By the Way

After my post about John William so many of you called to check on the little man. He is doing much better and we really appreciate the calls and sweet emails. Here is a picture from his birthday more to come - stay tuned!

Real Time!

Here is a video clip I took yesterday while the kids were eating breakfast. Many thanks to Big Sister Elizabeth for helping step-in as mommy's helper. One of Tom's big PT goals this year is to feed with utensils and Elizabeth loves to help out too. Yes, the syrup was quite messy, but I decided there is plenty of time in life to clean up - let the kids be kids. I grabbed the video camera and watched Elizabeth feed Tom....and I watched syrup go all over Elizabeth's arm, lap, chair, floor....and all over Tom's shirt, hand arm, chair - gosh, it was so cute and I hope they are always close!

Enjoy the video!

Here are a few things interpreted: Elizabeth says "Big bite;" then she starts pretending the pancakes are an airplane. How cute is it that she puts her hand under his mouth when feeding him; then she says "it's sticky on the table."

March and Easter

Elizabeth and I are very similar in the fact that it took YEARS for our hair to grow. I think I was five before I could have real pigtails. I am embracing these days of short hair because I know before long she will have long locks...which means tangles!

I am a member of a a multiples group, which has been a great resource, since having the twins. The Intown Atlanta Parents of Multiples Club (IAPOMC) has provide me with excellent tips and tricks over the years. This year I felt 'called' to co-chair our annual consignment sale. It was so wonderful working with other parents (yes, dad were a huge help!!) to pull off this event. This was only the second sale our club has hosted so we were still experiencing some pleasant growing pains. We started the planning a few months ago but the sale was held on March 20th and it was a huge success - we more than doubled just about everything compared to last year and were still under budget by 15%! The weather has been really nice and I seized the opportunity to take the kids to Chastain Park

Along with some other friends, we hosted a baby shower for my sweet friend and pledge sister, Erin, who will have a girl any day now. Her due date is April 15th. As elementary school physical education teacher, she really kicked up her fashion while she was pregnant. She traded in those shorts for dresses and super cute boots!

Pregnant pledge sisters - Nicole and Erin. Would you believe Nicole had baby Stella just days after this photo? These girls make pregnancy look easy!

Mick Jagger - watch out! This is not my favorite photo, but had to include it because - Look at his hair!!! It's strawberry - just like Tom!

After Tom's surgery, in February, I thought it would be awhile before I returned to Children's Hospital - boy, was I wrong. Poor little John William had a mild ear infection the first week of March. No biggie, or so I thought. A couple days later I take all three kids to the doctor because the boys were not feeling well. I found out JW had an ear infection in his other ear and the boys both needed an antibiotic. The next day, we left for Birmingham and the drama starts. Little Tom threw up in the car halfway to Birmingham and we debate about turning around, but decide to keep going. I thought since he only had one dose of his medicine, maybe it is not kicking in yet. The next hour Tom continues to look worse and I swear JW is turning green.

I start calling my girlfriends and finally Ashley hooks me up with her pediatrician and we make an appointment at 4:30 pm which thank God someone would take us (I called three other offices and they would not accept new patients that late in the day on a Friday - go figure!?!) We pull up to the pediatrician office a bit relieved to finally be out of the smelly car. Tom had on overalls, so I stripped those off of him and he just has on his shirt and socks - no time to dig in the luggage for more clothes, we had to go in before the office closes.

We take JW out of his seat and he spits up - just a little...maybe it's from the driving? I hand Tom a wipe and just as I am thinking gosh, I am glad you are holding him - then vomit begins and does not stop. Tom (husband) and John William are literally getting covered with vomit and all I can do is stand there and watch. As I write this I really am re-living this moment, even if it was last month! Pretty much Tom stripes down to his 'undershirt' which is a a super classy, old KA shirt from the 90s with more holes than swiss cheese. I take JW and head for the door with all three and then JW graces me with more bodily fluid. I can't take off my shirt because I don't have anything on below, so I must put a jacket on to cover it up - how gross! Desperate times, desperate measures! ...anyway, we make it through the paperwork, call my dad to come and pick up Elizabeth (fearful the pukes are spreading like wildfire), meet with the new doctor and get two new scripts for the boys - maybe the previous antibiotics were not working. We make it to my parents house dirty and exhausted.

