Evalynn & Elizabeth's Journal

May - June 2004

Welcome to Evalynn and Elizabeth's journal!  We were born on August 31, 2003 at 34 weeks, 5 days gestation.  Our due date was October 7th, so we were a bit over 5 weeks early.  Select the links below to get quickly to the section of your choice.  Thanks for visiting. 

Many pictures are posted out here.  Prior to posting the pictures, I shrink them down to approximately 300 pixels to save space on the web server (we're only given so much space).  If you're wanting original sized pictures, please email us, letting us know which picture you'd like and we will email it to you.

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May 1, 2004: 244 days old  (8 months (34 weeks, 6 days)) It has been a busy few days here.  Yesterday we thought Mommy would be in the hospital over the weekend.  I suffered a gall bladder attack Thursday night that didn't go away, like they have in the past.  So, I went to the doctor on Friday for it and the doc was ready to find out which surgeons were available (who was playing golf, who was on vacation, etc...).  He sent me to the hospital for an upper abdomen ultrasound, but it came up negative.  He called in a prescription for pain pills and if the pain is still there on Monday, to call back and he'll order a dye test to check gall bladder function.  Even with the pain pills, the pain continues.  It hurts to take deep breaths, yawn, cough, sneeze, and bend.  I also find myself sitting up straighter to help with some of the pain.

The girls turned 8 months old today!!!  Daddy and Mommy had a meeting to go to and the girls went with.  After that, we went to dinner at IHOP.  The girls ate real oatmeal (Mommy mixed some banana's in it as we took a banana with just in case).    It's nice that's we're now able to feed them something from the menu.  The only complaint we got from the girls was when we were not feeding them fast enough.  Liz drank from a straw for the first time tonight.  Lynn tried, but would rather drink right from the cup without a straw.  We then went to Toys r Us as Mommy found out they were having a buy one get one free on Fisher Price toys under $19.99.  We bought them two Babies First Dolls, two Musical Activity walkers and one Snap Lock Beads and one Rock a Stack (the different sized rings that go on the post).  We bought $70 worth of toys for $35.  We're hoping there's another sale like this before their birthday.  There's a couple things Mommy has her eye on.  I hope to get their 8 month pictures taken within the next couple days.

The girls were so wonderful today!  We were out for 9 hours and they only complained when they were hungry and if Mommy and Daddy would walk away.  They've really gotten into stranger fright, so they'll start screaming if someone else (other than Mommy, Daddy, Brother and Sister) pick them up.

Also, Liz is now saying DaDa!  That makes Daddy really happy!

I have archived March - April's journal/pictures.  The link to that is above.

Mommy better get this posted while it's still May Day!  By the way, Happy May Day!

May 4, 2004: 247 days old  (8 months, 3 days (35 weeks, 2 days)) Happy Birthday Great Grandma Howe!!!!

I finally got 8 month pictures taken.  Our props are their new baby dolls and trikes.  Sorry some of the pictures are grainy.  I'm still trying to figure out what the deal is with that.  I wonder if the camera is starting to take a dive.

 Here's our biker babes:

Mommy is starting to feel better.  I went back to the doctor yesterday and he tried another medication.  I woke up feeling good this morning.  Not sure if it was the meds or the awesome chili I made for dinner last night.

It looks like the weather is going to start improving soon.  They're talking 80's by Thursday.  Just as long as it's not windy like it has been.

Daddy goes back out to NJ again next week.

May 7, 2004: 250 days old  (8 months, 6 days (35 weeks, 5 days)) The girls went for their first trip to the park last evening.  They loved it.  I took some pictures, but most are blurry (hard to get those shots when they're swinging).  I'll try to pick out a couple and get those out later.

We had quite a storm early this morning.  It knocked our basketball pole over to a 45 degree angle over the driveway.  At least Daddy had just left for work.  There was a chance it could have hit the car.  I went out and knocked it the rest of the way down.  Now we need to figure out what to do with it.  Spring cleanup pickup was last week, so we can't trash it.   We don't really need it back up.  There's plenty of hoops at the park if the kids want to play.

