It is Well With My Soul...

Great News! The pediatrician just called me (mom) and said that Allie's CT Scan from yesterday looks completely fine and normal. She had a CT Scan before she left the NICU, and the scan revealed brain calcifications, which could have been an early sign of celebral palsy (worst case scenario). So, this scan was scheduled to check and hopefully rule that out. The doctor said that there was no sign of calcifications and everything looked normal! Praise God! God is great and greatly to be praised! Thanks to everyone for keeping us and our beautiful baby in your prayers.


“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7

I LOVE to sing, and the song that I love to sing to the girls is one of two of my favorite songs. It's an oldie but definitely a goodie (hence the title of the post today)!


It is Well with my Soul

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
when sorrows like sea billows roll;
whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.


Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
let this blest assurance control,
that Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
and hath shed his own blood for my soul.


My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!


And, Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
the clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
the trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
even so, it is well with my soul.


It is well with my soul, it is well, it is well with my soul.

Allie is all "jumped" out

Mommy helping Brooke sit up. She doesn't quite have the muscle strength that Allie has, but she's getting there!

CaT Scan Fever...

Ok, so give me an inch or two of leniancy on the post title...not many songs have "CT Scan" in the title! As mentioned, today was A's time to take a spin in the CT Machine. Actually if you think about it, the machine takes a spin around A! You can read all about a CT Scan here: READ ABOUT IT! Very commonly referred to as a "Cat Scan"
She did well up until the time the thing kicked in the hyper drive and began to make a groaning noise. That scared her a bit. Good thing Mom was in the room, lead dress and all, to keep her comforted. We will not know anything about the scan for a few days. We will keep everyone posted.

I hate hospitals. Our girls have spent their entire lives in one of two places...our house or a hospital. Between the mother and child wearing masks like they were walking the streets of Tokyo and trying not to contract the Asian Bird Flu, to the guy that comes in coughing and hacking up God knows what from the inner-most part of his lungs -- I can't stand having two well babies in amongst that grossness. I know it isn't a word...but deal!

The girls at the hospital. We spent more time in the waiting room than "A" did on the CT Scan table. Go figure. Tax dollars hard at work!

The calm...

...before the storm!!!

Can I Sit Next to You, Girl???

A has a big day planned today. She is going to get a CT scan. The Dr's want to see how her brain is developing. They saw some things when she was dismissed from the NICU that they want to follow up on. We will keep all you guys informed. Your thoughts and prayers are always appreciated. She is such a strong girl. She is out little chilled out monkey. Not to say that she doesn't cry, but she does not throw fits anywhere as dramatic as her "little" sister. B is a wiggle monkey and will squirm right out of your hands if you aren't careful.

A sitting up for the first time! Well, Mom had to put her there...but she stayed all by herself! Maybe with a tad bit of help from her Buddha belly!

Baby Blue...

Did I mention that I (mom) was starting a boot camp fitness class this morning at 6 am? I knew I was in trouble when the "drill sergeant" had us doing sprints right after stretching. There were LOTS of situps, pushups and running. I may not be able to get out of bed tomorrow, but it's all for a good cause (that cause being me!)

Anyway, pretty uneventful weekend, which is not a bad thing. Please be praying for Allie's CT scan of her brain on Wednesday.

Here are a couple of pictures that show how blue the girls' eyes are! They are getting lighter and lighter all the time, and we think they are just beautiful!

Allie - supposed to be doing tummy time

Brooke says, "Are we done yet?"

Girl Fight Tonight...

So we go into the nursery this morning and there are our girls nice and quiet...smiling away at the sound of their mobile. Low-n-behold, things took a turn for the worse quickly...can you tell which girl is going to be a bully?

TUMMY TIME FUN!!?

Freeze Frame...

OK, so here it goes!!!! The world PREMIEre of A vs. B on You Tube. This adds a whole new aspect to our blogging for your entertainment. Mom N' Dad are very geeked out today with this new advancement in baby blogging. Enjoy this first rather boring video...once dad takes the Oliver Stone class of digi-cam film making I am sure the vids will get much better!

Se La Vie...

