27 is tiring.

i had a lovely birthday. both babies slept through the night and i woke up to my alarm going crazy. [well .. make that two alarm clocks .. i'm super paranoid about being late or over-sleeping] i got ready and woke jarrod up to let him know payton slept through the night and would probably need a bottle soon.

on my way to work i stopped by starbucks [like usual] and the guy who usually makes my drink [i went to lake boone today] tried guessing how old i was turning. know what i got?

22.

yes, friends .. 22. i definitely don't feel 22 .. but hey i'll take it!

so far 27 has been kinda crazy. i had to go to the health dept. like i mentioned yesterday .. which there is nothing about the health department that is 'healthy' .. i feel like i caught 12 viruses just walking up in there. i changed clothes as soon as i got home.

before leaving for my appointment i changed sawyer and noticed those bumps were multiplying .. uh oh .. not good news at all. i called JMA and hannah fit us in with dr artman so he could take a look at him. he has a rash and got some prescription cream to put on it. poor guy. jarrod called me on his way home and he was stuck in really bad traffic. it was suppose to be harris teeter day .. but it didn't happen ''/ we were both so tired and it was already 6pm. my mother in law went by food lion for us though to get us some pepsi/diet pepsi to get us through the rest of the night (:

i got a picture printer and frames from my in-laws for my birthday! i've been printing pictures left and right! i LOVE it. you can scan pictures with it as well and it's wireless! i've been scanning and sending them to my computer. color me happy!! i love it!

my dad and mom [carolyn] called me this morning on the way to work! she was the first to wish me a happy birthday (: i hope we get to see them this weekend.

i didn't get the ipad. i had a feeling i would .. but i had a stronger feeling that i wouldn't hah. oh, well. one can dream.

it's 8:30 and i'm about to pass out. my dishwasher got fixed this morning which is a good enough birthday present all on it's own.

i'm hoping to take the babies out this weekend with jarrod and have some family time. i have GOT to clean this house. it's riiiiidiculous!

so that was my birthday. after 21 it's kinda like whatever.

so long 26. only 12 more hours left.

'ello friends (:

we had a pretty good night .. sawyer, paylou and i went to bed around 9:30pm while daddy stayed up for a bit playing playstation .. or xbox .. one or the other. neither baby wanted to go to bed .. but i finally calmed both down and we were all dreamin' away in minutes. i did have a lot of weird dreams last night though. i had a nightmare and woke up petrified. i got up and walked through the house checking all the doors .. which i found that the front door was unlocked .. and the door to the garage was locked but the actual garage door was up. really. hello serial killer .. come right on in. so needless to say at 6am this morning .. i made it known i was a little unhappy about that situation. sawyer slept through the night like he always does and payton did too! i woke up a few times to check on her to see if she was getting hungry but she was sound asleep. i got up this AM and got ready. i could hear her starting to wake up .. so i rushed and grabbed a bottle to warm up. i got ready, washed my hands and changed her. once her bottle was ready i woke jarrod up [a few times] and got them situated. [note .. this is when the talk about the previously mentioned incident happened] i LOCKED the door and headed to work.

jarrod called me at work and told me sawyer started crying again as soon as i left. aw. ''/ little pum'kin.

i got home around 12:30pm and ate some lunch and kissed the hubby goodbye. we had a good afternoon .. i had to wash 30975 bottles since the dishwasher is still broken [he comes tomorrow AM .. YAY] and cleaned up a bit. i noticed sawyer had these little bumps on his thigh so i called JMA and they think it's from his vaccine. i got some cortizone cream and they said to keep an eye on it. i also noticed that payton's eye was horribly red in the white area of her eye. i called the eye doctor and he called me back saying that it would be fine and there's nothing to do about it. he said it happens sometimes when he uses that instrument during the exams. ''/ breaks my heart.

well .. tomorrow is the big day. 27. twenty-seven. 2-7. this whole year i've thought i was turning 26 until jarrod reminded me that i .. indeed .. am already 26. sad. 26 is my favorite number .. and there it goes.

i have to go by the health department tomorrow. on my birthday. really. don't ask why i have to go there .. long story.

so we have a full month to still take the babies out and about. once RSV season gets here there will be no venturing out. we'll have to do it next RSV season as well. i rather be safe than sorry .. anyways .. shopping is nowhere on the map compared to the importance of my babies' health. forget going out!

so i've been going to the lake boone trail starbucks since i've been back to work and there's this guy there that comments on my accent like every-single-day. well .. i decided to go to the starbucks i went to every morning before getting preggers on blue ridge. it was SO nice! the 4 main people in the AMs that work there were so happy to see me! they even remembered my name and what i wanted! [i still can't decide if that's a good or bad thing] but it made me feel SO great! they didn't know i had been pregnant and just thought i stopped coming by. i didn't drink coffee while pregnant .. see i told you i did everything by the book .. so i guess i should've at least let them know so they didn't think i got hit by a bus or anything.

i believe that is about it for tonight. it's time to give the babies a bath and relax for a little bit. then when it's time to wake up .. i'll be the birthday girl .. and officially 27 at 8:26am .. on 8/26. i had good timing comin' into this world.

<3

eye'm crazy.

would it be ridiculous if i said i could/wanted to go to bed at 8pm? i am soooooooo tired and sleepy. ahh-mazing.

i woke up through out the night being paranoid payton would start crying to eat .. i know sawyer wont because that boy goes all night until about 8am .. but payton usually wakes up anywhere between 4am-6:30am. my alarm clock finally went off at 5:50am and payton was wiggling around in her co-sleeper. i quietly got up and got dressed .. made my way into the bathroom and got ready. by the time i was done she was awake and wanted a bottle .. i got that ready and warming while changing her and talking to her. apparently i am very animated and loud .. but it woke sawyer up and he just watched me finish getting ready. i woke jarrod up when the bottle was ready so he could feed her as i was walking out the door. as soon as i closed the front door jarrod said sawyer started screaming .. and didn't stop. needless to say .. jarrod was unhappy with my excitement with the babies at 6am.

work went well .. i got to talk to one of my favorite moms on the phone so that was nice.



okay. so that was the post from yesterday. i had to stop mid-post because things got kinda .. what's the word .. hectic!

SO.

TODAY:

i got up at 5am to feed payton and just stayed awake since i usually get up at 5:50am. you can imagine how out of it i am at this moment. i feel like i've been up for 2 days straight. in-sane!

work was great again today. i left at 11:30am and headed home to pick payton up to take her back to blue ridge so she could get her eye exam out of the way. they are still getting better and drew a picture for me .. they are getting considerably better from 2 weeks ago and he said "she's heading in the right direction!" and seemed pleased! YAY. i'm a freeeeak over the eyes. just ask any of the nurses and neonatologists. they know i'm crazy. but we go back in 2 weeks for another re-check. the doctor kept calling her 'him' and mind you .. she was dressed in flowers and a bow. really. i'm aware that i got the idea for the name 'payton' from 'peyton manning' .. but the little girl's name in the "game plan" was payton and the woman's name in 'the hand that rocks the cradle' was named payton .. although the last one .. was a little NUTS. anyways .. i hope she doesn't get too much grief over her name later in life. i love it and tried to pick something normal .. nothing like 'star' or 'cloud'. guess we should've gone with 'cloud'.

i got an e-mail from a nurse that took care of payton and sawyer today and there was a bit that i wanted to share because it really made my day.


‎"I think the two of you are still yet the "best" parents I've encountered over the last 23 years of NICU nursing."

wow. ahh-mazing. i'm so glad others can see how much jarrod and i love these two babies. i can't imagine my life without them. they are my everything.

as the 'birthday week' [i've never done the whole birthday week thing .. but jarrod said i get a birthday week .. and well i'm not going to argue with him on that one] and i was suppose to order the twins UNC outfits the other night for day 3 but couldn't find anything i loved. i think we'll wait and go to chapel hill this weekend and see what i can find there. yesterday for day 4 i got a starbucks card!! if you know anything about me .. i am addicted to starbucks. yes .. hello my name is amanda and i'm addicted to mocha frapps' .. seriously .. if there was some support group .. i would be in attendance. anyways .. i'm wondering what i'll get tonight. i'm kinda diggin' this whole 'birthday week' situation.

the man came to fix the dishwasher this morning .. and left us with a broken dishwasher. awesome. thanks. he will be back on thursday to actually fix it with the parts he needs.

so today .. i drove to raleigh twice and back to hillsborough twice. sometimes i wish i could pick the house up and move this sucker back to cary [ circa 1995 .. minus the 9729067209762 people that have moved there ] so we could be closer to all my friends and 90% of the NICU nurses. ''/ i kinda get sad that we have no friends out here .. especially ones with kids. [babies] not that we could be around them right now .. but i mean once the babies get a little older .. and hit that 1 year mark. i really want them to get accepted to grace christian .. and all the friends they make there .. will be at least 45 minutes away ''/ i guess we could find a good private school in chapel hill .. but still. i guess i should be thankful for having a place to call home .. but you catch my drift. any advice besides suck it up?

i haven't felt all that great the past couple of days. not sick or anything .. but dizzy .. lightheaded .. jittery [ is even a word? ] and today at the doctor's office i felt a little nauseous. no .. it's not what you're thinking .. i'm good for at least 5 years ;) so i don't know what is going on. maybe just nerves or something? i don't feel nervous or stressed ..

well i'm always stressed with these germs. i'm terrified the babies are going to get sick. hello, medication, i should probably get to know you.

oh .. i forgot .. i did see a mom that i met while in the NICU. i was so happy to see her since i washed out her e-mail she had given me in the washing machine. she said she had a lot of questions for me .. so i'm anxious to hear from her and see how her little girl is doing. i noticed she had a monitor and she said that the baby was still on O2. her baby was a littler earlier than payton and sawyer. i remember those days .. and so thankful they are done and over with. i'm sure she'll be ecstatic when she can get rid of those dreaded tubes. everyone say a little prayer for her.

i think that's about it .. but it's early in the day .. well .. early as in 5:30pm .. which at this point feels like 4am to me.

