4mo check up

Today we had our 4 month check up. It started out as a normal day until I realized that I couldn't find my keys. I had the kids loaded and ready to head out to the car when I noticed that my keys weren't hanging on the hook by the door. I called Bob and Erica and Auntie E came to our rescue. She brought our spare key to lock the house and drove the kids and me to the drs. Auntie E gets another gold star(she now has 2 if you are counting).

Bekah is now weighing in at 12lbs and is 23 1/2 inches long. Billy is now weighing in at 14lb 5oz and is 24 inches long. Both are doing exactly what they should for their age and are very healthy. We are adjusting their reflux meds a little, but other than that things are great.

We were given the ok to start solids in the next few months. I'm sure that will be quite the adventure. Now we have to figure out where to put the high chairs. We NEED a house. Everywhere you turn there is baby stuff and no room to do anything. I know it is only going to get worse when they get older.

Houston we have a spitter

Billy has discovered that he can blow raspberries. He blows his spit and then laughs at the sound he made. Uncle Bobby discovered this weekend that Billy is ticklish under his arm pits and laughs out loud when tickled. He also enjoys being tossed (gently) into the air. He laughs out loud at that too. We believe he is starting to work on getting some teeth in. He always has his hands in his mouth and is chewing with a goal. He is standing and sitting with support.

Bekah also enjoys being tossed up in the air. She has such a sweet laugh. She is doing great with sitting and standing with support. We believe that she isn't too far behind brother with her teeth. She is starting to put her hands in her mouth and chewing on her fingers. Her drool volume is starting to increase. We go through quite a few bibs a day between both kids.

Mommy is enjoying time off from work, but is realizing that Christmas break isn't long enough. We had a wonderful Christmas with our family that was able to visit. Grandpa Holtz got into a fun routine of having babies in bed with him while mommy made the bottles. Once Grandma found out, she asked if she could join in on the fun. So, we made a pit stop with Grandma, shared kisses and smiles, then made our way downstairs to Grandpa.

We are looking forward to our continuing Christmas celebration with Grandma and Grandpa Brand and Dottie coming up in Jan/Feb. We can't wait to share our growing bundles of joy with them.

Since Bekah and Billy were born, we have swaddled them when they sleep(naps and bed time). Now that they are getting older, we are going to try to wean them from that. Billy fell asleep tonight in the bouncer, so I carried him upstairs and put him down w/o being swaddled. We will have to see how long he sleeps like that. I'm sure this will be quite the process for the Brand babies, but we will see. I hope and pray they surprise us.

Our First Christmas

Christmas Eve

4 Months Old!

Christmas Vacation

I remember as a kid looking forward to Christmas Vacation. It always consited of sleeping in, making cookies and eating way too much sugar. I started off the traditions yesterday with the kids. I put them in the jumperoo and a bouncer in the kitchen while I made fudge. They had no clue what we were doing, but it was fun. I think they enjoyed the new senery. Today we are going to try to make cookies and pretzel treats. Brent and Deb will be here this afternoon and we are so excited.

Bekah and Billy are now 4 months old. :) I forgot to mention in my last post their weights. Bekah is weighing in at 11lb 10oz and Billy is 14lb. Both are growing great. We will get all of the new measurements and stuff on Monday when they have their 4 mo. check up and shots.

I will try to get 4mo pictures up soon. :)

Yesterday....

was quite the day. Both kids had been sick since Wednesday, and they just weren't shaking it. I called the dr and got them both in. Our appt was scheduled for 10:30 and we arrived around 10:20. Thankfully Erica went with me so that I didn't have both kids by myself. I didn't think that the visit would take too long, but brought bottles for a feeding just in case. Their next feeding should be around 12.

After waiting in the waiting room for quite a while, about 11:45 we were taken back to our room. Erica and I played with the kids on the table, they got to rip the paper(practicing for Christmas). Both kids started fussing and we knew it was time to feed them. Sure enough, as we started feeding them, the dr walks in. By this time the kids had ate their last feeding at 8 and didn't get in their normal nap. They ate their bottles while the dr checked them out. They screamed while the bottles were out of their mouths because they were hungry and needed a nap.

They had to have the RSV test (swab stuck in their nose and down the back of their throat) and that was pure torture. The part that went inside was about 3 inches long. Then they told us that they wanted urine samples. This involved cleaning them off with iodine, and placing a bag on them to catch their sample. Just after we got Bekah cleaned off, she peed all over the table (not in the bag). We had to put on the bag and wait for her to pee. She screamed bloody murder when she had her blood taken. The nurse had a hard time getting blood from her and now has quite the bruise. I'm not sure what upset her more, being held down or the poke.

Billy's turn was next. He was a trooper, he gave a few grunts as the nurse poked him. The first vein didn't give any blood, so he had to be poked twice. While she was getting his blood, he peed in the bag. It was almost like he knew what he was supposed to do.

After the poking and prodding was finished at the drs office, we had to head to the hospital for chest xrays. Bekah screamed her head off while Aunt Erica held her down. It was actually a good thing that she was screaming, because they had to do the xray when she took a deep breath in.

Billy, didn't fuss too much until I held him down. They had a hard time getting a good picture of his lungs because his breath in was quick and it was hard to time.

After hours of testing the poor kids, an exhausted mommy, and Erica returned home. The kids slept forever. They were making up all the sleep they lost. The results were good, it is a viral infection. We are thankful that it wasn't more than a virus, but feel bad that we had to put the kids through all of that. It is better to be safe.

