One Year of Home Sweet Home!!!

One year ago today we FINALLY got to show Jace & Jocie their home!  And look at these pictures of them!  Jace was 4 lb. 15 oz and Jocie was 4 lb. 8 oz and they were really like monsters to us at that size!  And look at them now!  Now they are well over 20 lbs+ with their 15 month check-up next month.  Jace is crawling EVERYWHERE and getting into EVERYTHING and is working on standing up.  Jocie follows Jace around being very cautious to only do things she knows she is supposed to and if she isn’t she is very quiet and is good about being as sneaky as she can be to hide it.  She will never have to tell us a thing because her face is so full of expression we can see everything right on her face!  Jace loves when Jocie chases him because he knows she can’t catch him (she’s still scooting on her bottom – a trick she picked up from him).  They are so much fun right now – always something new!  We are still lucky to have pretty good sleepers too – although Jace tries to fight it initially when going down.  And are pretty good eaters – Jocie is always willing to try anything and will pretty much then eat it – including anything Jace doesn’t eat.  She just LOVES her food!  This summer has just flown by – as has the past year with the Wonders!

                   
                                                                    One Year Ago......

                                                                 ........and Today!!!

Our One-Year Stats & Photos!

Jace and Jocie had their one year check-up this week and we have some stats!!!  They are both 28.1" in length - but Jocie has really out done Jace in the weight department!  Jocie is 19lb 11oz which is in the 24th %ile for girls!!  That is great for one year post micro-preemie status!  And her length of 28.1" is in the 17th %ile for girls.  Jace on the other hand is in the 2nd %ile at 18lb 4oz and his length of 28.1" for a boy is in the 5th %ile.  Needless to say Jace is on PediaSure now to help speed up his growth.  So far so good because he LOVES that stuff.  We call it his "milkshake" because that's really what it tastes like.  It's like Ensure for babies so it's super high in calories and very sweet so he loves it! 

Developmentally they are coming along.  Jace is now better at Jocie with much of the motor stuff - he is crawling on his belly and getting around pretty good.  Jocie is able but just doesn't seem as interested.  What she is interested in is being on mommy's hip at all times!  Jace is also very interested in standing but he just needs us to support him as he is unsteady.  Jocie, once again, is able but just not as interested.  They are getting pretty silly together too - giggling at eachother through their cribs at nap time, batting hands while in their high chairs, making faces, and also getting upset when the other takes the toys away.  Oh the joys!  It's so much fun though.

We had the big birthday bash the weekend after their birthday and they had a great time seeing friends, family, opening presents, and getting into their cake!  But we were ALL wiped out the next day! 

Now it's summer time and Niki is excited to get to stay home with Jace and Jocie more.  She is working at Kadlec but only on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursdays so she gets a 3 day work week with a 4 day weekend which is great for all of us.  It's a nice break from working Monday-Friday during the school year. 

As promised in their birthday post here are some of their one-year pictures!

It's Our Birthday!!!

One year ago today I left work mid-morning for a 26 week check-up.  An hour later I was driving over to the hospital for a 6-week bed rest.  Two hours later I was in tears as I was told the babies were unexpectedly coming within the hour as I was whisked away to the OR where they were delivered a mere 20 minutes later.  We never got the chance to take birthing classes, take a hospital tour, put a nursery together, buy baby essentials, have a family baby shower – all things typical in the third trimester which I never reached.  Some of my extended family didn’t even know I was pregnant yet!  Nor was there time to comprehend what was going on in that very moment or to know the realities of having micro-premies.  Some days my head still spins at the thought of that day and it’s still difficult to wrap my head around how we were hit so blind-sided.  In fact I don’t know if I will ever really feel like it was me in that delivery room.  It was Niki who was at the appointment that mid-morning.  It was Niki checking into the hospital.  It was Niki hooked up to the monitors when all fine.  But the moment I was told the babies were coming and there was nothing they could do it was as though a switch flipped and I was suddenly up above watching from the outside looking in.  Maybe it was a defense mechanism to prepare for the coping of what was to come.  We went from excited expectant parents one day to bewildered mom and dad of two whom we hadn’t even fully discussed names for yet and had no concept of what their medical outcomes would look like, or if they would make it for that matter.  It took a few days to realize all that had happened.  Every day of their survival was a triumph within those first few weeks.  But after one year, and for every day to come, what is not difficult is being thankful every day for getting to have Jace and Jocie in our lives – and the way they entered into this world one year ago today and the fact that they are healthy, both medically and developmentally, just makes them that much more of a Wonder.  Happy Birthday to our precious Wonder Twins!!! 

