Checking in...

We're good - Seraph's home and healthy.  No one is sick.

Seraph is officially crawling - her therapist confirmed it today.  She does a lot of scooting and rolling, too.  She's reaching for things up high.  She loves to practice standing so that's her next goal.

have a happy last day of 2009.  Time to get rdy for next year :)

Merry Christmas!!

We made it!! BHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!

Good Report from Cardiology

Seraph visited her cardiologist today.  She was wary, but playful.  The x-ray was traumatic:  2 gals holding her against the wall while her mommy walked away. :( Everything else went well.  Cardiology wants to see her every 3 months.  She had labs (they might tweak her meds).  Overall the Doc was impressed. He even mentioned the possibility of Seraph being able to have the 3rd heart surgery (Fontan) if her pressures go down.  He's a pretty pessimistic guy, so him acknowledging that hope was huge for me :)

We also found out her cardiologist is also working from the clinic at the new hospital that's only 5 minutes from my house.  They'll be able to do all her future visits and tests there....except for heart caths and sedated echoes.  I'm thrilled!

My emotions have been all crazy lately.  Here's a picture of Seraph last year on Christmas Eve in the PICU:

Last year, after spending ThanksGiving, Christmas, and New Year's in the PICU, she came home on hospice care.  They didn't think she'd live to see her first birthday (in June).  My sweet little girl decided to stay with us.  She's a fighter and God has blessed us to keep her with us for now.  I'm holding my breath, but I really think she'll be home for Christmas this year.  Yay!

She has changed so much since last Christmas.  She's army crawling; sitting by herself; doing baby talk.  She's invented her own sign language to communicate:  "I like..", "I'm happy", and "that's bugging me".

At the end of her appointment today, she wouldn't let me put her down without screaming.  I pushed her stroller out to the car.  As soon as she saw our car, she made her sign for "I like.."  All her tears stopped.  She smiled and giggled and played all the way home.  I think she must've been scared that I'd leave her at the hospital.  I was just as happy to be bringing her home.  Love you, lil girl :)

Thank you for all your prayers and support - and Merry Christmas to you and yours :)

Little Seraph

Seraph is so playful!  She doesn't mind when Angel shoves toys in her face (usually Elmo).  She still cries when one of the girls screeches/screams in delight - a problem because sometimes seeing Seraph is enough to make them scream with delight.

I wanted to post a video, but I can't figure out how to post it on this new editor.

Anyway, Seraph is spending good chunks of time on her hands and knees!  I haven't seen any actual (real) crawling yet.  She still army crawls and rolls when she wants to get somewhere (or away from something) fast.

Today she went from her back to sitting up all by herself!  I'm not sure how...we were playing games at the table and when I looked over she was sitting.  She's yet to do it again, but I'm watching for it now :)

We had some issues with her g-tube leaking (again) yesterday....but a long internet search turned up a quick fix -- stuff folded tissue between the button and the skin.  Crude, but it works.  She's fine on her back, but on her tummy she pushes the button down and then the balloon seal is broken and she leaks.

There's a nationwide back-order on her newest diuretic medicine.  The hospital was almost out so they only gave me a week's worth.  Hopefully I can find someone who has it on their shelves (or someone who can compound it).  None of the weekend pharmacies had it so I'll be trying again tomorrow - wish me luck :)

Twins Together :)

Seraph is home!!!

When she got home, Angel followed her around saying Seraph's name.  Later when we took Angel up to bed, Seraph stretched to watch Angel disappearing up the stairs and burst into tears.

Gma reminded me last night that Angel is always more clingy when Seraph is in the hospital.  

I've often wondered if my girls' twin-bond would be lessened because they spent months apart when they were newborns.  Who knows!  but they sure love each other...and want to play together :)

Angel's trip to the ER

Yep - Angel!!

