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!

End of November

I can't believe December is almost here...for numerous reasons. First off...it's ridiculous how amazing our weather has been. Today was almost 75 and sunny. I'm LOVING it. (sorry to all of you Northerners reading this....I'm not bragging, I swear! Well...maybe a little). We were outside almost the entire day today. Matt and I worked in the yard while the girls played in their new swing that Matt put up or bounced around in their bouncy thing. They entertained themselves for HOURS. It was awesome. We got SO much done and they had a blast...and it was so beautiful too.
I also can't believe that this year is almost over. I swear this has been the fastest year of my life. It feels like just yesterday that we moved down here, and it's been almost 5 months already. Here are a couple of videos we took today...one of Reagan in the swing and the other of Riley being silly on our bed! Enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving

We had such a great Thanksgiving...minus being with our families of course! Chef Iofredo outdid himself and we were stuffed and satisfied! I have to say that I was pretty proud of us for pulling together an entire Thanksgiving meal, setting the dining room table and cleaning up....all with twin babies! It was great and we have SO MUCH to be thankful for this year. We're thankful every day of course....but it's nice to stop and actually have a day built around giving thanks.
Our sweet and wonderful babysitter, Elizabeth, spent Thanksgiving with us because she wasn't able to make it home to be with her family. We were thrilled to have her (the girls especially...they LOVE her so much) and it was just a great day!
The girls even sat in their high chairs with us while we ate and didn't make a peep. After dinner, the girls passed out just like the grown ups.
I'm trying to talk Matt into some Black Friday shopping today. Do you think I'm crazy?!? He does!
Hope you all had a fabulous Thanksgiving too!

We're 7 months old today

My sweet little girls are 7 months old today and I honestly can't believe time is going so fast. So much has happened in the past 7 months...and SO much has happened in the last month that I don't even know where to start!
Reagan continues to get bigger every day and with that comes more and more milestones. She's sitting up all by herself and showing signs of crawling already! (GOD...please, not yet. I'm NOT ready for that yet!). She is just the happiest, funniest baby in the world and keeps us smiling all day long. She has even started to crack Riley up which is hilarious. She has graduated from some of the things that she loved so much (her swing, the activity mat...) and now just loves the bouncer and some even bigger toys that make tons and tons of annoying music all day long (thanks Aunt Lola for sharing them!!!!!). She has started noticing Madison a lot lately and we have to be more careful now because she's wanting to "pet" Maddie all of the time. Maddie pretty much keeps to herself so we're not too worried about it....but once the girls are more mobile we'll have to be on our toes! She says "Dada...dada...dada..." all day long. I am convinced she even knows what she's saying. My attempt at having Mama be the girl's first word was a big failure. Oh well! She has the sweetest little voice and it's got a little bit of a raspy sound to it which is adorable. She is just amazing and sweet and cuddly and fun and I love her more than ever which I didn't think was possible. I can't wait to see what she does next!
Riley continues to astound us with her recovery. It has blown us all away how fast it has been and how well she's done. She is back to her old self during the day and is playing on the mats and in her bouncer and smiling like crazy. If you didn't see the scar you would never know that just a few weeks ago she was in the ICU after open heart surgery. It's amazing. She LOVES playing with Reagan. They are really starting to have fun together and I love watching it. She's talking SO much more than she ever did before. Nothing that sounds like "mama" just yet...but I'm listening closely!!!! She's gotten her new helmet (boo) and has to wear it 23 hours a day. I still think her head looks perfect...but the doctors said that after a few months in the helmet they'll agree with me. Just like everything else she does she's a total champ with it and doesn't complain at all. She's eating so well...before the surgery it would take me 45 minutes to an hour to get about 3 ounces in her. Now she's having 5 ounces in about 25 minutes. It is the BEST to not dread feeding time! We've gone to feedings every 4 hours now and solid foods 3 times a day! The girl's seem to have the same "favorite" food...they both LOVE pears! They now sit in their high chairs (thanks Molly and Walt!!!) and have even attempted sippy cups with water. It's crazy to me every time I add something new like that...it just means that my little girls are getting big! I'm so happy that THEY are so happy and healthy and doing so well, but I can't believe that 7 months have gone by already. Everyone told me it'd be fast...they weren't kidding. Best 7 months of our lives so far though, so we can't wait to see what's next!