Details, Details, Details

We have nailed down a few details for our trip back home for the holidays. We will arrive in Kansas City on December 20th. We will head to Omaha first and be in Omaha until the 28th of December. We will head to Beloit on December 28th and remain there until we return to KC to fly home on January 6th. We have also decided that Thomas and Michael will be Baptised in Omaha, NE on December 23rd. We don't have a specific time yet, but that will be decided soon.

We return the doctor on November 9th, and we hope to get Michael off his monitor then. I am sure that the doctor will order another download of the info from his machine and then we will go from there. David and I are really hoping that it will get to come off then, as we don't want to have to travel home with the monitor.

One of the boys is starting to wake up, I gotta run! Have a Happy Halloween!

Truly Amazing

Unfortantely it was not as easy to recoup the photo gallery from the hacker as it was to save the rest of the website. I have had to reupload all the pictures. This task has been more difficult than I thought it would be, as I encountered many different road blocks. The good new is that I overcome all of those road blocks and now have the most recent pictures of the boys posted on the gallery. I will eventually get the older pictures of Thomas and Michael loaded, in the mean time enjoy the most recent pictures of Thomas and Michael.

In order to rebuild the photo gallery I had to wade through all the pictures of the boys. While I was looking at the pictures from when they were first born, I am truly amazed at how tiny they were and how far they have come. In their 4 mouth lifespan, they have been through so much and have come so far. David and I are truly blest to have these wonderful boys in our life.

All Smiles!!

While Grandma Dillner was out visiting us in September, the boys were just beginning to smile. We had to work really hard to get either of the boys to smile. While Grandpa Dale and Great Grandma Betty were visiting, Thomas and Michael's smile came easier, but we had to work for them. While Aunt Danielle was visiting, Michael smiled all the time when someone was talking to him. Now both of the boys are all smiles. All you have to do is talk to them, and they start beaming their toothless smile. They also enjoy talking to mom or dad and telling them all kinds of stories.

This weekend we took the boys to a local farmers market and picked out a pumpkin for Halloween. I think the pumpkin is bigger than both of the boys combined!

On Sunday at church, we had to make our first visit to the back of church. Although it was our first trip, I doubt it will be our last! Michael decided he wanted to be awake during mass this week. He was pretty good, finally he fell asleep at Communion time, or so I had thought. Shortly after we got back from Communion, he started screaming. I was able to hold off taking him to the back of church until we all sat down. As soon as people started sitting, we made a beeline to the back of church. Thomas on the other hand slept all through mass. I don't know why it is, but one baby is usually more awake or needs to be held during mass and I always seem to be sitting right next to that baby. David usually has the easy baby during mass, funny how that works!

Company

The Dillner household has been bustling lately with company from the Midwest. Early in October my dad and grandma came out to meet Thomas and Michael for a long weekend. We enjoyed having them in town. It was so great to see family. It was tough having to see them go back to the Midwest. Grandpa Dale enjoyed meeting his grandsons. He also enjoyed holding them, talking to them and cuddling with the boys. I tried, but I was unable to get grandpa to change any diapers (surprise, surprise!) Thomas and Michael do enjoy the Husker stuffed toys that grandpa brought for them. Great Grandma Betty also enjoyed meeting Thomas and Michael.

Shortly after Grandpa Dale and Great Grandma Betty left, Aunt Danielle came for a long weekend. Aunt Danielle has held the boys constantly while she has been visiting. Hopefully the boys can handle not being held all the time, when she leaves. She has also been a great help with doing dishes after meals.

In other news. Thomas and Micheal are beginning to sleep for longer times at night. They typically sleep for a 5 to 5.5 hour stretch, then another 4 hour stretch after being fed. I am enjoying this greatly. They are no longer waking up just as I am ready to go to sleep. I love being able to hit the pillow with out having to feed them. I also enjoy only being woken up once during the night.

