The Blame Game

As you can see below, it has already started.

It wasn't me!  It was my twin!

Hiding my twin did it shirt with a cool bib!

A better view of the bibs for my first Christmas bib!

Christmas time outfit pictures

Here are some pictures of the boys, who are unbelievably 5 months old already.  These pictures are of some outfits and sleepers showing how excited and ready the boys are for Christmas!  Enjoy.

Do you like our Santa bibs?

"Mom, is Santa here yet?  I am so ready for Christmas!" - Mark

"Mom, don't I look cute as a button?" - Jack

Mommy said that if I have tummy time that Santa would definitely come.  Well, we haven't seen him yet.  Where is he?

These are our Christmas sleepers.  We like them but are curious at why our feet look like reindeer?  Who came up with that idea?

Mommy likes pictures with us being really close together.  Did she forget that we were inside her snug as a button for 9 months?

Why does our bottom have a picture of Blitzen on it?  Or is that Donner?  Comet?  Or is that Dean Smith and Roy Williams?

We talked Mommy and Daddy into sleeping downstairs to wait for Santa.  We hope he comes tonight!

It's talk to the hand, not eat it!

Mark mistook Jack's hand for some food yesterday.  Take a look.

On the Mend

It has been an interesting week here at the DeVault house.  It started last Friday when Jack came down with RSV.  On Saturday, Mark succombed to peer pressure and wanted and received what Jack had.  He came down with a milder version of RSV.  On Saturday, Heather started feeling like she was getting a cold.  On Monday, everyone had something except Craig, who had probably given his cold to Heather.  So, big props to Granna and Grandpa, who stayed with Heather and the boys all day Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.  Then to top it all off, the heat went out on our downstairs unit on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning.  It was off for two days.  So, even though Heather started turning the corner on Wednesday, the entire family spent all day Wednesday and Thursday upstairs in the bonus room.  Luckily, our house has two separate units, one for the first floor and one for upstairs.  The heat came back on Thursday around 6 PM.

Everyone is almost 100% now.  Mark is 100%.  Heather is 95%.   Jack is 90%.  We are glad that we avoided the bronchilitis that can evolve from RSV. 

Now, the only thing we need to do is to make up the 3 or 4 days we lost due to sickness as it is less than a week to Christmas and we need to get out Christmas cards and wrap gifts.  No relaxation over here.

Our first sick child...

We noticed last night that Jack had started coughing and sneezing a bit.  During the night last night, we heard him coughing on three different occasions.  I called the pediatrician this morning and we got an appointment to take him in.  He did not have a fever this morning, just a cough. The dr. did a test for RSV (a respiratory virus) and H1N1. Jack tested positive for RSV and negative for H1N1.  There is really no medicine for RSV. We were advised to use saline drops, a humidifier and the aspirator.  We are monitoring it closely so it doesn't turn into bronchialitus.  Please pray for Jack that he gets better real soon and also pray for Mark that he doesn't get it.  RSV is very contagious, so we are doing our best to keep Mark from getting it too.  Being the Type A personality that I am, I have labeled things that we used to share between the boys and am trying to keep things as separated as possible.  We'll see how it goes!  It's tough as parents to see your child not feeling well for the first time ever!  Hoping we post again real soon that all is well at our house and we're all healthy!  Thanks for the prayers!

A long night's sleep....

On Wednesday night, Jack and Mark slept through the night for the first time!!!  Craig and I woke up at 5:30 and realized we had not been woken up yet for a feeding.  I woke up with a very sore back.  I think it was due to the fact that I had not been in bed that long in months.  I had been in the bed for 6.5 hours!!!  I got up and checked on both boys and then we went back to sleep.  I woke up again at 6:45 and my back was hurting so bad I had to get up.  Then, at 7am, we woke the boys up to feed them.  Who knows how long they may have slept???  We're hoping this is the beginning of a new trend!

This we just had to show you

Ever since Jack was about 6-8 weeks old, we noticed that he likes to really throw his head back when he is sleeping.  It doesn't matter if he is in the crib, bouncy, pack-n-play, or even on the floor.  There isn't more than I can say but man, it really doesn't look comfortable.  But he loves it and sleeps like this at least 2/3 of the time. An underestimated thing about this picture is that his sock is half off, which is reminiscient of a trait that his dad has. We took a picture of this to share with everyone.  Enjoy!

One Month from Today...

