HAPPY SECOND BIRTHDAY NICHOLAS AND ANTHONY!

Can you freakin' believe it?!?? I certainly can't! Nicholas and Anthony are now TWO years old! I'm still scratching my head wondering where the heck all that time went! To think they went from helpless infants to independent toddlers in two very short years.... Now, they drink from their sippy cups, as well as cups without covers. They use plates and bowls, spoons and forks(proficiently I might add). They can zip and sometimes unzip their jackets. Their vocabulary grows everyday(for the most part). They know their colors. Nicholas can count to 10. They are starting to sing their ABC's. They know many animals-and LOVE animals. They are fond of trucks, cars, planes. They love music and singing, especially Laurie Berkner. They can climb into the mini van all by themselves, as well as their seats. You can take them for a walk down the street-and they listen. They love Mr. Potato Head. They love to run around and be goofy. They love to play with each other. They ADORE their sister(and here I thought their world would be ruined...)! They understand EVERYTHING we say(even if they can't say much yet). They are big fans of Sesame Street, Jack's Big Music Show, and Sid the Science Kid. Anthony LOVES LOVES LOVES cooking shows. They love to help cook in the kitchen. They are picky eaters. Anthony loves his fruit, Nicholas loves his pasta. Milk-they can't get enough of. Anthony LOVES espresso. Seriously. They are not big sweet eaters(certain things, yes). They no longer use a pacifier.

Oh my-the list is endless! It's amazing to see how my little boys have grown sooo much! To think they were over 6 lbs at birth, and now they are well over 20lbs. And to think Anthony spent his first week of life in the NICU, and you would never know it. Then, he struggled to eat ONE ounce. ONE. Now-he can eat like a champion-when he wants to at least!

In all honesty, there has not been a day, in the last two years, that Tony and I have not laughed or smiled due to the joy the boys have brought into our lives. Nor does a day go by where we tell each other we have the most amazing children. The most beautiful children. And most certainly, the most loved.

I know we didn't go down the "traditional" path of having our boys. And in all honesty, I am glad we didn't. If it wasn't for IVF, those precious little boys of mine wouldn't be here. I'm glad that path was chosen for us, and even more glad(does that even make sense?) that I decided to walk down it.

So to Nicholas and Anthony-I want to wish you the best Happy Birthday ever! I don't know if you will ever realize how much you mean to mommy and daddy, and the rest of your family. You are the light of our lives, and forever will be. WE LOVE YOU!

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

(pictures to follow...)

Anthony's BIG accomplishment!

I don't have a picture of it-but I really should... I was in the bathroom and Anthony followed me in. He said, "Ppp! Ppp!" That means, poop! So I asked him if he had to go and he started to giggle. So I took off his overalls and diaper and he sat right down on the potty. The smile on his face was from ear to ear! They love to sit on the potty! I told him to pushhhhhh and of course he tried! LOL!

Well, he then stood up and goes, "Ppp! Ppp!" I said, "Did you poop?" He shook his head up and down! I then looked in the potty and didn't see any poop. But what I did see was pee! He peed in the potty!!!!! I made a big deal about it. When Zia came over he showed her. When Daddy came home, he grabbed his hand and brought him to the bathroom. When NaNa came over, he showed her. And when Grandma came over, he showed her as well. He sure was beaming!

It was probably a fluke-but we'll take it! First pee in the potty: October 13, 2009!

"NiNi's" new accessory

Is he not just the cutest thing ever???? Surprisingly-he kept them on! He never really tried to take them off. I guess the Dr. was right afterall?!?! We had to go show daddy at the office on our way home. I said, "Ok-let's go show NaNa" to which he replied, "DaDa! DaDa!" I told him we could stop by the office after we got the glasses when we pulled up to the eye glass store. He has a great memory! Now off to find some straps to keep them ON his head!

Four Months Old!

Well the princess has turned four months old-ALREADY! We had her four month pediatrician appointment on Monday at 9:15am. Boy is she growing! She is now weighing 14.6lbs! That puts her in the 50-70% for weight. And for height she is in the 70-90%. Where she is getting her height, I am not sure! Overall she is doing great! I asked the Dr. about her spitting up and he seemed perplexed that she actually did spit up! Her weight certainly does not reflect that! I could add rice cereal to her bottles if I chose to. I could do the same with the boys, but I never did end up doing that...

Four months old!

What a happy little baby!

He did also say we can start cereal/solids if we like. He said anywhere between 4-6 months it was fine. Once we start adding foods, we need to do the new food only for a total of 4-5 foods to watch for allergies. We started rice cereal on Monday, 10/12. It didn't go so hot. She certainly was not a fan of it-it just sat on her tongue/in her mouth. She didn't devour it like her brothers... Maybe in due time. I'll stick with the cereal for a bit before I add anything else. I don't think I added fruits/veggies with the boys until 6 months, but I could be mistaken! It's just something else to worry about!

In her mouth it goes:

Where she proceeds to let it sit there...

Something tells me she is not a fan...

I also asked about the swine flu vaccine. The pedi said if I think the regular flu is safe for the boys, then I should think the same of the swine flu vaccine. I need to protect the boys, but I also need to protect Annabella, who can't get the vaccines yet. We do go to storytime at the library now, so we are out in public(vs us never leaving the house). And I think the swine flu is hard on kids. But-we'll see. They didn't have any, so I still have time to make a decision!

