White Christmas

We had a wonderful holiday season. Beautiful weather (if you like snow), lots of family time and great food!!

Tate and Tara didn't really understand what all the fuss was about, but they loved playing with the new toys (and boxes!)

Gage was SO EXCITED about Santa. And since he was such a good boy this year Santa left him many, many new toys.

We made a lot of stops during our Christmas weekend including my Grandma Brooks' house where we took a picture of Grandma with two sets of twins. There are three sets in our family; my uncles, my cousins, Kacey and Lacey and my twins.

We also ate lunch with Aubie's Aunt Sue and her family. They spoiled us with pies and presents!!

We spent time with my parents, my brother and his wife, Beth. Shane and Beth are expecting their first child in July 2010 so we had a wonderful time dreaming of what next Christmas will be like with another baby in the house!!

Saturday afternoon we braved the icy roads and went to Aubie's mom's house. Robert, Susan and their three girls, Catey and her two boys were all there to open presents and watch the chaos!

After all of that traveling and play, Tate was too tired for dinner!!

Fall

We had our first family pictures made last weekend. It was wild and hectic, but the memories will be worth it! Everything is going very well here (knock on wood!!) Tara is still taking a few steps, here and there, but she's not up to a mile per day like we thought she would be. She had a chicken pox scare last week, but it turned out to be hand-foot-mouth virus which was still hard on her, but it cleared up much faster and was much less severe than the chicken pox. Tate is cutting more teeth (he has two on bottom, one on top and is getting another on bottom! A little unorthodox in pattern, but they will all show up eventually!) He had his first dose of antibiotics last week for an ear infection (he finished his antibiotics the day Tara got sick!!) He also had another asthma flair up, but we were able to get it under control quicker than before and without oral steroids. Gage is SO excited about visiting Aryn, Addy and Ainsley for Thanksgiving. He truly thinks those girls hung the moon (as do we). He is doing so well in school and is getting taller every day (as evident by the length of his jeans!!) Aubie's schedule has slowed down, finally, so we are enjoying more family time which is a WONDERFUL thing!

I found this picture on Aubie's computer. It is the last picture taken of me before the twins were born. I look slightly uncomfortable, don't you think?!!! This was Gage's 4th birthday party, which was exactly one week before Tate and Tara were born. We measured my "waist" that week and it was 44"!! Time truly slips away from you...

NO WAY!!

The twins will be 10-months old tomorrow. And Tara is walking. Seriously! Aubie's cousins, Lori, Chelsea and Chloe, came over tonight. Tara has always been fascinated with Lori (LoLo). Well tonight Tara let go of the couch, stood up for a minute then took off walking to her!! IT WAS CRAZY! She took 2 steps the first time, 3 steps the second time and then 2 steps back towards Gage. I'll try to get pictures tomorrow. Goodnight.

Happy Halloween!!

We had a great time at Gage's FIRST school party and trick or treating. We had two days of candy and fun!!

9 months old...ALREADY?!

This post is long past due, but I've been a little under the weather. (Nothing a strong antibiotic and zyrtec couldn't cure!!) Currently, at this moment, we are all healthy. Gage's babysitter was diagnosed with H1N1 yesterday, so we are closely monitoring everyone!!

Tate and Tara went for their 9 month check up last Friday (October 16). Tara has grown SO MUCH in the last 3 months!! She is 28"long and weighs 18 lbs 2 oz! She has packed on 3" and 5 lbs in 90 days! She has 6 teeth (4 top, 2 bottom) and her first word was "dada." She is speed crawling, pulling up on everything, cruising around stuff and standing, very briefly, on her own. She and Gage crawl-race around the living room and she has actually come very close to beating him. She recognizes the word "no" and has started fake crying when she hears it. Too cute! Her favorite activity is GETTING INTO CABINETS!! Definitely time to baby-proof everything!

Tate is still our chubba-bubba. He is 28 1/4" long and weighs 21 lbs 6 oz. We're trying more meds to control his asthma. He's currently taking Singulair and Pulmicort daily and using his albuterol as needed, which is usually twice daily. {Please say a quick prayer that he is one of the millions of children that "grow out of" asthma...I don't want it to affect his ability to play with friends or participate in activities.} He has 2 bottom teeth and he has the cutest giggle! Luckily he is a very happy baby so every where we go people comment on his adorable laugh!! His first official word was "up" which he started saying when he was finished eating and wanted out of his highchair. Now he says it anytime someone walks by him!! He can crawl but he doesn't do it often. He's usually content just watching everyone else!

Gage got his first report card and it was nearly perfect. He also had his first school pictures which are very cute but they made me sad...he looked like a big kid!! He is so excited about Halloween and all the parties that are coming up.

Nothing new. YAY!

Everyone is healed up and we're getting back to our version of normal. Tate is on his preventative asthma medicine and seems to be handling it well. I've added some new pictures. The twins have started eating fresh fruit and yogurt. They're favorites are bananas and grapes. Gage took a picture with his kitten (which unfortunately is no longer with us) and his favorite book that he got at the Jenks aquarium. Have a great week.

