Behind the scenes

..is all the paperwork.

The babies are happy and getting really big {way too quick, I might add}. But most importantly, they are healthy little ones. Now, let me vent for a few..

So last night we tackled a massive pile of paperwork; bills, statements and EOB's.  Mainly, things to just simply file but the stack was getting far outta hand.

All EOB's.

$810,577.19

This was the amount for Luke's stay in the NICU. We received a letter that insurance had not paid their portion yet and that I needed to contact my provider.  My insurance needs to kick it in gear because an amount like this doesn't just slip by.  Or does it?? Well, after we fainted from reading the amount, we found ourselves putting this letter in the "We'll get to it later Pile" instead of calling about it right away. As important as paying all these bills really is, we neglected some of them for a little while. NOOOO, I lied. I HAVE NEGLECTED opening, reading and paying them. Sean has taken care of 99% of everything. The other smidge is my part and that's to make the phone calls before we just send off a check. Yesterday, we got a package full of EOB's. They stopped sending business envelopes when they realized how many sheets they were sending at once. Now we just get large packages full of paper. Heyuh, why your at it, just send us some Copy Paper too, we're running low. You would think insurance would find a more efficient way to do this than to send a massive stack of papers,       or not.

Have I ever mentioned just how AMAZING Sean is???? I'm so incredibly blessed to have him as a husband and best friend. He's such a go-getter. He's always pitching in for everything. He makes sure all the bottles are washed before he leaves for work each morning. The coffee pot is always full and he'll even cook a full meal after a long day at work or TAKS Camp as you may call it. It's the small things in life.. they mean so much. He really is such a good guy. He did a lot of volunteer coaching at his school this year so we are praying that he gets a coaching position next year. I'll miss the time he's away (good ol' football season) but he wants it so bad and I support that.

Found this cute poem from another Twin Momma.
(So much to look forward to.)

Two cots, two pots,
Perhaps a double pram.
And even double portions,
Of bread and jam.
Crawling about,
Learning to walk.
Mama, dada, abababa.
Starting to talk.
Four sore knees
To be kissed,
All those birthdays,
Not to be missed.
Double trouble?
Lots of joy!!!
Two smiling faces,
Sharing their toys.
All those kisses,
All those cuddles.
They’re soaking wet,
‘Been in the puddles.
Up to the bath,
Now don’t delay.
No don’t do that,
You’re not here to play.
“It’s time for bed”,
And they just grin,
Such are the joys,
Of having twins…..

This was from a few days ago; sportin the short-alls.

Happy Thursday!

I'm getting pretty bad about..

updating on the boys. My apologies.

These two little 12 pounders are keeping me quite busy, to say the least.

They're still sleeping really good at night, (at least 7 hours each night). However, one of the swings is getting really low to the floor. The two swings were given to me so there's no telling how heavy the other babies in them were so I don't wanna take all the blame for the low riders. The boys don't seem to mind that they're slowly getting closer and closer to the floor. Hey..if they break'em, it makes for a shorter fall, right? Kidding! We have to start the whole crib sleeping again before it gets too late. I've started laying them in their cribs each day for awhile. I'm hoping they'll get more comfortable with sleeping on their backs. Ohh reflux, We're sick of you!

Have you ever tried to make the ever-growing pile of laundry look "neat"? Because if the pile looks nice, then you don't feel as bad about avoiding it. (I think I've posted a ton of times about my laundry procrastination.)

The boys are really grabbing on to more things now. They're also becoming a lot more vocal. Speaking of vocal, on Channel 8 News this evening they showed a clip of 17 month old twins talking in their own little language. It was so cute. Here it is! I envision this oh so soon.
http://www.examiner.com/net-buzz-in-national/talking-baby-twins-video-has-created-a-buzz-video

thanks Sherry! 

This is my last week at home before I return back to school for 9 weeks.

In the buff

they love being naked, what can I say?

and they love being right next to each other.

They're working on rolling over..or they're trying pretty hard. I'll probably miss it when it happens because I'll be back at work in a week.

They love being in their daddy's arms.

just a month and a half ago, they were so tiny

Baseball Ready!

Luke, Carter

Sportin' the green

The boys are not sportin' any green today but Sean and I sure are. The boys are still so in-between on sizes so it's incredibly hard to find stuff that fits them right now. So, no green.

The babies are growing and developing right on track!!

The boys had their 4 month check up yesterday and the doctor was so impressed with their growth. They got their second round of immunizations today. Picture this: one baby, two nurses, two little legs, two syringes, 1-2-3 Go! Okay, if I wasn't clear enough there, they each got their two shots at the same time. Ouch! They cried real hard for about two minutes and then they were completely silent. Carter weighs 12 pounds and Luke weighs 11 pounds 6 ounces. They were both meausring around 21-22 inches long. They've been smiling more and more every day. They have both started grabbing our shirts, hair, necklaces..anything within arms reach. The doctor said Luke seems like he is ready to roll over and they've both been trying. The boys are still sleeping at night in their swings which is awesome because last night, I put Carter down at 10pm and he woke up once at 5am so I turned his swing on and he was back asleep until 8am. A whole ten hours of sleep, can you believe it? We couldn't. Luke was awake at 2am and then 9am, which is still great. I'm going to hate the days that we start weening them off the swing-sleeping.

