Anniversaries and Such

We celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary yesterday... if I wasn't too tired from taking care of twins 24/7, I'd probably write a meaningful post all about being married to such a great guy and amazing dad... so you might just have to read what I wrote last year, instead. We did go out to eat just the two of us while my co-worker and her daughter babysat, so we are also keeping up our efforts to have a "date night" once a month.

We are also in the middle of the one year anniversary of the process that brought Anna and Sam into our lives... at this time last year, our IVF cycle was underway and I was just about to start the stim medication. Remembering so clearly what I was doing a year ago has made me very reflective lately... I am looking forward to July 5th as a special "anniversary" day as well, because that was the date of our egg retrieval. I feel very blessed to be able to know the exact date that Sam and Anna were created. That date will always have special meaning to me. It ended up that their baptism will be on July 4th this year- for several unrelated reasons, but I think it is very neat that they will be baptized almost a year to the day that God created them. More on the baptism later!

Sam and Anna have been changing so much lately: Sam recently starting having conversations back and forth with us when we talk to him. It is so fun to hear his voice babble like Anna's. He has also been very interested in his hands lately. Sometimes when he sits in his swing, he'll play with his own hands and stare at them intently the whole time, rather than looking around. Both Sam and Anna have been having fun blowing lots of spit bubbles too. Sam's hair has been growing in more, since he lost some of his newborn fuzz, as well.

Anna has begun to really drool and loves putting everything in her mouth (whereas before she'd always stick her hands in there). I think she'll be our first teether. She's also now mastered rolling from tummy to back and can do it pretty much instantly. She loves this new found talent, as she is our tummy-time hater. Now we have to work on trying to keep her on her tummy so she can continue building that muscle strength! Even though she rolled over at 3 weeks, rolls were few and far between until the last few weeks. When she's really excited and moving, Anna now has a move we call her "penguin arms"= she loves to flap her arms at her sides just like a little penguin... or maybe you could say it's seal-like... but I think I like "penguin" more. :)

Sleep: I'm sure I'm jinxing it for myself, but I'm going to go ahead and type it anyway: I think Anna is rounding the corner in getting past the 45 minute nap intruder. Lately she wakes up, cries for just a little bit and goes back to sleep. This sometimes happens a couple times, and then she's back out for good. Wohoo! I discovered this one day while I was busy trying to get Sam back to sleep and didn't get in to soothe her before she stopped. Now if only Sam could figure it out, but he's never been able to soothe himself back to sleep so I'm not holding my breath.

Within the last few days, both babies have begun grasping toys on their own as well. They have been holding ones we've put in their fingers for a while, but it is nice to place a toy in their carseat that they can self-entertain with while driving or in the stroller. They can also sit assisted pretty well now, in our laps or on the floor between my legs. Anna especially loves viewing the world sitting up, so I think our days of holding them like a "baby" are numbered. My little ones sure are growing up fast! How crazy that the next big changes will be starting solid foods and teething!!!

Our Anniversary

Today is the 6th anniversary of our wedding day. Who knew everything we'd go through, especially in the last half of those 6 years?

I have known my husband for over 10 years. We met the first week of college and he's been my best friend since that fall. Even in the beginning we were faced with adversity (Jake had a girlfriend at the time I was falling in love with him) and that adversity strengthened our relationship in a way that may not have been possible without that challenge. I only hope that our current challenge has the same result: we overcome it, strengthening our relationship and the relationship to our unborn children in a way that would not be possible without our over three year struggle with trying to conceive.

Jake is everything I never knew I wanted in a husband and more. I could try to list every wonderful thing about him- but I already tried to do that on my blog and didn't have nearly enough time to list it all. His sperm may be funky shaped, but I love his sperm all the same. If I had a glimpse at what our life is like now, before our wedding day six years ago- I would do it all again in less than a heartbeat. And I still think I'm the luckiest woman alive because I get to be married to him.