For those of you who are interested I got a Canon Rebel XT with a stock lens for now (which is capable enough to take the image above). I decided on the cheaper XT over the newer more expensive XTi so that I could spend more money on a great lens. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. I should be deciding on one in the next month.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Look what this camera can do!
For those of you who are interested I got a Canon Rebel XT with a stock lens for now (which is capable enough to take the image above). I decided on the cheaper XT over the newer more expensive XTi so that I could spend more money on a great lens. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. I should be deciding on one in the next month.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Photos from my friend Eric
My OLD friend Eric and his wife Jen and two beautiful daughters came up for a visit a few weeks ago to meet the twins. He took some great photos!
Pictures
these are the kids looking in the microwave at me. It's one of their favorite places to be.
I just can't seem to find the time to post. It's driving me crazy.
M&J are completely self entertaining now. They are never alone in a room. If J goes from the kitchen to the living room, M follows. If M pulls herself up on the blocks, so does J. They crack each other up. Chris said that tonight while I was at work they were playing in M's crib for a bit before bed. J had fallen so he was laying on his back. M kept hitting him with a toy over and over in the belly (not in a mean way), and he just stayed there and smiled at her.
I would have to say that nap time is what gives me the most anxiousness during the day. The not knowing if they will fall asleep and/or STAY asleep is really getting to me. I'm trying to be real consistent with when I put them down and I THINK it's getting better but definitely not perfect.
The kids are finally over their colds. J's cough got pretty scary there for a while and I kept calling the doc but she just kept saying if he didn't have a fever then he was fine. Guess she was right. My cold is still lingering but I feel a lot better than I did a few days ago.
Today I finally met Gia's baby, Max. You can see pictures of him here
I took them today. He is so cute and tiny. It was so strange for me to hold a newborn. He's the first since holding my own.
I was going to post some pictures but my mac won't let me. I'll try again in the morning...it's 1:15am now. Updated with pictures.
Monday, January 21, 2008
Still sick
Madison and Jackson's colds have moved into their chests so now they have a horrible cough. The doctor said not to worry if they didn't have a fever though.
I've been having slight symptoms of a cold but it didn't hit me hard until today. I'm so sick today. Horrible soar throat, stuffy, sneezing.
The kids stayed at Nana's last night so she has them today so hopefully I can rest up a bit before heading into work (no our company doesn't close on MLK day).
I had to get up at 5am at the sleep lab but I came home and slept until 10:30! I still feel so tired though.
I've been having slight symptoms of a cold but it didn't hit me hard until today. I'm so sick today. Horrible soar throat, stuffy, sneezing.
The kids stayed at Nana's last night so she has them today so hopefully I can rest up a bit before heading into work (no our company doesn't close on MLK day).
I had to get up at 5am at the sleep lab but I came home and slept until 10:30! I still feel so tired though.
Not about the kids
Most everyone who knows me in real life is aware of the fact that I snoar. I'm talking house shaking snoar. 7 years ago I went for an overnight sleep study because I was/am ALWAYS tired no matter how much sleep I got/get. In the morning the tech who listens to people sleep for a LIVING said I was the loudest snoarer she had EVER heard. It was confirmed I had sleep apnea where about 100 times a night I would stop breathing. My brain in turn makes me wake up to breathe but I don't remember it happening. Some people can have this happen up to 500 times per night. This keeps a person from ever getting any solid sleep which explains the exhaustion.
So a few days later I had to go pick up a CPAP (constant positive airway pressure) machine. This machine is attached to a tube which is attached to a mask that is worn over the nose. The reason you stop breathing is because when you breathe out your throat closes and stops air flow. This machine constantly blows air into your nose which keeps your throat open even when you breathe out. It takes a lot of getting used to.
People I know who have one have said that they felt better then next day. I certainly did not. I was told it can take a few weeks to feel a difference. I felt no difference. Even 4 years later I was still exhausted all the time. I went for another study and that one said I did not have sleep apnea. Chris and I didn't think that was true since I was still snoaring up a storm (I can't tell you how many nights I slept on the couch so Chris could actually sleep) and he said I was still ceasing to breathe. So I continued to wear the mask because I knew how dangerous it could be not to.
