Jack's CT Scan Results

On Wednesday, September 15th, we had Jack's appointment with the neurosurgeon at Duke to get the results from his CT scan.  We were very relieved to hear a good report!  The doctor explained that Jack has excess fluid between his brain and his skull at the front of his head. It is very common for babies to have excess fluid in this area and is typically not a concern. The doctor explained that this excess fluid is almost always absorbed by the body by the time the child is 2 1/2 to 3 years old. The extra fluid is no concern unless we begin to see developmental delays or set backs.  Of the thousands of babies this neurosurgeon has seen with this excess fluid in his many years of practice, he has only seen developmental impacts in two cases, which lead to having shunts put in to drain the excess fluid.  We are so very thankful for this report and will continue to pray that Jack's body will absorb this fluid in the next couple of years and that there will be no developmental impacts. We appreciate all of your phone calls and emails to check on Jack, but most of all, we appreciate your prayers more than anything!

The Best Time of Day - Right before Bath time

The boys have really enjoyed lately playing in Jack's crib before they get in the bath.  They like to play with toys we put in Jack's crib, along with his several pacifiers.  Also, one of their favorite things to do now is to lay down when we say "Put your head down."  Watch and laugh:

One Saturday = 2 Birthday Parties

On Saturday, the boys had a busy day (as well as Mommy and Daddy).  They had two birthday parties they were invited to.  First, we went to the first birthday party for Emilia Short.  Emilia is the daughter of Brian and Valerie Short.  Valerie and Heather have been very close friends for several years.  They first met at Deloitte and Touche after Heather graduated college.  They worked there for several years together.  Then, in a timespan of about 12 months, they both took a job at Progress Energy.  Now, Valerie is a stay at home mom with her two kids, Jordan and Emilia. 

At Emilia's party, the boys enjoyed playing with Emilia and a few other children.  Here are a couple of pictures with Emilia:

Jack, Emilia, and Mark stare at the presents, wondering when they will be opened.

Emilia, do you want me to show you how that works?  - Mark

Emilia, thanks for letting us come to the party, especially now that you are letting us help you open gifts.  - Jack and Mark

Emilia, can we play again sometime soon?  Please?  - Mark

After we left the Shorts, we headed off to Apex for Izzy's fifth birthday party.  Isabel (Izzy for short) is the daughter of Nathan and Paige Luck.  Craig went to school with both Nathan and Paige.  He met Nathan our freshman year and Paige the next fall (she is a year younger).  We have all been very good friends ever since. The boys had a good time playing with Izzy and some other friends.  Here are a couple of pictures from her party:

Izzy is all smiles with her two birthday cakes.  Hey Barbie!

Mark and Jack share a step with Izzy.  Which one of them is going to say Happy Birthday to Izzy first?

Jack enjoys playing Izzy's new Dora guitar. 

Mark looks at the other gifts while Jack tunes the guitar.

A Successful First Consignment Sale Experience

Try to say that five times fast!!! On Friday, August 13th, I sold a lot of Jack and Mark’s stuff from their first year at the semi-annual TMOTT (Triangle Mothers of Twins and Triplets) consignment sale. They have the sale in the fall and spring every year. This was my first ever experience with a consignment sale. I had no clue what to expect. I had never been to a consignment sale to buy or sell. A few weeks before the sale, my mom and I started sorting through things and pricing. I talked to some friends of ours who have triplets and have sold at this sale for years. They gave me lots of hints for pricing, etc. I definitely priced things to sale; as my intent was to get rid of things and get any money that I could, but I was not after making every penny I could squeeze out of things. So, for about 3-4 nights, my mom and I worked on things for a couple of hours each night getting everything priced and hung up / bagged, etc. A HUGE “thank you” to my mom for her help with this! She and I really did have fun going through everything and reminiscing about when the boys wore different things and the memories that we have of the first year of their lives.

Then, on Friday, I volunteered for the Rack Retrieval shift. By volunteering for a work shift, I got 80% of my proceeds! The Rack Retrieval duties consisted of working from 7:30am – 12:30pm on Friday. We met at a storage unit, loaded up all the clothing racks into a rental truck and then went to the fairgrounds and unloaded them and set them all up. It was a lot of work, but I didn’t mind it. Especially now that I am working part time; I would not have wanted to use a day of vacation for that!

