The 20's are fast disappearing

Yesterday was my 26th birthday. It was a great day! I had to work the night before so Aaron took off work and let me get a couple of hours of sleep which I always am grateful for. He was very sweet and had arranged babysitting and was going to take me to Maddox for lunch and then we were going to do something after, but he got a call around 7 that morning telling us our poor niece had been throwing up all night so we no longer had a babysitter. We went to Plan B and we went on a picnic and played on the playground and the slides with the boys. The weather was perfect and the boys were darling so it was perfect. Then we went and walked on the trail around Lagoon, it is so pretty and it was great to just chat with Aaron. Then we came home and my mom came and visited and then we went to Aaron's softball game which is always fun. We even had luck on our side and very narrowly missed one of the boys getting a head injury. One of the people hit the softball and it was heading straight to the stroller, luckily for some reason (because I never do) I had pulled the visor over the stroller and it hit the top of the visor instead of the boys. Aaron and the boys got me some movies and an iTunes gift card and a Nike plus which I was way excited about. Thanks for a fabulous birthday honey!



Austin and Zack are already addicted to Diet Coke (we missed the picture of Zack trying to drink it). For all of you getting ready to call DCFS, no I don't let my kids drink pop. It's a rare day that they even get juice.


On Sunday my Grandma and Grandpa had a birthday dinner for all of us April birthdays. It was great hanging with my family and the boys had a great time swinging (those were their Easter outfits).

We're home!

Well, I'm happy to report that we came home yesterday and the fluid seems to have done the trick. We haven't had any more vomiting and the boys are eating tons. They are still having diarrhea which we now know we can thank rotovirus for that, but things are definitely looking up. Aaron started getting sick Thursday night and must have the flu or something because he feels like he's dying or he got what the boys had, but I'm really hoping that he will get better soon and life can go back to normal! Thanks again to everyone for everything you have done for us!

The fun keeps on going!

We had a doctor's appointment today to check the boys weight and Zack has lost 3 more ounces and Austin is the exact same so since they are still throwing up, having diarrhea, and not gaining weight we are back in the hospital! Even though we didn't get our favorite nurse Crystal we still have liked all of the nurses here and even though I never thought I'd say this since working at Primary's I am very impressed at the care they have received from McKay.

It feels like the good old days of the NICU again. Here is my mom entertaining the trouble makers.


So Dr. Clawson drew labs, put in an IV, gave the boys a bolus of fluids, and then started them on some maintenance IV fluid to get them rehydrated. She thinks that they got so dehydrated that ketones and acid built up in their systems and stomachs and that's why they are still throwing up so the hope is that all of the fluid will flush their systems clean and they will be able to keep some food down. Do we look sick to you?



She wouldn't let them eat anything for several hours and they were starving so when we got the green light Zack wanted as many crackers as he could hold, he was cracking all of the nurses up.


So far I think it's working, Austin has only thrown up once and Zack not at all. They have already ate more tonight than they have in a week! They are still having diarrhea so they are testing them for rotovirus. Hopefully, if they can keep their breakfast down we will be able to go home tomorrow. I'm really not posting this to get pity from everyone just to keep people who care informed. Here's the boys playing with each other in their cribs when they are supposed to be sleeping.


We know things could be so much worse so we are just grateful that our boys are doing as well as they are and we are very appreciative of all of the support, visits, and phone calls we have received!

Coed Softball

Aaron started playing in his coed softball league again tonight. It's fun to go watch them play and most of the time they are pretty good. Matt (my brother-in-law and Aaron's twin) was able to come and sub for one of the players so it was nice to have Michelle to sit with and to help with my boys.

Their cheerleaders (I'm behind the camera).


