Mirror Twins???

Caleb & Joel's 6 month pictures...best buddies holding hands
Hanging out in the crib...we take this play time very seriously.
Ryan feeding one of the boys and Kiera feeding "baby Kate"
Joel & Kiera gone fishing
Are we alike or what?
Kiera finally will jump on the trampoline (at her cousins)
My favorite picture of the boys so far. They just fell over on each other and thought it was funny!

I labeled this post "mirror twins" because we have always wondered if our boys might be mirrors of each other. Joel has a left dimple and Caleb a right, Caleb grabs things with his left hand and Joel with his right. We thought that up until now it was all kind of a fluke. Well, we are really starting to wonder. Caleb got his first tooth last Friday. He got one on the bottom right. 3 days later Joel popped a tooth on the bottom left. Is that not bizarre or what??? Like I said, it may just be coincidence, but how cool if this continues??? Maybe Caleb will be left handed. Supposedly they will do everything in mirror of each other. Time will tell!!!

We have had a lot of milestones this last month. The boys are now sitting up and playing together so well. They spend hours on the floor just grabbing toys from each other and babbling away. They are really starting to show their personalities. Joel tends to show emotion more. He is always excited about everything, babbles away to Caleb, and laughs quick. Caleb just sits there and smiles at Joel, is much more subdued and doesn't seem to be fazed by anything. Sounds like me and Ryan, huh? It is so fun to see their interaction with each other. They both have gotten teeth and now are well on their way with baby food. We have completed vegetables and now are on to fruits which they inhale! They are already eating us out of house and home!

Kiera has been at VBS all week and had her final program tonight. She just LOVED it and was very sad to see it end. We were very impressed with her tonight at the program. She sang her heart out and did all the actions. I was very impressed. I thought she would just clam up. Our little girl is growing up!

May Musings

I see we haven't posted for a month already! Boy, does time fly! In early May my (Sheri's) mom came out for a week to visit. We met her and my sister and family in Minneapolis for the weekend. My dad was able to fly out at the same time, so we had a blast together! We got to see my new niece, Elliana, and spend time walking around the Mall of America and going to the Children's Museum. I think Kiera's highlight was swimming in the hotel pool (we won't mention the Clifford, Shark, and Giant Peanut we saw dressed up in the mall that sent her into panic attacks). Then we took my mom home with us for the week. I enjoyed some adult conversation during the day and an extra set of hands! She was a welcome relief and a gigantic help! Thanks so much Mom for all you did and for your encouragement! We then took a little break for graduation parties, church activities, and Mother's Day (which we spent as a family at home...I was treated to a wonderful lunch of pork chops and potatoes with my favorite, strawberry pie and then got a 2 hour nap!!! Pure bliss! Thanks Ryan!).
On the 15th my sisterLisa came for a visit. We had so much fun visiting, shopping, puzzling, and entertaining my kids. She was also an enormous help for the week. She pitched right in on feedings, changing diapers, washing bottles, bottles, and more bottles, and just keeping me sane! We had some great times! Thanks Lisa!
Now we are back to reality and trying to survive on our own again. We had some disappointing news mid May that my dad's cancer was back. It was hard to hear and I feel so helpless being so far away. But, we remain optomistic that he can beat it again! He starts radiation and chemo in 2 weeks. We appreciate your prayers for his healing.
The past 3 weeks I've been struggling with a sinus infection which has been pretty miserable. Thankfully the medicine has kicked in and I am feeling much better. The boys had their 6 month (yes, 6 months already!!!!) check this past week. Joel weighed 18 lbs 13 oz and Caleb was 18 lbs. 3 oz. They are growing great and in the 90% for weight and height. Both of them are rolling over and drooling like crazy. We're just waiting for those teeth to pop through. They continue to nap crummy (40 min. 3 times a day), but sleep 12 hours at night!!! Hallelujah! We just take one day at a time and occasionally send an SOS to daddy at work for some help. They are so close to sitting and I think this will open up a whole new world for them (and me!). Kiera is a very chatty and fun 3 year old. As Lisa can testify to, she will pontificate on anything! She usually has verbal diarrhea and keeps me thoroughly entertatined and laughing. She is such a joy and loves her little brothers (just gets a little rough sometimes).
Ryan is staying pretty busy at work as we are trying to kick of our capital campaign for our new addition at church. Usually he is done with youth group by now, but they are continuing for a couple more weeks due to the campaign. This makes for long days for me as he has lots of meetings in the evenings. I will be glad once all this is over. He has also been busy preparing a sermon for tomorrow. He has to preach at both morning services. He has done this once before and did a great job. I must say I am not as nervous as last time! He have full confidence in him!
Well, I think that has caught you up on our life in the past month. Sorry it turned into a novel. We will try to post some pictures later this weekend of our fun month.

Professional Pictures

Snapshots

-First picture is of Ryan's Grandma and Caleb
-2nd picture is Joel-left and Caleb-right
-Kiera decorating Easter eggs and in her Easter outfit.

Sorry we haven't posted in so long. These are just some snapshots of pictures we took over the last month. We visited Prinsburg, MN for the first time the first week of April. All the relatives had fun stopping by to see the boys. Some of the pictures are of Ryan's Grandpa and the kids. The one in the tractor was also taken at his folks house. Joel is in the scoop and Caleb in the wagon. Kiera had a blast playing with it all weekend. The last pictures were of the boys first taste of rice cereal. They were not so impressed. Caleb is the first picture, then the one of the two of them, Joel is on the left, Caleb (R), and Joel is in the last picture.

