Turkey Day Gobble Gobble!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone has a wonderful day with their friends and family :)

I wish we could be home to be with all of our family and friends on the east coast, but I'm grateful we planned a relaxing holiday season in California. We weren't taking any risks after what happened the last time I traveled home to PA while pregnant ;) It's a little lonely, knowing everyone else is getting together and it's just the 4 of us, but it's also 0 stress, 0 worry, and lots of extra time to spend with my hubby and babies before we throw another kid in the mix ;)

So enjoy your day, your family and friends, eat lots of turkey and be safe if you're traveling. Gobble gobble!

What Prematurity Means to Me

Today is World Prematurity Day!

That might mean very little to some people, but to the 15 million moms or dads of babies born too soon each year, it means a lot.

What makes prematurity even harder, is that in so many cases, it can be prevented. With research, access to healthcare, and just spreading the word and awareness, the risks of prematurity can be drastically reduced.

Prematurity is very real and it's something you never expect. I was expecting the birth of my first children to be the happiest day of my life, not the scariest. I was hoping to be able to hold and cuddle my babies, but instead, I saw them wheeled away barely breathing. I wanted to take them home with me, but instead, I left the hospital empty handed and went back to an empty house with my little hearts an hour away from me. I was hoping to spend our first few days bonding and playing together, instead, I watched them struggling to survive through plastic with tubes and chords every where and a constant beeping going on around me of machines keeping them alive.

and it's just not fair. Not fair that my babies got off to such a rough start. Not fair that my husband hardly saw them for the first few months of their lives. Not fair that I could do nothing but sit in the hospital and hold them and pray they'd be ok. Not fair that so many other parents have to go through this same thing.

Prematurity will always be a part of our lives. It's hard to forget about it now as we go to all the doctors appointments, meet with all the specialists, get the beloved synagis shots for the 2nd year in a row, but I'm not sure I'll ever forget those first few months, or this challenging first year with our preemies.

I know a lot of people look at them today and don't even think about them as preemies and I'm so happy that's the case. They have really overcome great odds to be the healthy wild pair that they are. I'm so grateful that we have been so lucky and that our babies are really starting to thrive.

I look at their faces every day and I'm just overwhelmed with how happy I am to have them and how much I love them. If anything positive came out of them being born too soon, it's my never ending appreciation for how precious they are and how lucky I am to have them.

So steal an extra kiss today from your little ones and tell them how much you love them. They are all little miracles.

To end this on a happy note...here is an adorable video of hope. I hope today brings hope to all parents of preemies and that someday, what we went through will be a very rare thing.

10 Randoms of our Life Lately

1. The saddest part of my mom leaving after visiting for 2 weeks was having to change all the diapers and do laundry again. I miss her company but boy was a 2 week diaper duty break enjoyable ;)

2. I made an entire crock pot full of granola and thought we'd be eating it for years. Luckily, the twins seem to be closet granola lovers. They should have told me earlier! I'm concerned about the diapers with all the fiber though. Maybe grandma will come back? ;)

3. Jackson's climbing skills are very advanced. And very annoying. Is there a trick to keep little boys on the ground because i'd love to know it. This kid is driving me bonkers!

Yea, that about sums up our afternoons.

4. Amelia has become a sugar addict. A lollipop after shots and a cookie at a party and she's turned into a feen. She'll eat anything sweet she can grab.

We'll have to focus on more granola and less birthday parties I think ;)

5. 29 weeks and some change and I'm pretty sure I look more like 40. 

Hopefully we'll get to see what 40 weeks really looks like ;) enter our baby pool to tell us how far you think this gigantic baby will go :)

6. Our baby monitor bit the dust ($35 for over a year, I'll let it slide), so we went shopping for a new one and opted for a fancy video one. I like being able to see Amelia (jackson sleeps in the pack n play in our room so his night time whining doesn't wake Amelia up) but I can only hear her when she cries. Our old monitor I could hear her breathe and roll around and that gave me some comfort at night. Also, I could leave the monitor in the kitchen and hear her anywhere downstairs. This one I can't hear anything but static. Am I crazy and should I love the fancy monitor or go trade it in for another cheapo one?

7. I finally started Christmas shopping and I'm sooo excited for some of the twins new toys! Maybe just because I'm sick of the old ones ;) 

8. I totally intend on hitting up black Friday shopping 31 weeks pregnant. Be kind to the preggo at your stores ;) I just want some toys, you don't have to fight me for the wii or blu ray players. 

9. I have like 2 weeks left on my pumpkin kick before I switch to peppermint, any good recipes I must try before the pumpkin season ends?