Update on the boys:

The boys are mostly over the puking, just doing it a couple of times a day now, but lucky for us they have moved onto explosive diarrhea. Mom and Dad thank you so much for the carpet cleaner! It has been a lifesaver. We took them to the pediatrician yesterday and Zack has lost over a pound weighing in at barely 18 lbs. and Austin lost about 1/2 a pound and is down to around 21 1/2 lbs. She was concerned at how much they have lost and so we are trying to do some intense rehydration right now which isn't going the best, but we'll keep trying. I think Zack's pneumonia is a lot better now, he would be able to come off the oxygen, but since he's lost so much weight the pediatrician wants him to stay on it and our breathing treatments are down to every 6 hours. You can all come visit me soon at the State Mental Hospital. :) Really, we're doing ok, I'm just tired, but thanks for all of your concern! We love you guys!

Our little sickies

When Dr. Clawson came in to see Zack yesterday morning she said as long as he was able to take a nap without needing oxygen we could go home. Well, when nap time came around Zack's sats again dropped and he had to go on oxygen. We were a little frustrated, but Dr. Clawson decided in the afternoon that since I was a nurse she would send him home on oxygen and breathing treatments. Wahoo!

Austin came to visit us in the hospital on Saturday because me and Zack missed him a ton! Zack just kept kissing him over and over which is especially cute because usually Austin is the one that kisses Zack.

Zack had fun showing Austin his cool game of throwing balls and making everyone chase after them.


Aaron gained some pregnancy weight and was finally able to lose it. Way to go hon! Or Zack has some bad diarrhea from the antibiotics and Aaron was the lucky one to discover it. We asked for size large scrub pants, somehow they heard 5XL.


Our cute boy on his way out the hospital doors.


Well, I'd love for this to be the happy ending of this post, but unfortunately it's not. So a couple hours after we got home both boys started throwing up and proceeded to throw up all night and all day today. We have debated about taking them to the ER all day today, but can't stand the thought of sitting there so instead we are stressing it out here and if they get any worse we will go in. We have an appointment with the pediatrician tomorrow so we're hoping we can make it until then. The poor boys have slept or thrown up all day. Despite the oodles of laundry I've had, we've enjoyed the cuddle time and love our boys tons!

Family is the best!

We are really lucky and have great family. Steve and Mandy have been wonderful and took Austin for us on Thursday and Friday even though he has been sick as well. Austin had a great time playing with Neal, Mandy, and Steve.





Michelle took Austin for us on Saturday and wanted to the other days as well. Michelle bored Austin right to sleep, but we know he loves her!


Thanks everyone for being so great! It was nice to not have to worry about him. We love you guys!

Life's Never-ending Adventures

Yesterday morning when I got home from work, I got the boys up and started feeding them breakfast. I noticed that Zack was breathing really fast and I could see through his pajamas that he was really working hard to breathe. Both of the boys and Aaron have had colds since Tuesday night so I figured that it was probably nothing to worry about, but after finishing feeding them, when I was getting them dressed I was starting to get worried because he was working harder than I had originally thought he was. So after some serious debating because I feel like I always overreact, I decided to take him to the doctor. When we got there they tested the oxygen levels in his blood and found that they were low and his doctor couldn't hear hardly any air movement. They gave him a breathing treatment at the office hoping that it would help, but it wasn't enough so they admitted him to the hospital. After doing a chest x-ray they found out that he has pneumonia.


He has been so good with his breathing treatments (he has to get them every 3 hours), all of the respiratory therapists that come in comment on how they've never seen a kid his age be so cooperative.


He had to go on oxygen last night because his oxygen levels were getting to low and he couldn't keep them up (he does not love the cannula). Despite the 3 hours of sleep he got last night he has periods of being very hyper. We think it's because of the medicine he gets in the breathing treatments. He loves to stand in the crib with the bars up and throw balls over the edge and watch us constantly retrieve them for him. He's also had fun playing with the bag of IV fluid and the oxygen on the wall, so many fun and new things to explore.



This afternoon as we were sitting in his room all of a sudden we heard this huge bang on the window and we thought a bird ran in to it, but no the windows were just being washed.


