Category Archives: Houston

A Lil’ Time for Rebecca

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Right now I am in Richmond enjoying a long solo weekend — no kids, no housework, no play dates, no doctors appointments — just me in my hometown, relaxing and hangin’ with family.

April kicked off with rampant sickness, minus Daddy, who must have the constitution of a super-hero. Last weekend was really rough for me, as an ill mother finds it nearly impossible to tend to her motherly and household duties. Daddy tried his to pick up the slack and even took that Monday off from work, but it was still a struggle for us all.

Clan Dillingham in all of its glory.

As if his super-dad performance from that trying weekend weren’t enough, Stephen insisted that I take a break from Clan Dillingham and get some-needed R&R to regain my strength in mind, body and soul. Thanks for the mini-vacation, Beeler … hope you and the 3 Amigos are delighting in your boys-only weekend!

Cough containment, vamoose vomiting

Last month, Zeke underwent an allergy test of 50 skin pricks and, thankfully, has no allergies. However, he has been diagnosed with cough-variant asthma. Luckily, Zeke’s new oral Rx is working wonders and the poor kid hasn’t had to use an inhaler or a nebulizer. If all goes well, he will just stick to his yummy-tasting nighttime meds and eventually outgrow the condition — not a rare thing for kids to do, says the asthma doc.

Z-bird had what we hope to be his final appointment with his gastro-intestinal specialist. The doc and I agreed that it is time to take Zeke off the Prevacid to see if his acid reflux is gone. Today was his first day without the meds and the doc says it takes a while to get it out of your system, but Daddy and I are optimistic that Zeke has outgrown the condition.

 Our mad hatter Zeke is a lover of all headwear.

“Baby bobble” banished

Now that Zeke’s cough is under control and everyone is getting a good night’s sleep again, we did the cold-turkey approach and took Gabriel’s baby bottle away for good. Tomorrow will be two weeks that he has been without his sleepy-time comfort item. The transition hasn’t been easy for the G-man, but he has handled it like a champ!

Next bad habit to tackle? Kickin’ Zeke’s thumb-sucking, which will undoubtedly be a bit more challenging.

Swinging solo, biking boldly

Houston can now swing all by himself. Although he needs a little push start get going, Houston has mastered the technique through lots of practice and can confidently keep up with bigger kids.

Just this week, Houston also made huge strides bike riding. He’s still a bit wobbly and unsure of himself, but Houston can now handle the peddling, braking and steering without assistance, and even made it all the way around the block yesterday morning.

The boys have some rainy-day fun in their cool fort.

Next physical feat for big bro? Learning how to swim. I was going to teach him myself, but I think it’ll be more effective for him (not to mention much easier for me) to learn from someone other than Mommy. He starts swim lessons at the Y next month.

The terrible twos x2

It was difficult enough when Houston was going through this stage, but the dynamic duo of Gabriel and Zeke are certainly a formidable foe some days. Luckily, these occasional bouts of double trouble are usually followed by expanses of pretty-darn-good behavior.

And then there’s triple-trouble, like the afternoon that Gabriel hurled an unopened soup can into Zeke’s forehead, Zeke dumped out two full bowls of cat food and proceeded to eat some of it, and then Houston and Gabe stole all of my clothes pins and scattered them in their outdoor fort. What a crazy day.

Other stuff

Our little chatter boxes Gabriel and Zeke are making awesome progress with Miss Pat. They are right on track.

Houston helped Zeke master the seesaw just this week. I’m sure Gabriel will soon follow suit.

Gabe doesn’t like cake, doughnuts or ice cream cones. He does like ice cream straight up in a bowl and plenty of other sweets, like juice, candy, popsicles and chocolate. Weird, huh?!

Gabriel does like some sweet stuff, like dippin’ sticks.

We moved Houston’s bed into the twins’ room, since he was sleeping in there every night anyway. The dudes love being together and we love having our computer out of the bedroom and into Houston’s old room.

“What did you learn about tonight?” we asked Houston after Adventure Club at church. “Oh, somebody dying.” Priceless.

Some recent activities: Matthew’s Thomas-themed birthday party at a bounce place; checking out cool critters at the Natural Science Center with Haylie and Savannah; and neighborhood fun, including trampoline jumping, fighting light saber battles, and toasting s’mores and hot dogs ’round a backyard campfire.