There was a scissor incident.  Finch accidentally cut Angel's ring finger on her right hand.  Angel must've been reaching for the scissors when it happened.  Neither of them should've had scissors in the first place!  Anyway, a couple gals from church just happened to knock on the door right as I was about to load the kids in the car. They asked if there was anything they could do for me....so I invited them in. They watched the other kids while I took Angel to the ER. (One of their sons is Bear's age and they play together sometimes so it worked out great.)

Angel had to get 7 stitches.  They strapped her down to a board, gave her 2 shots in her finger, and then sewed her up.  I almost passed out.

Angel's doctor said that even though she bled a lot, the cut was shallow - didn't go deep towards the bone - so it didn't cut into any nerves or tendons.  Her blood flow to the tip of her finger was good. We'll go back in 10 days to get the stitches out.


Seraph's doctors called while I was in the ER w/ Angel.  They're going to do a CT scan of Seraph's heart to make sure she doesn't have any clots.  They expect she'll be ready to move out of ICU to the floor either today or tomorrow.

Thanksgiving in the ICU

Yep - Seraph is back in the hospital.

She has been gaining a lot of weight all month.  We thought it was normal weight gain, but turns out she was retaining too much water.  Her diuretic medicines (the ones that help her pee off extra fluids) may have been an incorrect dose all month.  OR she might have a very serious problem with her heart.  She'd been slowly getting more puffy.  Wednesday morning her neck was extremely puffy and she was having trouble breathing.

An ambulance ride and a relatively calm ER visit later, they transfered her to the PICU. As they rolled the bed towards the elevator, she stretched her neck all the way back so she could see her mommy and daddy.  The nurse pushing the bed was walking faster than us, so it must've looked like (to Seraph) she was being separated from Mom and Dad. Fear and stress filled her face.  We ran up next to her bed and she was visibly calmed.

I'm glad she's old enough and strong enough to communicate her feelings.  It also makes it harder to leave her at the hospital while we go home. I've been crying alot this time around - I'm just sad.  We expect she'll be home in a few weeks.  We expect she'll be home for Christmas.

She is still in the ICU.  She is on 7 liters of high-flow oxygen.  (That's a lot--I believe after 8 liters oxygen, they have to switch to bipap or a ventilator.) She is slightly sedated - otherwise she pulls off the oxygen tubes that she really needs.  She's awake and responsive. Her breathing is slightly better than yesterday.

I think once her breathing is better, they might want to do another heart cath. They need to make sure there's not an obstruction in part of her heart.  They haven't seen one with the non-invasive tests they can do.  ...but they need to be sure. An obstruction would be a serious problem.

Despite all this, Thanksgiving was very nice.  My family came over and we ate and played games all day and all night.  I wouldn't have made it through the day without my family here to distract me.  Thanks, guys - I love you :)

Please pray for my sweet Seraph.  Thanks.

Who said it?

1-"Mom, you can't tickle super heroes!!!"

2-"Oh, sorry, were you talking to me?  I thought you were talking to the cow."

3-"Yaaaaa!!"

4-"Do funny Bear!!! Pleeeeeeeeeeeeease :)"

5-"Hi, Daddy!"

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1-bear, 2-rabbit, 3-seraph, 4-finch, 5-Angel

Don't Stand on the Arm of the Couch!!

The kids love to jump off the arm of the couch onto all the pillows.  I don't mind when Bear and Finch do it.  Angel scares me.  She likes to climb all the way up onto the shelves of the baker's rack that's next to the couch. She's a little wobbly and sometimes falls off chairs when she's climbing.  If I had a hotkey for my kids, I'd push the button and it would yell, "hey, get down!  Now!!"

Yesterday, Angel kept climbing up too high.  I ran out of patience and went over and growled right in her face - GRRRRRRRRRRR!!  (It's one of the Haqon methods of parenting...and it works great for him.)  I don't like to scare the kids, but I'd had it!  GRRRRRR!!

