Pretty in Pink & Addy's ER Visit

The cutest patient in the ER that day!

Addy's sick and I get a chocolate doughnut--life is good for Lilly!

Jeremy left for a mancation/bachelor party weekend (more like half a week) on Thursday morning for a really good friend, John, who is getting married in July. I was happy he was going, he needs to get away every once in a while and a trip into the mountains, white-water-rafting and golfing was perfect for him. That said, I need to plan a solo get-away STAT. Anyone with me?

During the 4 days he's been gone, it has gotten progressively and uncomfortably hot in Indiana, so we've been spending a lot of time in water. Thursday was no exception, we met a friend at the Splash Park mid-day and had a blast. Addy took a spill, backwards, when she ran into another kid, but recovered quickly and I didn't think much of it. Later that day, she seemed fine even though I knew she'd have a nasty goose-egg (nothing new for her). She went down for bed fine that night, but woke up in agony on Friday. She was hysterical, the egg on her head had grown and she was refusing to walk, move her neck or do much besides cry in pain. If she laid perfectly still on my chest, she was fine, but if I tried to move her, she screamed. It was terrifying for us all. After Lilly got dropped off at Grandma Jody's and a panicky chat with my peds office, we were off to the ER. They did a CAT scan to rule out all the things my mind went to (brain bleed, spinal injury, etc, etc) and about 4 hours after she had woken up, she took her first steps of the morning. My active, crazy, run-around girlfriend was not herself and I was carrying a lot of guilt for blowing off the fall the day prior. However, the doctor reassured me that it was probably just muscular. He compared it to an adult car accident--always worse the day after. He said if she was having muscle spasms coupled with a monster headache from the swelling, it was just pain she was unfamiliar with and was more scared than anything. Thankfully, Uncle Jon was able to join us at the hospital to keep A entertained and besides a bit of a stiff neck, she seems great now!

So, we've been trying to have a few boring days to follow-up on the craziness of Friday. We are anxious for daddy to return and will keep trying to beat the Indiana heat!

All dressed up for church with Grandma Linda

All smiles!

And a bit of mischief...

Sunny Sunday....

We had a busy weekend, topped off with a 12 hour stomach bug for Ms. Lilly. It was temperatures and vomiting all night last night. Jeremy and I had flashbacks to long nights with awake babies. She slept on each of our chests for part of the night. She slept most of the day today and barely ate, but like a lightswitch, after her afternoon nap, she was fine.

Addy continues to RUN EVERYWHERE...the girl never walks. During one of her spins around the house this morning, she faceplanted on the tile and immediately got a goose-egg that resembled the last head injury--I tell you, it is always something around here!

Dancing before "school" on Friday--Lilly's dance consists of twirl after twirl after twirl until she topples from dizziness....

Addy's dance has started to resemble the Monster Mash--she mixes a bit of Frankenstein with hip-hop, it's an interesting combo, but working for her....

"Excuse me--I said I was feeling BETTER, now get the hell out of my way!"-Lilly

"Daddy's been slacking in the yard department, so he called in reinforcements..."--Addy

During Lilly's long nap, Grandma Linda was planting flowers and our neighbors (ages 8, 8 and 4) came to ask Addy to play...she was such a big girl, waved bye-bye to me and trotted off to play with the "big kids". Each time I checked on her and asked if she wanted to come home, she said "No, please". She thought was was seriously cool. She may be 2 going on 12....

Lastly, a HUGE congratulations to Brooke & Brian who welcomed twins last week. Brooke was a total rockstar, delivering both without a c-section and carrying those babies to 34 weeks--I am so proud of her!

Addy & Lilly (mommy too) can't wait to meet you, Jaxson & Dakota!

Geeky Mom/Cool Dad

This revelation came last night after a couple glasses of wine and Jeremy finding out that I was on of the women nominated for "Member of the Year" in my local twins club. The award recognizes folks for involvement in the group, but honestly, it is probably more "the biggest sucker wins". You see I'm kind of a sucker and tend to get roped into doing things not many others want to do. I planned the group's semi-annual clothing sale and spend a couple hours a month reaching out to new moms in the group, calming fears and letting them know that life does get easier. Don't get me wrong, I like being involved, it is a great group of women and I feel the group has given back to me in a lot of different ways, so it is the least I can do. I've really always been a sucker for random jobs and positions and I realized a long time ago that I needed to embrace the Geek in me and know that it is just part of who I am. The geekiness isn't just with clubs and organizations, I've always been a rule follower and didn't get in trouble much growing up. Aside from a few rebellious acts (like the tattoo at 18 and skydiving in college just to prove to myself that I was spontanious and fun) I stayed pretty straight and narrow. Don't get me wrong, I had a lot of fun, it was just, for the most part, clean fun.

Jeremy on the other hand was the cool kid--the first to plan road trips, sneak beer from his parent's fridge, skip school, etc. I say that a lot of how we got together was timing, we were both open to a relationship when we met and we clicked, he accepts my geekiness and we balance each other out. I now know that this geeky character trait will transfer into the mom that I will be. Illustrated through my involvement in the twins club, I'll probably continue on this path, volunteering for the PTA, chaperoning school trips, selling cookies for my daughter's girl scout troop and so on. This will probably make my girls crazy. Jeremy will be there to tell me when I'm overreacting or when the consequences don't match the crime, he'll probably be the one that turns the other cheek and let's them get away with a bit more than mom does. I know this because at 18 months, they already have him wrapped around their little fingers.

It will also be interesting to see if one of our daughters follows my path and one follows Jeremy's or if they end up being more similar than they are different. Only time will tell.

I decided to ramble about this because our week had nothing fun to report--four ear infections, missed our first swim lessons because we were sick, antibiotics that make the girls poop 6x a day, horrific diaper rash and it is STILL winter outside. This week will be better--bring on March!

Blogging through the Barf....

I said in an earlier post when my babies were battling reflux that there was nothing worse than a sick baby...well there is, 2 sick babies, a sick mom and a sick dad--yep, that's right, we all have some gross strand of the stomach flu (apparantly one that a flu shot doesn't prevent). Life has not been good. This all happened after I had begun to let my guard down about my toddlers going out to public places for playtime, knowing it would be a long and lonely winter if I didn't get over some of my OCD tendencies. So, we had a good 3 days--went to our Mom's Day out Program on Friday, visiting the childcare center at the YMCA while Jeremy and I worked out Saturday and celebrated Tyson's 2nd Birthday at a Run/Bounce/Jump facility in Cincinnatti on Sunday. The girls loved them all, but somewhere we caught the bug then spread it to other unexpected kids---I am so sorry!!! Anyway, not much time around here for blogging, but here are a few things I've discovered over our few days....

1. When I was registering for baby items, I remember saying to Jeremy that the recommendations at Babies R' Us listed 4 sets of crib sheets, "when on earth would you need 4 sets of crib sheets?"...last night we needed 4 sets.

2. Babies can get this weird bacteria rash on their face when they have a cold. It's from a persistent runny nose. No big deal, the doctor prescribed a tube of ointment to clear it right up-went to the pharmacy and it costs $50...when was the last time I spent $50 bucks on face cream for MYSELF?....before we had kids...right.

3. When the doctor says bland food, be very specific to your husband about what bland means--mandarin organges are not bland and if you offer a sick baby their favorite food, they will eat it and regret it later.

4. The BRAT (Bananas, Rice, Applesauce and Toast) diet really does work for upset tummies

5. No more calling in sick, Christina's blog said it well, but when you are a mom, it sure gets lonely, Monday was awful, with Jeremy at work and never feeling so bad, it's true what they say, it's lonely at the top.

6. During this hellish week, my little snot nosed, vomitting, never stop pooping, bacteria rash on the face, diaper rashed butt babies know exactly what they want....their mom...and amazingly I'm still thankful.

Happy Thanksgiving--Please pray that we are all better for some turkey!

Here are a few pics pre-plague (we never look at the camera anymore)...

Nothing a sleeve of Ritz Crackers can't fix...

