Touched

I suppose it is inevitable that someone in our lives will be touched by this virus. Many of us probably now know someone who is probable or maybe even positive. Maybe fewer of us have already been touched by a death. It's a warped waiting game until we know who that someone in our lives will be and how close the relation will be.

We've learned that someone in Isaac's family is in the ICU on the ventilator. So sad. Sigh.

And yet, life continues. For us, that means celebrating our littlest, who turned 9 today. His desire for a party (his first time asking for one) put on hold until we can actually hold a party if we ever can at all. Schools are closed through May 1, but the governor said in this evening's update that they don't expect the peak of illnesses here until April 26. There's no way we're going back on May 1 if that is the case. No friend visits for the foreseeable future for any of us.

It's easy for us to understand, but it's a bit harder for a 9 year old to grasp. I'm not sure what could be done about that except to keep on keeping on, right?

We celebrated him as a family. He was thrilled overall with everything. For now, that is more than enough for all of us.

Homecoming Day - Part 2

Today is Ja.son's Homecoming Day! On this day 8 years ago, after 100!!! long days in the NICU, we finally got to bring Ja.son home!



Ja.son was actually the one who was going to come home first. On the day of his would-be discharge, he spiked a fever, had a grand mal seizure, and was bagged for 20 minutes while they tried to figure out what was going on in his little body. We had received that call, the one that NICU parents dread, only twenty minutes before, and I remember staring at my boy with a terror and hopelessness I hope to never feel again. He was a very sick little boy, and we were again scared that we might lose him. We definitely could have.

Those moments made this day eight years ago, when we were finally free of the NICU forever, even sweeter. Our family was together in our own home. It was another glorious day!

This day is another special occasion in this house, and like Sh.awn's, I hope it is something we can continue to celebrate forever. :)

#MicroBlog Monday

This gem came home from school this week.



He was asked to write a story about his family, which he did. He wrote about his Homecoming Day celebration.

It's just a few sentences, a story telling about his day.

Still, my heart is full. :)

Stop by Mel's for more #Microblog Monday posts.

#Microblog Monday - Homecoming Day!

Today is Sh.awn's Homecoming Day! On this day 8 years ago, after 90 long days in the NICU, we finally got to bring Sh.awn home from the hospital!

I love celebrating this day because it is super special to me. One of my boys finally came home from the hospital after months of thinking that it would never happen. He was here, and I could hold him whenever I wanted. For as long as I wanted...

For the first time, I truly felt like a mom. It was glorious!

This day is special to our family, and we are going to keep on celebrating Homecoming Days until they decide they no longer want to. I'm hoping that will be forever. :)

Head on over to Mel's for more #Microblog Monday posts.

The Boy Is 4

Jack's Birthday Video...

The Last Night of Three

Oh this boy.

This crazy and maddening and wonderful and fun and AMAZING boy. 

(His latest selfie.)

This boy who loves orange, being scared, jumping, Popsicles, and the song "All About the Bass."

This boy who is ALWAYS on the go.

We just tucked him in bed and kissed away the magical and oh so fun year of three. 

Tomorrow he'll wake up 4.

Ja.son's Day!

7 years ago on Thursday, after 100 days in the NICU, we got to bring our Ja.son home. I gave him the choice of celebrating his day on the 4th, his actual Homecoming Day, or today. He chose today so he would get the full benefit of his day. I'm fairly certain he got his money's worth by waiting. :)

 

 

Ja.son took full advantage of his day. He chose a breakfast of pancakes with whipped crème and chocolate chips.

It was raining out today, so like his brother, Ja.son chose to hang out around the house.

 

He picked his favorite movie, the Lego Movie, to watch and controlled the television all day long.

 

 

We played a LOT of Draw Something (and the iPad) today, too.

It was no surprise when he wanted to have pizza for dinner. Our boy is a huge fan of pizza!

 

Then after he blew out his candles and ate his cake, he played cars with his daddy.

 Happy Homecoming Day, Ja.son! Hope you had a great day!

Sh.awn's Day

Yesterday was Sh.awn's Day. 7 years ago yesterday, Shawn came home from the NICU. He was 90 days old.

7 years ago yesterday, after spending so much time in the between--parents yet unable to be care takers--we actually had a child in our home.



