Faces

Today was day three of the nasty stomach bug. Both girls took their bedtime bottle easily last night without any vomit or poop. They woke up this morning around 8:00 in fine moods and drank their morning bottles without incident. We started thinking we had weathered the storm. Wrong. Around 11:45 Holland had her first diaper incident...nasty... It continued throughout the rest of the day. Today her mood sucked too. She wasn't the happy and playful girl she was yesterday. I wouldn't be either. I called the doctor's office. They said there is a gastrointestinal virus going around that could last up to a WEEK!!!!! John said it best today..."I need a vacation from my vacation!"

Anyways, I Love Love Love these pictures showing some of the many faces of Holland and Eden. I'm working on getting some crying pictures but I'm just too much of a pushover to go grab the camera when they are crying!

A Holly Jolly Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. Last Christmas the girls on oxygen and still very small and fragile, so we stayed home away from the germy masses. This year we thought long and hard, but decided to take the girls out to all of the family parties. We went to my Mom's family party on the 17th, my Dad's family party on the 23rd, to my Grandma's house on Christmas Eve, to my Mom's on Christmas morning, and to John's family party on Christmas night. We kept them busy with a couple of missed naps and late bedtimes, but they loved every minute of it. I really think they are party girls in the making...just like their mama. They love to be out and about around lots of people. The more the merrier.

Santa came to our house on Christmas and the girls opened their stockings and a small gift early in the morning before we left for Nana's. Santa didn't spend a lot of money this year because he knew that Holland and Eden's families would go a little crazy buying gifts. He was right! The girls got TONS of new toys. They liked the wrapping paper, boxes, and tags most of all. Actually Christmas was just in time, because they were starting to get a little bit bored with the toys we had at home. Now it's time to clear out some of the old to make way for the new.

As much fun as we had spending time with our families, we are now paying the price... Both girls were sick today with a stomach bug. Diarrhea, vomiting, the whole deal. At least it's not respiratory. My nieces were sick before xmas with the same bug and it lasted for 24-48 hours, then they were fine. Funny thing is that they don't act a bit sick. They were up today playing, talking, and being their silly selves, then all of a sudden, SPLAT vomit everywhere. I'm not going to talk about the diarrhea in the bathtub because that's just gross. Everything has been cleaned and sanitized for today. Let's hope tomorrow goes a little smoother.

Here they are today. See what I mean? They don't look a bit sick. Just stand back because you don't know what might end up in your lap. Or down your shirt. Or in your hair. Or everywhere.

We Love Aidan

We love and miss our big buddy Aidan. Getting his card in the mail really made our day!

Crazy Babies

Since the pictures were down for a few days, I decided to make it worth the wait. This is my new all time fav picture of Eden. Isn't it hilarious??? That hair! If you look closely you can see her teeth. She had three finally pop through over the past two weeks.

Eden had a programming appt this morning that went AWESOME. She responded really consistently on every electrode we tested today and the levels on her map were adjusted accordingly. She should be able to hear many more softer sounds that she couldn't hear before. The audiologist told us that we could see more progress in her responses over the next couple of weeks. I think we have noticed more just today with her looking up when we call her name and trying to talk to us a lot more.

Holland let us know that she is too big for her swing this past weekend. We always put them in the swings when we are in the shower and they have been really good about entertaining themselves while we are getting ready. On Sunday Holland figured out that she can reach the floor and the outside poles of the swing, and that if she rocks herself back and forth she can make the swing go. She would get it rocking so hard that it would fling her back. She thought it was great fun. We took a video and some pics because it was likely the last time that she would be using the swing. She is getting HUGE!

Power Outage

The power went out when I was putting the lights on the Christmas tree Saturday night. So far we haven't been able to figure it out. The computer room is on the same circuit, so we are without internet access at home. The pictures will also be down until we can get things working again.

So sad... A whole day without pictures of my girls... How will any of us make it through the day???

Let's Talk Hearing

Everyone has been asking about how things are going with Eden's cochlear implant, so I guess it's time for a hearing update. The truth is, there really isn't much to tell.

A quick lesson in equipment... Eden has to wear a coil that attaches to her head behind her right ear by a magnet (this is the part that communicates with the internal device). She also has to wear a processor which is attached to the coil with a wire. There are two types of processors, a body-worn, and a BTE or Behind the Ear. The BTE processor is big for a baby because it attaches to the microphone piece that is always worn on the ear. Generally little ones wear the body-worn processor until they are big enough to switch to a BTE. When Eden was activated, the company that makes her processor (Cochlear) had not yet released the new version of the body-worn processor, so Eden ended up with a BTE that is too big for her to wear.

As you can see from recent pics, we've devised a way for Eden to wear her processor. The headband is actually working pretty well (aside, of course, from the crazy hairdo that goes along with it). It helps hold the coil in place so she isn't always rubbing it off on the floor or the back of the chair, and it holds the processor. We are still frequently adjusting her headband and putting the coil back on her head, but it is much better than anything else we have tried. Her body-worn processor came in the mail today, so I guess we will give it a try and see what happens. It might just be that the headband works out better anyway. The good thing is that we get to keep both processors, so there will be no waiting for the BTE when Eden is big enough for it. Of course, by then there might be new technology!

As far as the actual hearing, and Eden's progress, there isn't really much to report. We can tell she is hearing in subtle ways. She seems to pay more attention, she is a little bit more vocal, and she occasionally looks up or looks a bit surprised when she hears a loud or different sound. Eden goes bi-weekly for her programming appointments where they adjust the levels of her CI. We've seen a really big difference each time we've been to these appointments. Eden seems to have the hang of listening to beeps, and she shows clear definite reactions when they get to levels she can hear. It is really cute to see her look up at us when she hears something. You can just see in her face that she thinks it is a game and she likes the reaction she gets from us. Other than that, it's honestly been a little bit of a let down. Not that I am discouraged or unhappy about her progress, it's just that there's a big build up to activation day, then it takes a long time to start seeing results. I am very anxious for Eden to start responding to her name consistently, and even more anxious for her to start some consonant babbling (mama would be a great first word). It'll come. It is just gonna take some time. Of course, I was well prepared and expected this, but I am still ready for something more to happen!

Now a quick note on Holly. She is crawling more and more each day. Today she followed the dog around for a while and kept stealing his bone and chewing on it. Zippo encourages it by taking his bone to her and dropping it in her lap. He is very nice about sharing, and she is very nice about giving big slobbery open mouth kisses. Disgusting I know, but what can you do? They love each other. Holland is also wanting to pull herself up on everything now. She can get to her knees by herself, but needs a little help to get to her feet. It's coming along quickly now. Maybe a little too quickly. She is really reminding me of my cousin Abigail lately (Hi Abby!) because every time she is on my lap she is looking for my thumbs to pull up on so she can stand. Won't be long before I become a slave to her wanting to walk around the house this way. Holland has also become really interested in Eden's headband and processor lately. Today she tried to grab it and when I told her "no, no" she pretended to cry and hit Eden on the head then pulled her hair! We'll have to work on that. Little miss sassy pants.

Cutest.Babies.Ever.

Look Out...Here Comes Trouble!

It's official...Holly is crawling! Good-bye valuables, hello baby gates.