A Letter to our nieces

 

On January 13th I became an aunt to you sweet little twin girls. I remember when your mama called and said she was expecting and that it was Twins! I was so excited! You see your Mom and Dad had been in and out of doctors offices, hoping and praying for your conception. Every month we prayed that she could have a baby. You have a strong mama the way she waited and kept hoping. Sometimes I would doubt or wonder when the time would come, but the hot summer day she let us know we were so full of hope and joy! The due date was April the 18th. In the heat of the summer it felt like springtime would never come and so the waiting began. In November we were invited to your gender reveal party. I was sure it was going to be a little boy and girl, but when the balloons popped there was pink everywhere which meant two girls! The weekend after Christmas your mom, dad and uncle Derek and I headed to Indiana for the Frank Christmas. We had a good time with family and threw your Mom a baby shower complete with cupcakes, a diaper cake and all things pink and little. For one of the games we had to race to see how fast we could diaper a baby. Little did we know you two would be in diapers in just a few short weeks. The next day (Dec 28th) we left Indiana and piled the back of the car full of baby gifts. There almost wasn't room for Aunt Emily and Uncle Derek ;) Your mom was good about putting her feet up and resting in the car. She had mentioned that she had an appointment in the morning before work. I think I told her to let me know how it went, but I didn't think too much about it since it was routine. The next day at her appointment they decided your mom needed to be admitted for full bedrest with monitoring since her cervix was shortened to a .4 (not sure what all that means, but it wasn't good). That was a very scary thing for us to hear. I think your mom was around 24 weeks, that was too soon for you peanuts to be born. I barely slept that night. It seemed we had come so far yet here we were teetering on the edge of the unknown. This was a great test in faith in God and caused us to run to Him in prayer. I imagined that there would be at least a couple months ahead of us to hang out with your Mom and Dad in the hospital trying to pass the time, but you surprised us yet again when a couple weeks later your mom's water broke signaling to the world that you were on your way! Derek called me at work to tell me that your mom was going in for a Cesarean and that you would be born within the hour. I looked at the calendar....January 13th it said...this will be their birthday I thought to myself. It was all I could do to focus the rest of my shift. I was praying to God that you would be born full of life and he has answered our prayers. It's true you two are SO full of life, kicking, scrunching up your faces, making diaper changes difficult with your squirming and letting out little cries if your sleep is disturbed. Now your living with only the assistance of a feeding tube, a little oxygen and of course lots of love from your parents and family. We love you Addison and Natalie you are a sweet reminder of God's faithfulness.

Christmas catch-up

Christmas has obviously come and gone and I'm still here trying to figure out if we're really halfway through January and if I should take down the Christmas cards that are taped to our door. My family Christmas was a few days before Christmas and the kids actually went outside to play. It was a very weird thing after opening gifts and watching the kids out on the driveway riding bikes and pushing around toy mowers, but I was so glad they could since it turned icey cold soon after. We played games, ate lots of food and exchanged gifts. Every year we draw names among the siblings and try to keep it a secret. I drew Tiffany's name and she guessed that I had her right away. It must not have been very inconspicuous of me to text her a picture and ask her if she liked a certain item.......and then follow it up with "I'm asking for someone else". Yeah, I'll have to work on that for next years drawing.

 On Christmas morning Derek and I went to church with my parents and then we came home and he made a delicious brunch for us. We both remembered that last year we had picked something to make a Christmas tradition.....but neither of us could remember what it was...it must not have been a very good idea ;) We didn't exchange gifts between ourselves since we chose to go to Wisconsin for a few days and ski for our gift to each other. We are definitely a couple who prefers "experiences" over a material item. 

Little Jesse got Fritz a bathrobe that matches his:)

In other news Tiffany is engaged and I'm so excited for her and Jesse. They make a darling couple and I'm sure their May wedding will be here before we know it.....but until then January it is:)