Turner, Party of Five. Two Adults and Three Highchairs please.

HE STANDS! Well, eventually.

2011-05-26T10:00:00.005-05:00

Image Courtesy of KP Studios

Randi, Addison, Aubrey, and myself welcomed a baby boy into the world on May 18th at 7:37 AM. Trenton Rankin Turner weighed 8 lbs 4 oz and measured 20 1/4 inches.

He is amazing. He really is a good baby. He sleeps a lot. So much so that he only wakes up once or twice for feedings during the night. This is good for Momma and Papa's sanity. The only times that he really cries is when he is hungry, he is dirty, or if he comes out of his swaddle.

Addison and Aubrey get excited when we talk about Trenton but then when we go downstairs to see him, Addy is a little cautious and Aubrey just wants to smother him with love. Both girls have runny noses at the moment so kisses and hugs are on hold for a few days.

So much to look forward to. I love the fact that there's another male in the house. Maybe now my "Phil Mickelson's" will dissappear.

Much Love To All.

Blog Daddy T and FOUR

So Much To Do, So Little Time

2011-03-10T15:45:00.002-06:00

Contemplating. Pulling. The. Plug. DNR? Not so sure I can do it yet. I'm terrible about posting but let's see if new baby changes that.

Week 30 appointment was today. Heartbeat 140. All is well. No pictures. Next appoinment is March 24th. 10 more weeks and we'll find out if it sits or stands when it pees.

All Our Love.

Blog Daddy T and Three.

Two

2010-12-28T14:01:00.010-06:00

Two years ago tomorrow our lives were changed forever. At 9:01am Addison Grace Turner was pulled from Randi's belly. Very soon after at 9:02am Aubrey Peyton Turner entered the world. Two years? Already? They are little girls now. They have likes and dislikes. They giggle and they scream. Their hugs and kisses are the best ever. They are the best gifts that have ever been given to us. We are so proud of these two ladies. They are mesmerizing.

Happy Birthday Angels. Mommy and Daddy love you so so so very much.

Love Momma and Papa.

Week (almost)14 Update

2010-11-16T16:01:00.003-06:00

This whole "not finding out" thing is going to drive me bonkers. Boy or Girl? I think it's a boy but what if it's a girl? Am I going to hold that against my daughter if in fact it is a girl in there? So just find out right? Wrong. I can't. That spoils it. Kinda like finding the Christmas present closet. I never snooped. I didn't want to know because I was afraid that it would take the fun out of Christmas. I guess I need to keep telling myself just that. Boy? Girl? It really doesn't matter to me. Sure, I'd like to have a son at some point but it doesn't have to be this time. Some people's reactions to the fact that we may want more is humorous. Y'all want 4 kids!? We started wanting 5. We're not Duggar crazy mind you. Kids are gifts. They're amazing. The two that we have now are our lives. They are the best part of waking up not some cup of coffee. The coffee is MUCH needed, don't get me wrong! Back to news about Turner Child Numero Tres...

Randi and I went for her 14 week appointment this morning. No ultra-sound which is really odd to us because with the twins, we had ultra-sounds every single time we went in. Not the case this time. We did get to hear his or her heartbeat and it brought a smile to every one's face in the room. Dr. Christine even broke a smile! 160 beats per minute. We were told that the "big ultra-sound" would take place during the next visit. The "big ultra-sound", I asked? The one where you will find out the sex of the baby I was told. Well that won't be happening but we will still get an ultra-sound and hopefully some pictures.

Things in the Turner 4 household are nuts. The girls are getting way too big, way too fast. We are being told "bless you" after we sneeze by both children now. Addy is picking up new sayings every day and her sister... She's a mess. She is home today with another temperature but she is a bull in a china shop when healthy. Aubrey doesn't walk, she speed walks. Her balance still isn't 100% so it's not uncommon to see her fall 5 times during a 10 foot walking sprint. She shakes it off and continues on. I really need to break out the camera and catch these two before they're big and I'm gross.

I just wanted to post an update from the appointment today. I feel like Facebook gets most of our information anymore. Sorry if you're not on there and only following us on the blog. I know that I've been a negligent blogger as of late.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Much Love To All.

Blog Daddy T and 3.5

Week 10

2010-10-22T11:32:00.006-05:00

So there I sat in an all too familiar place. Two years later. Some things have changed but not much. There's a television in here now but I haven't even looked at it. It boasts healthy/medical things and surprisingly, some are directed toward the adult male. I am too buried in my Scrabble game on my iPad to pay much attention to the television. Also, there is a little girl who is not much older than ours, playing with her grandmother a few seats away. I can't help but tune into their little world.

Grandmother (pointing): "What's that?"
Little Girl: "Punkin!"
Grandmother: "Very good! What's that?"
Little Girl: "COW! Mooooo..."
Grandmother: "Yes, the cow says moo. Wanna go look out the window?"
Little Girl: "K!"

And off they went.

Interaction between an adult and a child is fascinating to me. They look to us for everything. We teach them everything and they depend on us. It's such an honor to have been given that opportunity and yet there are so many out there who don't take advantage of being a parent and running with it. I am not one of those who won't take advantage. I am one who will brag about my kid. I won't apologize either because this is what I always dreamed of. I wanted to be a Dad. What an honor.

"Babe". I was being called back. We sat in the other waiting area for a few minutes until we were called back into the sonogram room. Baby T's living room shined up on the monitor as the technician measure he or she from different angles. We mentioned how we weren't going to find out the sex of this baby and the technician said that if we're judging by heartbeat, it's a girl. DID YOU JUST HEAR US? We said that we weren't going to find out this time. Copy? Whatever though. "According to heartbeat" I was supposed to be a girl. True fact. Baby T is doing well. Everything is looking good and it's beginning to look like a baby. We are still looking at May 19th as the delivery date unless Randi goes into labor earlier. Good times.

Randi, Addison, Aubrey and I went to see Yo Gabba Gabba Live "There's a party in my city" on Tuesday night. We had such a great time. Randi doesn't know who liked it more, the girls or me. Biz Markie was there, what more is there to say!? YOU. YOU GOT WHAT I NEED. BUT YOU SAY HE'S JUST A FRIEND. BUT YOU SAY HE'S JUST A FRIEOOOOOOOH BABY YOU. Classic. After the show we met up with my parents and my grandmother who is in town this week from Philadelphia. My "Gram" is the sweetest woman on this planet and it's so awesome to me that she has gotten to meet my kids. We went to Yogurt Twist where Pop Pop spoiled his girls like always.

Just wanted to post a quick update since we had an appointment yesterday. We hope everyone is doing well.

Much Love To All.
Blog Daddy T and Three + 1.

And The Miracle Begins

2010-09-27T15:48:00.001-05:00

I tried 15 times to rotate this photo. Already stubborn and not even born yet. MUST be a Turner.

Week 6

Our visit to the doctor on Friday was a success! We got to see the grain of rice that we will one day name. We did get to hear a little heart beat as well. It was nice to see Dr. Christine and her nurse Cindy again. They are always very friendly and they seem so genuine and excited for us.

Randi kept asking me if I was nervous? I honestly didn't get any emmotion until we saw the baby, or the grain of rice that will become a baby. Excitement and pride took over at that point. I think most of it was the fear of becoming emmotionally attached before anything was certain. When Dr. Christine told us that since we had heard a heart beat, the chance of miscarriage was less than 10%, that made me feel better.

Baby stuff is about to take over the house once again. In the meantime we need to cater to Momma and spoil her rotten so that baby rice has the best growing experience possible. This is difficult though with me working full time and Randi at home raising two little girls. We'll just have to make the weekends special Mommy days. We've already started this but this weekend we'll let her fly to Mexico to relax for week. Enjoy Momma.

ALL of our love.
Blog Daddy T and Four.

Four Weeks

2010-09-10T09:34:00.004-05:00

We've got a long way to go but it's getting more and more exciting as the days go by. It's starting to sink in a little more and it will really get exciting once we visit the "doctor".

Two little girls and a baby at 32. My dreams of being a dad are suddenly a reality. Addison and Aubrey are growing up so fast. They have their own OPPOSITE personalities and I fall in love with them again every time I see them. Addison was brought into the bathroom to me this morning while I was getting ready. There I stood in a towel and heard Randi say "Can you keep an eye on this one while I clean up her mess?" She turns the corner with Addy and Addy says "Papa". Melts me. Melts me every time to know that these little girls know me as their dad and that I am there for them. Soon there is going to be a third. A THIRD CHILD! Trips will be more fun. Tailgate will be a blast. Life in general will be so much sweeter. This dad thing is a blessing and the family part is a dream come true.

So much to do. So little time. Gotta figure out which room is going to be nursery #2.

Much Love To All.

Blog Daddy T and Three+

Shhh...

2010-09-09T09:39:00.004-05:00

Keeping quiet about expecting a baby is not easy. I understand the point of it completely but like Randi said, "You've got to show excitement or you're not fully living in the moment." Soon enough.

Last night Randi and I were lying in bed and I mentioned to her that there is an iPad app for Babycenter.com that tracks your pregnancy and shows what the baby looks like as well as gives you tips about different things. It mentioned something about taking a second pregnancy test "just to be sure". Well when I mentioned this to Randi, she freaked out. She went to take one because I had her all worried. It too came back positive. Having had two positive tests, I told her that we must be having twins again. What if we did? Our chances are up from 6% to 12% I believe we were once told. I think it'd be wonderful! Boys, Girls, Girl/Boy doesn't matter to me. Randi did mention though that if we have a second set of twins that I WOULD be getting snipped. Scary!

Much Love.

Blog Daddy T and Three+

Knowing Early

2010-09-08T11:54:00.010-05:00

Well as some have already guessed, we are expecting our third (and or fourth, and or fifth ) child sometime in May or June. Randi took a test when we returned home from the lake on Labor Day and it showed a faint + sign. We have our first appointment on September 24th at 9:30 and we're praying that everything goes well. We decided a few months back to go completely off of birth control and give ourselves a "trying window" before Randi went to Mexico in October. Because we are still so early, very few people know right now. I'm sure there will be a lot more in the coming days that will just so happen to find out but like I said, we're still early. It's exciting and scary at the same time. It's definitely something that Randi and I want, but there's always that thought in the back of my mind that something could go wrong. Time will tell and our prayers have all been answered so far. Even when times were dark and we couldn't see the next few months, God answered our prayers and gave us two the next go around. It's out of our hands but we'll do everything that we're supposed to, to make sure things go the way they're supposed to.

This post is being saved and not published for awhile. =)

Much Love,

Blog Daddy T and Three+

Birmingham Parent Magazine Cover

2010-09-01T09:55:00.006-05:00

http://birminghamparentcoverkids.surveyconsole.com/

Addison and Aubrey are up for the Birmingham Parent Magazine cover. It's up to our friends and family to vote! Please help us get some votes if you get a chance. Click the link above and look under the "Multiples" section for their picture, click the dot and continue. Thank you in advance!

2010-06-17T15:12:00.005-05:00

One year (it was either Father's Day or my dad's birthday, one of the two) my Mom called my brother and I who were at home playing Playstation like a bunch of lazy bums and said that we should probably call my Dad and wish him a happy Father's Day/birthday. This was at like 9:00 at night. Wow. What jerks right? It's taking me being a Dad to really realize that birthdays and holidays are meant to be days spent with the people you love. Now, I knew that before but I was always in a rush to get done with the family stuff so I could hurry out and let people, who at the time I thought were important, buy me drinks all night.

This Sunday is Father's day. Unfortunately I have had to make a decision as to not see mine because he will be down at the lake with my Mom and some of their friends. Father's day is also now my day where my family wants to be with me. Should make me feel good right? Instead I feel bad because I am not going to see my Dad. He's an hour and a half away and I'm not going to see him.

Why is it becoming harder and harder to make plans that work for everyone? Our family is growing and that in itself is wonderful, but... It makes making plans that much more difficult. When I was a kid, my Mom's side of the family had a family reunion every year. There would be people there that I had never met before in my life. They were all somehow related and they all got together this one day to see each other. Are we coming to that!? My Mom and Dad are both one of 11 children. I have over 60 cousins and we were all pretty close growing up. It must have been really difficult to make it to every family function but I didn't see the difficulty in it as I just jumped in the car and went where they took us!

Now I see it though. It's tough. In the end, I hope my Dad understands. It's nothing against him. If it were up to me, I'd be with he and my Brother (who is celebrating his first Father's Day this year.) on the golf course Sunday morning like we used to do EVERY Sunday morning years ago. Times have changed but my love, respect, and my appreciation for my Dad never will.

Happy Father's Day Dad. I love you.

Blog DADDY T.

Distance Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

2010-03-30T04:47:00.007-05:00

And if that is the case, my heart is SUPER FOND. Sounds like a superhero Jane Fonda should have played in her glory days. Randi, her mother, Addison and Aubrey have been in Texas for almost two weeks. By the end of their trip, they'll have been gone for a total of 15 days. Now, when I agreed that they should take this trip, I thought of the quietness that would take over the house. The freedoms that I would find in that I could play endless hours of NCAA Football if I wanted. I could go have some beers with the guys and not feel guilty about it. Well I'm done with all of that now. It's time for them to come home. I have had my two nights of meeting up with the guys. I have had my countless hours of Playstation. (It's been Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2. Don't get me started on that as I have become an addict overnight thanks to my brother.) The quietness is almost depressing now. I'm done with it.

We're getting a lot of work done to our yard, all new windows throughout the house, a play set for the girls and AT&T U-Verse installed. I thought that all of this could be purchased, installed, and accomplished while they were all out of town. What better timing right? Not so much. The yard has been at a standstill since last Thursday and the windows as well as the play set have yet to be delivered. Things don't always work out like you plan, but isn't that the norm? AT&T did come out and did successfully install our new U-Verse system but I've got to learn to be more patient with things like these. Projects are just that, they're projects. If they could be done in a day, they'd have a commercial for it boasting about replacing your entire house in a day. (That Re-Bath commercial still intrigues me.) I've got to leave it to the Man upstairs and let him do it on His time.

Since the girls have been gone, Randi has done a really good job of sending me pictures and telling me of the new habits that have formed. One of those is that Addison has begun telling Randi "no" while motioning with her hand. Nice! Miss Aubrey has learned how to stand up in her high chair but hasn't been able to get very far thankfully! Both girls have had a hard time sleeping while in hotels. For a few days though, they were all able to stay with Bill and Chris Dutcher in Del Rio. They slept much better in a house probably because they were more able to be scheduled. Now they're all back in a hotel in Del Rio making their final leg of the trip. I pick them up from the airport Friday night and I cannot wait to see them all.

I have missed the things that sometimes become routine in life. Routine, normalcy, and my three favorite people are thankfully returning in 3 days.

Much Love To All.
Blog Daddy T and Three

Picture One was taken in Del Rio and it is of Bill and Chris Dutcher's Granddaughters Autumn and Savannah holding the girls.

Picture Two and Three is of Aubrey and Addison, respectively, heading to church in Del Rio.

Picture Four is Aubrey taking in the sights and sounds of the San Antoio Riverwalk. In the back is Randi's bestfriend Brandi's baby girl

Picture Five is Aubrey showing off her mad skills.

Picture Six is Addison falling asleep in her pasta.

Picture Seven (Addison) and Eight (Aubrey) are of the girls saying hello to me on their ride to Del Rio.

Why!?

