Merry Christmas

What an absolute blessing to have these 2 gifts in our lives. This evening as we spend Christmas Eve in our home, with our 2 precious girls tucked away in their cribs, I can't help but reflect once again on the past year. I am so thankful for the health of our girls. I am so thankful that they continue to grow with each and every passing day.

Last year, by Christmas Eve, I had been released from the hospital for the second time and was staying across the street from the Children's Hospital in the Ronald McDonald House. What an amazingly beautiful facility, and what gracious staff and volunteers. The House was decorated so elegantly for Christmas, and I remember coming and going so frequently but feeling like we were coming back home every time we walked in the door. What a blessing to be so close to our girls...and not feel like we were a lifetime away from them as they continued their stay at the NICU. I can still remember the Christmas spirit in the air of the NICU...the staff were dressed up like Elves and other Christmas decor. The girls were in the very last pod that would mean they could go home at anytime. I remember looking at our girls as they slept...the light was dim, the mood was cheery, and the girls were so cozily kept together. My spirits were finally better as I was physically healing from the 2nd admittance, and I knew my girls would be coming home soon.

Madeline and Savannah sleeping in the NICU on Christmas Eve

And here I am, one year later, with two beautiful angels sleeping peacefully in their beds AT HOME on Christmas Eve. Thank you, God, for them. Thank you for showing me how to be the best mother to them I can possibly be. And thank you, God, for reminding us of the ultimate gift you sent to us so long ago - the gift of Baby Jesus....the gift that I understand so much more clearly through the eyes of my girls.

Merry Christmas, Madeline and Savannah. God has been so good to you. Never, ever forget that, especially at this most special time of year!

Christmas Morning at the NICU

Loading our tiny girls up on Christmas Day to take them home!! I can still remember so clearly how they rushed us out of the NICU so fast they wouldn't let me change their little clothes!! But we bundled them up in so many blankets....they were warm and snug as 2 bugs in a rug. What a day!!

Christmas Day, one year later :-)