Camera Bandit

While going through the pictures on my camera, I found this...

I really wondered who the camera bandit was until I came across this...

LUKAS GLEN!!!

 

Easter 2012

Easter this year was pretty laid back for us. The twins are at a pretty fun age this year for Easter egg hunting, the Easter bunny and a little bit of egg dying. When I told Maddox that the Easter bunny had visited..she immediately said "prize", because she knew he was going to leave a prize for her (since we told her that the night before).

We used an idea (found on Pinterest no less) for coloring eggs using Kool-Aid packets instead of Vinegar and I was pretty pleased with the smell and the way the eggs turned out. They were pretty vibrant, but next time I will follow the instructions on the website here for better color combinations.

While hunting eggs, Lukas would walk up crack it open...if it didn't have candy he was on to the next egg. I think they had more candy than they have ever had, but I was also smart enough to fill some of the eggs with non-edible things like mini-chapsticks etc.

Here is a collection of pictures from "The Hunt":

What's New with the Twins?

Lukas & Maddox are growing up too quickly! They are at a really fun (also trying) but mostly fun age! In the last few months a lot has been going on with them.

Maddox has started talking in full sentences. She has surprised us with her ability to communicate. Sometimes we have to remind her to "use her words" and when we do she sure knows how to get her point across. There are a couple of words that she says that are hilarious...I'm trying to get it on recording, but she is a bit camera shy. She is really into chocolate right now...which is pronounced "chop - let"...we have "choplet" cake, "choplet candy" and her favorite, "Chop-la-ma-ho" aka Chocolate Milk. She has really become interested in Potty training so we are taking on that as well. She has done amazingly. We are now in Pampers Easy-Ups and we are well on our way with potty training. After she goes potty, she says "Pwise" which means she gets a Prize for going potty.

Here are some recent pictures of Maddox:

Shopping in Style

We love to go on "rides" at Daddy's expense, of course

Helping Momma plant flowers

We found her this way when she woke up from nap...Love the hat :o)

Lukas has started talking more as well. He hasn't quite reached the full sentences, but he is definitely using & saying lot's of different words. "Let go" and "I did it" are words we hear often. Just recently he has started taking an interest in the potty...probably because he sees all the prizes his sister has been getting. He hasn't gone yet, but he has sat on the potty and tried which is good enough for me at a little older than 2. He has gotten so tall that he can reach just about anything on the counter tops, which drives me CRAZY! He loves to rough house with his sister, surprisingly she is usually the instigator but he is generally the "finisher".

Here is some pictures of Lukas:

Again at Daddy's expense :o)

NUTELLA SANDWHICH?!?!

CRAFT TIME :o)

Both of them are growing like weeds! We can't believe how big they are getting. They are so smart. We eat dinner together every night and they put their plates in the sink when they are finished and throw away any of their trash. Their favorite past time is playing outside in their sandbox or just being outside in general. We are super excited because Cody's parents helped us buy them a big swing set for the backyard. We haven't put it together yet, but they are going to be soo excited when it is put together.

Glow Stick Bathtime

WE are enjoying these days with the kids and can't wait to see what new things the future brings for our family. Right now, we are just loving the life we live everyday!

Ridley's - Newborn Photos

Ridley got to be a model for a couples of hours when she was only 10 days old. I was impressed that Lisa George with Lisa George Photography brought all of the props and background to my house. She set up everything in a well lit room and went to work. She managed to keep Miss Ridley sound asleep whilst maneuvering her in and out of buckets, baskets & beds for around 2 hours with a sound machine, personal heater and MAGIC :o)

Here are some of our favorite pictures from the day:

1 Month

I am about 1 month behind on this post and it is still hard to believe Ridley's 1 month bday has come and gone. My mom stayed with us the first 3 weeks after Ridley was born so that she could help out with the twins, help with the new baby and make the transition on everyone as easy as possible.

As a new momma of 3, one of my predominant concerns were my other babies at home and how they would feel about the new addition to the family. We discussed that we would be having a baby but you can't really explain it that well to a 2 year old. I was in the hospital for 2 days and that is the longest I have ever been without seeing the twins. Cody & the twins skyped with me one night and while it was great to see them it made me miss them sooo much. They would have kept me another day, but I was pretty adamant that I wanted to go home.

Ridley got to meet Lukas first, because Maddox was sick and Cody was taking her to the doctor. He was very intrigued about what was going on and he was even a little bit shy at coming up to me after I had left him for a couple of days (talk about break a momma's heart). The shyness was short lived but he wasn't sure what to think about this new baby. He would stand by me but definitely keep his distance from her. To this day, he kinda ignores her. Of course, he brings her blankets, pacifiers and occasionally pets her hair BUT we can't let anyone see that we may actually be interested in our baby sister.

