18 months!!!

Better hurry and jot these memories down since they will be 20 months soon! ha

ahhh 18 months...its quite a challenging new phase we are in....but absolutely one of the best so far too. I know I have said this a million times...but they are their own person! They are so different - different likes, dislikes, personalities, habits, patterns...but they blend together perfectly. I am so thankful to God for blessing me to see my kids -side by side- develop into the person God created them to be. Its so fun to see how very different girls and boys can be! And I still say it is both a blessing and a curse to have the other one to "compare" to. I don't say that to mean I constantly compare who does what better, I just mean it has been a blessing to be able to see when one of them is falling behind (Caden not crawling/walking/pulling up) so we could intervene in a timely manner and sometimes a bit of a curse when one is pulling ahead in an area (Jenna pointing to objects in books a few weeks before Caden started too). Its just a constant reminder that they see, hear and learn differently and it is exciting to think about how they will keep us on our toes through the years!

Jenna continues to be my dominant personality, fiercely independent and picks up on new things very quickly and easily. Due to her obsession with books the past few months, she can point out a huge variety of objects in a book. It is probably around 30 - 40 objects, animals, and things she can point to when you ask her to. As far as words go, she clearly says and means: dada, juice, fish, snake, tree, all done, airplane, ball, throw, uh-oh, bye bye and we think we have heard a "nana" a couple of times, but can't get her to say it on demand. She can point out the letters "O" and "S" and tell you what sound they make thanks to Aunt Caitlin and Uncle Jason for buying us our letter foam mat. And yes, notice what word is not up there...she refuses to say "mama". She will look at me and point to me when asked, but say it? forget it. sigh.

She is extremely clumsy when it comes to walking around peoples feet. Whether your sitting on the couch or floor, she doesn't seem to comprehend depth perception and clearing your feet. She is a tough cookie though....never really crying when she falls down. Simply says "uh-oh" and pops right back up. She loves new places and people....walking right in to the nursery or museum or playplace. She has a hilarious horse gallop when she is "running." Don't ask her to do anything very athletic with a ball .... for the most part. She is not interested in shooting basketball, kicking or catching the ball. However, she can side-arm a bullet of a throw! Watch out if your around her and she is holding a ball. She is strong as an ox. She can pull up, push up, and jump very advanced for her age. With all of Caden's therapy visits, I have learned and have the developmental guide booklet that Physical Therapist use for determining childrens' developmental age. (so if you have a question about something...haha ask me! I have the guide right here!) Anyway, she is definitely advanced in quite a few physical motor skills.

Caden is my passive personality, very cautious and does NOT like change. Period. He has recently, in the past few weeks picked up on the phenomenon of books - most likely from following Jenna and what she is doing. Because of that, he is now able to point out a few things in the book and repeat sounds. His recognition of items is probably 10 or so consistently. He doesn't like to point to the item, he likes to bang on the book like a drum so you can see why we have trouble narrowing down our focus on the one item :) As far as words go for Caden he consistently says: all done, airplane, uh-oh, bye bye, fish, dada, baba (which is mama!!!!yea!!!), papa, ball, and throw. He can make the sound of the letter "O" and "S" but doesn't go pick it out or point to it. He cries everytime we drop him off at nursery for 5 minutes....every time, then calms down. He follows Jenna's lead in play time about 70% of the time. He is really toughing up when she comes over...he used to wig out that she was in his bubble, but now they play together pretty well!

The twins are obsessed with our digital photo frame. They walk up to it and watch the pictures scroll through, pointing to different people and talking in their own little language! Adorable!

Caden is my all American boy when it comes to a ball. He LOVES any ball there is. If there is one in a room, on a bill board,, on a sign in the store...he can laser focus in on it. Ive posted pictures and videos of him with his basketball...he is very talented we think! While he is behind in alot of physical motor skills due to his weak joints, he is very advanced in "object manipulation" i.e., doing different things with a ball: throwing a variety of ways, kicking, rolling, catching etc... When we had him tested in March before our move, he was doing things that should start at 36+ months. Yea Caden! This is definitely his area to excel and shine in. He is getting faster with his running and strength in his legs so I have no doubt in a couple of years time he will be all caught up! He LOVES to wave at people. Every time he sees a car...parked or moving, he waves. He often walks up to people and puts his hand straight up and waves. Precious!