2010-03-16T04:47:00.000-05:00

Alright. The first time that I received an email saying that a comment needed to be moderated on our blog, I was kind of excited since I don't get a lot of comments. (This is not a sympathy post and I'm not hoping to receive more comments.) So when I opened that email and it said that it was from Anonymous, I was intrigued. It mentioned something about how Anonymous liked my blog and would like to publish it somewhere or something along those lines. Well I deleted it. It was kinda creepy. I began to wonder who all reads this and who has an open invitation to my world, my family's world!? Is anyone else getting creepers on their blogs? I may print out what I've posted thus far and then move the blog or just shut down. I can not stand spam and I LOATHE creepers! I have four email addresses for this very reason! I buy things with one, I use another for personal emails, the other is for login things like ESPN.go.com or Facebook and the other, I don't remember why I have the other. It may have been so that I could have another person in my mafia way back when.

Baby Bailey

2010-03-05T15:09:00.003-06:00

Randi and I babysat our 3 month old niece on Wednesday night. I decided to get her beautiful little face on camera. Turn your speakers on.

Amazing.

March Already!?

2010-03-01T04:47:00.006-06:00

How many times am I going to open a post with the question, "where does time go"? If you've got time to go back and read all of my posts over the past, geez, year and a half and tell me, then that would be great! If not, I'd rather you wouldn't anyway honestly.

Where does time go!? I had to throw that in there. Work, work, work, work, work, WEEKEND, WEEKEND, work, you get the picture. Whose idea was it to skimp us with only two weekend days out of a week? Time is flying by. These girls are growing so fast and learning so much daily. The smiles are more genuine and the hugs are heartfelt. Not that either of those things weren't genuine and or heartfelt before, but now they are, I don't know. They mean more. Is that wrong? Yesterday Addison crawled over to Randi and crawled up her and just threw her arms around her and hugged her. I heard Randi's response from the other room and you can tell it meant so much to her. I get to experience a like feeling when I come into a room with the two of them playing and I get shot a big smile from Aubrey, or I hear Addison's repetitive warning telling everyone that I have entered the room, "Dah! Dah! Dah! Dah!". All while bouncing her little hips. This parent thing is absolutely amazing.

Hearing of Marie Osmond's son committing suicide this morning was gut wrenching. Boner from Growing Pains took his life last week at 40 something. Before he was found, who did we the public hear pleading for his son to come home? His father, a parent. The luger who lost his life at the young age of 21! He spoke to his father the day before about how that turn terrified him. I now understand the hurt, the wonder, the anger even that I caused my parents growing up. I think I can speak for Randi also and say that she understands it as well. These little girls are our world. They make every morning shine and every night complete. I can't imagine having to go through what some parents this week and last have gone through. My thoughts and prayers have and will be with ALL families who have lost a loved one. Egh... This has gotten a little dark, hasn't it? Let's get back to fun stuff.

Addison is a goof! She is the biggest goof that I think I have ever met and that's saying a lot considering that I am related to Christy Turner. This little one is a clown and she is perfectly aware of it. She does things to get attention and she loves every second of it.

Aubrey is a hippie. She is fun, she is beautiful, and she is as laid back as they come. When she smiles, it's genuine. If it's a smile directed toward you, trust me, you have worked for that smile. She studies the world around her so intently. She is nosey and oh so curious. Oh! For those not on "The Facebook", Aubrey had another spat of the fever again. Randi took her into the doctor and they ran their tests and sent her home with no diagnosis. A friend from work forwarded me a website of parents who seemed to be having the same issue with the fever bug. Randi asked our pediatrician if I could send this to her for her to look over and see if she thought that maybe Aubrey's symptoms were similar and possibly get us a diagnosis. I haven't heard anything back and that was over a week ago. Maybe we'll find an answer, but even better, maybe it has left for good.

Randi and I are well. We have decided to stay in our house instead of buying my parent's house. Economically it makes more sense for us right now. Maybe a few years down the road we can move, but for now we're going to do some work on what we've got. Randi, Donna and the girls are headed to San Antonio as well as Del Rio for TWO WHOLE WEEKS beginning March 18th. I don't know what I'm going to do for two weeks here by myself. I am actually planning a Jeep/camping trip one of the weekends so I won't be sucked into the couch the entire time.

So... I look around the Blogspot community and see a lot of old posts. What's going on to make us not post things about our little ones and or what we've got going on? Maybe the tease of 55+ degree weather on the weekends? Maybe we're all just too damn busy. I don't have an excuse except that I am just too damn LAZY. =)

Much Love To All!

Blog Daddy T and Three/Four

You Spin My Head Right Round...

2010-01-26T04:47:00.016-06:00

Where does time go? Seriously. I turned 31 on January 4th and don't know what happened to my 20's. Well I do, but I'd rather not air ALL of my dirty laundry on a blog that, from what I hear, some people do read. I remember when I was a kid, it seemed like Christmas would never get here. It would finally arrive and we would wish for it to come back all over again. Why do we wish time away? I do this now with weekdays. I wish them away with the common phrase "Is it Friday yet"? Then Saturday comes and goes and next thing you know it's 8:00 Sunday night, Randi is watching DH and I'm flipping between football and PS3 hoping to freeze time again.

Two little girls. Wow. We have to little girls! It's hard to fathom sometimes. Randi and I still look at them daily and just smile at the thought of our love bringing something so precious into the world. We kiss them repeatedly until Addison pushes my face away. This is something new that has started that I am not a big fan of. So onto the updates. It's been awhile since my last post and I apologize if you were really looking forward to hearing an update or three during my hibernation from the Crimson Tiders of the world.

The girls are growing and growing and growing. They had their one year doctor appointment last week and Addison weighed 15 lbs and Aubrey weighed 14 lbs 9 oz. They are still on the tiny side but the doctor said that she's not concerned because they're close in weight and have been since birth. Aubrey went for testing this morning to see what had caused the fluid on her kidney that was possibly causing her high temperatures and visits to the doctor and hospital. The results were negative for reflux so we don't have to medicate her for the next year of her life. The "reflux" was believed to have been her not peeing out all of her pee and it creeping back to her kidney instead of staying in her bladder. Negative. She hasn't run a fever in quite some time so hopefully that whole mess is behind us.

We have ONE YEAR OLDS! We celebrated their birthday on their actual birthday but then we had a bigger party this past weekend. We had an amazing turnout and people came from all over! Bill Harrell came from Fort Worth, TX, and "Nanny" Yvonne came from Tampa, FL. The girls were spoiled yet again and showered with so much love and so many gifts! The neat thing was seeing all of the kids; Logan Brown, Cate Carter, Hanlon Finney, The Lee Triplets Piper, Henry and Rosemary, and my niece Bailey Turner. I may be missing a few. We had paint and tiles for them to do their hand/foot prints, a jar filled with M&M's which Logan Brown guessed the closest as to how many were in there, and toys for them all to play with. All in all it was a wonderful party. The girls loved their cakes and made quite a mess of themselves. Thank you to Steve Thomas and Yvonne Balbin for helping Randi make them as well as the cupcakes!

So all in all everything is going really well. The girls are pulling up on everything and standing with support. Addy cries for help to get down but has done it a few times on her own. Aubrey is a daredevil. She cracks me up! She not only pulls up and gets down on her own but she has learned to slide herself over this train that Mike, Amy and Logan Brown gave them. Once she slides over it she crawls around to do it again like a four year old on a jungle gym! Addison still says "tickle tickle" and the occasional "Dah Dah" and "Mah Mah". Recently she has blurted out "Nonna" which is what we want the girls to call Randi's mother. Aubrey isn't really a talker, however we do believe that she has gotten the word "shit" down. No thanks to their grandmothers! She blurts it out here and there and it sounds pretty clear to those that hear it but she has no clue, obviously. Aubrey is more expressional. Is that a word?

Ex`pres´sion`al (~al)
a. 1. Of, or relating to, expression; phraseological; also, vividly representing or suggesting an idea or sentiment.

I guess it is! She points and waves and says "dah" and "mom mom mom mom". Other than that she just shoots smiles CONSTANTLY.

Well that's all I've got this time. We hope everyone is doing well and has adjusted from the holidays. We need a bigger house due to all of the toys that the girls got for Christmas and their birthday but we're working on that.

Much love to all.

Blog Daddy T and his beautiful three.

Moment of Silence

2010-01-06T10:32:00.005-06:00

In participation/recognition of "Mark Ingram Day" I will not be updating the blog with any new information on our ladies. Instead, we will bow our heads and give thanks to this achievement that has yet to be "recognized" (Auburn University Heisman Trophy Winners Pat Sullivan 71 and Vincent Edward Jackson 85) in this great state of Saban that we live in.

MAKE ME PUKE!

WAR EAGLE & HOOK EM HORNS!

Much Love To All!

Blog Daddy T and his wonderful Three!

"This post has been brought to you by your Alabama Ford Dealers. Nick Saban drives one. Shouldn't you?"

One Year Olds

2009-12-30T04:47:00.000-06:00

It's hard to believe that they're one! One year has already gone by. Amazing. People say that it flies by, and sure enough, it has. I thought that I'd put up some pictures of yesterday's celebration. They're "party" will take place next month when everything calms down a little from the holidays.

Addison
Aubrey
Addison
Aubrey

Happy Birthday baby girls!

One Year Ago Today...

2009-12-29T04:47:00.004-06:00

Two angels were born. Two angels that have made the world a better place. Two angels that make us want to be the best that we can be. Two angels whose cheeks are constantly covered in kisses. Two angels who are growing so fast right before our very eyes.

Addison and Aubrey, thank you for being our angels. Your mommy and I are so very proud of you for everything that you have accomplished in your first year of life. There are so many more milestones and achievements that will be reached in your lifetime and we'll be there to cheer for you and comfort you when you need us.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANGELS!

We love you.

Daddy and Mommy

You're Never Going to Believe

2009-12-17T04:47:00.024-06:00

Who is back at the doctor's office this week? Same symptoms, same high fever, same pouty little face, same little cuddle bug, QUITE a different adventure.

Last Thursday I picked Aubrey up to put her in her highchair before I left for work. I noticed that she was a little warm and thought "Oh no not again!". I mentioned it to Randi and went on to work. SURE ENOUGH, her temperature started rising, and THE mood set in.

We had a trip planned with my sister and my parents to take the RV down to Jacksonville Florida to see the Dolphins play the Jaguars. We were all looking forward to our first excursion in the RV and going to another game together. We discussed the fact that we may not be able to go, and that it might be best if Aubrey were at home. I then asked Randi if it came down to it, could I take Addy and still go? She agreed but in the end, we all made the trip.

After a very nice ride down, we checked into the hotel where Randi, the girls and I were staying. My sister was in the room next to ours which was adjoining. My parents parked the RV over in the RV parking lot at the stadium and stayed there. Randi fell when we walked into the hotel due to the downpour outside and the tile floor in the hotel being wet. She hurt her coccyx and wasn't moving around very fast. Now she and Aubrey weren't feeling too well so we decided it was best to stay in and order room service. We thought that we were going to get a good night sleep and start fresh in the morning and head out to the game. No one slept. If we did it wasn't for very long. Aubrey finally snoozed from 4:30 - 7:00 on my chest. We have never slept with them in our bed so this was new to me. I didn't move an inch while I slept for that very short period. I don't know how I did it, but I did. If there was anyone in the other room next to us, they probably didn't get much sleep either with Aubrey crying most of the night.

12/22/2009!

I took a short break in between the last paragraph and this one. So bear with me. Aubrey had a doctor appointment Monday morning where they ran some tests which all came back with negative results. The pediatrician said that if it were her kid, she would just chalk it up to another viral infection. Randi is taking her in tomorrow for one last scan just to be sure there's nothing there.

Christmas week. I can't believe it's here already. Randi and I took a VERY nice weekend trip to Nashville while the girls went to the lake house with Nonna, Mom Mom and Pop Pop. Randi and I had two nice dinners together, went out and had some adult beverages, saw the Rockettes at Opryland, and even got to see the Dolphins lose to the Titans. This whole trip stemmed from Uncle Randy and Uncle Henry winning an auction at the Blue Jean Ball which is hosted by former Auburn football coach Pat Dye. The package included Titans jerseys, a team calendar autographed by Coach Jeff Fisher, club level tickets to the game, a parking pass, a one night stay at the Hutton Hotel in Nashville, candle light turn down service, chocolate covered strawberries and champagne and breakfast. What a weekend!

Here it is Tuesday and Aubrey is feeling better but now Randi has a little funk going on. Always something or someone. =) We're gearing up for a long Christmas weekend with family and having Christmas dinner at our house this year.

We hope everyone has a safe and wonderful holiday! Merry Christmas!

Much love to all.

Blog Daddy T. and Three

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-17T04:47:00.015-06:00

(Addison in green, Aubrey in red. Randi made the dresses!)

The second round had better results. =)

Spaztastic

2009-12-17T04:47:00.013-06:00

Sick and Tired (Aubrey and Randi, respectively.)

2009-11-09T04:47:00.002-06:00

The past week has been a doozy! To make a long story short, Aubrey's temperature got as high as 104.7. She has been in and out of the pediatrician's office, Children's ER as well as Children's outpatient. She had some blood drawn and was given two shots of antibiotic. Her white blood cell count was a little high but nothing too concerning thank God! She is better this week but has learned to cry until she gets picked up.

Randi ran in the Vulcan 10K this past weekend! I cannot tell you how proud of her I am. She has been running daily and really seems to enjoy it. It gives her a much needed break from being in the house and taking care of the girls. Her father was a big runner so in a way I think she does it for him too. The girls and I try to attend every race and it's a nice time for me to be alone with my girls.

The ladies have been experimenting with some new finger foods. In these pictures they have some kind of cracker? I cut up some fruit this weekend and let them go to town with that. Addy loves fruit but most of it ends up in the catchall part of her bib. Aubrey likes fruit but is very wary of what she eats. She takes her time and doesn't drop a lot. Boston seems to hang out near Addy more so than Aubrey and I can't say that I blame her. Having a dog is a blessing when it comes to spills in the kitchen. Boston knows the tone in our voice when something has hit the floor. She doesn't hesitate to high tail it across the house to find the results of one's misfortune and a dogs dream!

I just wanted to put something up since it's been about two weeks since we've added anything. We hope everyone is doing well.

Much love to all.

Blog Daddy T. and Three.

Pumpkins with our Pumpkins

2009-10-09T15:58:00.020-05:00

Blog Daddy T is always taking the time to praise his three, so this mama decided it was time for her to tell about what a great Daddy T we have.

This past Saturday we decided we wanted to head out to the Pumpkin Patch, but since Daddy wasn't feeling so great, we decided instead to stick close to home and check out the Mt. Laurel Fall Festival, where the girls got to meet no other than

Both girls were in total awe of Snow White. I can't wait until one day we are able to go to Disney to watch their excitement as they meet all the Princesses.

We then headed for lunch, and to pick up some pumpkins. Here's where Daddy T really starts to show off his skills. He decided he wanted to carve two pumpkins, one for each of his pumpkins. After some searching on the internet the girls picked their favorites for Daddy to use on their pumpkins.

Addy wanted Swipper, which Daddy approved of, since his favorite Dora line is "Swiper, no swiping!"

Aubrey wanted the main character (hhhhmmmmm I wonder why), Dora.

After lots of work

and some pumpkin seed toasting

Daddy T had successfully created a Dora pumpkin, unlike any pumpkin I ever had as a kid.

He decided his hands needed to wait until the next day to complete the second one, especially since by the time this one was complete the girls were in bed, and the Auburn game was starting.

So the next day Daddy went back to work.

And he created Swipper.

We are so proud of Daddy and just wanted to brag on here about him for once, since he is always bragging about us.

