Christmas #2 in Kiawah

Reagan and Riley's first Christmas morning was spent at my parent's house in Kiawah. It was a beautiful morning and an amazing day! The girls were spoiled rotten and did a great job opening presents. They were much more interested in the wrapping paper than in what was inside, but they had a blast and especially loved playing with their cousin Cooper. Cooper LOVES trains (he calls them "choo choos") and it was a very Thomas the Train Engine Christmas for him. But, Uncle Matt and Aunt Stacey bought him his very own train that he could ride. It was hilarious. When he first opened it he drove it around the house (we took it outside after that). He had some very cute passengers in his train though...it was absolutely hysterical. We laughed so hard our stomachs hurt. Reagan and Riley LOVED it. Reagan laughed out loud and Riley was just happy as a clam to be driven all around. It was a very, very, Merry Christmas! We are headed back to Cleveland tomorrow for Christmas #3 with Matt's mom, sisters and their families. We can't wait!!!!! The packing is insane with two babies...but it's going to be SO MUCH FUN! We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!!!

Christmas #1 in Hilton Head

We had the girl's first round of Christmas today! We drove to Hilton Head to visit my grandparents (the girl's great grands) and had presents and fun and then went out to lunch. It was such a fabulous day!!!! The girls were on their best behavior and were spoiled rotten by GG and GG! Reagan couldn't have been any more cuddly. She cuddled up to her Great Grandpa right away and we had to pull her away. They are BEST BUDS! It was so sweet. They hadn't seen Riley since her surgery in October and were amazed at how well she's doing and how great she looks. It was a great kickoff to the Christmas week/weekend. Next stop...Kiawah to my parents where Aunt Lola, Uncle Nathan and Cooper will be, and then to Cleveland for Christmas #3 to visit Matt's family. All of the girl's aunts and uncles will be there and their cousins Grace and Greta too. We are SO excited to see everyone!

We actually paid for this

The girls visited Santa for the very first time today! It was one of the funniest afternoons that Matt and I have had in a VERY long time. We waited for close to two hours to finally meet the Big Guy. The girls were amazing the whole time in line. We had them dressed super cute and everyone in line was entertained by them and kept saying how good and happy they were. And they were so right...until they sat on Santa's lap. I'm not actually sure if Reagan even made it to his lap before she started screaming. Everyone was in hysterics. Riley just sat and stared at Reagan and then at Santa. No screaming, no crying (but definitely no smiles either). The photographers kept snapping away attempting to get a picture (and I thought I was annoying when I try and get the girls to smile for a picture...these people were ridiculous!!!!). Riley eventually caught on from watching her sister that crying seemed to be what was supposed to be happening, so she joined in. It was so funny. We gave up, picked the girls up, and they were completely fine in about 2 seconds. Santa looked like the REAL Santa...no joke. (except that he smelled like he'd just had about a carton of cigarettes...maybe that's why the girls were crying?!?! Santa doesn't smoke, does he?!).
Anyway...great memory for Matt and I and a great picture to someday show the girls of their first visit with Santa. He even gave the girls these sweet charms of his sleigh. I'm putting them in their baby books along with the 55 pictures of them crying with Santa that we had to buy. Ha!

Meeting Riley's prayer girls

Ever since we first found out about Riley's congenital heart defect and contacted St. Michael's Church here in Charleston, we have been overwhelmed with love and support from people that we don't even know. It's been absolutely unreal how this church has embraced us and welcomed us and prayed for us and made us feel like a part of their family. Right after the girls were baptized, I received a call one day out of the blue, from a woman named Susannah. She and her husband had been in the church when the girls were baptized and had been touched by Riley's story (Reverend Al let the congregation know what was happening so that they could add her and us to their prayers). Susannah and some of her good friends had started a Bible study a few years ago for their girls (now all first and second graders) basically because the moms were friends and the girls all went to different schools and they just wanted the kids to get a chance to interact. Well, the Bible study is still going and the girls were told about Riley and on their own decided that they HAD to do something to help. They formed prayer teams. Two of them took the morning, two took lunch and two took dinner. The girls would pray for us, pray for Riley, pray for Reagan and pray for the doctors. They did it every single day and are still going. They sent Riley cards and pictures in the mail. They made us feel so loved. We had never even met them or their amazing parents.
Until today.
Matt and I took the girls downtown to their Bible study. We brought each girl a little bouquet from Riley and Reagan as a thank you. It was the BEST afternoon. The girls were SO excited to see Riley. They asked some questions, they checked out her scar and they held her and cradled her and loved on her like crazy. She did pretty well too...got a little nervous, but as long as we stayed close by she did great! Reagan, of course, stole the show and showed off her social skills. She cuddled the girls and played peekaboo and made everyone laugh. It was so awesome.
These little girls are so special (their families are too) and we are so happy that we're a part of their lives now. All of the girls are little angels in the St. Michael's Christmas Pageant on Christmas Eve that we'll be going to and I think it's so fitting. I can't wait to see them again, and I know that they can't wait to see R and R again either. (And Matt is excited that in a few more years we'll have a TON of babysitters to choose from!).

