Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Prematurity Awareness Month

November is National Prematurity Awareness Month, and November 14th is Prematurity Awareness Day.

Through the end of the month, donations up to $100,000 are being doubled by Mastercard (if you use your card), so it's a good time to get the most bang for your buck!

If you are interested in donating on behalf of the girls, their virtual bands can still be found here: Holland Mirabell and Eden Deanna

Brusha Brusha Brusha

I messed up. I went and wished the first two years of their lives away, and now look...she's practically a teenager!




I feel sad at moments like these, when my smooshy little babies seem too grown up. I feel sad because I didn't take enough time to enjoy them. Their babyhood was so full of overwhelming stress, anxiety, sadness, and worry that it was hard to keep my head above water. Looking back I wish I had been able to spend less time worrying over every silly milestone and had just enjoyed the little snickerdoodles that they were.

I just couldn't see it then, that I could wait until LATER to worry. Maybe that should be my new mantra, "I'll worry about it later." If I don't stop worrying so much I'm afraid I may blink and they will be grownups. And grownups just aren't that much fun!

Saturday, November 11, 2006

Sesame Street Live: Elmo Makes Music!

We drove a little over an hour to Toldeo for the show. Luckily we timed it just right so the girls would sleep on the way there, and at least get a little bit of a nap.



The girlies absolutely LOVED the show, and stared at the stage with rapt attention the entire time. It was better than TV.

We didn't get a lot of smiles and laughing like we had hoped, because they were just so awestruck by the whole scenario. After about the first three songs, Holland started to lighten up a bit and did flash a few smiles and clapped at the good parts. She was oblivious to US the entire time, but that's pretty typical for her. She would little by little edge her way up the isle to get closer. I really wonder if she got away from us, if she would even notice that we were gone! Eden would occasionally look back at us to check that we were seeing what she was seeing. She would also get excited and point to something on the stage that caught her attention.

All in all, fun was had by all and I think two is a great age to start doing these kinds of things. Especially if you are still young enough at heart to enjoy it yourself! John teased me saying that I enjoyed the show even more than H and E, cause he noticed me dancing and singing along. Let me tell you, I would have been dancing (even more) in the aisles except that nobody else was! Hey, I'm always up for a good party!

Better Enough


Today is the Big Day! Wish us luck on our Sesame Street adventure:) The girls are feeling "better enough" that there is no way we will miss it!

Tuesday, November 07, 2006

At Least We Voted

I've been trapped in my house for the past two days with sick kids...again. The evening was a complete bust as far as eating goes. The girls wouldn't eat one bite at dinner, even though I made their favorite (hot dogs and green beans). Then they wouldn't drink their bedtime bottles either. It's amazing the amount of stress I feel when they won't eat. My mental health directly correlates with the amount of food that my kids ingest in a given day. On top of that, poor John came home from work early because he is sick too!

They HAVE to get better quick. I've got so much to DO! I really need to go to work tomorrow and Friday. We're supposed to meet our friend Alana for the first time on Thursday, and Saturday we have tickets to see SESAME STREET LIVE!!! Get better SOON girlies!!! Please?

Sunday, November 05, 2006

Domino's Farm




Friday, November 03, 2006

Fashionable Growth

Yesterday we participated in the second annual NICU fashion show, Fashionable Growth: Something to be Thankful For. The girls modeled at last year's show. This year mommy was a model also. Daddy was happy to participate, but wasn't into modeling the fashions. I cannot imagine why not??? Notice in the pictures how he appears to be hiding behind his baby? He didn't notice until after the show that his fly was down the whole time! HAHA! Luckily there was no evidence in the pictures:)

We had a great time connecting with other NICU families, as well as some of the doctors and nurses that we have gotten to know so well. One of our neonatologists and our pediatrician participated with their three girls. They have a daughter who is the same age (adjusted) as Holland and Eden and it was a lot of fun to see them playing together.

The clothes were absolutely beautiful. I modeled three outfits from V2V in Ann Arbor. One was a "family" outfit, one a "Girl's Night Out" and one "holiday" outfit. I loved all three, and would have bought them, except that they were totally out of my price range! I guess that's what is fun about a fashion show. You get to wear awesome clothes that you would never wear otherwise! I couldn't even buy the girls their family outfits. I especially LOVED Holland's first outfit, but the combo would have cost over $150.00. The tights alone were $32!!! I just bought 6 pair of tights at Target for that price:)

Holland was a total ham. She is not afraid to be the center of attention. The funny thing is that she won't really talk to anyone, but you can tell by her behavior that she loves the attention. She shrugs her shoulders, and swings her arms. When we were up she clapped for herself and didn't want to leave the stage! It was pretty funny.

Eden has given up taking naps. She thinks naps are for babies. The result is that by about 6:30-7 at night she is totally spaced out. She was really interested in everything going on, but wouldn't talk to anyone or give us any smiles. Doesn't matter though, she was gorgeous as always.

I've recently joined the Family Advisory Board at our NICU, and have helped a tiny bit with planning for the fashion show/silent auction and the NICU reunion. I've only been to two meetings so far, but plan to get more involved over the next year.

We had our reunion last month on October 8th. It was actually our first reunion, because last year Holland ended up hospitalized with pneumonia and we weren't able to go. It was a lot of fun to see all of our NICU mates. There were two other sets of twins, and one little boy at the reunion that we spent quite long time with in the NICU. Interestingly, one of the little boys has a cochlear implant like Eden:) In the pic above you can see H and E with the two other sets of twins.

Holly was a total ham at the reunion too. She wanted to be right in the middle of all the activity and wasn't afraid to jump right in. I love to see her playing and interacting so well with other kids. They are so cute and have all come so far.

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

What are you Reading?

I've been tagged by Kellie for a meme, so here goes...

1. Grab the nearest book. If you are currently reading something, that'll be fine too.

2. Open the book to page 123.

3. Find the fifth sentence.

4. Post the text of the next 4 sentences on your Blog along with these instructions.

5. Don't you dare dig for that "cool" or "intellectual" book in your closet I know that is what you were thinking!

6. Tag 5 people

"The room was filled with everyone in New York he wanted to know, the babble of their happy voices rising tantalizingly, their elusive eyes glancing around for people they wanted to know. The tall room was wood-paneled, its back wall of windows overlooking the wonderful garden. Justy and Orinda had put tiny white lights in all the trees outside, and in the hedge. It was like a fairyland."

~ Rona Jaffe, Mazes and Monsters

Kellie, I am actually the world's biggest procrastinator, but that wasn't bad, was it? I would'a done this sooner, except that I didn't get home from my conference until yesterday and hadn't had a chance to check my blogs!