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Thursday, March 22, 2012

Six months old and dr. visits


Holden at the doctor's

So the boys are six months old...I know it's cliche, but it's hard to believe it's been a half a year! We had our dr. visit Monday, and it went pretty well. I'm going to post about each boy seperately, so all the "stats" will be in those posts.

We talked about feeding and sleeping schedules, and I asked a few other questions. Basically, yes they should be able to sleep through the night, but she said to feed them if they woke around 4 am or 5 am (which Holden typically does.) But since they go down around 8, that's still 8ish hours without food. So I guess I can do the night feedings for a little while longer! She talked about a nap schedule, and said that I should put them down at the same time each day, even if that meant some crying (because they'll eventually figure out, "hey, this must be time for me to sleep.") They do really well with the morning nap most days, but the afternoons seem to be less structured. She talked about them taking a two hour long afternoon nap, but I don't think we're quite ready for that yet. I still think they need three naps, because that's an awfully long time to go until bedtime. So we'll see.

Dr. Kelly with the boys at six months!
She said to go ahead with solid food, and to do two feedings a day. That will be difficult, since that adds a lot of time to our day, and we're not dropping any other feedings yet. But I suppose with more practice, they'll get faster and more excited about eating. I'm starting to feel like there's not going to be any time to leave the house to do anything between the feedings and the nap schedule!! We've tried avocado (since it's high in fat and Henry needs to bulk up!) and have to stick with that for four days to watch for reactions. I think we'll try some banana with our cereal or oatmeal after that, and Dad has some veggies ready in the freezer to try after that. :) She was a little concerned with Henry's weight, so we'll watch it and maybe bring him back for a weight check, since we don't see her again until 9 months.

Alex and I are both concerned with their skin. They both have ezcema, and on Henry it's really bad. He's started to itch more, and the steriod cream she'd given us didn't seem to be clearing it. It's hard, because I feel like we're already doing a lot (no fabric softener, scent free detergent, infrequent baths with fragrance free washes, putting on Aquaphor and lotions after baths and several days a week, etc.) and it doesn't seem to be helping. She didn't want to do anything more for them, since they're so little, so she had us go to a dermatologist.

The boys got their shots, and seemed to do ok. They were a little fussy afterwards, but it could be anything!! We still have no teeth, so it could be teething, and Henry's had a bit of a cold and a runny nose. We also snapped a quick picture with our doctor, Dr. Kelly, so we can take some with her as the boys grow! I figure it'll be cute to look back when they're going in to school and still seeing her.

So today, we went to the dermatologist's to see what she had to say. She gave us two different creams to use, and she'll see us again in a week. She said that if it clears up pretty well with the creams, then we can assume it's not allergy related. But if the cream doesn't help, we're probably looking at allergy testing down the line. She also said that a lot of babies outgrow it, which I'm hoping for, but since it runs in the family I'm guessing we won't get so lucky. She also wants us to bathe them in water (NO soap or shampoo) TWICE a day for 10-15 minutes each. So there goes the rest of my free time (wait, what free time??) We'll do our best with those instructions and see how that helps. Cross your fingers for us! I just really hope we can help Henry feel a little better so he isn't so itchy.

Lastly, here are a few pictures to compare birth/coming home from the hospital and now. (If I knew how, I'd put them in a cool side-by-side collage, but I can't figure out photoshop. Anyone know how and want to teach me?) We had the same outfits (the cute elephant ones) in newborn size, which were their coming home outfits, and then in six month size. And I included grandpa's favorite picture, them with the little basketballs. So here they are at SIX MONTHS in the same carseats and with the same basketballs. They look like giants!! :) Can't wait to see how they look at a year...sigh.
 
 
 
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Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Baby bulldogs and family fun!

A quick post because we had a busy Wednesday! Uncle Evan came over for lunch, and after the boys' nap, we headed to Butler. (He had season tickets to the regular season, but needed to buy tickets to a tournament game.) Evan thought we could "stroll" around Butler, and I was game, since the babies had never been! (And both their parents are alum!) So we put on our Butler onesies (a present from Uncle Evan and Aunt Lauren, coincidentally) and drove down! As we parked at Hinkle, I saw probably the only person I still know, my sorority sister, Lindsay! She suggested that we go see the bulldogs, Blue II and the new puppy, Trip! Lindsay told us where their owner's office was and said he liked visitors. :) So we treked over to Jordan Hall and down to the basement, and sure enough, we were lucky enough to see both dogs! The poor guy probably never gets any work done, but I guess he's used to having celebrity dogs. He was nice enough to take our picture, and Evan got to hold the puppy, Trip! As you can see, Blue II is a pro, and knew just what to do for a quick photo shoot. And the result is probably the cutest picture EVER, in my humble opinion. My mom said it'll be cute to watch the puppy grow up and become the Butler mascot and be able to show the boys this picture! The boys were great the whole time, and got lots of nice compliments on their cute Butler attire. (I think Evan was weirded out that people might think he was the dad, but oh well. :)

 
After we got home, the boys took a decent nap. Yay for mommy! Then, as if we hadn't had enough adventures for the day, we headed out again! My cousins were selling some of their kids' clothes, and since my cousin Jenni has twin boys a year or so older than my boys, I wanted to take a look at her outfits. :) (And I had a few to return that she'd loaned me at my shower.) So we headed down to Greenwood to see some family. The boys again did great in the car, even though it was a longer drive than usual. They got to see some family they hadn't met before, and enjoyed taking in all the action going on with cousins running around! I was so glad we finally got a picture with all of our kids!!! I can't wait until my boys are a little older and can run and play with the big kids. It will be so cute.
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Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Week in review

I feel like this last week was busy...I guess I may think back and find it wasn't, but it felt that way!

Sunday and Monday, I can't remember anything. Mom came over on Monday, we were able to sit out under the trees for a little bit. Pretty exciting for this early in March! The boys always seem happy and content to be outside, and it was cute to watch them roll around and kick on a blanket in our yard.

Tuesday was Mom's birthday, so I wrote about going to dinner. It was such a nice day, we got to be outside a little bit with Grandpa.

Wednesday WAS busy. Alex stayed home, since I was planning to go to a kids' consignment sale with Christie. We wanted to get there as soon as it opened to see if any good stuff was left! (The people who volunteer and consign get to shop early, so they snap up the good stuff!) I did buy a pack and play for $15, since we don't have one. It's not great, but I figure it'll be nice to take outside in the yard, or not worry about if it gets messed up. I bought a bunch of books for $1, some puzzles and toys, and a few clothes. It was a LONG line, but it was fun to be there with Christie. We saw our friend Emily, and her daughter Eleanor, who I shopped with the week before. (I did much better at this sale! :) That evening, I went to a concert to hear a former student play her solo with her school orchestra. It was great to hear her play, and she did an awesome job! (Go, Abby!) It was a lot less pressure for me this year, since I hadn't helped her prepare her solo like I did last year. :) I could just sit and enjoy hearing her instead of worrying!!

Thursday I taught my lessons and got to meet up with Laura for a bit. We got some dinner and got to catch up a little! Hopefully we'll get to see more of her soon. :)

Friday I went to support group, and then came home and had a loooong afternoon. I guess I'm used to seeing my dad or Christie on Fridays, so the afternoon felt long. Henry was especially clingy, so I walked around the yard for a while with him in the Moby wrap. They decided to stagger their naptimes, so I was trying to keep someone entertained the whole day! I called my sister-in-law Stephanie to catch up, and that helped get me through the last hour til Alex got home.

Saturday I went back to the same consignment sale with Christie. It was half-off day, so we thought it was worth a second look. (I hadn't bought many clothes the first time around, since I don't feel like paying much for boy's clothes. They're all pretty much polos and t-shirts, which are cute, but I'd much rather pay $1-2 than $3-4! Girls' clothes I'm sure are different. MUCH more selection and cute dresses in the girls' stuff!) So I picked up probably 15 things, and Christie had two bags full of girls' stuff. The line was WAY too long, and probably not worth waiting in, but again, it was nice to hang with Christie, and we talked with other people in line. That night, Grandma and Grandpa came over to babysit, and Alex and I went on a date night! It was great. :) We used a giftcard to Bonefish Grill, which was really tasty. Then we went to see the movie Friends With Kids, which was cute. Even Alex liked it a little. :) It was nice to have the boys already in bed when we got home, and Grandma and Grandpa must have worn them out, because they slept through the whole night til 8 am!! Woo hoo!

