An Afternoon at the Pumpkin Patch

Today was the last day of the Fall Festival at the Red Barn in Colton, Washington. We have been wanting to take the boys to pick out their first pumpkins and lucked out to have picked this weekend.
The boys enjoyed strolling through some of the vendors and listening to the music. There was food and hot apple cider.
We took the boys through the pumpkin patch to pick out their pumpkins. They decided on two smaller pumpkins each and one larger mommy and daddy pumpkin. We also got a pretty pumpkin just for decoration.
By the time we got back home the boys were too tired for pictures with their pumpkins and then it began to rain. Hopefully we will be able to have a little photo shoot soon. I have been taking a photography class and the boys are my favorite subjects and I am always looking for an excuse to take their pictures. Speaking of photos, some of the ones below are a little blurry because I forgot to take the camera off manual settings for Bryan, oops!

Proud Daddy and his boys

Mommy with the cutest pumpkins in the patch!

Enjoying a beautiful fall day

Daddy and his treats

Our little pumpkin patch

The boys picking out their pumpkins

A Little Day Trip

Last spring Bryan got a gift certificate to Cabelas for his birthday and now that we have the camper he has had the perfect excuse to go and spend it (I am actually surprised he didn't spend it the day he got it).
When we woke up Wednesday morning Bryan surprised me by asking, "Wanna go to Post Falls?"
Since we were headed that way we decided to make a day of it and stopped in Couer d' Alene for lunch. It was a beautiful day so we took a little break at the park on the lake to feed the boys and let them out of their car seats for a while. We let them play in the grass for a while and look at all of the pretty fall colors and flowers. Who ever wasn't being fed got to take a walk with Daddy to admire the lake and the bronze moose statue.
While I was feeding one of the boys a mom with two little boys stopped and asked if we had twins. Her two boys were twins also and were three years old. We talked for quite a while about what it is like to be a mother of twins. It was so refreshing to talk to someone who has been there not too long ago. She knew exactly what I was talking about while talking about raising our boys.
Bryan and I ate lunch at Crickets and we made the mistake of sitting outside. Every person that walked by asked about the boys. We usually don't mind the questions and comments but it took 2 hours for our lunch because the waitress decided to join in with the conversations too.
Once every ones tummies were full we headed for Cabelas. Bryan was like a little boy in a toy store. I would be walking and visiting with him and he would just disappear mid conversation to look at something. After a few embarrassing moments of discovering I was talking to myself I decided to go do a little browsing myself. I took the boys to look at all of the animals on display while Bryan was admiring guns.
I am not sure how much time we actually spent in Cabelas but we left empty handed. Bryan narrowed his selections down to three things that he wanted to use his gift card towards but he couldn't decide on which of the three it would be. So I imagine we will be making another trip up there soon.

Soaking up some fall rays

Rolling around in the grass

Still need some help sitting up

Kindermusik

For almost two months, the boys have been attending Kindermusik and they LOVE IT!!! The minute they start singing the "hello song" they start smiling and bouncing in your arms. They are beginning to recognize when the whole class is singing hello to them individually and their faces just light up. Braylon has even started cooing at his classmates while they are singing.

They get to explore all sort of instruments but they especially love the shakers. They usually end up in their mouths (they sanitize after every class) so we have to help them actually shake them.

We also do different dances and activities with them. The newest and one of the boys favorites is being pulled around the room on large scarves. Last week Kaden fell asleep while being pulled around on the scarf. Braylon had already passed out before the activity had even begun.

This past week they used a blanket to "hammock" the kids. Kaden got a chance at "hammocking" while Braylon got to try the scarf, since he missed out the week prior. They enjoyed it so much.

The class is so stimulating for them that usually by the second to last song, which is a soft slow, rocking song, they fall asleep. They sleep through the "goodbye" song the majority of the time but everyone finds it cute.

