Day 120....

WOW!! Can you believe it's almost May?!? Seriously where is the time going? Well nothing new really happening here. Same ol' goodness. =)  Today is a cleaning day for the Longshore clan. Stripped all the sheets.... About 5 loads of laundry to get washed. Some sanitizing to be done so that none of my kids get sick since something is going around. Sanitized all the bottles. Gonna re-organize a few things and go through lots of stuff that will be put in the yard sale.  Yep a busy day ahead for sure! Not quite sure how im finding time to write this LOL..... 

The girls are growing and are very healthy! Their 2 month check up is next week. (OMGoodness in 10 months they will be a yr old!) YIKES!..... Both of the girls have developed some type of rash on their faces... kinda looks like heat rash but it comes and goes... not sure whats causing it.... Jadon is pretty good (when he wants to be) Still having a horrible time with the potty training. I would gladly pay someone to potty train this kid!  He's getting to smart for his own britches. it just amazes me some of the things he says... Im like huh?? How old are you??

Plans are still to move to Georgia in August.... Needing to start looking at places but its kinda hard when I cant travel there to look when i have 3 kids. Hoping God will open some doors for us in that area.  

We started attending a new church called Faith Assembly. We are still going to the Sanctuary as well. F.A. has different service times on different days.... And they seem to have a little bit more of what Anthony and I are looking for such as men and womens groups, young adults group, and so forth.... They are pretty much like the sanctuary and actually a lot of people I went to church with at the "old" sanctuary on 15-A attend that church. I feel this will give me more opportunity to help with the nursery at the sanctuary on sundays and tuesday and still be able to get church in and still be dedicated to a ministry for the time we have left here in florida. 

so precious!

DAY 101....SLACKER

So let me just go ahead and apologize for not keeping up with my blog! Time just slips away and I really don't know where it goes. Right now at 2:45pm on Monday afternoon all three of my kids are sleeping. I have worship music playing and the house is completely cleaned! This is my "break" for the day. I should probably be sleeping as well to do some catching up on what I have lost. But so far today I have made 2 sugar free lattes and  im fixing to have a 3rd one! This coffee has kept me on my toes!  

So is being a mother of 3 hard you ask?? Well yes and no. For the most part the girls sleep all the time. Lydia is the crier. She will cry just to cry. Most of the time she just wants to be held, but as you can tell there are other duties in the house to get done as well. I only have 2 hands you know. But my sweet friend Krystal sent me a package with lots of goodies. One of those goodies was an infant carrier. You know the kind where the baby sits in front of you and you wear the straps?? Ya that kind =) Well today I discovered that its Lydias favorite new thing. It's great! I can carry her around and still do my chores.... And when Ava needs attention my hands are free.  The girls have been doing very well with feedings... The other night they went to bed at 8pm and I didnt have to get up until 6:30am with them. If we swaddle them tight they sleep right through the night. Ava has had some mucus issues and my husband and i were almost positive that it was an environmental issue... Well the AC guy came out today to check on the AC b/c it hasnt been cooling down in the house and also we havent been able to find where the filter goes. Well the AC guy found the filter and it was NASTY!!! Hadn't been changed in ages!! That was probably our issue! We shall see.

Jadon is doing well. I have learned that I need to be more stern with him. As a mother I have a sweet spot with him. He is the 1st kid and holds a special place close to mommies heart. I give in a lot when I shouldnt and I let him get away with things when I should really be disciplining him. He is so well behaved with Anthony and loves anthony to death! But the difference between Anthony and I is that Anthony is stern and sticks to what he says. Jadon always knows that Anthony is being serious and Jadon knows that he can get away with things with me. Well not anymore.... And the last 2 days I have been doing good =) And Jadon still loves me. When I told him it was nap time today he got right in his bed and went to sleep.

Going out with all 3 kids alone is quite a challenge.... It wouldnt be so bad if Jadon were a little older but he is only 2 and when he sees that my hands are full he knows how to push his limits. I am busy feeding 3 mouths and changing diapers along with all the other chores I have to do and giving all 3 children the attention that they need. My girls are already 5 weeks old and I just dont know where the time has gone!

