12 month appointment

The boys had their 12 month appointment today with Dr. Pulliam. It was the first time Isaac had met him and the second for Eden. They both did great, even when they has their toes pricked an didn't cry too long after they received their 3 shots each - although the cups I had at the ready helped immensely.

Eden is 25.4 lbs (81%) and 31.5 inches long (90%) and Isaac is 21.5 lbs (28%) and 30.5 inches long (67%). He said they are both doing great and very tall for their age even without taking into account their prematurity. They are both standing, pulling to stand (Eden still needs a little help) and Isaac is cruising & standing alone and attempting to stand without holding on to anything. They are both full of laughs and giggles and babbling, have found a love in cow's milk, although it's taking Isaac a little bit longer, he is making up for it in eating like a horse.

I was looking back through all the transcriptions the old pediatricians office finally sent over (he gave them to me because they are a paperless office - which I thought was kinda cool) and started remembering all sorts of things like when Isaac used to keep his fists clenched, up by his head and arms drawn back whenever he was upset or anxious. I had totally forgotten about that and it used to be such a huge concern of mine. I actually can't really recall when it stopped either.

I've done a pretty decent job at keeping their baby books updated over the course of the year as well. There's not many pages left to be filled out. After the age of one, it essentially consolidates to one page per year until age 5 and then overviews their first day of school. It's hard to imagine where we'll be when that happens but I felt the same way a year ago as I did about what's going on now. The first 6 months felt like they would last forever and the second 6 months flew right by. Here's to many more happy fun filled memories for our futures.

#1

The boys turned one today and we had a great day. I found a tradition online where you layout several items in front of the child(ren) with no other things around to distract them and whatever items they pick up with determine what they are into when they get older. I understand it's totally hypothetical, but I thought it would be interesting to write in their baby books and see how it pans out for the future. Here's how they ranked:

• Computer/Technology (represented by a computer mouse) - Isaac's 1st choice; Eden's 2nd choice
• Food/Farming (represented by a granny smith apple) - Isaac's 3rd choice
• Academics/Love of reading (represented by our baby owner's manual :) from Cassy) - Eden's 1st choice; Isaac's 2nd choice
  
• Musical Skill (represented by a drum head from Joey's kit) - neither picked it at all (sorry, that's my fault. 0 musical talent here :p)
• Wealth (represented by a $1 bill) - Isaac's 4th choice
• Athletic Skill (represented by a tennis ball) - Eden's 3rd choice

I'm sure they would have eventually picked everything up to inspect but it was fun to see what they ended up gravitating towards. I tried to make everything as similar or dull in color as to not make one thing or another stand out, which is more than likely why neither of them went for the drum head. Lord knows anything that can be banged or makes sounds or music is played with multiple times on a daily basis.

We then gave them 3 of their gifts, a Radio-Flyer rocking horse (my mom already had one at her house that they loved to play with so we got another one from a consignment shop down the road); a huge bead maze (also have played with on smaller scale and enjoyed, also gotten from a consignment shop); and a tunnel from Ikea, and so far it has been the favorite. We knew Isaac would enjoy it since he's up and crawling on over and now through everything. But what surprised us is how much Eden has gotten into it and if anything, motivated him to get moving! He's been military crawling in addition to his usually rolling to get where he wants to go, partly in frustration of watching Isaac goes wherever he pleases. But when we put him inside the tunnel and he figured out what to do, it was hard to get him out. He'd roll inside it and it would follow him, he'd crawl through it and then turn around and head back in. I always refer to him as my baby bear, and it suits him even more now because he loves his cave!



We had an appointment at 11 in Acworth with Jennifer Harris for their pictures and I can't wait to see how they turned out. It was the first time the boys got to ride forward facing in the car and they spent a good amount of time just looking out the window, I guess at how different everything is now. I don't know why some say it's harde to get them in an out of their seats, I guess it depends on the car, but I thought they new way is great! We ran a little late, but the boys got a little extended nap in and were raring to go when we pulled up. The cupcake pictures were hilarious but Isaac got overstimulated pretty quick, meanwhile Eden picked frosting off him and ate it :) We brought the video camera but in all the excitement, never even pulled it out! I guess we'll have to wait for the professional pics :)

On the way home, we stopped by Southern Regional NICU to drop of the donation we plan to make every year. Since we didn't have any extra money right now, we bagged up some of the smaller footie pj's, blankets, and hats and included a recent picture of both of them in the thank you card. It was a little overwhelming when I first walked in, but as soon as I heard the old familiar voice of the guy at the desk to let me in, I felt at ease. He remembered me and we exchanged salutations and I briefly looked around to see if I knew anyone, but just said goodbye and headed out. Even the smell of the hand sanitizer brought back a flood of memories from the month I spent going back and forth to spend time with my babies while they were healing and growing. There will be a reunion in September and we are really looking forward to revisiting with everyone and showing off how well the boys are doing now.

After getting home, it was life as usual, late lunch, followed by a nap (yes, me too) and then dinner, playtime and bed. It was weird how they even looked older today, almost like little boys instead of babies. I'm not feeling an overwhelming sense of emotion like "Oh no! Their not babies anymore!" like I thought I would. I think mostly I'm just happy and proud of how far we've all come, individually and as a family, and I'm looking forward to the next year and beyond.

Swimming

Grandma & Grandpa Moseley got us a really cool Swimming hole for us to play in for our upcoming birthday! We have somewhere to practice other than the tub for our beach trip in September! YAY!!!!!!!



Then we finished off with a nice cup of whole milk and a snack.

July to date

Wow - it's been almost a month since my last post! Well I've definitely been busy. We all went to Rachel's birthday party over the weekend of the 4th of July and they had a good time playing will all the kids. The following 2 days after that were spent with my parents celebrating the 4th. Unfortunately Joey contracted an evil stomach virus, which I got a mild version of and Isaac was only a tad subjected to. But poor Eden has surely been getting the brunt of it all. He started getting sick, maybe once a day starting the Thursday after and at first we only thought it was his week gag reflex.

He still hasn't run a temperature, I'm pumping him with pedialyte and other than not being able to stomach much food, he seems to be his normal self. I started to really worry a week into it when he got sick even off of just water. I brought him to the doctor who said it was a stomach virus which usually runs it's course in 7 to 10 days and if it was still continuing beyond that, they'd look for something else. We thought he was getting better. He only got sick once yesterday and it was well into the day. I brought him to the chiropractor with me tonight but if he's still bad after tomorrow, I'll bring him back to the doctor Wednesday. The following Wednesday will be their birthday and 12 month pictures so I want him to feel better for that. T Thursday after will be their 12 month doctor appointment, but if he's still sick, he won't be able to get his immunizations, and then the Saturday after that is their birthday party and it will kill me if he's still sick then.

Please keep him in your prayers, I know I am frustrated and feel helpless because I can't make him feel better but I know my poor little guy has got to feel gross after vomiting daily not to mention the fountain of diarrhea that he now produces along with it. I know God is protecting him through all of this, but it's really starting to wear on me, mentally, emotionally, and of course physically, because I can't devote much time to care for him since there are two to run after.

Speaking of which, Isaac finally got ahold of the modem and unplugged it today so we'll be rearranging the corale in the living room yet again.