The Cargill Family

Santa's visit to our home

2010-12-29T11:27:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve at MeMe's

2010-12-29T11:01:00.000-08:00

Christmas at my mom's is always fun, a little choatic especially with 5 grandkids the age of 3 years old and younger. All of my sisters and their husbands were there with the exception of Brian who is deployed. As usual there was lots of yummy food, lots of presents and beautiful decorations. Mom always does a good spread and the decorations are beautiful. My mom's side of the family (her brother and his wife, her sister and her husband, cousin) are always there and even Thaddeus makes it over every year to see us girls. This year was a little sadder due my grandmother not being here anymore.

Queen of the Mountain

2010-12-29T10:54:00.000-08:00

A trip to Myers Park

Family Pictures

2010-12-29T10:51:00.001-08:00

Pictures from the local Pumpkin Patch

2010-12-29T10:47:00.000-08:00

Just being silly

2010-12-29T10:44:00.000-08:00

Brianna had to wear the bandaid on her upper lip for no reason that I was aware of. Just being a silly 2 year old.

Halloween

2010-12-29T10:36:00.000-08:00

This year both children were ready to go trick or treating. Brandon did not quite understand that you don't walk into homes when they would open the door. Brianna was albout the candy. She even got mad when someone did not put candy into her bucket but only in her brother's bucket. She was one upset toddler. Brianna went as a Reinassance Bride and Brandon went as Bat Man. We went trick or treating with our neighbors and their daughter Tessa.

All Aboard to Ander's 3rd Birthday

2010-12-29T10:25:00.000-08:00

Thomas the train theme

Brianna as the conductor

Brandon as the conductor

Eating one of our favorites

2010-12-28T19:26:00.000-08:00

PIZZA!

Bath time with cousins

2010-12-28T19:19:00.000-08:00

What happens when 2 yr olds are too quiet

2010-12-28T19:11:00.000-08:00

Brianna came in to show me how she wanted to wear my makeup.

Visit with Auntie Heather in Bastrop

2010-12-28T18:51:00.000-08:00

Some Pictures that Brianna took by herself. Future Photographer??????

We were lucky enough to spend the day with Auntie Heather and MeMe in Bastrop. We even found out that Auntie is going to have a baby.

Battle scars from Aug. - Sept.

2010-12-28T08:02:00.000-08:00

Here are some battle scars that we have encountered this yerar.

Colorado Trip --The Royal Gorge

2010-08-17T17:34:00.000-07:00

What a cool place this was. This place is a Suspension Bridge 1053 ft.over the Arkansas River. This is the same bridge we traveled under while we were Rafting. There was a bunch to see and do.
1. The BRIDGE
2. A small steam enigine train for everyone to ride
3. A carousel for all to enjoy
4. Cable car that goes over the river (Spooky)
5. Tram that goes down to the river
6. Sky coaster (similiar to a bungee) -- we did not do this
7. Pet zoo
8. Horse back rides for the little ones

Needless to say there was ALOT of walking up and down poor Priscilla was extremely tired afterwards. Don't worry I treated her to an ice cream at DQ. ith

Thanks to a co worker sharing this spot with me this summer.
Lots of fun for the whole family.

Colorado Trip Days 8 - 10

2010-08-17T17:17:00.000-07:00

Thursday I stayed home with my niece and my two little ones and had some bonding time. Friday I was on my own so I took Brandon and Brianna ( by myself ) back to the zoo one more time to see the animals again. We had lots of fun until we saw the carousel. Then it was crazy. But we all survived. Best of all was mommie did not get lost in Colorado. Saturday Priscilla and I took our little ones to a place called "little biggs" fun place for the kids.
Hannah and Mike took Anders on a little vacation get away to Estes Park froom Thursday - Saturday. They had a blast. Maybe when Shane can get away we can take a trip there with the children.

Brianna

Brandon

Brandon, Brianna and Samantha

Colorado Trip Day 7

2010-07-28T09:55:00.001-07:00

Wednesday

A Day of Rest! We got a pool for the kids to play in however as you can see who actually used it more. The kids loved the bubbles and just being able to run around.

Corlorado Trip -- North Pole

2010-07-28T08:54:00.000-07:00

Tuesday
We had a BIG day planned for the little ones. We went to the North Pole to see Santa (which no one would sit on his lap). What a cool place for little ones even for mommies and daddies. I will let the pictures tell the story. Lots of pictures. By the end of the day each child was exhausted. Brandon even passed out the minute we put him in his car seat.

And Some Exhausted Little Ones

Colorado Trip Day 5

2010-07-28T08:44:00.000-07:00

Monday
Our adventure for the day would be going to Denver, Co. We went to Aquarium (which is just like the one in Houston minus the tigers)and had lunch while Uncle Mike went on tours of the Treasury of Mint and a couple of museums. Hannah and I thought we would go to the children's museum however when we were looking for it we found a COOL water spot in the middle of the town. We found a place to buy some clothes that she and I could wear to swim in. Off we went. The water was COLD and had a nice current. The kids had fun and so did the adults. The place was pretty cool to have in the middle of a town.

Colorado Day 4 "The Zoo"

2010-07-14T23:10:00.000-07:00

Sunday
What a better way to spend it -- with FAMILY. We loaded up 2 cars (4 adults, 4 kids)and went to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. If you ever get the chance to visit Colorado you must see this place. The kids and I loved. The Giraffe exhibit is the coolest. You get to feed them crackers. Kinda of spooky at first but funny afterwards. Seeing the kids faces was priceless.

