Sick Babies

When we came back home from A-Town both of our babies developed a cough and congestion. I blame the change in climates (dry to humid) and allergies. After a week of coughing, I took the babies in to see Dr. B. Turned out Lukas had a double ear infection and his sister had lot's of congestion that was causing wheezing.

Lukas was prescribed a Amoxycillin (which he has had 1 before for a sinus infection) and Maddox was given a medicine for Cough and Congestion. Two days after giving Lukas his medicine he was still running a 103 temperature and all he wanted to do was cuddle and be held. While I love holding my sweet baby, it isn't like him to not want to play. So I called the Pediatrician and we headed back to see them. Lukas's ears hadn't improved at all. Dr. B said that he had an infection that was resistant to Amoxycillin and prescribed a stronger antibiotic.

We gave him his medicine this weekend and then on Sunday when I put Lukas in the bath..this is what I noticed...

UGH!!! I immediately called our on-call pediatrician and informed them of this breakout/rash. She told me to take some pictures with my iPhone, give him some benadryl and bring him in first thing in the morning. We took him to Dr. B yesterday. He took a look at the pictures and Lukas's current rash and determined that he was allergic to Penicillin! His ears were still infected, because he hasn't been on the right medicine!

We are now on Azithromycin and hoping that Lukas will be much better soon! He has handled everything like a champion and we are so proud of him. Maddox seems to be on the up and up, so we are hopeful that she stays that way!

I'm taking both babies to see our chiropractor Dr. Wright! Hopefully, we can get some adjustments to help get rid of these nasty ear infections!

Wish us Luck!!

1 Year Stats

Sorry that it has been a while since I updated, but with birthdays, travel and Christmas we have been super busy!

On Monday, December 20th, I took the babies to their 1 year well baby check. Dr. B was impressed with their stats and with their capabilities! As always, I will break them up so that you can see what they both can do individually!

Lukas

Lukas was 31.5" long and 25lbs 6oz in weight. He is still our "big boy". Dr. B says that he is still the ideal weight for his height and he is amazed that Lukas has grown so much.

I say this all the time, but Lukas is definitely a boy! He loves to rough house and bang things around. We have been struggling a little bit recently with him pulling hair and hitting. He generally starts out being sweet, but then he gets very rough. So we are having to work on showing him "gentle touches" and taking away toys when he hits his sister.

Lukas walks around everywhere and reaches things we thought were "high enough". He is still a lover and gets his heart broken when he is told "no" or "removed from the situation". He currently has 8 teeth and is working on his back molar. He loves when it is time to brush his teeth and is such a big help. Right now, Lukas loves when you "get him". When he walks away from you, if you make growling noises and hit the floor like you are coming after him, he squeals with delight and runs back to you laughing. Then wants to do it again...and again...and again!

Lukas says "Momma", "Dadda", Night Night (which sounds like Nigh Nigh), and Nana. His favorite foods are Mangoes, Mandarin Oranges, Enchiladas, Apple-Chicken Nuggets, Clementine's and Cinnamon Banana Pancakes.

Lukas Loved Nana's Pork & Beans!

Lukas & Daddy

Maddox

Maddox was 30" tall and weighed 20lbs 5 oz. She is still our "petite girl". Maddox is in the higher percentiles along with her brother, but comparatively, she seems alot smaller. Dr. B says that Maddox is the ideal weight for her height.

Maddox is running everywhere and climbing onto things like boxes, fireplaces, window seats.  If she can climb it, she will!  Recently, we have had to watch Maddox because she constantly steals Lukas's toys...that or she distracts him with another toy then takes the one she is really after! We watch her close and make sure that she doesn't take his toys as much. She is also going through a phase where she likes to bring things to you and then take them back. It's a game she likes to play. She brings me a toy and I tell her "Thank You"...then she quickly wants it back in her possession.

Maddox has 8 teeth and is currently working on another 1. She loves to brush her teeth, too. Recently, Maddox is able to identify things in books such as: point to the ball, etc. If I tell her to go get Elmo and bring him to me, she will bring me Elmo. She also loves to DANCE...if she hears music she "shakes her booty". See below:

Maddox likes to eat with a spoon, though she doesn't accomplish much with it. She usually puts the food on the spoon with her hand and then puts it in her mouth. Dr. B says that eating with a spoon is an 18 month skill, so I say it's a pretty good start!

Maddox can say "Momma", "Dadda", and "Hi"...much to our dismay, she also says what sounds like S***. We can't tell what she is trying to say it's like a mixture of "this" and it comes out as as "S***". Maddox's favorite foods are: Mangoes, Corn, Apple-Chicken Nuggets, Clementine's, any kind of bean, and ORANGE SHERBET!

