Back to work…for all of us

13-1/2 weeks

Kohlden – 12lbs-7oz
Madelyn – 11lbs–6oz

It was a full week and a full house with Deeda, Nana, and Uncle Jay here. With the help of Deeda, the twins are being more active in smiling, cooing, and being more content during the day.

. Friday night we joined the Mahavirs x 3 and the Ottatis for a nice BBQ dinner. We enjoyed everyone’s company. Devi got a chance to see if she could calm two babies at once....not so easy is it. :)

This weekend we took the kids to a family festival at Loch Haven Park. We had attended it last year and had lots of fun, so we made sure to go again this year. It was very hot, but Braelyn enjoyed making the crafts while the twins enjoyed a little outdoor air. It was also our very first outing as a family in our new van, so I guess we’re officially a minivan family now. Afterwards we were treated to lunch at some family friends, the Becker’s, who knew the Campbell/Loomis family from when they lived in Denver. In the evening, Lolo and Lala came up to swap cars with us. They had our Infiniti for a couple weeks while we were playing car swap with them and Uncle Mike while he was staying with us. Auntie Esther also brought along a cache of formula, for the nighttime feedings. Thank you!

Sunday we, excluding Allen, took the van and ventured to New Smyrna beach. Boy was it crowded. We eventually found a place to park. It’s been awhile since I’ve been to the beach, so my list in my head of things to bring was a little foggy. Next time we need a lot more towels and some chairs. Luckily we did have our umbrella, although with an expanded family, one is not enough anymore. I was so concerned that the kids were covered up from the sun that I didn’t get sunscreen all over me….and have been suffering all week after trying to build a sand castle with Braelyn having my back towards the sun.

Monday we had to say goodbye to Uncle Jay. But also we said hello to swimming lessons for Braelyn. 10 minutes a day for 4 weeks. She was excited before she got in the pool the first day, but as soon as the teacher had her put her head under water, she was crying for mommy. The teacher took her to a different wall where she couldn’t see us and told her she could go back to the other wall to see mommy if she stopped crying. After that, smooth sailing. She was very excited about the lollypop at the end. Since the first day, she has not cried, and is enjoying herself a lot! She can swim with her head underwater for about 4+ feet, can float on her back for approx 7 seconds, and is progressing. Today, while waiting for her lesson, Allen was making small talk with her and mentioned that her little sister Maddy said hi, to which Brae responded without missing a beat, “she can talk now?”

Allen starting Sunday and starting Monday for Tangie, we went back to work as did Deeda and Nana taking care of the twins and then taking Brae to her swimming lessons. I think all the kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves. It’s been hard to try to get to work in the mornings with little sleep the night before. Madelyn, poor thing, also had a fever one night which made us get even less sleep. She’s doing better now but both of them were a little congested. We are not looking forward to those sick days.

They are both responding to smiles and facial expressions now. We are starting to remember this stage when Braelyn was their age. Just the eye contact and recognition makes up for any communication we were missing the past 13 weeks. Allen was finally able to make both of them smile at the same time!

Weeks are flying by. FLYING. Thank goodness they finally got a cap on the leaky oil well. And we’re only to the “B’s” in this year’s named storms?!?! We’re grateful for the rain to accompany Tropical Storm Bonnie.

3 months down. Have a great weekend everyone!

Houseguest Rotation

12-1/2 weeks

Kohlden – 1-1/2 lbs heavier than Madelyn

They are both moving their hands a lot this week. They keep pushing the passies and bottles out of their mouths. But, they kept accidentally hitting the bouncer rattles, which kept Maddy entertained for quite awhile.

This is the only way we can get our little munchkins to sleep for more than 10 minutes at a time. Burritos it is.

And, when they are almost awake in the morning, they get to move to the big bed. Maddy was especially enjoying it. But it looks like Braelyn needs a bigger bed since she seems to be falling out of hers.

Braelyn decided that the twins wanted to watch Dora with her….it worked for a little while. Kohlden is hooked.
We said goodbye to Uncle Mike this week as he moved all of his stuff in a road trip to Cali. We are glad he made it safely. We will miss having him stay with us but excited he is moving on to a new chapter in his life. See you in October!!!

