Day 4...

~ Greetings and warm welcome to ~

Today my friends... I have an extra special share with you. Today, December 4, 2014 is my twins 15th birthday! If there is any tradition or anything that I have had a hand in making that brings me more happiness it is my baby boys.
So I'll share a "few" pictures with you in celebration of their birth ;)
My babies... born at 8:39 and 8:42 p.m. weighed in at: 6 lbs 7 oz. (Ian) and 5 lbs 4 oz. (Jacob) They were 6 weeks early born just shy of 34 weeks gestation. I had been in the hospital 6 weeks on magnesium sulfate, flat on my back as I had gone into hard labor at 28 weeks.
We were so blessed when they came out perfect! No airway intervention needed. Ian had to wear a c-pap for 24 hours, but other than that, no problems. Since they were twins and preemies we had to stay in the hospital for 11 days following their birth just to get the hang of breastfeeding and Jacob had to gain a little fat and learn to maintain his temperature because he was so skinny.
Here they are right before they released us on Dec 15, 1999. Ian on the left and Jacob on the right.

We rang in the new year at home...

And in February they gained a little more weight....

They always slept just like this up until they were in the 5th grade *shhh...they'd kill me if they knew I told you all that*. . . they had their own beds, but they wanted to sleep together. The doctor told us that as twins they gained emotional comfort from each other (which we knew anyway, but it was good to have it confirmed)....

They were healthy breast feeders as this 6 month pictures shows :) One of my very favorite photos of them :) So jolly! Mama's butterball turkeys, is what I used to call them....

When they turned 5...we had a big celebration at their pre-school...

Then we had some cake...

In August of 2005, all hell broke loose and they had a new baby sister. Ian's face truly describes how he felt about her...he told the nurse to "take her back" he didn't want a sister! (we decided to keep her anyway after a few days...)

We moved to a new larger home and when they turned 7 in 2006 they were accepted into Jedi Master training ;) (I made those robes at midnight the night before....)

8th Birthday in 2007....

10th birthday in 2009...

Then they became teenagers....

and Boy Scouts... They worked really hard and Daddy helped them earn all the required badges and finally; Ian became an Eagle Scout on September 23, 2014 and Jacob became an Eagle Scout on December 2, 2014
We are currently planning their official Eagle Award Ceremony and Reception for Spring 2015!!!

They decided to go to High School... and they ran on the Boys Cross Country Team. They worked hard and did FABULOUS this season!!!

and here they are celebrating their favorite Holiday at "Celebrate your Favorite Holiday Day" at school this week.

What can I say about my babies? They are my pride and joy. They have grown into handsome young men. They are all A students. They are kind, generous and loving to all they know. They are hard workers. They are strong in their faith. They serve at Mass every weekend. They get angry at each other and yes, they argue ~ I don't want to claim that we live in utopia, because we don't...but seriously we aren't far off from utopia as disagreements and anger are not so frequent in our household. I'm so happy that they are "tight" with their sister, and they do everything with her ~ their friends are her friends. Her friends are their friends. They go to movies, school functions and hang around all together. And they LOVE that she drives them around :) It eases my mind that with all three of them together, they are safe. But the most important thing of all is: They LIKE to be with us as a family. We turn off the television at 7 pm. (most evenings through the week) and if they aren't studying they come into our bedroom and we just sit and talk as a family. If they have a problem, they come to us. No subject is off limits. They want to know about something, we tell them about it. I'd rather they learn from us than someone else! They know that our family comes first and they like it that way.
So a GREAT BIG.... Happy 15th Birthday to Ian and Jacob!!!!
We are so proud of you and we love you more than words can express!
That does it for Day 4 folks.... I'm off to bake a cake and make my babies Hamburgers and homemade French Fries per their birthday dinner request!
Until tomorrow... I'll be keeping my hands to work (cutting up potatoes for fries) and my heart to God, just like always. Join me!
Love in stitches, Vonna xxxx