Marmie

What would I have done without my Mom those first weeks after the girls???? I am not really sure to tell you the truth. I am thankful for such a sweet friend and Mother. Mom it has been great watching you love our girls. The joy they bring to you, and the joy it brings me to see you with them is unexplainable. I love you!

Bringing Home Babies

It was so awesome to bring our girls home. Our sweet friend Cara Davis made a sign to welcome us home. She had written the verse Psalm 139:14 "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." on the signs. Amazing to know that God knows the number of hairs on their little heads, which isn't much :) but he knows the number. I can't tell you the overwhemling joy and relief that flooded over me just walking thru the door with them and finally having them home. It was hard leaving the hospital without them. I know that the Lord's love, and so many prayers of friends and family sustained us in that time without them. My mom came back down to help me and Fran and the girls were there to greet us when we arrived. It was such a blessing to have our girls home.

Memories from NICU

So I am trying to catch everyone up on the girls. This pic is when they were 1 week old :) I made these signs to put near their cribs in the NICU. We had a favorite nurse there, Anna. She was a believer and took such good care of our little ones. We knew when we left they were in good hands with Anna. The Lord was so sweet to give us such a great nurse to care for our girls. Here are also some pictures of the girls in the NICU. It is hard to believe they were that tiny! A few good things that came out of the girls staying in the NICU. They came home on a schedule, which is unheard of for newborns! They were eating every 3 hours. The nurses also taught us how to bath them, change them, feed them ect so we came home that much more prepared to be parents. Another blessing was the lactation consultants at Baylor. They were great to work with me on tandem feeding and would meet me in the NICU to help us all learn how. I am thankful for God's sweet promise that He works everything for the good of those who love Him.

Officially the World's worst!

Okay, so I am officially the worlds WORST at keeping up with this blog! I am going to try and do better, I promise :) Well, alot has happened since I last posted. On January 16th I became an aunt!! Miss Katelyn Grace Lowth was born and the doc cleared me to go see her and my sister. It was such a sweet time to be with them. She is beautiful and I feel so blessed that I get to be a part of this precious girl's life. My sister is a great mom, and it has been AMAZING walking thru these role of motherhood with her.

I had some GREAT showers given by some sweet friends! The shower in Pasadena was awesome! My mom and sisters know how to throw a party :) It was great to be surrounded by family and friends. Some I hadn't seen in a while! My college roommate Leighann came, my best friend from junior high Shelley, and my drama teacher Susan. It was great to catch up with them and share in the excitment of the babies!

My sweet friends from college gave me a shower in Dallas. Katy, Hailey, Kari and Amy... what a great party you planned! It was awesome to be with all my best girlfriends! My mother in law and sister in law were able to come too, so that was super fun. Katy made a diaper cake, and Hailey made some cute little cupcake booties with little E's and A's on them. I was surprised to see my other college roommate Jen there! She came all the way from Mesquite! I hadn't seen her in about 2 years. I feel so blessed to have such great friends.

The church shower was also amazing. Cara headed up the other 13 hostesses and they planned a beautiful shower. The tables were decorated so beautifully with pink roses, and there were little note cards for people to write a blessing to the girls. My mom and sister Amanda came from Houston! I was so thankful they could come. Will's aunts and Mama Jan came from Arkansas. It was a blessing to be surrounded by our AMAZING church family. I know there faithful prayers and support got us thru the pregnancy and last weeks. God is so faithful to provide, and we are so grateful for the body of Grand Prairie Bible Church.

Well, this is what you have all really been wanting to know about... our sweet Emma and Addison. My water broke early February 12th and after being at the hospital only a few hours, our sweet girls were here! The C-section went well. Will was a trooper. For those of you who know my husband, he does not do well with blood, so I was a little worried that my coach might pass out on me! He was a great support and I was so happy to have his encouragement thru the surgery. It is quite an out of body expierence, being awake and knowing what they are doing. Addison was born at 10:19 am, with her sister Emma at 10:20 am. The both weighed 4.5 lbs! Everyone said they had never seen that happen. As many of you know our sweet girls spent two weeks in the NICU. Since they were born at 34 weeks, they still had a few things to learn before they could be home with mom and dad. It was a rough two weeks. Lots of pumping, trips to the hospital, and trying to recover from the surgery. Once again, God's grace is the only thing that got me thru. My sweet Mom stayed with me the first week the girls were in the hospital and was my chauffer to the hospital everyday. I would go to breastfeed the girls and we could only feed them every other feeding, so it was an all day affair. I wouldn't have been able to do it without my mom.

The girls got to come home February 27th, and it has been so amazing to have them home. At 7 weeks they Addi weighed 6.11 and Emma was at 6.7 They are for the most part on the same schedule and nurse together. We went to the doc May 7th and Addison was one ounce shy of 10 lbs and Emma was 1/2 way to 10 lbs. They are growing great! They have started smiling and cooing and follow voices and faces. They are such a blessing and I couldn't ask for sweeter girls. I would do this all over again! It would be awesome to have another set of twins. Who knows, maybe next time... two boys :)

Thanksgiving in Danville

After a great weekend with my family we got to head to Arkansas with Will's fam for Thanksgiving at the farm. Mama Jan and Chachi's is one of our favorite places in the world and we love to go every chance we get. Mama Fan, Will's 94 year old great-grandma had the whole crew over Thanksgiving day. It was fun to see everyone. We can't wait to take the girls to the farm. Will and I have so many wonderful memories there, it will be fun to make memories with our girls. Will, Helen and Janette got all bundled up and went spotting one night at the farm, they looked pretty funny! They didn't see anything, but I think they had fun anyway.

Happy Thanksgiving

It was a great Thanksgiving this year. We got to celebrate with both families. Mom, Dad and Amanda came from Pasasdena and Mere and Justin came from New Braunfels to share Thanksgiving with us in our new house! It was fun to have them see all the work we had done since they had seen it last. I was thankful for our big kitchen when all the women got in the kitchen to make our meal! We had just about everything you can think of. Turkey, dressing, broccoli cheese casserole, green beans, cream corned, mashed potatoes, rolls, and 4 kinds of pie! We had to make this count for Thanksgiving and Christmas :) The boys enjoyed a trip to Harbor Freight with Papa D, and Will and Justin took the scooters to the Harley store to show off their wheels! I bet they got some funny looks! It was such a blessing having them here with us!

Girls!

Soooo... we are having two little baby girls! We got to have the coolest sonogram done where we got to see the babies and how much they were growing and developing. They measured and looked at each baby from head to toe! We got to see the four chambers of their little hearts, their brains, little bladders, kidneys, spines... it was absolutely amazing. I cannot get enough of these little miracles! The sonogram took about an hour and I was glued to the screen every second just watching our little ones move. At one point the doctor said "that is a beautiful spine on that baby"! I thought that was a funny thing to say. How great is our God! I don't think anyone can fully comprehend Psalm 139 until they get to see life growing in a womb.

O LORD, you have searched me and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD.
You hem me in—behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.
Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,"
even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
How precious tome are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you.

Praise the Lord for His amazing grace and promises, His sweet mercies are new every morning.