Late night clean-up

Sometimes Ms. Audrey Grace has what is commonly known as projectile vomiting. Last night, Jon was feeding her and stopped to burp her. As usual, she was screaming bloody murder when all of a sudden something shot out of her mouth straight into what looked like my magazine basket. I got up to go clean it up and couldn't find anything. Hmmm.....I looked a little closer and noticed some white stuff on the air vent. Sure enough, I took it off and found all of the spit-up as far as you could see down that hole. Jon informed me I had to clean it out or it would start stinking. So, picture me with my head down an air vent last night and maybe you can get a good laugh today!

Nanny HughEver since we knew we were having twins, Uncle Hugh has said he is going to be their nanny! This was the first time Hugh got to see them and I think he was a little taken by them. He even told Audrey that they are going to play barbies together when she gets older! What a mental picture that creates! Becky came to the hospital when they were born so she got to see them then but this was the first time she got to hold them and she just kept saying over and over how much it was like holding Jon again when he was a baby.


Sydney and Aubrey came with Nenie once while they were in the NICCU but this was the first time for Hughston and he fell in love with them and they with him. All children seem to love Hughston. He rode in the back with them on the way to Cracker Barrell and was so proud of himself because he got them to go to sleep!!

James really enjoyed his first trip to Cracker Barrell!

This is the group at Cracker Barrell. I had a wonderful time. Not only being with family and out with my children but because everyone who passed by James and Audrey just had a fit. And there were a few people (mostly new moms or moms to be) who couldn't take their eyes off of them the whole time we were eating. The kiddos did surprisingly well in a noisy, semi-crowded restaurant, even if we did have a surly waitress!! They seem to adapt to any surrounding they are in and I sure hope they keep it up!

This is proud SuSue holding Audrey

When everyone got to our house Thursday night it was about 10:00 and James was still awake so I kept him up for them to see. He LOVED having everyone around him. Bless his heart, he just kept looking around with wide eyes, smiling at everyone who looked at him. I think he is going to be quite the entertainer. Hmmm, I wonder where in the world he could have gotten that from?!! They both did really well at David and Sherri's the whole weekend. On Saturday after church a few people came over and for the most part I kept them away but I had to bring them out for a little bit. Audrey just kinda kept to herself looking serious most of the time but James again was wild eyed with wonder at everyone around him!

PaPaw and Audrey really bonded this time and James would stare at SuSue and break out in a big ol' smile when she would look at him!

I am so glad that we went and took our children. My heart is so full right now I feel like I could bust. Actually getting to share our babies with family and friends is something you cannot understand unless you have had to keep them away from most everyone for 4 long months. Now, when we can finally take them to church I will feel complete! They went so much before they were born I think they are missing it! Especially hearing their daddy preach. I remember how Audrey would start kicking sometimes when she would hear her daddy in church!

Me and the kids are planning to go with my sister and her kids next week to my daddy's for a few days and Jon's sister Emily and her family are planning to stop by on their way home from Disney World next weekend. Please pray that we ALL will stay well so my babies can meet their Aunt Emily and Uncle Ryan and their 4 cousins, Harrison, Hannah, Matthew and Issy who have been waiting so patiently to see them.

Wonderful WeekendEver since getting the news from the doc 2 weeks ago about being able to take them out a little, my mind immediatly raced to the wimter meeting in Macclenny. After not being able to go to church for so long I was longing to go to this wonderful place where the Lord always meets with us. Macclenny will always be mine and Jon's home away from home. Unless you have ever been blessed to go there, you cannot understand the love that continually flows from that special place. Each member holds a special place in our hearts. So on thursday, my in-laws came in along with Uncle Hugh, Aunt Becky, their children, Nenie and Bro. Like Addison and on friday we all caravand to Macclenny. Ms. Susan and Mr. Ronnie were gracious enough to keep James and Audrey while Jon and I went to church friday night, all day saturday and Sunday morning. My dear friend Amber Gowens Ferrell is a wonderful and talented photogropher and she took the kiddos 1st professional pictures saturday afternoon. Earlier in the week I had thought about going to JC Penny to get their pics taken but then I thought about Ms. Ferrell and that was that. JC Penny doesn't hold a candle to Amber's talent! We had a great time and the kids really worked it out for her! SHe got some great shots and these are a few of them.

I will post some more later in the week and also some pictures of their first official visitors and their first trip away from home. They did WONDERFUL by the way. Although I am afraid now they are suffering from "arm fever"!

Don't call me little! I know she isn't doing so in this picture but just over a month ago Audrey got into the habit of SCREAMING every time you take the bottle out of her mouth and try to burp her. It is not very pleasant. I seriously think Jon and I will have some sort of hearing disability in the near future if she keeps this up. I thought at 1st it might be hurting her to burp but then I realized she starts crying when you remove the bottle out of her mouth. She's funnny. She whimpers and pokes her lip out at first and when she realizes you are putting her on your shoulder she becomes livid. (I am not making this up, for all of you who might think I tell stories on my babies!) When she first started, Jon actually put on a pair of ear muffs that he uses to sight his gun in! HA! Now we've learned how to hold our head on her back and smush our ear closed so she won't scream directly in it!