Brianna feeding the giraffe

Brandon feeding the giraffe

The zoo's carousel which the kids loved and cried when they had to get off.

Playing in the water at the zoo's "The Big Backyard"

Looked what hatched a beautiful little Brianna

Brandon ready to chase the chipmunk there were tons of the little creatures.

Brandon waiting to see the LIONS! ROAR!

Colorado Day 3

2010-07-14T23:02:00.000-07:00

Hanging out
Saturday morning we all went to eat breakfast -- Something I don't recommend with 4 (2 year olds. Samantha had Soccer that morning so as a treat we all went with her. WOW! I will let the pictures tell all. Later that day we took the kids to a local park and had fun.

Cousins chasing BUBBLES!

Brandon Running at the Park

Brianna with Anders' hat

Cousins

Brianna running after the ball

Anders at breakfast

Priscilla, Samantha and Mike

ROAD TRIP to Colorado Day 2

2010-07-14T22:51:00.001-07:00

NO Rain! Yea! Will we ever get out of TEXAS. We make it through New Mexico and get into Trinadad, Colorado. What a beautiful little town. We stopped at the Vistors Building and got some new caps. Then we found a beautiful park in the middle of town. I wish Houston had more parks like this one. After stopping and letting the kids run about we drove our final destination Colorado Springs, Co. Everyone was excited to get out of the van that we rented and to see their cousins and Aunts/Sisters/SIL. Oh yea the dogs.

Park in Trinadad, CO

Park in Trinadad, CO

Brianna

Brandon

Brandon

Brandon

Anderson

Brianna

Gotta Love the boots

ROAD TRIP to Colorado

2010-07-14T22:35:00.000-07:00

Brandon, Brianna and I along with Aunt Hannah, Uncle Mike and Anderson had the opportunity to take a road trip to Colorado to visit Aunt Prisicilla and Samantha. You are probably thinking we were crazy to travel across 3 states with three 2 year olds. We left on Thursday, July 8th in the rain and drove until Childress, Texas. We had to stop in Corisicana to let the little ones run around. McDonald's slides were a blessing. We hit traffic in FT. Worth which was a bummer. Then some more rain, and then some more rain. Would it ever stop. It finally did. Thank goodness. We stayed in Childress, Texas for our major stop. The kids were rambunctious. There were 2 double beds in our room. If you have little ones you know that there is NO WAY you are going to share a bed with them and get any type of sleep. IDEA! since the beds had no rails and they were very high off the ground I decided to remove the mattress and place it on the floor. Cool idea until my little B-n-B's thought it was their new jump pad. Mommie did her best and finally got her two jumpers to sleep. And she even got to sleep alone in her own bed.

Picures are from McDonalds

Brother and Sister Love

2010-07-14T21:26:00.000-07:00

Brandon and Brianna showing off their love for each other.

Summer already?

2010-05-23T19:55:00.001-07:00

So what do you do when it's only May and it's already 90 degrees?...You spend Saturday at the park playing in the splash pad.

Continued

2010-05-23T19:43:00.000-07:00

....And end the weekend spending Sunday at Grandma's house playing in the pool with your cousins.

2 year doctor appointment

2010-05-17T19:41:00.000-07:00

At the children's 2 yr well check up proved to be an adventure. They both did not want to take a nap and finally decided to do so about 45 minutes beforehand. Needless to say I had some CRANKY children.

Brandon at birth weight: 4 lbs 10 ounces at 2years old weight: 26.5 pounds
height: 17 3/4 inches height: 33.5 inches

Wow! what a difference. He is in the 25% for weight and 30% for height his total BMI is 50%.

Brianna at birth weight: 5 lbs 7 ounces at 2 years old weight: 29 pounds
height: 18 1/2 inches height: 35.25 inches

Wow! What a difference. She is in the 75% for weight and 90% for height and his total BMI is 50%.

This past year has been a wonderful, crazy year between the multiple doctor visits, and trips to the emergency room and the hospital. Would I ever trade it in? Ugh! NO! I love my little ones. Were has the time gone? Hopefully I won't blink too fast. I can not imagine my life without my little B-n-B (Brianna and Brandon).

Playing in the water

2010-05-02T15:39:00.001-07:00

It was another nice day so we decided to let Brandon and Brianna try out one of their b-day gifts. They seemd to like it.

Brandon and Brianna turn 2

2010-05-02T15:27:00.000-07:00

Brandon and Brianna turned 2. We did a Mickey and Minnie Mouse theme and everything turned our nice.

A day at the grandparents house

2010-04-13T19:13:00.001-07:00

Brandon and Brianna were both filthy after this day, but they had fun which is all that matters.

Rylans 2nd B-Day

2010-04-13T18:37:00.000-07:00

Spring break trip to the beach

2010-04-13T18:19:00.000-07:00

Easter 2010

2010-04-13T18:13:00.000-07:00

Trip to visit the Bluebonnets

2010-04-13T18:04:00.000-07:00

This is a trip to visit the Bluebonnets last weekend.

Twins first snow fall

2010-04-13T17:44:00.000-07:00

First snow fall (It's light, but trust me, it is snowing).

