The Past Month

It's been soooo long since I posted.  We've been so busy this past month that the blog has been pushed to the back burner but I am going to try and get better.

I'll start by updating about Paxton's hernia surgery.  We had his surgery about a month ago and he did really well.  We went into the hospital thinking it would be day in / day out surgery, but we were quickly informed that we would be spending the night.  The anesthesiologist wanted to observe him for 24 hours since he was so little and young.  I was able to go into the OR with Paxton and stay with him while they were putting him to sleep, which was so comforting.  When he went into surgery we knew that he had a hernia on the right side, but while in there they discovered he had one on the left as well -- they repaired both.  He has two one-inch incisions right where his groin meets the waist.  He had absolutely no issues so we were able to go home early the next morning.  He had a couple of cranky days, but after that you would not have known that he'd had surgery.

All of the boys are doing great!  Conley is getting so big and becoming the best big brother.  He absolutely loves getting to love on and play with the little boys.  Occasionally he still gets a little excited and plays a bit too rough with them, but he is getting better.  He also loves that they will smile, laugh, and coo at him.

Lennox started rolling over from front to back last week!  He is still our most laid back child.  Where most babies get wide eyed and look a little startled when they are first rolling over, our Lennox looked like he had been doing it forever and knew exactly what he was doing.  He really wants to be big and sit up on his own ... it won't be too long!

Paxton is as happy as ever!  The other day someone asked me to describe the boys and this was my description of Paxton ...  "He's like the sweet, cute little dog at the pound that stands at the window and is all smiley and like "Pick Me! Pick Me!"  He is most definitely going to be our talker ... he will coo and "talk" as long as you look at him.

Below are lots of pictures and a video of our last month.

Paxton post surgery.  Notice my super tired eyes. 

Paxton the morning after surgery

Lennox hanging out with Mom outside while everyone else naps

Paxton thought Lennox was pretty funny

Sitting like big boys

First night in big boy crib
We'd had them in pack-n-plays until a couple of weeks ago

Cousin Leighton loving on the little boys

Conley hanging out in the baby swing dumping crayons everywhere

Loving on the little boys

Lennox

Lennox and Paxton

Sweet brothers

I've had lots of people ask me "How do you do it?"  Well this is how...
You become resourceful and figure out how to hold, rock, soothe two babies

I can't get the video to load.  I try to get it loaded tomorrow.

20 weeks and 20 months

Lennox and Paxton are 20 weeks today and Conley turned 20 months this month.  All of the boys are doing great.  Lennox and Paxton are growing like weeds and Conley is turning into a big kid.  Brent and I get a little sad seeing Conley growing up so fast, sometimes we just want to put a brick on his head to make him slow down.  He is such a smart, observant little boy.  He watches everything you do and then of course tries it himself!  He is starting to say more words.  ChooChoo, kitty cat, drink, up, more, all done, nite nite are all part of his vocabulary at this point.  I don't think he has really focused on talking until now because he has no problem communicating his wants non-verbally.  We've really started trying to make him use words to tell us what he wants.  

Lennox and Paxton are doing fantastic.  We were able to turn in our sleep apnea monitors at the beginning of the month and it has been fabulous!  We now remember what it's like to have cordless babies.  I feel certain Lennox and Paxton have seen more of our house in the last few weeks than they had the previous few months since we no longer have to drag a monitor and untangle cords to move them.  Conley is the only one that has missed the monitors -- in the last month he figured out if he pressed the buttons long enough the monitors would go off and he LOVED it!  We have finally gotten Paxton's reflux under control and he is a totally different baby and has started gaining a lot more weight.  He will have his surgery to repair his hernia next Monday, so please say a prayer that everything goes well and is uneventful.

Lots of pictures below!

Labor Day with the cousins

Excited to say goodbye to the apnea monitors!

Apnea monitors  - So excited to send these off to another home!

Conley relaxing

Being silly

Paxton
This child is the happiest baby ever.   He wakes up making this face
and will smile at you anytime.

Paxton

Lennox
He has just figured out smiling in the last week.  I haven't been able to get a picture
of one of his really good smiles yet, this is the best I've gotten.

 We spent this past Saturday at the Zoo.  The weather was perfect and everyone had a great time.  If you are ever in Memphis and have the time, I would highly recommend the Zoo -- it's fantastic!

Playtime!

Checking out the monkey on the activity mat

I've been spending my spare time (nap time and after the kids are in bed) working on finishing the christmas stocking my Mom was working on for Conley.  It's been very therapeutic and much more enjoyable than I thought it would be.  I'd seriously been dreading doing it for many, many months.  Here's a picture (I've only done the hat and scarf on the bottom right snowman -- mom did the rest).  I'll post a picture of the finished product when I'm done.

Last night Brent and I had date night.  We went to dinner and got coffee afterwards.  We seriously did not know how to act.  While driving to dinner, we rode in the car in complete silence -- no radio, very little talking, just enjoying the quiet.  We didn't once have to tell our waitress "No, no don't do that" or "No, we don't throw food" -- it was amazing!   A huge thank you to our friends, Randy and Pat for coming over and watching the boys while we went out.  They have been amazing friends and such a wonderful support for Brent and I -- I'm not sure we would have made it without them!!

Has it really been 4 months?

We've been a family of five for four months.  Really?  Four whole months?  It really doesn't seem like that much time has passed since we first met Lennox and Paxton, but I also can't imagine life without them!   The month of August has absolutely flown by.  We've had a busy month, so I'll give a quick run down of the highlights.