Braylon on his scarf

Kaden "hammocking"

Camp Howland

After months and months of trying to sell the waverunners we decided it was time to just trade them in and what a great idea it was.
We never thought a camper dealership would be so interested in used waverunners but to our surprise they were and so now we have a camper!
We were so excited to try it out, we couldn't wait until next summer, so we headed up to the North Fork. I haven't been up there for years and it was just as beautiful as ever. The leaves were beginning to turn and the river was breath taking.
We set up camp at Purple Beach. There were some nice camping areas and this time of year it wasn't very busy. We spent our time exploring with the boys in their front packs and taking rides all over the Clearwater National Forest (we had to go in the pickup because it was too muddy for a four-wheeler ride).
While exploring the river along Purple Beach we noticed lots of blue-back/kokanee that were bright red and ready to spawn. They swam so close to the beach that Bryan was able to scoot one up on the sand with a stick and then scoot it back into the water. For those of you who don't know I have a weird phobia and that being fish! This made my skin crawl and Bryan got a real laugh out of it. I can't tell you why fish creep me out so much but they do. I don't mind fishing but I hate to touch them and they have to stay a poles length away from me. I am sure the boys will have lots of fun with this when they are older.
The weather was cool but not terrible cold, but it did rain, actually it pored Sunday night and rained off and on all Monday. We didn't mind though. We were happy to spend time in the camper. The boys napped off and on during the day while listening to the rain and we snuck in a nap too. Bryan and I passed the time playing cribbage until we went for our drives.
It was so relaxing. We can't wait to do it again.
Although it was sad to watch the waverunners go, because we had so much fun on them, we are excited for all of the memories we will have with our new past time.

The Howland Outfit

Dad and boys having a slumber party

They loved rolling around in all of the blankets

The creepy red fish (shudder!)

Bryan and Braylon

Kaden and a not so good picture of Mommy

Braylon sitting at the table with us for dinner

Kaden having dinner with Daddy and Mommy

A little update

The boys have been keeping us pretty busy these days. They are able to roll over now and are trying to crawl. It is pretty entertaining to watch them try to figure out how to use their arms and legs at the same time, which is still a work in progress. They can roll over with no problem but then they are only able to lift their head up or stick their butts up in the air. When I try and help them they just straighten out like superman. Braylon has figured out he can scoot small distances on his belly but it takes a lot of energy. Both boys get frustrated easily and begin to fuss so we have to limit their time on the floor so it doesn't turn into a full blown fit.
After lots of screaming and crying the boys are finally taking a bottle again. When we brought the boys home from the NICU we really struggled with breastfeeding because they preferred to be fed their breastmilk in a bottle, but actually breastfeeding was really important to me. I was only allowed to breastfeed once or twice a day while they were in the NICU so they developed a strong preference for the bottle. After lots of crying, both me and the boys, and lots of sleepless nights we finally got the breastfeeding thing down. I was so afraid to give them a bottle in fear of sabotaging all of my efforts. I have decided that I am ready to get out for more than four hours at a time now and the babies need to be able to eat so we have been working on bottle feeding again and up until the last couple of days it has been a nightmare.
The boys refuse to take a bottle from me at all so Bryan had to try and there were times the boys got so upset they wouldn't even breastfeed afterwards. After the losing battle we decided it was time to call in the troops.
A developmental specialist has been working with the boys since we have been home so she brought in another therapist to help us out. I'm not really sure what they did different but it has been like night and day. Thank goodness. I thought I was going to have to babies attached to me constantly until they were completely on solids.
Thursday, the boys had a Well Baby Checkup. Kaden weighed 12lbs 7oz and Braylon weighed 14lbs 1oz. They are getting so big. They also got some of their immunizations which made for some crabby babies. They both had fevers and Kaden, I swear, pooped all day long Friday. I would change him and he would fill his diaper again. I felt sorry for them. You could tell they were really feeling under the weather all day Friday.
The doctor said the boys are doing great. He gave us the okay to "expand their horizons" by introducing some solid foods (I cheated a little and gave them some smashed bananas about a week earlier).
They still aren't too sure about solids yet. They tend to gag a lot because they are still learning how to move the food around in their mouths. They don't mind the bananas but they are not too fond of green beans and they especially don't like rice cereal even if I try and mix it in with the food.
We might just have some particular boys on our hands.

Lumberjack Days

This past weekend was Orofino Lumberjack Days and what a busy weekend it was!

