Today is the day our lives changed forever

4 years ago today - almost to the hour - our lives changed forever as Caden and Maggie entered the world.  Okay really our lives changed back on April 16, 2007 when we implanted two embryos who both decided they wanted to be part of our family but nothing prepared us for the day when we would become parents to these two little people.

Caden and Maggie entered the world at 10:38 and 10:39 PM on November 28, 2007 and our worlds changed for the better.
As I have said before we waited so long to become parents and to finally be able to see the babies I carried for 34 weeks was amazing.  I would love to say that holding you both was the best part but Caden, I didn't get to hold you for a  few days as you need some support in the NICU.  I did get to give you a kiss as the wonderful doctors took you out to get you going on your life.  Maggie, I was only able to hold you for a short time before you too needed the attention of the NICU doctors, fortunately for mommy you were there less than 16 hours so I got to have one baby with me at all times.  After all, we went through so much to finally have you I didn't want to let you two out of my sight.

I have to truly thank our support system who made you possible, from the family and friends who were there through the hard times of trying and then the support of finally turning to IVF, to Dr. Scheiber and the nurses, to Dr. Gardner - really all of the doctors at the practice - who made sure I was doing everything right to keep you safe and to finally Dr. Johnson who delivered you into this world and all of the nurses (including Aunt Nicole) and doctors at Good Sam who cared for you once you were here.  To our family and friends who provided support from day one of your lives and who continue to provide support after 4 years - I thank you - each and every one of you have made an impact in their lives and are making them better people for what you do.  They say it takes a village to raise children and that is for sure - our village is wonderful and I could not imagine not having you all in our lives.

Caden Joseph, you are growing into a young man.  You are so straight forward with what you think and say.  You have a big imagination and  you care about everyone and worry about everything.  You love deeply and you have passion for life and the things you enjoy.  You love to cuddle, you love your blanket and you continue to amaze me each day with what you know.

Maggie Lynne, you are blooming into such a beautiful little lady.  You have so much passion and love for many things but mainly life in general.  You remember everything.  You are smart and continue to amaze us each and every day.  You are tiny but love big.  You love your family and have endless energy.  You have an amazing imagination and can enter many worlds in one sitting.  You are sweet and kind.  You cannot wait to be 5 but please let's just be 4 for 364 more days.

You are two individual people who can be the best of friends or the worst of enemies but no matter what I know you love each other and could not have a better twin.  You miss each other when you are not together and would do anything to cheer the other when they are down.

Daddy and I are proud of who you are becoming.  I cannot believe it has been 4 years but it has been an amazing 4 years and I am looking forward to what the next 4 years will bring.

We love you and wish you the happiest of birthdays!

You chose a rainbow for your cupcakes and we made and decorated them!

You also picked an ice cream cake!



Making birthday wishes!

 

Birthday Surprises Bring Smiles!

Driving at 4!

 You had a ball for your birthday, from picking and making your cupcake treats to playing hard at Jump In, I think it is safe to say that it was a successful 4th birthday!

Just fitting for me today....

I am not one who will steal someone's facebook post and copy to my own but today I saw this from a friend who has a house full of girls and I just love it and it is very fitting as we prepare to host the family tonight for a little pre-Thanksgiving fun.

Dirty dishes prove I feed my family. Full trash can means I clean up after them. Messy floors mean I let my children have fun. Pile of unfolded laundry means I keep my family in clean clothes. Wet bathroom means my kids took a bath!

So the next time you walk into my house and see a "mess", please think twice before you judge. If you come over to see us, come on in...if you're coming over to see my house please make an appointment. Keep this going if you're a busy parent!

So fitting for me right now as I sit 37 miles from home and think of all of the things I would like to be doing around my house so that it isn't a complete disaster when the McCool cousins arrive but you know what, I am going to sit here and enjoy my hummus lunch and my little blog session and REMEMBER TO BREATHE!  They are family for a reason and they know that fun awaits so I think they can overlook the mess of toys, the dust that I will not get to even in 3 weeks and the laundry that is NEVER complete. 

Thank you to Mary for sharing - it is one of my favorite posts ever! 

I hope you all feel the same way and get to enjoy your family and friends this Thanksgiving after all, it is what I am thankful for and I sure will - the dishes can wait!

The things they are thankful for....

This week Caden and Maggie had the opportunity to bring in pictures and photos of the things that which they are thankful.  Being that they are almost 4, I was not sure what to expect but I have to tell you they did a really great job telling Matt and I what they wanted pictures of for their posters.

