Settling In

We've been busy unpacking boxes over here.  I didn't get many pictures during the actual move since Dave and I were too busy actually moving.  We were blessed to have great friends who helped Dave load everything up from the storage unit to the moving truck early Saturday morning on July 28th.  Then Dave's brother Sam, my uncle Phillip and some members and the missionaries from Bethesda ward helped load our things into the truck from my Grandfather's house AND move his furniture back into the rooms we'd be living out of.  When we moved in we put many of his pieces of furniture in the basement so there would be room for ours.  The third and final stop of our moving adventure ended at our new place in Virginia where we had some really nice guys from our new ward, Sam and our AMAZING friend Riley (who helped at all THREE locations!) get most of our things moved in.  I say most because there is still one large bookcase sitting in our garage that was unable to make the trip up the stairwell due to it's size.  Dave has plans to hoist it up over the balcony and bring it in through the sliding glass door - hopefully it'll work!

It was only a year, but it was hard having 90% of our belongings packed in storage.  It really has felt like Christmas morning for me as I unpacked box after box, especially all my kitchen goods.  The hours of entertainment the packing paper provided for Ian and Suzie was a nice bonus.    

taken with my iPhone - got a bit of double exposure action happening, oops

 As we've placed the furniture where we want it Suzie and Ian have had fun exploring their new jungle gym.  Which helps us to baby proof as we go.  Seems like everyday there is a new skill they've acquired to help peel off tape and open boxes.  It provides motivation to get things unpacked and put away for sure!

Our new place has 1800 sq. ft. and is a 2 over 2 condo.  From the outside it looks like a 4 level townhouse, but there 2 front doors - one leading to the lower two levels and the other to the upper two.  We have the top two floors with a large living room/office, dining room, kitchen and 1/2 bath on the main floor and 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and laundry on the top floor.  Each unit has a driveway, garage and balcony on the back.  For me the driveway and garage were a must when looking at places to rent.  I did not want to deal with only having 2 parking spaces outside while trying to get 3 babies loaded into the car.  So far it has worked out well here.

Slowly, but surely all the boxes will get unpacked, things will be put away and it'll start feeling more like home here each day.

Sick

Poor Suzie ended up getting a cold (probably from that dreadful Urgent Care center) just a few days after having stitches.  A few days in she developed her first and really bad diaper rash.  She is miserable!  I'm hoping the rash clears up quickly and this cold doesn't hang around long.  Her bibs have become snot rags because her nose in constantly running :(  She has no appetite to eat anything and it's hard for her to even drink from the bottle as her nose is so stuffy that she can't breath. 

My poor baby, hasn't she been through enough?!

Trauma

Not even in our new place one full week and we encountered some trauma.  It happened in the morning 7 o'clock hour while I was in the kitchen unpacking some dishes.  I heard Suzie scream a loud painful cry and bolted over to her where she was laying face down in between the chair and entertainment center.  I scooped her up and saw she was bleeding above her eye. A lot.  After getting some paper towels to dab on her cut I noticed it was pretty deep.  This wasn't going to be good.  I'm guessing she hit her head on the corner of the entertainment center, as that was the only sharp thing around, but since I didn't see it happen I cannot be sure.  And while you're wondering how that even happened with her wearing the helmet, she wasn't.  She gets three 30 minute breaks each day and I usually do one in the morning after she gets up.  She took her spill in the last 5 minutes of her break.  I took this photo with my phone and sent it to Dave who had just left for work not that long before...

 with the message saying, "I think this will require medical attention."  Of course he called right away and we decided with traffic there would be no point in having him come back home as I would need to take Suzie somewhere to get this taken care of ASAP.  Dave looked up Urgent Care locations for me and luckily there is one in the shopping center of our new neighborhood.  Not even having been to church yet to know anyone to call and help I felt really alone, but knew I needed to pull myself together and deal with this.  So I got myself, Suzie and Ian dressed, diaper bag stocked and loaded everyone up in the car.  Of course since Dave just started his new job we don't have the actual insurance cards yet which made checking in a pleasant process - NOT!  The receptionist was very unhelpful and seemed to lack compassion and understanding, which I really needed at that exact moment.  She kept insisting calling and verifying our coverage with Blue Cross Blue Shield over the phone using Dave's member and group number (which he got in a jiffy from the HR guy at work) wasn't enough, we had to have the actual card.  Are you kidding me?!  I've worked in a medical office before and that is just bologna.  After insisting on speaking to her manager and going into a bit of a mommy meltdown explaining how my daughter needed treatment NOW and I knew for a fact it was possible to submit a claim having all the info that would be on an insurance card, but not the actual card I was told they'd see her shortly.  

