Visitors

My best friend Jen came in town from Colorado for the Cowboys game last weekend and her husband came in from Lawton (he is finishing up his army commitment) and in laws (from San Antonio) all came by to see the boys. They just loved the Cowboys hats and had so much fun playing with Aunt Jen, Uncle Travis, and Mrs. White. Thanks for coming by everyone! :)

Aunt Jen tries to keep a hold of Cyrus while he is elated over the hats he sees.


Uncle Travis lets Collin try on his hat... Wow, Collin likes it!


They are so big on me, that's funny!
I really like you Mrs.White, thanks for coming by to see us. :)


Cyrus puts the hat on Aunt Jen that he stole from Collin's head.

Oh Cool! Now we are both wearing hats!!
Cyrus' fits a lot better than Collin's.

Happy Thanksgiving!

This is our first Thanksgiving at home with no one coming to us. It is just Craig, the boys, and me; a quiet and low key day. We are very thankful that we have two happy children who are as healthy as they can be at this point. We are thankful for the people who have helped us through all we have been through for the past two years- my parents who have been invaluable in their support and emotional availability, all of our family for being there when we needed you with love and supporting the boys, our friends for their love and support, the doctors, nurses, surgeons, therapists, our mircopreemie friends who can relate to our plights, and most of all the strength of these two little miracles to have thrived through such overwhelming odds to be where they are today. May each Thanksgiving day give us more reasons to be thankful and may each year be better than the last. Now I am going to go enjoy this day off, which is a day without DR appointments, therapy sessions, and the boys are not going to be force to eat full meals if they do not want to. That's more for me to relax than for them of course. :P

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!


Can I have chicken and stars for Thanksgiving this year, mom?


We just love the dryer... But Cyrus is getting bored I think.


Cyrus can be my seat to look at the light!


We have claimed this piece of shelving
in the name of the Swain Twins!


Now Collin, listen up... here are the design plans for our
Mecha-Legs to reach the computers
and other hard to reach items.

Feeling Better

We thought at first it was just a cold or allergies, but their congestion turned into a coughing, miserable, snotty, sleepless mess. So we did the usual Tylenol runny nose & cough during the day with Benadryl at night, pushing the fluids and not working so hard to make them eat. We had their two year check up on Thursday, where they were weighed and measured standing up for the first time... My boys are growing up! :) It makes me so happy to see them getting bigger and doing more, but I digress.

So we got our shots and our PCP (Primary Care Physician) is recommending the gastro DR to us (again) b/c of Collin's increased reflux problem. He also gave us some really great medicine for their cold which looks like blue airplane toilet water, but it doesn't taste bad and it is 12 hour medicine, versus the 4 hour on the Tylenol. Woo HOO!! They have been doing so much better and this morning they are looking like themselves again. The other thing our PCP recommended was therapy through Cooks for Collin to replace the therapy from TWU we will be losing at the end of the month.

Today is going to be a busy day so I better get to it, but I wanted to jot this down while I had a few minutes. Fun pics to come...

How early was I?

I have about four friends and then a few acquaintances who are pregnant and a few were curious how far along I was when Collin & Cyrus was born... I also have been on pins and needles whenever I hear about pregnancies and I worry about how their pregnancy will go and all that. So I went and did the math and discovered that to be technical:

Collin was born at 25 weeks, 2 days; 103 days early

Cyrus was born 25 weeks, 5 days; 100 days early

They were approx. 15 weeks or 3 1/2 months early... Crazy when I think about what I know now compared to what I knew then. Amazing. Just wanted to document this... Must go sleep... This is my scrapbook...My journal... My memories.

Prematurity Awareness Month

I just wanted everyone to know that November is Prematurity Awareness Month. So please consider all those pleas from the March of Dimes when you get those address labels, either using them with guilt or tossing them so you wont feel guilty. Go to the website and donate or find a local donation center. Children like mine depend upon it.

Online Donations links:
In Honor of Collin and In Honor of Cyrus

Collin, just over a week old, 4 IVs, a ventilator,
and more... Look what these little ones
have to go through.

Cyrus only a few days old, just barely two pounds,
and wearing Craig's wedding ring.

