Wordless Wednesday

58th Wedding Anniversary

Hey..I feel like I've not written in such a long time. Truth be told, I just can't get back into the bloggy swing. But..today is a special day. Today is my parents 58th wedding anniversary. I had grand plans to visit my mom, sister (Kristy with a K) and Happy Mommy today. We were going to place a special Christmas wreath on my Dad's grave and then celebrate as best we could with a nice dinner that Happy Mommy prepared. Well here I sit in my office...my kids both have sinus infections, bad coughs and I myself have a stomach flu. So much for celebrating.


Since I can't be with my family today, I thought I'd post this picture of my parents 58 years ago today. My dad would've been so happy to celebrate today. He loved getting together with his family but more importantly, he loved his wife more than words could say. He set such a high standard as a husband that I didn't even consider marriage until TBD came along when I was 38.


Anyway, Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad.

Thanksgiving Day

Hello regular Twice Blessed Mommy readers! 

Twice Blessed Daddy is guest-hosting today from sunny (but very cold) Ohio.  We're here visiting TBM family and friends for the Thanksgiving holiday.  Today, we're in Columbus where the TBM extended family meets every year to stuff ourselves silly with turkey and pies and catch up on old times.  The yearly family picture is taken, and pictures from past years always bring laughter and tears.  This year has been bittersweet, since TBM's Dad is here only in spirit. However, we have been blessed by the happy memories of years gone by, though his ever present sense of humor will always be missed.  And, we know he is gloating, in spirit, at Ohio State beating Michigan once again earlier this month.

Tate and Reese are making their first visit to the annual Thanksgiving event, and are both sick with a cold (naturally).  However, since they are now really toddlers, this does not slow them down; they're just more effective at passing their cold around as they run around the house.  Since they tend to weave  through people a lot faster than TBD (they've evidently watched football and know how to use blockers), I think the exercise I got today more than compensated for all the food.

Tate has been particularly active, more than we would expect since his cold is a bit worst than Reese's.  We think it's because he can see better.  On Tuesday, he got a custom-fitted contact lens to replace the lens they removed during surgery a month or so ago.  Putting a wafer-thin piece of saran wrap in his eye is a bit of a challenge (we dropped it in his mouth on the first try, which made the nurse who said "I've seen everything" say "I've never seen that"), so I leave it to TBM and just "assist" as needed.  Once he had it in and was on his two feet, he immediately stopped crying and stared in the distance. I thought I heard him say "whoa" (we must watch too many Keanu Reeves movies).  It was obvious he might have been seeing pretty well for the first time in his life.

So, if you're wondering what TBM and I are thankful for today, it's that we are dog-tired from chasing our agile (but sick) kids who are acting a lot like normal children.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

My Kids Learned to "Salsa"

I swear I just walked away for a few minutes to put the clothes in the dryer. When I came back to the kitchen.....Tate and Reese had got a jar of salsa out of the pantry (which is child proofed) and opened it (not sure how they did this) and poured it out into two nice piles..one next to her and one next to him. Now where are the chips when you need them?

Another Surgery for Tate

Tate is having another procedure in the morning at 9am. It's an exam under anesthesia to be exact. His doctor is going to fit him for contacts... I'm not sure how thrilled I am about the idea of contacts for him. I'd like to have glasses too as a back up. Can you imagine...."Tate, let mommy put your contact back in your eye....hey Reese, let mommy put your eye back in". Sounds lovely huh? Reese is constantly taking her prosthetic shell out of her eye. Lately, she's been bringing it to me and saying "uh oh". She's getting better at giving it to me and not putting it in her mouth.

I'm taking Reese to visit Aunt Jessica at 730a tomorrow morning. She should have a lot of fun with Jessica and her new room mate. Reese gets to help Jessica fluff her new "luv city sac".

Please pray for Tate that there are no complications and that we hear all good news. I'm so tired of bad news these days....

