March and it was determined that I had PCOS and I was not ovulating.

Emotionally, I was distressed. I'm not sure how Cody was able to handle me, because I was an anger ball. I was mad, sad, disappointed, frustrated, happy, tired, persistant, defeated and heartbroke. At this point, I felt that "trying" was pointless because I wasn't ovulating and there was no "chance" of getting pregnant. I convinced myself that I would be happy with a mere chance and I prayed for that.

I was mad at God. I prayed and prayed to conceive and it wasn't happening. Of course, I did the "why me?" and shook my fist at my God. My anger soon turned to despair and I realized that I could no longer handle the situation on my own. My emotions were getting the best of me and I had to let go and let God.

I started a prayer journal. Each day I would pick a bible verse that related to a certain emotion I was feeling and I would write about it. I thought this would be an awesome way to track my journey and to have something that I could show my kids in the future. In my journal, I prayed, discussed and really conversed with God.

The story I'm about to tell took me by surprise. I'm not one that really believes in signs or things to that affect, but something happened during my journaling that changed my attitude and my journey.

On Tuesday, March 24th I wasn't feeling any particular feeling so I did the ole close your eyes, flip to a page, point and read trick.  (What?  You don't do that?)  =)

The first verse that I stumbled upon was Judges 13:5 "Because you WILL conceive and give birth to a son" I read the words over again and laughed to myself. Cody was standing in the kitchen and I read the verse to him and said wasn't it funny that I would happen upon that verse. I decided it was a fluke and I didn't feel like writing about that so I was going to pick another verse.

I closed my eyes flipped and pointed to Genesis 18:13-14 "Then the Lord said to Abraham, 'why did Sarah laugh and say will I really have a child now that I am old?'  'Is there anything too hard for the Lord?'  I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son."

I still get chills to this day.  I was called out...by name no less.  Needless to say, I journaled about those verses.  Call it strange coincidence, but I call it amazing grace.  My hope/faith was renewed and I was ready to face my fertility journey. Bring on the rain! 

After researching my condition and presenting a very convincing argument to my doctor, he agreed to let us try a fertility treatment.  Usually, fertility meds aren't prescribed until you have been unsuccessful after a year of trying to conceive.  We were at 10 months and I was adamant that we try something since I wasn't ovulating and I needed a chance!  He informed us of the risks of the fertility drug Clomid (mainly ovarian cysts, irritability, mood swings).  He also told us that it would increase our chance of having twins by 10% (I call that a reward not a risk).  A normal person has around a 5% chance of having twins, so ultimately we would have a 15% chance of having twins.

We tried Clomid in April. I took one small white pill once a day for 5 days, charted my temperatures and used OPK's.  Holy Moly!  I got a positive OPK.  That was the first time I had ever seen a positive on one of those tests.  I prayed that we would get pregnant and if not, that I would at least cycle normally so that we could try again the next month.  A week later, I started feeling really light headed when I stood up and working out was making me exhausted.  I had read that Clomid side effects can mimic those of pregnancy, so I wasn't about to get my hopes up.  This, of course, was only my first round of clomid and though I only prayed for a chance...it couldn't happen that fast.

Wednesday, April 29th; I took a pregnancy test...no surprise I'm not pregnant.  I don't tell Cody about the test, because it was a few days too early to test.  (I'm impatient okay?  You know it, I know it...blah blah blah)  Saturday, May 2nd; Cody and I lay in bed together talking about whether or not I should test (again).  He knows me too well and finally said, "if you don't test your just going to sit here and worry about it."  I go to the bathroom and take a test...nothing happens.  I'm about to walk into the bedroom when I notice a faint positive.  No way...not after 1 dose of Clomid.  I quickly grab another brand and take another test (at this point I was a pee stick connoisseur..I had EVERY brand people)  This one was even more visibly positive than the first. 

I had thought of several neat ways to tell Cody he was going to be a daddy, but none of them happened.  I walked out of the bathroom shaking and said "You're going to be a daddy".  Cody, who was laying face down on the bed, lifted his head and said "Are you joking with me?"  I told him I would not joke about that and he jumped up and hugged me so close.  (I found out later he was laying face down praying over and over.."Please let Sarah be pregnant")

We were elated.  At Eight Weeks ...we found out we were having twins.  Fast forward to December of 2009 and we had two beautiful, perfect babies in our arms.  So a year after reading that verse...I not only gave birth to a son but I also had a daughter.  Prayers more than fulfilled!  Hallelujah!  We are so grateful!

We tell our children all the time how much we love them.  I can't wait to share with them that they are living proof that prayers do get answered.  Not only do they have a wonderful father here on Earth, but a heavenly father that will always see that they get exactly what they WANT NEED!

Thank you for sharing in my journey...

"Be still and know that I am God"  - Psalm 46:10

Friday, September 10, 2010

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember forever for it is etched on my heart ♥ 


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The idea for {this moment} was taken from SouleMama  

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Giggle Boxes

This weekend we had several visitors! My parents came down on Thursday and stayed with us till Sunday morning. We were super excited to get to see them and our babies loved the attention from their Poppa and Pappi! Patti walked Maddox around everywhere and I'm pretty sure she has jump started her into walking!

On Sunday, Cody's parents came up and spent Sunday and Monday with us. Needless to say, our babies were in attention heaven!

While I was cooking dinner Sunday, Cody's mom was entertaining the babies. She started singing "The Wheels on the bus go round and round". I'm not sure if it was Ione's lack of knowing the words or if I missed a line from the sheet music but the song ended up going something like this "the wheels on the bus go round and round and they all fall down go BOOM". Either way, Maddox was a HUGE fan of the BOOM part of the song! She thought it was hysterical. She got to laughing so hard, that she ended up getting Lukas tickled. Here is the video...

Friday, September 3, 2010

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember forever for it is etched on my heart ♥ 
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The idea for {this moment} was taken from SouleMama  




Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Jumping Bean

Maddox loves her bouncer. I always say she's a "jumping bean". The other day, while Lori was putting Lukas down, Maddox was jumping for all she was worth and here is the footage Lori caught...




Sweet baby jumped her little heart out!