~* Almost ONE!!!*~

I have no idea how time got away from me, it seems like just yesterday I was on here posting about the babies being born, and now Im getting ready for their first birthday party!! Scary!!

So much has happened over their first year ... I'll try to summarize and make it short and sweet.

At 9 weeks old we found out little Abigail has kidney reflux (it's when urine backs up into the kidneys causing an infection) - we realized this after one night at her 10pm bottle she was burning up .. her temp was hovering around 104. We went to the hospital here in town (never again) and they said we could bring her home and give her tylenol, or go to Children's Hospital in London. Needless to say I packed her up and away we went.

Long story short, she stayed in the hospital for 2 weeks on IV meds for blood sepsis (babies dont have the abilities to localize infections so it spreads) , had a lumbar puncture done to check for menengitis and all in all was probably one of the worst times in our lives ...

You never realize how much love you have until you have a child, it's like a part of you living on the outside.

Thankfully all turned out well and life went back to normal. Abigail sees a kidney specialist in London and he is hopeful she will outgrow the reflux between the age of 3-5.

Then in July, we found out our little girl is completely deaf in her left ear. Again, another shocker. One I didnt take easily either. I cried and cried and still dont think I've completely come to terms with it .. we are however getting her all the help she needs now. She sees an ENT, a SLP and has a preschool home visiting teacher. I wanted to get her early intervention now, so that's what we did. My bright little girl is doing extremely well. She is right on track with her language, and is at a 12-18 month level in comprehension. (as is Gregory). We could not be happier, and hope she continues on this track.

All through this, my little monkey man has been such a trooper. Between spending lots of time with Gran (my Mom), while we're in the hospital with Abigail, or taking her to one of her many appts, Gregory has thankfully only had a sniffle twice in his life. And that's about it for him. I dont think I could handle 2 sick little ones. My heart breaks each and every time, both for the one that is sick and needs us, to the one left behind who also needs us.

So enough about the sad parts, there have been more than enough happy things going on, not to dwell on the negative.

Having twins is not easy, but I wouldnt change it for the world. My babies are best friends. Every morning they talk and giggle to each other in their cribs waiting for us to come get them...
they play together and laugh all the time.

They are both smart little ones, who always put a smile on people's faces. Both can crawl, walk with assistance, say Mama, (Gregory says Dada too), give you the ball, go "night night", clap their hands, give high 5's, snap their fingers, growl if you ask what a Lion says etc etc.

They have slept 12 hrs at night since they were 3-4 months old, and take 2, 1-2 hr naps per day. Life cant get much better in that dept!!

Both have teeth finally!! Jan 10th Gregory popped his first tooth (and 2nd), and Jan 11th Abigail popped her first! (I thought it was never going to happen! lol)

My little babies are growing up!!!

Now we are approaching the one year mark ... our maternity leave is over (Ben took 1/2 of the year leave as parental leave), and our little ones are growing up before our eyes. :(

This year has definately been full of trials and tribulations, but overall it has been a joy to say Im a Mom to these little monkeys ...

I am looking forward to another year of fun and excitement, and wouldnt change anything for the world.

xoxo