No, you may not touch....

 

Liam-10 weeks

Aiden-10 weeks (below)

When Ella was a newborn I recall getting annoyed by the amount of people that thought it was acceptable to touch her. Strangers would walk up and rub her feet, touch her face, etc. My mind would scream loudly "back off you germy person, my baby is not for you to touch." Of course I would just smile and pray that it ended quickly and that she wouldn't get sick. I didn't think it would be possible, but with the twins it has gone from touching them, to touching me and taking pictures of them (yes strangers have now taken pictures of the babies.)

It has been different being a mom to newborn twins, vs mom to a newborn singleton. Ella of course was adorable, and attracted attention wherever we would go. The twins however, seem to be a hot commodity. No matter where we go we hear, "oh twins?", "oh there are two of them (yes there are we aren't just crazy people pushing around empty baby seats)", "do you have twins? (again, really. Nope we don't, we just borrowed someone elses baby, who is the same age as ours.)", etc. This weekend though, hit an all time high. We are used to people coming up to us and the babies wherever we go. When Ella and I play restaurant she now pretends to be the waitress and tells me, the customer, how cute my babies are. We weren't prepared for the lady from China who found it acceptable to touch my breast trying to figure out why I wasn't breastfeeding, then subsequently take the picture of myself and Aiden. I know that I have beautiful babies, but in what world is it acceptable to take pictures of someones child without permission, or to touch someone in an intimate area without permission.

As horrible as this all is I still find myself restraining the urge to scream, "back off" to the many strangers who approach us, touch the babies, and now have taken pictures of them. If you are a parent I know you feel my pain in this matter, if not you will some day understand.

So for now I think a new sign will be on the babies onsies that states " I know Im cute, but hands off please!" 

Growing boys....still so small

As I get ready for bed, I look into the big blue eyes of both of my boys and Im amazed at how "big" they are getting. Tonight as I write this, and listen to their little snores, I'm overwhelmed by everything that has happened over the last two months. Two months ago we were blessed with these two little men, who lived 21 days in the Nicu....two months later I got to spend another week in the hospital this time having my gall bladder removed. At dinner I experienced the worst pain I'd ever had (yes worse than labor) and decided to go to the ER. Two days later I was in surgery and two days after that back under for a scope. The pain was not fun, but what was worse was staying alone in the hospital away from my three beautiful babies and my husband. I missed kissing my sons little noses each night before putting them to bed. I missed hugging my little girl as tight as possible and telling her to have good dreams...in a small way I even missed my husband's snoring. However, being in the hospital, alone most of the time allowed me to reflect on how precious life is, and how blessed my life is. I have three beautiful babies, and amazing husband, and a church family that rallied around us to ensure we were fed, our babies were cared for while my husband attended to me, and prayed over me for safety and healing. I made it through two procedures, had no issues with anesthetic, and have healed relatively fast. I have two little guys who have grown and begun to show their little personalities. I have a daughter with the biggest heart who loves me with all of her being.

It's been a crazy two months, but a blessed two months. Aiden has gone from 4.9 lbs to 8.4 lbs and Liam has gone from 5.7 lbs to 9.6. They eat 4 ozs each meal, and are starting to smile. They follow us with their eyes and bat at their toys. They are simply amazing, Ella is simply amazing...and life is even more amazing! (top 3 Aiden, bottom 3 Liam)