Happy 3rd Birthday, Abel & Belle!

Abel & Belle turned THREE on June 4th! They had their birthday party with friends at Monkey Joe's on June 6th. Their past 2 birthday parties have just been with our family but this year was their big party with friends! Monkey Joe's is an indoor inflatable playground. They had fun with their Batman and Hello Kitty themes. I can't believe they are 3 - officially preschoolers now! Where has time gone? It seems like both yesterday and forever ago that we were struggling and praying for God to grow our family through embryo adoption. And here we are now...What grace! They have been potty trained since February - WooHoo! Glad to be at the 3 year mark with that behind us now. :)

Abel: Talks non stop now! I recently reread their second birthday post and read how he could say words that weren't clear and definitely no sentences. What a change a year makes! He is all boy - loud and active! Belle entertains herself quietly while he continues to run around like a super hero. He is ALL about super heroes now...he doesn't play with cars, trains, trucks, planes or any other "boyish" toy...only super heroes!

Belle: All girl. She occasionally will play with her Disney princess dolls but is far more into playing dress up and cooking. She LOVES dressing up! Her favorite character is Hello Kitty (which is cool because HK was my favorite growing up too) but she likes all girly things: My Little Pony, Strawberry Shortcake, Lalaloopsy, Disney Princess, Minnie Mouse, etc. Oh and she got her ears pierced for her birthday - with Hello Kitty earrings! She is so proud :)

They are best friends and worst enemies. They are always either chatting away with each other or arguing - But always talking! It is a joy to watch their bond grow as they can communicate more.

Happy Birthday, Abel & Belle! We are so grateful to be your parents!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Abel & Belle!

Abel and Belle had a BLAST this year celebrating their birthday. I can only imagine how much fun they will have next year when they turn 3! They had their 2 year old check-up and shots on Tuesday. Below is what is going on with each of them.

Abel: Loves his Lovey, balls, cars, dogs, Veggietales, Mickey Mouse, Cat in the Hat, and playfully exercising his strength over his sister while she cries and he laughs. He is clearly all boy and while his sister joyfully pushes her dolls in a stroller, he rams his wagon against my kitchen table and house walls...over and over again (and I secretly love it!). His vocabulary has picked up a good bit in the number of words he says, but many words are not clear. He calls both mommy and a monkey "ma-he." Yes, mommy and monkey are one in the same ;)  I talked to the pediatrician about this and he still isn't worried about it. There is a chance he may have to attend speech therapy in the future, but for right now, this is still within normal for some two year olds. Abel used to love food. I mean love it! However, I noticed that for the past 2-3 months, he has become less interested in eating and more concerned with playing. I thought it must be a phase that would pass and Aaron nor I were too worried. However, his check-up showed that he is only in the 9th percentile for height and the 10th percentile for weight and he has only gained .4 lb in six months. The pediatrician said that he wasn't in the danger zone by any means, but would like him to begin drinking 1-2 bottles of Pediasure each day to help him grow since he isn't eating well. He also has recently been diagnosed with asthma and has to use two inhalers each day. The pediatrician said most toddlers grow out of this by the time they are 4, so Lord willing, he will too. Other than that, he is a happy and playful little boy who loves his family! He is always running to grab my legs to hug and kiss me. When Belle cries, he always brings her a toy to comfort her. When Belle is in time-out, he cannot stand to watch her sad so he brings her a toy too. Poor Abel also had to go into time-out for giving Belle a toy while she was in time-out because I warned him not to and he disobeyed anyway. So sad to be disciplined for loving your sister ;)

Belle: Loves her Lovey, dolls (finally!), dollhouses, tea cups, stuffed animals, blankets, Veggietales, Hello Kitty, Minnie Mouse and Strawberry Shortcake (she calls her "pancake."). It has really been fun to watch her become more of a little girl as of late. She has gone from liking gender neutral baby toys to little girl toys. She loves to tuck in her stuffed animals and dolls and put her hand to her mouth and tell everyone to "shh!" Her vocabulary has exploded and she can pretty much say anything she wants to. Her words are very clear. She hasn't really begun sentences yet, but she does say things like "Help me (which Abel says that too)," and a few other phrases that I can't think of right now. She saw a picture of me wearing my wedding dress and said "Princess Mommy!" Too sweet :) She is in the 30th percentile for both height and weight. She also has a mild case of asthma and we have an inhaler on hand but we don't use it everyday as we do for her brother.

Aaron and I love these two sweet children so much. I say it on almost every blog post, but it is just the truth. Every day, I look at them in awe and can't believe that God has given them to us. We are so blessed and thankful!

Happy 1st Birthday, Abel and Belle!!

Abel James and Belle Marie turned ONE on June 4th and had a party at my dad's house in SC on June 9th. We grilled out with hamburgers and hot dogs, ate lots of cake and ice cream and were blessed with many exciting new presents/toys. We all had a great time!

Please forgive me for not posting their birthday pictures sooner - life is crazy busy these days!

Sitting Up, Valentine's Day, My Birthday, and Pictures!

