Happy Heart Party for All Children's Hospital!

Yesterday was an awesome day. We went to the Happy Heart Party in St. Petersburg to benefit All Children's Hospital and celebrate being a cardiac patient of All Kids in the past. Plus, Taste of Pinellas was going on too. We had all we could eat at the Heart Party for free...so we did not eat much at the TOP, but it was still good. It was a beautiful day on the water. Of course it was hot & sunny, but the park had plenty of shade and the breeze was perfect - plus, no humidity! We went with Grandpa Pickles & Nonnie Bonnie, and of course Dad joined too;) Happy Christening Day to "cousin" Annie too. We wish we could have been there & cannot wait to see pictures:)

It was so great to see Drs. Martinez & Dadlani, and our favorite nurse, nurse Peggy. Dr. Martinez was the doctor who diagnosed Raleigh's condition while he was still in Sarasota's NICU and ordered him to be transported to All Kids. Dr. Dadlani was our cardiologist while in the hospital and was seriously one of the best doctors; he always took the time to explain everything in detail, but in detail we could understand! Nurse Peggy, well she did a lot of nursing for Raleigh, but almost more importantly, was a big emotional help to Matthew while he was at All Kids and I was in Sarasota still waiting to be discharged. She is truly amazing and we are so blessed to know nurse Peggy and have been cared by her!!!

Here are two pictures with Nurse Peggy. First with Raleigh on the day he got to come home (4/12/08). And then with Raleigh for the first time since we left All Kids. Needless to say, Rals sure has changed!


Grandpa Pickles with Rals & Gus - the best high chair we could ask for;)

Raleigh running with his new puppy that even barks. He just started the sign language for puppy the night before...which is basically to pant like a dog. SO CUTE!! I will have to get a video of course;)

Beautiful location, no?

Augustus was looking on at Raleigh getting hugs from Peggy...he wanted one too. Raleigh getting ice cream from the grandies. Only the grandies can get away with it!

Augustus showing off his new shirt by me, which says "my heart belongs to All Children's Hospital." Really we love that place & always will! Raleigh watching the weirdo clown that was trying to get in our pictures.

Video (PRESS PLAY) of the boys walking the 'hood. This is NOT our grass...so please do not judge (Matthew would be mortified by anyone thinking it is our grass). It is the easement to our little pond.

Raleigh Getting Better at Walking

First - Happy Birthday to Auntie Peta again from the boys!!!
Second, we miss Nonnie, but we hope you enjoy your last day of vacation with Alexander!


Here are a few videos of Raleigh walking a bit better.

Monday's attempt

Today's attempt


Augustus is trying too, but he just does not have the core strength yet. He leads too much with his Buddha, I mean belly! Augustus did make it up one step of the slide today & shimmied up enough to slide down head first! A first in our household...Augustus does not like something we presented him to eat. Grilled cheese of all things! He would chew it, spit it out, chew it again until the bread was fully soft & then he would eat it. I guess he did not like the two textures together!!!

Raleigh's newest trick is making kissy sounds (which he did today while talking to Auntie Peta) & using his hand to make a "come here" signal, which I call "gimmy gimmy" since he does it mostly when he eats!!!

They had their shots yesterday afternoon to help prevent the RSV. We only have one more set to go for this year...thankfully. They were crying when I pulled their stroller up to the scale at the doctor's office. They totally knew what was coming. Unfortunately, they have their one year check up coming soon too! Poor boys have bruises in both of their thighs since they are so big now they have to break the shot up into two separate shots. Augustus weighed in at an even 24 pounds, OMG! Raleigh is still svelte at 21.8. Both boys slept really well after getting shots & having a play date earlier in the day yesterday. Hoping they sleep as well tonight. On that note, this mommy is heading for bed!

Fast Cars, Good Times

Raleigh & Gus


Holding hands...or pull my finger?

Gus with a serious fro going on, this is what speed does.

This afternoon was so nice out, as was yesterday, so we had the boys outside. Daddy was home to do some yard cleanup (notice all the clippings!!!). Of course, I was dragging them around in their cars, and then daddy took over...with Grandpa Pickles. Here is a video of the boys with arms flailing, and hair flying. Too funny!