So quite a few months ago Chris was saying that I was still snoaring even with the mask on. So I went for ANOTHER sleep study last night. The tech asked me what level my machine was set at. I said, "5". He said, "Oh, wow, that's low! That's what we start people out at". So I go to sleep and throughout the night the tech was making adjustments to the air pressure to get me to stop snoaring. He said it had to put it up to 16 in order to get me to stop!!! No wonder I'm tired all the time! I haven't had a solid nights' sleep in probably 8 years!!
I should have a new machine soon. Hopefully I will get some relief!
So a few days later I had to go pick up a CPAP (constant positive airway pressure) machine. This machine is attached to a tube which is attached to a mask that is worn over the nose. The reason you stop breathing is because when you breathe out your throat closes and stops air flow. This machine constantly blows air into your nose which keeps your throat open even when you breathe out. It takes a lot of getting used to.
People I know who have one have said that they felt better then next day. I certainly did not. I was told it can take a few weeks to feel a difference. I felt no difference. Even 4 years later I was still exhausted all the time. I went for another study and that one said I did not have sleep apnea. Chris and I didn't think that was true since I was still snoaring up a storm (I can't tell you how many nights I slept on the couch so Chris could actually sleep) and he said I was still ceasing to breathe. So I continued to wear the mask because I knew how dangerous it could be not to.
So quite a few months ago Chris was saying that I was still snoaring even with the mask on. So I went for ANOTHER sleep study last night. The tech asked me what level my machine was set at. I said, "5". He said, "Oh, wow, that's low! That's what we start people out at". So I go to sleep and throughout the night the tech was making adjustments to the air pressure to get me to stop snoaring. He said it had to put it up to 16 in order to get me to stop!!! No wonder I'm tired all the time! I haven't had a solid nights' sleep in probably 8 years!!
I should have a new machine soon. Hopefully I will get some relief!
Friday, January 18, 2008
10 Months old
Dear Jackson and Madison,
I am in awe that it is 2008. I remember ringing in 2007 and being so happy that that would be the year my babies would finally be born. To think that the most special year of my life is over so quickly is so sad to me. However, I know we will have many more wonderful years together and I look forward to them.
The other day the two of you were sitting in your high chairs. Jackson, you were staring at Madison until she would look at you. Once you had her attention you would laugh such a sincere laugh and she would laugh back. You did it the whole time I was feeding you. It was cracking me up.
Now that you're both crawling really well, you chase each other around and laugh. It is so much fun to watch. Madison, you will look at Jackson, laugh, then crawl away really fast. Then you suddenly stop and sit to look behind you to see if he is coming after you. When you see that he is you laugh again and crawl away quickly. I love that you are interacting more now and that you enjoy each other so much.
I wasn't too thrilled about giving you Cheerios due to the sugar content so I was able to find some Kashi cereal that is similar in shape but is actually good for your growing bodies. They don't dissolve quite as quickly as Cheerios but you both do just fine with them and you love it when I put you in the high chairs and I put them on the tray. You both got the hang of putting them in your mouth right away. I was surprised. I also bought some whole milk plain yogurt in a large container as to save money (yo baby is SO expensive!). It took you about a week but now you both love it even if I don't mix it with baby food.
Nana taught you patty cake this month and you love it. It always makes you laugh but so far you don't imitate the clapping.
I want to start signing with you so for now I'm starting with the "more" sign at meal time in the hopes that you will learn it.
Neither of you say any words yet...just babbling mama nana baba.
I guess 10 months is when babies start hating to have their diapers or clothes changed. You both cry and flail around at every change. Jackson is slightly more tolerant than Madison.
It is also the month where babies stop sitting still for pictures. You also won't smile even when I do something that usually makes you crack up. The picture of Jackson in this post is the ONLY "good" one I got and it's not even that good.
Your first Christmas was a lot of fun. You definitely had no idea what was going on but you both enjoyed all the attention and playing with boxes. We spent Christmas morning at our house opening presents that Daddy had so much fun buying for you. Then we went to Grandma and Grandpa's and then onto Nana and Papa's. We also went on a special trip to Cousin Lisa's house to see their new house.
