Pellet Ice

I have been meaning to write about pellet ice ever since our stay in the hospital. Pellet ice might be one of the finer things in life. I have always drank a lot - whether its water or juice or soda (or beer/wine). Growing up my mom could tell you how many cases of frozen cans of orange juice and lemonade we would go through in any given week. Anyway - whatever I'm drinking, I like it really really cold. Everyone must remember pellet ice. Mabe's Pizza in Decorah, Iowa had pellet ice back in the good 'ol days. In fact by age 7 I am pretty sure I could drink an entire pitcher of Mountain Dew with pellet ice in a matter of minutes. It tasted like a million dollars. It arguably tasted better than Mountain Dew in a glass bottle.

Well, the hospital where the boys were born had pellet ice. Here I thought pellet ice died along with pop in glass bottles. I was wrong!! What a wonderful surprise. I think I drank enough water with pellet ice during those 12 days in the hospital to make up for those lost years. The pellets are small and easily chewable and the liquid is instantly cold making every drink an amazing experience. 

This prompted me to do some quick research on what it could cost to bring this simple pleasure to my own home. Apparently they are not cheap which is maybe why restaurants (like Mabe's) no longer has a pellet ice maker. They appear to be in the $2-5k range. Why is that? What is the secret? Someday when I have time I want to understand this ingenious technology. If the machines had been any smaller I would probably have tried to fit one into one of the 17 bags of stuff we ended up leaving the hospital with. Better yet - maybe one of Ben's Rupiper uncles can figure out how to get their hands on one for me....According to Ben they know how to "find a good deal".

ONE MONTH OLD!

Prior says..."I'm so hungry I could eat my brother!"

Today the boys turned 1 month old (and four weeks)! I can't believe how fast the time has gone and how lucky we all are that they are doing so well.

We ended up at the doctor today - this whole breastfeeding thing has not been going the greatest (for me at least). I guess it is because Mason was on antibiotics in the hospital. For the boys it is apparently going very well. Prior weighs 6 pounds 8 1/2 ounces and Mason weighs 6 pounds 10 ounces. They are gaining more than an ounce per day which is great. The doctor said anything from 1/2 an ounce to 1 ounce per day is excellent. 

We stopped at Walgreens for a prescription and just my luck - they were selling girl scout cookies. Let me just say that girl scout cookies should be illegal for anyone with an appetite like mine! Especially for someone with a few extra baby pounds to lose!

We are having a wonderful week with Grandma Barb. She has been taking such good care of the boys and spoiling them with lots and lots of cuddle time. She's also been cooking for Ben and I. We had a few close calls with some expired food but she now knows that you must check the expiration date on anything that comes out of our fridge or pantry! It has been a very long time since I have "actively" been in the kitchen and that is starting to show.  Ben would argue that I've never "actively" been in the kitchen!

Today we had a little tummy time on our boppy.  Here is Mason.  

Tummy time for Prior as well.

Look at our cute little toes!!

And our cute little 'outie' belly buttons

First Bath

Tonight the boys got their very first bath! (Don't worry Uncle Jason, they had been getting wiped down daily)!!

Mason in the tub.

Mason cuddled in a towel after his first bath.

As you can see Prior liked the tub a little better fully clothed. He was a little fussy when I was putting the tub together and so I set him in there to see how he fit and he instantly fell asleep. I'll have to keep that in mind for the future when I can't get him to calm down!

Prior in the tub. Don't they look alike when they're angry?! Poor Prior had the second bath. Little boys like to pee a lot we won't tell him that his brother peed in the tub during the first bath!

Prior is all clean!

Dad - I know I'm growing fast but I can't hold my head up all by myself yet!!

(Mason)

Precious Prior

PS - I added a few of the "sneek peek" pictures from the photo shoot to Sunday's post and also added a post yesterday. Enjoy!

Our First Outfits

Most of our clothes are sleepers (since we do a lot of that you know) but today we wore our first real outfits! Don't we look handsome? The shirts even have collars! That's good enough for church...just about another month and the doctor will let us go to church!

Today Mason went back to Dr. VanBeek for his leg. It sounds like it is healing - just very slowly. The doctor had to scrape some of the dead skin off the wound to help it heal better. Luckily Dad was along so he could hold Mason's hand while Mom stood in the corner with her fingers in her ears to drown out the crying. Typical first time Mom moment (I hope?!).

Some of you have asked more about what exactly happened to his leg and what an IV infiltration is. After the boys were born they needed IV's for certain medication as well as fluids. Since their veins are small and weak the IV in a hand or foot wouldn't last long and would need to be restarted in a different location. So they had IV's in both hands and feet at different times during their stay in the hospital. An IV infiltration is when the IV fluid or medication leaks out of the vein and essentially irritates or burns the skin from the inside out towards the surface of the skin. It usually happens a little ways away from where the IV was started. For Mason the IV was started on his left foot and the sore is on the inside of his leg just up from his ankle. It is very deep and it's the size of a quarter. I know a quarter doesn't sound very big but on a little guy it's a big portion of his leg. But - he is going to be just fine!! The doctor gave us two layers of dressing that we change twice a day and we will continue to go back to the doctor weekly until it is healed.

Photo Shoot

Today we had a very exciting (and slightly stressful) morning! Christine Welsand with Photography by Christine came over to our house for the boys' first pictures. It was great to have her come to our house so we didn't have to take the boys anywhere. Typically newborn pictures are taken just days after the baby comes home home from the hospital when the baby is still very very sleepy. Ben and I very quickly learned why. The boys didn't want to cooperate very well! They are old enough to know when they are no longer bundled in a blanket safe in Mommy's arms but instead completely naked lying in a cold bowl for a silly picture. We used pacifiers and bottles to try and soothe them and just at the time we'd get one settled and posed the other would get grouchy and flail his long arms and end up punching the other one that was sleeping in the head. I was peed on at least three times and was completely sweating from the heat in our house. When I told Ben Chris wanted us to turn up the heat for the photo shoot he looked at me as if I had just told him I was ready to have more kids. Pre-babies we kept our house pretty cool. I would sleep in layers of clothes. Before I turned up the heat for the photo shoot it was at about 75. I turned it up to 80 degrees. It was SO hot! Anyway - I'm making this sound very dramatic but it was very fun. 3 1/2 short hours later we were finally done and I figured when Chris left she was hoping we wouldn't ask her to do any future photo shoots with the boys! She has sent me a few sneek peek pictures and I am very excited and impressed that she was able to get some great pictures despite the craziness of twins. I will be sharing the link with all of you as soon as it's ready!

Today Grandpa Rude also came up for the day to see the boys. He had not seen them since the first weekend after they were born so he was very excited! They boys LOVE being held and spoiled so they had a great day with Grandpa. Here's a picture of Grandpa and Prior.

And this picture doesn't even need a caption - it's funny all on its own!