What a Difference a Year Makes ...

This is our Christmas picture from last year!
Maddy and Morgan 2005

This is our Christmas pictures from this year!
Maddy and Morgan 2006

Are you as amazed as we are to see the changes?
We are so blessed!
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Morgan makes sweet faces for the camera. We said in this one she is saying "Please Pawpaw, buy me lots of presents. I love you .. wink wink"
Morgan watches as we put the lights on the tree

Maddy helps Mommy trim the tree with ornaments

Getting In the Christmas Spirit

Morgan calls our tree "ooo oo" because that is what she says everytime she sees it. We ask them, "Where's your Christmas tree?" and they both point at it. Then Morgan says "ooo oo". It is so cute. This Christmas is going to be so much fun. I can't wait to see their little faces light up Christmas morning when they see all the goodies Santa is going to leave them.

Morgan is mesmerized by her first Christmas tree. Maddy loves the blinky lights

Our First Visit with Santa

Maddy couldn't wait to see Santa. She ran to him.

Morgan was very curious as to who this jolly guy was :)

Our "Official" picture with Santa.

Happy Happy Thanksgiving

We have been so busy around here. William was off for the holiday and we had a nice four day weekend together. We really tried to pack in the family time. He has been working six day weeks for months and months and the time together was such a relief. Thursday I cooked Thanksgiving dinner all by myself down at my dads. I made a ton of food and the turkey turned out perfect. It was golden and juicy. I was afraid before it finished that it was going to be like the turkey in "Christmas Vacation", but thankfully it wasn't.

Maddy and Morgan have been sick since last week. They ran fever all last week and we ended up at the doctor's office last Wednesday. Maddy had a double ear infection and Morgan they said had fever from shots she had had two weeks prior? Thanksgivng day was kinda rough with Morgan, she ran fever all day and was really puny. She really wasn't up for all the festivities and ended up sleeping away most of the day.

Friday both girls perked up and were feeling so much better. We layed around the house most of the day but in the afternoon we took the girls to a Christmas Event here in our town. It benefits the hospital they were in the NICU at and it had all these animated animals and lights to walk the children through. It was indoors, though it wouldn't have mattered since it was such a gorgeous day outside here. Maddy and Morgan loved the exhibit and we walked through it twice so they could get a good look at all the animals. It was exactly the same as I had remembered it from when I was a little girl. We didn't however see Santa there. Because they had been so sick I was wary of more germs. So we just pushed them around in their stroller. After that we headed home and spent the rest of the evening relaxing and working on a puzzle.

Saturday, William woke me up at 9am and asked me if I wanted to take some of our "junk" to the flea market up the road to sell. We haven't done this sort of thing since before I was pregnant. It is really a lot of stuff to get together and seemed too hard to throw together at the last minute. But it was such a pretty day outside and William really wanted to go because his brother was there. So he packed it all up in his nephew's truck and I packed up the girls and the playpen. It was a lot of fun and we made $152.00 in 4 1/2 hours. They do say that "one man's junk is another man's treasure" I was glad we cleaned out some space in our barn and excited to have enough money to get our Christmas stuff out of layaway.

Yesterday we spent the day at home. I wanted to go to church but we aren't able to put the girls in the nursery during RSV season and we didn't line up a sitter. I went to Walmart and got groceries and William worked on his car. The girls played all day and literally had toys scattered from one end of the room to the other. They had a blast but were exhausted by 7:30pm. William and I finished our puzzle and watched a sad sappy Hallmark movie on tv. It was a nice quiet end to our "vacation" weekend.

It was so much fun. I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving holiday. I know this year was more exciting for me because I realized just how very much I have to be thankful for. I look at my two little girls and my heart wants to explode with love for them. I look at them and literally see how much God must love me to have blessed me this much. It was a wonderful thanksgiving for us and I really hope it was for you too.

Test Results and Power Tools

First and foremost. I got the test results from Morgan's EEG and MRI tests she had last week. Both tests came back completely normal and she is scheduled for a followup with her doctor in two months. This is great news and is 100% proof that she doesn't have any brain damage from NICU and no cerebral palsy. We are so excited!!!

Morgan is up and walking more and more now and Maddy is running from room to room like a wild woman. Both of the girls are ahead of schedule on their fine motor skills even if you don't correct thier age, and they are right on target for their gross motor. Our OT is talking about reevaluating them to see if they are ready for discharge soon. Our PT is going to hold off on putting Morgan in leg braces to see if she corrects her funny foot positioning as she gains more control over her balance with walking. This is all such good news for our family. With all the preemie stuff we deal with every day it is nice to finally be heading in the right direction. It is wonderful to hear positive news.