Storytime Survival!

I did it! Whoohooo!!!! I survived storytime! With not one, not two, but THREE kids! All by myself! If that doesn't deserve a celebration, I don't know what does! ;) I decided to sign the boys up for story time at the town library. I figured it would be good for them as well as get us out of the house. I had little expectations, just hoped they didn't scream! Well-they didn't scream, a few tears were shed, but overall I consider it a success! I do think it was a bit long for their age group(2-3.5), but hopefully with time they will adjust to it. They were able to go up to the front of the group and participate in various acitivies(putting a sticker next to their name, adding food to a soup bowl, and adding felt pieces to a story). It was a lot to ask of them-as they had to sit down and wait their turn, and wait for everyone to be done(14 kids total). Anthony got upset when Nicholas had a turn and not him(he eventually did). Then he got upset again because he wanted to keep on helping out! Oh well....

After the story, there was a little activity they could do. It was an alphabet book where they added die-cut letteres(A-D) and then added the corresponding stickers to them. We managed doing it on our own with no problem. This is when Annabella decided to join us and wake up and start to fuss. I can't expect miracles, right? She did great as well-luckily she slept for most of it!

There was another little boy, who was born the same day as Nicholas and Anthony. He was quite verbal(has an older brother), but he also left relatively quickly. The screaming was insane. The mother and I were talking how he has given her a run for her money. Don't all kids to that at one point or another?! ? ;)

I did get a good chuckle. There was another mother there who had twins-they had to be almost 3 years old, if not 3. Well, I noticed a woman sitting next to her and noticed there was no child with her. That's because she was this mother's friend who was brought along to help her! Here I am, two toddlers and an infant! ALONE! Granted, I certainly would have LOVED and taken the help, but there was none to be given! :)

After storytime, we drove to the office to have lunch with daddy. The boys were VERY eager to show daddy their alphabet book. It was too cute!

All in all, it was a great experience. I am a bit afraid of what next week will be like-seeing how they may be a bit more comfortable... Time will tell! The only downside is I didn't get any photos!

What's New?

Well-not much! LOL! The kids are doing great-really. Last week, on Tuesday I believe it was, I didn't turn the TV on all day long! It was amazing! And looking back-I am not sure how I did that! However-the boys were AMAZING! They played well and never ONCE asked for the TV until 5pm. A MIRACLE! So provided I don't need to get a ton of things done and we are all happy-I will limit the amount of time the TV is on. I'll be honest and say it's on almost the entire day, but they really only watch a little bit of it. It's mostly on for background noise.

Can you believe we are a mere TWO weeks away from the boys SECOND birthday?!?! When did that happen? I seriously can not believe it's been two years already. I could just cry! They are just such amazing little boys! They are the sweetest kids. And I'm not saying that just because I am their mother. They really, truly are amazing, sweet little boys. Blessed is an understatement! We have a new routine at night when I bring them to bed. I sit down in the glider and they both come and sit on my lap and lay their head on my chest. I sing two to three songs. I start with "Old MacDonald" then move on to "ABC's" and then, "You Are My Sunshine." They lay there nice and quietly, I sing to them, and generally have tears in my eyes by the end of it. It's such a great moment to be sharing with them. I think of them getting older, and how they won't let me sing to them, let alone want to sit on my lap. So I try to cherish every single moment I have with them. Before I know it, it will all be a distant memory. Then, I put them in their cribs and they "jump up and down, jump up and down." I sing, "Night night Nicholas, night, night Nicholas. Night night Nicholas, it's time to go to sleep." I do the same thing with Anthony. When I finish, I cover them up with a blanket-that's new. And then, the other day, when I said "good night" to them, Nicholas jumped up from being covered, threw his pacifier to the mattress, and started blowing kisses to me.

Now what mother's heart wouldn't just melt with that? That's why I am the luckiest mother. Really.

Nicholas...

I've been meaning to post, but time just goes by so quickly in the evening! We had an eye doctor appointment for Nicholas back on September 23rd. Nicholas' left eye turns inward-like a lazy eye. At first, I thought I was seeing things, or it was a one time deal. But then others noticed it as well, so I knew it wasn't just me. I called and made the appointment. We went into the appointment thinking he would maybe need a patch to correct it. WRONG! What we heard instead was quite the opposite.

After literally a five minute check, the Dr. said Nicholas needed glasses. He needed them so bad, he needed them yesterday! Yikes! He said he was farsighted, meaning he can't see near. It totally baffles us-ALL of us. We just don't see it. Maybe he does see things and they are blurry? I don't know. But when you ask him to point things out in the book, or to find this or that, he does it without hesitation. I even talked to his speeh therapist and she was baffled as well. She wanted to know how this came about, when it came about(not present after birth).

So we are looking to maybe get a second opinion. There is no problem with him wearing glasses. We just want to know if it really is as severe as the Dr. said it was. We ordered the glasses which are going to take forever to come in. The lady said they were going to be really thick glasses. Yikes! I asked the Dr. how was Nicholas going to keep them on. He said, "Oh he will! He can't see! He'll WANT them on." Alrighty Doc... if you say so!

More to come in a few weeks about this...