Dad's in the corner curled up the fetal position as his beloved Aggie's just lost by one measly point. So, I thought I'd update the blog. BUT, wouldn't you know it, our camera isn't working lately. So, I am going to post a few recent pictures of Allie and Brooke and then some old ones back from their 2 pound days. Then I might just throw in a few random ones for fun ;) It's amazing to see how much they've grown in 6 months. They are so much fun, smiling all the time. We have our last round of RSV shots coming up in a little over a week. The day after those shots (two each), they have their immunization shots (four each), and then Allie will have an MRI of her brain that same week. Should be a fun week. We are praying for a clean MRI for little Allie.

Speaking of prayer, I am starting a "boot camp fitness" on Monday at 6:00 IN THE MORNING. I don't know what I was thinking signing up for that, but it's sure to get me in shape. So, if you see me later next week and I'm limping and hobbling around, you'll know why. It's a true boot camp led by a former drill sergeant where we do sit ups, push ups and 2 mile runs. Makes me tired to to think about it. The funny thing is that I recruited one of my good friends to do it with me. Of course, I chose someone who is in excellent shape, works out all the time and is in the Army reserves. It's like I am playing golf with Tiger Woods. Should be good for a laugh or two.

Anyway, our March of Dimes WalkAmerica 10K walk is coming up in less than month. Good thing the boot camp will get me into shape :) Seriously, if there is anyone who wants to walk with us, please sign up, and we would LOVE for you to walk. The more the merrier. If you have already donated, thank you so much!! And, of course, if you haven't, feel free to donate if you wish. No pressure. Here's the link: Walk America


Give me a "V!" Brooke is doing the Victory cheer. Note that this was taken before dad's Aggies lost tonight.

It's amazing that they smile all the time...except when we take pictures!

Allie - 2 days old

Brooke - 5 days old with dad's hand on her hand

The famous picture of Dad's wedding ring on Brooke's arm. Shows how tiny she was!

Awwwww, mom and dad on their wedding day...back before sleep and quiet were luxuries ;)

HOLY COW! No, really...holy cow!! Mom's belly on 8/24 at 27 weeks...about 2 weeks before the girls were born. Don't ask me what I'm wearing. Horizontal stripes are never a good idea, especially in this case.

Dirty Laundry...

Well the girls were hamming it up for the cameras again this weekend. C came back over this weekend and took some more shots of the family. Allie enjoyed it so much that she actually fell asleep in Dad's lap in mid-pose. Very humorous. We placed her in the middle of our big old bed and got some sweet shots of her sleeping. And what was Brooke doing? Not sleeping! Except during their overnight sleep, they have opposite schedules.
My beloved Aggies took a hard fighting Louisville Cardinals to the wire but squeaked it out to advance to the "SWEET 16" So Dad is very excited about that. I have mentioned it a few times, but the girls love watching basketball...they especially love watching Dad watch the Aggies play. Good sign!

And to think I spent good money on not one crib...but two. If only I had known!?

B enjoying the bouncy thing that Mom bought them. Their little stumps of legs don't really reach the floor, so it is my of a "slump-a-roo" than a "Jump-a-Roo!" They do however, like the taste of the cushion!

Allie enjoying her front row seat to the Gun Show that Dad is putting on! HA HA

My lap is magic! You put the girls in there and they are asleep in no time flat.

Tummy Time!

Okay, I know this title is not keeping with dad's normal song titles, but I just wanted to post some pictures I took today from A & B's tummy time. I'm sure if I racked my brain long enough, I could come up with a fitting title, but it's late and I'm sleepy. So, here are lots of pictures of A & B from earlier today. I know there are lots, but it's hard to chose, so they'll probably all look alike.


On a different note, did you know that you can do the heimlich maneuver on a dog? Wanna know how I know that? Funny story. The dog was eating her food tonight. She LOVES to eat! She suddenly runs in the other room (with half of her food still in her bowl...not like her at all). She starts acting really strange, so I think she is about to get sick. Then, I think she is having a seizure b/c she starts stumbling around. Dad figures out that she is choking, so I pick her up and bring her back into the kitchen. Dad administers the heimlich on her while I stick my finger down her throat. Sorry for the visual! Needless to say, there was alot of food that came back out that she hadn't chewed up, so it was all lodged in her throat and she couldn't breathe! SCARY! So, the dog was saved! I've had her since she was 8 weeks old (she's 10), so she's my baby too, and I was scared for a minute that she was going to die.

Anyway, back to the pictures from today. Just in case you were wondering, Brooke has the pink boppy and Allie has the blue one:

This is how tummy time started: heads up just like they're supposed to be.