What a day! Aunt Erica gets a gold star for all her help.

3 months old(Nov. 23rd-Dec. 21)

3 Months, 3 Weeks, and 3 Days

I just noticed on the ticker at the top that the kids are 3 months, 3 weeks, and 3 days old!

.....

Sorry, I found it amusing, proceed back to your normal day lol :)
-Bill

We are growing and changing!!!

Ms. Rebekah Marie has been quite the silly little girl. She has learned the new trick of rolling from her tummy to her back. She starts crying when she hits her back because she wants to be on her tummy and roll over. She is fine if you put her on the floor on her back, but if you put her on her tummy, you better be ready to keep flipping her back over. She is full of whole face grins. She has started to "talk" and has a very girly voice. Her eye-hand coordination is amazing. She will look straight at her toy, reach up and grab onto it. She bats at toys that are around her too. Every morning she is full of smiles when we wake her up. When she is unwrapped from her swaddle, she stretches like a big girl and pretty much does a back bend on her crib. This morning when daddy went in to give brother his pacifier, he found Bekah at a 45 degree angle. Picture this, she is swaddled tight, laying in a sleep positioner. She has moved her head from where it was, all the way to the crib rails with her forehead pressed against the rails(left a dent for a little while). Her feet are now kicking her brother in his legs. She is quite the mover. She is also trying to roll herself over while she is in the swing. She likes to have her face snuggled into a blanket (or even the crib rails). Bekah still doesn't have much hair, and the hair she does have is a mixture of blonde, red and light brown.

Mr. William Glenn is our vocal man. He always has something to say and will often crack himself up. He will sit in his chair or lay on the floor and "talk" to his toys. When you talk to him, he gives you a huge grin and shys his face away. His cackle is to die for. Last night at bath time, I showed him how to move his legs in the tub. This was a bad idea. He kicked so much that water hit me in the face, was all down my shirt and ended up all over the floor. I couldn't stop laughing and so he started laughing. This created a crazy circle of laughs. Neither one of us could stop. He doesn't mind if the water gets into his eyes, but he sputters if it ends up in his mouth. He thinks that everything mommy and daddy does is funny. When we dry him off from his bath, he laughs as we rub the towel on him. His favorite part is when you dry his hair. His hair is starting to come in more and it looks dark brown/black. Such the handsome little man. Billy is the calm baby and is very relaxed. He loves watching football with daddy and listening to mommy and daddy play rock band. He gives quite the look to Bekah when she is crying and he is trying to sleep. Billy loves to sleep and could sleep all day like daddy if you let him. He has a whole face grin that is to die for and an Elvis smirk that is hilarious. He loves his pacifier and is instantly calm when you give it to him. If he doesn't have his pacifier, he tries to shove his fist into his mouth to chew on. Some days we think he just might get it all in there.

Reflux is starting to become more manageable. They each get their dose of Prevacid first thing in the morning. They are starting to do better with taking their meds. I think their med was mixed differently this time and was a little better flavored. We aren't going through quite as much laundry, only about 1 load every other day to every day. Before it was 1-3 loads daily.

Mommy and daddy are getting into a good routine with the kids and household chores. We each do our part to keep the house running and to stay sane. It isn't easy, but we take it in stride. The kids love their sitter and we love her just as much as they do. It is such a blessing to have such a wonderful person take care of our kids. Someone who has adopted them as their own and loves them like we do. We don't know what we would do without her, she is such a God send.

Kaylee has finally adjusted to life with a brother and sister. At first she didn't really like sharing her mommy and daddy time, now she knows when the kids go to bed it is kaylee time. She loves it when we get home every day. She runs and greets the kids still in their car seats. Some days she even gives them kisses. The kids think she is pretty cool too.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We were able to spend it with Brent, Deb, Grandma Heldt, Bob, Erica and Jen (a friend of Erica's from college that lives down here). We had a blast playing and laughing together. Grandmas and Grandpa were able to enjoy play times, bath time and feeding times with the kids. They got to share a bunch of fun times with us. We have a bunch of fun memories of our time together.

Our Christmas tree is set up and ready to go. A few days after we set it up, the kids started to notice the lights. They now look at it in awe and stare at the lights. Kaylee wasn't sure what to think when we started decorating the house. We had all the boxes out and were unpacking things and she seemed to be unsure of what was happening. When things were all put away, she was much happier. We keep soft ornaments at the bottom of the tree, because Kaylee doesn't have control over her built in whip. If she does, and has us fooled, she doesn't demonstrate control. :)

Bill and I find our selves staring at the kids in awe. They look like angels when they sleep, crack us up when they laugh, make us smile when they smile, and break our hearts when they are sick. Parenting has brought its share of concerns and questions, but it has also brought us the greatest blessings. We are so thankful for our two little miracles. We miss all of our friends and family in Michigan. It is hard being so far away from everyone.

We are looking forward to our first Christmas as a family. We are anticipating visits from family around Christmas and the months after. This Christmas has changed me. I look at the holiday differently as a mother. I think about what I want the kids to know about Christmas and what traditions I want to share with them. Bill and I are going to continue our tradition of opening one present on Christmas Eve (Christmas pjs) with the kids. I'm in search of the Christmas story in a children's book form to read on Christmas day with the kids. When they are older, I want to read it straight from the bible. I want to teach our kids the joy of giving to others and how the holidays are all about family and being thankful of everything we have.

We hope that everyone is doing well and that you have a wonderful Christmas with your families. God Bless!

The Brands
Bill, Karrie, Bekah, Billy and Kaylee