Update on Brandon

2010-02-13T05:29:00.000-08:00

Brnadon is now weighing 24.7 pounds. YEA!! He has gained 3 pounds in 3 months. He still struggles with eating solids unless it is Cheese Puffs, Crackers and of course Cookies. He is now drinking out of a sippy cup except for a morning bottle only. We still struggle with drinking anything else besides Milk. We even add Carnation instant breaksfast or Pedisure with his drinks in order for him to get all of the nutrients he needs. So far with the weight gain I guess it working. Feeding time is still a struggle with him. You never know if he is going to eat or not. Brandon still likes for someone to feed (Lazy) but we are trying to get him to use the spoon or fork. In time with lots of patience we will get through this. I have said one day when he is a teenager we will wish he was little again and not eating everything up in the house. Brandon has recently started to enjoy books on his own. He gets so bad at you if you are not paying attention to him when he points and says something. Brandon's vocab is coming along. He is still recieving ECI help through Oral Motor Therapy and Fine/Gross Motor Therapy. He loves to see school buses and trucks. With time he will talking up a storm.

Finally Shane got a job

2010-02-13T05:16:00.000-08:00

Yea. Shane finally has a job after 5 months of being stay at home daddy. What a wonderful time he was able to spend with Brianna and Brandon. With a new job the kids started staying with a new lady, Ms. Rita. She is one of my friend's(twin mommy) mother so she has experience with twins. They have been there for a week now and they are enjoying their time at her home. B and B (Brianna and Brandon) even have new friends that they love playing with. Hopefully being at Rita's B and B won't get sick as often as they did with being in daycare.

Guen and her babies

2010-01-26T07:19:00.000-08:00

Time for an update

2010-01-10T18:30:00.000-08:00

Obviously we have not made any new posts/updates in some time and hopefully I can start changing that. Even though this is late, here is our family Christmas picture taken by my sister. This twins are now 20 months old and have turned into a real hand full...actually two hand fulls. More updates soon to come.

Some recent pictures

2009-09-19T18:38:00.001-07:00

The simlest things that make you smile

2009-08-27T08:00:00.001-07:00

Both Brandon and Brianna are at the age (almost 16 months old) where they are really starting to pick things up and you see changes literally over night. This morning was no exception as Brianna did two different things that I just had to share.

First, Brandon had had a bad night and I was up with him at 4 a.m. with him tossing and turning and just not able to get comfortable. We usually don't wake them up until 5:45 a.m. so he was well off schedule. He finally got fussy enough that we gave him his morning bottle which made him happy and thus passing back out asleep. Guen put him on the floor in the living room passed out and we got Brianna up, fed, and dressed at the normal time. It was finally getting around 6:15 a.m. and we knew we had to wake Brandon up. Jokingly, I told Brianna to go wake Brandon up. To my surprise, she quickly walked over to him and patted his back saying "Brandon" the best she could. It was a cute moment.

Second, Brianna loves to go to school (daycare). When it's time to leave, I always just ask Brianna if she is ready and she quickly grabs her blanky and runs to the door. Well this time Brandon was sitting in the middle of the floor fussing like he is going to be left behind. Again, jokingly, I told Brianna we still have to get Brandon. When I said this she walked over to him, reached down, and grabbed his hand the same way I make her hold my hand when we are going into and out of school from the car. I got a good laugh out of that.

I have said many times before that I think Brianna would be happy if she was an only child. She usually wants all the attention and her favorite word is "me". None the less it's nice to see her understanding who Brandon is and that he matters just as much....even if she doesn't always like it.

A couple of funny videos

2009-08-24T06:11:00.000-07:00

These are videos of something Brianna picked up all on her own. She just decided to start dancing to music. I guess you could call it dancing. I call he her Forest Gump danc. Still cracks me up when ever she gets in the mood although she seems to prefer old country and western music. Maybe I should get her some boots and teach her to 2-step.

She loves to play on her wooden horse. Got to love the Yee Haaa!

From crawling to cruising to walking

2009-07-14T08:01:00.000-07:00

My how things have changed. We now have a full blown walker on our hands. Over this past weekend Brianna decided to completely give up crawling in favor of walking. She has been slowly working up to it feeling things out and getting her balance to where we are now. She still falls a good amount of the time, but just gets right back up to her feet and takes off again. As exciting as it is, this also creates a new headache for mommy and daddy as she is now all over the place like she is exploring new worlds. I (Daddy) decided this was the perfect time to take Brandon out of his carrying car seat and put him in a regular forward facing car seat. This means he now gets hand carried into and out of the daycare while I let Brianna walk and hold my hand. Yesterday was the first time we tried this and it was not without its excitement. I stood Brianna up next to me thinking she would stand there while I got Brandon out of the car...WRONG! As soon as I stood up and looked around, I realized she had taken off out into the middle of the parking lot checking things out. If I am not holding her hand, she just goes where ever she wants to without a care in the world. Hopefully she learns to listen to me soon (something she is good at not doing) and stays near. Especially considering our daycare shares a common parking lot with a gas station and is generally busy with traffic. I will get a pic or video up soon. Seems only yesterday she was just learning to crawl.

4th of July

2009-07-10T06:20:00.000-07:00

This 4th of July was a pretty laid back one and we didn't really do much. It was difficult to keep Brandon and Brianna up to see some fireworks. Brianna didn't make it, but Brandon did and unfortunately didn't care for it. The loud sounds spooked him so he had to be taken in. We were still able to get a couple of good pictures early.

Brandon was blowing a kiss here.

