9 month stats and a visit to school

Last week Thursday the boys had their 9 month well-check at the pediatrician.  Wow. That pretty much sums up our visit.  To start here are there "stats":  Aiden is 28 inches tall and weighs 19 lbs. 15 oz.  Noah is 28 1/2 inches tall and weight 21 lbs. 8 oz.  Reese is 27 1/2 inches tall and weighs 18 lbs. 2 oz.  Those are some big numbers! Noah's weight can no longer be charted on a low birth weight scale!!  He was WAY above the 95th percentile for weight.  She was teasing him that he is obese on the preemie scale.  Who would have ever thought?!? My 3 and a half pound baby is off the charts!  Too funny.  She was very impressed with their interactions with her and their ability to verbalize.  She is just overall very impressed with their progress.  We were a little concerned that Reese would need a helmet.  His head is still flat in one spot in the back.  She said there has been enough progress without that she sees no need for one.  Phew!  That's a big expense that we don't have to worry about.  They did have to get 1 shot.  It was the first time Nate was there for a shot.  He was able to hear the sad cries along with me.  It made me feel better that he had to comfort them this time.  Noah barely cries because he has enough meat on his leg.  Reese is especially thin and has very little fat on his legs, so he cries the hardest.  I was also concerned about Noah's ears.  We stopped the medicine from his ear infection almost as soon as we started it because it was hard on his system.  She said both ears are a little pink, but that we should try to let it clear up without antibiotics.  I was happy about that!  At their next visit they will get a referral to have a hearing re-screen (they were screened before they left the hospital and passed).  We will also have vision testing done (for sure on Noah).

I also had to go to school this week and clean out my classroom.  It was so hard!  It was a lot of mixed emotions.  I was happy that I am now able to stay home with my boys.  I was sad because I loved what I did and loved the people I worked with.  I know this is a new stage and my life and I am really enjoying it.  Probably the best part of being a stay at home mom is making my own schedule.  I get up when I want, get dressed when I want, do what I want during the day.  Don't get me wrong, it's a TON of work to stay home with them, but it definitely comes with some pretty great perks (especially that I get to spend all my time with my guys!).  My friend Donna, who was our reading specialist at school and retired last year, came with to help me.  No, I still can't go anywhere alone.  Who knows how long it will be until I can.  I was very grateful she was willing to help!  We had a great time visiting!  Here are a couple of pictures.  The first one is of Aiden sitting in the front seat with me while we ate lunch.  The second one is (left-right) Donna holding Reese, Nancy (my friend who is the speech pathologist at school) holding Noah and me holding Aiden.  Next time I visit they'll be running around like maniacs!  They are all mobile and crawling to some degree now.  Let the madness of movement begin!

Continued...

I was having some issues with my last post, so I'll continue with a whole new post.  Anyways...

We also participated in the March of Dimes March for Babies.  The boys were great and we had a great time!!  We walked in honor of a baby named Camryn who died of a heart defect.  We looked around and saw many "in memory of" shirts and people who had babies born early who live with many disabilities.  We felt the same feelings we felt many times sitting in the NICU.  It's a mix of emotions.  It's joy that we made it through and now have 3 healthy babies, but a sense of guilt that we came away from this with 3 healthy babies and some people lose their 1 baby.  It's a constant reminder of God's faithfulness to us and the reality that things could be so much different for us.  We are blessed!!!  (notice the 3 exclamation points) :)   We also learned that we can keep raising funds for the walk.  So if you would like to support us in memory of Camryn and to celebrate the health of our boys the link is:   http://www.marchforbabies.org/mbrouwer

Yesterday Nate didn't work so we took advantage of the nice weather and had a "family fun day".  We went to the Michigan City Zoo, walked by the beach, had a picnic at a park and went to the outlet mall.   It was a fun day with lots of sunshine!

Last but not least here are some things that the boys have learned recently:  Aiden is army crawling all over the house.  Noah rocks on hands and knees.  Reese drags his legs behind him and pulls himself to where he wants to go.  Reese and Noah are waving "bye bye".  Noah has joined Reese in shaking his head "no"  (it's cute now, but I know it won't be soon).  Aiden says "Mom" a lot!  They all say "Dada".  Reese has learned how to take off his diaper (that child is too smart for his own good!).  We were missing most of our pacifiers.  We found 7, yes 7, in between Reese's bed and the wall.  Oh boy.  We are in trouble when that one grows up.  :)  

Well, that's about all for now.  I'm sure I missed something, but I'm really itching to get outside in this nice weather!  

So much fun in one update!

Again it has been too long since I wrote an update.  Last week was absolutely crazy around here.  I was so busy that I hardly had time to think.  So, this week I'm catching my breath and updating about the fun of the last couple of weeks and posting pictures of some things that have happened recently.

Just before Easter the boys got their very first haircut.  They didn't mind a bit.  My sister-in-law cut their hair (she does hair out of her house-so nice for us!).  She did a fabulous job and they loved it!

Reese before (and half asleep)

Reese after..I told you he loved it!

Noah after

Noah before (and excited

Aiden before

                                    

Aiden after