December

Since I haven't blogged since November, I thought it appropriate to title this blog "December" and catch everyone up on what we have been doing this month. As you can imagine, we have been very busy. December is full of birthdays in the Ivey family - happy birthday to Ellie, Mamo, Steve, and John! We celebrated Mamo's birthday early in the month at our favorite BBQ restaurant, Peggy Sue's in Snider Plaza. I highly recommend the fried pies. And I guess this is an appropriate time to point out that Andy has started his own blog (see link to the right). He now eats barbecue about 4 times per week and blogs about it. So if you are in the mood for good barbecue, you can check out his blog to see what he recommends.

I have officially accepted that we are going to be crammed into this tiny house for what seems like forever. We took the house off the market at the beginning of the month and will reevaluate later in the spring whether or not to try again. Hopefully the market will pick up soon. But for now, I have to get organized or I will go crazy. So I took off a couple of days and my mom came to help me clean out all of our storage and organize what I decided to keep into bins. We ended up with so much stuff in the "give away" pile that I decided to have a garage sale. I have never had a garage sale before, but I thought I would give it a try. I posted an ad in the Dallas Morning News and we put up signs at the end of the street. The morning of the garage sale was FREEZING! We had a couple of people as soon as we opened but traffic was pretty slow. Around 10:00, it was getting warmer and all of a sudden the garage was packed. We sold almost everything and made nearly $600. I consider that a huge success although Andy is still very skeptical about garage sales and thinks I just got lucky. I still have my double stroller to sell so hopefully we will get more money for that.

Now for news about the boys. I took Henry to the pediatrician to check his ears following his third ear infection. I had been out of town for two days before this appointment and when I returned, Henry was wheezing and had a cough. So I was glad that we already had this appointment. Sure enough, when the doctor heard his breathing, he was more concerned about that than his ears. They swabbed his nose and tested it - he had RSV! I never thought I would miss the Synagis injections, but now I actually miss torturing them every month. They gave him two breathing treatments at the pediatrician's office and his breathing got somewhat better so we were sent home with a nebulizer and a prescription so we could continue the breathing treatments at home and return to the pediatrician's office the next morning. If his breathing had not improved, we would have been sent to the hospital so I was very relieved to avoid another hospital stay. And of course, RSV is extremely contagious so Ben got it a couple of days later, but fortunately, not as bad. We just gave him some breathing treatments at home and he was better in a few days. Here's a picture of Ben enjoying a breathing treatment.

So what about Henry's ears? When I took him to see the pediatrician, the ear infection was gone, but there was still fluid behind his eardrums. Since the fluid has been there for several months, the pediatrician felt it was time to talk about tubes. He referred us to a pediatric ENT whose office was downstairs. So Henry and I went downstairs and were seen right away. The ENT agreed that he was a good candidate for tubes so we scheduled him for surgery on December 22 in an attempt to get it down before the end of the year since we have already met our deductible for Henry (thanks to our stay at Children's in June). However, the anesthesiologist cancelled the surgery the Friday before because it was too soon after he had RSV. So now he is scheduled to get ear tubes this Monday, December 29. Hopefully this will go smoothly and put an end to his ear infections. When I picked the boys up from school last Friday (the same day the anesthesiologist cancelled the surgery), their teacher told me that Henry had a fever all day. It was too late to call the pediatrician's office so I took him in Saturday morning. Sure enough, he has ear infection #4! Poor guy!

In addition to the numerous visits to the pediatrician and ENT, we took the boys to the developmental pediatrician for their follow-up to check their development. Since they were born 9 weeks too early, their "adjusted age" is 15-1/2 months instead of 17-1/2 months, their actual age. On average, it takes preemies about 2 years for their development to catch up to their actual age. Their motor skills are great - both boys are pretty much caught up to their actual age. However, their language skills are behind, as we expected. They are just now using a few words - "ba" for "bath", "da" for "dad", "a" or "ca" for "cat", and an occasional "mama". We know that they understand a lot more because we can ask them to go get the ball or their sippy cup and they will do it. They also wave, blow kisses, clap, etc. But they just don't talk, at least not to us in a language that we understand. They definitely talk to one another. So anyway, the developmental pediatrician suggested that we take the next step and get their language skills assessed by a group that will come to your home to do the assessment and any therapy that is recommended. Another item for my to-do list. At the developmental pediatrician appointment, the boys' growth is also measured and tracked according to their actual age and their adjusted age. Here are their stats:

