prayer request

Please keep our friends, Christen & Bill in your prayers; they lost beautiful twin girls last week at 21 weeks. Our hearts are broken for them.

Please also keep Baby Benjamin and Baby Chloe in your prayers. We have been so blessed to receive so much love through our blog; we wish that same support for all those who go through the NICU roller coaster. Benjamin's and Chloe's blogs are linked on the left side of the page.

"Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." Matthew 19-20

still here!

I can't believe Cydney is already over 2 months old. She is growing like a weed and is up to 9lb 5oz! She is such a joy and we're so thankful for her. She looks so much like Coy, but does have some of me in her too. =) She is starting to stay awake for longer periods of time and loves to look around.

Coy is loving his baby sister these days. He loves to give her kisses and loves to touch her. We were in the car the other day and I looked back to find him smiling at her and holding her hand. It was the sweetest thing ever.

Don't get me wrong, he still does stuff like this...

But I guess that's just part of being a big brother. =) >

He's so curious, loves to explore and figure things out, and has become quite the comedian lately. Everyday we find ourselves laughing at something he's done. I wish I could just freeze time some days and take it all in. I know he's going to be a 'big' boy one day and I will miss these moments so much. He's had an awesome week in OT, ST, & PT and I think he will be discharged from some of these soon.

I am really freaked out by all the rampant flu this year. I know that the flu kills people every year, but when I heard a 3 year old with CLD (chronic lung disease) passed away from H1N1 flu recently, it scared me half to death. I love how the media tries to reassure the public by saying, "The toddler had pre-existing health conditions"...that doesn't help the parents of those that actually have kids with 'pre-existing health conditions'. It is so important that we keep Coy as healthy as possible this winter. If I sound paranoid and slightly overprotective....it's because I am and I am unapologetic about that. We are waiting to see if he is approved for Synagis again...if not, will be appealing to our insurance company.

We so thankful for all your continued love, support, and prayers. I am VERY behind on Thank You notes...but I promise, I will get them all done! Sorry it has been so long since I updated....when I get a free second, I chose sleep over blogging! =)

Love to you all.

I love to dress Cydney up and take pictures of her...here are a few of my attempts of a 'photo shoot'. =)

I love this one...wishing I would have taken that pacifier out of her mouth...


cutest.baby.in.the.world.

Chris put his Ipod on him...he LOVED it. Just stood there and danced. It was hilarious.
our beauty.

life as a baby is so tiring...=)

new pics

another tardy update

I am going to make an attempt at a quick update while Chris, Coy, and Cydney are all asleep!

Coy is now made himself a permanent resident in our bed. I really love to snuggle with him,I'm not gonna lie, but I know he needs to make the move into his big boy bed soon. We are going to do it, but haven't yet. I gave up on the crib. It. Was. Not. Gonna. Happen. In the meantime, he's with us because he sleeps and therefore, we sleep. Praise Jesus and Hallelujah.

He has a few new tricks up his sleeve these days. He's learned how to turn on & off the water to our bathtub and turn on & off the TV in our living room. He loves to turn on the water in the bathtub, go into my closet, take the clothes off the shelf, and throw them into the tub. When I realized what he was doing, I put a stop to that very quickly, but then found him hunting other things to throw into the water. I really can't take my eyes off him for a second!

I was sitting on the couch feeding Cydney yesterday and Coy marched up to TV, reached up and pushed the power button. Oh my, did he like to push the button. About 15 times. He also loves to clap for himself after doing things...so he'd turn the TV on, clap, turn to look at me, turn the TV off, clap, turn to look at me. He does understand when I tell him 'No', although, he was way too into his new power to listen. Chris and I love to watch him learn and discover. He also blows kisses now...melts my heart.

Cydney is becoming a great eater and weighs 7lbs 12 oz. She is still nursing, but I do 'let' Chris give her a bottle at 3 am some nights so I can get some extra sleep. She is so adorable and we're loving her more and more everyday. She has the cutest little pouty cry and sticks her bottom lip out when she is demanding milk. She is our angel girl. Coy still has his moments where he's not fond of her, but for the most part, he is loving his little sissy too. Yesterday morning he woke up and the first thing he wanted to do was give her a kiss. It was so sweet.

Sorry that's all I got for now. I'm tired so I'm sure I'm leaving a lot out.
Here are a few pictures from this week.

giving sister a kiss..

playing with Cousin Thomas in the sandbox..

playing in his ball tent...

bubble bath!

he LOVES to read books...
sissy in her swing (again)..
he loves popsicles...he stole daddy's (the green one)...Instead of popsicles, I freeze the yogurt in the tube (the purple one) and he doesn't know the difference! =)

tardy update

Wow, we've been busy...and I've had no time to blog! Sorry, sorry, sorry!

We are still doing awesome and I'm still enjoying my freedom. Coy is being a great big brother and loves to help mommy take care of Cydney. Yesterday he helped give her a bath (well, sort of) and he loves to go into her room. Of course, he takes all her blankets out of the drawer and throws them into the hallway, but hey, he still likes to go in there. =)

Coy is doing great in therapy and really developing. He is making more sounds and learning signs. His absolute favorite DVD is Signing Time---I think we watch it 15 times per day. He stands and dances to the songs; it's so precious. We are working hard at getting him to finish a 'task' (reading a book, playing with a toy, doing a puzzle) before moving on to another. We're also working on building his confidence and independence in therapy. He's been running over to me and wanting me to hold him during his sessions. For the past week, the therapists have me sit in a corner of the room and tell him to "go play" but I'm not suppose to say or do anything else. They say this gives him the 'okay' to go play and I'll be waiting for him when he's done. He's doing better and he actually went back to the playroom with the therapist all by himself last week---and I didn't hear any crying for about 15 minutes. Whoohoo, go Coy!

Our biggest challenge with him still remains the sleep issue. He has decided that he no longer wants to take a nap during the day and has mastered the skill of climbing out of the crib (twice). The therapist told me to change him to a toddler bed, however, he Pedi told me to buy a crib tent. Any advice? Anyone know how to get a 21 month old to sleep in their crib that they hate? Coy doesn't sleep all day and Cydney doesn't sleep at night---y'all I'm at the point that I think I will NEVER sleep again.

Cydney is still our little nocturnal baby. Although, she has been staying awake more during the day and looking around at her surroundings. She was started on Prevacid because her spit-up was hurting her---stiffness, screaming, then out would come the spit up. It's not much, but it was definitely hurting her. I've been nursing her since last week (with a few bottles here & there). I had just about given up on it because I was so use to just pumping and giving her a bottle, but my mom really pushed me to try it again. She's done great---latches on and eats for 20-30 minutes. It is hard for me to not know how much she's actually getting---but I guess she's getting enough because she falls asleep and wakes up 2-3 hours later to eat again. Also, she weighed 6lbs 12.5 oz yesterday---so she's gaining weight.

That's all I can think of for now. Here are a few pictures from the past week...

Thanks for all your love & prayers. We wouldn't be here without you.

Coy and his adorable friend and our neighbor, Chase...

Will, Chase, Chris, and Coy went to get there hunting licenses together... (Their shirts say "Daddy's Little Hunting Buddy")
Unloading my Tupperware drawer...

Cyd getting her bath...

First time to hold his sister...

Brotherly love...
giving kisses....after this picture was taken, he decided he had enough of her...=)

Wearing her first bow...

Snuggling with Great Grandpa

...and with Grandpa on his birthday...