365 Days

My Sweet Babies, Harper and Jack-

One year ago today I was wheeled into a cold operating room all alone. I was anxious- I knew that the two of you weren't ready to be born yet, but I wanted so badly to meet you. I was scared- I had no idea if I'd be strong enough to make it through the epidural (you know I hate needles) or brave enough to undergo major surgery. I was excited- today my babies were going to be born; I was going to be a mom! I felt like I had waited for this moment for a long time...

Looking back on your birthday, I had no idea what was to come. I had no idea that it would be hours before I could touch you, a day before I could hold you close to me, and it would be long months before you were home. I had no idea that I wouldn't cradle my newborn babies or smell their heads or hear them cry out, and in some ways that still bothers me. It still bothers me that we didn't have some of those first milestones to share as a family. But, most of all, today fills me with awe. I had no idea what was to come and I had no idea if we would make it to this point and I had no idea how wonderful, smart, funny, joyous, beautiful, and exciting you both could be. 

I am in awe that my little babies who started off their lives in incubators are now on the verge of walking, who required oxygen and a ventilator are now screaming at the top of their lungs, who had so many problems eating are now sampling food off of Mommy and Daddy's plate, who lived in a world of darkness and monitor beeps and touch times, are now living every moment in a technicolor, interactive world- it is amazing to me.

Harper and Jack, I don't know what the future holds for you, but I do know that to whom much is given, much is expected. The two of you have been given many gifts; I can't wait to see how you grow and use those gifts. You are my miracles; the two of you have changed our whole lives, and it's hard for me to remember what life was like before you were here. 

Everyone in the NICU said that one day the hospital would just be a distant memory; when we were there, I didn't think it could be true. But holding the two of you everyday for the last 365 days, watching you learn and laugh and grow has made me a believer. Your first year has not been defined by the hospital or your rough start, but it's had been defined by the little ones you've become.

Jack- You are our smiling man. Every morning when you wake up, you give me the biggest grin and you seem genuinely happy to see me. You are friendly to everyone you meet, quick to forgive, and persistent in your pursuits- I hope you never lose those qualities. I know that you will be outgoing and easygoing, and being able to laugh at yourself is something many people will admire. You are an admirable little man already. Your temper is also starting to show, and even at 12 months old, I can tell that this temper is going to get the best the of you sometimes- I hope this is something you learn to control; if you can balance your temper and your smiles, you'll have a winning combination. I pray God watches over you everyday. You are a wonderful son, a good big brother, and we are so thankful and happy to call you our Jack-man. Happy birthday, buddy, I love you.

Harper- You are a going girl. You are always on the move, and you always have an agenda. You will forge any obstacle to get what you want; you are cunning and already working angles, even at 12 months old. You are slow to warm up to people, but once you have, you trust them completely; you are adventurous, focused, and full of surprises. I hope that you keep your tenacious personality because chasing a goal will give purpose to your life. You also have a killer grin and squeal combo that makes us laugh every time. You, my dear, are also a very stubborn one. I know that this will be something that might serve you well at times, but it is also something that can lead you down the wrong path (trust me, I know); I pray that you have a good head on your shoulders to see when you need to chase after something or hold tight to an opinion, and when it's best to let it go, or walk away. I pray God guides you in all you do. You are our little girl and we are so proud to call you our daughter and Jack's little sister. Happy birthday, Pumpkin, I love you.

So, Little Ones, here's to another year of learning so many new skills, trying new things, going on great adventures, and becoming the people you are meant to be. I am honored I was chosen to be your mother and I can't wait to watch you grow up.

All of my love always,

Momma



  

Merry Christmas From the Family

The twins first Christmas is in the books; it was fun and exhausting and I am sure that we will not make it a habit to travel for Christmas. This year we spent our Christmas with my family in Arlington at Nana and Pop's house. The kids were excited to have a new place to explore and by the end of the first day, I was worn out because I'd spent all afternoon chasing Harper and Jack around- I'm still trying to recover!

While we were at Nana and Pop's before Christmas we gave the kids their first bath together and I snapped this funny picture of Jack while he was eating breakfast.

Our Christmas this year was dampened by sickness, thankfully not anything too serious, but my mom, my aunt, and my Granny were all feeling under the weather. Our normal holiday schedule was turned on its ear with the combination of relatives not feeling well, and Harper and Jack's eating/sleeping schedule (which dictates everything to us right now). We spent Christmas Eve day cooking and having an early dinner, followed by church at 5:30. Our family normally goes to the 11pm service on Christmas Eve, so this was big change for us. We arrived at church to find all the seats taken downstairs and being forced up to the balcony- this turned out to be a great place for our kiddos. We watched the children's Christmas program and Harper and Jack loved all the singing, and they loved being able to crawl around and squeal with minimal distraction to the rest of the congregation.

