Never wake a sleeping baby

Maybe I'm going rogue (see previous post), but I broke another rule this morning....the "never wake a sleeping baby rule."  It's a good rule and so I try not to break it.

Our twins both woke up at 4:30 am to eat, which meant they were primed to sleep in this morning.  Unfortunately, their dad and I had a hard time going back to sleep after we fed them.  Finally at about 6:15 I got up and started getting ready for the day.  I made the coffee, emptied the dishwasher, reloaded the dishwasher, and made their bottles for the day.  Still no stirring from the baby room.

Usually they wake up between 5:30 and 6:00, but this weekend Forrest installed a black out shade in their room because we suspected the long daylight hours were keeping them up at night and waking them up in the morning.  Our suspicions were right because they've been sleeping better since we got the shade.  So, at 6:45 I tiptoed into their room with my coffee cup and I sat in the rocker and watched them sleep.  I prayed during that time.  I thanked God for the blessings of my children, husband, family, job, home, safety, and of my physical needs being met.  Then of course I prayed for Drake and Kennedy. 

It was at this point in the prayer when my heart was most vulnerable, that I couldn't resist reaching my hand through the slats in the crib and touching Carter's hair.  Olivia's crib has bumpers so she wasn't as easy to touch, but Carter's doesn't and so I could easily access his soft hair.  So, I did.  I touched his hair, but that just wasn't enough.  Then I started touching his face.  Then he woke up.  He rolled around for a few minutes then turned to look at me.  Then he smiled.

And so did I!

And since posts aren't that much fun without a picture, I'll add one here.  I took this pic of Olivia while she was napping in my bed on Sunday.  Such a sweet angel.

Heavy heart

I have a heavy heart tonight.  My twins came home from school today in wonderful moods.  We had a normal evening and everything went well.  I had the pleasure of rocking Carter to sleep tonight.  I rarely do that because the books tell you that you're not supposed to.  You should put them in their cribs drowsy but not asleep so they can learn to fall asleep on their own.  However, rocking him to sleep every now and then won't spoil him rotten.  Tonight I took the time to hold him while he slept.  I was overwhelmed with gratitude for him and his sister.  I love them so much.

But my heart was heavy because my girlfriend Andrea is watching her precious twins fight for their lives.  They were born on Saturday at the way too early age of 25 weeks, 3 days gestation.  I kept thinking "how did I get so lucky that my twins were born healthy and hers were born so weak?"  I can't imagine the pain she is experiencing right now, not knowing if her babies will survive each night. 

So while I was rocking my sleeping baby, I kept asking God to bless Andrea like he has blessed me.  I asked him to have mercy on those two sweet babies and to give them what they need to survive and thrive.  No child deserves to go through the hardships they are enduring right now.  I know God loves those two babies, but I can't help but wonder why this is happening.

The former president of my company has a saying that if money can fix your problem, then it's not really a problem.  I think that's true.  Unfortunately money can't save these two lives.  There is nothing Andrea or her husband can do to intervene and affect the outcome.  They have to just wait and see what is in store.

I need to learn to accept the tough stuff in life and to not question God or his power in the situation.   It's such a tough pill to swallow.

Lord...please save Kennedy and Drake.

Remember me?

Remember the fun we had before the babies arrived?  Remember how much we loved each other?

I didn't think so.  :-( 
*Tail tucked*
*Puppy dog eyes*

O-Lovely-A

These two pics aren't all that exciting.  This is a scene we have every evening in our house.  While not interesting, they still warm my heart because they capture the sweetness of Olivia (or O-Lovely-A as I've started calling her).  She is pure sugar.

Escape artists

These two pieces of "furniture" have been so important to us these last 8 months.  I can't tell you how many hours the twins have spent sleeping in these.  However, as you'll see in the next two pics, it's time for these pieces of furniture to go into the attic.  The twins are strong enough now to make these contraptions dangerous. 

Don't believe me?  See for yourselves:

They were both buckled in.  Olivia was also almost all the way out of her swing but I just couldn't capture the image.  Once she saw the camera she wanted to sit up straight and smile. 

Backyard fun with Carter

These pics are all of Carter.  Poor Olivia just has fewer pics because she naps better than Carter.  So, while I have one on one time with him, it's much easier to snap some pictures. 

From yesterday morning:

Carter and Olivia each got their dad a fern for Father's Day.  In this pic Carter had pulled off some of the leaves (fronds?)

When Grandmommie and Aunt Liah came to help us move, they did a little bit of shopping as well.  This remote control is one of their finds.  The twins love it!

These are from yesterday evening.  Please indulge me here.  I have been cautioned about posting several of the same pic, which is what it appears I did here.  I just couldn't decide which I liked the best.

Catch up

Good grief it's been a long time since I've posted!  In these last three weeks, we have been busy busy busy.  I have been on the road a lot and most importantly, we moved!  We are out of our rental house (sniff sniff) and in to our owned home.  We love our new house and I think the twins have settled in nicely here as well.

Life at our new house is similar to life at our old house, with the biggest difference being that we no longer go for weekend afternoon walks on the Trace.  We can easily access the Trace out here too, it's just at a different point than before.  It's really just because it's too hot now to go for long walks.  We took the babies out this afternoon to walk around the neighborhood.  All they wore were their diapers!  They were still soaked in sweat afterwards.  I told Forrest we were in the "dog days of summer."  He informed me that these were not yet the dog days.  I guess we have several hot months ahead of us.