Prematurity Awareness Month

November is Prematurity Awareness Month. In efforts to raise awareness about premature births and to help support the March of Dimes, bloggers who have preemies, or who love a preemie, or who simply know a preemie are asked to blog about their experience with prematurity on Tuesday November 17th. I have decided to participate and blog about our experiences over the last few months. This is going to be hard for me. I already know that it is. It is not something I like to think about, let alone discuss and in such a very public way. But think about it I must because this is our reality and it will forever be a part of our family's story. If blogging about my sons' premature birth and the NICU experience can help another mom or family of a preemie and give them hope, then it is definitely worth any discomfort I may feel. I remember when I used to scavenge the internet for stories about preemies born as early as our sons. I needed information, but I was also looking for hope. There are some amazing stories out there and I believe ours to be one of them. I always knew that I wanted to help in some way, and I think I may have found it. Please check back on November 17th.

5 Months

Yesterday Ryan and Evan turned 5 months old and I found myself wondering where the time has gone. Preemies really have two ages--their actual age and their adjusted or corrected age. The actual age is the chronological age; the corrected age is the age the baby would be if he was born on his due date. As preemies get older, their ages will stop being corrected. This usually happens by age 2. Think about it; there's not that much difference between a 24 month old and a 27 month old. Since they were born 3 months early, the boys' corrected age is 2 months. This is the age that the pediatrician and Birth to Three (an early intervention program) use to determine how well the boys are doing. We are pleased to report that the boys are actually performing ahead of their adjusted age! This is fabulous news! In honor of their fifth month of life I will share 5 fun facts about Ryan and Evan.

Ryan:
1. We call him Ry-Guy and I made up my own special name for him--The Big Brother Baby Boy!
2. Ryan was born first and his emerging personality proves it! He is extremely demanding. He wants what we wants and he wanted it 10 minutes ago. He's not afraid to let you know when he is not happy.
3. Ryan is a noisy baby! He makes the cutest moans, groans, and grunts! When he first came home I jumped at every single noise he made. We've noticed that as he gets older he makes less noise. I've gotta try to catch him in action on video though. I think I'll miss his noises!
4. Ryan is so silly! He can go from crying to laughing and back to crying in 0.3 seconds! He does this little lip quivering thing when he's mad and when you talk to him, he starts laughing! Hilarious:)
5. Ryan's nails are lethal. I mean really. He has given himself and us some nasty scratches.

Evan:
1. We can him EvMan, but I have my own special name for him. I don't think he'll ever live this one down--he's my "Baby one!" (Baby one as in little one, not baby #1) We think we are done having children, so Evan will always be the baby of the family!
2. The Baby one loves his binky! For him, the bink makes it all better. No bink = a very fussy Evan.
3. Evan is very mild mannered. He really doesn't cry a lot. If he's unhappy about something he'll whine a little and that's about it. But he does have a cry that brings me running! When I hear him cry and really cry, I know that something is not right.
4. Evan has the biggest, dreamiest eyes I have ever seen. A close up look at his eyes will make you think that he is wearing eye liner. Simply gorgeous...in my unbiased opinion! LOL
5. Evan is very expressive with his hands. It seems that his hands are always moving. His favorite pose is the "talk to the hand" pose. I even have an ultrasound picture of him giving someone the hand! His newest thing is patting your back or arm while he's being burped.

Swilly!

Our boys are so sweet & silly--swilly!

Double Trouble?

Traveling with twins is always an adventure. People are fascinated with multiples. I guess I can understand that. It is quite a sight...pulling out the big ol' double snap 'n go, hoisting baby #1 and then baby #2 and strapping them in. Steering it is another story! Don't forget about the huge diaper bag full of gear. Most people are in awe of us and some of them look terrified for us. It is the latter group that inspired this post. A few times people have said to me "Ahh, twins-double trouble!" To this my standard reply is, "No trouble; just double blessings." and I happily continue pushing my big ol' double snap 'n go. Is it a lot of work? Ha! That's an understatement. Is it tiring? We all (even Evan!) usually crash as soon as we get home. Would I have it any other way? Absoultely not.

Sleep!

This is an old picture, but the onesie pretty much sums it up! This pic and the one in the header captures the rare times we catch Evan sleeping and Ryan wide awake. You see, Evan does not like to nap! In fact, just now as I was writing this post I had just put Evan down for a nap. He was fast asleep...or so I thought. As soon as I went over to get Ryan his eyes flew open and he gave me the biggest cutest grin ever! BUT, I am happy to say that Evan slept through the night for two nights in a row! Well, it was more like from 12:30 to 6am, but we'll take it!

Solo Shots

Ryan is just too cute for words and I love this picture of Evan!

The Cutest Pumpkins in the Patch!

The boys and I were not able to join Daddy at our church's OctoberFest this year, so we used the time to have a photo shoot! Aunt Aliki sent Ryan and Evan the cutest outfits (thanks Aliki!) and though we don't actually celebrate Halloween, we had to acknowledge that this was the boys' very first Halloween. Ryan is on the left and Evan is on the right. Though Evan looks extremely bored, it was fun--I promise!