Halloween

I had to get Ry's picture a few days after Halloween because she was sick and didn't go out trick-or-treating.  Nick came over to help me with the babies while Bert took the boys out.  I've never been home on Halloween before to pass out the candy but we had quite a few kids knocking on the door.

Williams Halloween Party

These four girls are going to be so close!  Avery was born in January, my girls in February and Macy in April. 

They bobbed for apples, decorated sugar cookies, had a scavenger hunt and ate doughnuts on a string.  It was a fun party!

Centershift

Mom and Peggy were nice enough to watch the babies for me this afternoon so I could take these 3 up to Bert's work to trick-or-treat.  They always come home with tons of candy and I'm sure Bert likes showing them off too.  I got asked a lot about the twins and why I hadn't brought them.  They'll be there next year for sure.

We also had a ward Halloween party tonight and Erin and Tiff watched the babies so I could actually go to a ward party.  It was a lot of fun and we had a good time.

Habitat

Jacks has been working on a grasslands habitat project all week.  He had to make a booklet that told all about the grasslands and then make this diorama to display in his classroom. 

Drew's Birthday Party

Loves Books

Rylee loves to read and has really been enjoying all the Halloween books I got out for the month.  She asks Nana to read to her everyday!

"Chicken"

Addi thinks Cooper is hilarious and he doesn't even have to try.  I have yet to be able to get her to giggle and laugh but tonight all Cooper had to say to her was "chicken" and she thought that was the funniest thing she'd ever heard.

Bus

We get to see school buses multiple times a day and Rylee just loves it.

Cardiologist

I took Addi to the Cardiologist today for a follow-up appointment.  She was pretty fussy and tired during the appointment and she cried the whole time he was trying to listen to her heart with the stethoscope.  So he can't say 100% but he's fairly certain her PDA has closed off on his own.  He thinks she would have a lack of energy and not be eating good or gaining weight if that were still open.  He wants me to come back again in 6 months to check if the ASD valve has closed off or not.  Who knows about all this stuff?  I just do what I'm told. :)

I asked him about Jordyn and told him about the times when I have tried to wean her and how it didn't go well.  The last time I brought her into his office was back in July and he told me he didn't want me to bring her in again until she was off her oxygen.  And at the time he assured me it would be just a few more months.  I explained how frustrated I was with our lack of progress and with the equipment I have to work with.  He wants me to make an appointment for her and bring her in soon for a check-up with him.  Hopefully he'll be able to figure it all out for me.

Sleeping In

Sleepover

One last sleepover before RSV season starts and we go into hibernation mode. :)

Still No Feeding Tube

It's been a week since Jordyn pulled out her tube and so far so good.  There are definitely some bottles she doesn't finish but overall I think she's doing pretty good.  I spoke to our Kids on the Move nurse that comes by once a month and her opinion is that Jordyn knows she doesn't have to finish her bottles because I have always pushed the remainder through her tube.  She needs to realize that whatever she takes is all she's going to get and then she'll stop being lazy.  It made sense to me.  I've kept all the feeding tube supplies but I'm hoping I won't ever need them again!!!

Playing at the Park

New Halloween Shirts

Weights

Jordy pulled out her feeding tube on Sunday morning so I'm going to leave it out again and see how she does.  She seems so close so hopefully this time she can pull it off.  I weighed the girls today and Addi weighs 12 lb 7 oz and Jordyn is 12 lb 2 oz.  We're gaining weight and doing good!  We'll keep our fingers crossed that the feeding tube is out for good!

Halloween Pillow

Tiff made Rylee a Halloween pillowcase and gave it to her yesterday.  She loves it.  She had to bring it out to the Living Room with her this morning while she had her cup of milk.

Today is Bert's birthday and he went to play cards tonight with the guys.  Peggy helped me take care of the kids.  Bert puts Rylee to bed every night so she didn't want me to do it.  She finally crashed in my bed around midnight.  It was a long night!  :)  Bert had a lot of fun, though, so it was worth it!

"Boo"

Drew was saying "Boo" to Jordyn and it made her smile.

Follow-up Clinic

The girls had their first NICU Follow-up Clinic today.  Our appointment was at 8:30 so Mom came over to the house to take care of Ry and help get the boys all ready for school.  Bert and I took the babies to the clinic.  The girls saw the opthamologist and then got their measurements taken.  Afterward we saw the Pediatrician and then the Nutritionist.  There was a lot of waiting in between so we were there all morning!  The girls were tired and ready to go home!  We ran into a couple of other NICU babies that were born around the same time as we were so it was fun to visit with the parents and see how big the babies were now.  I told the nutritionist that we are almost done with our freezer supply of breastmilk so we are going to start mixing it with the Neosure and get the girls used to the formula.  After we use up all of the cans of Neosure, (which I have a lot of because my Nurses sent me home with so many when we were discharged from the NICU and because I was able to get some for free because I have twins) she wants us to switch to Good Start Nourish which will be easier on the girls stomachs.  We are supposed to use the special Preemie formula until their birthday and then we can switch to whatever formula we want until their adjusted birthday in May.  It's going to start getting expensive now!

Apnea Monitor

Our doctor's office called yesterday to say that Jordyn didn't need to use her Apnea Monitor anymore.  She wears it at night and once a month they download the information from it and send it to one of the NICU doctors.  He reads the info and then sends a report to our doctor.  Once Jordyn got a clear report with no issues, she could be done with it.  We are slowly getting rid of all of the extra gear that Jordyn has needed.  My breast pump, her feeding pump and now the apnea monitor are all gone.  Only thing left is the oxygen.  Hopefully we won't have that for too much longer.

Parent/Teacher Conferences

I went over to Parent/Teacher Conferences tonight with the boys.  Both boys are doing great and are good in class.  They both have a lot of friends and have transitioned wonderfully to a new school.  That makes me so happy!

Cooper was chosen as the Student of the Week for this week.  He got to have his picture taken with the principal and it's on display by the Main Office. 

"I thought I could..."

I had to put Jordyn's feeding tube back in again today.  She did so good for the first few days but then started leaving more and more behind with each bottle.  I was worried about her losing weight, so I put her feeding tube in again.  Hopefully, since she lasted as long as she did, she is close to being done with it.  I'm getting tired of it and I'm sure she is too!