Today, we went to play with some triplet friends! They will be a year old in a few weeks, which means there were 5 very mobile babies and only 2  mommies! It was a lot of fun though! I was interested to see how Addison and Fischer interacted with other babies... at first all 5 kind of stared at each other. They slowly began to play with the same toys, crawl over each other, etc. We are hopefully going to their first birthday party so they can play again!

In other baby news... Addison has started saying some new sounds this week! These include ba, ma, and na. She only says them when she is upset and/or crying though, so it comes out more like "Aaah na na na, aaaaah, ma ma ma, aaaah, ba, aah, da" and so on. :) I'm still excited she is finally saying "ma ma" mixed in with all of the other sounds.

Also, both babies now think it's very funny to throw their pacis out of the crib so Bo will get them. We've had a problem with Bo getting them off the floor and not wanting to give them back.  So now that the babies are willingly giving their pacis to Bo, the problem isn't getting much better. Addison laughs so hard when she sees Bo holding her paci in his mouth. I guess this is just another reason to get rid of the pacis sooner rather than later! They are just getting them in their cribs, car seats and stroller now, so I suppose we are making some progress.  Our goal is to have them completely off by their birthday, so we have a little time...

Today, November 17, is Prematurity Awareness Day. You can go to www.marchofdimes.com/fightforpreemies to learn more!

When I got pregnant, I didn't think I would have premature babies. I did think they would come a little early, which is normal for twins. I was hoping they would come around 37 or 38 weeks. Instead they were born at 35 weeks. We were very lucky that Addison and Fischer had to go to the Level 2 nursery rather than the NICU. And they spent only 8 days in the hospital.  Their main challenge while there was learning to suck. They can't be sent home until they can drink from a bottle. Until they learned how to do that, they were fed through a feeding tube that went in through their noses. They finally showed the nurses they were ready to remove the tubes permanently when they both pulled out their tubes on the same night!

Things could have been much different for us.  I went into preterm labor at 28 weeks, and spent the next 7 weeks on bedrest.  I was 4 cm dilated at 28 weeks, so I think everyone thought the babies were coming very soon. The babies stayed in long enough so I could receive the 2 steroid shots, and then they stayed in for much, much longer.

While it was hard to go home without our babies, we knew they were getting the best care possible while in the hospital. And there is something comforting knowing they are being watched 24 hours a day. Bringing them home was scary, but also very exciting.  Our main challenge when we got home was keeping them warm. They were still very small so it really was a challenge!

I am thankful for the March of Dimes and the research they do. Without it, I think our lives would be much different right now! Here are some then-and-now pictures!

As you know, Fischer does not crawl on his hands and knees, but scoots around on his stomach.  When he crawls like this, he pushes off on his elbows and wrists. Today I saw a tiny little bruise on one of his wrists. He doesn't seem bothered by it, but I hate that he's bruishig himself! It certainly didn't slow him down at all today.

Also, because of his crawling style, his diapers have started to leak. Since he slides along on his stomach, it slowly loosens and pulls down the front of his diaper, and before we know it, his clothes are soaking wet.  I am going to have to start tightening the tabs every so often while he's crawling in between diaper changes. He had to change clothes 3 times today!

On another note, I managed to get a picture of his little teeth - you can sort of see them in this picture. Scott had to make him laugh while I took the picture.

Today was such a nice day, so we took the babies back to the swings in our neighborhood. They were still a little small last time we took them, but they did pretty well today.  Addison really liked sitting all the way forward in the swing, and of course she was smiling until I got out the camera and then she stopped, but they both seemed to have a good time!

I've been letting the babies explore the house more and more now that they are crawling. It's good exercise for them, and it keeps them entertained for awhile. They were staying in the kitchen but they are getting brave and taking off into the other rooms! I've had to bring in the baby gate (that we bought for the dogs) and put it at one entrance of our kitchen. At least that keeps them a little bit contained.  The other side of our kitchen is very open to the living room so there really isn't a good way to block that off, except for buying one of the extra long baby gates.

You would think the hard floors would slow them down a little, but they don't even seem to notice.  Last night, they discovered that they could see outside through the kitchen door, so they sat and watched Sassy eat her dinner.

