While Daddy is away ...

David is on his annual golf trip with the boys ... and look what I'm left with ....



Yep ... Reese is giving me the exact attitude that the pose suggests....
Luckily there's Kaelin ... who helped mommy by sweeping the kitchen.




If I can teach Reese how to use a sponge, our kitchen and bathrooms will be fabulous! Our little mini maids .. I love 'em.

Bradford Pear Trees

Anyone have any? We have a few in our yard and they are gorgeous. They have just bloomed and I love the way they look covered in the white flowers ...
Anyone ever SMELLED one? Good Lord, it's atrocious. They smell like rotten fish ... kinda puts a damper on the beauty .. especially when a nice breeze comes through ...

Or when you get a whiff up close ...

Too many pictures????

Reese, in her oh-so-subtle way, telling me that she is getting sick of Mommy having the camera attached to her face 24/7. She's no fun.

I'm a genius.

Well .. it's taken me a few days to update .. I forgot how to log into my account. Brilliant.

The weather has been GORGEOUS! We have finally gotten the girls into their summer dresses and are spending time playing outside again.
Our time playing in the front yard would be great if it wasn't for the fact that thee two little buggers are enthralled with the street. Everytime you turn them loose they make a mad dash for the road. Not to mention the fact that they seem to understand now that if one goes right and the other goes left, mommy can only catch one of them. So much for relaxing afternoons on the blanket in the grass. I am toying with the idea of getting one of those stakes for dogs that goes into the ground and you attach the leashes to. Either that or an invisible fence. Those shocks they get aren't THAT bad right? I mean, if a chihuahua can survive it .. the girls can .. right?
Damn the threat of DFACS for spoiling my summer fun.

Reese loves her golf set


Kaelin prefers her tutu


Reese

Kaelin

It's always days like today .. when she's a whiny mess .. that she can pull out a look like this and bring me to my knees. I'm such a sucker.

Kaelin : one ... Mommy : zero

There goes my free time .... *sigh*

Photos from today

Reese loves her books


Kaelin playing with some fabric


Reese, shoving cheerios in her mouth .. You can dress her up ..............


Kaelin ... What happens when you only grow hair down the middle of your head and mommy gets bored .... Rock on!

PLEASE HELP US SAY THANK YOU!!!!!

As all of you know .. the fact that our girls have come so far is an absolute miracle.
Their birth at 29 weeks held so many "what ifs" Back then, we had neonatologists explaining every condition, delay, and problem that the girls could face due to their prematurity. Somehow they have amazed everyone with their progress and the fact that they have absolutely no lasting effects of such an early arrival.

The work that the March of Dimes does made this possible. If it had not been for this organization and the work that they have done in the field of prematurity, chances are the girls would not have survived.
We will be participating in their WalkAmerica campaign this year in April. You can go to our site and help us out by making a donation in the girls name or, if you are in the are in the area ... joining us to walk!
Every little bit helps and can be instumental in saving the lives of babies who otherwise wouldn't stand a chance!

Http://www.walkamerica.org/ckburdette

Then and now

We have started giving the girls YoBaby organic yogurt ... and they are thrilled. I worked up the nerve to taste some the other day (NOT a big fan of the stuff) and I discovered why ... it tastes like the icing on Cinnabons! I am amazed that an organic yogurt company geared toward babies and kids feels the need to make their yogurt taste like dessert. The girls better enjoy this while they can, because the next shopping trip may produce a variety much less likely to put them in a sugar coma. I’m terrified of giving them tofu again ... which used to be their favorite breakfast treat (mixed with bananas). Now that they have tasted the dark side, I’m afraid it may be hard to bring them back to bland and healthy! Wish us luck.

This is what a snake says ...

I give up

Well .. the food allergy thing is now no longer under advisement. Apparently I’m not as smart as I thought after all ..
Crazy, I know …
I tested her with everything I could think of .. no reactions. Sooooo .. I guess that’s a good thing .. at least I don’t have to watch her every second of every day to make sure she’s not getting her hands into something that will make her sick. Of course, it also means that I’m back to square one … ya know, the square where we have no idea what is wrong with my child. Awesome.

