Helmet Update

One week down with the helmet. Brandon took to it like Nicky to cupcakes. Who knew? His head has already started changing, and in one week, it has grown 1 millimeter. His cheek is getting fuller, and becoming more symmetrical. The back of his head is rounding out and the flat spot is not as noticeable. He seems not to notice it and sleeps pretty good. Nicky hasn't really noticed and we have successfully kept it out of Zeus' mouth. Here are some pictures from the first week. I will be posting his helmet pictures here

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I had to...

Mom, this is so embarrassing.

 

Take these off immediately.

 

Dad, you coming to help!?

(both boys 7 months old)

(both boys not fans....)

Dan is not speaking to me

Nicholas and Brandon may never speak to me again either....

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Random

IMG_0223, originally uploaded by victoriaabeling.

I hate Flickr, but I 've been uploading my pictures to Flickr since 2007. All 18,000 pictures. So I use it. and upload more pictures.
Other than that, I hate the set up, the navigation, how you can't quickly sift through pictures, and the user interface is annoying. I'm thinking of moving to smugmug.

However, I do think it is funny and quite interesting, that they show you your most viewed picture of the day.

and Ta-da! This awesome amateur picture of an octopus under water in Tahiti is my most viewed picture of the day.
Even I have to admit, it is a really cool octopus, but why is it the Photo highlight of my day? Dan thinks its Octopus Awareness day...what do you think?

UPDATE: hahaha yesterday's picture was this. Now that's more like it!

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Poor little sick baby

Reflections, originally uploaded by victoriaabeling.

Nicky is sick. He has been throwing up since 4 pm yesterday. Nothing worse than watching your little baby throw up and cry, not understanding what's happening to him. I want to hold him and take away the hurt and pain when I wash away his tears. But all he wants is Daddy. Daddy gives him mamos and ice cream and watches "ernie and bert" with him. Mommy went to Bunco.

He spent the night with us and I stayed up and watched him sleep. He is so peaceful. He is so innocent and dreamy. I could spent hours staring at him.

Love you as high as the moon. Even if i'm not Daddy.
xo Mommy

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All Nicky, all the time.

 Nicky shows off some new skills: Please and Thank you and now you all know how much he LOVES dried cherries. "Go Shauna" as I have mentioned before, has become the new Abeling household motto, and fist bumps are catching on. Apparently snow is not cold (can you see it falling?? in Austin!), and my son never wears pants, as you can see...



(if viewing on blackberry, go to website to watch video)

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Daddy and Nicky in the Snow

DSC01396, originally uploaded by victoriaabeling.

Sneak peak of our Snow Adventures in Austin today!

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Ok Back to my Beautiful Boys: A couple updates

Brandon has 2 more teeth, making the tally 4. He is crawling, and I have yet to get it on video.  He is doing extremely well with the helmet, and all the cute stickers I bought DON'T STICK. Dan put some John Deere tractor stickers on the helmet, but I took them off. I'm not really a dirt and tractor girl. not at all. He basically sleeps through the night and drinks from a sippy cup. He eats 3 meals a day and just started eating finger foods like Gerber puffs and yogurt meltaways.and hes started to make sounds like baba, gaga, dada, and yep. Yes, "yep"

Nicky "fist bumps", uses the words "get it" profusely, and when he dances, he  can "raise the roof" and "push it out". He randomly shouts "Go Shauna" in stores, and when we pull up to the coffee shop he asks (shouts) for a "orange star" cookie. (how the hell he knows that, no clue. he is so intuitive) He counts to 10 and can say ABCD. He knows all his colors (red, pink, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, white, black, brown) by name and identification. He can sing "eieio". He puts chapstick on.

they both are boys and have stolen my heart

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If I had a girl...

 I love my boys. I do. I adore them. They are my whole world and they make every second worth every minute. Nickys silly laugh. Brandons smiling face. I. love. them. They are all mine, and no MOM you can't have them.

But I want a girl. I want a girl soooooooo bad. To curl her hair. To hold my hand. To take to ballet class. To pick out prom dresses. To plan her wedding. 

I mean, help plan, er pay for the wedding. whatever. I also want to dress her in all the completely adorable girly things I see every day. 

If I had a girl....

and because Mommy needs something adorably cute too...

