It Was All SO Good!

I always think of Christmas as one of our lowest points with infertility. Christmas is the time when everyone celebrates their families. It's the time of year when it's very lonely for those who don't have kids. Four years ago we celebrated our hardest Christmas ever. We had just failed another cycle (our first cycle with Braverman) and hope was all but lost. We had tried his immune treatments and still didn't have success. About a week before that Christmas we attended our first adoption orientation and started to look in that direction. On Christmas Eve, Walt's cousin announced she was pregnant after they had just gotten married in June. It was hard. We barely made it through and I distinctly remember throwing up in the driveway after Christmas dinner and too many drinks.

This year couldn't have felt any different. We did so many fun and festive things as a family this Christmas season. We went to Lights on the Lake and the girls loved driving through the light tunnels and seeing the princesses. We cut down our Christmas tree as a family and enjoyed the hot chocolate and popcorn they had to offer for free after. We hung ornaments and lights on our tree together and listened to Christmas music. We got the girls their own little Christmas trees for their bedroom that they decorated with lights and ornaments. We made a whole bunch of handprint cards and went to a nursing home to hand them out and wish everyone a Merry Christmas. We had a book advent calendar and opened a Christmas book every day to read. We made a few batches of Christmas cookies and enjoyed them immensely. We attended the Mom's of Multiples Christmas party and built a snowman. We saw Santa and had very mixed results. We went sledding for the first time as W had a few days off before Christmas and the girls LOVED it! We also got to go to Lucy and Clara's preschool for a Christmas tea and to see them sing holiday songs. In addition, we attended a Christmas Eve church service and had dinner with W's parents for Christmas Eve. Boody Mary's, my in laws, and pajamas at home on Christmas morning. It was all so good!!

Our Christmas card

Our snowman we built

Christmas pajamas

Our book advent calendar before I wrapped them all. 

We got a fireplace this year too! I loved decorating it. 

MMM Christmas party

Library fun 

Our Christmas tree!

Where we get our tree

Hot chocolate after tree hunting

Santa cookies!

Decorating our tree

Post bath crazy Santa 

decorating the tree at pop pop and Grandma Becky's house 

Baking cookies with grandma becky and pop pop 

After singing Christmas songs at preschool 

My girls

Sledding with Daddy. So much fun!!

Ready for swim lessons

Close encounter!

Christmas Eve church service 

Christmas Eve Dinner 

Reading The Night Before Christmas

Daddy's last day off so we went for carousel rides. 

This holiday season I can't forget how lucky I am to have everything we have. I have THREE beautiful girls that make life feel so full. They fill my days with laughter and joy as well as frustration from time to time. I have an amazing husband who works hard every day and a job he loves to provide for our family. He is such an amazing hands on daddy to our girls and we're all so lucky to have him.

I just feel so lucky and blessed to be where we are now. I know how lucky we are because I've seen the other side of that. I've felt heartbreak as we waited for our turn to be parents. We were so close to giving up.

"When the world says give up, hope whispers try it one more time." I'm beyond grateful I emailed Dr. Braverman when it felt like all hope was lost and he told me I had to give it one more try after that unsuccessful December cycle. He told me I had to try at least one more time in order to know if the treatment was successful or not. When all hope felt lost I had a glimmer of hope in his reply. That glimmer turned into an IVF cycle at his clinic the following month. That next month I got pregnant with twins after the hardest Christmas ever. One month and a little hope was all it took to change our fate beyond belief.

16 Months Old

Another month has flown by and Lucy and Clara are another month older, bigger, and smarter. This month we celebrated their second Christmas and the girls really got into it. I made them a felt tree with ornaments that they loved decorating it day after day. They also loved the Frosty the snowman singing stuffed toy we have. They got into opening presents and loved all of their new toys.

The girls are still napping twice a day. Their typical day is something like: get up around 7 and nurse. Around 8:15 we go downstairs for breakfast. They take a morning nap from 9:30-11ish and then get their sippy cups with milk after. We do lunch around 12:15 and then they take an afternoon nap from 2:30/3-4:15ish and then have an afternoon snack when they wake up. We do dinner around 6:30, baths at 7:15 and then it's a story, nursing, and bed. I'm not sure when we'll go to 1 nap a day but I know the girls still need their morning nap so it might be a while. Lucy seems to need less sleep than Clara regularly. The girls definitely went through a growth spurt and are growing out of their clothes left and right. Things I just bought already don't fit. They're in mostly 12-18 month clothing. 

15 Month Pediatrician appointment

Going for a hike on a semi-warm day.

Lobster dinner on New Years Day. 

Early morning with Daddy. 

Everyone is working hard in the kitchen. 

Looking for our Christmas tree

Eddy helping the girls with their snack

The girls weren't a fan of Santa

Watching Daddy hang Christmas lights

Lucy and Clara are fighting and loving each other more and more. They both will try to bite and hit each other when frustrated but then will also comfort one another by sharing toys or giving the other one a lovey or paci. It's seriously so sweet. I would say they play nicely together about 80% of the time. If there's ever 1 of anything they will find it and fight over it. I guess that's what sisters do though. 

Lucy- Your little personality has really started to come out and it appears you're a sneaky little devil. You think it's funny to do things you know you aren't supposed to do and then have this great fake laugh that accompanies it. You've really gotten into walking and can take about 7-8 steps consistently before falling. This month was crazy for you with teething. You got 6 new teeth including 2 molars on the top popping through that I had no idea were there until I felt them the other day. I was so excited and surprised to find them there. For some reason when you're teething you get constipated so that's been a challenge recently. We refer to your little frequent poops as "butt nuggets." You're so much better for your physical therapy sessions and we're seeing real progress. This month was tough with eating because of all the teething, but you seem to be back in it. You love new foods and are a much more adventurous eater than your sister (for now at least). Your sleep was really bad at times this month but the past few days you've finally gotten back to going longer stretches. Your speech and language really took off this month and you are consistently saying 5-10 words and using about 10 signs. You are imitating like crazy and love to tell me my food is "hot" right before I take my first bite. You and your sister love to act silly together. You really got into Elmo this month and will try to sing the Elmo song yourself. You often will find one of our phones and start to try to sing the song as a way to tell us you want to watch/see it.

So many teeth coming in!

Clara- You're such a silly little girl. If we ask you, "where's silly Clara?" you'll tilt your head back and roll around on your back. It's so cute and funny. Your sister loves to join in on the fun. You're getting better at walking and give in to the peer pressure of your sister doing it so decide to join in. You can take about 4-5 steps consistently without falling. You definitely have to be in the mood though. This month you got 3 new teeth so now have a total of 8. You're working on molars and almost always have a finger in your mouth. Hopefully they will pop through soon and give you some relief. Teething seems to make you cranky and kills your appetite. This past month you also got sick for the first time and I think that also affected your appetite. You aren't very into new foods but love fruit, especially strawberries and pomegranate. You're more interested in using your silverware and will try hard to use a spoon or fork. You still slept pretty well this past month despite teething. There were a few nights that you woke up, but most nights you went your solid 11-12 hours. You have 2 words you say "yum-yum" and "hot" and you use about 10 signs consistently. This month you learned the signs for "up" and "help" and you are great at using them. You're also understanding so much more and following directions more consistently. You aren't really imitating consistently yet but hopefully Lucy will influence you there. You still love to play and are so focused during play. You have a great attention span and persist when frustrated. You're getting better at puzzles and love doing them with me. You also love Elmo and will try to sing the Elmo song with your sister.

I can't believe how fast time is going by. The girls really are changing from babies into little toddlers with personalities and preferences. I love watching all of the changes.