We remain in Birmingham, but John William is not improving so we rush back to Atlanta on Sunday. I attempt to bring JW to a clinic and to my surprise they do not accept children under two - just my luck. Off to Scottish Rite Children's Hospital. Surprisingly the wait was minimal and we were admitted quickly. JW required a deep suction through his nose and boy, was that nasty - I have no idea where they stuff was coming from, but it just kept coming. They found a spot and his lungs and thought it would pneumonia, but not 100%. After a breathing treatment, shots, oral meds and a script we were discharged and instructed to see Dr B. first thing in the morning. Here is a picture of JW just laying in my lap - what child would lay like this for the nearly 7 hours we were there? It was so heartbreaking!

We make it to the pediatrician's office the next day and she rules out pneumonia, she says the spot is severe mucus build-up in his lungs...which is still not good. We go home with a nebulizer and are instructed to use it three times a day for 10 - 15 minutes. The nebuilzer is a mask, similar to the picture above and it took a few days before JW understood no matter what, mommy will pin you down and make you wear this mask, so don't fight her.

We visit the pediatrician weekly to monitor his progress, which to me does not seem like progress. He coughs so much he vomits, multiple times a day, he only drinks milk and eats puffs, I use the bulb to clean out his nose but the mucus just keep coming. Sleeping does not come easy and needs to be upright to sleep. A few nights later JW is finally sleeping, but his breathing is so labored I decide to scoop him up and cart him off to the ER again. This time we checked in around 11pm and it was utter chaos! We went through the x-rays and the deep suction and the oral meds and the shots and the breathing treatment and were finally released mid-morning.

This is a picture right before I took off the gown - he was acting like a completely new person!

Gosh, what a long post. Come to find out John William had RSV - Respiratory Syncytial Virus and March was a really long and not fun month. So glad he is finally feeling better!

Here is my little baby in family heriloom - a Feltman Brothers oufit from 1950!

Easter day, with Erin - one week before her due date.

The Graffeo and Powells on Easter morning

Dying Easter Eggs is always fun!

Surgery and Valentine's Day

Still playing catch-up....

Some tasty mini cupcakes for Valentine's Day...Homemade Valentine's was an excellent multi-day craft for Tom and Elizabeth! Tom made these for his classmates and teachers. Elizabeth made these Valentines for her friends On February 19th Tom had strabismus surgery on his right eye. Our ophthalmologist first mentioned this surgery to us over one year ago, so we were not alarmed in February when she confirmed her recommendation for the surgery. We just did not realize we would get on the calendar so quickly! Tom was out of town on business (hench my lack of blogging) for two weeks straight in February which made the entire month a bit of a blur. The strabismus surgery has a 60% - 80% success rate and time is the only indicator of 'success'. Assuming Tom's procedure is a success we are hopeful this will help with depth perception and strengthening both eyes...which opens the door to multitude of other benefits, just too many to list. Given the rough start to life, Tom is such a strong guy, even those his weight may not allude to this - he is still about 22 pounds. At 5:30 AM, on the day of the surgery, here is all smiles with Papa. At Children's Hospital, Tom insisted on completing the paperwork himself, after all, it is his surgery. Since eating and drinking was not an option, I came prepared with a large bag full of his favorite books - he especially loves the Wheels on the School Bus Here we are with Dr. Salit moments before the 'feel good' drug was administered. He looked so cute and a little pitiful in his hospital gown.

"Feel Good" drugs are kicking in. He was supposed to get wheeled back to the Operating Room, but after this picture was taken he insisted on being carried by the nurse.

The waiting is finally over, my little angel is back in my arms - this picture remind me of the days in NICU. I can feel him breathing, but very legarthic.

No offense taken, but this is Tom's favorite position...and I mean both Toms. The board on his arm was for his IV and additional meds. When he awoke from surgery the nurses said he did not want his gown on and he just wanted to be held.

I did not take any post-op pictures for some strange reason. His eye was so red (which is normal), but he seemed to be in no pain. On the car ride home he did get sick, which is to be expected, but he bounced back very quickly. So far the doctor is happy with the surgery and yes, he will still wear glasses - this surgery did not tweak the lens, the procedure actually tightened a few of the muscles behind his eye.