Monday, August 31, 2009

On the big screen

We now have our new computer hooked up to our 46" LCD TV in the living room. It has a wireless internet card so I'm actually writing this blog on our TV. We have a wireless keyboard and mouse that we use on a lap desk. We did have to zoom in the font scaling so that we could read everything from the couch.

The computer also has a blue-ray player so we'll be able to get the blue-ray discs from Netflix. We've also used the Netflix "watch it now" feature to stream TV shows and movies to the TV. We can watch the current prime-time TV shows by going to shows' websites. It's not as good as high definition tv, but it's as good as the analog cable was. The real benefit is that we will actually save money by canceling our satellite dish plan.

Some friends and family have asked how we did this. We bought a computer that has a really good video card specifically designed for this kind of setup. Then we also purchased an HDMI cord that will send the digital video signal out of the computer. This cord along with the digital sound cord go from the computer to our surround sound system which is hooked to the TV. We already had to use several remote controls with the satellite system and our surround sound, so we are used to having a complicated setup.

The only drawback really has been that the twins always want to play with the keyboard when we are. We have a program that shows the letters with sounds when they do this, so they want to play every time it's out.

Saturday, August 29, 2009

He toddles



Ryan can officially be called a toddler. He toddles quite nicely now. He only crawls when he's already playing on the floor. He's been working quite hard to extend his walking range, and learn to turn corners. It's quite funny to watch him turn because his toddle becomes a full fledged waddle for a moment.

Alyna is walking more, and talking more. She loves to play games with Ryan. When we play in their room before bedtime they play peek-a-boo with the door. We have a door catcher on it so that fingers can't get smashed. She will be in the hallway, and Ryan will close it (to the catcher), and then she pushes it back open. She loves it when she goes into the hallway and he follows her. Alyna is such a social, playful girl.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

So tired...

I hate to vent like this... but I'm soooooo tired my eyes don't want to stay open, yet I can't go to sleep.

The twins have not been sleeping well for the last month. They used to sleep from about 9:30 pm to around 6 am without a fuss. Due to growing, teething, and gas issues we haven't had many nights in August where they've both done that. They seem to take turns having nights where they wake up every 2-3 hours. It's like I have newborns again except that now I can't just feed them and have them go back to sleep. It takes 20 minutes of crying.

Alyna still gets really gassy at about 4 in the morning. So if she wakes up then it takes her a while to pass it and get comfortable enough to go back to sleep. We give her baby gas-x, but it takes about 15 minutes to kick in and only lasts a few hours. She also has been cutting a tooth this last week. During the day when she does something that bumps her mouth, she raises her hand to it, and makes this really sad face. Poor girl.

We think Ryan's teeth must be on the way because he's now in the sleep pattern she had 2 weeks ago. The past three nights he wakes up every 3 hours or so. And he doesn't even want a bottle.

Me... my body is too tired to fall asleep easily. Nap time is almost over when I finally fall asleep, and I have a lot of trouble sleeping after getting up at 5 am to tend the crying babies. So I'm worn out. The only light at the end of this tunnel will be in 2 weeks when my mom arrives for the week. Hopefully I can get some sleep between now and then too.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Shopping season

We don't need back to school stuff, and we're not into the holiday season yet... so how come it seems like I've done more online shopping this week than in the past year.

Well, probably because we have 4 birthdays in one month.

As a friend of mine would say, today marks the 1st anniversary of 29th year. He he he... that means I'm 30. My mom always said she was never ashamed to tell her age because she has friends who didn't make it that far... and I feel the same way. I can name several friends from college who have already passed on to Heaven. So I feel blessed to have my life as it is; stress and all.

For my birthday, I got to go to a movie by myself, although it didn't end up as such. The movie and showtime I picked just happened to be the same movie the youth minister's wife was taking some of the teen girls to see. The youth group boys had gone to see some fellow groupies race (I think motocross) in another city, so the girls were having an outing too. It was good to get out, and run into friends along the way.

