Christmas 2008

It's hard to believe that Christmas holiday has already come and gone. Steven and I had a wonderful few days with our families. We stayed with my mom and dad in Farm Life accompanied by my brother and Nana. Christmas in the Griffin household was very calm and not rushed. We ate good food, spent quality time together and of course, opened some fun presents. We got our first gifts for the babies - my mom bought them each an ornament; the girl a barbie ballerina and the boy a onesie on a hanger with a superman S on it. I LOVE superman, so I absolutely loved the "Superbaby Ornament!" We also got some precious clothes and bibs (all talking about grandma and grandaddy).

We were also blessed with time at Steven's maternal grandmother's home with all of his aunts and uncles - we always have a blast at Grandma Penny's; we have fun traditions of games and gag gifts which always leave us laughing. Christmas day was spent with my folks, then onto Steven's mom and dads to open presents with his immediate family. Steven's folks gave the babies the most adorable toys (see pictures below) - for the girl an adorable pink and white toy stroller and for the boy a radio flyer wagon that he can push both filled with goodies. All of these baby gifts made things so real for us - just think, next year at this time we'll have two 8 month olds! The Manning Christmas was followed by Christmas at Grandma Dot's (Steven's paternal grandmother). We are so thankful to be surrounded by such amazing family that we love to spend time with!

One of the highlights of the holidays was announcing our baby names. Steven had wanted to wait and announce the names at Christmas so as to surprise his family which is where we got the kids' middle names. Our baby girl's name is Meredith Ann Manning (after my sister, Meredith and Steven's paternal grandmother, Dorothy Ann). Our baby boy's name is Berkley Roger Manning (after my father, Joe Berkley and Steven's father, Roger). Now I just have to quit calling them baby girl and baby boy and actually use their names.

Another highlight of the break was talking with my dad, which may not sound that fascinating, but it's truly a big deal. My dad's dementia is so severe that he VERY RARELY uses one word let alone has any intelligible response to questions. One night over the break I saw a little something in my dad's eyes (I saw him) and began to ask him simple questions. I wasn't expecting any response and he quickly responded with one word answers. He probably answered about 10 questions for me, the greatest of which was what I was having in which he responded "a baby!" It was great to hear that my dad understands that I'm pregnant and that our keeping him involved in our lives is a valuable thing. What precious moments times like this are for me and I hope I never forget them:)

We're having...

A boy and a girl!!! How exciting is that? We are so thrilled to know we're going to be parents of a son and a daughter and not only that, to see that they are looking healthy at this point. Their little brains, hearts, stomachs, kidneys, hands and feet all look like they're functioning properly. It was an amazing thing to watch our babies kicking, moving, and putting their hands to their faces. The ultrasound tech first discovered our baby boy - he was very proud to show us that he was a boy; he sat with his legs spread wide the entire time. Now our girl on the other hand, she was very modest. We went to try and discover what she was and she was holding her umbilical cord between her legs. Thankfully the ultrasound technician moved forward with looking at their organs and by the end of the ultrasound our baby girl was cooperating. I could literally see Steven's chest fill with pride when the technician said "a boy" and I started tearing up when she said "a girl." Words cannot express our gratitude to God for this gift. I know things are going to be chaotic with two and that I should go ahead and count on no sleep for...well, maybe I shouldn't even think about sleep. The only concern at this point was that the baby girl is smaller than the baby boy; he weighs about 12 oz and she's at 9 oz. This could be due to several simple things like when they actually implanted or just that she's a girl, but the doctors are going to do another ultrasound on Jan. 14th to be sure she's still growing proportionately. Thank you all for rejoicing with us! We're so thankful for all of our friends and family and look forward to you sharing in this special time with us.

(The top picture is the baby girl's profile, the 2nd is the baby boy's profile, and the bottom picture is their two little heads side by side with the girl on the right and the boy on the left)

Remembering Meredith

Today marks the 5th anniversary of my sister's accident. It's hard for me to believe that 5 years have passed since that tragic day that changed my life forever. It's days like today that make me stop to reflect on how far God has brought me and my family over the past 5 years. I know it is only by God's grace that we have been able to move forward - not forgetting my sister, but being able to live with the loss and still have joy in life. I see how we have evolved over the years - from complete devastation at the 1 year anniversary to being able to cry and laugh at the wonderful memories we have today. I'm thankful for the peace that God has given me to supernaturally trust in his plan all these years, even though it hasn't been easy and at times very painful. I think about how he created these lives in me and orchestrated the timing so I would have the ultrasound to find out the sexes around this anniversary - giving my family such a happy event to get us through this weekend. So with that being said, I praise God for the 23 years I had to share with my sister. I praise God that he chose her for my family (she was adopted). I praise God that I know without a shadow of a doubt that Meredith knew I loved her. And I praise God that He has grown me through this.

18 weeks and counting...

Today marks my 18th week of pregnancy and I just can't believe how fast it's going. My babies really did some growing this week because I feel like I've popped out suddenly. I had lost 8 lbs over the first 16-17 weeks and have managed to gain nearly all of that back during the last week and a half. I'm pretty sure that I've been feeling the babies move since week 15 but it's just tiny flutters, more like a pulse in my belly - nothing major just yet. Things are definitely changing...I go to the bathroom at least 2 times each night and this week was the first week that I wasn't supposed to sleep on my back at all (and of course the belly is out). It's been torturous trying to get used to sleeping on my sides when I'm so used to my stomach - but I count it all joy:) Did any of you other mothers out there dream a lot more during pregnancy? I am dreaming like CRAZY. I can recall at least 4 different dreams I had just last night and they were all out of the ordinary. So the adventure continues and I'm finally starting to truly feel pregnant. Steven is absolutely loving to watch my belly grow and we are enjoying sharing in the anticipation of our developing family. Everyone's been asking for a photo of my development - hope you enjoy:)

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was not quite what I'd imagined it to be. Poor Steven, first year resident that he is, was on call the entire day so he couldn't join in any of the family festivities. Not only that, but my most wonderful brother, Joey, had to work on Thanksgiving as well...so my two most favorite men in the world weren't there to share in the fun. Nonetheless, the food was amazing and it was great to see some family members who rarely get to visit anymore. I celebrated at lunch time with my side of the family and dinner time with Steven's maternal grandmother's side of the family. Almost all of the 13 people present for the Thanksgiving dinner at grandma Penny's caught a stomach virus and I ended up sick the rest of the weekend and have thankfully been recuperating well. Talk about the pits - it's no fun being pregnant and having a stomach bug on top of it. My wonderful husband took off two days of work to care for me and our babies only to catch it himself - now he's in bed and I'm waiting on him. Hopefully the bug will run it's course and Steven will be up and running by Thursday, but I hate that he's missed now 4 days of work - especially a new rotation. It's definitely humbled me though. I told Steven that when I was feeling the worst I would sing hymns and tell myself "God is so good" and it truly made me feel better. Praise God the doctors said that the virus couldn't hurt the babies - only dehydration, so I've been doing my best to stay hydrated. It's a shame, my husband and I have had 4 whole days together and haven't been able to do a bit of preparations for Christmas - I don't when I'll get this much time with him. Praise God that he can take the time though and so can I so that we can take care of ourselves.

I go to the doctor on Dec. 16th for the ultrasound to find out the sex of the babies. It stinks that I've lost 8 lbs since I found out I was pregnant, but most of that was just in the last few days with this bug. Oh well, I've got plenty of extra for the babies to live off of and I'm not worried about quickly putting it back on. We can't wait to have some happy news to share as to the sex of the babies. WE'll keep you posted.