Thursday, December 20, 2007

Another Sleepless Night

OK, I hope this doesn't confuse anyone - but just before I hit "publish post" I thought I would add some photos that were taken a couple Sunday's ago when the weather was quite warm. After church we went to DQ. They have nothing to do with what I am writing about, but at least you will have something good to look at while you read about the not so good news. ;) ~Bonnie


Last night was a rough night I have had in a while, no scratch that - it WAS one one of the worst nights I've had in a few months... who would have thought that continuious nights of interupted sleep would promote moodiness and irritability!?! and when you add a sick and screaming baby in there, at the wee hours in the morning... let's just say, it ISN'T FUN! :(


The twins have been sick ever since Thanksgiving with coughing, and while it seems to be getting better with Baby Girl, brother is getting worse. Night before last he ran fever all night and then again all day yesterday which led to a doctor's visit... and while we were there had sister's diaper rash/yeast infection looked at too. *It's the worst I have ever seen and nothing we tried could get it under control.* Turns out they BOTH have viral infections. Different types. In addition to her diaper rash/yeast infection, Baby girl, also has a minor rash all on her back and chest. When I was taking off her closthes for exam the Dr. saw it immediately and that was the first clue that something was up with her. Dr. gave us a box full of samples of a high dose cream, that can only be used once a day, to put on her yeast infection and also wrote down his cell number and said to call him in 4 days if we don't see an improvement. So naturally since the longest period that she is in her diaper is at night time, that is when I choose to treat her with the special cream. David put it on her last night before bed, and this morning I could tell a difference. The rash is still very obvious and spread out - but not bright red this morning. We'll wait and see how it goes as the day goes on. For other diaper changes we are to use the Nystatin and Desiden.

Now, Brother's viral infection is very different than the one baby girl has. He had been having fever since 3am the night before and I had been alternating Tylenol and Motrin every two hours but couldn't' break the fever. He woke up to fever, gave medicine - measured again at 9am still over 100... then when we got home at noon, it measured 102.3 so I called the Dr.


Dr. found the symptom of the viral infection in baby brother's mouth. He showed David the ulcer with the light and scope. I didn't get to see b/c I was dressing sister... but Dr. said that antibiotics would not help for this type viral infection and that chances are we would all take turns getting this too. Especially the kids. :( He mentioned keeping close watch on baby boy and keeping the fever under control and keeping him hydrated. He said that we may see the same ulcers appear on his hands, feet and/or his bottom. If so to call him on his cell phone number at any time of day or night.

Dr. also said after the fever breaks, if he doesn't seem his self (eye contact, smiling, playful....) to call him immediately for that too. Naturally while he is having fever he wasn't gonna feel himself, b/c during fever his body is doing it's job to fight off the infection, but that after the fever is gone and he still not himeself then somehting elese is up. And he is right, all day today, baby boy has not felt very good. :(


Dr. also said that both babies should continue on one of the breathing treatment medications twice daily ALL THRU THE WINTER! Whereas, we have only been doing it once at bed time. and that Baby boy should have a THIRD breathing treatment during the afternoon and he is to have two medications in nebulizer for early am and before bed... :( So if each treatment takes 25-35 each per kid...I instantly think to myself, HOW-IN-THE-WORLD am I gonna be able to do all of this?!@!@! ....but somehow, I will. I have to.
At the end of November, when we first got the nebulizer we could have gotten two (one for each kid) but only got one at the time... not sure how much insurance would cover. Luckily they covered 100% of it b/c we had met our deductible for the year, so today after hearing we would have to increase breathing treatments, I asked the Dr to write another request for a 2nd, that will at least help out at bedtime - David and I can give them at the same time and be done with it in 35 minutes... but as for the morning... well... lets just say, that is gonna be hard!

David agreed to help me before he goes to work... which means getting up a little earlier. But since last night I was up with baby boy from 3:20 until 5:30 (handed him over to David) but at 5:55 the screaming sound much worse so I got up to go check... and they were laid out on the floor of the baby's room and David was asleep and SNORING!!! How in the world could he sleep with a screaming baby only 12" away from his head??? I dismissed him back to bed and then was up with baby boy until about 6:30am before he fell asleep.
I knew he was hungry but he would not nurse! Nothing made him madder. His nose was all yucky and running like a creek... and his fever was still high... 101. Rocking didn't help, shushing didn't help, walking the floor helped a little (not as bad screaming but still crying) but that wore me out. He finally took a bottle around 6am and gobbled it down and fell asleep.


