10 Months!!

The girls turned 10 months this past Saturday. This is so surreal to me! It seems like just yesterday Terry and I were hovering over their isolets, spending endless hours in the NICU. They have come so far and we feel so blessed to be the parents of two adorable girls! I can't believe that we are already planning their first birthday party. I'm days away from securing the location and date. Keep your fingers crossed that the date we've selected works out for us.

Here are some stats and my favorite pictures from the last month. I apologize for being so lax about posting pictures. It seems like lately my free time is becoming less and less. The girls are super mobile now and you can't step away for a second without one of them causing some form of trouble.

Addison

No current weight or height as we haven't been to the pediatrician in awhile.

Currently has two teeth and loves to show them to everyone. If you ask her to show you her teeth she will open up proudly.

She's quick! Our poor cat is being attacked on a daily basis. Jynxie gets love from Addison constantly. We are still working on teaching Addison the concept of "petting her nicely" but she isn't quite understanding. Addison can dart from one side of the living room to the other in seconds. Jynxie is quick, but Addison gives her a run for her money.

Addison plays very well by herself. She loves her books and absolutely loves her Playskool Busy Lil Garden Butterfly.

This butterfly will keep her busy for a long time.  We should really think about investing in Energizer because the amount of batteries we go through is insane.

I can't really say that Addison has a favorite food because she will eat just about anything.  She isn't a fan of fresh mashed up bananas but loves them in Gerber baby food form.

Still wearing Size 2 diapers and Size 3 at night.  Also wears 6 month clothing, some 9 months.

Addison becomes more vocal every day.  In the last month her hair has gotten really long.  She has the sweetest smile and the most beautiful blue eyes that pierce my heart every time I look at her.  She is really starting to have more and more of a personality and is generally a very happy little girl.

Typical picture of my Sweet Addison.  Always chewing on something.  She is seriously working on some more teeth.  We hope they pop through soon!

Umm...I will never forget to put a bib on her EVER AGAIN!!!  Love those blue eyes!!

I took the above two pictures on their actual ten month birthday.  Addison was more interested in actually playing with the letters than posing for a picture.  Again, we had to improvise with the second "D", since their play mat only has one.

This picture is not from the last month.  It actually was taken on New Year's Eve.  I'm not sure why it never got posted, but it's one of my favorite pictures of Addison.  She has the sweetest smile.

Alexis

Again, no current weight or height, but I would guess around 15lbs-ish.

Currently also has TWO teeth.  MAKING OUR OFFICIAL TOOTH COUNT AT FOUR!!  (I haven't done an official tooth count recently!)  She has discovered that having teeth causes her Momma to yell OUCH on a regular basis.  She thinks it's funny to chew on my hand and bite down occasionally.  For some reason hearing me yell OUCH is pretty funny?  I don't get it, but she thinks it's hysterical?

Alexis is a climber.  She tries to push her toys up against the couch and then uses them as a step stool to try and hoist herself up.  She hasn't quite figured it out yet, but I have a feeling that it's coming soon.  She also loves to be upside down?  I'm not sure what that's about, but if it makes her happy we just roll with it!  

I can't really say that Alexis has a favorite toy.  She bounces back and forth from all her toys and I can't say that she consistently plays with just one specific toy.  Her new favorite thing to do is play "Where's Alexis"?  She will grab one of her burp cloths and place it over her head until you say "Where's Alexis"  then she will pull it off of her head and start giggling.  It's the cutest thing!!!

I also can't say that Alexis has a favorite food.  Both girls are not really picky eaters. (knock on wood)  We are still trying to transition the girls into more solid foods.  They have been eating baby food for quite awhile.  Our pediatrician wants us to work on getting them into more textured foods.  We are still working with the puffs so the girls get the swallowing of whole foods down.

Still wearing Size 2 diapers and Size 3 at night.  Alexis is probably ready to transition into a Size 3 diaper full time.  I'm just trying to use up some of the Size 2's we have first.

Alexis is our resident "Drama Queen" this month.  She knows that when she "fake coughs" that she gets attention.  When the girls were younger and had a lot of "choking issues" we would quickly dart to them every time we heard the slightest cough.  I think that Alexis knows this and tries to use this trick to get attention sometimes.  We are on to her little games!  She also has developed a very distinct "fake cry" that turns into her laughing.  She's a little stinker but is also the biggest cuddler.  She didn't used to be so cuddly but now she loves to give hugs.  She melts me everytime she climbs up onto my lap to give me a hug. 

Alexis' hair has gotten long this month as well, but has also gotten very thick.  She is so much like her father I can't even explain it.  She is SO Terry's little female version of MINI ME!!!

This picture is from the beginning of the month.  It amazes how big she has gotten in the last few weeks!Alexis NEVER sleeps in her boppy anymore so I couldn't resist taking a picture of her so peaceful and QUIET!!!

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE this picture of Lex.  She has the biggest smile that can brighten any room!

Alexis also loves to scream!  I can actually hear her screaming just by looking at this picture.

YEP, another picture to prove that I was having a momentary bout with insanity. 

I VOW TO NEVER FORGET TO PUT ON A BIB AGAIN!!!

I'm learning how to be quick with the camera.  I take 25 pictures and get 2-3 good ones.  Thank goodness for digital cameras!!

This picture cracks me up.  Alexis is giving me "the look".  I  feel like she is telling me that I'm nuts.  I get this look at least once a day. 