<3 love.

6 months old today!

i can hardly believe that we've spent a half of a year with our twins. it's gone by so fast. i have a feeling that it wont be slowing down any either. they are growing out of a lot of NB clothes .. which i love because it means they are getting chunkier but it also saddens me because it means they are growing up. i know .. silly.

today has consisted of laundry, laundry and more laundry. i loaded the dishwasher around 12pm and i've had to re-start it 4 times. i'm over it. it's not cleaning the dishes .. it's not releasing that tab and i have to wait an hour or so for it to finish. i open it up and wah-la .. dirty dishes. again. it's running now .. we'll see.

the twins are quite fussy. they have been for the past couple of days. they got their vaccines last week and since then they have just been really upset. i'm hoping they'll be okay soon and not so fussy. i was in the bathtub last night and all of a sudden both babies start crying and screaming and jarrod saying 'oh my goodness .. what in the world!?!?' and i died laughing hah. they were both fine and all of a sudden they both were beside themselves upset. it was craziness.

i've got to try and go to sleep early tonight. as in 10pm .. because 'true blood' comes on. it's the only show besides 'big brother' that can withstand my ADHD. i can't watch movies easily anymore because they don't hold my attention well. it's kinda a pain. anyways .. i only have 2508762 other things i need to be doing besides watching a movie.

i've been trying to find some cute UNC stuff for our photographs in september. everything i find online is like 12 months and up. i'm not sure what to do yet .. i mean hello .. it's the internet .. you can find 100 year old potato chips if you look hard enough. [not that i have ever looked for 100 year old potato chips .. i'm just sayin'. ]

i attempted to get on the treadmill tonight and that all but lasted 5 minutes. really .. 5 minutes. hey .. at least i gave it a shot .. two babies = no treadmill walkin'. instead of that i think i'll eat some pancakes and watch true blood in about 10 minutes :D fatty.

well .. that's about it for today .. talk tomorrow <3

bad blogger.

okay so i know i haven't updated since the 16th .. and that's just unacceptable. BUT i have good reasons ;)

i am now officially back at work! i am LOVING being back .. i've missed talking on the phone and scheduling appointments and seeing my co-workers. ohh and of course my morning starbucks venti mocha frapp :D i get home around 12:30pm and then jarrod heads off to the office. it works well.

i got paid for three days and spent the whole check on the babies hah. i got some cute stuff for their photography session with miss nichole coming up in september. i am SUPER excited!!! we've got to pick one for the announcement .. i know .. they've been here for 5 months .. but we wanted them to have some baby fat first before sending them out. did i mention that i am SUPER excited about this?! she's got some great ideas and it gives me butterflies thinking about the twins nekked hineys being photographed!

we had our appointment at the special infant care clinic last week and got to see dr. kicklighter. we haven't seen him since the 3rd week the twins were in the ICN .. so i got lots of hugs and he couldn't believe how great the babies look. it made me happy :D sawyer's umbilical hernia is getting much smaller and payton had a huge growth spurt. i couldn't ask for more!

last friday liz from the CDSA was suppose to come by the house to evaluate the twins to see if they need any therapy but she called me at like 11:30 [she was coming at 1:30] and said she had a cold and asked if we could re-schedule. a little more notice would've been greatly appreciated but i'm just glad she didn't come over under the weather. we made it for next wednesday at 1:30. dr kicklighter said that payton might need a little physical therapy since she is sill a little stiff in her legs .. but he said it wasn't anything to be worried over. the best part about friday was seeing grandma susan!!!!!! YAY!!!! i always enjoy when she visits .. it's amazing how much we miss seeing her every week ''/ i hate that we live so far away .. but she might be glad considering if we lived close i would be over at her house every other day hah.

jarrod, paylou, sawyerbug and i went to dinner at olive garden with the prices' the other night. we had a wonderful time and the babies did great. they sat us in the corner kinda away from everyone .. not that we asked .. but just got lucky. it was ahhh-mazing seeing them.

