Mourning and Rejoicing

Our family is really practicing the verse in the Bible that tells us to rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn.

 In God's timing and wisdom, my sister Kelly is delivering their daughter Mia today and saying goodbye to her here on this earth.  At the same time, I'm sitting here waiting to deliver twins.

 My heart breaks for Kelly. I hate that she has to face this and has had to make extremely difficult decisions about her health and Mia's health.  I hate that she won't be bringing home her little baby girl. Kelly is excited for us to have our babies. She's thrilled to be expecting a new niece and nephew.

 It just seems like such a strange comparison for all of it to be happening at the same time. But we trust God's timing. None of this was a surprise to Him. And we'll keep praying for peace, wisdom, and comfort for Kelly and the rest of our family as we go through the rest of today and in the weeks, months, and years to come. We appreciate all of you who have been praying for Mia. We rejoice that today her little body will be made whole and complete as Jesus welcomes her with open arms.

Here's my 35 week photos. Catherine took the first one and Will took the second one. The babies are still hanging out and growing in there. In my ultrasound yesterday, they estimate that James weighs 5 lbs 7 oz and Elizabeth weighs 5lbs 13oz. Yep, that's over 11 lbs of baby in there. We're thinking they'll be here in the next 7-10 days. 

Here are a few pics of the nursery. It still seems surreal that there are two cribs in there. This whole thing may not seem real until I actually hold two babies.  Until then, I'll keep waiting and waddling and resting.

Marshall is Here!

Marshall is here to visit!! Melissa (Jay's sister) and her little boy Marshall have been spending the week in Greenville. They came down to see Mimi and PopPop's new house and to to enjoy some family time. We are so thankful that when they visit Mimi and PopPop now that we get to see them too. Our kids LOVE Marshall and are so excited to play with him.

Here's Uncle Jay and his little buddy. They bonded when Marshall was only 24 hours old and have loved hanging out ever since.

One of Marshall's great talents is jumping. Catherine and Will like to have jumping sessions with him!

Mimi is very happy to have all of her little ones together!

We took Anna and Marshall for haircuts this week too. This was Anna's first haircut ever! We still didn't cut very much of it; just evened it up in back a little to get ride of her mullet. She wasn't sure about this whole process. She did smile when the lady told her she would give her princess hair :)

Marshall has been having haircuts since he was about a month old. However, he still did not enjoy the process. He looks wonderfully handsome with his new summer cut though. Thankfully he had his doggie with him.

We've enjoyed lots of time playing outside. Marshall loves to dig and play in the dirt (and pine straw). And he really really loves water. The kids had a great time today playing with the water table. It was a great way to cool off from the 86 degree weather.

We're enjoying our time with him so much. And we still have a few more days before he goes home!

So Encouraging

I have to admit: some days I feel like I can't possibly make it through another day of pregnancy. And then, I have friends and family who offer encouragement and support in so many ways. And it recharges me enough to keep going. We have friends and family who are currently cooking meals for us, doing our laundry, having our children over for playdates, and donating all kinds of baby gear to us (cribs, mattresses, bouncy seats, clothes, diapers, and more). I am amazed at the generosity and awed by seeing how God truly uses the people of His church to be His hands and feet.

My wonderful friends from Sunday school hosted a baby shower for me yesterday. It was a lot of fun to celebrate these two little ones. It still seems surreal to me to know that we're having two babies. It may not seem totally real until I see their little faces. Catherine was excited to go with me to the shower and help open presents. We were given diapers, diaper disposal, nursing pads, bottles and accessories, clothes, sweet little blankets, burp cloths, and more. They also brought us frozen meals to stock our freezer. How amazing!

The babies are continuing to grow well in there. Catherine wanted to take a picture of the babies--so there they are! They should be approximately 4 1/2 lbs each this week. I had my 33 week appt today and everything looks great. My blood pressure is staying low and my weight gain is slowing down (I actually hadn't gained any since last week). I'm just supposed to take it easy and "not do anything crazy" the dr said!

Many many thanks to everyone for their encouragement and support. I certainly can't do this by myself and I'm so thankful for the people God has surrounded us with who are just as excited about these babies as we are.

32 weeks....

Today I am 32 weeks with these two precious babies. I went for a check up today. Baby James weighs 4 lbs and baby Elizabeth weighs 4 lbs 3 oz. They should each keep gaining about 1/2 lb per week, so if I make it to 36-38 weeks, they'll (most likely) weigh between 6-7lbs each. That's a lot of baby in there!!

Right now, he is still head down. That's really good since he's "baby A"--meaning he's closest to my cervix and would be the first to be born. She is head up, but apparently it doesn't matter as much which position baby B is in. They are okay to let me deliver her in a breach position. That's currently the plan. I'd still love to avoid a c-section if possible.

At 32 weeks with twins, my uterus is the size of 40 weeks with a singleton. That's interesting for me because I've never even made it to 40 weeks before!! I have no idea where these people are going to go as they keep growing over the next month, or if I'll have any clothes that fit for the next few weeks. 

Here are my 32 week photos, courtesy of Catherine. She really likes that this is her job. She's also currently using ultrasound pics of the babies as her bookmarks. She's really excited to meet them. She has picked June 20th as their birthday.

Jay decided he would help me hold up my belly for this one. Thanks honey!

And this is my new best friend: a random massager I bought in Ecuador once. It's made out of some kind of tree nuts that is hard as rocks. I keep it by the bed and have to massage the cramps out of my legs and hips almost hourly throughout the night. I also get up to go to the bathroom frequently and sleep with 6-7 pillows. As tired as I am, night time is probably my least favorite part right now because it is so difficult to rest. Oh well....not much I can do about it.

