I think things are falling into place. I am enjoying every single moment with these babies. To think that these will be the last makes me kinda sad! I look at them and see so much of the love of God. They are perfect and peaceful for the most part. We are getting ready for the holidays and are in awe of these two new additions. I think it gives Steve anxiety!!! Today Isaiah gets out early from school and Ashlyn and I have made sugar cookie dough so we can make special cookies with him and enjoy this great time of year. I love all that goes with christmas and I love having a house full of kids to share this with. I love the idea of the babies being 5 years behind the other two so it will always be an exciting time. You never know we may need to add another one in 5 more years LOL! Now that really gives steve anxiety. I am so thankful and I truly feel blessed beyond measure at this point in my life. I love my husband and children and I am looking forward to the ministry ahead. I miss that part of my life and I am gearing up to jump back into it. I have been reading in Jeremiah and I have to say I am enjoying the time God is spending with me. There is a tearing down and a building up process that God takes us through throughout our lives. I think I have been in the tearing down and about to start the rebuilding process. I think sometimes in all the doing in ministry we lose God. Not our love for Him or our desire to serve Him but our intimate relationship with Him. I am thankful for the break and I am excitedly looking forward to the getting back in it. I am not sure exactly what that will look like with the new additions in our family but I am ready to check it out. I feel such an overwhelming sense of Joy in my life and I owe all of you who  pray for me a big THANK YOU for that because I know it is only through prayers and the Grace of God that I am still sane! Well, that is my heart and my thoughts for today. Hopefully I will be back tomorrow but you never do know. I am enjoying my babies right now.

A month ago today I gave birth to two beautiful little girls, Hope and Grace. They were and are still so very tiny. It was a very emotional time and exciting time together. I was not ready that is for sure. My doctor had told me that friday that I would not deliver early. She told me I would deliver on my scheduled c-section date which was Nov. 3rd. You can imagine how surprised I was when The next morning sometime around 3 am I started having contractions and such. I called her that morning around 9 am to let her know what was going on and she said she would not stop labor if it happened and just see how things progress. I was okay all day saturday. Sunday morning I woke up with cracker-barrel on my mind. I wanted one good meal just in case. Boy was I right. We took the kids to breakfast and enjoyed our time with them not knowing this would be our last meal together as a family of 4. We then hopped over to target to get the things I needed for the hospital JUST IN CASE! That is where it all began. At 11:20 am they started, contractions that is, in the boys clothing section. They continued on through the toy isles and the check out. They were coming 10 min apart for 4 hours and all the sudden jumped to 2-5 minutes apart. I thought they would go away but boy was I wrong. So we headed for the hospital around 4 in the afternoon and they just got stronger. They got me all hooked up and they were like 2-3 minutes apart. They gave me shots to stop labor but the nurses said it was like giving me water so needless to say the contractions kept coming. They gave me some crazy drugs to relax me and they made me sleep and sleep. The contractions never did slow down and I never did dilate. The Doctor on call did not want to deliver me because I was only 34 weeks pregnant with twins and she did not want to be liable if something happened so I labored until 12 noon the next day when my Doctor c-sectioned me. What an ordeal. I had an awful nurse for the delivery. She made me walk to my c-section contracting and drugged. She was nasty to me from the get go. She told me that there was a good chance my girls would end up at a different hospital and I would be stuck there. She acted like it was my fault I was in labor. Other then her the nursing staff was fantastic. We were in the hospital for 12 days. I was able to stay with the girls in a private room which was very nice. 

Enough about that! 

Hope was born first at 12:28 p.m. weighing only 3 pounds 12 ounces and 15 1/2 inches long. She was and is so little. She was great never needed oxygen or anything. She did drop down to 3 pounds 4 ounces so we were waiting on her to pack on the pounds so we could go home. She left the hospital weighing 3 pounds 10 ounces. She has hit the 4 pound mark now but we are not sure how much because she has her legs casted to fix her club feet. She is a sweet angel baby. She only cries when she is hungry. She loves to be held and she loves to snuggle up next to her baby sister.

Grace was born second at 12:29 p.m. weighing 4 pounds 7 ounces and 18 inches long. She had a fight in front of her. She ended up on oxygen and IV fluids for 5 days. She spent her first week or so in the  nursery. I was not able to hold her until day 5 and that was only for a short time because she was hooked up to monitors and Iv’s and stuff. After a good fight She was able to come to my room the last couple of days before we went home. She dropped her weight also to 3 pounds 15 ounces but when we went home she was 4 pounds 2 ounces. She is now doing great weighing 5 pounds 5 ounces and is so sweet. She is the easier of the two . She is very laid back and fusses only when she gets hungry. 

I can’t believe it has been a month. The time has gone by so fast. I wish there was a button for slow motion. Ashlyn and Isaiah are getting use to the girls and our new family size. Ashlyn has been having the most difficult time. She has been the baby for just about 5 years so I have to give her a little slack. Thank you to all that have been praying for us. We are so blessed and thankful for these babies.