Bye bye occupational therapy!

So, I'm not the best blogger but thought I'd pop in and give a little update. About 2 weeks ago we were told Hannah no longer has to do occupational therapy! Her fine motor skills and the problems in her neck are looking great! She is continuing with the physical therapy for now. She is crawling ALL the time and I very very rarely see her try to scoot on her belly. She is gotten pretty quick too, it's beginning to be a challenge chasing her and Hailey around the house. Today they managed to absolutely destroy my bathroom while I was getting ready for church. Both of the girls are starting to say more of what sounds like actual words instead of just babble. They will say each other's names and point at each other but I don't really hear them say their own names. Hailey likes to call Hannah. If she's in another room she will say "ann AH ann AH!" She also likes to wake her up if she's sleeping. She'll stick her arm in the crib and grab her saying "Hey sissy!" They are so much fun to play with at this stage and we have a great time hiding behind corners and jumping out, tickling, all that good stuff. That's all for now, maybe a new update will come soon!

Hannah on the go

Well, I finally managed to get Hannah on video crawling on all fours. She is doing this more and more consistently now and scooting on her belly less and less. Yeah for Hannah!!! She is also pulling up on things and even pulling up to standing. I'm just so proud of the amazing progress she is making! God has truly blessed us.

Just a few more pictures from the other day

My Silly Girls

Today we had a pretty good bit of time where the girls were just playing and being silly. Hailey put Matt's shoes on (by herself, she just stepped into them) and Hannah sat and laughed at her. I chased Hailey around the house, rolled around with and tickled Hannah (which had her in absolute hysterics!), and generally had a great time this afternoon! Anything I did was absolutely hilarious to the girls. Popping my head around the corner and saying "boo" provided at least 10 minutes of entertainment. Each time resulting in tons of giggles from Hailey and Hannah. Hailey then hid around the corner and popped out to laugh at me and Hannah. It was nice to have such a fun day when we've had so many melt downs lately (they don't handle teething very well...). This age is challenging but so much fun at the same time. They understand more of what I say and play together so much better. Hailey can be so sweet sometimes and will bring Hannah her pacifier or blankie when she's upset. Today they worked together to empty a box of blankets and burp clothes. Seeing them laugh and play is such a great experience. I feel so incredibly blessed to be the mother of these two girls. They're great!

Trip to the beach

Last week, the girls and I went to Destin, Florida with some of Matt's family. We left all the men and husbands at home! We had a great time. The girls just loved the sand and water. I'm pretty sure Hannah ate a good bit of sand, which I'm sure was very tasty. We had a few meltdowns which could be expected with the girls being of routine so much but they did very well on the trip! Overall we had a blast. Hopefully, we will get to go back sometime.

Swimming Time!

On Memorial Day we had a small cookout with my parents, brother, sister, her fiance, and their daughter (my niece!). We had a great time and the rain held off long enough that we could let all three girls splash in the pool for a little bit! Hannah wasn't too sure about it at first which surprised me because she LOVES splashing in the bathtub! Hailey and Emma took right to it and had a blast. Hannah eventually realized how much fun they were having and decided she would give it a try. As you can tell by the pictures, she loved it too!
We are going to Florida in a few days so I'm really looking forward to how the girls react to the beach and the water there!

15 Months

It's hard to believe that Hailey and Hannah are already 15 months old! They are both trying to talk and each say a few words. Hannah has mastered "bye bye" and will say it in context but also sometimes just enjoys the novelty of saying it for no reason. She also says "more" and hits her tray/plate when she wants more of something. Her daycare teacher says she usually does this when she wants more fruit and not the vegetables. Hailey's new record is 4 unassisted steps. She moves pretty slow and by then she decides that crawling is much faster. I'm looking forward to this summer when I'll be off all summer and can spend the days with them.
We went for our 15 month check up today and everything seemed good except that both the girls have ear infections! They've had no fever and I thought their irritability was due to teething. We have to go back in two weeks to see if it's cleared up and get their vaccinations.


Hailey

Hannah

Finally a new post!

Ok, so I'm about a week and a half later posting Easter pictures but I couldn't find the cord to my camera to upload anything. Turns out it was in Matt's bag all along... I guess I didn't check there. We had a wonderful Easter weekend. I was off Friday and Monday so we had an extra long weekend with Hailey and Hannah. On the Saturday before Easter, we had an egg hunt at church. The girls didn't really "hunt" eggs but they had a good time and got to see the Easter bunny. Sunday, after church we went to Fulton to visit family. The girls got Easter baskets from Matt's parents and a great time playing in the yard and generally being spoiled by everybody.

Just a little update on Hailey and Hannah... Hailey is getting very close to walking! She is still a little scared to let go but will probably take off soon. Hannah has also started scooting forward/army crawling! This is a big step for her. She continues to do very well in therapy. She has started to stick up for herself a little more when Hailey tries to take toys away from her. Sometimes they play together well, but they usually end up fighting over a toy. We enjoy going for walks around the neighborhood in the wagon and maybe one day the ground will be dry and it will be nice out on the same day so we can play outside more. Neither one of the girls have very many words. Hailey will throw her cup on the floor and say "Uh-oh!" She thinks this is very funny. They both say "Mama" "Dada/Daddy" and Hannah is trying to say "thank you".

Overall, we are all doing very well and everybody is happy and healthy!

Hannah's Homecoming

Hannah came home from the hospital one year ago on Saturday, April 4th after a 60 day stay in the NICU. It was so hard to leave her there those extra 6 days after we brought Hailey home. After all of the discharge procedures we finally loaded everyone up and headed home, our complete family together at last! I managed to squeeze between the two carseats for the 2 hour ride home. We had to stop on the way and feed the girls and then drove through a huge thunderstorm.

When we got home, Hannah weighed around 5 pounds. Now she weighs about 20. Like Hailey, she was eating 2 oz of milk every 3 hours. Hannah was our fighter. She endured so much in the NICU and is doing so well now. Sometimes we have to push her to get her to do something but she is showing improvements everyday. She is doing well in therapy and has started scooting herself forwards this past week!

Here are a few pictures from last year

Grandma holding Hannah

I'm a few days late posting this because we got incredibly busy for a few days!

Hailey's Homecoming

Thought it would be nice to focus on one of the babies for right now (Hannah's post to come soon!).

It was one year ago today that we brought Hailey home from the NICU after her 54 day stay. It was definitely an emotional day; I was filled with joy over the thought of bringing her home and yet also sad that Hannah had to stay. It's so strange how I remember so much about that day and the night before. I even remember what we ate the night before she came home!
After leaving the hospital, Hailey traveled back to Columbus with me and Matt. I was so nervous about having her that first night. We had to set an alarm to get up and feed her every 3 hours and during that time we changed her diaper and took her temperature, just like in the hospital. After that first night home, Hailey went back to Birmingham with us and stayed at the Ronald McDonald house until it was time to bring Hannah home. We took turns staying in the room with her and walking to the NICU to see Hannah.
Here's a few stats:
When we came home, Hailey weighed just over 5 pounds. Now, she weighs over 20.
When we came home, she was eating a whopping 2 ounces every 3 hours. Now, she eats anything we give her and usually wants more!

Here's a few pictures of the day we brought her home!

First Birthday!

This past Saturday we had the girls' birthday party. We had a really good time and it was great just getting everybody together to eat and celebrate what has truly been an amazing year. We had the party at our church's fellowship hall because our house is simply too small to contain our big family. We decorated and had a table with pictures of the girls plus some of their preemie things (micro preemie diapers, outfits, etc.) so people could see just how small they were and how far they have come.

At the end of the day I was totally exhausted and so were the girls. They seemed to really enjoy the party and did really well with all the excitement going on around them. We took a ton of pictures but here are just a few.


Opening presents

A very happy Hannah

Hailey
Hannah at the end of her cake demolition

Hailey, covered in icing and looking very sleepy

One year ago...

It has dawned on me (kind of, I've actually been thinking about it a lot lately) that yesterday marked one year that I was admitted to the hospital to be put on 24/7 monitoring due to the high risk situation of my pregnancy. For those of you who may not know, Hailey and Hannah were a pretty rare type of twins known as monoamniotic. Simply put, they were in the same amniotic sac and their cords got all twisted together. A full term pregnancy and natural delivery were not options. I was told we would monitor their hearts and hopefully make it to 32 weeks when we would schedule a c-section. When admitted I was 28 weeks, so I was looking at a 4 week hopsital stay. So, one year ago I was laying in a hospital bed still getting used to the idea of being covered in gel and having three monitors strapped to my huge stomach. I had no clue that in just one week my amazing little miracles would be born. As a matter of fact, I was thinking of all the time I had to read, write, waste time on the internet, learn to crochet...

The past few days have been pretty emotional for me. I guess with it being a year brings back to mind everything we went through getting Hailey and Hannah here. It's absolutely amazing what can happen in just one year's time and how much God has taught me about faith and patience during this year. I had to learn to depend on Him in a whole new way that I have never had to before. There were no certanties during this time in our lives. There was nothing we could do to prevent something horrible from happening except to lay in bed and keep the monitors on. Thanfully, I was cared for by a wonderful doctor and nursing staff who kept a very close on everything. During the one week I was in the hospital, I had so many wonderful friends and family memebers who came by to see me and keep me company if even for a few minutes. I have definitely not made it through this year alone. I have an absolutely amazing husband who has been there every step of the way. I honestly don't know how/if I could have done it without him.

Maybe I can get all of my tears out of the way before Hailey and Hannah's party next Saturday. I'm sure there will be tears of joy as well as just utter disbelief and thankfulness for the ways in which we have been blessed this past year.

It's been awhile...

Ok, so maybe I'm not the best "blogger." Or maybe I'm lazy. Or maybe I just don't ever think about it. Or maybe I'm just really busy. Probably a combination of all those things. Anyways, just wanted to give a little update on the girls. They are both doing great! Hailey is still crawling and pulling up on everything, yes everything. She will occasionally let go with one hand and just hold herself up with the other. Hannah is doing very well in physical therapy. She is turning her head wonderfully and getting much better at trying to sit up and bearing weight on her arms. We are still trying to get her to use her right arm a little more but she is doing better. Both of the girls are eating like crazy. They love to feed themselves and some nights do not care for me to feed them so I have to find something they can do themselves. Some of their favorites are puffs, cheerios, cooked carrots, pasta, and drained soup. They also love baby yogurt. We are having a great time trying new foods and textures and letting them learn to self feed, although it can be a HUGE mess... :)

We are also in the process of getting plans ready for their first birthday. I am in absolute shock that their birthday is only a few weeks away. It just doesn't seem possible that it was a year ago. I keep thinking back to where I was a year ago... It's amazing. Everybody says that the first year just flies by and I admit, I doubted that statement when we were waking up every three hours to feed, and not getting a full night's sleep for so long. But now, all of sudden that first year is gone and I have no idea where it went! I don't want to dwell on it too much now because I still get all soppy and teary when I do! I'll post more about their first year when the day is actually here.

In the meantime, here are some pictures!

Hailey trying to escape out the front door

Me and some very sleepy babies

One of the pictures we put on the birthday invitations, but in black and white

All bundled up and ready to go!