Almost Summer and a Quick Update

Tomorrow is my last day of work before summer vacation! I can't wait to have all that free time to spend with the boys!

It's been a while since I've updated, so here's what's been going on: Riley has continued to make great progress with his walking and has not used his walker in over two weeks now. He is getting better and better with his balance, endurance, and speed and his PT is amazed at how well he is doing.

Ross has discovered a passion for playing "Ring Around the Rosie" and asks to play it several times a day. He has also started to ask me to chase him around the house and squeals as loudly as he can when I catch him, just before he falls on the floor in a fit of giggles. I love it.

We have a new pet. "Ish" the fish now lives in a bowl on our dining room table. Riley has inherited my love of fish (those of you who have been to our house know that their nursery was done in an aquarium theme) and learned the sign for fish in speech therapy. He can't make the "f" sound yet, though, so when he tries to say the word, it comes out "ish". That's where the fish got its name.

The boys both had an evil virus this week that gave them fevers and a slight cough. They were rude enough to share it with with Reid right before his birthday party, too, for which they have asked me to apologize. Luckily, none of the boys really started to feel sick until after the party, because it was so much fun! The party was at Gymkhana, where Reid has been taking toddler gym classes for several months. He showed us all of his amazing gym skills and all of the kids had a fabulous time. It was a perfect party and everyone had so much fun! All three boys are starting to feel better now and we are all hoping that they are all completely better by Saturday, which is a very important day in our family. It is Reid's actual birthday and it is also my Mom's birthday!

Ross and Riley are also going to be taking toddler gym classes this summer at Gymkhana, so Reid's party was a great opportunity to see the gym and get a glimpse of what they will be doing. The class they will be taking will be geared for kids with some sensory issues (Ross) and fine and gross motor skill issues (both boys). I think the added effort to address those needs will make the class especially helpful, but I also think that, after watching them at Reid's party, the boys would be able to participate in a "regular" toddler gym class with no adaptations. When I originally signed them up, Riley was still using his walker and Ross' sensory needs were a little more pronounced, so I was thinking that the special needs class was exactly what they needed. It feels really good to know that they would be fine in a regular class, too.

Here are a couple of pics from the last couple of weeks. Enjoy!

I came home to a miracle today....

When I got home from work today, I found this waiting for me:

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Yep, that's Riley walking completely on his own, without his walker! I burst into tears and gave him a zillion hugs and kisses! There are no words for how proud I am! He went back and forth from the couch to the table at least 20 times! Then, a few minutes later he did this:

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

How exciting is that?????

Thanks, Cali!

Check out our cool new header art, courtesy of my friend Calliope! She is a fabulously creative woman who is designing header art for bloggers like myself, who are completely devoid of all creative computer graphic skills! All I told her was that I love all shades of blue, everything fishy, and sent her a pic of each boy. She changed the pics into drawings, added the fish and voila! Our new header! All of this happened in less than 2 days, by the way. Not only is she talented, but she is speedy!

So, if you want cool header art for your blog, go vist her and let her know I sent you! There is a handy button over there on the right hand side for you to click that will take you right to her. Bonus - if you purchase her design skills (which are super cheap, by the way!) you will be helping her raise money to realize her dream of becoming a single mom by choice. She is putting all profits toward her FET fund and I wish her all the success in the world! Thanks, Cali!

I've also changed our template to accentuate the beautiful new header. Leave us a comment and let me know what you think!

Fifths and Disappointment

No, not fifths of liquor....Fifth's Disease. That's what has caused Riley to be covered in red spots all week. It's not dangerous, and it's not even making him uncomfortable, which it great. However, it is contagious and can be dangerous to people with compromised immune systems, people with lung problems, and pregnant women.

Hmmm.....compromised immune systems and lung problems.....that sounds an awful lot like many former preemies who might be at the March for Babies. Pregnant women? Lots of pregnant women participate in events that promote the health of all newborn babies. Yep. You got it. We weren't allowed to go to the March for Babies this weekend.

