1st birthday!!!!

THE BOYS HAD A WONDERFUL 1ST BIRTHDAY!!!

The boys had a very eventful 1st birthday and enjoyed every minute of it!! On Thursday we went out to lunch with Grandma Lindi, Mimi Kim, Great Grandma Cheryl, and Auntie Kayleigh. They boys ordered Mac N Cheese for the first time and had so much fun feeding themselves and playing in it : ] Then that night all my side of the family went to Red Robin to celebrate! The boys had so much fun with their balloons and being center of attention. They got sang to and Jaden loved it and clapped his hands along while Jaxson got a terrified face and screamed and cried ( he was trying to crawl out of his highchair and get away from the singing). However once they got their ice cream both boys were very satisfied!! We had such a wonderful night with our boys and felt so blessed to be celebrating their 1st birthday!! What a crazy year it has been and we couldn't be more proud of how far they have come!!!

Sweet Jaxson mesmerized by his balloon!

Jaden playing with his balloon!

it's rough being 1, i need a break : ]

Sunday we had a big birthday part for the boys and they got SPOILED!!! They had so much fun opening their presents, eating cake, and being just plain spoiled. : ] Both boys dove right into their cupcakes and loving it until little Jaxson got it all up his nose and in his eyes... then it wasn't fun anymore. Jaden ate about half his cupcake and probably way too much frosting but it was his birthday, we couldn't stop him. The boys got two push toys and loved them!! Jaxson decided to be the rider and Jaden was pushing him all around. It was the cutest thing in the world!! Yesterday Jaxson learned how to push Jaden too so they can take turns now. (Also my niece was over today, she's almost 5, and was playing with the boys while I was doing laundry. I peak out into the living room to find her sitting on the truck and Jaden pushing her around, I couldn't believe it! We've got some STRONG boys). Hope you enjoy the pics from the birthday party!

JADEN THE BIRTHDAY BOY!

JAXSON THE BIRTHDAY BOY!!

this was after the cake hint no shirt

Jaxson dove right in, yummy!!!

is this okay daddy?

Jaden loving all the sugar!

trying out the new wagon!

Video of Jaden pushing Jaxson around... SO CUTE!!!!

i've seen miracles happen!!! and they will be 1 tomorrow : ]

WOW WOW WOW!! What seems like yesterday has been a year already.
Sorry for the lack of updating the last months but we have been SO busy and the last thing I want to do when i get home is get on the computer. They boys are doing great and growing so fast!
The boys got tubes in their ears and everything went great. Poor Jaxson got double ear infections and his left ear drum burst the day before ( of course his luck seeing how he never got ONE ear infection before). However getting the tubes was an instant relief for the infection. We had a follow up and both boys FINALLY passed their hearing test and they have concerns with their hearing. Thank goodness because it is nearly impossible to keep them still during the test. Jaxson scored slightly lower than Jaden but they think it is due to his little ear drums and his hearing will improve as his ear drum grows.
Well now that the boys have mastered rolling, crawling, and climbing it's now on to walking!!! They are getting so strong and so close to walking. They have a push toy and will grab on and take off cruising around the house. It's so funny because they look so small to be walking. Jaden has also took some steps all by himself!! : ] He can stand all by himself but isn't sure about moving his feet. If you put something out in front of him he really likes he will take some steps forward, realize what he is doing, then fall to the grown like he's embarrassed... silly boy! Jaxson can stand by himself for s few seconds but his legs are still a little weak and can't stay up long.
So the boys eat 4 main meals a day with snacks in between and only a few bottles. It still changes from day to day but they are consuming a lot more solids! It's so nice because they are starting to eat what we do which makes it much easier on us and lighter on the check book : ] And they love to eat with us... If we eat a meal without them they crawl over out chairs and stand up and beg like puppy dogs. They even get to drooling and smacking their lips. : ] They are too cute!!!
Well that was a short update on what the boys have been up to. Growing big and strong and becoming their amazing selves!!!!

