Two years ago

Two years ago, I was kneeling at my suitcase, filling it, emptying it, then refilling it with various cloths of mine and my husbands... My husband thought I was crazy. We had been chosen almost two weeks prior by a mother who was expecting twins to possibly adopt them. I felt the urge to start filling some overnight bags, and prepare some baby things to keep close in case she were to go into labor early.
6:15pm The phone rang. It was "A"(Mamma J's boyfriend) to tell us she had gone into labor. We finished up some packing that I had already started that day, and we were on the road less then an hour later. This was a LONG drive, 5+ hours long, in the dark. We made it half way there when we got the call that both twins had been born and doing really well.... We continued our drive, and pulled in just before midnight. As we parked, we noticed an odd looking ambulance-type of vehicle parked with the engine running.... My husband made a brief comment "I bet that is the twins"... (We had been told the twins would most likely be transported two hours back towards our house, because this hospital did not have a NICU)... I said "no WAY~!". We continued up to the counter and found out where we could find Mamma J. We met up with her and her boyfriend, and she told us we had just missed them, that they had been transported (It was them!!!) That was okay.... We enjoyed an hour or so visiting with J and A, then left so they could get some sleep... We found an empty waiting area and slept (most uncomfortably) on chairs and the floor for a few hours. We had breakfast, changed our cloths (I think?) and went back to visit J for almost the rest of the day. J had me help her fill out some of her forms, like the spelling of the twins names (which I had been shocked to hear she wanted to use our last name on the original's)... The day was very laid back, mostly a continuation of getting to know each other.. She showed us some pictures of the twins from the night before. She joked about how "sexy" they were (lol)... Finally around 4pm we made our leave with an awkward goodbye... (How do you say goodbye to someone, to leave her and go become her brand new babies parents in a town 2+ hours away?)
We made the drive (pretty much speeding the whole way where we could)...We pulled in just after 6pm and went through the rules and procedures to enter the NICU.... Washing from finger tips to elbows for 3 minutes with ugly brown soap, we were escorted down a long hallway with big rooms to the left and smaller rooms to the right... Three rooms down we turned, and the nurse pointed to the far right corner, where laid two of the most beautiful little heart shaped faces I had ever seen.... Actually I did not notice even their faces yet, I could hardly see them yet, the emotions filled my soul and came rushing out my eyeballs... It was happening... In SO not the way I had expected (lol).. But here I was, standing in front of what would turn out to be my son and daughter... I finally sucked up all the emotion as best I could, as I helped my husband get into a chair, peeling off his coat and digging out my camera, as the two nurses handed him both tiny little bodies... One in each arm... This was a moment cemented in my mind forever.. My husband, loving these two children as his son and daughter the moment he laid eyes on them, the moment their head lay snugly into his arms... What an amazing feeling to actually be experiencing! You can read it from others a million times, but never understand the full impact of what it is like to be introduced to your new life, like this..


Two years ago, Latte and Z-man were so tiny, so small..I hardly remember what that looked like now as I look at two active toddlers, using words and gestures, having opinions and different attitudes.

Latte was the sleeper, she slept for months... She was half a pound smaller then her brother, and even felt and looked more petite (girly) in comparison... As she got older, around her crawling stage she finally "woke up". She jabbered like crazy, and was such a silly little baby. Walking came, and she was the people pleasure, center of attention and loving it.. Talking came, and so far has yet to stop. She is silly, and active, and smart. She is vocal and good with her fine motor skills. She likes to color, I think her favorite color is purple (at least that is the color-word she uses most often), she loves my best friend "Angie" like crazy, she likes to play with lego's (which makes her daddy proud). She wheels her baby doll around in the toy stroller she got for Christmas, but would rather sit in it and be wheeled around by her brother. She loves her brother, but more then often she would rather boss him around or tease him (by stealing his binky, which she has been doing since before they could crawl even though she does not even use a binky!). She has recently decided she is scared of our cats. For the past few days she has requested pickles, but she really likes apples and banana's more.

Z-man was the awake child, he took his normal naps, but when we went places, he was usually the one that was awake and excited to meet new people while his sister laid asleep. He used to sleep with his arms up by his head. He gained bulk/weight quicker then his sister, and even grew hair sooner/faster then her (and still does). As he got older, he got more reserved and quiet.. He became a people watcher. He could go off and play by himself while his sister took the stage.. When he was at the crawling stage he used to make all kinds of silly faces, like sticking his tongue in and out over and over again. He was trying to climb over the baby gate even before he could walk. Once he was walking, he loved to go up to his sister from behind and pull her down in a huge bear hug (which he still does, and it's hard to peel him off). He adores his sister, and will share almost anything with her. One day he had one cracker left and his sister had none, he looked at her, broke his cracker into two VERY uneven sizes, and handed her the large half of his cracker, leaving him with a very small morsel (and he was overjoyed that she accepted it). He will bring her favorite blankie in to her when they are cozied up to watch a movie together on our bed, and he will carry her milk to her if she has run off without getting it. He is learning more and more words lately, and animal sounds (they both LOVE the horsie sound a lot lately).. He likes to color, loves to push his cars around or cook in his play kitchen. He would rather wear his sister shoes (because they are easier to get on), but he would much rather walk around in mommy or daddy's shoes (same with his sister). He loves plumbs and shrimp!