Now the other news in our lives. Sunday night Aubrey started to run a high fever; at one point it was 103.7. We called our doctor 3 times to ask different questions, who each time reassured us, and let us know we should call her back with any questions. We tried to let her sleep in our room, but she just wouldn't have it. So at about 1 in the morning I finally asked Ricky if he thought she would sleep in her room. We weren't sure, but decided to give it a try. I put her in her own room in her own crib, and she looked at me as if to say "Thank you Mama, this is where I wanted to be all night." I guess she missed her sister.

The next morning I called and got her the first appointment possible. Mom Mom came over to watch Addison so I wouldn't have to cart the non-sick one with me too. We were seen pretty quickly. The doctor informed me he didn't see anything, so that meant we had to test for the flu. I felt pretty confident that there was no way my baby had the flu, since Ricky had been to the doctor and tested negative. Well I was WRONG! My baby had the flu. I quickly asked "Swine flu?" To which he informed me they didn't test for that strand, but it was the only flu out there, so I can assume.....

My baby has the swine flu. Maybe she should stop sleeping with her piggy.

We (the doctor and I) decided to go ahead and treat Addison the same way, since they share everything and she would most likely get it too. Addison never got past 99 in the her temperature, but she did get the deep cough Aubrey has. Monday was pretty rough, but Daddy came home to help, and work from home. We were very thankful to have him here. I thought I might even be getting it, but somehow was avoided. I guess God knew this mama couldn't be out of work.

The girls had it rough for the first few days, but we are back to normal today.

We enjoyed a photo shoot in our fun rain boots, we have been waiting to wear.

But since they don't quite fits us, we prefer to use them as chew toys.

Other quick momental things that have happened:
*We are both working hard on sitting up unassisted.
*Aubrey has started getting up on her knees in at attempt to crawl.
*Addison has started to say "MomMomMomMom," while she cries.

Hope all is well in your world.
Mama of three (twins & Bossie)

September 2009 (almost) 9 Month Old Baby Beauties

2009-09-24T23:08:00.000-05:00

"I'm happy for you and I'ma let you read but I want to say that I've got one of the most kissable faces of all time!!"

It's unbelievable that our little ladies are almost 9 months old. Addison and Aubrey are the highlights of our day. Randi wakes up a few minutes before me, goes upstairs and wakes the girls up, changes their diapers, and dresses them (for first time) for the day. At least one more "dressing" will be needed for one reason or another. I lay in bed and listen to Randi talk to the girls on the monitor that has been purring all night with the sound of their fan that we leave on, as well as an occasional grunt or wail during the night. Aubrey likes to keep us on our toes even during her sleep. She will let out an ear piercing cry that doesn't require any attention, she just wants you to know that she's still there. She is the hardest sleeper! We go in to wake her and she's cuddled up with her pig just snoring away. When we finally do get her awake, she let's you know that she wasn't quite finished dreaming about mashed sweet potatoes and jewelry. Just like her Daddy she's not a morning person. Addison on the other hand is awake before you even crack the door. Her little head is already facing the door and her smile greets you as you walk in. Her feet kick rapidly and her two little bottom teeth shine just to let you know she's happy to see you. I don't know what we did before we were parents. Life was good, but it wasn't near as good as it is with children.

As some of you may know, we started swim/floating classes and have since finished with Aubrey and are on the cusp of finishing with Addison. Aubrey is FEARLESS. This child is going to be a nut. I love it. The instructor drops her face first into the water and she does a complete flip and is back on top floating and breathing like nothing happened. Addison on the other hand thinks about the situation that has just been rudely handed to her and floats, but not face up. She's getting the hang of it and has averaged about 3 out of 4 tries the past few days. A 75% in my book is passing, but when it comes to a baby in the water, we need it to be 100%! The class is really impressive and I recommend it to anyone that has a pool or is around the lake a lot. Shoot, even if you're not, it's a great life saving technique that is worth every penny. If you're interested the website to visit is www.infantswim.com. We go to classes that are offered at St. Vincent's One Nineteen as we're members at the gym there and it's pretty close to the house.

Addison

Aubrey

Auburn football has started! Randi and I have always loved going down to Auburn for football Saturdays but this year it's a little different. Don't get me wrong, we still like it, it just requires A LOT MORE STUFF! Luckily my Father made one of my Mother's wishes come true by purchasing an RV! They not only got it for Auburn tailgating but also for them to eventually travel the country.

It has worked out nicely for us to feed the girls and attempt to put them down for naps. However they aren't very willing to nap when there is so much going on outside of the back bedroom.

Randi was pretty busy before the season started as she wanted to make their first gameday dresses.

Randi constantly amazes me with all of the things that she does from making her own baby food, to making them gameday dresses, to still being able to do all of this and have time for me at the end of the day.

So there's my little "catch up post" that I've been putting off for quite some time. There is so much information to share that it's hard to remember everything and put it on this small screen let alone into writing.

We hope everyone is well.

Much love to all.

Blog Daddy T and Three

Snot and Drool Look Very Similar

2009-08-11T07:04:00.001-05:00

I needed a picture to fill this space and thought this would suffice. D#%n Yankees! Still it's 8-4 on the season. ;)

This is a realization that I've come to over the past few days. Aubrey is known to soak the front of her outfits with drool. We excuse it by saying "she's teething" but the poor girl has yet to have a single tooth poke through her gums. Her sister on the other hand has two teeth on the bottom and never really drooled quite as much as Aubrey. Now if you've ever been around our girls you have noticed that they have always sounded a little stuffy. Now they are REALLY stuffy, and runny, and cranky ,and have mastered the art of the "little girl scream". Oh joy to our ears when we finally sit down to relax or have just hit the pillow! They may not know how to crawl or walk yet but as soon as that Kleenex comes anywhere close to their noses they know to shake their heads like a dog with a chew toy. I love my girls to death but frustration found me this past week. I guess the main reason is because you don't know what to fix! They can't tell you, "Daddy, I'm so tired". I don't even want to say that I wish they could tell me because I have a feeling that this Papa is never going to get a word in edgewise! Oh the estrogen levels in my house increase daily. I need to put a monitor somewhere in the house to let me know what I'm dealing with day in and day out. It's all good though because I can't imagine it any other way. So due to the leakiness and the crankiness Randi and her Mom took the girls to the pediatrician yesterday. We found out that they're not gaining weight like we want them to and we need to add a feeding for a week to see if that helps. If that doesn't help we may need to supplement. Those are fighting words to a Momma who is determined to nurse her young, but we gotta do what's best for them. The pediatrician prescribed a decongestant for them to clear em up. I got a phone call at work telling me that our insurance doesn't cover this decongestant and it was going to be $49.00 x2. Um, no. $98.00 for a decongestant is RIDICULOUS give us the cheap stuff and if there isn't one, call the pediatrician and get us something else. We ended up with a $4.00 decongestant. Much better, although the warning label is a bit disturbing: "This drug may make you dizzy or drowsy. Use caution while driving, using machinery, or doing any activity that requires alertness. Avoid alcoholic beverages while using this medication." We got a good chuckle out of that since clearly this isn't specifically for an infant. =) The girls slept through the night last night and it was pure bliss.

Randi is still making their food and they're loving it! She just started plums last week and they have been a hit. We even tried it and are thinking about making a batch for ourselves! Green veggies aren't Addison's favorite, but other than that they eat like champs! Tofu has also been introduced. Apparently this is a good source of protein for them. I myself am not a fan but will they remember what they ate when they were 7 months old!? Cheerios have also been introduced. They're still getting the mechanics down but when they get, it they enjoy it.

Randi is taking sewing classes and has not only impressed me but has made some really cute things for the girls. This past Saturday she had a class from 9 am until about 5. I had the girls all day and we had fun. At one point I put them in their activity jumpers and went no more than 10-15 feet away into the kitchen to wash some bottles. Not 2 minutes go by when I hear a shrieking scream. The result:

She got her head stuck. The second photo she was giggling at me because I was laughing at her. I'm sure that this is just the beginning of many more dramatic situations.

Well that's all I've got for this post. I got tired of seeing the beach pictures so I thought I'd make a new post.

We hope everyone is well. Our prayers and deepest sympathies go out to my Uncle Ron Sebastiani and his family as they mourn the loss of his Mother.

Much love to all.

Blog Daddy T and Three

Living The Dream

2009-07-28T09:10:00.017-05:00

Vacations and family time like this is something that you only get once or twice a year. Before you know it, it's departure day so you've got to take it all in while you can. Randi asked me to download the pictures off of the camera to send to my Mom this morning. I thought that I would make a new post instead because there are so many. We have spent the last 4 days down in Gulf Shores (Fort Morgan) Alabama and we're here until Saturday. Here are some of the pictures that we have so far and I'm sure there will be plenty more to come.

Addison on her way to the beach.
Aubrey on her way to the beach.

June and July 2009

2009-07-07T18:47:00.005-05:00

I am posting pictures now that we have gotten our Mac! It is a very welcome addition to our home as my "PC" was fading quickly. Here are some pictures from the past month. We hope everyone is doing well.

Mommy put us in our robes after bath one night and we just HAD to have our picture taken cause we're so darn cute! Aubrey on the left, Addy Grace on the right.

This girl has got some rhythm! Addy Grace LOVES to dance in her jumper. I have a video of her in it, but blogger doesn't seem to want me to post it. I'll keep trying.

Aubrey loves to roll and is quite proud of her accomplishment! Look at that smile!

Pop Pop and his girls. Addy Grace and Aubrey spent a weekend with Mom Mom and Pop Pop (my parents) while Randi and I attended the Red Sox/Braves series in Atlanta. We really enjoyed ourselves and are very appreciative that my parents as well as Randi's Mom are so helpful.

Addy has finally gotten over her fear of her Pop Pop. For awhile there when he picked her up all she would do was cry. They're buddies now and she's back in his will.

Aubrey has figured out that her feet will reach her mouth. "Mmm leather."

Aubrey and her feet again.

Soon, I won't get any time on my Playstation. Aubrey LOVES to grab for the controller when I'm playing.

Much love to all.
Blog Daddy T and Three

Six Months Old & Growing

2009-06-30T12:53:00.000-05:00

Addison and Aubrey turned a whopping 6 months old yesterday! It's hard to believe. I had planned on posting some new pictures and possibly a video or two, but my laptop has pretty much bit the dust and my CD drive at work hates me. So until Randi and I can agree on what we're going to do about a new computer or laptop all I've got is words.

I may need to start writing on here more often as so much goes on these days! Addison has finally started to roll over side to side and Aubrey is still the more mobile one. Addy has babbled "Da Da" a few times but it comes and goes so I don't know whether or not it counts as words. She says a lot of other things too but those words don't really sound like anything in the English language. Randi and I went to Atlanta to see the Red Sox/Braves series this past weekend and while we were gone the girls stayed with my Mom and Dad at the lake. During their stay, my parents were able to break them of their swaddles! It's pretty neat to see them sleeping like big girls now. Aubrey loves to sleep on her belly where Addy just loves to sleep. My parents have a new found respect for the schedule that Randi has them on. It's hard to get anything done as is but I couldn't imagine what it'd be like without a schedule. Their 6 month check up was yesterday and the girls are still on the small side. Addison weighs 12 lbs 14 oz and Aubrey weighs 11 lbs 10 oz with each measuring 25 inches long. Addy has low iron so the Doctor gave Randi a prescription. Other than that they seem to be doing and growing well!

Randi has begun making the girls baby food. Today was the first round with green beans. She said that Addy screamed her head off while Aubrey made some faces but ate it up! Aubrey is the better eater so that wasn't much of a surprise. Addison just wants to push it all back out with her tongue and make a mess.

So I'm going to leave this post as is for now. I'm hoping that the Fourth of July weekend brings us a laptop of some sort. If it does, I'll try to get some new pictures up and see about doing some video.

Much love to all.

Blog Daddy T and Three

May 2009 5 months old!!!

2009-06-01T12:50:00.002-05:00

I can't help but think about how special our little girls are. I cannot thank God enough each night for the true joy that these little girls have brought Randi and I. I have been putting off writing a new update for a few weeks now. Randi has asked over and over for me to just do it, but I open up Blogger and freeze. Well here goes.

May 2009

What a month! News of our friends and family member's pregnancies keep flooding our phone lines and it's such an exciting time for everyone. Spring is probably my favorite season because everything seems so fresh and new. Well this spring seems to have opened the flood gates for babies! I hope that everyone has a great pregnancy and is as blessed as we are to have such incredible beautiful babies.

"not THAT kind of tummy time!"

These two little girls have got me wrapped around their little fingers. Every day I come home, kiss Randi and head straight for them. Their faces light up with smiles and their little legs kick and their arms flail. What a feeling it gives me. Randi and I constantly tell them that they have no idea how much they are loved. They will probably never know until they have children of their own.

Uncle Phillip and Aunt "Jen Jen" Carter with Aubrey, Uncle Scott and Aunt Christy with Addy,and Rev. Canon Joe Warren

Addison and Aubrey were Christened on May 17th at The Cathedral Church of the Advent which is also where Randi and I were married. Canon Joe Warren lead the service and it was perfect. In attendance were my Parents, Donna, Randi's Paw Paw, Uncle Randy and Uncle Henry, Bill and Susan Harrell, Scott (Addy's God Father) and Ashley, Christy (Addy's God Mother), Phillip and Jen (Aubrey's God Parents) as well as Baby Cate, and Melissa. We had quite a group! We were in the chapel at our church which is small and quaint but fit us all perfectly. Bill and Susan Harrell came in from Ft. Worth as well as Randi's high school girlfriend Melissa Flynn from San Antonio. It was so nice to have them all in town as we always have such a great time. Melissa is actually one of the friends that is expecting! We are looking forward to spending some more time with ALL of the Harrell's in July as we'll all be tearing up Gulf Shores for a week!

Bill (Papa Frog) and Susan (Nim Nom) Harrell, Randi with Aubrey and me with Addy

Melissa Flynn, Randi with Aubrey and me with Addy

Each week Randi takes the girls to Gymboree and they seem to really enjoy it. I was able to go with them a few weeks ago and got to play along. It's neat to see the other babies in the class at their different stages. There's one little boy Adam who is destined to be a linebacker. This kid is huge! Addy and I were playing along with whatever was going on and the next thing I know I look down and Adam has Addy's head palmed like Michael Jordan going up for a tomahawk dunk! He was very gentle though so I just kind of laughed and let it be. The girls seem to really like the scarfs as well as the wiffle balls that they play with at Gymboree. So being the not so spoiling parents that we are, Randi purchased some so that we can play at the house too.

Aubrey at Gymboree

Addy at Gymboree

After the girls were Christened and we all went out to lunch, Randi and I decided that we needed to get another activity mat because little miss Aubrey has perfected rolling around. There were a few times that she would almost roll over Addy who hasn't really given rolling much thought. We left the girls in the car with Melissa while we ran into Babies R Us. We found a fishy one that matches their Baby Einstein aquariums and we knew that they would love it. Aubrey is free to roll as much as her little heart desires while Addy holds conversations with the princess from the other activity mat. I did get a phone call this morning at work though from Randi telling me that Addison rolled over from her back to her belly! She did this early at like 6 weeks old but after about 3 or 4 times she quit so it's nice to see them both doing it now. They are both eating oatmeal now. We started with rice along with a lot of vocal disapproval, and we will soon try pears! That's if I leave any for them because pears are my favorite. When I had my jaw wired shut, I would eat baby food and pears were what I liked best.