Braylon and Kaden kicked off the weekend by participating in the Kiddie Parade, Friday afternoon. The theme for this year was "Treasure Chest of County's Best" so, the boys decided they would like to be dressed as little nuggets of gold while being pulled in a wagon made to look like a treasure chest with lettering that said "Our Little Treasures". They were even able to talk mommy into dressing like a pirate and pulling the wagon. The boys are such sweet talkers that they recruited Paige to dress up as a pirate too and help throw candy for all the spectators. The boys were so excited that Braylon messed his pants so badly it was oozing out his jeans and Kaden fell fast asleep during the parade so his hat covered head just laid over to the side.

There was some stiff competition but the boys won first place in their division and were asked to participate in Saturday's "Big Parade". Along with a blue ribbon the boys each won five dollars, which they placed in their piggy banks.We were not sure if we would be able to make it in Saturday's parade because on our walk back from the Kiddie Parade the front axle and handle of the wagon fell off in the middle of the parking lot. Thank goodness the Baby Whisperer was there to rescue the boys by carrying both of them while mommy drug the wagon back to the tribune so daddy and papa could work on it.

After all of the parading the boys and the family enjoyed strolling around the carnival and looking at the exhibits, but what the boys like most was all of the attention. It felt as though we were amongst celebrities. Everywhere we went people would say from across the way, "Are those the twins?," "I have read so much about them," "I have seen pictures of them in the paper but I'm so excited to actually see them in person," "Oh, look it's the Tweets." Sometimes it took so long to get to where we were going we completely forget where we were headed to in the first place.

Along with all of the rides the boys enjoyed looking at the 4-H animals but we don't think they enjoyed the smell of the barn too much. They also ran into a few of their baby friends and took a photo-op with one of their girlfriends, Savonni, on an 810 pound pumpkin.

Although the boys really enjoyed the fair they were happy to return back to their normal schedule.

Daddy and his nuggets

GG and the little treasures

We had a last minute repair

Mommy, Paige "The Baby Whisperer", and the treasures

Walking in the parade

Kaden passed out during the parade
(Braylon left, Kaden right)

King Kaden the Pirate

Bountiful Braylon the Pirate

The boys and the great pumpkin

Cinderella and her prince charmings

Savonni

An Evening At Grammy B's

Kaden had an appointment with the pulomonlogist early Tuesday morning, so we decided that would give us the perfect opportunity to spent the evening at Grammy B's and Papa McDonalds. The boys really enjoyed their visit. During their visit they got to see the peppers growing in each of their gardens, meet Tripper the horse, and play dress up with Grammy. Daddy wasn't too thrilled about the dress up idea but the boys and everyone loved it.

Kaden's appointment couldn't have gone any better. He got an amazing report. We recently stopped his breathing treatments on our own because they seemed to be irritating his eye. I was a little nervous about what the doctor would say about it, but after listening to his lungs he said, "It doesn't really seem as though he needs them, does it." I agreed. The doctor was very pleased to see that he had been weaned completely off of his oxygen since his last visit and was surprised that we didn't even have to use it at night. He said that as far as he was concerned there was no evidence of any lasting effects of his prematurity. We were both soooo happy to hear this.

We only have to use the breathing treatments if Kaden gets a cold and we don't have to pay another visit to the pulmonologist for 6 months. He wants to see how he does through the cold and flu season and then if everything looks good we will only have to visit him as needed.

We stopped by the NICU to say hello to some of our old friends. Dr. Egger was not there but we did see Dr. Bodenstein who was very pleased to see how well the boys are doing. We also got to see two of our favorite nurses, Karen and Marissa.

While we were up at the NICU Marissa had just found out she was pregnant so it was so fun to see her with a belly and to hear that she is having a girl. Although our stay at the NICU was difficult at times we really do miss the friends we met while we were there and it is nice to stop by, but just for a visit.

The boys looking beary cute

Braylon Bear

Kaden Bear

Gypsy Kaden

Braylon Jemiama

Braylon singing the baby jail blues

Kaden in baby jail- nobody knows the trouble he's seen

Braylon

Kaden