So I got into bed as David's alarm clock was going off at 6:30am and mine was set for 7:30am b/c Big sister had to be at school a half hour earlier today for their Christmas pageant rehearsal.
So, needless to say the am breathing treatment did not get done with the babies today. I was too tired and David was running late for work. I slept for an hour before having to get up and get going... and did not have time. We will start the official breathing treatment routine TOMORROW!

I would love to take a nap but that is impossible with Big Sister these days.... We do have "quiet" time in the afternoon, and that helps some... She doesn't have to go to sleep (although that would be nice) but she has to lay on her bed. She may look at her books only, no toys. Yesterday she was quiet the whole time, but kept coming out of her room and sitting/playing with the gate at the top of the stairs. Just by coincidence, BOTH babies were napping at THE SAME TIME (which RARELY happens) upstairs... so I didn't even push the issue to get back to your bed thing b/c I didn't want her to begin screaming/crying (which she is so over the top - LOUD, when she's tired) and risk waking up the twins.... I can only hope that the twins will get on the same nap time schedule soon!

I'll sign off for now -but just wanted those of you who check our blog often to have an update so you can keep us in your prayers. :) Every little bit helps and I need all the "help & Grace" I can get.

I hope you at least enjoyed the photos - I know I am looking forward to baby boy smiling again! and speaking of smiles, did you notice that Baby Sister has her teeth now too! You can scroll back up and click on photo to make it larger and you will see them there! Yeah, now everyone in our family has teeth! :)





Merry Christmas and Love from Texas! ~Bonnie

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Story Time Christmas Party

Yesterday was the Christmas Party for all the kids who go to Story Time. Can you believe I got the kids dressed up and even time for photos in front of big sister's tree before leaving and we drove to another town and even ARRIVED 15 MINUTES early!!! It was a combined class activity meaning 40 kids... and double the amount of cars... so I wanted to get there first so I could have a close parking place and not have to walk so far... I think I'm getting the hang of this! ;)
...and look!! - Big Sister gladly offered to take my photo with the babies! She loves taking photos!
Santa even stopped by for a visit and all the kids got the chance to talk with him one on one.... or at least all the kids who "wanted" to. ;) Here is Big Sister shaking hands with him when she first saw him.She knew exactly what she was gonna tell him and patiently waited her turn. She wasn't scared at all of him this year and even sat in his lap. She promptly told him she wanted "A ONE, and for the One to be on her car" then when he asked her if she had been good this year, she told him how she had learned to use the potty "every time, everyday!" ;)
Little Brother had a real special "One-to-one" gibber jabber with Santa. It was too cute! :)
Little Sister gave Santa her Super Stretch and refused to bend those stiff legs!
Here Santa is giving her, her goodie bag. I don't have photos of the other two but he also had goodie bags for each of the babies! :) Yeah, Mom & Dad get treats too! After she and Santa were done talking we jumped in for a quick family shot with Santa. Both babies were fascinated with all the hair he had and quickly each got a fist full of it! :)


Daddy was also able to join us for the party since it is so close to his work! I'm really glad too and not just b/c of the extra help with the twins...although that was a nice bonus!!! But b/c he rarely gets to see the fun stuff that Big Sister does. Usually it is just dinner time conversation, but today he got to be there and experience it with her! She loved sitting by her daddy and eating cup cakes and cookies too!
During clean up time by the Story Time crew, I sat and nursed a baby before drivng home and Miss Melissa read a book to Big Sister.
She LOVES for people to read books to her! Warning, just don't take her with you into a card store... like Hallmark! She will bring you cards and BEG you to read each one to her and after you read them, before you can find it's spot to put it back she will have picked out another handful!!!

What a fun day!!! We are so grateful to have children! Thank you dear Father for these precious gifts you have blessed us with!!! ~B






Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Elfyourself

Hey everyone, take a look at what David has been teaching the kids!

Boy who knew that the twins would learn so fast!!! They are gonna do just fine keeping up with Big Sister Nora! There is no way you can watch it and NOT LAUGH!!! There was only room for 4 so I am not included – but I think it turned out great!

Check it out by clicking the link http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1319659668

If you make one of your family send us a link so we can watch!

To save on time, I am emailing this out to all of our family and friends so consider this your Christmas Card just incase I don’t time to address all the envelopes! ;) LOL

Merry Christmas and Love from Texas,
David, Bonnie, Nora, Olivia & Paul Thomas

Friday, December 7, 2007

Busy week and very tired Parents!