Halloween and Such

We had a good Halloween, our first time to Trick or Treat. Cyrus absolutely loved it, taking about three houses to get the idea and just having a ball. We only went around two streets (which was more than plenty) and a friend of mine drove all the way from Dallas to help me take them around. Next year will be even better, when Collin will (hopefully) be walking and can say "trick or treat" and enjoy all the loot they will acquire. This year however, most of it will be consumed my Mom and Dad.

Our therapy at TWU is going excellently and we are so sad that it will be over at the end of the month. Collin has gotten so much out of it and his eating, oral manipulation, and fine motor skills have improved drastically in the six weeks we have been in the program. He has even said a few words now: "yea!" "eat," and more clearly "mama." But he says yea the best, holding both arms over his head in a touch down motion. We have been fingerpainting and learning to tolerate more textures (rice is still a big no no) and he loves to play in the ball pit now. Cyrus has the best time while we are there jumping on the trampoline, riding the big swing and playing in the rice box.

I think both boys are going through a growth spurt and are taking more bottles at naptime and bedtime, Cyrus especially. He takes two bottles everynight before going to bed... even after having a full dinner that he feeds himself. He can eat a whole toddler entree now, so its not like he is not eating (at least at dinner time), but I have learned that neither one of the boys like mashed potatoes. We will have to give that a try a few weeks down the road. So, we are super busy for now and working hard to keep them at the top of their game, and I am trying to not to be over whelmed by all the work we are doing everyday.

Big sister Gaia will be staying with us the rest of the week while her mom has a c-section tomorrow to deliver her fourth child. Congratulations to her and Gaia will be the big sister to a total of FIVE brothers. I will have to get up at the crack of dawn to get her to school the rest of the week but we will get to go to her school carnival on Saturday, so that will be fun. Um... I am sure there is more; we had a quasi-birthday party for the boys on the Saturday between their birthdays. It was fun but exhausting as I had expected. :P Well, on to the pictures so I can hopefully get some things done around here before the boys get up from their nap.

Cyrus loved wearing his dinosaur costume!

Collin in his lion costume at therapy.
Too Cute, and so fitting for him!

I had to show the tail... it really made the outfit!

Where is Cyrus?

Collin with Miss Stacy playing on the trampoline at therapy.
BTW, it was on Halloween. :P

Happy 2nd Birthday Cyrus!

Over seventy-two hours went by before you born after your brother, and let me tell you little man, those were a long three days! So strong and such a fighter, from day one, your spunky personality shown through and you were there to comfort me, give me hope, when times were tough with Collin in the NICU. Granted you were not to be out done by your brother's constant NICU attention and have given us a few scares in the past two years, but you are not about to let your hydrocephalus stop you from doing anything. Over the past twenty-four months I have watch in amazement as you have quickly been catching up to your fellow two year olds; your keen mind working things out, saying new words everyday to communicate your needs, your pleasure in testing your boundaries, your sensitivity, and desire to be held and loved. I can already see you are wise beyond your years (years now!), you know what you want and are not afraid to get it (over and over and over!). You are so incredibly smart- maybe too smart for your own good! :P Each day I see your smile and it warms my heart and your antics make me laugh. I have watched you help your brother when he needed it. I know he is so lucky to have you as his twin, and I am so very proud of you. I love you Cyrus, and look forward to seeing you grow up and live life to its fullest everyday, just like you do now. Happy Birthday! :)
*One more picture to come... technical difficulties...

Happy 2nd Birthday to me!

I love to eat my table foods, so keep that yucky
baby food away from me Mommy, I'm two now!

Happy 2nd Birthday Collin!

Happy Birthday Collin! You are two years old today, and I am amazed by what you have accomplished, how far you have come. Your smiles and laughter, love and attachment, are reminders of what makes your struggles so very worth it. Even though you cannot yet say so, I can see that you are a happy child who feels safe to grow. You have so much potential and I can see that you are eager to put it to use once you have the tools. The miracle of your survival alone is enough for me to be thankful to have you everyday, but to see how well you have done with what you started with makes it a joy. You may not be doing what a typical two year old may be doing, but it doesn't matter because you are going at your own pace... and you are increasing your speed. I love you my little Collin, thank you for choosing me as your mother so I can celebrate all your achievements with you. Happy Birthday.

So happy to be two!

So ticklish!

I'm gonna get my blankie and you can't catch me!

Catching Up

Uncle D is playing his new Bass Guitar

for the boys and they loved it.
Feel the vibrations!