Angel leaned closer to my face and Grrrrrrr'd right back.  Then she jumped up and down giggling.  She Grrrr'd again and her fist (accidentally) flew up and punched my face. Bear and Finch ran over (and climbed up on the arm of the couch) so they could play the growling game with Mommy, too!

/sigh

At least I didn't scare her. :)

Yay!!

We're ready for the week to start!

Gma and Gpa are back - yay!  Haqon is back - double yay!  It snowed enough to play in - I should just rename this post 'Yay'.....

Pictured (left to right): Angel, Finch, Bear, Rabbit.

Seraph is having some reflux issues...what?!  That's not supposed to happen after the Nissen surgery.  Usually it happens after meds, so we're tweaking her schedule to not do meds and feeds at the same time.  Hopefully that'll fix it.  If not, she go back on some reflux meds.  Not a big deal.

No one is sick - yay!!  and we're excited to be getting ready for Thanksgiving.  I like being thankful...it helps everyone have a better attitude and then a better day.  See ya'll soon :)

One Fine Day...

Beautiful Rabbit drank too much Gatorade and got a horrible tummy ache.  I worried it might be the flu, but thankfully it wasn't...this time.  She helps a lot with the thank you decorations. It's nice to have such a helpful helper.

Strong Bear likes cake and ice cream and his family. He's pretty good at protecting his sisters.  Sometimes we have to remind him to be more gentle.

Delightful Finch likes princess dresses and copying Bear and Angel.  She likes to read to Seraph and bring her toys and binkies.

Angel almost always falls asleep at the end of dinner.  She starts falling sideways in her chair and I scoop her up and slip her onto the recliner for a nap.

Seraph's new medicine (for her ear infection) is making her nauseous.  Thank heavens today is the last day!  She won't let us feed her orally anymore.  Hopefully in a few days she'll want to try food again. She still likes putting things in her mouth, but spits them out immediately.

I'm Thankful for...

We started our thank-you decorations today.  The kids liked thinking of things to be thankful for.  It was much easier to print the clipart this time instead of drawing each one.

I know more about mudding corners than I ever wanted to!  It's nice to be able to point and say "I did that." I'm glad we waited to finish off our basement.  I know how to fix scratches on walls now.  (Trust me, this is a good thing w/ P&J).

Bear and Rabbit are downstairs helping Haqon mud right now.  They're thrilled that they get to help. (Less thrilled about wearing masks for the dust.)

Gma & Gpa

My parents will spend the next 18 months as missionaries for the LDS church.  My family got together at church to support them and wish them well on their mission.  They'll be serving locally, so I'll still get to see them alot - yay :)

After church we went to my parents house for dinner and some good, quality time together.  I haven't seen my brothers for too long.  It was nice :)

Dinner and a Movie!

My wonderful niece watched the kids last night so Sexy Haqon and I could have a real date.  We went to that new Sushi place that's close.  It was fantastic! We had sushi that had strawberries on top.  I never would've thought of that combo but it was sooooo good!! The sashimi was really good, too.  It was melt-in-your-mouth yummy and the cuts were very interesting. The only thing I didn't like was that their ginger was white instead of pink.  (Picky, I know!)

You Go Timeout!!

Delightful Finch tried to send me to time out yesterday for the unforgivable offense of brushing her hair:  

"You go timeout!  I very ANGRY!!"

In a People House

I just finished cleaning and sanitizing all the cupboards.  We had a mouse.  Construction on a house in the lot next to us may have displaced it.  OR maybe it just wanted a warmer place to live.  We've had mice before - at our old, old house.  I was always completely disgusted cleaning up after it.

This year's mouse was different.  In the few days the mouse shared a house with us, I grew pretty attached to him.  I think the mouse reminded me of our late pet bunny (named Bunny).  I always venomously denied any bunny-mouse resemblance when my brother teased me about Bunny.

