MRI

We are home and the MRI is done. Whew! All in all, it went well. Jacob was much better than I feared this morning. We were up around 5:15 am and he never put up a fuss about being tired or hungry. He easily took the oral medicine to help him relax, but then really fought going to sleep. It probably took him 20 minutes or so to finally settle down and he put up a good fight. The poor guy kept trying to walk or crawl away and his poor body just didn't want to cooperate. He finally settled down, thumb in mouth, blankie in hand, and stayed out for the whole procedure.

Daddy was able to go with him into the room while pregnant mommy had to wait in another room. I hated not being able to be in there with him, but was glad Paul could go in at least, just in case he woke up. He woke up relatively quickly afterwards with the help of a very cold washcloth and thankfully hasn't had any ill side effects. He was still loopy and disoriented and kept wanting to get down and walk himself, but was able to eat and drink shortly afterwards, so that was good.

We came home right afterwards, much to his sister's relief. My mom said Sarah took Jacob's big blanket over to the gate and kept looking over it and saying "Brother?" And when we walked in the door and Sarah heard his voice, she dropped everything and ran to see him, very excited that her other half was home. They are both down for a nap now and will hopefully both feel more rested when they wake up.

We won't know the results for at least a few days. The nurse there said the radiologist will read the MRI and send his report to the neurologist. If we don't hear from them in a few days, we can call the neurologist to find out if all is ok.

Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers. I'm glad this string of doctor appoinments is over for now and am relieved that all in all, things look ok. Hopefully time will continue to help him and we wont' have too much to deal with in another 3-4 months when we follow up with everyone again.

Reading a story just after getting his medicine.

Finally asleep. So sweet!

Take me home, Daddy.

Entering Sleep Deprivation

Its 10:45pm and we just put the twinkies to bed. Their usual bedtime is between 7 and 8pm, so this is not a usual thing for them. But tomorrow is Jacob's MRI at 9:00 am and he is supposed to be 'sleep deprived' when we arrive so that he'll easily fall asleep (with some help of meds) for the procedure. So, bed at 10pm, up probably around 5 or 6 am tomorrow. Ugh!

They were fine tonight - they got to have a late night snack, play with Grandma K, watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse AND The Backyardigans, and stay up late. Sounds like fun, huh? Tonight wasn't the problem...tomorrow morning WILL be!

I'm not dreading the results of the MRI - with watching his development so closely and getting relatively good work ups from 3 different doctors and the social worker from Early On, I'm not at all worried about his over-all development and cognitive abilities. I AM, however, worried about the actual procedure.

I'm sure he'll be a handful in the morning beforehand as he'll be tired and hungry (he can't eat or drink at all tomorrow and he's usually the first to get up and ask for milk and to eat in the morning...). Then I don't know how he'll react to the meds they'll give him to help him relax and go to sleep. Thankfully Paul is going with us and Grandma K will get to spend some quality time with Sarah while we're gone. (Thanks, Mom!)

So, please be thinking of my little guy tomorrow morning. I'll let everyone know what we find out and how it goes once we're back and have had some rest.

Brain Teaser

Do you enjoy brain teasers and logic puzzles? I used to love doing them as a kid - nowadays there is Sudoku (I was addicted for a while). Anyways...for my class this week, our first activity regarding comprehension is below. Read it and then give me your best guess. I've already submitted my answer to my instructor and am waiting to hear if I'm correct. I'd love to hear what other people think it might be describing. The only hint other than the paragraph below is that it is a 'common activity.' Good luck!

Directions: Read the following description and identify what activity is being described.

The procedure is actually quite simple. First, you arrange things into different groups. Of course, one pile may be sufficient depending on how much there is to do. If you have to go somewhere else due to lack of facilities, that is the next step, otherwise you are pretty well set. It is important not to overdo things. That is, it is better to do too few things at once than too many. In the short run, this may not seem important but complications can easily arise. A mistake can be expensive as well. At first the whole procedure will seem complicated. Soon, however, it will become just another facet of life. It is difficult to foresee any end to the necessity for this task in the immediate future, but then one never can tell. After the procedure is complete, one arranges the materials into different groups again, and then they can be put into their appropriate places. Eventually they will be used one more time and the whole cycle will then have to be repeated. However, that is part of life.