A great weekend

We've been so busy lately! Matt and I had date night on Friday night (FINALLY!) and it was awesome. We tried really hard to NOT talk about the girls the whole time! Our great friends, the Houstons, came over yesterday with their beautiful daughters Malain and Jackie. The girls were so sweet to Reagan and Riley and will someday make excellent babysitters! It was so much fun to see Katie and Jason again too...we love them so much.
The girls also went to their first big party this afternoon! Their friend, Knox, turns 1 year old in a few days and had his party at the South Carolina Aquarium! It was so much fun and Matt and I met so many nice grown ups too!
Tomorrow we are taking the girls downtown to meet some really special people to us. A group of little girls from the church we've been going to (St. Michaels) got together when they heard about Riley and formed prayer teams. They did this entirely on their own. They formed teams and some would pray for her when they woke up in the morning, some would pray for her during their lunchtime and the others would pray for her before dinner. They sent her pictures and cards and their parents wrote us letters too. I can't tell you how special these girls are to us, and it's amazing that we've never even met them yet. But they have been DYING to meet Riley (and Reagan too) and since Riley has finally been cleared to be around people...now is the time! So, we're going down as a family to meet the girls and thank them for all of their prayers and love and support. I'm going to try not to cry!
We've spent the majority of the weekend watching the girls in their silly Johnny Jump Up things. We hung them from the entryway hall right by the dining room. The girls are bigger now and we thought that they loved them a few months ago...but they REALLY love them now. Here is a quick video so that you can see them in action! Pay special attention to Riley's feet. Hilarious. Reagan has the jumping thing down really well! Riley is working on it...mostly looks like she's running/tap dancing. It makes us laugh so hard!
Hope that you all had a wonderful weekend too!

We LOVE Michael Buble

The girls and I have the Michael Buble Christmas CD on all day long. It's in the car too...I'm not getting sick of it at all (they might be...but they haven't told me yet). Here are two quick videos we took tonight of our happy girls!

We're 8 months old today

The little ladies are 8 months old today. I know I say this every month, but I seriously can't believe it. They are becoming SO MUCH FUN! They seem to be doing something new each day. Reagan is clapping and waving non-stop, but her newest trick is giving high-fives! She thinks it's hysterical too. Matt taught her and it is pretty funny. I'll try and get it on video one of these days. She still loves being outside in her swing and is just super curious about everything. She does NOT like to be alone and isn't really into taking naps lately. She'll take them, but not for longer than about 30 minutes at a time...unless we're out for a walk in the stroller or in the car and then she'll nap for much longer. I can be found driving aimlessly around Daniel Island on any given day lately. I actually drove for over an hour the other day when Matt was out of town. I found some really great parts of the island that I haven't seen before and the girls both slept so it works, I guess. I'd much rather they easily go down in their cribs for a couple of hours each day...but oh well!
Riley is SO close to crawling!!!!! She's up on all fours and rocking back and forth. She goes backwards still...hasn't quite figured out that the goal is to go forwards, but it's going to be any day now. She's still not sitting up which is hard...but the doctor and her physical therapist have told us that it's because of the open heart surgery. As a result of her chest being cut open, the muscles have a lot of work to do to get to where they need to be to make her feel comfortable enough to catch herself if she falls forward. She's still just not quite strong enough. She'll sit for a tiny bit by herself but still falls over...we're working on it every day and her physical therapist is AWESOME and she's helping us out too. We'll get there...I'm not worried! She's doing such a great job eating. It's like a totally different kid. She has a new nickname too. We've started calling her Bugs. She loves carrots so much it's hilarious. She kicks her legs and shakes her arms and smiles and squeals and eats the whole jar in about 3 minutes. It's so awesome. You have no idea how much you take for granted having a kid eat "normally." She's finally doing what we'd always hoped she would. She's still not putting on lots of weight but the doctors have told us it will come and not to worry too much.
The girls continue to be a total blast. We're tired all of the time...and Matt and I haven't seen 10 o'clock in a long, long, time. But we're seeing the light at the end of the tunnel as far as sleep goes (Reagan sleeps through the night and Riley is only waking up a couple of times). Once they're both sleeping through the night our lives are going to totally change! Can't wait! Think it would be just about the best Christmas present EVER. Matt and I are actually having a date night on Friday night for the first time in a very long time. I am so excited I can hardly stand it!
Grandma Susan and Anthony sent the girls some Santa hats...they looked adorable!! We really, really, really tried hard for smiles. Riley HATES smiling for the camera. She looks so serious in all of the pictures! I swear, they are the happiest kids ever until the camera comes around. We're definitely in the holiday spirit around here (even though it's been 70 and sunny every day...we're loving it!!!!).
Happy 8 month birthday sweet girls! We love you so much!