Off to ITALY!

Well-it's time to say Ciao! We are leaving at 12:30pm EST to head to the airport for our trip to Italy. WISH US LUCK! The boys are realllllllllllly good babies-I just hope they continue to be!

Nicholas is a crawling fool now-he is always on the move! So this should be interesting. They are both sitting up in their cribs too when they are put down at bedtime/naptime.

I am keeping this short as I am exhausted and I feel like I am getting the bug or something. My whole body aches. PRAY I do not get sick!!

I will be back August 1-with TONS of pictures!!!! Stay tuned!!!!

ARRIVEDERCI!

It's CRAWLING TIME!

My my my. Someone stop time. PLEASE! I will do anything if someone could! My boys are moving. And growing. All too quickly. Yesterday, July 9, 2008 Nicholas crawled. He did. About three leg movements forward-he crawled. All by himself. I didn't "show" him how to do it. I didn't hold one leg, move the arm, move the leg. None of that. He did it on his own-on his own time. And he was as beautiful as ever. My little boy growing up. I watched him earlier in the day. I said to myself, "Did he just crawl?" I almost didn't want to believe it. Then my sister came over-and lo and behold-he crawled! Now-he is not the easiest child to watch crawl. He likes to tease-probably because he has an audience! He gets into the position, up on all fours, and then goes and sits back down. Such a tease I tell you! 

This morning-Tony was able to see him crawl-and I have to say he was pretty excited! Tonight-he crawled even more, even farther. By the weekend-I'll be putting a harness on him to keep him in my sight. There's no stopping him now! It's so amazing to watch!

And Anthony. My sweet little Anthony. He's so funny. He too...is trying oh so hard to crawl. He has only just started to get on all fours and rock(this past Saturday). On Tuesday, he went from a laying position to a sitting position. This week-he has also started to pull up. And this evening-it is safe to say that he is trying to crawl as well. He actually was able to move one leg forward, with the other one still stuck underneath him! But-he tried! From the looks of it-he wants to be just like his big brother! :) 

Gosh. They are just so fun to be around. I love it. Every waking minute of it. I LOVE it. Today I brought them to my old job. They are also going through something else-stranger anxiety/mommy separation. Which I have to say-I like it! There is nothing better than your child crying out for you. Granted-I might not think this at the age of 3, 4, 5, or whenever-but it is so darn cute. My boss took Anthony-and he was a bit cautious, but doing fine. Then all of a sudden-the tears came pouring down. Once in my arms-he was smiling. So CUTE! So-she took Nicholas. Again-pretty cautious(as he usually is until he surveys the scene). He turned around and looked at me/saw me. I saw the eyes get a bit red. He turned back around and stared to cry his "scared" cry. Melts your heart. My boss then took Anthony. She brought him over to the carpet to see him sit. Well-he sat for a good minute or two, maybe more. And then I hear her tell me to get over there. He put his head down and started to cry. Once I arrived-he was fine. I just love my boys! 

The boys enjoyed the kids(preschool aged). They were smiling and playing with their toys. And the kids were eager to share, and touch.... But for the most part-they were all really good. I fed them and then we came home. It was bit tricky now that we have the new car seats(as of Wednesday, July 2). They fell asleep. I wanted to keep them sleeping. Well-Nicholas woke up when we got home(he wasn't really sleeping). So I ran him up the stairs and left Anthony in the car(door open) and came back and got Anthony. I need a better way to do this. But it was naptime(a bit early though) and I didn't want to wake them up-play-and then have to go and put them down. I could have done that-seeing how Nicholas refused to sleep. No lie. He wanted nothing to do with it. Instead, I took him into my bedroom and we laid on the bed and he played and I tickled him and made him laugh. So sweet. He really is such a sweet boy.

People always say he is so sad looking, never smiles, etc. It really bothers me because he is such a HAPPY, BEAUTIFUL baby! I mean seriously-that kid smiles ALL the time at home. I make a noise-he starts to giggle. So sweet. And Anthony-well of course he smiles! I once said he would smile at a stick if it walked past him. And he would. They are just the two happiest babies one could ever hope for. And I am the lucky one because I get to be their mom. 

Photos:

Anthony dancing with Mommy!

Look at those proud big cousins! And yes-they are red heads! Or "auburn" as my brother used to say when he was younger. My sil says they are single handedly repopulating the red head population!

Anthony all smiles at Pizzeria Uno's for Grandma's birthday

Nicholas' famous pose for the camera. Again-Uno's for Grandma's birthday!

As soon as he sees the flash-that's what he does. Hysterical.

