4 month pictures

 

Santa!

 

My mom and I took the kids to visit Santa today. Kaitlyn looked a bit scared of him at first and wouldn't walk up to him. I picked her up and set her down next to him and she was fine. Alyssa slept through the whole ordeal, and Joel was looking all around. The best part about visiting Santa so early in the season, was there was NO line! I know that in a few short weeks the line will be miles long, so it was great to get the kids through super quick. 

Happy Thanksgiving

 

Happy Halloween!

Grandma & Grandpa

Kaitlyn loves playing with Grandma & Grandpa! And I don't know what I'd do without them. Here she is coloring with both of them.

 



 

Hello

 Hello Handsome!
 

 

Hello Beautiful!

 

Kids in Diapers

Joel is on the left, Alyssa on the right

 

 

 

On Thursday Joel weighed in at 9 pounds 1 ounce, exactly what Kaitlyn weighed when she was born. Alyssa was just 3 ounces less, at 8 pounds 14 ounces. They were 3 months and 1 week old. It's hard to believe Kaitlyn was this big when she was born!





Joel is Home!

Joel came home on October 5th, at two and a half months old, and 8 pounds 4 ounces. Here are some pictures from that day.

Me and all my kids at home

 

 The babies finally back together

 



The kids with my Dad, one of our best babysitters!

 

Joel has now been home two weeks, and yesterday Joel & Alyssa hit the 3 month old mark!



 

 

The kids with my mom, our other favorite babysitter!

 

Sleeping in the crib together

Alyssa is Home!

Last week Joel got his feeding tube out and we were waiting for Alyssa to start eating all her meals so she could get hers taken out. Finally Sunday morning Alyssa pulled out her tube on her own. When the nurse came into the room, she told Alyssa she had to eat all her meals that day or she would put the tube back in. So that day Alyssa ate ALL her meals, and she never got the tube put back in. I think it is hilarious that she pulled out her own tube and did not wait for doctor's orders.

The next day, Monday, Alyssa took her car seat test, to prove that she could sit in it for 90 minutes without having a significant drop in her heart rate or oxygen level and passed.

Also that day we had our free photo session, since Joel & Alyssa were finally ready to show off their cute faces, tube free.

Tuesday Alyssa was discharged from the hospital, at exactly two months old, and 6 pounds 7 ounces.

Upon arrival home, Kaitlyn was happy to point and smile at the new baby.

 

When it was time to change Alyssa's diaper, Kaitlyn was a little unhappy that she couldn't see what was going on when I put Alyssa on the changing table. When the diaper was changed I handed the dirty one to Kaitlyn and she happily put it in the pail. Then it was time to get Alyssa some milk. Kaitlyn watched carefully, and was especially interested when I sat Alyssa up to burp. Kaitlyn grabbed my hand, moved it away, and started patting Alyssa on the back. She thought it was a great game!

 

Alyssa has been sleeping a lot these first few days at home, which is helpful for me to have a little time for Kaitlyn. The first full day home together Kaitlyn wanted to spend a lot of time in my lap, and threw a few tantrums when she wanted more milk or wanted me to read a book and I asked her to wait. 

 

It is awfully cute when Kaitlyn runs over to peek into the crib and see Alyssa. And sometimes when Alyssa lets out an "I'm hungry" squeal, Kaitlyn squeals back. Kaitlyn even tried her hand at holding a bottle.

 

Of course, the hardest part about having Alysa home, is that I still need to visit Joel in the hospital everyday. It is so hard to see him all alone in his room now, without his sister. He really needs to come home. But, we are pretty overwhelmed with the thought of what life will be like when he does come home. I managed to make it to Alyssa's first appointment with our pediatrician, with Kaitlyn along, and the whole time I was thinking how I would ever manage to take all three somewhere. Oh well, I think I will just try to enjoy my time with Alyssa and Kaitlyn right now.



My Girls!

 

 

Welcome home Alyssa!

 

Finally some good news!

Joel got his feeding tube out today! He's eating everything on his own!


Alyssa is doing great eating too! Hopefully her tube will come out in the next few days!

2 Year Pictures

One Month

Joel & Alyssa were one month old last Saturday. They celebrated by having a visit from Grandma & Grandpa!

Grandma & Joel


Grandpa & Alyssa


This last week Joel reached 5 pounds, and Alyssa is not far behind. Their legs and arms have some meat on them now. And their cheeks have gotten chubby too. Today I noticed that they are wearing newborn size diapers now instead of preemie diapers!

I got to help give them a bath this week. They both enjoyed it.

Joel

Alyssa

Kaitlyn

Kaitlyn has gone to visit the babies a few times. One of her favorite parts is washing her hands :)


Last weekend we took Kaitlyn to a park with a petting zoo, and she enjoyed meeting some animals.

She loved the bunnies.



And the goats, horses and pigs.




She also liked the chickens :)



And she also got to play.


Kaitlyn has also been enjoying playing with the baby things we have been getting out of the closet and collecting. I was worried the bouncy seat would break, but it hasn't yet. She loves to lay in it and play with the toys!


This week we got rid of the infant carseat that she used, since we needed to get new ones for the babies. So I took one last picture of her in it to compare with the first ones.

One day old


Three months old


Six months old


And our big two year old