This week's assignment - composition

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Little models

A few weeks ago my friend Laura asked for help with her photography. Her twin boys are four years-old and are not particularly interested in cooperating with their mama's photography skills at this point. Since the girls are pretty good through all my silliness, I volunteered us and got some awesome shots. I was worried the girls would be all photo'd out with everything going on this month, but I shouldn't have worried.

I can't wait to get some of these on the wall.

A "fairly" good time

I forgot to charge my camera batteries (again), so all I have are cell phone pics. We took the girls to the NC State Fair this past Sunday for a whirlwind tour. We hadn't been on a weekend in the last 3 years, so the crowds were pretty solid by noon.

The girls went for their first ferris wheel ride. We had to convince Lily she would be fine. There was a good 20 minute wait, and I had to promise her that she could sit on my lap if she got scared and get her a balloon afterwards. We were in the first group to get on, so our first trip around was nice and slow. She got into it pretty quickly and decided she liked ferris wheels. They loved how far they could see (the water tower by our house).

We didn't see a lot of animals this time around and limited them to 5 rides. They also got to play 2 games: fishing and balloon darts. Madeleine was very upset that her darts didn't make it all the way to the board. They ended up in the tub of stuffed animals.

Photography class

I'm currently taking a "Photographing Children" course taught by Heath Clayton for the Town of Cary. It's just four weeks, and currently meeting on Tuesday nights. Our assignment this week was to replicate a picture. I chose a Norman Rockwell picture to recreate:

And my take...

Early Halloween Fun

Last week Marbles held a special family fun night for families of special needs and abilities. Since the March of Dimes was a sponsor, we were invited as a March of Dimes family. The girls were very excited to debut their Halloween costumes at this special event.

Classic Lily - I caught her in mid-fall off the bouncy ball.

Madeleine channelling Ariel as she sings "Flippin your fins, you don't get too far..."

The event was very well-attended and it seemed pretty crowded compared to our weekend visits in the past. They also showed an IMAX movie for free for anyone who wanted to go, but the girls were happy to play downstairs all night.

Playing catch up - birthdays

For the girls' fifth birthday, we had a party at a local gymnastics school. We recently switched day cares, so we had a good mix of old and new friends in attendance. Since starting at their new school they've been attending gymnastics weekly and have really loved going.

The kids spent about 50 minutes going through floor routines, the bars, the big foam pit thing, and the trampoline. But the highlight for the girls was getting to wear the harness and flip in the air like a fairy.

Hard to believe my little girls are already five!

A post five years in the making

Today my little girls are five. No longer babies anymore, they are truly young ladies. They have been for some time, but this age thing makes it seem more official.

October 6, 2005 was my third day at UNC Hospitals. I knew the girls were coming that day, but had no idea when. Finally around 9am they came to get me and take me to L&D. That may seem early, but days in the hospital started at 6.

They put me in a laboring room to wait for prep for the OR. I was there for three hours. The only person who checked in on us was a med student who asked if we would participate in her nausea study. Apparently we'd been delayed due to an emergency.

Around noon, our nurse arrived and seemed annoyed we hadn't started the paperwork yet. But then things got started. I got into the OR and got my anesthesia. Dr. Strauss walked in and said, "so why am I cutting you?" He read the file and got down to business.

12:44 pm. Lily arrives. All I see is a tiny hand above the curtain before they whisk her away to the other room.

12:46 pm. After a lot of tugging, Madeleine arrives. They take her to the exam area to my left where I can see her surrounded by nurses. They wrap her, bring her over so I can see her, and take her out the door.

That would be the last I would see of them on their birthday. I headed to recovery while they headed to the NICU. They spent a few hours on CPAP, but were off it by the evening.

I was totally out of it pretty much into the next morning.

Happy Birthday Lily and Madeleine! You have been such a joy to me. Thank you for letting me be your mommy. I can't wait to see what the next five years bring!

5 Years Ago...

I was admitted to the hospital to have my girls.

That Monday started out like any other. Work with a noon appointment at Rex for my twice-weekly BPP ultrasound. They did measurements, blood flow, etc. Then we waited for the girls to show "breathing." Madeleine was fine, but Lily wasn't moving her diaphragm. We tried for close to 20 minutes to stimulate her with loud noises, movement, etc. No go.

The ultrasound tech called Dr. Ivester in. He tried for a bit but was unsuccessful as well. Then he looked at me and said, "It's time."

Inside I screamed, "Noooooooooo! We need two more weeks!" He said he was on duty on Tuesday, so he wanted me to get to the hospital for a pitocin drip. He was going to induce labor. Again , "Nooooooo!" I'd figured on a c-section the whole time and totally didn't pay attention in birthing class.

Then the tech leaned in and pointed out that I was only 33w3d. He'd thought I was almost 35 weeks, not 34. That changed things. So, instead he wanted us to go to UNC to do another NST.

We went home, packed a bag just in case, and headed up to L&D at UNC. They hooked me up to to the monitors, and everything was just fine. Eric and I started discussing where in Chapel Hill we were going to go to dinner. I think we'd decided on Tyler's Tap Room in Carrboro.

As the resident was checking me out, I asked her about the possibility for leaking fluid. For the last month or so, I'd felt wet after using the bathroom. I'd talked to the other women in my birthing class about it as well as Dr. Ivester, but since it was only occasional, they didn't think it was anything.

She said it was an easy test, so we checked it. When she came in with the results, I knew we weren't going anywhere. I'd failed two of the three tests. They admitted me to L&D and started the first of two steriod shots. The plan was that I would have the girls after the shots.

Dr. Ruma was on duty that night, and he came in with his contingent of residents to evaluate the situation. With Madeleine (Baby B) being transverse, he'd prefer a c-section if I needed to deliver while he was on duty. So with that, I felt we were good for delivery on Thursday.