I don't have enough words.

My dad died yesterday.

We love you, dad, and we will miss you terribly.

A Day for Pictures!

These are a few of the cute pictures from the last few weeks. Hope you enjoy them as much as we do!

First is a few pictures of me bathing the boys. Gracie just had to participate, too!

Jason in his big boy tub.

Shawn in the big boy tub, too!

Jason all bundled up in his hooded towel. He is doing his favorite thing of the moment...sucking on his hand. Could we be teething already? (the excessive amounts of drool suggests that it is a possibility)

Here is Jason killing some time while Shawn was recovering.

Shawn in his cute little baseball outfit. I love how he looks in red. Too bad that the red clothes he has always bleed onto everything else!

Jason after a hard day of tummy time.

This one is of Shawn. He woke up crying and when I went in to get him, he looked like this. Apparently, he didn't like his pajamas much! Is it wrong of me to take a picture of him before I did anything to help him? :-)

This last picture is the piece de la resistance! (did you notice Jason's hand?) You don't think he is already complaining about my parenting, do you? He is about thirteen years too early for that!

Happy Easter!

The boys' first Easter. We got them special outfits just for the occasion.

This picture was accentuated by Jason's plump little center!



One of their cute little feet.

Can't forget about their cute little tushies.

I love those little tails!!!

Here is Shawn in his outfit.

He is not so happy here...

But it is still a cute picture!

Now, here is Jason in his outfit.

His look is more one of, "Can we get this over with already?"

Here are a few of my mom and Jason. I didn't get one of her and Shawn! (bad Stacie)

Here is my dad and Shawn...

My dad and Jason...

Happy Easter to all of you from Team Lopez!

Where to start?

Shawn was not doing as well as I expected and took a turn for the worse Monday night. He started to throw up everything he ate and was getting sicker and sicker. I got him in to the pediatrician on Tuesday, and she sent us off to the hospital where we stayed both Tuesday and Wednesday nights. We were just discharged today.

He is doing better now (and is able to keep food down), but he still isn't acting like normal just yet. We are keeping a close watch on him and hope he feels better soon.

I'll update again in a few days. Both Isaac and I are beyond tired--we stayed at the hospital with Shawn and had to share one little fold out bed between the two of us both nights. Let's just say that it wasn't pretty to see two very long people crammed onto a very thin bed in a very tight space for that long!

Thanks again to my mom and dad for taking Jason for the last few nights so we could focus on getting Shawn better.

How We Pass the Time (sometimes)

We were bored. We were tired. That is all the explanation you get.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

First Fevers

The boys have been fighting a little something this weekend. We had slight fevers and added some vomiting just for giggles. (had to be contamination from all of the doctors' offices we visited this week) I think I held Shawn for 28 hours straight--minus a few bathroom breaks! Just when we thought Shawn might be getting over whatever it was, Jason threw up and started a fever. It. Was. Not. Fun.

Thankfully, they have started to feel better. Fevers and vomiting are gone. (Whew!) They are still a little clingy and their appetites are not 100%, but they are much better than they were at the start of this.

Here are some pictures from the last week that I haven't posted yet. (pre-illness)

First up is what we were all waiting for...


Man did Shawn make me work for that one picture! And that is the only picture I have so far!

And to not leave out Jason...

Here are the latest pictures I have taken of the two of them sleeping. It still cracks me up to watch them. It started out with them facing each other, which looked like this...

Shawn is eyeballing Jason and trying to figure out his next move. A scuffle ensued until they ended up like this...

Too funny!

A certain little person finally smiled. Our hearts melted. All is well in the world. :-)

I think the boys are finally starting to feel a little better. It was a tough day yesterday, with an even tougher night, but we managed to make it through.

Today, the boys got the chance to sit in their Bumbo seats. Jason absolutely loved it, but Shawn didn't care for it much.

Here is Jason in his seat--all smiles, just like usual.

Try as I might to keep this kid from watching television, here he is indulging in a little bit of a soap opera. He is very worried about John and Marlena's relationship at the moment. (Did you notice the furrowed brow?) Sigh. ***

This one just cracks me up. Doesn't he have that sort of "Hey there, baby..." look? Shawn would have none of the picture taking while he was in his chair. Picture him in Jason's place, only with less smiles and LOTS more crying.

I also got the boys little play mats for tummy time.