Another road trip occurred…in the opposite direction. Uncle Jay drove our new minivan from Colorado to us in Florida, arriving the same time on Tuesday that Nana and Deeda flew in. The Town & Country is very nice, with lots of bells and whistles to enjoy. Braelyn is stoked to have not one but two tv's to watch, as she already is pushing buttons and exploring the minivan. It was hilarious turning on the car and the wipers were on, and the air was on high heat. Allen's favorite feature is the remote start, so we can get the air conditioning going before loading up. It will definitely serve us nicely!

We now have a full house again. Allen worked a full week. I went back to work on Wednesday. My oh my is it hard to focus the brain again! It is still sleep deprived and probably lost a few cylinders. Processing time has been significantly delayed. It will come back…eventually. I’m glad my co-workers are understanding of the blank stares I’ve been giving them occasionally.

We are happy we have some additional hands to hold the babies as well as have fun with Braelyn. Too bad they don’t do night duty too. : ) More pictures to come next week.

Kohlden was trying to sneak into my purse so I could take him to work with me. Sorry Buddy. I think you'll enjoy spending time with your grandmas much more!!

July 4/Anniversary #7

Week 11-1/2

Kohlden: 12 lbs 2 oz (double his birth weight)

Madelyn: 10 lbs 14 oz

They both were doing a lot of smiles this week. Also active in moving their hands, so much that it is interfering a lot in feeding. Maddy sleeps better at night. Still waiting for Kohlden to go longer than about 4-1/2 hours.

Happy 4th! Braelyn is still scared of the noise fireworks make which really puts a damper on her liking viewing fireworks. Maybe next year.

This week Allen and I got to escape for our anniversary. Friday afternoon Lolo, Lala and Auntie Esther arrived, as did Uncle Mike back from the Dominican. After Allen got off work and getting everything settled we drove off into the sunset :) We chose Stuart/Jensen Beach area as our destination as it was a decent driving distance and we had never been in that area on the east coast before. Couldn't really enjoy the beach due to the bad weather, but we enjoyed eating at some quaint local restaurants, sight seeing, relaxing, seeing a movie, me going to the spa and Allen getting to play a little golf before we had to return home Sunday Afternoon. We of course couldn't keep the kids from our conversations, but did enjoy being away if for just a bit. The Atigas also came to our house on Saturday to help with the kids since they hadn't seen the twins yet. Braelyn enjoyed Ate Lyka staying in her room of course. Thanks to the family for letting us do this once in awhile!

Sunday night Braelyn and I got to go to the Science Center with the Grodacks for 4th of July festivities. The laser light show would have been a little better if we could have seen the entire thing, but it started late due to us evacuating for a fire alarm. Then we were the last ones in to the show (well actually snuck back in after they told us we couldn't) as Braelyn and Calleigh declared they had to go potty when we were waiting outside. How do you distract a 3 year old from getting "peepee coming out on my panties" when there is no bathroom in sight?

It was nice to have Uncle Mike here all week to help hold the babies once in a while. The rest of the week went pretty fast.

Braelyn decided she is our new photographer and ventured to take pictures of the babies as they were asleep...6 inches from their faces, waking them up with the flash. So much for a few minutes of no crying... On top of that, she looks at Kohlden actually being peaceful in the swing with a passy in his mouth, pulls the passy out and brings it to me denoting matter of factly that this was Madelyn's passy. I informed her that it was clean and Kohlden was borrowing it today. Alas, it was too late.

Not too many other adventures this week. Here's one day's worth of bottles...I've been pumping a lot and then sharing in the feeding duties. Also, we are doing formula for bed time. Thanks to Auntie Esther for bringing a stash from the hospital.

Just a few more days until the bench relief team arrives again from Colorado..... but that also entails me having to go back to work for a bit.

Another week flies by

Week 10-1/2

Kohlden: Heavy and wants to be held constantly

Madelyn: More petite - but long. Fights for some of the attention too

Allen's turn again...

Hard to believe the twins are already 72 days old. We can gauge this by watching the news and finding out the number of days the BP oil spill in the Gulf is, because the rig exploded the day after the twins were born. Sad that we use that as a reference, but oh well.