And that was just the beginning of it.  Once we were taken back and the doctor finally came into the exam room she stated right away stitches would be needed.  The nurse was asked to come in and hold Suzie's head while she was laying down on the table and I was to hold her arms and legs.  All the while Ian is still sitting in the stroller just watching things unfold.  With the numbing shot Suzie's wails of pain began and I tried with all my might to hold it together.  I sang songs and tried stroking her tummy while looking over and Ian to reassure him it was okay.  By the time the 4th stitch was done, Suzie's face covered in tears, snot and a bit of blood was the point Ian lost it and started to hysterically cry and scream.  I could do nothing but turn my head and try to verbally comfort him, but I couldn't even do that.  The tears started to come and the overwhelming feeling of both my babies being scared and in pain and I couldn't do anything was awful.  I couldn't even sing anymore.  I just layed my head on Suzie's tummy and sobbed, praying that the last stitch would be completed soon and I could scoop Suzie up off that table and walk over next to Ian to stroke his face and say we're all done.  It seemed like forever, but finally that moment came.  

With tears still streaming down my face the doctor actually had the audacity to ask if there was another adult in the house, why did I come alone and I shouldn't leave my children unattended for reasons like this.  I wanted to shout - WE JUST MOVED HERE A FEW DAYS AGO!!!  My husband works and the place obviously isn't baby proofed 100% yet, sheesh really - your timing couldn't be worse.  There were also comments and rolled eyes about me being pregnant with another baby.  Obviously I couldn't wait to get out of there and upon walking out the door I got a call from my mom and just lost it.  Tender mercy indeed because I really needed some words of comfort right then.

Suzie actually handled it all pretty well.  She had some bruising from the shot and stitches the next day, but that didn't last too long and we were able to find another Urgent Care center just up the road in the other direction to go to for her suture removal.  That was a MUCH better experience.  It was such a new center that it didn't come up when Dave did his initial search, but it worked out well in the end.

So that is our bit of trauma upon moving in.  Let's hope things just keep getting better from here!

Ten Months Old

It's official, the twins will never have a single digit month as their age again in their lives.  My my, that really did seem to go by so fast!  Turning ten months old just makes me realize how close to 1 year they are, but not yet!  I've got to savor every moment of this precious first year of their lives because it'll be the only one I get with just them.  Shortly after the 1st birthday has come and gone their baby sibling will make it's debut and onto the next phase, being a family of five.

This past month has brought so many changes!  Suzie has been in her helmet for 5 weeks now and we've already been able to see changes in her head shape rounding out.  She has been a trooper wearing it and only protests when it has to go back on after her 30 minute break.  Honestly, with how mobile she is now I'm happy she has some extra head protection!  Like I mentioned last month she skipped right over belly crawling to hand and knee crawling and now she is pulling herself up to a stand on anything that is her height, often holding on with just one hand and sometimes balancing up to 20 seconds with NO HANDS!  She'll cruise left and right while standing and semi-holding on all around the couch, coffee table and stair banister.  Suzette is our little dare devil thinking anything is possible and if she just stretches a little bit more all things are in her reach.  Which is not the case and makes for a anxious mommy.  She'll also crawl from room to room now which is fun to see.  Her squeals of delight as she makes it into the next room are so fun to hear.  Suzie has been drooling up a storm for a while now (hence her wearing bibs in so many photos) and with good reason - she has FOUR teeth coming in on top!  

Ian has one more tooth coming in on the bottom making it 3 on bottom and 4 on top.  He is doing well with going from sitting to laying on his belly and rolling or reaching for what he wants then back to sitting, but still no real crawling happening.  He sees Suzie pull herself up on things and tries so hard to do it also, but can't quite get his feet under him to push up like she does.  I think this is a testament to his passive personality.  He really is quite content to sit and play with a toy or two for upwards of half an hour.  And with Suzie moving all around him that is some added entertainment for him to watch.  I was hoping for a bit more progress with him this past month, especially when he'd get up on his hands and knees and rock back and forth a lot during his ninth month, but I must say it's okay by me if he takes a bit longer because having one who is always on the go is about all I can handle right now.  Heaven help me when he does start crawling and I've got two going in different directions!

"Hey Suzie, will you share that toy with me?  No?!  Okay, I'll remember that."

"Oh, what's that Suzie?  You don't like me sitting on you?  Well next time share your toys!"

We've been busy getting everything packed this week for our move to Virginia this weekend.  I am grateful my parents have offered to watch Suzie and Ian while we move on Saturday so they can be out of the way and I can focus on the many other things that need to get done.  Hopefully we'll be able to get things situated sooner than later in our new place so the twins have lots of places that are child proof to roam around and experiment with their new capabilities.  Wish us luck!

