Crystals ER visit

About last night about 1230am we were bringing Crystal in for a high fever that just wouldnt go down. We were checking it from 400pm and it 102 was about the highest it got, and no lower than 101. So after going back up, I said we are bringing her in to get looked at. When we got there her temp was 102 even. They did chest x-rays, blood work and everything. Come to find out this little one has pneumonia, nothing that simple medicine cant cure. We got home about 530am.

She has been cranky because of no sleep, but other that she is her normal self. Crawling, destroying things, eating normal and being herself. Yesterday we thought it was just teething well it was a little something more than that.

Courtney has been doing great with her feedings and the wean. No problems at all with anything. She loves to laugh at her sister when she cries, odd but funny. She has been such a ham for the camera lately

March Of Dimes Walk

It was on Sunday and we went even though it was raining. It was a 3.5 mile walk and the kids slept the whole time. There was about 700 people walking sunday morn in St.Paul. The rain didnt stop people from walking, or the temp which was 43 degrees.

Afterwards was the NICU reunion. It was good to see some of our nurses that helped us through the ruff times last year and see some of the moms that we meet while we were in the NICU. Crystal got to play in the bounce house and was so so with it, still to young to know what it is. We got some family pictures taken that I will post when I get them. It was fun.

Fun Day pics

Crystal went out to the mall with Auntie Penny and Grandma. She had a blast. A little tired but other that she is doing good.

Courtney has been a happy playful baby. She did great with her feedings again today, so tomo we are changing them up a little bit more. Considering her daddy is away at drill she is doing very well.

Aunt Penny helped out with bathes and putting to bed tonight. It was a big help. Thank you

One year checkup

It went very good today for them, alot of great news....

Crystal finally broke 16 lbs and is 16lbs 1oz and 26.5 inches long. She is doing great with her weight gain lately. Starting tonight we are taking one of her night feedings away to see if she will eat more durn the day I think it just might work. Starting on Monday we will be taking away her vent at night. That is a very big step for her. And if she gains weight and does great with no vent at all for about four weeks she will be getting her trach out, so we are looking at the beginning of June. So exciting, my little girl is growing up. Her speech level is right at a nine month level but she still may need some speech therapy this summer.

Courtney is weighing in at 17lbs 14ozs and 24.2 inches longer. She is bigger than her sister but shorter. We are starting her on feedings in to her belly, which is a big step she hasnt the milk going into her belly since October. She did great with it today. Starting next Monday she will be going from a breath rate of 24 to 20. She need her to do well with this, cuz it is one step closer to going to CPAP. SHe will also be getting weaned off her medications too. Her speech is also at a 9 month old level but when she is on her belly her head control is at 3.5 month old level. So starting next month she will be getting private therapy and she will also be going to a feeding clinic to get help with eating.

I think thats about it. Both girls are growing and are strong, and thats what they want to see. More tomo and I will update pictures tomo of the girls at the doctors

More teeth

Well Crystal has two top teeth that are cutting through not just one, so that explains why she is so crabby. She is not liking her naps anymore once again. But the good thing lately is that she is eating alot more bottle and food. So hopefully by the end of this week she will be off the night time vent.

Courtney is cutting two top teeth, one almost all the way through and also a bottom one. She slept alot today, but when you are cutting three teeth through I think anyone would sleep. She has been trying more baby food, and seeming to like it. She has an owie by her GT tube site(her feeding tube) it is a reaction to one of the creams we been using on her, in other words she is allergic to it, once we see the doctor it will get better.

Yesterday they both went the moms of multiples meeting and they loved it. Crystal beat up the boy who sat on her lap and played with the other kids. So cute. Courtney did great with all the new people and kids too.

Tomo is their big One year checkup appointment. That means shots but we will be getting a lot of answer about Crystals trach coming out and Courtney getting weaned on her vent.

A very Big update

Well least see where I should I start....

We are now baby proofing the house with a gate, so we can keep Crystal in one area. Since she has learned to crawl on all four she is all over the place. It wont be long till she is walking. She is already pulling her self up along anything she can and will walk around it, so I give her maybe three weeks at the most. Today she was standing up on her own, just using her sisters head to rest her hand on. Crystal has pushed through a top tooth in today and she is not a happy camper about it. She is eating a whole lot lately, must be growing.

Courtney is working on pushing her top tooth through some more. She loves the jumper, she will sit in there for hours and jump. That is a big step for her, cuz about two weeks ago she wouldnt bear any weight on her feet. I have a good feeling she might skip over rolling from back to tummy. and just start crawling. She loves just watching her sister move about so she is learning from her. She has been doing great with eating baby food, she sure does love her fruits.

I think that is about all for right now. I am sure there is more but there is more laundry to be folded and things to get done. Pictures are from today and the last few days. Dont you just love how two carseats look together, they are getting so big.

dads update

Hi everyone this is dad i thought i would update ya'll while mom is gone getting some R & R. We decreased crystal's breath rate last night from 8 to 6 and doing wonderful with that. Crystal is now crawling on all 4's now and all over the place, she also pulls herself up on the furniture and walks along the side the couch. On to courtney, She has been very smiley and happy lately. She also got a new car seat and sat her in it and she absolutly loves it, it will be going in the van later today. Other than that there isn't much more going on. Sandy will be back tonight to update you again.

A fun day outside

We went to the zoo today since it was so nice out. It nice to get outside. Courtney got to play on the slide and she liked it. It was a great day outside. Crystal was being a normal one year old and tried eating the rocks, and she hit a goat today at the petting zoo.

Than we did our first outing as family hours with Courtney. It went very well. We all went to Target to see what was on sale from Easter. Both of them did great out.

