Dallas Trip

We had a wonderful trip to Dallas! We flew out on Thursday night and got home late last night. Our main reason we went was to meet Landon's doctors before his surgery next month. We were also able to spend some great quality time with our great friends who moved back to Dallas last year. The weekend was perfect and a great distraction from the reason we were there!!! (Isn't it great how many times I used the word great in this paprgraph?! :))

I thinkI saw people praying when they saw all 5 of us at the airport. I am sure this is the last group of people anyone would want to share a plane with! Not to mention we had 4 carry on bags, and two backpacks that aren't not pictured, in addition to our stroller, two car seats, and walking three year old!

Aidan was so excited to watch all the planes! I saw a new face of his, when we took off. He was so full of amazement. It was so fun watching him look out the window and then back at me with a grin ear to ear.

When we checked in they had moved James to the front of the plane with Grayson, and I sat in a row with these two and a stranger. Not ideal! Neither James or I could use each other for help. But, for the most part the twins did pretty good once they were asleep!

Giving Landon his lovie, such a good big bro!

Good-bye Grammy! Ha, ha.

Poor kid was exhausted when we got into town. He passed out in the car on the way to the Yates'.

The twins slept so well in Mallory's crib.

The next morning we got up and made a quick grocery run for the Great Wolf Lodge! Then we checked in and enjoyed the water park until our room was ready. Awesome, awesome place! We hope to made it a tradition! I took tons of pictures on a water camera and can't wait to get those pictures back!

Beautiful Mallory and her beautiful mommy!

After we played all day, we went back to the room, got cleaned up and went to dinner. The food was amazing!

Then it was time to head to the clocktower for story time in PJ's. The boys had a great time and listened to the whole show and story! Aren't they cute?

Aidan showing Peyton some love.

Mr. Wolf? (I think that was his name)

Bedtime story.

The next morning we woke up and headed back to the water park. Around lunch time we packed up and headed out.

The babies did this pretty much the whole weekend!

Grayson

Landon

Mallory

And the big boys did a lot of this...

Landon practiced his standing,

and jumping.

Grayson flirted with Mal and played in the saucer.

The big boys played with the water slide (including Marshall).

That was then....(June 28, 2009)

And this is now...(May 8, 2010)

Then

Now

(Missing Landon who was napping.)

Bath

and some Barney, before bed.

Marshall, James, Aidan and Peyton all went to Dick's and to eat Mexican on mother's day. Meredith and I stayed home with the three lil' ones.

When they got back, Meredith and I left all the kids with the dads and went to eat lunch. We enjoyed some great sushi, conversation, and cocktails!! Then we went shopping! I think it was pretty much the best mother's day so far!!!

And this is also what I got for Mother's Day! My sweet little babies went to sleep with me rocking them...together! They are getting so big that this just doesn't happen anymore. It was such a special moment, and I am so glad James snuck in and caught it with the camera!

Yesterday we met with two of Landon's doctors and they were both amazing. It was a crazy day, and I am so thankful to Meredith and her personal Mary Poppins for watching Aidan and Grayson. The last appointment ran a little later, so we rushed to the airport. It was a long day, but overall it went pretty well.

We flew home last night and the flight went so much better then they way there! We had the first two rows of coach all to ourselves! We were also able to bring on both car seats, so both babies slept pretty much the whole flight! Aidan watch Thomas and Barney 47 times and I read TWO magazines and had a glass  plastic cup of wine.

(I plan to update Landon's blog later this evening with our update after meeting with both surgeons!)

Leaving on a Jet Plane

It is weird to have two blogs. Sometimes I want to post the same thing on both blogs, because it is relevant to both.

Landon's blog is to document his journey. It is for us to look back one day, and remember how hard these days were and how we made it through. It is for other families going through the same thing in the future. I found so much comfort from other blogs about children who were "on the other side" as they call it. I hope that I can bring some peace to families who's journey won't begin for years down the road.

Our family blog is a journal, my baby book for our boys. I can't wait to make it into a book! (Did you know you can do that now?? So exciting!!!).  I want to be sure I record all of our crazy adventures so one day, we can look back and laugh.

"Remember that time that we all flew to Dallas. We had 3 seats for our family of 5, and carried on all of our luggage to avoid the checked baggage fee. What were we thinking?"

It is a true story.

Just so I can tell myself "I told you so", later.

So, I have posted this on both blogs.
James, Aidan, and I all have our own seats. The babies will sit with James and I as "lap babies". I was hoping the flight would not be booked and maybe we could bring a car seat on. No such luck. I checked last night and the flight is totally booked!

I am just going to bring my sense of humor with me. I can only image how the evening will go! (Do they still serve wine on flights?)

Aidan is so excited!! He has been talking about going on the airplane all week!! I have his backpack stuffed full of some new toys, snacks, crayons, stickers, and a DVD player. Hopefully he will be entertained on the 3 hour flight!

We are staying with our friends and can't wait for our reunion! We have a fun weekend planned with all the kids, and it brings tons of joy to what otherwise would be a very stressful trip!

Monday we meet with two of Landon's surgeons, Dr Fearon and Dr Sacco. I am very anxious and nervous, but ready to start preparing for Landon's surgery next month.

Have a great weekend and HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!

Wordless Wednesday

How do I make baby food?

Well after about 2.5 hours of quite time with a nice computer guy....I think we are back in business. It is a little strange to sit at your kitchen table with a complete stranger while he works on your computer and come up with conversation topics. Aidan was at school, so we didn't even have that distraction. BUT, it was much more convenient than taking my herd into Best Buy, and be charged a ridiculous fee while being without a computer for 3 weeks. This guy only charged me for one hour, and he was here well over that! So, if you are in Raleigh, I promised I would pass his name on. Send me an email if you need computer work (and tell him I sent you, ha ha! ;).

Thank you for the sweet responses on my last post! I was excited that other mom's want my advice on making baby food! I will try to make this as painless as possible for you!!

First, here is a list of things that you need when you get started:

Whatever produce you would like to make into baby food

A blender, food processor, or chopper (for older babies)

Zip lock (or store brand) freezer bags (I use gallon size)

Something to freeze your puree in. I have these and LOVE them:

I have heard that other's use ice cub trays, but I have not tried that. Let us know how it works if you do!

And last, but certainly not least:

Some vino.

I am going to use sweet potatoes, because it is the first thing I made. They are a great first food for your baby packed with tons of Vitamin A, beta carotene, fiber, as well as potassium. If your babies are anything like mine, we have digestive issues (also know as constipation), and sweet pots are great for the digestive track!

Start by washing, poking holes, and wrapping your pots in foil.

Place in preheated oven (400 degrees) and bake for 30-60 mins.

*Bake time depends on how many you are baking at once, and how large they are.

{Pour yourself a glass of wine}

When they are done, they should be nice and soft. Cut a slit long ways on one side of the potato, and gently pull off the skin.

Put all the guts into your blender, and throw away the skin. Depending on how soft they are, you can start by blending them without added any liquid. If your child is on stage 2, then you might not have to add any liquid at all.

Since my boys are still learning, we add some *milk to thin the puree.

*You may choose to add formula, water, or breast milk until you reach the consistency you like.

{Refill your glass of wine}

After you are satisfied with your puree, you need to pour, or spoon the pots into your freezer tray.

I have found that it is better to not overflow the cubs, as it makes it harder to remove them once frozen. I like to leave a little room at the top, so they are easy to pop out!

Then, just stick them in your freezer!!

(Side note- if you plan to leave your cubes in your freezer tray, you will need to cover them or just stick them into a larger freezer bag. If you are only freezing them until they are solid, no need to cover them!)

Make sure they are FROZEN! If they are still soft at all, they will make a mess when you try to get them out! I usually  make my food at night, and by morning they are nice and solid.

With my tray, I find that it is much easier to pop the cubes out if I let them sit on the counter for about 5 minutes. Then I flip the tray over and push on easy cube until it pops out! I love my tray because it is made of rubber, so it is really easy to get each cube out.

Label your freezer bag, and stick it back into the freezer!

(Yes, I totally can't spell. Thank god for spell check!)

When you are ready, pull out the cubes you need. You can get them out the day before, and let them thaw in your fridge. I can't think that far ahead of time, so I just stick them in a glass bowl and micro them for 60 seconds and stir halfway.

I also wanted to give you a little hint on making peas. I usually get a big 'ol bag of fresh, frozen peas at walmart for $1. I boil them per the instructions on the bag, and puree them the same way. One thing I have noticed is once I warm them up for my boys, they need a little liquid. If your baby is eating thicker food, you may not have to, but I am just not a fan on the consistency if I don't.

Before

After:

Dinner is served!

Do you have any tips? So far we have made mango's, peas, sweet pots, pears, peaches, carrots, and mashed bananas and avocados! I have only tried peaches once, and I made a MESS! Everything else was pretty much the same. Warning: mango's get very watery when they are frozen. I have to add rice cereal to ours. I will let you know the next food I try!

This site has tons of great information about making homemade baby food!

http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/