I know that I say this every month, but I can't believe how far they have come.  I'm reminded on a daily basis how blessed we are to have two beautiful healthy baby girls.  I look back and can't believe that they were once so tiny.  I'm seriously going to work on posting a "look back" blog soon!  When people ask me why we keep the girls so sheltered during cold and flu season it's because we've been through hell and back.  I'm hoping that doing a "look back" post will put things into perspective.  Just envision for a second.....

a newborn baby who's head is no larger than a tennis ball,

a precious life who's just longer than a standard size ruler

a tiny leg that's not much wider than a tube of chap stick

I could keep going, but I'm going to save it for another time.  But let me just ask you this.....If you had experienced what we have, don't you think you would do absolutely everything in your power to protect your children as well???

We know that protecting our girls is the least we can do.  I credit God for having a HUGE role in getting us to where we are today.  Every breath is sacred.  Every smile is a gift.  Every day is a blessing.

I feel so lucky to be the Mom of these two precious GIFTS FROM GOD!!!

I promise to get my Valentine's post up soon!!!

This is what I've been listening to all morning....

The SWEETEST sound!!

Our girls have been doing the baby talk for a long time now.  You know....the typical goo goo gah gah baby babble.  On numerous occasions while I would be getting ready for work, I would hear the girls babbling to each other in their cribs.  It was so sweet!!  Over the last few days Alexis and Addison both have been popping out with an occasion Da Da.  Last Sunday was filled with Alexis constantly saying Da Da at least 100 times during the day.  Every time I hear a Da Da, I follow it with a Ma Ma.  Alexis thinks that is funny and Addison just stares at me like I'm nuts. 

Well, yesterday when I got home from work, I greeted the girls in my normal fashion and Alexis looks up at me with her big brown eyes and a huge smile on her face and says Ma Ma.  It totally melted my heart!!

I played with the girls for a bit and then went upstairs to prep for our Valentine's pictures (stay tuned to see!).  When I returned downstairs, Addison saw me from around the corner and yelled Ma Ma.  Talk about making me cry some major happy tears!!!  This morning I was giving the girls hugs & kisses before I left for work.  As I started to walk away, Alexis looks at me and says Ma Ma Ma Ma.  Talk about making it super hard to leave for work!!!

I continue to be truly amazed at our girl's progress!  When I was putting away some things in the girls memory boxes last weekend I pulled out the hospital bands that were placed around their ankles on Day 1.  WOW!!  I need to post pictures of them next to a quarter so you can see the size in perspective.  The circle that the band created was smaller than the size of a quarter.  They have come so far and we are truly blessed that they continue to thrive.  Who knew that when they told us Addison would never leave the hospital or that she would never use the left side of her body, that she would be the mastermind behind the trouble the girls have been up to lately (a posting for another time)?

Official Tooth Count....

Our official "Tooth Count" has now moved up to THREE!! 

Miss Addison is still holding strong with her two bottom teeth and poses a close resemblance to a super cute Halloween jack-o-lantern.  You can feel in her mouth that her top two are ready to pop out any day now.

This morning when I was feeding Alexis breakfast she started doing her little "spit at mom" routine which she thinks is hilarious, let me tell you it's not!!!  It's the same spitting thing she does all day long that sounds likes she is blowing raspberries.  Occasionally she does it while she is eating and makes a HUGE mess.  I know that she knows that she is making a mess, because she gets this little mischievous look on her face and then starts laughing at herself.  Anyway, while she was cracking herself up, I noticed a little toofer in her mouth.  It must have just poked out because it wasn't there last night when she was chewing on my finger.  My babies are growing up so quickly!!!

Quick story....I'm sure that you all have seen the pictures that I have posted of our baby gate/corral that keeps the girls confined in our living room, well I guess I should say....used to keep the girls confined.  Yesterday Terry called me at work and told me that the girls have figured out how to open the gate and free themselves.  We are in big trouble if this continues!!  He said Alexis was standing up at the front door and Addison had climbed up three stairs and was on her way upstairs.  We are still trying to figure out who was the mastermind behind their escape, but we are pretty sure that they have been plotting this for awhile.  I continue to be amazed at how much they interact and play with each other.  They are constantly laughing at each other and smiling at one another.  Don't get me wrong...they have their share of fights, but we can already tell they are going to be best friends.

Stay tuned in the next week or so for the girls "First Valentine's Day" photos!!!

C is for COOKIE!!

Look out Cookie Monster.....You've got some competition!!! 

This is why "cookie time" only happens on bath night!!  Alexis was a serious mess! 

(Thanks Aunt Sandy for the pictures!!!)

The latest Happenings in our house....

A lot of random stuff to put in todays entry, where to begin? The girls had their nine month physicals with the pediatrician on Monday afternoon. Dr. Freeman gave both girls an A+++ (yes she said three pluses) for their progress. She was amazed that neither girl is having any "preemie issues" and that they are both progressing at their "actual age" as opposed to their "adjusted age". We still continue to be cautiously optimistic with both girls since we have no idea what the future holds regarding their development, but all and all it was a great visit! Oh and another BIG thing for us....she took them off the special preemie formula! YEAH!

As of Monday Addison weighed 14 pounds 1 ounce and is 26 1/4 inches long.

Alexis weighed 15 pounds even and is 25 inches long.

The doctor predicts that both girls are going to be very tall!

While waiting for the doctor both girls were very intrigued by the paper that lined the exam table. Who knew ripping and crinkling exam table paper could be so fun? See below picture: Addison (left) and Alexis (right). As you can see in the picture Alexis still has her hemangioma on the left side of her chest. It is shrinking but only time will tell if we need "medical intervention" for removal. As long as she isn't bothered by it we are going to let nature take its course.

