Olivia and Cole's Baby Naming Ceremony

Well....it only took 3 months, but I've finally figured out how to upload the video that was taken at the baby naming!

One thing I've been terrible about since that day has been getting Thank You notes out! I have pictures of the kids sitting here for all of our guests...and I feel bad that I've yet to mail them. SOOO....here's a great big THANK YOU to all of our guests! Thank you to all of our friends and family for your generous gifts for the kids over these last 8 months and for all of your support and love!

We love you all!

We waited for so long...

We waited for so long to hear Olivia laugh, smile and giggle that I had to take a moment to capture her beautiful expressions today! Olivia is a fighter!! She has started PT and OT and is working hard to teach her muscles how to work effectively so that she can eventually sit up, eat correctly, and move around! We are in constant contact with her doctor's (I counted....she has a pediatrician and 7 specialists plus EarlyOn involved now - so many that I had to make a binder for all of the medical reports) and still trying to get EXACT diagnoses.


Olivia has come a long way, but still has a LONG way to go too! We have additional hearing tests (including a sedated ABR), an endoscope for GI/Reflux issues (to look at her Reflux and also to see if she is absorbing food correctly/rule out Celiacs Disease), a neurology appointment, and an appointment to consider getting her a helmet to correct plagiocephaly (flatness of the head) coming up in the next few weeks. Also, we'll be having a genetic consult with the geneticist on September 3rd. All of these appointments combined may just give us some LONG AWAITED answers. It has been a very overwhelming experience, but we have WONDERFUL doctors and nurses who are VERY knowledgeable and who also take the time to answer all of our questions. I bet they don't even know how appreciative I am of the multiple times they have all acknowledged the rough road Olivia has endured and the positive and caring way George and I are handling things!! On that same note, I also am soooo appreciative for my friends and family who let me cry, laugh, and just plain ol listen to me share stories and experiences.

Love to all!

A weekend without Daddy...

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Well, we SURVIVED (barely)....a weekend with Daddy away. George finally got a chance to head out of town and get Up North with friends. I'm sure it was a much needed vacay after being a stay-at-home dad for 4 months. I was very proud of myself....I survived, kept the kids entertained and even managed to sleep last night! For entertainment, we packed up and drove to Luukas' Tball game to find out it was cancelled...went to Aunt Meg's and Uncle Gregg's for a BBQ....and we had a Lemonade stand. By noon today, I was completely worn out and couldn't WAIT for George to get home!

The twins are 7 months old today!!! Cole sat up for the 1st time and he is VERY close to getting his 1st tooth!! He babbles all of the time and loves the exersaucer! Olivia rolled from front to back for the 1st time today and she is getting BIG! She coos all of the time and loves the jumperoo (now that her toes can touch the ground!). Her big blue eyes are PERFECT!!

Olivia will be starting OT and PT this week to help with poor muscle tone and feeding issues. She had a barium swallow test last week and passed, though she continues to have some difficulty eating due to tight facial muscles. We are awaiting some genetic results and for George to go get tested...but we do know that she is a carrier for Fragile X, has a deletion on Chromosome 2 and an extra Chromosome 21. The doctors are awaiting this latest bloodwork and trying to figure out what it all means...then they will call us to set up a consultation. Also, thankfully...the fluid in Olivia's ears is GONE which means NO TUBES! With that said, Olivia saw the ENT for the 2nd time last Friday. Her hearing test continues to be inconsistent (though she passed her newborn hearing test) and there is a good possibility that she has some hearing loss, especially to tones. She will be seeing the ENT again in 4 weeks and will be having a Sedated ABR (hearing test) done at Children's Hospital in 4-5 weeks (there is a long wait list).

We all had our slew of doctor's appointments last week, as Luukas had 2 cavities filled, George saw the cardiologist and both babies saw the opthalmologist. Olivia's eyes are doing OK...while Cole appears to be pretty far-sighted. We'll see the eye doctor again in 6 months.

Other than doctor's appointments...we've been spending time working and enjoying Luukas' TBall games! Luukas is going to TBall camp this week and Safety Camp next week which he'll just LOVE! After that...it's some much needed Mommy time (I like to call it a fun-filled MOMMY CAMP) until September 1st! We're hoping to fit a quick and cheap trip into our summer at some point!!

LOVE TO ALL!

June and July with the Anders kids!