A Little Updating

We are at Nena and Pappaw's this weekend, so I thought I'd do a little updating while the boys are napping. Nena and Pappaw live out in the sticks and have DSL... we live in a town and can't get DSL... though we have been told for several years that AT&T would have DSL in our area within a year. We finally quit asking! The little men have been doing great! They are going everywhere and into everything, but they are super little boys!! We hope y'all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and that your Christmas is merry! God has certainly blessed us with so much to be thankful for!!

February 18, 2010 - How far they've come!!

It only took two tries to get this precious picture of G the morning of his first birthday!


I don't know how many pics I took of E and this was the best I got! He is such a nut!!


E really didn't want to wake up for his birthday party.








Some shots from Christmas 2009
G & E in their new winter hats.

G looks like he's about to be into something!

E - How cute can you get?


I've hear this little guy (E) resembles me just a little!


G & E are now awake and they have found all kinds of stuff to get into, so that's all I have time for at the moment!

One Set of Sheets

So, what happens when you only have one set of sheets for your bed? You have time to update your long neglected blog when you forget you've got to wash those sheets!!
I can't believe it's been four months since I last posted! In that time Grant & Ethan have grown a lot. The High Risk Newborn Clinic that Ethan goes to said that we really needed to have Ethan evaluated for developmental delays and by the time we were able to get that scheduled, he went on a developing kick and he passed all tests with flying colors (even being tested on actual age instead of adjusted!) Grant got to "sit in" on the testing as well and, at the time, was doing everything Ethan did with the exception of crawling. It took him a little longer to realize he could move faster with his belly off the ground! Hopefully, Ethan's last High Risk appointment will be next month. Their one year appointment is Tuesday!!
Here are the photos... I know this is really what ya'll check the blog for...


Ethan on the guitar. Both boys really love to help their daddy play music.


In November we ALL got the flu. They say it was the swine flu, but who knows! It wasn't near as bad as the last time I had the flu!!


We were well for Thanksgiving, though, and got to spend time in Crossett with our family. This is my nephew, Carson. He loves to have his picture taken and then come look, so I have lots of pictures of Carson in the leaves! I think Grant resembles Carson.

Unfortunatley, these pictures are taking forever to upload, so... I will really try to get the rest on tomorrow (oh, wait... it's 2:30am... I will try later in the day!)

This picture just makes me laugh. Most shots of Ethan have his mouth either wide open, or like this. The bruise on his forehead was a permanent fixture for a while as he was learning to pull up. I don't know how many times he hit that same spot!

Busy Times!

Grant & Ethan are now scooting and rolling everywhere! They are so cute and they are keeping us quite busy.
Ethan adjusts his mirrors

Look out Sierra, Grant's car only moves in reverse these days!!

It seems as if we've made umpteen trips to see doctors over the past few weeks. We've had well baby visits, sick visits, and high risk newborn visits! The well baby visits went pretty well, except for concern over both babies weights, so a follow up visit was scheduled to monitor that more closely. During that time, Ethan went for his high risk visit and they, too, were concerned about his weight, so they added a supplement to his milk. That did'nt go over too well!! Ethan doesn't want anyone messing with his milk!! Anyway, we finally got him taking that and the doctors were pleased with both guys weight gains at the follow up visit. As far as sick babies, Ethan & Grant have both been having some respiratory issues. They've just been snotty & wheezy, so they are now on breathing treatments which will hopefully be over with in three months! They are now just using an inhaler with an aerochamber (a tube with a mask to make sure they inhale the meds), but at one point they were both on the updraft (breathing machine).
Ethan and his "Bubbles the Fish" mask (Michael fixed his hair that way as a joke, I'm not sure what to say about that look!)
Grant sleeping through his treatment (it's much easier to give that way!)
Both are doing much better, by the way!!

Also over the past two months, Ethan and Grant have started going to a babysitter every weekday. Thank you Crystal and Amanda for aiding in getting that set up. She is working out great! We are so glad not to have them in a daycare facility where their chances of getting sick are so much more, and we just like the babysitter so much more than anything we saw with daycares!!

I think that about gets everybody caught up on the boys, now just for some cute shots!! (I'll try to get those posted again later today)
Well, here's one...

I also have pics of our new niece, Aubrey, but this is all I have time for right now, it's taking forever to upload these pics... maybe I can get another hour of sleep in before the guys wake up!! (or maybe one is waking up now... please go back to sleep... maybe... not yet, but he's quietly kicking the bed and not crying, there is still a chance he'll go back to sleep on his own...