The girls got a jump a roo for Christmas from Grandma and Grandpa Zehner (aka Ga Ga and Pop Pop). Our pediatrician had previously told us to stear clear from jumpy toys because preemies are more apt to get hip displasia. We got the go ahead from the pediatrician for the girls to jump their little hearts out! Alexis loves it, Addison well, not so much. See the below video of Alexis in the "jumpy" for the first time.

The pediatrician also told us that the girls should start eating more solid foods. She suggested starting with puffs and teething biscuits. We gave the girls teething biscuits for the first time this evening. Wow, I was shocked at how messy those things are! The girls loved them! Addison went to town on hers. She was knawing on it with her two little teeth. Alexis pretty much just slobbered all over hers but she still enjoyed it. We now know that "cookie time" is only going to happen close to bath time since the girls made such a big mess. Alexis loved the few puffs that we gave her but Addison tried swallowing them whole, so we are going to have to revaluate her eating those right now.

Above:  Addison eating her cookie as we called them.  I LOVE this picture!!

Above:  Alexis eating her cookie.  She had to use two hands and thought it was funny to drop her cookie down into her high chair.

Above three pictures:  Addison (left) and Alexis (right) having "cookie time" in their cousins old high chairs that their Aunt Gretchen passed onto our girls.  Thanks guys!  I absolutely love the fact they have wheels on them for easy moving and storage in our kitchen!

I think that is all for today.  I should have some more pictures next week.  The girls are looking forward to a visit from their Grandma Flanigan and Aunt Sandy this weekend and Mommy and Daddy are looking forward to sneeking out of the house for a little bit, ALONE!!!!

GO COLTS!!

The girls were super excited about their first football playoff game this weekend! Seriously, they have no idea, but I was thrilled to put them in their cheerleader outfits for the day! Lets hope the Colts have another great week!

Alexis trying to run away from the camera, but giving a great smile. (Alexis left, Addison right)

Addison giving a great smile! Why can't I ever capture both of them smiling at the same time?

Addison getting fired up for the game!!

Alexis pondering game strategies.

Addison and Alexis say GO COLTS!!!

9 MONTHS!!!

I know I say this with every monthly post....but how is it possible that my girls are nine months old already? Seems like just yesterday that we were bringing them home with us, and now I'm already starting to plan their first birthday party. How is this possible? The girls seem to have really developed A LOT in the last month. Here is the latest and the greatest:

Addison

Don't have a current weight since we haven't been to the doctor in awhile (YEAH!), but she is getting very tall.

Now wearing all 6 month clothing.

Size 2 diapers

Loves Prunes

Has two teeth

Is very independent and is generally happy just laying on the floor playing with whatever toys are around. She loves music, which I think that she gets that from her father.

LOVES to terrorize our cat, Jynxie. Addison smiles and laughs every time Jynx walks by her. She will then proceed to chase her until Jynx gives up and lets her pull a clump full of hair.

Has the sweetest little laugh that you ever heard, but easily gets the hiccups after laughing too hard. They seem to last a long time and almost seems like they hurt her at times.

She was the first to master crawling and is QUICK! If you don't close the gate, she will be at your feet in 30 seconds or less. She also loves to pull up on the couch and stand.


ALEXIS

Again, no current weight. She's not as tall as her sister but she is definitely very solid and is the heavier of the two.

Now wearing all 6 month clothing

Size 2 diapers, except at night she wears a size 3 for extra absorbency. This girl pees like SeaBiscuit some times! (TMI, I know!)

Doesn't really have a favorite food that I know of, because she will eat anything that you put in her mouth. She loves food! I think she gets that from her Dad also!

No teeth yet, but seriously chews on EVERYTHING! We are thinking any day now.

Likes to be involved in everything. She doesn't play as independently as Addison. She likes to be up in everyone business. If Addison is playing with a toy, she will crawl over and start playing with it too.

Alexis is LOUD! She loves to chat and have conversations, but she is LOUD! Some times I feel like she does this on purpose so she is the center of attention. It's cute, but sometimes we have to tell her to use her "inside voice". She thinks that is funny. When she laughs it melts my heart as she has the most delicate laugh, despite being so loud with everything else.

Lex was the first to master pulling up and standing. She's a gutsy girl! She stands up holding onto the couch and will walk back and forth from one end to the other. She has NO fear! Terry has even caught her using her toys as a step stool to try and climb up onto the couch. I joke about trying to find little tiny baby helmets for the girls to wear since they are constantly falling down.


I think that's all our stats for this month. We continue to be amazed at our girls progression. Every day that we share with them is definitely full of chaos and excitement but we wouldn't change a minute of it for anything!

Official TOOTH Count....

As of today our official "tooth count" (maybe it should be teeth count but I like tooth count better) is up to TWO!! Addison now has her bottom two teeth. How is this possible already? She continues to surprise me on a daily basis. Alexis is still working on hers. Her gums are very hard and I'm hoping they break through VERY soon!

I need to do a better job at taking pictures!! Terry and I talk about this all the time. It's just so hard now that the girls are VERY mobile. We spend most of our time wrangling them and keeping them out of stuff. My goal is to start doing a better job taking pictures

Does it seem crazy to anyone else but me that I'm starting to think about plans for the girls 1st birthday party? How can this only be a few months away??

Baby it's cold outside!!

After a yucky day yesterday filled with super COLD temps and about six or seven inches of snow, we want to say a BIG THANK YOU to whomever plowed our driveway yesterday evening. We have several friends and neighbors who own snow trucks but so far no one will take credit for doing it. So whoever you are THANKS! It truly amazes us how people continue to do things anonymously for us. We definitely have angels watching out for us all over the place!

