Weekend with Nana & Papa

Bennett & Kendyll spent last weekend with Nana & Papa while we were in Chicago. They had a really fun time and I uncovered these pictures from the weekend festivities. The first is B & K being fascinated by storytime with Papa. The second was my first Mother's Day gift -- it was framed & waiting for me on our counter with some beautiful hydrangeas. Hopefully we get some nice weather around here so I can plant them before they wilt away.

On another note, our camera has finally died (thank GOD!). We thought it died two years ago when it was dropped in the sand, but somehow it came back to life. And while it has done an OK job over the years, now that we have two new lives to document every moment of, it really hasn't been the greatest. So the search is on for a new one . . . I'm mentioning it because it may be a while until you get new pictures of B & K (I've tried to snap a few with our video camera -- apparently it has still capabilities, too -- but I haven't had a chance to see how they have come out). We'll take any camera recommendations, if you have them.

Three Months Old!!!

Bennett & Kendyll are three months old today!! My how they have grown in the past month! I ended up staying home yesterday on my birthday and used the opportunity to take them in for a weight check. Drum roll please . . .

Bennett (aka: B-Man, BMW, B-Real Cute, Benji (this one thanks to his dr office!), Boonini)
10 lbs, 3.25 oz

Kendyll (aka: Chunky Monkey Girrrrrl, Banana, Kendy, Little Debbie (because she looks like Nana Debbie))
10 lbs 5 oz

Yep, that's right . . . Bennett gained almost 3 lbs in a month and Kendyll has packed on 9 oz in less than a week. We have made the executive decision to start feeding them their preemie formula "straight up" -- we used to mix it special for higher calories. Hopefully by the next time we take them to the pedi's office for their 4 month check-up & shots they will be able to come off the special formula (wishful thinking).

They are both starting to smile more and coo -- especially when you read or talk directly to them. They are still only sleeping 4 - 5 hours a night at a time, but they have been less fussy and will go right back to sleep when we put them down. Our pedi said that most babies start sleeping longer when they hit 12lbs and at this rate we will be there in no time.

Here are a few pictures I snapped yesterday & today.

My kind of town . . .

Ah, Chicago. We took a trip back in time to our old lives this past weekend. Two weeks ago Tim & I decided we needed something to look forward to (as well as some sleep), so we decided in honor of my birthday (5/12), his birthday (5/19), mother's day & early father's day that we would treat ourselves to a trip back to Chi-town, sans babies (sorry to our friends in IL -- we promise to bring B & K for a visit some day!). Now I know it probably seems a little crazy for two new parents to leave their almost 3 month olds and spend a weekend away. But as I've said a million times -- we are not your average parents. Actually, as one of our good friends recently said "I'd have kids if I could get away as much as you guys have!". As I've also said a million times, we are VERY fortunate to have such great family support!! We almost didn't make it back to B & K today, though . . . of course, our luck had us on one of two Chicago to Columbus flights to be cancelled this morning and ALL of the other flights -- on our airline & all others -- to Columbus were booked up through tomorrow. Luckily, we were able to get on a flight to Dayton and rented a car to drive back home. We can never travel without some kind of drama! :-)

Bennett & Kendyll spent some quality time with Nana & Papa Williams this weekend and had a blast, too, we've heard. I'll post some new pictures of them in honor of their 3rd month b-day later this week. We'll also be heading back to the doctor for a weight check, so we'll have updates on that, too.

A very Happy Mother's Day to all of the moms out there!! I hope you all spent the day doing something fun or something you enjoy!

Sorry no new pictures of B & K tonight. I do want to include this one, though, and dedicate it to Jodi . . . she mentioned to me last weekend that Tim used to tell her all the time that gas would never go above $4 a gallon (back in his BP days) . . . well this is where we filled up in downtown Chicago this morning on our way back to the airport. Yikes!!

Quick Update

Just a quick note on Kendyll . . .she appears to be doing a bit better -- actually she just finished up a full bottle and has yet to spit it up. I ended up taking her to the pediatrician yesterday just to be safe and she said Miss K looks fine, not dehydrated, very alert, etc. Probably just a stomach bug and hopefully things will be back to normal in 3 - 7 days. We are scheduled to take B & K in next week just for a weight check, but we got a small preview yesterday. Kendyll (aka Chunky Monkey Girrrrl) is now at 9 lbs 12 oz!! And this is after SEVERAL days of not eating very well. I'm pretty confident she'll tip at 10 lbs next week.

No new pictures tonight, but I'll try to add more soon. . .