Moving On

Some of you may or may not be aware that after my grandmother passed away last July Dave and I rented out townhouse in Clarksburg for 1 year and moved in at the beginning of August with my grandfather in Bethesda.  This past year has been full of many changes for all of us and it has been an amazing opportunity to experience them with the love and support of surrounding family members.  Just the other night my grandpa said to us his adjustment to living without his wife was eased because we were here.  I know my adjustment becoming a mother was as smooth as it was because of the generous amounts of time and support my parents, parents-in-law, aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers and sisters all freely gave to allow my sanity to remain intact.  Family is amazing and I know I am extremely blessed to have an extraordinarily wonderful one.  But now is the time to move on.  A year has come and is almost gone from the time we came and there are many changes happening for our growing Traxler Tribe.  

The family that was renting our Clarksburg townhouse contacted us early spring to say they enjoyed our neighborhood so much they decided to buy a new construction town home in Clarksburg Village that was scheduled to be completed by May.  We agreed to let them pay through the end of their lease and move out early.  Our original plan when we moved out was to move back in at the end of their lease, but by that time we knew (surprise!) baby #3 was on the way and decided to go ahead and sell our town house.  Not an easy decision, but the right one for our family.  So we got it ready and 23226 Rainbow Arch Drive hit the market Memorial Day weekend.    

We knew our next step couldn't really be planned until our house was sold.  Three weeks later the answer to our prayers came and we accepted a great offer and will close on our house this week.

It may have helped a bit that I had someone with our best interest in mind as our realtor, my brother Brook.  So the first major hurdle was done and now on to the next.

After Dave graduated in May 2011 with his Masters in Sustainable Energy Engineering he has been on the all elusive hunt for the "perfect job" in that field.  With his undergrad in mechanical engineering it has proven to be a tough thing to find his dream job that combines the two.  Answer to prayer number two, earlier this month Dave was offered a position with an Energy Engineering Firm in Northern Virginia = dream job!!!  He put in his notice at his previous company and just started working at the firm this past Monday.  I am beyond thrilled that he has finally found the job that will not only lead to a wonderful career path, but most importantly bring him the most happiness in his professional life.

So with our house sold and a job in Northern Virginia you may guess where this update is going.  Yup, the Traxler Tribe is crossing over to the other side of the river.  We're packing up our belongings and headed to Loudoun County, VA.  I'm a Maryland girl at heart so this is a pretty big change.  I like the trees, the road signs, the roads themselves, closeness to family and the familiarity that comes with Montgomery County, MD living, but alas now is the time to see what Virginia has to offer.  We'll be renting for a while until we can really scout out the area and decided where we'd like to settle.  With the infamous NoVa traffic who knows if we'll be able to live close enough in to Dave's office to not make that an issue.  Only time and our savings account will be able to tell that one.  

So long Maryland, hello Virginia!  Please be nice to us.

Home Plate

What do baseball tickets right behind home plate get you?

 A sweet chance to look into the dugout and an awesome view of all the action!

Even though it drizzled a little Dave and I had a great time hanging out with my dad at Nationals Park watching the Nats play their first game of a double header against the Braves.  Thanks for the hookup, Dan, we had an awesome time!

One Year Ago

One year ago today my Grandmother turned 80.  To make it to her 80th birthday was one of her main goals when she was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis a couple years earlier.  She made it and was surrounded by family who celebrated with her the entire day and evening.

She was able to feel the twins kick and "hold" them, 

 

before (very much on her own terms) she passed away the next morning.

But this is not the photo I will show Suzette when she asks where her middle name came from.  I want her to know what an amazing woman of strength, intellect, courage, compassion and humility she was named after.  So these are the photos I will share with her first...

 Once Suzette has an understanding of what an amazing privilege and honor it is to share her middle name with this amazing woman then I will show her the first photo.  Because I believe once she knows the marvelous spirit of her Great Grandmother she will feel honored to have her name.  I hope she will know, but by the first photo she will be able to see the love my grandma had for her even when she was still in my womb.  For under that oxygen mask is one of the biggest smiles I've ever seen on her face.  I have no doubt that over the years there will be moments to come where a bond is formed between Yvonne Rich Quayle and Suzette Yvonne Traxler that will exceed my comprehension.  For I very much believe these two spirits will enlighten and enrich each other.   

Thank you grandma for teaching me so many important lessons about life and people and enabling me to pass that along to my daughter.  I am better for each moment I spent with you and now they will be too.

Are they really mine?

My lovely sisters gave me a professional photo shoot as a baby shower gift.  I decided to wait to use it until the twins were a bit older and more animated.  These were taken by the extremely talented Bonnie of Polka Dot Portraits at their 8 month mark.  She did a great job of capturing each of their personalities.  Ian and Suzette are so cute and precious in these photos that it makes me wonder can these two perfect babies really be mine?  Gifts from God indeed and I feel so privileged to be their mother.  Watching this video melts my heart every time!

If you agree that the photos are amazing and would like Bonnie to take some of your family let me know and I can hook you up with a 10% discount on your own photo shoot through the Polka Dot referral program.