Ain't No Mountain High Enough!

 

Eli and Blake had their first eye appointment at Riley Children's Hospital, since they have gotten their glasses- 2 months ago.

 

 

I was a nervous wreck.

I was stressed out, freaking out, going crazy in my mind.

All of the scary questions that went through my head 4 months ago, started coming back..

-What if their eye pressure is high again?

-What if the surgery didn't fully help them?

-What if we have to have more surgeries?

......GAh- all the What Ifs could KILL me!

 

 

Well, we got to our appointment and the boys were in really good moods! Which always helps me relax a litte- but it was still a ball of nerves.

 

The nurse quickly checked their pressure readings and it was good news!

 

Blake's eyes were reading 8 and 12!  (Anything under 15 is AMAZING!)

Eli's eyes were reading 10  and  10!

Couldn't ask for better pressures!

 

Then the doctor came in. She checked how the prescriptions looked and worked with their eyes- She said the prescriptions still look 100% accurate for both of them - we didn't need knew glasses today- but she did say that we will probably need to get new prescriptions about once a year -as their eyes change.

 

The doctor we had today was a doctor we hadn't met with yet- she told us that the surgery the boys had received 4 months ago was a new 'state of the art' proceedure.

That usually most facilities are performing a 90degree cleanage on the eye's drainage system, but the surgery for the boys was called a 360.  Meaning they went 360degrees around the "drain". She said the success rate with these 360 surgeries is about 90%- meaning that 90% of the kids that receive this surgery do NOT need to ever have another surgery!!!

AMAZING news!!

 

 

Also, she said there is an 80-90% rate in these surgeries of children growing out of glasses.

There is a little boy they are seeing that had this surgery when he was 11 months old.

After the surgery, he was given glasses with about the same prescription as Blake .. a -5.  As of today, that little boy is 6 years old and no longer has to have glasses!! 

 

So, not only have our boys' eyes been saved- and they are able to see the world like the rest of us, but there is a huge chance they might not need glasses when they get older!

How incredible.

At first we were worried about our babies being blind.

Now we are disscussing the possibility of not needing glasses for the rest of their lives.

 

I really can't stop smiling and crying! From this news!

 

 

Here are the boys waiting on the doctor!

I can't believe how identical they look!

Can you guess who is who??

Oh my little Ladies Man!

Such a cutie ;)

 

 



Sickness Is Not a Family's Friend.

 

Well, when we got home from our trip up north Sunday, we knew Blake hadn't been feeling too good, but the worst was still to come.

 

That Sunday night, he didn't drink anything from his bottle before bed- and still slept all night long.

 

He was really clingy Monday morning, I didn't think much about it, but when they woke up from their nap- Blake puked ALL over me. I had to quickly put Eli in his high chair with some food- while Blake continued to vomit all down my front. :(

 

Poor guy was miserable.

 

Luckly that was the only time he threw up- but, we found out this sickness was contagious!

 

Wednesday morning around 5am I woke up super sick- throwing up...Brad still had to go to work so I called my mama  and she came right over! -When you feel like crap, it's almost impossible to deal with 2 little boys.

My mom let me nap almost all day while she took care of the boys- then around 1pm, Brad came home...Sick.

 

(Grammy making Blake feel better)

 

Out of all the sickness in our house, THANKFULLY, Eli never once got sick.  I'm not sure how he managed that, but it's a miracle!!

 

It was only a 24 hour bug, and by Thanksgiving morning brad and I woke up, at breakfast and made our dishes to take to his family's Thanksgiving.

 

 

We had thanksgiving at Brad's cousins house and it was so great! The boys had a lot of fun playing with all of their cousins before lunch time ..

 

 

 

Once it was time to eat, it was also time for the boys to take a nap.

Brad and I put them down for a nap and we were able to eat our thanksgiving meal and hang out with family.  :)

 

Both boys have learned a few new tricks the past week!

 

Blake has learned how to share! He loves feeding Brad and I his animal crackers and if you ask him to give you a toy, he will put it in your hand!  Soo sweet :)

Also, if you put your hand up to his mouth, he will hold out a note so you can make the 'indian' noise hahah.

 

Eli has learned how to growl at Winny- it is so funny!

He is also really good at making the 'indian' noise on his own now- and he can wave 'bye-bye'!!

 

I will post the videos as soon as I can.

They are learning so quick!

They are also constantly walking around now.  I'm thinking by Christmas they will have it down well enough that they might be walking full-time :)

 

Boys just woke up from their nap!

Bye for now!

 

 

 



Christmas Time is here!..but first- Thanksgiving!

I cannot believe the Holiday season has begun!

As soon as the Election days were over, it seemed like the very next day they started showing Christmas commercials!

 

I am a few weeks behind on posts, again, so lets see if I can remember everyting ;)

 

On November 10th we were invited to Miss Maylee's 1st Birthday party!!

 

This was our first birthday party we got to go to and we were so excited!

 

 

 

So much fun! Love that little girl :)

 

 

 

I have started trying to snap some Christmas photos of the boys so I can begin editing them for our christmas cards! Here is a little preview- not finished.  It was so fun seeing the boys play with christmas lights!

 

 

 

This weekend was all of My family's Thanksgivings!!

 

Friday night we packed up and started our 3 hour drive north!

We ran into major construction and traffic which added about 45 minutes onto our drive :(

We got to Aunt Susan's and the boys (who hadn't slept at ALL during the drive) were SO happy to jump around and play! So they stayed up until about 8:30pm- then crashed hard.

 

Saturday we had Thanksgiving with my dad's side.

Grandpa  and

Grandma!

Grandpa Dexter

 

 

Then on Sunday it was my mom's side!

