Friday, March 28, 2014

15 month update :)

Just a quick update of the kiddos :)

15 months!!

These two just keep getting cuter and sweeter.  We have our moments, but for the most part, we have been so blessed with two really amazing kids.



Taken on Jon's birthday March 13th

Alton is such a boy.  We call him our little dump truck.  Okay, that might sound weird... but really, he is.  Nothing he does has any finesse and Jon says he "bumbles" around when he's walking.  He's so cute though.

He really loves his sister.  Even though he steals her toys and tries to take her glasses off, he has his moments where he shows how much he loves her.  So, he has always given her kisses, but lately, he kisses her hand when they are in their high chairs.  It's so sweet.  Ashlyn will definitely have her brother to look after her for sure.



Alton's vocabulary keeps growing all the time.  I'm just amazed with how well he can say things.  I'll write some words down that he says and I'll try to see if I can write them down the way he says them.

dada, mama (this is new! finally!), tank-oo (thank you), ga-pa (grandpa), buba (sippy cup with milk/bottle), seep (sweep), goo-jaa (good job), peese (please), cheese, bahbee (strawberry), chee-o (cheerio), ah-doo (water), hi, bump (for a fist bump), puppy, sookie, baw (ball), baby, tukee (turkey), teeth ti (teeth time), pay (prayer), mamen (amen- this is new too), sit, bye, tasty, touch down, done, ma (more), bee (bib)...   The kid mimics everything lol... must be careful with what we say :)

Alton LOVES being outside.  He loves taking walks in the stroller and going to the park.  He loves going down slides and swinging.  This last week has been gross and rainy and he always goes up to the garage door and knocks on it and says "bye" and looks at me like "Hey! Let's go!"  Sorry kid... it's raining :(



Toys he's into: his puppy, cars... well, the wheels on cars, blocks, his toy phone and anything he can chew on.

He loves watching wheel of fortune.  It's the only thing that he will sit still for.  It's pretty amazing.



He loves chasing Ashlyn down the hall and they giggle like crazy.  He loves pointing out puppies on our walks.  He doesn't like to cuddle, but he gives the best hugs.

He is my helper.  He will try to sweep for me and likes to shut the pantry door whenever I'm done.  He often will clap for himself and said "good job" or... he claps for me once I've finished with a chore and says good job... why, thank you ;)   Everyone needs their own cheerleader haha


Ashlyn is a wild little girl.  She get's cuter every day.  She is doing wonderful with her glasses still.  We saw her eye doc the other day and the doctor loved her glasses and how they fit and how they were helping her.  She doesn't need a patch right now like he said she might- so that's very good news.

Playing at Grandma and Grandpa's house :)

She loves wearing necklaces.  So chic :) haha 


She is a very curious little girl.  She wants to discover everything.  She's into pointing at her belly button and pointing at our noses and figuring everything out.  She hates getting her diaper changed lol.  She is our runner.  She runs everywhere she goes.

Toys she's into: blocks.. always blocks, little people farm animals, her "beep beep" aka: their sit/push car, puppy, her doll, balls, toy phone

Words- Ashlyn doesn't say as much as Alton but she says a lot more than she used to lol.  She babbles all the time though with her own little language.  It's really cute. 

dada, mama, puppy, sookie, mamen (amen), touch down, she said cow a few times yesterday, she signs "more", done, ah-doo (water), baba (bottle), beep-beep (for her car), dahwee (dolly), hi, bye, bump, bahbee (strawberry)... I think that's about it

Ashlyn also loves going to the park.  We just have to watch her like a hawk because she'll stuff thick mulch pieces in her mouth haha.


She loves dogs.  She can spot them like a mile away.  She just chants "puppy! puppy!" over and over and I'm like.. sorry kid... no puppy.. and then as we get further down the road, I see the dog she was going nuts about.  It's really cute.

She loves being held and cuddled.  If we are holding Alton she also must be held at the same time. :)  She loves her blankets and walks around with it quiet often.

I cannot get her to really drink from a cup.  She just doesn't care.  She'll suck out of a straw until the liquid gets to her lips and then she stops and just pretends she's sucking.  It's the weirdest thing.  So, bottles are still a must for her.  Rats.  I so wanted to be done with those.  Oh well, every kid is different and goes at their own pace.  She is eating better.  She has her moments of hoarding food in her cheeks and refusing to swallow, but she eventually does.  Progress is progress, right??


Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Ashlyn Gets Glasses

At the end of January we met with a pediatric ophthalmologist for Ashlyn.  I won't lie, I had no idea what to expect.  I was nervous.  I mean, how can they tell how someone's vision is if the patient can't even talk yet??  I figured that she would probably need glasses.  Jon thought she'd need an eye patch.

There were two parts of the visit.  The first was with a nurse.  We were in a room that was really long.  At the end of the room there was a small tv that the nurse would play different videos.  Ashlyn was all about just looking around because it was a new place! New things to see! The nurse kept telling me to tell Ashlyn to watch the screen... really? Fat chance.  Haha... anyways, one thing that I thought was really neat was that the nurse pulled out this spinning light up toy.  Ashlyn was mesmerized.

The nurse asked me a million questions like "so, percentage wise, how often does Ashlyn's eye cross?"  Uh... not all the time.  Some days it's more often than others?  No idea.  Those questions make me so nervous!  What if I answer wrong?  Then you're panicking going "No wait!  I change my answer!"  would it really change anything?  Who knows!  You all know what I'm talking about.   The quesitons you just want to answer- "Maybe? Sometimes?  I don't know. Yes? No?"

When she was done we went back to a waiting room to wait for the doctor.  He called us back about 20mins later.  He asked me the same questions as the nurse.  Then he pulled out this glass paddle that had different lenses that lined it.  He would turn the lights on and off, use the spinning light up toy to watch her eyes.  Then, he put on his... oh what is it called... not a hat.. but a head piece with a light on it and special glasses.  He turned the lights off and he pointed his flashlight at Ashlyn has he moved his little paddle around to see her eyes through the different lenses.  It was painless.  Ashlyn did really well.

When he was done, he told me that she had Accommodative estropia (her right eye crosses) and she has a bit of a lazy eye.   He then went on to say that she would need glasses and that she would probably be in glasses until she was 10-11.  She might need some surgery down the road.  She may need to wear a patch for a little while too.  It felt surreal.  I knew that this was coming, but it was hard to hear.  Our little girl has had a lot of other struggles and the last thing you want to do is give her another physical ailment to overcome.
As our luck would have it, a big storm was heading our way.  I had to look up a place to get Ashlyn's glasses and there was a place that was down the road.  We got the brand called myraflex.  Basically, it's indestructible :)  Anyways, the glasses took a little over 2 weeks to get to us.  The lab they use are out of Atlanta, GA and while we were getting an ice storm, Atlanta was covered in snow.  It has been a really bad winter across the country.

Here she is in her glasses!




I can't tell you how amazed we are with how well she is doing with them.  She rarely ever tries to take them off.  She really only tries to take them off when she is frustrated when she's eating.  She used to pull on her hair, but now her glasses are there.  I thought we would have to fight with her like crazy to keep them on.  We are so thankful that she has done so well with them.  Her eye stays straight with the glasses on and then when you take them off, it immediately crosses.  It's crazy.  I'm so thankful that we were able to catch this early and that this can be fixed.

When we found out that she needed glasses we wanted to get her something special.  I looked all over the place for a doll with glasses.  I didn't want removable parts.  I wanted a cloth doll.  I finally found one on Etsy.  The shop owner was able to customize the doll so it would have the same color glasses as Ashlyn.  It finally got here today.  It would've been here a month ago, but there have been so many delays because of the storms.  The shop owner had to order the fabric special so that got delayed a few weeks because they didn't want to send it out during a crazy storm.  Anyways, it was worth the wait.  I am so thankful I had my camera ready to capture her reaction.  It was priceless!  She loved it and was all giggles!  Her elastic in her hair had just broke and her hair was all over the place :)


Thursday, March 6, 2014

Brush, Brush, Brush your teeth....

So, I have a lot to catch up on, but wanted to write this down before I forget.  The kids hate getting their teeth brushed.  We give them their own toothbrushes to hold, I let them "brush" my teeth, we sing songs... and they still hate every moment of it.  We brush their teeth after breakfast and before they go to bed at night.  We just do it when they're in their high chairs, it's just easier with twins. 

I would say that Ashlyn hates it more than Alton, but who really knows.  She flips out, throws her special toothbrush, shakes her head, pulls her glasses off.... all before I can even get near her with the dreaded toothbrush!  Alton tightens his lips, but he will eventually let you do it.  He hates getting his top teeth brushed the most.  Freaks out about that.  He at least will bite on his own brush.  Which is why Ashlyn is not in the picture below...  haha.

Anyways, Jon came up with his own song that we now sing whenever it's "teeth time".  It's to the tune of "Row Your Boat".

Brush, brush, brush your teeth!
Brush them every day!
If you don't, then they'll fall out...
And that is not okay!

It makes them giggle when we sing it, so that's something... they just hate getting their teeth brushed.  Oh well.  Baby steps... :)