She’s getting better .. the rash is still there but it is fading. She does have one nasty diaper rash .. the looks of which I have only seen in horror movies .. for some strange reason, it doesn’t bother her at all … I can’t even begin to fathom how something that looks like pure evil in a tangible form can’t be as painful as it looks .. but she has absolutely NO reaction to it. I can’t help but to think that this is somehow tied into this whle rash drama. I’m super happy that the stomach rash is going (knock on wood!) and hope that her little tushie gets better soon too.

Of course, as if my life would have it any other way, Reese now has the rash starting on HER stomach. Ugh.
She was also up last night from 1am to 3am pitching a fit. Nothing would soothe her. So I suppose it IS viral after all. I just can’t comprehend why Kaelin has had this ongoing since the 9th of this month and Reese is just now getting it. Nothing about this makes any sense to me. I’m so frustrated.

I get a tad pissy when Doctors can’t tell me what’s wrong. Probably stems from my years and years of trying to make my doctors understand that something wasn’t right with me and the fact that I was sooooo tired all the time. Test after test after test after test .. they kept finding nothing ..

“Everything looks fine .. you’re in perfect health .. it must be in your head!”
Well, excuse me .. I am fully aware that there is a LOT wrong with my head (please don’t email me lists of your thoughts on the subject .. thank you) but this isn’t one of those things!

My Doctor at Emory who finally discovered that the problem was a minor form of narcolepsy was a bit shocked when he came in to tell me after my sleep study that, yes, something WAS wrong .. and I clapped excitedly like a two year old at Christmas. Guess people aren’t normally thrilled to get a diagnosis like that. I was giddy. I just felt like finally someone figured out that I wasn’t making this up and understood that I really did feel awful! Yippee!
(Of course, the kicker was that as he began to tell me about all the drugs we could try that would make me feel like an actual human being again .. I had to tell him that I had just found out that I was pregnant so I couldn’t go on anything for AT LEAST another year. Again, my life wouldn’t have it any other way)

SO, now here I am AGAIN .. knowing full well that something is wrong and no one can give me answers.
I may have to look for a great nanny and just give in and go to medical school ……

Dang it

Well, the little buggers must have had something after all (although I’m still focused on the rash being food related) .. but Kaelin must have had something else on top of that because David felt sick day Tuesday and I was a mess Wednesday and most of today. Taking care of twins while you’re sick is fun fun fun! I’ll have to do it more often.

Kaelin is 100% better .. well, she is if you forget the fact that she is a temperamental nightmare lately.
Everything seems to set her off.
I’m really rallying against the thought that it’s just her hitting the appropriate “I don’t have to listen to you .. screaming is fun .. let’s see what happens if I smack my sister really hard” age.
Hoping and praying that it’s just lingering after effects of not feeling well. ugh.

I’m tired.

my child has spots and the doctor is a quack.

Still dealing with the seemingly unending drama that is Kaelin's belly. I posted before about her rash .. we're going on 2 weeks here and no change. It's getting ridiculous.
After the two puke episode that ocurred the other night I decided to take her in to the doctor. Of course, our doctor was off so I took her to someone else in the practice.

It was a super productive visit.
Me? Sarcastic?? Never.

The doc looked at her tummy .. and thought it looked like a reaction that a lot of kids get from strep. I reminded him that the last time she broke out like this and we brought her in the doctor said the same thing (again .. not our doctor .. I'm beginning to think there's a consipracy against us at this practice) and they tested her .. negative. I then told him that a few weeks later we met with our regular pediatrician and she said she didn't think it was a viral thing .. maybe a food allergy. That's when I discovered that Reese (who had the spots then too) was really allergic to ketchup. (We have since discovered that while she is allergic to regular ketchup, she has no reaction to organic ketchup .. a girl after her mommy's heart)
He stuck by his thought and ordered a test. Fine. Whatever guy.

I then noticed that the spot where I had rubbed a Nilla Wafer on her back (while she was prancing around nude in the exam room and mommy was trying to quiet the little howler monkeys with cookies .. I'm not proud) had started to break out a bit. I told Mr Man about it and his reaction was "hmmm .."

"HMMM??" What the heck is that? He didn't even come over to look .. just said, "well, her throat looked a little red so let's test for strep" I wanted to shake him.

Hellloooo?!?! I just .. why can't you .. her back is ... Nilla wafer ... aaarrrggghhhh.