 I'm in "nesting" mode, feeling like I have to get everything done. The nursery should be put together by the end of the week, I've put an extra crib and changing table in our room, some friends are throwing me a shower this weekend, and I plan to get any other baby items I need next week. I figure the first of June we'll install car seats and pack my hospital bag. After that I guess we'll just sit around and look at each other until they get here! We are getting more and more excited about meeting these babies!

Kindergarten Graduate!!

Catherine is an official kindergarten graduate!! We are so proud of her. She has worked very hard, learned a lot, and is ready to go on to big school. If it were up to me, she might stay in preschool forever. But she's growing up! And so we celebrate with her as she finishes this milestone.

Her teachers gave each student in the class an individual award. Some students were recognized for their kindness to others, for being good listeners, for their skills in art or music, etc. Catherine's award is for the "Kindergarten Bookworm" because she loves to read and is really good at reading. As she finishes kindergarten, she is currently reading 2nd and 3rd grade chapter books on her own. 

She was very excited to wear her cap and gown and receive a diploma. She did inform me multiple times though that the rolled up paper they got today wasn't the real diploma. The real diploma will be flat. She was also very excited about the songs they were singing for graduation, including The Star Spangled Banner.

Catherine has made some really good friends at her school. Some of them will continue on to the elementary school she'll attend next year. Her best school friend, Anna Louise, will be at a different school though. These girls sure are going to miss each other. Jay and I laughed today because Anna Louise's individual award was for "most attentive listener." It's makes perfect sense why they're friends: Catherine talks while Anna Louise listens!!

The whole family is so proud of her! Will wore his bowtie for the special occasion. He is really going to miss having her there with him next year. On the days he goes to school, she walks him to his class and gives him hugs and kisses. But he'll transition to the big brother role next year because Anna is going to go to preschool two mornings a week. He can help drop her off!

We're so thankful that Steve and Marcy can be here for events like these now that they live in Greenville. Marcy has been here for the past 4 or 5 weeks getting the house set up. Last week they got their furniture and things from Huntington moved here. Steve got here yesterday. We're excited to all be together and so thankful that they can be part of the kids' lives on a daily basis.

Congratulations Catherine! We love you so much and are so proud of you. We can't wait to see where God leads you and how you use the talents He has given you.

Singing Praises

On Sunday night, Catherine and Will's choir sang at church. They sang 7 or 8 songs that they had been practicing since January. I have loved hearing them sing and practice for the past few months. They both really love choir. Catherine always loves to perform. And I think this has been great encouragement for Will with his speech and doing an activity with his big sister.

Catherine is always ready to sing. The sweet girl sings with all of her heart. You can hear her over everyone else (which is about 30 kids).

Will loves to sing too, although he gets a little nervous if he knows you're directly watching him. Every now and then he would sneak us a little smile of acknowledgment to us.

They sang their first round of songs and then sat down while the big kid choir sang a few songs. When they went back up to sing the rest of their songs, they weren't quite as organized as they had been the first time. Everyone had gotten out of order, which created a whole new set of distractions. Will especially had an interesting time. His friend Jonah (on the left, Will's right) got really excited with his hand and arm movements and kept smacking Will in the head. Will just kept looking at him with this really confused look, like he couldn't figure out what was going on. Then his friend Red (on the right, Will's left) decided he was tired of singing and started scratching his belly button and pulling his shirt over his head. Will didn't know who to watch, all while he kept trying his best to sing. Jay, Marcy, and I got so tickled by the whole scenario. So did Jonah's parents who were sitting right by us. By the end of this set of songs, we were laughing so much that we were crying. I just kept hoping that Will didn't think we were laughing at him. It was definitely one of those funniest-home-video moments. Too bad we forgot to take our video camera!

Catherine and Will love, love, love their choir teacher, Mrs. Whitley. She is also Will's speech therapist, so they have gotten to see her multiple times every week for the past year. Will has done so well with his speech that we're currently taking a break for a few months and will finish up a few more sounds in the fall. We are so proud of Will and how hard he has worked on his speech. And we are very thankful for Mrs. Whitley and her involvement in our children's lives.

Babies, Babies, Babies

I have lots of friends who have had new babies in the past couple of weeks. Jill and Allen welcomed their 3rd little boy, Wyatt Allen, on April 23rd. The sweet boy was 2 1/2 weeks early and weighed in a 8lbs 9oz. He is super handsome and I loved snuggling with him the other day.

My high school friends Candice and Catie both had little girls. Candice had Hallie on April 25 and Catie had Mary Grace on April 30. I can't wait to meet these two.

We have one more little girl we're waiting on. My college roommate Sara is expecting little Sophie. She was due last week but Sophie is pretty content and not ready to make her entrance yet. Sara's mom carried her babies to 42-43 weeks, so it looks like Sara is following the same pattern. Come on little Sophie! We want to see you!!

Here's a pic of Wyatt. So sweet. Anna was really enamored with him, which is good. We really need her to like babies :) It makes me excited to see and hold our two newest ones in a few more weeks.

 

While we were at Jill and Allen's, Catherine and Will finally decided they were brave enough to try their zipline. They loved it! Super super fun. Our kids love love love to play at their house--ziplines, swingsets, 4wheelers, motorcycles and jeeps (the kid versions), and Jill is never scared for them to get dirty or make a mess. It's a great place for their 3 little boys!!

I'm so thankful for these little ones and I love to see how God grows families.