Merry Christmas!

We went to Houston for Christmas and had so much fun! I was actually kind of surprised at how much Miles and Jake enjoyed it all.

We went to a 3 pm children's church service at MDUMC - very kid friendly. They got to enjoy singing, dancing, a huge Christmas tree with lots of lights and glowsticks during the candlelight portion of the service. Along with some activities that they gave the kids...coloring, stickers, etc. Both boys lasted the whole service and really took it all in. We also decorated cookies with Lucy and that was pretty funny. The boys were first-timers and they helped decorate and then just kind of looked at the cookies until we told them they could eat them...it didn't take long for them to catch on. I have a feeling they'll remember next time! Christmas morning they totally enjoyed digging into some presents. They got an awesome table and chairs from Taffy & Papa, along with some other goodies and a super cool Little People airport from Lucy, Milly & Andy. We visited Lucy at her house the next day and tried out all of her fun toys. They also got to check out some Christmas lights-a favorite activity of theirs. One night Peter and I went to see a movie and they got to party with Taffy & Papa. The next day they told us all about how they got to see lights (lots of "Dude!" and "Whoa!") and how they got to "walk" to the lights.

Hands down their favorite part of the whole visit was just having all the people they love around them. They still can't stop saying everyone's names all day. I think they're bummed to be back home with boring old Mama and Dada. That's the most important part for everyone. It was so special to see them start to join in the traditions that I have enjoyed for so long. Having Christmas for them really renews the spirit and fun for all of us. I'm already excited for next Christmas!

There were so many pictures and I didn't want to post them all here, so I've chosen a couple and also included a link to the rest if anyone is interested.

Link:

The Strelitz family

Cookie decorating

Miles, Lucy & Jake checking out some insane Christmas lights in my parents' neighborhood. They are giving the Griswalds a run for their money.

Miles, Taffy, Jake & Papa before the children's' church service. Soooo sad this came out blurry.

Playing with their new airport

Miles sitting at his very own table playing with his trucks

Watching Papa's cool electric train set

Eating lunch at Lucy's

Jake wearing Lucy's sunglasses

hard at play

Here are Jake and Miles, hard at play with their new train table that they got for Christmas and Hanukkah. They LOVE it! It's so much fun to watch them enjoy it. The soundtrack is The Train Song from their music class cd. They also love that. In the car I can either hear them shout "Choo-choo!" or I hear that song. Over and over. It's up to me, really.

Bath time fun

Miles and Jake LOVE bath time. More and more every day. They would stay in there for hours. We've been bathing them together for a while now and I think that has something to do with it. Here are a couple of video clips from bath time tonight. As you can hear in the video they are definitely testing limits with their vocal range right now. The screaming is kind of a new thing and they really feed off of each other...one screams and the other will not be outdone! Soon I'm sure we'll have to distinguish between inside and outside voices.

Here's a key for some of the things they chatter about in the video...

"Iney" - Hiney...we have to ask them to stand for a second so that we can wash their hiney. As you can see it turns into a game...they stand, show us their hiney, sit, repeat.

"Bydie" - Brydie is our new babysitter. We're trying to set up a semi-regular schedule with her coming twice a week for a few hours. I'd like to use the time to get appointments, errands, etc. or take them somewhere that I can't do on my own. This is a separate post, but they saw her today and they LOVE her. It's so awesome. I'll post more later.

"Mahna Mahna"-the old school sesame street song. Brydie introduced them to it and they can't get enough. We have a version of Cake doing it on my iPod and they ask for it over and over. And over. And over.

"Qukie" - Jake is really into the little cutie mandarin oranges (the real ones) and brought the plastic one into the tub.

Brotherly love - they are really into giving hugs and kisses right now. Mostly to each other. Sometimes I try to get on from Jake and he says "No! Miles!" And in the end of the second video you can hear Miles say "guy" several times, while pointing to himself and to Jake. They have taken to calling each other and themselves that and it's pretty funny.

General babble - your guess is as good as mine! But I love it!

Full disclosure - you might want to turn your volume down before playing the second video...there's some screaming involved. And some shrieking.

Fun with friends!

Today the boys had an awesome playdate! Mirinda, who was with us for the first year of their lives, came over with the little boy that she is caring for now. He is the same age as Jake and Miles and they had a ton of fun, plus they got to play with Mirinda. They were so sad to see them go...I see many more playdates in our future.!

Miles, Avi & Jake playing with the coupe

Snack time!

Weekend fun...