All is well...currently

It has been a looooong 10 days. It started a week ago Wednesday. Tara woke up with a 103.5 fever and vomiting. I took her to the doctor and he said it was either a) a virus or b) the flu. Either way, we needed to just watch it closely and let it run its course. Thursday afternoon Tate had to be picked up a daycare because he was running a 102.5 fever. Friday was full of sick, cranky kids. Saturday I woke up not feeling well and running a low fever. Sunday I was miserable so Aubie called the grandparents for help and I stayed in bed all day. Everyone was patched up enough to go back to work/daycare Monday. Tate's asthma was aggravated by the sickness so I took him to the doctor Wednesday and we began oral steroids. Once this flair-up is settled, we will start a daily preventive medicine to help get us through the winter without many more problems (hopefully). Thursday Aubie was running a fever and felt horrible. But right now, today, everyone feels better!!! Gage is the only family member that did not catch this bug (guess it shows who has the toughest immune system!!)

And during this whole escapade, Tara cut both of her top, front teeth!! Talk about bad timing!! She now has 4 teeth and she will use them on you if given the chance...yeah, we're working on learning the word "no."

The new is wearing off

We are slowly adapting to all of our "new." Gage's new school schedule. He attends all day pre-k so he gets dropped off at school at 7:50 and he rides the bus to Kallie's house (his babysitter) where I pick him up at 4:30. It's a loooong day, but he is adapting very well and he seems to enjoy all aspects of his "new" weekday.

Tara's new moves. Our sweet daughter is crawling and GETTING INTO EVERYTHING!! She is army crawling, which is adorable but rough on her knees! She likes to play with the dirty shoes by the front door and she likes to crawl under the kitchen table (where she gets stuck and screams until we save her). She likes to try to get into the refrigerator, the entertainment center, the closet...basically anywhere that has a door that prohibits her entrance!! She is hilarious.

Tate's new voice. He has learned to screech and he is repeating sounds. He'll repeat "uh oh" and "hi." It's soooo cute! The screech is NOT SO CUTE!! You'd think his toes were being pinched off the way he carries on. He is still smiley and easily entertained. He is such an easy baby.

Here are a few new photos. We took all the kids to have their pictures taken yesterday. There is a reason we haven't taken all 3 of them before! It was wild, but the pictures turned out nice so it was worth it.

Small fry

We are very fortunate to have 3 healthy kiddos. So many things can go wrong with pregnancies and infants that it is truly amazing any of us are "normal" (physically normal...I am, in no way, implying that we are a normal family!!!) People often look at me with questioning eyes when I talk about Tara being small. I'm not saying she's ill. I'm not saying she is suffering from a bizarre disease. I am simply stating that she is a very petite girl. Maybe she'll take after Aub and have insane, super-human metabolism!! Whatever the case, she is an adorable baby with tiny features and a big personality!


Here's my point...most babies wear clothing that is associated with their age. Zero to three month clothes are typically worn by children who are 0-3 months of age.









Tara is 7-months, 6-days old and can still wear 0-3 month clothes.











But, to make up for her small stature, she is spirited and spunky (politically correct terms for wild and stubborn!!) She loves stealing toys and trying to bite Tate. She scratches the couch and spits out her food. All followed by an adorable smile and heart melting giggle!




It's the beginning of The Adventures of Small Fry!

Summer is over...

Gage loves pre-K. He has yet to shed a tear over the entire situation. (As for Mom, well, I've used an entire box of tissues!) Gage enjoys class, especially art time. He takes his lunch in a big Spiderman lunch box that is tucked safely inside his Go Diego Go backpack. It's definitely a little boy ensemble!

The boys watching cartoons before school.


Gage leaving our house.


In his classroom.

11 years

Yesterday was our 11th wedding anniversary. Yes, I got married when I was young (like 14...that would mean I was still in my 20's, so we'll go with it!! LOL!) The kids spent the afternoon with my parents so we could go out to eat at a "grown up" restaurant. It was nice to have an uninterrupted meal!! Aubie was laughing, saying that if someone had told him on our wedding day that in 11 years he'd have a 4 year old, twin babies and all the craziness that comes with it, he would have called them a liar!! It will be neat to see what the next 11 years holds for us.

The kiddos are doing great. TATE FINALLY HAS TEETH!!! Both bottom teeth broke through on Thursday. He's in a much better mood now! Tara is somewhat mobile. She's not technically crawling, but she wiggles and worms around until she gets where she wants to be...which is usually around stuff she doesn't need! Tate has outgrown his infant carrier, so I'm moving him to a convertible car seat today. It doesn't seem possible that they have grown this much!

Gage starts pre-K Wednesday. He's ready. I am not! I'll post "first day of school" pictures soon.

Just another day

There isn't anything too exciting happening around the Keesee house. At this moment everyone is healthy, happy (actually sleeping) and things are just "normal." And we are SO thankful!! It's a wonderful relief to not have any drama that must be dealt with or any major stresses that must be handled. It's an amazing feeling great to have the day-to-day regular stuff with nothing out of the ordinary. It's like we finally have a moment to catch our breath.

Here are a couple of pictures of the twins. Tate still hasn't gotten a tooth yet. Poor, poor kid! His gums were bleeding today, so I'm sure we're very close. I've also included a picture of Aubie and Gage. It's been mentioned that there are no new pictures of me on here (as the author of this blog I get final editing privileges!!!) so I will try to post some very soon.