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New Pictures and Videos for Feb 2010

I uploaded and posted new pictures for February

• Brandon's Helmet - week 1
• 2010 Vancouver Olympics
• Valentine's Day 2010
• Primrose Valentine's Day Party
• Vroom.
• Rainy Days 2010
• Bathtime Fun
• The Boys - Feb 2010
• Choo Choo, Jack Turned TWO
• Watching the Grammys

I also uploaded 3 new videos on YouTube

• Colors and Bathtime fun
• Baby Giggles - Brandon
• My Olympic Moment

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My Olympic Moment

Found! My Coca-Cola commercial on TV. I recorded it off the TV for all of you to see. Watch it as many time as you want. Don't blink, you almost miss me in my less than half a second glory!

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Toddler Talk

This is our conversation each morning...

I say, "Nicky, time to go to school."
Nicky says, "Bye potty, bye truck, bye puppies....bye baby"
"No, baby is coming with us"
"No! BABY" 

And we proceed to have a baby meltdown. every morning. with some kicking too. However bribes like "mamos" (marshmallows) work wonders.

"If I give you a mamo, can Brandon come too?"
"yes..."

(See this blog is valuable: Good parenting tips for all those moms and dads out there! ;) )

Ok so, I am assuming one day Nicky will accept his brother?? :) Here we are trying really hard to get a picture of the 2 of them. I don't have much luck. Switching gears now - honestly, how cute are Nicky's pants?? Mini Boden has the best stuff. He picked that shirt out to wear to school. Loves his Hot Wheels. And Brandon's shirt is a size 9 months already! and his big budda belly pops out. He's getting SO big!! Much bigger than Nicky was at 7 months.

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Head Gear

Help me decorate Brandon's Helmet. He gets fitted on Wednesday and I want to decorate it myself. I went to Hobby Lobby for the first time (OMG! LOVE) and found some fun decals to decorate his head.

What is your favorite?

Robots, 100% Boy, Construction Site, or Dinosaurs?

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Coca-Cola and Me: A Beautfiul Friendship

Every year I give up Coca-Cola for my New Years Resolution. Apparently, they didn't get the message because they just featured me in a commercial.  yes, you heard me A COMMERCIAL. ON TV. from 4 years ago in Torino. It was at the 1st day of the Women's bobsled event! And I LOOK TERRIBLE. But it was one of 4 happiest and most memorable days of my life. 1. Nicholas' Birth. 2. Brandon's Birth. 3. My Wedding and 4. my twin sister, Valerie Fleming and Shauna Rohbock winning a silver medal for the USA in Torino.

I am frantically searching the internet for a clip of the video to paste, but I did get some clips from the TV. Dan is frantically searching to see if they owe us money. And you must be thinking, how I ever noticed that??! I am good.

I saw this flash across the screen and thought, that kinda looks like me

 

 Then I watched it again and KNEW it was me!

and you can ALMOST see Dan right to my right (his hat)

  

 It is an "Coca-Cola Uplifting Moments" commercial

  

  This is my own picture. I wanted to be sure that was me. Here we are waiting for the race to start in Torino. This was the most awesome day.

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My Valentine Part II

So I just finished posting THIS and put Brandon to bed. I came downstairs to watch the Olympics and have one of my chocolate Turtles my awesome husband gave me and look what I found:

 REALLY? REALLY?!!

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My Valentines

Dan's in the doghouse. and he knows why. And funny, just today I got the sweetest email from a girl at the coffee shop that I stop at every morning. She said: "Happy Valentine's Day to you and Dan - you guys are so adorable together and really set the example of what a couple should be!" 

 Cookies from Rise & Shine

Does a mylar balloon + chocolate turtles =  "should be"?? haha. Is it sad that after 8 years we 1. either don't take these holidays seriously, no matter how contrived, or 2, we have everything we need (except that gold metallic Tory Burch Hobo bag at Saks, ahem) Anyways today I have two Valentine's and they are the ones that count.

 

 The Ladies Love Me

 Mommy and Nick...and the mylar balloon

Brandon isn't Nickys' Valentine....

PS. I didn't do any better. The card I bought Dan is in the rental car at SFO and his idea of a Valentine's gift isn't men's sportswear...

PPS. We did go to dinner last night at Hudsons on the Bend and had a wonderful evening! Yum. I guess I can let him off the hook and he is making me dinner right now.... :)

Happy Valentine's Day to you from the Abeling's!

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Vroom.

 

 

My baby is growing up. B started movin and shakin this past week.

I know I should be happy, but as I pack away his 3-6 month outfits and put out the 6-12months, I can't help but feel sad that I won't be doing all the infant things again. 

Each milestone is another reminder that its the last. 

And I can't stop it, so I have to embrace it. 