A Month Ago

Time and really dragged and then flown by this past month.  It's really hard to believe that my dad died one month ago today.  I'm still very sad and it comes over me at any given moment.  I prayed to dream about my dad and so far I've had 3 dreams.  The first was the best...he walked into a room and we immediately hugged for a long time.  I woke up very happy that day and felt that God answered my prayers.  Not only did I dream about my dad, but I also dreamed about my Grandma F.  We were all at my Aunt Brenda's for a holiday (Thanksgiving?) and my Grandma F pulled up in her car (it was big Grandma F..not the skinny frail one she turned into but the one I remember from my whole life).  We all freaked out that she was there and my Aunt Jan explained to us that it was no big deal..she'd just been on a trip!  Ha..yeah, like a 10 year vacation! Anyway, it was nice to dream about her too.  My mom was quite amused at this dream of mine. 

I hosted BUNCO and won last night!  That's the most excitement we've had around here for a while.  It was nice to have 10 of my friends over for a girls night in.  I'm trying to get myself back into the blogging habit.  I realize that I've missed it but have been in such a funk. Hopefully, I'll get it together in time for the holidays...

I need to get going..my kids are cranky and both have runny noses ... not to mention they are still adjusting to the time change.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

***I know this is supposed to be wordless and that Happy Mommy has posted this picture a few times but I wanted to see my Dad's photo on my blog too. It's been a week today...

I'm Still Here...Very Sad but Still Here

I haven't felt like blogging for over a week. There are no words to describe the emptiness I feel in my heart. It just all happened so quick. I'm thankful that I made it to the hospital in time and that my Dad got to see me and the twins. I prayed for time and I was given 26 hours to be with my Dad. He got to see Tate walk and he was so tickled at how cute he is. I'm thankful for my cousin Stacy and Aunt Brenda who came to town on Thursday morning to help with my kids. I don't know what I would've done without their help. I could hardly take care of myself let alone my babies. I'm thankful for all my family who came to pay their respects to my Dad. I'm thankful for the flowers, cards and kind words from my friends. I'm thankful that Happy Mommy's good friend dropped everything to come and watch her kids. I'm thankful that our former pastor flew in from Memphis TN to preach my Dad's service and tell us wonderful things about him. Please pray for my mom..I feel so sorry for her. My sister Kristy is staying with her and taking care of her until things settle a bit. This will be a big adjustment for all of us. I dread the holidays....especially Friday, my birthday. This will be the first time in 44 years that my Dad won't wish me a Happy Birthday or sing to me. Not looking forward to it at all...
But now, it's back to normal but things just don't feel the same. I guess this is the new normal.

Sincerely Fro Me to You ~ Happy Mommy Age 2

In keeping with the theme of Happy Mommy's birthday week, I'm sharing this adorable picture of her at my grandma's house (her great grandma). She used to love to play dress up and her and our cousin Justin were playing "indians" that day. This is her showing us her little rain dance...isn't she just too cute?

So again, Happy Birthday week Happy Mommy! Love you...
For more "fro me to you" action, head on over to Kristen's site at "we are THAT family" and check it out...you'll be glad you did.

Surgery Update, NICU Reunion and Shampoo

It's been awhile since I've felt like sitting down to blog. I guess I've been in a bit of a funk lately...and feeling a little old since my niece just turned 30! YIKES!

Tate's surgery went very well. Dr. Trese tried to make a few cuts to Tate's pupil in hopes that it would just spring open but that didn't work. He had to cut away part of his iris to make his pupil size be 4mm which is good. He removed the rest of his lens capsule and did a bit of laser to remove old scar tissue. He also put an air bubble in Tate's eye because his retina is slightly folded and this should help flatten it out. We had to keep Tate on his belly for 2 days and that was quite the task. We are going back to Detroit on 10/14 for a check up (we usually follow up with his doctor here but Dr. Trese wants to see him first) and hopefully that will be our last visit to the Motor City. For all of you who are wondering ~ Yes we finally went to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Sad to report it was a bit underwhelming. The highlight was listening to "Roundabout" by YES on a video monitor since it's in the top 500 songs that changed rock and roll. I'm a HUGE Yes fan for those of you who don't already know that!

We went to the first NICU reunion last Sunday. It was quite surreal seeing all my friends that I made (my pump room buddies) while the twins were there and their children. I was so happy to see our 2 favorite doctors and they were equally as happy to see Reese and Tate. It was a little disappointing that we only saw a few of the nurses who cared for them. We were hoping to see our favorites but none of them were there. The nurse who let me touch Tate for the first time when he was just 1 day old was there and she came right up and hugged me..that surprised me a bit but she was really sweet. I think we'll go back next year for sure. I hate to say this but I was quite surprised that out of all the kids who were in the NICU at the same time as my kids, none of them had any health issues. Please don't get me wrong..I'm very relieved that they are all healthy with no problems. It's just made me feel a little worse about my kids vision issues... and selfishly so. Please don't say "It could've been worse" because I already know how their whole ordeal could've turned out...I just wish that they too had no problems at all.

