Love This!

This made me smile, and I had to share! Shout out to my mommy friends of preemies or have had a baby stay in the NICU...:)

How Preemie Moms Are Chosen
(Adapted from Erma Bombeck)

Did you ever wonder how the mothers of premature babies are chosen?
Somehow, I visualize God hovering over Earth, selecting his instruments
for propagation with great care and deliberation. As he observes, he instructs his angels to take notes in a giant ledger.

"Beth Armstrong, son. Patron Saint, Matthew. Marjorie Forrest, daughter.
Patron Saint, Celia. Carrie Rutledge, twins. Patron Saint ... give her Gerard.
He's used to profanity."

Finally, he passes a name to an angel and smiles. "Give her a preemie."
The angel is curious. "Why this one, God? She's so happy."
"Exactly," smiles God. "Could I give a premature baby a mother who knows no laughter? That would be cruel."

"But does she have the patience?" asks the angel.
"I don't want her to have too much patience, or she'll drown in a sea of self-pity and despair. Once the shock and resentment wear off, she'll handle it. I watched her today. She has that sense of self and independence so rare and so necessary in a mother. You see, the child I'm going to give her has a world of its own. She has to make it live in her world, and that's not going to be easy. She has just the right amount of selfishness."

The angel gasps, "Selfishness?! Is that a virtue?"
God nods. "If she can't separate herself from the child occasionally, she will never survive. Yes, here is a woman whom I will bless with a child less than perfect. She doesn't know it yet, but she is to be envied. She will never take for granted a spoken word. She will never consider a step ordinary. When her child says 'mama' for the first time, she will be witness to a miracle and know it.

I will permit her to see clearly the things I see – ignorance, cruelty, prejudice – and allow her to rise above them. She will never be alone. I will be at her side every minute of every day of her life because she is doing my work as surely as she is here by my side."

"And what about her Patron Saint?" asks the angel, his pen poised in the air.

God smiles. "A mirror will suffice."

Birthdays and Valentine's Day!

At our house, February is like Christmas all over again with the many birthdays of our friends and family. Too many to name, but you know who you are! :)

This past weekend was our birthday blitz, with mine on the 13th and Vince's today (Happy Birthday Vince!), and Valentine's Day right in the middle. Oh, and a Happy Birthday today also my Mom, our niece Shilo and my friend Beth. My Dad's is on the 17th, my Uncle's is on the 18th, my friend Sarah's is on the 20th...it doesn't stop, but it's so much fun!

We went out to dinner at Celebration restaurant on my birthday, and it was a little late for Emmaline and Owen, so we had to hold them the entire dinner. They loved it, especially smiling and making faces at the other diners (who luckily loved it back!).

For Vince's birthday today, we met him for lunch, which really excited the kids, and Owen once again wanted out of his car seat so he could have a look around. I think our days of them sleeping in their car seat while we're at a restaurant are over!

Vince had flowers sent to me and Emmaline (awwwwww) for Valentine's Day, and we took a few cute pictures of Emmaline with hers. She was hilarious. Vince sat her on the couch and she had her hands politely on her knees until he brought her the bouquet. When she saw it, she threw one arm open for him to put the bouquet and when he did, she wrapped her arm around it! I wish I had had the video camera ready!

Our Valentine's Day flowers from Vince/Daddy.

Owen yells when he's happy, so we just had to take this picture!

Owen: "Hey guys, I'm worried Emmaline is going to crash into me..."

Emmaline: "I am going to laugh SO hard if I crash into Owen..."

"That's right, these are my flowers. They belong to ME. Mine. They're mine."

"Our Valentine's Day PJs from Grammy are the best!"

"Look out, we're scooting around! Crawling is right around the corner Mom! Hee hee hee."

Cute tummy time picture of Emmaline.

"Look, I'm scooting backwards!"

"I'm surrounded by toys, this is the life."

Six Month Photos

Emmaline and Owen had their six month photos taken today, and it was so hard to pick out of about 100 shots which to print! I took a few pictures from the CD and posted below, and unfortunately was "locked" by the photographer from rotating them (I'm obviously having issues with rotating pics and videos lately!). I also took a picture of their sweet outfits this morning. Definitely a keepsake!

Addicted to the Flip Video

Seriously, I cannot stop taking videos with that thing, and you would think my kids would be used to it by now! When they do something cute (which is, hello, ALL of the time), I grab it as quickly as I can and Emmaline becomes mesmerized and plays statue almost immediately (see unexpected exception playing in jumper below). Owen, however, doesn't seem to notice and I wish his sister would do the same!

Oh, and to listen to my kids yell in the videos, you can turn down the music at the bottom of the screen in the playlist graphic.