Why I Blog.

When I first created my blog back in October of 2008, I started it with the intentions that no one would ever read it but me. It was MY own personal journal of how our beautiful daughters came to be and our struggles through infertility. I love to write, but I'm not much with a pen and paper. Getting my feelings and frustrations out as we hoped and prayed for a child became therapeutic to me. There was just something about expressing my feelings in words that helped me to accept the hand that God had dealt us.

When we found out that we were pregnant with triplets, my blog took a turn. It became dedicated to keeping our families and friends all across the United States abreast of the current news with our babies. We needed the love and support of everyone to get us through what we knew would be a difficult pregnancy.

And when my water broke on Easter morning, my blog again took on a whole different life of it's own. Our two precious babies were about to be born and we were told that they didn't stand a chance. I'll never forget my doctor looking into my eyes and telling me that "All we can do now is pray". At that point my blog turned into a prayer chain. We kept it up to date, so that everyone we knew and hundreds of people that we didn't, would pray for our girls that we had spent so much time hoping and praying for. Prayers were our only hope. At that point it was all in God's hands.

Never in a million years did I expect that my blog would receive almost 2,500 hits in four months. Since I've added trackers (my ladybug tracker doesn't work & I can't figure out how to delete her?), I can see the locations of my readers and most of their identities. This continues to amaze me and NEVER once have I taken for granted each and every reader who I know has said a prayer for us or has been supporting our family in one way or another.

God answered our prayers giving us the two most beautiful daughters that any parent could ask for. I continue to maintain our blog as a way of journaling our process as the parents of Addison and Alexis. While I would like to be one of those mom's who stays at home and has a ton of time to scrapbook and create memory books for their children, that's just not me. For one, I am not creative enough to scrapbook and number two, I just don't have the time. On a monthly basis I print out two copies of all my blog entries for the month and place them in two separate binders. Someday my daughters will be able to read back through the journey of how they came to be and all of the wonderful comments of support left by our family and friends.

Every breath is precious, because you never know when it is going to be your last. Over the last few years, I've watched a close friend lose her husband after only 5 weeks of marriage. I've struggled to watch my own children fight for every breath of air, while a machine created their breaths for them. I've become close with other NICU moms who have gone through the same freakishly scary journey that we have. I've learned not to take one second, one person, or one thing for granted. I am eternally grateful for EVERYONE who has EVER done ANYTHING to help us get to where we are today. Without our family and friends we couldn't have survived the last year and my daughters would not have the best of everything. While I'm not the best at showing gratitude, please know that NOTHING has EVER gone unnoticed or unappreciated!!

With all this being said it has been brought to my attention that my blog is causing several people hard feelings. The minute I walked in the door yesterday from work, It was demanded to me by my husband that I delete my blog immediately. I don't feel that this is an option for me and I WILL continue to blog. I write my blog for myself and my children, no one else. Terry will not reveal to me who my blog is indirectly bothering other than it is numerous people (like more than 10 people). I'm not sure if I feel hurt or angry about this? Probably a little of both. I do my best to live my life as a good person. I try to give 110% into being a good Mom and a good wife. I never intentionally would hurt anyone! This is why I think I'm so badly hurt by this. I obviously can't change the past, but I can do something about the future. But without knowing what the exact issues are I can't fix the problem. I've been racking my brain trying to figure out how I could have offended more than 10 people with my blog??

If you happen to be one of the people who I've offended with something I've posted on my blog I would like to invite you to please bring this to my attention. Please email me at cardinalsfan0718@netzero.com or call my cell phone if you have the number. If you have an issue with me I ask that you take it up with me directly rather than indirectly through a third or fourth party.

WE HAVE A TOOTH!

Saturday evening while playing with the girls, Addison did her usual grab one of my fingers and stick it in her mouth to chew on it. Both girls have been doing this for awhile now. As long as I'm sure my hands are clean, I let them do it. Yes, we are super germ-a-phobs around our house! If my hands aren't clean I try to recommend another toy for chewing. So, Addison chomped down on my finger and frickin' ouch!! The little bitter has a tooth!! I couldn't believe it! This totally explains her mega attitude the last week, which I had chalked up to her being overly stressed from the holiday festivities. I feel awful now, not realizing that a sharp object was slicing through her gums causing her indescribable amounts of pain. Baby tylenol seems to have helped her pain issues since I realized what was happening.

Terry again continues to laugh at me when I cry at major milestones. He knows that we are blessed to experience these, but he thinks my emotional issues may be a little out of control. I just can't help be affected by all of the things that she does, especially since we were originally told that she would never make it out of the hospital. She has defied all the odds and for this we are eternally grateful!!

Move OVER Billy Joel....There's a new piano "GIRL" in town!!

Finally my Christmas post! WARNING: This is SUPER LONG!!!!!

So I'm finally finished with our play by play of our First Officially Christmas as a family!! Our day was very overwhelming for both Terry & I as well as for the girls. If I could have changed any of it, the only thing I would change is the fact I didn't have the opportunity to take as many pictures or as much video as I would have liked. But other than that, I was a great Christmas!! I'm warning you in advance that this is super long. I use my blog as my own personal diary so I tend to over describe things sometimes.

We started on Christmas Eve with the girls opening up Terry's gifts from me. We decided to scale things down a bit this year due to financial issues but we still got each other little gifts. The girls were totally into ripping the paper to shreds! They were giggling and laughing while chewing on the wrapping paper. Alexis somehow found a way to use the boxes as things she could climb upon. She's a beast. We bathed the girls which they now love, thank goodness, and we all went to bed early because we knew we had a long day ahead of us.

