Happy birthday, Papaw Marty!

Stella Louise loves Papaw's lasagna!

THREE YEARS ago today...

Three years ago today, was one of the happiest and scariest days of our lives. We were finally going to be able to take our tiny babies home! The girls weighed less than 5 pounds! They were barely eating on their own and had to be layered in clothes and blankets to keep their body heat up. After 11 weeks filled with joy and fear, we started a new journey!
The last three years have been pretty amazing. We have had our fair share of disappointment and fear, but we have also had some amazing victories! When we left the hospital we weren't sure if Emerson would ever be able to see...she can! With 25 week preemies, I knew that that we could easily have children with lifelong disabilities...we don't! We didn't know how we could afford for me to stay home with the girls, but we knew that the girls needed their mommy to be home with them...we survived! When it was time for me to go back to work, we found an amazing daycare for our girls! God has provided for us! We have so much to be thankful for this year!

"No, Sissy, that's my baby Jesus!"

We decided to put all of our Christmas decorations and lights up this weekend since varsity basketball starts in one week. (I am always looking for a reason to decorate early!) The girls enjoyed helping us with the indoor decorations yesterday, and they were thrilled to get to play with their Little People Nativity Set again. Well, that is until they realized that they would have to share baby Jesus! James and I laughed so hard when they were arguing and fighting over baby Jesus. It seems like there is something fundamentally wrong with not being able to share baby Jesus with your sister! Luckily, Target has the Nativity sets on sale this week, and Mamaw Ruth is going to get us a second set! The girls will never have to share baby Jesus again!
The picture above is the girls helping us hang Christmas lights outside. They played in the leaves while James and I worked on the lights. Grandpa Fred and Nonni gave us their lights last year, so we had more than enough lights! It may seem kind of silly to put up more Christmas lights on one the busiest years of our lives, but the girls like it! (Although, I'm not very hopeful that we will have time to take the lights down before Spring!)

Dinner with Mamaw and Papaw!

Mamaw Ruth and Papaw Marty took us to Donatelli's for dinner after church tonight. It was fantastic! The girls had fettuccine and loved it!

Dinner with Mamaw and Papaw continued...

James asked Stella if she liked her fettuccine, and she said, "Daddy, they are noodles!"

Snuggie-rific!

Aunt Cindy with the girls!

Uncle Al with the girls!

Surgery Update

The anesthesiologist called Stella a "silly drunk" after she was sedated. This is a video of James messing with Stella before surgery.

Okay, this is what we know:
Stella's adenoids were fine, but that doesn't explain the snoring/open mouth breathing. Her ears were really dirty, and the doctor had to clean them before he put her tubes in. The doctor recommended that we put Stella back on Prevacid (instead of Zantac) because he thinks that the problems with her ears might be from GERD (Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease.) He also recommended that we move forward with allergy testing. If we don't get her ear problems under control, it could cause permanent damage. If we don't get the snoring/open mouth breathing under control, Stella could end up needing reconstructive surgery on her nose and face because it is causing facial abnormalities. Stella was not as violent when she woke up from the anesthesia, but she was very unhappy.
Emerson had a difficult time coming out of the anesthesia, but she did fine otherwise. This was her first surgery (Stella's third.) Emerson's ears were also in rough shape and needed to be cleaned out before they could put her tubes in. Emerson doesn't have a problem with GERD or open mouth breathing, so the doctor recommended that we proceed with the allergy testing for Emerson. Our follow up appointment is in 4 weeks, and we will have their hearing tested again then.
James and I both had a really busy week, and we are so happy that this surgery is behind us. I had presentations in both of my classes on Wednesday night, and I survived! James also found out that his portfolio "passed" so it looks like he will be finishing up his Masters in December. Varsity basketball practice also started this week, and James had to keep the girls with him at practice while I was at class on Wednesday! He said that trying to coach with Stella on his hip was fun!
I was so busy trying to get through this week that I completely forgot that we are celebrating Thanksgiving with my family this weekend! Uncle Al, Aunt Cindy, and Michelle are all coming up from Alabama, and Eric, Brandi, and Ruthi will all be here from Colorado! It is going to be a fantastic weekend. We all have so much to be thankful for!
Finally, I want to thank everyone for the prayers and thoughts this week.

Stella sedated

Stella has been sedated. She will go first. Hopefully it won't be too much longer.

Surgery Day.

The girls are in great moods. They aren't even complaining about being hungry! Our nurse was a secretary in the nicu at Boone when the girls were there! It's great to be able to show them off to people who knew them when they weren't healthy and strong.

November 10th, 2010

I finally got the call from the hospital to give me the girls' surgery time for tomorrow. We have to be at the hospital at 6:15AM, and they will go into surgery between 7:30 and 8:00. I usually don't get home from class until 11pm on Wednesday nights, so it will most definitely be a short night for me. Please keep our family in your thoughts and prayers tomorrow morning. We will post updates when the girls are out of surgery.