This week's adventures started out with a very nice visit from our friends Edman & Michelle Fuentes, and their 1 year old daughter Ella. When Ella was born we had visited them and brought some Thai for dinner, and so they were happy to return the visit and brought over Indian for dinner Friday evening. I couldn't believe how big Ella had gotten, since the last time we saw them was last fall in Cradle Roll. Braelyn enjoyed doting behind her and having her sit on her lap. We enjoyed the company and catching up with them. To be honest, I think we just enjoyed having some adults to converse with! It was also nice to have more hands to carry the twins around. Thanks you guys, let's do it again!

Lolo and Lala joined us for Sabbath and spent the night. They were going through grandkid withdrawals since they hadn't seen them in 2 weeks. We enjoyed the help and I was able to spend some time in the kitchen; I was inspired to cook this past weekend. I made Pad Thai and spring rolls for lunch and then for dinner I made a ton of sushi rolls for everyone. It was very yummy, and I even convinced my parents to try the raw fish rolls. Surprisingly, my mom liked it better than my dad. I would've thought he'd like it more, since he's the fisherman in the family. He said it tasted fishy. Funny, 'cause that's what it was!

Sunday Tangie and Braelyn attended Blake Bergherm's birthday bowling party at Wekiva Lanes while I went to work. They had lots of fun. The kids bowled with the help of this ramp that they load the ball on top and it rolls down for momentum and then down the lane to hit the pins. Luckily the bowling balls were just light enough to lift, with a little help from parents of course. A 30 lb girl carrying a 6 lb ball. That's 1/5 her weight!

The rest of the week was pretty much the same. I worked Tuesday and Wednesday while Tangie stayed home with the twins. They are both responding to facial expressions and can smile quite often, although I still wonder if it's because they're happy to see me or just having a bowel movement. They are getting heavier and heavier, and it's hard to carry both car seats with them in it at the same time. Braelyn has been enjoying helping us feed...well at least for 30 seconds until she claims they "hurt her tummy" as they are too heavy.

Wednesday evening Tangie's dad went to a car dealership in Denver and test drove what will be our newest car, a 2008 Chrysler Town & Country minivan. He has been diligently looking around the area for the best deal for what we were looking for, and even had agents looking at auctions for one. This is how I was able to get my Pathfinder ~ sure, you don't need 4 wheel drive and heated seats in Florida, but I'm not complaining! Anyway, it's pre-owned and certified, with only 28k miles and lots of options including a rear view camera (so I don't back up into something). We'll enjoy the stow-n-go and entertainment package for sure. Now we just have to figure out how to get it down to Florida with all of Callen's old clothes and the "stuff" Tangie had remaining at her parents house...hmmm...Uncle Jay, want a road trip? We'll pay for your flight back! :) Thanks Papa Dave for all your research and bargaining! There's definitely a nice round of golf on me! Thanks Uncle Mike for letting us use your Oddessy while you are traveling the world.

Thursday Tangie had a work function that was a team building event, otherwise known as Combat Laser Tag and lunch buffet at the Ale House. She had a lot of fun, getting back with her teams and catching up on work news/gossip around the office. I spent the morning with the twins and when she came back it was my turn to go out and meet Duncan Grodack for nine holes at the Winter Park Golf course. He was taking out one of his employees and I joined them. Pretty warm day and at that time in the afternoon we had several huge storm cells forming around us. Luckily it only sprinkled but it sure was intimidating trying to make a putt when thunder was rolling all around us. Pretty risky if you ask me; I was praying the whole time. But how does that work? Do we ask for protection when you know what you're doing is potentially dangerous? Hmmm...pretty deep. Anyways, I had fun. Thanks Duncan for setting it up!

So that brings us to the end of the week. Tangie and I celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary this weekend (actually July 6, but we always celebrate our getting hitched on Independence weekend, ironically). Lolo & Lala will have all three children (with some help from Auntie Esther, Auntie Net, & my cousins) while we disappear for the weekend and resurface Sunday afternoon. Well, that's the plan, anyways.

Have a great weekend!