SO .. the evil nurse comes in and gags my child to get the darn sample for the strep test. We wait 10 minutes .. all the while with Kaelin making endless overexaggerated gagging noises which was very entertaining to her sister to me... and lo and behold .. the test was negative.

Shocker.

After all of that we are back where we were before we walked into Dr McQuack's office.

I'm sticking to my food allergy theory. I now have eliminated all possible trigger foods from her diet .. which is super fun trying to get her to eat now since she only likes foods that are possible allergens. You should see the song and dance show I have to put on at lunch in order to take her mind off of what's on her plate (or what's NOT on her plate) It's ridiculous. I hope the neighbors don't catch me in the moment and call a neighborhood meeting about that crazy Burdette girl.

It may be a corn allergy .. or more specifically, an allergy to high fructose corn syrup .. I am fairly certain she's had corn in the past with no reactions but with twins it seems you only retain mere glimpses of days past.
It's really kind of scary what HFCS is in .. I had no idea it was hiding in some of the foods they eat. We mainly stick to an organic diet around here (much to the dismay of daddy's wallet) but a few regular things were in the kitchen .. like the ketchup .. Nilla Wafers .. and a bean soup (SOUP!) that she had a few nights ago.
ICK! Luckily the organic versions of these things seem to steer clear of the additive (which is soooo unhealthy for you even if you take the allergy thing out of the equation).

Fingers crossed we figure this out soon. If all else fails I suppose we'll be looking for a good pediatric allergist. Although, I'm beginning to think that Dr Mom is the only one who has a clue.

false alarm

Yesterday I gave Kaelin a slice of apple. She held it up proudly and exclaimed, “APPO!!” So cute. I gave her another slice for her other hand. Again, she held up her arms .. then she said, “TWO APPO!!!”
What?!?!?
When the heck did this kid learn to count??
Of course she looked very pleased with herself.
Momma went home to google the college tuitions of Harvard and Yale.

Today I tried the counting thing again with her. I help up a book and she pointed and said, “book!” Okay. I held up a second book … she pointed at the other one and said, “book!”
I asked, “How many books does mommy have?”

Kaelin’s response?

“Brown.”

uh .. okay .. guess I’ll have to put away the eary admissions forms for another day.

Febuary 18th

PSA: I will stop apologizing for not updating more .. I realize that i am starting to sound like a broken record. I’ll just say this and hope you all understand … “I have twins.”

Okay .. now on to the updates.

The girls are growing up so fast it scares me. Kaelin loves to dance, karate kick her leg (complete with the obligatory “hiiiyaah!”), and is talking up a storm. She is way ahead of her age as far as that is concerned .. already has about 40 words in her vocabulary .. quite the overachiever. She laughs at everything and is an extremely laid back, ‘go with the flow’ kind of girl.

Reese has started to talk more and more and has also started to use more sign language which is adorable. She loves to “sing” along to songs she knows .. her favorites being “Twinkle Twinkle” and the theme song from her Signing Times DVD. She is our runner .. which when you witness her actually take off you can’t help but wonder if she is truly meaning to move that fast or if her feet just go and the rest of her gets pulled along for the ride. She most certainly gets her grace from her momma!
She has THE most infectious smile that will light up any room.

We signed the girls up for Gymboree classes a while back. They LOVE it there. Reese is all about climbing and trying to imitate the older kids, while Kaelin will go up and down the slide endless times and chase the boys around the room. We got the premium package which means that we can come and go for any of the classes, at any of the locations, instead of being tied down to just one day/time .. which is a neccessity in my opinion when you have twins. This way we can just pick up and go as the mood strikes. We are also allowed to go to two free play times during the week where they can just play on the equiptment on their own.

I also signed the girls up for .. gulp .. SCHOOL!!! Well, okay .. not really “school” but a one day a week Mother’s Morning Out type thing starting in August. I’m ALREADY a mess about it. I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like to leave them there on Fridays from 9 to 12. Luckily, my sister’s little boy, Cooper, will be in their class so A)They will know someone there .. and B) Mommy will have Katie to drag her out and calm her down at Starbucks. I already forsee that the days when I don’t have Katie to keep me sane during that time I’ll most likely be hanging out in the bushes outside the window .. not good.