I love you to the moon, B, and so proud of your accomplishments!

Vroom. Vroom.

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Grandma Lala and the Boys

I love these picture of Grandma "Lala" Larissa with Nicky and Brandon, both at 2 weeks.

Nicky 2 weeks old

Brandon 2 weeks old

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Nicky really loves his...

...Angel Dear blanket. Nicky started calling them his "bays" a couple months ago. He never leaves home without them. 

Nicky at 30 weeks

The Day Brandon was born

at Brandons Baptism

With Aunt Jennie

 

With Kylee Joe at Halloween

Hanging out with Dad and the puppies before bed

 

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In Vegas

DSC03541, originally uploaded by victoriaabeling.

I'm in Vegas for VMware's Partner Exchange (PEX), and I have been away from my kids for 4 days now. I miss them so much. Dan has been doing a wonderful job being Mr. Mom for the past week and I am so proud of him. I call them every morning and Nicky says "Hi Mommy" to the phone. My heart swells with pride and I ache a teeny bit too.

On my breaks I keep watching this video of Nicky. In 2 days the boys will be 7 months and 21 months, so I went back to see what Nicky was doing at 7 months. It was Christmas, he was crawling, had 4 teeth, and met Avery and Parker for a playdate at mom's house. I was 3 months pregnant with Brandon! I though this was a fun picture of former USCB Gauchos and their future Gauchettes. Enjoy!

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One, Two, Three...or Four Jump!

One, Two, Three...or Four Jump!
Originally uploaded by victoriaabeling

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Noggin

We did it. We're getting the helmet. Today I took Brandon for his 3-D head scan. In order to get the best results they have to place a net over his face and head. Banjo was a trooper, despite looking like a bank robber on America's most wanted! He laughed the whole time and we were able to get a good scan of his noggin. The helmet will be here on the 17th. Here are some pics from this morning's appointment

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Team Rohbock

A little something I had made for Val to take to the Olympics for Shauna! We had 100 scarves made to pass out to the fans in Whistler during the 2 day Women's bobsled event!

Nicky says "Go Nana, Vroom! OooSAY!"

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To Helmet or not to Helmet...

Update: We're doing it. Oh and tis is a pretty cute design too!

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i183/bcforever213/Plagio-Saurus.jpg

UPDATE as of 4:25...now we may not. we'll know more tomorrow.

Last week I mentioned that Brandon may get a helmet. He has moderate Plagiocephaly. Plagiocephaly (sounds like: playgioseffally) often results from external forces applied to the soft infant skull, or in his case, a baby that likes to lay on one side while sleeping or nursing. (he is not a motor boat like Nicky!)

I started noticing it when he was about 2 months old; that his head is sloped and flat on his right side. His pediatrician said not to worry, and to watch it. Well I don't think it has gotten worse, but its not getting better, so I asked for a referral. We took him to Cranial Technologies to get evaluated for a helmet or docBand.  Below are some images of the actual docBand and it weighs less than a box of tissues. It  is sculpted and shaped to custom fit his head. He will have to wear it for 23 hours for 8 - 10 weeks. A short period of time for a nice head for rest of his life.

 Here are his personal mugshots.You can see how he leans a little to the left and how his head is a bit flat in the back. You will also notice the sloping of his forehead. Normal heads should look like this.

Brandon's shape is not severe, its off about 13 millimeters...normal is about 2-4. Brandon is a good candidate because the helmet will re-shape his head and give it a more normal appearance. Can you tell how happy he is. Valerie was trying to entertain him, but he wasn't heaving any of it.

Dan and I have spent the last week talking to other families and dr's to make the best decision and here are some of our concerns:

• As he grows in the next 6 months to a year will his head round out anyways?
• Will hair come in and it won't be so noticeable?
• what if we DONT do it and we miss the prime opportunity window?
• are we being vain?
• Will he have dental or ear problems due to the forced nonalignment of his bones and head?
• Is it worth $3800 and does Insurance cover it?
• Will it hurt?
• Will he hate it? Will the dogs eat it? Will Nicky want one?
• Can I decorate it (ok, kidding aside, i think an "under construction" picture would be so cute! You send away and this wonderful lady paints them for you. How awesome is that?)

 Today I made an appointment to move forward with the helmet. The downside is...well there is no downside. Except he will have a beautiful noggin before he turns 1! More about the helmet and progress to come when we get it. The next appointment he will have to have a 3D scan to get a perfect mold and then 2 weeks later, we will get the new bling bling. Stay tuned for the next adventure in Abelingland!

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