Here is Jason on his...

And now here is Shawn...

***Isaac says we are to limit their television viewing to two hours a day...either educational or football, so they don't ruin their appreciation for the finer things. (that is from Raising Arizona)

4 Month Appointment

News from the doctor:

Shawn:

weight -- 10.6 pounds
length -- 22 inches
head circumference -- 18 inches
shot count -- 4 (2 in each leg)

25%ile-35%ile for his adjusted age!

Jason:

weight -- 11.6 pounds
length -- 23.5 inches
head circumference -- 18.5 inches
shot count -- 4 (2 in each leg)

50%ile-65%ile for his adjusted age!

They are hitting all the milestones (except that pesky smiling for Shawn, which is so close I can feel it) for their adjusted age, and most for their actual age. The pediatrician was quite impressed! I tell you, they are geniuses!

Even better news is that the boys' eyes look so good that they don't need to go back for a follow-up until they are over a year old! Whoo to the double Hoo! There is no sign of ROP and their eyes look great. Whew...(hands wipes brow)

Next up for us is a nephrology appointment for the boys at UCLA Children's on Thursday. Shawn had a slightly enlarged kidney on an ultrasound during our NICU days, so we are going to have that double checked. We are hoping, as it was suspected, that the enlargement was due to the infection he had at the time and not due to something else. Jason is going too because they seem to do things together, so we wanted to double check him as well. (Back to that all for one, and one for all thing again.)

This has been a tough day for the boys (and their mom). They are not feeling too great and have been pretty clingy. It is going to be an interesting night to be sure. Thank goodness for Tylenol!

And a big thank you to my mom for going with me to the eye appointment. I am not sure I would have made it through that one without her!

More Firsts...

This weekend brought even more firsts: the first time the boys were babysat at a place other than our house and the first time we went out as a family (to a place other than the doctor's).

It was some time during last week that I got the brilliant idea that we needed to have a few hours without the boys. I wasn't quite sure what we do exactly (and we seriously considered sleeping), but I figured it would be healthy to have some "us" time. So on Saturday evening, we packed the boys up (good grief they have a LOT of stuff) and headed over to my mom and dad's house.

I gave my mom a brief introduction to all of the stuff we brought--this is Jason's food, here is Shawn's food, they need their medicine at 8:00, and oh, by the way, they are ready to eat now!--and we left.

Just the two of us.

Alone.

What did we do with our well earned time alone you ask? Well, we are wild ones, to be sure, so we went to Target and dinner. We had three and a half hours of shopping and eating. Could it have gotten any better than that? (I am sure that Isaac could have found better ways to spend the time, but I was content.) :-)

Anyway, my mom and dad survived, as did the boys, so it was a great evening!

On Sunday, I had yet another brilliant idea. Let's go out for our first family outing! (What was I thinking?) This time, we were off to Wickes, in the search of new couches.

We fed the boys and got ready. We probably should have done that the other way around, but as I have posted before, the boys like to spit formula at me when I am about ready to go somewhere, so they eat first now.

Then came the thought about how were we going to transport them around the store. Should we hold one and put the other in the sling? Should we carry the car seats around? Oh, yeah. We have a stroller, which we haven't put together yet.

That couldn't be too hard, right?

About 45 minutes later, we had figured out the stroller. The neat thing is that the car seats actually snap into the stroller, so we don't have to mess with waking them up to move them from the car to the stroller.

So, we finally got the stroller and the babies into the car. There was a brief discussion about whether we should feed the boys again, to make them nice and full, and hopefully keep them from getting cranky. Nah. We are the gambling type, you know. It shouldn't be a problem, right? Ha Ha.

We got to Wickes after a ten minute tear filled car ride. Their tears, not mine, although I might have been close myself! Okay, maybe not. (Ah, the adrenaline was pumping through us both, though!) We soon discovered that yes, it would have been an excellent idea to feed the boys first, but we rolled with it, and I was prepared. I whipped out my ready made formula and nipples, and I fed Jason a quick couple of ounces, simultaneously calming him and cooling him off. (He tends to overheat quickly when sitting in the car seat.)

Twins are quite the attention getter. We were noticed by everyone it seemed. People asked us about them and told us about what a hand full we have. We chatted; we smiled. We proudly strutted our stuff around the store--we were finally out with our beautiful boys!

