Thankful Thursday: Overnight Help, Dinners & Neighbors

Hey everybody! It's that time of the week! It's Thankful Thursday! Another week forever recorded in the history books, which for us means our boys are another week older :( They grow up so fast! Monica and I like to take time every week to note a few things in our lives we are blessed with. There's always something we can be thankful for! Before I ramble any longer, let's get to our lists shall we?

Monica's List:

To be added......    :)

Jeremy's List:

I'm thankful for overnight help that comes by way of my father-in-law. He has been spending the night with us every other night. Some might hear that and think "poor us" but we welcome it and are very grateful for it! My wife and in-laws worry about my own health and so he stays every other night so I can sleep through the night. It's impossible for Monica to handle both boys on her own when it's feeding time. Maybe if they were bottle fed it could be done, but since they are nursing she definitely needs the help! Even with 2 sets of hands feeding time is an hour and a half ordeal, lol. I'm extremely thankful to my father-in-law for staying with us and sacrificing his own sleep every other night. Especially since he's doing it for my well being! The fact that he gets to see his grandsons all night might play a small role as well. Either way it's a testament to how great a father-in-law I have!

I'm thankful for folks bringing us dinner! A friend of ours set up an online calendar where people can sign up to bring us dinner. That way two people don't show up the same night and we can see when someone will be bringing us dinner. It has been phenomenal! We have only had to cook ourselves dinner once since we've been home and that was only because someone brought us two 1 pound ribeye steaks! They were gooood!!! The food we've been getting is excellent too! From steaks, to lasagna, home-made chicken and dumplings, cakes, it's all been incredible! We're extremely grateful to everyone for bringing us dinner! It's been a huge help!

I'm thankful for caring neighbors! Monica and I got to talk to our neighbor for a good little while this afternoon. We've been here almost 4 years and that is the most we've talked to him. It's sad, but it seems time always got away from us when we went to introduce ourselves and chat. We showed him the boys and it was great to get to talk to him. It's surprising how much your neighbors "know" without ever talking to you, lol! Him and his wife are retired and have lived in our neighborhood around 30 years. Turns out he's a great guy! Looking forward to getting to chat with him and his wife more often!

So...... what are you thankful for today?!

Growing Boys & High School Visit

Our boys just keep on growing! In the previous post I mentioned their weight gain. Jace gained 4 ounces in 4 days, and Jeriah gained 7 ounces in 4 days! We can tell in their little faces (and butts, Haha!) that they just keep on gaining weight.

Jeriah's face seems to get fuller and fuller. He is almost looking like a completely different baby to me. I keep just staring at his adorable little face in awe of how much he's changed in the last week. His eyes have gotten a light lighter and are blue now instead of newborn dark. I can also tell they have both gained weight by their little butts! They take after their dad in the butt department, in that they don't have one. In the past week or so, I can definitely tell when I'm wiping their butts that their butt cheeks are filling out too, lol!

Jace looks like Jace still, but with a little extra meat under his chin and he's starting to get those baby "fat rolls" on his arms and legs. They're both still as cute as ever! It's still shocking sometimes to think that we're parents to twins. It's so cool!

We go back to the doctor on Friday. We are very curious to see how much they weigh now. We'll keep you all posted!

I also had the opportunity to visit a local high school and talk about CF. It was an anatomy class for seniors. They had learned about CF and I got to go talk to them about CF. It was awesome! They had a lot of good questions and were very attentive. I also got to talk to them a little about jobs in healthcare and they had a lot of questions about that as well. It was a good afternoon! A special thanks to Mrs. Gaylord and the anatomy class at Seckman High School!

 

He likes to sleep with his arms folded :)

Momma and boys passed out

It was bright in the nursery, lol

Arms crossed again

Just looking adorable



Trip to the Park & Bathtime

This week Monica and I took the boys on their first trip to Cliff Cave Park! Cliff Cave is our favorite running spot and we will be taking the boys there many, many times. Here in Missouri we've been having quite a bit of rain and they've been having a lot up North as well, which has been causing some flooding. So we only got to take a very short abbreviated walk in the park, but it was still fun to pack the boys up and get them out of the house.