Christmas day started like any usual day. I got up around 6:30, showered and got ready. I woke up Terry when I was done so he could also shower. We proceeded to get the girls dressed, fed & ready to head to Ga Ga and Pop Pop's house. (AKA Terry's parent's house) We opted to fore go the fancy Christmas dresses that we used for the pictures, since the girls hated the tights and they literally hate being in those dresses in general. Mine and Terry's new motto is "the simpler the better." So we went with the Christmas onesies and pants. The girls had breakfast, watched a little of their Baby First TV show and we packed up to head to Grandma's around 9:15ish. This was the first time that I had to use two diaper bags to take along everything we needed. I literally had been planning this trip for a week making sure that we didn't forget anything. I had lists going like crazy. You would think we were going on a major road trip when literally we were going 15 minutes down the street. I'm slightly OCD and I needed to make sure that all things were going to run smoothly. This entailed the packing of the presents in the car, the highchair, the food, the kids, etc.

We got to Ga Ga's house and unloaded the kids and the car, and we set up shop in the corner of their living room. Terry & I had a quick apple turn over and a glass of hot apple cider before the present madness commenced. This is one of the things I wished I had taken more pictures of. The girls had a mound of present surrounding them in the corner of the living room. I'm literally not exaggerating. There were probably close to 35 wrapped gifts that just circled them on the floor. Needless to say, not only was I overwhelmed but so were the girls.

Above two pictures: you can see Alexis digging into the wrapping paper. She was having the time of her life ripping the paper and tearing up things. We eventually had to stop her because it became more of a tear a piece of paper and then put it in her mouth routine.

The above three pictures are Addison opening her gifts. She was a little bit more delicate about it than Alexis, but she also enjoyed tearing things up. I love the last picture and I'm bummed that it didn't turn out better because this was Addison all day long. She would just look around and check everything out. It was like she was just taking everything in and couldn't believe what was going on. I know she was just overwhelmed but watching her take in the surroundings was literally priceless.

After gifts comes lottery and cheese time. Yes, this sounds like a weird combo doesn't it? Everyone gets lottery tickets in their stockings. We gather around the kitchen table, scratch our tickets and have cheeses, brie's, pate's and crackers. Terry and I took turns monitoring the kiddos while the other would scratch their tickets. I fed the girls their lunch in a quiet hallway of the house so the girls could focus on eating instead of the madness and Terry did his lotto tickets. Then Terry gave the girls their bottles while I did my lotto tickets. Terry was the big winner in the family this year! He won $500 on one individual ticket!! His total winnings were $573. I did fairly well with winnings of $76. Neither of the girls won anything on their ticket.

The girls went down for a short nap and Terry and I finished opening what presents the girls didn't finish. Let's just say the girls did very well for their first Christmas. They got lots of clothes, hair accessories, toys, a new toy box and they each got their first American Girl doll. Terry and I had to have a conversation about the American Girl fascination. As a new daddy, Terry was not familiar with A.G. Terry wanted to open the boxes and let the girls play with their new baby dolls. After explaining to Terry what A.G. is we decided that the dolls will be put on a shelf in the girl's closet until they are old enough to understand what they are. They have several other baby dolls that they can abuse right now. I think we've opted to return quite a few of their gifts and place the money into their college savings account. The girls are still too young to understand Christmas, and they have more than enough toys already. We don't want our girls to grow up spoiled and with a sense of entitlement so we have decided to pick two new toys for each girl and to return the rest of them. Trust me, they have SO many toys right now, they won't even know! Once the girls are old enough to understand the meaning of Christmas things will be different but for now it was just excess. Not that it isn't appreciated by any means!

Above three pictures: The girls with their new toy box. Terry accomplished several things on his "to do" list over the weekend and one of them was putting together the girls new toy box that Santa Ga brought them. Alexis refused to sit and pose for a picture on the box. She wouldn't look at the camera nor would she sit up. I think her favorite thing about the toy box is it gives her something else that she can use to climb up on to stand up. (see bottom pic) The girls are also wearing their new Mary Jane socks. It may be a little hard to see them in the pictures though.

One of the girls new toys (you can see it in the bottom picture on top of the toy box) is a Winkel Color Burst toy by Manhattan Toys. They absolutely LOVE this!! I have added a picture of it below, although ours is different colors. I can't tell you how much they love this! They will literally fight over it. Each girl grasping a loop and pulling to see who is the strongest. It's like their own little mini version of tug of war. This toy has also been flung across our living room on numerous occasions as Alexis gets super excited about playing with it. She will start waving her arms with it in her hand and then it flies across the room. It's still funny right now, until something gets broken.

So to finish up Christmas day, Terry and I loaded the girls up and went back home. The remainder of the family was going over to his brother's house but we decided that the girls really couldn't handle anymore excitement. See below picture of Addison: She just couldn't take any more and pooped out shortly after we got home.

Terry and I went home, played with the girls for a little bit and then put them to bed. Terry and I ordered Chinese food for dinner and we enjoyed a nice evening of sitting on the couch reflecting about the day. We feel so fortunate to be experiencing all these little milestones one by one.

One of my favorite parts of the weekend was making the girls first ornaments. This did not go as well as I had planned or did they turn out flawlessly but they will make the perfect keepsake. I decided that I wanted to make plaster handprint ornaments. I plan on doing this every year with the girls. Hopefully as they get older this will go more smoothly. Alexis decided that instead of giving me an impression of her hand that she would just dig her fingers into the plaster and squeeze it through her little fingers. I had to do her impression several times before I got one that resembled a hand. Addison did not enjoy this process at all. She didn't like getting her hands dirty or the way the plaster felt. Hers did turn out a little better but overall I'm fairly satisfied with the results. It will be fun to pull these out of the box every year and reminisce about the fun that we had creating them.

