Starting Daycare with Nana - We're SO Lucky!

Can you believe that I've already been back to work for a month and Jack's time at home has come to an end?  When you are so busy, time really flies!  My mom is on her way back from North Carolina today and their time with Nana starts Monday.  We will have a whole new adjustment now trying to figure out how to balance our evenings.  I think Jack and I will be eating most nights at 10pm - wonderful for our waistlines, I know:)

As of Tuesday, our teeny, tiny preemies will be 4 months adjusted.  Its so hard to look at them now and remember how tiny they were and how much help they needed at first.  Pics and videos from the week below!

Love my hands!

Playing together nicely - we'll see how long this lasts!

We drool on EVERYTHING!

Flying high!

Rockin' the red for the CAPS game!

Always the happiest girl!

Focusing on hockey!

(more pics in the Picasa Album)

Weekends are Wonderful

Weeks seem to be flying by now that I'm back at work and weekdays are so hectic.  We did manage to accomplish one BIG thing this week though.  We secured daycare for next year! We looked at several home-based programs and a couple centers and decided we definitely wanted a more intimate, home-like environment.  We talked with several women who all have their own licensed programs within a short distance from our house.  The one we chose was definitely our favorite person and happens to be closest to home - I practically drive by it on my way to the bridge!  She has a very well established program with glowing references and really made us feel comfortable and confident about her business.  The entire process has been very overwhelming though and I know it will be extremely difficult to send them come January.  We were definitely reminded once again about how lucky we are that my mom will be taking care of them until they are much older.  We are so fortunate.

This weekend we headed up to Pennsylvania (near Gettysburg) to my Aunt Anne's house.  My cousin Matt, his wife Sandy, and their son Nick also came and finally got to meet the babies!  It was a fun day with family and the kids were so well behaved - even for the three hours in the car!

Paige and Andrew finally meet their cousins!

Playing at our great Aunt Anne's

Andrew cuddling with Matt

And laughing with Sandy

 It is amazing how fast weekends fly by now that I'm back to work.  My favorite part of Saturdays and Sundays is that I am home in the mornings to see them when they first wake up.  It is by far their best time of day and they are always so happy to see you when you arrive at their crib.  This morning, I could hear them talking to their mobiles on the monitor.  When I went in, I captured Paige's reaction with a couple pictures.

You're here??

Yay!  Its time to wake up!

I'm SO excited for the day!

How can that face not make your day?!?

Pictures!

So blogging has clearly been put on the back burner.  I really am going to try to get better about it again.  But when I feel like I hardly have time enough to spend with the kids, its hard to find time to sit down and upload pictures and blog.  Being away from them so much has truly reminded me how truly in love with these guys I am and how special our time together is.  I appreciate weekends more now then I ever have before...

They are growing so fast right before our eyes.  They are awake more, playing more, rolling more, talking more, and smiling ALL the time:)  This post will be dedicated to pictures since you haven't seen any in quite a while!

Mr. Mom is doing a great job!

Hanging out after work (Paige is not so happy...)

GOOD MORNING!  Waking her up with a camera:)

ALL smiles waiting for breakfast in Mommy & Daddy's bed

Our big guy in his cute new overalls! (Thanks, Chrissy!)

Helping to hold my own bottle!

Tandem feeding.  Daddy is learning the hard stuff!

Looking for my thumb

Pretty girl - 23 weeks

Hanging out with two of Mommy's best friends

So happy to finally meet Shephali!

Naked and ready for our baths!

Scrubba Dub Dub...I've almost outgrown my tub!

 (More pics in the Picasa Album)

Back to Work

So I headed back to work on Monday and this week has been quite the adjustment.  Luckily, Jack has been home on paternity leave, which I think has helped our transition.  But being away from them for 10+ hours is really tough.  I am going in super early so I can get home by 5, but those couple hours in the evening before bed just aren't enough.  I miss them quite a bit.  Andrew has also decided that nighttime is no longer for sleeping and has been waking up every 3 or 4 hours again either to eat or just be awake and play.  This does not make getting up at my 5:30 alarm very easy! 

Being away from them more, I'm noticing their subtle changes each day.  Paige just looks older and more mature to me lately - where did my newborn go??  And Andrew has really made great progress with his head control and now brings his hands to midline.  We had our intake assessment yesterday afternoon with our case manager for the ITC (infant and toddler connection) program in Fairfax County.  It took a couple hours for her to review the program and the process to get started, talk about our concerns and their strengths and weaknesses, and fill out all the paperwork to consent to things and agree to their policies.  Next step is their eligibility meeting on Monday - we already know they are eligible simply based on the length of their NICU stay and the fact that from yesterday's assessment, are delayed in a couple areas.  Then we schedule a long assessment with a big team of people including two developmentalists, speech pathologist, social worker, case worker and a couple other people I'm forgetting.  This will help us focus on what services they will need and how often.  From yesterday's meeting, we basically know that Paige needs to focus on communication with the speech pathologist and Andrew needs help with his gross motor.  They will both likely need some help with fine motor, too.  We're very anxious for the big assessment to get some expert opinions and guidance but it likely won't be for another month or so...

With me being at work, I haven't been as great with taking pictures....but we will take videos and new pics this weekend. Stay tuned!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

As always, our children were very spoiled and got lots of Saint Patrick's Day gifts to help us celebrate yesterday!

Kiss Us! We're very Irish!

Paige loves the holiday!

Thanks, Grandma for our cute onesies! 

Truly our Irish Hooligan!

Thanks to our Great Aunt Anne for our awesome onesies and booties!

And Paige in her's!

Definitely our Irish Blessing

Thanks Tess and Justin for our cute bibs! (Andrew is starting to lose patience with the photo shoot!)

And we're done celebrating!

Hope you all had a great day!

Georgetown Appointment

Yesterday was our appointment at the Neonatal Follow-Up Clinic.  Of course, I had my list of things to cover:)  But they were actually surprised at how short the list was in the end!  I guess that means we are doing pretty well...

First off, their stats:  Paige weighs 11 pounds, 11 ounces and is 23.7 inches (weight 54%, height 67% for adjusted age).  Andrew weights 12 pounds, 11 ounces and is 22.6 inches (weight 55%, height 17%).  Its amazing to think that our tiny, little baby boy has gained 10 POUNDS since birth!  That is 5 times his birth weight!  Amazing.  Based on their growth, we talked about adjusting calories and introducing solids.  The decision is to leave them on the preemie formula for a couple more months and to wait on solids until they are 7 months (5 months adjusted).  They do believe that especially Andrew is still in the "catch up" phase from his growth restriction in utero and needs the extra nutrients.  I guess this gives him an excuse for his ravenous (and I mean crazy ravenous!) behavior and needing to wake up every couple hours in the middle of the night to eat still...we won't complain for a couple more months:)

The big items on my list were mostly related to development.  I was interested in gathering the Neonatologists' opinions about their progress and see their thoughts on Early Intervention.  Their response:  "Why wouldn't you try to get them services?  You know they're delayed.  Call now."  So I went home and placed the call to Fairfax County's Infant and Toddler's Connection Program (ITC).  I already got a call back from the intake coordinator and we will be hearing from our case manager by early next week.  I was surprised at their efficiency after the rumors I had heard!  But I also found out that Paige and Andrew automatically qualify for the program simply based on the time they spent in the hospital.  This is awesome and really is how it should be.  Fairfax is actually a little ahead of the game though because this is currently the push Nationally...its just most places haven't put it into practice yet.  So the next step - meeting with our assigned case manager and evaluation by two independent developmentalists to determine what services they need and what our goals are.  I'll keep you posted on our progress.

Overall, the appointment went really well and their group continues to be amazed at how well they are doing.  They truly are our little miracles and Jack and I are so thankful every day for how lucky we are.  I guess our long, stressful ordeal was worth it - I mean, look how cute they are!

 3 Months Adjusted on Saturday

Big girls put their hands together:)

And big boys wear sweaters:)

Catching Up

Wow am I behind with blogging!  I was actually sick last week and didn't get out of bed for three days.  Needless to say, things like blogging got put on hold.  Thank goodness for my Mom who came and took care of me AND the babies!  Don't know what I would have done without her!

Despite me being sick, we have had some fun over the past 10 days.  Paige and Andrew's Uncle Josh was home from college to celebrate his 19th birthday and we spent the day at Grandma and Grandpa's two weekends ago.  To add to that excitement, Uncle Will and their cousins Mac and Carson also came to town, so the kids finally got to meet!  It was a fun day and it was great to see all of them.

Happy birthday Uncle Josh!

So great to see Mac & Carson!

They also finally got to meet their Uncle Thomas last week, too.  He was home on spring break from UVA and we met for lunch.  Let's just say the babies did not enjoy the restaurant very much and we all took turns walking and rocking them:)

Andrew - happy as long as he's held!

We have also been very busy working on our exercises and have made great progress with tummy time!  Paige is now consistently holding her head off the ground for long periods and will push up with her arms.  This is HUGE considering she wouldn't lift her head off the mat two weeks ago.  Andrew continues to lift his head for brief periods, but that darn thing is just SO big that it takes a lot of effort.  They did both ROLL from tummy to back for the first time though!  They aren't purposeful rolls and can't do it consistently, but both have flipped more than once.  Can you believe that?!?  Pretty much on track with their adjusted age -- three months as of next weekend.

Check me out!

I'm starting to like my belly!

But playtime is HARD work!

Even though its FUN!

And we're getting SO BIG!

And even more beautiful!

Big appointment at Georgetown tomorrow - stats and updates after that!