One month from today will be Jack and Mark's first day at daycare and Mommy's first day back at work.  They will be attending daycare at SAS where Craig works. The building for the infants is just across the street from Craig's building on SAS' campus. It will be nice to have them so close to him.  We went yesterday to meet the infant daycare director, Jack and Mark's teachers and their little classmates.  Their teachers will be Ms. Michelle, Ms. Stacey and Ms. Wendy.  Ms. Wendy is a floater between two classes.  We were very impressed with the classroom and the daycare in general.  Sure hope we still feel that way after they've been there for awhile!  Heather, Jack and Mark are going back to daycare on December 16th to spend a coule of hours so the teachers can get to know the boys even better....(and provide Heather a little more comfort too!).  Heather has mixed feelings about going back to work.  It will definitely be good to get back to work, see all of her friends at work and start using her brain a little more regularly.  However, it will also be hard to leave the boys with someone outside of family (which is all we've left them with thus far).  So, keep us in your thoughts and prayers and hopefully this transition will go smoothly and work out well for all of us!

One Year Ago Today.....

One year ago today, our dream came true and our prayers were answered....we found out we were expecting!!!  We were thrilled with excitement and somewhat shocked that it had finally come true!  We can't believe that it has already been a year!  What an exciting year it has been filled with lots of "firsts"!  We have thoroughly enjoyed the journey of being parents and look forward to many more years of happiness with Jack and Mark!  Thanks to all of you for your prayers and support along the way!

First Thanksgiving

We had our first Thanksgiving as a family of four yesterday.  We were in Kingsport and had the full DeVault family there:

Poppy
Mimi
Uncle  Jarett
Aunt Janet
Cousin Kate
Cousin TBM (to be met in the future)
Craig
Heather
Jack
Mark

With the baby dedication at church in Raleigh on Sunday, and then my parents getting caught in a storm flying back to Kingsport (arriving home in the Tri-Cities at 12:45 AM instead of 8:50 PM...they spent about 5 hours in the wonderful Atlanta Hartsfield airport), and with Heather having a little cold, we left to come to Kingsport on Tuesday afternoon.

We had a very uneventful drive to Kingsport.  The boys slept the entire way.  We woke them up in Mt. Airy to feed them and then they quickly went back to sleep and didn't wake up until we were in Kingsport.  The boys had fun with their Mimi and Poppy on Tuesday.  The next day, Aunt Janet and Cousin Kate came up from Knoxville.  Kate, who is four, really enjoyed hanging out with the boys.  She helped some with changing their diapers and really loved to hold them.

Thursday, Uncle Jarett came up.  He had to work on Wednesday and today, so he just was there for the day. 

Since my parents just finished their house renovation a couple of weeks ago and are still getting things back in place, (and with all of the traveling everyone had done in the past week), we all decided to get Thanksgiving dinner from Cracker Barrel.  We picked it up and brought it back to the house.  It was very, very good.  We had turkey, ham, dressing, green beans, mashed potatoes, corn, macaroni and cheese, cornbread, biscuits, and apple streusel pie.  We had good food and good fellowship.

We drove back to Raleigh today, and yes, the boys slept the entire time...well, almost.  We stopped and fed them at the visitor center at the North Carolina/Virginia border.  And then, less than one mile from our exit, Jack woke up hungry.  So in a span of about 560 miles round trip, we had only about 1 mile of one of our kids crying.  We were so proud of them.  They are the best.

Here are some pictures of our trip to Kingsport:

Poppy and Jack having fun

Poppy holds both grandsons

Mark getting a bath

Jack getting a bath

Jack and Mark sitting on the couch wondering when is football going to come on.

On Thanksgiving, Jack is prompting Mark to ask the question they both want to get answered:  "When is dinner?"

Cousin Kate is somehow trapped in the Christmas tree box.

Whew!  She is going to make it out of the box.

The 3 grandkids all together:  Mark, Kate, and Jack

Dedication at Trinity

This past Sunday, the boys were dedicated at our church, Trinity Baptist. It was a really good moment. We dedicated to raise them in church, and to show and teach them about God, Jesus, and what it means to be a Christian. The boys were able to wear a new outfit for the ceremony. We were one of 7 couples who had their children dedicated. We were very happy and glad to have so many friends and family at the service. After the worship service, we went to our house and had a luncheon.

Here are some pictures in front of the church after the service:

Here is the family with Dr. Roberts.

The happy family:  Craig, Jack, Mark, and Heather

The DeVault family:  Poppy, Mimi, Craig, Jack, Mark, Heather, Kate, Janet, and Jarett

The Dills family:  Granna, Grandpa, Craig, Jack, Mark, Heather, Mama, and Papa

4 month appointment

Wednesday we had the boys 4 month appointment.  Before we went to the pediatrician, we went to SAS for lunch and to stop by Craig's office to let his co-workers see the boys.  At the doctor, the boys were weighed, measured, and got their head circumference.  Here is where the boys stand:

Jack

24 inches (2 feet)  30% percentile
14 lbs 5 oz   40% percentile
Head circumference  85% percentile

Mark

22.25 inches <3% percentile
12 lbs .5 oz  5% percentile
Head circumference  45% percentile

The doctor was very happy with the progress of the boys.  They are doing very well and the doctor said that very soon the boys should be starting to sleep from 7 PM to 7 AM.  We would be very happy for that to happen.  The boys got some shots as well.  However, they didn't like the shots they received and it wore them out for the rest of the day.

They slept really well last night.  They started rustling about around 5:15 AM, about the same time that Heather woke up and realized she needed to either feed or pump.  We hope for another good sleep tonight.

Today for the first time, the boys smiled at each other.  They have started noticing each other in the past few weeks but today was the first time they smiled intently at each other.

Early November happenings

We went to the doctor on November 2 and had the boys weighed to make sure that we had the correct amount of Prilosec for them.  Their weights are:

Jack 13 lbs 13 oz
Mark 11 lbs 1 oz

Also on November 2, the boys went to their first banquet.  Granna, recently retired from Queens University, was getting honored at the North Carolina Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators for her years of work in the association.  As a surprise to Granna, we were asked to take the boys to the banquet.  She was very surprised.  The boys did very well during dinner and made it through about 15 minutes of the program.  When they started getting antsy, Craig walked the boys around the lobby and first floor of the North Raleigh Hilton for the remaining 50 minutes. 

In the past two weeks, the boys have recently been playing more with toys. Mark really loves his activity mat. He will play on it for about 45 minutes at a time. Jack is starting to play on his activity mat more and more.


We are looking forward to going to their four month appointment to see how much weight they have gained.

Halloween

This past Saturday was Halloween. It was the boys first Halloween. The boys dressed up as two peas in a pod. Check out some of these pictures. They are so cute.

They are thinking what in the world are you doing dressing me up as food?

But we are really cute, aren't we?

Look at our hats.  We surprised Mom and Dad by keeping these on for the entire morning.

At 11 AM, we had a neighborhood parade where all the kids in the neighborhood would dress up in their Halloween costume and a fire engine from the Cary Fire Department would lead the kids around our block.  Then, we would have the fire fighters discuss fire safety with the kids before everyone would eat hot dogs or bratwurst.  As a treat, the kids were able to shoot the fire hose into someone's yard.  As a result, my yard got a lot of water yesterday.  I tried to get them to shoot my siding so my house could get powercleaned by the city of Cary, but to no avail.  Here are some pictures from the parade.  The boys did so well.  They were the hit of the parade.  People would come up and take pictures of the boys...and we didn't know 1/2 of the people who took these pictures. 

The boys are decked out in their costume ready for the parade.

Everyone is getting ready for the parade as the fire truck is all ready to go.

The parade is halfway done.  Note that we are near the back of the parade.

A better view of the fire truck.

Here come the twins!!!! And Mom and Dad.

The kids in the neighborhood all get a chance to use the fire hose...on my grass.

Here is the happy family yesterday!

The 5th commandment

The other day Mark let us know that he already knows the 5th commandment. For those of you that don't remember, it is: 

Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

Watch this little clip:

Mark hanging out with a friend

Earlier this week, one of Heather's best friends, Valerie Short, brought over her newborn daughter, Emilia, over for a playdate.  Here is a picture of Emilia and Mark, both in their own bouncy seat.

A typical feeding for the boys

Several of you have asked what a typical feeding for the boys is like.  Well, here it is:

1.  Heather nurses Jack for around 15-20 minutes.
2.  At the same time, Craig gives Mark a bottle that contains almost all breastmilk, but also a little formula is added.  It is a higher calorie formula to help Mark gain more weight faster.  Currently Mark gets 120 ml (4 oz) in a bottle.
3.  Both Jack and Mark typically finish around the same time.
4.  Now Craig gives Jack a supplemental bottle of breastmilk.  Currently, Jack receives 65 ml (a little over 2 oz) in the bottle.
5.  At the same time, Heather pumps for about 15-20 minutes.
6.  After we both finish, the boys both have a diaper change and a clothes change (if necessary).  Also, we take the milk that Heather has pumped and put it into a vial to be used in tomorrow's bottles. 

After the 5 PM feeding, we run the dish washer that includes all of the previous night's and day's bottles.  After it is finished, this is the number of bottles and other parts and accessories that we clean...all in a day's work.