Happy belated 33rd birthday, Daddy. We love you!

Charitable giving

Being that April is Multiples Awareness Month, GMOM is having a spring fundraiser. If you are interested in buying bulbs or seeds for your garden, please consider supporting our group.

Darth Dillingham fights bad guys … or is he on the dark side?!

And don’t forget to contribute to the Clan Dillingham team for the March For Babies. We would like to thank the following people for their donations: Stephen’s co-workers and pals Melanie, Sandra, Carol and Linda; Uncle Tommy and Granny; Miss Lorrie and even an international donation from Becky and Steve in Switzerland!

Click the top pic to see re-shoots of fam photos from September and check out a couple basketball re-shoots of Houston (note how much taller he is than the other 3 year olds). Click the above pic to view March – part 1 photos and Zeke to check out part 2.

Please Support March For Babies!

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We’re very excited to be a part of this year’s March For Babies. You can visit our personal webpage by clicking the image below if you would like to make a donation to the worthy cause and/or participate in the 5k walk with us in late April.

The Clan Dillingham goal is just $500. With our family contribution — as well as an extremely generous donation from our pal, Melanie — our team only has $350 to go. I urge you to please consider making any size charitable gift, since your donation will fund March of Dimes research and programs that help moms have full-term pregnancies and babies to begin healthy lives.

Please help us give all babies a healthy start!

Funds are also used to bring comfort and information to families with a baby in newborn intensive care. As parents of twins who were nearly six weeks early and spent more than two arduous weeks in the NICU, Stephen and I know how important the work of this fantastic organization is. Thanks in advance for your support!

Playtime

Our playgroup schedule is bustling. We have been attending one to two Moms Club activities a week, as well as having playdates with fellow Moms Clubbers: Miss Lorrie, and her kids, 5-year-old Haylie and 1 1/2-year-old Savannah.

We have also been meeting Miss Lorrie and the girls for our weekly Y outings. It has been nice for me to have another adult to chat with, and the boys look forward to hanging with Haylie and Savannah at Child Watch.

I took the boys to the Natural Science Center with GMOM earlier this month. From dinosaur replicas, displays of creepy-crawlies and live-animal exhibits indoors, to the petting zoo, huge tigers and a variety of tropical tree-dwelling critters outdoors, stimulation was certainly not in short supply. With the exception of the twins not wanting to leave a large train set early on in our adventure, the 3 Amigos did a great job getting around at the crowded facility.

It helped, too, that Miss Cristi took Houston under her wing, since he hit it off with her son, Gunner. That way, Houston and the other pre-K kids could move ahead at their breakneck speed, while Gabriel, Zeke and the other toddlers were able to slow down and digest everything at their slower pace.

Zeke (background) & Gabe demolish brick walls @ the Kids’ Museum.

The oft-talked-about highlight of our adventure was during the birthday celebration of one of the female gibbons, and her mate dangled from a branch and shamelessly pooped for all to see. Reverberations of “Monkey doo-doo … ooh, stinky … throw it” can still be heard throughout our house.

Dooky made for a memorable time at last Friday’s Moms Club gathering, as well. Even though many kids played outside, the 3 Amigos were the only ones to tromp through big wads of dog doo. While other moms relaxed, I hosed off their shoes and carried them to the front door before gracelessly exiting. It was actually pretty funny, but just oh so typical of life as crazy Clan Dillingham.

With all the warm weather lately, the boys have also been having lots of impromptu playdates with their neighborhood gal pals, Maddie, Dixie and Alyssa.

Family activities

Since we got Houston’s front bike brakes finally assembled properly, we’ve been practicing his biking a lot more. He is also swinging independently, although he still needs a little push start.

We recently took the 3 Amigos on their first real hike along one of the nearby lakeside nature trails. Considering we trekked nearly 3/4 of a mile, the dudes hung in there, although Gabriel required some nudging and Zeke begged to be carried at the tail-end of our journey. Next time, I think we’ll take the red wagon just in case.

Gabe (foreground) & Zeke lounge in the museum gardens.