Brandon and Brianna both got some kids lawn chairs for their b-day. Even though they are still a little to small for the chairs, Brandon wanted to try his out.

Brandon giving his best "GQ" pose.

Updated from dad

2009-06-04T07:31:00.001-07:00

This is daddy with an update.

My how things have changed. The twins are now just over 13 months old. It's amazing the progression that is happening around our house. It was only a few months ago you could lay both Brandon and Brianna on the floor, give them a toy, and they would lay there and play. Mainly because they still couldn't move around much. Well, those days are long gone. We now have two kids always on the move and getting into anything and everything they can get their hands on. Since our house is fairly small, the living room has turned into the main play area. Especially since that is one of the few areas we can contain them with gates and is child proof for the most part. The speed at which they can turn a clean room into a messy room is amazing. Give them 30 minutes and it will look like a tornado came through leaving enough toys scattered around that it is hard just to walk. We are still trying to get used to the fact we can not leave our paperwork, cell phones, purse, etc. on the tables as Brianna makes it a point to find them....even if only to pull them off the table to through on the floor. For twins, these two can not be anymore different. Their personalities are like night and day.

Brianna..
She is my little pumpkin and can be such a handful at times. She is no doubt the more spoiled of the two. She can throw the biggest temper tantrum if she doesn't get her way. At the same time she can be so sweet if she wants to be. For such a loud always on the go baby, she is also the shy one of the two. It can take her a good while to warm up to people she doesn't know. That doesn't change her, though, from wanting to be the center of attention. Heaven forbid you hold or play with Brandon and not show Brianna attention. She will quickly remind you how you are in the wrong. She finally broke her 3rd tooth this past week and the first in the upper part of the mouth. You can also see three more about to break the skin. This should help her eat since she refused to eat baby food and wants people food instead. She has been a little crankier recently as a result of the teething though. Her vocabulary is also quickly expanding. She now says thank you, bubbles, Dada, Mama, and her favorite, uh oh (not really a word) when she drops something. Even though she usually drops it on purpose and expects me to hand it to her. A new one this past week really made me laugh. When I am changing her diaper and she has a poopy, I will wave my hand in front of my face and say stinky. She now imitates me with the wave and says stink.

Brandon...
He is my little man. He has a smile that can light up a room and will bring a smile to your face no matter what mood you are in. His personality is extremely out going and doesn't care who is holding him. Because of all the illnesses he has had to deal with in his short life time, he is not near as developed as his sister. Although, he can surprise me when I least expect it. He got me good just the other day while I was home keeping them out of daycare because they had both run a slight fever the day before (we now believe it was just from teething). I was in the kitchen preparing some bottles. When I cam back into the living room, I found his sitting up. I was shocked as he has never been able to do this from his belly. I figured out he pulled him self up on a big toy we have. He is now doing this all the time. Still blows my mind these kinds of progressions/changes can literally happen over night. Obviously he will continue to make advances if we can just keep him healthy. We have ECI coming by to evaluate him later today. We expect they will approve him for physical theropy and what not which should help.

Overall Brandon and Brianna have become a full time job. One that I would gladly accept. They have become my world and I don't know what I would do without them. It's not always easy, but I can think of nothing I would rather be doing then spending time with them.

Picture day

2009-06-02T07:35:00.000-07:00

My sister, who has become quite the photographer, came by and snapped some pictures of the twins over the weekend. They came out really nice.

Pictures from their 1st Birthday

2009-05-23T19:46:00.000-07:00

Some pictures of Brandon and Brianna and their cakes. Brianna loves CAKE and Brandon still does not want anything to do with it.

1st Birthday

2009-05-23T19:25:00.000-07:00

It is hard to imagine that Brianna and Brandon came into our lives a year ago. Have things changed. No more sleeping in on weekends (especially for Daddy). I can not imagine my life without the two of them.
Brianna is now cruising around the house. She should be walking on her own pretty soon. She is into everything. If there is something on the coffee table you can bet that it will be pulled off by Brianna. She has not grasped the concept of putting things back from where they came from. She finally got two teeth just before her first birthday. At her one year check up she weighed 20 lbs 10 oz. and was 30 inches long. She is definitely growing especially since she was 5 lbs. 7 oz. 18 1/2 inches long.
Brandon is still practicing his military crawl for the future. I totally think he will the swimmer of the two (especially the breast stroke). He has learned to inch his way to your feet and tap them while looking up at you and vocalizing that he would like to be held. He still doesn't want anything to do with real people food whenever we try he starts to gag. I think he will be the pickier eater. He now has 6 teeth and has really started to show them off when he smiles. At his one year check up he weighed 18 lbs. 7oz. and was 28 1/2 inches long. Hard to believe he started off at 4 lbs. 10 oz. 17 1/4 inches.

A day in the flowers

2009-04-27T06:08:00.000-07:00

We got lucky on Saturday and had decent weather so we decided to take the twins for a photo opp with some bluebonnets so we packed them up and headed up to Brenham. We found this HUGE field of flowers and couldn't pass it up even though it was someones property and they had a no tresspassing sign up. There were lots of people out there all who had just stopped on the side of the road with the same idea as us. I think the home owners know they had one of the nicer areas and didn't seem to mind the fact we were walking around in their field. Any way both kids cooperated for the most part and we got some pretty nice pictures.