I was up late one night reading and I heard the mouse scratching the wall.  Oh wow!  It sounded exactly like Bunny!  That was Bunny's favorite thing to do besides sleeping!!  Bunnies have the softest fur ever.  When a bunny likes you, she hops in circles around you. Bunny was my first real pet (B Rabbit's, too).  We picked her out together.  She was the only bunny that playfully hopped away instead of just sitting there and looking around.

The mouse was young and full of energy.  He was also scared to death of the kids.  He stayed mostly upstairs under my bathroom cupboards during the day.  At night he'd sneak down and eat in the kitchen and then explore.  He had a healthy sense of when to stay completely hidden.  I only saw him once....and that was after I'd been quietly typing on my computer for over an hour.  After that, I'd stomp around the kitchen every hour (after the kids had gone to bed) so he'd know to stay away.

As a child, one of my favorite books was 'The Ghost in the Attic'.  It's about a friendly ghost who gets lonely when the people go on vacation for a whole month.  A mouse moves in and the ghost is thrilled.  But the mouse has no sense of right and wrong.  The ghost tries to get him to behave, but the mouse won't listen.  The people come home to a big mess.  Finally the ghost yells at the mouse and everyone is very sad.  Then the mouse listens to the ghost and learns how to live with the people without making them want to catch him.  The ghost is happy again and starts rattling chains in the attic because that's what ghosts do.  The people hear the chains and joke with each other about their ghost in the attic.  Everyone lives happily ever after.

I told Strong Bear we could keep it as a pet if the mouse would just learn to be potty trained.  After all, they don't make diapers small enough for a mouse.  Strong Bear did his best to negotiate this deal.  The mouse failed to agree to our terms.

When the time came, I disposed of the mouse properly. (Seraph was in the hospital during this mouse incident - whew).  Haqon was at work when I found the mouse.  I felt sad.  It looked so cute - all brown on top and white underneath. That was Bunny's coloring, too. It almost looked like a toy.

I wish mice weren't so yucky. I kinda miss him.

I'm thankful for....Christmas!!

Last November, the children's hospital had a wall dedicated to thank-you's.  We all taped up a note of thanks and then looked for them each time we walked by the wall.  We did something similar in our home the previous year with a whiteboard.


I like seeing a wall full of things that make people happy. I wanted to do something similar this year, but couldn't decide where to put it.  I finally settled on something alot more Christmas-y.  This way the notes of thanks can stay up even longer PLUS I get to sneak in Christmas decor early.  We'll grab some green and red paper to make a border along the top of the wall with alternating christmas trees and hearts.  We'll write something we're thankful for on each cutout.


There are so many things to be thankful for this year.  I think it'll be good for the kids to practice focusing on the good things. :)

That Hurts my Ears!

Last week, Angel kept waking up at night.  Her balance was crazy.  She wanted to be held all the time.  Thank heavens Seraph's physical therapist recognized the symptoms as a possible ear infection.  Doh!  Poor girl. She's on antibiotics now and is starting to feel better.

Today I took Seraph in to the doctor, too. (Her post-hospital follow-up visit.) Seraph has an ear infection, too!  OK, so how did I not see this? I thought she was just cranky from the two immunization shots (flu and pneumonia) they gave her last week.  I feel just awful.

It's harder to recognize ear infections because I've never had one.  They must hurt, though, because my girls get sooooo grumpy when they get one.

I've been so careful with Seraph this week.  I don't think I could've done anything more to prevent her from getting the ear infection.  It doesn't help me feel better, but it seems like it should.

Hand Hygiene

Washing your hands is THE BEST way to fight the spread of disease--including colds and flu.


How to Wash Your Hands:
1. Wet hands (use warm water if possible)
2. Soap (apply liquid or bar soap to hands)
3. Wash 15-20 seconds (Rub hands together. Remember to rub around/under your fingernails and in between your fingers) (15-20 seconds = the time it takes to sing the ABCs song once or the Happy Birthday song twice.)
4. Rinse
5. DRY (Use a clean towel/paper towel)
6. Turn off the water with the paper towel/towel or your sleeve.
(7. Use paper towel or sleeve to open bathroom door before throwing the paper towel away.)