On a brighter note, the class looks amazing. It’s a great school .. there are families that drive from other parts of the city just to get their kids in classes there and they have a great reputation. The girls class will have two teachers and only 6 or 7 kids. They will have circle time, stories, art projects, playground time .. blah blah blah … big fun. I think it will be good for them .. and will also start to prepare them for a prek program in the future. There is a Montessori school right next to our subdivision that looks great for that .. I will be taking a tour soon to make sure it is a good fit for them. Crazy how early you have to start the ball rolling when it comes to all of this. I had no idea!

We have been dealing with some mystery illness here for the past two weeks. Kaelin has a strange rash on her stomach and an obnoxiously runny nose. No idea what’s causing it. No fever so I wasn’t that concerned .. started looking into allergic reactions to foods and household cleaners .. normally I am a tad over the top about organic stuff .. but it ocurred to me that I had cleaned the rug in the family room with some Resolve High Traffic Foam a few weeks back after the girls threw up (at the same time! Gotta love twins!!) on it and the smell … ick. SO .. now I’m keeping her to a diet of “safe” foods and have taken the rug out to see if she gets better (and keeping me fingers crossed that she doesn’t start walking in circles due to her brain being poisoned by carpet cleaner!!)
Last night she woke up at 11:45 and threw up. Poor thing. She got to sleep in bed with Mommy and Daddy after that. At 1 am she threw up again. Not fun. I called the pediatrician and set up an appointment for tomorrow for them to look at her and see if they can figure out what’s going on. I’m fairly certain that we’ll get the usual “hmm .. I don’t know .. that could be anything” response .. but giving it a try anyway. Nothing like seeing your little one suffering through something and not being able to help. Of course, in the grand scheme of things, I’ll take this over what some parents have to go through .. so I suppose we’re some of the lucky ones!!

Here’s hoping we have a puke free night and can get more than three hours of sleep!!

Our First Year

Make video montages at onetruemedia.com

Snot Monsters

Both girls have nasty colds right now. We’re living in snot hell. I think that once they get over this I will start forcing them to wear gasmasks to playgroups.
Of course they get stricken with the icks just at the time we need to be taking our Christmas photos. Not to mention that Kaelin took a spill on the driveway and has a huge scab on her forehead. Nothing says “Merry Christmas” quite like two kids in Santa hats covered in scabs and snot. Sheesh.

What's Been Going On

I have been busy the past few weeks working on a custom order for some canvas pieces for a mom of triplets. I am close to completing them so my brain is slowly coming back from lala land. I have decided that once I get my business up and running, custom orders will require a much higher price! I’m exhausted.

We have been up to the same old stuff .. playdates .. shopping for cute winter clothes (which is suprisingly hard .. of course, I am the pickiest momma on the planet!) .. learning new words … so on and so forth.

I hosted a playgroup for Koalamommas a few weeks ago. A mom came with a variety of different slings and wraps and baby carriers and explained the pros and cons of each. I LOVE wearing the girls in my sling but had been getting some shoulder pain from it .. turns out all I needed to do was shift them a little bit and problem solved. Also learned that if we had only one baby I would be using a different carrier .. but since I can’t do it that often I decided it wasn’t worth the money. Maybe with number three … if there IS a number three!! (Oh, I hope there’s a number three!!) Actually hosting the group (which was mostly friends) was my way of getting out of travelling to one of the weekly meetings to have my question answered. Sneaky sneaky. We had fun .. but of course a few days later the girls got sick … always happens when mommy tries to socialize! The girls were covered in tiny red spots and were really grumpy for two days .. turns out it was just some weird virus …
Unfortunately, Reese has gotten Transient Synovitus as a result .. basically that’s just some hip pain due to the virus that she had a week ago .. poor little thing was screaming every time she tried to stand. Not fun for a mommy to have to watch that. She’s better now, thanks to the miracle of Motrin. If she is not better completely by Thursday, we’ll be taking her in for xrays to be sure there isn’t a fracture somewhere. I think she’ll be fine though … seems SO much better today and is walking .. albeit a little weird .. but at least she’s on her feet!

