Happily Ever After...

Since my camera is STILL broken (sniff) I thought I would show some of the pictures from our photo shoot  for our Christmas card. These are the ones I love, but didn't make the card this year. Go ahead and thank me now for not making you read my ramblings and musings. Can't make any promises about my next post, so enjoy it while you can. Ha!

Things the Lord has shown me through Sofia: From the foundations of the world – God has uniquely designed each individual person in our family. It was God’s plan to bless us with two awesome boys and four beautiful girls to complete our family. Change is a good thing – All that Sofia knew for 26 months changed in an instant when they placed her in her mother’s loving arms. She has blossomed in her new world! Trust – Sofia has learned that her mommy and daddy know what is best for her and they will keep her safe and provide for all her needs. That is how our heavenly Father is with us. Height is a useless measurement . She falls into the 1 percentile for her age but she makes up for it in spunk! Persistency – Sofia can hold out for what she wants for a very long time. God be glorified in our stubbornness! She can EASILY wait perfectly still for 20 minutes to let her nail polish dry. She hates smudges! Twins – that “twin thing” is real! Ten...

For God, and His Word that are always true. Even when I doubt. And for His great love and mercy for us every. single. day. Thankful. For people who make meals. And come to lend a helping hand. And take time out of their busy days, to call and check on us. Thankful. For friends who listen to me rant and cry. And rant and cry with me. And those who know when to talk about everything else. Or don't know what to say, but are always, always there. Thankful. For family who love us. Who support and encourage us. Who would drop anything at a moment's notice, and who are behind us all the way. Thankful. For prayers. From literally all over. From those who know us, And those we've never met. Who love our girl from near, and far. Thankful. For those who text, or email, or call, To uplift, encourage and love us, when we cannot fathom another step. Thankful . For ipads, and pillows, and snuggly blankets, and books, and balloons, and gi...

FINALLY!!! Celia got some good news. We NEEDED some right about now. She has been granted a wish from the "Make a Wish" Foundation. Now we have to decide for her what a special wish might be. Initially, we thought that Disney would be a great option because the Give the Kids the World Village caters to special needs kiddos and their families, but we have a timeshare there and will go regularly. SO although it would be a different experience than one we could provide for her, I don't think it would make THAT MUCH of a difference to her either way. We are now thinking she might enjoy a backyard play area that she can get around in her go-go in and be able to interact with her sisters. A deck-like area with play equipment that she could use, and a house that would be big enough for a wheelchair or her go-go to make it inside. Hmmmmm...... We just have this HUGE responsibility of deciding for her, but it's HER WISH , so we want it to be exactly what she would...

- Saturday we hiked up a mountain... during another feed. It was super-fun, the fall foliage was gorgeous, and we got some fun time with the marrieds who helped with the biggies and the babies. LOVE. THAT. - Oh, and speaking of feeds, it's all we plan our lives around these days, so you'll hear it a lot. (You've been forewarned.) - We also went to Cost-co. ON A SATURDAY. It's against everything I believe in, but it was close to the mountain we hiked, so we decided to throw caution to the wind. On the way home, Celia had her first car-feed. Let's just say that it took both Greg and I several minutes to get her out, the backpack with the pump out while still attached to her, and the tubes untangled, and it wasn't pretty. - Our oldest son thoughtfully ordered dinner and arranged for his brother to deliver it to us on Friday. Thai and sushi.... YUM! And he knows that although I love sushi, it has to be COOKED. And not in the same container as RAW stuff, eve...

We decided if we EVER want to leave the house oh, in the next year or so, we better go ahead and give it a dry run. During a feed. Yes, we are insane, thank you for asking. We decided to go to Tr@der Joes, because who isn't happy there? Little shopping carts for little girls to push, and Mommy just quivers with excitement at all the organic stuff. I don't get out much obviously. We get on the road and she starts fussing. Daddy: "I think she's in pain." Mommy: "No, I am pretty sure she doesn't like the tv show we put on. She likes choices" She is a girl after all. HA! More fussing. Since we aren't sure what's causing the crying, we make a detour to my second favorite place which is much closer to home. T@rget, here we come. After a ridiculously LONG TIME untangling her from her tubing, and getting her situated in the stroller (while her 3 sweet sisters patiently wait) we triumphantly enter T@rget. Except she's reall...

My sweet hubby sent me this list of things God has shown him through both twins. It is just too good not to post. This is the first of two posts from their sweet and amazing Daddy that one day I hope they read and realize how much we are constantly blessed with being their parents. Thinking back over a year with the twins, The Lord has shown me a few things. First, here are a few things I have learned from Celia: Patience – Celia is never in a hurry and is typically last for almost everything. Contentment – Celia does not complain about her circumstances. She is happy wherever she is or whatever she is doing. Enjoy simple things – Snuggling with Mommy or Daddy; can it get any better? Relinquish control –  Celia cannot control anything in her life. She is fed, changed, placed in her chair, placed on the floor, taken inside or outside all when someone else decides is best. She cannot even decide which toy to play with or when to eat. Humility –...

Our life doesn't look the way we expected it to: It is full of medications. Breathing treatments. Medical bills. Wound care. Flushing ports. Insurance company calls. Doctor appointments. More Doctor appointments. Trips to the pharmacy. Where we are on a first name basis. Deliveries of formula come to our door. And medical equipment of various kinds. On a weekly basis. Sleepless nights of worry. And days centered around the next feeding. Tears at unexpected times. And love undeserved from friends and family.  We "live life" in the two hours in between hour-long feeds these days.  But "living life" is what we intend to do. Like jumping in the leaves from the comfort of your stroller.  Just to enjoy the beauty of a fall day.  And sweet smiles from your twinny. To encourage you and give you strength. Like an unexpected leaf party.   Just because you can. And finding joy in the ...

 November.  December.  January. February. March.  April. May.  June.  July.  August.  September. Our 3rd BIRTHDAY!!! October. November.

One year ago today, we headed into a very crowded room  full of families in the making, and were handed two beautiful baby girls.  I look back and see God's hand every single step of the way. God has BLESSED US more richly through these two girls than we could have ever anticipated. The joy of seeing them blossom has been a treasured gift. The road has been hard... ....But good. Totally, wonderfully good. And knowing what we know now, we would NEVER CHANGE A THING . Happy One Year Home Twinny Twin Twins!! You are loved and adored more than you could know. We are so proud of both of you for being so brave, for learning to trust, for loving in return. WE LOVE YOU BOTH!! Each and every day is a gift. Today we celebrate our two precious baby girls. We are blessed.

Friday night was a long night for our sweet girl. She vomited her pedialyte so all feeds were stopped. She yanked the tube coming from her button.  Not once but twice. She almost got her IV out too. We thought some twin time was in order.  Saturday we brought Sofia while my sister graciously kept the biggies. Sofia was VERY concerned about her twin: "Celia you look like a train wreck girl.  Let's bedazzle you."  Sweet Sofia made it HER JOB to cover Celia  with as many stickers as her legs, arms and nightgown could hold.  They watched movies together. Sofia picked out some balloons for Celia. And held warm compresses on her tummy. And they shared a little...  Twinny Love. Precious doesn't begin to describe how Sofia was with her. Celia even felt like taking a little walk around, so we got a little morale boast too. So for the down and dirty; She narrowly avoided another surgery as our ...