There is a better pic of Gaia and Cyrus reading in the
chair together, but when Collin joined in on the floor
I had to post this one instead.
How adorable is that!?

Cyrus thinks his chair is a lazy boy recliner.
Here he is waking up with a little TiVo watchin...

Say Ahhh Collin! Stick out your tongue for all to see! :)

I wanted everyone to see just
how much Cyrus loves pumpkin!
That is ink by the way, put there after he ate at it,
not some moldy pumpkin bit. :P

Here we are at the Fort Worth Zoo with our twins group.
Look how sweet Cyrus is, helping Collin stand up.

Weight/Height update:
Collin: 24 lbs. 13 oz., 32 1/2 inches
Cyrus: 28 lbs. 11 oz., 32 1/2 inches
Yes, you read that correctly, they are both the same height! I think it is wrong b/c Collin is swimming in the same footy pajamas that Cyrus runs around in, but I like to think they are...

Anyways- Collin's new therapy up at the college in Denton is AWESOME! He is already swallowing better and chewing. I can even get him to emulate me and stick out his tongue (not a big deal you might say, but we have not been able to get him to do this before). He really likes it there and plays in the ball pit, rides the rocking horse, "jumps" on the trampoline, and rides a horse swing with a therapist sitting with him. Cyrus likes it too and plays the whole time. Soon I will have to get some pics to post. The most horrible thing about it is that the ladies who run the program are leaving and so it is folding; it ends after Thanksgiving. So we will have to get as much in as we can before then.

We carved pumpkins the other day and Collin & Cyrus "helped" hammer in one of the pegs of their light-bright pumpkin while Daddy and big sister carved their own. Hers really turned out great too. We had some friends over carving with us who had not carved pumpkins in a while and so they got the joy of fighting off Cyrus at every turn. :P It was a lot of fun.

Our playgroup at the library is going great too and both of them love to go, but Collin's therapy is cutting into the program so only Cyrus will be going to the next few. All the kids are around their age and I feel so proud to see Cyrus interacting and responding so well. I also enjoy going back to my old workplace and seeing my friends and coworkers. I love any adult interaction.

With all our new appointments and therapies we are doing something pretty much every weekday. Keeps us busy and forces me to get up early, which I need. Collin is having a Barium Swallow Study at the beginning of November to find out if his choking and lack of desire to swallow is because of his swallowing reflex or if he is refluxing into his esophagus- that sort of thing.

Cyrus is almost exclusively on table food now and it is great to let him do his thing while I focus on feeding Collin. He still needs some encouragement and feeding at the end to get a decent meal down, but at least he is doing it himself. :) Cyrus is all over the place and has started cleaning up when I ask him to and talks to Collin (calling him Col) all the time. He loves to go for wagon rides and will get in the wagon and yell out to me "Mama rye (ride) waah (wagon)!" He knows what he wants and he goes for it. He has also taken to yelling this high pitched squeal and it gives me a headache; we are working on the concept of "quiet" but it is a work in progress. I am so proud of him.

I have so many pictures to choose from... I will have to make another picture post soon to show everyone all the fun we have been having!

Food Study

After having the 6 month review with Collin, which was pretty pointless, we saw the nutritionist who recommended a a food study going on at TWU. So we did the insane amount of paperwork that required me going through the discharge papers from the NICU and drove the 45 minutes to the college for his evaluation. They were great and they have asked us to come up to three times a week! That is so great! (although we wont be able to for a while) He will finally get the therapy and attention that he needs to help him catch up. They think at this point he is developmentally delayed and that the delays are not pathological (which we have heard before) making it hopeful that he will catch up. They want to work on his hip movement and fine motor skills in addition to his eating issues. He is still not chewing his food and I know that it is causing me to hold Cyrus back out of convenience since Cyrus is requiring more time to help him learn to self feed with a spoon.

We have been going to the Peapods lapsit group with Grandma and the music group (now with Daddy) to keep us busy and we all love it. Very busy we are and I am starting to take ambien to help me sleep. Hopefully this will be good for everyone... Collin and Cyrus are sleeping better now that they are on Claritin-D everyday. They were sick for about three weeks there, and it turned out to be allergy related.

