Video's March 2009 (8 months old)

Kiefer - First to crawl

Kole - Not crawling yet but he sure can roll from place to place.

However, he can do a really good raspberry.

Kiefer - I'm in Jail

Kole - Using his inside voice

Kiefer and "The Nuk"

Today is Monday, March 30th.

This is a very sad day in our household.

Today at 10:00 am we were forced to put our dog "Tea Leoni" Bale to sleep after a short battle with bone cancer. She was only 6 years old. A gentle giant she was!! The boys were just noticing her and Tea was finally getting comfortable around Kiefer & Kole. She knew they only wanted to play with her and not hurt her. She was with her family: Shanah & Craig, Grammie & Pappa/Dr. George Beckvermit, Uncle Kenny, and our office manager Allison Butler. We know she is no longer in pain but we are struggling so with her loss. She was such a unique dog, was loved by so many and will never go unforgotten. Our house is pretty quiet these days. You could hear her bark a block away. Tanner (our other dog and Tea's best friend) is lost without her.

We are lost without her

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Katie & Emily Bradach, visiting from MN and skiing in the mountains. They got to see Tea one last time before she passed away.

Saturday, March 28th

Tea loved her front yard. She would sleep out there all day long and would never wonder off. She loved walking the neighborhood kids to/from school. The entire neighborhood loved her!! In fact, the younger kids thought he was a "pony" and used to ask us if we had a saddle for her. Other kids would "knock" on the door and ask if Tea could come out to play with them. She was only a 190 pound playmate - Whew!! She was large was so so gentle.
Summer 2008
Tea and Uncle Kenny's cat Bo. Bo loved to cuddle with Tea and Tea let him.
Spring 2008

Katie & Emily Bradach visiting from MN

Kool Kole

Kool Kiefer

Kiefer - Finally catching up to KolePlay time
Taking Turns

I'm always so happy!!

OUR FIRST BASEBALL CAPS

Brother, you are funny

Uncle Kenny and Kole's favorite pass time - Napping!!Mr. Kole and his new airplane
Mr. Kiefer learning to share the airplane

Look Ma - I'm driving

Flintstone Kole

Aunt Hollie and Mike visiting from Minnesota

Mike & Kiefer - Hollie & Kole

Kiefer wresting Kole

Our Niece Martina and the boys.Grammie & Papa Beckvermit, Martina and the boys.

Look Mom - We can sit up on our ownKiefer (left) & Kole (right)

Kiefer and his sippy cup

Kole and his sippy cup

At the end of February, we took a trip to Scottsdale, Arizona in order for my Aunt Phyllis to finally meet her two great nephews. This was a complete surprise as she had no idea we were coming. This was a very special moment in life - a moment we will never forget. She was so surprised and could not believe that we were actually there. Finally, she got to meet and hold Kiefer & Kole.

Aunt Phyllis & Kiefer, 2/28/09

Aunt Phyllis and Kole, 3/1/09

Aunt Phyllis and Kole, 3/1/09

Aunt Phyllis and Kiefer, 3/1/09

Aunt Phyllis and Kiefer, 3/1/09

" Tired Kiefer"

Swimming in Arizona

"Relaxing Kole"

Swimming in Arizona
"Taking a break from the pool"

Kole and Aunt/Godmother Jackie
Kiefer and cousin Tessie

Kole and cousin Pat.

"Kole!! Let go of my ears"

We love our new truck

Kole - Finally happy on his stomach.

Kiefer - You are such a funny boy!!

Happy little boys.

Brave Little Kiefer.

Ever since Kiefer was born he has had severe acid reflux. We have had him on a hypo-allergenic formula and weighing down his food with rice cereal since he was two months old. Poor little guy would sometimes throw up his entire bottle. He was not gaining weight and was only in the 4% for growth. We finally went to see a specialist in Denver.