As far as their schedule goes...we have a rock solid one! Its the only way I could have survived with the twins and I am SO thankful we were very tough sticklers to forming their schedules. Our day is typically:

7:30 - 8:00 am wake up
8:00 - 8:30 am change clothes and breakfast
8:30 - 10:00 am play with toys, read books, run errands (not recently since I've felt so bad!)
10:15 - 10:30 am go down for morning nap. (yes my kids still take two naps - VERY thankful!!!)
10:30 - 11:15 am nap ( I have to wake them up after 45 minutes if we want an afternoon nap)
11:15- 12:00 pm watch price is right while mom fixes lunch, eat lunch, clean up :)
12:00 - 2:30 pm play, go outside with water toys, run errand, "help" mom with chores around house
2:30 - 3:30/4:00 pm afternoon nap
4:00 - 5:00 pm snack and wait for Daddy to get home!
5:00 - 7:00 pm dinner then play with Daddy, go for walk around neighborhood, bath if needed, change, read nigh time books, cuddle
7:00 pm - good night!!!!

We had a huge, monumental life happening at 19 months....Jenna bit the top of her paci off. Thankfully, we found it on the floor so we didn't have to worry about her swallowing it. It was amazing to see her immediate disinterest in it...all she wants to do now is hold on to it like a luvy. Caden waited 2 or 3 more weeks before I noticed that his was about to go. We didn't feel comfortable putting him to bed with it so I preemptively cut his off. Same story except he doesn't even want to hold his! Not 1 week later his other paci was in the "danger zone." But I'm so proud to say my big boy has done fine without a paci as far as sleeping goes! We could have used it a couple times in the car and I'm dreading our drive to NC next week without one...but ready or not, no paci time is here. I'm am SURELY not going out and buying another one ! Jenna is very attached to her remaining Wubb so it will be interesting to see how her transition goes when the time comes. I was so sentimental about this! More than I was when I stopped nursing (I was ecstatic!), more than the sippy cup etc... Then Ryan reminded me we are going to have another Wubb phase of life coming up shortly! :)

I'd like to take this opportunity to give my life thanks to Mr Frog #1 and Pink Pony. You both did your jobs perfectly...keeping our babies soothed, asleep and mommy and daddy sane. You are worth your weight in gold, platinum and silver!

Their eating habits are the number one difference in their personalities. Jenna loves food. She eats EVERYTHING you give her all while saying "mmmmm." It makes me gag alot here recently, but she doesn't even finish chewing/swallowing something before eating or drinking the next thing. ewww! Jenna is a mess after every meal...food is everywhere.

Caden? oh my. My number one source of frustration these days. Right around the beginning of May, Caden stopped eating... all of a sudden...like in one day. Foods he used to LOVE he wouldn't even touch anymore. Food he would touch, he would bring to his mouth, barely touch his tongue then spit it out and spit ALL of the saliva he had in his mouth everywhere...very dramatic. We took this as the beginning of a little "terrible two" defiance and stuck to our guns. Ha! We have met our match it appears because Caden went to bed without eating any supper several nights. Slept through the night fine, happy as a lark playing, no consequence! Anyway, since the beginning of May we have been trying to things, being firm, being soft, eating at a different table, eating at different times, eating things hot and cold, cut up and whole, mixed and separated - you name it. We have narrowed it down to fruit and crackers...he will eat anytime, any day. So that is what he is surviving on - oh, and PediaSure in his milk to give him some minerals and protein! Caden's eating issue is a whole separate post, but just pray for us! Very frustrating and defeating for this mama.

Caden's crazy hair (that gets curly when he's hot or its humid outside and Mommy's exploding belly

At their 18 month appointment Jenna was 22 lbs (25-50%) and 31.5" (50-75%). I hate how they do the percentage range at this office.....she was in the 30-something % on weight and in the 50's for height. Caden was 20.6 lbs (5-10%...he was closer to 5) and 30.5 inches (2-5%...he was still 2). Jenna shot up in height from her 15 month appointment and they both gained about a pound each. Their 18 month appointment started out fun for everyone in the new doctors' office!

And QUICKLY went downhill....to the point where we were all three in tears driving home. Will not do that again.

We are definitely in the throws of toddlerhood! We spend alot of time squatting down and correcting the kids. We have started time-out on the green mat when one of them has a tantrum. If I'm being honest...Jenna has been there 2-3 times, Caden goes at least once a day (of course the only pictures I have are of Jenna being disciplined). But, its all they need - they settle down, reset and come back ready to play and move on.

