Master Val

I have always been a believer in my wife in her strength, capability and knowledge but last week really sets the bar a bit higher. Val went down to the University of Florida (Gainseville, FL) to take her final exams for her masters degree in Forensic Drug Chemistry (Toxicology) last week from Monday until Thursday. We were both pretty stressed about the situation (mostly her) and even questioned whether she should go through with it because of all the stuff she has on her plate right now. Luckily she decided to just push through it and get it done. Boy did that pay off. She got a 94% on the exam and she thought she was going to possibly fail a couple weeks ago. Amazing!!!!

So while mom was in Florida sitting by the pool, studying for her finals, Dad and Grandma were back at home taking care of the boys. I couldnt have done it with out Grandma (My mom). I have the patience of a 6 month old sometimes and having to entertain 2 of them by myself for longer than eight hours is pretty much impossible without me pulling out the rest of my hair. So Granmda was very happy to take some time to help me out. We also had my cousin Rachel come over to help sometimes too. Needless to say the boys and I made it through the week without mom. I was very happy to have her back as were Caleb and Jackson.

One thing that has changed recently as well is that the boys have started to sleep from 7pm to 6am with one feeding at 10pm. So they end up sleeping close to 8 hours straight from 10-6am. It has been good to get to this point. For some reason though they like to wake up at around 5:30 and start talking.... We would rather they keep sleeping but we wont complain quite yet.

All else is going well here. Val is settling back in now that she is the Master of the house. The boys are growing and eating well. We started feeding them rice cereal this weekend and of course the are just pushing it around in and out of their mouth. Not much eating going on there. They are still rolling over back and forth but no crawling yet. Last time Jackson was at the Cardiologist his heart was looking good and the doctor thought the PDA might actually be closing itself. Thats good news. We have been taking them on walks as much as possible, they love it outside and are definately starting to like the pool. But one lesson learned is , don't forget the passies when you go to the pool. Nap time isnt fun without them. We also took them to a concert on Friday at Friday Night Live in Herndon, VA last Friday. It is like weekly family type outdoor concert thing near here. The Jimmy Buffet cover band wasn't bad. Tons of babies and kids at these things so its great for us to go to with the boys. They are easily the cutest kids there. :) I am a proud and modest dad!

I better wrap this up for now. I'll keep you posted on any news. Have a great week.

Was it a vacation or was it not?

We are back from our first vacation with Caleb and Jackson. Saturday afternoon we returned from a week at the beach with my familly. It was a great time as usual but of course not as relaxing as it normally is. The boys had to sleep in our room with us and of course we woke up with every little issue through the night. It made it for a tough week to stay up and party with the familly like usual. But everyone helped us get some breaks here and there which really helped Val out. For me it was more work because I usually have a 9 hour break during the day when i go to work. So daddy got to spend some good time entertaining the boys last week.

Otherwise, things are going ok with us. Val will be traveling down to Gainesville, FL next monday to finish her final exams for her masters. This has been in progress for a couple years now and she had to complete it now or have to reapply later and most likely have to take more classes. So she has been pretty stressed trying to prepare for this and she for sure can't wait to get it over with. I keep telling her that she is going to feel like she is actually on a vacation. She will be able to sleep all night without getting up and have little responsibility during the day for once in 6 months other than go to her exams. I hope she enjoys it while she can.

Grandma and myself will be taking care of the boys with possibly some help from other familly while she is gone. Should be interesting. Those of you who know me, know that I dont have the best patience in the world. Entertaining the boys by myself for hours should be a challenge. Think Ill be taking a lot of walks. They like that.

The boys are doing well. They both got their first cold toward the end of the beach week. Poor little guys were sneezing boogers and snaught like a volcano. They seem to be recovering just fine from it though. WE also found out on Monday that Jacksons hear is improving even more. The Cardiologist says that the PDA might actually be closing on its own and the side effects that were happening before have gone away. He is off the Lasix that he was on and the Dr. doesnt need to see him for another 6 months. He is gaining good weight these days and might actually be gaining on Caleb. We think Jackson is aboujt 12.5 lbs and Caleb is somewhere between 14 and 15 lbs.

They are starting to laugh more now and rolling over is their favorite thing to do when laying on the floor. They should be starting solid food as soon as Val gets back next week. They are ready but we are going to wait for mom to be around for this stuff to start.

Here is a link to some pics from the beach.

share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8EaNmLhs0bsM2