And after a few minutes, this is how it ended up ;) Tummy time is hard work!

Raindrops on Roses...

11:00pm and the Mav's are in their 2nd overtime with the Suns, and Dad's heart is about to blow out of his chest. Why couldn't Nash ever play like this when he was in Dallas? Taking Juice, anyone? Just stick one of J-Ho's headbands around my neck and cinch it tight!

Babies are doing well. We are so ready to go outside and for long walks with them. What a great weekend this last one was. Just one more round of Synigis shots to go. Mav's lose in 2 OT's. Shoot me now. I hope that my girls get my passion for sports...but Mom's level-headness. That would be a deadly combination. Tiger Woodish! Too bad we can't afford to put them both in private golf or tennis lessons. The way the market is going, Mom n' Dad need some form of retirement to look forward to. "Don't be afraid to rush the net, Honey!"

I guess Maria VonTrapp lives with us now and made these pants out of some curtains!

Dad doing his first bath. Lather 'em up and hose 'em down!

The redneck and his two kids. Seriously I need to change clothes before Mom snaps pics next time. Allie gets a good laugh...I am sure at Dad's expense.

Gone is the Big Bird Yellow. In is some minty green color. I do admit it looks a lot better.

Hush Little Baby...

Mom here...just thought I'd add a few more pictures. We take a million a day, so we might as well share them here, right? Enjoy!

I wonder what Brooke is dreaming about here?

Allie is dreaming of more food!

Poor babies...they have no idea what everyone is laughing at.

Photograph...

So did everyone enjoy the first post from Mom? She did a fine job. Her sincerity vs. Dad's humor. A good combination to have in parents of two infants!

The girls spent the weekend posing for some professional pics. Dad's friend is a photographer so when we get some pics we will post them for all to see the difference in a real "photographer's eye" and our "point-n-shoot" eye. She has a wonderful idea of what makes a good baby picture. Hopefully the fact that Dad is in some of them doesn't ruin them! If I can say so myself, our girls couldn't take a bad shot. Mom N' Dad spent the rest of the day working in the yard and trying to salvage a weed infested yard. We have every weed created on God's green Earth in our yard. It looks horrible, but we are the only house on the street with green color already!

Thank God that verse reigns true! Because when you have two hungry, crying and tired 6-month olds - Love is all you sometimes have!

After a long day of being models, the girls take a much deserved nap.

"Look Sis, if you bend your fingers just like so...it makes a funny gesture that Dad doesn't like so much!"

Relax...

The girls are 6 months old today. I was told that 1/2 birthdays are important. Oh well! You know what I totally do not get...is the "whole months" old thing. You see a mom and child at the mall and ask how old, and she quips back with a smarmy "She is 18 months old!" Well excuse the ever-loving Church going, tax paying self! Why can't you just say "she is one and a half years old!"? GO figure...

Looks like us adults in the impossibly small airline seats doesn't she?

Sporting 'cords! Stylish I tell you!

If you have seen the movie "Zoolander" you know exactly what I am talking about here. If you haven't rent it and skip to the final 2 minutes...

Endless Love...

I know, cheesy title. I was trying to keep with Dad’s song titles. There is only about a million songs out there with love in the title, but the one that popped in my head first was this little diddy by Lionel and Diana. Not so modern of me, but oh well. We are nearing our 3 year anniversary. I love you with all my heart! The anniversary gift for 3 years is leather. So, here is a picture of Allie and Brooke in our new leather chair. That kinda counts as an anniversary gift to ourselves, doesn’t it?

We are going to cheer on Dirk and the boys tonight while a good friend watches the girls. We are excited to get out and do something fun! I’ll leave you with one of my favorite versus that reminds me of my sweet hubby on this blessed day:

"I’ve found the one whom my soul loves.” Song of Solomon 3:4

99 Red Loft Balloons...

100th post!!! Anyone still looking at this blog?

This is what Mom N' Dad fear for our children. RSV is a serious issue with Preemies. So in order to combat RSV, our girls get two friggin' huge shots of human DNA every 28 days.

Oh the innocence...only if you could have seen the terror about 10 minutes after this shot! The needle is huge...the shot juice is thick...the babies are NOT happy after said needle deposits said juice into the thigh area of said babies!

B getting her tummy topped off after her Synagis shot. Mom sporting her Soprano suit!