Sorry these pictures are a little dark. I felt sorry for them last night, always having a bright flash go off in their faces. So I took some with out the flash which resulted in dark, blurry ones.

By the way, the Dr. said that Audrey's strawberry on top of her head is starting to go down! It has a little gray area on top of it now which means it is starting to receed which also means it won't get any bigger than what it is now!

Sweet SleepDon't you wish we could all sleep this relaxed? He had just gotten finished eating when Nenie called me in to see how cute he looked! It is very hard work for a little boy to eat so much! We so enjoyed Nenie's time here and the children really took to her. I think they knew how much love their great-grandmother has for them. This was Nenie's first time getting to see them outside of the hospital and I think she was quite taken with them! Above is James laughing and smiling for the first time at his mobile. It was bitter-sweet though because he was fixing to get his RSV shot right before this was taken. But he took it in stride, just like he always does. To have had such a rough start, my children have really taken off! The Lord has blessed them ever since their arrival into this world and He continues to do so on a daily basis. Even during our darkest moments with them in the intensive care unit, we could still look around us and see that our children were so much more blessed then alot of the other babies in there with them. I often wonder about alot of the children and their parents that we struck up friendships with and how they are doing. James and Audrey were tiny when they were born but they were still some of the biggest babies in there and they got to go home sooner than most.

Audrey can hold her head up so well now and we are amazed at how strong she gets with each passing moment. To have been so premature, both of them are growing by leaps and bounds; another wonderful blessing. Dr. Walker told us they will probably be 2 months behind until 18 months of age so not to worry if they don't meet some milestones on time. But he also said he didn't believe that it would take them that long to catch up and Jon and I agree.

Above is how excited James was at the prospect of going shopping for the first time. He sacks out very easily and always does so with his mouth wide open. I think it is safe to say James does not lack the sleep that his parents do! Su-Sue is expected to arrive on Wednesday and I am looking forward to maybe getting a whole nights rest! The grandmothers are so wonderful about watching them all night so we can sleep! The last time we both got to sleep all night was when my sister came for Christmas, so Su-Sue we are READY for you!

My crazy husband and his crazy brother were going to Jacksonville today to go surfing. Yes, they knew how cold it is going to be today. They got up and checked the report about 7 this morning and I was so glad that the surf was flat! So, they went back to bed and I haven't heard from them since! Now, maybe Jon can go to Sears and buy our new washing machine so we won't have to wear our clothes inside out for much longer. Just kidding! It broke on Saturday so we haven't had to go to those lengths yet!

First shopping tripOkay, I could not contain myself one more minute! I had to take them SOMEWHERE! So Nenie and I loaded them up and went into Cairo yesterday and went to this little drug store in town. It is like the old time drug stores where they have clothes and jewelry and china and all sorts of other stuff. And it is never that crowded, especially during the middle of the day. Below is what they thought of their first trip out into the real world!They had all their Christmas stuff on sale so I bought them a few nice outfits for next year and the year after that. Silly I know but they were really expensive clothes 75% off and I can never pass up a good deal! It was so fun to have people pass by them and exclaim "Oh how adorable" I loved every minute of it! This is a real baby doll! Doesn't she look adorable? I was gonna take them to have their pictures made today and we were trying on outfits last night. But I decided not to be too gung-ho about taking them out AND they got their RSV shot this morning at 9 and we would have been in to much of a rush to get up there in time. And we really wouldn't have had time to shop for James an outfit to wear and I was afraid that they might be cranky from all the shots they have gotten this week. So......maybe next week we will venture out into the world again!

Shots My babies had their 1st immunizations today. They had 3 shots and one oral. They cried for about 30 seconds and then were okay. They are so brave!
James weighs: 10.5 He is 21 inches long
Audrey weighs: 9.4 She is 21 1/2 inches long
The doctor was very, very pleased with their weight gain and said they are doing superb and don't have to come back for 2 months! I love Dr. Walker because he always makes me feel like I am doing a wonderful job as a mother. He always calms any fears I have about anything and the best part is I know he takes my children's health just as seriously as I do.
He said that in February it will be okay for them to meet their cousins! Hooray! As long as they are not sick and don't touch them. He also said we could go out to places but just be smart, use good judgement; like going to the mall at 10:00 in the morning when there are not that many people there. But, still no church. He said they still do not need to be in large crowds where people are real close to them and handling them because you just never know who may be harboring some illness. And RSV is runnig rampant this time of year and even though they are getting preventitive shots, it is not worth the risk. Their immune systems are only as strong as a 6 week old baby because gestationally they are only 6 weeks old. So we must treat them as such.

However, I was SO excited at this news I was practically dancing in the aisles at Target. Nenie (Jon's grandmother) sat in the car with them this time because it is very cold and rainy here today. But just to know that if I wanted to, I could have taken them in! We probably wont go anywhere much but just knowing we could feels like a million bucks!