My Sunshines

.........another week, another ear infection, or make that 4! Both babies have double ear infections. Apparently the fluid didn't clear out from their last one and keeps getting reinfected. This is Hutch's 2nd bout and Anniston's 3rd. If she gets one more she "earns" tubes. The only good thing is that they are not contagious. Hutch is feeling better and Anniston isn't feeling her best, but she is on the road to recovery. We are gonna go see Dr. Gil ASAP and see if he can work his magic with chiropractic care. Think whatever you want, but I (and my mom) have had remarkable results with spinal adjustments and chiropractic treatments. I hadn't even thought of this form of treatment, but my wonderful friend suggested it to me and I am SOOO glad she did!!!! If we can avoid tubes that would be wonderful, as the anesthesia and procedure are not things I want my babies to have to endure if they don't have to. Uncle Brent and Sarah came over this past week. H...

We spent yesterday afternoon at Gigi and Pops' house. The babies both took an almost 2 hour nap! It's normal for Anniston to climb into anything she is able to fit into. But today Hutch decided he wanted to do it too. So he grabbed her out of the container and hopped in himself. He's really starting to stick up for himself. He used to let Anniston run all over him...not anymore!

Saturday afternoon we got together with our twin friends, Natalie and Kennedy. They are 12 days older than Hutch & Anniston and really enjoy playing together. We think Hutch has a crush on Kennedy. And Natalie and Anniston are a lot alike - both wild! Here are some pictures from our play date (we waited too late to take them - it was nap time). The first 2 were taken a few days ago and the others about a month ago. Anniston and the mullet trying to dive out, Kennedy asking Mom why she is taking a picture, Hutch chewing on a chip, and Natalie chewing on a piece of bread Hutch pusing Kennedy. He was SO proud. She wasn't enjoying the moment too much.... Hutch pushing Natalie The wild and crazy girls. Let's just hope they calm down before they are teenagers!!

I've had yet another scare. Yes, this makes 2 cancer scares in 1 week's time. This last one was far scarier for me because it took longer for me to find out that I was OK. How these things happen to me, I do not know, but they do. Brandon and I hung out (alone!) on Saturday afternoon while his parents watched the babies. We got home and they were just about to take the babies for a ride in their wagon so we decided to go with them. I grabbed the mail and was gonna look through it during the walk, multi-tasking like I always do. I had a letter from my doctor, which I knew was a letter about my physical as well as the results of my bloodwork. He had checked quite a few things because I was having some symptoms of thyroid dysfunction and had pregnancy induced hyperthyroidism (which resolved when I was 32 weeks pregnant) but told me he would call me if anything was wrong. Since I never got a call I assumed that this was just an FYI on my lab values. There was a letter on t...

I've been feeling a little strange lately so I decided I should have a physical. The last one I had was when I was only a few weeks pregnant, so I was due one. I had also been having these weird sensations on my scalp, kinda like it was "falling asleep". It began in one spot and then started to spread, kinda like it had fingers. It went to my forehead, ear, across to the other side of my head, etc. I feared I had a brain tumor but kept telling myself it was probably just stress and nothing to worry about. This had been happening for about a month but I didn't tell anyone because I thought I was overreacting. I finally told Brandon the night before my physical. Then when my mom came over to watch the babies I let her know too. I assumed I would go to the doctor, he would reassure me, and I would be on my way. However, after examining me he told me I needed a head CT to rule out a tumor or malformation of vessels. I was alone and TERRIFIED to say the least. Not only did...

Brandon and I met when I was a sophomore in high school and he was a freshman at Columbia State Community College. He was dating my best friend at the time. I was dating one of his best friends. We double dated. Everyone broke up, Brandon and I both ended up at WKU, and 2 months later we started officially dating, although we had unofficially been dating since a few months after we met, besides the few months I dated someone else (I still liked Brandon though). We got engaged in Kauai, Hawaii on St. Patrick's Day 2004 and got married on October 21, 2006. Our 1st Valentine's Day, 2003 After a softball game, 2004 Brandon's Graduation, 2004 My Graduation, 2006 Our Wedding Day Our Babies at 1 month We've been through a lot the past 10 years and there's much more to come. I love you, Brandon!!

I've always felt a sense of deep saddness when I hear of a child losing his or her life. Whether it is someone I know, a patient I have cared for, or a stranger on TV, it has always made me stop and reflect on the uncertainty of life and how quickly it can be taken away. But the level of this saddness has deepened since I have become a mother. I was heartbroken to hear of the tragedy of the Olympian who lost his life today and disgusted that the news showed his accident and the subsequent attempts to revive him on television. How terrible for this family to not only lose their son, but even worse that it was displayed repeatedly on TV for the whole world to see. I just cannot stop thinking about his mother. My empathy for mothers truly began when Anniston was only a few weeks old. She cried, or to be more accurate, screamed, for hours at a time for almost 2 solid months. She was suffering from severe cases of reflux, colic, and milk protein intolerance. I put every ounce of myself...

I just have to share my not so very good day with you. It was yesterday. I woke up feeling terrible. My antibiotic had not kicked in yet. I was coughing, sneezing, blowing my nose constantly, tired, etc. etc. I had 2 sick babies and was sick myself. I needed to be super mom, but felt like lazy mom. Here's how it went down: Anniston wouldn't take a morning nap so she was cranky. Hutch wouldn't take an afternoon nap and while I was trying to convince him to, he woke up Anniston after only a 20 min nap. NIGHTMARE!! Also, Hutch had been pulling on his ears all day and wouldn't lay flat so I'm thinking his ear infection is not being controlled by his Omnicef. It had been 4 days so his ears should not have been hurting. I called the advice nurse and based on his symptoms she talked to a doctor (not ours, he is out on Tuesdays of course). They decided we should switch him to Augmentin. I suggested I bring him in to make sure. No, she said. His symptoms indicate ear pain....

Mamur stayed with us while Daddy went to Arizona on a business trip. Uncle Mikey came over the Friday it snow stormed so badly. He got snowed in! He stayed with us Friday-Monday....he was lots of help and the babies had a ball with him! I even taught him how to play Super Nintento...we played lots of Mario and Donkey Kong after the babies went to bed. It was great! So in love! Gigi and Pops!

Well, it finally happened. My babies got sick despite my Hitler rules about handwashing and keeping everything clean. I knew it would eventually happen, but was not prepared for how long it would last. We had a healthy first year, despite Anniston's reflux and one cold for Hutch. I'm so thankful it didn't happen earlier, and that when it did happen they were strong enough to fight it on their own. It all started January 19th. We were supposed to have a play date with some boy/boy twins born a day after mine. We had been trying to plan this play date for quite awhile, and Hutch was finally gonna have some boys to play with, but Anniston had other plans. She woke up with a runny nose. Not much, but I didn't want to take any chances so I cancelled the play date. Needless to say we still haven't rescheduled..... A few days later Hutch woke up at 3:30am BLAZING hot! I took his temp and for some reason my thermometer was set on Celcius and it read 40.1!!! Now, being a...