Dr #3

Today, Jacob met the Physical Medicine Doctor. Again, we were very pleased with the Dr - he was very nice, attentive to both Jacob and Sarah, thorough, and explained things well to us. All in all, he said much of the same that the Orthopedic Dr did last week - nothing major stood out to him and he felt it was best to wait and see at this point.

The few things that he did point out were that he felt some laxity in the left ankle - possible weak ligaments - and he noticed Jacob had very flat arches that could use some support. With that, he did debate whether to put him in a small brace on his left foot, but decided to wait to see if that foot started to come inward in the next couple of months. He suggested we try to help stretch that foot/ankle to the desired position a few times a day, but did not feel that they would do much more than that if he referred him for Physical Therapy. Interestingly, right after the appointment, we stopped by another mom in my MOMS group and one of her daughters is going through almost the same thing. She said they, too, are in the 'wait and see' stage and that she had been referred for PT, but when they got there, the PT said there was not much for them to do, so they didn't schedule another appointment for her.

Once again, I'm relieved to have another professional opinion that things are moving in the right direction and no major issues stand out. I also am relieved we're not hearing conflicting things and as of now, there is no real diagnosis. He has the MRI on Wednesday and although I'm fearful of the procedure itself, I am not expecting anything to show up there as he'd developing so normally otherwise.

Here's a question for some of you moms out there...the Dr suggested trying to find shoes that offer good arch support. Most kids' shoes don't provide that at this stage so I am not sure where to look. When I asked him, he said possibly Stride Rite or New Balance, but it would be hit or miss. Has anyone else had to find toddler shoes with arch support and if so, what brand and where did you find them? I'd appreciate any suggestions you have! Thanks!

Kissing Cuties

Its Sunday again and time for Debi's fun picture post! This week's theme is Kissing Cuties. For the longest time, it seemed my twinkies were destined to push each other away forever. But the past few months, they've started giving each other lots of affection. Almost always when we suggest it and even occasionally on their own. I just love that they are growing close and will always have a friend to journey through life with.

Here are a few of my favorite kisses!

Giving each other some love at the zoo.

Sneaking smooches while playing.

Sarah kisses her first frog.

Ok, so this isn't really a kiss at all...they're trying to EAT each other!
They were hungry and daddy thought he could keep them entertained and hold off their next feeding.
Too bad there's no audio with this one...You'd hear how much they liked that idea.

Mommy kissing Jacob in the NICU, just 3 days old.

The Big Read

Debi over at Who Says 8 is Enough stumbled upon this fact recently. According to The Big Read, the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books on the following list. Now I realize many of these are classics and not necessarily fun reads, but I know many were read partly due to classes in high school or college and then many of the others I read for my own personal enjoyment. Yes, I LOVE to read! Reading has been one of my favorite things to do since I was a little girl. I remember making countless trips to the library with my mom and the bookstore with my grandma (there was this great little store where you could buy and trade books!) I always have a stack of books to read on my dresser and both Paul and I have bookcases full of books we've both read. I'm excited that so far, Jacob and Sarah enjoy books so much and I hope they continue to as they grow.

So I thought it'd be fun to go through this list myself and see where I rank. You should do the same!

Look at the list.

Bold those you have read.

Italicize those you intend to read.

Underline the books you LOVE.

1. Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen

2. The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien

3. Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte

4. Harry Potter Series - JK Rowling (who doesn't love HP?)

5. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee

6. The Bible

7. Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte

8. 1984 - George Orwell

9. His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman

10. Great Expectations - Charles Dickens

11. Little Women - Louisa M Alcott

12. Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy

13. Catch 22 - Joseph Heller

14. Complete Works of Shakespeare

15. Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier

16. The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien

17. Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks

18. Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger

19. The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger

20. Middlemarch - George Eliot

21. Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchel

22. The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald (my favorite 'classic')

23. Bleak House - Charles Dickens

24. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy

25. The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams

26. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh

27. Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28. Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck

29. Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll

30. The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame

31. Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy3

2. David Copperfield - Charles Dickens

33. Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis

34. Emma - Jane Austen

35. Persuasion - Jane Austen

36. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis

37. The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini

38. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres

39. Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden

40. Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne

41. Animal Farm - George Orwell (hated this one!)

42. The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown (its sitting on my dresser!)

43. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

44. A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving

45. The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins

46. Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery

47. Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy

48. The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood

49. Lord of the Flies - William Golding

50. Atonement - Ian McEwan

51. Life of Pi - Yann Martel52. Dune - Frank Herbert

53. Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons

54. Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen

55. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth

56. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon

57. A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens

58. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

59. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon (great read! The author has ASD)

60. Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

61. Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck

62. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov

63. The Secret History - Donna Tartt

64. The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold (read this for a book group with some friends and LOVED it! such an interesting perspective).

65. Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas

66. On The Road - Jack Kerouac

67. Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy

68. Bridget Jones’ Diary - Helen Fielding

69. Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie

70. Moby Dick - Herman Melville

71. Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens

72. Dracula - Bram Stoker

73. The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett

74. Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson

75. Ulysses - James Joyce

76. The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath

77. Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome

78. Germinal - Emile Zola

79. Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray

80. Possession - AS Byatt

81. A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens

82. Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell

83. The Color Purple - Alice Walker

84. The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro

85. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert

86. A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry

87. Charlotte’s Web - EB White

88. The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom (fantastic book - really helps put your life into perspective)

89. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Blyton

90. The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid
91. Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad

92.The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery

93. The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks

94. Watership Down - Richard Adams (ugh, another dreaded read from Lit class)

95. A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole

96. A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute

97. The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas

98. Hamlet - William Shakespeare

99. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl

100. Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

So that's not bad...19 books. That's 3 times as many as the 'average' person. When I looked at The Big Read website, they also listed To Kill a Mockingbird and Their Eyes Were Watching God. 2 more I've read and did enjoy, especially TEWWG.

If I could add a few books of my choice to this list, I would add

* The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

* My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

* The Watsons Go To Birmingham, 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis

* The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton

* The Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

On a side note, I was trying to find the original source for this list as The Big Read website did not seem to be the originator. Interestingly, Britain also has a project called The Big Read, in search of the nation's most loved novel and this seems to be the source of this list, although the list above differs slightly from the list found here. Since this list does not appear to match with the original site, I can't confirm that the 6/100 statistic is correct, but The Big Read did state that reading rates are rapidly declining. I can't imagine not curling up with a good book! I sure hope that the internet does not ultimately do away with this classic source of information and enjoyment!

Baby Face

This morning, Paul decided he was ready for a change. After toying with the idea for a while, he finally just did it.

He shaved off his goatee.

He's had the goatee for about 2 years now, I think. I remember not being sure how he'd look with it when he started it, but then I grew to love it. One of my friends even said he was incredibly sexy with it! (back off, Kandace, he's mine!). I, of course, love him without it, too, it'll just take some getting used to again.

He was worried how the kids would react - if they'd recognize him when they got up from their nap. Sarah seemed to look at him for a minute or two longer when she saw him, but they didn't seem to notice the change otherwise. It was a surprise a few times today, for me to look up at him and think - oh yeah! I forgot...it is interesting how much that patch of fuzz changed his looks.

Paul with his goatee, about 1 month ago

Paul, sans goatee, today

Our day otherwise was spent out and about. I've been craving Pizza Hut for about 2 weeks now so we went there for lunch, then hit Sam's Club to stock up on all the essentials. The kids shared a cart and kindly (and rather loudly) said "HI!" to just about everyone in the store! Afterwards we had dessert at Coldstone Creamery. Yum! The twinkies had free ice cream coupons from their library reading club so we used those. We let them have their own bowl for the first time. Jacob promptly dropped his on the floor (was an accident, slid off the table) and he was VERY upset when Paul took it away (it landed upside down! yuck!). The kid working kindly made him a fresh bowl and all was good again.

Modeling their cute coordinating outfits that Grandma K made for them

Double fisting his ice cream

Yum! Strawberry with sprinkles!

Side by side at Sams

Train Stop Shirt Dress GIVEAWAY!!!!!!!

Train Stop Shirt Dress GIVEAWAY!!!!!!!

While I'm sure if I took the time (yeah...like I have time) I could try to make some cutes clothes for Sarah and Jacob....but who am I kidding. I don't have an ounce of the sewing talent that my mother has. Guess I'll just keep entering contests for cute clothes like these and make a few requests to Grandma! ;-)

The Privacy fence is not that private

I'll try to give some background here...our neighbors recently divorced and my friend and her daughter moved out. The house is up for sale and no one is living there full time right now. The guy is dating another gal already and they are here with his and her kid(s) a few days a week.

