2 For 2!

Exactly 2 Years


Kohl:  26 1b  15.5 oz
Maddy:  26  lb  3 oz



I can still remember the exact moment the nurse winked at me just seconds before we heard her scream;  she had been born unresponsive, her skin a pale blue color.  It was the most scared I had ever been, realizing that at any moment we could possibly lose our new baby girl, and hoping, praying that they could revive her.  Her twin brother was doing fine but she was the one who would make the pair complete.  I was numb, dazed and paralyzed to show any signs of frantic worry, but I still found myself mumbling, earnestly praying to God to save my daughter's fragile life.  I most likely squeezed the blood out of Tangie's hand as I watched the unit of doctors and nurses work with a furious calm.  Please God, don't let this happen.  Please.

And then she screamed.

4/19/2010

Fast forward to today, as we celebrate our twins' second birthday.  2 YEARS OLD!  I can't believe we've made it through another year, let alone 2 years of being parents to multiples AND an older sibling.  This has truly been quite the experience, and especially this past year has definitely shown Tangie and I what we are capable of.

To think that even a year ago, Madelyn and Kohlden were barely walking, crawling even; their communication relegated to just whines, grunts, and cries.  Now you can't get them to sit still to eat dinner, and are absorbing words and phrases to repeat later on.  It has been amazing to watch their development up close and every day.  And though the growth may seem small day to day, much like watching a vine grow, you can certainly see the difference over a long period of time.

4/19/2012

They say that bad things happen in threes, so I guess that was our case this week. Firstly, our camera died, which would explain the lack of pictures and videos on this post.  It was an old camera anyway; Tangie got it for a deal on Black Friday 2010.  And it didn't help that I accidentally dropped it on our tile floor.  Secondly, Braelyn and Calleigh found one goldfish, Madelyn, floating and dead early Sunday morning.  I quickly flushed it down the toilet, not thinking if Calleigh or Aubree had ever participated in a fish funeral. The third bad thing was finding three more fish dead early Monday morning.  That left poor Kohlden swimming all by himself all week.  At least they were only 24 ¢ each.


Here are some highlights:

• Sabbath we attended church, and then joined the Clarkes and Bergherms for lunch at Sweet Tomatoes.  Afterwards Tangie and the twins went home for naps, as I took Braelyn back to church for her Adventurer's Investiture program.  She had fun receiving her certificate and trophy, and has now graduated to the Eager Beavers (seriously, I'm not making this up!) for next year.  That evening after dinner at Uno's Chicago Pizza, Tangie continued to work on our taxes while I cleaned the house and kitchen for the following morning.

So cute in her uniform and all those honors!

And yes, they can still act silly!

Her class lining up to receive their awards.  Congrats Calleigh on getting Adventurer of the Year!

Supper at Uno's Chicago Pizza.

Part of the kids' menu was create your own pizza, which she thoroughly enjoyed.

Can you tell how exhausted they were?!?

• Sunday morning we were joined by the Bergherms and Grodacks for brunch at our house.  Usually it's a lunch or dinner get together with these guys, aside from the Easter brunch a couple weeks ago, so it was nice to have them over early to start out the day.  It was a gorgeous day with fantastic temperatures, and perfect for an outing to the Winter Garden Spring Festival, so that's what we all did after eating.  There were lots of fun, free things for the children to do and lots of samples of plants and products being handed out by the vendors. Afterwards the Grodacks went back to our place for a pizza lunch, before Duncan and I headed out to play 18 at the Forest Lake Golf Club.

Can you spot Maddy?  This was at the hands of her big sister!

The crew enjoy the food and conversations.

Aubree and Calleigh eat with the other kids on the patio.

Looking at the snake exhibit and learning about poisonous snakes in Florida.

Creating and coloring their ladybug containers.

Maddy and definitely Kohl enjoying the small kids' bouncy house.

Braelyn rides in a lawn mower pulled train/wagon ride made out of 50 gallon drums.

Maybe we should have invested in a 3 seat stroller?

• Monday morning I had an appointment with the eye doctor to try to see why I've been having some blurred vision in my right eye over the past couple of weeks.  I remember taking my contacts off one night and it hurt more than usual, but I figured I had dry eyes or some sand or something.  Anyway, I started noticing the blurriness through my glasses, as usually my left eye is weaker than my right.  I couldn't figure out why and upon researching online, started to get a little worried when causes for blurriness in one eye came up with diabetes and/or stroke.  Well, it wasn't either one (unless it happens to be the slowest stroke ever) and when the optometrist examined my eye he found some pretty bad scratches on my eye lens that had started scarring, which resulted in the blurriness.  So right now I'm on prescription medication drops and wearing my eye glasses for a week, with a follow up exam on Monday to get some stronger contacts.  Oh well, at least I'm not dying...yet.

Do you see [or not see] what I mean?

• This week Tangie had several late nights, so I had some solo evenings with the children.  We have been planning the twins' birthday party coming up this weekend so I've been busy with the kids running errands and getting supplies.   We're having a pool party at the clubhouse and so far we have a good number of families and their children coming.  I just hope the weather forecast holds up.

It's puzzle time!

Here they were watching Dora the Explorer but I don't know why they were all bundled up in the blankets...

Enjoying a shaded park in Windermere.

Maddy helping Kohlden with his shoes.    Not sure what happened to his shirt though.

Tangie getting excited about the twins' birthday and setting up the party favors.

Maddy's injury of the week:

Was running and tripped, skinning her pretty knees.  Nothing a couple of bandages couldn't fix.

Random:

Our Muscadine grape vine growing on the backyard pergola showing the first fruits of the season!

Quotes:

• Friday evening Tangie was going over the Sabbath School lesson with Braelyn for church the next day:

          Tangie:  "Okay, can you tell me what the memory verse is?"

          Brae:  "And God said, 'I will make you human beings forever!'"

          Hmmm.....okay.....

• The twins and I were at Costco picking up some supplies when all of a sudden they both saw an older man with a small white beard down at the end of our very busy aisle:

          Maddy:  [Screams and points to him]  "SANTA!!!!"

          Kohl:  "Ho, Ho, Ho!"

          This, of course, prompts me and all the surrounding customers to burst out laughing. 

          Luckily the old man didn't hear them!

Hope you guys have a great weekend!