After the kids went to bed, Tony and I spent hours getting ready for Santa and wrapping presents for the kids that we hadn't had a chance to wrap earlier. I knew that Christmas would be different as a parent, but I didn't realize that it would be so tiring. I told my mom that it didn't even really feel like Christmas this year. Last year I spent Christmas day in the hospital resting, I should've been more thankful for the rest then, because I feel like I spent this Christmas running around and chasing two little tots. I shouldn't complain- they are adorable little ones. Little Harper is determined that she's going to keep us on our toes; she figured out how to stand on her own on the 23rd; here's a shot of her standing tall (she's so proud of herself).  It seems like walking will be around the corner and then I will really know what tired is.

Thankfully, Christmas morning the kids slept until 7 or so. I woke up to hearing Jack singing on the monitor and Harper's giggles- a great Christmas morning wake-up call.  Jack and Harper had a bottle before going to see what was waiting under the tree. The kids managed to open all of their presents (with Tony's help and my help) before going down for their nap around 8:15. The kids didn't know what to do with all of the gifts and spent more time playing with the paper than anything else, but I think they had a good time overall. Jack's favorite present at first glance was a new Wub-a-nub in his stocking. Jack knew what it was immediately and pulled it out of his stocking and popped it in his mouth. Harper really likes a ball that Santa brought; she loves to crawl behind it and bat it around and chase it. Santa also brought the kids a two seater wagon that they took a ride in on Christmas morning. They seemed to like it and I know that we will get good use of it in the spring.

Jack and Harper received so many nice gifts that we haven't even begun to unbox and assemble all of them. I can't imagine what our house will look like when we get everything all put together. Here are some shots from our first Christmas as a family of five- enjoy and Merry Christmas!

Jolly Old Saint Nicholas

The Collett twins have experienced the rite of passage that comes with Christmas- their first trip to see Santa Claus. This Santa Claus trip was not without some drama, but the kids were troopers.

Tony and I got online last night and found out the opening times of the mall Santas in our area, and we decided to go to the mall by my school because they opened an hour before everyone else.  Santa opened at 11am and we thought we could go in and see Santa and then have a nice lunch before the kids needed to eat their bottles at 1pm. When Tony and I walked up, we saw a line to see Santa, and as we rounded the corner we saw even more line...we couldn't see the end of the line...it snaked around and around and finally out of the back of the foyer and into the food court. Tony kept saying "holy cow" over and over again. We took our place at the end of the line and as we stood around, we watched three families bail out of line ahead of us; I was happy to see them go and thought this might make the line move a little more quickly. One hour later, we were still waiting to see Santa and we still had to traverse the foyer and go through "the Ice Castle" before we saw Santa. Tony spoke to a security guard who informed us that it was a 2 hour wait from the Godiva Chocolate store- we still had another 20 yards before we got to the Godiva store. We decided to bail out of line and go to lunch. The kids had a much more enjoyable time at lunch than they did in line for Santa and we were done eating, back home, and giving the kids their bottles by 1:30. We had gotten in line at the mall at 11:15, and gotten out of line at 12:20- Tony said at 2:40 "hey, we would be getting to see Santa right now" as we were putting the kids down for their nap. I am so glad we got out of that line.

This evening our town had a Christmas party in the town square complete with ice skating, a sled hill, carriage rides, fake snow...and Santa Claus. The party started at 5:30, and Tony and I had the kids bundled up and in their strollers sprinting toward the Santa line by 5:45. Thankfully, this line was inside and it moved quickly. Santa was very nice, and both Jack and Harper did well. Harper wasn't quite sure she wanted to sit with Santa, and Jack wasn't quite sure who Santa was, but we excited the line with photographic evidence of our Santa visit and that's what counts! It was also nice that there were no tears.

We decided to celebrate our Santa victory with dinner at a local Italian restaurant. The kids were great at dinner too; they like to eat out and try little bites off our plates. Harper learned how to use a straw tonight at dinner and was cracking us up because she'd take a swig of my ice water and then shake her head back and forth (in a "no" motion) like the cold surprised her. Tony and I burst out laughing the first time she did it, so she repeated the action again and again, grinning every time and waiting for our laughter. What a cute little stinker! Jack got to try some marinara sauce and he really liked it- Tony thinks we're going to see lots of spaghetti dinners in our future.

