VISIT FROM MY PARENTS

My parents were able to come see us a couple of weeks ago. They live about 2.5 hours away so it isn't really far but it is enough so that it is a treat when they come! I got some great pictures of the girls with their Mimi and Papa (at least that is what my niece Pressley calls them).

BABY DEDICATION (babies in our case)

I know that Adleigh and Liana are gifts from God to us, but dedicating them last Saturday showed family, friends, and fellow parents that we want to honor God with how we raise our girls. I don't think I realize sometimes how serious our jobs are as parents. We need to be daily teach our children about their Savior. More than anyone on the planet our children will look to us for answers and maybe more importantly will always observe how we practice our faith.

Our Lord is to be lifted high and His glory to be told to all. Our children need to know of how marvelous our creator is and how he loves them in a personal way. Thank you to everyone who has prayed for our girls and can now see them so healthy and perfect. God has done so many miracles in their life!

Here are some pictures of that special day.

COMING THIS WEEK

I was fully prepared to write a blog tonight but my brain is frazzled. Instead I will let you know I have a few blogs that are coming your way.

1. Baby Dedication

2. A NICU friend run-in

3. Of course the playroom pics...I have to get it clean first!

Those are the blogs I know are coming. I'll be posting soon!

THE TOY ROOM

Even though I am a graphic designer I always have such a hard time trying to decorate my house. I know what I like when I look in a magazine. I know what styles my eye tends to gravitate to. But when it comes to implementing it in my home I just can't do it. I realized that I mostly fall short in the details. Our playroom is one of my favorite rooms in our house. But I feel like it is lacking some detail. So when I saw this Flickr pool of Toy Rooms, I have found some ideas that I might could put into our own playroom. Click here to take a look.

I think my favorite has to be this one. It is practical and full of color. I am loving the wall of shelves so the kids can see all their toys. And the two tables are great for trains, coloring, and all kinds of goodness! I am so sad I didn't paint our playroom before we secured everything to the wall!! I'll post pictures of our playroom soon.

Photo Link

OUR DAILY SCHEDULE

I love looking on websites to find out what schedules other moms have with little ones that are Adleigh and Liana's age. Here is our daily schedule.

7-7:15: Wake up

7:30: Eat breakfast (pancakes, waffles, cereal, have a cup of milk)

8-9:30: Play time w/ lots of reading, On Tues/Wed we have therapy for Liana

9:30-11: Nap time

11:30/12: Lunch

12:30-2:15: Play time, run errands, go outside

2:15-4:Nap

4-5: Snack and hang out

5-6: More play time, stroller walk, hang out with Daddy, on Thurs Liana has therapy

6-7: Dinner, usually baths (sometimes I do baths in the morning)

7: Bedtime

I would love to hear what your schedules are. Do you think I should add anything to our routine? By the way, if you noticed we went back to 2 naps. Liana just couldn't cut it with one nap. Once we went back, our naps went back to being easy again. I guess she was super glad to get the extra sleep that she decided to not fight to stay up!

Adleigh walks...for real

Adleigh is really walking now. She is so cute as she stumbles around. When Grandma Joye came to visit, Adleigh fell in love with her dog Candy. So here is a video of Adleigh making her way to Candy.

THE HAPPIEST BABIES I KNOW

My girls love to smile and laugh. Wade and I consistently prayed throughout the pregnancy for our girls to be filled with joy and laughter. I must say that I can see that our prayer was answered. We have so much fun together. I thought you might enjoy some pictures that show just how happy these little ladies are. (First 3 are Adleigh, last 3 Liana)

We also had a fun day today because we had a visit from Grammy, Grandaddy, Grandma Joye (the girls great-grandma), and Candy the dog. It is Grandma Joye's birthday tomorrow. So we want to wish her a very happy birthday. We had so much fun "chillin" with you and Candy today!!! Love you.

HOME A YEAR

September 23rd and 24th marked the days Adleigh and Liana were able to come home from the hospital last year. It was amazing to have them all to ourselves, all the time. No more trips to the hospital. No more dividing my time between two different nurseries. No more missing important moments. No more separation between the girls. For three months, I knew I was their mom but having them with me all the time finally made me realize it was true! I am so thankful for my girls and remembering their homecoming makes me praise God for bringing two healthy babies home to us.

The first three are of Adleigh and the last three are Liana.

THEY LOVE MUSIC, DANCING, & DADDY

Whenever Wade brings out the guitar, we have two of the most excited babies ever. Liana especially loves it. This video is adorable because they are dancing, laughing, and we have a guest appearance from Ming Ming the duckling. Our girls love their rock music.