Our first March of Dimes walk

2009-04-26T19:10:00.000-07:00

It was a great day for a walk and even better since it was for a GREAT cause. The babies and I went to the walk at Montgomery County Lone Star College. We arrived about 8:45 am and participated in the pre warmup activities. Brianna and Brandon are both people watchers (just like their mommy). I walked with a wonderful team known as the Northwest Houston Moms of Multiples. They had a booth setup with games for the little ones to play. Hopefully next year B and B will be able to play the games. The walk was 3 miles long and there were a bunch of people and lots of multiples. After the walk Brianna and Brandon danced to the band while we ate our snacks.
I want to say thank you to all of you that donated to this great organization

.

March of Dimes

2009-04-22T19:50:00.000-07:00

one day... all babies will be born healthy

today... too many moms and families know the heartbreak of having a baby born fighting to survive

Most of you know that Brandon and Brianna were born 5 weeks premature. Brianna required oxygen for about 10 minutes after birth and Brandon required a feeding tube. Both had to be hooked up to monitors to indicate when they were having episodes of apnea. Both were in the hospital for 19 days. Since they have been home Brandon has been sick off and on with Croup, Viral infections, Bronchitis, and hospitalized with Pneumonia. Brianna has been the healthier one however, she has got viral infecitons also.

I've have decided to walk in honor of my two wonderful blue eye darlings that have made my life complete.

I've joined March for Babies because the March of Dimes champions the needs of moms and babies in our community and across the nation. The money we raise for March for Babies will help:

- support all-important research offering preventions and solutions for babies born too soon or with birth defects
- educate women on things they can do to increase their chances of having a healthy baby
- provide comfort and information to families with a newborn in intensive care
- push for newborn screening and health insurance for all pregnant women and children

Please help by donating today!

It's easy, safe and secure - just click to make your donation

http://www.marchforbabies.org/K9700290

11 months old

2009-04-03T08:08:00.001-07:00

Brandon and Brianna turned 11 months old yesterday and I thought I would mention how they are doing. Both are doing very well.

Brianna, even though she STILL doesn't have any teeth, is now eating just about any kind of adult food we give her. She has learned to chew (maybe we should call it gum) very well. People at daycare said she eats better and cleaner than some of the older kids they have. She also has a huge appetite. We have cut back from 4 meals a day to 3 regular meals a day with two snack periods and she seems to be adjusting very well to this. I must add it is nice to be able to hand her the bottle and let her feed her self. Makes bottle time sooo much easier. Especially if you are alone and taking care of both by yourself. Her last doctors visit showed her to be in the mid 19 lbs range so she should be ready for a forward facing car seat at the 1 year mark. She continues to be the great sleeper at night. Just as it has been since she hit the 3 month mark, we can put her to bed and just about forget about her. I can almost count on one hand the number of times she has woke up in the middle of the night. She is moving around very well and has learned how to sit up on her own. She has now started to pull her self up on things in an attempt to stand. This is somewhat scarry for me as she is standing in her crib. Not that that is a big deal, but daycare says she is showing signs of trying to climb out of the crib. Even though we have her home crib at the lowest setting, we are considering getting one of those crib tents just incase. It would be an awfully big fall if she did manage to climb out. If you hold her hands, she can step very well and we think she will pick up walking quickly. He favorite word (if you can call it that) is GE GE which is what she came up for doggie (Summer, our Lab). She absolutly loves to watch Summer run around, but hates it when she licks her face. She also has learned to say "Uh oh", but is still not sure when is the right time.

Brandon, even though he has 5 teeth and one more on the way, has yet to figure out how to chew. In fact he HATES solid food and wants nothing to do with it. For this reason we still have him on stage 2 baby food. His last doctors visit, he weighed in the lower 17 lbs range so he is making good progress. He is really starting to do well crawling. It's just like his sisters belly crawl, but he is atleast moving around the livingroom. We have managed to keep him mostly healthy for a good while now. He still sometimes gets the usual cold and congestion, but his cough has managed to stay away along with any fever. He has also been sleeping great through the night. He gets a little restless for the first hour or so of the night, but once he gets past that, he is usually out for the night.

The two together are really getting along great. With brandon now able to crawl, he doesn't let Brianna take his toys like she used to be able to. Even if she does, he will go back after it. It's funny to watch them play tug-of-war when both want the same toy.

Invitations are about to go out for their 1st b-day which will be here before you know it. I'm sure Brianna will dive head first in to her cake and make an absolute mess. Branon will probably be different. He probably won't know what to make of it and will end up slapping it with his hands and just playing with it.

Ok, maybe a few more

2009-03-23T09:14:00.000-07:00

Random "around the house" pictures

2009-03-23T07:09:00.001-07:00

Brandon actually fell asleep IN the jumper!

Yes, I can have a bad hair day.

Helloooooo there!

Fun at the beach

2009-03-23T06:54:00.001-07:00

Guen took the twins to her Aunt's house down on the coast for their first trip to the beach. They had a blast even though Brianna is going through a clingy stage with Guen.

It was a long day and everyone was wiped!

St. Patty's day

2009-03-23T06:43:00.001-07:00

Since it was Guens Spring Break and the Twins first St. Patrick's Day, they celebrated by getting dressed up and going to the park and zoo.

Just when things were going good...