It was so much fun.

It was sooooo exhausting!

My mind is already full with more possibilities for next weekend!

-------

Tomorrow is our four month appointment at the pediatrician. The boys will get their physicals and some shots. That should be loads of fun. Then, tomorrow afternoon is their follow-up with the eye doctor. If I make it through alive, I'll post an update as soon as possible.

100th Post

To commemorate...

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

"Forever Young" by Rod Stewart

May the good lord be with you
Down every road you roam
And may sunshine and happiness
Surround you when you're far from home
And may you grow to be proud
Dignified and true
And do unto others
As you'd have done to you
Be courageous and be brave
And in my heart you'll always stay
Forever young, forever young
Forever young, forever young

May good fortune be with you
May your guiding light be strong
Build a stairway to heaven
With a prince or a vagabond
And may you never love in vain
And in my heart you will remain
Forever young, forever young
Forever young, forever young
Forever youngForever young

And when you finally fly away
I'll be hoping that I served you well
For all the wisdom of a lifetime
No one can ever tell
But whatever road you choose
I'm right behind you, win or lose
Forever young, forever young
Forever young ,forever young
Forever young, forever young
For, forever young, forever young

I Learn the Hard Way

Lesson learned the hard way--a pee pee should point down. You would think I would know that by now, wouldn't you? I keep forgetting. Must be the lack of sleep.

Weights this week:

Jason is 10 pounds 15 ounces
Shawn is 9 pounds 15 ounces

We're getting big!

Snuggles

Every afternoon, I lay the boys together on the floor for some play time. It always starts off nice and civilized, but the longer they lay on the blanket, the more active they become. Shawn is especially funny to watch. He wiggles and moves until he is somehow touching Jason (although Jason takes his turn at wiggling, too). It could be that they touch legs or arms, but most often, the boys touch heads. A few head butts are often exchanged between the two. The most interesting thing is that they always seem to manage to arrange themselves so they are closely matching the way they were in the womb. It is eerie how they know how they were! Once they get to that position, they settle down and go right to sleep.

Here is Shawn, working his way over to Jason.

They found each other. Let the head butting begin.

This is Isaac's attempt to separate them. Notice that Jason hasn't given up yet. He is still in the mood to play!

Not too long later, they are down for the count...

This is them today. Shawn was happy enough to just lay on Jason for a little while.

It really is a sweet thing to watch. I hope they stay this close forever.

Then and Now

Once upon a time, not so long ago...


And now...


What a difference a few months can make!

These are of Jason when he was two days old and today. Back then, Jason's entire hand would have fit inside Isaac's ring. Now, his hand is as wide as Isaac's finger--still so tiny, but oh, so big. Amazing.

Updated at bottom:

Shhh...don't tell anyone. I am almost afraid to say anything. Jason slept for 5 and a half hours straight last night. (Oh, I hope I didn't just jinx myself again.) He has also taken it upon himself to totally destroy the schedule I placed the boys on and eat 4 ounces every 4 hours. I am not complaining, mind you, but it would have been nice if he would have decided to do this before I put the schedule in motion. I wonder if this is an indication of what is to come from him. :-) Anyway, we were very excited about last night, and now I am trying hard to get him to do it again tonight. Wish me luck!

Oh, and he hasn't yet convinced Shawn to join suit and follow his 4 for 4 regimen. I hope Shawn gets the picture soon, though...ahhh, that would be so nice!

Updated to add:

Well, we didn't get the 5 1/2 hours, but we did get 5 from Jason and 4 1/2 from Shawn. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself. I am almost giddy!

A Well Working Baby Monitor

These things are good...

• being at home and not in the hospital
• sleeping in a crib
• the way we smell right after a bath (mommy and daddy love that smell)
• a nice big, satisfying burp (or two, or three for that matter) after eating
• a snuggle just before we drift off to sleep
• tummy time on the floor
• rolling over
• 4 hours of sleep in a row
• and a well working baby monitor so you can hear every sound

These things are a drag...

• poop on mommy's hands
• pee on my pajamas
• formula in mommy's hair and all over daddy
• gas that can clear the room
• and a well working baby monitor so you can hear EVERY sound

Jason had spit his formula on me, just as I was getting ready to leave...

He surprised himself by wearing it, too.

Me and Shawn just before bed time...

Daddy with the boys right after their baths...