Fun with Will Jacks

Last week Will came back to our house to take the babies 6 month pictures. We ventured out to the church and took photos in the dedication gowns and we also went to Lula. We me up with Charles and took some pictures in the cotton field and we even took some on a gravel road! He is such a wonderful photographer and we have loved everything he has done. We finished up the 4 hour photo session at the house with photos on the couch. The babies did great and the pictures are perfect. Enjoy the slideshow!!

http://www.wiljax.com/showit/johnson0809

Last Weeks ENT Report

The weekly ENT trip was last week and I just now have the opportunity to blog about it. The appointment was to go over the CT scan results and burn the granulation tissue underneath the trach. I could not even look at Dr. Thompson while he was reading the report because I was so nervous. The scan showed that the back part of the nasal cavity is all open and no surgery for that part is needed, great news! Although in the front part of the nasal cavity it needs to be opened up with surgery. They will put stints in his nose and they will remain in for 2 to 3 weeks and then the trach will come out 2 weeks after that. We are looking at the middle of November for the removal of the trach. The CT scan also showed that we will be facing some dental issues in the future but nothing that we can not have fixed. Please continue to pray for our family as we are coming to the end of this journey.

Happy Birthday Anderson

The Birthday Boy!

We had such a fun weekend in Cleveland. The babies and I left Saturday afternoon to go stay the night with the Short family. The mean so much to me and we have not seen each other to much lately with everything going on in our lives. Heather and Ryan were having Anderson's 1st birthday and we were so excited to go. Emma Grace and Matthew were so sweet to the babies and wanted to hold them, so we got some cute pictures. We enjoyed Anderson's monkey birthday party and getting to see everyone. So thankful to Kerri, she came to help me keep up with the babies at the party and get them all ready for bed. We made it through the night and the babies were up early, waking everyone else! While they napped we enjoyed lunch out on the patio and we had fun playing on the trampoline. Thanks for having us and hopefully we will be back soon.

Weekend with the Shorts

Trampoline Fun!

Too Cute!! Lucy Kate and Ryan watching Football

Matthew, Lucy Kate, Emma Grace, and Bryant (Anderson was napping)

6 Months Old

How exciting the Bryant and Lucy Kate are 6 months old! They are so wonderful and really have great personalities. For about a month I really did not know what to think about Lucy Kate because she was driving me crazy with all her screaming, but we are getting past that. They are great sleepers, they sleep 11 to 12 hours at night and take two naps during the day. Bryant still loves his jumperoo and Lucy Kate rolls all over the place. They have really started paying attention to each other by grabbing and kicking each other. Outdoors is also a favorite for them, we go strolling and sit out on the porch almost everyday. They are eating great and love their fruits and vegetables! To celebrate the 6 month mark they went for a ride in the wagon, it was so cute and they loved it!

Catching Up

If you have time please catch up with us. Things have been very busy and I have been out of the blogging world. I put up a lot of post today so enjoy!

Bryant and Lucy Kate's Dedication

The week has been so crazy getting ready for the dedication of our twins. In the Baptist church we do not believe in infant baptism so we dedicate them to the church family entrusting that they will help us to raise these babies in the Christian faith. The day was perfect starting with the weather, the babies were in great moods, we were surrounded by our family, the ceremony was perfect, and thanks to Sasha Monty the luncheon at our home was wonderful. She catered the luncheon for us so she had everything ready and cleaned up after the luncheon, this was the best part for me. Everyone enjoyed themselves and the babies loved all the attention. We are so thankful to have such a great family that love our special blessings so much. Thanks to everyone that helped me in getting prepared for this special day.

During the dedication

The beautiful cake that Alice Chow made.

The 3 generations of Charles Bryant Johnsons'

Chuck, Bryant and Charles

Too Blog or Not

September 13th is a day that plays in my mind everyday of my life. It was hard to decide if I wanted to blog about it or not, but I decided to, considering it is one of the most important things that Charles and I have ever gone through. Two years ago on this very day we had our first set of twins, Avery and Bryant. They arrived too early and God took them to be his precious angels. This is something I deal with on a daily basis and have so many emotions about, but God has helped me become such a stronger person and has blessed us in so many ways since this. For the past 2 years I have the flowers placed at the alter at our church in memory of Avery and Bryant and this year I wanted the flowers to be a little different. As any church everyone gets comfortable with the same things, so I changed it up a little. Instead of putting flowers in the urn, we placed a mirror on top and did 4 individual vases with flowers. It was beautiful and everyone loved it. God has so many plans for each of us and when you have to endure pain and suffering it is hard not to question what the plan is, but Charles and I know that this very day was part of everything He has given us and will light the way to so many more things He has planned for us.

The picture is a little blurry, but it shows how it was set up.

The flowers in memory of Avery and Bryant.

"Day of Jennie"

Jennie is a dear friend of mine and we really celebrated her 30th birthday on Friday! I referred to the day as the "Day of Jennie" We had a luncheon to celebrate her big day and then we went out for dinner at Rust that night. Dinner at Rust was great and everyone really enjoyed themselves, we have such a great group and it is always great to get together. After dinner everyone went out for a little while and had some great laughs.

Mary Evelyn, Julie, Jennie (the birthday girl), Ginger, and Me!

We all were crowns to celebrate!

Me, Ginger, Jennie, Julie, and Rachel

Celebrating again at Rust.

Charles and I at dinner

Mary Evelyn and I out and about after dinner!

So Happy to see Dustin

We had a great visit with one of Charles' best friends, Dustin. He moved away about 1 year ago and we have not seen him since. During his trip home this time he made plans to come and see the babies and they loved him. Dustin is so great with kids and he was able to help me feed them and get Lucy Kate down for a nap. It was such a great visit and we miss him so much!

Dustin with Bryant and Lucy Kate

Dustin and Lucy Kate

What a Day (Wednesday September 10, 2008)

The alarm clock went off at 5:20 and I didn't stop until we got home at 4:30 (and yet I still never really stopped). Bryant had an appointment at LeBonheur for a CT scan at 9:00 and they like you to be there 30 minutes early, so we were. I always have to have help so my sweet friend Ginger was able to go and help out today. I had to be in the back with Bryant so she kept Lucy Kate in the waiting room, a bit of a challenge. If you have never been around Lucy Kate she is extremely HIGH MAINTENANCE!!! The CT scan was horrible, they had Bryant strapped down and they were suctioning his nose to make sure the mucus was all cleared away. He was going crazy on the table and he just wanted his mommy. All I could do was talk to him and rub his head, after about 20 minutes he calmed down enough to complete the CT scan. We will know the results next week, this is just part of the procedure to get us closer to getting the trach out. After the CT scan we headed over to Germantown to see the ENT, Bryant was once again bothered as they burned the granulation tissue. He is going to be so tough! We ran some errands, grabbed some lunch, stopped in Southaven and then headed home. I am so thankful that Ginger was able to go and we appreciate her help so much!

Baby Circuit Training

It is a constant thing to keep two babies entertained, so I am always looking for new ideas. I was reading a parents magazine and it had ideas for twins and the one I liked the most was baby circuit training. You just set up stations in a circle and move the babies along as they become tired of a station. It is working out for us and really allows me to interact with Lucy Kate and Bryant separately, I feel like I can spend more time with one baby. The pictures are so cute and Charles said it looks like baby boot camp!

They love all the fun play stations

Here is a shot of the circuit training center!

They can spend time in the bouncy seat, the tummy spin,

and on the boppy learning body parts.

Here is the activity center, swing, and tummy time mat. This works out so well for us and really wears the babies out for their morning naps.