A few things you might not know

Here are a few things the girls are doing that you might not know about since I am the worst blogger ever!

1. Adleigh has taken about 10-12 steps and then she plops down. She does prefer to stand but then realizes it is way faster for her to get from point A to point B by crawling.

2. Liana is a standing machine. She pulls up to everything. We have had about two times where she has let go and stood on her own for about 5 seconds and then she has to grab on to her support again.

3. We are trying to move down to one nap. We went through a few weeks of Liana being horrible at her morning nap and Adleigh not wanting an afternoon nap. So we met in the middle and are trying to adjust right now. They are exhausted in the mornings but I think they are catching on. We just might make it! :)

4. We are nearing the date when both girls were able to come home with us from the hospital last year. I call it their homecomings. Adleigh came on September 23rd and Liana came home on the 24th. I believe a nice cake might be in order.

Videos and pictures to come!

Where has the summer gone?

Almost a whole month since my last post...super lame. This summer has flown by and I think I only took the girls to the pool like 4 times. Sad. 

We took our last little vacation of the summer a few weeks ago when we visited my family. It was the Ivester family reunion so a lot of my relatives got to see the girls and we also stayed with my sister so that meant tons of time with their cousin Pressley. The highlight of the weekend was going to feed some goats and one of the goats shoved itself through a piece of the wire fence. Adleigh thought it was the best thing ever! We on the other hand were slightly nervous about hanging out with Mr. Goat. Here are some pictures of our adventures in Belton (sorry I didn't get the goat fiasco on camera). You can also check out my Flickr page for a few other Belton pics.

Pressley and Adleigh
Uncle Benjamin with Liana
My mom and Adleigh looking adorable.
Adleigh and my dad

The girls with their cuz

Aunt Sharlie with Pressley

The twins first trip to Columbia

We took the girls this past Friday to Columbia for the day. They got to see all their cousins on Wade's side of the family. It was so much fun! I know it was really special for Wade's grandmother who had almost all her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren there at the same time! The girls had a blast and loved eating all the home cooked food! Here are some pics of our time there.

Adleigh walks...with help

This week has been a big week for us. Liana crawling and now Adleigh wanting to walk behind her car/walker. I can't believe Adleigh is getting so big! She looks like a big kid walking behind her little lion. It is so true about how fast their first year flies by!! I thought everyone would like to see Adleigh in action...so here she is!

Liana Crawls!

Here is the video everyone has been waiting for...Liana crawling!

Liana had been trying to crawl for a few weeks now but would only move about an inch and she would get super frustrated. Then yesterday, I was fixing one of their favorite books (taping things back in that they tore out) in the kitchen. I had layed out some toys and books around Liana in our playroom and once I was finished with taping the book back together I looked over to see Liana on the other side of the room. Now I know that she had to have crawled over there, but part of me was wondering if Adleigh had pulled her across because going from an inch or two to across the room in a day seems crazy!!! Obviously I tried to recreate the situation and tried placing objects away from her so I get the crawl on video, but I guess she was tired because she would decide to play with something else instead.

Then today, with Wade at home, we put one of her favorite toys in the middle of the room and she crawled to it. We finally got to see the answer to so many prayers. I am sure I will get some better videos soon, but we wanted to show you what a big accomplishment Liana made!

Vacation

The girls had their first trip to the beach and they loved it! The last night there Liana had a fever and didn't sleep very well. But after taking a trip to the doctor and getting some antibiotics, she was able to enjoy the last day. We also went to Barefoot Landing and the girls got to see the alligators, lizards, snakes, and fish. Here are some of our pictures and make sure you check the others on my Flickr page here.

Standing in the ocean for the first time!
Liana determined to get out of her float and into the water.
Adleigh loving that her hat is out of her face.
Swinging sweet Adleigh around on the beach. I love this picture:)
The family picture as we stare out at the ocean.

The 1 year Birthday!

Well today is actually my birthday so I guess it is fitting that I post the girls' bday pictures today :)

We had a blast. There were so many people celebrating what God had done and is doing in their lives. I must say how amazing it felt to see the girls gobbling up their 1 year birthday cake and to know what all it took to get to this point. We did have an incident where Adleigh's birthday cake got pushed into the floor and yes I picked it up and gave it back to her. Only one side was damaged! So here are the little ladies in all their glory! I have posted just a few and you can check out more on my Flickr page.

Also, a few weeks ago our church showed a video of the story of our girls. It shows how God answered our prayers. You can see it at Pastor Steven Furtick's blog.

Liana is loving some cake.

Adleigh isn't quite sure if she should dig in or not.

Oh the joy of a baby's first taste of something sweet.

