I know, I know ...

I know. I have been gone FOREVER ... Things around here have been really good lately but really busy. The girls are afterall 2 now, and two 2 year olds is a handful on a good day. Plus my computer is ancient and I have dial up internet and that combination means it is so SLLLOOOOWWW slow slow and it takes a really long time to even log into blogger much less post something (WITH PICTURES).

But I have been getting emails from some asking how the girls are and asking why I haven't posted anything new in months. Um. Sorry about that. Here are some cute pictures of the girls.

They have been well. They are growing like weeds and gained a whole pound each in the last month. Maddy now weighs 24lbs and Morgan is 23lbs. They are so tall and lanky but I think they are adorable. They are growing up so fast and they are talking so much more now. Morgan's favorite thing to say is "No way" and "C'mon mommy, right now". Maddy's latest phrase is "Hush Jenny" and "More Cacoo (cookies). William is calling Maddy the cookie monster because she is in LOVE with all things cookie.

Well hope everyone out there in blog land is having a nice autumn and I will try to post some pics of the girls in their Halloween costumes later this month.

For now, here are the cute pics I promised.

Maddy at the zoo on Saturday.

Morgan at the museum on Saturday

God Bless America

Water Babies

Morgan hams it up for the camera at a recent family pool party :)

While Maddy relaxes on a raft!

Lazy Summer? Days ...

So far this spring has been unusually warm, hot even. Today the temperature is supposed to be around 90 degrees. We have been taking advantage of these warmer days by playing outside with the girls. They love the space to run and move and we have bought them a few outdoor toys to keep them from getting too bored.

I haven't had much time to blog these last few months as the girls literally keep me on my feet all day. I wouldn't even be on here today if I hadn't placated them for a few minutes with a Disney movie. But I wanted to share some recent pics of them and update everyone with what we've been up to. Hope to hear from you all soon! Enjoy.

Maddy and Morgan have their first pudding pops! Yummy!

Maddy plays with her sand and water table. This is the coolest toy. They love it and it keeps their attention endlessly.

This is the newest outdoor toy we purchased. We went to the March of Dimes WalkAmerica a couple of weeks ago and Maddy went crazy over the moon walk. This bouncy thing was only $24.00 at an outlet store here. I had to get it for them.

This is what I have been waiting for forever since the girls' NICU days. Sitting back and watching my sweet girls splashing and playing in their baby pool. They love it. It gets all grassy but who cares.

(That's Maddy standing up and Morgan in the water)
And here is a super cute pic of Maddy and Daddy "horsing" around!

4 Free to A Good Home

We have four adorable and playful kitties who are free to a good home. They are ready to go home with you today! Here is a quick look at the four so you can pick which one will be "purrfect" for your family!

----------------------------------------------------------
We call this one "Princess". I am pretty sure she is a girl. She is probably the friendliest of the group and the most fearless. She is very playful and loves to be nuzzled. She is the only one who has consistently come up to us when we go looking for the four. She is mostly black, brown, and white as you can see but she has this one little patch of gold hair on the right side of her head and it looks like a crown so that is why we have called her princess. Of course no matter which kitty you pick you can name them yourselves. None of them know their names yet. :)

----------------------------------------------------------
This next one we have been calling "Smokey". He is gray and peach and has a white belly. I have looked at his "parts" and though teeny tiny at this point I am pretty sure he is a he. I could be wrong because I am no vet but I am pretty sure he is a he. The peach color is really pretty and unique. We thought he was going to be off white but when you get up close it is almost a pink off white color and I love the little patch of peach on his nose and paw. He is really cute and very friendly. He doesn't just run up to us but he is comfortable playing on the front porch while I sit there and watch him and when I picked him up he snuggled in to me.
Smokey seen here with "Mama"
-----------------------------------------------------------

This is "Tabby" She is almost identical to princess when you first glance at her but when she steps back from you you can see all these cute stripes under her fur. She is the most obvious mixture of "Mama" stray cat and our pet cat "Kitty". Both of these calico looking cats I have been told are girls. My best friend said that she remembers from biology class that if they have more than three colors they are always a female. I am pretty sure she is female too, just from looking for myself :) She is friendly and very playful but a little more shy than princess. She will let me hold her for a really long time though if I want to and I love that about her.

-----------------------------------------------------------
Our last kitty and most shy is "Boo". We call him that because he is the most fearful of the pack. He has been held and will come out and play around us but if you move too fast or lean towards him he will jump back or hide under something. I tried to tell for sure if he was a he but he is too furry to see anything and because he is so shy it is hard to get enough time with him turn him over and look around. I am going with him being a he because of a few reasons. His face is a little wider than the others and he looks really different from the two girls. He is completely all black. And if I had to pick one as my favorite looking it would be him. He is so cute and fluffy and because he is so shy I just want to snuggle him more, plus I just think it would be so cool to have an all black cat.

-----------------------------------------------------------
So these are the four. I think they are somewhere between seven and eight weeks old. I am guessing closer to seven. The are still little bitty even though some of these zoomed in pictures make them look bigger.

They are free to any good home on a first to come get them basis. I can probably deliver them to you if you live or work close by me. They seem to be really healthy. They eat plenty and they are growing appropriately. I haven't noticed anything unusual with any of them. I think they would make great inside or outside cats.

I am really hoping some of you will consider taking one of them. I am doing my best to find them each a great family but if I can't I will probably turn them over to the Bartlett Animal Shelter sometime in the next couple of weeks. I am hoping to avoid that if at all possible, but I can't keep six cats, and a dog, a fish, plus two kids, it is just too much for me to take on long term. I love my two kids. I am fairly fond of my dog and cat. I have decided to keep "mama" if I can catch her and get her fixed (soon) so that just leaves the kittens and the fish. Anybody want a fish?

Email me at mandygal2004ATaolDOTcom for more info as needed.

5/9/07----UPDATE----------------------------

"Princess" and "Tabby" are now in a loving home together. A family with two sweet girls and a baby boy adopted them this past Saturday. I am sure they will all be happy together.

Cute Pics and the Easter Bunny

I took some cute pictures of the girls yesterday afternoon in my front yard. They turned out so cute that I felt I needed to post them and show everyone how sweet my baby girls are. I think they look like little angels in these dresses.

Also, today my mom and I took the girls to the mall to visit the Easter Bunny. Here are are our pics from that.

.

.

.

What? You don't see them sitting pretty in E.B.'s lap? Hmmm, must be because Maddy FREAKED out. She was terrified of him and then because she was so upset and clawing my arms to get me to pick her back up that Morgan started to panic too.

So we didn't get any pics this year with him (Not that the mall didn't try to convince us to go ahead with the picture, cause they did - but I wasn't paying 25.00 for a picture of my child throwing down in the floor beneath the Easter Bunny). They did visit with him though, from the safe distance of mommy and Mimi's arms. They got their suckers, which made them very happy AND very sticky girls and we went on about our merry way. Here is a picture as proof that I did dress them all cute to see the bunny in hopes of a second great EB picture. Oh well, maybe next year!

The Sweetest Thing

My dad is a driver and he has had the same route to Georgia for the past couple of years. Every other night he has stayed at the same hotel on his trip while away from home. He quickly made good friends with the office staff at this hotel. Two weeks ago his route was changed and he was informed that he would have to go to Alabama for a while (hopefully not for too long, but at least for several months). This was a big change in his schedule and would mean he wouldn't get to see the people he has seen every other day for the past couple of years. On his last night at his favorite hotel in GA the staff presented him with going away presents, but instead of traditional going away presents for him they gave him gifts for the girls. Because he talks about "his babies" so much and shows his friends down there our blog, they have come to be like family. They kept in touch with what the girls were doing through the blog and knew dad well enough to know that nothing in the world would make him happier than watching the girls get spoiled with cute Easter toys.

So this weekend dad came over to the house and brought with him two gift bags chocked full of surprises for the girls. They had a blast opening it and playing with all the goodies inside. Morgan love love loved the sunglasses and is still bringing them to me over and over today to put on her. Maddy really like the purses she and Morgan got and has kind of claimed them as both hers. They got these really pretty faint pink butterfly sequin purses I put up for Easter day. I think it will go great with their dresses. Everything they got was so cute. My favorite toys were these little bubble squeezy blowers shaped like Peeps candies. You stick the blower in the bubble solution and squeeze the peep and little micro bubbles go everywhere. We had a lot of fun with that one in therapy today.

To Evelyn, Nina, Tammy(April), Jamie, and Norma:
Thank you so much for all the wonderfully cute gifts for the girls. They had a blast playing with them all. What you did for them and for my dad was just the sweetest thing ever. Thanks for thinking of us and for being such a good friend to him these last few years! Thanks for all the prayers you have sent our way since their early arrival. May God bless you all. Please feel free to comment on my blog anytime or to shoot me an email for updates. I look forward to talking to you all again.

Mandy

Raising Funds for March of Dimes

This year we are working hard to raise money for the March of Dimes in honor of our girls Maddy and Morgan. We are holding a spaghetti dinner fundraiser on March 3rd, 2007 in hopes of raising $500.00 for MOD. Everyone is invited!

If you are in town and would like to come, please shoot me an email or leave me a comment on here. I can then get you directions and details. Tickets are $10.00 a plate and kids eat free. We could really use the support.

We also have a website set up through the March of Dimes WalkAmerica.com to raise online funds. If you would like to make a donation please see the link on the right side of the screen or click this link: Maddy and Morgan's MOD website We are so thankful to have family and friends who support us.

We are so thankful to the March of Dimes for their hard work and continuous efforts to prevent premature birth and birth defects. We believe because of this organization our doctors had the equipment and the knowledge to save our sweet girls. We hope with all of our support and others like us, we can make a difference in the lives of tiny babies born in the future. Maybe they won't have to suffer as much as our girls did; and maybe their parents won't have to worry about NEC and other conditions preemies develop now, but doctor's don't yet know why. March of Dimes mission is "Saving Babies Together" and we just hope to be a small part of that.

Thanks for all of your help, we couldn't ask for better friends and family! You have always been supportive when we needed you most and we can't tell you how much that means to us!

Love,
Mandy and William
Maddy and Morgan

Watch Your Mouth, A Random Thought, and Hot Wheels!!!

Watch Your Mouth ...

Maddy and Morgan are repeating everything now. This weekend the we were all over at my mom's house and Poppy said "doo do" as Morgan was walking through the room. Morgan repeated the word "doo do" and kept walking. I know this isn't a bad word but we thought it was hilarious. Poppy was using this word in place of another common bad word and boy are we glad he did, because it wouldn't have been so funny to hear my 19 mo. old saying curse words while strolling through the living room.

Speaking of "Bad Words" ....

This afternoon I turned on the t.v. for the first time all day, just mostly to have some noise. I didn't pay attention to the channel until later when I heard Dr. Phil coming on. I went in the kitchen and got busy and out of the living room I hear "bleep" this and "bleep" that. Really it was bleeps, not real words. They were sensoring whatever the people on the show were saying. The people were arguing and it was almost constant strings of that "bleep" noise. I wanted to go turn it off or onto cartoons but was too busy to break away from what I was in the middle of. A little while later I realized the noise had stopped ... completely. As in there was complete silence coming from the living room. I finally went in to see what was going on, only to find Maddy walking around with the remote control and the t.v. was off. I guess she got tired of the trash talking bleeping noise and decided to just turn it off. That's my girl!

A Random Thought ...

Why do my kids always wait until I have just changed their diapers to poop? Don't they know how expensive Huggies x2 are these days :)

and HOT wheels ...

Yesterday was a gorgeous day outside and so we took the girls out to play in the yard. Here they are playing on the new wheels daddy got them for Valentine's Day!