Abel and Belle are growing up so quickly now! They can both sit up alone and Belle is army crawling...soon to be real crawling. Both have cut the same 2 teeth on their bottom gums. They had their 2nd appointment with the Occupational Therapist last week (she meets with them every 4 months until their 1st birthday since they were born prematurely) and they are doing fantastic! Belle is developmentally at her birthage - between 7-8 months old. Abel is developmentally at his adjusted age - 6-7 months old. They are wearing 6-9 month clothing, in size 3 diapers, and eating grains, fruits, veggies, meats, snack puffs, yogurt, and pudding now...and drinking 25-30 oz of formula a day. They still struggle with reflux, especially Belle, but it has improved some since their newborn phase. Belle has been able to sleep in her crib since November now, which is a HUGE praise! They sleep 12 hours a night (which started at the end of November) and take about a 1-2 hour nap a day in their swings which they are quickly outgrowing! Below are 3 slideshows of Abel, Belle, and other festivities (photos taken by my talented sister, Grace). Since my birthday is on Valentine's Day, Aaron and I went on a date to Longhorn Steakhouse while our pastor and wife baby-sat the twins - what a gift they gave us! :) Sadly, Aaron is not in any of the pictures below because he had his Annual Physical Inventory at his store and worked all weekend so Abel, Belle, and I spent the weekend with my family and celebrated mine and my sister's birthdays. We are so blessed that God chose us to shepherd Abel and Belle...we love them so much and are so grateful for them!

   

   

   

Birthday, Baby Shower, and 16 Weeks

My sister, Grace, and me with our Baskin Robbins Ice Cream Cake!

This past week Aaron and I drove to Memphis, TN with my mom, sister and her boyfriend. My birthday is on February 14th (yes, I'm a Valentine's baby) and my sister's is on February 13th - I turned 26 and she turned 19. We have some relatives on our mom's side who live in Memphis, so we were blessed to be able to spend some time with them. We celebrated our birthdays and Aaron and I had our very first baby shower! We haven't registered yet, because we have been waiting to find out their genders so we could be color specific. But, we were showered with many gender-neutral items such as a baby bath, Diaper Genie Elite, swaddling clothes, bouncy seat, etc. My mom has bought me enough maternity clothes to last for the entire pregnancy and she bought me a twin nursing pillow. I intend to try and breastfeed, but if it doesn't work out that I'm able to, I will still use this pillow to hold them at the same time...it goes all the way around your body to give you back support. We were so grateful for my family's generosity and love for our babies.

I had my 16 week OB appointment today and saw one of the nurse-midwives. My belly measured 18 weeks, but the midwife said that is normal for twins. My blood pressure has been high for the past 3 appointments, so they started me on a prescription for high blood pressure. I'm not convinced that I have high blood pressure though, because I've always had "white coat syndrome" and get nervous at the doctor's office and my blood pressure is often high. At the dentist's office a couple of weeks ago, my blood pressure was normal (the dentist doesn't scare me like regular doctors do-lol). So, I told the midwife that I am probably just nervous and that is causing the high blood pressure. However, high blood pressure does run in my family and they felt it best to go ahead and give me a prescription. My urine sample showed sugar in an abnormal range, so I am having to have my glucose test next Thursday to check for Gestational Diabetes. I wasn't supposed to have this test until 24 weeks, but because of my urine sample, they want it done at 17 weeks. If it comes back that I don't have GD, I will still have the normally scheduled test at 24 weeks. But, if the test does show GD, I will have to go to a diabetic clinic for the remainder of my pregnancy. Praying that I don't have GD! My weight was right on track for a twin pregnancy and their heartbeats were in the 140's, so overall, I think all is continuing to go well. If I continue to have high blood pressure and am confirmed to have GD, I won't be the only pregnant girl who has ever had those issues, so I'm not too concerned.

We scheduled our BIG 20 week ultrasound for Thursday, March 17th at 2:15pm (St. Patrick's Day) - I will be so glad to finally know if I'm carrying boy/girl, boy/boy, or girl/girl twins. I have a hunch that I'm not carrying girl/girl, but hunches don't really mean too much. I will be putting a poll on the blog soon, so be sure to vote for your prediction! :)

My 25th Birthday

To our sweet babies,

Today I turned 25. I am quite confident that you are sitting in frozen storage right now as I write this and it breaks my heart. I wish that you were there with Daddy and me today as we celebrated my birthday (and Valentine's Day) over a delicious dinner. Beside our table was a young couple with a baby in a carrier...during the entire meal, we listened to her parents talk baby talk to her and how we wished that you were at our table too. Your daddy wrote me a very sweet letter last night that told me how grateful to God he was that he was able to pursue me and how grateful he is now that we are pursuing you together. We pray for you each day and know that some (or all) of you will never be at our dinner table, but we are fervently praying that God will allow for at least one of you to stick around earth with us so that we can raise you up in a saving knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. A lot can happen in a year...on my 24th birthday, we didn't even know we would actually be pursuing you (although we had thought about it before) and here we are exactly a year later with our first appointment already scheduled at the NEDC! We're praying that on my 26th birthday, you'll be at our dinner table to celebrate or in my womb growing and thriving rather than being frozen.

We love you (and we don't even know who you are yet)!
Mommy

Aaron's 28th Birthday!

Aaron & his Granddad sharing a Birthday Cake since their birthdays are only 5 days apart...

The Wilson Men

(I wish the parking lot wasn't in the background, but oh well...)