I have been a little down lately since two people I have been close to have moved away now. One went to San Antonio and the other to Denver. I tend to go into my hole when I get down and with the boys being as mobile and into things as ever I have not spent a decent amount of time at the computer in a week now. But the boys 2nd birthdays are just around the corner, Halloween is coming (one of my favorite holidays! Not to mention the fact that I am a candy junkie), and then the holidays will be here soon. Things to look forward to for sure! :)

We got new chairs for the boys, and Collin likes his Thomas the Tank Engine chair.


Good luck in Colorado Aunt Jen! We will miss you!


Who would have thought he would love wearing the patch so much!
Just goes to show what some kids will do to do what their siblings do.

Collin and Cyrus enjoy playing with their big sister.
Collin your glasses are on crooked!

Collin's Hearing Test

We went up to the hospital today to have Collin's hearing test- and the results are good! He can hear just fine, only mild loss for very high frequencies. That could be related to his age anyway, so says the Dr., and if retested at a later age could turn out that he can hear that as well. So good news, Collin hears and that is not the reason for his speech delay. Bad news, now we need to find out what his speech delay is and hope that it isn't neurological. We were referred to a developmental pediatrician that we will go see and go from there.

We were in a small room with two boxes in each corner (to gauge each ear) with a stuffed animal that played the drums. Every time he recognized the sound and turned it would go off as a reward. It was quite clever and worked really well, he turned to look at the animal when he heard a sound.

Tomorrow is Collin's ECI review so I will have more to say then. What a week for Collin!

Bluebird Blogs Contest

My friend and coblogger has peaked my interest in this contest by Susie over at Bluebird Blogs. And this is my shameless attempt to get a new blog template out of the contest.

I get 5 free entries for posting a blog entry about the contest. Woot! I could use a face lift! I have browsed her testimonials and I am impressed. Pick me! Pick Me!

Happy Birthday Big Sis!

Today is Collin & Cyrus' big sister's 10th birthday! Happy Birthday Gaia! She got tons of loot from her mom and stepdad and then a whole other set of treasures from us (the benefit to having two sets of parents!). So Happy Birthday Gaia!

Hugs to Mom!

Cyrus smiles amicably for his big sister's birthday.
Hey buddy, you have pizza crust on your face...

Collin waves to everyone behind the Baby Paparazzi
trying to get Collin to look at the camera.

Staying Busy

We have been doing all sorts of things lately. We started the "Peapods" program at the library where I used to work (once called the Mother Goose program) for babies up to two years. We do nursery rhymes, finger plays, read a board book, do sign language- it is wonderful! I have wanted to get the boys in there for so long and love it! I have missed working at the library and I miss the people there. We have also been doing Musikgarten where we song songs and play with simple musical instruments like bells and percussion sticks. The boys are a little too young for the program right now, but it runs through December so by then they will be answering the questions and doing all the motions and dances.

They both are so much fun and they need the social interaction and exposure to regulated progam environments (they wont be with mommy all day forever...). I have also noticed they are the most rambunctious kids, which makes me worry that I have given them too much freedom at home. They can go from one end of the house to the other and I leave their door open so they can play in their room. Is this perhaps too much? Should I keep them in one room at a time? What are other parent's thoughts?

Collin had been teething and was feeling pretty bad over the weekend. Poor little guy had fever and low appetite and was very cuddly, needing his mommy. I love that Collin was feeling cuddly since he usually does not sit still long enough to be cuddling with anyone unless Jack's is on TiVo (yes, we watch TiVo, not TV). He is feeling better now and they are into everything together. Cyrus leads the disaster but Collin can climb on anything Cyrus can now, so there is no safe places.

My memory is getting worse and worse and my friend tells me its sleep deprivation. The other day I actually forgot to pick Craig up from he autoshop on my way to my sister in law's. I talked to him on the phone right before I left the house!! This is just madness, and I find myself occasionally forgetting things between the time it takes to get out my notepad in my purse to write it freakin' down! What the @#$%^ people?!? *deep breath* Well, here are some pics while life has been going on (before I forget!!). I love being the Baby Paparazzi...

I am trying to find the picture of Cyrus like this from last year...a comparison.


Cyrus enjoys his homemade ice cream at Grandma & Grandpa's house.
"Cold!" he kept saying, and loved every minute if it!


Mommy and Collin having fun together.
Collin wears his patch without a fight, most of the time.


While Collin was sick I put him in the "backpack" so I
could still get things done around the house.
Doesnt he look pitiful?