Things are going well over here. Ryan has been super busy with work, so I manage to keep my head above water most days. The kids are healthy and growing strong. The boys are 4 1/2 months now and weighing in @ 17 pounds!!!! They are chunky monkeys now! They are starting to put their hands in their mouth and sucking on toys. They have great head control and are close to sitting up. They are becoming more interactive and are starting to coo and smile at each other. It is too cute! We had a quiet Easter at home since we had to be around for church service participation. The weather is finally starting to warm up and we are enjoying being able to go on walks outside! We are looking forward to Oma coming next week!!!! Can't wait for some extra hands and help!

Various Pictures

Our Neighborhood watch program...
The three kiddos
Caleb (left) and Joel (right)
Kiera actually fed Joel his whole bottle. She just chatted away to me the whole time!
Joel all spiffed up for church in his shirt & tie (wouldn't fit Caleb's wide neck)
Kiera playing with her Little People (they were all lined up sleeping under the ottoman)
Hanging out on the farm (Caleb left, Joel right)
3 month picture of Caleb in his outfit from the Rouw aunts. So cute!
Joel's 3 month in his cute outfit from the aunts.


Hope you enjoy these pictures from the last couple weeks. Things are getting into a routine around here. Joel is doing much better napping, Caleb not so much. They both are doing awesome at night. They go from 11 pm until 8:30 or 9 am. They don't wake up unless they get their arms loose out of their blankets. It is so nice to have a good nights sleep again! Now if only we can get them napping good. I will definitely take the nights over the days anytime though! Caleb and Joel love their exersaucers and we get such a kick out of them just standing there staring at each other. It will be fun once they start talking to each other and actually playing. Kiera loves to hug and kiss them. She is a big help but still can't tell them apart. Since Joel naps pretty consistently, it's been nice to have a little bit more free time to spend with her.

Mix & Match

Kiera a little unsure when we were singing "Happy Birthday"
Caleb and Joel were so enthused....
This was Kiera's b-day cake. We had a Pretty Pony theme. I was quite pleased with how this turned out. I had only a picture from online to go by and wasn't sure if it was going to work.
Joel and Caleb very excited with their exersaucers ( :
"What are you lookin' at?? Don't bother me, I'm busy" (Caleb)
Kiera helping make her birthday cake.
Birthday #1 (her actual b-day). Oma helped make cupcakes since we were in the hospital.
Oma visiting Caleb in the hospital
Kiera playing at the hospital with her computer she got for her birthday (she wants to be just like daddy working)
Caleb in the hospital with all his tubes and wires
"Ahhhh....this oxygen makes you sleepy"


Hope you enjoyed all the pictures. Tonight we had Kiera's b-day party with all her cousins, uncles & aunt from the area. She was SOOO excited and kept tackling her cousins and trying to pin them. Ya, such a girly girl. So much for the pretty pony girl theme! She is very in to My Little Pony and has quite a few and knows each of their names. She decided long ago that this was the cake she wanted. It turned out pretty good. For her party we had supper together and then cake and opened gifts. The highlight for her was her cupcake maker. She has been wanting this since Christmas when she saw it in an advertisement. She was so excited to get this from her aunts & uncles. It makes the cupcakes (in 30 sec...not sure how edible these are going to be and then frosts them). She didn't need anything else once she saw this. Thankfully we had some cupcakes leftover from when my mom was here and each kid got a turn to frost theirs. Overall she had a great evening and lots of fun with her cousins. Caleb and Joel just enjoyed all the attention and Kiera thinks we should save the cake until their birthday. Won't they be excited come Dec.!!!

Let's Count...

As I see the clock strike one, I am amazed at how little I've accomplished today. As I was washing bottles, I got to thinking about how many things I've repeated today.

Baths: 6 given (Kiera: 1, Caleb: 2, Joel: 3...the boys both had a blow-out and Joel coughed so hard, he threw up all over himself...about 2 minutes after his first bath).

Bottles washed: 20

Outfits changed: 7

Diapers changed so far: 8

Diapers left to change: 10 (if all goes well)

Garbage bags taken out to the trash can: 4

Toys picked up: hundreds

Loads of laundry: 2

Bottles fed: 7 (Caleb decided he needed a little extra)

Burp rags used: 6

Naps given: 4 ....naps yet to be given: 6

Amount of Sanity found: 0

Some days I just try not to even stop and think! No wonder people hire nannies!!!!

We found out this past weekend that Joel actually had RSV. His earlier test was actually positive. Supposedly they get a lot of false negatives for RSV if they get tested early on in the virus. So the poor little guy spent all last week battling RSV and we didn't pay too close attention to his breathing because we assumed he was okay (and I was still in the hospital with Caleb). The Doctor sent us home with a prescription for nebulizer treatments that we need to give him every 4 hours. I took both boys in on Monday and they seem to be on the mend. Joel still has a little cough, but is doing much better. Thankfully he didn't have to be hospitalized. Hopefully by the end of this week we will all be healthy and actually be able to have a birthday party for Kiera!