I just got my check in the mail this past weekend and I made $503.20! Yippee! I couldn’t believe that I made that much. I sold $629 worth of stuff and then TMOTT kept 20% of the proceeds. I thought this was a very successful first experience with a consignment sale and can’t wait for the spring sale! We decided to use some of the consignment sale money towards a new camera! I can’t wait to take pictures of the boys using our new DSLR…we should have it before we go to the beach in a couple of weeks!

I have already started by consignment sale stash for the spring!

Out with the old routines, in with the new!

I’ve realized that in the past 4-5 weeks, we have had a lot of changes in routines around our house and thought you might like to hear about some of them.

Out with the bottles, in with the sippy cups! No more bottles for Jack and Mark, they are growing up! They had their last bottle on Saturday, August 28th. They had given up their daytime bottles several weeks ago and the week of August 23rd, they gave up their morning bottle. We have started giving them a sippy cup of milk when they wake up now. They really adjusted very well to not getting a bottle when they first woke up in the mornings. They took to the sippy cup with no problem. All day on Saturday, August 28th, Craig and I discussed different strategies and how we thought things were going to go at bedtime when the boys didn’t get a bottle. We were prepared for it to be a struggle. However, Jack and Mark surprised Mommy and Daddy and it was no problem at all.

Back in January, we moved from all breastmilk to having half breastmilk and half formula, then in June we moved to all formula and now in August, we've moved to cow's milk. The boys have done very good with this change as well.  So, now, Jack and Mark go through 5 gallons of milk a week! That's a lot of milk!

Our old routine was to have bath time every other night. After baths, and getting PJs put on, we would each hold one and give him his bottle and then hold him until he fell asleep, which was normally anywhere from 5-15 minutes. We alternate nights as to which boy we would feed and put to bed. If we had Mark, we gave him his bottle and held him on the couch in the bonus room and if we had Jack, we gave him his bottle and held him in the glider in the bonus room. Then, we would go put them in their cribs. The boys knew the routine! After getting dressed, when we would go to the bonus room, they would look for their bottles!

Our new routine is to have a bath every night. Before they get in the bath tub, we strip them down to their diapers in Jack’s room, put their dirty clothes in the laundry hamper and then go to the bathroom. (At this point, all their clothes are still kept in Jack’s room and clothes that they haven’t grown into yet are kept in Mark’s room.) Then, it is time to brush their teeth! Yes, they are getting to be little boys now and not babies anymore…we brush their teeth! Mark doesn’t mind having his teeth brushed as much as Jack does. But, Jack is getting better every night! Then, it is time to take a bath. After bath, we go to Jack’s room to get their PJs on and then go to the bonus room to read 2 books. When we were deciding on a new routine, we decided to read 2 books each night, thinking that eventually each boy could pick out one book. Craig and I alternate holding each boy during story time and alternate reading as well. Then, we go put them in their cribs to go to sleep. They have taken to this new routine SO WELL! It’s really been amazing!

Jack and Mark have also moved from eating baby foods to eating 100% table foods. The table foods they were eating as of the end of August consisted of the following: corn, peas, green beans (but we have spoiled them, they will only eat fresh green beans that have been canned, not canned green beans from the store!), macaroni and cheese, peaches, mandarin oranges, blueberries and sometimes pears. They also eat the following snack foods: Nutrigrain bars, Cheerios, Gerber Graduates cinnamon animal crackers, Gerber Graduates cheese puffs, veggie dip puffs and tomato puffs, Goldfish crackers, Ritz crackers, graham crackers, and Gerber Graduates yogurt melts.

They have been doing so good with table foods that this week, we started them on the Toddler Menu at daycare! This means that I don’t send food to school anymore for lunch. We only send snack foods and milk each day. Talk about some time savings each night! Wow! I can’t believe the difference. It’s amazing how much time I was spending cutting up enough table food for both boys to have at lunch each day. Yesterday, they had chicken fingers, mixed veggies and yogurt for lunch. Today, meatloaf, brown rice and peas were on the menu! I just can’t believe they are eating regular lunches now!

So, with moving to table foods, you might be wondering how many teeth they have now. Mark has 6; 4 on top and 2 on the bottom. Jack just got his 5th; 2 on top and now has 3 on the bottom.

I think this covers most of our new routines and latest developments with the DeVault boys!

First College Football Game

On Saturday, NC State opened the season against Western Carolina.  As this was the first game of the new year, it was also the first game ever for Jack and Mark.  We had a good tailgate as Nathan cooked up some scrumptious Philly Cheese steak sandwiches.  The boys did excellent during the tailgate.  We strolled them up and down the parking lot a little bit as several people (strangers) waved and said hello to the boys. 

Then we walked to our seats, which normally is a 5 minute walk.  It was a little longer on Saturday.  We stopped and said hello to Nancy Edwards, whose father-in-law was the head football coach at State for 20 years.  Her daughter, Susan, went to graduate school and now works with Craig while her other daughter, Carol (also Susan's twin sister), worked at Deloitte with Heather.  We always stop at their tailgate for a few minutes.  Everyone there enjoyed seeing the boys.  Once in line to get into the stadium, the boys were surrounded by people saying how cute they are and if it was their first game ever.  The boys were smiling and hamming it up.  Once we got into the stadium, we waited until the team ran onto the field to go to our seats.  With our seats four rows from the field, the on the field fireworks would probably be too much for them.  We go to our seats right at kickoff. 

The boys did excellent at the game.  They really were the hit of Section 19.  They waved and smiled to people all around us.  One man offered to hold Mark at one point.  Mark reached out for him but then thought better of it.  He didn't remember him, although one time this man had held him.  It was our pastor, who was sitting two rows in front of us.  We went into the game hoping that we could make it to halftime, given the 6 PM kickoff (their usual bedtime is 7 PM).  We wound up staying until there was 4 minutes left in the third quarter (it also helped that State was up 34-7 at the time).

We were so proud of the boys.  They did excellent.  Even though they were definitely tired and ready for bed, they didn't really cry or act up any.  It did help that our tickets are with Heather's parents, so the boys could be passed between 4 people, not 2.  Once we got to the car, we drove on home.  In our trip home, which took less than 10 minutes, the boys slept for the vast majority of it. 

All in all, it was a great time.  The boys did so well and so did the Pack.  Final Score:  State 48, Western Carolina 7.

Here are some pictures from the tailgate and the game:

While we set things up, Jack and Mark just chill in the stroller.  Interestingly enough, they both have their left leg propped up.  Funny.

Hey Jack, you like my hat?  I do.  - Mark

Hey Grandpa.  If my head is in the 75th percentile, what percentile is yours?  This hat is way too big for me.  - Mark

The DeVault family at the game.  Everyone is wearing red.

Mark enjoys a snack while the game is going on.

Mark and Daddy intently watch the action on the field.

Jack, sitting between Granna and Grandpa, is looking around taking in the sights. 

Jack listens as Grandpa teaches him the nuances of football.  Lesson #1.  All referees, outside of Ron Cherry, are idiots.  Lesson #2.  Most coaches do not understand time managment.

Jack soaks in the lessons that Grandpa has taught him.  Next week, Daddy will teach him the difference between the spread offense and the triple option offense.

9th Annual Kickoff Party

Last Friday, we hosted the 9th Annual Kickoff Party.  To see the stories from the 8th Annual, go here.  This year, we had the gang over and watched the State beatdown of Carolina last year.  If you watch the game close enough, you can see the DeVaults and the Jungs after the third TD pass from Russell Wilson, this time to Owen Spencer.  As an aside, the UNC press conference from August 26 would be shown at haltime. 

This year was different in that the boys would have a bigger part of this one than last year.  Last year, they slept through most of the party.  This time, they ate dinner during a big part of it.  Everyone had fun.  We had almost the entire group there, except for the Jungs and Jason Willeford, who had a Linux emergency.  It was good to have almost all the kids there.  A good time was had by all.   The boys enjoyed playing with their friends while the adults tried out Craig's new cornhole setup.  Here are some pictures from the event:

The boys finish up their dinner drinking some milk at the party.

Dear Marvin Austin.  Here are some cupcakes (with bright blue $ signs as icing) for you as a thank you for giving us a very enjoyable past six weeks (UNC football investigation).