Maddox loves Rocking Animals

Both of the babies are doing so well! They are both off of bottles and formula. They drink organic whole milk out of sippy cups! I can't believe they are already so grown up! Each day they do something that amazes me. Thanks for keeping up with us!

Maddox loves her new Car from Nana!

Making sure Lukas treats the car with Care...

"Here sis, let me push you" ***I'll teach her to steal my toys***

Grams & Popaw with the Grandies

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

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?

Lukas

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:

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..

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

Hand, Foot & Mouth Disease

If it isn't one thing...it's another. Lukas and Maddox have been hanging on to a low grade fever for around a week now. Now our pedi told us that anything below 101 can be attributed by teething, so we haven't been too concerned.

However, last night we went to dinner with some friends and Lukas felt warm when we got him home. I took his temperature and it was 102.6! This was not a number that Momma liked one bit. I gave him tylenol and motrin and Cody put him in a tepid bath. After the bath, Cody took Maddox to put her to bed and I fed Lukas and put him in bed. We checked his temp again a couple of hours later and it was at 99.9.

Since we have been having sleep troubles, Cody and I moved one of the cribs to the master bedroom and left the other one in the nursery. It seems like they keep waking one another up and we're willing to try something new. It hasn't been a vast improvement but we're making progress. Last night, however, neither of the twins slept well.

This morning I put a call into the Pedi, because they were both still running temp and Lukas started getting red bumps on his feet and face. We got an appt and took them in. After an examination, the doctor told us that they have a "summer" illness called hand, foot and mouth disease. It starts out with a fever followed by sore throat and rash on the hands, mouth and feet. It goes away on it's own without the need for antibiotics etc.

The doc told me to give them 1/4 tsp. Benadryl mixed with 1/4 tsp. Maalox to help coat their throat and make it easier for them to eat/swallow. I'm also to continue with Motrin and Tylenol to help keep the fever down.

For now the kids are still having fun and playing, but you can tell they aren't 100%. I hate to see them feel poorly :(

In more uplifting news...Lukas has gained ANOTHER pound. He is now weighing in at 19lbs 7oz....no sickness is going to bring him down :-)

"I will bring health and healing to it; I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security" Jeremiah 33.6

Hefty, Hefty, Hefty

Cody and I have been in agreement that Lukas feels quite a bit heavier than Maddox. At his 6 month appointment, he had taken the weight lead over from his sister but only by a few oz.

Recently, Lukas has been our eater. When he sees Maddox eating, he needs to eat, if he sees his bottle you better be ready to give it to him, and don't even think about bringing out his highchair unless dinner is being served. We are working on infant sign language and he has perfected the "more" sign..not to mention yelling "MMMMMuuh" (pronounced Muh). So with all this eating, we thought we would see some good numbers at his 7 month vaccination visit.

Cody and I placed our bets. Whoever was within 1/2 lb of Lukas's weight would win a 10 minute foot massage. So we start mentally punching the numbers, Lukas weighed 15lbs 10 oz at his 6 month appointment, he got a nasty stomach bug and lost a pound that same week, so he was roughly around 14 lbs 10 oz. Cody bets 17 lbs, not to be out done I bet 17 lbs 5 oz.

I lay Maddox down on the scale and she weighs in at 16lbs 4 oz...she has gained around a pound since the last visit. I'm starting to think that I have overbid...she has only gained 1 lb in a month and I wagered that Lukas would gain around 3 lbs...impossible.

I lay Mr. Man down on the scale and he weighs in at.....(drum roll please).....18 lbs 6 oz!!! Holy Moly...he smoked our numbers and neither of us were within 1/2lb. He has gone from >5th percentile to the 75th percentile!!!

On another note...I still think I deserve the foot massage, because I was the closest bid without going over (and it works on the Price is Right). Cody, however, disagrees! Boooo...

Here are some pictures of our "Skinny Minny" and our "Chunky Munk"..

What a Differece a Probe Makes

Let me back up a little bit. Maddox has had clogged tear ducts since she was born. Her eyes would mat shut when she would sleep, water excessively, and always have gunk (that's right, gunk) in the corners of her eyes. She would constantly rub her eyes and it made her look, as Cody puts it, "Like she had gone a round with Mike Tyson" See Below:









These are just a few examples of her clogged duct.  These don't even show the half of it, because we usually had cleaned her eye or given massages before pictures were taken.  We had to give her tear duct massages several times a day and she had grown to hate it! We had also given her two different types of eyedrops to help with the redness and infection that the clogged ducts would cause.