Brent and I are both doing good.  The little boys are starting to stretch out their feedings to every four hours most of the time and are sleeping better at night.  This makes for two happy parents that don't feel like zombies, which makes for a much happier household.  Brent was the lucky recipient of a recent root canal after a horrible toothache.  I decided that the actual root canal must not have been too horrible because he actually sent me a picture of himself during the procedure!  I'll spare you the picture, as I've never had a root canal and the picture didn't make me want one.  He's now recovered and doing fine.

All of the boys are doing great!  Conley is wild as ever and 110% boy.  He is into everything, including testing his independence.  Since the weather has been a little bit cooler he's been able to spend a lot of time on the playground at the park which he LOVES!  I think he would spend all day and night outside if given the choice.  He is still a sweet, loving cuddle bug which makes this Momma very happy.

Lennox and Paxton are both growing and getting big.  Both boys are starting to give us smiles, which is the best thing in the world.  Paxton is pretty easy to get a smile from, but you really have to work hard for Lennox to smile.  We had our 4 month check up and shots yesterday.  Lennox weighed 9 pounds 12 ounces and Paxton weighed 7 pounds 10 ounces.  Both boys took their shots like champs and only cried for a minute.  We finally got reflux medicine for Paxton, which we started yesterday and he is already a completely different baby.

We went to physical therapy for the first time a couple of weeks ago and the PT's were extremely pleased with where the boys were.  Thought that they were doing excellent with head control and gross motor skills!  We took Paxton to see the surgeon last week and confirmed that he does have a hernia.  So he will be having surgery to repair it at the end of September.  It is a fairly routine surgery and if all goes well it should be day in/day out.  Brent and I are extremely anxious about this surgery.  Although I believe everything will be fine, I cannot imagine having my baby put to sleep.

Drinking a smoothie with Dad

Playground fun

Made a friend at the playground

We painted some pictures for some beloved friends.
I had about this much paint on me as well.

Helping to sweep the patio after painting.

Sweet boy

Being silly

Conley's first artwork sent home from Parent's Day Out.
We think he is definitely going to be an artist.

Our sweet friend Joy's birthday party

Birthday party fun

Paxton

Everybody loves the Bumbo!

Lennox

Paxton

Conley

Before our 4 month shots

Paxton is all smiles!

We're not crazy yet!

It's been a while since I've posted an update and every night when we get all the kiddos settled I think to myself, "I should update the blog" and every night sleep wins out!  But I decided to forgo picking up toys today while Conley is at Nana's and update the blog.

But first, I want to share how incredibly lucky and blessed we are.  I know I've said this a ton, but it seems as of late I am being constantly reminded of this fact.  Maybe it's because I've been a little whiny about how hard it is to have two babies, a 19 month old, and not getting as much sleep as I'd like.  Or maybe because I've complained to Brent that our house is too small.  I don't really know why, but regardless of the reason I am grateful for the constant reminder.  Despite the things our family has been through over the last 6 months (losing my mom, very difficult pregnancy, the little boys coming so early) we really in truly have a wonderful life and it could be a lot worse.  I was just recently told of a family who had their twins at 27 weeks (just like us) and after a long stay in the NICU were told they would finally get to bring their babies home.  They were able to bring one of the babies home, but the other died before she could come home.  I'm sure this family was shocked and blown away by the events that unfolded.  When we were close to bringing Paxton home, I never thought that there was a possibility that he wouldn't make it home.  I just cannot imagine!

Onto the update.... We are all doing very well.  Brent and I are a little sleep deprived, but we've found a schedule that works for both of us.  We are both ready for these two sweet little boys to start smiling and interacting!  That's one thing that is really unfair to parents of preemies, by 3 months most parents are getting to interact with their babies, for us we've had 3 months of a newborn!  But we think smiles are coming soon!

We've had doctor appointments galore as of late.  So here's the quick run down:  Our pediatrician thinks we are doing good, we've been moved to going monthly for weight checks instead of every couple of weeks.  We were released from the eye doctor last week -- he said our eyes were good!  Also said that Lennox was definitely going to keep those blue eyes and Paxton was going to be a brown eyed boy.  The pulmonary doctor (he's the one who will tell us when we get to get rid of the apnea monitors, aka "baby alarms") said that he thought we would probably be able to get rid of them when we go back next month (WHOO HOO!!).  We go to physical therapy for the first time next week and the following week we will take Paxton to the surgeon to confirm if he has a hernia.  If Pax does have a hernia then we will schedule surgery.

Lennox is our chunky monkey!  At our last weight check he was a hefty 8 pounds.  He is built a lot differently than Conley or Paxton -- he is wide, stocky, and hefty.  He has also become quite the demanding little boy.  If he is awake he wants to be entertained and if he doesn't like something he lets you know immediately and very loudly!  This boy LOVES his paci!

Lennox - 3 months

Lennox - 3 months

Lennox - 3 months

Lennox - 3 months

Lennox - 3 months

Paxton is still our small wiggly worm!  At our last weight check he was 6 pounds.  I honestly think if the boy would quit moving he would outweigh Lennox!  He is an intense little boy, but is going to be a snuggle bug.  He is a moaner and groaner -- if he doesn't like it he groans, if he likes it he moans!  The boy desperately wants to suck his thumb, finger, or any part of his hand but can't quite get it yet.  He'll take a paci, but I think once he can get that hand he'll be done with the paci.

Paxton - 3 months

Paxton - 3 months (and not happy about it)

Paxton - 3 months

Paxton - 3 months

Lennox and Paxton

Sweet brothers

Lennox trying to steal Paxton's paci

Conley is a wild 19 month old boy!  He is turning into such a big kid.  He's recently really gotten into trains, so we play trains and more trains.  He also loves, and I mean LOVES, the movie Up.  The boy will sit through and watch the entire movie.

Conley with his big boy backpack

Sitting in the bouncy seat on top of the table

Saying Good Morning!
If you need help with your hair,
he's available by appointment only