Lesson Learned.....(the hard way)

This is why you don't put wrapped presents under the tree when you have toddlers.......



And not only did she unwrap them....she opened the box to see what was in it. Now I know she got that from me....but at least I would wrap them back.




And to think that I spent an entire naptime wrapping this gifts only to have them ruined in a matter of seconds. And yes that sweater is Granny's. Danner wasn't too fond of it though.

And FYI....the presents are NO longer under the tree.

Help!

Okay so we offically have Christmas cards. Now we just have to get them in the mail. The only problem with that is that when my hard drive crashed in May, I lost ALL my addresses. THe only one I am 100% sure of my parents (well I lived there for 18 years). So I know there are more than 8 people (my followers) that read my blog. PLEASE,PLEASE, PLEASE leave me a comment of your address or if you would rather send me an email (danner124@aol.com) Trust me...you are going to want this year's Christmas card. It was quite the process trying to get everyone to cooperate. Here is a little taste. (and special thanks to Ashley for helping and gathering kids up as you can see from the picture)




And while we are on the topic of leaving comments....I really like reading them.....thank you Lili, Jodi, and Beverly for leaving me comments. It lets me know that someone actually enjoys reading my crap. ANd for all you others who don't .....seriously? WTF? Mom? Ashley? Winnie? I know you are checking. Feel free to leave a comment. Or even better become a follower. It really isn't that hard. Ya'll can do it.

Okay so now that you know you won't be getting a card if you don't send me your address......on to more important business. I think we may have raised just about enough for the kids playset. I am calling tomorrow to hopefully get it installed just before Christmas. Here is what they are getting.



Porter has his procedure tomorrow so I will hopefully know more of what we are dealing with then. I will keep ya posted.

Oh and we have decided to make a "play room" for the kids. I am sick to death of toys taking over my house. My house that I can't keep clean because of the overabundance of TOYS!!! So we are selling our guest bedroom furniture set on Craigslist (if you know anyone intersted let me know) and converting a room to the kids with toys, tv, books, and junk. CAN'T WAIT to get the house back.

Danner's Appt

Danner's doctor appointment went great on Tuesday. She was 20 pounds and 31 inches. Finally legally able to turn her carseat facing forward. The doctor was quite impressed on how laid back she was. She never cried and she didn't even act scared of the doctor. We now don't have to go back until 24 months. Which is only 5 short months away.

December 1st

Porter's procedure has been scheduled for next Tuesday, December 1st. Should be and outpatient thing and we will know more after that.

One Month Pictures and more....

An attempt at a family photo.....took 45 tries to get a decent one.



Aunt Ashley loves him.



Porter loves his mommy...and mommy loves him.



Porter's eyes are still blue and he sometimes likes a pacifier.



His hair might be curly.



Porter likes to try to suck his thumb.



Sawyer at the doctor. He looks happy the whole time until we had to leave.





We had a family oyster roast this weekend. We tried to convinence Danner and Sawyer that oysters were great, but they didn't buy it. They had fun eating crackers and entertaining everyone with their dancing skills.

1 Month

Today Porter is 1 month old. This has been the quickest month ever. I can't believe it has already been a month. Crazy! He is the best baby. He is sleeping about a 7 hour stretch at night, then wakes up to eat and back to bed for 3 hours. It is great! He doesn't really nap that great during the day and likes to be held, but I don't mind. He is growing like a weed, I can practically see him grow. He has outgrown some of his newborn clothes. He is smiling a lot more too. Haven't caught it on camera yet though. He has really won my heart. LOVE.LOVE.LOVE HIM.

Sawyer had his 18 month checkup a month late on Wednesday. He is now 24 pounds and 33inches. He is in the 50% in height and 25 in weight. He is well above average in his vocabulary. The doctor was quite surprised at how many words he was speaking. He got a couple shots and barely cried. He did cry when we left though. He wanted to stay around. Danner has her appointment on Tuesday.

Poor Porter had his renal ultrasound today. He was such a big boy and didn't even cry. The doctor called a bit later to give me the report. Apparently his kidneys are enlarged due to urine being caught in there. (Of course, this is my terms and doctor terms would be a Stage 1 Hydronephrosis)It has gotten a bit worse since he was born and it should have been gone by now. So now we have to proceed with further testing. He will be having a dye test with a cathedar to see what is causing the problem. After we get the results from that we will be able to see what kind of further procedures we will be dealing with. Keep in mind, his is a mild case so I am trying not worry too much. We will know more after this first test. I will find out MOnday when the test is scheduled.

If you want to know more about Hydronephrosis here is a link that gives more details about this condition.

http://www.ich.ucl.ac.uk/gosh_families/information_sheets/hydronephrosis/hydronephrosis_families.html

Finger Painting Fun

Today we attempted to fingerpaint. The kids are so sick of being inside the same room all day. So we ventured to the porch to try painting. I bought some clear baby paint that only shows up on paper. They had fun with it and actually ended up with some cute artwork at the end.

