Ben and Grace have been pretending to be cats.  Grace is a kitty and Ben is a Tiger.  Just thought this pictures was too cute to not share it.  They can be so much fun!

   Dress Up Fun

This is my first post since July.  We've completed almost 8 weeks of school but my blogging time has been seriously affected.  This is how much fun 3 year olds can have at home and be learning at the same time.  I love home schooling.

Summer Parties

Life at Our House

After downloading the latest pictures from my camera, I understand why people lately having been telling me how tired I look. Even the cashier at Publix asked me if I was tired. You'll understand when you see this collection of pictures that shows pictures of hail from the storms that brought tornadoes, and destruction to our area of the southeast; twins playing with the water hose; lizards being chased and now two new puppies. Life is full to say the least but mom is taking tomorrow off. It is Mother's Day and that is what I want for my gift. One day off duty. Don't get me wrong, I love my job and would not change it for anything but when the cashiers at Publix start making comments to me, it's definitely time to not feel insulted but listen and get some rest:)

Grace

Grace is the most beautiful when she is asleep and when she is smiling. I love her eyes and her smile. She can be so loving. Her favorite thing to tell me these days is "I'm mommy's baby" as I have told her that she was the last of all the children to be born and she is my special baby. My baby will be 3 years old on May 12th....time is going by too fast.

Easter 2011

Today was a celebration at our house. Celebrating the resurrection of our Lord Jesus and also celebrating a reunion of sisters . My sister Kim and her children came to spend the afternoon with us. It has been many years since Kim and I have had fun spending time with each other....too many years of conflict and fighting between us. Today was a special day of family fun and enjoying our time together.

Remembering the Baby Days

Just thinking today at how Ben and Grace are almost 3 years old and how far behind I am in posting pictures of them. We just returned from a week at the beach in Florida and I am still doing laundry and putting away clothes. They are no longer afraid of the ocean and think it is so much fun to run into the water and then let the waves chase them back. Ben was so excited by the waves that he would just scream in delight. Fortunately, the people closest to us on the beach also had children and weren't freaked out by his screaming...guess they knew it was happy screaming.

Spring Time

Memories

Someone asked me today how old Ben and Grace are now. I realized that May12th they will be 3 years old. That time seems to have gone by in the blink of an eye. The weeks and months go by so fast. I remember the first night Ben and Grace got to be in the hospital room with me. Ben had been with me once I was able to come off of the medication for preeclampsia, but Grace had to spend three days in the NICU. Both babies had to spend time under the "bili" lights and when they were lying side by side they looked identical. That night Mark and I both would get them mixed up until we had to change a diaper and then would realize who was who. We had to keep a record of how often they ate, how many wet and dirty diapers they had to see if they were ready to go home with us. They had both lost a signifigant amount of weight and were under 5 pounds each. That was a stressful night for us as we felt that did we not succeed in keeping their weight from dropping, we would not be taking our babies home with us. The nurses in the NICU were having a really hard time getting Grace to drink the special premie formula. I was so happy once she was out of the NICU and could have the opportunity to feed her myself. This mother did not want to leave her babies at the hospital and go home without them. As they slept next to each other under what looked like a baby tanning bed, they just looked so content to be with each other again. They did get to go home with us the next day.

Baby Days

Thinking back to the first few months with twins, I remember very little. Mark and I were more sleep deprived than we had ever been. Fortunately, we have pictures from those days.

It was like being new parents all over again for us. It had been almost 6 years since we had had a baby in the house. We found that parenting two newborns took doing things differently than with parenting one at a time. There was a definite learning curve for us. What do you do when both are crying at the same time and there is only one of you to take care of them? We've been learning as we go along and we are better parents now.... not perfect.... just a little more seasoned and we are grateful for that.

It's Gadget Boy

Today, I'm posting about the way I woke up this morning. I'm jumping in time from the day of Ben and Grace's birth to today just because I want to share the joyful way my day started. I was in the shower and I hear a knock on the door. I ask who it is. No answer. Then the light over the shower goes out. Then it's back on. Next the exhaust fan starts. I know who it is. It's Ben, otherwise known as Gadget Boy. He loves switches, gears, tools and anything in the gadget category. So I open the shower curtain to see his sweet, smiling face. No, I don't keep a camera in the shower so I will share of recent photo that shows his sweet smile and the joy and lovethat he shares with all of us.

Blessings Continued

As I have been remembering the day Ben and Grace were born, I have also been thinking about their biological parents. The wonderful couple who allowed us to adopt their embryos. How do you thank someone for such a huge gift? When I think about it I get very emotional still after almost 3 years. To say thank you just doesn't seem to be enough. I have prayed about how to let them know how grateful we are to them and how God used their desires to give their embryos a chance at life to bless our family. We cannot imagine our lives without Ben and Grace. The last 3 years have been a whirlwind of feedings, diaper changes, sleepless nights and baby chasing and so that is probably why it has taken me this long to realize I have never really thanked them. I don't have the time or the patience to scrapbook or to put together anything complicated on the computer, but somehow I have found the time to type and choose photos for this blog. I pray that God will use this blog to bless that special couple who gave us a gift that is priceless. We love these babies with all our hearts. Thank you.

Blessings

Thinking back to October 7, 2007, I remember how excited I was about the chance to be a mother again. This was the date when two, adopted embryos that had been frozen were transferred to my uterus. It was the day that Ben and Grace began to grow into babies. They will be having their 3rd birthday in May of this year and there are so many memories and photos to share! So I'll start from their birthday, May 12, 2008.

Benjamin Robert was not happy to be coming out so early. He and his sister were born by cesarean section 6 weeks before their due date. He had no problems letting everyone in the delivery room know how he felt about it too. He weighed in at 5 pounds 7 ounces.

Grace Elizabeth was born one minute after her brother and she was not as vocal as her brother. She was having difficulty breathing and was using her energy for that. No crying. All 5 pounds 3 ounces of her was taken to the hospital NICU to have a breathing tube put in to help her. She has since made up for this by being a very vocal girl who knows what she wants and how she wants it!

We were incredibly grateful that they were both healthy and weighed over 5 pounds when they were born. I felt relieved and yet guilty that I was not able to carry them longer due to having preeclampsia. It's a nasty disease that I had experienced during another pregnancy. It's dangerous for both mom and babies. Momma still had some scary days ahead but Benjamin and Grace were alive and healthy and what an awesome blessing to begin life with them as part of our family.

Adoption Beginnings

Our adoption journey began in 2004. To understand our unique story, I have included a testimonial at www.myfertilitycenter.com/little-miracles/testimonials.php?id=18 . When people think of adoption, ideas about newborns or children being adopted come to mind. Ours is a different story. We adopted frozen embryos through the Snowflakes program at Nightlight Christian Adoptions. Check out their website at http://www.nightlight.org/ to read about their domestic, international and embryo adoption programs.