The girls on a better day. This is one shot where if it wasn't for order or color coding...you have a hard time telling them apart!

CHUNKY UPDATE

Allie -- 13 lbs. 8 oz.

Brooke -- 12 lbs. 8 oz.

Amazing Grace

Mom here. Okay, so this is my first post on this blog. Sad, huh? It’s just that dad is much more witty and humorous. He’s the creative writer, and I like to check for comma errors and whether or not the word too, to, or two is used correctly. Anyway, I thought I would just share my thoughts on this whole experience, so here goes.

What can I say to sum up the last almost 6 months since the girls were born? Praise the Lord! Here are a few verses that sum it up best:

“The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from all their trouble." Psa 34:17

"Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall. Psa 55:22

"The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still." Exo 14:14

"Praise God from whom all blessings flow!" Eph 1:3

It’s amazing what Bible versus you can actually remember when you need to. I remember lying on the operating table just before they knocked me out. I was shaking violently and scared to death. I was singing random hymns in my head, and I remember the words from Psalm 23 popped into my head. I didn’t know that I had memorized it, but apparently I did somewhere along the way. I was suddenly calm. It makes you wonder how people who don’t know the Lord get through trials. I know I couldn’t have made it through this whole experience without knowing that God is in control and that He would give us strength. The Lord is faithful and He will provide! I can't say thank you enough for eveyone who kept Allie and Brooke in their prayers! I actually got a letter from a lady in a church in Arlington (I think) who was praying for them when they were in the NICU. I didn't even know her, but apparently A & B were on the prayer list at my aunt's church, and this sweet lady chose to pray for them specifically and sent me a letter to let me know. WOW! I truly believe in the power of prayer, and I know there were countless numbers of people lifting up our girls to the Lord's healing power. What a testimony to God's grace!

Allie and Brooke are SO sweet and beautiful. Is there any mom out there who doesn’t think their child is the cutest in the world? Well, I guess I’m no different. They are so much fun! They are definitely morning babies! And great sleepers now too! We put them to sleep each night between 8-9, and they usually sleep until about 7 the next morning. And, they don’t wake up crying in the morning. They just start talking and “oohing and aahing.” When you walk in there, they will give you the biggest smile ever. What a great way to start the day! It’s hard to believe that they were ever just 2 pounds and struggling for life because now they are so full of life. Never a dull moment for me or dad!

Moms’ Random thoughts:

1. Ya know, the girls may not want to go to A&M. What if they are wise and want to go to Texas Tech! Get yer guns up!

2. A lady in the doctor’s office told me that she met someone who was breastfeeding their child at age 5. WHAT??!! If your child can stand and still nurse, he/she is WAY too old.

3. People keep telling me that I look good for just having twins. Is that a compliment? Can you just leave off the last part? That way I don’t feel like I only look good to them as compared to other moms of twins. Ya know what I mean?

4. How great are the new babydoll shirts that are in style right now? I got a few pounds still to go on the belly, so these are wonderful for hiding.

5. Do they make babydoll swimsuits? I might need one of those this summer!

Well, that’s all I got for now. I’ll leave you with a couple of pictures from yesterday’s photo shoot (at home of course). Notice the nice big gash between Allie's eyes. It’s really hard to keep the nails short ALL the time, but apparently I need to stay on top of that! BTW, I LOVE bows on baby girls!

In Da Club...

Coming up this next week the girls will be 3.5 months old gestational but 6 months birth age. Freaky I know...but it will all come to pass when they get to around 2-3 years old. They do not look like 6 month olds. Nor do they look 3 months old. It is one of the toughest things as a parent of a preemie to feel the ups and downs of development. You see the girls age and expect them to start crawling or whatnot. But our girls are just now smiling and looking at you intently. They smile a lot! And talk in little squeaky grunts. Very cute to see and hear! They are already more mature than 90% of the kids on MTV's Real World.

We had our first "poo-accident." Brooke let a big old slimy growler go and it went out the sides of her diaper not to mention the top! Enough to leak onto the carpet! And to think, I thought my dog was the only thing that would ever go #2 on the carpet! It is one of those development things again rearing its ugly head. They have size 1-2 butts but size 4 dumps!

Brooke finding out just how yummy her thumb is!

"Hey Mom, watch me do the Cabbage Patch!"

I'm tired of my fingers....gimme yours!