Are They Twins?

Interesting

michelleann — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 13:58:39 +0000

A set of boy/girl twins can only be fraternal (dizygotic). Boy/girl twins can not be identical (monozygotic).

Except….

However, there have been a few reported cases of a genetic mutation in monozygotic male twins. For some reason, after the zygote splits, one twin loses a Y chromosome and develops as a female. The female twin would be afflicted with Turner Syndrome, characterized by short stature and lack of ovarian development. It’s extremely rare; less than ten cases have been confirmed. Given the odds, it’s safe to assume that 99.9% of all boy/girl twins are fraternal.

Okay, One More Exception…

Of course, another explanation for gender differences in identical twins is an identical twin who undergoes a sex change operation.

Quick Update

michelleann — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 18:40:00 +0000

We are getting so close to being able to move into the new house. We are just waiting on a few things. There is an issue with the electrical poles being too far away for the cable/phone/internet providers. They said it would be the end of January. We’re also waiting for the counter tops to come in. There is still a lot of trim work that needs done, but we can live there while my dad finishes that.

The kids have been hit by so many illnesses since October. Everyone is finally healthy for the time being. Of course saying that will surely jinx us.

I had to take Cad.en to the doctor today. The hospital went to their preschool last week and evaluated hearing and speech. Ca.den’s paper said he needed a speech evaluation (oh, really!!) and that he needed to have ear wax removed by a doctor! Apparently that is common in some kids. Cad.en did really well letting them flush out his ears. We are suppose to start using an over the counter ear drop to help keep things loosened up in there. Poor kid! As you may remember, we had his tonsils and adenoids removed back in August. In October, he started saying sounds he couldn’t make before such as /ee/ and /k/. This is huge for him and tells us that in time, he will be able to have normal speech. The speech therapist just retested him and he scored above for everything except for his articulation. I knew my boys was smart!!!

A.va failed her hearing test. I have an appointment to get it checked tomorrow. She’s my ear infection girl, so who knows! I do wonder if it could be the reason that she has a higher pitched voice and her speech is not improving (after a year of speech therapy!). I’m going to have her speech evaluated by one of Cad.en’s speech therapists who is phenomenal!

Jant.zen’s 7th birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks. He is going to have his party at the roller rink. We are going to invite both 1st grade classes. He has agreed to say “no gifts,” since we have way too many toys. In lieu of gifts we are going to ask people to bring a donation to our local humane society. He picked out something that he really wants for his birthday for us to get him. I am really proud of him for agreeing to it!

Cad.en and Jant.zen started indoor soccer this week! It’s for grades K-1, but they let Cad.en sign up. He just turned 4, but he’s a tough one. He gets in there like the big boys. They have practices on Tuesdays and games on Saturdays. Outdoor soccer begins in a couple months. Cad.en and A.va should be on the same team in the U-6 league, while Jant.zen will continue to play in the U-8 league.

As soon as we get moved into the new house, I’m hoping to find more time to update here. Since I started using Face.book, I spend the time I would have used to update this blog on there. This blog, however, is nice to have, because I can easily look back to what our family was up to a year or even two years ago. Bye for now!

New House

michelleann — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 02:29:59 +0000

I hope this link works. Here are pictures of the new house:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2012963&id=1344306909&l=76919b3ddd

Halloween 2009

michelleann — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 23:46:25 +0000

Here are some pictures of Trick-or-Treat. It’s actually still going on as I type. Cad.en and Jant.zen woke up at 5AM with fevers, so although they felt fine this evening, we chose not to infect the neighborhood (or go to a Halloween Party this afternoon). We only went to 4 houses (3 relatives and one neighbor). They still had fun and are enjoying the candy they got right now! Here are some pics. See if you can guess who they are suppose to be. I’ll reveal who was what at the bottom.

Cad.en, Jant.zen, and A.va

Ca.den, Jant.zen, & A.va (visiting their Great Grandma and Great Aunt)

Cad.en, A.va, Mommaw G., & Jantzen

Okay…..you probably guessed that Cad.en was Mario (from Super Mario Brothers), A.va was “Simon” from Alvin and the Chipmunks, and Jantz.en is a Star Wars Shadow Trooper. Hope everyone else had a Happy Halloween!!!!

Long Time, No Post (again!)

michelleann — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 02:39:29 +0000

Everyone keeps getting after me for not posting anything new so I’ll try to post something. Since I started using Facebook, I’ve been spending most of my free time seeing what everyone else is up to and playing games (like Farkle, Word Challenge, and Yacht!).

If you’re wondering if we’ve moved into the new house yet, the answer is no. However, things are really happening. The siding is all up on the front of the house. Drywall is hung and finished too. Painting is the “happening” thing on the inside. John and I each have dates tomorrow; me with the trimming paintbrush, and he with the roller! We should be ready for bathroom flooring soon (2 bathrooms are done, 2 need a second coat). I will have to try to remember to take my camera tomorrow.

