Lions & Ladies

Well, as you've probably noticed, my blog just got a little make over! My friend that designs the prettiest things made the header for me. I'm in love. And there's even a little button that links to my new Etsy shop called Lions & Ladies. I think I mentioned before that I had started a little business. It's been so fun. I make bow ties for little boys (and even some for big boys men). I also keep swearing that I'm going to list some headbands for baby girls but haven't gotten around to it quite yet. I do make them, though.

Why Lions & Ladies? Well, I'll tell you why. It's just some Iron & Wine lyrics. When I started this blog over three years ago, I titled it "Love and Some Verses." In my very first post I explained that I chose that name partly because it was a song title from one of my favorite artists, Sam Beam (Iron & Wine). His music is folky, dramatic, nostalgic, full of beautiful lyrics and imagery, and kind of depressing. Everything I love! Ha.

When I think about my life, it kinda plays like a movie in my head. And Iron & Wine songs make up the soundtrack. For example, if I was even 5 minutes early to a day in high school, you could find me sitting in my car listening to Such Great Heights from the Garden State album. During my first spell of homesickness in college, Sodom, South Georgia played non-stop on my iPod (which is weird because I'm not even from Georgia haha). When Marshall and I got back together for the final time, I was obsessing over The Trapeze Swinger. I listened to Love Vigilantes on repeat during those first few weeks of Laney's life when I was fighting the baby blues and learning what motherhood felt like. Peng! 33 is Laney's favorite song. It calmed her as a baby and is the song in the slideshow of her first year. Call Your Boys was the anthem of the summer right after Parker & Brooks joined us in this world. And Kingdom of the Animals is currently what L, P, B and I listen to in the car during our daily drives.

So, whenever I need to give something a name, it just makes sense to me to use these songs. No deep meaning or anything. And no real lions. Just songs that I love.

Our GiGi

Marshall's sweet grandmother, Gaye Morris Griffith, passed away at 72 years old last week unexpectedly after suffering from a short illness. She had become a huge part of our lives over the past 2 years. We looked forward to our weekly dinners with her and her husband James. I grew really close with her this past summer when she spent most of her time with me at my house helping take care of the boys. She was a twin herself, so she had a special place in her heart for them. All three of my kids absolutely loved her and I had grown to adore her, as well. She kept up with my blog all the time, so I wanted to remember her on here. Our hearts are aching from this sudden loss, but we are glad she did not suffer long. GiGi, we'll miss you always and remember you often. You mean the world to us.

Our Twin Boys: A Birth Story

They're here! They're here! After a long road of pregnancy, a few worrisome scares, and a painful two-week wait for Brooks to be released from the hospital, we finally have our healthy twin boys home with us. They turned one month old yesterday. I'm so happy it hurts sometimes. That's the short version of the story. Here's the rest of it...

On June 6, 2011, Marshall and I pulled out of our driveway at about 5:45 AM. The day had finally arrived. After several weeks of feeling like I would go into labor at any minute, we were finally going to the hospital for a planned induction at exactly 37 weeks. Marshall's grandmother had sweetly offered to come over early that morning to stay with Laney so we didn't have to wake her. As we drove, a little part of me ached to go back home to my sweet, sleeping girl. As much as I wanted to meet our baby boys, I was sad that we would never be "just us three" again. Everything was about to change for good. But most of me was excited. Excited to see them. Excited to not be pregnant anymore. Excited to finally begin what we had been preparing for and looking forward to for the past nine months.

We checked in and the nurses started my IV before I even had time to think or be nervous. I kick myself now that I didn't even think to take one last picture of my pregnant self. It seemed like no time before my doctor came in to break my water. The anesthesiologist walked in to give me the epidural only moments later. Then we waited. Our families had arrived by this time, so we passed a few hours by talking with them about everything on our minds. Would I be able to deliver the boys like we'd planned or would I end up having an emergency c-section? Would they look like Laney did when she was born? Would they look exactly alike? And so on. I was put on some medication that made me feel nauseated and loopy due to a spike in my blood pressure, so I was happy when the nurse "checked me" and said I was almost there. Not too long after that, I was ready to go! Marshall scrubbed in and we prepared to head to the operating room. The plan was for me to deliver the twins vaginally, but we were required to do so in an operating room to be ready for the possibility of a c-section, if needed. This sometimes happens when delivering twins for various reasons. Here we are, ready to go to the OR:

We then moved to the operating room, which was already full of nurses and doctors preparing for us. It was so much different than when I delivered Laney. The air was a-buzz and you could tell this was not your run-of-the-mill delivery. There were so many people in there rushing around. Some were helping and some were just wanting to watch a vaginal twin delivery because, apparently, there aren't very many of those. I wasn't expecting so much excitement. I got really nervous and started shaking profusely. I was partly shaking because I was excited and partly because I was terrified! It had just hit me - one way or another, I was about to have TWO BABIES! Marshall held my hand and talked to me to get my mind off things, but he was a little too white in the face to provide much comfort. I could tell he was unexpectedly nervous, too. Then it was go time. I was surprised and relieved as I heard Parker crying before I thought possible. Only a minute later, Brooks was crying, too. I cannot explain the feeling I felt as they handed me my baby boys, one at a time. Just like with Laney. It was magical. There is no greater spousal bonding than bringing a child into the world together. And there is nothing that compares to meeting your child, a child that will grow to be the most important person in your life, for the first time.

