HALLOWEEN 2007

IT'S A BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kevin and I have been blessed with a third boy! We are so excited!!! All day we have been talking about how much fun it is going to be the parents to three boys. Kevin keeps telling me how cool it is that he will have his foursome in golf! :) Our new little guy is in the 70th percentile and growing very well. It was so nice to have a fun ultrasound with all good news. Thanks for your continued prayers. XOXOXO

Happy Birthday Jake & Ben!!!

"STANDING" in the crib is much more

fun than "SLEEPING" in the crib!

Quick Update

Ben: He had an ecocardiogram and a chest x-ray this week and so far we just have the results of the x-ray back. The pulmonologist said everything looked perfect. The doctor wants to make sure he is doing OK with out his medication and so far, so good!

Jake: Poor Jake was in the ER this weekend with his first real sickness. He had croup! It was just awful. I have never heard such a noise come out of a human being before. It broke our heart to see him so sick. We were up North for the weekend so we had to take him to a foreign ER. Luckily, we were in good hands and they were great with Jake. After several late nights of steamy bathrooms and coughing attacks, he is doing much better. Luckily, Ben did not get sick.

Baby K.: We find out what we are having on Sept. 25th. I have no feeling either way. I actually did have a feeling with the boys that there was at least one boy in there. We are anxiously awaiting the big appointment! :)

If you get a minute, check out my new project. Some of my girlfriends and I started a mom's group. We even created a blog.

ninemonthsandforver.blogspot.com

:) Danielle

Our first visit to a restaurant with the boys!

(Jake and Ben's first "chaperoned" double date!)

We finally got the green light to take the boys out to a restaurant from our pulmonologist! It was so much fun. It was definitely hard work though. We went with friends so fortunately, we had extra hands to help us! We really cherish these little things that we get to do with the boys. Every new adventure is soo exciting!

Mom trying to entertain Jake at the restaurant!

Ben's first kiss, other then from mommy! :)

THANK YOU!!!

Kevin and I have been contemplating stopping the blog on the boy's 1st birthday. We were starting to feel like it is pretty boring for most of our awesome readers. Which is a good thing...we like boring. Boring means uneventful!!! :) However, when I read the comment from KH under the comments section of our last post...I felt a change of heart. KH, I will say lots of prayers for your little guy. Ben was in the 3rd percentile for most of the pregnancy and look him now!! He is small, but mighty!!! He is actually ahead in development and soooo active! My thought is, that babies who struggle in utero are born fighters!!! I can see it in Ben!! He is on a mission!! Both of my boys are fighters!! They are going to make their mark in this world...there is no doubt in my mind. Ok...I am bias!! I really believe that their strong will, will take them great places...as it will with your little fighter!! Please keep us posted! Like I mentioned earlier, reading your comment inspires me to continue the blog. While on bedrest, I inundated myself with positive stories that I read on the TTTS message board or other blogs. I loved reading success stories. Jake and Ben are now the ones to pass on this wonderful gift...the gift of HOPE!! :)

Update on our 3rd little peanut: He/she is doing really well! I am currently 13 weeks and feeling great. The endocrinologist is hopeful I will be able to lower my medication dosage soon. I am anxious to stop taking all of these drugs. I don't even like to take Tylenol while pregnant...let alone PTUS!!

We are starting to plan Jake & Ben's 1st birthday party. We are really excited! We are doing a baseball theme. Go figure!! We just can't believe this day is approaching soo0 fast! The boys are growing like weeds and taking off in development. They both are crawling (Jake does an army crawl thing still) and Ben is pulling to standing. They are doing lots of self-feeding and talking (babbling) up a storm! They talk to each other a lot too. It is really sweet.

Thanks again for being a part of our life and lending your support!

Danielle, Kevin, Jake, Ben & Baby K.!

Jake & Ben, 10 Months Old

Doesn't Ben look like he is catching up! He has been off of his diuretics for over a month and is doing great!! Jake continues to grow, grow, grow!! Ben is 17 pounds and Jake is 21 pounds!

Overall, the boys are doing great! I have been feeling a little under the weather...I guess that is what happens when you are 11 weeks pregnant! YEA, you heard me...PREGNANT! We are very excited and a bit nervous. We were planning on waiting another year or two before trying but God has a different plan for us! We feel very blessed! Other then a random diagnosis of hyperthyroidism, the pregnancy seems to be going very well. Ohh and there is just ONE little peanut this time! :) I am not too happy about being on meds for the hyperthyroidism but my doctor keeps reassuring me that once the condition is under control, everything should be fine. Please keep baby K in your prayers!!

Hope you are enjoying your summer! XOXO

Danielle & Kevin

Jake watching daddy play baseball and wishing he could play!

Grandma and Ben watching Daddy play baseball!

Poor Jake did not warm up to

the sandy beach right away!

Ben loving the sandy beach!!

This is one of our wonderful nurses...Michelle!

She had the boys on the day they were born and the day

they left the NICU- both very special days! :)

NICU Graduation Party!

We were so excited to see baby Ava!! She was born at 25 weeks weighing one pound, 4 ounces! The four of us spent a lot of time together in the NICU! She is doing great and is so adorable!!

Jake & Ben's Baptism

What a special day!! The weather, the ceremony, the food and the company were perfect! We had about 35 people to the house for a luncheon after the ceremony. I was a little nervous about how the boys would do with all of the people... seeing as how we have not taken them out at all! I realized today that I have two social butterflies on our hands!!! They had so much fun with the big crowd! They interacted and embaraced the family!

They had the time of their life and so did we!

The boy's God Parents

Bryan, Kim, Jake, Nicole, Josh & Ben

Aunt Ann Marie, Ben, Cousin Erin and Jake

We enjoyed our first Memorial Weekend up North with the boys! It was great to spend time with our family and see our neighbors! We went boating, sat by the bonfire, ate unhealthy food, and LOVED having the boys out in the summer sun...with sun block of course!!! :)

Dad teaching them the ropes about life on the lake!

Ben & Jake's first time on the jet ski!

No rides this time...just a quick pose! :)

Grandma, Grandpa, Jake, & Ben enjoying the beautiful day!

Gramps and the boys!

Sophia celebrating Memorial Day!

Uncle Bryan and Cousin Sophia

The long day at the zoo was exhausting for Jake!! :)

Big Jake!

Aunty Nicki and Ben at the zoo!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

We had such a great day! The boys were extra good today!!! :) :)

I spent the day with my mom last night and spent the day with my mother-in law today!

We had a lovely brunch and lots of great family bonding time!

This was a very special day!

Aunty Nicki and cuddle bug Jake!

Jake & Ben at 7 1/2 months old!

The boys are doing very well. Ben is 13 1/2 pounds and Jake is 18 pounds. We took Ben to the pulmonoglogist last week and they are very happy with his progress. He does have a cough that they are not happy about so they suggested an inhaler. We told our pediatrician about this and she actually thought this was unnecessary...so we are not sure what we are going to do?? She told us that specialist often treat aggressively. They are quick to medicate. She knows Ben well and thinks his cough is nothing to be concerned about. So once again, the decision is left in our hands. We are going to do some research and go from there.

Thank you for staying in touch and we hope all is well! :) :)

Ben & Jake's Nursery!!!

At 7 months old, the boys finally are able to enjoy their nursery!
It has been so fun putting it together!
We did a nautical theme with light blue, navy and white colors.

Jake in his crib!

Ben in his crib!

Do we look identical?

Great Grandma Stephens, Jake & Ben