We found out tonight that he tested positive for enterovirus which is very uncommon to cause pneumonia, but hey since when do my boys do anything common. We were hoping to go home tomorrow, but we just had to put him back on oxygen so I'm not sure when we will be able to, but we're just grateful that he's not worse than he is and hopefully I'll be able to get more sleep tonight (2 hours for 3 days is not quite enough). Luckily we have great family and are so grateful to Mandy and Steve for watching Austin the last 2 days for us (I miss him terribly) and for the visits and phone calls we've received from everyone else. We'll try to keep you all updated when we know more.

Daxton

I just wanted to tell everyone how much we have appreciated all of your thoughts and prayers. The phone calls and cards meant more than you can know to me, it's helped to know that people care. I've had a hard time with the thought of doing another post; partly because I've been and still am so very sad and partly for reasons that are hard to explain and that I don't want to go in to. So let me just finish by saying Daxton, I love you so very much! Me, Aaron, and especially Zack and Austin are going to miss you more than words can say and we will never ever forget you! We will miss you our whole lives and can't wait for the day when we can see and hug you again. Daxton, we will love you forever and always!!!

The true meaning

I have debated about doing this post or not and decided my family needs all of the prayers right now that we can get so here goes. Unfortunately, our Easter didn't turn out how we had all planned, we were taught the true meaning of Easter today in a very real way. My sweet nephew Daxton, who is my sister and brother-in-law's baby (Michelle and Matt), was accidentally backed over today and was instantly killed. It has been a very hard day for our family and we are all grasping for comfort and the knowledge that we will get to see him someday. Please keep his parents and our family in your prayers. We love you so much Matt, Michelle, and Daxton!!

Daxton Matthew Eberle
7/25/2006-3/23/2008

15 months

Austin and Zack are 15 months today and they had their check-up this morning. Here are their stats:

Zack- Length: 29 1/2 inches (10%) he's finally back on the charts!
Weight: 19 lbs 5 oz (<5%) someday he'll be on the charts
Head circ.: 47.3 cm (55%)

Austin- Length: 30 inches (20%)
Weight: 22 lbs 3 oz (20%)
Head circ.: 47.2 cm (50%)

They are doing very good and their pediatrician is excited at how far they've come. They both love to talk and babble; some of their new words are: ball, cracker, dog, and they've said others, but they don't know what they mean so we won't count them. They are both getting close to walking and I'm scared for the day because they are already in to everything! They love to kiss each other and mommy and daddy and we love it! They are cute playing together and are very tolerant of each other most of the time, but they are also good at making each other cry. They are cute as ever and we love them to pieces!!! Here's some pictures to prove it:

The boys love to climb in to the laundry baskets and then they head dive out of them, it's hilarious.


This is what happens when I do something like go to the bathroom; they somehow got these paper towels off of the counter and had a lot of fun with them.


Zack had fun helping Daddy work in our bedroom.

I need music

To all of you runners, exercisers, or just anyone, I need music. I have music on my iPod that I run with, but some of it is just not good running music and I am clueless about what music would be good. So I am wondering what music you all run to or exercise to or that you just listen to that has a good beat and will inspire me to run and maybe even run faster. I'm open to any suggestions!

Tag

Blaine, haven’t you ever heard about “taking one for the team” instead of subscribing to the “misery loves company” theory? Why would you tag somebody when you didn’t seem happy about being tagged? Anyway, I’ll try and be a good sport.

Four jobs I've had:
1. Convergys/Matrixx Marketing – Selling AT&T Long Distance over the phone
2. Self Employed – selling phone accessories on eBay
3. Professional photographer (ok, really just taking pictures of homes for sale but I was the BEST photographer that they EVER had, ha ha)
4. Bank Teller – where else do you think I obtained my fortune?

Four places I've lived:
1. Taiwan
2. North Ogden
3. Mesa, Arizona
4. Provo for 11 weeks, which in my mind is far too long

Four movies that I love:
1. Last of the Mohicans
2. The Italian Job “Listen, I'm gonna need your shirt, and your truck ………...”
3. anything with Jack Ryan
4. Tommy Boy

Four favorite foods:
1. any Chinese “street food”
2. Javier’s enchiladas Mmmmmmmmmmmm
3. Olive Garden’s Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo- “I can actually hear you getting fatter” – see #4 above
4. Mountain Dew – it is one of the major food groups, right?