We love you Caden and Jenna! What gifts you are to us!

Clumsy Caden

This video just may be the proof we need one day when Caden shows up to school with one too many bruises. This is why he has had a bruised shin, fat and bloody lip and a cut next to his left eye....all this week. For Jenna to be our wild, fearless child, Caden sure does show the marks.

As you can see, he can not stay on his feet! Allow me to formally dissect the video prior to your watching...

1) At the beginning of the video, you will see a new quick-step-back-step that Dancing with the Stars plans to incorporate this fall.

2) No, Ryan and I have not been diagnosed with Emphysema...we had just been laughing so hard for 2-3 minutes straight, it was hard to get any air.

3) Keep an eye out for the famous Jenna Horse-Gallop that goes whizzing by the screen while Caden is still down.

4) Notice the buoyancy of Caden's new brown chair that knocks him down.

5) Shortly thereafter, be sure to catch the horse-buck-leg-kick from Caden in his attempt to get up.

6) After all of this, we are glad to see Caden throwing in the white flag and just lying down to prevent further injury :)

**Sorry for the grainy cell phone video and the earthquake magnitude shaking. It was all I could do folks....

Cosi

So now that "the news" is out, I can catch up on our life up here in Ohio with pictures....some of you have hawk eyes and would spot my bulging belly in our pics. Like I've said before, the first few weekends up here were cold and rainy, I was feeling sick all day so life was....well, its been better. We had heard from several people about a museum in downtown Columbus called "Cosi." I imagine it is a huge version of Marbles in Raleigh. I never went to Marbles but it sounds similar...ours is just supersized. In fact, it is rated the best science/ hands on museum in the country! What makes it so great for us is that it has an entire section dedicated just to toddler/preschoolers! Hello Heaven! Everything is age appropriate for the kids, its clean, its staffed all the time, it is closed-in so no escaping (and no bothering the rest of the museum with screaming kids), you can take your snack, juice, stroller, bags, anything you have in with you, and it has a water section! They provide adorable rainjackets for the kids  to wear while playing in the water and they even provide a dryer if your kids are too soaked to ride home! We almost fell out when we put the rainjacket on Caden....he is so little and the jacket is so big....it was the perfect equation for cuteness.

Anyway, we had such a blast, we didn't think twice about joining...its a super deal to go ahead and become a member so now we can go in and out anytime for free!

Here are some snaps from our time there. The twins were worn.slap.out when we got home...it was great to have fun as a family and get out of the house and do something different!

Jenna = no fear of the slide. Caden = took a couple of times, notice his terrified face. :)

Caden found a ball so he was estatic. He camped out at this little machine most of the time. It had air holes that blew out air so the balls balanced on it and "floated" in the air. I'm soooo not a science person so I'm sure I just torched the explanation of this piece!

They had a ball pit which Caden picked up on immediately. He made sure he had a ball in his hands the whole time!

They have demonstrations every hour or so and while we were there, they had.....rat basketball. Gross. Jenna liked it, Caden wanted to go find another ball.

Water room time! They loved it! They both cried when we left. Oh my mercy, I want to go every weekend to see them in their little rainjackets.

 Prepare yourself...most adorable kid in a rainjacket below...

And last but not least,  short video of Jenna's discovery. It was a long slide that you could roll the balls down. Jenna watched a couple of kids do it then decided to join in the fun. As you can tell, she thought it was the coolest thing on earth.

Sweet Siblings

I'm not going to lie...having two kids right out of the gate presented a billion challenges to us. In fact, we still come up on situations that we have to get clever and find a "work around" to make it work for us having two kids the same age. But, overall, I am well aware of the abundant blessings we get to enjoy having two kids out of the gate. I love watching them play together and their friendship grow. They are always together. Always. They have never known life without the other - that is so precious to me! Now that we are reaching 2 years old, Ryan and I want to become intentional about having one on one time with each of them. It will be such a new experience for them, but a much needed one. Here are just a few snapshots I have of them playing together. Yes, we have our daily fights over sharing, but they pass as quickly as they come and the fun continues....

They still LOVE to "head hug" each other. It will melt your heart each time...



This is their favorite new hideaway at our house...its behind the end table/sofa.