last week i got home from work and jarrod was feeding payton. well .. she started getting very splotchy and it scared me. we loaded up the car and headed back to JMA and dr jeffers took a look at her. he wanted us to go to wake med ER so we called grandma susan and i paged dr. tackman [GOT TO STOP] and both said it should be fine .. it can happen with babies born with low birth weight. as i was talking to dr. tackman i almost passed out because i was seeing payton's soft spot on her head going in and out. i had no idea that you could sometimes see a baby's heartbeat like that!! i thought i was going to die. of course she was just looking around and smiling .. so i came back to reality and figured that it wasn't bad because she was happy as can be .. but dr. tackman took a look at her. i don't know what we would do with him. i'm sure he'd be okay without me and my paranoia all the time though hehe.

we did take the twins for their 4 month shots. it was not fun. sawyer did pretty well .. he cried for a second until i picked him up and held him. payton .. well .. i'm surprised all of north carolina didn't hear her. she definitely wanted us to be aware that she was very disappointed in us and unhappy. they have been fussy for the past two days. ''/ but no fevers or redness .. so i'm happy about that.

i'm finding out a lot of people are pregnant lately. it makes me want to be pregnant. SIKE. no more babies for us penlands for a few years. i'm thinking maybe 5 years from now. that would be when the twins were in kindergarten and i could go back to work full time. we'll both need to be working full time because i want to send the twins to grace christian school .. [i've heard a lot of wonderful things about this school] and it would be close to JMA. i need something close so i can drop and pick them up before/after work. so we'll just have to see about more babies. i love it so much .. just a little worried about preterm labor. maybe my 'incompetent cervix' will be competent next time.

this upcoming week is going to be a busy one! monday is just regular work and routine .. tuesday is payton's eye exam [ poor girl ], wednesday is the CDSA appointment at home, thursday is my BIRTHDAY!! wahhhh-hooooo and then the weekend! good stuff.

jarrod has gotten me 6 things for my birthday for my birthday week. i mentioned to him that a week consisted of 7 days .. but he just gave me that look ;) i got a AWESOME pink razor for my first gift .. which i'm super happy over because i always steal his and .. well .. it's manly. today i got a gift certificate to planet beach so i can get my tan on! i look like i either haven't seen daylight in 4 years or i'm trying to audition for the new season of 'true blood'. [which comes on sunday night .. yayyy] so i'm really excited about that :D i wonder what i'll get tomorrow ..

so i promise i will start back writing every night before i go to bed at 9pm. there has been so much funny stuff that has happened over the past week that i would be writing all night long.

i will be better at this blogging situation.

love love love.

i haven't posted in days. so bad and unacceptable!

i promise i will tomorrow!!

you can just call me .. tired!

today was a lot of fun! i got up around 10am and fed both babies and got them all dressed and ready to go. i also packed an extra bottle of them since i knew we wouldn't be back home in three hours. jarrod came by the house to pick us up and we ran a couple of errands for my mother-in-law since we highjacked her car (: jarrod said my car should be ready by wednesday so i'm excited about that.

we went by carolina conceptions and saw dr park and nikki. there were a few new people there that i didn't recognize and most everyone was gone for the day by the time we got there ): we didn't get to see half of the people i wanted to see .. but we can always go back another time.

we headed to kamm mckenzie and saw lots of my favorite people! we got to see dr. privette and she held the babies .. i love her to pieces. we also saw meagan, amber, glenna, angi, lauren and a few other nurses that came by to peek at the twins. i had so much fun seeing everyone. i miss them .. it's weird because i was seeing them weekly .. and now i never get to see them. they're all wonderful.

after we left there i sat in the back and fed the babies while we headed to best buy for jarrod to run in. i was able to feed sawyer while he was in his car seat but with payton i couldn't. once we got stopped i could get sawyer out of his car seat and burp him. he was a happy boy. while i was trying to burp sawyer i pulled down payton's car seat handle that has her baby einstein toy that she LOVES. i took some pictures and i'll post them at the end. that kept her occupied until i had the chance to feed her.

after we left best buy we headed on home. it was about 6pm when we finally got back home. jarrod left to get some neosure and wipes and i started on my chores that i got behind on since we were gone all day. i'm finally caught up.

that was our day! it was so much fun and the babies loved seeing everyone.

i called CDSA since they are suppose to start coming out to evaluate the twins and work with them to make sure they are hitting their milestones etc. i left a message with melissa at wake med since i didn't know who to contact about this .. because i hadn't been contacted like i should've been. she called me back and gave me the name and number of the girl who is suppose to come out etc .. so i left a message with her. hopefully they can start coming out soon.

i didn't get to see my DVR'd big brother .. so i'm a little behind .. i shall watch it tomorrow before taking payton to her eye appointment. i love that show!

jarrod and i are getting our little salt water aquarium back in order so we can get a couple of fish. yes .. that means more mouths to feed .. but just two wont break the bank. hopefully. the main reason we're doing it is for the babies. they'll loooove it.

i miss my ICN ladies.

here's some pictures from today!

i love those sweet babies (: