Back at home!

Sorry for the long delay in posting. We have been in the process of moving and at the moment we have occasional internet service. The girls are doing great. We had a little scare last week when Kamryn started running 101.4 fever. We called the after hours nurse, who said if it's over 100.4, we should go to the urgent care clinic. We were fortunate to be five minutes away from a lebonheur clinic. The only thing the doctor found was a red throat and swollen gums, which the gums mean she will be teething soon. Some sort of virus that, with prayer, didn't turn out to be much. She was over it the next day. Taylor never did run fever, praise God. They turned 5 months old on the first! Can you believe that? We can't. They will be walking and talking before we know it.
On the way back from Florida, we stayed in Birmingham a couple of days to visit with some of our friends and Kerri's family, who threw us a great shower. Kerri's mom is helping us bring back all our stuff, and she stayed in Birmingham for a week, and will be coming in tomorrow.
We got to go to church Sunday night for the first time in a while, which was great. It was against doctor's orders, but we let everyone know up front to look and not touch- I think they all understood and were glad to see these precious babies whom they have prayed for all this time.
The Lord worked it out for us to be able to bring their monitors back with us, get set up with a new company, and Kerri's mom will return the old monitors when they go back to Florida the end of the month.
Ted's parents got to come and spend some time with the girls for a few days last week for the first time since July. Needless to say, the girls have changed a good bit since then. Thanks for keeping up with us and pray with us that we may be able to leave sooner than later for Costa Rica- We have a bit of work to do to get the paperwork ready and to get the girls cleared medically. Thank all of you for your prayers.

Going back to MS next week!

I just wanted to post this video of Kamryn and Taylor taken on my birthday. They are doing well and eating like horses, getting cuter by the day. We're still trying to figure out how to get them on a schedule. As I said before, for some reason they just don't understand schedules. What's funny is we try to feed them every 4 hours, which is what they did in the hospital. Kamryn doesn't like to wait that long. She has been going 2-3 hours and eating her full feed nearly each time. She's trying to catch up with sis. I think Kerri may begin having a hard time keeping up if they keep going like they are. Kerri has been working on a scrapbook of their lives up to this point. It brings tears of joy and relief to our eyes seeing just how fortunate they and we are. It blows our minds to think about how much we are blessed that not one, but both of them pulled through all the little problems and sicknesses and just challenges of being preemies without having any kind of surgeries or disabilities or death. It is completely evident that our God has heard the prayers of His saints who have interceded for His baby girls. I also wanted to post this poem that was on a card someone gave us. It has hints of scripture in it, but is completely scriptural- if that makes sense.
"I have formed this little child you hold within your heart. My mercy and My goodness have been there from the start. The face, the hands, the smile-I shaped all that you see. Take this gift I've given you and raise this child for Me." -Hicks
This is our desire. P.S.- Keep a friend that we made at the Ronald McDonald House named Rachel in your prayers. We were just informed that her baby, Layla, who was born at 23 or 24 weeks, died suddenly over the weekend. As we have said before, things can really go south quickly with these little ones. On a better note, you may remember a little one named Nowell that has been in Tupelo, MS. I asked everyone to pray for her a couple of months ago, as her parents were told she probably wouldn't make it. Well, she is now at home. Praise the Lord for that miracle as well!
(Hit pause on the playlist to hear the sound on the video)

Good Reports

Just wanted to let everyone know how the girls are doing. It is not quite as easy to do updates as often, since they are at home now. First of all, Taylor hasn't required oxygen in several days- Praise the Lord! They are going tomorrow back to the pulmonologist and will be getting synegis(sp?) shots to prevent RSV, which is like a severe baby cold that would land them back in the hospital if they got it. The shots are very expensive- like $3,000 for the both of them- and is a monthly shot. Fortunately our insurance covers the shots, otherwise we'd have to chance it.
Today, we went to the OT and got a great report. She said she certainly couldn't tell they were 25 weekers, as they have no developmental delays that she could tell. Although they are 4 1/2 months old, They should only be a little over a month old. Taylor was on track for that age, and she said Kamryn was doing things a two month old baby can do! She said one thing she would worry about with Taylor's Hemorrhage was CP, and she showed no signs of it. It was a very encouraging visit. Thank you for your prayers! Some people were wondering why Kerri didn't get a blog tribute on her birthday- Well, I don't have any excuses except we had updated like the day before anyway, and I didn't have any pics to post, which is what I know you guys like to look at anyway. Just so I don't look completely sorry, I did babysit for several hours to allow her to go do one of her most favorite things in the world- shop! She had a great time and a great 30th birthday. We are planning on heading back to MS next week! Please keep us in your prayers as it will be a long trip for the girls. Thanks again to you all.

