The Burkett Bundle

It was Friday night and I was holding onto the couch, heading toward Mommy, who was holding out one of my favorite toys.  I took my hand off the couch, just for a second and took a step forward.  As soon as I figured out what I had done, I put my hand back on the couch and quickly sat on the floor.  You should have seen the look on Mommy's face.  It looked like she was happy (and I know she was because she clapped), but there was a tear in her eye too.  Crazy woman! 

Well, that's probably not exactly how Karyssa would tell the story, but she did accidentally take her first step, and yes, I did cry a little.  She also gave me a look that told me she wasn't going to try that again for a while, so even though she officially took her first step, I don't think we're going to have a walker for a while still. 

Yesterday was a long day!  Bear with me as I tell this disjointed story. 

When I found out I was pregnant, I joined a message board of other women due around my due date.  Several of them were also having twins.  On this board are women from Canada, the UK, Australia and all over the US.  One woman and her family just happen to live about an hour away from us.  She has an 8-year-old boy, a 3-year-old girl and 1-year-old boy/girl twins.  We decided that yesterday would be a great day to meet at the zoo and finally meet each other face-to-face. 

Well, yesterday was a beautiful day, and we had a great time with a very sweet family, but some of the details of the day made it a very, very long one. 

To tell this story, I have to go back to an event I forgot to blog about.  On February 20, my brother and sister-in-law had their second wedding reception in a town near ours.  The babies and I were all dressed in our wedding party outfits, so we made the hour-long trip to the reception.  Karyssa was a little fussy on the way there, but we assumed she just wanted out of the car.  As soon as we parked the car, we heard something.  The unmistakable sound of vomit.  I turned around to see my baby girl, in her white flower girl dress, covered in red yogurt. 

She wasn't feverish and seemed content (just uncomfortable to be dirty), so we decided to find something else for her to wear.  When they were young, I always brought a change of clothes, but since they've been older, I never saw a reason for it, so of course we had nothing to change her into.  We found a Belk nearby, and I found a cute outfit to dress her in.  We had a great time at the reception, and she was fine.  After that, I did start bringing extra clothes for them again. 

Well, after almost two months and several long car rides with no issues, I just took the extra clothes out of the bag last week, when we needed space for other things.  So, of course, after the 20 minute ride to the zoo, as soon as we pulled into the parking lot, we heard that unmistakable sound again.  I packed up Kyran and headed into the zoo to meet our friends, while Jason took Karyssa home, cleaned her and the car seat and came back to meet us later. 

I think that may have been the longest amount of time that Kyran and Karyssa have been away from each other since they were put in the same NICU room, and it felt very weird to just have one baby with me. 

Because it was such a beautiful day, everyone decided to go to the zoo.  I have never in my life seen so many people there.  When Jason and I take the babies, we go later in the day, and stroll around for a couple of hours in between meals.  Yesterday, we met there at 11 a.m., at lunch there and left around 4 p.m.  Maybe I'm getting old, but I was completely worn out when we left. 

Kyran and Karyssa had both fallen asleep for quick cat naps at the zoo, but other than that, didn't sleep all day!  I can't imagine how worn out they must have been!

We got home and fed them, or tried to at least.  For the last couple of days, Karyssa has decided she doesn't want to eat much, and we've decided not to fight her too much just yet.  This means, though, that Kyran has been getting more than his fill of food.  Our pediatrician told us to feed him until he stops eating, but his problem is that he would never stop eating.  Yesterday evening I fed him more than usual, and we paid the price...big time! 

Jason tends to be a little rambunctious with our little big man, so after dinner, he picked him up and threw him over his shoulder, and he spit up a little.  Jason brought him into the kitchen to clean him up, and I won't elaborate other than to say that I now know what projectile vomiting looks like.  I felt like a bad parent, because we both just stood there for a second, with it all over ourselves and him, and all we could do was laugh for a minute.  I cleaned the floor while Jason gave Kyran his second bath of the day, and when I went upstairs, Kyran was having a great time playing in the tub. 

Just like Karyssa, he showed no other symptoms, but just in case, we kept them home from church today and will be keeping a close eye on them for a while. 

I hope you weren't eating as you read this post!  Here are some pictures from yesterday's zoo trip.

Look how little my munchkins are!!

I really, really don't like alligators!

The very pregnant goat!