The Brooks Blog

Sunday, August 5, 2012

4 months!

Our girls are now 4 months. Time has flown and a lot has happened in these 4 months. The unpacking is almost complete and for once in our life everything has a place, is organized (to my liking) and our garage is CLEAN. We still have some decorating to do and furniture to come in but we're on the downhill of all that. We have had a ton of help from our families getting settled and a lot of help with the girls as well. We've also hired a former student of mine, Ragen, to help us twice a week with the girls so that I can have outings, go to the grocery store, etc. She is absolutely wonderful with the girls and we feel so lucky to have found her. Our girls have had their 4 month check-up and are in the 16th and 18th percentiles, not adjusted for their prematurity. We're so pleased with their health and progress. Both Caroline and Claire have a flat spot on their heads from the womb and laying on one another so we're getting this evaluated for possible helmets. We're consulting with cranial technologies at the end of the month in Dallas and if it is something we need then we'll be traveling there weekly for the next 2-3 months. Initially, the idea of this all made me sad, but at the end of the day it is cosmetic and I know our girls will thank us for this sacrifice in the future. It's a good thing I am not working! Everything else is going as we had hoped for. Things are becoming more consistent at Dustin's firm and they are all getting settled. He has hired an associate and an office manager. Fortunately, they are very busy and we know feel this was absolutely the best choice to have made for our family. You can check out Dustin's website: http://www.brooks-firm.com/ They are still working on their profiles and it will be up soon! Below are some pictures of our girls over the last two months. : )

Father's Day 2012

Before Tabor & Kaycee's Rehearsal Dinner

Happy 4 Months!

Macys and the C's

Claire

Caroline

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Lubbock!

We're here and we love it! We're still getting settled in to our new house -- can you imagine trying to unpack and decorate with two infants around!!?? It takes a while. Busy is an understatement. We moved in to our house last Saturday and Dustin opened his doors to his firm on the following Monday. I'm officially a stay-at-home momma and this, for me, is hard. I am not a "homebody," by nature, but with TWO -- it's usually my only choice. The girls are now over 12 pounds each and will be 4 months tomorrow. (I will post pictures from tomorrow and their 3 month milestone once I find my camera in a box!) Carrying two carriers given their current weights is just about impossible. So far we have had lots of grandparent help--YESSS! The girls coo, smile and laugh -- it's just precious. Caroline is about to roll over -- ANY DAY! Dustin has been in Artesia, NM this week as he was voted on to the boards for Agave Energy Company and Yates Petroleum. He is 1 of 7 board members. He's extremely excited and honored to be nominated and voted in! I will post updated pics soon!

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Yep....it's all true!

Yes, we're moving to Lubbock and yes Dustin is starting his own firm: The Brooks Firm PLLC. If you really know Dustin's personality then you know it was only a matter of time. Fortunately for him he did have the opportunity to work for a great firm here, had the opportunity to bring in clients and develop those relationships and really got to see after working at two different firms in San Antonio that he wanted to be independent. In my opinion, it was a great way to self-discover. Everyone close to him have encouraged him to do this for some time as Dustin has the gift of the gab and knows a lot of oil and gas people and businesses in both the Lubbock and Midland areas. He has commitment of work and turned in his resignation this morning, effective immediately.

So having twins is very challenging. Everything now comes with a plan. Dinner must be planned around feeding times and we must have bottles prepared in advance just in-case. Nonetheless, caring for a baby is a full-time job and double that then you will understand why I have decided not to return to work. I'm going to focus on what is truly important in life, our family and my health. I'm going to stay at home with the girls once we make our move. I will be finishing out one week at Alamo Heights and have alerted them to our move. I'm very sad to leave as I have been there 5 years and have developed a lot of wonderful friendships. Ultimately, this move back to Lubbock for Dustin and to Lubbock for me (can you believe I have never lived there??!!) is one that is best for OUR family. There Claire and Caroline will have 6 grandparents, 4 great-grandparents, 6 aunts and uncles and 1 baby cousin Emma that was born just last week while we were out there visiting. ; ) It will be a refreshing move to have so many family members so close. We've learned just how important that help is when the unthinkable happens.

Gigi and her girls

Happy Mother's Day 2012!

Great-grandfather, Papaw and Claire

Aunt Macy and Caroline

Great-grandparents: Nana and Papaw....and it was 8:30, feeding time! OOPS

Happy 2 Months... Caroline left and Claire right

"Wake up sister!"

Yeah, this photo shoot wasn't easy....so the binkies were MUSTS

Aunt Amber and Caroline

We outgrew our bassinets and mommy cried!

Papaw and the girls

Our new house

Favorite part! Love the door and LOVE the gas lanterns.

This pictures doesn't exactly give the kitchen justice. It has enough storage for all of my dishes, a full-size wine refrigerator and wolf appliances -- we. are. in. heaven.

Thursday, May 3, 2012

You can't have too many....

- Burp Cloths - Swaddles - Diapers - Wipes - Formula - Bottles - Receiving Blankets - WASHERS AND DRYERS! Yes, we're running a full-time assembly line out of 7 Inwood Way. Between boiling baby water, mixing and fortifying formula, changing 15+ diapers a day and 3+ loads of laundry each day...I've been busy to say the least. This is a full time job! So far things are going well for the girls. They continue to grow and show all signs of good health. Last week we went to our first pediatrician appointment and Caroline weighed 6 lbs. and 2 oz. and Claire weighed 6 lbs. even. So basically they each gained 1 lb. in the one week they were home! We have a routine that we stick to and feed the girls every 4 hours. So we feed at 8:30, 9:00, 12:30, 1:00, 4:30, 5:00 and repeat. Lots of bottles, lots of formula! We do mama-roo time -- if you haven't seen this gadget google it...it's a must have -- playmate time and tummy time each day to strengthen our muscles but in between feedings, including the night they sleep! Their personalities are emerging. Caroline is super chill and easy going. If she's hungry she lets you know just by waking up and waits for you to feed her....she doesn't cry when she's hungry. Claire on the other hand, if things aren't just so then she lets us know with a one "waaaah" followed by rest and then another "waaaah." She doesn't like her hands swaddled inside and has to have it at a perfect tightness. She eats at her time on the dot! She's our wiggle worm during playmat time...this is the exact opposite of their personalities in the womb. Baby "B" (Caroline) was every where on the monitors and gave me lots of kicks. They are certainly fun to watch especially their interactions with one another. So I was stubborn and refused to purchase a bigger car while I was pregnant. Nonetheless, my car just will NOT work....(I knew this, but had to see it first hand!)....so today we're getting our suburban. Total kid-hauler, but I guess I am a mom of two now....so I will join all the other moms out there that have bit the bullet and bought the kid-hauler. I anticipate this being a great tail-gating rig too! My health: things have shown improvement. My bell's palsy is almost gone, if you're an average person just looking at me and don't know the situation but if you are looking for it you can see that my right side still struggles. When taking pictures I have to be extra conscious of this to open that eye a little wider and draw back my smile even further. My jaw is still not as strong on that side, but that is to be expected. My pneumonia has been clear and has remained gone. I went to the cardiologist last week and repeated my echocardiogram where they found my ejection fracture to be 70%. That doesn't sound high but it is -- it's a great number to have, especially when I started in the 40 percent range when I was in the ER. I still have some heart palpitations and on occasion my heart rate is still high but after all I am running an assembly line over here?!? I'm still on medication to slow my heart rate, but have been able to drop the blood pressure meds since I've maintained a consistently healthy BP since discharge. I will be released to return to work by the end of this month and should be released, HOPEFULLY, entirely from the cardiologist by the end of the summer. As far if this could happen again if we had additional children, that can't be answered firmly by everyone, but we're not ready to have that conversation, if ever. We feel VERY lucky to have what we have! Overall, I've bounced back quickly -- even my Dr.'s didn't think things would go this well this fast so we're thankful! When we arrived home we had two storks in our yard announcing the girls birth! So cute!

Friday, April 20, 2012

Happy 1 Month C & C!

April 17, 2012 the girls came home! So far things are going well. Two is time consuming, no doubt, but thankfully for us, we know no different. We're scheduled to have lots of help from our moms in the weeks to come!

Pops came to visit us again.

The nursery.

One last picture in the nursery before their arrival. About to leave to get them from NICU.

My first time holding them at the same time. : )

About to go HOME. In as two, out as four!! (Claire left, Caroline right)

Getting ready to drive 20 mph all the way home...

7 miles and an hour and a half later, daddy got us home safely! Kidding...but we did drive really really slow.

Let's play and FINALLY get to touch each other!

So we have heard Claire cry and Caroline has no reaction to it. Caroline cried for the first time and Claire just couldn't handle it and went to town crying too. This is post their meltdowns so to comfort Claire we let her see that Caroline was ok. It was tragic for her prior to this!

Gigi feeding Caroline

Today we are 1 month old!!!! I'm just going to post several pictures from the photoshoot because it is just hilarious. Thanks to Brad Baccus we are now proud owners of two of these bears! Caroline is in the pink headband and Claire is in the purple.