Today Melissa came over and I told her about how I want to put my big Christmas tree up this year. Last year I just put up a tiny tree on a table. It was all I could muster with the girls being so little and demanding and I was so happy when it came time to put it away because all I had to do was fold up the branches and stuff it in a box. The problem I had with the little tree was that it didn't do anything to bring in the spirit of Christmas. I missed my fancy tree and all my decorations. I missed putting the presents under it (last year I just kept them piled up in the closet till time to take them to parties). I really am looking forward to doing a big Christmas this year ... but ... I have been very worried about the stress of keeping two very curious toddlers away from the tree and safe. So I devised this plan to build a box in the corner of my living room and behind it I could put the tree. It really is more of a L. Two long boards screwed together with "L" brackets and then I wanted to cover it with batting and Christmas fabric so if the girls touched it they wouldn't get a splinter or hurt themselves. In my mind this idea made perfect sense.

When Melissa got here I got out the tape measure and we figured out the dimensions we would need and headed to Lowes to buy some wood. Two babies in the cart and two women walking around Lowes must have been more than some of the employees and shoppers could handle. Every turn and every question was answered with condescension like we couldn't possible have a clue what we were going to do. Just a simple request for help with lumber was met with a "You don't know what you're doing" stare. When we got to the station where they cut the wood for you, the cutter guy was friendly but kept asking us the dimensions again like we must have them wrong. At one point he even got out his tape measure and started pretending he was building what we were describing just to see if it was logical. Of course in the end he just cut the wood to the size we needed. He had to ask us like four times the measurements (which were very simple) because he kept forgetting. When he finally passed off the cut wood to us he said something like "Good luck with your project" in a way that sounded like "You can't do it" We walked away sqwaking about it. We had asked the wood cutter what aisle the screws were on and he told us two. So off to aisle two we went. On aisle two we looked up and down for the "L" brackets and screws but weren't finding them. Another employee walked up and we asked him where to find the brackets. He scoffed and told us we were looking in the wrong place and then took us over a couple of aisles. It just seemed like every row we went to people were acting like we were trying to build a house with no instructions. Like we couldn't possibly know what we were doing. I found it humorous. Melissa was aggravated.

We got our wood loaded in the car, packed in the kids, and off we went to Walmart fabric department, where we were treated like we knew EXACTLY what we were doing and then we headed home. While it was quite humorous and times putting together the wall. It was overall very fun and in the end I am so proud of what we did. It is really pretty. It works and fits perfectly in the room. The girls think it is cool and best of all they can't reach over it. It comes up to about their armpit level (18") and it has this pretty fabric with a snowman scene across the bottom. I can't wait to show you pictures but my camera batteries are dead, figures :). I guess I will have to wait till I get my tree all up and then take a picture of the whole thing at one time. I usually put it up Thanksgiving weekend.

Hope everyone is having a great week. I will talk to you all soon :)

Mostly About Morgan ...

Here are some more pictures from recently. I haven't had a lot to write about and most of the things I do have to write about I haven't really felt up to writing about. So I figure I will just write a little and post some new pictures.

Morgan shows off her pretty butterfly shoes. Isn't this just the cutest dress? Someone gave it to us from Baby Gap and it still had the tags on. Would you believe it is a 0-3mo. size. Isn't that crazy?

Yesterday I took Morgan to the hospital to have her MRI and EEG. It was not a fun experience to say the least but we did get through it. We ended up being at the hospital for eight hours total. We don't have any of the test results yet but I am hoping that by tomorrow we will have some clue as to when we will at least find out the results. I called the neurologist office today and they are going to call me back tomorrow and set us up an appt. or give us the results over the phone? I don't know. I love the doctor but the office seems a little scatterbrained to me.

Here are some pictures of Morgan's post "EEG hairdo" It was crazy stiff and she still has paste in her hair today from the procedure. I think I washed it at least four times last night, put baby oil in it, and combed and brushed it for about an hour and still there is stuff stuck to her head today :)
Because she was such a good baby all day long and was put through the ringer with these tests (three sticks for an IV to sedate her) and hours and hours with no food or drink. She deserved a balloon. This is her balloon...and a teddy bear ... which Maddy kept taking while Morgan was getting her hair brushed. So we have had an adventurous week so far and it is only Wednesday. I hope the rest of the week is calm and more collected :) Hope to hear from you. Going to go brush up on some of the blogs I haven't had the chance to read lately. I hope to update more this week.

