Recovery

Miss Maia had surgery today to untether her spine. It went well. It has been really hard on me to watch her be in so much pain today, she cries in a way I have never heard before. But, they seem to have gotten it under control, and she is sleeping. She whimpers a little bit here and there in her sleep though. Poor little thing. I am staying at the hospital with her and hardly slept the night before the surgery so I should be tired, but find myself inclined to stay up an stare at her instead of sleeping. She is such a little trooper. So is JD, who is being so good playing at home with Grandma all day while the rest of us are spending our time in the PICU once again.

There are some unknowns about whether she will need further treatments in the future, and some of the potential effects of her problem. But for now, I just want to talk about how elated we are that the surgery went well, what a relief it is to have it behind us, and how blessed we are to be in the hands of great doctors at an amazing children's hospital. And that we think she is absolutely perfect, no matter what happens with her spine. We have found a lot of comfort in the support and love of friends and family on this long day.

Best Time of Day

When I look back on the first six months, this will be my best memory. We walk to the park and swing at least once a day, often twice. Sometimes we are still in our pajamas and sometimes we actually make it into real clothes before we go, depending on the day. They love it, I love it, and it is always the best moment of the day.

Food

We love food....JD & Maia are trying to hold their own bottles (i.e. milk gets everywhere now). And, we are trying solids....



















So far they both like carrots, peas, mushrooms, onion, spinach, edamame, yogurt, oatmeal, rice cereal, scrambled eggs, and corn. (I know some of those foods are on the list of things not to give 5 month olds, but we've been careful, neither side of the family has any food allergies, and so far we've had no problems with any of it.) Yes, they do actually swallow some of it. Half in, half all over the place. :-) Sometimes they are super messy (which is usually when I like to take pictures) and sometimes they do an impeccable job of getting everything in their mouth. We just set up the highchairs in the kitchen today. Until now we were just feeding them in their little rocker chairs, but it is getting too messy. We need to be over tile instead of carpet and the highchairs are meant to get messy. :-)

Happy Fall

1 Year Change...

One year ago from Sept 1 (sorry I missed it....been busy) our babies looked like this under a microscope and had 102 cells each (can you tell which one is JD and which one is Maia? Yeah, me neither!):



Now they are holding each other's hands (I didn't pose this!!!), smiling and giggling, and hopefully you can tell which one is which (even if it's only because of how I have them dressed):

Here are soem more pictures for your enjoyment. They are taken from my phone so sorry if they are not the greatest quality.

4 Months

We're 4 Months Old Already...

Miss Maia Jean is 25 inches and 12.5 pounds. Personality traits I am noticing: She is patient with herself (she'll try something over and over until she gets it, without getting frustrated) but if she gets hungry she is less patient (give me food now!!!). She is independent when it comes to things like holding her own bottle and putting in her own pacifier (can't do either completely on her own but is trying SO hard!) but at the same time loves it when you talk to her and pay attention to her, and rewards you with huge smiles and even an occasional giggle. She has recently become aware of our dog and her brother, and smiles at both. She already wants to put EVERYTHING in her mouth and when I let her try a tiny bit of ice cream she LOVED it - she comes by her sweet tooth honestly!

JD is 25.5 inches and 15 pounds (a couple pounds ahead of his sister, but a couple pounds behind his mama's weight when she was 4 months!). Personality traits I am noticing about Josh - I really think he is introverted, he takes everything in and becomes really easily aggitated when he's had "too much". He is very physical (strong, wants to touch everything) and is a big lover - nothing makes him smile like his mama giving him tons of kisses and he lights up in the morning at whoever comes in to get him out of his crib. This boy is a TANK - even his doctor is surprised by his strength - and he already rolls over, tries his darndest to crawl when he's on his tummy, and flexes his legs like he wants to stand when you hold him up. He either lacks some of his sister's coordination or patience (don't know which) and gets frustrated easily when he tries to grab a toy or move in one way or another and can't do it successfully the first time. I have a feeling he's going to be the "tough guy with a big teddy bear heart".

PS - I missed the 3 month picture completely and if I sit around waiting for myself to make little number signs for both of them I'll never take the picture. So from here on out I'm adding text boxes to the pictures electronically. What can I say, being crafty is not one of my strong points.

Grandpa's Garden

While my parents were visiting, they went on a bike ride in Santiago Canyon and saw a sign for a farmer's market in Silverado Canyon called Grandpa's Garden. It's a beautiful 10-minute drive from our house, so we decided to go check it out. Then I took Ryan back with us again last weekend.

Ryan went sailing today. I took JD & Maia on a great 90 minute walk this morning when it was still cloudy and cool, but after the sun came out we were all looking to get outside again...

So...

Nikki and I decided to take the babies to Silverado Canyon to get some produce...
They were relatively well-behaved in the car and ANGELS at Grandpa's Garden...
There weren't many people there so we chatted with "Grandpa" Mike and "Grandma" Colleen for a while, and walked back to see where our vegetables were grown and to meet the chickens that laid our eggs that very morning....
Grandpa Mike took out his camera and got pictures of JD & Maia in front of his produce stand so he could show everyone "his twins" that visit every weekend...
Just as good as the produce, is the fact that the outing wore out my babies...
And they are still sleeping, so I have been able to make myself a delicious vege/egg/cheese scramble with all the pickings from the garden and chicken coop AND write this blog...
We even picked up a jar of dill pickles canned by Grandma Colleen herself to give to Ryan when he gets home from his sail....

If you live in Orange County, whether you have kids or not, go pick up some home-grown organic produce & eggs. A variety of jams, honeys and pickles, too. Tell them that "the twins" sent you...