9 months...

From this...


July 2009

Jozie (l) Kealie (r)

To This...

April 2010

Jozie Reed


April 2010

Kealie Jean



9 months ago, I fell in LOVE...twice!




***and happy FIRST birthday KNR! I love you very much too!***

My Helper

I was babysitting one afternoon and had just started dinner when the babies were ready to eat. I asked Tyler and Rachel to feed them. Tyler said no thank and Rachel swore she could feed both of them herself. And, you know what? She did!

Kealie (l) Rachel and Jozie (r)
10/5/09

These picture is from a while ago, but I love how eager Rachel was to help and I wanted to show off her skills!

Kealie (l) Rachel and Jozie (r)
10/5/09

Fight for Preemies!

Do you know a baby that was born too soon, too small, unable to suck, unable to breathe on his own? Premature birth is a health crisis that jeopardizes the lives and health of nearly half-million babies each year. It is the #1 killer of newborns and can lead to lifelong disabilities. Worse: the number has increased 31 percent since 1981. It can happen without warning and for no known reason. Until we have more answers, anyone’s baby, could be born too soon.

I have always known that the March of Dimes was an amazing organization, but their services hit close to home this year.

On July 21, 2009, my beautiful nieces Jozie and Kealie were born one month early.

Jozie entered the world at a "strapping" 5 pounds 6 ounces.

While Miss Kealie chose to sport a more petite 4 pounds 2 ounces.

They were so tiny. Unreal! The girls spent 9 (J) and 11 (K) days in the NICU.

Seeing the girls for the first time. It was so hard not to be able to hold them!


The next day.
The twins and their mama.
I got to hold and feed the babies this day!


Bed sharing in the NICU.
"We are headed in the right direction, Sis!"

I made many visits to the NICU during their stay. Jozie and Kealie received amazing care and came home rather quickly. We were so happy to welcome them home so soon and truly relieved that they were such strong and healthy girls!

Today, Jozie and Kealie are almost 4 months old! They are stubborn still strong and healthy girls. They have big personalities and wear this old aunt of theirs out! I love them so much!

Jozie 10/14/09

Kealie 10/14/09

Sadly, not all preemies are so lucky. They are born much smaller and with many more special needs. Thanks to the March of Dimes and medical advances, even the tiniest of these babies are given a chance of survival. Yet for many babies premature birth is still a life or death condition. It’s the #1 cause of death during the first month of life. And babies who survive face serious health challenges and risk lifelong disabilities.

The rate of premature birth has never been higher. In half the cases, we simply don’t understand what went wrong. We need to fight for answers. And, ultimately, preventions.

November 17 is dedicated to raising awareness of the crisis of premature birth. The March of Dimes invited bloggers like me to get involved. You can help too!

• Learn about premature birth at marchofdimes.com/fightforpreemies
• Put a badge on your blog during November, Prematurity Awareness Month®
• On November 17, blog for a baby you love and to help others

We need to fight ― because babies shouldn’t have to.

Just Pictures...

Happy Labor Day Weekend!

My birthday...

was Monday. I am 32. Sadly I can now honestly answer questions that begin, "remember 20 years ago?"

Sunday night my mom made me a yummy birthday dinner and I got some lovely presents from my siblings.

On Monday, Jim took me to lunch at my favorite Mexican restaurant. We had dinner at Red Robin when Tyler got home from practice. I got some more lovely presents from Jim and Tyler.

On Tuesday, I'd like to say I did something productive, but that would be a lie. I did nothing all day!

On Wednesday, I got to babysit the twins! I was so happy!

Hanging out at Aunt Jen's!

Sisters playing nicely!

Miss Jozie Reed, laid-back lady

Little Miss Kealie Jean, Drama Queen

Tuckered out!

Thursday was another wasted day. I have absolutely nothing to show for those 24 hours!

Today, Jim and I put together my birthday presents from my Mom and Dad.

Aren't they nice?!?!

Feel free to come have a sit on my porch anytime!

Tonight, Michelle, Josh and the babies are coming over for dinner and one more slice of cake to celebrate my birthday!

I hope you all have a great weekend! I hope I can get back into the swing of blogging more regularly next week.

Structure

I hate to be the mom that wishes for school to start, but...
I can't wait for school to start!

I don't mind my kids being home all day, but they get bored and they just sit around and look at me all day. They pretend to be interested in Days of Our Lives just so they can sit in front of the TV! I don't know why they won't play outside. We've had great weather and they have bikes and scooters.

R and M being bored.

The main reason I'm ready for school to start is the structure. I love a schedule! When school is in session, I can get my day started earlier. I plan dinners and activities. Everyone takes regular showers and goes to bed at a reasonable hour!

