May 28th, 2008

I received a phone call from the blog police (Amanda) letting me know that it had been more than a week since my last post! We have been very busy over the last few weeks. James is officially done teaching for the summer. I am really excited to have him home to help out more. He is helping coach softball and will have summer basketball too, but most of those games will be in the evenings. We will also be travelling back to Indiana for James' brother's wedding this week. We are really hoping that the girls will travel well and won't cry for 7 hours! Emerson has been sleeping a lot and seems to be growing again! Stella has decided that she doesn't need naps anymore. I think she is too social and is afraid she will miss something. So we are trying to find some balance between them. They are both rolling all over the floor now and are talking nonstop!

Emerson (top) and Stella (bottom) playing with each other
Emerson was trying to eat Stella's forehead before I took this picture!
Aunt Brandi holding Stella at Great Grandpa Fox's birthday party
Cousin Michelle holding Emerson at the birthday party (and Great Aunt Cindy)

May 19th, 2008

We all survived our crazy weekend! On Saturday morning we went to the NICU reunion. It was fun to see our NICU friends and to get to show off our big girls! (I don't think we will ever get tired of hearing people talk about how big the girls are!) After the reunion, we spent some time in Columbia running errands and then we drove to Warrenton for a graduation party. Then on Sunday, we took the girls to graduation at the school that James teaches at, and then we went to another graduation party. The girls did really well with running around a lot more than they are used to and not getting their naps. They both made it through the entire graduation ceremony(it was pretty short.)
In other news, we are still working on the leaky diaper situation, but I think we are winning the battle! Over the last few weeks the girls tried a few new foods. They love pumpkin, chicken, pears, and yogurt. They did okay with peaches, but I don't think they liked them quite as well. We have also started offering juice in sippy cups occasionally. They are doing really well with the sippy cups.

Stella and Emerson (refusing to smile)
Emerson and Stella doing their baby push ups
Wrestling
Rock star Emerson (she is borrowing Aunt Brandi's hair)
Pretty girls!

May 15th, 2008

Emerson and Stella went back to the eye doctor for a check up yesterday. Basically, the eye doctor said that he couldn't see any scarring from their ROP (retinopathy of prematurity) and that he didn't have any concerns at this time. The eye doctor also said that 25 week preemies typically don't do as well as our girls have done. The girls won't have to go back to the eye doctor for a check up for a year! Both girls are also rolling really well and have decided that they prefer to sleep on their tummies. We are having an issue with their diapers leaking at night now that they are tummy sleepers. The girls still aren't big enough to wear the overnight diapers. I am currently trying to locate some kind of diaper liners to help with the problem. If any of you have any suggestions, please feel free to share them! Both girls seem like they are growing before our eyes. They are starting to play a lot more. We are having so much fun with them! We tried to get their ears pierced, but their ear lobes still aren't big enough. We will just have to wait a little bit longer. This Saturday, we will be taking the girls to the NICU reunion. We are very excited about this milestone, and are excited to see our NICU friends again!

Tummy time for Stella
Tummy time for Emerson

Stella working on rolling

Emerson loves chewing on her fingers

May 13th, 2008

This is the video of Emerson and Stella's dedication!

Emerson & Stella's Dedication from Eric Ebbinghaus on Vimeo.

May 11th, 2008

Today, Emerson and Stella were FINALLY dedicated at our church. We had waited to have the girls dedicated until we felt like it was safer to take them around larger crowds of people. This Sunday was a special day for us because the girls are 8 months old, and it was my first Mother's Day. After everything that we have been through, we feel so blessed to be able to share the dedication of our daughters with our friends and family. Here are some of the pictures...I will try to post more in a few days.
Emerson and Stella's Dedication
Pastor Ryan holding the girls while Pastor/Uncle Eric prays

More Dedication

Emerson and Stella's cake (it said, "Jesus loves Emerson and Stella")

8 months old!

Emerson trying to steal Stella's cupcake (they didn't actually eat them)

Ebbinghaus-Benson Family Picture

Oh, and one more thing! Our dear friend, Sharlla, helped us out with pictures again, and they are awesome (again)! Thank you Sharlla!

May 5th, 2008

James and the girls got me an awesome new digital camera for Mother's Day. We got our last digital camera when we got married, so I guess as far as technology goes, our camera was very outdated. The new camera is amazing! It has a feature called smile shutter. It waits to take the picture until the subject smiles. I don't even know how that is possible, but I love it! James was using smile shutter when he took the picture of Stella in her high chair.
Emerson and Stella are eating like crazy! Last week they tried avocado and yogurt. They both loved the new foods! Emerson has still been very fussy in the evenings, and we still don't have any teeth. We have found by trial and error that Emerson seems to do better in the evenings if we can keep her entertained. Unfortunately, that is not always possible. Stella will still tolerate her swing, but Emerson gets more upset when we try the swing. They are finally big enough to sit in their exersaucer and jumperoo, and they seem to enjoy them for very short periods of time. Our house is starting to look like a daycare!

We used to call this our living room, but we should probably start calling it the play room!
Stella in her jumperoo

Emerson in her exersaucer

Stella representing for Michigan (James' has family in Michigan)

April 29th, 2008

For those of you that don't know, my grandpa has had a rough year. To make a very long story short, my grandpa started to go down hill this time last year and after surgery, aspirating fluid into his lungs multiple times, and several hospitalizations, he ended up in a nursing home. His doctors don't seem to know what went wrong, but he is very confused most of the time. I have only been to see him one other time since the girls were born, and the girls had not met him yet. Yesterday, my mom and I took the girls to a doctor's appointment and then stopped to see my grandpa on our way back. Luckily, my grandpa was having a great day. He knew who we were and was able to carry on a fairly normal conversation. To our surprise, he put his hands out to hold the girls and we were able to get pictures of him holding both of them. In a situation with very little hope, we celebrate the good days.

Papa Fox and Emerson
Papa Fox and Stella

Papa Fox and Emerson (Emerson's hair doesn't usually look that red)

Papa Fox and Stella

Stella and Emerson in their adorable hats

Papaw Marty being silly with Stella