We also finally purchased our new computer. We were going to make the purchase last spring, but put it off when we found a great deal on a bedroom furniture set. Our new computer has a blue-ray disc player (also will play our current DVDs), and a high definition video card. The plan is to hook it up to our LCD television and cancel our satellite plan. These days you can watch all the programs for free on the internet with even few commercials. We are watching so little TV these days because it's mostly after the kids go to bed, that we think it will be better. If we do this for even 10 months, we'll actually pay for the computer in our satellite savings.

I've also been buying a few little necessities for the kids as they grow. Our WalMart tends to run out of the good stuff pretty fast, and there are very limited shopping options in our town. After the twins were born we purchased the Amazon.com prime shipping plan, so we get free 2 day shipping on a lot of items.

The twins birthday presents are in boxes sitting in our dining room. It's very hard not to open them and begin the play now... but we'll at least wait until Grandma gets here the week before their birthdays. We got them a water play table (like a sandbox table, but for water), and a 6 foot long tunnel to crawl through. We're excited even if they are too young to comprehend the reason for celebration.

Barry's birthday is on the same day as the twins in just a few weeks... and he's going to purchase the rest of the controls and technology pieces he needs to build himself an arcade machine. He gets to use our current computer to run the system, and has already downloaded all the old atari, arcade, nintendo, etc. system games. It's been his pet project over a year now, and we're finally putting it in the budget as his gift.

I'm almost done with the shopping... I'm currently reading reviews on car seats to buy. So if you have any good/bad reviews to share, let me know. When we take road trips, they are long ones so we want them to be comfortable.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Crazy eats

Ryan must be gearing up for another growth spurt... just about every time Alyna starts eating as much as he does, he takes off again.

He drank 3 oz of bottle at 6:45 am, and then for breakfast at 7:45 he ate his own pancake, about 1/4 of Alyna's, a slice of banana, and a dozen cheerios. Then he was starving by 10:30 and ate a whole bunch of teddy grahams.

Saturday, August 22, 2009

When laughter fills the air

One of our favorite traits that the twins share is their love of laughing. They both seem to wait for the moments when we will tickle them or make faces at them so that they can laugh.

Alyna will squirm while you change her diaper, but as soon as you're finished she lays there and looks at you just waiting for the tickling to start. A couple weeks ago I put one of the stacking cups on my head, and as it fell to the ground she started laughing her head off. She proceeded to laugh hysterically for the next 10 minutes while I did it over and over again. It's the hardest I've ever heard her laugh.

Ryan laughed his hardest a couple days ago when Daddy was cleaning the outside of the living room window. We don't know what was so funny about it, but having Daddy outside the window just caught his giggle box the right way.

Alyna is now queen of the back bend. Whether she's standing, being held, or kneeling, she will throw her head back and arch her back. Between that and Ryan's strength, we are seriously thinking about the local tumbling program that starts at age 3. It would be great to nurture their natural athletic abilities in a that way from an early age... but in a non-competitive way.

They are both becoming braver with walking. Yesterday Ryan started to walk the first 5-6 steps anywhere he went and then get down and crawl the rest of the way. I think in another week or so he'll be a true toddler. Alyna is still more cautious, but you can tell she's really working on it. I've set up some dining room chairs amidst the living room furniture, and she always tries to find a way to walk around without crawling.

I'm also happy to say that we have been completely pacifier free for 2 weeks now. Of course, I picked the night Barry went to the ER with kidney stones to go cold turkey without them, but I didn't give in. They actually slept just as well without them, it was just the process of going to sleep that had more crying. This is also a challenge for me because they are teething for real this time... I can feel the sharp bump on Alyna's lower gum. But there's no going back. The pacifier fairy took them all away.

I hope laughter also fills the air where you are this week...

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Bananas

An amazing thing happened the other day. I was cutting up a banana at the table for Ryan, and Alyna started licking her lips and making a "mmm mmm" sound. I said to her, "You don't like bananas," but she continued. So I pulled off a tiny piece and put it in her mouth...