The girls are doing great.  Still waiting for that first tooth.  Liz was trying to figure out how to pull herself up this morning.  Her new word is Num.  She says it when she's hungry and when eating. 

Speaking of hungry, I'm being paged.

May 9, 2004: 252 days old  (8 months, 8 days (36 weeks) 

Happy Mothers Day!!! to all the Mommy's out there (and Mommy's to be).

This mommy got a dozen roses and chocolates for Mother's Day.  I also got to sleep in until 10 am and had breakfast cooked.  We had chocolate chip pancakes and bacon.  Mitzi made me a book.  Lynn is wearing an outfit that says Mommy's Princess and Lizzzie's outfit says I love Mommy.  Of course, Mommy picked those out.

Mommy's wish was to have a tooth pop through.  Not yet.  Liz is so close.  That's one huge bump she has.

It's been quite warm here.  It got up to 88 yesterday and we're supposed to be close to that again today.

Better go... we're about ready to go to Bloomington to get supplies to get the gas grill going for steaks tonight.

Happy Mothers Day!!!

May 13, 2004: 256 days old  (8 months, 12 days (36 weeks, 4 days)   This has been one busy week here.  Daddy left for NJ Monday morning.  He returns tomorrow.

I had an appointment yesterday with a GI specialist.  He thinks there could be something going on with my gallbladder and also mentioned you can have GB problems without stones.  I go in for a CT scan next Wednesday.  I have to take barium Tuesday night (yuck) and dye before leaving for the appt.

Today, Lynn had an appointment in Urbana at the Very Low Birthweight Clinic today.  She was seen by a physical therapist, speech pathologist and a social worker talked to us.   Dan was praised for going with.  He actually helped with some of the questions we were asked and they asked his opinion on what and how Evalynn is doing.  The PT noticed that she doesn't have a real strong grasp on objects.  She'll hold them briefly, but drop them.  She usually does better at home.  I did mention that when she is on her tummy, she doesn't hold her head up straight.  We were urged to do some exercises with her to get her to hold her head up better.  She also have a tendency to hold her arms behind her (she's always done it).  I asked what we can do to get her to stop that.  Some of those same exercises will help and whenever we see her doing that or holding herself up with her hands pointed in to change it to the right position.  So, the solution is more floor time.  Otherwise, she's doing everything most babies her adjusted age is doing and there's some that she's ahead of schedule on.  They were surprised when I told them we were introducing cups.  The speech pathologist recommended that we take the valves out of the cups at home, but put them in when we're out or if they're in the carseats.  They put so much into making these cups spillproof they expect these babies to be mini-hoovers! 

After the appointment, we visited the NICU and Anti-partum (where Mommy spent the last month of the pregnancy) units at the hospital.  The NICU took pictures of the girls, Dan and I.   The girls had lots of stranger fright and cried most of the time we were at the appointment and on our visits (they did stop crying long enough for the pictures).  It was hard for the therapists to evaluate Lynn since she was so upset.  We'll have to try it again sometime so they can see our smiling, happy babies.  Lynn will have another evaluation in September/October.

We worked with Lynn a lot tonight and she did great.  Of course, she was holding onto objects with no problem.  I think there were too many people in the room.  It was funny...since Liz was quiet, the physical therapist tried to use her to show us some exercises and she started crying.  Then he tried it with Dan and Liz and she wouldn't have anything to do with it.

We did have lots of fun though.  I also donated the girls' preemie sleepers to the NICU.  They were so glad to get them as they have a shortage of preemie girl sleepers.  We noticed that when the girls were in, which gave me the idea to donate.

Lizzie had another first tonight...She sat up all by herself.  Mitzi was reading to the girls while they were on the floor.  She looked down and she was sitting.  We waited for her to pull herself up the rest of the way and clapped.

Liz is also real close to cutting her first tooth.  She's been really cranky the last day and drools everywhere (more than usual).  They've both been really clingy, but I read that is also common at their age.

May 17, 2004: 260 days old  (8 months, 16 days (37 weeks, 1 day)  We had quite a busy weekend.  Daddy had problems getting out of O'hare Friday. So, we picked him up in Peoria.  It was pouring rain the whole time.  Then we went to Bloomington so Daddy could get the car at the airport and check on his luggage.  It's not the first time the luggage didn't make it, so we're used to that.  We went to eat lunch at Olive Garden.  The girls had a taste of Mommy and Daddy's food.  They loved the breadsticks!