12 month pictures

We had Jack and Mark's 12 month pictures taken on July 31st and apologize for the delaying in getting them posted on here for all to see.  We know we are a little biased, but these are some cute little boys!

Fun times in August!

Playing in Jack's room -- love the alphabet blocks and the vehicles!

Storytime with Granna!  The boys have really started liking books in the last couple of weeks....especially Mark. And, Mark has to be sitting in your lap when you read to him. He will bring a book to you and then turn around and back into your lap. It is the sweetest thing!

This is a new game we play in the kitchen. The boys love to go around the corner down the hall and hide and then peek around the corner at us. They think it is SO funny! It is really cute!

Bath time is always fun!

Jack's CT Scan

On Monday, August 30th, we had an early morning at our house.  Craig, Jack and I left home at 6:40am to go to Wake Med for Jack's CT scan. At the boys 12 month doctor's appointment, we found out that Jack's head has gotten further from the growth curve. It has always measured large. When he was about 6-7 months old, our pediatrician suggested that we have an ultrasound of his head to make sure there were no problems. The ultrasound showed that everything was completely normal. At this point, the conclusion was that Jack's head size is hereditary.  After all, Craig and both of Jack's grandfathers all have large heads, which is evident by their hat size. 

At the 12 month appointment, it was noted that his head size was getting further from the curve. So, our pediatrician referred us to a neurosurgeon at Duke just as a preventative measure to make sure that everything was still okay. The neurosurgeon requested that we get a CT scan done prior to our appointment with him, which is set for September 15th. So, the CT scan was scheduled for Monday, August 30th at 8:30 and we were to be there by 7:00. Since Jack is so young, and they were doing a 3D CT scan, which requires the person to be completely still for about 4-5 minutes, they were going to use sedation. We were not excited to hear that Jack would be put to sleep.  However, he handled the sedation very well! They administered the medicine througha syringe in his mouth and I was allowed to hold him and rock him as he fell asleep. We had been warned that some children really fight the medicine and the feeling of being put to sleep, but he didn't at all. It was very peaceful, which made it easier for us.  We were allowed to be with him the whole time. We both even got to go in the CT room with him for the scan. He did so well and woke up so happy.  He downed two cartons of apple juice within minutes of waking up. He was able to clap his hands when we asked him to and wave bye-bye. So, we were discharged very soon after he woke up and were home by 10:30am!

I stayed home with him on Monday. He was a bit wobbly and unsteady during the morning.  However, after a bottle when we got home and a nap, he was completely back to 100% by mid-afternoon.

The day seemed to be much harder on Mark than it was on Jack. My parents came over at 6:30 and stayed at home with Mark while Craig and I went to the hospital with Jack. We called home from the hospital to give them an update on things and check on Mark.  Mom and Dad said that Mark had been looking in all the rooms at home for the rest of us. They said he seemed very confused and concerned and recognized that things were different than the normal routine. When we got home from the hospital, Craig took Mark with him as he went to work and dropped Mark off at daycare. When I went to pick up Mark that afternoon, his daycare teachers said that he had been very "low key" and seemed a bit worried / concerned about things. How sweet that he recognized that something was different with Jack that day!

We won't get the results until September 15th when we have our appointment at Duke with the neurosurgeon. We would appreciate your prayers that everything will be completely normal and that we will not worry about things in the meantime until our appointment.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Sunday, August 29th was Craig's 36th birthday. We sure had fun celebrating. After church, Craig got to choose where we went to eat lunch. He chose Moe's; which is a favorite in our family! When we got home from the church, Jack and Mark were ready for a nap. After they woke up from their nap and had a snack, it was time to open birthday gifts. Granna and Grandpa came down for the birthday festivities. Craig got lots of nice gifts....clothes, gift cards and money from his parents, my parents and his sister and her family. Jack and Mark and I surprised Daddy with NC State cornhole! We are ready for football season now....bring on the tailgate fun and cornhole challenges amongst friends!