We’re hoping to be moved in by Christmas. If we do, there will still be small things that need done, but we need to get out of this house so we can get it ready to sell. In old news…Cad.en and A.va started preschool. They only go 2 mornings a week. They love it. Jant.zen is in first grade and loves it. He’s never liked school until this year. I can’t believe how well he reads. He can read books to the twins now!

Here are some pics to hold you over until I get some recent ones posted:

Jantzen's first day of 1st grade

Cad.en, A.va, and Jant.zen by the front porch of the new house (Sept)

A.va's first day of preschool

Cad.en (A.va in background) after first day of preschool

August 2009 (Cad.en & A.va=3, Jant.zen=6)

Family Picture (August 2009)

Computer Problems

michelleann — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 02:28:53 +0000

I haven’t updated in over a month!!! Our computer has something really wrong with it. We can access the internet, but there our Win.dows X.P is nowhere to be found. I have no idea what happened to it or how to fix it. For that reason I haven’t been able to upload photos.

The past couple of weeks have been busy. We finished painting this house. The new house continues to move along. I’ve been taking Cad.en to speech 4 times a week and A.va twice a week. Cad.en just got his tonsils and adenoids out on Tuesday. It was really rough the day after, but he seems to get better each day.

The big news of today is that Jant.zen lost his first tooth!!! It’s been loose for a long time and finally came out today. He’s so happy! He was one of the few (if not the only one) in his class that didn’t loose a tooth in kindergarten.

Next week we are going to be taking the kids to an amusement park. This will be the first time the twins have been to one. The next day we will go to an aquarium.

I promise pictures as soon as I can (I have a bunch on my camera that I can’t put on the computer!). I’m worried I may never be able to retrieve the pictures that were on my computer. I should have learned my lesson last year when our computer crashed and I lost all my pictures. I love digital cameras, but don’t take the time to develop them! If I am able to retrieve them I’m going to save them on a disc.

Father’s Day Car Show

michelleann — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 20:38:31 +0000

My dad use to drive a 1968 Camaro before I was born. For some reason he sold it and has regretted it ever since. A couple years ago, my brother Chad started searching high and low for the car my dad sold. He tried everything, but was unable to locate it. He found one like it in another state and traveled a long way to pick it up. It was in really bad shape. He started working on restoring it. My dad had no idea until my brother surprised him with it on Christmas Day 2007. My brother left the final touches for my dad so he could make it the way he wanted it. My dad worked on it off and on for a couple months, but then he started working on building my house and put the car on the back burner. There was a Father’s Day Car Show scheduled for today that my dad really wanted to enter the car in so he and my brother worked on the car all day yesterday until 1AM. He then got up this morning at 6AM to put some final touches on it until the show began at noon.

My dad, brother Cha.d, and brother Jon.athan

In the picture above you can barely make out my brother Jon.athan’s Mustang and my brother Ch.ad and his wife’s Mustang on the end.

Jant.zen, A.va, and Cad.en with Poppaw's 68' Camaro

Cad.en driving Poppaw's Camaro

A.va, Jan.tzen and Cad.en posing on a bench

Another pose

A.va (in a dress I bought off Etsy-it even has her name on it!)

We looked for Po.ppaw and Momm.aw Gu.mm at the car show so we could get some pictures with them, but we didn’t see them there. I’m sure my dad will put his car in some more shows this summer and we’ll run into them (although we could walk over and visit since we can see their house from our new house!).

The last two pictures were from swim lessons last week. Only 4 more days of lessons. Jant.zen’s ready for the next session to start. He loves going and he’s getting better.

Cad.en after swim lessons

A.va at swim lessons (she has her eyes opened huge because I told her not to close them like she did in the previous two pictures I took before this one!)

Tomorrow morning the twins get to go to their new preschool for a story and snack. I’ll try to get some pictures if possible.

Dentist/Park/New Fish/Swimming Lessons

michelleann — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 17:29:26 +0000

The title basically covers our day yesterday. At 9AM yesterday morning Cad.en and A.va had their first visit to the dentist. Of course we brush their teeth, but most of the time we let them do it themselves so I was really worried. I was also worried that they wouldn’t be cooperative with the hygenist, but luckily they were and we got good reports for both..NO CAVITIES!!!

After the dentist I took them to have breakfast at McDonalds. Then we went to a park. It was a beautiful day yesterday so the kids had a good time.

Jant.zen, A.va, Cad.en at the park

Jant.zen (after I told him to quit making goofy faces!)

Cad.en (I don't know what he's doing)

A.va

They were so excited when they found an inchworm. They brought it over to the picnic table with some leaves and sticks and watched it forever. Jant.zen begged me to take pictures of it:

Inchworm down

Inchworm up

After the park we went to the pet store so I could get guinea pig food. While there I noticed they had a couple huge Oscars. Someone had been keeping them in a small 29 gallon tank so they took them to the pet store. Oscars were on sale for only $6.99 so I got one of the big guys (I would have loved to have gotten both, but I already have another big fish in my 55 gallon tank so I didn’t want to overcrowd them). Here he (or she!) is:

Our newest fish!

I’m not sure if I’ve ever mentioned it before, but we have 3 fish tanks.

Last evening the kids had their first swim lesson. A.va and Cad.en were not impressed. Cad.en was worse than A.va (he also hadn’t had a nap). They did not want to stay in the water (they wanted to play with the water while sitting on the edge). When the lady sprinkled water on their heads and got it all in their eyes they were ticked (WHY did she do that on the first night?!). Here they area:

Cad.en and A.va (right when the lesson was starting)

Jant.zen was not thrilled about taking swim lessons, but he ended up loving it! He can’t wait until his lesson tonight.

Jant.zen's first swim lesson

The Pet Show Results Are In!

michelleann — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 23:44:55 +0000

We took our dog Maya and my mom’s dog Penny to the pet show today.

Maya

Maya struttin' her stuff

Maya ended up winning two awards today! She won an award for the “Longest Tail” (yes they did measure it to be exact!) and an award for the “Best Tricks” (she sat and shook a paw with my hand). It was a long and exhausting day for the big girl. Here she is getting a drink of water.

Maya getting a drink

Jant.zen showing Maya the ball she won (A.va with her "Other Maya" in the background)

Maya and mom’s dog Penny got along just fine. We got a huge surprise though. When my mom was trying to decide whether or not she wanted a Corgi or not, my brother and I went and looked at some Corgi puppies. The breeder had two females left, a red and a tri-color. They were both so cute, but the pups were being reserved quickly so we reserved the tri-color one for mom.

Bella (tri-colored)-the orignal one we reserved

Penny-6 weeks (the one we didn't originally reserve for mom)

When mom saw the pictures of both dogs she was immediately drawn to the “red” on. We called the breeder and changed our reservation to Penny. We had always wondered what happened to Bella.

Right before the pet show started a woman walked up with a young looking tri-color Corgi. Long story short we started talking and it was Penny’s sister, Bella (now renamed Cud.dle)! Her owner also happens to be my doctor and his wife!

Penny reunites with her sister!!!

We couldn’t get over how alike their personalities are!

Penny with mom looking at her award

Penny won a couple awards too. The award you see in the picture was for “Most Well-Mannered Peanut Butter Eater”(they watched each of them eat some peanut butter off a spoon-Maya wouldn’t eat it)

It was a lot of fun. Maya is back at John’s mom and dad’s house. She was exhausted and her hips were bothering her a little so I thought we’d take her back to where she’s comfortable (and things are much calmer than here).

Swimming lessons begin Monday evening for all the kids so hopefully I’ll have time to update afterwards!!

Dog Show Eve

michelleann — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 02:32:29 +0000

Many might not know that we have a dog. You never see her at our house. Well she’s here tonight. Her name is Maya and she’s a 4 year old Bernese Mountain Dog. We got her as a puppy just before I found out I was pregnant with the twins. We housebroke her and really enjoyed her as a puppy. That little puppy quickly turned into a really large dog. Today she weighs about 115 pounds. She’s really big for a female Bernese. There are a couple reasons why she doesn’t currently live with us. When I went into the hospital for bed rest (when I was pregnant for the twins), John was in college and Jant.zen was 2 years old. My mother and father and law started caring for her (they live right down the road from us). When we brought the twins home they were preemies so we were concerned about having such a big dog around them (although Maya is a very sweet dog). When the twins were about a year old (Maya was 2), Maya started limping. We found out that she has hip dysplasia. The entrance that we use into this house has a lot of stairs and we were afraid they’d be too much for her. Last year Jant.zen really wanted to bring her home so we tried, but she seemed really anxious and nervous so it only lasted overnight.

Tomorrow there’s a pet show at our local “Y” that benefits our Humane Society. Jant.zen is really excited about entering Maya in it. My mom is also going to enter her dog Penny.

I took Maya to be washed, groomed, and to get her nails cut. The lady finished off her look with a pretty bow in her hair.

She’s going to spend the night with us here so that we can get up early and go to the pet show. The kids love having her here. She’s loving the attention, but I can tell her hips must be a little sore from all the walking she’s done today (and getting in and out of our vehicle and climbing our stairs).

Here are some pictures of Maya and the kids from this evening.

Maya

Maya (that's A.va's hand)

Maya with her pretty bows

Lovin' on Maya

Posing with Maya

Maya will be moving back in with us when the new house is done. The kids and I took her up to the new house today to show her around. She seemed to have a good time exploring.

Now, where will she sleep tonight? She’s use to sleeping in bed with my mother and father n law. There’s no way this moose is going to fit in bed with me AND the kids (that’s something else I’m looking forward to-everyone will have their OWN room and OWN bed in the new house-and some of you are rolling your eyes and thinking good luck getting them to sleep in their own beds)!

More tomorrow after the pet show. I’m anxious to see how Maya tolerates my mom’s high strung, ankle biting, Corgi pup!