Four weird things about me:
1. I have a freakish “Nelson toe”
2. I always eat the cereal first and then the marshmallows/crunchberries in my Lucky Charms/Captain Crunch or other non-homogeneous cereal
3. I am slowly integrating Heidi’s OCD tendencies into my own expansive inventory of oddities
4. I like a good plate of melted cheese – also a Nelson trait

My four favorite TV shows:
1. The Office
2. Anything on ESPN except poker
3. The Office
4. Good Eats

Four places I'd love to go:
1. China
2. Taiwan
3. Jamaica
4. All of Europe

People I tag: Nobody. I will take one for the team.

Spring Cleaning

It seems like every blog I read right now is talking about spring cleaning and I must admit when I've read them my only thought has been that it would be nice to have a clean house, but with my two little rugrats I didn't see that ever happening. Then I was reading one of my favorite blogs www.momadvice.com/blog/ and she has a great idea for spring cleaning. She has suggested to pick one room in your house (this week is the kitchen) and then pick seven one hour tasks and do one each day (I will do two one day so I don't have to do anything on Sunday) to make it manageable. Today the task was cleaning out your fridge which I have needed to do for a long time and I am happy to say that I finally have a clean fridge. It did take me about 1 1/2 hours, but I am also a slow cleaner because I tend to be a bit of a perfectionist and my fridge was absolutely disgusting! If you are feeling overwhelmed you should check out her blog or just check it out anyways because it's really good (at least I think so).

The Case of the Missing Ring.....

When I was pregnant my hands got swollen pretty early on so I couldn't wear my wedding ring anymore. Well, at the time I was watching It Takes a Thief (a show where professional thieves break in to people's houses) and I started worrying that someone would break in to our house and steal my ring so I hid it (at least I thought I did). So when I went to put it on 8 months later it was gone and after tearing our house apart many times it was no where to be found. We had high hopes that while painting our room today (pictures will be coming) we would find the ring behind the dresser or somewhere that we have already looked, but when I came home from work this morning Aaron had already moved everything out of the room and sadly told me that the ring was no where to be found. After that we both figured that it was just gone forever so I of course started designing my new ring in my mind. :) Then as I was putting my paint clothes on I noticed a ring on the floor and to my utter disbelief there was my long lost wedding ring on the floor! I had tucked it in to a pair of pants that were folded in my drawer that I haven't worn for years and I have even emptied that drawer of clothes at least 4 times looking for my ring. I am very happy to report that I have left the Katie's club of missing wedding rings!!!

My moment of mourning

So we have been trying to tighten our spending here lately and decided that cable was something that needed to go after much agonizing. We got it over a year ago because Aaron had to have it for the Mountain and at the time I didn't want it so we were just going to keep it for the football season, but a year and a half later we still had it. I am semi-obsessed with the show Jon and Kate plus Eight so I've had a hard time with this decision, but $360 a year is a little bit unreasonable for any show. Well, Aaron called and canceled last Tuesday and I kind of just hoped they would forget to come and disconnect it and I could continue to enjoy TLC, but to my horror I looked out the window last night and Comcast was parked outside disconnecting the cable. I didn't cry too long, oh well. I decided to start my first day off with going outside for a run, all of you runners are inspiring me. It's probably best, but if anybody wants to invite me over for What Not to Wear or Jon and Kate plus eight just call. :)

Our week of firsts

The last week we have had a lot of firsts at our house.

Zack started crawling on his knees instead of the army crawling, he figured out how to sit on his own, and he started pulling himself up to standing.

Austin a little over a week ago started saying cracker, Zack can mostly say it. They also both started saying ball and they try to say Zack and they will make some of the animal noises like quack and moo and growling. It's very cute!

They also both discovered themselves in the mirror, twins generally take longer to find themselves because they are basically looking at themselves all day so they don 't really care when they see another baby in the mirror. It has been so funny; Austin loves to kiss himself and makes himself laugh when he's playing in front of the mirror and Zack likes to bonk his head against it and touch hands. They definitely keep us laughing!

This pictures is of Zack right after he pulled himself up for the first time, we were a little slow getting the camera.


This is of Austin just being cute, they were being naughty this night and wouldn't go to bed, but they were absolutely adorable so it's hard to be too mad!

Daddy Son day

I worked last night and I'm on call tonight so Aaron had the boys all day today while I was sleeping. They had fun with their daddy (at least Aaron says they did). Here are some pictures of their day together.

Aaron and the boys wrestling (if you are wondering if the boys are in their pajamas the answer would be yes, I guess that's what happens when their dad is in charge). I think I put out the wrong impression about Aaron, in the year that I have been back to work after having the boys he has done baths and gotten them dressed every time (not always matching clothes, but clothes nonetheless). I just wanted to give him a hard time for not doing it this time, it is the first.

Aaron apparently wouldn't feed the boys so Austin had to result to eating his toys. :)

Austin and Zack love each other, I missed the picture of Austin kissing Zack, he caught me with the camera and wouldn't do it anymore. This is the fun part of having twins!

Update

After 5 doctor visits, 5 hospital visits, 10 blood draws, 2 respiratory tests, 3 chest x-rays, 4 attempts at a urine catheter, 4 times of throwing up, 8 days of 103 fevers, 4 bottles of Ibuprofen, 4 bottles of Tylenol, 70 times taking temperatures, 2 days and still counting of a rash on the chest and back, and multiple calls to and from the pediatrician; Austin and Zack are finally mostly feeling better. After all of those tests we never did figure out what they had; Dr. Clawson thinks it was a virus of some sort, we're just glad it's over! Thank you to everyone for all of the love and concern, it has been a long week and a half, but we are very grateful that it wasn't anything worse and that they are on the mend. I can't wait for winter to be over! Here are some cute pictures of our boys feeling better, they love bath time!

The Good and the Bad

For being in quarantine and not going anywhere since November our boys have been sick an awful lot this winter. If nothing else it proves to us that our boys are definitely high risk and I'm really grateful they are at least getting Synagis ($6000 a month for shots isn't that much money, is it?). With all that said Zack decided to start having fevers of around 103 on Sunday and they have continued through today and Austin decided to join in the fun on Tuesday, we've had a fun week! Their pediatrician Dr. Clawson is stumped and so are we. We have had to go to the doctor and the hospital for blood work, x-rays, and other tests everyday this week except Tuesday and we still haven't figured out what's going on. One of the good things about all of this is Aaron stayed home from work on Wednesday and took a half day Thursday to help me. Another is Austin and Zack have only wanted to cuddle lately which is hard with two because they don't like me to hold them at the same time and they haven't really wanted Aaron, but I do love cuddling with them!



With our fun week me and Aaron decided to not do anything for Valentine's; I should have known though because everytime me and Aaron have decided to not do anything he always still does things and makes me look bad. So when I woke up yesterday he had cards from him and ones the boys had made me in our doorway so I would see them first thing. Then he had put little Spiderman valentine's (he claimed that's what the boys picked) all through the house so I would find them all day with sweet messages from him and the boys. He is wonderful! I love you Aaron!!

The things kids do

Austin and Zack have been sick the last week with colds and so they wouldn't take their afternoon nap for a couple of days (I think because they were having a hard time breathing) so by the time dinner came Austin was very tired! He has never fallen asleep in his chair before and so we were laughing very hard because he kept bobbing his head and was trying so hard to stay awake, he obviously lost the battle.


Austin has apparently decided that he wants to be a leader and not a follower so he has decided crawling isn't original enough and invented his own walk. This picture doesn't do it justice, he looks like an ape, it's the funniest thing I've ever seen!

Zack does the funniest look where he scrunches up his whole face when he is smiling at you, I've been trying to get a picture of it forever, but he doesn't hold it for longer than 1-2 seconds so I haven't been very successful, but here is the best I've been able to get. Angie and my mom will especially attest to how funny it is.