Click here for a hand washing poster


The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) put together this video about hand hygiene:


I love the beginning of the video where animation shows bacteria spreading. Gross. I wash my hands before eating, after going to the bathroom, before fixing food/meds, after coming home from anywhere, and after changing diapers. I always forget to wash up after handling money. Someone needs to invent germ-resistant money!


My friend came home from her first day at the cadaver lab. The lesson had been on hand washing. She was so grossed out - thinking about all the germs on everything. She washed her hands like crazy for months. I wonder if she still washes her hands correctly.

Staying Home for the RSV/Flu/Swine Flu Season

Flu/RSV season is upon us again!  Last year, staying in to protect Seraph and Angel from getting sick nearly drove us crazy.  This year I'm more prepared.  Yes, we really stay home as much as possible until Spring.  No, we don't pull our daughter out of school or Haqon out of work.  We do keep hand sanitizer at the front and back doors.

I tried getting my family to wash their hands each time they came home.  No one remembers.  Besides, most people don't wash their hands correctly.

My kids devoured their Halloween Candy this year.  S Bear went to bed with a tummy ache. I forgot to take pictures of everyone in their costumes - oops.

Seraph and Angel are both feeling better today.
My favorite Angel moment today:  She was looking in the fridge and said, "Jinkies".
My favorite Seraph moment today: She was sitting up and rolled her shoulders up and down to get D Finch to giggle.

Happy Halloween!!

Mom: Don't drop your lollipops on the floor!  They'll get dirty.
Strong Bear:  It's OK, Mom, Angel will eat them.

This is Seraph's first Halloween at home.  She has a cute Hershey's Kisses costume (somewhere) to match Angel's costume.  Maybe it'll turn up....heh

Seraph is Home!!

Seraph came home last night.  Angel kept giving her kisses.  It was soooo cute!  Rabbit couldn't stop squealing.  Bear patted the twin's heads and told them they're sooo cute.  Finch showed the girls toys.

Every time I look at Seraph, she's smiling.  It's nice to have her home :)

What Are You Doing?

Strong Bear: Mom, what are you doing?

Mom: I'm plucking my eye brows.

SB: Oh. Does it hurt?

Mom: Yep.

SB: Do you want to stop, Mom?

Mom: It doesn't hurt very much.

SB: Whew!!!

One more day...

Seraph's doctor has OneMoreDay-itis. She's been telling me 'one more day' all week.

Seraph looks great. They need to adjust a few more calories in and diuretics out before she can come home. They need to double check her meds with her cardiologist on Monday. I'm telling myself that she'll come home Tuesday while secretly hoping that she'll be coming home Monday.

Picture Me Home Soon

Ain't No Sunshine

Seraph has a cold. No, she didn't catch it at the hospital. Her hayfever can turn into a cold when the snot isn't suctioned out regularly. When she was dehydrated, she didn't have any snot. When the snot started up again, it all ran down her throat before we noticed it was back. Boom cold.

She's having some minor rehydration issues - sodium levels and feedings.... They're not sending her home as soon as we'd hoped. She'll be in the hospital atleast 3 more days.

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Time crawls when she's gone. She's bloated and feels yucky. When she sees me, she bursts into tears - telling mommy all about it. They draw blood every few hours. She is unhappy. No happy feet. No smile. No blowing kisses. Her best moments are chewing on various cords that are too attached to hide from her.

Heart beat - strong. Oxygen levels - low side of normal on room air. Temp - normal. Respiratory rate - normal for her. She's OK. She's OK.

I want to give her comfort. I hold her. I rock her. I show her videos on my phone's tiny screen. "It's Jake's Birthday Party!! Everyone say Hi....." She watches ...but from a fog. Remember your family. She remembers. Your family loves you. She knows.

