A new kind of normal

Since bringing our boys home, life in the Wilson household has changed in a big way!

For example, now when I wake up each morning, I feel like I'm living in a baby fraternity house.  I spend half of the morning rounding up random bottles from the night wondering, "Now how did that get there??"  :) 

(And in case you are wondering, yes, those are the bottles from one night's feeding.  Our sweet little boys can eat!)

Massive amounts of nighttime bottles aside, here are some other ways that our life has changed:

*As a light-ish sleeper, before the boys came home, I couldn't go to sleep unless it was completely quiet.  Now all four of us snooze to the constant crashing/underwater sounds of the womb....yes, the womb.  Our fancy sound machine simulates what it sounded like for the boys in utero, and I must say, it works like a charm!  The boys have come to know this as their "night-night" sound, and quite frankly, so have I.

*Burps are no longer rude, but instead are welcomed with great joy, cheers even.  You see, our little ones love their bottles so much, that they sometimes get a little upset when you stop them to burp.  You can't blame them though; they like to eat!  Just like Mommy....

 *Our new bedtime is anywhere between 8 and 9 PM.  We are a sleepy bunch!

*Jody has become a master at many interesting things, most notably, swaddling.  He is the only one who can swaddle our boys and it still be intact five minutes later!   

*We now record all of our favorite TV shows and watch them in-between feedings.  Watching one show is generally a three-day process.  We finally finished Grey's Anatomy and all I can say is, what in the world!  Just when I thought it couldn't get anymore dramatic....

*After several milk protein/tummy issues, I must say that I am now a big fan of normal looking baby poo.  So much so that I even call my mom and mother-n-law to say, "Guess who had a normal looking poopy diaper today??"    Strange, yes, but it sure does make a mommy feel better when she knows that her boys' tummies are OK. 

*Jody and I have become experts at making up random songs to sing to the babies.  OK, as Jody would attest, this really isn't something new for me (I think I get this awesome skill from my sister), but it is for him!  Hey, anything that will help to sooth a sweet baby...

*Changing a diaper without A). getting peed on, B). getting pooped on, or C). all of the above, makes us feel like a million bucks.

Well, I could go on and on, but alas, feeding time calls. . .

As you can tell, the new Wilson normal is the best! :)

January 27, 2012

"I hear two heartbeats." 

It may have been January 27th, but I remember those four words like it were yesterday.  Jody about fell out of his chair, and for some reason, I had a funny feeling that it might be twins all along.  From that moment on, our lives changed forever as we prepared to welcome Baby A and Baby B, who soon became known as Jack and Rowan. 

While we said very little to anyone, Jody and I had talked about wanting to start a family for a long time.  It seemed that every time we thought about it, something big always came up, and we were forced to put our wishes on hold.  After battles with sickness, unemployment, and surgery, in late 2011, we finally felt that we were in the perfect place to start a family.  Of course, this was our plan, and as I have come to learn through this process, our plans mean very little when compared to God's plan for our lives.

For several months, we would pray for God to bless us with a child.  There is one verse in the Bible that became my absolute favorite during this time.

"For this child I prayed, and the Lord answered my prayer."  1 Samuel 1:27   

There were some days when I would feel discouraged, but I would read this verse every night before I went to bed, as a reminder to keep my faith and find peace in the fact that one way or the other, God would answer our prayer.  It may not be when we want it or how we want it, but He hears us, and He has the perfect plan already in place.  In our case, when God answered our prayer, He answered it times two!

On August 10, 2012, we welcomed our two healthy boys, Jack and Rowan.  This whole experience has been a wonderful lesson in God's perfect timing.  We waited for our two boys for a reason, and everything that we went through to get to this point, prepared us to be the best parents that we can be.

These little boys were definitely worth the wait!