Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Happy 4th birthday girls!

Then: August 19, 2005

Grace Talbot 1 pound 2 ounces, 11.5 inches long




Haley Higgins 1 pound 4 ounces, 12 inches long


The first set of goals...17 more weeks to go!


Now August 19, 2009


Gracie


Haley
Wow, is all I can say about the last four years! The girls surprise arrival into this world four years ago, changed life as we knew it. Not that we didn't anticipate change when we saw the two little heartbeats back in my eighth week in pregnancy, but we were not prepared to watch our babies develop primarily outside of my body! When they were born, their little eyes were still sealed shut, their skin was paper thin, their lungs sticky, wet and deflated. For weeks, the ventilator kept them breathing and a thin layer of saran wrap over a bed warmer acted as their womb. I could talk for hours about all the emotions we experienced, the struggles, the highs, the lows, the goals achieved, the set backs, the surgeries, and the lessons learned, but I'll spare most of the details. The last two pictures are from their birthday party on Saturday and as one can see, we have two perfect, little miracles. God has big plans for these girls and I continue to look forward to what he has in store for them!

Every day is an adventure in our household; there is never a dull moment. Sometimes I let my lack of patience get the better of me...raising three little ones is tough! But, last night after I got Sam out of the bathtub and the girls were in there by themselves, Jason called me to come listen to them. They were playing with their new Little Mermaid bathtub toys and singing the song "Beautiful One"..."beautiful one I love, beautiful one I adore, beautiful one my soul must sing". This song has been a favorite of mine for a while and our church band made a little 5 song cd on which is "Beautiful One". We listen to it every morning coming and going to school. They know that the beautiful one is Jesus. Even though they don't completely get it, they were singing the way you sing when Jesus is in your heart. It brings tears to my eyes just thinking back to it. We've come a long way and the Beautiful One has been right there with us every step of the way. Praise the Lord and thank you God!

Friday, August 7, 2009

Flashback Friday

This is hard...I've got lots of pics of my little trio! Here's just a sampling of some oldies but goodies.
More to come later on my thougths/memories of August 2005 and the birth of our amazing little girls. The entire month is usually full of mixed emotions for me!

Sam May 2007

Sam 2/24/07

Girls on their 2nd birthday 8/19/07

First family photo on the beach July 2006

Girls December 2005 still in the NICU