Springtime in Texas is like Summer in the Northeast which made for a perfect time to go to the Dallas Zoo. The boys had a great time and I am sure they had as much fun watching the animals as the animals had watching them!

Aiden has done very well (in part due to the mild winter) and is “eating” more consistently. Of course, he is still tube-fed but at least he is on the right path.

The twins continue to have allergy and ear issues. Other than that they are doing quite well. Below are some pictures and video from the zoo. As you can tell, the boys loved watching the penguins.

On his way to the….

Dallas Zoo!

Waiting to go and visit some animals

Riding the Kangaroos

Loving it

Time to eat

Time to ponder

I hope the turtle has a strong shell

King of the Jungle downgraded to King of the Zoo

The boys fed the giraffe some food

Running away

Daddy drives fast cars?

Don’t fall in!

Good news: The Giants beat the Patriots and won the Superbowl!
Great news: Aiden made it all the way through with no hospital visit!

It seems every year he gets sick around Superbowl time and ends up in the hospital. Last year, he made it through halftime but his coughing and breathing was too severe and he needed immediate medical attention (flashback). He did complain at one point about his stomach bothering him–which gave us that sinking “uh-oh” feeling–but he was fine.

Of course, Ethan and Evan are battling ear infections which cause aches, occasional fevers, etc. But, we will take this over being in the hospital 🙂

The video below is of the boys singing Winnie the Pooh (who hasn’t quite replaced McQueen but is just behind him), Aiden Dancing to a Winnie the Pooh song, Aiden talking to himself during timeout (for bad behavior) and the boys opening up some Valentine’s Day treats.

Here comes the snow

Aiden just kept staring at it…he would have stayed there all night if we didn’t bring him back in

Evan is doing a great job practicing writing his letters!

With a (fake) smile

We are well into the month of January and are pleased to report that, for the most part, everyone is doing fairly well. Besides some sinus and ear infections, Aiden has (so far) not experienced any of the major respiratory or GI issues that we typically see occur around this time of year and is continuing to recover from his surgery and post-op infections.

We are extremely thankful for the new pain and respiratory medications that has been so effective and significantly improved his health and quality of life in the past several months by limiting the vicious cycle of vomiting and aspiration events and improving his lung function.

Now that his ears, tonsils and adenoids are taken care of, we are hopeful that his health will continue to stabilize and prove to be a new baseline for him. His therapy has resumed, and we are all thrilled that he does not seem to have experienced as significant a setback as we expected from the surgery.

Ethan and Evan are doing well, growing so quickly and learning new things every day, although their ears seem to be acting up every now and then. They just had their ear tubes replaced a couple months ago, but each have one tube that has started coming out. Hopefully this won’t become a recurring issue.

Our Texas “winter” has been lovely thus far, with very little inclement weather. We are praying for it to continue, as the cold weather is so hard on Aiden’s lungs. The mild temperatures have also allowed the boys to enjoy more time outdoors, which they love.

The video below is of the twins singing as “wise men” in the Cherub Choir at church just before Christmas.

Enjoying a movie

Merry Christmas and Happy 2012! Christmas was so much fun this year as the boys are now old enough to understand it a little bit better and of course, get very excited about it. Thanks to incredibly generous family & friends, the boys had plenty of gifts to open, so we spread them out over the entire day of the 25th. Naturally, there were lots of cars, trucks, and all things boy…with a few Lightning McQueen/Cars related presents thrown in as well! We thoroughly enjoyed a special day of celebrating the birth of our Saviour together with wonderful family & friends–doesn’t get any better than that.

Aiden is (finally) nearly recovered from surgery and doing much better with his O2 requirements. We have been able to reduce his constant breathing treatments so they are less frequent, and he is sounding and feeling much better, although he has been a little junky and had a little dry cough the past week. He is making huge progress in his occupational therapy, and is also doing very well with his feeding therapy (eating yogurt, chocolate pudding, etc., and making progress with learning how to handle textures). We are praying that he will stay healthy and hoping that his new meds will help keep this winter from being a repeat of the past 3 years.

Ethan and Evan are growing and getting bigger every single day. They are writing their letters and learning how to read, which they are very excited about! Of course, they keep us on our toes with lots of interesting questions as they are trying to figure out life & the world around them. Both have had ear & sinus infections in the past couple of weeks due to an ear tube that became blocked and has started to come out, but otherwise and doing well and enjoying life.

We are so thankful for each of you and your continued support and prayers, and pray many blessings for you and your family in 2012.

Racing around

Aiden is so happy

Evan tries to help him up the slide

Holding hands

The first round of Christmas presents

Who is it from?

Time to open

What did you get?

More cars?

They love racing their new toys

Lots of gifts!

Smile

The trips keep ripping into their gifts

Some new books

Uh oh, Aidy got put in time out for bad behavior

Bedlam!

Wow…McQueen pajamas

A new “lightbulb” McQueen after the old one broke