Cross country practice starts this afternoon and school starts two weeks from tomorrow. I made all the kids go to bed at 12:30 last night. I even had everyone up and out of bed by 1:00!

On the baby front, the twins are still in the hospital. They are out of NICU and sharing a bed. We are just waiting for them to eat more and keep gaining some weight. I think Michelle and Josh get to stay at the hospital with them tonight. I can't wait for them to be home. I know how hard this has been on Michelle! Please keep them in your thoughts.

Baby Love!

Jozie Reed
born
July 21, 2009
9:39 am
5 lbs. 6 oz.
18 in. long

Kealie Jean
born
July 21, 2009
9:46 am
4 lbs. 2 oz.
17.5 inches long

Jozie and Kealie have moved out of their incubators and are expected to graduate from the NICU today! They are growing and progressing very well and will be home before we know it! And yes, I have been at the hospital everyday since they were born!

Busy and Happy!

Last week at this time I was cooped up in the family truckster heading back to the KY. This week, I am getting ready to hop back in the family truckster and head on over to the hospital.

Why the hospital? Well, to visit my twin nieces, of course!

Jozie and Kealie were born Tuesday morning. Yes, they are a little early. Jozie is 5 pounds 6 oz. and Kealie is 4 pounds 2 oz. They are currently residing in the NICU, but are progressing hourly and aren't expected to spend very long there.

My house is a wreck! I feel like we came home from vacation dropped our bags and haven't stopped since. In reality, I unpacked all day Thursday. Friday was Jimmy's birthday. Saturday I spent the day in my pajamas and did laundry all day. Unfortunately, that laundry is still sitting in my bedroom unfolded! On Sunday, I went to my sister's to check out the babies' room and visit with the very pregnant girl! We had dinner together and said our goodbyes. I planned to accompany her to a doctor's appointment on Thursday.

Monday was Jim's birthday. I planned to wake up early and make my sweet husband breakfast in bed. As I was preparing for the day, I received a phone call from Michelle that she had been admitted to the hospital and the babies would be born sooner than expected! Of course, Jim was understanding and told me to head to the hospital. He's had 40 other birthdays and wasn't too excited about celebrating anyway!

I headed to the hospital and the decision was made to have the babies on Tuesday. After making sure Michelle was comfotable and taken care of I came home to have Jim's birthday celebration. He had a lovely steak dinner on the patio and we ended the day watching some DVDs he got.

Tuesday I had dentist appointments. Michelle and I figured the babies would not make their entrance to the world until later in the afternoon so I did not cancel my appointments. Well, when I got out of the dentist chair, I had 4 missed calls and two new nieces! I spent the rest of the day at the hospital and got to visit the NICU twice! The girls are beautiful!

Today, I am cleaning my house and catching up on errands. I might even fold that laundry!

We are so excited about the new addition to our family! Please keep Michelle and her daughters in your prayers. Oh and feel free to check out Michelle's blog and give her your best wishes!

Mama Michelle!

TGIF!

Whew! What a busy few days this has been! This end of the school year crunch is always so busy.

The kids are working on their final big projects for the year. Wednesday was the girls' Spring Choir Concert. It was actually really good. I wish I would have brought my camera and caught a short video. Among other things, they sang a sampling of songs from "Mama Mia!" I must admit, I do love ABBA and so does Kitty! She heard "Dancing Queen" years ago and fell in love. I gave her a CD of their greatest hits and there are many, many days that I hear that CD blaring from her room!

I have been busy with my PTA commitments. I seem to have the easiest jobs throughout the school year, but come May, I have so much work! I chair the 8th grade Dance Committee, plan the End of they Year Teachers Luncheon and pick up teacher of the year gifts and retirement gifts. Add in the fact that I'm always there to help my good friend, Madame President Brenda, attend extra meetings, field days and lunches. We just found out on Wednesday that the PTA is supposed to provide lunch for field day on the last day of school! What?!? That was news to both of us!

I have also been fighting the peer pressure to be the PTA President next year. We have had no one step up to do so and there is are a lot of requests for me to do so. I'm so glad that I am so busy right now. Otherwise, I might forget how hard things can get and say Yes! I enjoy my free time to do things around my house and run errands at my own pace.

And finally, I get to plan the twins' Michelle's baby shower for June 7.

You know that girl really needs to plan her life a little better with my schedule. Last year she got married in June and added to my end of year crunch. Now this year she goes and has a couple of babies?!? Good thing she's my sister...and best friend! All I ask is that you have the twins on August 17 and we'll call it even. Can you handle that?

OK...off I go for another day of errands. I might even get my hair cut today! I've been trying to fit that in for weeks!

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