Happy Grandparents Day!

'napping together'



We are so thankful for our grandparents and for all the support that they've been over these past several months. We love each of you so much and thank God for you. These pics are just for you! (...sorry we couldn't find an outfit for grandpa, we love you both too!)

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Happy 31st Birthday!

To a wonderful husband and now the best dad any two twin girls could have. Look what God has done! 8 wonderful years of marriage, two beautiful (long-awaited) baby girls and now the 4 of us as a family on our way to do what is nearest to our heart: to share the gospel with a people group so dear to our hearts in the Dominican Republic. We are three very blessed girls to have you. Hope you have a great Birthday. We can’t wait to see what all God has in store for us ahead.
… all Glory to our God and Savior Jesus Christ!

4 months old!!!

First Stroller Ride- That thing is huge for them

Kamryn

Taylor

Kamryn

Taylor

The girls had their 4 month birthday today and since it was labor day, Kerri's sister's family came over to eat. Kerri also had a cake for me, since my b'day is this week. Mine is the 4th, and Kerri's and my brother Steven's is the 8th. The girls are getting bigger and we're seeing more of their personalities come out. When we hear them cry at night, we try to guess who it is crying and usually we are right. It's funny how distinct even their cries are sometimes, but sometimes they're hard to tell apart. They clearly look different in person, but it's amazing sometimes in pictures we have to take a second look to see which one it is.
There have been a couple of nights when the girls slept for like 6 hours, but we can't get it figured out how to make it happen every night. Even with the lack of sleep, they bring so much into our lives. When they take a nap, we miss them so much sometimes, it's like we haven't seen them in a week when they wake up. Anyway, enough rambling. The girls have been doing great. Taylor is requiring less oxygen each day, it seems. We are still hopeful she will be off of it by her next pulmonologist appointment on Sept. 9th. We have eye doc appointments Wednesday, and the aforementioned pulmonologist and a pediatrician appointment next week. Thank everyone again for all your prayers and encouragement. We hope to be heading back to Mississippi by the end of the month, so maybe we will see many of you then.

Week and 1/2 since coming home

Sorry we haven't updated lately. We're getting used to our new lives and how to get things done while the girls are sleeping. The doctor's reports have been good. We had an eye doctor appointment a week ago. Both of their eyes look good, but are still not finished growing, so we have to go back for a checkup in a week.
The pediatrician went well, also. They received their next round of shots that day. The main things discussed were keeping them away from crowds (especially other young children), keeping hands clean, and making sure they gain weight properly. That being said, pray for their being able to gain weight on pure breastmilk. The hospital put them on high calorie formula added to the milk before they left. Kamryn had been really irritable and seemed as though her stomach bothered her all the time, and both of them have been irregular with their bowel movements and had lots of gas. We made the decision to take the formula out ourselves to see how they would do. it's only been a couple of days, but they do seem to be doing better. We're also trying some different types of bottles designed to reduce colic. Our main concern is that they gain weight like they need to.
Taylor had a pulmonologist (lung doc.) appt. yesterday, and he said she sounded good and explained to us that she should grow new lung tissue and get better with weight gain and time. He seemed to think it possible that she would be off her oxygen by the next appointment in two weeks! That would be awesome. One of the problems with too much oxygen is that it can cause eye damage.
We are amazed everyday at what God has done through our girls, and we can't help but smile, even at strange times- like when they wake us up crying at night- because we had prayed so long for these children and God answered our prayers in such an unexpected and amazing sort of way. Thanks again for your support as prayer partners and friends.