Sad news

I hate to write this, but I unfortunately will. Yesterday was a sad day for my family. We found out that my sister-in-law lost one of the twins. She had an u/s at 20 weeks 3 days and they couldn't get a good look at the hearts. So-they scheduled another u/s for this past Monday. She was 21 weeks. And that's when they found out. I'm not sure of all of the details, but from what my brother told me, the baby was very very sick from what they have been told. He said the Dr's were phenomenal, etc. So-now we pray that the other baby makes it and thrives. When I last talked to my brother-he said the baby was very healthy and doing great. So-prayers please. This hit me exceptionally hard, and I have a hard time comprehending why. I think I know why-for many reasons-I have twins, they may be a constant reminder to SIL, we were JUST talking about me going up there for the weekend when they were born, etc, the list is endless. We just saw them on Saturday-and I took a 20 week belly picture. It's just so heartbreaking. I wish I was there for them, for her. 

It made me realize-not that I didn't know already-that having a baby is truly a miracle. We should savour every single moment that we have with them. You just never know what can happen. So today-I have banished the computer during the awake hours of the boys(they are now sleeping). I am not on it CONSTANTLY when they are up. I play with them and once they are good, I will check email, etc...Then I will go back and play with them, etc. I'm done. No computer. No TV. Just me and my boys. The way it should be. I need to savour every waking moment with them. Not that I haven't-because I have. Our time is short-and I don't want to miss a thing! 

Baby Twin Lang,

 I never got to officially meet you. But I want you to know how much you were-and ARE loved by every one in the family. Not a day will go by that we won't think of you. I now hope that you are above us, resting peacefully, watching over your twin sibling and telling him/her to keep on fighting. We are all waiting to meet him/her. And Baby Twin Lang-we will all meet you again. Don't you worry. And when your twin is born, I'm sure we will all see a piece of you in your sibling. You will always be in our hearts. We love you and will miss you terribly. 

Until we meet again....

New milestones!

I have to post before I forget. One of these days I will be filling out their baby books(that I look at everyday and go, "Maybe I will fill that in today!"), and not remember what date things happened on. So...Today...

Nicholas has been trying to pull up lately. He will grab onto a toy, pull up to his knees, get one foot out and ready...and then go back down. He wasn't able to pull up on his own. Until today. We were at my brother's house and my mom was on the floor with him. He pulled up onto her knees...and then eventually...he was standing. I was flabergasted! That kid wants to MOVE! He has been getting on his knees and rocking for over a month now! After watching him, I could tell he just wants to walk! I'm not sure if I mentioned it in a previous post-but he is also a master at going from sitting to standing. I love just sitting and watching him move. It's crazy!

Not to be outdone by his big brother..but Anthony is on the prowl as well. He does attempt to crawl. He goes from sitting, moves his arms down, looks like he's about to crawl, and then lays on his belly. But he gets what he wants! ;) Anyways...Today...He got up on all fours and started rocking!!! Yay Anthony! He wants to move too! It's so funny to watch the two of them! I think it's just about time to start baby proofing the house. The other day, I was washing bottles, and I heard this crashing sound. I hear Nicholas start to whimper. I go into the living room and there he is...with the fireplace tools across his lap. He pulled them down! Stinker! Luckily he was not hurt!

Now-both boys have been doing this weird thing where they get up onto their 4's-almost like a weird pushup. No clue what that is-but they both do it! Funny. 

I am EXHAUSTED. It's been a very busy few days. We leave for Italy in just over a week. It's going to be another busy week...I can feel it! Tomorrow is my mom's birthday, so I will be taking the boys over there at some point in the day. Daddy will have some alone time at home-either to work on the basement or mow the lawn, or something. I'm just wondering when I will get that alone time! HA!

OK. Have to cut this one short. I am going to bed. Tomorrow I will update with photos from the last few days! 

Trouble's a brewing!

Boy oh boy! Literally! These two boys are determined-and are starting to be on the prowl! Watch out ladies! ;) Nicholas has been getting up on all fours and rocking for about a month now. I am not so sure he is going to crawl at this rate, as I have watched him try to stand-or at least get up. Luckily for me-he hasn't quite figured that out yet! He does go backwards, and he is able to move while sitting. But still-no forward crawling movement. Yet. BUT... Today Tony went in to go get him from his nap. He called down to me and told me to get upstairs and to see him. Nicholas was still crying in his crib. My first question was, "Is he ok?" He was. I walked in-he is still crying, then he sees me and starts to chuckle(NEVER gets old), and I take one look at him-and he is SITTING. All by himself he got into a sitting position! YAY Nicholas! My little boy is growing up! I then watched him the ret of the afternoon perfect this new ability! It's so amazing to watch them grow on a DAILY basis. And sad at the same time...

Not to be outdone by his brother, Anthony is trying to do the same tricks as Nicholas. Anthony goes from a sitting position to his stomach. He tries to get into a sitting position from laying down, but that hasn't happened yet. He, as well as Nicholas, do the weirdest thing. They are on their bellies, and then they get up onto their FEET! With their hands still on the ground. It's almost like they are doing pushups. It's the funniest-and oddest thing! I don't ever recall other children doing this! 