...and she ate it.

I thought to myself, "that was a fluke" and pulled off another tiny piece. She ate the next piec too, and started saying "mmm mmm." She had spit out the piece I offered her just last week.

So I gave her a whole chunk like I was giving Ryan, and she ate that. Ever since then she will eat as much as Ryan will. Today at lunch they didn't want their cheese sandwich for some reason, and ate a banana and a half between the two of them (plus green beans and cheerios).

She has gagged on anything with banana in it since she was 5 months old. Now she loves the real thing. I guess her taste buds are growing up too.

The other amazing thing is that she says the word, "anana" when she sees me cutting it. Such a smart girl with all her words.

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Almost A Year

Can you believe it? Alyna and Ryan are 11 months old.

We thank God every day for all that they are learning to do. They are such a blessing in our lives.

Friday, August 14, 2009

Quick Update

Barry is home and feeling better than before the surgery on Monday. He's still taking pain killers every 4-6 hours so he's probably going to miss his whole shift at work that started today. He is staying in bed except for a couple brief play periods with the kids throughout the day. He's drinking lots of water, Gatorade, and cranberry juice.

They went in and broke up the stone, but there was still a lot of infection to deal with. The doctor said it wasn't a normal kidney stone that is like a piece of gravel. His was goopy and probably was caused by the infection.

They placed a stint (small tube) in the opening between his kidney and bladder so the infection couldn't close it again. He will have to return to Lubbock on Wednesday for another surgery to remove the stint.

Hopefully after that he can recover, and return to work by the next Sunday. We'll see.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Alyna's first steps

Not to be outdone by her brother, Alyna officially took her first steps at 10 months old. (in 3 days they will be 11 months old)

She was standing at the ball ramp toy, turned, took 2 slow steps and grabbed the music table. I was standing right by her. I grabbed her up and threw her in the air congratulating her on her accomplishment. She smiled and giggled at the attention.

Ryan now takes 5 or 6 steps consistently when he thinks he can make it. Sometimes it's just easier to crawl though.

I'm sure that by their birthday both will be toddlering around the house. I guess that means a new level of baby proofing is coming. As they get faster, I can't always beat them in and out of a room before I can close it off.

I love watching them learn and grow. Yay Alyna!

Monday, August 10, 2009

Piling it on

The stress just keeps coming.

Saturday night, Barry was working the night shift so I was alone home with the babies.
At 12:30 am, the phone rang and woke the babies. After I got them back to sleep I checked the caller ID and saw Barry's cell phone number. When I called it back Barry's supervisor, Dustin, answered, and explained that he had driven Barry to the ER because of kidney stones. Barry had them 3 years ago so he knew what it was. Dustin was kind enough to stay at the ER with Barry at least to see whether they would release him or admit him.

Dustin brought Barry home at about 4:30 am in a drug induced stupor, and we went to bed. He has a kidney stone as well as a kidney infection.

Being a small town with problems employing enough people... we don't have a 24 hour pharmacy. The earliest one to open on Sunday was Walgreen's at 10 am. So I took the babies to church at 9, and left them in the cradle roll class at 10 while I got Barry's medicine and brought it to him.

The bad news is that the pain medicine doesn't seem to be helping much, and he is very nauseated and can't even keep much water down. So a man from our church is driving him to the Urologist in Lubbock this morning (about 2 hours away) and hopefully they can get it under control.

Added to that is my very sore throat, and the fact that I'm wiped from taking care of the babies by myself all week during Barry's shift.

More prayers please... we need them desperately right now.

Afternoon Update:
This afternoon, they took him to Grace Medical Center to do a procedure to remove the kidney stone. I'm unsure at this point whether he'll come home tonight or have to stay. They are currently trying to rehydrate him after over 24 hours of not keeping anything down.

