I got to Meet the Babies!!!!

So, you recently saw photos from my friend Margie’s baby shower. Her babies are about 6 weeks old and about 34 gestational weeks. They’ve been in the ICU with very limited visitors until recently, and I finally got to go meet them today! It was so fun! I wasn’t able to hold them, but I got to touch their sweet little hands and ooh and aah over them. I also got a precious little video of them. Enjoy!

Someone at the hospital knits those precious little hats for them to wear. They’re stylin’! (Kendall Grace is on the left and Emery Lynn is on the right.)

Kendall

Emery

Sorry this is blurry. I was trying to keep the light out of her face.

Kendall up close. They’re both up over 4 lbs. now! They’re gaining about an ounce a day, which is awesome!

Thing 1 and Thing 2 (i.e. Baby Kendall and Baby Emery)

So, my sweet friend Margie found out last spring right before the annual women’s retreat that she was expecting twins!! She and I were carpooling to the retreat, so I was lucky enough to be one of the first people to find out, and I was SO excited. We got to then share with all the girls at the retreat and talk babies and twins much of the weekend. She later learned that they were both girls and gave them the precious names of Kendall and Emery.

Unfortunately, Margie went into pre-term labor at a very early 25 weeks. We were all praying that those precious angels would stay safe with their momma for many more weeks to come. Margie made it two weeks on hospitalized bed rest before those babies would wait no longer. They were born in an excellent hospital with a very strong NICU until and weighed in at around 2 pounds and change. Pretty big for 27-weekers but still a big uphill battle.

Aside from a couple of scares along the way, both girls have done brilliantly! They’re both off of their oxygen and Kendall is off of her breathing tube. Emery wasn’t as of Sunday but will likely be soon if not already. Both girls will start working on drinking out of a bottle this week which is exciting. That’s a major milestone in the path to get those sweet babies home to Momma! They’re hopeful for a mid-December go-home date. Additional prayers are always welcome!

All that to say that we finally had Margie’s shower at my house on Sunday! We had originally planned to have it in October, but those babies had other plans. We did a “Thing 1 and Thing 2” theme from Cat in the Hat, and the decorations (that I can’t even begin to take credit for) were precious. My friend Libby and I did the little cake balls for a whimsical alternative to a traditional cake or cupcakes, and they were a big hit. I myself actually get to go meet those sweet babies in the NICU next week and I am SOOOO excited!! They’re one of many many things we have to be thankful for this year.

Sweet babies recently moved to a crib where they can be together. I bet they missed each other and are so glad to be reunited!

The beautiful table

My friend Brittney had the cute idea of having the movie on hand and we froze it on that fun Thing 1 and Thing 2 photo. :)

The hostesses (minus Carrie who had a sickly child) with proud Momma Margie in the middle

Dropping Like Stars

So, James and I went to hear Rob Bell live on Saturday night. It’s the closest thing we’ve had to a date night in ages, so we were excited. His Dropping Like Stars tour is a two hour discussion of how creativity and life can come out of suffering. He’s a great communicator, and I highly recommend you go if he comes anywhere near where you live.

And, not that he’s a celebrity or anything, but he made an entrance from the back of the theater, and he came right down the aisle where James and I were sitting. He literally stopped RIGHT in front of James to stop and turn around and just take in the audience. We could have tripped him…or grabbed his leg…he was that close. Given that there were thousands of people in the room, we thought that was pretty cool.

He has a great heart for Scripture and for earnestly seeking God, and he’s refreshing because he asks the tough questions and lets them hang. Thanks, Mr. Bell, for coming to Dallas. We enjoyed it and will think about life with fresh eyes as we approach our future.

Emerson Shows Off Her Tricks

Emerson and I have been having some great time for a couple of hours on Monday and Tuesday after James leaves for work and before I pick up Ellie from school. She did this hilarious singing thing for me at lunch today, and I decided to see if I could capture it on video. She then showed off all her other tricks. So, if you’re an Emerson fan, it’s worth the 3 minutes of your life to check out this video. There’s a part in the singing where she goes all opera-like that’s hilarious.

Year Round Swimming

So, our girls are little fishies. They both LOVE to swim. Emerson was born thinking she could swim. She goes underwater like it’s nothing and doesn’t hardly ever cry. She just assumes one of us will come rescue her if she can’t get back up. Keeps us on our toes for sure!! Ellie started swim lessons this summer. We need to do another round or two before she can swim on her own, but she’s very comfortable in the water as well.

So, we were really happy to learn that the Frisco Athletic Center existed and has very reasonable prices for residents. It’s a nice big gym with racquetball courts and everything. My favorite feature, though, is the huge indoor pool area. There’s a toddler playscape, a warm water pool, a large lap pool, a lazy river area with a whirlpool, and a large body slide – ALL INSIDE! There’s even more outside, but we signed up after Labor Day and haven’t gotten to experience that yet.

We’ve started a Saturday family tradition of us dropping the girls off in the complementary and very nice child care center while we work out. Then we go get them and we all get in our suits and do some swimming before coming back for lunch and naptime. The gym is only 5 minutes from our house, so we’re very blessed. Here are some photos from this past Saturday.

That’s the lazy river and whirlpool area

This is the warm water pool. It’s just shy of being a hot tub, and I love it. :)

And the big slide.

Halloween 2009

For a fun trip down memory lane, here’s a reminder of our first few Halloweens with the girls:

Ellie in 2006

 

Little Hershey’s Kiss in 2007

The cheerleader and the football player in 2008

And then here are some highlights from Halloween 2009. We had a great time. We had a party with some friends in the morning, and then we went to our church Trunk or Treat festivities followed by some Trick or Treating in our neighborhood.

James and I were farmers with our little pig and cow. :)

The cow wouldn’t cooperate on this one, so I just took the photo anyway. We went around our neighborhood with our friends the Alemans.

Check Emerson out. She wanted to hold her bucket and walk up to the doors just like big sister.

Pondering which house we would hit up next.

Ellie summed it up by saying “We had a good candy day, Mom!”

Pumpkin Patch

My mom’s group was planning to hit up a nearby pumpkin patch last Tuesday, but the weather did not cooperate. They decided to go on Wednesday instead, which is a workday for me. James stays home, and I told him he could go if he wanted and he did! He took a ton of great photos. Enjoy!

Emerson looked like she was still getting used to the place in this one! :)

A Few Random Photos

Here are a few recent photos of the girls just playing. Enjoy!

These were taken at the playground at the girls’ future elementary school. Crazy to even think about!

And this is my daring little 18 month old. Don’t worry – I snapped the photo really quickly and then went to ensure no falling occurred.