Crawling, Sitting, Standing & Yogurt

8/25: Our Peas are 42 weeks! Where does time go? We are having a great time with them! They are advancing and doing so much! First of all, on my last updates I reported that only Emily was crawling. Everyone is crawling now. I mean really crawling! They look great! Also, only Emily and Austin were sitting on their own. That too has changed. Matthew started sitting over the weekend! Amazing to watch their progress and how each one is so completely different in development! Yesterday, I was sitting watching the babies and Matthew crawled up to the gate and got on his knees and then stood all the way up! I was amazed! So, now all three are at the same level again. All three crawling, all three sitting independently and all three standing! Our other new thing is baby yogurt. I introduced to them this past Saturday. Stonyfield has an organic baby yogurt that is great! The Peas absolutely LOVED yogurt!!
The Peas, Matthew Austin

Emily

Other Updates

8:14: Teething Troubles - We are doing well however, we have had some very rough days and nights as everybody seems irritable due to teething! Austin does have a tooth! Poor Baby cries alot especially at night. We are using teething tables, baby orajel,Tylenol and Motrin. (not all at the same time!) I feel so badly sometimes! Matthew is drooling and drooling but no teeth yet. So is Emily. We try very, very hard to adhere to a strong rouotine every day so that our nights might get better but unfortunately, they have not! We sleep very little and rock very much!
Crawling - Emily is crawling. Really crawling! The boys still do a bit of a leap and a lunge action! They do move quickly even without fully crawling!!
Standing - Emily and Austin are both climbing the play area walls! It is scary! Sometimes they stand up and can't sit back down!! So, we have lots of yelling!! Mom has to step in and rescue them!
Eating - We love baby oatmeal cereal and have it for breakfast every morning!! We also eat carrots, squash, green beans, peas and sweet potatoes. The fruits have been iffy because we thought that maybe Matthew was allergic to apples. However, after cutting apples out of his diet, he is still breaking out but until we confirm what he is allergic to, we don't want to feed apples. We do eat prunes, pears, bananas and peaches. We are not eating meats yet. Oh, and I am making all our veggie baby food. Have not attempted fruit yet although I have tried mashing bananas and they hated it! I invested in a food processor and it is actually really rewarding to make my own baby food. So far, they love everything I have made! Yes, I know, I simply don't have enough to do so I added one more thing on my plate! hehehe
Mom and Dad - We are still surviving parenthood! It is not easy and we have some very rough moments with very little sleep. We always look at each other and say what a blessing our family is! When I do cry it is simply because I look at my babies and realize that the Good Lord has really blessed us! At times I am still in disbelief that we are so lucky to have our beautiful babies in our life! I am also blessed to be in this with Rob because he is such a pillar of strength and boundless energy. When I am completely exhausted, he knows and sends me off for a quick nap and closes the door behind me.

9 Month Well Baby Check-Up

8/11: Today was our 9 month appointment (a wk late). We are actually at exactly 40 weeks today! It is amazing that our little blessings have been with us for 40 weeks! Incredible! I have mentioned before how hectic these appointments can be...we have to get up extra early to make sure we get there on time. Anyway, we barely made it out the door and a few miles down the road we realized that I was in the truck! We had to go back to pick up my car. After the appointment, Rob was going to go to work so we needed the Honda with us. Their appointment went extremely well. We are getting a referral to see an Allergy specialist for Matthew. We have tried cutting out many things and he still breaks out in hives almost every day and Austin has develped eczema. Other than that, everything went well and the pediatrician says they are growing extremely well!
Austin
weight: 16 lbs 7 oz = 15%
head circumference: 18.11" = 50%
length: 26.5" = 5%

Matthew
weight: 17 lbs 10 oz = 25%
length: 27" = 5%

Emily
weight: 17 lbs 14 oz = 25%
head cirdumference: 17.13" = 30%
length: 27" = 5%

Highchairs for the Peas

8/8: Part of my recovery from my surgery is to walk! So, today after lunch we decided to go walking at Babysrus!! We were in desperate need of highchairs. So far, I had been feeding the babies in their vibrating chairs while I sat on the floor. Well, I have not been able to sit on the floor this week because of my leg! So, we decided NOW was a good time to invest in highchairs! Highchairs are not expensive around $100 but when you have to buy 3, you end up spending well over $300! The manager at Babysrus knows us now and they extend a 10% discount to us every time we shop! This at least saves us the taxes on our purchases! Very good deal for us! The Peas love their new eating arrangements!! The chairs also came with a musical suction toy! Cute! Poor Dad had to put three more things together!!

The BoysDad with the Peas (Emily, Matthew and Austin)

Mom with Peas

Wrestling

8/7: The Peas like to wrestle! Usually, Emily is the roughest! That's my girl! The boys have a strong relationship already! It is so amazing to see their personalities develop!

Walkers

8/6: We have been using our walkers for about a week! We only use them for about 10-15 minutes a day. The Peas are just learning to like them. They only move backwards right now but soon enough they will be racing each other down the hall!

Varicose Veins No More

8/5: Varicose veins are one of the after effects of gaining weight during pregnancy. I had them and they increasingly became more and more painful. So, I decided to get them treated. I found a doctor that treats them with a procedure called EVLT. It is a procedure that requires no hospitalization! This procedure uses a laser to close the vein shut. (in the old days, they would strip the veins!--ouch) It is minimally invasive and leaves no scarring! The procedure took about 45 minutes. Okay, yes, it was painful but after all my body has gone through, it was minimal. I am glad that it is over! I do have to see the doctor once a week for 6 weeks to make sure that the procedure was 100% effective. I am wearing a compression hose and it is simply not fun but I am willing to sacrifice to have painfree pretty legs again!
We had to take the babies with us to the procedure and since it was our second appt, the nurses and office staff were all waiting to see the Peas! They love the attention!!
Recovery has been successful. It is hard to bend down and pick up babies but I really have no choice. Oh, and my left leg is one big bruise! Pretty!!!

9 Months Old - Emily

8/4: Emily is 9 Months Old Today!

Yes, I sit on my own! I started sitting on my own on 7/16.

9 Months Old - Matthew

8/4: Matthew is 9 Months old! Matthew loves to smile for the camera!

9 Months Old - Austin

Austin is 9 Months Today! Austin is my little Monkey! When you pick him up he just climbs on you and loves on you!

On this day, 8/1, we found a tooth coming!