All of these pics are of Maddy, but don't worry Morgan had her turn to. She was just off playing with something else by the time I got my camera out :)

Finally it Snows!

Well the weatherman said it would snow Wednesday night, but nothing came down. Maybe a few flakes here and there. I was super dissappointed.

Then yesterday afternoon I went shopping and as soon as I got across town, William called me from work to tell me to head back home as soon as possible because it was snowing like crazy and he didn't want me out with the girls in traffic. So I tried to hurry my shopping and in the process made a rooky mistake of taking that third eye off the girls. I looked over at the basket just in time to see Maddy diving over the side of the shopping cart head first into the floor. Everyone freaked out, me included. I picked her up and tried to calm her down but she was crying so hard that her face was too red for me to figure out what was wrong, if anything. After being escorted back to the store's breakroom and getting her calmed down we realized it was just a slight bruise on her forehead and she was fine. She was back to herself relatively fast and I was relieved. I felt, of course, like a horrible mother, but then I remembered how when I was little my grandmother let me sit on the bottom of a shopping cart and I put my hands on the floor and she ran over my fingers with the wheels of the shopping cart. So I know these things happen and I am done beating myself up over it. I am just thanking God that it all ended well and my baby is okay. I will not however be letting my babies sit in the back of one of those little shopping carts again. Learned that lesson!

I got the kids in the car and headed back home. It wasn't snowing where I was. It wasn't snowing on the way home and the roads weren't even wet. The weatherman came on the radio and said the temperature was 35 degrees. I of course thought William was crazy for having rushed me before, but I think he saw snow falling for a few minutes and worried it might not stop and then the roads would get bad. It didn't matter anyway, after the incident with Maddy I wasn't going anywhere after that store except home. I was glad to get home and back to the safety of my little house.

When we headed to bed last night. The weatherman on the news said it might snow but probably would just be rain, so I was shocked when William woke me up early this morning and told me to look outside. Everything here was covered in snow. It was so pretty. We got the girls up and opened their windows so they could see it too. Then we got them bundled up and headed out to play for a few minutes before it started to melt. They were mesmerized by it, especially Morgan. Maddy was excited too, but she has the sniffles and was content to mostly just stay next to William. I did manage to get a few great pictures of them playing in it so I will try to post those today, as well as one of them playing in it last year.

Sticking close to Daddy!

Maddy looks around.

Morgan loves it!

February 11, 2006
One Year Ago. I can't believe how little they were.

NICU Memories Remind Me of How Blessed I Am ...

For the other preemie moms out there, does it still get to you sometimes? Are there moments where the memories come flooding back and you find yourself all teary eyed over your own experiences? I finally feel like our experiences in the NICU are not haunting me anymore but I definately am not so far removed yet that it doesn't still pop up and get to me at random moments.

Everytime I look at my girls I am eternally greatful as I think of how close we came to not having them here with us. I look at them and I do think about the babies out there who didn't make it, who are in heaven now watching over us.

Melissa and I have been actively working on a plan to raise money for March of Dimes this year and I guess it is stirring up specific things in me that I haven't thought about in a while, if at all since the came home.

There is one particular dificult memory that keeps popping in my head.
I was out in the hallway scrubbing in for my daily visit to the NICU when one of the girl's nurses was coming back from lunch. She pulled me aside up to a wall and told me not to be upset but she had just put in an IV for Maddy and because her arms were too tiny to find the veins she had to put in in her head. I was glad she had pulled me aside and I tried to compose myself as I shakily headed to my babies room. When I walked in I lost my complete composure and sobbed quietly at my child's bedside. Here was my sweet little angel with a huge IV in her head and guaze wrapped all around. I felt devistated that day and didn't know if I had enough strength to get through the hour, much less the rest of our NICU days. It wasn't that the IV was hurting her anymore than it would be if it where located anywhere else, in fact it was more stable than many of the ones she had had already or would come to have, but still, it was just the idea of it that broke me down.