I'm proud to say that we made it 9 months without a sickness. But this month you both got your first colds. You both had a fever for a short amount of time and the rest of it has just been stuffy/runny noses and coughing. You both are eating well and acting perfectly normal. It's been hard for you to sleep through the night though which has been hard on me. I hope that when the colds are gone that you will go back to our regularly scheduled sleeping pattern.
Things have been more hectic this month for some reason. I can't really pinpoint it because you're both actually more independent but I'm finding it so hard to get anything done.
Lately when we get attention in public people don't ask if you are twins anymore. They ask me how old you are and when I say 10 months they ask how old the other one is and I say 10 months and they stare at me blankly. It's funny. You both love the attention we get when we're out. You both are so happy to smile at whoever looks your way.
Dear Jackson,
As soon as you learned to crawl you learned to pull up on things. Unfortunately you didn't know how to get down so you would just cry until someone came and got you. That was slightly annoying but you have finally learned to get down! It's been great!
You crawl with ease and are getting to be quick but still not as quick as Madison.
You still have no teeth! You wear size 6 diapers. Everyone thinks I'm crazy that you need diapers that big but anything smaller doesn't fit around your middle and you leak right through at night. Sometimes you even leak through the size 6! You wear 12-18 months size clothes.
When we're getting ready to go somewhere and I open the door to go out you squeal when door opens. You think it is the funniest thing. Sometimes I will close it and open it again just to see if you'll do it again and you usually do.
You are my little cat napper. Occasionally you will take a 2 hour nap but for the most part you take about 3 or 4 half hour naps a day. If I have the time and if Madison is asleep I will lay down with you and you'll fall back asleep. But for the most part I have at least one baby awake with me at all times during the day.
You are such a sweet, handsome, happy boy and you make each day better than the last.
Dear Madison,
I discovered that you can stand unsupported for a couple seconds. One day you even took one step forward before putting your hands down in front of you and getting down.
You have 7 teeth...4 on the bottom and three on the top. The fourth on the top must be close behind. You're wearing size 6 diapers like your brother which is just ridiculous but it's just too hard to keep track of two different size diapers. They work just as well as a smaller size. We just have to make them pretty tight. You can fit into clothes as small as 3 months and up to 12 months.
You are a good napper but sometimes it's hard for you to get to sleep. Once you're asleep you'll sleep for a good 2 hours usually twice a day and maybe even another short nap once Daddy gets home from work.
You have started to grunt for something you want if it's out of your reach. I think this is a reason I want to start signing with you. It seems like you're ready to communicate and I don't want you to have to grunt for everything and have to guess what you're grunting for.
You are a thief. You love to steal whatever your brother has even a binky right out of his mouth when you already have one in yours. You better be careful because some day he is going to start fighting back!
You are such a beautiful, happy baby and I am blessed to have you in my life.
I am in awe that it is 2008. I remember ringing in 2007 and being so happy that that would be the year my babies would finally be born. To think that the most special year of my life is over so quickly is so sad to me. However, I know we will have many more wonderful years together and I look forward to them.
The other day the two of you were sitting in your high chairs. Jackson, you were staring at Madison until she would look at you. Once you had her attention you would laugh such a sincere laugh and she would laugh back. You did it the whole time I was feeding you. It was cracking me up.
Now that you're both crawling really well, you chase each other around and laugh. It is so much fun to watch. Madison, you will look at Jackson, laugh, then crawl away really fast. Then you suddenly stop and sit to look behind you to see if he is coming after you. When you see that he is you laugh again and crawl away quickly. I love that you are interacting more now and that you enjoy each other so much.
I wasn't too thrilled about giving you Cheerios due to the sugar content so I was able to find some Kashi cereal that is similar in shape but is actually good for your growing bodies. They don't dissolve quite as quickly as Cheerios but you both do just fine with them and you love it when I put you in the high chairs and I put them on the tray. You both got the hang of putting them in your mouth right away. I was surprised. I also bought some whole milk plain yogurt in a large container as to save money (yo baby is SO expensive!). It took you about a week but now you both love it even if I don't mix it with baby food.
Nana taught you patty cake this month and you love it. It always makes you laugh but so far you don't imitate the clapping.
I want to start signing with you so for now I'm starting with the "more" sign at meal time in the hopes that you will learn it.
Neither of you say any words yet...just babbling mama nana baba.
I guess 10 months is when babies start hating to have their diapers or clothes changed. You both cry and flail around at every change. Jackson is slightly more tolerant than Madison.
It is also the month where babies stop sitting still for pictures. You also won't smile even when I do something that usually makes you crack up. The picture of Jackson in this post is the ONLY "good" one I got and it's not even that good.
Your first Christmas was a lot of fun. You definitely had no idea what was going on but you both enjoyed all the attention and playing with boxes. We spent Christmas morning at our house opening presents that Daddy had so much fun buying for you. Then we went to Grandma and Grandpa's and then onto Nana and Papa's. We also went on a special trip to Cousin Lisa's house to see their new house.
I'm proud to say that we made it 9 months without a sickness. But this month you both got your first colds. You both had a fever for a short amount of time and the rest of it has just been stuffy/runny noses and coughing. You both are eating well and acting perfectly normal. It's been hard for you to sleep through the night though which has been hard on me. I hope that when the colds are gone that you will go back to our regularly scheduled sleeping pattern.
Things have been more hectic this month for some reason. I can't really pinpoint it because you're both actually more independent but I'm finding it so hard to get anything done.
Lately when we get attention in public people don't ask if you are twins anymore. They ask me how old you are and when I say 10 months they ask how old the other one is and I say 10 months and they stare at me blankly. It's funny. You both love the attention we get when we're out. You both are so happy to smile at whoever looks your way.
Dear Jackson,
As soon as you learned to crawl you learned to pull up on things. Unfortunately you didn't know how to get down so you would just cry until someone came and got you. That was slightly annoying but you have finally learned to get down! It's been great!
You crawl with ease and are getting to be quick but still not as quick as Madison.
You still have no teeth! You wear size 6 diapers. Everyone thinks I'm crazy that you need diapers that big but anything smaller doesn't fit around your middle and you leak right through at night. Sometimes you even leak through the size 6! You wear 12-18 months size clothes.
When we're getting ready to go somewhere and I open the door to go out you squeal when door opens. You think it is the funniest thing. Sometimes I will close it and open it again just to see if you'll do it again and you usually do.
You are my little cat napper. Occasionally you will take a 2 hour nap but for the most part you take about 3 or 4 half hour naps a day. If I have the time and if Madison is asleep I will lay down with you and you'll fall back asleep. But for the most part I have at least one baby awake with me at all times during the day.
You are such a sweet, handsome, happy boy and you make each day better than the last.
Dear Madison,
I discovered that you can stand unsupported for a couple seconds. One day you even took one step forward before putting your hands down in front of you and getting down.
You have 7 teeth...4 on the bottom and three on the top. The fourth on the top must be close behind. You're wearing size 6 diapers like your brother which is just ridiculous but it's just too hard to keep track of two different size diapers. They work just as well as a smaller size. We just have to make them pretty tight. You can fit into clothes as small as 3 months and up to 12 months.
You are a good napper but sometimes it's hard for you to get to sleep. Once you're asleep you'll sleep for a good 2 hours usually twice a day and maybe even another short nap once Daddy gets home from work.
You have started to grunt for something you want if it's out of your reach. I think this is a reason I want to start signing with you. It seems like you're ready to communicate and I don't want you to have to grunt for everything and have to guess what you're grunting for.
You are a thief. You love to steal whatever your brother has even a binky right out of his mouth when you already have one in yours. You better be careful because some day he is going to start fighting back!
You are such a beautiful, happy baby and I am blessed to have you in my life.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Some pictures from January so far
When we designed our kitchen we put our microwave in an open lower cabinet so it wouldn't take up any valuable counter space. The kids absolutely love to stand at it and look at themselves in the reflection. Luckily it's the kind of microwave that is all flat buttons so they can't push them for now.
These are the sleepers that Uncle Mike, Auntie Kristen, and Raffi sent up from Atlanta for Christmas.300th post!
I guess those videos put me over the edge.
Here are my socially consious kids
Diape(red)
Inspir(red)
Here are my socially consious kids
Diape(red)
Inspir(red)Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Christmas night at cousin Lisa's
The floor is stone but has radiant heat so it's toasty warm to walk and sit on.
Madison says "Nana"
Although I think she was just annoyed that I took time to take a video of her rather than feeding her....sorry Nana.
More at Uncle Billy and Aunt Deb's
I love how Madison is so pushy in this one. This girl knows what she wants and doesn't.
For those of you not around here, this is your chance to hear a real genuine Boston accent.
For those of you not around here, this is your chance to hear a real genuine Boston accent.
Madison proudly climbing stairs a few days before Christmas
Another angle...I love Jackson cheering her on in the background.
Uncle Billy's good catch
I love Billy's pep talk...cracks me up. He has three boys that are all as big as he is. (Billy is Chris's godfather and Chris's dad's cousin)
M-OOO
This was when Madison was doing her "ooooo" face all the time. She only did it for a short while so I'm glad I caught it on film.
The following posts are lots of video from December
Somehow my son learned to roll from back to belly at 3 months old but has now "forgotten". I love how he's just flopping around while Madison tries to drink his empty bottle.
First colds
These pictures were supposed to go on another post but I'm way too lazy to fix it.
These are the last of the photos from December. I'll make another post soon for January.
We're working on our first colds. Jackson's is definitely worse than Madison's but both are just runny/stuffy. No fever or anything. So the last week or more has been a nightmare for me in the middle of the night. No more sleeping through for me (I know some of you are cheering right now...it's ok I deserve it). I'm starting to feel a little overwhelmed so Chris told me today that he wants to get up with them in the middle of the night for now. I'm going to feel so bad knowing that he has to get up in the morning and go to work but he also requires a dozen times less sleep than I do.
How long do you wait to call the doc on a cold like this? I know she's just going to say give them plenty of liquids but they won't drink out of a sippy cup no matter how much we practice so all they get is their bottles.
These are the last of the photos from December. I'll make another post soon for January.
We're working on our first colds. Jackson's is definitely worse than Madison's but both are just runny/stuffy. No fever or anything. So the last week or more has been a nightmare for me in the middle of the night. No more sleeping through for me (I know some of you are cheering right now...it's ok I deserve it). I'm starting to feel a little overwhelmed so Chris told me today that he wants to get up with them in the middle of the night for now. I'm going to feel so bad knowing that he has to get up in the morning and go to work but he also requires a dozen times less sleep than I do.
How long do you wait to call the doc on a cold like this? I know she's just going to say give them plenty of liquids but they won't drink out of a sippy cup no matter how much we practice so all they get is their bottles.
Too. Darn. Busy.
I can't seem to get anything done including feed myself. They days just fly by and all I've done is feed, change, console, feed, change, console, and TRY to get in a nap that doesn't make me feel any better anyway.
Since this is what I asked for and some people can't even have I guess I can't complain so I'll post some pictures for you to see. (see previous post for said pictures)
Since this is what I asked for and some people can't even have I guess I can't complain so I'll post some pictures for you to see. (see previous post for said pictures)
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Friday, January 04, 2008
Updates
So yesterday we had a few firsts. One being the below post. Another is that Jackson went from crawling to pulling up to standing. He had been easily going to his knees but couldn't quite make it to his feet.
Madison has her 5th and 6th tooth coming in on the bottom! And yesterday I let go of her hands as she was standing to see what she did and she stood for a few seconds as if she always stands around then gracefully bent her knees and put her hands down and crawled away! My mom said I was walking at 10 months so Madison has less than two weeks to beat me!
Now I have to share all the video and pictures I've taken. Give me a minute...
Madison has her 5th and 6th tooth coming in on the bottom! And yesterday I let go of her hands as she was standing to see what she did and she stood for a few seconds as if she always stands around then gracefully bent her knees and put her hands down and crawled away! My mom said I was walking at 10 months so Madison has less than two weeks to beat me!
Now I have to share all the video and pictures I've taken. Give me a minute...
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Yeah Jackson!
He just this minute went from sitting to crawling! Until now he's been stuck sitting unable to transition but he just did it! I was clapping and cheering and they were both laughing at me.
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