Cinco de Mayo (and pictures)

For those of you who need a B & K picture fix (and you know who you are), here are a few new ones, including them in their Cinco de Mayo bibs (thanks again to the Zelasko family for these!!).

Enjoy!!

Ugh!

WARNING -- this post may be a little gross for those with weak stomachs! :-)

We officially have our first "sick" baby. We think Kendyll caught some type of a virus. We think it may have started late last week; she has always been our good sleeper and Thursday night she woke at midnight and then again at another point in the night. Then on Friday she had a huge spit-up on our nanny, Becca, and in the middle of the night a HUGE messy blowout (lovely). Totally not like her (she usually has her blow-outs during the day right before I come home from work -- what a good girl!). Then Saturday she started a string of yellowish-greenish poo and over the course of the next 18 hours had 14 (yes, FOURTEEN) #2 diapers. Oh, and she continued to spit up, having one huge one after I fed her a whole bottle -- needless to say, it reminded me of my projectile vomiting days of morning sickness. Yuck!! So we called the pedi on Sunday and as we suspected he suggested it might be a stomach bug. We're trying to feed her less, more frequently to quell the spit-ups and hopefully the poo issue will solve itself. And HOPEFULLY Mr. Bennett doesn't get it, too (he also had a ton of messy diapers, but thankfully hasn't been spitting up -- he is actually eating like a champ these days!).

On a side note (and totally unexpected), they slept VERY well last night; Bennett went down at 8:00p with no fuss, slept until 11:00p, ate (we woke him up to do so), then back down until 4:00a, ate and then back down until 7:30a (again I woke him up). Kendyll was about the same . . . she was fussy between 8 - 11, but then slept solid until this morning (actually sleeping through the bottle at 7:30a -- I could not get her awake enough to eat it). With Kendyll being such a mess yesterday we were SURE she would be up all night, but surprisingly we got almost 6 hours of sleep. Woo-hoo!

That is the best I can do with an update these days -- sorry if it is TMI! Oh, and FYI for those who were waiting patiently for the "professional" pictures from our friend Sarah. Unfortunately we had to postpone to a later time (Sarah -- our thoughts are with you!), so please continue to keep posted for that. :-)

** I forgot to mention that my parents took the brunt of Kendyll's messes . . . they were down for the weekend and watched the babies Saturday night while we attended a Tres de Mayo party. Thanks Grandma & Grandpa Z!!

Random # 2

I was on my way home from work the other day and for whatever reason I was thinking about a recent visit to Tim's new office (well actually I know how I stumbled upon this thought, but I'm not going to bore everyone with my demented mind these days!). Anyway, Tim was telling me that several people have commented on the picture of me on his desk (honestly, I think it is his LACK of a nice picture of me). He has a picture of B & K from St. Patrick's Day, a picture of Tabasco from our Xmas card a couple of years ago and this picture of us from our wedding day:

NICE & CLASSY!! :-) Seriously, this is actually one of my favorite pictures from that day. Those of you who know me well know that I HATE posed pictures and our photographer that day was all about cheesy poses (good note for those of you not yet married -- if photos are an important part of your big day, spend a little more time interviewing photographers!). Tim's dad snapped this one as we were heading into their house to watch ND football between the church & reception.

** Side Note & totally off topic: So you may notice that the guys are wearing deep red & gray. That was TOTALLY unintentional and NOT for Ohio State -- sorry buckeye fans! I've had people comment upon seeing the few wedding photos we have: "oh, you had a scarlet & gray wedding -- I thought you were Notre Dame fans". Um, well . . . our colors were actually deep red & sage/apple green and in hindsight Tim probably would have worn black instead of gray that day . . . we didn't mean for it to turn out so OSUish. :-)

Ok, enough about me . . . I guess this is Bennett & Kendyll's site now. I have another picture I've been meaning to share. A HUGE hello and THANK YOU to Tim's Aunt Sandy & Uncle Lou for this special gift before B & K were born. My friend Nicole recommended the "Mother's Heartbeat Bear" to add to our registry and it has actually been one of the lifesaving items to get us to a better night's sleep (as well as the swaddleme blankets, but that's another story). Being former NICU babies, B & K really don't like to sleep in the quiet, so the bears provide a nice, mellow "white noise" to fall asleep too. So thanks to the bears we owe most of our sleep time at night to Sandy & Lou -- we love you guys!!! :-) We hope the weather in CA is gorgeous and we wish we could be there with you!!!

Here is B & K with their bears: