Ups and Downs

Layla has begun pulling herself up to a standing position! Unfortunately this means she has also taken quite a few spills.



She is also incredibly mobile. This is what I saw the other day.



Layla also likes to pull off Leah's bows! Drives me crazy!



Drives Leah crazy too!



We're pretty busy here but here are a few pictures. Happy 10 Months girls!!



















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Birthday Surprise!!!

Nana came to California to surprise brad for his birthday! We planned an elaborate scheme and surprised him at the airport. He was under the impression we were picking up my aunt. Nope!!!!

Nana is here :)

Layla couldn't be happier. She LOVES Nana!!

And the only thing the girls love more than nana is each other!!!

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A video of our quiet child =)

Growth

No one is sick! Thank God! We saw the eye doctor today. It was a follow up from 6-8 months ago. Preemies are at risk for Retinopathy of Prematurity...a condition where the vessels in the eye don't fully develop because they were born too early. We were examined back in September and October, and now we were evaluated to see if long lasting problems exist.
Main questions...
Are the vessels in the eye fully developed, DESPITE the fact that they developed outside the womb? (babies eye development SHOULD be done in utero. Post birth it is more difficult to develop eye strength.)
Do they need glasses?
Preemies often need glasses to counteract their prematurity and help strengthen their eye muscles.
Well, I'm proud to announce that my 3 & 4 pound miracles passed their eye exams with flying colors!
No evidence of ROP (retinopathy of prematurity), eye muscles appear strong, (even in my little twin), so no lazy eyes, no wandering eyes, no nearsightedness, no farsightedness...
Apparently their eyesight is perfect, which is unusual for 31 weekers :)
No glasses needed, we will be evaluated by the Lucille Packard Children's Hospital for the next five years. Side effect of prematurity :( Constant Evaluation!
We've been testing out finger foods. I bought this little mesh food holder. I can put various foods in it, the girls hold it (motor skills!) and eat finger foods.
I've put watermelon and bananas in it. Ummm, they love it!!









We've been playing in our backyard a lot lately. As most of you know, I'm BROWN, meant for sunning, yet I've somehow produced the palest children ever, they have the fairest skin! I'm worried they will burn, and they hate the sun to boot! So I'm slowly introducing them to the outside world. The other day we watched the eclipse.
Crawl babies!



Or, invade personal space...




Be happy Miss Leah Bug :)
Isn't this the BEST FREAKIN SMILE EVER?!?!




In other news...Layla has gotten noisier (is that even possible?!)
Here she is looking innocent........




But we all know the truth!




So snoopy. I love it! Explore little baby!!
Brads birthday is in two days. I've been scheming...he might be getting the most amazing present ever. So hard to keep it a secret..but so worth it.
WAITFORIT.
WAITFORIT.
watch for a late Saturday/early Sunday blog about it :)
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Sicky sicky

Both girls seemed to have recovered from their illnesses nicely. Me on the other hand, not so lucky. I swear every time I get sick I get REALLY sick. So I've been laid up and Brad has been so nice, letting me sleep in and watching the girls in the morning so I can rest. LOVE it! Best part about being married heehee.
I thought I would finally take the time and give a brief update about Layla's neurology appointment. She has a slight bit of fluid surrounding her brain which is making her head size larger than average. It's not hurting her, and it's not affecting her development, but it's something we will need to keep an eye on. We meet with our regular neurologist in late June and our pediatrician (who is awesome) is doing monthly head measurements on her. Her growth seems to have stabilized which is a good sign.
Other than that, like I mentioned before, we have a date for our first birthday party: August 11, and we are baptizing the girls August 12. Mark your calendars!
Last, I want to talk about something close to me.
Her name is Sierra Lamar.
http://findsierralamar.com/

She is 15 years old, and she went missing on March 17th. She left her mom's house on her way to the bus stop headed for school and never made it. Her mom was notifed 9 hours later when an automated phone call told her Sierra was absent from school.
Two days later her cell phone was found. The next day her purse was found with her clothes folded neatly inside.
For months that was the only piece of information.
Why is this relevant??? This happened in my hometown. Less than a mile from where I grew up, she was kidnapped. For weeks, my doorbell has rang with volunteers begging for information on this poor girl. I run to the gym (1/2 mile away) twice a week and since she disappeared, I've brought mace with me. My tiny hometown has become somewhere scary. Somewhere I'm scared to raise children.
Tonight a 21 year old kid from my hometown was arrested for her murder.
Brad and I heard the news and honestly, it just scared me more. What has become of our world???
Normally I would shudder and think, "I never want to raise kids in a world where things like this could happen."
Well guess what...I've already had kids. And they live in a world where things like this happen. Not just a world, but a tiny little hometown. For my family in Kansas City, Missouri, you can't say it doesn't happen there. Just google Alissa Shippert.
This whole situation makes me want to take my kids and run away, do anything to protect them from the sick world we apparently live in. Why would anyone want to raise children in a world where people do such sick things?
Tonight I tucked my girls in a little tighter, I kissed them twice as much, and I said a prayer for them, Sierra Lamar, Alissa Shippert, and every other child that has ever been hurt by violence in this world. And I pray that no more families will ever suffer the way those families have.

Finally the end to a loooooong week

So Layla has been sick since Monday. Fever, vomiting, lack of appetite, extreme fussiness. I was worried all week that Leah would catch whatever Layla had...didn't happen. She had her own illness instead. No fever, extreme congestion, lack of appetite, no desire to sleep. Leah LOVES to nap, so for her to skip naps...well it didn't go well for me.

So my week was full of vomit, boogers, sick babies, sad eyes =(

Layla's fever FINALLY went away Thursday, but Leah is still sick as of Friday night.

Hope they feel better soon.

Update on Layla

Her fever was up and down all day. Medicine lowers it and she seems like her happy self but it invariably rises and she cries. I gave her ice cream today just to help cool her down. She didn't like it but then I mixed it with a thin mint cookie and she loved it. I also let her have ice.

She hasn't been eating well and wakes up frequently through the night. Hopefully she gets over this soon. I hate seeing her sad eyes :(











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