Happy Holidays!

I just love this time of year. Seeing the magic of the season through your children's eyes is beyond words. It just humbles you and reminds you of the simple joys. We go and look at Christams lights almost every night. The boys can't get enough. They want "more lights... more lights" They love the lit up cho cho trains! My sons just melt my heart. I am so very happy.

My boys are now almost 27 months old! When did that happen?!? We had a wonderful party w/ friends and family for their 2nd birthday at a local park. I was touched so many people came to celebrate with us. I still never for one moment take them for granted. There is nothing in my life I've ever wanted as much as I wanted them. I am so thankful that happened and my dreams of becoming a Mother came true.

It's been such a long time since I've posted. It's hard to find any free time. The boys are very demanding w/ wanting constant attention. Plus we seem to have all our days jam packed w/ activities and play-dates. Facebook has also taken over and I'm a bit addicted :)

Their stats at 26 months: Matthew is 36 inches tall and 26lbs. Skinny boy! Andrew is 34 inches and 26lbs.

We had a health scare w/ Matthew. He got Salmonella poisoning. The health department got very involved since there was a small outbreak in toddler age children here. They think they can link the outbreak to the nearby Zoo. Possibly from a bird in the aviary... It's an open aviary where the birds are free in the same area with you. So Matthew could have touched some contaminated bird feces and then touched his mouth. Ewwww!!! So he had diarrhea on and off for almost a month and there are days he still has intestinal issues. (Probiotics seem to help) It was scary at one point b/c he lost 5lbs and he's already a thin child. Luckily he was still eating well and drinking well so the weight came back on after a few weeks. I was told it can take 3-4 months for him to get back to 100%. This also caused him to become lactose intolerant so we've had him on zero dairy for almost 2 months. I decided I couldn't feed one twin different foods than the other so I have both of dairy free diets. I am hoping we can start to introduce some dairy back into their diets soon. I found it very interesting that the health dept can test the sick child's stool and determine the exact species of animal that got them sick. So we collected 9 samples... that was fun.

In early October we took both boys for speech evaluations. I was a little concerned since I felt they weren't exactly where they should be. Especially Matthew. He just wasn't talking much. We were having tantrums issues b/c of this lack of communication. So I took them in and Andrew did well. His speech and comprehension were both at age level. Matthew tested and came back w/ the comprehension of a 3 year old (a year ahead) and the verbal of a 21 month old. So he was a little behind in verbal. Since he's so far ahead in comprehension he gets frustrated at the gap between that and trying to communicate. The therapist didn't think we needed regular speech therapy and instead gave me suggestions to help them at home. So we've been working on it at home and he's doing so well. His speech has taken off!

We spent Thanksgiving at my parents up North and we'll be spending X-mas day with Jerry's Dad, Step-Mom and also his brother's family. On X-mas Eve we'll be going over to my friend's Kathy's house for dinner. So next week should be nice and relaxing. I'm happy we don't have to travel anywhere. We do hope to take the boys to the snow one day. I just bought them sleds so it'll be fun to try them out.

Hope everyone is having a Wonderful Holiday Season!!