JUST A LITTLE BACKGROUND!!!!....
A year ago today I had been in Antepartum at ST.Lukes Boise, ID for two weeks not knowing that the next day would bring our miracle boys!! After finding out we were having twins many complications occurred and our pregnancy took a totally different turn! We were referred to St Lukes Maternal Fetal Medicine where they discovered the boys suffered from and extreme case of Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome and Jaxson suffered Selective Intrauterine Growth Restriction. Assuming they wouldn't have the best outcome they suggested to terminate the pregnancy but that was not an option to us, we were going to give our boys every chance they deserved!! So at 19 weeks I went to Seattle for Laser Surgery in hopes to correct some of the TTTS. While being there they had found out Jaxson had only 20% of the placenta and gave him basically no chance of surviving. Jaden had the other 80% of the placenta and after surgery had a 60% of survival. The surgery went wonderful and after some of the longest hours of my life we had an ultrasound and there was 2 hearbeats!! I knew right then the boys were fighters! Even after seeing both heartbeats the doctor warned us there was still a very high chance that Jaxson wouldn't make it threw the next couple weeks... but he did right along with his big brother Jaden. : ] I was on strict bed rest and a very high protein diet. With doctors appointments every week and sometimes multiple times a week. Things were up and down but all along I knew my boys wouldn't give up and I wouldn't give up on them. After a doctors appointment on March 25, 2009 I was put in Antepartum due to my cervix thinning out and being in and out of Labor and Delivery the last couple weeks with premature labor. The boys were able to "cook" a little bit longer until Jaxson decided he couldn't wait to meet mom and dad. On April 08, 2009 I had an ultrasound and Jaxson had no fluid around him (he had always had very little during the pregnancy due to TTTS). I was also having more contractions and every time I had one his heart rate would drop. It was a horrible feeling to watch his heart rate drop down to almost nothing. The doctor finally decided we couldn't leave him like that because of the chance of his heart rate dropping and not coming back up. Since they needed to get Jaxson that meant Jaden was coming too!! Our beautiful boys were born at 10:53pm and 10:54pm Jaden weighing 3lbs 7oz and Jaxson 2lbs 2oz. After a long stay in the NICU we got to bring both boys home and are enjoying our family more than ever!! We were once told to terminate these boys and how if we didn't their chances of a normal life would be slim. And trust me our boys have anything but a normal life ... THEY ARE FIGHTERS AND OUR MIRACLE BOYS!!!
Happy 1st Birthday Jaden & Jaxson!

pictures and an update from their birthday will be up soon!!!

10 months old...WOW!!!

Things are wonderful around here!!! Jaden is still all over the house and pulling himself up on everything and anything! Jaxson is still scooting himself and rolling all over and trying really hard to crawl!! He is now getting up on all fours and rocking so he is close, he goes backwards but still not sure how to go forward (Jaden did the same thing, kind of funny). They are keeping us very busy and as soon as we sit down they get into something and up we go chasing them. : ]
The boys sure have found their appetites lately and eat SO MUCH!!! However we tried some new organic baby food and that is all they will eat now. Thank goodness Fred Myer's had a great sale on it last week and we were able to stock up because the organic is much more than regular (and food goes fast around here with two mouths to feed). They will still eat fresh fruit and vegetables which is a plus! Jaxson is doing so great with eating he will not get his O.T. anymore. We are starting to go every other week then should stop services by March. We are so proud of how far he has come with his eating!!!
Another thing the boys have learned to do is DANCE!! It is the cutest thing in the world. We put on their musical videos and they get so excited and bop their heads and wiggle. Or if you tell them "DANCE DANCE or WIGGLE WIGGLE" they will. We have to be careful and watch Jaden because he prefers to stand up and dance and gets into it a little too much and crashes to the floor. I have a video on my phone and will post it as soon as I get it emailed.
Monday we had a follow up with Dr.Curnow for Jaxson's extra fluid in his testicle and things went GREAT!! The last couple weeks the fluid has gone down a huge amount! He tolerates his tummy much better and isn't uncomfortable. Curnow said a little fluid will remain up to a year but it shouldn't come back like it did. If that does occur it is more likely another hernia and not fluid and we need to bring him back in right away, but we are very confident in Curnow's work and hoping this doesn't happen! Our next follow up is in November and making it our goal to not see him until then : ]
The boys have had continual fluid in their ears basically ever since they've been born. We have had many appointments with Elks Hearing and Balance and they finally referred us to an Ear Nose and Throat Doctor. We were referred to Jill Beck and it took us 3 months to get in, but we finally got to meet her Wednesday. She checked both the boys ears and sure enough there was still fluid build up in both. She was very puzzled that neither of them have had an ear infection but that most likely means they have good immune systems! Since the fluid is not going away on it's own they will both get tubes. If fluid stays built up for too long it can effect their hearing and even in some cases cause complete hearing loss. So... on February 23rd both the boys will get tubes and also get their tongues clipped. The little muscle underneath their tongue is attached to the tip of their tongue which causes them to not be able to stick their tongue out all the way. She said they will never be able to french kiss a girl and I said that is just fine!!!! : ] It can also cause speech problems so since they will already be out for their tubes she will just clip them then! We are scheduled for an outpatient surgery and praying everything goes great!
Well I think that is all the news we have, besides some pictures!


