[amfandrmf]

Adrienne, I can't wait to see your pics! I bet she's adorable. We haven't caught the girls smiling on camera yet either. I get so caught up in their cuteness when their smiling and cooing that I completely forget about my camera.

Your poor daughter! I can't imagine what you must have been going through. I'm glad she's doing well now though. That really must have been tough for your whole family. Poor thing...must have been so traumatic for her.

So, are you a stay-at-home mom or did you have to go back to work? I so wish I could stay home permanently with our girls, but I'll be going back part-time in a couple of weeks.

[jenedens6102]

Adrienne, no need to apologize. I don't mind. Ethan stays with an at home sitter during the day. She has no other babies at this time but him, she does however have bigger kids. The range is from about 3-8 right now but since summer began she's had at most 5-6 kids a day and that includes Ethan. She does very well with him and he loves being there with all the kids and the noise. It works out well for me too because I know he's safe and enjoys being where he is so I'm not constantly worried about him.....well I guess I should never say I'm not worried about him but that's just the mom in me, not because I don't trust his sitter because I do - she's wonderful. So sorry to hear about your daughter's accident but what a blessing that she pulled through the way she did. Post pictures of Madison when you can. We love every picture - smile or no smile!

[lauriej79]

Hey Adrienne - Nice to hear from you and like th other girls said, you better post pics of Madison. I am so glad that your daughter is okay. That is definitely one of these freak accidents you hear about.

Anna- Congrats on the job. That is very exciting and how nice to have a doctor you can always ask questions to.

Jen- I love the new family pics! They are great. I finally looked at Ethan's video the other day with DH and neither of us could believe it. We were cracking up!

Chrissy- My girls sleep through the night. They take a bottle around 6:30 or 7:00 and usually fall asleep and just nap around 7:30 or 8:00. I wake them up (or sometimes they sleep through the last feeding) around 9:30, no later than 10:00 and feed them again and they are still asleep when I leave at 7am. DH normally wakes them up if they don't wake up on their own by 7:30. He keeps them until 12 while I work and then I take over at 12. Thank goodness we have jobs that allow us to do this because childcare is so expensive here. Also, our girls go back to sleep within an hour of their morning feed and usually take a good 2 1/2 to 3 hour nap in the afternoon.

So, drumroll...... I thought I was crazy because while we were eating dinner last night I laid the girls on our bed (they were napping). About the time we were getting done I could hear them in there starting to whine a little bit. I had them both on their stomachs. I go into the bedroom and Presley is on her back. DH questioned me and told me I must have left her on her back. I told him no, that I had put them feet to feet so that they wouldn't bother each other. I don't really think he believed me. Anyway, later on last night I put her on her belly again and watched her and she rolled over to her back again. She is getting her arm up underneath her. I think she is trying to get her hand to her mouth. Anyway, she got it underneath her and ended up pushing off of that arm onto her back! Crazy!?!?!?

[jenedens6102]

Wow, congratulations Presley on rolling over. That's great! Ethan is just not there yet, shows no interest. I'm glad you and DH liked the video of Ethan laughing, he's such a ham.

[adwalker]

Laurie, that is so great she rolled over!!!

Jen, You are really lucky to find a sitter like that. I think I am going to go with the daycare at DH's work. They still charge $95 a week, but is much better than 170!!!

Anna, I will have to go back to work eventually. I am hoping to wait until the other kids are back in school. It is either that, or take a course on medical billing from home.

Thanks for all your well wishes for my DD. The medical bills are just starting to roll in. I think we should all be in the Medical field!! HeHe!!!! Speaking of, She got balloons frim some people while in the hospital and we stuck one on Madison's sleeve, so that it moves when her arm moves....keeps her mesmerized for up to 30 minutes. I will have to get some more. In fact that is what she is doing right now.

[adwalker]

Oh and Jen, I watched that video, what a little ham!!! Soooo cute!!

[adwalker]

all again 147fertility.JPG

all again 150fertility.JPG

[adwalker]

I had to add this one of her in our new jacuzzi bath tub.all again 167.JPG

[jenedens6102]

Madison is beautiful, I love babies with big cheeks - perfect for kissing! Thank you for sharing pictures with us. I really like the jacuzzi tub, my parents have one but I haven't put Ethan in it yet. I was very lucky to find out sitter, she actually watched a cousin of mine 16 years ago so I knew of her but didn't really know her. She's also the sister of someone we are friends with. She only charges $65 for the week which is dirt cheap compared to $150 at daycare. I couldn't ask for more!

[amfandrmf]

Laurie, I wish I had the arrangement that you have! That must be so nice to have DH able to watch the girls in the morning until you get home. Eventually, my DH wants to be able to work from home, so hopefully we'll be able to do the same thing. Right now, my mom will be watching our girls 3 days a week and we wrangled our neighbor and SIL to watch the girls 2 days a month each. They will alternate weeks. So, in case I'm working 4 days a week, my mom will still only have to watch them at most 3 days. Since my parents farm, this is their busiest part of the year and haying really takes a lot of time. And sometimes you can't pick the days you want to do it. It all depends on the weather. I can't believe Presely is rolling already! So amazing! What a big girl...ah, they grow so fast. Maddie will roll only if their is a slight incline. One of the cushions on our couch slants a little and she gets herself to roll when she's on there, but not on a flat surface.

Jen, Mila tried to sit up while I was holding her a few times yesterday. I remember you said Ethan was doing that as well now. She also loves to stand now. I barely have to hold on to her and she's just standing straight up. I have a feeling she'll walk before she crawls. I know I was 9 months when I started walking...I never crawled either.