Yay for Christmas Break

School is finally out for the semester- woo hoo! This week has been filled with lots of school stress for me, and I am very glad to put that behind me and have two whole weeks off with my family to enjoy Christmas. It also dawned on me this morning that the twins will be 1 in just 10 short days. A year ago I thought I would be in the hospital until February, so having the babies in December was a shock. This year, I'm excited that I'll be off work on their birthday to be able to spend the whole day with our little family of five- Abby included. Here's a picture of Jack and Harper having a book club date while I was taking care of some work this week.

While I was worrying about school things, the kids were all over the place. They are learning so many new things now and it's amazing to me the things they figure out. Tony and I got a picture from Durinda of Jack climbing on a diaper box he had pushed over to the baby gate. When I got home from work that night, I realized that Jack was standing on his tip toes and touching the top of the gate- he was trying to press the button to open the gate. How did he know that's how the gate opens? Jack has also learned to recognize the "toot toot" of the train horn at the beginning of the kids show "Thomas and Friends"; when he hears the train horn, he crawls over with a big grin on his face and plants himself in front of the tv.  Today he also started dancing when he heard the "Thomas and Friends" song- it was too cute!

Little Harper has also been learning new things; her newest skill is pointing. She has started pointing at all sorts of things and I know it will only be a matter of time until she starts using that pointing to demand things. Harper also did something this evening that stopped me in my tracks. Because both kiddos have a couple of teeth, we bought them two "my first" toothbrushes. I gave a toothbrush to each kiddo after dinner and sang a song about brushing teeth, then I said "brush your teeth" to which Harper put the toothbrush up to her hair and used a brushing motion. We will give Harper a hairbrush and ask her to "brush" her hair to distract her while we change her diaper. I was amazed that she transfered the idea of "brushing"- we are in trouble.

Both kids seemed to like the toothbrushes, so we'll continue to let them "brush" their fledgling teeth after dinner each night. I can't believe Jack and Harper are so big and I can't wait to see what they learn next!

I'm also including this picture of Harper sitting in the toy box. I have a picture of me sitting inside my toy box when I was a little girl and I thought this might bring back some memories for my mom...

Relaxing Weekend

This weekend we recovered. This has been a very stressful year for us and the last month or so has turned our house into a pressure cooker. This weekend, without any plans or places we had to be, we finally got a chance to relax and de-stress a little bit.  Here's Harper's self-portrait to start our blog...

Saturday morning I was awoken at 6:15 to a little man singing "doo doot doo" over the monitor. I smiled and crawled out of bed to go grab Jack. While we waited for the water to warm for his bottle, Jack and I danced around the kitchen and he laughed and grinned- it was a great way to start my Saturday morning. I got Jack fed and then heard Harper moving around, so I went in and got her up and we played and let Tony sleep in. It was fun to get to spend some time with my little ones in the morning without having to rush out the door to work.

Saturday afternoon we ran a couple of errands and had dinner with some friends, and then I crawled into bed at 8:45. Tony was incredulous that I was in bed before 9pm, but I just couldn't keep my eyes open any longer and it felt so good to get some much needed sleep. In fact, I woke up at 11:45 and thought I'd slept all night- ha!

Thankfully, the kids slept until 7 this morning, so I missed Jack's early morning singing, but he still danced with his momma while he waited for his bottle. This afternoon we ran some errands and took the kids up to Costco to get a few things. I remember reading on a twin mom page that Costco has double carts, so I was excited to try it out- sure enough, both kiddos fit side by side. This was Harper's first time to ride in a cart and I think she liked it.  Both kids were interested in putting items in the cart, and Jack wanted to try every sample they were handing out.

Our next stop after Costco was a local bakery- Three Dog Bakery in Little Elm. The bakery is owned by a lady I teach with and they were having Santa pictures, so we decided to drop by with Abby. Here's her shot- I was surprised that she sat next to Santa with minimal coercion and I was surprised she looked at the camera. The kids liked to see the other dogs in the bakery, and Abby liked the free treats they were handing out- it was a win all the way around. We'll have to go back.

When we got home, the kids were ready to run around and play and, after a few months of having a pretty solid barrier between the kids and the fireplace, Harper finally figured out how to scale the wall. She was very proud of herself and Tony and I are now back to the drawing board.

Overall, it was a very nice weekend and I'm counting down the days (5 more) until I'm off work for a couple of weeks and get to spend all day with the ones I love the most. On our agenda this week is a trip to see Santa, so look for Santa pictures shortly!