November 2, 2008 = 5 months for Lexyn and Brittyn

Time is sure flying by. It is crazy how when I was pregnant it took years for the 6 and half months to come before I delivered my sweet babies, but now that they are here and home with us if I blink I may miss a few days! They are definitely precious miracles, God really blessed us. They weigh 9 and half pounds and are cooing all the time. They are realizing that each other are there now, Brittyn grabs Lexyn anytime she is near and they smile at each other and now they are even cooing to each other. It is so sweet. They still only take about 3 ounces every 4-5 hours, but they are starting to sleep longer through the night. They are all smiles most of the time, although Lexyn is still a little rotten and I am not sure how!!!

Trick-or-Treat

My girls were the cutest Ladybugs on Halloween. They looked like they should be on the Anne Gaddes calenders. We had a good time. My mom and sister came to our house and we handed out candy to all the trick-or-treaters in our neighborhood, which is probably close to a thousand kids. We ran out of 10 pounds of candy in an hour. At 7:15 our $25 worth of candy was gone. At 8:00 we went to Ben's parents house to show off our ladybugs and hang out with friends and family. We roasted marshmellows and made smores over the firepit. We laughed at stories and costumes. It was fun. Finally at 10:30 we decided to take our little ladybugs to the house. We made it a late night since it was our last time to hang out away from the house, because November 1st was a night away.

Weight Checks

The girls doctor appointment on Wednesday the 29th was ok. The pediatrician didn't get on to me as much for their weight but he still says Lexyn needs to intake more calories which means more 24 calorie formula. Lexyn weighed 9 pounds 7.4 ounces which was a gain of 8 ounces in 15 days which he said wasn't bad. Brittyn weighed 9 pounds 8.6 ounces which was a gain of 9 ounces in 15 days. He wants me to wake Lexyn up in the middle of the night to get an extra bottle in but after trying it once, she has no desire to eat when she is woke up. He put Brittyn back on a reflux medicine since she is spitting up a lot in the middle of nap time and nighttime. He did clear us so we don't go back until their 6 month check up on December 2nd.

Brittyn sat in the excersaucer for the first time on Thursday. She is still small and can't grab toys yet but she was so excited to see the bright new toys surrounding her. You could see the wheels turning in her brain as she tried to grab a toy, she did end up succeeding once. Only one foot could touch the bottom so she would push up with that one foot and spin herself around. She loved it.

Papaw's 51st Birthday

Ok, so I am a little slow but life is pretty busy with 2 little ones. On Friday, October 17th we went in to Papaw and Nana's house to be with family and cook out for Papaw's 51st birthday. Happy Birthday Papaw. It was nice to spend some family time before we have to start hibernating November 1st. Here are a few pictures of Papaw and Nanny, the girls great grandparents. I didn't get any of the girls with Papaw. I am not the best at getting the pictures we need.

The girls are getting more fun each day. Brittyn is so close to rolling over from her back to her stomach, and Lexyn has started playing on the floor for an hour at a time. That is a huge improvement for my little whiny momma's girl! I have also had fun dressing them in Halloween outfits. Thanks to Gamma for the outfits. They look so cute.

We go to the doctor tomorrow for weight checks, so we will see how much they have gained in 2 weeks and how much trouble I get in for letting them be underweight. I will try to post about that appointment a lot sooner than 2 weeks later!

Check-Ups

Tuesday I took the girls to the doctor for their 4 month check up. Lexyn weighed 8 pounds 14.6 ounces. She was 21 1/2 inches long and her head measured 14 1/2 inches. She was in the 5% in everything. Brittyn weighed 8 pounds 15.6 ounces. She was 22 1/2 inches long, and her head measured 14 1/2 inches. She was also in the 5% in everything. Their doctor was really unhappy with their weight. He said they aren't eating enough and he wanted to change their formula back to a preemie formula, like Similac Neosure, which is what they started first when I stopped breastfeeding but they projectile vomited it. So then they started Enfamil Lipil and they did the same so he then switched them to Enfamil Prosobee. Brittyn has done very well on it, projectile vomiting about one bottle a week as opposed to every bottle; but Lexyn still projectile vomited the soy so he then switched her to Nutramigen Lipil. She has been doing great on it. I begged him yesterday not to switch their formula again. He gave me a recipe to put more powder to the water so that it would be 24 calorie instead of just 20 cal. Then he told me to feed them every 3 hours during the day. Because of the girls swallowing issues they have to have each bottle thickened to Nectar so we use cereal or simply thick. When they get cereal they usually don't eat but every 4 1/2 to 5 hours. So the past 2 days of trying to make them eat every 3 hours has been a chore. They just keep looking at me like, "mom, we are stuffed!" We go back for weight checks on the 29th, and we have to pray they have gained what he wants so he won't change their formula. They are still having some apnea alarms so there is no talk at this point when their monitors will come off. They did get their first shot to help prevent RSV. They will get 5 more shots one every 28 days. He told us not to leave the house except for doctor appointments starting November through the end of March. He did say we could go to church but not to let kids around them and do not put them in the nursery. He said that no one should be near them that has a cough or the sniffles, and anyone that does come over must wash their hands and use hand sanitizer before touching them. So hopefully we won't go crazy from being house bound, and the girls won't get badly sick this season. Here are a few recent pictures for you to enjoy.

4 Months Already!

Lexyn and Brittyn are now 4 months old. It just seems crazy. I really can't believe how fast it is going by. Time really needs to slow down. They are getting so big, both weighing just a few ounces under 9 pounds. They have really come a long way, almost 6 pounds in 4 months. They are very smiley babies; Brittyn a little more so than Lexyn but she hasn't felt good for so long. They are cooing, and it is precious. Lexyn has been put on Nutramigen formula and it is a miracle formula. She is a total different baby now, we just have to now brake the spoiledness of needing to be held all the time. When she is doing tummy time, which she doesn't really care for, she scoots forward and pushes over top of the boppy. She loves to stand up with us just holding her hands for support. She is taking about 3 ounces of formula every 5 hours and now has one 2 ounce pear juice bottle a day and loves it! Lexyn is finally growing back some hair on the top of her head. She likes to sleep on her tummy and she rooted around so much that she rubbed all her hair off and was bald on top for about a month.

Brittyn is still on soy formula and doing very good with it. She scoots backwards off the boppy during her tummy time. She loves tummy time, really she likes to lay on the floor any way. She enjoys stretching out. She likes to stand with just us holding her hands to support her and she bounces up and down. She is taking about 3 ounces every 4-5 hours and loves her 2 ounce pear juice bottle each day. She is about an inch to and inch and a half longer than Lexyn when she stretches out. She is my tall and skinny baby. Her hair is getting really long on top and is very curly when it is wet.

The girls turned 4 months old last Thursday and on Saturday night we moved them into their own bedroom. They still sleep in the same bed but they are now in their crib and not a pack and play. They have done very well, along with mom, and actually they are sleeping longer through the night. Sunday the 5th they went 9 hours before waking up. That was nice, but hasn't happened again! We have the girls on a schedule now and they are doing very well with it. They get a bath around 7:00pm and then we feed them a bottle and lay them down between 7:30 and 8:00pm. Most nights now, they lay down and go to sleep without even crying. I haven't really kept them on a schedule during the day until a few days ago. They usually wake up around 9:00-10:00am and we play on the floor for about 30 minutes. Then they take a bottle and sit in their swing. Around 12:00 -12:30 I have started putting them back in their crib for a nap instead of just letting them just catnap in their swings. They take a nap for about 2 and half hours. When they wake up they we play for a while until they start to fuss and then they get a bottle. We have been going on a walk each day since the weather has been great, and they love their stroller and love being outside. The only time of the day that we haven't mastered is from about 4:00pm until bath time. They are usually tired but whiny so they won't sleep in their swing or their bed they just want to be held, and unfortunately that is cooking and dinner time. So they spend a lot of that time crying to be held. Other than that the routine is great and they are pretty good babies. I am really enjoying being a stay at home mom and raising my 2 sweet baby girls.

By the way, our Branson trip was great. But unfortunately we have no pictures because the girls slept just about the entire time. We did lots of shopping and they slept in their stroller. The ride up there and back they slept the whole way waking up once each time to take a bottle. They were great travelers, for that trip anyway!

E. Shelnut Photography Photos

So in August we went and had family photos done at E. Shelnut Photography. He does an awesome job, but is a little pricey. Today we finally got our pictures back and I thought I would share 2 of them with you. My girls look nothing like this now. They were still really small and actually they were wearing their baby doll Strasburg dresses, which don't even come close to buttoning now!

Tomorrow we are leaving on our first family of 4 vacation. We are going to Branson for the weekend. We are so excited. Usually by this time of the year we have already been there 2 or 3 times but since we decided to have babies this year we haven't gone yet! I am sure we will take some pictures of the girls on their first vacation although we really don't plan to do a whole lot except shop and walk down by the lake. Have a great weekend and watch next week for some Branson pictures.