At 4 months, Dr. B told us that the tear ducts usually correct themselves by 6 months and if Maddox's hadn't cleared up by 6 months he would refer us to a Pedi Opthamologist.

By her 6 month appointment her right tear duct had cleared up, but her left eye was worse than ever. We immediately took the referral and made an appointment.

We knew there was a big chance that Maddox was going to have to have her eye probed, so I immediately started researching the procedure. Basically, after some numbing drops are placed in the eye, a thin rod is inserted into the tear duct and it opens the blockage. If the procedure is done before a certain age, anesthesia is not needed.

On Monday, June 28th we took Maddox to the Pedi Opth. He checked Maddox's eyes and he gave us a couple of options: A) we could try another eye drop with a steroid in it (which he gave a 10% chance of working at this point) or B) he could perform the eye probing procedure in office and have a 90% success rate. We opted for the latter of the two.

He recommended that Cody and I stay out in the hall, but we aren't wait and see kind of parents. We simply told him that we would like to be in the room with our baby. Watching them wrap her snugly in a blanket then strap her in a little contraption was pretty hard. The procedure took around 2 minutes; however, when Maddox let loose a loud cry as they inserted the rod it seemed like FOREVER. Cody and I were both in tears, but it lasted mere seconds and then she was giggling in our arms.

Since that day, her eye has done AMAZING. It hasn't matted, watered or given her any troubles. We are soo happy that we chose to fix it. Her beautiful blue eyes are definately brighter :-)  Thank you for all your prayers!!!

6 Months Old, Water Babies & Teeth

Our babies are 6 months old! I know I say this every month, but I cannot believe they have been here for 1/2 a year. Everyday is a blessing and an adventure.

We went to our Pediatrician today for our babies 6 Month Well-Baby. Dr. B said that they had excellent head & neck strength. They have met all of their developmental milestones and are doing great.

Lukas weighed 15lbs 10 oz and was 27.75" in length. He has taken over the size lead from Miss Maddox!

Maddox weighed 15lbs 5 oz and was 26" in length. Maddox still has a clogged tear duct, so Dr. B referred us to a Pediatric Opthamologist. We take her in next Monday. He will evaluate her in office. If he thinks she needs it un-clogged, he will perform an eye probing in office. Of course, I'm a little apprehensive about her having to have this done, but I can't wait for her eye to quit matting and bothering her soo much! Please keep her in your prayers this upcoming week!

What else is new? Our babies are little water dogs! They love being in the pool. At first, Lukas wasn't sure he liked being in an uber big, bright blue, kinda cold bath tub, but he has quickly warmed up to the idea. They both love to splash and paddle on their bellies. My mom bought them some super cute swim suits see the pics below:

They look soo grown up :( Speaking of growing up, Maddox cut her first TOOTH. Her first tooth is on the bottom left. I felt something sharp when she was chewing on my hand in the pool, I looked down and saw it! I cannot believe it happened that quickly!!

Lastly, I'll leave you with some of our favorite pictures from the previous month :)

Lukas's Weight Check

Today I took Lukas in for his weight check. He weighed 12 lbs 9 oz!! He has gained 1 lb in two weeks. Dr. B was very pleased with his weight gain and said all his worries about his ability to gain weight have been put to rest.

We have decided to keep feeding him bottles since he is doing so well. We don't want him to regress, so I will continue to nurse Maddox and then pump for Lukas.

We are super stoked about his weight gain and want to Thank you guys for your prayers and concern!

4 Months Old

Our babies are growing up..sniff sniff. Today we took the kiddos to their 4 Month Well-Baby check-up. I'll split the details up by baby.

Lukas

Lukas is our noodle. He is long and lean He is 26.5" long and he weighs 11 lbs 8 oz. Our doctor is a little concerned because his height to weight ratio is a little skewed. Lukas is in the 90th percentile for height, but he is only in the 15th percentile for weight. For the next two weeks, we are to feed him by bottle at every feeding so that we can monitor exactly what he is intaking. Our doctor said not to worry yet, because Lukas has grown, just not in the weight category. He is also right on for all of his developmental milestones. So in two weeks we go in for a weight check and we are praying that he has gained adequate weight, if not, our doctor wants to run some tests on the little guy. Other than that, Lukas did great at his appointment. He was able to lift his head up and look around while on his tummy and he also had very good head and neck control. Here are a few things Lukas does on a daily basis: laughs out loud, drools, looks startled, chews on toys, drools, puts everything in his mouth, drools, plays with his hands..and did I mention he drools?? Also, our doctor thinks his eyes will stay blue, although we won't know for sure until 6 months.