This is just one of the memories, I had today while watching her play, it drew me right back in. I probably haven't thought about that moment since we have come home from the hospital but now that it is there it feels so real and so fresh, as if I had just gone through the experience of it a day or two ago. I can still feel the room, see the hallway, feel the stab you in the heart pain of the moment. The trauma was very real and obviously still lingers some. At that moment I was so lost in pain for her and for us that I couldn't see ahead to today. I couldn't imagine there would be a day where she would give open mouth kisses and prance off across the room, play purse on her shoulder.

What I really do believe though is that God was watching over us then; and thank goodness He was able to see ahead to days like today and He alone was able to carry me through. Remembering those painful things is not something I want to do everyday anymore, and I don't for the most part, but it has been a very real part of my life. Those are my memories and they are directly tied to my heart. They are directly tied to the way that I parent and the way that I see my girls. I really do see my girls as miracles of God. Tonight watching them sleep, blankie in hand I realize how blessed we are.

I've Been Tagged ... All About MEME

Casey tagged me to do this MEME and since I have never done one before and I typically find myself pretty boring :) I can't make promises that I can come up with anything funny or interesting you don't already know, but here goes.

**Once you have been tagged, you have to write a blog with 5 facts about yourself. Then choose 5 people you want to tag and list their names. Then leave a comment on their blog letting them know they’ve been tagged.**5 things about MEME...

1. I LOVE reality tv. I know a lot of people don't, but I really do. I don't get a lot of time to watch t.v. these days but when I do fit it in, I almost always pick some reality tv show. I love Big Brother, I love Top Chef and Project Runway. I have watched the new "Dirty Dancing" reality show. I don't watch survivor a lot because I got bored with it but I used to watch it. I like American Idol sort of. I watch the beginning and end of it. I like game shows too, especially Wheel of Fortune, Deal or No Deal, 1 vs. 100, Who want's to be a millionaire reruns. I even Tivo some of them to watch later.

2. I think I am fairly friendly but as I have gotten older I think socially I have become much more shy around new people. Maybe it has something to do with not working anymore and not being around very many people over the age of 1 1/2 on a daily basis. I can talk to anyone one on one, but put me in a group of new people or even people I love and I almost always put up an internal wall. I often leave social engagements regretting things I have said to others. I don't mean that I said mean or stupid things but I always replay my conversations after the fact and I almost always feel very embarassed and a little stupid. I think years of replaying those conversations in my head have now led me to hold back a lot when I am around new people in a group.

3. I am pretty sure I have an anxiety disorder of some type. Sometimes small things that have nothing to do with my daily life will affect me and I will have panic attacks at bedtime about them. One night a few months ago I read an article on the web stating that the government was preparing to retest the drafting system and that night I was up half the night with panic. I have no idea why. It was eating me up inside and even in the middle of the stomach tightening stressful panic attack I was fully aware that I shouldn't be worked up over it at all. It had no bearings on my life at the moment at all. I have thought many times about calling my doctor and asking for medication for anxiety but two things have kept me from doing that. 1) I don't readily have the time or sitters necessary to get to the doctor and so I keep putting it off and putting it off and 2) I hate taking any kind of medicine on a daily basis and am horrible at remembering to do it. I think it would probably do me some good to go though, that or I might need to find a good therapist. :) My mom says that maybe this anxiety thing has manifested itself recently because my nerves are so dulled by the stress and anxiety we experienced with the early birth of the girls. Maybe I had such a hard time then that my coping skills evaporated and now little things just work their way under my skin and I have a melt down. Who knows, it sounds logical to me. My question is how do I get back to the normal me who isn't so irrationally afraid of things anymore.

Wow I had no idea how this MEME thing was going to come out but I am finding really weird personal stuff to splay out there. Sorry about that .... Okay okay, think funny or at least interesting ...