We spent Memorial Day weekend down at the lake house and had a nice time with everyone. We were all to make a meal to help chip in and it seemed to work out well. It rained most of the weekend which didn't make for good boat trips but we did finally get to take the big boat out on the last day while my parents watched our ladies. Randi rode the new tube with Christy and Christy's girlfriend Jen Rankin. Needless to say, it didn't last long. She was successful in riding at one point with one hand while the other was occupied with giving me the bird. =) When we stopped she had enough and joined us on the boat. There is a video that may show up on here if I can gain access to it.

Aunt Ashley and Aubrey

Uncle Scott and Addison

Just this past Saturday Randi and I wanted to check out the Farmer's Market down at Pepper Place. We made plans to meet up with our family friends Steve Thomas and Cal Darnell. We got the girls ready and made our way downtown. The side by side stroller may not have been the best choice of transportation for the day but that's what we did. It sure was crowded and I think I rolled over the back of 5 different people's heels. We think we'll take the carriers where they'll be strapped to us next time. All in all we enjoyed the market and picked up some veggies that we plan on cooking up this week. Steve and Cal had gotten an earlier start than we did so we had chosen to meet at their house after we were done at the market. I didn't realize that we hadn't seen them since the beginning of February so the girls have change QUITE a bit since the last time we got together. Catching up with friends like them is always a treat because you just jump right back where you left off. We sat and talked while we had a "few" mimosas and played with the girls. Later we met up with Uncle Randy and Uncle Henry and all went out to lunch. After lunch we went back to Steve and Cal's for a bit before we headed back to the house. Randi's Mom came over that night to stay with the girls while Randi and I went to dinner at a new restaurant in town. We had a very nice dinner and decided to head home earlier than planned after a long day.

Cal with the ladies

getting ready to go to the market!

So there we have it. This month will provide a lot of stories for me to write so look for something at the beginning of July. City Stages is coming up which is a big music festival in the streets of downtown Birmingham. The girls will also spend their first weekend alone with Mom Mom and Pop Pop at the lake, as Randi and I are headed to Atlanta for the Red Sox weekend series against the Braves. WOO HOO!

Much Love To All...

Blog Daddy T and Three.

3 Months Old (14 - 17 weeks)

2009-05-05T19:15:00.003-05:00

I posted a few new pictures from April. I've had some writers block here lately so I'll just pinpoint the important stuff.

Congratulations to Scott and Ashley who got married on April 18th!

We took our first trip to the beach, Santa Rosa, FL. That's where Scott and Ashley were wed.

Addison and Aubrey got to meet a lot of our family that came down for the wedding.

Randi took a much needed girls weekend while I stayed home with the girls. We had the best weekend ever. We didn't do much but watch the NFL Draft. Just to have them to myself was wonderful.

The girls went for their 4 month old appointment on Monday 5/4. Addison weighs 11 lbs 3 oz and Aubrey weighs 10 lbs 5 oz. Aubrey is one whole inch longer than Addison!

No reports of swine flu although we did make our first trip to the ER while we were at the beach. Aubrey was running a 102 fever. She was so sad and out of it. It was tough seeing her like that because she's usually making faces and smiling constantly.

We traded in my car for an 09 Ford Flex. It's much more accomodating than a sports car.

Maybe one day this week I'll go into more details.

Love to all.

Blog Daddy T and Three

12 weeks NOT 3 months! =)

2009-03-24T10:01:00.013-05:00

As of yesterday March 23rd, our girls were 12 weeks old. Being new to all of this I assumed that they were 3 months old because 12 weeks to me equals just that, 3 months. Not so much. On March 29th they will be 3 months. They are getting big quick! I know that I am going to say that often and more frequently in the next year or two, but man!

The past few weeks have flown by and these two little lives have and will forever change us. Addison and Aubrey bring so much reason to life. Randi has pretty much taken over the nightly "doodies" and I try to help out when needed. She is still breastfeeding both girls and plans to continue for a few more months. This Woman could feed an army! My Dad and I drove out to Randi's Paw Paw's to get a stand up freezer from him because we needed more storage space. We will never run out that's for sure.

ADDISON 11 weeks and 5 days

Randi asked me to update the blog today and I didn't know what to write about. So much has happened since my last post that I didn't think I could jumble it all into one post. I'm going to try so please stick with me if I'm all over the place.

The girls last Doctor appointment was March 2nd and I believe that was the last time that I made a post. Addison weighed in at 9lbs 13oz and Aubrey weighed in at 9lbs 2 oz. Addison has since been back to the Doctor and weighed 9lbs 15oz about a week later. She woke up one morning and was splotchy all over her face and chest. We wondered if maybe Randi had eaten something that Addy could have been allergic to but we couldn't think of anything that Randi had eaten that was different. The Doctor told Randi that it was just a rash and wasn't really anything to be concerned with. It eventually disappeared.

AUBREY 11 weeks and 5 days

After they got their shots we started to take them out a little more. We have been to Aunt Christy's birthday dinner with friends, the mall, Mom Mom and Pop Pop's, Kohls, brunch, the Zoo, their boyfriend Walker's house (they all slept while their parents played Monopoly), Cheesecake Factory, Babies R Us, and to the Lake. The Lake visit was especially nice because my Parents offered to watch the girls through the night. Randi and I slept well but as soon as we woke up it was off to check on our ladies. They had woken Mom Mom and Pop Pop up around 2 am and kept them up for a little while. My Dad had said in the past that it would be easy and he was talkin the talk. He sure was yawning a lot come 9:00! Them giving us that night was something that we needed and appreciated greatly.

I don't know that I've mentioned this yet or not, but we have come to the conclusion that our little Aubrey was a hippy in her previous life. This child can not only sleep on a block of ice, but she just zones out and stares at things. She LOVES light fixtures! Addison does too but Aubrey's expressions are hilarious. Their personalities are really starting to shine and they couldn't be more opposite. Addison is going to be the needy one who demands your attention. Aubrey just wants to be. That's it, just be. She dislikes her Sister touching her and makes it known when she does. We lay them down on this playmat that has lights and sounds and different things hanging down over them and they seem to enjoy it more and more each day. Addison has just started to swat the princess that hangs down over her and she'll giggle. Aubrey just stares. She doesn't need anything really to stare at, just time to veg out and think. =) We thought that she was going to roll over last night so I had the video camera on but not yet. Don't wish this away right? "You're gonna miss this. You're gonna want this back." Isn't that the country song? All of those songs make so much more sense now.

The weekends just seem to blow by! Each work week is wished away so that I can spend time with my girls and then the next thing you know, it's Monday morning again. This weekend I am headed to New Orleans for my Brother's bachelor party. We will be gone Thursday through Sunday but as much as I'm looking forward to the good time that we're going to have, that's time away from them and... I'm gonna miss them. Boo hoo right? I just know though that when I get home Sunday night, they're going to have grown so much in those short three days. To say that Randi and I are proud would be an understatement. Never before did we know just how much our own parents love us until we were able to have kids of our own.

I hope to be a little better than I have been with the posts on here. The precious time that either of us have in our day goes towards selfish fulfillment's that we don't get as much of anymore. For me it would be my Playstation and for Randi, I don't think that she does much else beside take care of our girls.

We are REALLY looking forward to Scott and Ashley's Wedding in just a few short weeks. Randi, the girls and I are all heading down a few days early to celebrate our two year anniversary as well as to take a little vacation away from our normal day to day.
As always we hope that everyone is doing well. Randi and I do ask for every one's prayers for a friend of ours who is fighting for his life after suffering a stroke at the age of 29 years young. Each day has brought new challenges for him and there haven't been many good days.

Much love to all.

Blog Daddy T and Three

Just a quick update!

2009-03-02T12:24:00.005-06:00

Aubrey

Addison

The girls went for their 8 week check up today. It's confusing becuase they're 9 weeks today but who's counting?

Addison weighed in at 9lbs. 13oz. and measured at 22".

Aubrey weighed in at 9lbs. 2oz. and measure at 21 1/2".

Growing girls!

I will post more later today. I just wanted to shoot this out real quick before lunch.

Love to all.

Blog Daddy T and Three...

7 Weeks Old and Growing!

2009-02-17T13:08:00.006-06:00

First let me start off by wishing my Sister a happy 23rd Birthday! I remember when she was as little as our girls are now. I am just as proud to call her my Sister today than I was then. We love you!

CHANGE. Damn straight Obama! The first few weeks were difficult and some days present old and new challenges. We (ESPECIALLY Randi!) have met those challenges head on and learn and grow with our little ladies. Randi and I constantly talk about what a blessing it is to have these two beautiful creatures from God. We stare at them constantly and just laugh at the faces that they make. Aubrey is the Queen when it comes to making faces. She'll give you a look and you can almost tell what she is thinking. Addison puckers her lips all the time. She makes fish faces and I can't help but give in to her vulnerability and kiss her.

Addison

A few weeks ago we started to notice that Aubrey wasn't sleeping well. We didn't know if it was her being a newborn or if it was something that we were doing or something that we might be doing wrong. Addison was sleeping like a champ and considering they are on the same exact schedule we decided to seek some advice. Randi and I heard through Uncle Henry that his Cousin had a baby nurse come in to help their baby get on a better schedule and we heard that the results were amazing. We decided to give this company a call and see what it would cost for them to come in for a few days to help us. Saturday February 7th Nurse Rachel entered the Turner household. Randi and I didn't know what to expect and what we got was an angel sent from above! 4 days went by so fast, and the girls were on a schedule. We now put the girls to bed after their 9 o'clock feeding and most mornings they sleep until 4 when they have their first feeding. After they're done they go back to bed until about 10 minutes to 8 and I try to help Randi change them and get them up before I am off to work. Each morning the girls eat at 4, 8, and then 11. After the 11 they go for a nap until 3 then eat at 3, 5, 7, and 9. Then we do it all over again. The hardest part is trying to keep them up between feedings. The saying around the house is that Aubrey could fall asleep on a block of ice. This child MUST be narcoleptic. She can fall asleep in any position during any situation! Addison has her tendencies as well but not like Aubrey. We owe a HUGE thank you to Nurse Rachel for putting us on this schedule and helping us to get the girls to comply with it.

Aubrey

We have taken the girls out twice during the past few days. Once was to the Apple store to get myself a new phone and the second was to Target. The trip to the Apple store was difficult because it was during the time that we were supposed to be keeping them awake. We tried our best but were only so successful. The trip to Target was perfect. Randi thought that it would be best to go during their nap time this way they could sleep and we could shop and everyone would be happy. The girls did well and they slept last night until their 4 o'clock feeding and then again until about 7:30.

Life is much easier than it was a few weeks ago. I always had people telling me to get my sleep when they were still in the womb and I just shrugged it off. MAN! They weren't kidding.

During the time that the girls are supposed to be awake, we have been giving them some "tummy time". Aubrey's neck is still a little weak but she's working at it! Addison has been holding her head up for about two weeks or so and has recently rolled over. The first time that she did it we were at my Parent's house watching UNC vs. Duke. My Mom, Randi and I all witnessed it but we all wondered if it really counted. We agreed that it did and a few nights later she did it again. Are babies supposed to flip themselves over at 6 weeks old? Am I giving our child way too much credit!? Well I'm her Father and I'm proud of her accomplishment as I know her Mother is too.

Randi and I were able to have a very nice Valentine's dinner. Nonna (Randi's Mom) watched the girls with some help from Uncle Randy and Uncle Henry. Randi and I went and met my Sister and her new boyfriend for a drink and then went to dinner. We had such a nice time and are very grateful to have family so close. Above are some pictures that I took (with my phone that's why they're so blurry) of the girls opening their Valentine's Day gifts.

I may have written a bit too much, but I feel as if there is so much going on! I have been a bit neglectful in writing on the blog and will try to get a little better. We hope that everyone is doing well and as always thank you for all of the thoughts and prayers.

Love to all.

Blog Daddy T and Three

Punxsutawney Phil Saw His Shadow

2009-02-02T09:22:00.007-06:00

(Photo is from Yahoo! News)

Six more weeks of Winter. For the South that means 6 more weeks of "what is up with this weather!?" How the heck does this critter see his shadow? All of those goobs standing around him watching him to see if he sees it. All of a sudden the groundhog speaks up "YUP! THERE IT IS. RIGHT THERE I SEE IT." Huh? Sorry, I guess this morning was the first time that I had actually watched this event live. I'm not usually awake in time to witness such a festive event. ANYWAY!

Aubrey is not sleeping. She is in spurts but not like Randi and I would like for her to. From what we're hearing from others is that she may be colicy. We have a call into our Pediatrician and we're going to see if we can give her some Mylicon. Everything that I'm reading online says that it's really not treatable, but we'll give it a shot. Addison seems to be doing pretty well. She sleeps well, eats well and loves her pacifier. Both of the girls are doing pretty well other than Aubrey's sleep pattern. We watched the Super Bowl as a family last night and it was nice. I actually had Addy down on the floor on a blanket and she seemed to be watching! I know she wasn't but I can hope right?

Randi's 29th Birthday is tomorrow! We are going to go out for a date while my Mom watches the girls. She has been offering for two weeks now to watch them while we went and did something but it hasn't been that easy. I think Randi is really looking forward to it and I know that she deserves it.

We hope that everyone is doing well. I will try to get some new pictures up. The pictures from Blink are done and they are on her website but I don't want to share just yet because I want to post them here. Sorry! =)~

All of our love.
Blog Daddy T and Three

The Day You Were Born We Met A Pantyhose Salesman

2009-01-26T11:11:00.016-06:00

Addison

Aubrey

The Girls had an appointment this morning and are doing well! Addison is up to 7lbs 12oz and Sister (Aubrey) is up to 7lbs 4oz. They both measured 19 3/4 inches which was surprising to me because I thought that Aubrey had Addison beat. Maybe she just stretches further?

The last month has been an eventful one to say the least. Aubrey is very vocal and loves to grunt at any given moment. I told Randi that I am just going to start grunting all of the time to see people's reactions. She's too funny. Addison is a Turner through and through. She loves to eat but what really makes her a Turner is she LOVES to sleep. When we try to wake her it's a little stretch and then back to sleep. I wonder if she'll be grumpy when she wakes up like her Daddy is? They are down to one bottle at 9:00 pm and that'll disappear tomorrow. Randi is doing great with breastfeeding and she's just an amazing Mother.

The Doctor suggested that they receive their shots at two months old which is a month away. We were told by one Doctor that it would be at 6 weeks but the one today suggested 8 weeks. Whatever is best for them. We are getting a little stir crazy with being home all of the time, but friends have been stopping by for visits which has been nice. Soon enough we won't be able to get them to sit still so we should take advantage while we can.

Randi took the girls to get some pictures done a few weeks ago. We should be getting that CD soon so we will share with everyone when we get it. We hope that everyone is doing well and as always thank you for the thoughts and the prayers.

Love to all.
Blog Daddy T and Three

Sleepless Nights and Staring Contests

2009-01-15T14:39:00.000-06:00

Never did I think that I could love someone as much as I love my Wife. These girls have captured our hearts and it's an amazing feeling to be a parent. Sure it's not easy, but when I'm feeding one of them or rocking them both back to sleep, I don't want to be anywhere else. I may moan and groan because I'm being woken up, but once I'm with them I seem to forget where I was a second ago.

Mom and the girls are doing awesome. They had a Pediatrician appointment Monday and Addison is up to 6lbs 14oz and Aubrey is up to 6lbs 2oz. The last few days I think Aubrey has grown a lot more, I think she may be tired of being the "little sister". She has been eating a lot better and has seemed to have filled out a little more. Now Addison on the other hand is a little oinker. She LOVES to eat. She has yet to meet a bottle she doesn't like.

Our lives have certainly changed, our schedules are different and our energy is a little less, but like I said, being a parent is amazing. I just wanted to post a little something to make myself feel better for having neglected the blog for the past week or two. We hope that everyone is doing well and as always we thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers.

All of our love.

Blog Daddy T and Three (Four... Sorry Bossie!)

Mom times TWO

2009-01-08T19:30:00.002-06:00

Everyone, I mean everyone tells you what to expect as a new mom, but no one can really prepare you for what it's really like. Your life changes in ways words can never truly express.

The girls, mom and dad are all home and have officially been home a week tomorrow. It's starting to come together. Feedings are often, but take less time than they originally did. Three o'clock feedings are becoming more natural and less of a sleep walking phase. I am amazed that I set the clock for each feeding, but my "mom clock" wakes me up before it ever has a chance to go off. I am still working on the eyes in the back of my head, but they are growing!

I look at my girls and think "Wow, we made these!" How can you not believe in miracles and believe in a higher power? I am so thankful to having such an amazing husband who has taken to being a dad like second nature. They say a woman becomes a mom the days she finds out she is pregnant, but a man becomes a dad the day his child is born, well Ricky has shown what it truly means to become a father!

I am learning to live with less sleep, more food, and amazement at my girls! I do often wake up in the middle of the night, just to listen to them. I also have had to kick my teddy bear out of the bed, as I was attempting to feed it in the middle of the night.

We are so blessed to have our little angles, and as a new mom I just wanted to post my thoughts. Thank you all for love, prayers, and thoughts for our girls. We really appreciate everyones' help.

Twin Mama

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2008-12-31T22:17:00.012-06:00

Well I couldn't go any longer without making a post. I just got done telling Randi that I would post something tomorrow but, oh well.

Randi is doing incredible. I am so proud of what she did Monday and now she is reoovering so well. The girls are amazing too. We have come to terms about them being in NICU and really appreciate everything that the nurses and doctors have done for our ladies. Addison has a touch of bilirubin (Jaundice) so she has looked like a glow worm the past few times we have been up to see them. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, they stick this green lighted pad behind her to help with this. It looks like one of those heat pads you would stick to your back, but lit up green. Aubrey is amazing. She has lost a few ounces but other than that she is doing well. When Randi and I went up to visit them at 8:00 pm they were both off of their IV's and we got to feed them both bottles. They are getting a new kind of formula now as well so things are looking great!

The moment of the day had to have been Randi changing Addison's diaper. She was wiping her little hiney and she apparently felt comfortable enough to poop. Well her poop isn't solid so it got Randi pretty good. The best part is. I HAVE IT ON VIDEO! Man, this Father thing is great! I'm sure that I'll get my turn with getting something on me. Tick tick tick.

Well Randi and I are relaxing comfortably in our suite waiting for the 11:30 visitation. We have decided to ring in the new year in the best place possible in the rocking chairs next to our baby girls' crib.

Thank you to everyone again for all of your prayers, warm wishes, gifts, and flowers. St. Vincent's is amazing too and we plan to thank their staff in one way or another.

Have I told you how much we love being parents? This is wonderful. Looking into a childs eyes is amazing, but when it's your own, it's a totally different world.

ALL of OUR love...

Ricky, Randi, Addison and Aubrey

PS. I am so sorry for the spelling errors in my last post. I wasn't all there. Thanks to Mr. Ambien, we had a wonderful nights sleep last night.

Happy New Year!!!

Addison and Aubrey

2008-12-30T10:28:00.003-06:00

We had a wonderful day with our two girls. Randi and I decided to send them to the nursery last night so that we could get some much needed rest. At about 2:00 in the morning our nurse came in and told us that the girls blood sugars were low and they were going to have to go to the NICU. This was not welcome news at 2:00 in the morning. I was a little mad, sad, scared, you name it we felt it. The nurse brough Aubrey in and we said our goodbye for the night. I walked with the nurse and Bree and saw were the girls would be kept. I walked back to the room and Addison was brought in. I had the opportunity to walk with them to the NICU but I decided to stay with Randi and try to get some rest.

We were able to go to the NICU this morning and see them for a little while. Randi was in a wheelchair so it was a little difficult for her to get too close. Both girls' blood sugars are doing much better. Aubtey is doing really well but Addison's white blood cells count is elevated which could mean that her little body is fighting off some kind of an infection. Dr. Christine came in this morning and told us that this could be just a side effect from the delivery and all of the craziness that came with the whole event.

Unfortunately the girls are going to be on a very strict visiting schedule. Randi and I have the best visting hosur and they are still limited. Grandparents and immediate family are the only others that they are allowing in the NICU. Even then it's three people max at all times. I think that makes it the most difficult. We really want to hold our little ladies and kiss their faces until our lips tire. Not having them in our room and hearing their little cries and coos is hard. Hopefully though they will be the little champs that they are and surprise us with an early departure. If not, we will know that they are in the best hands possible.

Please keep our babies in your prayers. We appreciate all the messages that we have received and we will try our best to keep you informed of our progress.

All of our love.

Blog Daddy T and his ladies.

The Girls Have Arrived

2008-12-29T17:07:00.004-06:00

Here are a few pictures for now. I will write a blog later on. Addison, Aubrey, and Momma are all doing well. Addison came out at 9:01 weighing 5 lbs 13 oz measuring 18.5 inches. Her little Sister came out at 9:02 weighing 5 lbs 1 oz measuring 18 inches. Randi's Uterus had a difficult time hardening. This caused Randi to stay "open" a little longer than expected. Everything is good now though. So here are the pictures and like I said, I will write more later... TOO TIRED... Thank you again for all of the prayers and phone calls. Much love to all...

Ricky, Randi, Addison and Aubrey

"It's beginning to look a lot like delivery day everywhere we look..."

2008-12-23T16:12:00.001-06:00

So Randi scared the poop out of this woman and it was some of the funniest stuff! We were getting off of the elevator at the hospital and this woman wasn't paying any attention while she was reading something on the wall. She heard the "ding" of the elevator and she almost walked right into Randi. She noticed her at the last second and gasped and was like "OH MY GOSH! I AM SO SORRY I WASN'T EVEN PAYING ATTENTION!" Her reaction was just priceless. It's times like that you wish the video camera was running so you could watch it over and over. She had to have pooped herself. SO...

Randi went back while I occupied myself with another of the Alex Cross series. The waiting area was extremely loud and busy today. There was a little girl about 7 or 8 sitting across from me with her Grandmother. Her Mom and Dad came out with a bag that the ultrasound tech gives you when you're so many weeks. The little girl asked her Mom if it was a barf bag and I about fell out of my chair. Her Mom must be visiting the porcelain Gods quite a bit. I am so glad that Randi didn't have many of those episodes. Randi finally came from behind the door and we went back to the other waiting room until we were called by the ultrasound tech. We got the young twin girl again and she was sweet as always. She was to only measure the girls fluids today, but she tried one last time to get a 4D of Aubrey. No such luck. We'll just have to wait until Monday to see what she looks like. Shucks...

We saw Dr. Davis and she came in and said her hello and asked how we were. Randi told her that we were doing well and that we were delivering on Monday so we were excited. Randi then told her that she was actually the second Doctor that was going to be in on the Cesarean and Dr. Davis wasn't aware that we were one of her three for that day. THREE! THREE C-Sections scheduled! Babies babies babies... Randi had a few examinations and one found that she is a finger tip dilated. I asked the Dr. to ease Randi's mind about the c-section as she is still a little freaked out by it. She explained that it isn't a rush job and it's not an emergency and that they do it all the time. She said a few more things and it seemed to help maybe for a few minutes.

We went down to Labor and Delivery and had our NST. Aubrey was acting up a little bit but both girls did well. We were then on our way to battle 280.

On a sad note, Randi's Poppy passed away today in Ft. Worth. He was 96 years old and had been battling Alzeihmers for quite some time. I had the pleasure of meeting him a few years ago. Hopefully he is with his Son (Randi's Dad Dave) now and they are up there smiling down upon us. Another Guardian Angel to watch over us and our little ladies come Monday.

We hope that everyone has a wonderful holiday! Merry Christmas!

Much Love,
Blog Daddy T

10 Days To Go

2008-12-19T07:31:00.001-06:00

Last night before we hit the bed, Randi said to me "Can you believe after tomorrow we'll be in single digits until the girls get here?" No. I can not. Ten days from today, Randi and I will be staring into Addison and Aubrey's eyes. It seems like a dream, none of it seems real. I was thinking yesterday while we were driving to the hospital about times in the past where I was so excited that I never thought that an event would arrive. Like when I was little, Christmas seemed to take forever to come around, and then it was there and gone. High school graduation, our Wedding day, signing papers to buy our home, a new car, so on and so on. This one is huge. 10 days seem like an eternity but before we know it, they will be here. It reminds me of the country song, "Let them be little". I hope to take in every single moment and I know Randi feels the same way.

We had an NST yesterday and everything looked good. We were put in my not so favorite room, the recovery room and we were fortunate enough to have a woman who was in labor next to us. Not only was she in labor but they couldn't get her IV started. FOUR TIMES they tried to stick this woman. We heard every ooch and ouch, then we had the pleasure of hearing her vomit NUMEROUS times. At first I didn't know what the splashing sound was and asked Randi if her water had broke? Did you know that only like 10% of women actually have their water break? If this was the woman's water breaking, Randi and I would have needed Noah to give us a lift. She said that she hadn't eaten since 10 o'clock, but she sure had enough in her stomach to fill a wastebasket. OK, enough right? Dr. Christine came down to talk to Randi and I one last time. She is on vacation all next week so we won't see her again until D-DAY (delivery day). Randi had a few simple questions then we were on our way.

Today is Christy's COLLEGE GRADUATION! I can not believe my little Sister is graduating from Auburn today. We are all so proud of her and I can't wait to see her. Congratulations Christy!

We have an appointment Monday afternoon with Dr. Davis. We will then have another NST on Friday and then get ready for Monday morning. Whew... What an adventure! I think that I may keep this blog going even after the girls arrive. It's nice to connect with family and friends who all live too far away.

I will try to post again after Monday's appointment, but if for some reason I don't, we hope that everyone has a wonderful Christmas!

All our love.

Blog Daddy T.

One goal reached. Many, many more to go!

2008-12-15T18:04:00.001-06:00

34 Weeks

We had an appointment this afternoon at 1:45. The waiting room was quite busy! Seems as if people are snuggling up a bit too close to keep warm this Winter! It's funny though because I hear so many people complaining about how cold it is and they're all bundled up and it's been averaging 50's! I read my book until Randi's little face came from behind the door. We were headed straight back to an examining room. I took my seat in the corner and we chit chatted for a bit. Dr. Christine came in and asked how everyone was doing and we didn't have many complaints except for lack of sleep, I know get used to it, and back pain. She prescribed Randi some Ambien to take occasionally to help her rest. She measured Randi's belly and did an exam to see if she was dilated and she wasn't. We were then sent into have an ultrasound to measure the fluids around the babies. While we were waiting we heard the technician that we didn't want call someone else in, so we got excited to have someone else. Unfortunately, this tech was a fill in and she was a bit slower than the others. We asked her if she were able to, to try to get a picture of Baby B. She tried a few different angles and came to the conclusion that she was facing Randi's back and as always, was going to be difficult with us. No luck. I then told her that we wouldn't be disappointed if she could tell us how much they weighed this week. No such luck there either.

We were dismissed from the ultrasound room and went over to Dr. Christine's charting area and took a seat. While we were over there I spotted a scale. I had weighed myself at home about a week ago and saw that I had lost about 10 lbs during our pregnancy. This scale was a little more honest. I have actually GAINED those 10 lbs as Randi and I initially expected. Oh well, I figure I'll shed it in about a year while chasing two one year old baby girls all over the place. Dr. Christine took a look at the ultrasounds and everything seemed up to par. She told us to make an appointment for Monday to see one of her partners because she would be on vacation. So this was the last time that we would see Dr. Christine in her office before we saw her on the 29th. We made an appointment to see Dr. Davis next Monday. She is the Doctor that we saw who diagnosed Randi's Cholestasis.

We headed down to do the NST. We were put in a triage room and Randi and the girls were quickly hooked up to the monitors by Nurse Amy whom we have had before. She remembered that one of our girls wasn't very cooperative. =) Already making a name for herself! Randi was having a few contractions here and there but Dr. Christine said that they were nothing to worry about since she wasn't dilated any. Three hours later we were on our way to fight 280 traffic! Woo Hoo!

We have an appointment for another NST on Thursday. Dr. Christine said that she would peek in on us to see if we had any questions or to see if we would need anything as she will be on vacation next week. I'll let you know how we do.

Less than two weeks and we will be bringing these little girls into this world. Man, I can't believe it's right around the corner. Randi is a little scared of being cut open but other than that we are looking forward to the 29th. Christmas has kind of taken a back seat this year. We didn't really do a lot of decorating and we didn't put up a tree. This is the first time that we haven't had a tree in the house since we've lived together. It's all good though because we are DONE with the nursery! Donna came over last week and we finished hanging the curtains. Randi and I painted and hung their names as well as bought a new mirror to go in there. I am going to try to post pictures over to the right.

Last night we went to a Hallmark store to pick up some cards for a few events that are coming up. The Woman behind the counter asked us when our baby was due and Randi responded with "there's actually two in there" and we told her how we're delivering early because there are twins. She told us that God knows who to give twins to. I think that is the nicest, sweetest thing that anyone has told us during our pregnancy. As always THANK YOU to everyone for your thoughts and prayers. They are apparently being answered because Randi and our little ladies are doing wonderful. 34 weeks is a great length for a multiple pregnancy these days. We are blessed and thankful.

Much Love To All.

Blog Daddy T.

"I just ate a blueberry and I'm STUFFED!"

2008-12-08T18:40:00.000-06:00

Our scheduled appointment was today at 11:15. Randi and I made it there around 11:00 and I took my position in a chair with Dr. Alex Cross. Randi appeared and we went back to the sonogram waiting area. Randi was super hyper this morning, I don't know if she was excited, or nervous, or just in one of her "moods". Who knows, pregnancy is CRAZY! =) I lent an ear until we were called back.

The girls are growing and growing and growing. Baby A weighed in at 4 lbs. 12 oz. and Baby B weighed in at 4 lbs 8 oz. The technician that we had today was the one that needed help working the machine earlier in our pregnancy. She was good today. She tried her hardest to get Baby B (Aubrey) on the 4D, but of course, she wasn't havin it. Aubrey even went as far as putting her fist in front of her face. Oooo that girl is gonna be somethin else!

Dr. Christine came in and gave Randi an exam and said that she is not dilated. She still wanted us to go down to Labor and Delivery and have the NST today. She said that she is going to set us up to come in on December 29th and Randi would deliver then! Tax break dance... Tax break dance... Woot woot!

We went down to Labor and Delivery and had a little wait before we went into a room. We were waiting with another expectant Mom and Randi and her talked a little. This was to be her second and she had diabetes so she was going to be monitored. She is pregnant with a boy and has a 3 year old girl at home. Funny enough she will deliver on the 29th as well but will be 39 weeks pregnant.

The NST went well with the exception of Randi having some contractions. Dr. Christine came in and gave Randi a prescription and told her that she needed to take it easy. We have another NST scheduled for Thursday at 2:00, then another appointment for Monday afternoon.

21 more days until we get to hold our little ladies. Life will never be the same and I can't wait!

Randi is feeling pregnant these days. Her back hurts her daily and she is pretty uncomfortable during the night. She is a trooper though and is taking it all in stride. I appreciate her so much. Our girls are doing amazing and it's all because of the tender loving care that Randi has given them over the past few months.

Again, thank you to everyone for your thoughts and prayers. We all really appreciate them and they seem to be working wonders!

Much Love.

Blog Daddy T.

PS. The two pictures above are both of Baby A. There aren't any 4D of Baby B.

Let's play ketchup. Catch Up...

2008-12-04T19:57:00.003-06:00

"Just another manic Monday. Oh o oh. Wish it were a Sunday. Oh o oh. Cause that's my fun day." Ah, but we had an appointment at 11:15 to see Dr. Christine. Everything sounds like Dr. Seuss to me any more. 11:15... Christine... Get it? I read to the girls "Oh Baby, The Places You'll Go a Book To Be Read In Utero" and I find myself rhyming at the oddest moments and it will just make me laugh. Whom ever I am speaking with at that moment probably wonders "what the heck is wrong with this guy?" But if they haven't already asked them self that question, then what the heck is wrong with them!?

I left work to pick Randi up from home and we were on our way. We rode the elevator with two women one of which, Randi later found out, is pregnant with twin girls. I waited with my own book in tow (Thank you Uncle Randy for the new James Patterson, Alex Cross novel.) while Randi went back to have her blood drawn. When she was done she came and got me and we headed to the waiting room to be called to have a sonogram. We didn't get our favorite technician this time. In fact, Randi asked her if she could tell us how much the Girls weighed and she told her "Not this time". She didn't say it rude, but it came across that way, maybe because the other tech is so outgoing. Anyway... They are getting BIG. I have probably been saying that for weeks now, but they're not getting any smaller. I wonder if one or both of them will be claustrophobic? I know I sure as heck would be if I were couped up in Randi's tiny belly for nine, er eight months! So the fluid measurements turned out fine. After the sonogram we were off to see the Doctor. She shuffled through some paperwork and measured Randi's belly before sending us down to have an NST (Non Stress Test). She said that she would call with the Bile Salts (Cholestasis) results Wednesday. All good thus far.

Once down in Labor and Delivery, we were put into the Triage room. This is the "tweener room". It's not the crappy recovery room that I don't like, it's closer to the roomy birthing suite but not quite. It has a jack and jill bathroom! The nurse strapped up Randi and my little ladies and the monitoring began. AS ALWAYS, Baby A registered in no time and Baby B wouldn't cooperate. We were in there for about an hour and a half or so and we were dismissed. We scheduled an appointment for Thursday at noon.

The phone call came today from Dr. Christine's nurse. Randi's Bile Salt levels have returned to ZERO! AWESOME NEWS! Our NST today was canceled. I am now wondering if we'll do those again? Randi had a little itching fit Tuesday night but nothing too crazy. The nurse told her to stay on the meds that were prescribed and it should help. So... Things are looking great! Momma is doing well and averaging three pants sizes a day. Ok maybe not three, only because her pants are elastic! =)

We are so excited to meet our girls. Our house has come together quite nicely over the past few weeks thanks to Nonna Donna, Mom Mom and Pop Pop. Henry reorganized a thing or two here and there as well. Nesting needs to happen like twice a year. We have gotten so much done, it's kinda nice!

Our next appointment is scheduled for Monday December 8th at 11:15 with Dr. Christine. Sorry had to end with a rhyme. Until then.

Much Love

Papa Seuss

Slacker... But I'm busy I promise!

2008-12-04T08:20:00.001-06:00

As I'm sure you can imagine, life has gotten a bit hectic as of late. I have a draft waiting for me to finish from last weeks appointment on Friday as well as this past Monday's. We have another NST (non stress test) today at noon and I'm thinking about taking my laptop with me to catch up. Please know that Momma and Baby Girls are well. Very well in fact. Randi's bile salt levels have not increased that we are aware of. Therefore mark your calendars for December 29th as that's the day that Dr. Christine said that she would deliver. All of your thoughts and prayers seem to be working so please keep them coming.

All of our love.

Blog Daddy T

Apparently I'm slacking

2008-11-30T15:44:00.000-06:00

But what's new, right?

Thanksgiving... That was a long day. Randi and I went over to my Parent's house to have Thanksgiving Day breakfast. Luckily Randi is pregnant and has to use the restroom quite a bit. As we were all doing our thing all of a sudden we hear Randi screaming "FIRE! FIRE!". I ran to see what the heck she was screaming about and sure enough, the powder room was on fire. A lit candle had set a fake flower arrangement ablaze. We were all very thankful that Randi had to use it when she did or there may not have been much of a house left. There wasn't too much damage done, luckily. If you're wondering what to get my Parents for Christmas, Fire Extinguishers should top their lists this year.

After we ate breakfast and hung out for a little while we went over to Randi's Mom's to eat with Paw Paw, Uncle Randy, Uncle Henry, and Donna. We waited, and we waited. Randi made sure to let everyone know that she was waiting to eat. Finally at 8:30, yes... 8:30! We ate.

Needless to say we weren't busting down any doors on Black Friday. We have an appointment for the Girls to have a stress test. I asked Randi if my Sister Christy could come along as she was home from Auburn. Christy had yet to feel either of the girls kick, and I wanted her to be a part. We got to the hospital and they put us back in the recovery room. We have been there twice now and it's not my favorite. The other rooms are a little more private and this one has a curtain that splits two beds. While Randi and the girls were being monitored Christy got to see the Girls move and how it makes Randi's belly move. We were only there for about an hour before we were let go. The Girls passed with flying colors.

After the hospital we went to return something to Baby's R Us. I knew it wouldn't be a quick visit with Aunt Christy there! We walked around and looked some stuff until it was time for lunch. We met up with Nonna Donna at Chili's and filled our faces. Run run run... Some how we ended up at Lowe's looking for a "decrotive hook" to hang some picture frames in the nursery with. We ended up leaving with no hook, but Randi's push gift of a washer and dryer! She was happy and that's all that mattered.

We went to Phillip and Jens to watch the Iron Bowl that Saturday and what a game it was not! Alabama wiped their a.... with us. It was an embarassing day to be a Tiger, but there's always next year right? We did get to spend the day with Baby Cate as well as Carter, Chris and Allison Carpenters one year old. It was nice, mainly because there weren't any Bammers there! =)

We have another appointment on Monday at 11:15. Until then...

Much Love

Blog Daddy T.

Week 31 and counting...

2008-11-24T21:21:00.006-06:00

Over the weekend Randi began to itch again. She had stopped taking her medication after our appointment on Thursday. Sunday the itching returned bad enough for Randi to start herself back on the meds. We didn't sleep too well that night and it got so bad Randi went out to the living room to watch television and try to get her mind off of it.

Our appointment was at 2:15 today. It was rainy and just blah outside. I could have spent the day napping off and on. We arrived at the Doctors office and Randi went back to do her duties and I found a seat with a Southern Living magazine or something of the like. Not very long after I sat down, Randi appeared from behind the door. We went and took our seats in the other waiting room and waited to be called back by the Ultrasound technician. When we were called I think that we were both excited because this woman does a great job. She takes her time and she shows us the 4D pictures if they are possible. Randi didn't drink any caffeine before our appointment today and you could tell. Our girls were calm, calmer than they have ever been. The Technician was having a hard time with a lot of the measurements and it doesn't help that they are getting so big now. It's good that they're getting big but it makes it harder to get good pictures. I'm ok with that because soon enough we'll be taking REAL pictures of them! Both babies are growing and are healthy. Baby A is weighing in at 3 lbs 12 oz and B is weighing in at 3 lbs 7 oz. That's over 7 lbs of baby! We were able to get two 4D shots of Baby A and Baby B was her usual self and was not cooperating.

After we took a few snaps of the girls it was in to see Dr. Christine. Before she came in Randi went back to be weighed and she has gained 2 whole pounds since our last appointment. This was good news because some how Randi has managed some weeks to not gain any. The Doctor came in and measured Randi's belly. She told us that the girls looked good and that her blood work came back. The Cholestasis levels have remained at the level 18 that showed on the initial test. I then asked since that was the case would we still deliver at 34 weeks and was there a certain day that she liked to deliver? The next words that came out of her mouth was like music to our ears. She said "If the levels continue to stay at 18 I'd like to take the girls at 36 weeks." WOO HOO!!! She said that this would most likely keep them out of the NICU. This made Randi and I both very happy. We would do what we needed to do if they came at 34 weeks but 36 would be awesome! So having that said 36 weeks means that we would deliver on December 29th. TAX BREAK!

We then went down to Labor and Delivery and had the non stress test. We were put in a recovery room which is shared by another patient. We had been so spoiled up to this point with having our own little private room. The woman next to us sounded as if she was having a pretty rough pregnancy as we could hear just about everything that was going on through the sheer divider curtain.

Our next appointment is scheduled for Friday but it's just a non stress test. We will then go back Monday at 11:15 to see Dr. Christine. Randi and the girls are really looking forward to eating this Thursday. She's been a bit disappointed because she heard that there wasn't going to be any sweet potatoes or macaroni and cheese but I think she talked someone into making them. Spoiled brats already... Three years ago on Thanksgiving I asked Randi to be my Wife. Who would have thought that we would be pregnant with not one, but two little girls three years later. Life is good.

Randi wanted to make sure that I thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers that they have given us. We really do appreciate it. I am very thankful that our appointment this week went 10 times better than the one last week. I should get used to this emmotional roller coaster though! I am soon going to be out numbered 4 to 1 with girls in the house. I counted the dog for effect...

Much Love and Happy Holidays!

Blog Daddy T.

PS. If you're able to make out Baby A's little face in the 4D above, that "hole" in her head isn't really a HOLE IN HER HEAD! It's amniotic fluid that is surrounding her and makes it difficult to get a good clean shot.

Testing... Testing...

2008-11-20T12:30:00.004-06:00

The alarm clock went off at 6:15 this morning. We had an appointment at 8:00. Randi had a burning sensation going on in her belly. After a bit of traffic we finally got to the hospital. I pulled up to get my ticket to the garage and pulled through. As soon as we get in this lady in her bug wanted to wait for a truck to pull out of a spot. Randi wasn't having it. I told her that she could go ahead and get out and go up while I parked. She didn't hesitate. Her comfort level has completely changed this week. I finally found a spot and went in. Took my seat in the waiting room and found a Power Boat magazine that I've read three times already. Dr. Christine's nurse came through the door and called me back. She walked me right to the examining room that Randi was in. Randi was up on the table and had tears in her eyes from the discomfort. Dr. Christine eventually came in and asked Randi how she was feeling. Randi explained her discomfort and Dr. Christine couldn't pin point what may have been causing it. She sent Randi back to have some blood drawn and then we were headed up to have our non stress test.

Randi and I stopped at Starbucks on our way to Labor and Delivery. She wanted to get a little something in her stomach as she was "fasting" for the blood work. Once upstairs we finally found our room and got settled in. Randi put on the gown and got comfortable. The nurse came in and strapped the monitors to Randi's belly. Our girls were pretty active. Their heartbeats were registering well and Randi seemed to be registering a few contractions. Randi's discomfort continued throughout the testing. Dr. Christine surprised us by coming through the door of our room. Right then, I think we both got worried. Dr. Christine examined Randi and concluded that she was not dialated and her cervix was still closed. She had the nurse give Randi a shot that would ease the contractions if in fact that's what she was having. As I sat over in the chair, I felt helpless. The nurse warned Randi that the shot would make her jittery and it sure did! Randi got up and went to the restroom right after receiving it and when she returned she was already shivering. We stayed for about another hour and a half while all of my girls were monitored. Randi did eventually roll over onto her side and the discomfort seemed to ease a bit. The nurse came back in and told us that we were clear to go. I was beginning to think that we were going to be spending the night. We were told to pick up some Prilosec because the "contractions" may have just been acid reflux.

So we're home. Randi is in the bed and her Mom is stopping by the store to get her some Prilosec. My Mom is on her way after lunch to help us out as well.

Until Monday. We have an Ultrasound scheduled to check the growth of the girls. We're hoping for well over 3 lbs each. We'll see! Until then...

Blog Daddy T.

The Results Are In.

2008-11-17T21:29:00.000-06:00

Our Doctor appointment started just like all of the rest. Randi went back to give her sample and I sat reading through emails on my phone. While I was waiting a family came in and it looked as if it was a Woman with about a two year old Daughter and the Woman's Sister. The little girl got spun around some how and was hugging her Aunt's leg until she realized that it wasn't her Mom. She screamed at the top of her lungs "WHERE'S MY MOMMY"? All she had to do was rotate a good 180 degrees and she'd be hugging her Mothers leg. It made me laugh just thinking that we're going to witness episodes such as this to the power of TWO! I remember when Christy was that little and she would throw a fit. MAN... What lungs! Turns out, I hope our little one's lungs are capable of such frequencies.

Randi eventually appeared from behind the door and we went back to the other waiting room. The magazine selection is really crappy lately. I actually brought my own for the Thursday appointment. Jim Kellogg has been bringing me his Golf Magazines when he's done with them and they seem to be coming in handy. “RANDI TURNER”

In the examining room we're looking around at the art work done by Dr. Christine's daughter to baby announcements and other such objects in the room. Dr. Christine's knock arrived at the door. The tests results from Thursday have arrived and they are positive for the RARE Cholestasis of Pregnancy. She explained that Randi is at a level 18 on a range of 0-30, 30 being the most extreme case. If this level does not deplete to 0 in four weeks, we will deliver our girls at 34 weeks. Upon receiving this news, Randi turned pale as a ghost and became very inquisitive. Dr. Christine explained this "condition" to us and basically it has to do with Randi's gallbladder and the storage of bile. The itchiness came from her gallbladder not being able to store the bile properly and therefore something is released into her blood stream causing the itching. Here is the best website that I have found on the subject: http://www.health.uab.edu/15408/. Funny enough it's from the other Birmingham hospital UAB. Randi received two steroid shots in her hip to help with the babies' lung and brain development and was told that she would need another round of these tomorrow. The Doctor wanted to check the fluids around the girls so we went in for a quick ultrasound. Both girls were inverted and staring right at us! Their faces are so developed you can almost make out how gorgeous they already are. The Technician told us that the fluids looked good so we went back out to the waiting room to see Dr. Christine yet again. After a very short wait we were called back. We were scheduled to have a "stress test" done on the girls next week but because of the Cholestasis, Dr. Christine sent us down to labor and delivery to have the test done today.

Randi and I got down there and waited for a delivery room to be cleaned. The nurses were all very nice and very accommodating. Randi filled out some paperwork while we waited. The room eventually opened up and Randi got the monitors strapped to her tummy where the girls were positioned and one above them to monitor for contractions. Randi and I watched the monitor closely. Green lines for one baby and orange for the other. Underneath were little peaks and plateaus which were Randi's "contractions". The girls were monitored for a little over 30 minutes before the nurse came back in to remove the monitors. Apparently Dr. Christine can view the results from her office because we were told that she said that the "contractions" weren't contractions but were most likely Randi being a little nervous as well as hungry. The babies' heart rates stayed between 135 and 155 during that half hour. We were able to leave from here. TIME FOR LUNCH!

We go back Thursday morning for the girls all to be monitored again. In the meantime we are going to pack our bags just in case one of our monitoring sessions turns out to be a little more than a session.

The baby shower that the girls at work threw us was nice. They got us our playpens, our swings, and some other things. Randi got to eat cake so that in itself means that the party was a success.

The way that Dr. Christine spoke to us made us feel pretty calm about the whole situation. Randi and I are both a little scared but we are confident. The girls are still active as anything and kicking the shit out of Randi daily. Sorry, that's how she explains it sometimes! =) So keep all of my ladies in your thoughts and prayers and I'll keep you all updated as best as I can.

Love to all.

Blog Daddy T.

Unexpected Appointment

2008-11-13T20:44:00.001-06:00

Well it was bound to happen at some point. Randi has been itching like crazy from head to toe. Randi decided that it was a good idea to make an appointment to see the Doctor. Dr. Christine was unavailable but Randi was able to make an appointment with another Doctor within the practice. On the way Randi was showing me her leg where it was itching and it looked a little splotchy. We didn't wait long before we were back in an examining room. The Doctor came in and examined Randi and prescribed her some steroids as well as a stronger benadryl like medicine to help with the itching. She wanted to get some blood work done to run a few tests to get some more insight into what was going on. She mentioned a couple of different things that it could be and then mentioned one RARE disease called Cholestasis of Pregnancy that happens in 1 to 2 women out of 1000. She told us that the blood work would most likely not be back until Monday. We already have our 30 week check up appointment for Monday so we will find out then.

We have another baby shower tomorrow at my work that the girls are throwing for Randi. We're looking forward to it!

Blog Daddy T

A LITTLE ADDITION!

The book shower was awesome! Addison and Aubrey received so many books and wonderful comments written to them. Randi and I had a lot of fun reading them to each other the other night. The kids that come to our tailgate even gave their favorite books and wrote a little note on the inside and they were really special. All of them were special and much appreciated. Auburn actually won that day too so that topped off the perfect day. Thanks to everyone who threw the shower as well as everyone who attended.

Monday November 3rd ~ 28 Weeks

2008-11-03T20:46:00.009-06:00

As I write this I am thinking about who our next President will be? Our girls will be four years old by the next election. I wonder what our economy will be like then? I wonder if we'll be at war? I wonder if we are at war who we will be at war with? Lots of questions. But for now I get to write about three very important ladies in my life.

Randi and I went to the doctor today. Randi is all belly now if you haven't seen her. We will get a new picture up soon. She is having difficulty sleeping through the night which in turn makes for an adventurous evening for both of us. When we bought our new bed I thought that it was one of those that you could place a glass of wine on one side and jump on the other without spilling any wine. Not so much. I have come to find out that it's more like a trampoline, when one side moves the wave of inertia eventually ends up bouncing me around.

Our appointment started with Randi going to the back to give her sample and me waiting in the first waiting room. Randi appeared from behind the door about 15 minutes later and we went back to the second waiting room. We didn't wait very long before we were called back by the ultrasound tech. Randi climbed up on the table and the goop went on her belly. Our girls don't fit on the same screen anymore! They're too big which is awesome! Baby A weighed in at 2 lbs. 9 oz. and baby B tipped the scales at 2 lbs. 15oz. HEALTHY WEIGHTS! Both of their heartbeats have started to slow a little which comes with their size. Baby A's heart rate was 141 bpm and Baby B's heart rate was 149 bpm, which is what is pictured.

We didn't get a lot of pictures today. Actually the only ones that were printed were of Baby A. Both Babies are SQUISHED in there. We left the ultrasound room and went back to the waiting room until we were called by Dr. Christine's nurse. While we were waiting one of the other patients that was waiting with us noticed that there was a fire up the street. This waiting room is pretty neat because it has windows all around which over look Birmingham as well as the "Lake View District". We looked up the street and you could see smoke billowing from a building and firetrucks at it's base. Dr. Christine's nurse turned the corner and asked "what's going on?" I responded with "there's a fire up the street." she asked "where?" and I answered with "where the smoke is". I didn't mean for it to come out the way that it did but everyone got a laugh out of it. I think the nurse felt pretty stupid. ANYWAY...

We were called back to the examining room shortly after the smoke comment. Dr. Christine came in and measured Randi's belly and took some questions. Randi asked if the baby's weight difference was anything to be concerned with and she said no. They were doing great!

Everything seems to be going really well. Like I said earlier Randi is all belly and not sleeping too well at night. That's our only troubles and if that's the case then it's not so bad.

We had a baby shower Friday October 24th and got so many things that we need. Thank you to everyone that came and to those of you that weren't able to come but still sent gifts. We really appreciate it. This Saturday we have our "Book Shower" at tailgate that Uncle Randy and Uncle Henry are throwing for us. We have asked everyone to bring their favorite book from their childhood and write a little message to Addison and Aubrey on the inside cover. Work is throwing us a shower as well on the 14th of November. Good times and lots of pink! Some people have asked what we still need at this point and I direct them straight to our registry at BabiesRUs.com. We have a link to it on the page here over to the right. I never thought that one needed this much "stuff" to bring a baby home, let alone TWO!

Our next appointment is scheduled for the morning of Wednesday November 19th. This will most likely be the last of the twice a month visits as we'll start going once a week. Week 28 is the first week of the third and final trimester. Just a few short weeks and we'll get to hold our baby girls!

I hope everyone gets out to vote tomorrow!

Teeny Tiny Arms and Legs

2008-10-20T20:52:00.006-05:00

Have you tried the new mac and cheese bites from Arby's? If they weren't so darn expensive I may have had more! These things are like $2.99 for five little bites but mmmm are they delicious! Randi and I decided to eat at Arby's before our appointment today. We finished up there and headed toward the hospital. We arrived with about 45 minutes to kill so I thought we might go get some coffee at the Starbucks inside. We got off of the elevator and I found a computer monitor that was a touch screen hospital map. I was mesmerized by this thing and my Wife was not. I sat there and played with it while she walked off! I finally decided to find her and she wasn't in the coffee shop or in the hallways. Finally she appeared after she had made a bathroom stop. We decided against the coffee because we were both still so full from lunch so we headed up to Dr. Christine's office. Randi went in while I waited and found a magazine. About 15 minutes later Randi sent me a text message that said how she shouldn't have used the restroom earlier because she wasn't able to give much of a sample. Randi appeared from the door about 5 minutes later and we went back to the other waiting area. Boy did we wait, and wait, and wait. We waited for over an hour and a half until I finally, after a bit of a nap, decided to go ask someone what the hell was going on. I ran into Dr. Christine's nurse and she told me that we were next. I mentioned that we had a tour of the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) at 5:15 and it was already quarter to 5. She said that we would make it. Our appointment was for 3:15... We were finally called back and Dr. Christine came in and we heard both of the girl's heartbeats. One was at 162 and the other at 154, both great. Dr Christine told Randi that she is doing great and she just needs to continue what she's been doing. Questions and answers then we were on our way to tour the NICU.

I don't know what I expected to see once we got down there but I think that I was taken a bit back by what we did. I suppose I thought that we would see these babies through a pane of glass with Nurses feverishly working around them, rocking them, feeding and what not. Not so much. These babies were out in the open, right there on a "warming bed" which looked more like a giant sized petrie dish to me. The babies that were there were a set of boy twins who were absolutely teeny tiny. It all set in right there for me. These girls could come at any minute. We are only 26 weeks as of Sunday, but if they decided that they've had enough in there, then they're gonna come! Every day that passes now I am more and more appreciative of what Randi is doing for them. I hope that our girls can stay in there for another good 3 months and get every thing that they need to come into this world. I know that the people in the NICU are good at what they do, but it was still a very intimidating place for me. Randi is amazing as she seemed fine with everything that was going on.

After we toured the NICU we had our Monday night class. This weeks topics included Cessarians and Postpartum Depression. Both were interesting and showed us what to expect as well as what I need to be aware of with Randi after birth. They also talked about Randi watching me but I think I'll be alright. Tom Cruise aint gonna be calling us out.

Halfway through class we went on our second tour in the hospital. This one was of the Birthing Suites. The earlier tour of the NICU was only Randi and I and another couple. We were "chosen" for this tour (the NICU tour) because we are carrying twins and our girls chances of being in the NICU for a little while are pretty high. We have our fingers crossed that they won't have to, but we have it in our heads that they might. The Birthing Suites are very nice. We saw one back in July when Jen and Phillip had baby Cate. Our instructor went over everything from what not to do or touch to how the bed breaks down into it's various positions. With the group that we'll have in there at some point, I may need a review of what not to touch so that I can go over it with my Father, Brother and Sister, but then again that may just encourage.

Finally around 8:15 we were headed back to the garage to get in the car and head to Subway for dinner. I was able to coax my Wife into taking the "Staff Elevators" as we took them earlier for the NICU tour.

Everything is going well so far. Our next appointment is Monday November 3rd. We will get to see the girls again and hopefully get some clearer 4D pictures. From what I've heard though it passed the time for some of you to try to find Aubrey and Addison's faces. Unfortunately most of you were way off of what you thought were their faces. I'll try to work with the technician next time and we'll get some good snaps. The girls have been really active lately. Both of them, not so much one or the other. Until next time...

Blog Daddy T.

At MOST 14 weeks to go!

2008-10-09T21:00:00.005-05:00

24 weeks into our pregnancy seems like such a long time, but man is it flying! Randi and I discuss constantly how we can not wait to hold these baby girls. Soon enough...

The past few weeks have, like I said, been flying by. It seems like yesterday that we were drop jaw in the sonogram room hearing that there were two babies. Or being in Kusadasi and looking at that stick and seeing a positive. Life is about to change, and change for the better. Good kinds of CHANGE not that "other guys" kind of "Change"... =)

SO... Randi and the girls had a check up Wednesday. Randi immediately went back and was tested for Gestational Diabetes. She was nervous going in, she said "I don't like taking tests that I can't study for". If you know Randi this makes sense but if it were anyone else, study!? The test involves drinking some kind of fruit punch drink that supposedly is horrible. Randi's plan was to shoot this concoction and get it over with. Turns out she didn't mind it so much. Dr. Christine's nurse came out to the waiting room to get me to tell me to come on back. I met Randi in the hallway and we sat and waited for the sonogram tech to call us. Before we were called in, Randi went back down to the lab to get her results and she passed the Diabetes test. Good news! Once we got into the sonogram room, we realized that we had forgotten our CD for the pictures to go on. Luckily you can purchase one at the receptionist desk. We have spoken to the girl there numerous times about Auburn football and how she is the only Tiger fan there so I struck conversation about how awful we looked and how they need to do something about our Offensive Coordinator Tony Franklin. I got the CD and headed back to the sonogram room and no sooner than I sat down did I receive a text message from my buddy Jay saying "Tubbs fired Franklin". I couldn't believe it. All of this soon took a back seat when the monitor showed our little girls. Baby B had some make up tests to finish today. They had to measure a few things on her to make sure that she was keeping pace with her Sister. Well, while the tech was getting measurements, Baby A decided to sucker punch Baby B. Baby B waited out the attack and retaliated with a full body, Matrix style lunge toward her Sister. We were all laughing at the boxing match that we were witnessing. The Technician even kept the monitor on this for a good two minutes or so and our room was erupting with Oo's and Ah's. The girls are doing well. Each weighing in at 1 lb 9 oz and both are growing RAPIDLY. After the sonogram we went to see Dr. Christine for our Q&A session. Randi had her questions ready and Dr. Christine answered them all. Mom, Mom, Jen...

Monday night we started our "Parenting Classes". These classes go through what to expect when it's time to deliver and we get to watch videos. Well if you have seen Knocked Up with Katherine Heigl, you've seen the worst of these videos. In two weeks we get to take a field trip to tour the "birthing suites" as well as the NICU.

All in all things are going well. At most we only have 14 weeks until we get to meet our little girls. Our next appointment is scheduled for Monday October 20th. We won't have sonograms at that one but we'll post an update.

Blog Daddy T.

PS. Some are having troubles seeing the girls faces in their 4D pictures. Hopefully this helps...

Week 22

2008-09-24T22:58:00.003-05:00

We went to the Doctor today but didn’t have any ultrasounds done. This is the first time that we have been and didn’t get to see them. We knew this going in so it was expected. We might have been able to sneak in there and I could probably run that machine by now, but we weren’t that desperate. We had to see a different Doctor today because ours was on call and she had to go deliver. We did get to see the Doctor that delivered Jen and Phillip’s baby Cate. She was nice, a bit younger and marched to the beat of her own drum but seemed very nice. We got to hear the girl’s heartbeats, 159 bpm and 162 bpm. They were positioned exactly where Randi thought they were, which is kind of neat because it means that she is really feeling them now. She measured Randi’s belly and took some questions. The main one was about Randi’s episode that occurred this morning at 1:00. Randi and I had cheese steaks for dinner last night and apparently the girls were very dissatisfied with them. Randi had some heart burn which led to her getting sick. Needless to say it scared the shi# out of me at 1:00 in the morning. I did go in and “assist” her however. The Doctor said that this wasn’t anything to worry about but if it consisted we should get it checked out. So far so good but my girls had better like cheese steaks! Mom, Jen. My Mom was at our house, so we waited to talk to her in person.

Poor Randi… Tonight was my night to get some things done in the nursery. Our evening began with us going to Lowe’s and me spending a little too much time looking for certain items. We finally got home and I got to work. I started by replacing all of the electrical sockets to white. I only had one more in the nursery to do and one in the bathroom as well as three light switches. This was all a breeze except for a dropped screw here and there. Onto the bigger task. We bought a small chandelier to go in the nursery. This required me to take down the ceiling fan that was in there. I have never installed a ceiling fan before but thought that it would be pretty easy to take one down. I soon found out that when I watched anyone else do a ceiling fan installation, there were two people doing it. I managed to get it down on my own and got the chandelier ready to go up. I asked Randi if she could come up to assist me because I couldn’t hold the light and do what I needed to do while up on a stool. The instructions, as vague as they were, did say that installation time was a mere 25 minutes, 25 minutes in Turner time = 2 and a half hours! After putting it up and taking it down at least three times, my poor pregnant wife’s arms were about to fall off. She was a trooper and tried to make jokes to “lighten” the mood. I snapped a few times here and there but when it was all said and done, it was perfect. The room is awesome so far! My Mom is doing a fantastic job with the paint and it’s near completion. We just can’t wait to experience the last step of bringing the girls home to it. We still have a while until that happens, but we’re not rushing it. We’re enjoying every minute.

Our next Doctor appointment will be the afternoon of Wednesday October 8th. At that appointment we will get to see the girls again as Addison, Addyson, Adison, Adyson, (we’re not sure how we want to spell it) or Aubrey still needs to finish some tests from her last sitting.

Last week we went to Orlando for the annual Sylvan Learning Center conference. Randi, Donna and I went a few days early and hit the parks. Randi did awesome but her feet did swell a little. My Mom, Dad and Scott joined us Tuesday night. Christy and Kevin came in a week later. The girls got spoiled at the outlets by both Grandmothers, and I'm sure Christy. Just a glimpse of what's to come...

Blog Daddy T.

Week 20 Doctor Visit

2008-09-12T13:09:00.005-05:00

Today's appointment was for our 20 week checkup. This was to be the last of the every 3 week variety. After this appointment we will now go every two weeks. Not at every appointment will we get sonograms done, but there will be more. What are we going to do when we are only carrying one child and only get one or two sonograms throughout the entire pregnancy!?!?

It all started off with me following the wrong pregnant woman! Randi and I rode up with an Indian couple and their newborn. I held the door for them as she was carrying the baby and he was carrying the, um, carrier... =) Randi had gone on to check in. I watched the couple as they walked in and one of the receptionists was dying to hold their newborn. I wasn't really paying attention to a lot except this couple. I did only have a few sips of my coffee at this point, so I'm going to roll with that excuse. I ended up standing next to who I thought was Randi when I heard, "Ricky!". I looked over and there's my Wife who later told me that I had the most peculiar look on my face like "how did you get, I thought you were, never mind". I went to sit down and wait for her to call me back.

