Finally....PiCtUrEs!

I found an old cord that works with my new camera so I could finally upload our pictures...about time because I had 350-ish pictures to upload!

Here are a few from the month of January.

Happy New Year! (gotta love the boys' ski hats and sandals):

J saw Daddy leaning on the air mattress and decided to lounge with him:

The dogs doing some early morning squirrel hunting at our new place:

Our back yard and beautiful new view of the water:

Helping us unpack...

The boys' new room:

W sitting at his new little table (which is the same table my brother and I used when I was little - 30 some years ago):

J looking cool...

W performing the infamous family nose seal:

Sharing a "moment"...with an affectionate head butt...(please excuse J's very saggy diaper)

Heart

Last week I took the boys to the hospital for a quick visit with a nurse practioner so they could refill J's breathing treatment prescription at this hospital. Over three hours, an EKG, and a chest X-ray later, we were able to go home.

I was very scared when the nurse practioner listened to J breathe for a long time and then said "has anyone ever mentioned that he may have a heart murmur?" Now, I don't know anything about heart murmurs so of course this freaked me out. She got a doctor to listen as well and the doctor then said "she has really good ears, I would not have noticed the sound if I wasn't listening for it." So they told me not to worry, that he wasn't a critically ill child or anything, and that they would go "discuss things" and be right back.

They decided he needed blood pressure tests, a pulse oximeter test, an EKG, and a chest X-ray. AND they want him to see a CARDIOLOGIST in the next two months. To say the least, this visit turned out much different that originally planned. It is a blessing that they caught this now though and hopefully it is a innocent, functional, or normal murmur.

So that is all we know for now. They told me they would call if the doctor found anything urgent on the tests...they haven't called yet...so that is good news. Otherwise, we are awaiting a letter in the next several weeks on the referral to the cardiologist. I googled "heart murmurs" when I got home and read that

Most murmurs don't mean anything is wrong. But sometimes they are a sign of a problem with the heart. Even though most murmurs do not mean anything is wrong, sometimes a heart problem can cause a murmur. The heart may have a hole in it, a heart valve may leak, or a valve may not open all the way. If your doctor thinks your heart murmur could be due to a heart problem, you will need to see a pediatric cardiologist. This kind of doctor knows a lot about children's hearts.

OK, this worries me more. I hope she is sending us just becaus he is an expert and they can tell us for sure what is going on and not that she thinks he has a heart problem.

Please send prayers that the little guy is OK. I will post updates when we learn anything more.

Moving Days...

First of all, I drafted this post almost 2 weeks ago...then paused to locate my cord to upload my pictures and I still haven't found it. So I am posting this sans pictures but with videos.


It is so nice to have our bed back! We moved into our new place and it is very quaint. It is old and quirky and came free with a "pizza hut" chandelier in the dining room, vinyl shades that sometimes fall off the wall when we release them, and a fabulous one-car carport. How could we resist?! No, other than those aforementioned items, it is a cute house that is in pretty amazing shape for as old as it is. I like the layout and I really like the galley-style kitchen. This is our first open kitchen and I can see the bay from the window. We are really close to the bay so it will be fun in the summer to walk the boys down to the little beach so they can play in the sand.

There are squirrels everywhere so the dogs are happy. Katy and Bear have less room (Geoff may have to extend the fence), the boys have a bigger room, and we still have a guest room so we welcome all visitors =)

We did some painting before our shipment arrived and we are both getting better at it. Our friend Rob came over to help (we would have still been painting if it weren't for him--thank you thank you Rob!) and he gave us some tips. We painted the boys' room blue and the living room and breakfast room in brown shades. I really like the color we used in the breakfast area...I am working on convincing Geoff that we need to paint some more rooms in that color.

The boys are doing great. Still not saying many words but making lots of sounds. I have a couple of funny videos from December that I just posted.

Some crazy things our little guys are doing now:
Climbing...everything! The outside of their crib, chairs, into the tub, onto the bed...everywhere and up anything.

Kisses...not really kisses...if you ask them to give you a kiss, they will head-butt you or put their cheek in your way so you can kiss them.

Head-banging....literally-on the floor, on the walls, on the doors, on the coffee table, on anything when they get frustrated or mad. They will bang their heads, stop, and slowly peek to see if you are watching...then continue on...

Cleaning.....out their cribs of all blankets, socks, and stuffed animals. And they make sure they throw every toy in sight into their cribs before naptime (to delay the process). Geoff went to get them from their morning nap the other day and they were laughing hysterically and W had pulled his pajama top off and threw it across the room.

Bathtime....during our move I think the boys went four days without a bath. We found them both sitting (fully clothed) playing in the bathtub and Geoff said "I think they are trying to tell us something." They really like their baths now and can reach a lot more in this smaller tub than before. Well, W pulled the shower lever on himself and J the other day and scared the bejesus (is that spelled right?) out of them. J popped right out and lunged for Geoff to grab him. Then he calmed right down and started splashing again.

Happy Holidays.....

We recently returned from a road trip to spend the holidays with Geoff's family. It was so nice to see everyone and for the boys to meet their Aunt JJ and cousins for the first time.

A family pic...

The Grandkids....(and Grandpa!)

J LOVING the stairs....here he is awaiting to be chased...for some reason, he kept covering his upper teeth with his upper lip when he smiled while we were there...

Playing at the park...still in short sleeves in December...we just can't seem to get cold weather.

Here is Grandma with W. I think his ear was bothering him bad this day...he just kept tugging on it...

Cute picture of Chloe and Matt...

Dad releasing J on the slide....

W was content to just sit on the swing...with the football of course...

They also got to go to the zoo for the first time. I think the highlight was the pigeons outside the zoo cafe. They were beside themselves with those birds so close. W made an elephant noise for the first time when he saw live elephants and they both growled when they saw the big cats.

Here is W peeking up through a tunnel...I think he looks like he is in Star Wars or Star Trek or something...

J stretching Aunt JJ's ears....

Grandma gave them their first hair cut. It was hard to cut off those cute little curls around their ears but it was getting too long-it was time. They sat patiently (as long as they were holding a toy of course) while she snipped.

First W....

Then J...

All of the kiddos really enjoyed playing with a big empty cardboard box at Christmas...playing in it...crawling on it...who needs toys!?

J playing with some new things...

The boys sitting with Grandpa...can you tell? Who is who?

W playing Santa...

Our road trip went much smoother this time and we got to visit some friends of ours on our return trip. They have a beautiful house. We had fun playing bowling and tennis on their new Wii while we were there.

We are back in our nearly empty house. Will be heading to our new home to hopefully find a new place to live on Tuesday...then back here to finish squaring away this house for our renters.

Happy New Year everyone!

Sick...again....

I have had quite the week. We had the typical week of one thing going wrong after another. All minor things but major pains. On top of that, the boys both got very runny noses right in the middle of the day (and at the same time) on Sunday. Unfortunately the cold progressed very fast and by Tuesday morning we were on our way to the doctor's office. They both looked as if they were struggling to breathe. Diagnosis: They both have ear infections and they both were wheezing. So we left with five prescriptions and we are back to breathing treatments...this time for both boys and an additional preventative breathing treatment for J. Poor little guys. We will have to postpone our holiday plans until they are well enough to travel.

I did get some cute pics of them running around our empty house before they got sick though. =)
The hooded towels always make me smile...from the back they look like little ghosts.

Jack with his crazy curly hair...

W laughing at J with his hood on...


They are just starting to make more sounds....they both are doing "choo choo" when they see a train...they both can make very funny elephant, monkey, and donkey sounds...and J pointed at the moon and said "moo" the other night.
Merry Merry Christmas!

Joy....

is being so full and content you could just fall asleep while you are eating dinner....


is looking deep into those eyes

is reading and snuggling with the boys before bed....

and seeing them when they first wake up (J busted in to their room while W was still napping..."wake up!")

is going to the park

and finally, joy is looking back to see how far they have come...I can't remember them being so tiny...look at J's little legs....


I am sitting at a card table in our now empty house. The big moving truck took it all away yesterday...except of course the computer..and the boys' cribs and high chairs and some suitcases. The boys loved running through our empty living room squealing and hearing their echoes. They make me laugh.

It is almost 80 degrees outside and I am wearing shorts and a t-shirt. I cannot believe it is December and I have had to turn the AC on a couple of times this week. If is wasn't for the Christmas music on the radio, our neighbors' Christmas lights, and a big beautiful real Christmas wreath on our door (thanks again Emily!)...I wouldn't know it was almost Christmas. I even moved the wreath to the inside of our front door so I can smell it and look at it since it is our only holiday decoration.

Not much else to report. I will be working on the house a little and keeping the boys out of trouble until we leave in a little over a week.

P.S.

Here is a video of J showing his excitement at the aquarium from our road trip.....