First off - you are going to have to excuse my last several posts. My space key on my laptop sticks and I don't always catch it when I'm scanning my posts - okay - who am I kidding? I rarely edit my posts before clicking publish!
When Bob and I got married we immediately started talking about having babies. Molly and Peter were 3 and 5 and we didn't want to wait too long to add to our little family, whether through traditional means or adopting again. As it turns out getting pregnant was not quite as seamless a process as we thought it would be and it took quite a while. We lived through an awful year of lost pregnancies and health issues before getting and staying pregnant with Annie. So when I was pregnant with Annie I'll admit that I had a few moments of feeling entitled to seeing two babies on the screen when we went for the ultrasounds. I have always dreamed of having twins and was convinced that in my past divine signs had always led me to a strong belief that I would have twins one day. Even when I was 9 months pregnant I would try to convince myself that there was a twin hiding behind Annie. I can laugh now but had the doctor pulled out a second baby on the day of my c-section I would have been less surprised than one would expect. A year later when I was pregnant with Lizzie I was sure that she was twins, and in fairness she was the size of some twins when she was born!
And then a call came that sent Bob and I reeling (and that isn't easy to do!) for about four seconds. Shawnelle was Peter's biological sister and she needed a foster home - were we interested? It is remembering times like these that make me so sure of God in our lives. Most men would have begged for time to think or assessed finances but Bob and I had the same exact reaction - When can we see her, hold her, know her - how soon can we be her parents? Lizzie was a newborn and Ellie was just three weeks younger than Lizzie but somehow both Bob and I knew that Ellie, just like all of our babies, was meant for our arms. The next morning at eight in the morning the social worker brought Ellie to our door bundled up in a car seat with blankets covering her. The big kids agreed that Peter would kiss her first and Molly would hold her first - which they did! Annie investigated and Lizzie slept as we bathed our new daughter and dressed her in a cozy little duckie outfit. And then we did the most natural thing in the world for a family who had yet to figure out where the new baby was going to sleep - we tucked her into the bassinet with Elizabeth and watched them sleep. I don't even have many pictures of that day because Bob and I were so in awe of watching the babies together. It wasn't until a few days later that we realized - We had five beautiful, happy, healthy children and we finally had our twins. In the first few weeks Bob and I were exhausted but there were also times when we would just turn to each other and smile and wonder what we did to deserve our life. Lizzie and Ellie had their own cribs but more often than not they prefered to be together. When they weren't with each other they were with Annie or being held by Peter and Molly. The biggest treat for the big kids at that time was holding two babies together! Lizzie and Ellie could not be more different but at the end of the day they still come back to each other. When Ellie's teacher can't understand what she wants she simply calls Lizzie over from the other room and has her interpret. When Lizzie had trouble adjusting to preschool Ellie held her hand all the way to school and then hugged her as they walked into school. When one of them gets hurt the other is the caretaker. Just like with most things in our family Lizzie and Ellie are not twins in the traditional sense but they are twins by their own assertion. They adore each other and their siblings, they look out for each other, they fight, they giggle, they love and they laugh! They are the twins we dreamed of but sometimes Bob and I still find ourselves asking - what amazing thing did we do to deserve these beautiful girls - our twins?
I will always love this picture because I remember telling Bob that this is exactly what I had always dreamed of my life being like - arms full of babies!
Twins from the very start and they couldn't have been happier to be together!
Those smiles still make me tear up - my beautiful girls.
Our beautiful twins today in their special pajamas from Auntie Ann! Their smiles still melt my heart except now we get the words and the stories to go along with those smiles! In a few weeks we will celebrate Lizzie and Ellie's birthdays and I can't wait! We are so blessed to have our girls!
LIZZIE AND ELLIE - WE DREAMED OF YOU!!!!!!!!!
GNM - ILY!