Well yesterday afternoon, I saw a car in the driveway I had never seen over there before. I actually first wondered if someone had been watching the house and were sneaking into the pool when he wasn't home. I also wondered if maybe someone had bought the house. I didn't think either was the case, but I was quite curious who was there. In the 8 years we've been neighbors, they only house guests they've had was my friend's sister so I was surprised to see an unfamiliar car there when no one else was home.

Well later that evening, when I was washing dishes, I noticed the unknown guests were in the backyard, around the pool. Their backyard is surrounded by a privacy fence and you probably can't see much from the road, but our house sits up a bit higher than my neighbors and you can see much of their backyard and pool from our dining room and kitchen.

Well, the unknown woman got out of the pool and all of the sudden, I realized she only had half of her bathing suit on!

Oh. My. Gosh!

She obviously had no idea someone could see her since there was a 'privacy fence'. I felt the need to open the window and be like "Hi! Enjoying the pool!?" hehehe....

Still not sure who the house guests are, but they were back again today. Hope we don't see any 'more' of them!

1 appt down, 2 to go

Jacob had an appointment with an orthopedic doctor today to check out his hips and legs. They did x-rays on both hips along with his left foot and thankfully all looked good there. The Dr. did agree that he sees what we're seeing with his left leg, but at least it's not 'in the bones.' He said it may just be still developing and that time will correct it. (as he put it, the spinal cord, brain, and legs are still learning to work together.) So we are to go back in 3 months and have him checked out again. If he has improved in that time, they probably won't have to do anything, but if its still an issue then, he may prescribe a brace for that foot and refer us to a pediatric specialist for orthopedics.

The Dr was very nice and interestingly...he told us he has triplets the same age as our twinkies! How ironic!

Jacob did really well through the appointment and didn't put up too much of a fight with his 4 x-rays. Paul thankfully went with us so he was able to go into the x-ray room while I had to wait outside. Meanwhile, Sarah had a just-girls play date with our friends Anna and Megan. Kerry said she was a perfect angel and had lots of fun chasing their cat all over the place!

We have 2 more appointments within the next week. Monday is a trip to see a Physical Medicine Dr. and then he has an MRI on Wednesday.

I'm relieved that each appointment is ruling out any major problems. We'll see what the next two appointments have to tell us.

Sale-ing away

I ventured out this morning and last week to hit a few garage sales and have had lots of success! Today's trip resulted in some big purchases but great deals! A beautiful crib for cupcake for just over $100. A like-new Pack n Play to keep at Grandma and Grandpa's. A Sand & Water Table for nephew Luke for only $10! Last week I got a like-new snowsuit for Jacob for $10, too!

I'm relieved that we won't have to buy much before cupcakes arrival (other than diapers) since we didn't get rid of anything from the twinkies. I've lent many things to my sister for Luke, but there will be a good age gap that by the time we need some of those items back, he'll have grown out of them. Finding a crib already is a relief!

Do you like garage sales? If so, what's been your best find?

Mommy Blogger Award

Its kind of funny to realize when I started our blog back in 2005...that some day I'd be doing 'mommy' blogging (ok...so sure I hoped to someday blog about our 'family' but its hard not to want to share so much of our lives with these two beautiful kiddos!).

So Brianne and her Gibson Twins so sweetly bestowed upon me an award:

Brianne's twins are just weeks older than my twinkies and its been fun to share ideas with each other along with the ups and downs of twin toddlers. Thanks Brianne!

So to keep this award rolling, I'll pass it along to other 'mommy bloggers.' I'm keeping this one a bit closer to home as I know its making its rounds through many of the twin blogs I read already. I'm giving it to 2 of my favorite mommies - even outside of Blog world!

My sister Nicci at The Daily Booger. I love that she started a blog so I can see more pictures and get more updates on my nephew. My sister and I are 8 years apart, but have grown very close the past few years. I hate that we live over 2 hours apart but at least we can keep in touch via email, texting and now our blogs! Love ya sis!

My other favorite mommy blogger is my sister-in-law, Julie at Me & My Crew. I so admire Julie's strength and perseverance despite the things life has thrown her way. She amazes me that she takes on the daily challenges as a paramedic and firefighter. I also adore how wonderful she is with my own kids. They love their Aunt Julie and Uncle Michael and I know they have lots of fun with them both.