Southern Babies: July 2009

Friday, July 31, 2009

We Miss You Adam

Our sweet Adam passed away two years ago today. He was born on July 30th at 2:22pm and lived almost 12 hours. He passed away on July 31st at 1:50am.

His 12 hours here on Earth were not easy. His little body was fighting to survive as long as he could. His 12 hours were filled with every life saving measure they could provide. It became apparent though that nothing they did was going to save his life.

At that point, we just got to hold him, love him, and wait. We (Adam, Drew, and I) were surrounded by almost our entire immediate families. I hope he knew and could feel how loved he was. How loved he still is.

This time of year is a strange time for us. We are so happy to celebrate Lindy and Will's birthdays and are so thankful for how well they are doing now. But we can never forget what was going on the day they were born. It's strange to feel so happy for Lindy and Will one day and yet so sad that we have to mourn Adam's death the next day.

There really aren't words to describe how much we miss him. Unless you have ever held your baby and then had to let him go, you'll never understand. I still ask myself, "Why me" all the time and I still haven't figured out why it happened. Why did we have to struggle to have babies, finally get pregnant with three, and then end up losing one?

All I do know is that we love Adam so much and we miss him so much.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Happy 2nd Birthday!!!

Happy 2nd birthday Lindy, Will, and Adam. It is almost impossible to believe that it has been 2 years. While your time in the NICU seemed to last forever, your time at home has flown by.

You both have come so far in your two short years. You guys have dealt with more in two years than a lot of people deal with in a lifetime. And yet you have both come through and are two of the happiest little people we have ever seen. You truly are our miracle babies.

Lindy - our first born, the big sister. You are amazing. You have overcome so much and have surprised so many people. We didn't know if you would ever walk or talk or see or hear and look at you now. Just in time for your second birthday you are really taking an interest in walking. You definitely see and hear and you do so well with the vision and hearing you have. We are still working on getting you to wear your hearing aides and glasses all the time, but you do so much better than you used to! You are developing a little voice and recently said your first word. It is the sweetest, softest voice we have ever heard. It is truly music to our ears.

You have the best little personality ever. You are almost always happy. You have the best smile we have ever seen. It will definitely get you places in life! Your smile can light up a room. You are so easy going and so laid back. You are so determined. Your milestones might be a little late but we have no doubt you will meet them all at some point. You have an amazing work ethic and are always smiling at the end of your therapies.

You are a fiesty little girl - which we love about you. We know your fighting spirit has gotten you this far and will help you get farther. You have been known to take down your brother a time or two. You are starting to fight for your toys and you have also been recently taking toys from your brother (which he does not appreciate).

Will - our second born, our little man. You sure had us worried in the beginning but once you turned a corner, there was no looking back. Sometimes it is hard to tell you were even a micro-preemie. You have come so far from when you were born. You have met many of your milestones on time (according to your adjusted age) and we are so proud of you.

You are so smart and we are constantly amazed by what you do. You know where certain toys belong and you like to help pick up. You love books and love people reading to you. You may not be speaking a lot yet but we know you are taking in everything we say. You clearly understand and process everything we tell you. You can follow directions very well (when you want to!). You are definitely a little helper. You love to take your sippy cups back to the fridge and you love to assist me while putting Lindy's braces on. You try to help me unload the dishwasher about 6 times a day - even when it's still dirty.

Your laugh is one of the greastest things about you. It is truly infectious. Your laugh has recently changed and it now includes a little high pitched squeal. I used to think it was the cutest thing ever - but now I think this new laugh is the cutest. No matter how it changes, it is so cute. You have the brightest blue eyes I have ever seen. You will be a heartbreaker one day - there is no doubt about that. You are such a fun loving little boy who is full of energy. You love going outdoors - swinging, sliding, wandering. You are always on the move.

You are both an absolute joy to be around. We love watching you explore and learn new things. We love watching you guys interact and give kisses and high fives to each other. We love you both so much.

Lindy Jane - aka Lindy Lou, Boo Boo Girl, Lou Lou, Big Girl, Turd Bucket William Allan - aka Willy, Buddy, Boo Boo Boy, Little Man, Turd Bucket Adam - Happy birthday sweet boy. We miss you so incredibly much. You were such a strong little fighter for your 12 hours of life. You hung in there and allowed us to hold you and love you. We miss you more than words can describe. We would give anything to have you here and see all three of you interacting. We do take comfort in the fact that we know what you would look like - you are Will's identical twin. How blessed would we have been to have had two handsome boys. We love you Adam.