Maddox

Maddox is our growin' girl. Looking at her now, you would never be able to tell that she was once so tiny at 5 lbs. Maddox is 24" long and weighs 12 lbs 2 oz. She is in the 50th percentile for height and weight. She has also doubled her birth weight, which is something they look for at around 6 months. At our appointment our doctor asked us if the twins had rolled over front to back or back to front. We told him that they had showed interest in rolling over, but hadn't accomplished the task on their own. Our doctor then proceeded to put Maddox on her belly to observe her head and neck control. What does she do? Maddox immediately rolled from her tummy to her back as if she had been doing it everyday for the past week. Our doctor was pretty impressed and told us that most babies can't do that until 5 months. Here are a few things that Maddox does on a daily basis: talks, cooes, sleeps (alot), eats, and plays.

Our nights are still rough at times, but we are making progress. We get up once a night for a feeding and depending on the night, a few times to give pacifiers, turn them on their side and put them back to sleep.

All in all the twins are doing great. We are truly blessed to have such wonderful children. We can't imagine a day without them.

Here are a few of our favorite pictures..

Bath Time







Grams & Poppaw Visit






Thanks for checkin in on us!  We'll update you soon!!!

2 Months and Vaccinations

Our babies are two months old!! Can you believe it? Cody and I can't believe how fast time flies!

We are really enjoying the interaction that we get from the kids now. Lukas and Maddox both love to smile and "talk". It is nice to talk to them and have them respond back with smiles, noises, bubble blowing etc.

Maddox has discovered her tongue. She loves to stick it out ALL the time. It's hard to catch a picture without her tongue in it!

Lukas has really started to vocalize. He loves to squeal and make noises; he really enjoys it when you make the sounds back to him. We talk back and forth several times a day.

We took our babies in for their 2 month Well Baby Check-Up. Lukas weighed 9lbs 10oz and Maddox has caught her brother and weighs 9lbs 6oz. Our babies had to get their first set of Vaccinations. This was a hard day for Mom and Dad. Cody and I have decided to put our kids on an Alternative Vaccination Schedule. Meaning...We don't give all the Vaccinations at the same time as the Recommended Vaccination Schedule for Infants. Don't get me wrong, we aren't ANTI-vaccinations, we just want to have more control on when and how many are received at each visit. So instead of getting 6 shots and one oral vaccination at this trip, we opted to only give 3 shots. We made another appointment at 3 months to deliver 2 of the remaining 3 Vaccines. We don't think this route is the best for EVERYONE and EVERY situation, it just works for our family right now!

What else is going on in our world?

We have successfully made the transition from Co-Sleeping with our babies to sleeping in their own respective cribs!

We never thought in a MILLION years that we would co-sleep (or sleep same bed with our babies); however, you learn that when parenting you have to do what is best for your family despite the slack you may receive from out-side sources (ie the media, SIDS prevention etc). After several nights of trying to get our babies to sleep in a bassinet, we ended up so tired that neither us or the babies were getting ANY sleep. So one night around 6:00pm, I laid on the couch with Maddox and Cody laid on the other couch with Lukas and VOILA we all slept until 10:00pm soundly! It was then we realized we may be onto something. We then resorted to one parent sleeping in the guest bedroom with both babies (it has a firm tempur-pedic pad on it) and the other parent sleeping in our bedroom. We worked in shifts. First shift started from about 9 to 2, Second shift started from 3 to 7:30. Whoever, slept with them first shift got to go sleep in our bed second shift. Once the babies started sleeping from 10:00pm to 4:00am, we decided they were ready for their cribs and we were ready for an adult snuggle buddy!

We started the adventure on Friday, February 26th. Lukas immediately took to sleeping in his crib, as long as we roll up a blanket and let him hold it. Maddox had to warm up to the idea, but she is doing really well! No, We don't get as much sleep as we did Co-Sleeping, but we are making lot's of progress with the cribs. Each night we pray for progress and each night we make small steps in the right direction! Five days after we started this..we had both babies fast asleep from 9:15pm to 4:45am. This isn't the case every night, but each night we all get better and better at our new routine.

We have lot's of visits from family coming up and we are looking forward to seeing everyone and showing off the babies. I will leave you with some of our favorite pictures from the past few weeks!

Thanks for checking in....if you have any sleeping tips, Please feel free to post them!!!!

Lukas on his way to his 2 Month Appointment...


Lukas unsure why mom is taking pictures during bath time!


Uh Oh...someone is starting to look like their daddy...


We have reached Cody Jr.


Sitting on Daddy...


Maddox contemplating the meaning of life....



Showing off her tongue!


Snuggled up after bath time!


Maddox showing off her strength!


Lovin' her Paci!