The boys are asleep...

Connor and Caleb

Connor and Caleb

L going to visit her new school

It got real quiet one day, I walked into the living room to see what L was up to and this is what I found. Connor did not cry, he just kept hanging out.

L and mama got to go on a girls' date. This was L being super cute during our brunch.

Connor's whole face lights up when he smiles!

Being cute

Caleb talking and smiling away

Daddy holding -- can you tell which one?

And his baby girl.

So we will see how much of this post I can get done. These are just a few pictures we've been able to take lately. The boys are growing well, L loves being a big sister and with the maid coming and our Jenny, Mama is not going crazy.

Our most disappointing news is that when M and I moved to Okinawa, we planned all along to make a trip back to the states Nov. 2010 for M to run the NYC marathon. We also wanted to take a trip to KS/MO for my family to be able to meet the boys. (Well, when we moved we thought we were pregnant with one). But then we found out about twins....

Which meant buying an extra car seat, highchair, clothes, etc. Then we needed more help, so the maid and helper. Then with the extra ticket -- well you get the idea. We did not plan on twins when we planned a trip back to the states. Since I am not willing to commit to the stress of traveling on a Space - A (military flight) we are not coming back to the states. You see, if we try a military flight, we have to get up each day at about 3 am and be at the airport (with all the kids and all of our stuff). We hope and pray to be able to get a flight and if we don't, after waiting for 4 hours, we go back home to try again the next day. Then the flights only get us to Seattle, CA, etc. We would then have to buy a last minute ticket to get to NJ and that could be more $$$ than the ticket to get to the States. But we could get stuck on the West Coast for several days until we can get on a flight. If the kids were older, I would be all about this. Traveling alone with 3 kids 2 and under, there is NO WAY! So our disappinting news is that the whole family is not coming back. M will fly to NJ on his won, run the marathon and then come home. Since he gets about 2 weeks away, I stated that I get two weeks next year when the boys are bigger and don't need me all the time! Fair trade don't you think?

Babies are waking up so I am off to nurse (yes, 6 months of nursing!) and take care of my crew.

Prayer requests:

M is going to be gone a lot over the next 2 months, so we need prayers...mostly that I don't eat one of my young. ;)

These days

Some days are good around here and some days are not so good. Today was a good day. In fact, this has been an alright week. However, I think the biggest blessing and reason for bringing my mood up -- Caleb slept through the night last night! And not just the 5 hour block that Drs say is "through the night". That is NOT through the night in my book! He slept from about 10 pm until 7:00 am! Then to top it off, Connor only got up once through the night!!! So I woke up refreshed and renewed and looking at the world through brighter eyes. Typically I am getting up about 5 times each night with one various boy or the other, so it was AMAZING!

Now we have also figured out that Connor has reflux. So he started Zantac today and a friend provided some suggestions of things we can do on our own. So with the medicines and helps, Connor may just start sleeping even better. So I am hopeful that we are on our way to more and more sleep. Three years is a long time to go with only a few good nights sleep here and there.

At out 6 months Dr appointment this morning, the Nurse Practitioner didn't have any major concerns. Which was a huge relief since I have been a little stressed about how delayed the boys are physically. She said there were even a few areas where the boys were actually ahead of even what a 6 month old baby should be doing (their adjusted ages -- 4 1/2 months). The boys are growing well and doing well overall. They are still delayed, but making progress with PT and what we do with the boys after the PT leaves.

Other big news is that L is going to school. On Tuesday night, the night before we visited her school, she went to bed at 6:30. She was SOOO excited about going! When I went to get her the next morning, she jumped up on her bed shouting, "Lexi wake up, Lexi go to school!" Then she jumped up and down several times. She will be starting for one 1 -- 1/2 day on Sept. 3. Then she will be going for 3 -- 1/2 days the next week. After that she will be going 3 full days per week. She is so thrilled to talk about school and to get ready for it! She already has her backpack packed and ready to go. I hope she has the language skills of one of M's sisters (she spent 2 years in China and can speak fluently) and not my ability for languages.

M is getting ready to head back to the states to run the NYC marathon. He is running lots and getting very excited.

Those are our big goings on. Have a great day!

At the Habu snake/Cobra show

Dr. Fish -- the fish eat the dead skin off your feet

L being cute

L promoting M with Brandon's help

M swearing in

We had my dad and sister here for 3 glorious weeks! I was so grateful to have them come and help out with the circus that is our home. My brother has now decided that each time he walks out of our door, the Circus theme song should be playing...yeah we have lots going on.

While my dad was here we got to see lots of the island and eat all over too. My dad LOVES to eat different/unusual/new foods so we tried to get in as many places as we could. One restaurant was a Garlic House -- fried garlic, baked garlic, fried potatoes, garlic and cheeses and on and on with the garlic recipes. Oh man, it was yummy!

We visited the Aquarium, a Butterfly garden, Fruit Land, Okinawa World and several other places I am forgetting. It was such a pleasure to be able to get out and enjoy where we are living. When our other visitors were here we had too much going on with sick/quarantined preemie babies. Having the boys older who could tag along was great. The little ones and I only went out and about every other days so they could rest (and I could rest) but we still were able to do lots.

Along with the sites, Matthew was promoted to Chief Warrant Officer 2! Matthew chose to have my brother help Lexi pin daddy's new rank on.

Let's see - other goings on. We have help coming two days/week. Our Jenny comes to help us hold babies and occupy L. She has Children's Lit background, so she has been recruited to read like crazy to little L.

The boys have started PT and are coming along. Mama has lots of movements that she has to practice with the boys, but they are making progress from week to week. In fact, we are already moving the PT sessions from one time per week to every other week. Caleb has also started baby rice cereal. Connor will hold off a couple of weeks on the cereal but has made baby progress in other areas.

The boys both have Opthamology appointments on Tuesday. Each one of them has a lazy right eye so we have figure out what to do about that.

L is also going to visit a Japanese preschool on Wednesday! She is so excited about going to school and we are so excited about her learning to speak Japanese. We hope this will be a fantastic experience for her.

This note is very disorganized, but the boys still get up 3 -5 times per night and I am up around 7 with L...so on little sleep, this is as good as it gets for now.

Have a great day!