Sunday was mom's surprise party, which I wrote about in another post. It was a fun, but long day. The boys did great, and I enjoyed getting to see lots of friends and family we don't see often. By the time we got home, it was pretty much time to give them a bottle and put them to bed!

Monday, March 19, 2012

Surprise Party for Grandma!

So I know I said we went to dinner for my mom's birthday...but my dad is tricky! So that wasn't the end of the birthday fun for Grandma. :) He arranged for a huge surprise party as well! (He even got the house cleaned earlier in the week...he thought of everything!) The three pictures below are the boys' "present" to their Grandma, I put it in a three-opening frame.


 
 
 

So while mom was at church on Sunday, dad had several of her friends, Lauren and me come over to start setting up. (Lauren and Evan deserve most of the credit! They did a lot of the shopping for food and decorations, etc.) The "fun" part of setting up was that dad had made it an "Open House" type party, from 12 to 7 (yes, seven at night...) and we had NO CLUE how many people would show up! So needless to say, we had plenty of beverages. We should have taken a few more pictures of the setup, but it looked really nice! We were all worried someone would ruin the surprise, like someone at church mentioning "see you later" or me saying something about Sunday, but she was really surprised! (The family shot taken above was right before mom got to the house. I think it's a cute one! It was a really beautiful day, and hard to imagine it was 70 and sunny in the middle of March.)

Surprise, Grandma!

So here are a bunch of pictures from the day. I tried to take a lot, since I knew a bunch of people would be meeting the boys for the first time. I put them in their name shirts, given to us by our family friends in Texas, so people would know which boy they were holding! They definitely turned out to be useful. :) The boys did really well all day long, especially for being passed from stranger to stranger! They love people and being held, so I wasn't too worried about it.
We thought they would crash at nap time, and we did get them to sleep in the bouncy seats for a few minutes, but they didn't stay asleep long! They ended up taking naps on people's laps and shoulders a little later in the day. I was really excited that our family friends from Louisville would finally get to meet them! They've known me my whole life, so it was awesome to see them get to hold the boys for a while. I hope we'll see them again maybe this summer. Some of my dad's family was there, a few met the boys for the first time. And several of my mom's side of the family came, including my cousin Karla who owns the consignment shop I love to visit.
It was a great day! Lots of yummy food and great cake (from the guy who did Lauren's and my wedding cakes!) and lots of amazing friends and family. It was a beautiful outside, and the boys did really well, even though I think Henry was a little sick. I'm glad we have some pictures to remember who came.  
 
 
The extremely brief nap...

 
 


 
Holden with his "who are these people" face
 
 
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Saturday, March 17, 2012

Random Picture Post

Here are some pictures from the last few weeks, including some outside! We've been so lucky with such beautiful weather...


These two are my lucky charms! I mean, come on, just look at them! :)

Henry almost sitting up on his own!

Sleepy boy with Daddy

Look at us play in our exersaucer and jumperoo! We're almost tall enough to not need the blankets. :)
Holden
Henry


Grandpa and his boys enjoying the nice spring weather!
Henry's "come on mom, it's sunny!" face
Holden

 


Cutie
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Thursday, March 15, 2012

Grandma's 60th Birthday party!

My mom, the boys' grandma, turned 60 on Tuesday! So we went to Maggiano's to celebrate. My dad planned for some of her friends to come and surprise her, and it was a fun night! I was worried about taking the boys, but they did pretty well for the most part. They did great at first, but by 7:00 they were a little cranky. I walked Holden outside for a while, and then we decided to give them their bedtime bottles. I thought after that, they'd conk out, but not really! Alex took Henry outside for a while, and grandpa put Holden to sleep. Aunt Lauren held Henry till he went to sleep, but it was short lived! We took a group picture at the end, and both boys are awake. Then, I was SURE the car ride would put them to sleep, since it was definitely after their bed time, but we got home and they were still awake! I think they did go down ok once we got home. So for the most part the boys did fine, I'm just always hyper sensative and nervous that people are staring at us if the boys fuss. We got grandma a necklace that had her kids' and grandkids' names on it (Leah, Evan, Henry and Holden) and the boys wore their grandma onesies! ("Grandma is simply the best" is what they say.) So it was a fun evening with yummy food and good friends! Happy birthday, Grandma!


 
 
 
 
 
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