2009-03-03T08:22:00.000-08:00

So everything has been going good for a little over a month and Brandon has been staying healthy. Obviously all good things must come to an end. Both Brandon and Brianna spent this past Friday night with Mimi (Guens mom) to give us a break and so Guen could go to the Rodeo BBQ cook-off. We picked them up Saturday afternoon and noticed both felt a little warm. When we got home we checked and sure enough both were running a fever. Brandons was around 101^ and Briannas was around 100^. No big deal as neither were really cranky and still eating fine. A little baby tylenol and off to bed they went that night. We did go ahead and schedule a doctors appointment for Brandon for Monday morning just to be on the safe side. Around 1 a.m. we both got up to Brandon crying. He felt extremely warm and we were alarmed to see his temperature had spiked to 105^. So exactly 10 months from the day of his birth, he was rushed to the ER with Guen while I stayed at home with Brianna. Most tests came back negetive with only the x-ray of his chest showing his bronchitis had returned. They got back home around 4 a.m. with his fever back down to a more tolerable 99^ and poor Guen got a full 1 hour sleep before it was time to get back up for work. I stayed home with him on monday and we went in to see his normal pediatrician where blood work showed his had yet another viral infection to go along with double ear infections. Poor guy continues his crack addict routine with getting put on yet another round of antibiotics. This good thing is his fever seems to have now broke and has remained normal since Monday morning around 8 a.m. which is amazingly only 7 hours since it hit 105^.

True to form Brianna only slightly got the sickness and seemed to get over it within a day.

SSDD!!!

Brianna crawling

2009-02-18T13:11:00.000-08:00

Here is video of Brianna crawling. She still doesn't use her legs much. More so just pulling her self with her arms. Still gets around nicely though. Funny part is we have to keep her in pants or she will get carpet burns on her knees. The expression on her face when she does it is priceless. She grabs her knees with a With a perplexed look wondering why they hurt. LOL!

Random pictures

2009-02-18T12:01:00.000-08:00

Here are some random pictures taken of the twins.

b-day party

2009-02-10T07:09:00.000-08:00

Recently my niece (Madison) turned 3 and we took the twins to her b-day party. Here are a couple of pictures. Overall they are both doing great. Brandon is now eating like a horse and quickly putting on all the weight he lost when he had pneumonia. He has also already cut his second tooth and looks like 2-3 more could break the skin any day. Ironically they are all on the top. Still nothing on the bottom yet. Poor Brianna isn't even showing signs of teeth. The positive about her is she has now started to crawl. She is still trying to figure it out, but deffinately making progress scooting across the floor.

Brianna

2009-01-25T18:47:00.001-08:00

She growing like a weed. At her last check up which we did early due to getting another round of synagis shot she grew 2 inches. She now is 28 1/4 inches long and 17 lbs 13 oz. She is definitely taking after the Kelley family (mommy's side). She is now wearing atleast a size 6 -9 top and 9-12 pants(more on the larger side due to her long legs).

She is rolling all over the living room floor giving mommy and daddy a rough time. Brianna loves to laugh(with her sneaking laugh) when mommy tells her "no". She is making lots of sounds including dada. She gets extremely excited when the woof woof aka "Summer" comes running near her. She is finally sitting up and staying up for awhile. She is starting to pull herself up on mommy and daddy. Brianna is a little toot when it comes to Brandon. She loves taking his toys and especially his pacifier. She doesn't even use a pacifier. She loves to hit balls together and also clap her hands together. At dinner time she is still eating level 2 foods and drinking 4 (7-8 oz) bottles a day. She gets extremely cranky when she is tired but heaven forbid you just put her in her crib. She acts like it is the end of the world. When she does fall asleep she can sleep through anything. On weekends she loves to sleep in not like her brother who is an early riser. She takes after her Daddy "before babies".

Brandon

2009-01-25T18:33:00.001-08:00

After his battle with viral infections, bronchitis and pnuemonia he is finally coming back to the HAPPY little boy we love so much. He lost so much weight in the last two months. At his 9th month check up which we did 1 week and 3 days early he weighed the same he did at 7 months. He is now 14 lbs 12 oz. (Yea he gained 11 oz in one week after being in the hospital). He is still shorter than Brianna - he has grown 2 inches. He is 26 3/4 inches long. Poor baby he has been through so much in the last 2 months. Last Monday he got tested for allergies and the results came back negative. We are now being referred to an asthma/allergy specialist to figure out if he has asthma since. Another thing thing we are going to look into having him tested for is cystic fibrosis (because of how often he is sick)and Down Synrome. Guen is waiting on the referrals to go through in order to have thse test run and to see the allergists. We will keep you informed.

He is still trying to figure out how to get off of his stomach when he rolls onto to it. He gets so frustrated that he can not do something. He might not be rolling all over the floor quite yet however, he manages to get around. He is funny about taking his breathing treatments - he looks like he is smoking. We will get a picture of it soon.

FIRST TOOTH

TODAY daddy was feeling around in Brandon's mouth and found out the hard way that Brandon HAS a HIS FIRST TOOTH. Yea! he beat his sister on who was going to get the first tooth. He never even showed any signs of getting a new tooth.

Finally back home

2009-01-19T06:22:00.000-08:00

It has been a long week for Guen and Brandon. After being admitted into the hospital on Wednesday, he was finally released Sunday morning. He still has a pretty nasty cough, but he is feeling much better and his appetite is slowly returning. It's good to have him back home and most importantly to see his smile return. Doctors say it could still take some time to completely get over this. He is also being refered to a asthma and alergy specialist to try to figure out exactly what is going on and if we can't keep this from happening again.

ER Visit January 14th

2009-01-17T12:55:00.000-08:00

Once at the ER Brandon now had a fever of 100.6 and his oxygen saturation level was in the low 90's. They took X-rays twice at two different times. The first one showed that he had Bronchilitis Pneumonia. The second one was taken later and the pneumonia was worse. The doctor on staff told us that they would admit us however, we had to wait on a room to be cleaned. Brandon recieved a breathing treatment while we waited. We actually got to see how much he needed the oxygen because he was hooked up to the oxygen saturation level while he did the breathing treatment. We were in the ER for 5 hours. We were in a sealed off room and did not have to deal with the other patients.

Doctor visit on Wed. Jan 14th

2009-01-17T12:38:00.000-08:00

Brandon's x-rays showed that he had Bronchitis. The doctore had us treat him with breathing treatments and antibotics. On Tuesday he was still weak and not feeling up to par to go to daycare (he did not have a fever)so he stayed at Grandma Kelley's for the day. He still struggled with eating however, he managed to get in about 13 oz of food that day. Tuesday night he woke up with a frighting cough and ended up on the recliner with mommy for the rest of the night. At 2 am he was running a fever of 100.1 and moaning so we gave him some Motrin. He fell asleep and woke up again at 6 am or so with a fever of 100.6 so we gave him some Tylenol and he drank a little bit. About 7 am he fell asleep until about 11:15 am. He woke up with a fever now ranging from 101.2 to 102.6 depending on how I checked. Brianna already had an appointment to check out her cough and to figure out what was causing it that day. So I called the doctor's nurse with concern that Brandon did not seem to be doing well at all. He would not take alot of fluid and hi fever was still rising even though he was on antibotics and had already taken Tylenol and Motrin. The nurse told me to bring him in also for the doctor to look at. I was ready to check him into the hospital. I had my bag and Brandon's bag packed ready to go. Once the doctor took one look at him she said he did not look good at all and that he looked better on Monday. His oxygen level was low in the upper 80 - low 90's however it went up to 94/95. I asked the doctor when do we consider putting him into the hospital to get some fluids into his system. She said today refering to Wednesday. She listened to Brianna and looked in her ears and saw that she had an ear infection which was causing her to cough especially when she laid down. So antibotics were ordered. Off to a cousin's house while mommy took Brandon to the ER.
So off to the ER mommy and Brandon went.

SICK!!!!!!!

2009-01-12T10:44:00.000-08:00

As I have mentioned before, we have had sick babies. Both Brandon and Brianna got some viral infection a few days before Christmas and it's been well...hell ever since. Brianna didn't get it as severe and got over it fairly quick. She still has a slight cough and a runny nose. Brandon on the other had had it pretty good the first time around. Even after the fever went away, we have been fighting a pretty nasty cough which turned in to croup. Now this past weekend he got it all over again with his fever shooting up to as high as 104.5 degrees. Poor little man has now been to the doctor a total of 6 times over the last 3 weeks. Now he also has ear infections. Guen took him to get some chest x-rays today and we are waiting for the results. I told the wife he has turned in to our little crack head with all the medication we are having to give him. It's made for some loooong nights for Guen since the only place he seems to be able to get comfortable and sleep is with her holding him laying on the recliner. I have almost forgotten what it feels like to sleep next to her lol. We are both starting to get run down our selves and not feeling well. I scheduled a doctors appointment for myself for tomorrow. I think me and the twins keep giving this sickness back and forth. We even sent Brianna to stay with her grandma this past weekend to keep her away as much as possible since she seems to be the only some what healthy one.

I do hope the doctors are able to treat this soon. Brandon is simply miserable. Plus he is not eating well. Hasn't been since he first got sick. Combined the sickness with not eating and you can tell he is very weak. There has always been a noticeable size difference between Brandon and Brianna, but that is far more apparent now. Where he is still in 3-6 month clothing (mind you he is over 8 months now), Brianna is in 9-12 month clothing. They are even in different size diapers.

More recent pictures

2009-01-01T17:45:00.000-08:00

Here is some more recent pictures we have taken of the twins around the house.

This is the first actual family photo we have taken and was sent out to family in Christmas cards.

Christmas is here!!!

2008-12-29T09:13:00.001-08:00

We wanted to suprise some grandparents with pictures of Brandon and Brianna along with my sisters daughters Skyler and Madison in matching Christmas PJ's. The pictures came out pretty well consider how difficult it is to get two 8 month olds to cooperate for pictures at the same time. Also didn't help that Brandon was coming down with a viral infection that we didn't know about at the time and would end up later in the day running 102 degree fever.

I have some more pictures I will post in the next couple of days.

1st Halloween

2008-10-31T19:39:00.000-07:00

Both babies got dressed up for Halloween. Brandon was a skeleton and Brianna was a pumpkin. Everyone loved their outfits that Grandpa and Grandma Kelley got them at daycare. Brianna crashed early in the evening (she had too much fun at school today). Brandon was a trouper and helped Mommy and Daddy pass out treats to the trick or treaters. He even visited his little girlfriend Nora (6 weeks old) to show off his outfit. He is definitely our night owl. Next year should be fun when we get to go trick or treating with them.

Old pictures

2008-10-31T13:21:00.000-07:00

These are just a couple of pictures from last Halloween that I never got around to posting.

Pumpkin patch pictures

2008-10-20T19:39:00.000-07:00

The twins are really getting into the spirit of the holidays.