So I think that is the extent of my Christmas Post. I feel like I'm forgetting something pretty major?? Who knows? If I remember I will post it later. I'm still trying to figure out how to get the videos off the video camera. I can do it from my digital camera but not from our actual video camera?? Once I figure it out I will post those.

Hope you all had as enjoyable of a holiday as we did! This definitely will be one that we won't forget!!  Thanks to all of our family who made our first official family Christmas unforgettable!

We have a pro crawler & a climber!

Yes, I promise I will get to my Christmas post soon!  I'm working on it, but I have lots of pictures to upload and stories to tell.  Just wanted to share some short videos I took tonight.  Addison has mastered crawling!!  She finally got the hang of the one hand in front of the other concept and has officially become obsessed with chasing Jynxie our cat.  Alexis has become a climber.  She will climb up anything she can get a grip on.  She will walk along the couch while holding on.  She's actually attempted a few steps without holding on but quickly falls down.  She's got a lot of guts and I think she is going to walk before she perfects crawling.  Enjoy the videos!

VICTORIOUS!

I know this is crazy but I feel like I finally won a battle!  On 03-03-09 I had emergency surgery performed to place a cerclage in my cervix.  The anestheologist charged $560.00.  My insurance company paid 80% stating that the doctor was out of network.  No, when I was being rushed into emergency surgery I didn't think to asked everyone involved if they were in the Cigna network.  I also wasn't given a choice of what doctor to use, so I feel that this claim should have been paid as "in network" and at 100%.  I've been fighting this for over nine months and finally got my insurance company to pay the additional $112.00!!!

Victory #2...You may recall from a previous blog entry back in September where I mentioned that the anestheologist who performed my c-section charged an additional $800.00 after hours fee because he performed my c-section at 3:00a.m.  After arguing this charge until I was blue in the face I also got my insurance company to pay an additional $400 and the doctor agreed to write off the remaining $400 balance.

Yes, these are very minimal things but I feel like I have won a tiny little battle that I've been fighting for over 9 months.  Being left with over $20,000 in medical bills, I have to make sure that every penny is accounted for.

Yes, Christmas pictures and a blog entry with all the fun details from our Christmas hooplah will be along shortly.  My digital camera needs a rest.  It definitely got a work out these past few days!!

Our FIRST family Christmas Card!!

Pictures from Christmas to come soon! Need to find the time to download them and post them! Our card didn't scan to well but you get the idea.

WE HAVE SOME MOVERS & SHAKERS!!

The girls have been crawling for awhile now but I was just able to capture it on video this evening. It's more like a crawl/plop themselves down but they can get from point A to point B now. Alexis is starting to pull up on things and stand. She pulls herself up on the couch constantly. I'm so not ready for that yet!! Enjoy!! Yes, my voice does sound really weird on these videos, I know!! The first video is Addison and the second is Alexis.

The ramblings of my brain....

So for those of you who haven't received our Christmas card yet, hold on to your seat!  We haven't forgotten about you, I'm just waiting on some pictures to arrive so that I can mail them out.  We had major issues getting our cards this year!  I was so excited to do our first family card and the dip shits at JC Penney's kind of put a damper on my excitement.  As you may know we had our family portraits taken the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  I couldn't decide on what pictures to buy so I bought a CD with all the pictures and the legal rights to the pictures.  Everything was set for me to pick up our CD the following Sunday.  I was super excited to go home and pick out the best pictures and design our card!  I get home and there are only 4 pictures on my CD???  HMM?  So I call Penney's and they assure me that they will fix the problem.  I return to the store the following week and they attempt to give me printed pictures of an African American family.  Yah, those pictures were not my family!  They promise they will get it right this time!  I return a few days later to an attempt to give me printed pictures of an hispanic family.  REALLY??  Is someone playing a trick on me??  I had to laugh but I'm also pretty pissed off at this point!  I got really hot headed after finding out that I wouldn't be able to have some photo gifts made in time for Christmas without having to pay an extra $45 for express processing and shipping.  I proceeded to contact the district manager of the portrait studio.  After 5 trips to pick up my CD, they finally got it right.  So now I'm just waiting on extra copies of pictures to include with some of our cards.  Rest assured, we haven't forgotten about you and you will get it soon!  I will post pictures of our first official family Christmas card, once i'm sure that they have been received by all!!

I'm finally starting to get excited about Christmas.  As I mentioned before I was super excited to do our card, and had that ruined.  I've been feeling like Christmas this year is more of a financial burden than it's ever been and I've just generally been feeling down about the holidays.  Why you may ask?  I have no explanation other than my own selfishness getting the best of me!!  I have everything in the world to be thankful for this year and after a reality check this morning I can't wait for my girls to attempt to open their gifts.  They are obsessed with tearing magazines and pages in books, so I'm thinking wrapping paper might be right up their alley?  Either way, I'm finally starting to jump on the holiday bandwagon and couldn't be happier!!
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Saturday morning I received an email from my friend Jody, a fellow preemie mommy of two.  This brought happy tears to my eyes so I thought I would share.  Those of you who haven't walked through our journey may not appreciate or understand it, but I thought I would share for those of you who know what we've been through.  Enjoy!!