Okay, last subject is Shampoo. I will tell you that I always have been and always will be a shampoo snob. Even in my broke and single days I would buy expensive hair products and live on rice and cereal. I'm in a shampoo rut. I always have at least 3 different shampoos and alternate their use (just to keep my hair surprised) but I've been using the same ones for years and I'm getting very bored with them. I'm asking for your help and opinions..which shampoos do you use and why? There really is a huge difference between salon poos and drugstore brands. My hair will attest that this is true. Anyway, please let me know if you have any good shampoos I should try. Thanks for your help!!

Happy Birthday Happy Mommy - She's 30!

I'm guest blogging on Happy Mommy's site today in honor of her 30th Birthday!!
Check it out!

Wordless Wednesday ~ Week in Review

19 on the 19th

Just realizing that my twins are 19 months old today and that today is the 19th! It's their Golden Month Birthday!! Did I just make that up? They are taking a nap so I'm catching up reading blogs when I should be packing! We're leaving tomorrow late afternoon to head on over to Detroit by way of Cleveland (RRHF here I come). Tate's surgery is early Monday morning and I'm asking again for all my blogger friends and family to pray for my sweet little guy.

Will keep you all posted after his surgery. Thanks for praying!

Sincerely Fro Me to You ~ Milo Age 10 Weeks

My IVF transfer was on 9/11/06. About a week later (this time that same year), Happy Mommy tells me of a French Bulldog puppy for sale in her neck of the woods. Twice Blessed Daddy and I had talked much about getting a Frenchie puppy for about 2 years but were on the fence about it. I asked TBD what did he think? He wasn't exactly for or against it but since we were still waiting to see if I was pregnant or not...we decided to wait. Well...I waited about 2 hours and then made the call and found out that the puppy had just been sold. Not to be I thought. So after a few hours of being bummed, I decided to look on Pet Finder for Frenchie Puppies and this is what I found:

I almost flipped!!! He was the cutest Frenchie puppy I'd ever seen! His name was Langdon. I called the breeder and yes he was still available. I told TBD to look at his sweet little face and that was it. We put down a deposit and bought ourselves a Frenchie. We arranged to pick him up on Friday 9/21 in Pennsylvania.

On Thursday 9/20, we got the call that my test was positive! And my hcg levels were triple what they should've been so we had a feeling right from the start that we were having twins.

On Friday morning, we drove to PA to get Langdon and we promptly changed his name to MILO. This is his picture on the day we brought him home....by the way, the breeder informed us that this litter was done through IVF so we knew right then, it was meant to be...I was having an IVF baby...he was an IVF baby...funny huh?:

Here are a few more pictures after he was in our home and settling in;

So here's to Milo who's our crazy clown dog and such a special part of our family. We're so happy you've been a part of our lives for the past two years!

For more "Fro me to you" action, head on over to Kristen's site at "we are THAT family" and have yourself a look.