A huge disappointment this past week was my milk drying up. Come to find out, you shouldn't take birth control while breast feeding. I had no clue! And I'm really disappointed that Dr. Rashada failed to inform me. But I guess life goes on. The girls got at least a month of breast milk so I guess that is better than none at all.........

Well I will try and keep my blog updated as much as possible. Not only for those that enjoy reading them but for myself as well! lol I cant even remember what I did last week. So having a blog is a good reminder for me!

Day 86

My baby girls are finally home. Ava came home on march 22 and Lydia came home on march 24th.... Today they are 3 weeks old. We didnt even have Ava home 24 hours and Jadon kneed her in the head and we had to take her to the ER for a cat scan. Every thing turned out fine though. Both girls are eating every 3 to5 hours. Although last night both girls went 8 hours without eating and finally I just woke them up to feed them. Our girls are pretty laid back just like Jadon was. I hope it stays this way =) Today was their first sunday at church and they did very well!! My mother in-law is staying with me this week and she has been a huge help! We completely rearranged the kitchen, all the closets and the girls room.... Anthonys mom is really good at organizing things!! 

So other than that things are pretty good. I finally feel good after the surgery... Their is hardly even a scar. You would never know I had a c-section. The cellulitis around the incision is almost completely gone (PTL!).... 

We are settled in at home and enjoying every minute of it. Still hard to believe that we have 3 children!

Day 79....

So life as we all know it has been super crazy, busy, and hectic these passed couple of weeks.  I have not been able to update my blog everyday but I try and keep people as informed as possible through facebook.  This morning I had all intentions on going to church. Woke up, pumped, showered, then fell back asleep. My husband said he was pretty exhausted as well.  So Jadon and I didnt end up getting up until 10:30!! It felt sooo good to sleep in. Today I didnt make it up to see the girls. I needed a day to just relax and have nothing to worry about. Today was that day!  Tomorrow they are going to do a car seat test on them to make sure they pass it in order to go home. Ava is doing GREAT! She is now 4lbs 14 oz. She has taken every bottle by mouth for the passed 3-4 days. Lydia on the other hand is progressing a little bit slower. She is now 5lbs 7oz and takes 2 out of 3 bottles by mouth.  I honestly think they are feeding her too much. She is getting more than Ava, yet she isn't eating EVERYTHING on her own. She is sooo sleepy to get the rest down. I think they should cut back on how much they are giving her and just let her tell them when she is hungry. Ava is supposed to be getting her feeding tube out today since its not being used. I think its only a couple of days until Ava comes home but maybe a little longer for Lydia. I believe that Lydia is ok to come home as well but dr.'s will be dr.'s.... So that pretty much sums things up....

Jadon has been a pistol lately. Nothing unusual from what I have heard. He has grown so much in these passed few weeks as well. His vocabulary is much better as well as his sentences... He is actually making more sense when he talks lol  He definitely know how to test his father and I. He tries to push us to see how much he can actually get away with. But we arent backing down just because we have new additions to the family. There are still rules and he needs to follow them =) He is pretty good when we are in public which I am very proud of.... But behind closed doors he is a little stinker! lol

In just 10 days it will be the anniversary of when my husband proposed to me. It's unreal where this last year has taken us and the changes that have been made in both of our lives. We really thank God for everything he has done for us and for being there when we needed him the most.

Day 71-73....

Saturday we checked out of the Ronald Mcdonald House. We visited with the girls all day. Came home that evening, Anthony rubbed my feet and I passed out.

Sunday morning Anthony left to go to Ga. That morning I was getting ready for church while Jadon was still sleeping. I was completely ready before he even woke up. Must have been due to the time change. Once Jadon woke up I got him dressed and ready to go. While I was getting my bags packed to bring to the hospital later Jadon was in the living room (I thought he had put a movie in b/c he was being so quiet). I walk out into the dining room and Jadon has a black permanent marker scribbling all over our kitchen table. This occurred right as we needed to be walking out of the door to go to church. I held my composure and didn't get upset, beings that we only paid $50 for the table at a yard sale. I explained how he needed to not do those sorts of things and that daddy will be very upset when he sees it. So then we left for church. I tried dropping him off in his classroom but he broke down and started crying (like every other time I drop him off). But since things have been so hectic and such an emotional roller coaster this past week, I felt really bad leaving him. So I took him into service with me. Of course with him being only 2 he lasted through worship then he was ready to play. So we had to leave. 

