Thanksgiving

For a number of years now, we have done Thanksgiving on our own. I always have to be at work at some ridiculous early hour and the drive time never suited us on such a busy week for my job. This year driving is most definitely out of the question. Our neighbors Dan and Robin invited us to spend Thanksgiving with their family. It was a great experience, their family welcomed us as their own. We are thankful for such great neighbors.

9 1/2 weeks

Today was the coolest day of my entire life. How do you quantify that? As we go through life we experience things that leave a permanent mark on our lives. When I think of the coolest days in my life many things come to mind.

The day my dad showed me how to start the mustang by laying a screwdriver over the terminals on the relay.
The day I discovered the Camaro in Grandpa's garage
The day I bought my first bike from K-mart
The day we moved into the house my parents built
The day I bought my roller blades
The day I learned to sail
The day I learned to ski
The day I acquired my first car
The day I started Grandpa's Camaro, now my Camaro
The day I won the state championship for automotive skills
My first date with my now wife
The day my sisters shared life with a bone marrow transplant
The day I graduated from College
The day I got married
The day I became an ASE Master Tech
The day we bought our first house
The day I changed careers
The day I got my own store
The day we moved to Washington
The day we found out we were going to be parents

Today we saw our babies move about, wiggling their arms and legs.

Many more amazing days to come

Baby 1 has a heartbeat of 157 and measures 30mm
Baby 2 has a heartbeat of 175 and measures 26mm

Miracle on 96th St

Nine years, eight months, four days and a few hours is how long we waited. It didn't happen because we relaxed. Nor did it happen because we weren't thinking about it. It definitely didn't happen on day 14, or when I stood on my head. It didn't happen from lack of trying. And it most definitely didn't happen because we learned a life lesson. It happened because of Hope. Our journey began with much anticipation and excitement. Then it slowly become an obsession. Reading every article possible and understanding the science behind it all. It then twisted into hurt and at times, anger. It was frustrating to say the least. Difficult to watch others have no trouble. Difficult to hear advice, no matter how sweet the intention may have been. It stared us obnoxiously in the face, and reared its ugly head through the gestures and words of others. Slowly it became the everyday, and eventually it was accepted. We made it through the long haul of pain, misery, and swallowing pits of despair until one day, peace crawled in and burrowed deep to make wounds so deep and obvious melt away. The bitterness receded. It took strong hearts and minds on this journey we made, and as always, in the end, it was all worth it. A miracle occurred. And not only a small miracle...one that was double in size.

It was shocking to read a positive on a test I had taken too many times. It was downright unbelievable. So much so, that we took another just to make sure our eyes weren't playing tricks, and that test #1 wasn't a dud. Thinking back now, it's special that we took two tests...each baby was able to tell us, "Yes, I'm truly here!"

6 weeks with heartbeats of 114 and 108

7 1/2 weeks with heartbeat of 160

7 1/2 weeks with heartbeat of 153
(I'm hard to see because I'm in my sibling's shadow)