The clan saw the bluegrass gospel band, the Rochesters, perform at our church. The twins thoroughly enjoyed the tunes, but Houston was surprisingly unimpressed. Despite the fact that bluegrass is his and little bros’ favorite style of music, I think Houston was disappointed that the band didn’t play “By the Mark,” a Gillian Welch song I’ve been performing for the boys most days before nap time.

Then last Saturday, Daddy took the kids for a wild outing at Bumper Jumpers, while I ran errands, got a haircut and had some Rebecca time. It was a much-appreciated break for me and a good practice for Daddy at handling the dudes in a crowded, active public setting.

Healthy endeavors

The kids’ dentist said that Gabriel should stop sucking a bottle while in his crib and Zeke needs to cease his thumb-sucking, unless we don’t care about paying for braces for two kids. We haven’t yet implemented his recommendations since Zeke is still being awakened on a nightly basis by that damned cough; I would just hate to subject him to his favorite soothing nighttime activity while dealing with that.

Zeke has an appointment with an “allergy, asthma and sinus care” doc later this week, so once we figure out his cough, we’ll then start kicking the twins of their bad bedtime habits.

Daddy and I took Gabriel and Zeke to their six-month follow-up with their behavioral doc. He is pleased with their speech progress and all other age-appropriate milestones. Diagnosis: the twins are right on track and perfectly normal, and we need not come back for another appointment.

Gabe takes the wheel, while Zeke sorts mail in this postal truck.

Two days later, Gabe and Zeke had their final shot in a three-part series of vaccines. They weighed 33 and 34 pounds respectively.

Houston-isms

“Houston, what do you think God looks like?” I asked. “Oh, He has hair and wears a hat,” he said, adding that God’s headgear is probably similar to that of Thomas the Train’s boss, Sir Topham Hatt. Houston’s reply was so quick and confident that I felt as if he may be privy to something that I am not.

After all, kids are born into this world without any pre-conceived notions and biases, and Houston’s opinion made me so appreciate the wonder, innocence, purity and beauty of what it means to be a child.

I found Houston poking around on our computer and he confidently notified me: “I’m just checking the weather, Mommy.”

“Mommy, I’m smarter than you,” Houston declared. After I explained that that day had not yet come, although it unavoidably will, he said, “Okay, I guess I’m not smarter than you, but brothers are.”

Today Houston stated, “I love everything in the world, toys and games and books and food … but I don’t like poison ivy.” I’m just now recovering from a nasty outbreak of the stuff on my forearms, so I suppose the addendum was empathy kicking in.

Papa keeps the beat, while Stephen shows off his Rock Band chops.

Other notes 

The 3 Amigos are still sharing a room almost every night. (Check out a couple pics of Houston in temporary digs.) The transition has been so successful that we are starting to save for a bunk bed with steps to the top bunk, instead of a ladder, and a third pull-out trundle bed. Daddy and I very happy at the prospect of getting our computer out of the bedroom and back into an official home office again.

On a sad note, Granny and Grumps’ “Duke dog” recently went to doggy heaven. A brave and selfless Granny got the sweet Schnauzer put down due to some major health problems he was having. We love and miss you, Duke!

But on a happy note, Grumps and Uncle Dale have been dealing with some life-threatening issues lately, but both have pulled through and are doing well. We’re keeping up the prayers, now y’all just keep up the good fight!

Click the top photo of Gabriel and Zeke to check ’em out at the Children’s Museum and the above photo to view Gramsey, Papa and the fam jammin’ out with Rock Band.

February Flash

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We have thoroughly been loving the springlike weather as of late.

Warm weather

After our long post-church naps this afternoon, the 3 Amigos and I played with flashlights on Liberty Loop during nightfall, while Daddy grilled hamburgers.

We tended to some much-needed yard work yesterday. I got a ton accomplished while the the kids napped: I removed the jasmine from our deck so I can have better visibility of the kids while they’re in the back yard and I’m in the kitchen, and I dug up a gorgeous bush from our weed-infested, soon-to-be demolished “amoeba garden.”

After my alone-time garden therapy, the kids helped me dig a big hole to transplant the bush, they assisted Daddy in moving the mass amounts of jasmine to our “nature pit,” and then my strong boys helped Daddy and me move riprap, which we salvaged from the yucky garden.

Houston shows off his first-ever trophy for a great season of basketball.