 

Blake finally discovered that Uncle Leon isn't scary!!

 

It was super nice having so many young kids to play and entertain the boys!

Brad and I actually got to sit down and eat a whole meal with no babies!!

 

The boys LOVE cousin Liz and she was so nice to pull Eli and Ella in the wagon!

Ella and Blake got into it over a cup.. Ella's sweet sad face :(

 

 

 

Around 4:30pm we hit the road to start our 3 hour drive home on Sunday.

After about 15 minutes, both Eli and Blake were asleep!

 

But, they only slept for about 45 minutes.

It was a fast drive home and we thought the boys would pass out as soon as we got home, but they stayed up until 9pm playing!!

I think they were just so happy to be home :)

 

 

Happy Monday and  a short work week for all!

<3



9 Months Strong!!



 

 

I can't believe the boys are 9 months old!

 To Brad and I, it feels like a miracle that we officially SURVIVED 3/4 of a year and didn't physically harm, injure or disturb the boys or ourselves! *And we didnt' go too crazy either!

Halloween was last week- our first halloween!

Brad and I had made the early decision that we did not want them to be matching. We want them to grow up with their own personalities and be able to look back on their pictures and KNOW that they are their own person, from day 1.

 

I took the boys to 'trick or treat' at Grammy's house during the day!

 

Then at night, we went to 3 houses in our neighborhood just to say hi, and called it a night!

 

Brad and I put in a scary movie, popped some popcorn and handed out candy!

It was a successful Halloween!

 

 

These past weeks the boys and I have been having a BLAST playing!

They are so happy all the time, and they are so interactive.. Everyday is so much fun now!!

9 months is by far the best age!!

 

Blake and Eli love when we read the Puppy book!

 

 

So, just for fun and fall time, I SO BADLY wanted to take a shot like this. I was determined!

I was so determined, that I made my own Orange paint for their pumpkin butts!! hahah

 

*If you were interested, the paint is just Cornstarch, Milk and Food Coloring!*

 

 

We also wanted to have a great fall Family picture and here it is!

We take all of our family pictures ourselves (to save money)

and it is such a hoot trying to get the boys to look at the camera!

What's the trick? -- Tickle Me Elmo!

 

Put elmo by the camera- push the timer on the camera, and turn Elmo on!

Voila! Little boys sitting still! :)

 

I took the boys to the park this week and it was a liiiitle too cold, so we made it a quick trip.

They had this Alligator bouncer that held 2 kids- so I carefully put both boys up on it-- and QUICKLY snapped some pictures!

 

I was sooo nervous- they kept looking over the edge, and they figured out how to make him rock back and forth-- we ended that ride pretty quickly.

 

It truly seems like every day, minute and second is a party with these kids-- don't get me wrong, they have their fussy- i'm over this- times, but they are so interested in everything, that we spend all day playing and having new adventures.

 

They realized how much fun the Animal Cracker container can be- and after about 10 minutes, they figured out how to get a cookie out of the container!!

 

 

Everyday, I spend about 30 minutes with the boys setting up a big tower made of blocks, rings and cups. And on top, we always have a plastic ball.

The goal is for them to grab the ball off the top without knocking over the entire tower.. Then they practice putting the ball back on top!Again, without knocking over the tower.

 

*It took about 1 week for them to figure out how to control their muscles and coordinating their hand/eyes - and after they do it we all Clap and Say 'Yaaay!' 'Good Job!' - Blake always claps for Eli when he does it too :)

 

Here is Blake verrrrry carefully placing the ball back on top of the tower!

 

And Eli, slowly trying to get the ball off the top of the tower!

I am so impressed with their skills! They even slowly creep up to the tower to be careful not to knock it over just getting to it! Such smart kids!

 

 

They really like it when daddy reads them their bedtime bug book :D

 

After all of this fun- I do have so Amazing, yet serious news....

 

As of 9 Months and 3 days-- My baby boys are WALKING!!!!

 

They are constanly taking off across the living room!!

It is not perfected yet, and they still seem to find crawling as a better means of getting around, they are very very good at controling their walk and try and try again!

But they are walking around so often and taking no less than 10 steps in a row, that I am making the official announcement that they are walking!

*I must say, it is really fun to 'show them off' to other people and brag about how they are walking at 9 months old!*

 

On Tuesday, 11/6- Election Day, I took the boys to vote!

 

I thought it was going to be a fun thing for the boys and I to do.. turns out we had a LONG wait ahead of us.

 

I took the boys in the wagon and had a few toys and blankets with us.

Our wait time ended up being a total of 1 1/2 hours .

Blake and Eli were simply AMAZING.

Not one single fuss, whine, cry...nothing...

Everyone in line around us kept commenting on how wonderful they were doing and how good of kids they are- and also how impressed with mom they were ;)

 

After we voted, I made SURE we got stickers!!

 

"I Voted!"

 

We are also at the super fun stage of Mocking.

 They have discovered how hilarious it is to mock noises and moves!

So, while waiting in line to vote, another baby kept screaming-- Blake thought it was SO funny to scream back at him...HAHAHAHAH I was laughing so hard..which made him laugh super hard.. everyone was rolling!

 

If we cough, the boys think it is hilarious to cough back! If we laugh super hard, they laugh too! If we buzz our lips, they buzz right back at us!

 

It is WONDERFUL watching them learn and grow!

 

I can't believe it is only 2 weeks until Thanksgiving which means it is almost Christmas time! And once it is Christmas, that means it's.... BIRTHDAY TIME.

I've been starting to plan their first birthday and am so excited! Brad and I will definitely be celebrating surviving our first full year raising TWINS.

 

AMAZING so far!!

<3