She still likes songs and resting in mommy's arms. She rests her head on my shoulder - collapsing into me in depression or exhaustion or both. She likes examining her hand. She sucks on her thumb. (wow - that's new!)

The nurses give her Tylenol because she's agitated. Mommy tells them to cut off the tape holding her IV. It is too tight now that she is bloated. She doesn't need the Tylenol now.

I want to hold her forever, but need to go. She's asleep. I gently put her back in her crib. She wakes...knows I'm leaving...screams. I'll be back, sweetie. I'll come see you again. Mommy loves you.

Home. It's late. The kids are in bed. It's quiet. Really quiet. No hum from the oxygen compressor. No slurping on toys. No blowing kisses. No grunting to reach a cool toy. No rattle, no giggle, no coo. No happy feet thumping the floor. No cry for help.

Empty med syringes from 2 days ago (the last time I gave her meds) lie in her crib. I should wash them out. I don't. Cords from her feeding pump drag on the floor. Useless. Her crib looks wrong. Too empty, too cold. I feel anger. Odd. Shouldn't I be sad?

I become busy. Email. Bills. Straightening clutter.

Midnight. I stop myself half-way to the sink. Oh. I'd been on my way to draw up her 12 o'clock meds. I'll call her. 15 rings later, the nurse answers. "I forgot to tell you...." The nurse pretends no detail is too small to be important. I ramble. She needs classical music to sleep. No purple blankets. Ear thermometers instead of underarm ones. Saline drops in her nose. Mint balm on her lips. Pat her tummy. Don't touch her head...

I run out of questions. I have no more advice. Seraph is asleep. I thank the nurse. She says, "I'll be up all night. If you remember something else or can't sleep or just want to check, please call me again." Always please - like I'd be doing her a favor.

Sometimes I call again.

I miss Seraph. Our hearts are connected.

Graduated from the PICU

Wow...the hospital is being extra cautious right now. They're treating each patient as wildly contagious until tests prove otherwise.

Anyway, Seraph moved out of ICU today. She's fluid positive now...but they don't want to start her diuretics yet just to be sure she doesn't flip back to dehydrated. Yes, it's a fine line....they do a pretty good job. :)

Seraph's trip to the ER

So...

Yesterday we switched Seraph to toddler formula (with real milk) for 2 feedings. Her nutritionist wanted to see if her tummy could handle milk. The answer is NO WAY!!

She had really bad diarrhea for hours afterwards. She spiked a fever (101) that went down with Tylenol. Around midnight she calmed down and slept.

Somehow her g-tube broke during all of this.....so, while we were sleeping, her g-tube was leaking. So, she basically missed all her night feeds, too.

We took her to the ER for dehydration. She was sooo purple. Dehydration really affects her heart and the way it pumps so everyone in the ER was really freaked out and ordering tests like crazy to see how bad it was. Some of her tests suggest that she might be sick and that her heart might be doing funky things. (that test came back already--her heart is NOT doing funky things...it was something else that they've fixed.)...

So, she's in the PICU tonight. Rehydrating. Having tons of blood drawn. They'll know for sure in a couple days if she's OK to come home. She should be rehydrated enough by tomorrow night that they can address her g-tube issues and switch her back to normal (non-milk) feeds.

They did NOT have to intubate her....When we got to the ER they had to put her on 10 L of oxygen...but by the time we left the ER her stats were normal on room air.

I miss her like crazy and wanted to bring her home with me. I love/hate the hospital right now. Mostly I'm worried that she'll pick up some bug/flu while at the hospital.

Milky Ways..

Seraph seems to be allergic to milk. We let her try Angel's food. It didn't go well. I'm gonna stay up with her a while tonight to make sure she's sleeping well.

They want to switch her to a toddler formula. I think we'll go with the soy based.

Anger Management Parenting....

I found this cool link today:

http://www.k-state.edu/wwparent/courses/fireworks/

On a somewhat related note....

