On the other side

It has been a long couple of weeks. The children had colds, which turned into ear infections. So we are now on antibiotics - their first medication (besides Zantac). When we finish that, we'll have their four month checkup! Wow - time goes so fast. One night, the babies slept til 5:45. It was a dream. Unfortunately, it hasn't happened again - but there is always hope!

They have really grown over the last few weeks. They all coo and smile. They love to watch the mobiles and lying on the activity mats. Each have their distinct interests. Daniel LOVES the mobile, while Emily LOVES the mirror. She'll talk to the mirror for up to an hour. She smiles and coos. I guess she wants another girl around. I'm holding Nathan right now. He loves to get up before the others an hang out with me one-on-one. He also cannot get enough food. Since he surpassed his brother, he is on a race with himself. He stares at things with such intensity that he looks so serious. Then he gives a big grin.

We've been using the can of formula with rice starch, but we're switching to the rice cereal in regular formula today, so it will be interesting to see how they enjoy that. I can't believe we are already at rice. How do they grow up so fast! I need to take more pictures. I got a great video of Emily talking to herself yesterday but I can't put that up. I'll put up more pictures next week for their 4 months.

3 months

The babies are officially 3 months old tomorrow (2/7). We can't believe it! How does time fly so quickly. Each and every day the children seem so different. There are always the trends - Daniel wakes up first, no matter how far apart we put them in the crib they end up touching, and they love being held. But they do smile a little more now. They are beginning to love the changing table as they know food is next. They all can roll from their tummies to their backs, not intentionally, but they all do it. Daniel has his wettest burps when the burp cloth is not touching him. They seem to grow every day. They all focus more on people and objects, especially Daniel. They all can turn their heads towards something. They are also making noises and coos. They also haven't had any low heartrates on the monitor lateley. I think I saved the best for last!

Veroniuq has been fabulous. She really loves the children and has fit in to our home very well. We really want her to feel a part of the family. I will admit that I was offended when the guys at Best Buy talked to me like I was her MOTHER....I am definitely NOT old enough for that.

I hope you like the pictures. In the group picture, they children in order are Nathan, Emily, and Daniel. Individually, they are Daniel, Nathan, and Emily. I do have some good smiling pictures, but they were at a weird angle.

Dr. Update

Hi all,

Things are going really well here. We are on and off again awake, exhausted, tired, etc....but Will has been absolutely amazing. He really allows me to get a little sleep when needed in the evenings.

We came back from the doctors and wow - the babies are growing. The boys are now 10 lbs (Nathan is now 3/4 oz bigger than his brother) and Emily is 8 lbs 6 oz. She feels like NOTHING compared to them. They will be 3 months next week (2/7) and are almost a month past their due date. It's really neat to see them focus on us and on objects. They all roll from their tummies to their back - but usually when they are restless or not happy.

The doctor is really pleased with their growth. We are now working on increasing their feeding and sleeping times. They now do a good 4 hour period in the middle of the night, but we would like to increase that to 6 (or 10 in my ideal world). They are still in the same crib, and it is so cute. We put them apart, but when we check on them, they are all cuddled together (sometimes sideways)....I will hate when we have to separate them.

With Veroniuq here, we are now under as much of a schedule as we will ever be. We would love visitors but we are not allowed children visitors until April (as per the doctors orders - due to the RSV risk). We consider children 12 and under.

Feel free to write comments and leave feedback. Rachel gave good feedback, telling me to label the children...so on the post below - Emily is obviously first, Daniel is second, and Nathan is third!

General Update

Hi!

While my parents were here, we tried for 2 weeks to get a good day to take pictures. Finally, we found the day and the time when all three were awake and in clean clothes. But the children weren't always as cooperative as we hoped for pictures. We tried lots of things (sticking the pacifier in until right before the picture - which left the child who had it making an "O" with his/her mouth. It was actually quite comedic. We should have taken a movie of our taking pictures! I'm uploading a couple of them for you to see!

Veroniuq came on Thursday night. Poor girl, her flight was late and she was exhausted when she got here! We're so happy to have her! She is from South Africa and will be in future pictures if she approves! She has really taken to the children, loves to hold them, and she is willing to do anything!!! She is fabulous (and hasn't even been here a week yet). She'll get to meet the other au pairs in the area in two weeks and I think she'll like the opportunity to make friends.

We go tot he doctor tomorrow, so we'll have another post soon with their weight gain! We think Daniel might be 100 lbs! (or else he just feels that way at times).

Weather

It has been cold in Atlanta! We had to take the children to the doctor last week, and I am attaching a few pictures of the angels all bundled up and of our house with SNOW! Thanks, Debbie, for the hats and gloves! I'm also attaching pictures of our house with snow. We haven't had snow in the two years we have lived here! My parents, who have become full Floridians, did not appreciate all the snow we had just for them! Though, they look cute all bundled up!

Update for the week

Hi all,



This week, we took our children to the pulmonologist for their RSV shots. The doctor in the office was amazing and discussed their full health history and current condition. She agreed with all the doctors we had that we were lucky to make it to almost 32 weeks and our babies are in excellent condition. We count our blessings every day.



Their shots hurt, but they had no side effects. Since the shot is not a vaccine, but an antibody, there should be no side effects. They will have two more shots this season (February and March).



The boys had their monitors uploaded, and they have had no incidents of low heartrate or not breathing. Yea!!! I didn't upload Emily because we did it last week, knowing she had had a few incidents and wanting the doctor to have the report. He is not concerned, but he wants to keep them on monitors for a while longer. Since they like to sleep on their tummies, we are happy with that.

The children were able to look out the window this week and see their first snowfall, but unfortunately, they did not appreciate it! They are enjoying their time with Grandma and Grandpa!

Welcome

Welcome to the Share's blog. We are slowly adding our friends and family. This is relatively new for me. Please add this to your favorites and check it at your convenience. I play to update every 1-2 weeks, so feel free to check it to see how our babies are doing!

If there is anyone else who is interested in keeping up to date with our angels, please email me their information. I will be happy to add them to the list, but I didn't make it open to the general public.