3rd Angiogram

Last Friday Evie had her 3rd angiogram. It seems that she will have one before every surgery, because the doctors want to see if anything has changed with her blood vessels (if they have narrowed or grown). Daddy and Evie left at 6 am, picked up Nana Cermak, and headed to Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn.

Luckily, Evie was the first case of the day. The procedure started on time at 8:30 and lasted 2 hours. She did well - no fever like last time. The doctors told Francis that her arteries have grown, which is a great sign. The cardiac team will discuss her case on Wednesday night, and will decide when her surgery should be. We will be waiting for the call!

Here she is with Nana while Francis checks in at the desk. That big toy on her car seat is the TinyLove Clip & Go motorized mobile. It was a lifesaver throughout the day!



Below you can see the splint on Evie's arm. She had a IV, and with babies (who like to pull on IV's) they put on a splint and wrap it up.



Evie is in her hospital gown here... It doesn't seem like she will ever actually fit into one of those.



Evie and Daddy:



Here she is after the two-hour procedure, snoozing on Nana.



Evie had not been able to eat after midnight, so when the nurses gave the OK, she chugged 8 ounces of unflavored Pedialyte (which she usually hates), and then another 10 ounces of formula. (Why can't she eat like this at home?) She was in good spirits and wanted to pull her socks off.



When it was time to go home, approximately six hours after the procedure, the nurse started taking off her sensors. Evie got a head start and began puling out her heart monitor leads!



Finally the nurse took out her IV.



All dressed and ready to go home!



Here's a video of Evie in recovery. You would not know that this little girl had just had a camera in her vein, taking pictures of her heart!

A Visit with the Florys

The other weekend, Mark & Robin Flory and their kids Annie & Sam stopped by for a visit and some pizza. Mark & Robin are Gavin's godparents and have been dear friends of ours for years. We are godparents to Annie.

Robin told me a few months ago that Evie & Gavin would switch personalities - I just didn't think it would happen this soon! Evie used to be the very fussy one, never calm, never in that "quiet alert" state. Gavin was always really mellow, just watching everything around him.

Now, he cries whenever I put him down - he wants me to carry him ALL the time. Half the time I carry him & he just squrims to get down, then when I put him down he wants to be picked up again. (This is not really an option for a twin!) And Evie is perfectly happy to sit on her blanket with her chime garden toy and watch the world go by. She can hang out on her playmat for an hour if I need her to.

Robin told me that they will keep switching back and forth as they grow up. I will try to be prepared!



Aunt Robin & Evie


Annie, Aunt Robin, & Evie read a story


Uncle Mark & Gavin

Sharing Toys

The other day I decided to put Gavin in Evie's pink jumper, and Evie in the swing. Being in different toys was entertaining - at least for awhile!






Evie's new trick is to stick her tongue out and up, trying to touch her nose!

Evie is Sitting Up!

This week Evie was able to sit up all by herself, when I placed her in a sitting position on the floor. We always knew she has a strong core - she gives herself an abdominal workout every night when she tries to escape from her swaddle blanket (thanks to the Velcro tabs, she can't)!

I have the Boppy pillow around her for the times when I am not sitting right next to her. She still wobbles a bit, especially if she turns and reaches for something...she tends to fall in that direction!

Gavin is propped up here with a pillow behind him. He is not as ready as Evie to sit up - he would rather stand (with me holding him)!

"Hmm, for my next trick, I will stand up. Get ready, Mom!"

Evie shows Grandma Cordes how well she can sit.

"All that sitting up is hard work! I'm hungry - can I have some squash, please?"

"See - I'm ready to eat!"

"Check out the videos below of me sitting up and talking to my flowers!"

Talking on the Couch

Gavin, I want to hold your hand.

No, Evie, I'll get girl germs!


I don’t think you can get girl germs from me – since I’m your TWIN!


Well, OK...

Anyway Gavin, what was that green food Mommy gave you yesterday? We’ve never gotten green food before.



Oh, that was green beans. They were pretty good! But not my favorite – that’s a tie between sweet potatoes and squash.


When will I get to try green beans?

You’re still in the orange vegetable group, Evie. I think you have to wait a few more days before you can try the green vegetable group like me. You have to get through 5 days of squash first.


Well, I do love my squash (even though I barfed some of it up yesterday). You’re such a great brother to explain all this to me! Now I am going to…


...kiss you!

Gavin (sighs) OK.

Weekend Visitors

This weekend Beth (who works with Francis) and her daughter Marli came over to meet the twins. Gavin was quite taken with them, and Evie was happy to watch all the activity and chew on her fingers!













Gavin had fun jumping up & down as much as he could:

A Visit to Daddy's Office

Yesterday the twins made a visit to Daddy's work at the State's Attorney's Office. Everyone has been anxious to meet them in person after reading about all their adventures on the blog.

They were very well-behaved while we were there (never mind that they were very naughty for me earlier in the day) so everyone thought they were just adorable. Gavin wanted to bang his teething toys on the in-box, and he was interested in all the various office supplies (just like Daddy!). Evie was content to watch Gavin make noise and try to put everything in his mouth.

Of course, Gavin got hungry while we were there. Here's Francis feeding him while Gavin grabs his nose and cheek. (When I feed Gavin, he always grabs my hair, so I think he's just looking for something to hold onto.)





Here are the kids with some of Francis' co-workers:





Gavin tried his hand at the typewriter; he liked the noises it made.





Evie and Daddy relaxing at the end of the day.

Friday Cuteness

It's time for some cute twins pics to brighten up this rainy Friday!


"Mom, I was just going to give her a kiss and now she wants to chew on my bib!"


Uncle Kevin feeds Gavin his oatmeal...

...while Evie waits her turn

this time she actually wasn't too messy!







Gavin likes being up on Daddy's & Uncle Kevin's shoulders!




"Yes, darlings, I know I'm glamorous!"

Moments to make Daddy proud

One of Francis' favorite foods is sweet potatoes. The twins are both eating sweet potatoes now, as well as oatmeal...that's why Evie has 2 colors of food on her face. Gavin will be happy to finish whatever she doesn't eat!




"Don't you think orange is a good color for me, Mom?"

Gavin is ready to become the newest Xbox gamer in the house...once he finds a game that he likes. (Daddy is so proud!) Check out the video after the photo sequence!









"No... no... played it... hmm, this looks like a good one!"