Calli???

What in Sam Hills is going on here? An update??? SAY WHAT???

WELL I guess it is time we update this thing. Life just got away on us. Summer was here things were happening left right and center, and even coming as up from behind. But things are going very well.

Liam and Zefram are walking/running/jumping/climbing and chatting all day long. Never seem to stop growing eating and pooping. They are now 17 months and making us laugh non stop.

Their first birthday was a hit. Lots of cupcakes and food to go around. They received lots of gifts and lots of love from family. We went camping this summer with both boys. Last summer Liam was till in NICU. I was a little nervous going camping with the boys since they are such busy body's and don't know the word 'sit'. But my dad had a great idea. A huge massive dinning tent and indoor out door carpet and you this...



A big ol playpen which made me OH SO VERY happy. We didn't go to the beach everyday way to busy. One baby went one way and the other went the other way. They didn't like the water too much. I think it was all the waves. Heck I would be too if I was that little. But all in all they were great babies and can't wait to go again next year.

Nothing really new other then camping was great. Matt has his new job and almost done 4 weeks of training. He's been working 3:30pm-11:30pm. Sometimes it's hard give both boys a bath all alone. But I got use to that in hurry. One would be sitting in the tub crying and cold while I dried the other one off. Poor things but when you only got one set of arms they got use to waiting.

Been trying to get the boys to nap in the afternoon instead of the AM. Cause once 5:30 rolls around they cranky pants kids and my patience have run out. Liam is still getting up through the night. OY he needs to stop that. Zefram soundly sleep through the night.

Liam had this sedated echo last month and everything is great there. Don't need to go back for another year. He's doing great and non stop running, yaking and making us laugh.

Well that's all for now. I'll add some pics later.

Holy Smokes

Man oh man a month has passed since I last updated. The boys are crawling like crazy now. Even showing signs of walking in the next month or 2. Crazy kids I have. They've been good lately. Eating lots, draining our bank account. Smiling laughing and "talking" (NO real words yet but that's ok, I'm not ready for them to start talking). So now they are 11 months old and have met every milestone and doing what they are suppose to be doing. Liam was lagging behind a little bi t because of his heart surgery, but he crawls around so much you would never have guessed he had open heart surgery almost 5 months ago. WOW 5 months already. I was warned that they would grow up fast and they have.

Their 1st Birthday is April 29. So maybe then I'll write about their birth and remember WHY I don't want more kids right now. It feels good that I don't have the baby fever right now and I'm really starting to enjoy these crazy kids. The boys really love the cat and chase after her. Calli gets so scared that she doesn't know where to go because she is bombarded with 2 crawling babies. They also really love Ruby. I have video of Zefram laughing at Ruby, but I'll have to post that another time since it's not here but at my parents'.

Well that's all for now I'll try and update more. Anywho were are some pictures of the boys.

10 months

So our precious little babies are 10 months old today. I really don't know where the time has gone. It's been going so fast it's ridiculous. They are still practicing crawling forward. They've master the backwards crawling. But other then that nothing else is new. They have been pretty good babies this past week. Liam needs to learn to sleep through the night and not wake up 6,000 times. Thankful that Zefram sleeps through most of it. Well here is a 10 months pic of Liam and Zefram.

an "aww you are so cute" moment

I had to post these and share b/c they ARE too cute!

9.5 months

Again not much to talk about... oh wait are you kidding me?? The boys have been doing so many new things. Both are starting to crawl. Everyday they practice and everyday I shed a tear or in this case 2. Zefram has learned to shimmy across the carpet on his bum. Both rolling all over the place, sitting perfectly, with out many falls. Liam is starting to hold his own bottle. YEAH!! Now just Zefram and I'm hands free. Jibber jabbing LOTS. Especially Liam, he gets so loud at times, you have to leave the room or else you will pop an ear drum. He goes from high girly voice to a low man voice. Makes Matt and I laugh so hard. Zefram sounds like he is saying "dad" and "hi" but he's not. It's just crazy how fast they learn new things and how fast they are growing up. My mom warned me babies do grow up fast and they do. Look I'm her youngest 25 with 2 babies. CRAZY!!! But here are some new pics of the boys. Still cute as can be.

Zefram starting to crawl (one tear)

Liam starting to crawl (two tears)

I let Zefy pants feed himself
What a mess, but he was proud of himself

Having fun on the floor together

Liam our Miracle Baby

Enjoy this flick I made of Liam.

Teething/Portagen

There really isn't anything exciting to post about here. Nothing going on. Boys are teething and very cranky. Liam can return to normal formula on Thursday. Which is very exciting for us and I'm sure for Liam too. That portagan is nasty stuff. But other then going a little mental myself (Matt to) life is pretty good. Now for the cute pics you are waiting for. HA can't blame you!

Goodbye poopy 2007 Hello awesome 2008

Who would have thought that 2007 would be the year will so much stress in our brand new little family. Not I. Nor did I think the twins would be in the NICU for 12 days or that Liam would be in NICU for 4 months let alone have heart condition. I've never been so stressed in one year. But now that's all in the past and 2008 is gonna be a great year for our little family. The only good thing about 07' was Liam and Zefram where born the rest wasn't so great. But God has taught me so much that I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Well before I sigh off and post THE most adorable picture of the twins. Just wanted to thank everyone who has prayed for us this past year, and all of your encouraging words. It's really great to know that so many ppl were praying for us and Liam. So thanks :0) Now for that picture you are all waiting for .....



Happy New Years
Matt, Mary, Liam and Zefram

Thank You

The boys received a lot of gifts on their first Christmas from a lot of people, as did Mary and I. I just wanted to briefly thank everyone for their generosity and thoughtfulness.

