Lilypie 1st Birthday Ticker
Lilypie 4th Birthday Ticker

Friday, September 19, 2008

Drew

Drew and I got to go see the dinosaurs at the Natural Science Museum a while back. He really liked it. He especially liked the mechanical robot dinosaur and loved pushing the buttons!
(He threw a fit to wear the boots... Sometimes you just have to pick your battles.)




Our friends, the Nelsons, brought us dinner a few weeks ago. Drew and Emily had lots of fun playing.

saying "Cheese"

Gabe and Drew, the night the Gardners stayed with us during Gustav.

I told Drew to go get in the bed. This is what I found when I got back there a few seconds later... boots on, book open.

A few random pictures...

Here are just a few other pictures of the boys!
Reed & Ryan listening intently to Daddy during a bath
When I put Reed to bed, he was swaddled, and on his side... Look at him a few hours later!
Reed in the new swing!
Ryan
Reed loves to eat oatmeal at night! I just knew that it would make him sleep all night... did it? NO!Is that a smile????
Granny and Papaw Smith came to visit for the first time!

Baby Dedication

This past Sunday was baby dedication at our church. We were very brave to do it!! There was a breakfast for everyone at 8:00am, and let it be known that WE were the first ones there! Yes, that's right, the ones with the MOST children were there first!! They were SO sweet, and other than Drew asking "where's papaw?" all during it, everything went great!

the Sandbergs with Stan

Ryan, Reed

Grammy & Papaw
GranJan & Grandpa
Drew is being bribed with Superman prizes at home if he is quiet.




Tuesday, September 16, 2008

How do you do it with twins?

Okay, well, I should be empyting the dishwasher, picking up toys, and washing baby clothes, among other things right now, but I just have to describe my very adventurous morning. The age old question everywhere I go is "how do you do it with twins?" Well, after this story you will see that obviously I'm not doing whatever "IT" is right!
Ryan had to go back to see the pediatric surgeon that did his hernia repair because we thought a hernia had developed on the other side. So, I load up the (very heavy) double stroller, get the boys fastened and in the carseats and head off to Batson Hospital. So far so good, right? Well, as I was turning to park in the lot in front of the hospital, I rolled down the window to get a parking ticket. Well, the wind blew the ticket away before I could get it from the machine. So, I put the truck in park, got out (while hitting the door on some concrete thing) and find the ticket. Now, there are 3 cars in line, waiting to get into the lot. So, I get it together and drive in. Well, guess how many empty spaces there are?? That's right, ZERO!! So, after driving around the lot a few times... I guess thinking that one of the parked cars would magically disappear so I could park, I decided to drive around to the parking garage over by the Wiser Woman's hospital. So, I do that, unload the stroller, unload the babies, get the diaper bag, and get my purse. I walk across the walkway, and through Wiser over to the Batson. As I am checking in, I thought I smelled a poopy diaper, I checked, and it was negative. Whew!! One less headache. Okay, so, we finally get checked in and head off to the room to get weighed and measured. By this point, Ryan has definetly had a BM, which by the way, is cause for celebration for him... he did it on his own, with no suppository or Miralax! So, I have to leave the weighing room and walk around the corner to this TINY ladies' room. I park the HUGE stroller, which is blocking the only 2 stalls... all the time praying that no one would come in to use the potty. As I got Ryan on the changing table, the door swings open and in walks a nurse. I stop and try to move the HUGE stroller so that she can get by. In the mean time, Ryan is screaming and Reed decides to join him. Well, I get Ryan changed and back in the HUGE stroller and the sweet nurse is just trying to help me, all the while saying "I don't know how you do it with twins!" OK, so I manage to manuever out of the bathroom and back to the weighing room. Ryan weighs 11.3 and Reed 12.6 (she weighed Reed just to be nice!) So, we get to the waiting room and I find an empty corner to park the HUGE stroller. We are taking up about 4 places. There was another mom with her kids in there, and you'll never guess what she said to me... that's right "I don't know how you do it with twins!" By this time, Ryan and Reed are ready to eat. So, I decided to go ahead and start feeding Ryan, thinking we'd have to wait a while. Not so much. As soon as we got started good, they came and got us. So, we loaded up the HUGE stroller and went to the room. I was able to get about 2 ounces down Ryan and a good burp before the resident came in. We put Ryan on the table, and he poked,prodded, pulled, and squeezed him. I was thinking... yep, all of that bottle is about to come back up. But, remarkably, it did not. So, after the resident left, I got Ryan settled back in my lap to finish his bottle. However, THIS is when it all came back up. And I mean ALL of it. It was projectile spit up at its best. And not just formula, no. My boys have formula plus 1 tbsp of rice cereal per ounce of milk to help with reflux. So, when it comes back up, it is thick and disgusting. Well, it got all down the front of my shirt and all in my lap and right leg, down the legs of the chair, and onto the floor. About this time, Reed, who has been sitting in the carrier in the stroller, starts screaming. So, I tried to clean up the spit up. I used almost all of the wipes I had, and three burp cloths. Ryan is screaming because the bottom half of his outfit is wet (no, I didn't bring an extra) and Reed is screaming because he is hungry. So, I am standing up (soaking wet down one side of my body) holding ryan on the left trying to calm him down and holding a bottle in Reed's mouth on the right. Enter, Dr. Sawaya. He proceeds to poke and prod on Ryan again, making him even more mad the second time around. Reed starts screaming again because all of a sudden the bottle was taken out of his mouth. The doctor begins to tell me that he thinks that Ryan has a hydrocele (sp?) which is fluid, not intestines. This is good because sometimes they go away on their own. However, we go back next week (yes, we have to do this all again next week) and if it is still there, we will have to have surgery to repair it! So, please pray that it will go away! After he left, I sat right there in that room and finished feeding Reed. When I finally got loaded up and back in the suburban, I thought about only one thing I needed. I got home and got the boys unloaded and headed to the pantry for comfort food.
I ate Doritos and drank 2 diet cokes.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

15 weeks old

It is hard for me to believe that the babies are 15 weeks old. Reed has been home now for 8 weeks and Ryan has been home 5. We are still trying to get a schedule going!! Maybe it will happen one day. Here are a few pictures of the boys:

Reed and Drew

Reed, Ryan


Ryan, Drew (after a new haircut), Reed

I also forgot to mention that during the time of Gustav, it was the sandberg refugee camp here for a few days. Carl's parents had to evacuate from LaPlace and our sweet friends, the Gardners, lost power in Brookhaven, so they came to stay (just one night... but 2 fun days!!!) So, we had 6 adults, 4 infants (2 sets of twins), and 2 2 year olds!!!


Sunday, September 7, 2008

6 GLORIOUS YEARS!!

Today, Carl and I celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary! I am so lucky to have the greatest husband and BEST friend in the whole wide world! We have so many wonderful memories already and I am looking forward to millions more. I think if you would have told either one of us that we would have 3 boys before our 6th wedding anniversary, we would not have believed it!! But, we are so thankful for ALL 3 of our little blessings, and especially for each other.
On a side note:
While each year is special and unique in its own way, I must pause to remember how we celebrated our anniversary last year.... in Jamaica. This makes me smile in the midst of the way this year is celebrated... sleep deprivation, dirty diapers (double the normal amount), fixing bottles (double the normal amount), gassy babIES, cleaning up LOTS of spit up due to reflux, washing burp cloths and bibs every day, running a dishwasher FULL of bottles at least once a day..... But, we wouldn't have it any other way, right!!??
I know, it's just a season.
Now, some peaceful memories:


Happy Anniversary Carl!!