I finally assembled the seesaw the twins got from Santa. Maddie, our 5-year-old neighbor, has been over a couple times to teach the dudes the proper ways of seesawing. She is so helpful and loves directing the 3 Amigos. Maddie has twice led the boys in filling up buckets of broken-down compost and moving the dirt to Daddy’s veggie garden. Amazingly, Houston, Gabriel and Zeke follow her instructions to the tee and without complaint. It’s so intriguing to watch kid dynamics at work.

Clubs

We’ve been away from home a bunch this month, mostly attending GMOM and Moms Club activities. The dudes and I have attended three Moms Club playgroups, which are major fun for the boys. But I’m making friends, too. In fact, I met a gal, Lorrie, who hails from my hometown and lives only about a mile away from us. She and her two daughters are heading over to the casa for a playdate tomorrow afternoon.

I’m also bonding with my fellow GMOMs. I recently went out for a moms-only dinner, and then the 3 Amigos and I attended an awesome GMOM event at BounceU.

With a little help from Mommy, Zeke strung together this bead necklace w/ his initials.

Other activities

Houston went to the circus last weekend with Daddy, Matthew, Miss Beth and Mr. Alan. I took advantage of the lighter kid load and took Gabriel and Zeke to the Children’s Museum. The twins had a blast — especially loving the life-size vehicles (fire truck, train and airplane) and feeding the chickens — and did a fine job of exhausting Mommy. Thank goodness I only took two kids.

We made a surprise trip to see Granny and Grumps earlier this month. It was originally supposed to be only Daddy and Gabriel, but we decided to throw caution to the wind and head up to the mountains with the whole posse. Granny was happily surprised.

Doctors galore 

Gramsey and Papa came to town for a visit, which freed me up to go to the hand doctor. My left wrist had been killing me for weeks and the pain reminded me of what my right wrist used to feel like prior to having surgery to remove a ganglionic cyst and repair a tear. The doc says it’s probably another cyst that has been aggravated from overuse (read: changing unwilling children’s diapers for nearly four years). I’ve been wearing a splint and taking a regimen of ibuprofen, which has helped immensely.

Using a drill on his Toby train brought Gabriel much pride & enjoyment.

The boys had a dentist appointment on Valentine’s Day. Houston, who has been the anti-doctor kid up till now, did fantastic. Gabriel and Zeke were brave for the hygienist, but were over it by the time the dentist came around. Overall, the appointment, which took both Daddy and me to handle, was a vast improvement over last time.

Zeke’s cough is back in full force. I’ve had two moms say, “That sounds exactly like an asthma cough.” And since the pediatrician and throat-specialist routes didn’t pan out, it looks like taking him to an allergist/immunologist will be our next course of action. Poor kiddo.

As far as the twins’ speech goes, they are on fire these days. So much so that Miss Pat says that once they plateau with therapy, she only needs to see them every other week. This will help stretch out the insurance-covered appointments with Miss Pat through their third birthdays.

Shenanigans are rife while the dudes are “getting cozy,” as Houston describes it.

Discipline

We are now using an “If-Then” discipline chart. One column describes the naughty behavior, the next column has the corresponding Biblical verse, and the third column lists our punishment. It has been great, not only in keeping the boys in line, but also in helping me stay strong, confident and on top of things.

I also purchased a whistle, which I use when I need to get the boys’ attention while they’re being loud or when they’re far away while outside. I have a pretty loud voice, but I hated having to yell all the time. The whistle gives me more control over situations. Plus, the kids really respond to it.

Houston & Zeke experience their first taste of Krispy Kreme doughnuts.

Household

Tonight is the fourth night that Houston has slept on his mattress in brothers’ room. These pretty successful slumber parties have been Houston’s ideas (if it was up to him, he would be sleeping in one of the cribs with a bro). But it’s good practice for when they do ultimately share a room: once the changing table is gone and we get bunk beds.

I moved Houston’s art table out to living room a few weeks back because my guess was that Gabriel would really utilize the space for his creative drawings. I was right: our little artist can often be found for long periods of time, sketching away, concentrating on his work, not (yet) drawing on anything other than paper and usually holding his crayon properly. Amazing stuff!

Click the top photo to check out pics of Houston’s final basketball game and the above photo to view the post-game celebrations. Click Zeke in his bead necklace to see all the January photos and click Gabe drilling to see a few February shots.