We have squeezed so much fun stuff into this weekend! On Saturday morning we went to our MyGym open class and then the boys had some guy time while I was able to run a couple of errands. Saturday night Peter and I went to a Christmas party in our neighborhood while Granny sat for the boys (thanks, Granny). Sunday morning we went over to Harlan's house and the boys all had such a great time playing together! We headed to lunch after that, then home for a nap. After their nap we dropped them off at Philippa's house. Philippa, Eva, Jude and their cousin, Rissy, babysat the boys. They fed them dinner and played with them for quite a while, and Peter and I were able to get a bunch of stuff done around the house. They had so much fun!! Whew!

Peter and I before our big date night

Story time

Jake & Harlan (Harlan was cracking Jake up)

Harlan

Miles on Harlan's awesome Thomas train

More playtime

The trains were a big hit

Giggles

The boys on their vehicles!

Officer Miles

Happy Hanukkah!

Today was the last day of Hanukkah and we got together with most of our family (we missed Roby, David & Harlan!) to celebrate. It was so nice and the boys had a great time! We all had dinner, Miles trailed around after Jude, Granny brought yummy homemade latkes & applesauce, Jake gave Eva tons of super sweet hugs...fun times had by all! Happy Hanukkah!!

Eva helping Jake and Miles with their new toys

Jake putting the doggy "night-night" in his house, over & over again!

Miles and Aunt Phily looking at the candles

Eva lights the menorah

Eva & Jude helping Jake & Miles unwrap their gifts

Miles playing with his awesome new farm set

Happy Hanukkah!

Music class, take II!

We signed up for music class again and finally made it today. We missed class due to illness but today they told us we could make them up. Today's class was holiday songs and Jake and Miles had so much fun! It was perfect for them because we sang about Christmas and Hanukkah. I LOVE it because it's one of the few things that is totally doable by myself with them. The teacher fully expects them to run around and there is not an expectation to keep them in your lap the entire time - unlike some other classes we've checked out. The teacher's (Ms. Petra) philosophy is that if you try to force them to sit still they will not enjoy class. She further believes that they are totally soaking it all up even if they are wandering around like chickens with no heads. I agree with that because they recognize the songs and spit back out the moves, etc. that we do when we're at home.

When we first got to class Miles was off, wanting nothing to do with me. Jake, on the other hand, was glued to my lap. He got comfortable about halfway through and would roam away from me, but kept checking back in. They really love music and seemed to thoroughly enjoy class today. We pick back up after the holidays and we can't wait! It was fun to see some progress with them from the last time we took class. They used to scream bloody murder when it was time to put some toys away and move to the next activity. This time they walked right up to the bin and tossed their toy in...a few times they even clapped for themselves after they put it up.

I'll try to get some more pictures of them later. The one below is during the 'jam session.'

Merry Christmas!

We tried. I took the boys to the mall today to see Santa Clause. They were very excited...we talked a lot about Santa in preparation. I kept asking if they wanted to sit on Santa's lap and they both responded..."Yes." Clearly seeing him in the flesh unleashed the terror. They did not know what that bearded man wanted with them. Santa looks a little freaked out to me. Miles is on the left and Jake is on the right. We'll try again next year...

LIGHTS!!! MORE...MORE...MORE! LIGHTS!

That is what we hear anytime we are in the car right now. The boys are obsessed with Christmas lights and are saying/signing "more more more" before we've even passed one set. We decided to take them to see the lights at Zilker Park tonight. Unfortunately the normal Zilker Trail of Lights has been scaled back due to cost, etc. this year but we thought they would still enjoy it. We went to dinner at Shady Grove with some friends and then walked over to the park to check out the tree and the lights. Today was quite a bit warmer than it has been and there was no rain, so we thought we should jump on the chance. Jake and Miles had fun at dinner with their buddies and really loved checking out all of the lights. They were a little put out to be in their strollers, but it was dark and super crowded so we insisted.

Me & my guys in front of the "Where the Wild Things Are" display

The giant Zilker Christmas Tree

The cow jumping over the moon

The whole family in front of the deer display...a favorite

Lights...

Part of the twelve days of Christmas display

Finally feeling better

I think that's where we are right now. The boys have their appetites and energy back, but we're still kind of cooped up inside. On top of cabin fever, Jake has forgotten how to sleep. He is used to us running in there at every whimper and putting him into bed with us...and he kinda likes that. Last night he finally went to sleep about 45 minutes after we started the bedtime process. Then he was up at 11 pm, and from about 1 am - 3 am. Then he came into bed with us. What to do?? We're pretty tired.

The most important thing is that they are better! We're giving their immune systems some time to beef up so we haven't gotten out to do much. We did take them to play at their MyGym open class this morning and they had a blast. Here are a few pictures of what we've been up to...