Today, they got a shot again. This one was for RSV. The doctors haven't seen many cases of RSV this season so I'm hoping we are clear from catching that.

God is good. We are so thankful for all of our blessings.

I'm off to get a massage, a pedi and a mani.

Me and the boys. Not sure that we will EVER get a picture with two full smiles..

We found the trick!

We know they love their swings, but we didn't realize just  h o w  much they LOVE their swings.

The last four nights, Sean and I have gotten a consistent 5 hours of sleep! We put them down around 10:00pm, they wake up around 3-3:30am, we give em' a bottle and BOOM they're BACK TO SLEEP for about 2-3 more hours and we start our day around 7am. I'm doing the happy dance over here because this Mama is HAPPPeeee!

No more sleep apnea in this house!

More reasons to be HAPPY:

Spring Break is within hours for all of my near and dear Educator friends/family/hubby. (I can't wait until the boys are a little bigger and we can actually plan and take a "family vacation" Wow, that sounds crazy saying...that's something we always did with Mom and Dad.. this time the tables are turned. Yikes--we're Mom and Dad now! Well, maybe Nana and Grandpa will have to tag along for ol' times sake.)

My substitute pulled off  the big ol' Art Night last night which I hear and saw pictures that it went well.

A really sweet and generous childhood neighbor of mine (and still to my parents) got us one of our HIGHCHAIRS! 

And cheers to a yummy cup of coffee!

Have a great Friday.

Call me crazy..

but I have a              teeny                     tiny                     feeling


that Carter has something wrong with his left eye..or maybe even his right eye. I suppose their little eyes are still developing in many, many ways but if there's something wrong, I'm on it!

I did some research and this seems to sum it up.

                 Strabismus refers to misaligned eyes. If the eyes turn inward (crossed), it is called esotropia. If the eyes turn outward (wall-eyed), it is called exotropia. Or, one eye can be higher than the other which is called hypertropia (for the higher eye) or hypotropia (for the lower eye). Strabismus can be subtle or obvious, intermittent (occurring occasionally), or constant. It can affect one eye only or shift between the eyes.

..hopefully I'm just overreacting.

We go to the doctor on Wednesday, so we'll see if we need to visit an Optometrist.

I went through some pictures...take a look. What do you think?

 

 Isn't he so precious though???

 I'm so lucky he has a twin.

Because this lil' guy is just as cute.

Oh Soy!

We're going to give this new Soy formula a few more days. Both babies have been experiencing one feeding each day that they just struggle with big time. They appear hungry but after a few big swallows they just cry...straighten their little legs and arch their backs. Some days, this happens twice and I just feel for the little guys because I'm not sure if it's the reflux acting up, major constipation or the formula itself. If this formula fails, we're headed toward a much more expensive kind, eek!

I've tried giving them warm water and apple juice to help with constipation but it's really not pushing things through their little bodies. They are so incredibly gasey and they appear to be in pain for as many little toots as they pass. Alright, so don't you feel for the little guys?

How about now?

What else is new? I ordered announcements and received some for Dylan Michael, proud parents Mike and Jill. Um, talk about a huge let down! I was so anxious opening the box only to find someone elses little bundle. Wait-to-go Simplytoimpress, hey..We aren't impressed! I'm assuming Mike and Jill got ours....

I'm definitely staying busy. It is an Endless Party, I must say. But I'm enjoying being home with them. They make these little noises when they're really comfy..it kind of sounds like huh,  huh,   huhh, I know writing a sound is just not the same and my choice of letters does not do the sweet little sound ANY JUSTICE. It's just precious. What do they call that? Onomatopoeia.

I find myself doing everything with baby in hand. I'm getting really good at it. Actually, the other night (which this is very rare, I must of had an extra Red Bull in me or something) but I made barbecue chicken, baked potatoes, broccoli and a fruit salad all while holding Carter. Suuuuper Mom! I must admit, that's only happened once since they have been home. Every evening around five or seven, we get the little fussies and it must be the change in lighting or transition of daddy coming home, dinnertime...I dunno but I heard this is a little common, eh, maybe?? But after we eat and they eat, we're all smiles again. Did you see that cool lingo I used a second ago (dunno) Doesn't it just roll off your tongue better than I Don't Know. Ha! I like it. I guess I'm texting too often and my spell check doesn't catch it. By the way.......and speaking of dinner. THANK YOU, THANK YOU if you have provided us with a meal!!!!!!!! We are sooo grateful and I cannot tell you how nice it is to have something already prepared! We already eat standing up, on the go or just simply COLD as it is. So, thank you again. We love you guys. (Especially Sean's school, Wow! What a thoughtful faculty.)

Alright, enough for today..here's what the boys are currently up to.

Do you ever feel like this?

Milk doesn't always do the body good

The boys are 4 Months Old today!!!

Well, it turns out that both boys have a milk allergy. This would explain some of the fussiness during feedings. So, I cannot nurse them anymore unless I want to cut out all dairy from my diet. We had to switch them to a Soy formula which I think is already making a difference.

The boys are starting to smile more and more. Luke is making a lot of eye contact..which makes me so excited.

Here are a few more professional photos.. Aren't they so sweet!