Ben - 24 lb, 0 oz (25th percentile for actual age/almost 50th percentile for adjusted age) and 31.3" (25%/50%)

Henry - 25 lb, 12 oz (50%/50-75%) and 32" (50%/75%)

Okay, now for the fun part of the month - Christmas! We celebrated Christmas with Andy's family last weekend. The boys got soft floor tiles to play on, musical instruments, bath toys, big boy towels, books, and more. Here are some pictures, thanks to Aunt Kellie (it is not really possible to take pictures with your two toddlers opening presents).

On Christmas Eve, we packed up the car and drove to Waco for Christmas with the Ratcliffs. We went to church with Gee and Pops, Aunt Christi, Uncle Bryan, and cousin Hayley. Mass was at 5:30, which is dinnertime for the boys and Hayley. Gee was smart enough to pack sandwiches, Teddy Grahams, and Nilla Wafers so they were all very good during the service. When we got home, we put on their Christmas PJs and put them to bed. The next morning, Santa showed up with presents for Ben, Henry, and Hayley! The boys got a jogging stroller (probably the last Christmas that Santa can get away with that kind of gift), a stuffed elephant and a stuffed horse, and a couple of talking toys. They were not really sure about Santa though. Maybe next year?

After breakfast, we opened the rest of the packages. I could barely keep up with all of their presents. They got lots of new toys, including a basketball goal, Sit'n'Spin, and piano. The boys also got to taste lots of new foods. They both LOVE Christmas cookies. Maybe next year I'll be brave enough to bake cookies and let the boys decorate them. They also LOVE fresh pears. And cannelloni, the traditional Ratcliff Christmas meal. I was really surprised that they liked the cannelloni, especially the filling, but they did. And Henry enjoyed the dried cherries that Mamo and Papo sent to Gee and Pops. But Ben was not too sure about them.


Merry Christmas to all of our family and friends! I will make an effort to blog more frequently next year. Hopefully the new camera I got for Christmas will help.

Best Friends

The boys are becoming more and more fascinated with Singer and Petunia. Petunia sightings, which are rare, cause squeals of delight with lots of stomping and pointing. Although she will usually only allow me to pet her and occasionally Andy, she seems to know that she should be more tolerant of the twins. She will allow them to touch her for a second before she hisses at them and runs away, which brings about more squealing, stomping, and pointing.

Singer is somewhat interested in them, especially when they are eating. She has figured out that the boys are messy eaters. And they have figured out that Singer will eat ANYTHING! Ben loves to feed her but is sometimes surprised at how quickly she grabs food out of his hand. Henry loves to play with her tail. And he likes to pet her, but he is still learning the meaning of "gentle." Here are a few pictures of the boys with Singer.

In other news, Henry has ear infection #3. And we're not sure what is going on with Ben. He has had diarrhea for two weeks now. Andy and I are tired of changing poopy diapers, poopy sheets, poopy changing pad covers, poopy clothes, etc. And I am wondering if the house will ever smell normal again. Hopefully we'll figure out what is going on. As for Henry, we're trying a third antibiotic to see if it clears up the infection and the fluid. If not, he may have to get tubes.

I think that's it for now. Hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving!

Ben's First Haircut

I'm not doing a very good job of blogging regularly, but we have been busy as usual. The boys are growing like weeds and are even starting to run some. It is fun to watch them chase one another around giggling. And now they have a second room to run around in. My mom came last week to help me try to get more organized. We cleaned out the front bedroom and baby-proofed it so they can play in there. They seem to like it although the first night that they were in there, they both climbed up onto the storage piece that we have along the windows and were walking back and forth across it. Andy saw them and pulled them off of it. A few minutes later we heard a thud followed by a cry. Henry had climbed up onto it again and fallen off. After we got him to stop crying and checked for any serious damage, we let him return to playing. A few minutes later we repeated the process although this time he had climbed onto and fallen off of Andy's camp trunk. Then when Andy and I were getting dinner ready, we heard Henry crying in the front bedroom. We went in and found him standing on the camp trunk crying because he didn't know how to get down and didn't want to fall again. At least he learned something.

On Saturday we hit a major milestone - Ben's first haircut. I was really hoping to wait until they were at least 18 months before getting their hair cut, but Ben's had gotten really long. It was in hanging in his eyes and over the back of his collar so it was time to get it cut. I took him to see Mark, the guy who cuts my hair. Ben sat in my lap facing me so Mark could get to the back of his head. Ben was very good and didn't seem to mind although he was curious about what Mark was doing. Every time Mark would be about to cut, Ben would turn toward him trying to see what Mark was doing. Amazingly, his hair cut turned out okay. I'm glad I didn't try to do it myself (Andy's suggestion).

Other than that, the boys are sick again after a record of two full weeks without missing any days of school. I took them to the doctor this morning , mostly to check Henry's ears since he still has fluid in them. We have to keep a close eye on them since they are so susceptible to ear infections. The fluid is still there, but no infections. And now Ben has fluid in one ear so hopefully that is not a sign that I will have two children who are prone to ear infections.

Here are some pictures of what our bathroom looks like after Daddy has given the boys their bath and Henry sitting in his favorite spot.

A House Divided

As I write this, my beloved Longhorns are losing to Andy's beloved Red Raiders. This is the one day of the year when one of us doesn't like the other very much. I have dressed the boys in burnt orange most of the Saturdays this fall, and Andy doesn't seem to mind. But today we had to be fair so Ben wore his burnt orange Longhorn t-shirt and Henry wore a red and black striped onesie. I tried to get a good picture of them, but they refused to cooperate so this is the best I could do.


We drove to Waco this morning to see Gee and Pops. The boys were really good and had fun exploring. They discovered the piano and had a great time banging out some songs. If only we had room for a piano at our house. Maybe one day someone will actually buy our house so we can move to a bigger house and buy a piano. I can still dream, can't I?

For lunch, we hit my favorite spot in Waco - Schmaltz's. It was absolutely packed with Baylor students and their families since today was Baylor Homecoming. I've never seen so many people at Schmaltz's - the line was out the door for most of the time that we were eating there. But it was well worth it.

I remembered to bring my laptop with me so I could download pictures from my mom's camera. She is pretty good about taking pictures of her grandchildren and has a really good camera, but she doesn't know how to download pictures and email them. So I was able to get a picture of Hayley in her Halloween costume. She was Minnie Mouse.

Gee was in Houston with Hayley this week while Christi stayed in Austin with Bryan. For those who don't know, Bryan had surgery a few weeks ago on his back and developed a staph infection that landed him in the hospital for the last week (both in Houston and then in Austin where he had the back surgery). He is doing much better and is home now, but he faces a 6-week course of IV antibiotics. Please keep Bryan in your prayers.

Happy Halloween!

I know I said I would try to blog at least once a week, but life has been crazy as usual at the Ivey house. The boys have been sick, sick, sick. I hate to see them so miserable, but I guess we just have to wait it out until they build up their immune systems. Andy stayed home with them both on Wednesday (after we took them to see the pediatrician and discovered that Henry has his second double ear infection) and took a couple of pictures of their first "sword fight." The "swords" are actually rolls of wrapping paper, and Henry's "shield" is a wicker hamper lid.




The boys wore their Halloween t-shirts to school today. And their new blue jeans, which are a little bit too big. As you can see, Henry seems to have a future in rap music. Or maybe plumbing?





And now for the big reveal - the boys' Halloween costumes! Henry was a zebra and Ben was a giraffe. Here are some pictures from our short Halloween (they weren't too fond of their costumes).

Autumn at the Arboretum

Our Saturday started off as it usually does - with a trip to Little Gym for our weekly workout (mine and Andy's, not Ben and Henry's). Then we took advantage of the beautiful "fall" weather and went to the Arboretum. It is "Autumn at the Arboretum" which means pumpkins everywhere. Plus, today was the day that Junior League of Dallas members got a meeting credit for going to the Arboretum. We are required to get 3 meeting credits per year and fortunately there are 3 opportunities each year to receive a meeting credit without attending a single meeting. Since I'm only in my second year of active membership, I have not forgotten how uncomfortable the chairs are at Headquarters - especially when you have to attend 2 meetings per month (Provisional year).


So anyway, we went to get my meeting credit and to take advantage of the amazing photo ops. They have a pumpkin patch, a pumpkin house, and a haybale maze. We tried to get the boys to sit still among the pumpkins but that is not really an easy thing to do. These are the moments when I am a little tiny bit jealous of my friends with "singletons." It is often difficult to get one 15-month-old to sit still, look at the camera, and smile. But getting two 15-month-olds to do this at the same time? Nearly impossible. So I got a few pictures, but none of the ones with both of them turned out great. Oh well - that is what the professionals are for, right? Right. So we dragged the boys over to where the professional photographer was set up and decided to give him a shot. I'm not sure what he got - we'll have to wait and see. Ben was full of smiles, but Henry has become pretty suspicious of strangers so he just watched the photographer the whole time with a look that said, "Don't come too close."


And now for an update on Ben's eye. It is still black (and blue and purple and a little yellow) and now he has a busted lip to go with it. When I got to their school yesterday afternoon to pick them up, I could hear Ben crying all the way down the hall. I walked into their classroom and Miss Maggie told me that he had just had another accident. Apparently he fell over one of the pushtoys and hit his chin and his lip. So now he really looks like he's been in a fight. I guess this is just what I have to get used to as the mother of boys.

Updated Photos of the "Black Eye"

Ben's eye is definitely more bruised this morning, but it is mostly on his eyelid so you don't really notice it unless he looks down or closes his eye...

A Trip to the ER and a Black Eye

I told myself I would blog at least once a week, but I've already broken that rule. I'll try to do better, but our lives have been crazy as usual. So since I last blogged Henry has received two more biting notifications (for a total of four), I have been to Austin and back, Andy and I spent a morning in the Presby ER, Ben got a black eye, and the Longhorns beat UT and are now ranked #1!

I can't believe how big the boys are getting. Ben is now walking well, and Henry is almost running. And now that cooler weather is approaching, they are wearing some of their new school clothes. The other day I dressed them in their new blue jeans, t-shirts, and New Balance shoes. They looked like little boys and reminded me of the commercial (I think it is MasterCard) with the two little boys with their backpacks at school and then their friend joins them and they are dancing the Robot. The first time I saw that commercial was shortly after the boys were born and I told Andy that was our boys in a few years (Andy's favorite - and only - dance is the Robot so it is only fitting that Ben and Henry will learn it). So when I saw them dressed in their little jeans ready for school, plus the fact that they have started dancing whenever they hear music, I thought of that commercial. It always makes me smile.

In other news, Andy took me to the ER yesterday morning because I was having chest pain and trouble breathing. The chest pain started Monday but just felt like I was coming down with something. By Tuesday it was worse, but I had an appointment with my doctor that morning anyway so I brought it up with her. She was concerned and ordered an EKG and a chest x-ray. Both came back negative so she ordered a stress test which I was supposed to do this morning. So yesterday morning I woke up and the pain was worse plus I was having trouble catching my breath. I knew my doctor had done all the tests she was capable of doing and would therefore send me to the hospital so I just had Andy take me there after we dropped the boys off at school. Fortunately, there was no one at the Presby ER so we did not have to wait at all. They took my vitals and found that my heartrate was high - over 100. So they did another EKG and chest x-ray. My rapid heartrate had them concerned so they ordered a CT scan to check for a blood clot. They even talked about admitting me for more tests because they couldn't explain the elevated heartrate. Finally, an internal medicine doctor was consulted and determined that I had a virus which was causing my heartrate to go up. The CT scan also showed fluid in my chest cavity which explained the chest pain and difficulty breathing. So I was sent home with some meds which have relieved the pressure so I am feeling much better now. And Andy got to have lunch in the hospital cafeteria, which he considers a real treat!

In case we didn't have enough excitement yesterday, Ben and Henry's teacher called and left me a message this afternoon to say that Ben had an accident at school. Apparently he was reaching for something (probably climbing to get it) and fell and hit his left eye on the corner of a bookshelf. He has a cut above his eye but is otherwise okay. As you can see, it is a little swollen but not really black although we'll see what he looks like in the morning.

Mr. Mom, the 15-month Check-up, and a Trip to Waco

Another busy week has passed. Andy had his first big dose of being Mr. Mom since Rosalina left. I flew to Denver on Monday morning, stayed there for two days, flew from Denver to Phoenix on Wednesday morning, and flew home late Thursday night. In case it wasn't enough to leave him alone with the boys for 4 days, Henry woke up at 5:00 a.m. Monday morning with a fever. Not an easy thing to do to leave for the airport when you have a sick kiddo at home. But Andy said he would be able to stay home with them (he didn't want to have to take Ben to school and then pick him up so Ben got to play hooky) so I left. Everyone was feeling better on Tuesday so he took the boys to school. On Wednesday, I called to check on them and Andy said that Henry had gotten him sick. He was miserable. And on Thursday, Andy ended up staying home sick by himself (he decided to go to the trouble of taking the boys to school and picking them up so he could have some peace and quiet).

When I picked Ben and Henry up on Friday afternoon, their teachers, Miss Maggie and Miss Angie, told me how impressed they are with Andy's parenting skills. They also had a good laugh explaining why Ben's and Henry's folders were so full. Apparently, since Andy doesn't want to bother with the stroller, he doesn't check their folders because he doesn't have any hands free to carry their daily reports and artwork.

After I picked up the boys, we headed to Dr. Neely's for their 15-month check-up. I was anxious to see how much weight they have gained. Henry is now 24 pounds (50%) and Ben is 22.6 pounds (20%). Also, Henry is 31.75" (75%) and Ben is 30.75" (45%). Unfortunately, since Andy was still feeling under the weather, I decided I could handle this appointment by myself. That was a mistake. We spent 45 minutes in the waiting room so by the time we were called to the back, the boys were very unhappy. Plus, ever since Henry was hospitalized in June, he freaks out at the doctor's office and will only calm down if he is in my lap. But 2 hours after we arrived, we were headed home - the last patients to leave. The boys got their first flu shot dose so we will have to go back in a month for the second dose. I carefully scheduled that appointment for 8:50 a.m. on a Saturday so we will have to go straight from Little Gym and Andy will have no choice but to go.


This morning, we got up and went to Little Gym where they had Picture Day. Our class took a class photo and then the photographer had a backdrop set up for individual family photos. We chose to skip this part and go home to get our stuff together for the drive to Waco to see Gee, Pops, Aunt Christi, Uncle Bryan, and Hayley. The boys napped for a little bit in the car but once they woke up, they were hungry so the last 30 minutes of the ride were a little unpleasant. But we made it and then all went to Schmaltz's! Of everything in Waco, the thing I miss the most is Schmaltz's. I won't even eat at Schlotzsky's because it doesn't even come close to Schmaltz's.


When we got back to Gee and Pops' house, we took pictures with some pumpkins that Gee had. It took several shots to get a few with all three children looking the right direction. Then it was naptime. When they woke up, Gee and Pops had a special treat for them - cupcakes! They really enjoyed these, especially Henry. And then it was time to head back to Dallas. We got home just in time to feed the boys, give them a bath, and put them to bed after a very long day. Hopefully they will sleep well.

What Would Emily Post Say?

I think we may have a manners problem with Henry. We were eating dinner tonight - Ben's highchair was next to me and Henry's next to Andy. All of a sudden there is a strange sound and Andy yells "OMG! There's sh*t everywhere! It's even on my arm!" Yes, Henry had a blowout at the dinner table. So Andy got up and started filling the bathtub while the boys finished their dinner (there isn't much that will keep Henry from eating, including sitting in a poopy highchair). When Henry was done, we realized that we had another problem - we can't put him in the bathtub like that because the tub is already full of water. So we had to hose him off in the sink and then Andy gave them both a much-needed bath.

We have had a crazy week. But I say that every week. And next week will just be crazier because I will be in Denver Monday and Tuesday and then in Phoenix Wednesday and Thursday. And we have a big day planned tomorrow. We are going to the Presby NICU/SCN Reunion to show off our healthy big boys to the wonderful doctors and nurses who took such good care of them for the first 6 weeks of their lives. I need to remember to bring my camera since I have gotten so bad about taking pictures lately. So hopefully I'll have some good pics in my next post. But for now, you'll have to settle for some of my old favorites.