Randi finally peeked her head out the door and we went to the other waiting room until we were called. We were brought back to the sonogram room by a new girl. Randi took her position and I waited next to her while the "new girl" played with the computer for about 15 minutes. You could tell that she was a little frazzled and embarrassed as she looked for someone to help her figure out what was going on. Finally she figured it out and there were our girls. Randi had a chai tea to get the girls moving and boy were they ever! The "Sonogramographer", as she called herself at one point, tried to get numerous pictures for the 20 week checkup. She needed to get pictures of their hearts, kidneys, stomachs, bladders, legs, feet, arms and head. This was to ensure that everything was growing proportionately and correctly. Our girls were all over the place. She got everything she needed from Baby A, but Baby B is going to have to come back for another sitting at another time.

After the sonograms we went back out to the waiting room. There was this woman there on her cell phone talking so loud it was obnoxious. She was talking to what sounded like a girlfriend about how her Husband WILL stay the entire time she is in the hospital and he WILL tell people to leave when she wants them to go. She made it very clear that this was mostly directed to this poor guys Mother who she said that he could drop her off on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere for all she cared. MAN! This woman was such a bit#*! Hormones or not! I think she is always like that. Who would want her to reproduce? Anyway, so we got to see Dr. Christine and have question and answer time. The only thing Randi asked about was she is constantly itching and I asked what Randi's limitations would be next week in Disney World. Dr. Christine then informed us that Randi is low on Iron. We got some samples of that and a prescription and we were on our way. Mom, Mom, Jen...

The house has been a constant stir lately. Auburn football has started back which takes us out of town almost every weekend, I have class two nights a week and with all of these doctor appointments we have just been running crazy lately. Randi, Donna and Myself leave for Orlando on Saturday. My Mom, Dad and Scotty will all join us I believe Tuesday evening. We have a fun filled week of Sylvan Learning Conference as well as some park visits, golf, and outlet shopping. I can't wait to see how much stuff the girls get from this trip!

The nursery is coming along thanks to my Mom! She is amazing. We decided to go with a pink and brown theme and she has painted the walls with pink and white stripes. She has completed this in two days. It looks great. Randi and I plan to put some stuff together Friday night as well as go to Lowe's to pick up some switch and plug plates. Everything is just movin along. I can't believe we'll be at 21 weeks on Sunday. Time is going quick! (For me maybe?)

Blog Daddy T.

~It looks as if we're going to have another Christy with the thumb sucking! I think that it's always Baby A that has her thumb in her mouth. Luckily we'll have Uncle Randy to hopefully fix her teeth!

ALSO... The names are out there, you just have to know who to ask. We've got some loose lipped relatives...

Coming Soon....

2008-09-10T21:59:00.001-05:00

We went to the Doctor today and everything is great! I got home from work late tonight and my concentration isn't all there. I will try to get something up tomorrow at some point.

Blog Daddy T.

Furniture Madness

2008-09-05T18:00:00.000-05:00

Baby furniture is a pain in the you know where to shop for. I was a little picky as I didn't want anything too flimsy. Randi wasn't so bad; she just wanted brown and a few pieces to go with the cribs. Saturday August 23rd we decided to get the show on the road and begin our baby furniture adventure. We started off at a smaller store called Storkland. The woman inside was very nice and put together a packet of information of the different companies who make baby furniture. I don't think that I realized how much this was going to cost us, let alone we need TWO cribs. Well we left Storkland with ideas of what we like. We got back on the road thinking about the next stop. We would soon find out that Birmingham doesn't really have a lot of options when it comes to baby furniture.

Babies R Us was the next stop and we found exactly what both of us wanted! We got the salesman to come over and get us a total price and put it all together for us. After he went over to find out about delivery he came back to us with bad news. "The manufacturer is a smaller group that was unprepared for the number of orders that Babies R Us has brought them. Unfortunately we don't know when this will be available to you." Well then...

Our next stop took us to my favorite place in the entire world, the mall. We started at Sears and found one crib that looked like it was made by Playskool. Then it was onto what used to be Parisian (the new name has escaped me.) Home Store. We didn't see anything right away so we stopped and asked a Gentleman who told us that they did not carry any cribs but went to ask someone if there was any where else in the area that might. He told us JC Penny's but it would most likely be out of the catalog. By this point it was starting to get late and I was hosting a Fantasy Football Draft at Mom and Dads at 6:00 so we headed home.

Monday night, we decided to go to a place that we had heard about down the street from the house. We drove around in circles looking for this place and finally gave up. It seems as if the wonderful economy has taken its toll on Mom and Pop stores. We decided to head back out toward the mall (woo hoo!). Before we went to the mall though we stopped at Burlington Coat Factory and found something that we liked only to find out that the hutch was $400 and something for the bottom piece and $350 for the shelves. Too much $ for us! Randi had found a set that she liked in the JC Penny's catalog so we were going to go out there and see about opening an account to get the discounts available and order what we wanted. Customer Service these days is amazing. Randi went to one of the counters and told the girl that we were interested in ordering baby furniture from the catalog. With no hesitation the girl told us that we could do that at home on the internet. We explained that we were already in the store and wanted to go ahead and do it now. She told us that she understood but we could even do it from the convenience of our own home! It sounded so scripted. Ms. Customer Service girl, do you realize that my pregnant Wife is about to jump this counter and kick your lazy ___!? Calmly Randi asked if she could take the catalog and she was told that it was $3.00, but there was a baby catalog that is free at a stand on our way out. We found that free catalog and exited. Next stop Olive Garden.

When we were shopping on Saturday, Randi had picked up a little booklet of baby stuff on our way out of one of the stores. In it there was an advertisement for a place called TD's in Sumiton Alabama. Randi wanted to go out to this place but I couldn't as I had to work and the place closed at 5:30. It was a 45 minute drive from where we live. I told her that she should ask our Moms to go up there with her. She did just that and they found our furniture! Whew. So we are getting it delivered today and they will put everything together except the cribs. We have dinner reservations tonight at 7:00 but I'm hoping to get started on them. We have decided on our "theme" and what we want to paint the room. Hopefully next week we can get started on more.

UPDATE: The video mentioned in my last blog, didn't quite make it to the "big screen". ALSO there is a new "Belly Watch" picture; I just haven't downloaded it off of the camera yet.

Our next appointment is next Wednesday, September 10th.

We think that we have names, but we'll save that for a later date as they change weekly. We think these are the ones though... =)

~ I have had this post saved for a few days but haven't gotten around to posting it until now. I hope to get the "belly watch" picture up this weekend before it's irrelevant.

DRUM ROLL........

2008-08-20T12:14:00.010-05:00

Well, the seven of you who guessed "BOTH GIRLS" are correct! We found out this morning that we will be blessed with two little girls this winter! BOY am I in TROUBLE! =) Everything with Mom and Babies is going great. We will have another appointment in three weeks and then from there on out we will go back every two weeks. Both of our Mothers were able to join us again and we're glad that they were there with us when we found out. There is also a video that we took. I will try to see if I can get that posted on here later tonight.

We hope that everyone is doing well.

Ricky, Randi, Baby Girl A and Baby Girl B

Tres Madres

2008-07-30T16:10:00.008-05:00

July 23, 2008

We were able to bring both of our Mothers with us today to our appointment. They both seemed very excited to see their Grand babies for the first time. We were a few minutes behind this morning so I dropped Randi off on the bottom floor of the parking garage. Our Moms followed me up and through every level! There wasn't parking anywhere. This was a new one on me. We finally found some spots and went in.

After we all waited in both waiting rooms we were finally in the ultrasound room. Randi was on the examining table and we all stood to her left staring at the monitor. The technician smeared the gel on Randi's belly and couldn't get the ultrasound thing pressed against her stomach fast enough! Finally, one of the baby's silhouettes showed on the screen. All three of the Mothers in the room had smiles on their faces. I was pretty darn proud to be in the room right then. Not that I hadn't been proud before but to see the look on our Moms' faces. The Technician showed both babies one at a time. They are looking more and more like newborns. Baby A looks to have my nose, and as Christy says, maybe my belly too! We weren't able to tell sexes yet and I was a little bummed with that. I thought that it would be really neat to be able to tell with both of our Moms in the room. That's alright though, soon enough.

After the ultrasound Randi and I went into the examining room and spoke to another Doctor. We have been told that it is a good idea to see all of the Doctors in the practice at least once. The reason being is because there is no guarantee that Dr. Christine will deliver the twins. We could end up having another one of the numerous Doctors in the practice. I can't remember this Doctor's name, but I liked him. He came into the examining room and introduced himself to Randi and then said "this must be your no good Husband", he had me pegged! =) He began to look over paperwork and told us that the twins look good. They are growing at the expected rate which could be a concern if they weren't. One baby could dominate in the womb and steal nutrients from the other causing one larger baby and one smaller baby. Currently, this is not the case. The rib question came up again and I liked this Doctors answer. "You're going to be feeling a lot of pain in the upcoming weeks." He just came out and said it. No buttering it up, just how it is. He was that kind of Doctor, honest, direct, and blunt. I didn't like that Randi was going to be in "a lot of pain", just his direct answer. He also went over with us how the babies’ life expectancy grew with each week. I know, you're probably thinking "DUH", but he broke it down for us by week. Say week 28, they would have a 50% chance, week 29 an 80% chance, week 30 a 90% chance, so on and so on. These may not be the exact numbers but it was interesting none the less. He said that Randi will probably carry to week 37. Dr. Christine has said week 38, but each Doctor is different. This Doctor told us to make our appointment for four weeks from today.

We will go back on August 20th. While we were checking out, the receptionist asked if we wanted to know the sexes the next time we came. So I'm thinking that at our next appointment, we will find out what we are going to have! Randi and I already have our bets in. Do you?

Bouncy Bouncy Bounce

2008-07-30T15:08:00.011-05:00

July 2, 2008

Randi goes back, I wait, she waves me in, we sit, we wait. That's how it's been and apparently how it will be. All the same, even the nerves and excitement. They are all still there too. This time however there is a new magazine, Consumer Reports. I have often heard of this magazine, but never once picked one up. I may have a new obsession.

"RANDI TURNER" Here we go! Randi hops up onto the table and I take my seat. Gel is smeared all over her stomach and we go into watching mode. When the babies first appear, we are amazed at the transformation from crustacean to human baby! Our little ones look like actual babies! They are still a little difficult to completely make out, but there they are. The Technician started to really grind around and while we were focusing in on Baby A, it started bouncing! Ok, swimming, but it looked as if it was on a trampoline! The Technician then tried to get Baby B to do something, but it wanted no part of the circus that was going on next door. If this is any sign of their personalities, we have opposite sides of the behavioral spectrum. There may not be such a thing as a behavioral spectrum, UNTIL NOW. The Turner Twin Behavioral Spectrum.

After we get some pictures printed off and some copied to disk, it's off to the examining room to see Dr. Christine. The Doctor enters the room and flips through the paperwork and says that everything is looking good. Randi has her list of questions ready and they are answered with professionalism. The best question is the one of the growing rib. Randi has a severe pain around her ribcage that she insists is a growing rib. Dr. Christine explains that her ribcage may be growing or expanding to allow room for the babies to grow. Tylenol will help ease the pain. We are told to come back in three weeks.

We make our appointment for July 23rd and are off to the car to make our three phone calls, Mom, Mom, and Jen.

And Then There Were Two

2008-07-30T13:10:00.005-05:00

June 11, 2008

This was an important day as we were going to find out if we were still pregnant with twins, or just one, or none at all. We were nervous. Again, Randi went in and did her "duties" as I waited in the waiting room. Finally the door opened and she waved me in. We sat together in the other waiting room flipping through magazines and nervously uttering a comment or two here and there. I have grown fond of outdoor gear all of a sudden. Not that I would use it for anything other than to look at, but I seem to have grown an interest in it thanks to these outdated magazines laying around the waiting room. Anyway...

We are finally called back after I have picked out my future bicycle that costs $3000.00. Randi hops up onto the table and I take my seat. This time the Tech gels down Randi's belly after flipping down the top of her jeans. We're doing this a new way this time. The Technician moves the device left, she moves it right, she puts a bit of pressure and there they are, two Turner shrimps. They look nothing like humans. It's amazing! Last time there were just two blobs of nothingness and now there is, something! We are still pregnant with Twins! Randi and I are both thrilled and it's written across our faces. The Technician prints out a few pictures as well as scans some onto a disc that we brought.

Onto see Dr. Christine. We visit with her for a little while and Randi nails her with every question that she can think of. Dr. Christine has heard them all before I'm sure but man! There are a bunch! I guess the only stupid question is the one not asked. Our due date is set for January 24th. We are told that Randi will most likely not carry full term and the Doctors will not let her carry past 38 weeks. After we talk to her for a bit we make our next appointment and it's back to the car and onto the three phone calls. Mom, Mom, and Jen.

What to our wondering eyes should appear...

2008-07-30T11:07:00.005-05:00

May 28, 2008

We returned home and made our appointment for Wednesday, May 28th. We were both a bit nervous but so excited all at the same time. Randi went in first while I sat in the waiting room. Finally the door opened and she called me back. We went to another waiting room where we had been before in December. The last time that we were here we wanted to be somewhere else. We had found out a few short months earlier that we were having a miscarriage. It wasn't easy sitting there hearing all of the other families talk about their new healthy additions. This time was going to be different I kept telling myself. Randi even felt different this time. She knew it was right.

We were finally called back to the ultrasound room. Randi hopped onto the table and I took my seat in the "onlookers chair". The computer screen lit up the darkened room as we both stare at it in anticipation. The Ultrasound technician prepared her "device" and the screen soon showed Randi's womb. The technician then announced there's not just one baby growing in there, there's two! We were looking at two sacs. We were amazed, shocked, excited, thrilled, crying, you name it, we felt it!

After we left the ultrasound room we went into Dr. Orso's office. He congratulated the two of us and then went through his spiel. After every pause he received an "uh huh", or an "ok". The one that caught our attention and made us a bit nervous was when he told us that sometimes with twin pregnancies, one sac disappears. We will have to wait until the next appointment to determine if in fact we will still be pregnant with twins. We were still so excited we had to notify everyone in the world, starting with our parents.

European Vacation Delight

2008-07-30T11:02:00.005-05:00

May 16, 2008

While cruising the Mediterranean, Randi began feeling a little odd. Certain areas were feeling very tender, mood swings began to occur, and we can't forget to mention the mustard with pizza incident.

Randi and I discussed whether or not we should take one of the two pregnancy tests that we brought on board. We thought it to be a good idea considering there was a wine tasting session that we were attending later that day. As expected we were in fact pregnant! We called our parents to our room for an immediate family meeting. We informed them of our good news and hugged it out.

From here on out during our cruise we would hear Dos Bambinos here and there from Randi's Mother. Randi kept telling her "Stop! There isn't two babies!" In Barcelona, on the bus ride to the airport we were talking to two people that were on our boat. We mentioned to them that we had found out that we were pregnant and the gentleman said something to the effect of "you're going to have twins". Randi and I were flabbergasted that everyone is making this prediction.

Now we just had to wait until we got back to Birmingham to make an appointment to see our Doctors at St. Vincent's to be certain!

Honeymoon

2008-07-30T10:54:00.003-05:00

Cabo San Lucas

June 2007

The story begins here, Cabo San Lucas on our Honeymoon. I wake up one morning and immediatly tell Randi that I had a dream that we had twins. Exaclty one year later...