Also, the video shows how much better Raleigh is getting at walking. This is only a few days after he took those first brave steps. I know that should mean Gus will be right there tomorrow;)

The aquarium was a blast with all the kids, although, a bit of a reality check for me. The boys are much faster than the last time we were there & I brave enough to let them out for a wonder. This time we even let them hang out in the outdoor play area. Why is it that my boys are the only ones who will pick up any piece of dirt, leaf, twig, etc.? Oh yeah, because they are boys! Speaking of boys being boys, Augustus was totally hitting on the three year old that was with us at the aquarium, Miss A. Raleigh, well, he made the rounds. I think he went up to each and every girl we had with, that is a total of five! Playa!

Good times!

Not to be Outdone, Video of Augustus Trying to Walk

It has been more difficult to catch Gus walking on film, but we have a short video of him bypassing dad and walking to me holding the camera, of course it all ends with a big jump to my arms. Augustus started trying to walk only hours after Raleigh, and now they want to do it all the time. Nonnie got to see it first hand when Augustus first saw her since learning his newest trick; he walked about 6 steps to her to greet her! They are still only really comfortable walking from an object to a person, but it is fun to see them try to work up the nerve to walk without us being close by. They are getting better at standing on their own as well.

Today we are going to the park, and tomorrow we are meeting up with three other sets of twins at the aquarium. Usually it is only three of us that go, so this should be quite the adventure with nine kids (four sets of twins and an older sister) and four mommies! Fun times indeed;)

Raleigh Takes his First Steps & the Strawberry Festival

So, today the boys went to Nonnie & Pickles for the morning and when we got home they needed a nap. That lasted only 30 minutes, and since we spent most of the day yesterday in car seats & the stroller we were up and going full steam. Raleigh surprised us all by taking a few steps on his own from the window to Mommy! Amazing. He is really close to walking now that he is brave enough to just go on his own like this. Daddy caught it on film. In the posted video you can see it is short, but everyone has to start somewhere. So exciting and scared to death at the same time. Here is the video, along with a few pics from the Strawberry Festival yesterday. Last video is a short one of the boys loving on each other...or trying to bite, not really sure!

Other highlights include Augustus' new game of laying down, throwing his head into his arms with his butt in the air if he knows he should not be doing something. Too cute. They understand things so much better. I can ask them "where is the ball" and they both look around the playroom & go find it. Then tackle it, lick it, bite it, and play with it. It is so awesome to see comprehension!!!

Video of Raleigh taking a few steps - sorry for the LOUD Wisconsin accent I pulled out of no where!!!

Dad with Gus & Raleigh in front of the berries, so hot that day, today nice & cold!

Dad & the boys in front of one of many food stands...I ate fried Wisconsin cheese, and we shared a strawberry shortcake. The flat of berries we took home were amazing. Matthew made some homemade ice cream we will enjoy later;)

Festive hair dos!

Good Brothers...Raleigh's walking attempt at the end of this video was more of just throwing himself, but he is trying;)

Yummy berries, and the "art" along I-4

Gasparilla for Kids

So this afternoon Matthew & I took the boys to the Children's Gasparilla Parade. This was our first experience with Gasparilla, although we have been in the Tampa area for years. We were slightly disappointed, but heck, it was beautiful out and the sun was shining on us, so can we really complain? No!!! Next year we know to go earlier, but this year we had to wake up Raleigh from a nice nap to get there for any of the celebrations. Their web site for those of you who do not know about Gasparilla: http://gasparillaextravaganza.com/extravaganza2/childrens_parade.html

Here are a few pictures of the afternoon.

Augustus & Raleigh checking out the massive balloons being played with next to them!

Dad & Raleigh - yes he was holding on to the fence & shaking it.

I have started to call him "King Kong"

Gus & Rals watching the parade


Dad, Gus & Raleigh

Mom & Gus

Gus laying on mommy's lap enjoying touching the grass!

Dad wrapping up the day pushing us back to downtown Tampa

The boys have been sleeping very soundly during the day and keeping us up at night with random wake-ups...but last night was a super good night sleep for all! Here are a few pictures of the boys at nap time. No, I could not help myself:) Augustus even fell asleep (finally) sitting up. So strange sometimes!

The video is of Raleigh walking himself around his play table that he has been running in for months...I can't believe he can walk himself around it on his own now. Amazing!