Jaden fell asleep in his boppy and sun bathed : ]

Last week on a nicer day we decided to get out of the house for awhile and take the boys to the park. They had a lot of fun and I think it was great for them to get out of the house and get some fresh air!!

HAPPY BOYS

MOMMY & JAXSON GETTING READY TO GO DOWN THE SLIDE

DAD & JADEN AFTER THEIR RIDE DOWN THE SLIDE

MOM & THE BOYS ENJOYING THE FRESH AIR

This video was having some problems uploading so I'm not sure if it is going to play. It is a video of Jaxson trying to crawl and Jaden just being his cray self.

BUSY BUSY BABIES AROUND HERE!!! Ever since Jaden has learned how to crawl the word "NO" seems to get used very often in our household. Not only is he crawling he is learning to pull himself up on things as well : / He especially loves to try to pull himself up on the swings so we have to keep a close eye on him. Jaxson is sitting up on his own now and is rolling all over the place. We are working on putting him in a four point and put weight on his legs. He does pretty well but he still very tense and his arms aren't strong enough to hold him up, but he will get there! As of right now he is only getting physical therapy every other week until a spot opens up for every week. His occupational therapist continues to come every week but he is doing so good with eating and textures in his mouth he may not receive those services much longer.

Jaxson sitting up!!!

Jaden on the move...

DA..DA.. that's all i hear all day long from Jaden these days! He learned how to say Dada a few days ago, it is very cute!! The other morning Trevor went and got Jaden out of bed in the morning to come lay with us and Jaden just laid there and stared at Trevor and said Dada about 20 times... VERY CUTE!! He also is saying it now when Trevor gets home from work, it's amazing how fast babies learn! Jaxson is still babbling and is usually the more verbal one of the two. He loves to tell stories and his new word is baba.

The boys are eating so much these days!! They have decreased their intake of bottles a little and eat 3-4 meals of solids a day... even Jaxson : ] They get very fussy when they are hungry for solids and have got quit the attitudes now! They both are learning that fake whine when they want something or take something away the can't have. Jaden especially that he's crawling... If he is headed towards something he can't have and we take it away he will sit up and throw a fit like it's the end of the world... it's kind of funny but hoping we can work on that. One other great thing that happened this week is Jaden did the sign more! I have been teaching the boys simple signs for a few months now and the other night Jaden did the sign more while we were feeding him. I thought it might of been on accident so we got his favorite veggie sticks and asked if he wanted more and once again he signed more!!! It was really exciting to see this. He now does it almost every time he eats if we don't feed him fast enough... they love their food!

Come on mom we're hungry!