I fell asleep on the couch this afternoon and woke to find Strong Bear spraying water from the kitchen faucet onto the floor at full force. When asked why he was doing it, he replied, "We wanted to splash." (I love you, Bear.)

I was angry. After the mess was cleaned up, I went outside. I called my brother who helped me calm down. I later learned that calling another adult to vent is a recognized stress management technique. Yay. I just knew I'd feel better after talking to him. Thanks, Juice.

What do you do for anger management?

Bear

Strong Bear: Mom, I said that Finch was cool because she wanted to be cool. Is that OK?

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Strong Bear was playing Word Girl. He was being like the birthday girl who says "mine mine mine!!" and grows bigger every time she is mean. He was standing tall on a chair and we kept trying to trick him into doing something nice so he'd grow smaller again. He wouldn't do any of the nice things. Finally we asked him what nice thing he wanted to do. "I'll be reverent." Then he frowned, looked down, folded his arms and sat down.

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Strong Bear [to Beautiful Rabbit]: It's OK because we're supposed to be friends and I like you.

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When Bear and Rabbit started fighting at dinner, Bear stopped fighting and asked Rabbit to say something silly. When she didn't, he told her what funny thing to say to make him laugh: "hello, corn. I love you, corn. Bye bye!!

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Strong Bear: I can't do it!

Mom: yes you can, go like this...

Stong Bear: Oh yeah! hehehehehe

Tis the season...

I've been feeling yucky. I think I need to trade in my body for a new one. Ya know when you replace your cell phone's battery because it won't hold a charge. Yeah, I'm like that. Maybe I'm solar powered. It's been awfully cloudy lately.....

An Older Strong Bear

This is what Strong Bear will look like when he's old enough to grow a gray mustache! Every day he says something that cracks me up. He loves being silly. I wish I carried around a recorder so I could catch all his silliness. I tried to video his happy dance....but it's not quite the same when he knows I'm recording it. I'll try again in a few days :)

Road Trip!

Hahaha....no, not across the country or even across town. We just went to the doctor's office :) Angel and Seraph are both in front-facing seats now. Seraph LOVES it. Angel was beat up from her immunizations. They've both been doing well - no fevers.

New Neighbors?

They built the roof on our neighbor's house today. When they were building our house, we used to drive by once a week to see the progress. Early on, we met our future neighbors across the street. I started looking forward to seeing them as much as I looked forward to seeing the progress on our house.

Every time a car slows down near the construction, I wonder if it's our new neighbors. No one has stopped yet, though.

Delightful Finch and Strong Bear love to sit in their window and watch the guys and their big trucks. I'm always getting after them to keep the window closed and not stand on the window sill. Bear protects Finch by yelling at her to stay down when I'm not there.

Yesterday Strong Bear saw a cool car with smoke decals painted on the sides near the front tires. He said, "Mom! Mom!! That car is so cool to me. I like that stinky car."

Kisses!

Seraph heard this video and started blowing kisses again. It's her favorite sound to make. She's started tucking a knee under her tummy and pushing herself forward when she wants to go somewhere. She's crazy mobile when she's not attached to her feeding tube.

The twins had their 15 month check up today. Yes, shots. Poor things. Everything else went smoothly. Doc OK'd Seraph's switch to toddler formula and Angel's switch to whole milk. Seraph has been losing weight (cuz she's so active now). So, we switched back to a high calorie diet.

I think Angel wants to be a baby kangaroo (so she can get carried around all the time!) but I think the twins will be Hershey's kisses this year for Halloween.

Nap Time!!

Angel fell asleep at lunch. She was balancing perfectly for about 5 minutes. Then she started tipping. (Hmm....it seems like there's a story about Grandpa I could insert here..) We rescued Angel and tucked her in on the couch. Grandma thought that was a great idea. So, she snuck in a nap, too. The couch is soooo comfy for naps!

Seraph had a great day despite her owie (a split lip that keeps re-splitting...poor girlie). She sat up by herself during about half of her speech therapy session today. I hope she does it again for her physical therapist in a few days. Afterwords, she was sleepy sleepy and took a good nap.

