Three Years Today

It's hard to believe how time can fly by, but at the same time it seems like its been forever.  Today marks three years since Cade passed away.  Quite frankly, I still can't believe it.  My emotions change all of the time.  I still have moments when I get mad and confused not understanding why this had to happen.  The truth is, we may never know and it doesn't really matter.  God has plans for each of us and in the end we will all be together and the answer to that question won't matter.  It just hurts still, not having him here.

There are so many things I miss about that kid!  I miss him cuddling with me on the couch.  I miss him being rough and wrestling with Darrell.  I miss him waking up in the morning with crazy hair and knowing it was time for a haircut.  One of the most things I miss is watching him with his sister.  It is one of the most amazing things to experience as a mother…the immediate love he had for Addi and the immediate protector he became of her.  I can only imagine what the two of them are up to in Heaven!

When we went to the cemetery today there were so many flowers, balloons, and new toys.  It makes me cry every time.  So many people still continue to go out there.  Darrell and I are truly blessed to be surrounded by so many people who love us and love our children!!  It makes days like these a little easier to get through!

Visiting their big brother and big sister for the first time

Three Months

AND Now We're THREE Months!

Seriously, where does the time go?!?!  You blink and another month has gone by.  This past month has been such a fun one!  Both Easton and Emerson are smiling and cooing SO much…especially Easton.  He LOVES to talk!  They are both getting stronger and holding their heads up more and more.  Poor Easton, his head is so big it wears him out at times.  He'll be doing great and then all of a sudden his head will just drop.  They are the happiest babies and don't really fuss unless they are hungry.  It's amazing how content they are!

Look how happy Easton is to see his sister!

Just practicing some wrestling moves

Too cute for words

Everything is just wonderful!  We've gotten pretty good at being parents to twins if I do say so myself.  We are busy, but it's a good busy.  We have our routines and everything just falls into place.  We are even on time to events!!  Darrell and I have always been on the go, and they are doing well with that too.

On March 17th I went back to work and it was a really tough day!  I enjoyed being at home with them so much.  They are now staying with Ashley during the day.  She kept Cade and Addi too.  We love her so much and it made going back to work much easier.  They are doing great and she even said they were the easiest babies she's ever had!

Ashley with the kiddos

The day they turned 3 months (April 6th), we decided to try and put them down earlier and see if they could still make it to 7:00 in the morning.  YES THEY DID!!  We've been putting them down between 7:00 and 7:30 and they usually start stirring between 6:30 and 7:00 (and by they I mean Emerson, Easton sleeps a little later than her).  It's been awesome!  Emerson likes to stay awake for longer periods of time during the day.  She's such a typical little girl and likes to know what's going on, doesn't want to miss anything.  Easton on the other hand, doesn't really care and doesn't have a problem missing anything.  He likes his naps!

We're enjoying every minute and having a hard time with how fast they are growing!

Easton

Weight:  16 pounds (we did this at home, so who knows how accurate it is)

Eating:  6 ounces in the morning and before bed, 5 ounces during the day

*Cooing A LOT!  Enjoys the bouncer chair and talking, follows you with his eyes

Emerson

Weight:  13 pounds (see note above)

Eating:  5 ounces in the morning and before bed, 4 ounces during the day

*Cooing and follows you with her eyes where ever you go, enjoys the bouncer chair

Two Years

Two years.  How is it possible that time can go by so quickly but seems like it's been forever too?!?!  It's been two years that we have been without our sweet little girl.  I remember this day like it was yesterday and always will.  What a true miracle we witnessed the last week of her life!!

Addi loved life and we loved every minute we had with her.  She loved to carry around anything on her wrists and loved to dance.  I can still see her coming around the corner from the hallway loaded down with bows, bags, whatever dangling from her arm.  And who can forget Mr. G…he was with her twenty four seven!!

Bags, bows, and Mr. G

I'm not going to lie, there are still many days that I ask myself if this is really our life.  Sometimes it is still overwhelming to think that both of our children had to leave us so early.  It's just not supposed to be that way.  We may never know why God was ready for them when He was, but it's okay.  Because of our faith, we know that we will all be together again one day.  Because of Him, we are able to get up everyday and enjoy the life that he wants us to have.  God has blessed us beyond measure in so many different ways.  Knowing where she is and that she is with her big brother makes me smile!  We love you right up to the moon and back Addi!!

Two Months

Look at us…we're TWO months!!

Pictures right after shots…Easton doesn't appreciate them!

"My legs hurt!"

"I don't know what the big deal is."

I feel like I say this all of the time, but time really is flying by!  On March 6th the kiddos turned two months old.  It always amazes me how much babies change and grow month to month.  They both had wonderful two month checkups.  They did great with their shots and they are growing in weight like crazy!!  Both of them really love to eat and the scales are showing it!  They are also getting better about using tummy time to actually lift their heads up instead of sleeping.  They still usually end up sleeping, but at least they are getting a little bit of a workout.  We also have moved both of them from our rooms into their own cribs in their own bedrooms.  The transition was pretty good.  I figured out they do much better when they are swaddled.  I'm going to begin trying to ween the swaddling soon.

All of this tummy time wears us out!!

First nap in his crib (before I figured out to swaddle).

First nap in her bed.  This only lasted about ten minutes (again, much better when swaddled)!