Happy Halloween

We had a really happy Halloween. We had a very busy day out and about. We went trick or treating at my mom's work and at my old job too. The girls were so cute and they loved all the attention they got. Last night we went over to my mom's house and handed out candy to all the cute little kids. Maddy and Morgan had a blast. They really don't eat candy yet so we put Gerber Fruit Puffs in their pumpkin and they had so much fun digging down in it to get their "treats" out.

Here are some pictures of them in their cute little poodle skirts.

Our Pumpkin

Taking a Break

Things have been fine around here. I just needed a blog break. I have been spending a lot of time playing with my girls and haven't felt like taking the time to upload pictures and type up thoughts on the computer. But I didn't want everyone to forget about us so I figured I better get back on here and post something.

Here are a couple of pictures of the girls in their fuzzy new houseshoes!

Let's Celebrate

One Year Ago:
Maddy comes home!

Morgan comes home! Swaddled babies, Morgan and Maddy!

Today: A celebration
Mommy makes pink cupcakes to celebrate! Yummy!
Maddy waits patiently for more icing ...
Yay, presents! Mommy got us this tent to celebrate
Morgan checks it all out!

Happy Homecoming Girls

Happy Homecoming Anniversary to my sweet baby girls!
One year ago today we were getting everything set to bring Maddy home from the hospital. Oh, it was such a sweet day. We chose to room-in with the girls on that Sunday night. Maddy for sure was scheduled to come home the next day. But when we got to the hospital to stay for the night, we found out that Miss Morgan was one ounce shy of four pounds and since that was the required weight to leave the hospital, the doctors wouldn't even let her spend the night in our hospital room with us and her sister.

That evening the nurses wheeled Maddy to our room in her crib and brought along with her all the monitors and contraptions that she would need. It was the first time we were ever really alone with her. William and I were just enamored with her. We sat in the room just staring at this tiny baby. She was four pounds two ounces. It was quiet. There was no beeping or alarms going off all around us and I think that was the first time we ever had a really quiet moment with our daughter. It was of course bittersweet though because her sister was still in the NICU across the hall from our room.

That night I got up every couple of hours to feed her and after she was settled back in the metal crib, I would walk over to the NICU and feed Morgan. Me in my pajamas and all, sitting in the NICU rocking chair at two a.m. spending time with Morgan, whom the next day I would leave behind all alone at the hospital.

The next morning the nurses knocked on our door. Surprise! They had weighed Morgan that morning and she was four pounds even so they wheeled her bed into our room to be with her sister for awhile. Now they were together again. We took Maddy from her bed and put her in the crib with Morgan. Both girls were side by side for the first time since before they were born. They seemed instantly to be at peace that way.

We played for a while and then we all went back into the NICU to get Maddy ready to go home. We were hoping the doctors would take Morgan's morning weight and let her go home with her sister but they didn't. The doctor wanted us to wait one more night. So sadly we took Maddy home that day and sweet Morgan stayed the rest of the night in the NICU. It was the first time in her life that I didn't spend almost the entire day with both girls.

Luckily the next morning came fast and the nurses called and told us to come pick up Morgan. When I arrived at the hospital I left my mom and Maddy in the car and ran up to get Morgan. They had her all packed up and waiting on me. Finally we were a family. All together. All in one place and for the first time ever, not in a hospital. It was a wonderful moment for me.

Happy Homecoming Maddy (October 10th) and Morgan (October 11th) I have loved every single minute of the last year at home with you. I have loved watching you grow and play together. Your bond as sisters, as twins, is stronger than any I could have imagined. I love you both so much and am so excited to spend the rest of my life watching you grow and mature into the beautiful smart girls I know you are becoming. I love you both very much.

Love, Mommy

NICU Reunion

Today we attended the girls first NICU reunion. We didn't think we were going to be able to make it at first because the girls had been sick earlier in the week with fever but all turned out well and since they are feeling much better (no fever in 48 hours) we went ahead and went over.

I can't begin to describe some of the emotions I had just pulling into the parking lot again. Looking at the hospital where so much took place, where we spent day in and day out for so many weeks. It was so nice to see all the nurses and staff that were such a part of our everyday life just one year ago. Next week is the one year anniversary of the girls homecoming.

The girls were so excited by all the activity and it was really sweet how everything was all set up. Morgan went crazy over all the colorful balloons. This year's theme was Disney.