Brrrrr.....break out the sweaters!

The kids worked hard on our Autumn wall. I love the way the colors turned out. Beautiful Rabbit caught Dad at the door and made him close his eyes. I caught his expression when he opened them and saw the Autumn wall. I'm glad he likes it cuz it's right next to his computer - hehe :)

Angel fell asleep under the table before we finished taping it up. I love this 'play til you drop' age :)

Today didn't turn out like I'd planned....

Plan: flu shots for the kids
...I guess lots of other people had that same plan yesterday - they were out of shots today - doh!

Today was nice, though. Sometimes when I walk in the room, Seraph surprises me. She makes sounds I didn't expect to hear from her voice...or she looks extra tall in her toy saucer. She blows me kisses or beams one of her huge smiles at me. Somewhere along the way she switched from not wanting anyone to touch her to needing her mom to hold her.

Today she had her first trip in a front-facing car seat. She sat wide-eyed with her head leaning so far to the left I worried about her neck muscles. Then I realized she was just looking out the front window.

She melts my heart.

Call Me Sneezy

I'm hoping it's just allergies. Strong Bear, Angel, and I have runny noses. The kids are all getting their flu shots tomorrow (Sexy & I got it last week).

Last year Beautiful Rabbit had a huge fit because the nurse didn't wait for her to be ready. Yesterday she let me in on a little secret - it didn't really hurt. I'd been dreading her flu shot all year! She hates shots but loves protecting Seraph. The other kids are too young to know they can complain about it.

Beautiful Rabbit is out of school for fall recess. I'm sad 'cuz it won't be much fun with me walking around sneezing and wanting to stay inside. So far she hasn't noticed - spent the day reading 2 books she loves. Tonight she went roller skating with friends. Phew!

Seraph's ST wants us to start reading board books to Seraph. She's eating really well lately. She leans towards the food and opens her mouth when it gets close. She still likes to be in control of the spoon after it's in her mouth, but she lets me put it all the way in most of the time now.

Angel is teething - 4 molars at once.

We're dry walling the basement this weekend. It'll be nice for the twins to have their own room. Yay :)

It's no Wonder that it's Autumn I Adore!

Delightful Finch and the Red Balloon

New House in the Closet

The tub guy left a huge box in Beautiful Rabbit's closet. It's too big for Delightful Finch to climb into by herself. Luckly it came with a side door :)

Time to Eat

We got new spoons for the girls. Seraph started opening her mouth when the spoon with food approaches. Wide. Wide enough for food to enter her mouth. Willingly. I know how it sounds, but she has soooo many oral aversions. Sometimes simple things are the most amazing.

After the food was gone, Seraph shared her bowl with Angel. Angel (copying mommy) pretended to feed Seraph food from the bowl....and Seraph let her!

Sharing

New Places to Hide

Angel

Seraph

Angel with Bangs!

I love Angel with bangs! Beautiful Rabbit held her while I snip-snipped. Seraph is back to her happy self - no pain meds needed. In the video, Seraph had been eating oatmeal and started playing at feeding herself.

Enjoy!

3 Month Pass

Seraph's cardiologist wants to see her again in 3 months. I think that'll be the longest she's gone without seeing a cardiologist. Yay!

Lol...she's eating her shirt right now. She's so happy to put everything in her mouth....except food!

She took a long nap in Angel's crib today. Angel was upset at first - tried to climb in the crib. Then she realized she was free to roam and ran off to play. You could almost hear the thought click into place.

Beautiful Rabbit and Strong Bear went roller skating today with a friend. While they were gone, we cleaned B.Rabbit's room for her. Surprise! She's invited Angel to sleep in her room at night (when it's not a school night). They both slept well last night.

Delightful Finch and I went for a nice walk last night. Twice I thought I'd have to drag her home screaming, but she lead me back home on her own. :)

Pictures