When Maddox met Ridley it was love at first sight. She wanted to touch her immediately. IT was super hard, because she was sick and we wanted to let her be around the baby but we didn't want her to get sick. A few days after her illness and fever had passed and the antibiotics were kicking in...we let Maddox hold her for the first time. She was ecstatic! She loved her baby sister and always says "Hold her". She is such a good helper and big sister. If Ridley cries, Maddox puts her hand on her cheek and says "It's okay". MELTS MY HEART!

Ridley is a pretty sweet little girl. Of course, she has her occasional tummy troubles but that's a newborn for ya. She has had her first cold (thanks to brother and sister for sharing) but other than that she has been a healthy girl that likes to eat, sleep & snuggle. Currently, she is waking up around 1 time a night to eat. Now that isn't to say, we only have to get up 1 time a night because we typically have to hand her a paci every now and again. She isn't a huge fan of the pacifier. She will use it briefly then kick it out as soon as she is about to dose off, lot's of the time she falls asleep without it. I'm not complaining about having to get up with her because I know this phase will pass and I will miss the moments of getting up and having Ridley and Momma time.

We all are adjusting nicely to the new addition and we couldn't be happier to be a family of 5. Here are some of our favorite pictures of her first month!

 

UP NEXT: NEWBORN PHOTOS 

Lukas

Since we have moved, Lukas has been having troubles with his ears. In the past 5 months, he has had 7 ear infections been on 5 antibiotics (3 of them 2x a piece) and had a round of antibiotic shots. Needless to say, the poor baby couldn't catch a break.

After his last ear infection hung around for several weeks and wouldn't respond to antibiotics, we decided it was time to visit a specialist and discuss getting "tubes" put in his ears. Now at this point, Lukas is super sensitive when it comes to his ears. He was constantly pulling, tugging, putting his finger inside them and every trip to the doctor made him HATE them checking them. IT took everything I had to hold a flailing 38lb 2 year old down so that doctors could check his ears for infection.

We met with an ENT doctor who took one look at his ears, said "You've had lots of problems" and immediately told us that we would be scheduled for tubes in 2 weeks.

A lot of my friend's children have gotten tubes and I knew the procedure wasn't that big of a deal...but it is a big deal to a momma to have their child put under anesthesia.

We arrived at the surgery center at 7:30 in the morning and were taken back to pre-op around 8:15. Now trying to keep a toddler entertained in a 6x6 room covered by only curtains with several patients around you isn't the funnest thing in the world but we managed.

Here are a couple of pictures before the procedure:

Happy with Daddy

They're going to do what?!?

The anesthesiologist and doctor came and met with us before the procedure. I was impressed that my doctor took my cell phone number so that he could call me when he was finished. When the nurse came and took our son away, he was not a happy camper and a tearful mom & dad made our way to the waiting room. It wasn't 15 minutes and I received a call from the doctor that said Lukas did great, the tubes were places and they had to let him wake up a little more in recovery before Cody and I could come back and see him.

When we walked through the doors to the recovery area, we could hear Lukas raising cane! He was MAD (don't blame him). He immediately crawled into my arms and the nurse went and got him a juice (he hadn't had anything to eat or drink since 6 o'clock the day before & it was 9:30 am at this point).

The nurse explained that the anesthesia wearing off would cause him to be really upset and upset he was. Lukas did everything in his power to show Cody and I how mad he was...he kicked, hit, and even pinched himself. Cody and I couldn't help but chuckle because we have never seen him soo frustrated. It was like he didn't know what to do to show us that he was furious! When the nurse came to discharge us, she said to expect this part to last around 24 hours...and then she started laughing..she must have seen the look exchanged between Cody & myself.

When we left we stopped by Sonic and got Lukas some tater tots. Immediately, he brightened up and even told the car hop "Bu Bye"! He was back to himself in no time and got to spend the rest of the day hanging out with mom, dad and his sisters.

We have noticed a difference in him since the surgery. He isn't pulling, tugging or putting his fingers in his ears and he also isn't waking up several times a night. We are suppose to keep water out of his ears, which has proved to be our biggest battle yet. He loves to play in water & the bath but he isn't such a fan of wearing cotton in his ears.

Irregardless, we are happy that our baby isn't hurting anymore and we are hoping to be past all the pain! We follow up with his surgeon in a month.

Thanks for checking in...