A Moment of Praise

Jillian Grace

Jenna Faith

Today was a busy, but good day. This morning we went back to the pediatric eye specialists who examined the girls upon discharge from the NICU. Because of the CPAP mask they wore when first born (The CPAP forces a constant stream of oxygen into the lungs so that they do not collapse. The CPAP is not a ventilator as the equipment does not breathe for the patient but rather makes it easier for the patient to breathe on their own.) they are at risk for ROP or Retinopathy of Prematurity...basically they were at risk for an eye disease that can cause blindness.

The first visit was very traumatic as the doctor had to hold back the eyelids of each baby with prongs as he examined each eye. In all of the girls' procedures and shots and what not since they've been born nothing affected me emotionally quite like this did. It was horrible. So... I was prepared for a worse experience since the girls are older now and more aware of their surroundings; however, the experience wasn't at all like the first visit. We were examined by doctor and then the nurse put dilating drops in each of their eyes and then we were examined by the doctor again...this time without the prongs. The worst part was the drops as they seemed to sting a little right when they were administered. Otherwise, the girls thought it was great since they were shown so many pretty lights. :)

The best part of the visit? The outcome, the girls were given a completely clean bill of eye health! Not only did the blood vessels and retinas in both girls' eyes develop normally, but also, it is unlikely that they will need corrective vision in the future. The doctor was able to examine the eyes in a way that showed any far or nearsightedness. The girls' eyes were completely normal. What a blessing!

I know some of you already know this but many do not...I am legally blind without corrective vision. Not that I can't see at all or have tunnel vision, but my vision is so horrible that I literally can't see clearly enough to make out anything (not even the BIG OL' E on the wall during the vision test). Also, my mom has eye problems that can be genetic and my Dad also had (laser treatment fixed his eyes!) terrible vision problems as well. Jared and his family on the other hand have great vision. Jared can actually see better than 20/20. I was so worried that the girls would have eyes like me and my side of the family. What a blessing that they will never have to go through the humility and annoyance of wearing coke bottle sized glasses. The doctor said that if someday they have to have corrective vision it would be minimal.

Isn't it amazing though? Not only did they not inherit my vision problems but their eyes are normal and healthy despite the risk of disease from their prematurity! Praise God! I tell you, the Lord has heard our prayers for Jillian and Jenna for sure. When the girls were first born it seemed like we were being bombarded with all kinds of diseases and disorders that they were at risk for because of their low birth weight and prematurity. ROP, Cerebral Palsy, and deafness just to mention a few. And now here the girls are, almost one, with so far absolutely no signs of effects from being born 10 weeks too soon.

The Lord Is Faithful. Not that the Lord wouldn't be faithful if things were turning out differently. Just because there are times of trial and hardship doesn't mean God has forgotten you or doesn't love or care about you.

"We love because he first loved us." 1 John 4:19

"But God demonstrates in his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8

Trials of life are like teaching your child to ride a bike: At first he won't succeed. He will fall, he will want to give up. But you as a parent know it is important for your child to ride his bike on his own; without support from others or objects. Therefore even though YOU KNOW he will go through pain and suffering you encourage him and help him persevere; because through the trials he will find success. You know the road is bumpy but you also know the future is bright and you know that eventually, he will learn to ride on his own, without falling.  That is just like our Father. He allows us to struggle knowing that we will fall, knowing that we will have pain and suffering. But He can see ahead of us, past the stumbles, and he knows the outcome before we do. We just need to trust that he is faithful, because he always is.

"Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands." Deuteronomy 7:9

"O LORD God Almighty, who is like you? You are mighty, O LORD, and your faithfulness surrounds you." Psalm 89:8

What to know more? http://needhim.org/

More to Come,

Jessie

PS: The doctor also said that the girls' eyes would stay blue. The shade may lighten or darken but the pigments are blue. :) Cool huh? Niether Jared or myself have blue eyes.We think they get it from their Grandpa (Jared's Dad)...he is one of the few in our families with true blue eyes.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Jillian (in pink & brown) and Jenna (in pink) get ready for Turkey Dinner!

My attempt at a "kids only" Christmas picture.

Jillian (in stripes & Jenna) are getting better at pulling up to standing. They like to stand on the picture chair now instead of smiling sweetly to take a picture! :)

Happy Thanksgiving!! In traditional Thanksgiving style I just want to say how thankful I am for such wonderful and supportive family and friends. A husband who goes above and beyond making sacrifices for a family he loves; and I am also thankful for my healthy, beautiful daughters who richly and tremendously bless my life every day.

Yesterday, before we went to my in-laws for turkey dinner, I was remembering that at this time last year I was still pregnant...very pregnant. I was just beginning to get into that phase towards the end where no matter what you do you are just plain ol' uncomfortable. I also remember last year how excited I was for the food. All of it sounded so good and once it was time to eat I loaded a HUGE plate of all kinds of yummies...only to leave almost all of it on the plate. After I had eaten just a little I felt so full and stuffed I couldn't eat anymore. But thing was that I wasn't full at all, I just couldn't fit anything else into my tummy!

This year I more than made up for it. I ate lots of appetizers and then I had lots of turkey, potatoes, green been casserole, bread and dessert. Ahhh....it was good. Real good. :)

The babies did well, too. We tried to give them bites of mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes and little, ity, bity bites of turkey but they were much more interested in the Cheerios I had packed instead. ;) Ha!

This morning I tried to sit both girls and Shelby down for a Christmas picture for our Christmas card. I think sometimes the ideas in my head are too grand. Having to get two babies and a dog (who is scared of the fireplace...but that is the cute spot for pictures!) to sit still long enough to snap a CUTE picture is just not possible. Especially when you are doing it solo (Jared is currently taking advantage of our time off together to get yard work done).

More to Come,

Jessica

I Can't Even Think of a Title for this Post

Jillian said her first word yesterday. Want to know what it was? Any guesses? Anyone?

"PooPoo." What in the world right??!?!?

So the story goes like this... I always ask the girls if they are poopy. Not sure why, I guess it is my way of trying to potty train as early as possible. Hey, the sooner we can eliminate diapers from the budget the better. Now, don't freak out. I am not actively trying to potty train...it is a subconscious thing mostly. I promise. Also, if they could tell me when they are messy that would be a lot more pleasant than going around sniffing baby bobos all day. I've been trying to train Shelby on that...you know like a police dog so that when she sniffs a messy poo she howls or points or something.  So far Shelby is very unreliable...there was so much hope, too.

Jillian and her lovely hair :)

Anyhoo, Jared and I were playing with the girls in the living room yesterday and I kept smelling messy diapers. So I said, "Jillian, are you poopy?" And Jillian replies, "PooPoo." Clear as a bell. I asked Jared if he heard and it he agreed she said it. So then, in our zeal to hear more 'big girl words,' we encouraged our 11 month old daughter to say poopoo...over and over again. I think she actually got tired of saying it because now she won't even attempt to say the word anymore. Stubborn tike. :)

Well, for those of you who are wondering, no...she wasn't poopy. I think she was just repeating the word. But still, it was a word!

More to Come,

Jessica

Are These the Same Babies?

Gosh! It has been such a long time...typing this it feels like I am writing long lost friends. :) We finally got our computer back from HP yesterday. Thankfully they were able to repair the computer while leaving everything intact, our pictures, videos, documents...everything! I guess the only thing that was wrong with the computer was the power source. It was damaged in the storm but easy to replace.  I have to say...HP did make the situation really easy. They sent us an empty box, a big piece of shipping tape, and a FedEx label so that we could send our computer to them. We didn't have to pay for anything since it was all under warranty.

Not having to pay for the computer is a big blessing. As we quickly found out in the few days following the lightening storm our heater/AC had been affected as well as our washing machine...not to mention all the things I had listed in the last post. The heater and washer though were by far the most expensive; and while the heater was repaired we had to replace the washer. Anyhoo, enough about that...only positive thoughts from here on out.

Let's see....what have the Winters been up to the last few weeks? My goodness there is so much that has happened I don't even know where to begin!  Let's just do it the old fashioned way and list them beginning with:

1. Jillian is finally crawling on all fours. She no longer flops or inches her way to things, no siree. She is a bonafied crawler just like Jenna. Both girls have started to climb on things (namely me). They can both get up on their knees but no one has ventured getting up in a standing position yet.  But...Jenna can now get into a sitting position on her own. She can go from tummy to sit and crawling to sit. She is really good at it, too.

2. Both girls have cut their first tooth! Jillian's tooth came in on Sunday. Jenna's came in yesterday. It was funny because before I went to work yesterday I put my finger in Jenna's mouth to check for any teeth and she still hadn't gotten any yet. Then when I got home later in the afternoon her first tooth had broken through! You can't really see the teeth yet since they are just now popping up but you can definitley feel them. Now that Jillian and Jenna's teeth are through the skin the girls seem to be feeling and sleeping a bit better. We had a few rough days and nights though. Poor babies.

4. Our most exciting news by far....Jillian has graduated from Cranial Technologies and no longer has to wear her band!! Yeah!!  Actually she just graduated yesterday, I took her down and they did an "Exit Interview" where they repeat all of the photos. It is so neat to see the changes and we are so happy with the results.

5. We took the girls on our first family adventure...to the Ft Worth Zoo! Every year for my little brother and sister's birthdays (Cody & Katie) Jared and I do something special for them instead of only giving a gift. For example, when Katie turned 5 we took her to the Build-A-Bear Workshop and let her build a stuffed animal, she picked a kitty, and then we bought the kitty two outfits. A few years ago we took Cody to Dave & Busters and played games all day and then with all of the tickets he won he got to pick neat prizes. :)

Now that they are getting older, and also since we have a family ourselves and are therefore on a tighter budget...we have a harder time coming up with ideas. This year we decided to take them to the Zoo. We did the lunch thing and the gift shop thing (the tickets had been acquired for free). They had a lot of fun, too! I was afraid they would be too old for the Zoo but I don't think anyone needs to worry about that....the Zoo is fun at any age.

Anyhoo, we took the babies along with the kiddos and the girls just had so much fun. We took their big stroller and they just had a blast looking at so many new things. In fact, the only semi fussy moments were when they got hungry for their 2:00 feeding and again right before we left...we were waiting for Cody and Katie to the pick their gift shop prizes.  It was a huge success though.

In fact, I think Jared and I need to go back to the Zoo as much as possible. It is actually somewhat affordable when you compare the adult priced tickets compared to tickets at Six Flags or something along those lines. And...kids under 2 are free!

I guess that means we need to get going now though...the girls are almost one! Can you believe it? Next week they will be 11 months and then in December we have our Big One Year Old Birthday! I can't believe how fast time goes. It seems like yesterday we were bringing Jillian home from the hospital and counting down the days until we could come and get Miss Jenna. Now, they are crawling and eating finger foods and talking up a storm. Before I know it they will be saying their first words, eating the same meals we do and walking all over the place.

It makes me kind of sad in a way. Jared and I aren't completely sure what our plans for family are. We always said 1 kiddo for sure, and probably 2. We didn't expect the 2 for 1 deal we got. But if we don't have more Jillian and Jenna will be my only babies...looking back I am blessed to have had them be "babies" for so long due to their prematurity. Sigh... time flies.

There are some things I won't miss though...like the poo disasters. Yes, we still have those. Had one this morining in fact. I always check the girls for messy diapers before we get in the car to head over to Grammy's House. This morning both girls were clean, which is unusual. So we load up and drive over. Twenty five minutes later I pull up to Grammy's House and unload the girls. Once insde we are catching up on family stuff and what's new with the babies and I start to smell something. Jillian, whom I am holding, must have "done her business" in the car. But...somehow the poo has managed to escape the back of the diaper so she has poo up her back, on her shirt, on MY shirt (ick!) and of course it is nasty. You know the routine...I get her cleaned up, me cleaned up. My mother-in-law lends me a non-poo shirt to wear for the day, etc. "Here's the thing though." :) Shouldn't these stories be like....wwaaayy in the past? How long do babies have poo explosions? I mean...they eat solids now. Shouldn't their diapers be less....mushy?

TMI...right? (TMI= Too Much Information for those of you who just went... eh?)

More to Come!

Jessica

PS: There are soooo many new pictures that I am posting a link to Snapfish so that you can see them all, instead of just sharing a few. Remember...you have to register for Snapfish but it is totally free with no purchasing requirements, so feel free to get registered if you haven't and enjoy! The girls are super-de-dooper cute lately and I would hate for you to miss out. :)

CLICK THIS LINK TO GO TO THE SNAPFISH ALBUM