Today daddy got up with them and I slept in for a bit. They were up rather early to. I hope they sleep in a little bit tomorrow. They took about an hour nap and then we were off to music class. They seem to enjoy it, at least I think they do. They haven't told me otherwise! ;) They both seem to like the drums and the bells. It's so cute to watch. They love their music! 

After music a friend came over and brought her 7 week old Old English Sheepdog to show the boys. The boys LOVE dogs! Too bad their own doesn't really care about them! "George" was very good with the boys, and took a bit of interest in some of their toys-as any dog would! I will post a photo of George at the end. They went down for their second nap and I went to Old Navy. I need to find some clothes to wear to Italy. I have nothing. Jeans and shirts. Fun times.

I got creative-if you want to call it that because it really wasn't-and made them ground turkey and sweet potato for dinner. Ya...not a hit. At all! Nicholas has more in his highchair than anything! I also had some cheese-which they LOVE. And then I fed them a container of mixed veg baby foods.  They scarfed that down. It was hot today-so after their dinner we put them in the pool on the deck. They enjoyed themselves! Anthony had a blast splashing away! Nicholas was not too fond of this little trick! After the pool-it was bottle and then bedtime!

I have to mention that I think we are on a new "schedule." I was feeding the boys 4 times a day-7,11,3, and 7. They were getting 8oz, 6oz, 6oz, and 8oz(to make up for what they didn't finish). We were also taking at least 3 naps a day. They were going down within every two hours of being awake. Well...Once I added in the 3rd meal, the times of those bottles have been off. Sometimes it's closer to 1pm instead of 11am for that 2nd bottle, etc. But I always managed the 4 bottles. About 2 weeks ago, I was putting them down for their 3rd nap and Nicholas after about 10-15 minutes-would start screaming. I would take him out of the room so he wouldn't wake Anthony-and he would be fine the rest of the day. He was boycotting the nap. So I stopped the 3rd nap for him. 

For the past two days-they have had 3 bottles instead of 4. They are still getting the same amount of formula as they were with 4 bottles. Yes, it was 28oz vs 24oz, but-they NEVER finished every bottle! Now? They still don't! But much closer! And-the minimum amount of formula they should be having is 24oz-and that's where we are. If I go somewhere-I still bring that extra bottle. Ya just never know when I will need it! As for napping-we are down to 2-of course unless we go somewhere and are in the car, etc and they fall asleep. But since going to two naps-they sleep LONGER in the morning(vs the 5am wakeup calls) and they go down EASIER! It's heavenly. Not that they were hard to get down before... But they are going about 4 hours from nap wakeup to bedtime. They are doing great though! 

This twin thing never gets old! ;)

Some photos:

Anthony getting licked by George!

George "washing" Nicholas' hair!

Can we say babyproof?

"What mom? I shouldn't be doing this?"

The boys in their pool!

Mommy's little escape artist-ALWAYS on the move!

     "Hey! What's in here?"

Neuro update!

After 17 longggggg months-yes-that's right-17 months...9 months of a pregnancy and 8 months of his short little life right now, Anthony FINALLY has a perfect clean bill of health! YAY!!!! If I was on the twinstuff.com website, I could add a dancing banana in here! ;) 

I wasn't too worried about the appt because I see him everyday and I know that he is doing everything he is supposed to be doing. But still as a mother, you'd hate to have your child labeled, no matter what that label may be. Even now, some people would make comments about the size of his head, not knowing that it could potentially be of great concern. I am just thrilled beyond words that my sweet baby boy is ok-and it's something I may have known from the start!

This was the appt: The NP met with us, and we went over his ct scan. She said it looked beautiful. There was no fluid in the ventricles, the sutures didn't shut prematurely, etc. She said it all looked great. She did say there was some fluid in the front-but it's "common" and it wil be reabsorbed-so nothing to worry about. So-the end diagnosis for his big head was fluid and familial. Thank god. The Dr. came in and we went over the CT scan again. She measured his head-and it only grew .5cm in 2 months! I was very excited-it's still big though! She said at around 18 months it starts to level off, and it looks like that's where he is headed now. I am just thrilled beyond words. They basically took one look at him and could tell nothing was neurologically wrong with him. He flashed that smile and won their hearts in an instant! 

For a "quick" background on Anthony's short life so far.. At our first u/s, Baby B was a small sac. I didn't know the stats at the time, just that it was 2 weeks behind, and it was a yellow flag. Dr. mentioned if I did start to bleed, chances are, I was miscarrying Baby B. I was beyond thrilled I had twins. I met my mother and godmother for dinner. I told my godmother(who is a twin herself) that it was twins..BUT..and she stopped me. She said, "Meaghan. Don't even think like that. You are having twins. That baby is going to be fine. So get used to it!" From then on-I didn't worry about it!