Merry Christmas, Hosers!

Not Quite Ebola

Zefram's pediatrician diagnosed him with bronchitis, with a side order of eczema to boot. I would've guessed that he just had what Liam had, but his pediatrician was confident it was bronchitis (of course, Liam's diagnosis may have been inaccurate, so who knows). Apparently it has the potential to lead to asthma, so that sucks. So Z's on antibiotics and has a puffer chamber, which is a bit tricky.

Zef still hasn't had his RSV (Respiratory syncytial virus) shots, and apparently RSV is one possible cause of bronchitis (there are many), so I really hope it's not the culprit here.

Sick Swap

Alright, I better update this thing before a riot breaks out! ;) Liam's doing great as he seems to have kicked whatever needed kicking. He really is a different kid in that he complains a lot less and is much happier (which I'm sure I've said several times, but it occurs to me often). In about 2-3 more weeks, we'll be able to lift him under his arms, although we've done that a few times unintentionally and he hasn't batted an eye.

It's Zefram's turn however, as he's had what seems to be just a cold for the last few days. Hopefully he clears up in time for Christmas. He's got a doctor's appointment tomorrow because Mary's afraid he's got Ebola, and also because he's past due for his 6 month shots.

Smilier

Liam has been a lot smilier today (yes, I realize that's not a real word). His throat doesn't seem to be as sore when he coughs, but he's still throwing up from coughing 3-4 times a day. It's nice having Liam a bit closer to being back to his usual self again; his relentless fussing and crying was starting to drive us a bit batty.

Hello, Doktor

Liam was a bit happier today due to having lots of people over for Mary's birthday. But tonight he decided to play a few rounds of "cough until I throw up", which drew our attention to his laboured breathing. Mary was really concerned about it, and I ended up calling the on-call cardiologist at Sick Kids. After 5 or 6 minutes of talking, he said that he didn't think it was anything to worry about, but Mary wanted me to take Liam to the hospital just in case.

At the hospital, the doctor's only concern was Liam's cough, and he ordered the whole nine yards; x-ray, blood work, urine. A few hours later, he said that Liam's x-ray showed what might be the beginning of pneumonia. It wasn't certain, but better safe than sorry, so Liam will be on antibiotics for the next 10 days.

On the way home, Liam threw up in the car, but he was fine. And now, it is time to sleep.

Poor Lee Lee (and Us)

Liam's first 24 hours home have been really rough, as he has a cold that continues to worsen. He's been cranky and crying all day as it still hurts his chest to cough, and it's obvious that his throat is really sore (but cough medicine isn't a safe option, so it's just acetaminophen). Tonight after I fed him, he was coughing so much that he threw up on my shoulder, and was choking on his vomit briefly (I laid him sideways on the floor which thankfully worked, but Mary was a bit freaked out).

Since putting him to bed a few hours ago, he's been waking up every half hour or so crying, so I expect tonight to be another restless night for everyone (except Zef, who tends to sleep through it all).

Liam's tolerating his diet formula (Portagen), but he isn't fond of it... fortunately, he's drinking the minimum amount so far. The last thing we need is for him to get dehydrated; we'd just as well prefer to avoid another hospital visit for a while.

Here are a few pictures from today:

Zefram fighting for his very survival (he won... barely)

Z's happy to be home

One of the very few moments where Liam was happy today

Liam not feeling so hot

Homeward Bound

YEAH GOING HOME TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My mom should be here soon to help us pack up this room then we are going to travel through T.O. and head homeward bound. I cannot wait to be back home and see my kitty again and just be back home.

I better get back to the last min packing and then just wait for my mom to get here and it's SEE YA LATER!!!!!

chow for now

Coming Home... Again

Liam will have his draining tube pulled today (ouch!), and we'll be coming home on Friday or Saturday. Woohoo!

Another 5-7 days

Liam drained 14mls today from his JP drain which is already over and 24 hours isn't up. So looks like we are going on to phase 4 which is still portagen (a minimal fat diet, which he is already on) and a shot every 8 hours to help and stop the draining. So we could be here for only 2-3 days OR 7 more days. We are just praying that it is only going to be a few more days. I don't want to spend my 25th birthday in a hospital. Not that I do anything for my birthday anyways but still not in a hospital room. But being here is getting VERY annoying and both boys have been super cranky. Zefram who is normal a happy baby isn't so much anymore. I think he wants to go home like the rest of us. But that is all for now. Keep praying

How we long to be home

Just getting back from the hospital and spending sometime with Zefram, Matt is there with Liam till about 7-7:30. Liam only drained 7mls from his JP drain which is good new since yesterday it was 20 in a 24 hour period. Mind you he still has 8 hours till they drain it again but it's still a big improvement. Liam had a gassy not so happy day. But seemed really happy in the stroller and boy are my feet sore. The 7 hours that I was there, most of those were spent on my feet just to keep Liam happy. So I am glad to be sitting while Zefram is napping.

One of the funniest things about being at the hospital is how many "girlfriends" that Liam has. So many nurses will stop by our room just to say "hi" to Liam and off they go to there patient. So funny. Lot of the nurses are really great and you just want to take them home with you.

But we do long to go home and 3 weeks of hospital life is getting to us. It's expensive and tiring and draining and boring. There is only so much you can do with your child in his little hospital room. Can't take him down to the main floor since he has the JP draining tube in so it gets boring fast. If I only remembered to pack my Christmas cards, but I didn't I expect to be here this long. Hmm maybe I should take up knitting again or cross stitching. But Liam is doing great just waiting to go home and asking God for strength to carry on day in and day out.

Well we ask that you keep praying for Liam and that his draining will continue to decrease and we can all go home before my birthday on the 9th.