EARS SUCK!!!!

So...I do have an excuse for why I have not posted our vacation pictures...Bella is suffering from ear infection number 6 (or is it 7?  I can't keep track anymore)!  We have had about 3-4 hours of sleep the past few nights and my normal hour of relaxation/computer catch up as been non-existant this week!  SO...hopefully once the meds kick in, I will have a night of peace sometime in the near future and I will be able to post pics from our WONDERFUL trip to GA!

Mud Dog Run

Yesterday, I ran in my first mud dog run!  I woke up to rain, cold and wind and was not too excited about the race to say the least!  BUT...once I got there and got into it...it was AWESOME!  My friend Amanda and I did it together and it was so much fun.  There were 13 obsticals throughout the 5k and we did it in 33 minutes.  I definitly think we could have done better, but we finished 12th  & 13th females out of over 100, so that wasn't too bad.  We are already talking about doing another one in May!!

Preparing for the race with our hot gardening gloves!

One of the 4 times we had to run through the river..this stretch was pretty shallow

Free beer at the end to celebrate!

And..my loving husband who stood out in the cold rain to cheer us on and take pictures. 

What we are like at 18 months!

The other day I posted the 18 month stats, but I thought I would also include a little bit more about them at this age...

They are saying around 30 words.  Here is a list of the ones I can think of...
Ball
Out
Up
Uh Oh
Ouch
Hello
Hi
Down
Bye Bye
Thank you
Please
Duck
Water
Mama
Dada
Grapes (pronounced..biPPPs)...I hope I can get a video of this..I love how Bella says it
Gentle
Socks
Shoes
No No
Hot
Nose
Eyes
Belly Button (Buh Buh)
toes
more
I love you (I yuve youuu)
Cheese
Night Night
Puzzle
Kelly (they just learned this yesterday...pronoucned Keky)
They are trying new words every day (like today it was light), but I don't think that one has stuck yet!

• They are very funny with their words.  Since Leah can be a bit of a bully, we always say "Gentle" and rub Bellas head or back and so now, she will randomly go over to Bella and rub her head and whisper "gentle."
• They also love to rub each other's backs in the morning when they are cuddling with Mommy or when the other is sick (it is so sweet!).
• They LOVE to wear shoes.  If we leave their shoes out at night, the first thing they want to do when they wake  up is put on their shoes.  They also love to wear our shoes around the house and to put our shoes on us if we don't have any on!
• They are still little monkeys.  They climb anything we let them.  We have had to baby proof EVERYTHING...if it is off the ground..they climb on it!
• The are obsessed with books and reading.  If you sit down in our house, be prepared for one of them to bring a book over for you to read. 
• They know a lot of animal noises...if you ask them what noise a cow, dog, cat, or elephant make, they can do it on command.  If you point to a picture of a few other animals, they can usually do the noise!  
•  They love going to the grocery store.  Since it has been so cold out and we can't play outside, I take them to the store almost daily.  They will say Hi or Bye Bye to almost everyone we pass.  They blow kisses to the clerks when we check out, and they love to just sit in the cart and look around at all the people and "stuff."
• They love to give kisses.  They will randomly just walk up to each other and stick out their neck to get a kiss.  We have a book about kisses and whenever they are both siting in my lap while I read it, they kiss each other between pages!
• We tell the girls all the time that they are "so pretty" or "so beautiful" and every time we do...Leah puts her hand in her hair and moves it around.  It is hilarious.  Hope we aren't creating a monster!!
• Whenever one of us gets home from work, they girls will run across the room, turn in circles and fall on the floor.  They also do this in the morning when they go up to our room and Daddy is still in bed.  He'll say good morning and they get so excited and fall to the floor and roll around.  Weird..but adorable!
• Leah is such a little helper. Whenever we are dragging something (like the trash can or a stroller)...she has to grab hold and help out.  She also likes to clean up.  If there is water on the floor..she will get a towel and wipe it up!  She also likes to pee on the carpet before/after bath time and then get a towel to wipe it up!  Gross..but cute!
• They love to pretend like they are talking on the phone..they will hold anything up to their ears and say "hello". 

Playtime at 18 months

A glimpse of morning playtime at 18 months.  I actually started taking it because Isabella was talking non-stop for like 10 minutes.  BUT...then funny things kept happening, like Isabella being completely unfazed that Leah was throwing magnets at her (and saying ouch!), the girls talking to each other on their "phones", and then of course..Isabella just babbling on and on. 

More Gifts from Abuelita

Nancy also sent us these adorable gloves and the girls had so much fun playing with them yesterday.  They are super soft and they loved putting them against their faces!



Blowing Kisses



Bring on Kindergarten...she's ready to answer a question!

Que Linda!

The girls have a very sweet abuelita (grandma)!!  When we were on vacation in November, I fell in love with these knit dresses thet they had in the gift shop...but, they were really expensive.  So, yesterday, Cesar brought home a bag of dresses (among other things) that abuelita sent from Ecuador.  The dresses are almost identical to the ones I loved in Punta Cana!  She is so thoughtful to remember how much I liked them and then to send them to us!!  I had to put them on the girls as soon as I opened them and I LOVE THEM just as much as I knew I would.  They look so beautiful and girly!!  I took a few (ha ha) pictures!  I couldn't resist posting a bunch...

They LOVE playing with headbands!!

 

Update!