Crystal was a little fussy tonight and so was Courtney, and both of them had red rosy cheeks which is a sign of teething. Well I looked in Courtneys mouth and it looks like we might have a top tooth coming in. I hope it dont pop through when I am gone this weekend.

Eye Doctor

Crystals eyes are great and she wont be needing glasses. Than again today she had to give us another excitement of a day. This morn when on the couch with me she pulled the guaze that is under the trach out and at the same time pulled her trach out. She was laughing at us and smiling the whole time, until we put it back than, than she cried. Not only did she do that she pulled out her Mic-key button(aka fedding tube), least with hers it can just go back in. She didnt cry or fuss, she just wanted to go play. Other than that she had a great day.

Courtney has been wonderful today. Such a happy little girl, plus more behaved than her sister. She thought it was funny when her sister was hanging upside down and talking ot her. She loves bath time, alot more when she gets the ducky tub all to herself and doesnt have to fight for room. She fell asleep in her sisters jumper this morn. So cute. But she can make it jump.

Also great news about Crystal, with her passy on she canalmost say mommy. She was very close to saying it tonight.

Easter Sunday

We got up this morn and brought both babies to Church. It was Courtneys first time and they both did great. Daddy made the vent beep durn the service but other than that it was great. We are also picking a date for them to be Baptized this summer at the Church.

When we got home they got their baskets the Easter Bunny left for them. They had a blast going through their baskets. Courtney loved her truck and Crystal loved playing with the grass. They had that grass everywhere. It was fun watching them play with everything, but sad because this was their last first holiday. They grow up so fast.

Later on we all went over to Grandma Hamiltons for Easter dinner. Both girls had fun playing with auntie Janelle. It was all great until Crystal decide to add her own twist on fun. She fell over backward and bonked her head on the hard floor, well we all know what happens to Crystal when she is upset. She started puking everywhere, than she went pale and limp. The day we forget her oxgen tank at home, so we took Courtneys O2 tank and used that well daddy made a phone call to the fire sation down the road. We had them show up with another O2 tank for Courtney. We are thank-ful that Courtney handled having no O2 for awhile just perfect. It took Crystal awhile to recover but she did, and on the way home she was back to be a happy smiling baby.

When we got home everything went great, both went to bed no problem. One of the toys the girls got today they love, but Crystal dosent like to share it with Courtney. She will sit on her or push her away from the toy. Something that needs to be worked on.

A wonderful day

We packed up the kids this morn and went to the zoo, grandma Hitchcock went with too. It was such a great day outside, so warm. We spent all day out there and the kids did great. They love going to the zoo. The really love the fishes, thats their favorite part except going outside.

We went to the little playground they have there and since it was just Crystal awake we let her go play. She loved going on the slides. She didnt like her feet in the rocks, we only had socks on her. She would touch the rocks and than drop them right away. Than I decide to try her out in the grass, that went over a lot better than I thought. She would pull up the grass and try to eat it.

Courtney could of cared less where she was sitting. We plan on taking her to a playground she can try out the slide, their was just so many kids and with her tubing it wont of worked so well. She did wonderful out there and loved it though.

Big girls

We had all day family hours with Crystal and it was a blast. This morn we went down to visit our friends Olivia and Roman, it is always fun when we meet up with our friends. She showed off all her tricks and some new ones. I let her touch grass and she hated it, but can blame her. Than her and mommy went shopping at Target, it was nice being out just mommy and baby. We had her passy on tonight and she was talking up a storm. Than she was pulling her self up to standing from a sitting position and than would take steps from one object to another object.

Courtney has been doing great. She is trying to more and more put weight on her legs. She loves jumping in her sisters jumper, and its get excercise for her legs. Sooner or later she will be catching up to her sister. She was working on tummy time this morn and she fell asleep. It was so cute. She is my sweet quite thinker of the two but that can be trouble down the road.

Video of her crawling

Crystal enjoys her crawling. It is such a weird way to crawl but she dosent seem to mind it. As long as she gets from point A to point B she is happy. I am happy that she is moving but her OT wants her crawling on hands and knees, I dont care as long as she is moving.

Courtney sat in the highchair at dinner time and played with her food and ate it off her fingers. She was doing great until she got some of it in her eye. We will be trying this least once a day than slowly move it up to twice a day just like her sister.

Before bed I had Crystal laying in Courtney's lap, and Corutney was holding the bottle for Crystal. Just for a few seconds but it was so cute, and she loves to help her sister out. Lets hope Crystal has gained more weight tomo so we can wean her down more her vent.

Such great news...

Crystal can CRAWL now, she started it this morn and has been doing it all day. It is more like army crawling but she can move now.We are so proud of her. She can also sit on her new pony that great grandma got her and move backwards on it. She did fall off once but she fell on her sister.

Courtney is putting everything into her mouth, no matter what it is. I am happy to see that her oral aversion isnt there so much any more. She ate some baby food today and did great, she would lick the spoon and open her mouth for more She loves to sit and watch her sister, makes me wonder how long it will be until she will crawl.

I will upload pictures for the last three days tomo.

Two Big days

Saturday was their big birthday party and it was a blast. I want to say thank you to everyone that came and made it a special day for these girls. They got to wear special shirts that Auntie Janet made for them and special tutus that nurse Susan made for them, they were so cute. Both girls loved playing in their cake, Crystal actually ate some of it and that is really good for her. It was so much fun and they got so many presents. Also thank you to everyone who helped set up for the party.

Today Crystal went to Church for the first time. She did wonderful and everyone was happy to finally meet her. Next week we are bringing Courtney with too. It should be fun. Crystal went out to the mall for some shopping, and to have fun. Both are doing great today considering they had a big day yesterday.