Hot enough for you... long and random

I don't know if people will even read this when they see the title. It is SO stinkin HOT. Walk out side, and fry like an egg. Hopefully just a few more days of this. Days like this, I just hope that people are watching over their children, elderly, and animals. Please people.... take care of those less vulnerable than you.

Just some randomness.....

Those of you on Facebook, know I have a new obsession. I am addicted to Matilda Jane Clothing. www.matildajaneclothing.com. It's a darn good thing I don't have 3 girls. I'd go broke. My mom calls it "hippy stuff"... and you all know me, I am far from that. But, for some reason I have just fell in love with this stuff. I cannot acquire it fast enough. Hiding my purchases from Todd at first, but it has become a full fledged addiction. He rightfully told me to tame my purchases for a while... until the fall line comes out. Who can argue with that, that's reasonable I suppose, afterall, it comes out August 1st... shhhhhh.... AND, it's made in Fort Wayne. Seriously... I'm supporting the local economies!

Falling apart....

SOOOO, last Wednesday, I was getting Owen out of the pool (We had a pool fiesta during my lunch) And,..... tweaked my back. Um, yeah. Enough that I lost feeling in my legs, and ended up laying on the patio for about an hour before Todd could get home from work and help me up and go to the local ER. Come Saturday, it was better. Bulging disc they say. Wow. That wasn't fun. Poor Becca. Surprised she came back this week! I had already made an appt with my primary care md related to some abdominal pain while exercising. (For Real, this wasn't an excuse...) And so, long story short, I probably have a significant hernia where I had my abdominal cerclage and c-section. I thought that was the case before I made the appointment. I think I have some adhesions, and significant scar tissue. All of this having weak abdominal muscles with the hernia etc, was likely my back issue. Both doctors said you can thank your triplets for this. Gee... thanks kids! Nonetheless, it comes with the territory. They are worth it. I have a CAT scan/MRI scheduled on Monday. Guessing at some point in the next year, they will have to fix my hernia. I'm scoping out surgeons at St. V's. Although I know surgeons at IU a lot better... I think I will uh, pass on that, for many reasons. There are a few that I worked with at St. V's that are excellent as well. Keeping my fingers crossed that my bowel involvement isn't terrible. I'll keep what I have.
And then.... I had to schedule a follow up colonoscopy. That's in a few weeks. I had polyps starting in early adulthood... have to keep that in check. It's the most preventable, and treatable cancer afterall. um... so yeah.. All I will need after this is an oil change and tires rotated, and I should be good to go for 100,000 more miles.

And, lets see.
What to feed toddlers.
Here is what we are doing now...

0730- wake...table food

0900/0930ish 8 oz formula

1000-12ish nap (unless you are Lillian and decide it isn't necessary for you to nap when you are supposed to)

1230- lunch toddler meal (for lilly and owen split) or something I can think of... lol sippy of milk 2 oz or so, until they throw it across the kitchen!

1400-1/2 milk 1/2 formula 6 oz total bottle

1400-1600ish nap

1600- snack(usually cherrios or crackers, or fruit)

1730- dinner toddler meal etc.with veggie.. juice or water in sippy

1945- 8 oz formula

2000-bed.. shewww!

So, here is what we are feeding already.
Do any of you have any other ideas, or have you done anything different??

Breakfast (usually also a fruit)

Scrambled eggs (this is hit and miss if they throw them on the floor, or eat them)

instant oatmeal

eggo french toast sticks (their fav)

yogurt

waffles

pancakes

dry cherrios (another fav)

toddler oatmeal

torn up bagels

Lunch/Dinner (also I include a fruit or veggie/ or both)

They really like Gerber Toddler meals

spaghettios

already prepared salad chicken prepackaged (thanks Heather Myers!)

spaghetti

ravioli

chunky soup of some sort

anything with noodles and meat

Gerber prepared hot dog snacks were a hit!

Veggies

Grean beans

peas

corn

carrots... i try, they hate them

tried broccoli, they hate it

mixed veggies

potatoes mashed usually

Fruit

diced apples

diced bananas (they hate)

diced strawberries (they hate)

diced blueberries (they hate)

applesause (a fav)

diced peaches (they hate)

diced pears (they hate)

Snacks (sometimes also a fruit/veggie with)

vanilla wafers

cherrios

puffs

graham crackers

we don't struggle with these... they are limited, but a few small daily snacks.

I've read that toddlers are grazers. This is a phase, and it's fine. So, I try to offer snacks when they get grumpy mid morning and mid afternoon. They usually don't eat when they aren't hungry. Perhaps I just need to read more about it. I don't feel confident on how to feed them, and how much. Winging it, and following their lead.

We struggle with fruit. I think I might need to doctor it up a bit more... like maybe cinnamon or something.... ??