The other night before we were getting the boys ready for bed they were being really fussy like they were hungry (which they shouldn't have been seeing how they just ate about an hour before) so i decided to just feed them in the living room thinking they would only have a few bites and realize they weren't really hungry. Well... they ate that whole jar of baby food in just a few minutes.. and still wanted more! They are growing hungry boys!!!

Jaden liking the jar clean...

Jaxson liking the jar clean also...

They both were eyeing the jar... but it was all gone!

9 month check up!

Every morning the boys get their toys when they wake up and lay on the ground til they actually "wake up". They are always very sweet and calm in the mornings but they were especially sweet the other morning!! I laid them down and went into the kitchen to my coffee and when i came out Jaxson had rolled over and they were snuggling chewing on their toys! It was so sweet!!!

Having some fun...

Monday we had the boys 9 month check up and everything is looking great!!! They both are following their own growth curves very well. Jaden was 20lbs 7oz and 27 1/2 in. long. Jaxson was 15lbs 9oz and 26 1/4 in. long. They continue to still have fluid in their ears which is the biggest issue we have right now but we go see a specialist the beginning of February. Also Jaxson's fluid has gone down a tiny bit in his testicle but it is still very large and we will see Dr. Curnow in a few weeks to resolve that. We hoping he can just drain it and it will stay away without doing surgery again.

Jaxson got a new physical therapist last week and we just love her!! She had so much fun meeting the boys and is looking forward to working with Jaxson. She thought he is doing great for how tight his muscles still are and assured me he will only improve!

Jaden started crawling the other night and it has been a busy last couple of days. He gets lazy and just pushes off his knees and flops down after a few strides but he is quick about it.

Jaxson has some of the best giggles so we thought we would share : ]

I was trying to get a video of Jaden crawling but he decided to just sit up instead. He is doing great from going on all fours into a sitting position and from a sitting position onto all fours without hitting his head so much.

NEW TOY!!!!

Jaxson is still struggling to sit up on his own for long period of times so my mom bought him this wonderful toy!! It encourages babies to sit up and is very entertaining!!! It plays music, lights up, has lots of buttons for them to push, and a mirror!! The first night we had it they both were so excited and played all night! So far it is helping Jaxson sit up. He can hold on to the sides and helps with his balance. Jaden loves it and is dancing to the music occasionally. SO CUTE!!! He wiggles his hips with the biggest smile on his face.


Jaxson smiling at Mimi in the mirror!

Jaden loving his new toy!

Jaxson's shirt got stuck on his head and we thought this was the cutiest picture!!!!

Jaden is starting to pull up on things and wants to stand up. We set toys on the chair and put him on our lap and he has to use his legs to pull himself up and get his toy! He loves doing this and thinks it's a fun game! Once he's up though all he wants to do is stand and play with his toys. He is getting so big and strong... We can't believe he is standing on his own (while leaning against something)

The boys rarely get jealous of each other and never mind it we are holding one and the other one is playing on the ground.... But every once in awhile they both just want to be cuddled at the same time! It is very challenging when I'm home by myself sometimes to pick them both up now that they are 15lbs and 20lbs. We took a picture the other night and found an old one when the boys were just 1 week old. The difference is AMAZING!!!!

snuggling with mom at 1 week old

still so sweet!!! snuggling at 8 1/2 months old

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

HELLO!!! So you'd think with me being a stay at home mom I would be more up to date with their blog, however the boys are keeping me VERY busy these days and when I get a second to myself I like to just sit down and enjoy the quiet. They are doing GREAT and we are enjoying them so much. It's been awhile so we have lots to update you on...


Jaxson loves to play in his swing and is chewing on everything these days!!

Jaden is almost crawling... he gets up on all fours and rocks. The other night he actually crawled a fewe strides, it was very cute! (he goes backwards just fine)

The boys continue to get bigger and stronger and amaze us more every day.