Everything after that looked a lot different than I had imagined. Parker's breathing was concerning because it was a little fast and Brooks was unfortunately having a lot of trouble breathing. They said his lungs were underdeveloped. This was crushing to me considering I had agreed to be and wanted to be induced into labor that day. My OBGYN assured me that decision was made because it needed to be and that my blood pressure would have become dangerous if not. This made me feel a little better. I don't think I realized how bad Brooks' breathing actually was as I went to my recovery room. All I knew was that I wasn't allowed to see the boys yet and that they were in the good hands of the nurses in the NICU. So I ordered two large Diet Cokes for my no-longer-pregnant self, drank them up with no guilt (finally!), and laid down for a while. Later that night, Marshall and I went to see our babies in the special care nursery. Parker was looking great, but Brooks didn't. I don't know why, but I still just kept thinking, "They'll both be fine tomorrow and we'll go home the next day."

I soon realized that wasn't the case. What had begun as an exciting, happy stay in the hospital quickly became gloom as we spent three long nights waiting for me to recover and for Brooks to get better. We had gotten word that we would be able to take Parker home with us when we checked out the next day, but Brooks would have to stay. So we spent our time sitting in that hospital room that had begun to feel like a jail cell and looked forward to the two times a day that the pediatrician would make his rounds and give us news on Brooks. It was devastating each time he came in and said that Brooks wasn't looking any better and they weren't sure why. We checked out of the hospital the next morning to go home not knowing what was wrong with Brooks' lungs or when he would be able to come home. I didn't even take a picture as I wheel-chaired out with Parker. I just didn't want to. I had always imagined all the pictures I would have of them in the hospital together. With them apart, it just didn't seem right. Here is Parker right before we checked out:

The next week and a half was pretty miserable. Our first night home with Parker, Laney woke up throwing up all night. The next day, Marshall got whatever "bug" she had. He got so sick that we ended up having Marshall's parents come watch Parker and Laney so that I could take him to the emergency room that night. We spent 6 hours there with Marshall on an IV. The next day my mom and sister got sick with the bug. We felt pulled in all directions as everybody was getting sick, we were trying to go to the hospital to see Brooks as much as possible, and Parker and Laney were at home. And to add to the stress, Marshall had also gone back to work by this point. I felt like no matter where I was, I needed to be two other places, too. It seemed like our lives would be stressfully on hold until Brooks came home. And when would that be? A week? A month? More? I looked forward to each time I could go see Brooks at the hospital so much. Once I was there, though, I would get so sad. Seeing my little baby boy struggle to breathe was so painful. The sweet nurses would just hand me a box of Kleenexes as I walked in the room. Here are some pictures of Brooks in the hospital:

We thought about Brooks day and night and prayed for miraculous healing. The best day of my life was when we got a call from the pediatrician and he said that Brooks was showing signs of improvement. After that first good report, he started getting better by leaps and bounds! Each day was a little brighter than the one before. We still don't know for sure what was wrong with his lungs. It may have been something such as viral pneumonia that just had to run its course. After 13 long days of being away from Brooks, we finally got to go up there and have a "room-in night" where Marshall, Parker, Brooks, and I all stayed in a hospital room together for a night. Once that went well, we got to take Brooks home the next day! Here is a picture of Parker and Brooks reunited in the hospital:

I can't believe they're here. It's wonderful. I'm so thankful. I'm so in love.

Brand New Names on Tiny Clothes

Here are the twins' names!

Parker Allen Morris & Brooks Patrick Morris

We've been debating over these names since we found out we were pregnant again. And the epic war dispute has finally been settled! We really liked both of these names all along, but there was another one in the mix there for a while that was making us question our decision. I would decide on two of the three names, then Marsh would like the other one, then vice-a-versa....you get the idea. Once the first names were settled, though, the middle names were pretty easy to pick. We were set on using Allen because it is Marshall's middle name and also his great-grandfather's middle name. We then thought it would be random if we didn't give Brooks a family name as well, so we chose Patrick. It's my Granddad's name and it also just sounds really good with Brooks.

I was so excited to have the names picked out that I went ahead and made them some little name onesies! They were really easy to make, so I want to show you how I did them. I used the same freezer paper technique that I did last year when I made Marshall's Father's Day t-shirt. I'm definitely not the first to use this method (I'm always copying projects), so you can probably search for other examples online, too. Here are the steps:

1. I started out with some white, cotton onesies. Are these not the smallest things you've ever seen?! And they aren't even "preemie-sized." After my 8-plus-pound Laney, these boys are sure to seem so tiny to me! Anyways, I washed and dried them (in Dreft) before I started.