We arrived and registered and they gave the girls name tags that said "NICU Graduate", their name, and their birth weight. I looked around at some of the other kids and realized that my girls were some of the tiniest ones there. There were tons of people and tons of multiples. We even saw quads. We met up with our buddies the Hurts. They have triplets and we have kept in touch since meeting in the NICU last August.

We all had a really good time going around to all the "stations" that were all set up. We took pictures with our favorite nurses, we took pictures with Cinderella and Prince Charming. We took pictures with Donald and Daisy Duck. Then we headed down the hall where they had pictures of the girls and other NICU graduates on big posters lining the walkway. In a conference room (the same one we took childbirth classes in) they had a weight station set up. Nurses took the girls weight and height and entered it on cute little certificates that said "Look How We've Grown" and had their birth weight and today's weight. Maddy was 18lbs. 11oz. and Morgan was 17lbs. even on their scale (She had a full diaper and heavy shoes on, she was 16.4 at the doctor's office on this past week). Then they got their handprints made in this colorful foam stuff that is supposed to harden. We saw a video with pictures of babies that were the size the girls were when born but looking at it seemed unreal and impossible for a child to survive that small.

In the cafeteria they had a snack station set up and we ran into one of the girls main nurses, Carole. She took Maddy and leaned in to hug me. She said "We were just talking about you the other day". I looked puzzled and she talked about how her and a couple of the other nurses had been wondering how we were doing. She said "You really had it rough here didn't you sweetie" and all I could say was "yes".

She was referring to the girls bowel perforations at a week old and the news that Maddy was gravely sick just two days after her sister was air lifted to the children's hospital and then they were taking Maddy too. The girls had colostomy bags that near the end began to tear their skin off thier little tummies and cause substantial amounts of pain to all of us, but especially them. She was right. I really had it rough, but look what I gained from it. Sometimes I feel like I walked through fire and out came this wonderful life with two beautiful perfect in every way babies. I wonder if all NICU mommies feel that way. You could tell there was a commraderie there between the parents. The way we smiled at each other and celebrated with each other. Like we were members of a secret club that truly understood the happiness associated with the days festivities.

Here are some pictures of the girls today:

Morgan goes crazy over this big redbird.
She kept laughing and lunging at it. It was so cute.
We got another picture of him holding her and she is all
arched back trying to grab his beak.

Maddy and Ms. Deloris. She was one of our favorite nurses.
She always kept me laughing.

Maddy standing around. Having a good time.

Who could resist a picture with Daffy and Daisy Duck?
Not Maddy or Morgan :)

This is Ms. Lori. She was another favorite favorite nurse.
She would always let me hold the girls when I wanted to. I would cross my fingers everyday hoping we would get her!

This is when we first arrived. Maddy was content just sitting back having a bottle. But Morgan wanted to get out and see everything.
She went crazy over all the balloons and colors.

This was Ms. Carole and Maddy at the snack station.
I could always tell she was a really caring person. Today when she hugged me I felt like she really had sympathy/empathy for all we had been through.
A very good nurse.

Up To

Well things haven't been all bad lately. I know I was bummed with my last post and then with good intentions I promised some new pics, so that is what I am going to do.

We are feeling much better here in our household. We have been up to lots of fun things lately and none of it has alloted any leftover time for the computer so that is why this blog has been so lacking, that and the fact that I am chasing two VERY mobile little girls around and around all day.

Lets see, we've been playing hard . . . .
We've spent some time out on our new swingset in the backyard. That has been really fun. Maddy especially gets a kick out of being pushed back and forth. It seems to relax Morgan more than thrill her but she loves it anyway.
Maddy is up and off all the time now. She is walking everywhere. She stumbles a lot but when she falls she pops right back up and keeps on going.

We've been shopping a little . . . .
We got new booster seats for the kitchen. They are big hits with the girls, especially since they are eating all kinds of yummy new foods now. Just this morning the girls shared french toast sticks cut up into tiny pieces and they have been eating fruit puffs and crackers and soup and all kinds of yummy big girl foods.
They also got some great new clothes. I hit a local consignment sale and really racked up on fall clothes and pjs for them.

We've spent time with family . . . .
We spent all day Saturday with my dad. We visited with my grandparents and really had a fantastic time. Since Thursday is my birthday my dad bought me a new purse and some shoes. It was such a nice low key day.
We also took time to go to the fair twice. The first time wasn't so bad but the second time was nothing to write about. It was so hot and miserable and way too crowded to have a good time. These pictures are from our first trip with Aunt Melissa.

And a few more things that we have done but failed to document with camera . . . .