Eventually, the sac size caught up where we couldn't even tell there was an issue. Fast forward to the nuchal fold test. As a first time mom-I wanted the extra u/s. So we went for it. Then the results came back-Baby B had a 1 in 49 chance of Down's. 2% chance. 98% chance he was healthy. As a mom, you hear 1 in 49, not 2% chance, not 98% chance all is well. We opted to not do anymore testing, unless further u/s's warranted it. Fast forward to the big u/s. Baby B's femur was shorter than A's. 4 weeks behind. Guess what that is a "soft spot" for? Yep-Down's. Dr was very nice in explaining things, so I felt good, for the most part, leaving that appt. We went back 4 weeks later-still the 4 week gap in length-but-it grew. A good sign. At all of the u/s's they could never get a good look at the heart, which would have given us maybe a little better idea if he had Down's or not. We opted out of all testing. We could handle what we were given. He's a miracle no matter what afflicted him, and we would love him no matter what. 

The day he was born, he came out 2nd and was quiet. But I didn't worry. I knew he was fine. Tony was able to sneak a quick peek, and he looked at me and said, "He's fine." I knew in my heart of hearts he was. Must be mother's tuition! ;) He did end up in the NICU for a week...again...more issues-fluid possibly on the lungs, heart murmur, spina bifida, lack of eating, yadayadayada.

We waited on pins and needles for his release date-it was just his eating that needed to be worked on. He was too tired to eat. And to think that back then he struggled to drink one ounce-wouldn't know it now!

So I end this with a beautiful picture of Anthony-and yes-Nicholas is just as beautiful! ;)

Can he get any more beautiful? I didn't think so...

HAPPY FIRST FATHER'S DAY!

On February 19, 2007, Tony became a dad. That was the day I took a home pregnancy test and it was positive. I still remember Tony's reaction when I told him we were expecting. He was a bit confused("How do you know?"), but I explained it to him, we embraced, and cried 4 years of frustrations away... On March 12, 2007, Tony became a father-to twins. That was the day of our first ultrasound. My beta number was 126. A nice healthy number...we thought for one. I secretly wanted 2, but was more than thrilled with 1. I think we both thought one-as well as the nurse and the ultrasonographer. Well-we all know how that turned out! She said, "There's one with a heartbeat, and oh boy Meaghan-there's TWO!" I immediately started crying and laughing at the same time. Tony turned around and chuckled and said, "Oh my God!" It was then on-he embraced twins. 

He didn't freak out. He didn't worry. He didn't sweat. Instead-he got excited. Sure-he wondered about money-but who doesn't? Even with one baby? You will NEVER have enough money. Or the perfect house, perfect job. But what will you have? What's the most important in the life of a child? Love. And Tony gives that 110%. Tony has always shown such joy and excitement when talking about the boys-long before they were here. There are so many things he wants to experience with them-it's almost tiring! They have a busy schedule ahead of them! From soccer, to fishing, to camping, to planting a garden, to doing homework together, cooking, riding bicycles. You name it-he want's to do it. What more can you ask for? 

I could write PAGES on how great a father he is. I honestly could. I couldn't have picked a better father for my children if I tried. He is everything a child would want in a father. When he wakes in the morning, he comes down the stairs, and the boys immediately look towards the stairs and the voice. As soon as they see him, they smile from ear to ear. The both usually start kicking their feet and flailing their hands in excitement. He will spend a few minutes with them(on the day I get up early with them) and make them laugh, and then get ready for his day. Once he returns home from work, you don't hear, "Meg, let me go get changed. Meg, let me relax for a little while." Won't hear those words. Instead it's, "Give him to me." He wants them as soon as he walks in the door-and again-they are filled with excitement once they see him. They just love their daddy! I see it everyday in those smiles. Everyday. And when I go out alone, and he stays home with the boys. I don't worry. I know he can handle it. And he does a great job at it. Most fathers would freak out being alone with A baby, let alone TWO. Not Tony. He looks forward to it. Alone time with his boys...

So Tony-I may not tell you often enough, or I may nag you from time to time on your "parenting," but I want you to know that I think and know you do an AMAZING job with the boys. Amazing. I know I tell you to stop playing, because it's bedtime, or they're cranky, or whatever the reason may be. But when I stop and think about it, I think that's just silly. Play all you want. You'll never get those moments back and they are spending quality time with their father. So what if bedtime is off. That's something so minor. Instead-I need to look at it as a father WANTING to spend time with his children. WANTING to love them. WANTING to dote on them at every chance. WANTING to make them laugh and smile. And most of all? WANTING to be a father. 

On this June 15th, 2008, your first Father's Day, I want to thank you for being a wonderful father to Nicholas and Anthony. The boys are little, but they will soon realize, if they haven't already, what a special father you really are. Happy Father's Day! We love you!