4. I am seriously thinking about going back to school in the fall. Maybe doing some online courses first and then some basic classes at our local community college. I think I am pretty serious about pursuing a teaching degree. I am pretty creative and I think I would really enjoy teaching elementary school. It is really up my alley and I know that if I could get started back into this school thing I could finish it and then have the career I have always wanted. The hardest part is trying to figure out how to get back in after ten years of being out of school. I called yesterday and talked to an admissions counselor and I really think I am going to do this. I will have to pray for financial aid of course but I don't think that will be a big deal (being as poor as we are :) )

5. I Love LOVE Love where I am at in life right now. Early 20's were filled with trying to figure out where I belonged in this world and now that I am a few years older I finally feel I am at a place in my life where I am truly completly happy. I have everything I have ever wanted and wished and prayed for. I have a very supportive wonderful husband and two gorgeous sweet baby girls who are healthy and happy. The girls freely give away kisses and say baby gibberish in response to my constant "I love you's" to them which I interpret readily as "I love you too, mom" My days may be hectic some and boring others but there can't be anything better in the world than spending the day with people who love you more than anything else in their world. It feels magnificient to finally be at this place of complete contentment.

Well, I am done. Whew that was hard and easy at the same time.

Five people to tag (if they feel up to it):

1. The newly pregnant Kathy of "All About the Boy" ... not for long :)
2. Carrie Lynn
3. Tonya of "A Mother's Journal"
4. Mandy of "Anna and Emma"
5. Anybody else who wants to do it.

Let me know if you do it, so I can read :)

Runny Noses, Cough, and Fever ... Oh My!

Well I guess winter has finally caught up to us. We were doing so good until this past weekend when both girls started with a cough and runny nose. Then Sunday night Morgan broke out in high fever and it stayed that way till sometime this afternoon. Finally both girls had a few hours of feeling better thanks to our dosing them up on Motrin, Tylenol, Robitussin, and Benadryl (off and on of course). Now that night time has hit, both are running low grade temps. On top of that, I have a sore throat and generally feel like I could go to bed and sleep for a week. Plus Maddy has diarrhea; from all the juice we have been giving them I assume (fever = no milk). They are fussy and grumpy. Maddy has dissolved in tears more than once today when Morgan gets anywhere near her. I assume she thinks Morgan is out to take her toys. William was off yesterday for the holiday and so today was his first day back to work since they came down with the crud. It has been trying and I am hoping tomorrow proves to be better. Keep your fingers crossed for us.

Happy New Year!!!

Well, I haven't blogged in FOREVER. I haven't had time and honestly I am pretty bored with blogging. I don't know if I am ready to call it quits or not yet though. My family seems to like being able to check in for new pics and show off to their work buddies and friends. I've been told I have out of town extended family that reads but I am not sure about that either.

We have been doing great. Maddy and Morgan had a fabulous Christmas and literally received an obscene amount of toys. We have no time for the computer because we spend all day rotating toys in and out for them to play with. We had a really nice holiday spending lots of time with family. For New Year's weekend we took the girls to the mountains for a little getaway. We all had a blast. The weather was really nice and the girls love love LOVED walking around in the woods and playing in the mountain streams (okay ... looking at them, it was too cold to touch) William and I really enjoyed the time away from the house and from our regular routine. This was really the first time we have taken the girls on a vacation.

The girls are getting bigger everyday and both are walking and running now. Maddy is almost jumping but she isn't quite able to pick her feet up off the ground yet but she is so cute when she tries. Morgan bounces with Maddy like she wants to jump too. They are both kicking and throwing balls and just generally seem more like little girls everyday then the babies they were. Yesterday I let them eat chocolate pudding with a spoon and it was a mess everywhere but they are really ready to start using utensils I think. They know now that a spoon goes in the food and then to your mouth, though the pudding ended up almost everywhere but their mouths.

Tomorrow the girls are going over to their Aunt Melissa's house to spend the weekend. It will be the first time they have ever gone anywhere for the weekend. I know they will have a nice time but I don't know what I am going to do with myself with so much freetime. Hopefully get caught up on my scrapbook and have some R&R time to myself.

The girls are the light of my life and things are really good for us right now. I hope all of you are having a happy New Year this year and I hope to hear from you soon.