Getting Bigger & Only 4 Fears

These babies seriously need to stop growing!  Okay...they're not really as big as they could be, but I still think they're getting big pretty fast!

Just over a week ago I took Rachel to the doctor's office to check out her ear.  She has a hemangioma inside her ear that is starting to close off her ear canal.  It doesn't look gross so I attached a picture so you can see what I mean.  They typically don't remove hemangiomas because they usually shrink and go away within a couple years, but we're seeing an ENT this week to determine of it's affecting her hearing.  If it is messing with her hearing then her speech could also become delayed, which obviously isn't good.  If they determine that it is a problem, then we'll probably be sent to Children's Hospital in Little Rock to have it removed.   At the doctor's office they weighed her and she was 12lbs. 6oz. which is the 22%ile. She's only in the 3%ile on her height though so she's definitely a chubby baby - which I love considering the fact that they both had almost no body fat 4 months ago.  Dean had a blow-out while we were there so since he was stripped down anyway we weighed him too.  He came in at 14 lbs. 8 oz. we didn't get his height, but he's chubby too.

They're starting to figure out how to use their hands.  Their grandmas have bought them rattles that they're becoming more and more entertained with all the time.

Mark is such a good dad and always devotes his evenings to them after he gets home from work.  He still has projects around the house that he uses Saturdays to work on, but not until after he lets me sleep in.

Let's see what else is new.  Um... this weekend I gave blood for the first time!  I'll admit..it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  Our stake hosts an emergency preparedness fair for the region and they were trying to set a new Red Cross regional record.  Ultimately I figured that if I could stick myself or be stuck with over 180 needles over the course of 5.5 months to get these babies I certainly could handle one needle to help save someone else's life (okay that kinda has to do with the babies, but not about how they are right now) .  Thankfully all went well and I felt great afterwards.  The nurse taking my blood was surprised it when she found out it was my first time after she'd already started the process. Apparently most first time donors are very "on edge" and flinch when they are stuck with the needle.  I guess I can mark that phobia off the list.  Now I'm left with 4 manageable fears - public speaking, snakes, falling (not the same as "fear of heights"), and sharks.