My sister with her daughter Pressley!

Liana with the Hubatka girls.

I'm switching things up

First, I have two posts about the girls' one year birthday and our vacation that are coming.

Second, you are going to see this blog change a little. I think I have been so bad with updating because I still saw this blog as the journal of their life in the NICU and I wasn't sure how to make that fit with our lives now. But obviously we are way past that point and the girls are in another chapter of their life as well as myself. So the blog is going to show you more of what it is like raising twins and how I am trying to be a godly mother to them. Honestly, once we brought the girls home I have just tried to keep up with them and I am now feeling such an intense hunger to really delve into scripture and take my prayer life to a new level. So although most of the content will be about the girls, I also want to encourage other mothers who feel like all their time goes to caring for and chasing their young ones. I hope I can stick with this and having your encouragement really helps :) Looking back through all I have written on this blog makes me want to continue even if it is just for myself!

I'll be posting the posts mentioned above soon.

Can Liana be any cuter?

Here is Liana talking to the computer. She thought it was so cool that she could see herself as the video was going on. I can just imagine the talking baby insurance commercial now.

Liana's Therapy is in Danger!

I was told by our physical therapist and occupational therapist this week that there is a proposed budget cut for NC that will look at PT, OT and speech therapy as unnecessary services. They want to cut this from the Medicaid budget which means private insurance companies will follow Medicaid. This affects Liana tremendously! She has had difficulty with her right arm and hand. Since receiving therapy she is able to sit up on her own, fully extend her arms during tummy time, make some attempts at crawling, and grasping objects with her right hand. She already has OT and PT and once she gets a little older is expected to have speech since the left side of her brain (the speech area) was affected by her bleed. She has come so far with having these services and if this is discontinued then it would be difficult for us to afford all of these ourselves. Not to mention a lot of people who get these services can't even afford a car, so having to pay for their child's therapy would mean their child would no longer receive help. 

The bill has to pass 3 committees and then Governor Perdue has to make the final sign off. It has already passed through 2 of those committees. I am asking if you have time to please contact your NC representative and either tell them about your personal story or use Liana's story. You can find your rep by going to the site and looking at the lower right corner to "who represents me." I know our rep is Beverly Earle for Mecklenburg County. You can also contact Governor Perdue (governor.office@nc.gov) since she is the last signature required.

I was also given these numbers:

Speaker Hackney 919-733-3451

Majority Leader Holliman 919-715-0873

Minority Leader Stam 919-733-2962

Thank you for any calls you make, any emails you send and any prayers you lift up. This is important for Liana, but it will also affect so many children that need these services to have any quality of life.

Sweet moments

I love that the girls are getting a little older and are being more expressive. They are going through the stage right now where they just lift their arms up because they want to be held. It gets hard when they are both doing that at the same time though! The other day Wade came home from work and was washing his hands when Adleigh started wanting to get to him. This video only shows half of the distance she goes for him to hold her. She also gets a little sidetracked at the end, but it was a super sweet moment and I love that she is showing how much she loves us!

Not for Granted

Our friends Aimee and Adam had to say goodbye for now to precious Kayleigh. Kayleigh has been such an inspiration to so many people. Her life has taught us how to fight through our circumstances and how to embrace every second we have. She is truly a miracle baby. Some of my sweetest NICU memories are of us and the Freemans in our little area holding Liana and Kayleigh. Thank you Adam and Aimee for letting us get to know Kayleigh and for allowing her to have such a tremendous impact on our lives.

I had a few moments last night to look through some blogs of other NICU parents. Some were just starting their fight while others just took their preemie out to the "outside world" after months of staying in protecting their child. Wade and I talked about how around this time last year was when our world started to turn upside down. Pretty much every walk we take on as a family, we end up talking about how we felt during certain moments in the NICU and then we are able to look at our girls smiling or babbling at us.

I never want to take for granted that:

I can hold my daughters without anything being attached to them.

I am able to tuck my daughters in at night and then be the first one they see in the morning.

Liana is surpassing any of the doctors expectations.

Adleigh overcame the worst intestinal issue a preemie can have.

My girls love their feet to be touched. (preemies can have feet issues because of how often they got stuck for blood)

That we are able to ride in the car without the heart monitors.

They love food and don't have any oral aversions.

We have a church that supported us and prayed for us.

My God picked me up and carried me through the most difficult season I have faced.

What do you never want to take for granted?

Easter Fun

I know Easter was forever ago, but I thought that you might want to see these sweet pictures of our family. Mind you that it was about 30 minutes past their nap time so that we could have Wade in the pictures. So they did pretty good...just not too many smiles!