Finally feeling like playing a little bit

Jake hanging his very own "J" Christmas tree ornament

He had to take it down and give it one last hug before placing it on the tree

Miles hanging his "M" Christmas tree ornament and giving Mama his cheesy camera smile

We've had a hard time baby proofing the fireplace. We finally ordered a custom fit foam cover and had to lay it out for a while before assembly. Who would have known that it would be such a blast to run up and down the "runway?"

Jake's in the lead

The final product. Not the most attractive, but so safe!

Sometimes things get worse before they get better...

And that was definitely the case around here. I wrote my last post too soon. The illnesses that started on Sunday around here are not over, but I think we're turning the corner on them (I know I've said that before and I hope I don't eat my words here).

Jake continued to get worse and Wednesday ended with a trip to the ER. We thought he was dehydrated from throwing up, not eating/drinking/having diarrhea. When Miles woke up from his nap on Wednesday I went in to get him, thinking I would let Jake continue to sleep since he seemed so tired still. I opened the door and could immediately tell that someone had thrown up. Once I realized it wasn't Miles I went to Jake's crib. He was lying in there, awake, with his face in his own throw up and he showed no interest in getting up. I called Peter and he came home right away and agreed that something was going on. Their doctor's office was closed and told us to take him to the ER. They quickly ordered a bag of fluids (with no blood work, etc.) and proceeded to try for a couple of hours to find a vein. After three unsuccessful pokes with a needle, they sent him to the Dell Children's Hospital ER. Once there they first tried to hydrate with pedialyte using a medicine syringe, which he finally took. So...seven hours later he was home and in bed around midnight.

The next day was more of the same, and we called the doctor's office again but were reminded that a virus can last for up to ten days...just to avoid dehydration. We struggled to get fluids in him all day. Meanwhile, Miles seemed to be getting worse as well. He was completely restless and unhappy, not sleeping, crying so much...it was heartbreaking. Both boys had also developed a nasty cough. My mom came in town to help us out for the day/night and that was literally a life-saver. I don't know how we would have made it.

We called the nurse line that night and made an appointment for first thing in the morning at their pediatrician's office. It was another fitful night in our house and we headed in that next morning (Friday). Dr. Hudson walked in and could immediately tell that something was going on that seemed serious. We clearly said that at this point it seemed like more than a stomach virus. He ordered blood work, throat swabs, and chest xrays. Miles white blood cell count was dangerously high and Jakes was also elevated. Both boys tested positive for strep (so did I) and he thinks that was working its way into their lungs as well. After looking at the xrays he was able to quickly tell us that they also have pneumonia. Somehow the pneumonia in the lungs causes the stomach to have a bunch of air and that was making them continue to throw up. I know for sure that we also had a stomach bug because my mom left on Friday afternoon to make it home for a shower she was hosting on Saturday and she woke up with it on Saturday morning. You're welcome, Mom. Thank you for coming to help us. I feel so badly about that.

Anyways, the boys got a heavy duty antibiotic shot and are also taking one orally now. They went in this morning because Dr. Hudson wanted to check their blood again, but after seeing them he was convinced enough without blood work that they were improving. He told us that he woke at 2 am thinking about them. Tonight they finally ate a little dinner and played around a little bit. It seems to be a roller coaster but I do think they are on the mend. That is a long explanation, but I just can't believe the week we have had. These poor babies were just so sick and so unable to tell us what was hurting them. It was the hardest thing. I guess what I've learned from it is to trust my gut. We knew there was something else going on and there was. It just didn't seem like it could just be a stomach virus. We had to continue to take them in because they didn't even cover their bases at the ER. Luckily we found it and were able to start treating it quickly. Prayers that they continue to improve.

Happy Birthday, Peter!

This was a birthday for the books. Quite a memorable event. We have had our first round with a nasty vomit virus. Jake started it on Sunday and Peter & I got slammed with it last night/today. The boys were up all night last night and Peter and I took turns laying with them and going to throw up. It was awesome. Jake seems to finally be turning the corner. We took them into the doctor's office today because Jake was so lethargic this afternoon that we got really nervous. He seemed to be struggling just to pick his head up. The doctor thinks it was dehydration. Miles was also up last night but hasn't gotten sick yet and it turns out that he has an ear infection. Hopefully his antibiotic will start to work soon.

I remember this time of year last year with such dread. The boys were sick for months, passing things back and forth...let's hope we have a break after this two-week stretch! We definitely don't have any pictures with this post, but we wanted to wish Peter a happy birthday! We'll celebrate later. Best dad around!