Has is only been a week since my last post??? There has been a lot going on around our house lately! Although not many would "notice" much, I can assure you it has been a busy week!

A quick update on the babies - both of them are getting breathing treatments before bedtime each night. We started on Wednesday night after realizing that both of their cough were only sounding worse night after night. Our only regret now is not getting TWO nebulizer machines... b/c it takes 25-35 minutes for the mist do dissolve per treatment, which makes getting ready for bed a little longer... but we are getting the hang of it now.



You may notice a benefit within 2-8 days of starting this drug. It may take up to 4-6 weeks of regular use before the full benefit of this drug takes effect.
Hopefully, sometime this coming week we will get better and we can have some UNinterupted sleep during the night. I doubt that David or I have gotten over two hours sleep at a time without having to get up with one of the twins all last week.

The good news to report - We put up our Christmas tree last weekend. :) This is the earliest we have EVER put up the tree!! Each year I think I enjoy it more and more while on the other hand, it is just the opposite for my husband!

He and I worked on it a few hours at a time for two days - he puts it together as I zig-zag all the lights up and down each limb as it is assembled. I think if we hadn't run out of lights we would have finished same day... but last year I felt it was time to trash some of the older ones -there were some that had much dimmer lights.. and other strands that were dangerously hotter than the rest... and of course any thing that appeared to be on the blink got tossed too! I wish I had remembered to go buy them during the after holiday sale but buying them for $2/ 100 lights wasn't so bad. I bought packs and think we only ended up using 6 of those new.

Monday (our stay-at-home-day) Big Sister and I put all the ornaments on the tree. She was so helpful and had great decorating taste knowing the perfect spot for each ornament. It was funny though, b/c it soon became apparent that her favorite ornament was "The Little Mermaid" one.... she'd say, "Oooough that is a pretty one, I want to put it by Ariel" and before we were half done there were about two dozen all as close as she could get hanging on the same branch or near Ariel. ;)

She also got to decorate HER VERY OWN Christmas Tree IN HER ROOM :) and is very proud of it and she should be! All summer she worked hard earing her ornaments! Each time she filled up a Potty Sticker Sheet (about 70 stickers) we took a trip to Hallmark to pick out and buy a new ornament. She even would hand over her sticker sheet as if it was money to buy the ornaments. The ladies at Hallmark really enjoyed us coming in each month ;)
The very first ornament she choose was as she calls it "Tinkel Bell" :) and she earned about 8-10. Here is a photo of her tree tonight before I turned it off... I will try and get clsoe ups of her special ornaments later on...
not bad for a $2 yard sale find hua??? The tree that is! The changing color star on top cost $12 bucks but is worth it bc/ she loves it so much... just wait until next year when we decorate it with colored lights... oooough...

Friday, I got an email from Big Sister's Preschool saying they have updated photos on their website of all the kids. I love that they have a website so that the parents can check in and see photos and what activities are coming up.

Here are a few of my favorites...

Blue & White Day

They're signing the letter "B" at the camera!

Fire Safety Week/Field Trip
Painting Baby Dinosaur Eggs

Painting brown camels

Coloring "her" shape
Proudly showing off "her" shape Ta-Daaaa!

This month they will be hosting a Christmas Padget for the parents & grandparents. For anyone living here in town that would like to go please let me know and I will give you more details! I am pretty sure that it is gonna be December 20th but not certain on the time yet.

Each child will get to perform their OWN SOLO PERFORMANCE!!! They can do any song they choose... Christmas song that is... So far every time they practice at preschool Big Sister protests and makes up her own counting song to the tune of a Christmas song... and just counts numbers instead of singing the words! #@@!@?

So there is no telling what she will choose the night of the Padget but here are a few of the songs we have been working on at home:

"Hark The Herold Angel Sing" (just chorus part)

"We Wish You A Merry Christmas"

"Jingle Bells"

They are also gonna take the kids and go caroling at a local nursing home this month. I'd love to go for that too..... but the twins usually nap during school time.... so we will have to wait and see.

Well, I better wrap this up. I have hit save lots of times and came back and added more but if I don't hit "publish post" I will have to start listing things that we do this coming week! LOL

Love from Texas! ~Bonnie

Thursday, November 29, 2007

short video

I was playing around with the digital camera one day last month while in the van. I don't remember exactly but we hung out in the van for a little while and played in the garage before going into the house. You will see just how much Big sister loves the babies... this is a very typical moment of her playing with them. :)



9160



Love from Texas!