We have booked our flights to come home for Christmas. We will be in the Midwest from December 20-January 6. We have not yet determined when we will be in Beloit and when we will be in Omaha, but we will soon. Mark your calanders so you can meet Thomas and Michael. We are also planning on having the boys Baptised while we are at home. We are still nailing down the details for that. Even though I an nervous about the thought of flying with the twins, I can't wait to get back home so all of our friends and family can meet Thomas and Micheal. I know that David is excited as well.

As soon as David fixes the photo gallery, I will have more pictures to upload.

hacked!

As many of you may already have guessed, Jenny, the twins and I have joined a Turkish Communist faction. Ok, in all seriousness our website that you all count on for news about the Dillners was hacked! Fortunately, we sustained minor damage to the site and were able to quickly bring it up to functional operations. I regret to say, however, that the gallery is currently closed due to fact that I need to reconstruct a new homepage for it. In the meantime, you will have to rely on our written record of the twins and our adventures.

All is well in the House of Dillner. The twins have been growing and doing what babies do best. They have been sustaining a routine of eating, sleeping and pooping. The good thing is that they have begun to sleep for five consecutive hours at a time. Jenny is thrilled because she gets to get a little more shut eye, which is very valuable for new mothers. I would update you on even more stuff, but there is not a lot going on around these parts and I am very tired.

Good night!

Not Yet

This week, we have been awaiting a call from the doctor with the results of the information downloaded from Michael's monitor, to determine if he is able to come off of it. Well this afternoon I heard from the doctor and he wants Michael to stay on it for a while yet. He said that Michael's breathing patterns are maturing, but are not mature enough yet. We will look at the information again in another 4-8 weeks. Needless to say we were very disappointed to hear this, but I guess we can wait awhile longer yet.

Over the weekend, we had some tense moments in the house. You see Nebraska was playing Kansas in football. Although we were unable to watch the game, we kept watching the scoring updates during different football games. It was a close call, but Nebraska won in overtime. The Big Red reign supreme again! David and I are both trying to persuade the boys to become fans of our favorite team. Time will tell who will be a fan of who.

Lastly, I uploaded a few more pictures on to the photo gallery. I hope you enjoy!

The Joy of Motherhood!

Yesterday afternoon I was feeding Michael, and he decided to spit up all over my shirt, so I had to put on my second shirt for the day. A while later during his next feeding Michael spit up again, this time all over my shorts (had to change them too). I was beginning to think that Michael was out to get me that day, when I was changing him and he peed on me and the blanket, this time I only had to change my socks. I am pretty quick at getting the dirty diaper off and wiping the behind, I get sprayed upon when I go back in to put desitin on the bottom. I guess it just wasn't Michael who was out to get me, later in the evening Thomas joined it. He had a dirty diaper that went everywhere, including on my shirt (time for shirt number 3 of the day!). Ahh the joys of motherhood! Have no fear today has been a much better day, no extra changes of clothes so far!

We really enjoyed the time that David's mom was able to spend with us. I am struggling getting used to being by myself again during the day. It was so wonderful to have another adult to talk to during the day, not to mention another person to change diapers and hold the boys.

We are now getting ready for Grandpa Dale and Great Grandma Betty to visit. They will be arriving on Friday. I know they are very anxious to meet Thomas and Michael.

Growing Like Weeds!!

Yesterday, we took another trip to the peditrician's office, to check the boys weight and then maybe have shots. I could tell the boys were getting bigger, but I was shocked to find out that both Thomas and Michael were over nine pounds. Thomas weighed 9 lb 5 oz and Michael weighted 9 lb 1 oz. They both put on about 2 pounds in 3 weeks. The doctor was very pleased with their weight gain. Since they put on a good amount of weight, he went ahead and gave the boys their first round of immunizations. Both Thomas and Michael did a good job, they cried of course during the shots, but as soon as they were in mom's or grandma's arms they quieted down quickly. Neither boy has had an adverse reaction to the shots, they were a little crabby yesterday but that was to be expected. As for Michael and his monitor, we are getting all the information that has been recorded on the monitor downloaded and analyzed. When our doctor gets the results of the download, he will then make a decision about wether or not Michael can come off the monitor. We are hoping and praying that he will let us take Michael off th monitor.