Adrienne, Madison is soooooooo adorable!!! Too cute! I just love her cheeks! I would have a hard time holding back...I would have to squeeze them all the time if my girls had cheeks like that. I wish I had a tub like yours. I'm so jealous. She must really enjoy that. Hopefully, you can make it through the summer before returning to work. I know I did a 6 month program for medical transcription, but since I don't have the experience yet I can't work from home. Since I'll be working at the hospital now, I plan on doing transcriptioning once there's an opening and then hopefully they'll let me do that from home full time. I don't think I would be able to get much work done with the girls now anyways. They really occupy my time.

Evita, make sure you vent as much as you need to. I hope you're doing well. We're all here for you.

[jenedens6102]

Yep Anna, I'm with you on that. Ethan LOVES to stand and sit up on our knees versus laying back these days. My dad says all the time that he's going to walk before he crawls. He still isn't the biggest fan of belly time but when he's done his head is up for a few minutes before he acts tired. The whole time he's flailing those arms and kicking those legs like he's ready to move.
Another upgrade for us - Ethan started taking two 6 ounce bottles a day around Wednesday of last week....this entire weekends he's done no less then 6 ounces. My boy has finally hit the next level!

[lauriej79]

Yep, our girls are on 6 ounces 5 times a day. Sometimes I fix them another ounce as they are not satisfied every time with 6. I think I may could pull that 5th feeding completely but I just don't know how they would do.
Our girls stand as well. They love it. I put Presley down yesteday to show my parents how she could roll and before they could even turn to look at her she had already done it. I could not believe she did it so fast. She is also doing like a sort of "scoot" when she is on her belly. WE prop her on the boppy to let her do her tummy time and she will completely go across the top of it. It is too funny.

Anna - We LOVE the arrangement. I am so fortunate that DH is so willing to keep them. He is great with the girls. There really isn't anything that he won't do except bathe them. He would probably do that too if I asked him too. And I never want to go back to work full time if I don't have too! I love getting off at 12. Especially right now with the nice weather. I put the girls in the crib to take a nap and go outside to the pool and it is so nice.

Adrienne - I Love the pictures! She looks so big! Our girls are really filled out now but they are just so long and lean.

[jenedens6102]

Oh Laurie I can't wait for the day Ethan rolls for the first time. I know it's going to be an exciting experience. He starts to shift now at least but still isn't showing any signs of wanting to roll over. He does scoot as well but it's when he's on his back, not his belly. He plants his heels, picks up his butt and moves himself all over the place. I was wondering about using our boppy for belly time because then he's not completely flat on the floor. DH is so excited about all the things he plans to do with Ethan but I'm so ready to freeze time. Right now I'm his favorite person and he needs me for everything. When he's bigger he'll be daddy's buddy and forget all about dear ol' mom! DH assures me he won't because we are both involved parents and love to do things together but we'll just have to wait and see. My favorite thing right now is to pick him up and hold him tight, he looks like he's hugging me.

[amfandrmf]

Jen, congrats on Ethan taking all those 6 oz bottles! How many feedings is he doing per day? Don't worry...I'm sure Ethan will be a momma's boy. He will always want his mommy. I know what you mean though. I sometimes think that the girls will want their daddy over me. He has always been the jokester and they are always looking for him. I also know I'll be the disciplinarian in the family and they won't like me for it.

Laurie, I can't believe your girls are taking 6 oz bottles, too! So, nice. I also wish I could just put the girls down in their cribs for naps. That must be nice. I never know when the girls want to take one and it always seems to be at different times and they never nap together. I'm hoping their start getting a routine going soon. It makes it really hard to get anything done around the house.

I think I'm going to start feeding them every 5 hours, instead of every 4. Maddie may fuss until she gets use to it, but Mila is acting like at every feeding she is not ready to eat. She is taking full 6 oz bottles maybe once a day now. The last two days at at least one feeding, she'll projectile vomit. This is BEFORE she even starts eating and its been 4 hours since the last time she ate. I'll try and start feeding her and she'll just puke all over. So, I'm taking it as she still hasn't processed her food yet after 4 hours and that she needs more time before she should eat again. What do you girls think? She's never done this before. When she has done it in the past, it was right AFTER a feeding, which makes more sense.

[jenedens6102]

Anna, while Ethan is now taking 6 ounce bottles he doesn't go much longer then 3 hours (unless he's sleeping). He is definitely an eater. He gets one bottle before we leave in the morning, three at the sitter's and one in the evening between when we get home and when he goes to bed. Dh and I think we are going to try an 8 ounce bottle tonight before bed. He is waking up earlier every day (or at least this week) and is sucking hard on his hands and then fussing when I try to give him a pacifier, he's hungry and that just doesn't work! So we'll see how it goes tonight. Then we are just a few weeks away from cereal - I can't wait! As for the projectile vomit - does she act like she's gagging herself with the nipple? Ethan does this sometimes and I've learned in addition to his reflux that I let him take the nipple in versus sticking it in his mouth. He gags himself on his bottle nipples and his pacifier (what little he uses it). If he plays with the nipple for a few seconds but doesn't drink or swallow I know he's going to make himself sick so we take it out and pat him on the back for a few minutes then try it again. With Ethan's reflux I keep him up during feedings versus laying him down in my arms, make sure he's well burped and then keep him on my shoulder or sitting in my lap for 20 minutes after a feeding to let his food digest. If he gets laid down it's at an incline so again the food digests down versus sitting in his stomach waiting to come up. Might be something to mention to her Pediatrician.