They love water, juice at times, and like whole milk. They will drink water constantly from a sippy.

I guess I struggle because I want to make sure they are getting a balanced meal, and nutritous... but, yet get things they like, and make sure that I give them variety to avoid pickyness.

Our peds md wants us off formula at about 15 months give or take a month, and off bottles at 20 months, give or take a month. We will slowly transition to that.

Grey Bear.... then and now!

This is Grey with Becca.... he was likely about 2 months old here. There are definitely smaller pics of him, but I just love this picture!

My little Grey. Baby C. Littlest baby, likely the littlest embryo... but the biggest fighter of all. Grey was born in the same minute as Lillian. They popped out at the same time. Grey was a tad bit smaller, and because they didn't anticipate him being so small, they were unable to get the breathing tube in him. He required 2 minutes of CPR. He was small. 2lbs 1 oz. 13 inches long. He looked like a scrawny old man! Grey was the first that I held when he was about 3 days old. I held him in the neck of my shirt to facilitate bonding. I did this with all of them for almost 6 weeks. At 6 days old, he had his first bowel surgery. Weighing in at 1lb 13 oz... they took 1 cm of his jejunum out after having a tiny hole in his mesentary that connects his bowel to his abdominal wall. Just bad luck the surgeon said. 9 days after that, he had his heart surgery. He had a heart murmur that had to be surgically repaired because he couldn't have the medicine to help it. The medicine was hard on the intestines. About 3 weeks after that he had his second bowel surgery (7/23/10).

Not a day I even want to recount. 9/15 was another day that I would rather not live through again. That was another surgery.... the last of the ugly ones.

I cannot explain my relationship with Grey. It was guarded at first. I was always a little more worried about him. Even from seeing his little heartbeat in my belly. We loved that little guy enough on 7/23, to just say.... "Please God, if you are going to take him..... don't make him suffer..." amongst many tears and a impromptu baptism, and a surgery at the bedside in the NICU. I knew then that Grey, was going to make it, and indeed be something special.

He's gone through a lot. His intestines, his heart, infection, ear tubes, surgeries.... and add on to that liver failure. His liver failure was quite significant. It has since returned to normal function. (Livers are amazing... HE is amazing). Now, we battle his oral aversion, and eating issues. This is improving. The next battle will be his eye muscle issues. Since he was premature, had a rough road in the NICU, etc, etc, etc... it is common for babies to have eye muscle coordination issues. We tried glasses. They don't really work. Although cute... they aren't helping. The eye doctor said we would come back in mid August to see him, and likely schedule a surgery to correct his crossed little eyes. He said he is 100% curable, but sometimes it takes a few surgeries throughout their lives.

The child does therapy 2-4x weekly depending on the week. Becca was here a few times and stated that it was hard to watch him go through it. He GETS SO MAD during therapy. He doesn't want to do it. Becca and I talked about it, and I actually just laugh.... he is mad. He isn't in pain, he doesn't hurt. He is mad. If we didn't want him to get mad, he would be the same little man we brought home that doesn't even break gravity with his extremities. Becca is sick of hurting the little guy... and who could blame her. I had to remind her that she after all, was the one poking and prodding him... it's just our turn now.

I love that little man. He is a wise child. Crying when you touch him with an alcohol swab, or when he sees a white coat, or when he sees a tourniquet in the hospital... he is way to wise for his age. He is cautious, resistant, and all that he has gone through, he is trusting and cuddly and loving. Many of these thoughts and feelings I have put to rest waaaaayyyy in the back of my head, where I hope I never have to explore and relive again.

Grey will be the engineer in the family. He is very methodical at what he does, and how he does it. He likes to take things apart. If he could get that feeding tube out, he would in one swoop. He likes to uncap it, take apart the tubing to the pump, and pull it over to touch the bag. There is a method to his madness!

I think I am tougher on Grey... I've had to be. I do coddle him more, and yet at 1 year old, he is just now being put to bed at the same time, and the same way as Lillian and Owen have for months.

He is a tough little man. He will continue to do just fine. He is sitting up in his bed on his own, army crawling, and trying to pull himself up in his bed. He has come so far, and he won't be stopping any time soon!

This is after Grey's 9/15 surgery. He was very sick. Becca was giving him written affirmations that day. He DID get off the Jet Vent that day!

This was after his swelling had gone down after his final surgery. He was so jaundice from his liver damage.

Another one.... He still loves that pacifier!

This was their 4 month bday. He was on some very heavy medicine to help with narcotic withdrawl from all the pain meds he'd been on while on the ventilator.

This was the day we brought him home. The only thing he really did physically was smaile really big, and he LOVED to look at his fingers. He looked at his hands a lot!

Here he is on his 1 yr birthday! He is deep in thought of course.