On 2-7-09, Kiefer had a surgical procedure in order to make sure he was born with everything he needed internally for his body to function and try to find the source for his vomiting and poor weight gain. This photo is what I call my 'Brave Little Kiefer." He taught me a huge lesson this day about strength. I was the one so worried about putting him to sleep for this procedure. The worst part of the day was the fact that he was hungry because he could not eat for 7 hours. Once he got past the hunger he because this little happy child. He was laughing and going to every nurse in the surgical center. When the doctor arrived, Kiefer went into his arms, relaxed, look at the doctor, and smiles. At that moment I knew he was going to be OK and I completely trusted Dr. Stathos. Kiefer was a strong little boy and he sure showed me that he was stronger and I was at that very moment.

We found out that he does not have a valve on the top of his stomach and there is nothing to keep the food down. We are hoping that this is a preemie thing and that this valve will grow as he gets older. Therefore, right now we are not going to do anything surgically but wait and see if this develops. Also, while the doctor was doing a full scope he also took some biopsies of Kiefer's stomach. The test results showed that Kiefer was allergic to a protein found in every milk product on the market - I mean everything - even his hypo-allergenic formula, soy milk, rice milk....and the list goes on. Dr. Stathos put Kiefer on a "milkless" formula. It smalls like vanilla so when he does throw up it smells like "vanilla" vs. "vomit."

Kiefer went from eating 2-3 oz to eating 5-6 oz, his coloring came back in his face, his eyes are not red anymore, he is gaining weight and actually has fat growing on his legs. He is completely a different child. Amazing!!! Even his throwing up has decreased. He is happy, playful, less fussy, and sleeping way better. Our prayers have been answered AGAIN!!

Kole - Eating Purees and Getting Sleepy

Kole - And he is out!!!

Videos

Kole, did you drink too much wine?

Kiefer & Kole eating "puree's" for the first time.

Mmmmmmm, mommy made us our own baby food. Broccoli, carrots, butternut squash, sweet potato, apples, and pears. Yum Yum!!

Videos

First time swimming. Spent Thanksgiving 2008 in Florida with Grandma and Grandpa Windey.

Music Class

Holding our bottles all by ourselves.

6 Months Old

WOW!! January 10, 2009. The boys are 6 months old today. Time really does fly by fast. The boys are changing every week. Right now they are talkative and very interactive. They go between playing in their jumperoos to sitting at the kitchen table and playing with toys to rolling around on the floor.

Kole weighs around 16 pounds and Kiefer weighs around 13 pounds. Kiefer started out being the taller one but all of a sudden Kole has passed him up by an inch.

We started introducing solid foods - just the basics - Rice Cereal. Kole loves it!! He opens his mouth and swallows everything. That is not too hard to believe. Kiefer is still trying to figure it out and rolls the food around with his tongue before he spits it out. We will keep trying with Kiefer and just waiting to get the go ahead from their doctor to start giving them more solid foods.

Kole has been sleeping through the night for a month now. Kiefer likes to play around - some nights he sleeps right through and other nights he wants a bottle - gulps it down and falls asleep in a matter of seconds. Kole is very talkative in his crib. Some nights, oh lets say around 4 am, we hear him in his crib babbling. Eventually, he falls back to sleep. Kiefer only sleeps on his stomach. We put him to bed on his back and in a matter of seconds he flips over onto his stomach. The only problem is that he gets stuck every once in awhile because he does not have any independent leg action with the sleeping bags we put him in. Otherwise, with out that, he is a champ rolling from side to side and/or across the room.

Craig and I have decided to make our own baby food. We are ready with the food mill and LOTS of little Tupperware. We have a book that Aunt Kara gave us that tells you, in order, how to introduce food groups - sweet, salty, savory, sour etc. We are really going to give this a try and see how it works. We really want our boys to grow up with a diverse pallet.

We really feel lucky finding Morgane. She is incredible with the boys - caring, loving, fun, outgoing - We love having her as part of our family. I really do not know what we would do without her.

We got through the holidays. Not too hectic - Loads of fun. Spent a lot of quality time with family and the boys.

Wishing you the best in 2009!! Thank you for taking a look at our Blog.

Cheers,
Shanah

Kole - Mmmmmmm, that tastes good.Kiefer's First Purees

"Daddy seriously, I can hold the spoon myself"
Having fun at Grammies

We are 6 months old today 1/10/09