We're home again!

I'm still here - sorry I haven't checked in.. I feel like a college kid again... you remember those days when you finally paused long enough to remember "eek, I haven't called home in a loooooong time!" Well, it isn't that I haven't thought about blogging, I have... I just haven't taken the time to sit down and write. So, here goes :)

Ever had one of those days where you rush and rush, do and do but at the end of the day don't feel like you accomplished anything much? Well for me, the whole week so far has been like that.

It all started Monday around 6am when baby girl couldn't stop coughing. She had started this while we were away from home and both the last night in the hotel and first night at home her coughing was much worse... so first thing Monday I call the pediatrician and they told me to get here ASAP and I'd be worked in. Well four hours in a waiting room that is crammed packed was NO fun! Luckily David was able to stay home from work and go with me to help.

Dr said that she didn't sound "too bad" but gave a prescription for a cough med and also ordered us a nebulizer to have at home just in case cough gets worse. OK, I guess...it didn't cost us anything and now if we ever need one we will have it.

Both babies got their 6 month shots Monday and also a flu shot. Again, thanks Doc for letting our visit count as the checkup too instead of making us come back in a week!

Baby Girl weighs 13 lbs 6.5 ounces and is 24" long
Baby Boy weighs 14 lbs even and is 24.5" long

Both of the twins are doing what babies their age are doing... rolling over, scootin and pushin across the floor, lifting their upper body up with their arms, grasping items, and both have discovered their voice boxes :) Milk Jug even has his two bottom teeth! They popped thru just after Halloween... oh and speaking of Halloween - I never finished uploading photos from our trip at the end of October! Guess I got side tracked with packing for the trip to KY...

Oh well... better late than never - here we are on Halloween in Pooler, Georgia.


I'm really looking forward to baby girl getting over her coughing. Maybe soon I will be back to getting "some sleep." This week she is waking up coughing so badly it sounds like she is vomiting and the only thing to get it to stop is to go pick her up and hold her sitting up. This is in addition to my regular getting up between 3-4am for milk jug's middle of the night feeding and it is wearing me out! Plus big sister is stuck on Kentucky time and waking up before the sun comes up and although she comes crawl es in bed with me there is no chance of me sleeping!!! She is playing roughly with my hair or tracing my face, milk jug is nursing and David's alarm clock keeps going off every 9 minutes as he hits snooze for the upteeth time! .....one day this will be just another faded memory.... LOL
Love from Texas! ~Bonnie

Friday, November 16, 2007

Happy Early Thanksgiving

We are leaving Saturday morning to go to Kentucky for Thanksgiving and won't be back for a week... so I wanted to leave any visitor that stop by a special Thanksgiving message. It’s not often I forward emails but recently I received a GREAT one and forwarded on to all the moms that I know and love. Each of of the Moms I sent it to have inspired me in one way or another.
And although I have not met any of my blogger friends, I think you will also enjoy this following message if you are a mom or perhaps it will remind you of your own mother. This comes at the perfect time too of Thanksgiving and it was a great motivation for me to “keep on keepin’ on!” I really needed to hear/read this!

Happy Early Thanksgiving & Love to all of you from Kentucky,
~Bonnie

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I know it’s long, but all of you moms need to read this!

I'm invisible. It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?' Obviously not. No one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible!

Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more:
Can you fix this?
Can you tie this?
Can you open this?

Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being.

I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?'
I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?'
I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude - but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going ... she's going ... she's gone!

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself as I looked down at my out-of-style dress; it was the only thing I could find that was clean. My unwashed hair was pulled up in a clip and I was afraid I could actually smell peanut butter in it. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.'
It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription:

'To Charlotte, with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'

In the days ahead I would read - no, devoured - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work:

(1) No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names.
(2) These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished.
(3) They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.
(4) The passion of their building was fuelled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.

A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it.'

And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.'

At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride. I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, 'You're gonna love it there.'

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.

God Bless You as you build your Cathedrals! (Author Unknown)


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PS - I did a little searching and even found some photos to add from our local Cathedral! :)


Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Vacation Photos Part 2

Photos Part II.