Kaelin had a moment of greatness today. She was looking at a picture book.. giggling at the dog on the page. I said, “dog” .. and she looked up at me and said it right back. “Dog!” Okay .. no real big deal there .. she is our big talker so that didn’t suprise me .. what DID though was that after she said it, she made the sign for dog! (three pats on her leg) I haven’t shown her that sign for weeks! Guess she WAS paying attention all those times I did it .. who knew?! Completely threw me for a loop. I will be contacting MENSA in the morning.
I suppose there’s a parenting lesson in there .. those little boogers are paying attention to everything you do even when it seems that they are ignoring you .. so watch your step! (and your mouth while you’re at it!)

Sisters are great ... kind of

Kaelin .. so happy to be a princess

Reese got a tad jealous

She decided that the crown should be hers

There's a new princess in town!

We have walkers! (Lord, help us)

The girls have been testing out the whole walking thing for months now. A little here, a little there. They have now decided that it’s pretty cool and spend more time walking than crawling. They look like drunk little old men wobbling around but they’re getting pretty good at it!


Kaelin .. very excited to be upright

Kaelin taking a stroll with Daddy

Reese

Yesterday we made it out to Layne's (My sister's daughter) last soccer game of the season. It was so much fun watching the little ones going after the ball. I can't wait to fulfill my role as crazed soccer mom! Suddenly I'm no longer musing about how quickly they grow up .. now I just want them to hurry up so we can go shopping for cleats!


Emily and Cooper (Katie's son), Katie and Reese, me and Kaelin (Layne refused to be in the picture .. too tuckered out from the big game I suppose)

Yesterday

We decided not to take the girls trick or treating last night .. I didn't want all of that tempting candy in the house!! Instead, we took the girls over to our next door neighbors yard, where they had set up a table with wine, crackers and veggies.. and we all just let the kids come and get candy from there. It was a lot of fun and the girls loved seeing all of the big kids in their costumes. Not a bad way to spend a night!
Mommy got all depressed at night when we put the girls in their cribs wide awake and they didn't make a peep for the rest of the night. Funny how I have prayed for the day this would happen .. and then when it does I go into "my babies don't need me anymore" mode. They looked like such big girls with their heads on their pillows, blanket tucked under their arms and clutching their stuffed animals. Too much. Why does it go by so fast?


Reese's first taste of Haloween candy!

Kaelin

Kaelin's reaction to seeing Dr Phil on tv

What happens when you leave twins alone in a room together ... one cracks an escape plan .. pushes a box to the gate .. the other cimbs on up and gets ready to break free over the baby gate! (ugh)

First Halloween Party

The girls went to their first Halloween party tonight. I had originally planned on making their costumes myself, but I decided to save my ideas for next year when the girls are a little older. So at the last minute we managed to find these .. which fit their personalities to a T at the moment. We think they look pretty cute.

They are going to another party tomorrow night too (such popular kiddos). That one will be with all of their playgroup friends so they will certainly have a lot of fun! We’ll post pics from that tomorrow!
[edit .. we forgot our camera for that party .. so no pics .. good job mom and dad]

Pumpkin Patch

We took a trip to a Pumpkin Patch with Grandma and Grampa during their visit. The girls loved all of the animals that were wandering around. As you can see from the above pic, Reese made fast friends with the cat that was hanging around! So cute ..

Long Time Gone

My computer has been acting up for the past month … hard to get anything done… it finally gave out completely a few weeks back and we had to send it off for repairs.
SO .. that’s why I have been so remiss in updating. Apologies all around.
I have it back now so I’ll be posting lots in the upcoming weeks to catch everyone up!

COUSINS!

For those of you not in the loop ….
I have recently reconnected with my sisters, Katie and Emily. We haven’t seen each other in YEARS. We have all searched for one another from time to time to no avail. Through the magic of the internet we have now found each other. Suprisingly, we are all now living in the same area, about 10 minutes away. Isn’t that always the way it happens?
I will spare everyone the dramatics .. but will say that I am beyond thrilled. So full of love. My big sister has two kids of her own, Layne who is a three year old girl, and Cooper, who is an 8 month old boy. Today she brought Cooper over to play with the girls while Layne was in school. So much fun. The girls actually cried and pointed to the front door when they left .. which NEVER happens! We are looking forward to many playdates and dinners with their new cousins! And I look forward to spoiling my new niece and nephew absolutely rotten.