We spent the day Saturday at Uncle John and Aunt Elena's, while Daddy was in Peoria doing a CAP mission.  They did really good.   Elena's Mom bought the girls a whole lot of clothes from garage sales.  The clothes were wonderful.  There's actually a couple outfits that I have coordinating outfits for. 

Sunday, I cleaned the closet of all the clothes that are either out of season or too small to make room for all the new clothes.  I washed the new clothes and have them all hung.  I finished making room today.

We've been doing more finger foods lately.  Today, they had graham crackers for the first time.  They also ate what Mommy and Daddy did tonight.  Liz loved it, Lynn was ok to start, but got a bit grumpy.  Then she ate a banana, while Liz ate Daddy's chicken.  They had cut up green beans.  That really went over better than baby food green beans.

Here is Lizzie's new look.  She'll squish up her entire face, squint her eyes and breathe out her nose.  She usually does it when she's excited.  I tried to get a better picture, but you've got to be quick.  I'll keep trying.

Here is Evalynn waving at the camera...

Tonight, we took the girls outside since it was so nice out.  They met one of our neighbors and showed off their new sunhats.  They love it outside.  Liz is wearing one of the new outfits.  Lynn is wearing a coordinating outfit that I found at a garage sale a couple weeks ago. 

Mommy has been busy staying one step behind the weeds and taking care of the garden.  The weeds are now down to a manageable level.   We still need to plant flowers.

May 21, 2004: 264 days old  (8 months, 20 days (37 weeks, 5 days)  Lizzie has forward motion!!!  She army crawls to where she needs to go.  Lynn moves around just as well, but backwards and by rolling around.  She tries to go where her sister goes.

I got a call from the doctor this morning. They called to tell me that the doctor wants to schedule an upper endoscopy (EGD). The CT scan showed some tissue around the pancreas, which could indicate pancreatitis. I should receive another call on Monday to schedule that. I figured if they found something, they'd call and if I didn't get a call Monday, I'd call. The person that called said that she didn't want to leave me hanging all weekend. That was so nice!

I took some pictures of the girls this morning.  They were extra happy, so the timing seemed perfect. 

I'm also wanting to send some pictures to Grandpa Jerry, since they haven't been able to get to the website for a few weeks.  Grandpa is in the process of getting a bone marrow transplant at Mayo.  I talked to him Wednesday.  He mentioned that he missed seeing pictures of the girls.

I also wanted to do comparison pictures with the bears.  The first pictures were taken at one month old.

Evalynn...

Elizabeth...

Wow, how they've grown!!!

May 23, 2004: 266 days old  (8 months, 22 days (38 weeks) Lizzie goes just about everywhere now.  Lynn sometimes rolls right along with Liz.

We have visitors for about a week.  Their names are Charlie Bear and Bob (a frog).  Charlie and Bob are traveling across the country visiting babies in an October '03 birth group I belong to.  Charlie and Bob are supposed to go everywhere we do and we must take lots of pictures before they move to their next destination.

Here's a picture of Charlie and Bob going on a clothes basket ride with the girls.

We set up the playpen today in the living room.  The girls had lots of fun playing in there.  They also played well together.  Here's what happens when you miss your nap and play too much.

May 29, 2004: 272 days old  (8 months, 28 days (38 weeks, 6 days)  Houston, we have a tooth!!!!  Liz has finally cut a tooth.  She's crawling everywhere and getting into everything.  She's trying to do the hands and knees crawl, but does not have that quite down yet.  She's also trying to pull herself up on things.

Lynn rolls everywhere and does really good at lifting her head and chest off the ground.  She's trying to scoot forward.  She's also gotten on her knees a few times.

We're trying to get more eager into the transition to sippy cups.  Liz will take formula out of the cup.  Lynn flatly refuses it.  Just as a test to see if it was the association between formula and the bottle, I gave her the same cup with whole milk this afternoon.  She took it.  She is still working on holding the cup since it is heavier and has to be tipped up more to get anything out.