Night Time Update:
The procedure went well, and he's doing fine. It was late in the evening when he got out so they are keeping him overnight. He should come home in the morning.

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Done All I Can Do

I've finished... I've done all I can do. The rest is up to God... and the judge of the federal court in Albequerque.

This summer I received a summons from the Federal District Court in Albuquerque saying I'd been randomly selected as a possible juror in a case this fall. It's a murder trial that will last 6 weeks.

I sent in a request for excuse along with the short questionnaire stating that since Albequerque is a 6 hour drive from my home, I can't serve at this time because I am the sole caretaker of two babies while my husband is on shift work. He works 12 hour shifts, 2 days then 2 nights.

2 weeks ago, I received the full questionnaire in the mail along with a letter stating that the court knew it was inconvenient for everyone to serve. It said that excuse requests must be accompanied by proof of the claim, and that it must truly be an "undo hardship" to be excused.

So I've done all I can do now, first and foremost pray to God for intervention. I also asked for guidance from many friends including a local attorney. He advised me to seek a doctor's note from my own doctor or from the twins' pediatrician.

I actually went to the doctor this week and she wrote me a not for high anxiety and said she didn't feel I was fit to serve at this time. It's true. I haven't been sleeping well and have been crying a lot since receiving the questionnaire.

I also included a personal letter stating again that I have 2 babies, and with my husband's shift schedule it would be a hardship for me to be gone. I figured that each shift would require 80 hours of childcare, and 6 weeks even paying minimum wage would cost us about $4500. I also attached copies of the twins birth certificates to prove they existed, and a copy of Barry's schedule for those 6 weeks signed by his supervisor.

I answered the questionnaire honestly, realizing that I am probably what both lawyers want on the jury.

Please continue to pray for my situation.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Too cute

Here's my crew the day after Daddy got back from a business trip to Germany. They were so glad he was home they wouldn't leave him alone.


Alyna's babbling has some distinguishable words in it now. For a while now she's been saying Mama, um num, and hi. Last week we think she added Dada, but it sounds more like "the the". It is hard to tell sometimes because it's similar to the "bebebebe" babble she does a lot when she's playing. Sunday morning she looked at me and said, "Ah na nu". I said, "I love you too", and she smiled really big. Yesterday a friend and I both heard her saying, "Ryan" as clearly as is possible in her 10 month old voice. She's quite the expressive girl.

She also does the "big smile" I taught her Uncle Daniel to do when he was a baby. She squints her eyes real tight and smiles really big. I do it back to her, and then we both giggle.

Ryan can't make a right hand turn. {Zoolander fans will know what I mean right away.} He was standing at the side of the recliner, dropped his left foot back to face me while holding on with his right hand, and then walked 3 steps to me. I set him down, and he walked back to the recliner. He then dropped his right foot back to turn to face me again, and fell down. It made me laugh because of that movie.

We bought a toy with wheels and a handle for them to push around to practice walking, but Ryan keeps turning it upside down to play with the wheels. He'll be on the other side of the room, and when I turn it right side up again, he will crawl all the way over to turn it over again and play with the wheels. Funny kid... but Alyna's not too happy with him.

Ryan has also learned to "zerbit". (That's the Bill Cosby term for blowing on someone's skin and making that "phhttt" sound.) He'll put his mouth just about anywhere and blow. His favorite is when we're lying down because he'll lift our shirts and zerbit our bellies. Hmmmm, wonder where he learned that?

Monday, August 3, 2009

Ryan's First Steps

This weekend Ryan took his first unaided steps.

Saturday, He started by letting go of the ottoman, taking one step, and then grabbing the couch. A few minutes later, he let go of the couch, and moved both feet before grabbing my arms.

Sunday, he did one or two steps again a couple times.

This morning (Monday) he took 4 slow, careful steps towards me as he left a toy. He did it several times in a row.

He's very proud of himself, and loves all the kisses I give him when he does it.


This is one of their favorite new play areas. I put the couch cushions on the floor so they can climb all around.