I honestly didn't know what to do with myself, especially because I am not exactly sure I truly believed we'd ever get to take them home.

~~~

Yesterday we celebrated Sh.awn and his Homecoming.

He reveled in the chance to call all the shots for the day, eat cake, and open a present.

He loved the idea of a day all for himself, something that is extra nice when you are a twin.

And while it is important for me to give Sh.awn a day to feel special, we celebrate Sh.awn's Homecoming Day because I am so very thankful we have him in our lives.

Happy Homecoming Day, Sh.awn!

The Boys Are 7!

The big boys turned 7 on Monday. It truly blows my mind. 

Ja.son

Sh.awn

They are so big and smart and funny and amazing--everything I was afraid to wish they'd be when they were tiny premature newborns. I am beyond proud of how far they've come. I know they'll accomplish great things in their future, too!

I am always taken aback by how much the drama behind their birth still affects me. The stab of emotion isn't as strong as it used to be, nor does it last long, but I'd be lying to say that it isn't still there. Even with all of the good that we have in our lives, there is still that small twinge of sadness about what might have been.

A Perfect Birthday Celebration

The boys helped me blow out my birthday candles. Those candles didn't stand a chance. :)

Mostly Wordless Wednesday - Can't Believe He's 2

Mr. Jack turned two this weekend.

His favorite gift, the box from one of his presents.

We had a quiet celebration of just us, my mom, and my brother.

He wanted nothing to do with his cake. (It was peanut butter, too!)

It's okay from afar.

It's not so okay up close.

He's telling me to take a hike when I offered him a taste.
The boy's definitely got his own opinions.

He opened a few presents.

Sometimes everyone joined in gift opening fun.

He took the job seriously.

He loves his new books.

He loved the money even more.
How does this kid already know about money?!!?

I can't believe how fast he's growing up. Just yesterday, he was this tiny big baby. (You are never tiny when you start out at 10 pounds.) :)

Just after he was born (after I had finally stopped throwing up)

5ish hours old

5ish hours old

And now he's my big two year old.

Oh man this kid is so loved!

Almost Two!

In just under two hours, our little big guy will be TWO! We're so glad he's ours!

Weekend Leftovers

Today we celebrated Sh.awn's Homecoming Day. We made the day all about him and his choices. He LOVED it. Ja.son, however, wasn't nearly as enthused. His feelings could be summed up by this one picture:

He struggled with why they both didn't have a Homecoming Day today, even though he knows that he gets to have his day only nine sleeps from now. He told me repeatedly throughout the day that he wanted exactly what Sh.awn got, which brought up several pretty interesting discussions.

This is exactly why I love the idea of Homecoming Day. Yes, we celebrate because the day is the anniversary of when each came home from the hospital, but it is also a day to focus on each boy individually. That kind of thing is hard to come by when you have twins.

~~~

Thank you to Mel for highlighting two of my posts on the Friday Roundup! I'm so humbled and appreciative!

~~~

My cat is not well. We've had her for ten years, and she was somewhere around four-ish when we got her...

I am really worried about what this will mean. I have to call Monday morning to get her in to the vet.

~~~

My grandmother went back to her pulmonologist on Friday and was given the all clear. Finally. She has a little bit of scarring, but other than that she is healthy.

Her doctor was pretty surprised to see how good she look and even told her so. He gave grandma the impression that he didn't think she'd be alive for much longer when he saw her last August.

She's one tough cookie, my grandma.

~~~

It's tax time. Whoot! I love doing our taxes!

That's not strange or anything, is it? :)

~~~


Stop by Danifred's for more Leftovers.

Happy Homecoming Day, Sh.awn!

On this day five years ago, our little Sh.awn came home from the hospital! We were so excited to get the chance to finally be parents without the watchful eyes of the hospital personnel.

Picking him up without having to juggle wires was pure bliss. Sigh. I'm pretty sure all I did that first night was feed him at the expected three hour intervals and stare in wonder at him the rest of the night.

Happy Homecoming Day, Sh.awn!

It blows my mind to look at how tiny he was -- and he was
four times his birth weigh here!

Tomorrow, we get to celebrate! :-)

For those of you wanting to take a trip down memory lane, I wrote about his Homecoming here. (Try not to focus on the look of panic and disbelief we have on our faces in every single picture. I'm certain we both thought they were going to change their minds at any second and tell us he had to stay. lol)

Happy Birthday, Sh.awn and Ja.son!

Today the dynamic duo turned 5.

FIVE!

This morning they both got into bed with us for a little snuggle time. I asked them if they felt any different today, now that they are FIVE. Sh.awn gave me a dismissive "uh huh," but Ja.son thought about it for a minute before he answered.

"I feel bigger," he said.

Oh, how right he was.

I'm not sure how it happened, but my little preemies are bigger now.

They are more of everything now.

These two pound miracles are stronger, more determined, smarter, funnier, sweeter...

more amazing than I could have ever dreamed possible.

They've brought so much light into our lives, changed us in so many wonderful ways. We are incredibly lucky to be their parents.

I can't wait to see what our future holds with these boys and their brother in it!

 

Sh.awn - 5 years old!

Ja.son - 5 years old!

Sh.awn's giving us the high 5!

It's a 5 for Jay, too!

Happy 5th Birthday, Sh.awn and Ja.son!

10 Years

Today is our anniversary.

Our tenth anniversary at that.

August 2, 2002, may have been ten years ago, but it still feels like yesterday....

August 8, 2002

We were married in a small ceremony on a golf course. It was beautiful. (I might be slightly biased about that description!) This picture shows just a little of the scenery at the ceremony site.

See all the bubbles...

We were married by a female pastor...

I thought she was great.

This is Is.aac when he first saw me walking down the aisle.

Me just before I saw him.

Just after we were pronounced "man and wife"...

Our beautiful cake--it was banana cake with strawberry/banana filling. Yummy.

At the reception...

 Funny how I don't remember eating anything there.
I was so hungry once we got to the hotel afterward!

We were surrounded by the people we love and had such a good time. :-)

Lastly, these are some of my favorites of the two of us.

10 years ago today, our mighty Team was formed.

We've been blessed with three amazing boys, laughter, and love.


I can't wait to see what the next 10 years holds for us!

~~~


We didn't do much today in the way of celebrating, as our big trip to Disney ate up the funds set aside for a getaway. It ended up being a quiet night with our little guys. I think it was pretty perfect.


~~~

**Yes, these are pictures of pictures again. Sigh.