They go for their 9 month checkup on Tuesday.  I'm so eager to find out how much they weigh.  They have not been officially weighed since March, when they had their 6 month checkup.  They will have a blood test to check their iron levels and will get one shot.  There's one that the doctor would rather wait for nine months instead of giving it at six months.

Wow, they'll be 9 months old on Monday!!!

Mitzi finished school on Thursday.   She left yesterday to spend the summer with her Dad in Wisconsin.  She had me give her phone numbers for Grandma Wilson and Aunt Marjorie.  Dan gets a couple weeks off school, then we start seventh grade.  We plan on schooling through the summer to get him caught up to where he belongs.

Oh yeah, in case anyone is wondering; we plan on having Evalynn and Elizabeth's first birthday party on Saturday, August 28th.  We wanted to do the weekend before their birthday, since the following weekend is Labor Day weekend and Dan's birthday.  The party will either be here at the house.  We may migrate over to the pavilion at the park across the street if the weather is nice and not too hot.  I figured the planning better start since we're only three months away from the big event! :)

Here's some pictures we took in the new outfits from Grandma Willis...yeah, Odie insisted on a picture with him.

Liz had enough.  Time to play!

May 31, 2004: 274 days old  (9 months (39 weeks, 1 day)   Happy Memorial Day!!!  Happy 9 month birthday Evalynn and Elizabeth!!!

We took their 9 month pictures this morning. They're both dressed up for Memorial Day

We were going to go to the parade this morning.  Instead we're pumping water out of our basement.  We got close to 5 inches of rain here yesterday.  There's the sound of sump water all over town.  Ours is emptying about every 30 seconds.  We've had the shop vac pumping water into the sump to help it along.  There were some people around town with canoes in the streets.

We bought some good steaks to cook out on the grill later this afternoon.  We went to Peoria yesterday to get pictures of Lynn, Liz and Ephram in their matching outfits.  Liz is  the frog, Lynn's the crab (because it matched her attitude yesterday) and Ephram is the boat.

Tomorrow the girls have their 9 month checkup.  I'll post the stats when we get back.

June 1, 2004: 275 days old  (9 months, 1 day (39 weeks, 2 days)  We're back from the girls' 9 month check-up.  Lynn has gained 10 pounds since birth!!!!  Liz is now in the 25th percentile for height.  She was in the 10th at 6 months.  Liz is in the 3rd percentile for weight.  Lynn is still not on the chart, but I don't put much into those charts anyway.  They're growing great and that's all that counts!!!

We can now give them anything they'll eat, except the choking hazard foods and honey.  The girls had their big toes poked to check for anemia.  Liz had to go through two pokes because the first one came back very low.  Lynn's count is great.  Normal is 11 and Liz' count is 10.8.  We got the ok to switch to whole milk, but Liz will need to take vitamin supplements.  They were supposed to get one shot, but it was on backorder, so they'll get it at another of their future visits.  They go back September 2nd for their one year check-up.

June 7, 2004: 281 days old  (9 months, 7 days (40 weeks, 1 day) 

Happy Birthday, Grandpa Willis!!!

Sorry it's almost been a week.  We're now on the baby chase! Liz started hands and knees crawling Friday.  She's also trying to pull herself up more. Lynn rolls really fast. 

Our friends, Beth and Greg game over Saturday night for dinner.  That was the first time that Lynn has not cried when approached by a different woman.  She's always been ok with men, but screamed when other women came up to her.

Last night, we went over to John and Elena's for dinner.  Elena was pleased that Lynn did not cry when she talked to her.  Hopefully, she's coming over some of the stranger fright. 

Lynn got onto her hands and knees last night and started rocking!!!  We tried to get a picture, but she'd put her legs down.  She's been scooting backwards for about a week and is trying really hard to scoot forward. 

Liz went right to sleep when we got home, but Lynn wanted to hold conversations with Mom and Dad until almost 11:00.  She always has this look on her face that she has a lot to tell us.  What is really cute is that she expresses herself with her hands.

June 11, 2004: 285 days old  (9 months, 11 days (40 weeks, 4 days)  We're chasing babies everywhere.  We had complications with the gate at the top of the basement stairs, so I moved the kitchen gate to that spot and made modifications so it would fit.  Daddy is getting a new gate tonight to replace the one I moved.  So, the kitchen has been exposed and the girls are taking full advantage of that.

We're going to try to take the girls to their first movie this afternoon.

Here's a few pictures taken over the last couple days...

Liz reaching for the camera...

Lynn showing off her sitting pose...

Liz helping Mommy make dinner last night...

I found out on Tuesday that Grandpa Jerry was admitted to the ICU last Wednesday for an irregular heart rate.  They're still trying to get it regulated, but was doing well.  Then on Sunday, he had a stroke that affected his left side.  He's currently undergoing therapy.  I talked to him last night.  He sounded well and alert.  He's really hoping to get the therapy transferred to his local hospital so he can go home.  Please pray that he continues to improve so he can go home soon.

It's really quiet in the playpen, so I better see what's going on...

June 20, 2004: 294 days old  (9 months, 20 days (42 weeks) 

Happy Father's Day!!!!

Sorry it took so long between posts.  I've tried several times to post something and end up getting called away from the computer. 

Daddy opened his Father's Day gifts this morning.  The girls got him a personalized coffee mug and t-shirt that say 'Daddy's Little Girls' with the girls' names.  Daddy loved them.

We're getting ready for Daddy's pancakes.  Mommy made homemade syrup.

Later on today, we're going to Uncle John and Aunt Elena's for dinner.

The girls have been quite active.  Mommy and Daddy spend lots of time chasing them.  Evalynn has learned how to get down from a sitting position.  Sometimes, it's not very graceful, but she's learning.  Liz learned how to crawl off Mommy and Daddy's bed last week.  She's sometimes called Slithering Liz now.

Liz cut tooth #2 on Friday.  I think Lynn is finally starting to cut teeth, but we're not sure.  She's been quite grumpy lately.

I'll try to post pictures later of Daddy's gifts.

June 22, 2004: 296 days old  (9 months, 22 days (42 weeks, 2 days)  Father's Day went well here.   Here's the pictures I promised.

Evalynn wouldn't get to sleep Sunday night, so around 11:30 we decided to put her in the swing.  She ended up spending the night in the swing since that was the only place we could put her where she wouldn't scream.  The same thing happened last night and for nap time today.  She did eventually go to sleep in the crib last night after we gave her tylenol and orajel.  She is not handling teething the same as Liz.  My guess is that she has several teeth moving at once.  I thought I may have felt a tooth this afternoon, but am not sure.  So, it's been a rough couple days here.  Lynn sleeps well when she finally gets to sleep (she sounds like her Mommy).

Evalynn sat up all by herself yesterday!  I started to clap and she got excited and teetered over on her nose...oops!  She's started saying mama and dada.  Her favorite is still to blow raspberries!

Liz' favorite now is that she constantly says ya-ya-ya-ya.  Saturday night she says 'Mama'.  I said 'What Liz?'.  She starting a conversation by saying 'ya-ya-ya-ya'.  It was so cute!

June 25, 2004: 299 days old  (9 months, 25 days (42 weeks, 5 days)  Evalynn is crawling!!!!  She also started sitting up on her own earlier this week too.

I tried again with rice cereal so we could use the boxes up that we have.  It binded the girls up too much (like the first few times I tried) and left them miserable, so it's back to oatmeal and other cereals.  They've been doing much better.  They also love Malt-O-Meal too, so there's other options.

The girls went into their pool for the first time Wednesday evening.  They loved it!

We went on a nice long walk last night.  It was nice even if it was cool and it started to sprinkle out.  We need to do it more often.

Evalynn finally started falling asleep like normal again.  I think she's cutting both bottom teeth.

June 30, 2004: 304 days old  (9 months, 30 days (43 weeks, 3 days)   The girls are 10 months old tomorrow... Wow! Double-digits!  We're two months away from their first birthday already!

Since we'll be heading to Michigan tomorrow, I decided to take their 10-month pictures this morning.  I'm so happy to have camera friendly babies!!!  Liz is a bit drooly today.  I think she's cutting her top teeth.

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