2. Gather all the other materials you need. They include freezer paper, scissors, fabric paint, paintbrush, cardboard, an iron, and a craft razor & cutting mat. On these onesies, I actually used screen printing ink ($4 / bottle) but the first time I did this I just used fabric paint and it worked fine.

3. Trace your chosen letters or image onto the non-shiny side of the freezer paper. Use the razor and mat to carefully cut out the images. Make sure to keep the centers of the letters to iron on as well. If you don't do this, you won't have holes in your letters like P, A and E. (This step is where I used my Silhouette machine instead of tracing and cutting. It was so nice because it cuts so fast and perfectly!)

4. Place the freezer paper shiny-side-down on your clothing and iron it on! Don't forget to iron on the centers of the letters, too. My centers were so tiny that I used some tweezers to help place them.

5. Cut a piece of cardboard that you can place between the layers of the shirt/onesie so that when you paint it doesn't bleed through to the back.

6. Finally, paint several coats of fabric paint over the freezer paper and onto the shirt. Let it dry completely before pulling off the freezer paper. Then you're finished!

Boy oh Boy

We went to the doctor today and had the BIG gender-finding-out ultrasound. So I'm posting to announce that the twins are...drumroll, please...

TWO BABY BOYS!

We are so happy! At the beginning of this pregnancy, Marshall and I both said we didn't have a preference on if they were boys or girls because there would be wonderful things about either. But now that we're sure, here are some of the reasons why we can get really excited about boys:

-Laney will always be "baby girl."

-Marshall will continue to be sane and not be outnumbered 4 to 1.

-We won't be putting on THREE weddings in the future.

-We can finally take a break from some of that pink stuff.

-Boats, fish, cars, trucks, & dinosaurs.

AND we've almost nailed down the names. I'll post them as soon as we're sure! :) Have a wonderful night!

2, Please!

I've known about my pregnancy for about 6 weeks, now, and I have been DYING to write about it on my blog. I decided, though, to postpone my "We're pregnant again!" post until after our first appointment and sonogram. I just wanted to make sure that I really was pregnant and that the doctor thought everything looked good.

So, I've been planning this surprise announcement blog post in my head for weeks, now. None of what I planned to say will probably be said in this post, though, because Marshall and I had our own big surprise at our first appointment yesterday. WE'RE HAVING TWINS!

It's been over 24 hours since the appointment and I am still in shock! I'd never thought about wanting twins before or honestly ever even thought about it as a possibility for myself. Ever since I was a child, I have pictured myself having 2 children total (and from separate pregnancies). Marshall says that the possibility of having twins never crossed his mind, either. So you can imagine our surprise and laughter when those two sweet babies (or fetuses, should I more properly say) popped up on our sonogram!

I think this was God's way of saying, "Melanie, you will not plan out your life. I will. So stop trying to!" And I'm so thankful that He reminded me of this. I have been thinking of our family plan, counting months, and deciding on the right time to have our second child for a while now. I had already picked out a boy name and girl name so that I would be ready for when we found out the gender of our second child. I had thought way into the future about many things and how I could control those things. Not that thinking ahead is bad, but this definitely reminds me to not get too caught up in the way I picture my life going because I don't have a whole lot to do with how it actually turns out!

Now for the facts and information from the appointment:

-Doc says he is almost certain that they are identical twins from the way they are positioned in utero. I have an idea of what he is talking about, but am not sure of the correct terminology, so I'll just leave it at that.

-If they are identical, this will mean that they are either both boys or both girls. So we're not expecting one of each.

-Identical twins do not run in families. They are random happenings. From what I've read on the internet, nobody is quite sure what causes identical twinning. This was surprising to us. Marshall's grandmother Gaye is a twin, but obviously not the cause of our twins.

-Our little ones are both currently measuring the size that they should for me being 10 weeks 3 days along in my pregnancy. Doc also said that he is very happy and relieved that they are the SAME size (though it doesn't look like it in this particular sonogram picture). I guess one of these bambinos is closer to the sonogram wand than the other one, causing a distorted view of size. So, as of now, they look like promising sharers. :)

-This is a "high risk pregnancy" simply because there are multiples. Doc says he is always worried about a momma needing bed rest and going into pre-term labor with twins.

-I will most likely be induced into labor at 37 weeks if they have not arrived by then. (Side Note: Laney was induced at 39 weeks. That's only 1 week before due date.). My actual 40-week "due date" that most likely will not be reached is June 27th.

-My next appointment is December 27th. The appointment after that is February 15th. At the February appointment, we will find out if we're having baby boys or baby girls!

Well, there's our stunning news for the century! We have gotten so very excited about these babies and cannot wait for them to arrive. We've already been telling Laney about them and assuring her what a GREAT big sister she will be! Please keep us in your prayers. We are begging for a healthly, full-term pregnancy and guidance in our great new journey. How special to be picked for this incredible, overwhelming, wonderful, yet terrifying adventure. We are blessed. And quite thankful.