They have just started "wrestling" with each other and while it was mainly Jenna attacking Caden the first few times, he has learned to join in and make the first move. And yes, every once in a while, this fun game ends in tears :)

Its exciting to think that this time next year, there will be a 7 month old in the middle of it all! In the mean time, I"ll be thankful that the twins can play with each other and keep each other entertained while Mommy goes to dry heave over the sink some more. :)



Count 'em

Yep....that's 5 pair of shoes...and the white booties are not Snuggles'. We are in awe, very much shocked, speechless, overjoyed, relieved, a little nervous but mostly thankful to introduce Baby Little Tres or as I have nicknamed him/her: our little Stowaway!!! It would appear we had an extra passenger in the car on the trek up to Ohio. We have had a while to digest the news (I'm 15 weeks on Friday) and it still is hard to take in! After our surprise in December, we realized things might be working in this messed up body of mine so we better take some extra precautions. When will we realize that God's sovereignty trumps any "plans" we have? One day I suppose. In the meantime we sit here and look at each other and ask "how did this happen?" :) We knew we wanted another baby, but honestly didn't think that time would come until a) the twins were a little older and out of diapers (please!) and b) once we moved back or were for sure on our way back to NC. I won't be going into details here but I can tell you after 4 years of trying to learn how my body works - I had it down (or so I thought) and knew what was going to happen when. If you look at it scientifically, there shouldn't be a baby growing in there :) If you look at it that God has always wanted us to have a 3rd child and while January wasn't His time and while I still don't quite grasp why we had to go through a 2nd miscarriage, His time was now so we have a baby on the way! End of story.

I'm due November 17th...my Dad's birthday :) I'm mortified at the thought of being pregnant another month! I had the twins at 36 weeks....what do you mean this one should go to 40 weeks or more!?! I didn't get sick for one second with the twins and now that we have moved 500 miles from anyone we know to help me out, I'm so .very. sick. The house unpacking came to a dead stand still, I haven't been to the grocery store in weeks (thankful for a willing Husband!!!), the house cleaning is all in my head and the twins have learned to bring mommy the toy or book they want to play with while I lay green faced on the couch or the floor. They are used to me gagging and dry heaving all over them when I change their diapers in the morning - at first they cried and screamed - now it doesn't phase them at all. I could care less eating lunch or dinner, but the heavens open at around 6:00 every night. All of a sudden, I feel great, have an appetite and have energy! But of course by then, Ryan is tired from working all day, then coming home and taking over twins and supper duty. I am praying praying that this dies down now that we are in the 2nd trimester - it has progressively gotten worse from about 7 weeks on.

Thankfully we have 3 bedrooms and a loft in our house. Our landlord is great and is going to let us fill in the loft so we can have 2 nursery's and a guest for all of the help I'm going to need! The twins will have just turned 2 in October. So we will journey through twins being two and a newborn. Mercy. Mercy. Mercy.

In a strange, twisted way, Ryan and I talk about how different things must be with one baby! We can really take turns at night instead of both being up every time, if one of us needs a break from baby holding, we can switch and not get another baby in return, I just might be able to nurse discreetly in public, no more mega twin boppy, hey...we only have to fit one crib in the room this time, etc....! But then we quickly fall back into reality....we've never had twin toddlers running around with a baby either. oh........

So, you hear how women show earlier and earlier with each pregnancy....well, this is what happens when you had twins then have a subsequent pregnancy...you look huge...quickly:

My doctors just shake their head sympathetically and say my poor stretched out uterus thinks it should make room for two babies and that I'll have lots of growing pains. That sounds great. Thanks. But truthfully, we are very thankful to be where we are. I went in to see my Doc as soon as I realized I was pregnant  which was very early on. They started testing a bunch of stuff to see if they could see any issues with me carrying this pregnancy. My progesterone was already down to 17 (by like 5 weeks pregnant)...you start having trouble carrying a pregnancy at 15 so I was well on my way to loosing this baby too. That is slightly terrifying to think about going through a 3rd miscarriage up here all alone so I just thank God for His protection and don't think about it much :) Thanks to tons of hormones and meds, we are through the 1st trimester and just this past Wednesday I was released to stop all of that icky stuff. yea!

Anyway,  there are a million other thoughts going through my head but I'll wrap it up for now. Pray for us! In every way God brings to mind...pray for us!