Visitors Part 2 of 3

Our second visitor was my friend Laurie. She came down to visit April 28th, which is her birthday, to May 3rd. She has been here many times and every time has been a tremendous help! We also love taking pictures with La La (this is what the kids call her), but for some reason, this trip there aren’t too many of her….I realized she was taking the pictures. We did some new things while Laurie was here. We got a new pool to go swimming in and we went to the beach for the first time.

Below are some pictures from her visit:

The kids had a great time in their new baby pool. They seem to have no problem with water.

We went to the beach for the first time. It didn’t seem that bad for the first time, but we had 4 sets of hands for 4 babies.

Laurie was there to keep an eye on everyone.

Mom Mom and I took the kids into the water.

Luke was not to thrilled with the water. Lily was scared too, but Ava and Sarah seemed to enjoy it….

Ava wanted to get right down and go in!

After a while Ava, Luke, and Lily got used to the sand and

loved to play in it!

Sarah, on the other hand, wanted no parts of it. She did not like the way it felt and I had to put her on a blanket. She didn’t even like sand on the sand toys. Notice her hands and feet and how they are situated in the second picture of her.

Great Uncle Jay was there to play and have fun with them all!

The kids had fun playing with La La and can’t wait for her to visit again!

 

On the day Laurie was leaving…the kids started climbing in her suitcase….I guess they wanted to go home with her!

We love and miss you La La and can’t wait for your return…don’t wait too long!

Our next group of visitors were some more friends who brought their kids with them. They stayed in a house around the corner from us from May 8th to May 15th .

Greg and Martha and their three kids Morgan (7), Noah (4), and Else (almost 2)

AND

Dan and Anna and their two kids Max (4) and Michael (almost 2).

Talk about some fun with kids. We had our own day care center going on!

When they first arrived, they came over for a visit! Look at all the chaos. LOL!!!

We all went to the beach……, a lot….

The kids were all playing together under the umbrella.

From left to right: Michael, Max, Luke, Lily, Morgan, Noah, Sarah, Lily, Ava, and Else.

 

Martha, Else, Morgan, me, Anna, and Michael. I love this picture!

Anna gave my kids a haircut! For my girls, it was their first and Luke got his first boy cut, really short.

Lily before….

Lily after….

Luke before……

 

Luke after…..

Ava before……

Ava after….

Sarah before….

Sarah after….

We went to the fountain park!

Lily, Greg, Else, and Noah playing in the water.

Sarah and Michael getting drenched! They loved it.

They kids really enjoyed themselves and all the parents enjoyed watching them!

The parents did get to go out for dinner and drinks one night thanks to my parents the wondrous babysitters:) Thank you so much Mom and Dad! 

L to R: Martha, Greg, Anna, Dan, me, and Nick

The day everyone was leaving, we decided to take some group shots! 

Lily and her Godfather, Greg.

Sarah and her Godparents, Dan and Anna.

These are a few funny attempts to get the two families and our 4 together for a picture.

How many kids were there again?????,,,,Well lets count…

L to R: Noah, Lily, Luke, Michael (hiding) behind Ava, Max, Else, Morgan, and Sarah. How many under 2? SIX!

We did so many things together, there are really just too many pictures to post, thanks to Greg and his camera! We had a great time and hope to see everyone again soon:)

Stay tuned for Visitors part 3 of 3.

Kelly

 

Busy...Visitors Part 1 of 3

The months of April and May have been filled with many visitors coming and going. As you could see from our last post we had many visitors. Before we get to that, I'm sure you would like to know how their 18 month check up went. Overall things went well. Below is a little bit about each of my little stinkers. They love to eat spaghetti and boy does it show:)

Sarah

Sarah now weighs (as of 4/16) 19 lbs. 3 oz. and is 32 inches tall. She is in the 0 percentile for weight (She is not even on the chart) and in the 60th percentile for height. She is my biggest eater, but has a very fast metabolism. Not good for now, but wonderful when she gets older. The doctor is a little concerned with her weight, but we'll see what the 2 year check-up will bring. I was however still concerned with her right foot which is turned out a little, and her balance. She has been walking for a while now, and while there is some improvement, I don't think it is enough. When I spoke with the doctor about this, she looked at her and watched her walk and saw the balance problems and told me that I might want to see a neurologist. I said "Neurologist???Why???" She mentioned that though she is not a neurologist, she has seen cases like this before and because Sarah is a preemie, there is a chance that she could have a mild case of Cerebral Palsy. To say I was surprised would be an understatement, but after I thought about it for a while, I realized that the signs are all there, I maybe just didn't want to see it. I've read all about it and there are different forms and different cases ranging from extremely mild to very severe. So, we made an appointment with the neurologist and she did an EEG to start. The EEG showed that things seemed very normal, but the best way to know for sure would be for Sarah to get an MRI. Of course, Nick and I want to know for sure to see what we're dealing with, so we said yes to it, but our appointment for the MRI is June 5th, so, we will not know the results just yet. Meanwhile, she has to get Occupational Therapy, regardless. She will not start that until June 9th. The Neurologist said that she could have CP, but it could also just be a case of her lagging behind in fine motor skills, which can also be typical of preemies. Her cognitive skills are fine for her age and we will not know about her speech until later, of course. Meanwhile, we are taking it in stride. We have been so blessed thus far and can take whatever God brings us:)

