Jackson's New Friend

Jackson has recently made friends with a blue bird that hangs in front of him on his bouncy seat. Several times a day they hang out with each other; the bird hangs in front of Jackson's face and he tries to get a hold of her swing. When he does he gives her a good shake before he lets go and loses sight of her. Even though she never moves from in front of his face, he waves his head around frantically for a minute before he finds her again. Today this went on for an hour before he finally got tired of her shenanigans.
Lola has yet to make friends with any of the animals that hang around the house. She pretty much ignores both them and her brother. So far she only has eyes for grown ups...everything else seems to bore her.It's great to see the kids starting to notice the environment around them. It seems like they do more each day. They both smile now, although not in response to anything in particular. I like to imagine that it's like when I tell myself a joke in my head that's not appropriate to say out loud. Maybe Lola is privately laughing at how hard I am working to get her to pay attention to that silly blue bird. (To those of you thinking, "Silly new mom, those are just reflex smiles caused by a gas bubble," my babies are geniuses and I am sure that they are smiling very much on purpose :) I have not been able to capture one such "on purpose" smile on camera but keep checking, the evidence will be posted soon.

Other than smiling and playing with their toys, it's pretty much more of the same at the Freedman house. We eat, we sleep...well at least 2 of the 4 of us eat and sleep.
We are making more progress on the sleeping front. Both babies are asleep this very second in their crib. It's very exciting to think that soon this might be lasting more than 2 hours.

Wait, I think I spoke to soon. Gotta go!

April 24th, Lola and Jackson's official due date!

Since we have now reached what was Lola and Jackson's official due date, I thought it would be fun to post a little retrospective to show how far we've come and how much the babies have changed in the past 6 weeks. It's really amazing!
Hospital visit number 1 in Colorado at 25 weeks gestation. Look how small my belly is!

8 1/2 weeks later...Jackson and Lola at 12 hours old. Lola is 4 lb 7 oz and Jackson is 3 lb 14 oz. They still have their Pulse/Oxygen and heart rate monitors, IVs, feeding tubes, and oxygen in their noses and are kept warm in the isolettes. Look how big those premie diapers are! Although they are sooooo cute, this is not the way you pictures seeing your newborn babies!We always loved going to see our babies in the NICU, but some days were harder than others. Seeing our babies in the isolettes and not being allowed to pick them up and comfort them was sometimes enough to break our hearts.

Here they are in the step down NICU a couple of days before they were sent home, about 2 weeks old. Jackson sure does know how to sport that hat!Here we are FINALLY home from the hospital. Well, not exactly home...Daryll was nice enough to loan us his home until ours was finished. Thanks Daryll and Leah! The babies are 2 weeks and 5 days old here. Lola is 5 lb and Jackson is 4 lb 13 oz. Mommy and Daddy can finally stop making all those trips back and forth to the hospital!
Hanging out in the pack n play (thanks Aunt Susan!). Look how skinny they are!
Just moved in the new house. 4 weeks old and getting bigger.
Jackson and Daddy catching a nap, 5 weeks old.
Daddy isn't the only comfy pillow to nap on.
But we don't just lay around and sleep all day. Here's Lola playing with her new friend the Toucan. 6 weeks old.And here is the "adorable twins picture" that I took especially to end this post. Jackson won't stop covering up his shirt and Lola is obviously less than pleased with the situation. My father in law has said many times that the best photos are never the ones you plan. Well, case in point...
Amy, now do you get both your girls to look cute at the same time?!?

Well, that's all for now. Both babies are sleeping in the crib and I'm going to try and take the advice of so many of you and go to sleep myself. Of course, I am on the couch and the monitor is turned up to full volume so it's not really "going to bed." But it's a baby step, right?

6 weeks old today!

I can't believe it's already been 6 weeks. The significance of "Boy, they grow up so fast" has changed from a silly saying said by nostalgic parents to...well, I guess I'm now one of those silly parents.

We didn't spend their 6 week birthday quite as expected. We had our first sick baby visit to the pediatrician. Jackson is congested and having some trouble breathing. Not enough to warrant any treatment other than saline solution and spending all of his time upright. It probably worries me more than it bothers him. Other than being a little less energetic than usual the only time it seems to aggravate him is when he's trying to eat. He sucks on the bottle with zeal and then gets frustrated because he can't breathe well enough to keep up the eating pace he likes. Oh, and the small detail of his not wanting to be put down EVER! I thought he liked to be held before. Well now I have resorted to strapping him to my chest and carrying him with me everywhere just so I can get something done.
PS- if anyone can tell me how to make vertical pictures vertical I would really appreciate an email or phone call. I messed with this one for an hour and can't figure it out!

While Jackson was snoring and snorting all day Lola was busy trying to have a BM (nice topic I know, but those of you who have kids know how much of my life is consumed with intake and output). When she wasn't grunting like a little piggie she was wiped out on her favorite boppy. Lola, if you're reading this as a teenager, sorry for the embarrassing stories. You'll do it to your kids some day as well.

With both kids not feeling all that well, I guess we'll have to save getting used to the crib for another day!

Daddy is out of town at a business meeting until Thursday evening and we miss him very much (not just cause the kids aren't feeling well and that makes mommy fussy:) Knowing he's coming home after work makes the afternoon seem to go just a little bit faster. We miss him tons and he's only been gone 1 day!
He is getting really good at holding both babies at once. The kids look pretty happy, but Dad looks a little tired! We love you dad!

Happy 6 weeks Lola and Jack!

My sentiments exctly

Thanks Wyndy. This captures my state perfectly!

My new project

(Jackson fighting with his cloths that are too big)


First let me say how much I appreciate all the calls and well wishes from our friends and family during my pregnancy and since the babies were born. Aaron and I have not had an easy time of it these past months and it feels very good to know sooo many people are thinking about us and our kids. The least I can do is keep our loved ones updated about the progress of our little cuties!.

Some of you might have noticed that I'm less than great about answering the phone and returning calls. I wasn't excellent before. Now that I have 2 new babies...well, I'm lucky if I get time to brush my teeth much less chat on the phone. So I've had a brainstorm. How else in the 21st century do you share stories and pictures with all the people you love at the same time?

So here goes...

The babies are now 5 weeks and 3 days old and doing great! They haven't been weighed in 2 1/2 weeks but at that time Lola was 5 lb 1 oz and Jackson was 4 lb 13 oz. It feels like they have grown so much since then and when they go back to the doc on the 29th I expect Lola to be well over 6 lbs and Jackson to be not so far behind her. As they have gotten bigger they have really started to look less like premies and more like full term babies. They would have 39 weeks yesterday and their matured faces and little chubby bodies reflect that.

They are eating like champs and their meals are often less than 3 hours apart. I am however, very grateful for the occasional 4 hour eating hiatus. The pattern seems to be eat, eat, eat, and rest. My pattern seems to be feed, feed, feed, and then change my shirt. They are both having some mild digestive issues, which makes them cranky every once in a while. I have to say, when my tummy hurts I tend to be a bit cranky as well.

Other than tummy aches they are very relaxed babies. They love to sleep in their boppy pillows on the couch (thank you very much Dan and Klara!) and are starting to really like their swings (thanks to aunts Carrie, Missy, and Cindy!). Their favorite by far is being held. Both would be totally content to lay around on mommy and daddy's chests all day. Of course we would be content with that too. Unfortunately daddy must work and mommy must occasionally try and get some housework done. We do occasionally make it in to our cribs; don't we look cute? (yes, Jackson does have an equally adorable crib.)

That is the "pediatrician approved" way of sleeping, but I really prefer when they are like this...


They change so much everyday. It's hard to believe they are the same babies that were hooked up to all those machines in the NICU!

Well, Jackson is stirring in his Boppy and Lola is surely soon to follow (they have both been sleeping for an hour and a half...my luck is surely to be running out). Gotta go make bottles! Check back soon. I'll try to be better about the frequency of the blogging than the swiftness of return phone calls.