I was so disappointed, but I am trying to focus on the fact that, with all of your help, we did raise $655 for the March of Dimes, which is fantastic. Of course, the donations were the real point of the March, but I wanted to see Ross and Riley walking: strong, healthy and grateful for the incredible medical care they received when they were born prematurely. So, I did what any disappointed Mom would do - I took tons of pictures of them being silly at home this weekend!

Enjoy!

Our first time taking a bath together in the big tub!

What? Am I being rude?

The shirt says it all!

Twins in a laundry basket

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!!

Thank you so much for all of your unbelievably generous donations to the March of Dimes! We have surpassed our goal and will be so honored to present all of your donations on walk day. Of course, we still have a little over a week until the walk, and we will continue to collect donations until that day. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Love,
Melissa, Ross and Riley

Please help us reach our goal!

Click here to help me reach my goal!




Our March for Babies is on May 4th and we still have a long way to go to reach our goal! If you have already contributed, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. If not, please donate now to help all babies be born healthy!

I'm IT!

Wow! I am so honored! I feel like a "real" blogger now that I've been tagged! Thanks to Krista at The Galli-Ringo Family for tagging me. Now I'm "IT."

Here are the rules:
1. Link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.


I'm a little worried that I won't be able to think of 7 things about myself that are interesting enough to share, but here goes:

1. I am completely and totally addicted to Starbucks. Seriously. If you go into the Starbucks down the street from our house and ask anyone who works there for a "Melissa" you will get my drink!

2. I am an avid reader. Before the boys were born, I used to read 5-6 books a week. I always read at least 4 books at once. I had them stashed in different rooms of the house, in my car, and in my purse. I never wanted to get caught without having something to read. In fact, I used to hate having free time to just sit and think and I always had to have something to read to distract myself. Since the boys arrived, I treasure a few minutes to just sit and think quietly.

3. I love to knit. I mentioned in a previous post that I was learning to knit, but it has really become quite a hobby. (Interestly, now that I knit so much, I am reading less and less.....) Last night, I finished matching sweaters for the boys. They are super cute, if I do say so myself. I will post some pics of the boys modeling them soon.

4. My Gram always amazed me by her ability to do the Sunday New York Times puzzle...in pen! That's talent! I'm nowhere near that good, but I am usually able to finish the Sunday puzzle after a few days of working on it and many, many erasures. When I was on bedrest during my pregnancy, Starbucks had a crossword puzzle challenge that kept me occupied for several weeks. My mom and sister brought me the new puzzles as soon as they came out each week. I hope Starbucks does something like that again....although, I won't really have enough time to do it now!

5. When I was in college, I worked at Blockbuster Video during one winter break and one summer. One night, my boss, (who was only about 6 months older than I was) thought it would be funny to have me climb inside the video return drop box, reach out and grab videos as people dropped them off, and say "Thank you very much". It was pretty hilarious, but I sure hope I didn't scare anyone too badly.

6. I've never had a cavity! I really hope Riley and Ross have inherited my teeth!

7. I'm happy. I don't mean annoyingly sappy, always smiling happy. I mean that I am content and satisfied with my life. Sometimes, I am surprised by how my life has turned out and how perfectly it suits me. I grew up assuming (silly me!) that I would be a teacher, get married, and have children. I always knew I would be a special ed. teacher and working with students with autism is a wonderfully fullfilling, challenging career. There's nothing surprising about that part of my life. However, if anyone had ever told me that I would choose not to get married and and that I would become a single mom of twins on my own, I would have laughed. But, that's exactly what I chose, and I am grateful for those choices every day. I can't imagine a better life than the one I have with the Twincredible Twosome.


OK, here are the people I'm tagging.

1. Billie at MicroPreemie Twins: The Story of Holland and Eden
2. Michele at I Got Two, Babe
3. Jen at 4tunate
4. Cheryl at Twinfatuation
5. Craftylissa at Adventures of a Twin Mommy
6. Carey at Uterus X2 (I am sure she doesn't have time for this right now, but we can hope!)
7. Erica at The Dunn Family

Thanks again, Krista!

While you're here...please click on the banner to the right and support March for Babies! Ross, Riley and I are working hard to reach our fundraising goal!