For the past week and a half we have enjoyed the company of Grandma Dillner. She is spoiling both mom and dad and the twins. David has enjoyed many of his favorite foods that his mom makes. I have also enjoyed them. Thomas and Michael have also enjoyed meeting their grandma. They will be sad when she has to leave.

Last week, Thomas and Michael learned a little bit about the history of our great country. David took Friday off of work, and we went on an outing to Mount Vernon, the home of George Washington. We all had a wonderful day, learning about our first president. The boys were great, the slept most of the day. They enjoyed being close to mom and dad in our baby carriers. David also has taken off tomorrow and Friday, so who knows what other adventures the boys will go on before Grandma goes home on Saturday.

Better Late than Never

As promised I have added more pictures to the website. I am sorry that they were not uploaded in the week timeline that I had mentioned, but what can I say, I am a busy person. Enjoy!

Busy, Busy, Busy

The Dillner twins have been busy this past week. The continue to grow like weeds! Getting bigger every day.

On Thursday we took a trip to visit all of our friends in the NICU. They were all so happy to see the boys. They couldn't get over how big they are getting.

On Saturday the boys got their first tour of a Civil War Battlefield. We loaded the boys up in our baby carries, such a blessing, and walked around Kernstown Battlefield and enjoyed listening to a volunteer explain the battle. The boys won't remember much as they both slept soundly.

Thomas and Michael are anxiously waitng for Grandma Dillner's arrival this afternoon. They are excited to meet their grandma. David is excited to have his mom make him some of his favorite foods. I am excited to have some company during the day. Grandma Dillner will be out here for almost 2 weeks.

Perfect Timing!

It never fails, at the end of a busy day, when I am looking forward to falling into bed, and as I am getting ready for bed. What do I hear? Yes the cry of a hungry baby. Which usually then leads to the cry of another hungry baby. At first I was upset by this because I just wanted to go to bed. Then it started happening on a regularly. I finally came to grips with it, when I realized that it was probably better for me to feed the boys as I am going to bed, instead of sleeping for a short while and then being woke up.

The Dillner family went on a shopping outing this weekend. David and I took the boys to Kohls, Target, Subway and Borders. They enjoyed this outing very much, probably because they were getting new clothes. We found cute Halloween and Thanksgiving outfits for the boys. We bought they boys outfits with room to grow. So for the time being they get to swim in their clothes.

Hopefully I will get to post new pictures sometime this week.

Getting Bigger

Both boys are doing great, says the doctor. He is really pleased with their weight gain, around an ounce a day, he would be happy with half an ounce a day. I guess the boys are overachievers! Thomas weighs 7 lb 6 oz and is 20 in long. Michael weighs 7 lb even and is also 20 in long. We opted to not have their shots today. The doctor wanted to wait a little bit longer, so they can get a bigger. We go back again in 3 weeks, then we will have shots and a discussion about taking Michael off the monitor. We will see how things go between now and then. Hopefully he continues not to have many alarms.

Ernesto

This weekend, Thomas and Michael survived their first tropical storm. Tropical Storm, then Tropical Depression Ernesto was forcasted to drop anywhere from 5 - 10 inches of rain in our area. This prompted schools to be closed due to fear of flooding. If Ernesto did what forecasters were calling for, it could have been an interesting weekend. Instead of pounding us with rain and lots of wind, we received probably about 2 inches of rain, but it was a steady rain and a little wind. The kind of rain we needed. We were lucky, some parts of Virginia did get up to 10 inches of rain and had strong winds. Although it was kind of weak, Thomas and Michael can say that they have been through a tropical storm.

The Dillner family is enjoying a relaxing Labor Day weekend. We had some friends over for dinner on Saturday night and otherwise we have been pretty lazy. David is glad that he does not have to work today, so he can spend more time with Thomas and Michael. Tomorrow the boys go back to the peditrician. We will post a full update of the doctor's report, including weight and length, tomorrow.

Lunch Out

Today Thomas and Michael experienced their first restaurant. I decided try and take the boys out by myself this afternoon and meet some teachers from my old school for lunch. I got the boys loaded in their carseats and into the car. I had already phoned one of my friends and she was going to help me carry one the boys into the restaurant. We made the short trip to the Chinese restaurant. Thomas and Michael met many new people and slept while mommy enjoyed some time out of the house and conversing with adults! I decided the trip was a success. Who knows where we will venture in the future!

Yesterday the boys ventured to City Hall to see where daddy works and let daddy show them off.

I am doing okay with the boys during the day. The only time it gets a little stressful is when I am feeding Thomas or Michael and the other is crying because he is hungry. Hopefully as lthe boys get bigger, I will be able to feed them at the same time. Otherwise the boys are very good, they like to lay on the floor and look around, spend some time on their tummy or in the bouncy seat and most of sleep. I like it when they sleep at the same time so I can either get somethings done around the house or take a nap.

We go back to the peditrician on Tuesday. Depending on how much they weigh, they may get their shots. The doctor likes to give baby shots when they reach about 7 pounds. If the boys are not to 7 pounds yet, then we will hold off on the shots for awhile. We also hope to get an idea of how long Michael will have to be on the monitor. Hopefully not much longer.

Telling the boys apart.

We have been asked how we tell the boys apart. Well to be honest, the only way we know who is who, is by the fact that Michael is on a monitor and has cords attached to him! The other day I had Michael disconnected from his monitor and David came in and thought I had Thomas! When Michael is done with the monitor, we will have to come up with a different way to tell them apart. When I am posting pictures on the website, it helps to remember who was wearing what, or think back to that time and remember what was going on. We are also beginning to figure out differences in their temperments and personalities.

Tummy Time

All is continuing to go well at the Dillner home. The boys are still eating well and sleeping well. Typically during the night, they only wake up to eat and then go back to sleep. Mom and dad are very thankful for that.

The highlight of the boys day is when they get to have tummy time. They get to spend a few minutes on their tummy, so they can strengthen their neck. The boys either love it or hate it depending on their mood. One day earlier in the week, I think it was Sunday, we had Michael on his tummy and he was not happy. He had worked himself up on to side, his favorite position. His arm must have been in the right place because after a little more kicking, sqiurming and working, he had himself on his back. David and I were totally amazed. A little while later we had Thomas on his tummy and he did the same thing. Amazing!

Today I took Michael to the eye doctor, to have a check up. The doctor was looking to make sure that all the blood vessels around the retna have developed. He checked Michael out in the NICU and was pleased with his progress, but wanted to see him one more time to make sure he continued in the right path. Luckily all is well and we don't have to go back to the eye doctor. It is no fun for Michael. They use a small instrument to hold his eyelids open and then another instrument to move his eyeball so he can see inside. Michael cried during this time, but otherwise he did well. I am sure he is glad as well that he does not have to go back.

Next week will be interesting as David is going back to work. So I will be on my own with the boys all day long.

One final note, more pictures are in the photo gallery! Enjoy!

Grandma writes

As Grandma Melinda prepares to leave she really can't help wondering who are the lucky ones. Thomas and Michael for having such wonderful, loving and caring parents (and grandparents!) or Jenny and David for having such handsome, sweet, adorable, lovable and good boys. I think they will all be good for each other and take good care of one another. I have enjoyed my visit and holding the boys and gazing at them in amazement of Gods love and blessings.
-Grandma Melinda

David and I were very thankful to have my mom around for a week and a half. I think she spoiled us more than the boys, cooking and cleaning up dinner and doing things around the house. It was also so wonderful to visit with her, as we don't get to see our family as often as we would like. Thanks mom for all your help and your visit! Now the real fun begins when we have to do all those things for ourselves.