We took Morgan to the neurologist. He was overall very positive but does want to schedule and MRI and EEG on her sometime soon. Melissa went with me to the appointment to help with Maddy. The doctor took one look at Maddy and called her a firecracker. He said they both looked wonderful for being as premature as they were. He said that Maddy is walking very early and that is really good for her. He said Morgan didn't seem to have any major muscle tone issues to worry about yet and that was extremely exciting news for me.

Also I joined a mom's group. It is for stay at home moms for my area. I went to a "carnival" to meet all the other moms and decided while I was there to give it a shot. It is only $20.00 dues for the entire year and they have activities each week to go to. All of them are child friendly. Some of the more mom geared activities they even provide childcare for and the others are like playdates at the park and visits to the zoo and ect. I think it will do me some good to get out of the house more and be around other stay at home moms. I am really looking forward to hopefully making some new friends.

So that is what we have been up to. Hopefully this week I will be able to find time to update more often and maybe snap a couple of new pictures to post. Gotta go feed the babies now :)

Still Here

I'm still here. It has just been a crazy week. Some days were really really up and some weren't so I haven't had much time to post. I did so good by posting twice in one day last Thursday and then I let my good writing streak just go to waste.

I don't really feel much writing tonight. I would be so happy that today is finally Friday but at the last stupid minute William's company deemed tomorrow ANOTHER MANDATORY SATURDAY!!!! I am so so sick of mandatory Saturday's. Anyway I am just a lot bummed out tonight. I've found myself feeling down a lot this week.

The other night I had the girls in the bathtub and they were having a marvelous time splashing and playing and laughing at each other and it was really cute but I just couldn't find any cheer in the moment. I mean I even realized looking at them that something was wrong with me because I couldn't be happy in that moment. I was sad and depressed. I missed William so bad in that moment that my stomach hurt. I think what is wrong with me is just I am sick and tired of William working six days a week. I am lonely and I miss our time together. I miss having someone to share the load with and I miss having someone to talk to. I think this might be the last Saturday they have to work for a while so maybe I will feel more upbeat next week.

I will try to post a real post tomorrow, maybe even with some cute pictures and all. We'll see :)

Hi Ho Hi Ho ... Off to work we go!

Today I took the girls to eat lunch with Mimi (my mom). We had huge Greek salads sitting on the patio of the restaurant. Today was another beautiful day outside. The girls have really been enjoying the fresh air and sunshine. After lunch we headed back over to mom's work to show the babies off. They were the hit of the office and Maddy even tried to make herself useful by picking papers out of the shred bin and then putting them back in it. I think she really thought she was doing something great. Everybody at mom's work just oohed and aahed over them, telling me over and over how beautiful they are. It made our day.

After leaving there I took the girls to BabiesRUs to pick up a few things we needed and ended up getting a few extra things, including a baby swing. It takes about fourty-five minutes to get home and the girls slept all the way. They were so tired from all the excitement. When we got home I layed them down for a nap but they wouldn't hear of it. I guess all that snoozing in traffic was all they needed. So I took the playpen and set it up in the front yard. I took a couple of toys and two very happy babies outside to play some more.

We have an ancient swing set frame in our front yard. It has been here since before we moved in and that was several years ago. It is missing most of the actual swing set equiptment but it is still in sturdy enough shape to be used. I hooked the girls new swing to it, which was extremely easy. I put Maddy in it first and she had a blast going back and forth. Then when she looked weary I switched her out of it and put Morgan in it. They had so much fun, wind in their hair.

William usually gets off around 8ish at night but today he went in earlier than usual and got off about six. When he came home we were still outside playing and he and I moved the old swingset frame across the yard to the other side of our house, that way we would have more privacy when we play outside. After we moved it, he got on one of the old seesaw seats and swung back and forth with Maddy. She loved that too. I of course took pictures.

Now we are inside getting ready to settle in for the night. Both Maddy and Morgan are exhuasted from the long day. Morgan is actually laying on the floor throwing a whiny tantrum right now and Maddy is just whining and playing with her toys. I think we might be putting two little angels to bed early tonight, but that is okay too I guess.

It was such a fun day. I am so glad it is fall now and we can actually get outside and not bake to a crisp. I love this new fall air. Someone told me today that tomorrow is the official first day of fall? Woohooo!

Lunch! Yummy, yummy ...

Helping Mimi at work!

Playing Outside at home :)

Oh Daddy, you're SO silly!

P.S. Can you believe I actually blogged twice, TWICE, in one day! Yay, for me!