Well...we headed back to the doctor for day 5 in a row today.  This time for Isabella!  She was having a really hard time breathing..so we called the doctor and they told us first to take her to the ER.  But...I had to get home from school and by the time I got home, they called back and said that there was a doctor across the street, so we could just go there. 

She got two breathing treatments and some oral steroids!  We also have to do breathing treatments on her every 4 hours and go back on Thursday to get checked out. 

Wow...this is quite a way to start spring...really hoping the weather gets warm and all these crazy germs DIE!

18 Months

So our babies are officially a year and a half old! Wow! I kinda want time to slow down right now. I don't want 2 year olds...I like the baby stage...I LOVE where they are right now! Oh well...time marches on. So here are the stats...

Leah:

Weight-22.4 pounds (10-25th percentile)
Height-32 1/4 inches (50-75th percentile)
Head circumference- 47 inches (above 95th percentile)

Isabella:
Weight: 21.5 pounds (10th percentile)
Height: 31 1/2 inches (50th percentile)
Head circumference- 47 inches (above 95th percentile)

Pretty much the same place they have always been! Giant heads...tall...skinny! They have both actually lost weight since the last visit, but that's probably because of all the issues we've had in the last week. In fact, because Leah has really not eaten much since last week...Bella is within a pound!! Woo-Hoo!! We'll see how long that lasts...

Even though yesterday was a "well" visit...we spent most of the time talking about the sicknesses! Bella has ANOTHER ear infection (doc said we should wait until next year to see if we need tubes since it's getting to be spring and they will hopefully not be getting sick anymore). She also broke out into major hives yesterday! The doctor said it was probably because of the illness since she hasn't changed anything else recently. They went away last night, so hopefully that is over with. She really looked like a mess yesterday! They were covering her back and her arms.

Leah is still wheezing too much so we have to continue the breathing treatments, but the croup cough seems to be gone! Thank goodness!!

Best news of all...both babies slept through the night with NO crying or waking up last night! YEA!!! It felt good to get a full nights sleep!!!!

Here are some pics from yesterday. We live directly across the street from the doctor, and since it was so beautiful out yesterday, we just walked over. I love how Isabella crosses her legs like a little lady. That is how she sleeps too...butt in the air and little feet crossed...so cute!

We walked over the yogurt shop after the appointment for a little treat. Sorry the pics aren't great..they were taken on my phone! Not such a great pic of Isabella (she looks like such a chunker), but unfortunately for her...she was sitting with me, so it was easier for me to get pics of Leah.

The Croup!

So...remember just a few days ago when I posted that I couldn't think of anything that is harder with twins..ha ha ha! Well...I found something! Having one sick baby and one not sick baby is HARD! Especially when your husband is out of town!! Leah got sick on Thursday and spiked a 104 degree temp (one time I took it, it read 105..but I quickly took it again another way and it was only 103.7). Luckily, I was already taking the day off Friday, so I got to stay home and take care of her (we went to the Dr. and discovered she had another ear infection). Friday night Cesar left for NYC for a wedding and Grandma graciously offered to stay here..but being my self-sufficient self...I said I would be fine. Wow...was I wrong!! Isabella woke up around 10:30...scared to death and refusing to sleep in her own bed. So , I brought her into my room. Around 2, Leah woke up and when I went in to get her, she was really struggling to breathe. So, I took her into my room too. OK...two babies in one bed...one who can't breathe, the other who rolls all over the place (including on the floor at one point) is HARD! I debated taking Leah to the ER..but I didn't know if I should so I waited till morning.

Saturday morning, I called Grandma first thing and she came right over so I could take Leah to the doctor. Ugghh...what a yucky appt. First she got a breathing treatment that did nothing (except make one poor sick baby very unhappy). So, she ended up having to get two steroid shots! Bleh!

It seemed to help a little...she came home and played with her sister for a few hours..but by the afternoon...she was unhappy and breathing hard again. So..we put her in a steam room for a while and then she went to bed. She slept all night with no problems but woke up unhappy again. We had to go back to the doctor for follow up at 9am and she got another breathing treatment. All seems better now...she has been playing all afternoon since nap time!!

We go tomorrow for the girls' 18 month appt. (4 days to the doctor in a row for Leah..fun stuff), so they will ensure everything is OK...and hopefully we will be done with this nastiness!

Sick babies are no fun!! However...having an amazing Mom (grandma) makes EVERYTHING so much better! Grandma took amazing care of Leah all weekend. I am so grateful for her. She dropped everything she had planned to come care for Leah (and me!) all weekend. What in the world would I do without her??? Love you Mom!

This was Leah almost all day Saturday

Saturday night..she had had enough!

Her battle wounds from the shots!

And a rare moment of her normal self!

Summer & Brooke

Last weekend Summer and Brooke came to DC for a visit and came by mom's for lunch. The girls and Kai LOVED them!! They had such a fun afternoon!! We finally opened grandma's last Christmas gift to the kids (this was the first time we have all been able to get together at grandmas since then!)....it was a HUGE box of plastic balls. I wish I could have captured Leah's response when she saw them...it was by far the best reaction she has ever had to a gift. She opened her mouth real big...screamed and turned in circles..then dug in and started throwing balls all over the room! Summer was SO fun and was throwing balls at the kids bellies and they would laugh and laugh!! It was a really great day!!

Summer & Demi

Summer doing the milkshake with Bella Leah helping Demi with her pacifier Smiling for her cousins! What a gentleman...helping Bella with her shoe! Grandma and Kai having fun!