Looking back - Pregnancy Progress Pictures!

I recently got together with some college friends that I hadn't seen in awhile. They got to meet the babies, rock them to sleep, and we had a great time playing games. I also showed them some photos of me while pregnant, since we had intentionally kept our pregnancy off facebook, and I hadn't seen these friends while I was pregnant.

It was so fun looking back at these photos! I showed Ian the ones from the night before the babies were born, and neither of us could believe that I had been SO PREGNANT! So, for your entertainment, here is me and my growing belly.

Christmas Eve - 23 weeks

Pregnant friends! My dear friend Ali and I. Now our babies are 2 months apart!

26 weeks

Jill and I had the exact same due date. How fun! 

34 weeks

35 weeks - Tomorrow is the day!

Ahhh! Can you believe it?!?

O.o.O!!!

Hooray! We are so excited!

Checked into the hospital the morning of March 19, 2014 at 35 weeks + 2 days for our induction! Thanks Meghan and Dennis for my awesome shirt!

THE BELLY

and then out came...

Babies! Two of 'em!

Hope

Ezra

Same babies, 10 weeks later - How did that happen so fast?!?

Hope

Ezra

Those last 3 photos were taken by my parents' dear neighbor Lisa, who has twins herself! Thanks so much, Lisa. The pictures are wonderful!

I hope you enjoyed that little look back. It's fun to remember how we got here, to this wonderful place with our little family and darling darlings. 

Growing babies!

The babies are already 10 weeks old! In light of how fast they are growing, here are some pictures from 1 month, 2 months, and a few more for good measure. They also started smiling a few weeks ago, and I think that has been the most fun development yet!

Some 1 month photos (disregard the "s" on the block):

And look how much they grew from 1 to 2 months!

A family picture from Easter:

And one of my favorites. At one month old, they fell asleep on the couch cuddled next to each other, and slept until their next feeding.

We love our sweet babies, and it is so fun to cherish this time! I love that they are growing, but still our little babies.

I want to remember

This is such a sweet season of life. 

I am the mother of seven week old twins! And today is Mother's Day!

As I cuddle and cherish our tiny babies, I want to soak it all in. I want to remember as much of this time as I can, while they are little, because I know that they will grow up all too fast. I think keeping up with this blog, and posting thoughts and photos here, will help me to do just that.

I want to remember the day they were born.

Holding Hope for the first time. (Ezra needed a little help with his lungs, so I met him for the first time in recovery.)

Their very proud daddy on the day they were born. He is the best husband and dad!

 Cuddles in the hospital those first few days. I didn't want to put them down.

I love our little family so much!

So, posts won't be in order. That's ok.  I want to go back and write about pregnancy, our birth story, and of course put in lots of pictures. Thoughts, memories, and moments will be here - of our little darlings. My little man/Mr. Ezra/Weeblo, and my baby girl/Hopelet/honey bunches/darling darling.

Here they at one week old:

And today, thanks to my wonderful husband and babies, I had a very happy first Mother's Day:

Oh, the babies! Love them.

Every day

My heart is so full right now! There is joy in my heart, and it is spilling over.

We are at a time of life right now that is filled with new, exciting things and many blessings.

My wonderful husband Ian and I have been married for over three years now, and at the end of June we purchased our first house!!! We love it so very much.

Then about a month ago, we got a dog! He is a rescue, via Secondhand Hounds, which is a fantastic pet rescue organization that is run by a family friend.   If you are looking to get any age or type of dog, I would highly recommend going through this organization. http://secondhandhounds.org/

Our dog's name is Z-Bo, and we love him so much! He is the best addition to our family.

He is a total sweetheart - Newfoundland mix, gentle, fun, just wants to be loved. He would love to meet you! (Whoever you are.) 

Look at that face!!!

Ian and I have definitely been through through quite a few trials, and now we feel like we are at a good place in life. We are so happy, and things are going so well, but based on past experience that comes with some hesitancy. In the past, just when things were looking up then something happened that turned our world upside down again. In some ways we are holding our breath, waiting... while at the same time enjoying our day to day life, because we LOVE our new house, our new dog, and doing life together!

One thing we have learned is to enjoy the little things in life, and not wait to pursue the things we want in life. There are no guarantees in life for any of us. Life is precious, and more fragile that we would like to admit. 

So love the people in your lives, spend time with them, laugh a lot, and do things that you value. Decide what is really important to you, and then invest your time, energy, and resources into that. 

When I was younger I listened to this great song by Carolyn Arends, "Seize the Day".  It sums up these sentiments very well. The chorus goes like this: 

Seize the day, seize whatever you can 

'Cause life slips away just like hourglass sand

Seize the day, pray for grace from God's hand

Then nothing will stand in your way

Seize the Day

You can listen to the song and see the music video here: 

Thanks for reading. Many blessings to you and yours.

The Best Pep Talk

Most of you have probably seen this video:

A Pep Talk from Kid President

If you have already seen it, click on the link and watch it again.

If you have not seen the video YOU MUST CLICK ON THE LINK AND WATCH IT!

It speaks for itself. I really have nothing to add that Kid President doesn't already say.

What are your favorite quotes and moments from the video? I find myself quoting it often. 
"Not cool Robert Frost!"
"I'm on your team - be on my team"
"Then he never would have made Space Jam... and I love Space Jam."

So, so very very great. A must watch. And then again. And share it with your friends.

Thank you Kid President, for helping us find our way to the road that leads to awesome!

"Let's get out there!"

Kid President quote

Samwise

Ian and I are most definitely nerds. And we love it! 
When it comes down to it, we are all nerdy about something.

Last night, our discussion turned toward The Lord of the Rings. We started discussing some of the characters. There are so many great ones! I love Eowyn, Arwen, Merry and Pippin, Legolas and Gimli, and the list could go on for quite awhile.  Tolkien did a wonderful job of crafting an entire world, and making its characters come alive.

We came to the conclusion that Samwise Gamgee is one of the very best characters in all of fiction. 

He is the epitome of loyalty.

Frodo: "Go back, Sam. I'm going to Mordor alone."
Sam: "Of course you are. And I'm coming with you."

Sam can't even swim, but he risks everything to join Frodo on the most dangerous quest in Middle Earth. 

He keeps his promises:

Sam's promise

He remains hopeful even when their situation appears to be hopeless. Once Sam and Frodo separate from The Fellowship, they are only two Hobbits from the peaceful Shire, journeying toward Mount Doom, against all odds, striving to destroy the One Ring, which itself has destroyed so many inhabitants of Middle Earth. Their quest appears to be a suicide mission with no hope of success. Yet Sam remains diligent and steadfast through it all, protecting Frodo and being the very best friend any of us could hope for.

Sam says it best himself:

Sam monologue

Let us remember that we all need to fight for the good that is left in this world. We can do this in small ways, every day. We don't need to go on a grand quest or adventure (although adventure IS out there...). We can do good by being kind to our neighbors, our friends, our parents, grandparents, siblings, and people we cross paths with at the grocery store. These gestures, however small you may think they are, make all the difference in the world.

Sam quote