And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”  Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, ”Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”  When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.  Luke 2:8-20

Merry Christmas from our family of 4!

We hope you enjoy time with your family– we know we will!

The girl’s birth announcement– isn’t it AWESOME?!  My friend Sharon at Redbud Designs created it.  I LOVE it!!   What beautiful gifts God has given us for this Christmas this year!!

Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty is was and is and is to come!  Revelation 4:8

Last Monday we took Riley (well Reese went along for the ride!) to Children’s to a Pediatric Surgeon to look at her umbilical hernia. (Click on it to read more about it if you’re wondering)  The surgeon looked at it and said pretty much the same thing the pediatricians have said- the actual hernia (hole) is small- like the size of your finger tip, but it is protruding a lot… she said she’s seen a lot bigger though (hard for me to believe!) and that it should go away by the age 5.  If it does not, they could correct it surgically. So I guess that’s good news– we just wait.  The same day, Little Miss Riley got weighed… she was 6 lbs 4 oz!!  We are continuing to have follow ups on her weight- she’s still small, but gaining consistently, so that’s awesome!  I’m looking at her right now snoozing next to me and she has the biggest grin on her face!  

Reese is still doing well!  Based on our scale at home (which is not as accurate as the doctor’s…) Reese weighs 10.5 lbs!!!  We’ll get her accurate weight at her 4 month appointment next month.

This made me laugh: We have lots of cutie bibs that we use all the time- quite the lifesavers.  Here’s a couple:

Just today something really caught my eye… the tag ACTUALLY says, “Do not iron.” I laughed out loud!   Well, Amy says, “If you have time to iron your bibs, than you must have plenty of time on your hands and you, bib ironers, are cordially invited to my household to lend me that ‘ironing hand’ to help with my twins!”  ha ha!  :)  I actually cannot think of the last time I ironed anything… should I be admitting that??

(hard to see, but it says it!)

The girls wore their Christmas onsies today… here are some pictures!

Reese: “Good Things Come in Small Packages” (With chubby little cheeks!) and Riley: “All My Mommy Wants for Christmas is a Silent Night.” (I’ll add Daddy to that too ).

What a classic pic– look at Riley… and read her onsie… ha

And now Reese is tired of this dress up photo shoot thing… remember, they do the same things??!

We’re all doing well– still in “quarantine” since it’s flu/RSV season which is a bit of a bummer, but very worth it to keep my preemies well!  Looking forward to April… when our house arrest is over.  Doctor visits are our only outings- I actually look forward to them a bit.  We have an eye dr appointment for Reese tomorrow morning, BUT it’s been sleeting and nasty outside and will continue to be all night, so… not quite sure I’m going to make it (it’s about 30 minutes away)… It’s been COLD here is DFW!  

Uhhh… why do I feel like I need an “ender?” ….that’s all I got…

In between baby naps, I’ve been decorating for Christmas… it is my absolute favorite time of year!!  We’ve been listening to Christmas music non stop!  Here’s our tree

My babies and me!

Richey and Riley

They love gazing into each other’s eyes…

“Mom thinks we can sit up or something…”

That’s more like it- something to lean on AND bows!

Sweet sweet Riley

Precious Reese… not to impressed with the camera!

My Precious Reese and Riley,

Oh my goodness- I can’t believe 3 months ago today you came into this world!  It was a crazy, very surprising day, but the Lord held us in his hands- filled us with an unexplainable peace and protected you.  When I think back to your stay in the NICU (Reese- 38 days, Riley 55 days), I think- how did we handle that?!  It was the most difficult thing in the world to see you not perfect and to leave you every day, but I DO know how.  God.  He continues to amaze me- how he has grown our faith in him, how he has healed you- you were born 2 MONTHS EARLY and NOTHING is wrong with you- you are perfect healthy babies!

HEre are some of your favorite things now that you are 3 months old (well… 23 days old, adjusted!).

Riley: you LOVE to look around everywhere!  Those pretty WIDE blue eyes stare a lights, your sis, and straight into mommy and daddy’s eyes.  It melts our hearts- and makes us laugh too– the NICU nurses always said you were “Nosy” because you would stare and act concerned when you heard babies crying around you- we agree!  What a sweet girl!  You LOVE to eat- even more that your stomach can hold!  We are working on slowing you down a bit… that reflux is a bummer!  You are our teeny tiny angel, yet, you are growing leaps and bounds.  You have the BIGGEST smile (mostly when you sleep!) and the highest pitch cry we’ve every heard… it always makes us giggle.  You impress every doctor we’ve been to with you “feistyness”  and your strength.  You don’t love tummy time, but you sure do well lifting up your head and pushing up.  You amaze us everyday with how far our beautiful little girl has come!  We love you Riley Boo!

September 7, 2008

December 4, 2008 Riley trying on her Christmas dress (thank you, Nan and Pop!)

Reese: You are growing so much and doing so well!  It’s even getting hard for Mommy to hold you with one arm!  Well… maybe mommy needs to work out, but still!  You’re growing lots!  Your eyes are a beautiful shade of light blue and your eyelashes go on for miles!  How beautiful you are!  You are so alert- love soaking in your surroundings, looking at books, and love lights!  When you sleep you sing/hum- sweetest sound ever.  Pop says you’re singing to the angels!  You’re a great eater and are very strong.  You are a wiggle worm- always moving practically jumping out of our arms sometimes!  You like tummy time- I think you like to show off.  :)  You lift your head and feet up at the same time.  You LOVE baths (your sister doesn’t as much as you!)– I think  you think it’s a massage- you always fall asleep! ha!  You amaze us everyday with your laid back (well… you do have a loud cry when you need something!) personality and how far you’ve come.  We love you Reesey!!

September 2008

December 4, 2008- Trying on her Christmas dress! (Thank you, Ms. Kelly!!)

We love you with all our hearts,

Mommy and Daddy 

My how these months have changed US as well:

*Where we once slept at least 8 hours a night, we now sleep… well I’m too tired to count the hours… and there’s not even that many to count! ha!  

*Where we once would go “out on the town” to restaurants and shopping, we now find ourselves eating in and shopping only at Babies-R-Us!

*Where we once prayed for and longed for a child, we now have TWO that we pray over.

Thank you, Lord for all you have done!

Thought my blog readers might be ready for another laugh!  As I mentioned in a past post, Riley has an umbilical hernia and I was a bit worried this weekend because it was looking different– protruding a bit more, so I called the doctor.  They are so sweet and always appease me and check things out when 
I worry– so they made me an appointment the same day. (Everything is fine by the way… I’m taking her to Children’s next week to get it looked at, but it’s fine).  Since it was last minute, I didn’t have a babysitter nor “back up” to go with me.  So- it would be just me, Reese and Riley out and about for the FIRST time by ourselves… and the chaos begins:

I was trying to get both girls fed before we left and all packed up (that diaper bag is a bit like Mary Poppin’s bag– minus the spoonful of sugar).  Another thing I was going to talk to the dr about was Riley (and sometimes Reese) projectile throwing up her bottle (which apparently in normal with my little reflux preemies- it’s yuck), so… right before we were ready to go, Riley spewed ALL OVER her, me, the couch, the floor, etc… So in a hurry (aka panic) I changed her, gave her a “baby wipe bath,” changed clothes and realized it was time to start loading up (before I finished feeding REese– poor baby).  I got both girls bundled up, in their car seats and in the car and off we went.  

Once at the dr’s office, I got my new stroller out of the back of my car.  I had never used it- just bought it and put it straight in the back of my car-it’s the kind that is the “base” and you just pop the car seats in.  Apparently you must “alter” it a bit based on what kind of a car seat you have.  Did I know this?  No- because who reads directions?!  So I’m struggling with this stroller and trying to pop the car seats in.  I was mortified when I realized something was NOT right… my girls were practically standing on their heads!!!  See picture below (Thought I’d document it for you- that’s right- always thinking about you, blog readers).

 I was in a panic because I was worried every ounce of blood in their body would run to their heads, but physically there is NO way I could carry the seats in, so… I got their blankets and shook them out as big as they could get and covered up the seats as much as I could so no one would notice how bent back they were! ha ha!!  See that picture below as well…

 Didn’t want anyone to think I was a horrible mother that didnt’ know what I was doing (even though I didn’t!)  So then I got to the door.  Oh crap.  I haven’t quite mastered the opening the door and getting a double stroller (aka limo) through.  Sounds easy, but not so much.  A kind lady felt sorry for me and opened the door- I laughed and said, “Can you tell I’m new at this?” ha ha– wasn’t really funny- I was beginning to sweat!    Once in the room, I took the girls out of the stroller (didn’t want Dr. Pam to notice the angle!)- Reese was now on the floor in her carrier and I was holding Ri.  When it was time to leave, I struggled to get the car seats back in the stroller and almost had to ask a nurse for help- man, I was sweating!  I finally got them in and covered up, of course, and was off.  In the waiting room, I saw another twin mom!  She assured me that it gets easier- what a God send.  Needed to hear that at that moment!  And- she opened the door for me as I was leaving!  

The second I got home, I searched for the directions… think I should have read these first!:

Ahhh… that’s more like it!  Thanks, Richey (Daddy)!

Did I mention that I coordinating the annual Women’s Christmas Dinner at my church (for thousands of women)???!!  Well it falls on this week, so the craziness has just begun!  Pray for us!

A few more pics of the girls:

R and R all bundled up!

Reese looking all grown up!

What are they looking at?