Here are some of our touring Savannah photos we took. My friend Tricia took us down to River Street and tried her best to get us good parking but all the ramps down to the river were closed for construction so poor babies had a very bump, bumpity ride in the stroller on the stoned street. Here in the photo of me and Knucklehead they look smooth... but trust me they are not even close to being level!!! But according to my friend they were loaded on ships to equal out the weight and brought into the city. Then as they loaded the ships with weight they got rid of the rocks and they used them to pave the streets.
Here is a photo of Daddy with the babies. The grass was so pretty and very green. Aaaaaahhhh to see that beautiful Spanish moss dripping form the Live Oaks again :) Made me wish we lived in Georgia again! and of course while Dad was loading and unloading the stroller and car seats each time we got out Big sister loved playing with the Spanish moss - shaking it like a pom-pom :)

Here is a photo of our oldest (right) with our friends' youngest son, Trip 18months. He and Knucklehead had fun sitting in the "way back" of the vehicle.

And we couldn't leave downtown until we had visited St. John the Baptist Cathedral. Tricia stayed in the car with the twins while big sister, David and I went in for a look. It was my first time to go in although we passed by it when we were in Savannah for St. Patty's a few years back. David, however, actually had attended a mass service there once before... way back in 1999 when he was going thru RCIA to become Catholic. I missed it at that time b/c I was in KY with my mom during her battle of cancer.

For some better photos and more info visit their website. http://www.savannahcathedral.org/ Their Baptism fount is beautiful! The photo doesn't show the detail as well as in person but each tile was about the size of my pinkie fingernail.
Of course we stopped to light a candle and say a prayer in thanksgiving of the family we have become!!! Grateful is such an inadequate word for what I felt when I said my prayer. It still brings tears to my eyes to recall that just four years ago that David and I, were at such a different place than we are now.
For months we did this following mass each week - praying that we may become worthy to be parents of a child that God would create for us if it be in His plan for our lives. Many prayers offered up during that time and intersessions from Mary and her mother St. Anne (who was childless many years too) and many other saints..... and to think we went form being childless the first 7 years of our marriage to having 3 kids within just three years! :) Praise Be to God!
....and of course hearing Knucklehead say her Hail Mary prayer in her little voice after she lit her candle... aaaahhh, what a great memory! I am so glad we took the time to visit the Cathedral that day!!!
...and when we got back to the car, Tricia was having some fun with the babies letting them entertain one another playing footsie and blowing raspberries at each other :) Milk-man on the right and stretchy sister on the left. :)


to be continued tomorrow night...

Love from Texas!!! ~Bonnie







Monday, November 12, 2007

Photos from our Savannah Vacation

Below are a few photos from our trip to Savannah to visit the Melvin Family. We had a great time... I didn't get to take any photos of us in Charleston b/c my battery went dead and I could never remember where I had packed the charger for it in the 5 suitcases that we had!?$@##?!
I bought a disposable for our visit to the Aquarium and Fort Sumter but haven't developed them yet.
.....and now that we have been home a week - I STILL HAVEN"T FOUND THE CHARGER! :P and that stinks b/c we leave Saturday for our trip home to Kentucky for Thanksgiving and it isn't an item you can buy in stores. :(

so enjoy these photos they may be the last for a while.

Here's Big Sister with her Dora backpack and carry on.


in Atlanta she spotted these "water stops" and was so excited that they had one just her size that she could "drink out of with her feet on the floor." .....only bad part is that she wanted to stop at every one she saw and we only had a 42 minute layover and had to walk fast to make it just in time to our next concourse and gate.
Both of the babies did great on the plane! I prayed that their little ears wouldn't hurt and thankfully they had no problems. Of course Daddy sat behind us and he and I traded them off for plenty of momma-milk :) Above is a photo of me and milk-man waiting to get off the plane.

Our friends had the perfect set up for Knucklehead! She loved sleeping in this blow up sleeping bag. ......however that phone jack on the wall is another story! Amazing how entertained she was by it while trying to doze off each night? but there wasn't anywhere else to put her bed in our guest room. We also had two pack-n-play beds in there with our queen bed... so we were a little limited on space.

Here is our Godson singing "We're the kids of America" to the babies. :) He is quite the performer! Of course he had an excited audience that kicked and squealed for more!

See that mauve recliner in the background? - That is where I slept every night. My cold I got just before we left got worse while we were there and I didn't want to chance keeping my husband and three kids up all night if I slept in their room.... and actually sleeping sitting up helped keep me from coughing as much. But I still coughed a LOT :(

this is all I can post Blogger is not letting me upload anymore so I will make another post. ~Bonnie