More pictures of the boys

We haven't uploaded too many pictures lately to the blog.  Today is Halloween and we just watched our Wolfpack blow another chance at an ACC victory with poor clock management at the end of both halves.  On a much better note, we have the following pictures for everyone's enjoyment.

Look how they are sleeping in the same manner with their legs crossed.

Just before time to go to bed, the boys relax together on the couch.

Jack looks up during tummy time and is wondering what is going on in front of me.

Mark is showing off his little man attaire saying "Hey look at me."

Not to be outdone, Jack looks at the camera and is saying "Hey, don't forget about me."

After a feeding one afternoon, Mark asked to be seated while Jack was fed.  We said sure and hooked him up with the double boppy.  How cool does he look?

Mark is peacefully sleeping in his crib.  Look how his arms are while he sleeps.

The boys are growing

Here is a picture of the boys in their car seats when we brought them home from the hospital, and a picture of the boys in their same car seat 3 months later.

Play time with Jack and Mark

Here are a couple of videos from tonight's play time with the boys.

Trip to Granna and Grandpa's house

On Monday, October 5th, my parents came to Raleigh to help me take the boys to Gastonia for the week. We left Tuesday morning heading to Granna and Grandpa's house right after the 8am feeding....well and after packing half the house! We were on the road by 9:45!  We stopped at a gas station around 10:30 so we could give the boys their Prilosec (medicine for their reflux), which they must take at least 30 minutes before eating.  We have to hold them flat to get them to swallow the medicine, so that required us taking them out of their car seats. Then, we were on the road again.  We stopped at 11am at a Wendy's in Greensboro for the 11am feeding.  We fed both and changed both diapers and then went through the drive thru to get us some lunch. Then, we were on the road again for the final leg of the trip. Jack and Mark did excellent travelling...what little time they weren't asleep, they were looking out their windows and very content.

As soon as we got home, it was time for the 2pm feeding. Mama and Papa (Jack and Mark's great grandparents) came down and enjoyed feeding and holding them!

On Wednesday, we took Jack and Mark to Charlotte.  Our first stop was to meet Granna's coworkers.  Which, by the way, Congratulations to Granna on her retirement on October 2nd from 15 years at Queens University in Charlotte!!!  Jack and Mark were great while visiting Granna's coworkers.  They smiled and "cooed" and entertained everyone they met.  And, everyone enjoyed seeing the boys....who wouldn't mind a break from work to see some cute babies, huh???  We even did the 11am feeding outside Granna's vacant office!!  Then, we were off to Grandpa's previous employer...Piedmont Natural Gas. Of course, since we were so close, Grandpa had to take the opportunity to show off his grandsons to some of his previous coworkers. Once again, the boys were excellent visitors!  Then, we stopped for lunch on our way back to Gastonia.  When we got back to Gastonia, we went to Mama and Papa's so that two of my great aunts and one of my cousins could meet Jack and Mark. They had travelled from Franklin, NC to Gastonia just to meet Jack and Mark...how very nice of them and what a treat for us to see them! Once we got home, Uncle Roger came by the house to visit his great nephews! Then, Wednesday night, our cousins the Courtney family and my great aunt came by to see Jack and Mark. We enjoyed visiting with them as well....so much so that we forgot to get any pictures with them!

The boys did really good sleeping in pack n plays at Granna and Grandpa's.  You wouldn't have known they were away from the "norm."

Thursday was another day full of visitors. Thursday morning, Mama and Papa came down to Granna and Grandpa's to watch the boys get their baths.  Baths are always so much fun!  Several friends came by Granna and Grandpa's to meet Jack and Mark later in the day.  Our cousin Rachel and her daughter Evianna also came by to meet them. Then, Thursday night, Mama and Papa came back down to see them again and have dinner with us.

What a busy trip it was.  It was SO good to see so many people.  But, it sure was tiring too! 

We left Gastonia on Friday morning and drove through Pinehurst to come back to Raleigh. We stopped in Pinehurst so that Granny B could meet Jack and Mark.  She wants the boys to call her "GG" (for Great Grandmother...very clever!).  She really enjoyed seeing the boys and even holding each one! We had a feeding while we were there and then hit the road back to Raleigh.

We were glad to get away for a few days, but it was good to get back to Raleigh to see Daddy!  He sure did miss his boys while we were gone.  And, they missed him too!  And, so did Mommy!  It was good to all be together again!

Pics of Jack and Mark

Their 3 month picture:

A college football Saturday....Jack and Mark's game faces: