I know that most of you are jonesin' for some pictures of our sweet family but I know you undestand why that's not happening. :) I will try to work on soon but for now, I wanted to pass on to you that I'm guest posting at my friend Brooke's blog - B in Real Life.

I met Brooke (and her husband Jeremy) several years ago down in Florida at Rebound (the E-Free Church's youth pastors and wives retreat). She's a great friend, super funny, loves her family, and is a great writer. She's doing a series this week on why their family said good-bye to food dyes. I know that I've mentioned to some of you that we've also made that change and she's helping to explain why. My guest post today tells our story, well, it's really Asher's story. We've made some pretty small changes to our diet in order to improve Asher's behavior, and as weird as it sounds - it's working! :)

More Babies - 6/13-26

I still have quite a few pictures to post to feel like we're caught up...not to mention the last 6 months of "pre-twins" life that hasn't been posted. :)

June 13

Here's little Zeke next to a tennis ball for some perspective.
It's funny cause his pacifier is just about the same size. :)

June 14

Caleb had some trouble regulating his fluids. His blood pressure was low so they gave him a lot of fluid and a unit of blood to increase his blood pressure (and it did help) but he got so swollen. He had quite a few chins on his little head and his neck completely disappeared. He was a pretty sad-looking little guy. We called him "jelly fish" for a few days until he got rid of all that fluid.

June 15
This was the big boys' second visit. It is such a wonderful feeling to have all six of us in the same room. :) And this was the day Jonathan had his first kangaroo with Zeke.

Phin was a little more interested than Asher when it came to doing Zeke's cares.

Here's Big Daddy with his miniature-sized baby. :)

Such a sweet time together.

June 21

Zeke's first time wearing clothes

Zeke all cozy for a nap.

Caleb and a sweet little yawn.

My favorite picture of Caleb so far.
What a sweet little chipmunk in blue. :)

June 24
Zeke sleeps most of the time so it was a rare treat to see him wide awake and totally relaxed. Jonathan even got to spend some one-on-one time with him. So sweet.

June 25
This was a big day for Caleb!! It was the first time he wore real clothes and he got moved into a real "big boy bed!!" I was so excited to see him in his little bed instead of the big giant isolette. They need to weigh more than 1800 grams and be able to hold their heat to advance to a "big boy bed."

Phin was so excited to see Caleb wearing the outfit that he picked out. :)

June 26

Jonathan was a little overly optimistic about Caleb's growth 

and he thought this newborn shorts outfit would fit. Fooled you, dad! 

Caleb and Zeke spend most of their days sleeping so they have energy to grow.

And they are super-cute sleepers. :)

Haircut!

Phin has been wanting a mohawk haircut for a long time. I finally decided to give in. I figured he'd be getting another haircut in about 4 weeks anyway. :) And I could always buzz it off if it looked ridiculous.

I think he looks pretty cute..er, excuse, me. He looks really cool. :)

Sweet Pics - 6/2-6/12

Here are just a few random pictures of the boys from early June.

June 2nd

Zeke

Caleb

June 4th

Caleb

June 6th

Zeke's first peek. :)

June 12th

Zeke

Caleb

Booties

Caleb - 6/4

Zeke - 6/12

One of our former students' mom knitted these cute booties for the babies. I think it looks like they're wearing mini baby blue Uggs... Hmm, maybe we need to market that idea. ;)

Caleb's Heart - 6/6

June 6, 2012 - Caleb's Pulmonary Valve Balloon Procedure

Going back to this date is a hard one for me. I hardly have the words or emotional stamina to go through the details again. So, if you want the story, you'll have to check out CaringBridge. :)

Here are some pictures of the day with some brief descriptions.

We arrived at the hospital early so that we would have some quality time with Caleb before his procedure. Since I had done most of the holding earlier during the week, we decided that Jonathan would be the one holding Caleb before he went to the cath lab.

 Boy did we get that room busy early in the morning. There were several NICU nurses, a cath lab nurse and Dr. Lozier getting everything ready to take Caleb downstairs. We made quite a spectacle (probably just a glimpse into our future). :)

This is the cath lab. The big arc that you see is an active x-ray machine. There were two of those in the room so they could see into Caleb's heart in "real time" during the procedure. It was amazing! We feel so blessed to be living in 2012 with all the amazing technological advances that have kept our boys alive.

Caleb is back in his room and is getting settled back in. 

Caleb only had a tiny incision where they inserted the catheter into his artery. 

Our baby boy was still alive. God is so faithful!

It is so emotional for me to look at these pictures and think about that day. It's been almost a month since his procedure and I'm still not able to write about it in detail. We are just thankful for the ways God cared for us that morning in all the details. We were even thankful that Zeke had a quiet day. :)

Ronald McDonald House - May

We really enjoyed our stay at the Ronald McDonald House in Des Moines. It was a huge blessing to be able to stay there while I was unable to drive after surgery. The staff was so helpful and kind to all us parents and families staying at the house. They provided a hot meal every evening and it was delicious comfort food - far from the hospital fare. :) They also had plenty of snacks and drinks to take along to the hospital...or to enjoy as a midnight snack. We really enjoyed the playroom, the outdoor play area and the basketball court. Although I was unable to participate in all the play, the big boys really enjoyed it. The rooms were cozy and the beds were perfect. 

More than all the amenities of the house, it was the fellowship between parents that was the biggest blessing. I was really feeling lonely at one point in our journey and God provided two other mommies to visit with and lament about our situations and then encourage each other. God was so faithful to provide these women at the house to minister to my heart and hopefully to their's as well.

We were so blessed to stay there. I've said it on our CaringBridge, if you stop at a McDonald's Restaurant this summer and there's a change box for the Ronald McDonald House, don't hesitate to drop your coins (or dollars) in to help support the local charity. 

Oh, and here are some pictures from our stay there. I'm surprised Jonathan didn't take more pictures of the house while we were staying there, but at that point we were still in survival mode. :)

The boys just chillin' watching a movie in our room.

It was fun watching the boys play tag out on the basketball court. 

There was an added level of difficulty (and danger) as they "had to" 

jump off the retaining wall to get away from each other.

They're Here!! - 5/22-6/1

May 22, 2012

This is the first time I got to hold Caleb! 

All the tubes on his face are for the CPAP that he was on the first time.
They've started using a new, less bulky system since then.

He looks like he could float out into space. :)

May 23, 2012

Caleb's first real peek out. :)

Oh, and he's off of the CPAP and on the Vapo-therm!!

Jonathan's first time holding Caleb!

May 30, 2012

First time holding, and kangarooing, Zeke!! 

He's was off the high-frequency vent and was on the regular one.

June 1, 2012 - The big boys meet the little boys for the first time!

Miss Ronia is the "Child Life Specialist." She is great at her job!
Here she is teaching the boys about how important it is 

to wash your hands and talk in a quiet voice when you visit the NICU.

Miss Ronia is using a baby doll to demonstrate all the tubes and wires 

that will be on the babies so the boys don't get scared. 

Again, Miss Ronia is great at her job and we appreciate her so much!!

Here's Phin next to Zeke!

Here's Asher next to Caleb.

The big boys did a very good job with their first visit. They washed their hands, used hand sanitizer, and talked in a quiet voice. Asher wasn't too interested in the babies. I didn't know if he was bored or if he was scared. Either way, he did well. And Phin was so excited to see them. He talked very quietly to them through their little "port holes" and politely introduced himself. "Hi. I'm Phin. I'm your big brother." So cute! :)