5 month update

2008-09-28T18:14:00.000-07:00

Well, it's almost a full 5 months. Today was great day weather wise and the twins were in a great mood so we decided to snap some new pictures. This also turned out the be the first time we have been able to get both the twins to be somewhat cooperative at the same time.

Still daddys little girl

Brandon looking cool.

Talk about a big smile!!!

I get that same look after several drinks.

Brandon loves to play Superman.

Brandon showing his sister his kung fu moves.

2008-09-02T10:38:00.000-07:00

Has it been long enough since I updated this? LOL! We don't have much to update on the twins other than they are growing like weeks. A recent Dr's visit showed Brianna to be slightly over 13 lbs with Brandon being just over 12 lbs. Both are now smiling regularly and Brianna has started to talk (baby talk that it). Brianna has been sleeping through the night for a good while now and we expect/hope Brandon will start to do the same pretty soon.

This past Labor Day weekend, we went to Jellystone Park for the day. It was a bit hot outside (mid 90's) and the twins were a little fussy. Was still a nice break from sitting at home as we have most of the summer with the twins being so young.

New/old pictures

2008-07-10T07:52:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of picture of the twins that I never got around to uploading.

Even though it was the day after they were born, this was Guens first time to hold the twins. The medicine they had Guen on was making her sick so this moment didn't get to last long before Guen had to return to her room to lay down.
Brianna was amazingly alert for only being one day old.
Brandon had to use a feeding tube for the first week while in the NICU.
This part really freeked me out. Within minutes of being born, the twins were put into my arms and the nurses told me to follow them. I had no idea where we were going till I realized we were going to show them off to the family. I was extremely nervous and was scared to death I was going to drop one of them. At this point they hadn't even been weighed or anything. They were literally only minutes old. This is both grandmothers getting to see them for the first time.
Brainna in the NICU right after getting her full check-up. Amazing how small she was. Here it is almost 10 weeks later and she has already doubled in size (literally).

Update

2008-06-19T09:31:00.000-07:00

This is just a quick update following the twins doctor visit today. Brianna has shot up to an amazing 9 lbs 9 ounces while Brandon is up to 8 lbs 2 ounces. Today was also the day of the first shots for them. They got a whopping 4 shots each which went suprisingly well. Both kids screamed when getting them, but quickly quieted down for mommy and daddy afterwards. It also seems like they might be finally getting to a point to where they want to start sleeping longer in one period. Unfotunately that one time seems to be happening durring the day instead of night. I guess we are going to have to work on that.

Lets try this again

2008-06-11T18:05:00.000-07:00

Here are finally some pictures. Both are doing great although Brandon has been really fussy as of late with a cold. We took him to the doctor to get checked out and turns out he has put on almost 1-1/2 lbs in just the past week to reach 7 lbs 6 ounces. Since Brianna is usually about a pound bigger, she has to be well into the 8 lb range now. For twins, these two could not be more different. Mommy and daddy (mainly mommy) could reeeeeally use some sleep.

Taking a nap together at home in the crib. Brianna getting some tummy time on daddy.
Brandon taking a nap with Grandma Kelley while Summer guards them.
Bath time. Even though they are only about 1 lb apart, Brianna looks huge compared to Brandon. They don't seem to mind baths that much as long as the warm water is running on them. Although, once they get cold, WATCH OUT!
Brianna taking a nap.
Daddy with his hands full.

Brianna looking cute for mommy about to finally leave the hospital.

A daddy's touch.
Grandma Vars and Great Grandma Cloyd.
Play time at home. Brandon's shirt could not be more accurate "Party all night, sleep all day (don't worry, I will keep you up too)".

Together again.

1st Doctor Visit

2008-05-30T09:17:00.000-07:00

Brandon and Brianna had great reviews at their 1st doctor appointment. Since they have been home they have been eating like pigs. No complaints from mommy and daddy. Brandon now weighs 6 pounds and 2 ounces (he has gained 1 pound in a week since being discharged from the hospital). Brianna now weighs 7 pounds 2 ounces (she weighed 6 lbs. 8.8 oz when she was discharged). They both are eating up 90 mL - 100 mL. At this rate Brandon will soon pass up his little sis.

Brianna is definitely out of Preemie clothes and moving unto 0-3 months real soon. Brandon will soon be out of Preemies and into Newborn clothes.

They both are changing everyday. It is amazing how fast they change. Boy do we have some children with personalities.

Brandon and Brianna are here!!!

2008-05-08T10:45:00.001-07:00

Welcome Brandon Ray & Brianna

Eve!!! They were born May 2nd, 2008.

2008-04-09T13:51:00.000-07:00

Since my sister is giving me hell for not using this after she set it up, I suppose I will give it a try. Time is now getting close for the twins. Since this is the first post we are making, I guess I should mention we are having one of each. That's right, one boy and one girl. Due date is June 6th, but we expect these little ones will not wait that long and decide to be May babies instead. We have names picked out, but I am going to stay hush hush on that for now and wait to make the announcement when they are born. Guen is constantly fussing about her back hurting and how she can't sleep at night. I guess that comes with having a party ball for a stomach. That's ok. I will keep giving her the support she needs. Although, I am not sure who is more ready for the babies to be born now. LOL!

Welcome to our family blog!

2007-11-08T14:13:00.000-08:00

We are new to the blogging world and would like to share our growing family. Please feel free to visit any time and watch as we expand!