Squash!

Grant tried squash last night. I hope the carseat cover is dry enough for church in the morning!!

Nina with Ethan (sitting) and Grant

Ethan and his tiger blanket, cute as can be!

Grant. Both boys are so expressive! This picture always makes me laugh.

Brothers. Grant is now about 12.5 pounds and Ethan is about 11.5. They had to stop sleeping in the same crib some time ago because one of them was always kicking the other in the head! Boys!!



Isn't that the sweetest?!?

Grant hanging out with his buddy, Lucas. Grant is one happy guy!

When Ethan decided he needed to eat every two hours in the afternoons, Mom decided it was time for cereal! He's not too keen on the idea just yet, though.

Grant has been eating rice cereal for a while and has now started carrots. That boy loves his carrots!!

A Busy Day!

Michael left for choir tour this morning. I missed getting to see him off this year, but yesterday we decided that I should go ahead and take Grant to the pediatrician and since they are "first come, first serve" on Saturdays we wanted to get there pretty early. Grant has had a little bit of cough and a tad bit of wheezing for a little over a week now. The cough wasn't a big deal, but I was worried about the wheezing and the rattling. Anyway, the pediatrician that was in today said he did have a bit of chest congestion and had a little bit of wheezing going on so she sent us with a prescription for an inhaler and a tube to use with it and we are hopeing it clears up within the week. Grant was so cute! I think he grinned at everyone he came across! We had a short wait in the room and we just laughed and played and had a good 'ole time! He goes back in a week and hopefully that will be cleared up. After the doctor we got our prescription, hurried home to pick up Ethan, feed both boys, unload the car (we found a baby food sale while waiting on our prescription!) and head back up the road to White Hall to visit with Michael's family. Somehow, after all that, I still had energy at the end of the day (while I was eating my 10:00 supper).

Now, to follow up on the previous post, Ethan has been released from the care of the ACH GI Clinic. Yay, Ethan!! His last tests showed that he is anemic, but his liver function tests are good enough that they are comfortable with the pediatrician monitoring them now. He is on an iron prescription now, which was a little worrisome at first when he's taking that, the multivitamin with iron, and the formula (which he refuses to take, anyway) has iron. Now he has started cereal, and that, too, is enriched with iron! The worrisome part comes in when you read the labels on the vitamin and the iron talking about the risk of overdose! So I have checked and double-checked that he wasn't getting too much. Now I'm just wondering how to keep the iron from staining his clothes!!

Boy, that energy I had faded quickly and I had to call it quits last night! It is now Sunday night and we've had a pretty good day. I haven't heard Grant wheezing any today, but I did have to pull the swaddle blankets back out so he won't startle himself awake so much on this medicine. I think it's just a cold (and I think he has shared it with Ethan, too!)
This is my brother, Alan, with his youngest, Carson, and with Ethan. This was a few weeks ago when our family was camping at Maumelle. Please be in prayer for Alan and his family. He started radiation Friday and has 4 more treatments scheduled. Monday and Wednesday's treatments are at 11:00 and Friday's is at 8:00 so that, hopefully, he and his wife will be able to go home and see thier kids for the weekend. Then he'll return for a 3:00 treatment the following Monday. We would really appreciate extra prayers for him at those times.
I have more pictures to upload, but it is taking too long tonight... maybe tomorrow.

Four Months Already

Where does the time go? In the past month Grant and Ethan have grown a lot! They had their four month well visit and we learned that preemies should double their birth weight by the time they are six months old. Grant and Ethan passed that mark a while back! Their pediatrician, Dr. Salman, seems pleased with their progress. We have to work a little more with Ethan on some things, but he is doing great. We should get updated liver test results this week and Friday he has a High Risk Newborn doctors appointment at Children's (and I have no idea what that entails).

This is just a picture of Grant being cute. I could also include Grant looking thoughtful, Grant looking funny, Grant looking mad, and on and on...

"Do you know where that hand has been?"

Ethan in his fishing get-up.

We had Ethan & Grant's baby dedication on June 7th. They are very well behaved boys! Ethan locked his focus in on something and kept it there until he finally fell asleep. Not even Bro. Allen could distract him! Grant gave out a few grins and just about started talking, but then he just went back to grinning and then to sleep. I know we won't always have it so easy!

Down time with the crew before daddy got home.