JADEN: Has done great this last month and is keeping us on toes while he cruises all over the house and wants to get into everything he's not suppose to! We had a close call a few weeks ago when he pulled a stocking off the fireplace and the stocking holder landed right next to his head, thankfuly it didn't hit him. He was on the ground NOWHERE near the fireplace and I went in the kitchen to rinse out their bottles and within 30 seconds he managed to get the stocking. He is getting very quick about things! He can now sit up all byhimself all the time. We are teaching him how to go from a sit into a four point so he doesn't just tip over and bang his head. He is getting better at it and getting very strong! He now can get up on all fours and is so close to crawling, he will rock his little bottom and gets so anxious to go then just plops down like he's not ready. He has took a few strides but looses his balance and falls down. I'm TOTALLY okay with him taking his time to learn how to crawl : ] My days will be even more crazy! He got over his pnuemonia just fine and has had no other allergic reactions! The allergy specialist called last week and he tested negative to all the foods he ate when his reaction occured!! It is great news but leaving the doctor a little puzzled. He said that sometimes your body will react to something one time and then it's just fine and you aren't allergic to it which he thinks is the case here. He continues to eat more solids and starting to chomp like he want to chew his few. Jaden has also got hiss two bottom teeth!!! They just started breaking the sking last week and you can see them now.... and they are sharp!! Poos baby has a sore on his tongue from rubbing it against his teeth. He is getting so big and wears 12 month clothes, I remember when preemie clothes didn't even fit and couldn't ever imagine him wearing 12 months!!! Last week he weighed 20lbs, they are starting to gain weight at a slower pace which is completey normal.

JAXSON: Is doing wonderful and is such a sweet baby!!! Jaxson is definitely the calmer one of the two and loves to be held and cuddled where as Jaden wants to be on the ground and get into everything. He is now rolling over both ways and sitting up for short periods on his own. His muscles are still very tight and he continues to recieve physical therapy once a week to work on core strength and flexibility. He is going back and forth on solid foods lately. Somedays he loves it and will eat more than Jaden and other days he doesn't want anything to do with it, which is just fine. He is at least allowing different textures in his mouth when he is comfortable and not gaging or spitting it out! This last month more fluid has built up in his testicle from his hernia surgery and it started to worry us. When they fix an inguinal hernia they don't remove all the fluid or tissue because it can be dangerous. A small amount of fluid stays in the testicle for up to a year and is normal, but Jaxson like to do everything differently : ] More and more fluid keeps building and so we finally took him in. Dr. Curnow has doen thousnads and thousands of hernia repairs and never seen so much fluid come back. Fluid usually always resolves on it's own withing 12-18 months but the problem with Jaxson's case is there is so much it makes him uncomfortable and he wont go on his tummy because of the pressure. Dr.Curnow doesn't want to wait that long andhave him be afraid of his stomach and not go on it. We have an appointment again in 4 weeks to see if the fluid goes down at all (so far it hasn't) If it is still a large amount he will draw the fluid out with a needle and hope is stays away. If it does come back he will have to do surgery again and remove all the extra tissue and fluid which can be dangerous! We are praying and hoping this wont have to happen. He continues to grow great and is wearing 6-9 month clothes, it is hard to find clothes that fit him perfectly because he is skinny with long legs. Last week he weighed 15lbs 8oz... he is starting to gain weight at a slower pace but is eating fine and not losing!

CHRISTMAS!!!! We had a wonderful Christmas with the boys, family, and friends! They were very spoiled and loved every minute of it. They got excited over their presents and did very good getting their presents unwrapped but then they just wanted to eat the paper. They got new carseats, highchairs, john deer boots, clothes, movies, and toys... more stuff than we know what to do with! We took them to meet Santa and see christmas lights on the 20th and they did very good. Jaden was all smiles with Santa but Jaxson wasn't so sure... but no tears! They loved the lights and were amazed at all the colors and how bright they were!

Jaxson trying out his new carseat

Jaden in his big boy carseat

1st time with Santa

Best stocking stuffers!!!! : ]