We went to the hospital to visit with the girls. Not even 5 minutes of being there he takes a pencil to the hospital floor. I cleaned it up and sat him in time out. I just didnt understand why he was behaving this way b/c he never does stuff like that. Then my mom, g-ma and aunt came up to visit. While they were there Jadon took a crayon to the hospital wall.  Now I'm thinking he is acting out b/c he has 2 new sisters that are getting all the attention. He was completely out of control that day! 

Today, Monday, Jadon and I slept in. When we woke up I wasn't feeling very great. Later this afternoon I decided I couldnt take it any longer and had to go see the girls. I took jadon to my g-mas so she could keep him while I went to the hospital. My grand parents took him to the mall and let him play and he really enjoyed it. All evening he has been asking where "Branma" & Moo Pop are. 

Update on the girls:

Lydia was placed back in her isolet b/c she was unable to keep her body temp up.

In order to go home right now the goal is to get into an open crib and maintain a good body temp and to eat on their own and gain weight. The girls get sooo sleepy and worn out from eating that when its time for their next feeding they just want to sleep.

Something cool:

This morning I thought about asking if I could bring a radio up to the hospital and play christian music for the girls.... Well when I walked into the hospital room this afternoon the nurse had the computer in their room on with z88.3 playing for them! How neat was that!  Come to find out their nurse goes to Northland Church... She shared many stories with me today about her experiences working at the hospital and things they see with children. Some of the stories were just heartbreaking! Its so good to know that a lady with such a kind and soft spirit was taking care of our girls. Every nurse we have had has been sooooo wonderful! Everytime I call to get an update they are so nice and tell me how much they just love the girls. Even when we have Jadon with us the nurses will play with him and color while we are holding the girls. The nurses have really made it easy on us and we are so thankful! We know that God has not forgotten about us, b/c even at the hospital he is there!

Beautiful Ava

Beautiful Lydia

(she was PASSED out!!)

Day 70.... SLEPT IN!!

This morning Anthony left the RMH around 6:45 to get back to Deland to help my dad load. Well I took advantage of getting some rest and slept in till 11am!! I went the entire night with out pumping and all morning. Lets just say that when I woke up I thought I was going to float away!! 

We checked out of the RMH today. Since Anthony wasnt there I had to clean everything for check out. That was quite a task after having surgery!! Scrubbing the bath tub, vacuuming, stripping the beds... Yea I was a bit sore afterwards.

The girls are doing well. I was able to breast feed Lydia today and she did GREAT! Both girls are doing great without being on the oxygen. Lydia is no longer int he incubator. Ava was out but had to be put back in because her body temp. started to drop.  Today while Ava was getting her diaper changed, she obviously wasnt done doin her business. Well she pooped and it squirted to the OTHER side of her incubator!! lol Oh how I wish Anthony would have been changing that diaper!!

This evening when we got home I finished up all our laundry and cleaned the bathrooms. The only thing missing in the house are the girls. 

Daddy, Jadon, and Lydia... 

(Ava wasn't able to be out of her incubator today due to her body temp.)

Day 69.... still in NICU

THURSDAY March 10th:

Today has been a pretty good day. I'm pretty much over staying here in Orlando, but if I want to be right by my girls I have to. I cant wait to get home and sleep in my own bed again. 

The girls are doing well. Ava is now in an open crib and is no longer on oxygen. Lydia is getting an open crib tomorrow and will be taken off of oxygen as well. Both of them girls are such fighters! They want to be home with mommy, daddy, and big brother! 

Today my dad and my in-laws came up to visit. We had a nice time. We ate lunch in the cafeteria and I ended up passing out. I've been completely exhausted today! I think pumping every 2 hours is catching up with me. This evening Anthony and I went back up to see the girls. I fed Lydia while he fed Ava. After Lydias feeding I passed out again! Now that I have taken a shower I am completely awake. Go figure!  I'm still suffering pretty bad from pain. =(  I only have 2 doses of pain meds left so I have been trying to make do and not take them when I should. I called the dr that delivered the girls and of course she didnt call me back.  Hopefully I will hear something tomorrow or I might just die! 

My dad holding the girls for the 1st time