Because I needed a change

Those that know me will laugh and shake their heads at my doing this, and to those that do not, just know that I was bored and needed a change from the old stay-at-home-mom feeling. So I colored my hair- again. I blame it on the fact that I am a Leo and my mane is my attention getter, so I am constantly changing my hair style. This was fun and I feel a little Anime, but that's fine. I know it is just a temporary thing. What the hell, right? I do not have a 9 to 5 job that tells me I cannot do it. If you like it, please let me know, and if you don't, well, I don't want to know. :P

Ok, so my hair is red. It was supposed to be magenta/purple, but whatever. I still like it. :)

I colored my previously blonde bangs and some of the center to allow for...

This... I love it!

If I brush it back then it falls all around my head, which I like. While I was doing this I thought it would either look really cool or be a total disaster. My bangs are just about ready to fall off with all the dying I have been doing to them but, whatever. I do need a haircut, so that will help.

And to mention my children, they are doing great. Collin has been a champ with his eye patch and Cyrus has not been trying to pull it off so I have hope that his eye will be strengthened by the new year for his surgery. We got a playgym for them from my sister in law which I am so excited about. It is so cool and they love to go down the slide. Cyrus is walking and talking and being a terrible two-sie but he pointed to Gaia's new hairbrush today and said "Blue!" It was so exciting to realize he had learned the color blue!!! Maybe he is paying attention to me after all...

Collin loves his mew playgym so much he could eat it!

Collin and Daddy smile big for the Baby Paprazzi! Hurray!

It is so much fun to play under the kitchen table...
yes, we do not wear pants all that often at home. I mean,
with that bulky diaper, it must be uncomfortable, right?

Midnight Tantrum

The fear is that by letting one cry in the middle of the might that it will wake the other one, and in the end like a good deal of spoiling, it is done for the sake of the parent rather than the child. Cyrus woke up all upset and hungry so I fed him and rocked him trying to get him back to sleep. And of course once I thought I was free and clear, I hear Collin chiming in from the other room (not even in my own bed yet). Which reawakens Cyrus to a jealous rage that Collin is now being held. I waited until Cyrus was quiet again before putting Collin down, but Cyrus' tantrum woke Collin up to the point where he didn't want to be held and rocked back to sleep but wanted to check things out. So I put down a quickly agitated Collin that set off Cyrus... Geeze, people, let Mommy have some peace!

I left them both sitting up and wailing those alligator tears, gave them each a hug and kiss, told them I loved them and that it was night-night. Then I closed the door and sat down at my computer. Now they are both quiet, hopefully asleep like they wanted, just not how they wanted to get back to sleep via in Mommy's comforting arms. One at a time please is my rule. They need to know how to self sooth, and that Mommy will not make a worse habit than she already has about going in there during the night to rock them back to sleep. I foresee another few days ahead of me filled with crying nights of renewed tantrum energy before I can start sleeping through the night more than once or twice a week. I must count my blessings that it is not still every night, but still. My precious sleep loss may later become one of my most vivid memory reasons not to try for another child; pregnancy loss, preemie scare, caring for the kids we have, and mountains of health care debt aside.

Let's see, about an hour and a half past my hopeful bedtime, which bodes badly for my ability to wake up on time in the morning. The more tired I am the less I hear my alarms. We had some good rain the is supposed to keep coming through tomorrow/today so maybe it will stay dark and the boys will sleep in too.

I know I promised pictures, and I will get to it, but * insert suitable mom of twins excuse here*. I will get to it this week. We had a good weekend overall and the boys are starting to need to get out of the house like me these days. I wish it weren't so dammed hot all the time. We all miss the wagon rides. Ok, I am satisfied that they are sleeping again and I am going to try to sleep myself. My poor hubby is getting up less than three hours and I want to be in bed when he does, let him think I have been there the whole time. ARGH! NOOOOOO! Someone is crying again! Now I am going to cry!

Cutie and snuggable Collin enjoys his teething toy.

Just a peek at the kids playing at the
McMoms Mobile Munchkins playdate.

Cyrus trying to get into the cat spot while Collin
crawls across the couch on to the coffee table to get a closer look.

Collin fell asleep in the car, now he is breathing
through the nose pieces of his glasses.

Hear ye, hear ye, all children of multiples & triplets...
This is only one of the rooms where the
17 children were running about.