Pictures of their one year photo shoot to come soon!  Here is a picture of them with their birthday ribbons on today - their first birthday!!!

Happy New Year!!!

                     They did good for Santa!!!

                                                             
                             Double the fun for Dad!

             Jace with Great-Grandma ("G.G.") Swanson

                         Jocie with Grandma Greenwalt

WOW has time FLOWN by! Especially since Niki has been back to work. She returned to work the Monday after Thanksgiving and then the holidays flew by. We kept saying “We really need to update the blog” and that was about as far as we got. We’ve had so many people wanting updates which is so great to know you guys continue to be thinking of us. So, here is the most recent update, which we can thank 2-hour school delays for J Well now the Wonders are almost 8 months old! So crazy! They are 15 lbs+ now and Jocie has surpassed her brother in weight but maybe not for long. Jace started having some issues with his feeding. He started being super sloppy and messy (boys, go figure!) and it seemed as though a good 1.5 to 2 ounces of his feeds were ended up soaked up through his burp rag and bib onto his shirt. We finally got in for an Occupational Therapy evaluation and found out he is a “chomper”. Basically, he chomps instead of retracting his tongue and lips back to suck. So we got different bottles for him that have a long skinny nipple (thank you Dr. Brown) and he is doing MUCH better. No more messy boy! We are on just day 2 of this and it is just SO much better. He is also getting ready to be discharged from his physical therapy as his flat side of his head has really rounded out. We have one more appointment in which the physical therapist is going to do a developmental test on him to just see where he is at with his gross motor skills.

The babies are being watched by a nanny who comes to our home and we just love her. She is great with the babies and is able to help a bit with dishes, their laundry, and replenishing supplies in their room which really makes a big difference to just have those few things not to worry about during the week.

The holidays were fun with them of course. We did suffer their first colds just before Thanksgiving (Jocie) and just after Thanksgiving (Jace). Unfortunately Jace’s came with a fever the day after Thanksgiving so we went to urgent care and then ended up in the ER because the doctor at urgent care couldn’t find the source of the fever and due to their history she didn’t want to take chances. Everything checked out okay with some baby Tylenol. Christmas was spent at our house in the morning with Niki’s parents visiting from Moses Lake and then we all packed up and went to Cody’s parent’s house in West Richland for a TERRIFIC Christmas dinner and family time of visiting and opening presents. For New Year’s Jace and Jocie got to ring it in with Grandma and Grandpa Ratliff while we went out for some adult time. Grandma and Grandpa Ratliff have been so helpful in watching the Wonders just about once a week so we can run errands, watch a movie, or grab some dinner. They even had their first over night stay at their house just before Christmas so we could have our annual Christmas party with friends.

As for the Wonders themselves – they are just growing and growing and every week is something new they are doing developmentally. Jocie has rolled over from back to side to tummy twice. They are both talking up a storm – especially Jocie. Jocie just LOVES her toys that light up and play music where as Jace is more into physical play of being tossed around. There is nothing better than coming home to play with two giggly Wonders! They love to be helped in sitting up and Jace likes to try to stand – he seems really strong on his two feet so maybe he will reach the standing developmental milestone before Jocie since she’s taken him on just about everything else! We just can’t believe we will be planning a first birthday party here in just four months!