All About Wilson

I've heard from several of you, "when is Wilson's post coming?" There is no way I would leave him out of the spotlight! Rest assured, below you will learn more about John Wilson :)

Here are 10 things I want to share:

1. Oh my heavens this boy is HANDSOME!
2. I am jealous of his eyelashes. His sister will surely be jealous in 14 years when she is applying mascara to her lashes (Morgan says she won't wear makeup until she is in high school). Pair the lashes with those big baby blues and you have a killer combo!
3. I was excited my clothes had escaped spit-up until this morning when he spit up on me about 17 minutes after I woke up. Fun!
4. His nickname is the "mellow fellow". Thank you, Wilson, for chilling most of the time. 
5. Tonight I took Wilson in the living room to write this post and he did NOT like that. Much like his sister, he wants to be where the action is (a.k.a. where the parents are).
6. He is in double digits! Tonight he weighed in at 10 lb 1 oz. This is a huge accomplishment! Wish we could give you a cookie. But not the Graeter's ice cream that is in the freezer. I'm going to polish that off tomorrow.
7. Wilson is a busy body. When he's awake, he is always moving his arms and legs.
8. He is somewhat of a messy eater. Must have a bib. There is often dribble dribble.
9. I wonder what was upsetting him last night when he was screaming bloody murder, he woke up his sister, and it took three 31-year-olds to calm him down. Note this contradicts #4 above. I understand that sometimes a boy has to say what's on his mind.
10. Sometimes he just stares at you and smiles. I love this.

Here are some photos to illustrate everything that is Wilson...

Perfect example of the Mellow Fellow

"Lady, who are you, where did you come from, why do you take so many pictures of me, and when are you leaving my house?!?"

Sweetness

Although you were asleep, I will forever treasure this photo :)

xoxo

CT

All About Clara

I'm halfway through my visit in the Twin City. Wow. Even though I kept thinking it was Tuesday ALL DAY LONG, I can't believe I only have a few days left.

Today's blog entry is dedicated to sweet Clara Marie. Here are 10 of my favorite things about Clara :)

1. She is a beautiful little girl
2. She smiles in her sleep and it's enough to melt your heart
3. She doesn't like to miss any of the action (if you need to get a drink from the kitchen, you better take her with you)
4. She takes her big snooze around 5 p.m.
5. She weighed 8 lb 10 oz last night
6. I think she smiles like Morgan and has CD's nose
7. Her eyes are the brightest of blues
8. She is a clean eater—she barely needs a bib!
9. She wants all of your attention. Don't you dare check your Facebook feed while she is in your arms!
10. She scrunches up her face when she's looking at you. Or maybe she just does that to me. I imagine she is thinking "who is this crazy lady and when will she stop feeding me and changing my diapers???"

And now on to the photos...

What an adorable bundle!

Precious face

When I feed her, those sweet little hands are near the bottle or near her face

 During this afternoon's meal

I would love to share more tonight but I'm yawning and my left arm is about to go numb from holding this sweet girl as I type. 

More tomorrow!

CT

Biggest Surprises

This morning at breakfast, CD asked, "CT, what is the biggest surprise since you've been here?"

My answers:

1. The whole deal with the bottles. I guess I thought clean bottles got dropped off by a stork once a day. But they do not. The bottles and their parts have to be handwashed, air dried, sanitzed in the microwave, and put in a bucket. WOW
2. The importance of the burp. I knew you were supposed to burp after a kid eats, but you really have to make sure they burp!
3. The amount of breast milk Chris has saved. Those of you that have been reading for a while have seen the photos and know that breast milk had been transported back to the hospital and to other homes due to the power outages in Louisville. But here's the reality: until a few hours ago, there was breast milk in five places. FIVE DIFFERENT HOMES! CD is quite proud of her breast-milk hoarding skills. So you can imagine her sadness when she had to discard this much milk today. 

The reason for the discard: between Chris' c-section and car accident, this milk was laced with Percocet. The neonatologist said that if Chris didn't have to feed this milk to the kids, don't. Even though she has plenty in the remaining four homes, she was still sad to see her hard work go to the trash. 

Solo

Last night CD & Morgan had an engagement party to attend. CD decided I could handle being solo with the twins. I'm not sure Morgan thought this was a good idea but he went along with it. [I was thinking "They must need out of the house BADLY if they are leaving me alone on day 2!"]

Here's how the night went.

8:45 - CD & Morgan left

8:45 to 9:40 - It was a rotation. In college, the "rotation" involved vodka. Last night, the "rotation" included Clara crying, me picking her up and soothing her, her calming down. Then Wilson would cry, I would put Clara down, pick him up, soothe him, he would calm down. Then Clara would cry and I would start the rotation all over again. Fun, right? :)

9:45 - Massive wailing from both kids. OMG. What do I do now?!? I do this...

Somehow I was able to get both of them in my arms at the same time. They instantly calmed down. Hallelujah!

10:05 - I felt like Clara was zonked enough so I managed to get her in the swing. Wilson was stirring so he stayed in my lap and we watched the end of the Texas/K State game.

11:15 - Auntie CT was tired, Wilson was not. We had snuggle time on the couch. Clara still zonked in swing.

11:40 - Wilson hungry. Very hungry. [Me thinking "just a little bit longer, little guy"]

11:50 - Changed Wilson in preparation for his midnight meal.

12:05 - CD & Morgan got home. I put Wilson in one of their arms, said "he is STARVING" and ran to the bathroom.


Whew! We all survived! But really...it was much scarier to think about what could happen instead of dealing with what did happen. And I think Mom and Dad really enjoyed their night with friends. CD looked AWESOME and Morgan...well, I think he had fun, too. When are you guys going out again?   :)

More soon,
CT

32 Hours In...

and they leave me alone with two babies. Oh my goodness! I think CD & Morgan trust me more than I trust myself :)

Hello blog readers! I am honored to be a guest blogger the next few days. I am even more honored that CD & Morgan would let me come stay and help for (almost) a week.

As Morgan said below, the three of us went to college together. We certainly have great memories of our time at Mizzou but let's be honest, those times are a bit hazy. Fast-forward to '05 and '06, I was thrilled to be a part of Morgan and Chris' mountaintop proposal and Louisville wedding. Two years later, I moved to Louisville and actually lived in their guest bedroom for a couple of months. It was basically like the movie You, Me and Dupree!

As you can tell, we've had our share of laughs the past 10? 11? 12? years. I now live in Chicago but (of course) look forward to CD's girls weekend trips to Chi or to my return trips to Lville. Actually, CD missed our 2011 girls weekend because her water broke on Tuesday before she was to come on Friday. She casually sent a text that said "not going to make it this weekend, water broke, in hospital". To ensure she was included all weekend, our other girls weekend chronie, Deb, video'd everywhere we went. Videos were loaded to YouTube and sent to CD while on bedrest.

Anyway...my single-girl life in Chicago is QUITE different from life in the Twin City. Morgan thinks I am going to be so freaked out that I will leave two days earlier than currently planned :)

My goal is to blog several times during my visit and I promise the subsequent posts will be about the babies instead of the adults. I hope to give you insight into the Twin City that you haven't seen yet, especially how these humble parents handle the challenges with two.

Speaking of the babies (since that is why y'all are here), below are my favorite pictures of each of them so far.

Enjoy...I'll be back with more soon!
CT (or Auntie CT to the wee ones)

Does it get any sweeter than Clara Marie? This was her expression about two minutes after I arrived Friday

Well hello Mister Wilson! I could look into your beautiful eyes all day!

The Kids Are Alright!

Tummy time turned into nap time.

The good news is the kids are alright. Today Clara and Wilson were evaluated by the neonatologists to see if they qualified for physical and/or occupational therapy offered through an early intervention program called First Steps. Amazingly, Clara and Wilson did not qualify. This is by no means a long-term diagnosis, but it is still awesome news!!! Clara and Wilson will be re-evaluated every few months for developmental delays, but they passed their first test.  

Since we last updated the blog, quite a few things have happened. One of our biggest accomplishments was hiring someone to take care of Clara and Wilson when Chris goes back to work. The doctors will not let Clara and Wilson go to day care because of their weak immune systems and decreased ability to fight infection. Unless Morgan wanted to become "Mr. Mom," that meant hiring someone to come to our house. The woman we hired is incredibly nice and has experience taking care of twins . . . which means she knows what she is getting into. Clara and Wilson are probably glad someone is taking over who knows what they're doing.

Clara watching Morgan sing and dance to music in her room.

Last week was also sort of an emotional week for us. Two of our close friends from law school gave birth to twins at 31 weeks. (Thank goodness everyone is doing wonderfully and it appears they will not be in the NICU too long. Hopefully we'll soon have pictures of the four of them playing together. Please keep them in your prayers). We also were asked to be the Ambassador Family at a fundraising dinner sponsored by the March of Dimes. There was a video presentation of our family and we addressed the roughly 400-500 people in attendance to tell them our story. Watching friends enter the NICU and talking at the March of Dimes dinner forced us to confront parts of our experience we don't frequently revisit. It is easier to think about those things while holding two screaming beautiful children, but it also revealed those wounds are not completely healed.

Last week also marked one year since we lost Morgan's Grandpa. Those of you who knew Grandpa knew how close he and Morgan were and knew how much he wanted a great grandson (he had eight great granddaughters). On Saturday, one year after he passed away, we took Wilson to meet the man for whom he was named.

    

On a much happier note, Clara and Wilson are five months old today!!! Wilson weighs 9 lbs, 10.5 ozs and Clara weighs 8 lbs, 3.5 ozs. They are smiling at us more every day and continue to notice more of the world around them. Wilson loves to look at any light fixture and Clara usually tries to find out who is in the room if she hears another voice. 

Wilson is going to hate us some day for tying the bow!

We will continue updating the blog as we get into the holidays. We might also have some "guest blogger" appearances in the near future. One of Chris' best friends from college, Christen Terry - widely known as "CT",  is coming into town tomorrow to help Chris take care of the kids until Wednesday. Morgan and CT were also good friends in college and hilarity always ensues when the three of us get together. Throw two infants into the mix and we have no doubt the next few days will be fun. Sure, it might be the last time CT comes to visit, but at least she has agreed to blog about the experience.

Chris, Morgan, and CT at a concert two weeks before Chris' water broke.
Things will be a little different this trip.

Getting to know you

Clara and Wilson are becoming more alert every day. Wilson especially is noticing lights, people in the room, and things like his mobile. Clara is also smiling more, looking around, and searching for Chris whenever she hears her voice. The coolest thing, however, is that Clara and Wilson are finally starting to notice each other.

Special shout out to Norm for the onesies. All of our college friends get the joke.

The video below shows them watching their mobile and avoiding punching each other in the face. It will only be a matter of time until they are trying to punch each other in the face, but for the time being they're about as cute as they can be.

Not only are Clara and Wilson noticing each other, but they had one of their first "play dates" on Monday. Rocco Coffey, born four days after Clara and Wilson, stopped by to say hello. Rocco is a fairly normal size baby (55th percentile on weight, 80th percentile on height), but it made us appreciate how much bigger Clara and Wilson could be in a short amount of time. In the meantime, we'll let Rocco be the bodyguard when everyone is out for a walk/stroller ride.

Sorry for not posting more in the last week, but Morgan has been pretty sick which left Chris doing most of, well, everything else. Hopefully we'll have more this week.