In other news, the boys experienced their first mass yesterday. We took the boys to church with us last night. They were very good and slept through the whole mass. After mass we went to a Greek Festival and ran into some friends. The boys enjoyed being outside in the fresh air.

The 64 million dollar question

Are they identical???? Well the answer to that question is yes. I asked the my doctor today, who took a look at the placenta report and concluded that they are identical.

The trip to the pediatrician yesterday was a success. David and I both liked their pediatrician. He said that they boys are both doing great. They look good. They were awake and alert. Thomas weighed 5 lbs 11 oz and Michael weight 5 lb 12 oz.

Both Michael and Thomas are doing a much better job at breastfeeding. They are eating like pigs and then typically falling asleep. Their favorite position to sleep is on the chest of anyone who is willing to hold them. At night they sleep, except when they are eating. Mom and dad are very grateful for this.

Thank you!

David and I wanted to thank the staff in the NICU for taking such wonderful care of the boys. We did not have to worry about them, because we knew they were in great hands. The staff in the NICU was very supportive of us, letting us do as much as possible for the boys. They were also very supportive of me breastfeeding the boys. We want them to know how much we appreciate what they did for the boys.

We would also like to thank our friends and family for their continued prayers and support. We know that all those thoughts and prayers helped us get through this difficult time. We thank the Lord for all your support. We also pray for you each day.

It is so wonderful to have the boys at home. They are doing very well. I think they are adjusting quite well. They are good eaters and sleepers. Their nights have also gotten much better. They are waking up to eat and then go back to sleep. Michael's monitor has also settled down, or we have gotten better with it. We are have fewer alarms due to loose leads each day.

They have their first pediatrician appointment tomorrow morning. It will be a challenge to get everyone up, fed, ready to go and in the car to make our appointment at 9:15. I am anxious to see how much they weigh and find out from the pediatrician how long Michael will have to be on the monitor. The only plus to the monitor is that it helps us tell the boys apart. I still struggle telling them apart, David thinks he can do it, but he has not let me in on his secret.

I know many of you are awaiting new pictures. You can expect new pictures in the next day or two. I have a bunch to upload to the website, I just need to find the time!

Sleepless Nights in Winchester

There are many people out there who wanted to know how our first night with the twins went. The only way that I can tell you is that if you've ever had a child, multiply it by two and you'll have your answer. If you've never had a child, now would be a great time to jump on the band wagon and find out. When you get to that special night, remember this: it will be the longest night of your life. I promise.

It seemed like I had retreated to bed some twenty-eight times BEFORE midnight! Once I had gotten one of the boys to settle down, the other would pick up the tune of "I'm not going to bed without a fight." Jenny would attempt to feed each of them in turn, and that wouldn't get us anywhere either. They would pretend they were hungary, but once they were positioned, it was scream central. They wouldn't eat and they wouldn't sleep. Then we got a little smarter.

Last night the boys were milestones better than their first night in the house. We had remembered that for the last six weeks, the boys had lived the high life in the NICU. For you readers that have never visited a NICU, they are extremely busy and often times annoyingly noisy places. Constant beeps and buzzes from various machines designed to measure the mythediendate-scheylandanrantide of the left ventricle in the flaginmaginous receptive. Ok, it's not the scientific, but there are a lot of things going on. This invariably taught the boys how to sleep in places with constant noise and movement. When they came home, Jenny and I had to reconstruct the busy environment that they hailed from.

Hopefully tonight will not be as bad as that first night. I know that Jenny would greatly appreciate some rest, and I think that tonight may be a great opportunity for all of us to engage the Sandman.

Five Twin Firsts
1. First NASCAR race (Watkins Glen)
2. First ride in stroller
3. First extended walk outside
4. First look in a mirror
5. First time dad got peed on (courtesy Michael)