The Day Before the Birthday

I want to go ahead and write about our week so far since the blog posts the rest of the week will be more special and directly related to the big birthday coming up.

Nothing exciting has really happened, just the usual appointments. Tuesday Lindy had physical therapy with Heather. They worked on walking and climbing. Monday afternoon Lindy really started taking steps by herself with no prompting. We'd look up and she would have let go of the coffee table and she'd be coming at us! She was feeling the need to move! It was pretty neat to watch. Tuesday evening Drew's brother and his girlfriend brought us dinner. His dad was in town as well so we all got to eat together. The kids wore Grandbob out. They were insisting he hold them. Lindy continued putting on her walking show for them Tuesday night too.

Today was a busy day with vision therapy in the morning and hearing therapy in the afternoon. Leslie, our vision teacher, brought the kids little birthday presents which was really sweet. She got each of them a couple jars of Play-doh so we played with it for the first time ever! They weren't sure what to think at first but seemed to like it okay.

This afternoon at hearing therapy we got a new letter to work on. We are working on the 'w' sound so we played with a bucket of water and got wet. We also washed some ducks and dogs that were 'dirty.' Both kids loved playing in the water.

Tomorrow is the big day! Can't believe my babies will be 2 tomorrow!!

Will loves getting up in the chairs but he can't get down. It's so funny! It's a nice little babysitter!

Loving on Grandbob.

Play-doh!

Examining the Play-doh.

I peeked at Will during his nap and found him like this.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

A Great Week at the Beach = A Million Pictures

We just returned from a great week at the beach. We spent a week in Corolla, part of the Outer Banks of NC. We went with my parents (Nana and Papa), my sister and her family (Amy, Lee, Hayley, and Rylee), my sister's best friend (Shelly), my parents' good friends (Ken and Carolyn), one of their daughters and her family (Deb, Todd, Collin, and Kailey), and their kids each brought a friend (Ryan and Gabby). That's right, 18 people in the house. And we actually had Ken and Carolyn's granddaughter and her boyfriend (Courtney and Blair) for a few days as well. We had a great house that was really close to the beach and our house had a pool in the backyard. Every morning was spent at the beach and every afternoon (while the kids were napping) was spent at the pool.

We had good weather the whole week. We did have a little rain but it was always in the early mornings or at night so it never kept us off the beach. We did have a couple of unfortunate events during the week. Drew got his first ever speeding ticket on the way out to the beach. Then we hit major traffic getting onto the beach. It took us about 2 hours to go 18 miles. The other unfortunate event was that we had a lady in our church pass away and Drew had to go home to do the funeral. He left on Thursday morning and got back on Friday night. Then we turned around and drove home on Saturday. It is about 7 hours each way. He did a lot of traveling in those few days. Thankfully he got most of the week in before he had to leave.

My sister planned a little birthday party for the kids on Tuesday night. They each had a cupcake and got to open some birthday presents. The festivities have begun!

Will LOVED the beach. He is a true beach bum. He loved the sand and the water. So much so that he would take off so someone was constantly chasing him. We had a small baby pool set up on the beach and he loved playing in that as well. He would squeal when the water would come up to him. Even when I thought it was cold he would still enjoy it. He took great naps each day after running all morning on the beach. He also loved the swimming pool. He loved being in his float and being pushed around the pool. The house had a small set of steps that led up to a little game room. We had a baby gate on the second step but Will's favorite place in the whole house was the bottom step. He played and sat on that step all week. He was so cute this week. There wasn't much he didn't love about our vacation!

Lindy wasn't the biggest fan of the beach trip. She didn't like touching the sand but was fine when sitting on a blanket and playing with toys. She did not like the baby pool but was fine sitting outside the pool on a towel and splashing in the water. She actually did okay the few times she went down to the water to put her toes in. One time I took a chair down and sat with her and she seemed to like that. She hated the swimming pool until Friday afternoon. My mom finally got her warmed up to the pool and the float and she ended up liking it. Lindy was happiest this week sitting in her Papa's lap. My dad sat under the tent every time he was down at the beach and Lindy loved sitting with him. She was happy as a lark with him. She really wasn't that bad but she was about the fussiest I have seen her in forever. It still wasn't too bad though.

We had a great week but we were glad to get home. The kids were pretty wild after getting out of the car yesterday. Lindy has been pretty clingy with me today. We will soon be back in the daily grind with appointments and therapies this week. Two very special people have a very special day on Thursday and will have a very special party on Saturday.

Get ready to enjoy a million pictures. Way too many to choose from.

Sleeping so cute in the hotel on the way to the beach.