So, for your viewing pleasure are a few of the latest riveting videos of my children. Cinematic brilliance.

Happy Six Month Birthday Owen and Emmaline!

Has it really been six months?! Owen and Emmaline are growing, growing, growing, so I couldn't wait to find out their progress at their six month check up, which was yesterday.

Emmaline: Weight 14 lbs, 12 oz (25th percentile)...Length 25 1/2 inches (45th percentile)...Head 16 1/2 (35th percentile)

Owen: Weight 16 lbs, 4 oz (25th percentile)...Length 26 1/4 inches (45th percentile)...Head 17 1/4 (50th percentile)

As usual, the shots were NO fun, and since they turned six months they were eligible for a flu shot, which their mean parents agreed to go ahead and add to the other three boosters they are required to have. Poor Emmaline was pretty grumpy today, so I'm blaming the flu shot! She went to bed an hour earlier than usual this evening, and looked grateful to be doing so.

Vince took last week off, and we had a relaxing time. He worked on putting the backsplash up in our kitchen, and we took the babies on a few trips to walk around the Arboretum in the unseasonably warm weather. Since he's been going to Houston so much, it's been impossible for me to get out in the evenings with friends on weeknights. So I went to dinner one night and to a Junior League Happy Hour another...yippee! Vince did a great job putting both babies to bed by himself on those nights, which I think should be considered a sport, the delicate balance of one person keeping both babies happy during the bedtime routine is so fragile! :)

Owen and Emmaline are able to sit up now with assistance, and love playing in their excersaucer and jumper. We also introduced vegetables with their rice cereal last week, and peas are definitely not a favorite. So, I moved on to sweet potatoes today, which was embraced by Owen, but Emmaline shot me a few not-so-polite faces. I couldn't help but laugh!

Emmaline plays statue most of the time for the camera now! She was cracking up pretty loudly right before I took this...

"C'mere frog, I'm going to cover you in drool!"

A baby activity stand-off.

Again, Emmaline freezing for the camera.

Owen: "Ha, my hand is on your side!"

Emmaline: "Ho hum, I need more excitement in my life. What is he saying again about his hand?"

"Check it out, we're touching feet!"

"Excuse me Cook, but what will we be having today?"

"These straps must be here to keep me from bolting after I see the peas."

They're Gonna Put Me in the Movies...

Happy 2010! We bought a video camera right after Christmas, and it's just been addicting! Luckily, we had it for a milestone for Owen and Emmaline, their first time to eat rice cereal (which, I have to say, smells pretty awful, so I don't blame Emmaline one bit for her unenthusiastic reaction!).



My sister also visisted last week, which was so much fun for us, and a big help to me since both babies had colds and we had to make a visit to the pediatrician last week. They were both diagnosed with "its a cold, and there is nothing I can give them, you're just going to have to wait it out." With that, we all headed to Northpark Mall, which I have decided is one of the Happiest Places on Earth.

Vince was in Houston for the week, so Lisa also helped me out with twin bedtime. We had just put Emmaline in her crib and I had finished feeding Owen in the living room, when we realized Owen and Emmaline were talking to each other through the baby monitor! It was hysterical! Lisa got some of it on video (I haven't yet figured out how to rotate the video, so you may have to instead rotate your computer!).

Babies First (White) Christmas

Owen and Emmaline celebrated their first Christmas last week, and while it probably wasn't memorable for them :), it definitely was for us! We made it to Vince's Dad's home in Hydro, Oklahoma last Wednesday night and woke up to what the news creatively named "Blizzard 2009." It was windy, white, and cold cold cold! Since we were snowed into Hydro and snowed out of Norman (where my family celebrates), my family rescheduled for that Saturday. It was short, but at least we were able to spend time together.

Owen and Emmaline received so many wonderful gifts, and are having fun playing with them this week. Vince's dad (Papa) bought them each their first pair of leather cowboy boots, which I need to take a picture of to post. I had no idea boots came in such tiny sizes! My mom (Grandma) gave them, among other things, a wiener dog toy that moves and barks to encourage crawling. The babies love him, but Ella definitely was not amused!

We took so many cute pictures, and I've picked my favorites below.

Santa's lap...score!

Emmaline with friends Laura and Trey's daughter, Riley.

Lisa (Sarah's sister) smiling through Owen's yells.
"Aunt Lisa, you can call me Crankypants...Owen Crankypants."

Owen and Emmaline, look at the camera! Hey-eeee, look at the camera!

Look at mommy acting like a fool! Look, look!

"Ha, I knew you'd blink before me!"

"Oh...my...gosh, will Santa be able to make it in this blizzard?! I need answers now!"

"Hey, I'm cute!"