So, here's the deal...Addy HATES her car seat. I've been battling this for over a month now. Everyone I spoke to was cautiously optimistic that when it came time to move from rear-facing to forward-facing, it would be a new day and she'd love riding in the car. Well, I couldn't wait, so when we were at the Doctor's last week for a second ear infection for Ms. Lilly, I had them both weighed, we passed the weight limits and I moved the seats around (yes, 2 weeks early, don't tell the car seat cops). This move coincided with the fact that I drove around a cherry red Impala for 4 days while my Pilot was in the shop from my minor ($3K in damage--thank God for insurance) fender bender that happened in the gas station parking lot...but this is a whole other story. Anyway, there wasn't an SUV or minivan for us to rent, so I took the Impala, turned the girls around and got ready for newfound freedom and peaceful driving. I was wrong, she still hates the carseat. Other advice I've gotten is, just keep driving, make sure she's in that car atleast once a day. So, we've been in the car atleast once a day. From 2 minute trips to the grocery or 2 hours to the lake, she doesn't like it. She'll alternate from a whine to a full-blown cry to a high pitched squeal. It isn't pleasant. Any advice hear? So far the only thing that works is to keep passing back Ritz crackers, but I'm not sure this is a very healthy method. Maybe we could get on a commercial....

We managed to make it up to the Lakehouse last weekend and Mallory accompanied, so here are some cute shots....still no verdict on the camera.

Back on the wagon (literally) and yes, they are still in PJ's--we were functioning on lake time.

Daddy and his girls--taken just a couple days before his 29th birthday--Happy Birthday Daddy!

"Heeeeyyyy"--Check out those teeth--Addy now has 7, Lilly has 8!

Summer Fun

We survived another week! Lilly was finally diagnosed with an ear infection and fluid in the other ear so that explained her misery. Addy had "Hand Foot Mouth Syndrome". Is it just me or do my kids get some weird stuff? Anyway, it sounds worse than it was, but no medication, it just had to run its course. Both infections seriously impacted napping and sleeping, and the girls were more needy than usual, but we survived the week and managed to have a little fun. Both girls seem to be on the upswing. Here are some pics from our last week.

"Mom-daddy said if my ears still hurt I could sleep in here and watch whatever I want on TV"-Lilly

"Maybe a country club with pool boys is in our future"-Mallory Cahill

"It's kind of like bathtime, but we're outside, what the hell?"-Lilly

"Lilly and Mallory are busy with the boys-but I'm ready for my photo shoot"-Addy

Oh, yea and the first sign of HFM in infants is a loss of interest in solid foods. Here is Addy's illustration of the symptom. Textbook, eh?

5 Months and We Caught A Bug...

I promise you that they smile and laugh, just rarely when the camera is taking their picture! Oh, and let me tell you their laughs are enough to melt your heart. The other day I was taking them both to daycare and Addy was cracking herself up in the backseat and I was crying laughing just listening to her. Addy has this throaty sound that makes her sound like a stalling lawnmower and Lilly, well, she's got this pitchy squeal with the occasional snort.

Lilly caught a bug earlier in the week and was throwing up for a couple bottles, but a good night sleep made her all better the next day. Well, yesterday the same happened for Addy and we thought she was fine today, so we took them to daycare this morning only to get the call that she'd been "kicked out" because she'd thrown up 2 rounds of bottles there. After talking to my pediatrician and realizing it had been over 12 hours since we'd had a wet diaper, they were concerned about dehydration, so we took her in. We were there for almost 3 hours, literally feeding her clear liquids, waiting for her to pee. After a couple episodes where it didn't stay down, if finally went through her and she actually peed all over me and then gave me, the doctor and dad that lawnmower laugh. So, thankfully we averted having to go to the hospital for IV fluids and luckily we have Grandma Jody on call to assist us tomorrow, so I don't have to take a day off work. She'll be good as new in no time. While we were at the doctor's we were commended on the fact that we made it to the 5 month mark and they are just getting their first "real" illness...

While there, we also put our babes on the scale...

Addy--15.25 pounds
Lilly--17.5 pounds

Lilly, snuggling with boyfriend Jacob Dumas