We've been giving the boys plenty of baths lately too. They're boys, so they get dirty a lot. Us boys our gross ya know! :)

Also, the home health nurse came by Tuesday to check on the boys. They ordered two follow up visits with a home health nurse after we left the hospital. Tuesday was the second and last visit. The boys have gained more weight!! Jace went from 5 lbs 11 oz to 5 lbs 15.5 oz in 4 days! Jeriah went from 5 lbs 0.5 oz to 5lbs 7.5 oz in 4 days!!! This definitely makes us happy and assures us they are getting enough nutrition. No matter how many dirty diapers they have or how often they eat, we still worry a little as to whether they're getting enough. We know they most definitely are!

Overall, not a whole lot to say. Just thought I'd post some pictures from our trip to the park and bath time for the boys!

Rocking their shades for the trip to the park!

The trail continues about 2 miles straight ahead and loops back around to the left.

If you look close, you can see a small glimmer of trail where
it turns to come back.

A shot from further up the hill where the first one was taken.

Jace ready for bathtime

Jeriah showing off his karate moves before bathtime

Look his lost his umbilical cord! (Jeriah already lost his)

Oh man! Holding onto that pacifier a little too tight

Our favorite outfits to put them in! Notice the Converse socks.
They look like little studs!



Jace & Jeriah Caught on Tape

Here's a few videos we've taken with our phones of our sweet boys! Jace likes to smile for mommy after she gets through feeding him, and Jeriah has the most pitiful and adorable cry ever! We absolutely love everything about our boys!

We had our newborn photo session 2 days ago as well! I went awesome and the sneak peak looks adorable! Cindy Lee Photography is amazing! There's a few pictures we've taken and the sneak peek at our newborn photos below too!

 

Jace & Jeriah with their 3 month old cousin Jaxson

Sneak peek at our Newborn photos

 

 

Thankful Thursday: Good Trip, FaceTime & Being Back Home

It's Thankful Thursday again! Another week recorded in the history books! This week as always we have so much to be thankful for. Last week we were saying how thankful we were that we were going to be meeting our boys! We have had so much to be thankful for lately! There is always something to be thankful for, even in the midst of a storm, we can find thankfulness. This week I'm going it alone as Monica is very busy with nursing two boys every 3 hours. She needs her rest.  So here it is, my list:

Jeremy's List:

This week I'm thankful for a very good trip. I traveled to Kings of Prussia, Pennsylvania yesterday at 4:15 pm and returned home today around 3:30. I was gone less than 24 hours! I was giving a presentation I have given at several other RT conferences. The trip was a very good one! It was very quick, but very good. The hotel was very nice! I had the chance to meet up with a gentleman I met in New Orleans. We went to dinner when I arrived with several other people. It really was a good time! Got a full nights sleep, which I felt a little guilty for given that my poor wife was at home sleeping in 2 and a half hour increments. Got up and gave my presentation that went very well. I always fear it will not go smooth. Grabbed a quick bite to eat and was whisked away to the airport to fly home! I'm extremely grateful to those who made the trip possible and for their awesome hospitality!

I'm also thankful for FaceTime. FaceTime is like Skype between iPhones. It takes a lot less time to connect and I have found generally has a better picture and connection. I was missing my wife and boys pretty bad last night while laying in the hotel, and this morning I woke to FaceTime with my wife! It was awesome! I got to see her and the boys! Jace was awake and Jeriah was sleeping. It was great to get to see the 3 people I love most in this world! Thank you Apple for FaceTime!!

I'm thankful for getting to return home so quickly to my family! I missed them more than I thought I would. After all, I was not even gone a full 24 hours, yet I missed them pretty bad! I had a picture of both boys in my presentation today and was grateful everyone started clapping so I could regain my composure... I almost shed a few tears. Completely caught me off guard too! It was so nice to come home to my wife and boys today! While we were still in the hospital I had quite a bit of bonding time with Jeriah. Jace was kept in the nursery more because of his episodes and then had to have a test done. Today when I got home, Jace woke up to eat and stayed awake after. I carried him around for a good hour or two just talking to him and looking at him. They're both such good babies! It's great to be home!

So what are you thankful for today?!