Think I'll get tired of answering that question in the next 24 days? Our little elves helped pick out and decorate our tree over the weekend. So now I have to convince the girls to patiently wait for the next 4 weeks to pass before we get a visit from Santa. I've got my work cut out for me....shopping, baking, wrapping, christmas cards, trying to keep all the ornaments on the tree instead of hanging off a 4 year old's arm like a fancy bracelet, and trying not to gain 10 pounds eating all the Christmas cookies. I'm exhausted already.

I guess taking rides in a wagon that is hooked to Evan's 4- wheeler is much more fun than going to the park.

We took a long walk with the kids and Evan showed us some of their favorite hiking spots. It was a cool, crisp morning and we tried to bundle up the kids as best as we could, but nobody ever listens to their mother so the hats, gloves, and scarfs were thrown off half way there.

The girls playing "follow the leader" with Evan. He loves being the older and wiser kid in the group!

After lots of scaring their mothers half to death thinking they were going to roll down the hill moments, we convinced the kids into walking back home. Of course, Evan and Lissy found each other.




And then the girls found the puddles. We had managed to avoid them for the most part on the way there. On the way back it was a totally different story. Since nobody ever listens to their mother they stomped and splashed without any thought about falling INTO the puddles. Believe me, I warned them.

Here are the last puddles on our way out to the street and of course, this is where the girls met their match. I didn't get any pictures of them actually falling into the puddles because I was too busy telling them "I told you so."


Makena was soaking wet, but still managed to ride her bike home crying the whole way.

This video only captures a small part of the chaos that was our walk back home. Fun times!

My girls were born at 25 weeks, 1 day weighing between 1.6 and 1.11 pounds. They were frighteningly small and were faced with physical hurdles that were terrifying to think of. Some of the terms that we became familiar with included Patent Ductus Arteriosis (PDA), Blood transfusion, Chronic Lung Disease, Retinopathy of Prematurity, Apnea, and Bradychardia.

Looking back at pictures from their first days in the NICU takes my breath away because the girls were so fragile. It almost feels like those days we spent in the NICU were a dream and too life-changing of an experience to put into words.

But we were the lucky ones. Our girls survived.

Alyssa



Makena



Riley

Our happy, healthy, miracle girls!

We are so thankful for organizations like the March of Dimes who raise millions of dollars every year to fund research to raise awareness, help prevent prematurity and aid in developing medical advances that will help save babies.

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Playing with those princess toys sure does make you sleepy!

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Is anyone surprised that the first question I heard this morning at 6:45 a.m. was, "Mommy, can I play with my candy?"

Uh huh.....me either.
I know I'm in good company with that scenario!