So here are their list:
Caden is thankful for:

• Baseball
• Toy Story
• Ice Cream
• Race Cars
• His Family 
• Lightning McQueen

Maggie is thankful for:

• Flowers
• Colorful feathers
• Ballet shoes
• Ballerinas
• My Family - those were her words
• Cupcakes
• Princesses

I love the way these two look at the world.  They have the simple things figured out.  While I know that life will not always be simple to them, I am sure glad that they are seeing the world through their own eyes right now and that just about everything is beautiful. 

I am thankful that I am their mom!

The Blessing of a New Baby! Happy Birthday Abby!

Yesterday some very dear friends were blessed with a beautiful baby girl. 
Miss Abigail Taylor entered the world at 8:31 PM weighing in at 5lbs 4oz and 19.5 inches long. 
She has a head FULL of beautiful black hair and is just the most precious thing ever.  I still have to work on convincing her mom that the head full of hair requires an obnoxiously large bow or flower but even without she is just gorgeous.

Matthew and I were able to visit at lunch today and the proud, first time parents are doing great.   Miss Abby is super sweet and I was lucky enough to get to snuggle her for a few moments today.  Just too precious. 

To Scott and Megan, congratulations, you two did great work on her.  We are so lucky to have you 3 in our lives and thank you for letting us visit today. 
To Abby - the 4 McCool kids CANNOT wait to meet you.  Caden and Maggie are developing plans of their own on how they will play with her once she is big enough to play!  It happens to involve some racing with Caden and dress up with Maggie. 

Happy Birthday Abby and Welcome!



Patiently waiting Parents to Be!



The Happy New Family

 

Proud Daddy



Aunt Z and Momma with Miss Abby















And to Brandy - nice job on the photos - lots of memories were captured that I could easily "borrow"

The Precious Moments of Life

I am continuously amazed by my children and this past weekend was no different.  The simple everyday moments with them are the ones that amaze me the most.

Sunday I gave up my Bengals ticket so that my mother in law could go watch her loved Steelers in person and that meant time with my kiddos, which I love.  So as I was sitting there with Caden and Maggie, we were watching the Bengals and Steelers play. Caden who, god love him has been brain washed by his Memaw Jo, was cheering for the Steelers and giving me a run for my money on who was cheering on their team more.  He is sitting there wearing his jersey, saying they are going to win and really just cracking me up that he has passion to cheer on a team who he would have never had known if it wasn't for his Memaw Jo. 
We watched the first half together then Mallory decides to join the party, well he got her to cheer with him.  So there I am laying on the couch with 3 kids sitting on top of me, 2 of them cheering for the Steelers, me cheering for the Bengals and 1 - Miss Maggie - just cheering for the "people".  It was a beautiful and amazing moment.  I asked Maggie who the "people" were and she said, "you know - those people" pointing to the TV - I guess she was cheering for both teams and their supporters too! 

Cale wasn't to be left out - he eventually woke from his nap and got in some snuggle with mommy time.  He thinks I am very good at pushing play on the DVD so that we can watch a movie together, right now Toy Story 3 and Curious George are our favorites.  Laughter was all around us this weekend as we watched these movies and the kids act them out with their own toys and to hear the monkey sounds of Cale and Mallory are just priceless. 

Later in the day on Sunday, as the tag team of Caden and Maggie emerged to get mommy to cave on what they wanted to do, Maggie proceeds to tell me, "mom, you are an awesome mommy"  I think it was because I got their game down for them but either way hearing it come from her was heartwarming.  And yet those two amazed me by playing nicely together for an hour then picking up their game and asking me to put it away for them. 

Then just yesterday as Caden, Mallory and I are driving home from Connor's basketball game - which he won and played great at, Way To Go RED! - Caden says to me,"mommy, I want to get an After Burner Monster truck for my birthday and Christmas, you know the one we saw when we went to get toys for the kids who don't have any" my heart melted.  At work we are collecting for Operation Christmas Child, which delivers a shoebox size of gifts to children who may otherwise have nothing for Christmas.  I decided this year to involve Caden and Maggie in this process, I really did not think that the meaning would sink in for them as Matt and I took all 4 kids with us to purchase some items, it was just chaos and took everything we had to just get out of the store.  But my little man proved me wrong - he got it and I couldn't be prouder of him.  Yes he maybe asking for something for himself but he knows that there are children out there who don't have toys and who don't have the things that he does.  I can only hope that this is the beginning of the many teachings I want to share with my children about doing things for others. 

Yesterday those precious moements hit me and made me stop to think about our many moments lately, so today as I finish up my lunch I had to take a minute and reflect on what is truly the precious moments of life... 
It is the everyday things that my children continue to teach me that make it just an amazing honor to be lucky enough to be their parent.  It is their love and laughter that sends smiles to your face and warmth to your heart.  It is knowing that they are learning and watching you everyday.  It is knowing that they are becoming amazing people.  It is knowing love!  Thank you my babies, thank you.