Just starting out....




Danner was quite the artist.



Finished products...




And a picture of my big guy....


And on a complete seperate note......stuck in a bucket.....

3 weeks

PORTER


Here are the twins reading a book to Porter.

Sawyer right before he gives me a wet, sloppy kiss.


Danner reading to Porter.


Porter has been here 3 weeks. How crazy is that? Time has flown by. He is still such a great baby. It is hard to believe that with the twins I didn't even have them home at 3 weeks. I was still back and forth to the NICU visiting. It is really sad to think that I missed over 3 weeks of their lives. Especially now that I have a full term baby that came home on time and has been with me every waking and sleeping moment. I can honestly say that I have enjoyed these 3 weeks. I don't feel sleep deprieved or hormonal. With the twins I was definitely sleep deprieved. Beyond words.... I think the difference now is I can enjoy Porter. With the twins....the first few months were hard to enjoy. It was more survival mode....for them and me. Make sure they were fed, changed, clean, dressed, sleeping, breathing. A simple 20 minute feeding took 45 minutes per baby. Multiple 45 times 2 and that only leaves a little over an hour before we have to do it all over again. Make sure I could sleep and shower and maybe even brush my hair on a good day. There were often days where I didn't have time to eat or shower.. It was stressful. Counting every single ounce they ate. Taking temperatures. Cleaning spit-up. Analyzing spit-up (was that just projectile?) I wouldn't change a minute of it though. Well, with the exception of them to be born a few weeks later. A few weeks could have made a big difference. But Porter....complete different story. I don't worry about how much he eats. I don't worry when I see the occasional spit up. I don't worry if he crys. Maybe it is because I have some baby experience now or maybe it is because he is full term and healthy and perfect.

Speaking of Porter.....he had his appointment last week. He was great. But will have to have another ultrasound on his kidney next Friday. It is still at a Stage 1 but should be gone by 1 month. If it is not gone on Friday, then we will have to do further, more detailed tests. I feel confident he will be fine. Did I mention we were in and out of our appointment in 30 minutes? Great, huh? Danner and Sawyer have their 18 month check-up next week.....a month late, I know. My original dr didn't do 18 month checks but the new one does....so better late than never.

We did go out to dinner to celebrate my mom's birthday on Saturday night. Everyone behaved themselves and had fun.

Lazy Days...

The time change sure makes for a long day. And whoever says that you gain an hour of sleep forgot to give my kids the memo. They are starting to adjust but by 7 pm they are just plain pooped. The pictures are proof......

Mommy's Helpers....

A couple of pictures of Jesse and I with the twins.



Sawyer loves to help Mommy sweep. How long will that last?


Here is Danner sharing her toys with Porter. Isn't she sweet?

Bathtime

Porter had his first bath at home in the bathtub. He didn't like the sponge baths that we had to give him so I was hoping that he would like being in the tub better. He did. No crying or fussing involved. And as you can see from the pictures, everyone, including Buster, had fun giving Porter a bath. Isn't he such a cutie?

Life is Good.....

Porter has a pediatrian's appointment on Tuesday. This is with our new doctor. I have official changed the kids doctor. Mainly out of convenience. The new doctor has longer hours, opened on weekends, and doesn't make you wait an hour to be seen. So we will see on Tuesday how it goes. Hopefully he will be back up to his birth weight.

Have I mentioned what a good baby he is. He is so easy. Eat and sleep. And sometimes he stays awake and just lays around. Having one baby is such a "walk in the park". He is sleeping for a 5 hour stretch each night. So I am only having to get up once to feed him. Must be the difference in having a full term baby. No spitting up, no crankiness, no obsessive rocking, swaying, or swishing noises. Life is basically the same with 3 babies with the exception of not getting out as much. We have a schedule and stick to it. It makes life easier.

The twins are still liking Porter. I am waiting for it to change any day now, but so far they love him. They like pointing and saying Baby. They like to hold him. Sawyer even tried to give him a pacifer the other day. And for those of you who know Sawyer know how much he loves.loves.loves a paci. And for him to give it away instead of sticking it in his mouth is a big step.

Well....for now we are good. Surviving and happy. Oh and I think I need a new name for my blog? Any ideas?

Happy Halloween!!

Happy Halloween! The twins enjoyed their trick-or-treating experience. Danner was Tinkerbell and Sawyer was Peter Pan. Jesse had to join in on the fun (big kid at heart) and dressed up like Captain Hook. We were quite the talk of the neighborhood. Of course we only made it to about 7 houses or so. They really seemed to get the hang of it. Jesse pulled the wagon up to the door. The babies hopped out and ran to the door and waited for someone to answer. They picked out their candy and even managed a "thank you" several times. Quite a success. There are no other kids in our neighborhood so we were the only trick-or-treaters so we really loaded up on candy. Porter and I tagged along. Porter had a pumpkin onesie and hat and I went as myself. Fun. Fun. Fun.