Happy Birthday, Daddy! We love you, Jack and Mark

Happy Birthday Craiger! You are the best husband! Love, Heather

Cary - Lazy Daze

On Saturday, August 28th, Craig was planning to mow the lawn in the morning and then go to a Fantasy Football Draft Party around noon.  So, Jack and Mark and I decided to join my parents at the Cary Lazy Daze festival in downtown Cary. We have always heard about it, but never gone.  They reported that 40,000 people went last year, so we thought we should check it out. There were lots of food vendors and booths by vendors selling crafts and art. We didn't find much that appealed to us, but enjoyed getting out and seeing what it was all about.  Jack and Mark enjoyed people watching as they strolled through the crowds in their stroller. And, of course, as usual, we heard what seemed like a millions times, "Oh look, it's twins!" "Oh, how cute!" "Oh, they are so sweet!" "How old are they?" "I had twins, I know what you are going through!" "Double Trouble"!!!  We are getting used to always getting attention with twins!  It's never ending, it seems!  I have lots of friends that tell me that the attention dies down with time, but we have not experienced that yet.  It was quite hot, so we had to take Jack and Mark's hats off after a while.  Their hair was wet with sweat!  We stopped in the shade for a break and listened to a band, which the boys loved! They downed some apple juice incredibly fast! We only stayed for about an hour and half and then headed home for lunch! As we were leaving the Cary fire department was giving out fireman's hats to the kids and giving tours of the fire truck. The boys would have loved getting on the truck if they had been a little older!

Mommy and her boys enjoy Lazy Daze.

This place is so exciting and there is so much to do that we need a drink to recuperate.

 

So we are now honorary fire fighters. 

I have one question Mark.  What fires are WE going to put out?  - Jack

Friday Night Lights

Last Friday, the boys told us that they wanted to go to Red Robin to dinner to celebrate Daddy's birthday (which was Sunday). They told us they would be very good boys. Well, they didn't disappoint. They ate a very good dinner with lots of peas, carrots, mandarin oranges, cheerios, and cheese puffs. Then to top it off, they downed their milk. When we left, we decided to go to a high school football game. The starting quarterback for Leesville Road High School is the son of some of our friends, the Stanleys, at church. Leesville Road was hosting Green Hope High School. Green Hope, sporting a 28 game losing streak, had to play against a very good Leesville team.

When we arrived at the ticket booth and were paying for our tickets, the lady we paid looked at us, each holding a boy, and said "Boy, you guys sure are brave!" We just laughed and went on in. We got there at the start of the second quarter but didn't get a place to sit because the stands were full of Leesville Loonies. We did watch the game from the track.

The boys had a great time. They watched a little bit of the game but mostly they people watched. Many people walked by that the boys just stared at. It was so cute. At halftime, we talked with Josh's parents, and then it was apparent that we needed to leave. The boys were getting very tired as it was way past their bedtime.

It was a good test run before the real thing Saturday...Western Carolina at NC State. We are going to take them to the game and see how long and how well they do.

Oh yeah, Leesville Road won 38-8. Stanley threw for one touchdown.

My First full week off as part-time

So, the week of August 23rd was my first week off of work, since starting my part time schedule at the beginning of August.  Talk about getting a lot done, I got A LOT done! 

On Monday, I went to the gym, ran some errands, cleaned out / organized the pantry, the coat closet and the cabinets under the sinks in our bathroom!

On Tuesday, I went to the outlets in Smithfield with my mom. The boys are set now for fall clothes through Christmas for sure!  We really got some cute clothes...can't wait to post pictures of them in the coming months!

On Wednesday, I went to the gym and took a car load of things to a local thrift store to be donated.

On Thursday, I kept Jack and Mark out of daycare. We went to Progress Energy that morning to visit my coworkers. The boys were pretty good at work; however, they did show a little of their stranger anxiety....especially Mark.  He cried some when there were so many people standing around looking at him and talking to him.  Then, Thursday afternoon, Jack and Mark and I went with my parents to see my grandmother in Aberdeen.  She thoroughly enjoyed having all of us visit and we celebrated her 82nd birthday while we were there.  Her actual birthday was last Tuesday, August 24th.

On Friday, I went to the gym, ran some errands, had lunch with Craig and my parents, and went to get manicure / pedicure with my mom.

It was a great week!  I feel like I am caught up on things at home for the first time since before the boys were born....and what a great feeling it is!!

Working part time is awesome...I can get used to this schedule!