Below are a few pictures of our visit to the Neurologist. Sarah did amazing. My friend Laurie was down to visit at the time , so she came with me for support and help. We brought her God Daughter Ava along for the ride.

Ava having fun on the table while Sarah is getting her EEG.

My brave little girl:)

Laurie and Sarah in the waiting room.

Luke

Luke now weighs (as of 4/16) 23.7 lbs. and is 33 inches tall. He is in the 20th percentile for weight and in the 70th percentile for height. The doctor seemed pleased, but once again is a little concerned with his weight. He is doing well, but we are having some major issues with tantrums. He loves to throw himself around. We let him go, but sometimes it scares me when he hits his head on things. He seems to be somewhat of a perfectionist and when he can't place things exactly where and the way he wants them, he throws a fit. Luke is very hot and cold. Either he is grumpy or happy. He had the most amazing smile:) It brightens up my day every time. P.S. He hates vegetables....all of them! I can't get him to eat them.

Ava

Ava  now weighs (as of 4/16) 19 lbs. 15oz. and is 32.5 inches tall. She is in the 4th percentile for weight and the 60th percentile for height. She is doing extremely well. She has such a great vocabulary and is just always ready to learn. She talks a lot and is into pointing at everything saying  "that?" She is a little bugger! She constantly wants and needs attention and she has learned tantrums very quickly from Luke. She throws some good ones:) You really have to watch it with her because she picks up on everything!

Lily

  

Lily now (as of 4/16) weighs 21 lbs. 14 oz. and is 33 inches tall. She is in the 14th percentile for weight and the 70th percentile for height. The doctor is also worried about her weight. She is very tall and she has been running a lot and is very picky about her eating. Overall, she is doing fine:) She is talking a lot more now and loves to get praise when she is doing something good. She also likes to get the attention when she does something bad! Uh, oh! We have to stop that fast. She loves to help Mommy and Daddy clean up toys and put things where they go.

Now back to our visitors:

Last time I blogged, it was about Easter and Granny was down visiting. She did leave on April 24th vowing never to return ;) Just kidding! She had fun...I'm sure it was a little overwhelming at times, but they sure did love her!!! Below are some pictures of her last week with us.

Here is a picture of the kids doing something that Granny taught them to do....climb up on the couch! Thanks Granny...now we can never get them down ;)

Granny playing with Luke. He had such a blast with her. He always wanted to play with her.

BUT

Granny sometimes wanted to kill him because he whined so much when she didn't want to play with him. See how spoiled they get?

P.S. notice the girl in polka dots, in the background, on the couch? Who's fault is that???

A picture with all four...these pics are rare now. The kids just don't want to ever sit still.

It's now time for Granny to say goodbye for now!

Bye Sarah...Doesn't she look so sad?

Bye Luke...What do you mean, she's leaving?

Bye Ava...What do you mean? Where is she going?

Bye Lily....Do I cry or smile at the camera?

Granny is getting ready to leave.....

the following is very sad, but so very cute!

They are all visibly upset!

Especially Ava..Granny and her have a little bit of a bond.

Granny waves goodbye and Ava turns around crying so hard that she can't catch her breath. Meanwhile, Luke and Lily are hanging on the gate crying. Sarah cries in the back.

Granny has gone, but the kids are still waiting hoping that she comes back in.

Even after time passes, Ava is still visibly upset...poor baby...See what you do to these children Granny! You don't think they know what's going on or who you are, but they know who you are and they remember you :) I hope that we didn't scare you away for good and that you will be back to visit us again soon! We love you!

Below are a few video clips from that same week.....if you are view on facebook, you can't see the video unless you go to Trullinger Quad Squad. Meanwhile, stay tuned for busy Part 2 of 3. I promise it won't be long...maybe a week or less.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Kelly