PREEMIE MOM POEM:

HOW PREEMIE MOM'S ARE CHOSEN

(Adapted from Erma Bombeck)

Did you ever wonder how the mothers of premature babies are chosen? Somehow, I visualize God hovering over Earth, selecting his instruments for propagation with great care and deliberation.  As he observes, he instructs his angels to take notes in a giant ledger.  "Beth Armstrong, give her a son.  Give her Patron Saint, Matthew". "Marjorie Forrest, give her a daughter, and Patron Saint, Celia".  "Carrie Rutledge, give her twins and Patron Saint.....Give her Gerard, he's used to profanity".  Finally, he passes a name to an angel and smiles...."Give her a preemie". 

The angel is curious.  "Why this one, God?  She's so happy".  "Exactly", smiles God.  "Could, I give a premature baby to a mother who knows no laughter?  That would be cruel".

"But does she have the patience"?  asks the angel.

"I don't want her to have too much patience, or she'll drown in a sea of self-pity and despair.  Once the shock and resentment wear off, she'll handle it.  I watched her today.  She has that sense of self and independence so rare and so necessary in a mother.  You see, the child I'm going to give her has a world of its own.  She has to make it live in her world, and that's not going to be easy".

"But Lord, I don't think she even believes in you", said the Angel.

God smiles.  "No matter, I can fix that.  This one is perfect.  She has just the right amount of selfishness".

The angel gasps, "Selfishness?!  Is that a virtue?"

God nods.  "If she can't separate herself from the child occasionally, she will never survive.  Yes, here is a woman whom I will bless with a child less than perfect.  She doesn't know it yet, but she is to be envied.  She will never take for granted a spoken word.  She will never consider a step ordinary.  When her child says 'mama' for the first time, she will be witness to a miracle and know it.  I will permit her to see clearly the things I see - ignorance, cruelty, prejudice - and allow her to rise above them.  She will never be alone.  I will be at her side every minute of every day of her life because she is doing my work as surely as she is here by my side".

"And what about her Patron Saint" asks the angel, his pen poised in the air.

God smiles and replies, "A mirror will suffice".

8 MONTHS?

How is it possible that my little girls turned 8 months over the weekend?  It seems so surreal to me!  Here are some random pictures from the last month.

Above:  Alexis listening to her Daddy sing to her.  He's singing "Brown eyed girl".

Above:  Addison laughing at Terry singing "Blue eyed girl".

Why can't I ever get a picture where both girls are looking at the camera at the same time?

Above:  Alexis (left) & Addison (right)

Above:  This picture was taken the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  Grandma and her girls!  Alexis left & Addison right.

Above:  Addison played just a little too hard.  This is one of my favorite pictures of her.  It captures her true sweetness and how she loves on everything from people to her Teddy Bears.

Above: Oh sweet Alexis!  Sometimes she just keeps going until she literally passes out.  One minute she will be talking and then a second later she's out like a light. 

Above: Alexis in her swing again.  Poor thing slept like that for about an hour.  She woke up with a nice red mark on her face.  But she took a great nap!

 Above:  We've officially had to rope off our living room.  As the girls start crawling more and become more interested in things other than their toys, we had to find a way to "corral" them.  Right now this is what our living room looks like.  I can tell we are going to have to come up with an alternative plan soon!

Above:  Just thought I would share the extent of our Christmas decorations this year.  We decided that since the girls are too young to understand Christmas that we would just bypass the tree this year.  But it was with great delight that I hung the stockings with care!  Ok, so If the stockings were "hung by the chimney with care"....wouldn't they be hung up outside?  Isn't a chimney outside?  Shouldn't it be....The stockings were hung by the mantle with care?  Am I just nuts?

Pictures with Santa!

We had the girls pictures done with Santa today.  I've been very skeptical about taking the girls to the mall to see the germ infested Santa there, but I REALLY wanted to have them photographed with the jolly man.  Our realtors who sold us our house have an annual photos with Santa brunch.  We decided that we would just pop in and pop out to get our photo.  Unfortunately, even with the best layed plans it wasn't that simple.  After major plumbing issues with our water heater this week, our plumber showed up extremely late to our house on Saturday.  I was thinking we wouldn't make photos with Santa at all!  I text'd my friend Sherri and she came to our rescue.  Terry had to stay home to deal with the plumber and Sherri and I loaded up the girls to see Santa!

I thought for sure that Miss Addison with her stranger anxiety was going to hate Santa.  She was the first to reach our for him.  She went straight for his beard!!  See below pictures!!

Addison successfully pulled down Santa's beard once & Alexis only tugged on it a few times.

To my delight, here is our first succesful picture of my girls and Santa!!  It almost makes me cry!  I've dreamt about being able to take my kids to see Santa for so many years!  My dreams are now a reality!  God is GREAT!!!  WE ARE TRULY BLESSED!!!

FOTO FRIDAY!!

Just thought I would share a few of my favorite pictures from the last week with you today.  All photo credit goes to my sister in law, Gretchen.  She took these when she was in town last week.  Enjoy!!

The Fam!!  Alexis on the left & Addison on the right.

This is a typical picture of me on my days off, minus the hair being done and the makeup.  Both girls love to be held right now and are very jealous if their sister is being held and they aren't!  Addison is in the pink and Alexis is in the Green.

Terry and Alexis.  I can't believe how much she looks just like him.  Even everything she does is just like him.  She's his little mini-me!

Me & the girls and my mother in law Linda.  My neice Lila is trying to pop in on the right.

I just thought this picture was adorable.  Gretchen sent this to me and it brought a huge smile to my face.  If only I knew how to use photoshop, then I could paste in my two girls.  Still a super cute picture of all our neices and nephew from Terry's side of the family.