And here they are going in opposite directions (of course):

They also had some puffs in their highchairs, and I gave them each a spoon to practice/play with:

And Bo and Sassy were waiting on some food to fall:

Putting them in their highchairs with some puffs is a nice way of keeping them in once spot for at least 15 minutes! It keeps them entertained and I am able to sit for a minute or two.  Scott gets home today - he's been gone since Tuesday morning.  I know I'm ready to have an extra pair of hands and Addison and Fischer are ready to see their Daddy!

I finally got Addison and Fischer on video while crawling - each in their own way :) 

Addison and Fischer recently had their pictures taken! They are finally up online. If you want to look at them, go to www.blueskypictures.org, then click on Order Online at the bottom of the screen. Then click on Komarnicki. Just enter your email where it asks for the password, and then you can look at the pictures! We are very pleased with how they turned out! I'm already planning our next photo shoot. :) 

It's Veteran's Day. A day to remember and thank those who have served, or are serving, our country! 

Since it's Veteran's Day, I thought it would be a good time to tell you a little history about Scott and me.  We met in May, 2002. My friend Melissa and I moved into a duplex and he lived next door! We became friends but didn't start dating until nearly a year later in March, 2003. After dating for only 9 months, we got engaged in December. Those who know me know that I love weddings, so I began to plan immediately.  We set a date for October 23, 2004 - a fall wedding had always been a dream of mine! 

Our plans changed in January. Scott was in the Navy Reserves (a Navy Seabee), so we really weren't expecting him to get deployed.  He got the news in January that he would have to go somewhere. At first he heard it would be Rota, Spain, and this didn't seem so bad! I was even excited about the chance to go to Spain.  However, he then found out he'd be going to Iraq, and leaving in February. He called me at work to tell me the news (why he called me at work, I'll never know!) and I had to be sent home early. I couldn't think, and it's all I could do to talk. I probably shouldn't have even driven home! 

We discussed the possibility of getting married before he left. This would make things easier on me (I could get information on him easier as his wife), and we thought it would be something special to do.  We weren't 100% sure yet, but went ahead and got our marriage license, just incase.  Scott found out that he'd be going to Mississippi for training on February 27, 2004, then he would leave from there for Iraq sometime in March.  He called me at work (again!) on Thursday, February 19 and said that if we wanted to get married in time for all the paperwork to go through, it'd have to be done by Friday - the next day!!! We had already decided by this point it was something we wanted to do, so we had to act fast. I called Melissa, and we went to the mall so I could buy something that would be my wedding dress! 

Scott and I lived in Columbia at the time, so on Friday we drove to Kiawah Island so we could get married on the beach. I never imagined that I would be riding to my wedding (after a wedding lunch at Hardee's) with my husband-to-be.  At first we were going to have family and close friends there, but the number of people coming got very large, so we decided that it would just be the 2 of us. We knew we wanted to do a bigger wedding once he got home, so we told everyone that they would be invited to that one to help us celebrate.  So, at 5:00 p.m. on February 20, 2004, we got married right by the water.  My mom had ordered white tulips to be delivered to our hotel so that I would have flowers to carry. And while we were having the ceremony, a photographer happened to be walking up and down the beach taking pictures of the scenery, so he offered to take pictures for us. He sent them to us with the negatives for free. Thank God for him, or we would not have any pictures of that day except for the couple we took with our own camera. We then celebrated with dinner. We spent the night in Kiawah Island, then had to head home the next day. This was certainly not the wedding I'd always dreamed of as a little girl, but it was very special and very personal since it was just the two of us there.

A week later, Scott left for Gulfport, Mississippi. I was able to go see him once there before he left for Iraq. He left in March and was stationed in Fallujah, Iraq for 7 months. We were lucky because he had access to email, so I at least got an email from him almost everyday. He returned to Mississippi, then got to come home to Columbia in October! I was in Mississippi waiting for him when he got off the plane. I'm pretty sure that was the happiest day of my life (other than Addison and Fischer being born). 

While he was gone, I planned our "reaffirmation" ceremony, which was on April 2, 2005, complete with a huge celebration/reception!  We had a wonderful time with our friends and family that day! 

I am very proud of Scott for what he did for our country, and I know Addison and Fischer will be once they are old enough to understand what he did!