2012

As the year ends, I just want to write a little family "newsletter" since we didn't mail one out. My family always did newsletters growing up, but I didn't think I could summarize this year into one page (or even into words at all). 2012 was definitely one of the craziest and most amazing years for us. Here are some current updates for our family: 

Rob just finished his 9th quarter of chiropractic school out of 13. We can't believe he only has a year to go! He really enjoys his schooling and is now treating patients in the school clinic. He keeps busy and balances his time well between school, church, and family. He trained hard and ran his first full marathon in October.  

I also met my goal of running a half marathon in February, and then soon found out that I was pregnant with our twins. Most of the year was dedicated to this eventful pregnancy and preparing for our babies, while enjoying spending time with Collin. Our sweet boys were born on October 19th. I am currently staying busy taking care of our 3 boys and couldn't be happier! 

Collin is 2 years old and is such a joy. He is growing way too fast, and we are so surprised and entertained by the new things he learns and says each day. He communicates well with words now, and is a great helper. He is becoming independent, too - he finds foods that he wants from the fridge or pantry (he walked into the living room carrying a carton of eggs one day . . . ) and plays or reads alone often. He still loves music and dancing, playing with blocks or cars, and his favorite movies "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" and "The Lion King". He also loves his baby brothers, and gives them lots of hugs, kisses, and loud hello's when they are sleeping.  

Truman and Elliott are 2 months old, and are the babies of our dreams. They are very content most of the time, sleep well during naps and at night, and are generally on the same schedule. So far, they have made this twin experience far easier than we anticipated. It is definitely very busy taking care of them, but they are just so adorable and sweet. They have each started giving us smiles, and are already growing so quickly!

Though so much of this year was spent worrying about our babies after finding out they had TTTS, I'm not sure we can even call it a big trial when the blessings we received from it so far outweighed the struggles. We are still amazed when we think of all the things that could have easily gone wrong, yet how perfectly everything turned out. We weren't certain whether the babies would be okay through the incredible surgery we underwent in July, and we didn't know if it would be successful. But, it was, and it saved our babies' lives. We were sure our babies would be very premature and were prepared for the possibility of months in the NICU and lifelong health problems for our boys. We bought preemie clothes and were happy when we got to 28 weeks without going into labor yet. But, the babies were born at 36 weeks (even needing to be induced)! The preemie clothes were too small, and we never set foot in the NICU. We were certain that I would be on bed rest for a large part of my pregnancy and stressed about how we would take care of Collin. But, I never had to be on bed rest, and aside from the expected discomforts of being huge, I was very healthy. Even the C-section I was convinced I would need, didn't happen. We truly received so many miracles and are forever grateful. 

We have grown this year as a family, and have felt the love and guidance from our Heavenly Father in our lives. We wish all our friends and family lots of happiness in the year to come!