Clockwise starting with Amelia on the bottom with her fingers in her mouth, Georgia (orange), Amelia (orange & green shirt), Oliver (blue shirt), Lila (blue striped shirt).

Thanksgiving Post!!

So, I just realized that this long blog post that I typed out on Thanksgiving never actually "posted"? Hmmm? I guess it helps if you actually hit the "publish" button to post an entry right? I guess it's better late than never.
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On this Thanksgiving eve, I reflect back on our year and can't help but shed a few tears for everything that I am eternally grateful for this year. Our year has had its share of ups and downs and more than our fair share of tears and heartache but it isn't without much to be thankful for. Where do I begin? These are in no particular order.

I am so thankful for the doctors and nurses at St. Vincent Women's Hospital in Indianapolis for their care for myself and my daughters. Without them, I wouldn't be here today nor would my precious baby girls. I feel an enormous amount of indebtedness to all of our amazing doctors and nurses. Especially, Lisa & Liz. They will forever hold a special place in my heart!

I am so thankful for the fact that the doctors at the hospital were wrong! While the first few days of the girls lives have become a blur to me, I can't help but remember the day that Dr. DeSanto came into my hospital room and told me that it was imperative that we have a "sit down meeting" with both parents as soon as possible. Terry had gone home to shower and sleep a little. When he got back to the hospital was when the doctor told us about Addison's massive brain hemorrhage and that they didn't think she was going to live. While I don't ever remember hearing those actually words..."your daughter will probably not survive", I'm reminded on a daily basis how fortunate we are to have her with us today. Yes, we have no clue what the future holds for our Miss Addison but I'm thankful for everyday that she looks at me with those huge blue eyes and smiles at me!

I'm so thankful for family, our parents, and especially my Mom. My Mom showed up unexpectedly from St. Louis shortly after the girls were born. I wouldn't have made it through those first few weeks without her. Not only did she teach me how to walk when I was a child but she was the one who forced me to get out of my hospital bed and put one foot in front of the other when I didn't think I had anything left to give. She taught me how to walk again when I literally didn't feel like I could. My world was falling apart around me and she picked me back up and made me realize that I'm a stronger woman than I ever thought I could be.

My amazing husband....How do I even begin to describe how thankful I am for Terry? Words cannot even begin to describe this. Terry puts up with me even when I know I'm the biggest witch in the world. He loves me unconditionally with no questions asked. He put up with me for ten weeks of bed rest and never once complained. He waited on me hand and foot and never even gave it a second thought. He is an AMAZING father!!! My girls are very blessed to have a great Daddy and I'm so thankful to have an incredible husband! While I'm not going to lie, the last several months have been very trying on our relationship; but I can't imagine anyone else that I would rather have walked through this journey with!!

I'm thankful for my four incredible children.....Addison, Alexis, Our two angel babies; one from a previous miscarriage and our Angel Triplet, baby girl Hope. Every morning when I look into my girls eyes and sing them our "Good Morning" song that I made up, it absolutely melts my heart. The smiles on their faces and the giggle that I get makes every step that we took to get here 100% worth it. Granted, if I had a magic wand and could have changed things I would have, but every ounce of pain that we went through to get these girls disappears when I hear them laugh or see them smile. Addison and Alexis, you make me a better person. Your laughter and personalities continue to amaze me. Every day with you two in my life I am eternally Thankful! I'm thankful for our two Angel babies who I know are in Heaven protecting their sisters, without them I'm not sure we would be where we are today.

I'm thankful for my support system. No one knows what it is like to lose a child(ren) unless you have been through it. NO ONE KNOWS what it is like to spend three months of your life living in the NICU unless you have been through it!!! No one knows what it is like to deal with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) unless you have been through it. For those of you who have walked this journey with me I am thankful!
Jody, for being my twin sister from another mother (Jody and I met on a webmd.com pregnancy message board)....for all the emails, phone calls, and general support I am thankful. I'm not sure what I would do without you some days. It amazes me how two people who have never physically met in person can have so much in common and have such a connection.
Sherri, oh sweet Sherri. My girls have one of the best adopted Aunts ever!! Your continued support through even the simplest of text messages means the worlds to me. God must have known what he was doing when he brought us together.
All my friends over at CLIMB (Center for Loss in Multiple Births). I don't know how to even explain how thankful I am for all of you. You make me understand that grieving is ok, even for a child(ren) that I never got to physically hold in my arms. You've helped me understand that dealing with PTSD is not my fault. You've helped me learn that I'm not crazy and that every parent who travels the NICU journey deals with PTSD in some form or another. For all of you, I'm thankful!!!
Trina, Courtney & Lauren, our next door neighbors.... Without them our first few nights at home would have been a disaster. Trina has saved us on numerous recent occasions when we just need a third pair of hands. I have no idea how we would have survived without them! I am thankful that you three are our neighbors!!!
And to everyone else, our family and friends who have supported us along the way I am thankful. It would be impossible to list everyone by name. Everyone who has said a prayer, read my blog, left comments of support on my blog, and everyone who has generally been pulling for our family since day one, I am thankful!!!

And finally, I am thankful for Our Heavenly Father who has allowed us to come so far in the last year. Without him choosing us to be parents of Addison and Alexis none of this would have been possible.....

1 Thessalonians 5:18
Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

Hebrews 13:15
Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to His name.

Psalm 100
Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands. Serve the Lord with gladness: come before His presence with singing. Know ye that the Lord He is God: it is He that has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name. FOR THE LORD IS GOOD; HIS MERCY IS EVERLASTING; AND HIS TRUTH ENDURETH TO A GENERATIONS.