My favorite thing they are doing is smiling and cooing.  It melts my heart.  The other morning I went into each of their rooms to get them ready for the day and they BOTH smiled at me when I reached their crib.  Easton is really close to sleeping through the night (10:00-3:30) and Emerson is right behind him.  We decided that we would start feeding them individually when they woke up (only at the middle of the night feeding) instead of waking the other one up.  Their schedules are awesome, but by waking the other one up we had no idea just how long they could sleep individually.  We learned quickly that Easton can make it an hour or two (just depends) longer than Emerson.

Check out Easton's double chin!

So cute!!

Every day I am overwhelmed with how much love both of them have brought to our family!  These two precious things have stolen our hearts!!

Easton

Weight:  14 pounds 3 ounces

Eating:  5 ounces

*Smiling and cooing.  Loves to hang out on a blanket on the floor. 

Love to smile!!

Emerson

Weight:  11 pounds  11 ounces

Eating:  4 ounces

*Smiling and cooing.  Loves to be held.

I love to smile too!

One Month

February 6th marked one month for Easton and Emerson.  They had great checkups with Dr. Palamountain.  Easton weighed in at 10 pounds 3 ounces and Emerson was exactly nine pounds.  They did really well while we were there.  The worst part was getting their heals pricked!

    

We are eating up every minute!  They are doing really well at home.  They are only waking up once in the middle of the night to eat and then they are up between 6:30 and 6:45 for the day.  They sleep quite a bit during the day.  We have been spending a lot of time at home to keep them away from the flu and germs until they get their two month shots.

Me with both of them…this is how we do it!

We are already seeing a lot of personality from them.  Easton is a lot like his brother Cade.  He is very laid back and can easily soothe himself when he gets upset.  His cry is very soft and he's just a sweet baby who loves to cuddle!  Emerson is a lot like her sister Addi, she has a lot of "attitude".  She is a little high maintenance…she loves to be held and will scream, at times, until someone picks her up (she's just a tad bit spoiled, they both are really).  She has a set of lungs on her.  She is sassy and we wouldn't have it any other way!  She's a sweet girl!

Sleepy Heads

There are times when I look at them and I still can't believe that they are here and healthy!  God is so good and we are looking forward to what the future has in store for both of them!

One Month Stats:

Emerson

Weight:  9 pounds

Eating:  4 ounces

*Follows you with her eyes.

Easton

Weight:  10 pounds 3 ounces

Eating: 4.5 ounces

*Follows you with his eyes.

They're Here

Emerson and Easton are here!  I know many of you have been waiting patiently (and some probably not so patiently) for pictures so here they come.  We've been getting into a new routine and just eating our new little ones up.  Knock on wood, so far they have been the most calm and easy-going babies.  We have to wake them up at night to feed them, so we're pretty excited about that!

We scheduled an induction on January 6th and they arrived early that afternoon.  Emerson was born at 1:47 and weighed 6 pounds and 15 ounces and AN HOUR AND FIFTEEN minutes later Easton arrived.  He was 8 pounds (yes, you read that right).  It's been funny seeing everyone's reactions.

Emerson (I just love the bow on the hat)

Easton (so sweet)

No words...so stinkin precious!

He looks huge in this picture! Ha!

We were able to go home on the 9th and we were ready to be in the comfort of our house and in our own bed!  Friday was our 10 year anniversary and we both forgot with everything else going on.  The only reason I remembered was because of a text I got from a friend.

Our first family picture...getting ready to leave.

Dressed and ready to go

Not too sure about this whole car seat thing!

Love this!

Napping together

A quick picture before the doctor

I cannot explain how happy and excited Darrell and I are.  We are truly in love and just overwhelmed with God's love!  So many prayers have been said for these two beautiful children, and they were answered.  We have two happy and healthy babies!!  This has been such a long and emotional journey and it's finally here.  We are enjoying creating new memories with them every day.

I know I say this all of the time, but thank you so much for all of your continued thoughts and prayers!  We are truly blessed to have so many wonderful people in our lives!!

35 Weeks

Monday marked 35 weeks! Time has flown by and I can't believe we've already made it to this point. When we went to our check up, Dr. Milner checked the heartbeats and they were perfect. He said I was a tad swollen, I didn't see it. 

The Thursday before I went to see him because my back was really bothering me. They wanted to make sure I didn't have a kidney infection or that I wasn't having back labor. I didn't have either. It was at this appointment that he recommended that I not go back to work. He wanted me to be able to take it easy, and he knew with me being a teacher, that really wasn't possible being at school.

This is my second week being at home and it's probably a good idea I didn't go back to school. I am REALLY uncomfortable! When I sit or stand for even ten minutes, my back and front really start bothering me. I am also now at the stage where NO maternity clothes fit. Everyday my wardrobe consists of sweatpants and a select few of Darrell's large shirts (many of those don't even fit)!

Needless to say... I'm ready for the kiddos to get here. The goal is to get them to 36 weeks, which is Monday! Once we get there, bring it on!!

The nurseries are pretty much ready. We have a few more things that I've ordered to hang on the walls. The bedding came in and we LOVE it!! I'll make a post about the rooms when everything is finished.

So now we just wait! We're praying for two HEALTHY, strong, and happy babies!! Hopefully we'll get to meet them sooner than later!