A Year Ahead

I can't believe the girls will be a year old on Thursday! The time just really flies by! A year ago we were trying to stop my labor, but the girls were ready to enter our world...and they definitely know how to make one heck of an entrance!

The leaps and bounds we have conquered still amazes me! Mikaela is so close to walking, but being so stubborn! Lorelei is bear crawling, which is amazing and ahead of the game! :) It is hilarious to watch her!

You know, before having kids, it was hard to imagine my life with them. Now, it's hard to imagine my life without them. It a,ages me how much they can teach you and how they make you look at the world in a whole new light!

We will have a fun filled weekend with family and friends, cake and ice cream. :) We have a photo shoot on Sunday that I hope to share some of the pictures with you all! I hope to write on Sunday to share our first birthday party experience! :)

Changing Lives

So, my in-laws were in town this weekend, so Brandon and I took advantage and went out on a double date last night with some very good friends of ours.  We got on the discussion of having children with special needs sometime during the night, because everyone loves to talk about their kids as much as possible. :)

Our friends were telling us that they always used to worry about having a child with special needs, because who doesn't.  We all know, that we are all uncomfortable with children with special needs at first and we always think "I wonder how the parents deal."  The conversation went on to giving Brandon and I so much credit.  They said that after meeting us and spending so much time with us and our family, that they don't worry about that anymore.  They now understand that no matter what, every child is a blessing, and they don't even think twice about it.

I know that we are friends, and they are "supposed" to say things like that, but it made me smile from ear to ear and it made me feel like we are making some kind of difference in the world.  We hope that we can continue to make a difference in other people's lives as we raise our children and show them off to the world. :)

Both girls are doing great.  We had 2 sets of grandparents here yesterday, so it was a full house and the girls got ALL kinds of attention. :) We have gotten Mikaela to take a few steps on her OWN when she is the mood! I am thinking she will be walking in the next month or so.

Lorelei has the army crawl down pat!  She has now taken to getting on her hands and her feet!  Kind of like the Downward Dog position in yoga.  We are not sure what she is trying to do, but I sent a picture of it to our PT and she said that it just shows how much stronger she is getting. :) We have noticed that Lorelei will do things when she is ready, so we know the crawling will come....when she's ready! :)

Over the Snow!

So, the girls and I have decided that we are over waiting for snow and want warmer weather so we can enjoy the outdoors! :)

Everything has been going fantastic! Between work and the girls, I don't feel like I get two seconds to breathe by myself and I am sure that Brandon feels the same way.  Both girls had check ups last week and are both a little over 20 lbs.  Only a month and a half to go and they will be a year old! I can't believe that!

Mikaela is cruising right along.  Right now, we are trying to get her to stand on her own so she can start taking a few steps when she is ready.  She will stand for a few seconds and then plops down, but we are getting there. :) She is just as mischevious as ever!  She even has the grin to match it! :) She is constantly climbing over and into everything, including her sister!

Lorelei has been doing very well.  She is now crawling in her own way.  She has an army type crawl going.  She will get herself in the crawling position ALL the time and rock back and forth, but never goes anywhere with it.  We are working with her on that now! :)  She has had several doctor appointments lately to determine if she has a mild hearing loss.  The conclusion we finally came to today is that she needs tubes.  Her ear canals are so small that even when the tiniest bit of fluid gets in there, she loses some of her hearing.  We are not sure if we will wait a little until she grows some, or just go down to UVA and do it ASAP.  I am worried that if we wait, it will impact her speech and we don't want that. :)

Other than that, everything is the same! Brandon and I are doing the Polar Plunge the first weekend of Feburary.  Him, the actual plunge, and I, the 5k.  All proceeds go to the Virginia Special Olympics, so we hope to make this a yearly thing and contribute to Lorelei's Special Olympics in the future! :)

New Year, New Developments

It’s a new year and more posts on this blog would be nice.  Therefore I am making it my goal to post more often.  As of yet I’m not sure this page has really done everything that I hoped it would.  I wanted this page to provide hope and support for other families if they are having a difficult time.  Ofcourse what else is to be expected when you are blessed with twins than to have your whole world be consumed by babies!  Free time is almost non-existent.  That being said let’s update everyone.

                When we last posted we had just taken Lorelei to the Down’s Clinic at UVA.  Since then the girls have been doing amazing.  Mikaela is still thriving and getting into everything!  She pulls herself to stand and walks along holding on to stable objects all the time.  She crawls over everything including Lorelei.  She has begun to be able to pick up small objects with her index finger and thumb which is awesome.  She has also begun to realize consequences of her actions.  She now has figured out that if she bangs things together they make noise.  This has been a ton of fun for mom and I. 

                We have seen simply the beginning of the girls fighting.  When one girl has something the other one wants it.  This usually results in thievery and someone upset.  It’s an ongoing process and is funny to watch.  Don’t let yourself be fooled into thinking “poor Lorelei” because she takes things from Mikaela just as often as she has them stolen. 

                Lorelei is doing wonderfully.  She was very fussy the past weeks and we never felt a tooth coming in on the top of her mouth.  Out of curiosity I checked the bottom of her mouth and found a tooth beginning to come in on the bottom left side.  It is unfortunate that they’re not coming in the order they should but atleast they’re coming in.  We often hear of children with Down Syndrome taking much longer to get to this point so we are excited.  She has like her sister begun to try and use her index finger and thumb to pick up some small objects.  This is not always done with success.  She is still more comfort using a “raking” technique to pick up something but we are working on the skill with her at every meal time.  Lorelei can stand against the couch or when you hold her hands which is great.  The girls watched a whole episode of “Dora the explorer” the other night while standing against the couch.  I have a sneaking suspicion that mom and I will learn all the songs eventually. 

                Lorelei has also taken to eating food with great enthusiasm.  The old days of fighting with her to keep it in and not push it out with her large tongue are now gone.  She can’t get enough food most days.  A very exciting new development is that she has begun to crawl forward a little.  She usually does this when she wants something that is front of her.  She used to roll to the sides and pivot to get there.  It’s not all coordinated yet, arms and legs.  She uses her ankle flexion and extension more than anything else but is starting to get her knees under her and push forward. 

                Most of these new developments are blessings that come from Lorelei’s determination to move along with her sister.  We work with her every day as does our nanny but it really comes from LC (Lorelei Cristina).  She has done some amazing things so whenever a therapist comes to see her they all say “wow, she looks great” or “she is doing so well”.  These little girls are amazing and push Maria and I to keep those expectations high.  They have leaped over every bar set for them so far and I’m sure they will continue to do so.

Long Lost Update

Wow! Things have been so busy lately!

Yes, football is over, but these girls don't let us stop for a second! When, they do go to bed, Brandon and I are both too exhausted to do anything productive. :p

Lorelei had her first appointment at the Down's Clinic at UVA in November.  They evaluated her and just checked to see where she is right now.  She was 8 months old at the time and Dr. Anderson said she was at the 7 month level.  Her exact words were "She looks great!"  We could not be happier or more excited.  We and Bethany are working so hard to be sure she gets what she needs so she can be right along with her sister!  Lorelei is sitting up now! :) She cannot get into the position on her own, but if you sit her on the floor she will sit and play! :) We are working on the crawling now!  She can get on her knees.  She can pull herself up on her hands, but she hasn't figured out to put both together yet, but I know we will get there soon enough.  She babbles away all day long! It's so funny.  We will babble to her and she will have a conversation with us.  As my mom said, she is probably frustrated and thinking that we have no clue what she is trying to tell us! :)

Mikaela is all over the place!  She gets into EVERYTHING! :) She is crawling everyone.  She is pulling herself up to stand and she has even taken steps along the couch already!  The child is crazy!  She is going to keep me on my toes and butt heads with Brandon all the time!  She has three teeth coming in right now so she has some uncomfortable days.  Other than that, she is Mikaela! :) Nothing else going on with her.

We all had a great First Thanksgiving as a family of four! The girls even had a lunch of sweet potatoes, turkey and mixed vegetables! :) 

 Until next time! :) 

Late Night E.R.

Last night we had our first trip to the emergency room as parents.  It began yesterday with our girls going to the pediatrician for their last serious of shots.  They also received the flu shot.  The doctor was very impressed that Lorelei was meeting all of her milestones so far.  She has been rolling over for months now, both girls have been trying to crawl lately, but Mikaela has found a little more success than her sister.  Both girls also have their front 2 bottom teeth coming in.  So it has been exciting to say the least.

The girls went to bed fine but Lorelei woke up with a temp. of 103 and we immediately took her to the hospital. When we arrived she was at 104.  They gave her tylenol and by the time we saw the doctor 3 HOURS LATER she was back to normal.  It was weird seeing both girls wide awake and trying to play and crawl at 1 am.  We finally got out of there at 2 am and things have been fine.

We know every parent goes through the trips to the ER but ofcourse our case felt different.  This was our girls.  The past few months have been amazing and trying at the same time.  The girls have made leaps and bounds in their abilities to sit, stand, crawl ... and Maria has been there for it all.  If there was ever a down side to being a dedicated coach, it's that you miss so many things with your children.  My wife has done an amazing job.

Football Season is Here!

Well, we had our first weekend FULL of football!  Friday night was the first Warren County game.  Of course, it was away.  I ventured out with the girls on my own and took them to the game.  They were AMAZING!  Lorelei actually slept for about 20-30 min after she ate, even with all the noise!  I was exhausted when we got home that night, but I can't complain about anything! We even won, 29-0!

Saturday, we went down to Bridgewater for their first football game and to see Grandpa and Grandma Erwin.   The night before, I made outfits for the girls to wear to support BC.

We didn't take the girls into the game because it was so hot and we wanted to keep them in the shade so we hung out by the camper with Chris and enjoyed the day.  The girls were very well behaved but so ready to go when we left! :)  They were exhausted and both slept for 12 hours last night!

Lorelei started physical therapy this past week and the therapist said that she looks amazing right now.  She said her hips are strong and she is on point of where she needs to be.  The only thing she said to work on was getting Lorelei to jump so she can strengthen her leg muscles. :)

Mikaela is getting better at sitting on her own, but still can only do it for a little bit before she falls over. :) She is getting so close though!

They are both doing well with the cereal/baby food mix.  Lorelei usually takes about 1/2 in a sitting.  She is doing better with getting the food to the back of her mouth to swallow it.  I am going to start Mikaela on it twice a day tomorrow.  We will be trying asparagus this week, so we will see how that goes. :) 

Abuelo and Abuela are coming this weekend! We can't wait to see them!