Wordless Wednesday

Long Day ~ 1st Emergency Room Visit ~ Reese

Today was very hectic.  While we were waiting for Tate's OT to come for a visit this morning, the kids broke free from their playroom as I was in the restroom.  I see them both go by as I had the bathroom door open.  Next, I hear bells ringing letting me know that they were at the front door (Milo's I need to go potty so I ring the bells).  Then a loud crash, glass shatter and Reese screaming/crying.  I come running around the corner to see Tate at the front door and he's holding a huge chunk of glass out to me.  Reese is sitting next to a wrought iron vase holder that she has managed to pull over.  It holds a glass vase with glass rocks and flowers. She is covered in blood and holding a large chunk of glass in her right hand.  I grab the glass out of her hand and notice that her middle finger is badly cut.  I scoop her up and run to the bathroom leaving a blood trail behind.  I rinse it off , grab a towel and apply pressure.  Call TBD at work and he doesn't pick up. Call the pediatrician and find out they don't do stitches (should I have known this?).  Call TBD again who doesn't pick up.  Call Emi (Tate's OT) and cancel.  Call Happy Mommy who walks me through what I should do.  All while Milo is walking around the glass and Tate keeps going back to the front door.  I'm freaking at this point and TBD still doesn't answer his phone!  Milo in the crate, Tate in his car seat and Reese's hand taped up and in her car seat, we're on our way to the ER.  I finally remember TBD's emergency number while talking to HM.  Happy Mommy gets him pulled out of a meeting and tells him what's happened. He finally calls me as I'm driving to the nearest ER.  Then I call my sister in law forgetting that she's with her mom at the doctor.  Her husband, my BIL calls and tells me to make sure that the ER has a plastic surgeon on call.  He makes some calls for me and it's decided to take Reese to the ER hospital where she was born quite a few more miles away...they have a pediatric ER.  I meet TBD along the way, he parks his car and drives us to the ER.  Reese has quit bleeding awhile earlier and I'm a little less frantic at this point.  We make it to the hospital, TBD drops us off, takes Tate to our BIL's and comes back to see us.  In the meantime, Reese is seen straight away.  They decide to clean her hand, give her a shot in her hand that will block the nerves and stitch her right up.  She's strapped down in a papoose and I'm holding her left hand and stroking her head while she's screaming at the top of her lungs.  Her knuckle was cut pretty deep but no tendon or muscle damage.  She got two stitches, a splint and bandaged up.  She looks like she flipping everyone the bird which I'm sure she is.  TBD gets back just in time for it to be all over and we are discharged.  We go back home and give our sweet girl some Motrin.   My SIL and MIL were at our house cleaning up all the glass and blood when we arrived...thanks for that!   I take Reese up to our room and we climb in bed and take a nap together.  Tate enjoyed the day with his uncle Jeff and cousin/aunt Jessica who were apartment hunting for Jessica.  I know this post is very disorganized but please excuse me...it's been a rough day!!

Sincerely Fro Me to You ~ Tate and Reese Day 5 Transfer

Twice Blessed Daddy and I both waited until we were a bit older in life to get married. On January 15, 2005, we tied the knot...I was 40 and TBD was 44 (it was also TBD's parents 50th wedding anniversary). We decided to try and start a family right away. We had trouble conceiving on our own, so we did what many people do and turned to a fertility clinic. I will tell you that one of the worst things a woman can hear in her life is that she has "old eggs". After one failed attempt at IVF (10/05), we waited almost a year before we tried again. I was the one who wanted to wait. I was in such a funk after the first round failed and was very depressed for several months. It hit me a lot harder than I had expected.

In the summer of 2006, I started working out much harder than usual. I went from running 2-3 miles a day to 3-5 miles a day (5 days a week), I walked 2 miles almost every morning with Mrs. G before we would head over to Curves. I also walked with TBD some evenings. I decided that I was going to be in the best shape I could be in if/when I ever became pregnant. Later that summer, our church had a series called "Deep Water Faith". On the kickoff Sunday of the series, they placed a blank sheet of paper in the bulletin. After the service, they asked everyone to write down a subject that needed to have complete faith about. You could sign it or remain anonymous. We were told that all notes would be read and that the staff would pray for each and every request. I wrote almost word for word, "TBD and I are trying to decide if we should try IVF again or go straight to adoption. We want to have faith that the one we choose is the right decision". I placed my signed piece of paper in the oak box.

Two days later, I woke up from a dream and knew right then and there that we were supposed to try IVF one more time. I turned to TBD and told him that I just had a dream about us and IVF and felt absolute peace that this was the right decision. He agreed to proceed but requested that we change clinics. Not a problem. I also told him that I wanted to go to an acupuncturist who specializes with IVF patients. We made our appointments later that week and we were all set.

We went on vacation to London and Paris and on our way home 8/11/06, I started my first injection of Lupron while on board the airplane. It was kind of cool, sitting in our seats and TBD giving me a shot in my belly. I had a great month without too much pain and my retrieval date was 9/6/06. They were able to get 10 eggs from me..this was great news since the first time I only had 5. We waited for the progress report daily and it was decided to transfer on 9/11/06, day 5 which is amazing (for those of you who don't know much about IVF, a day 5 transfer is the best you could hope for)!

So two years ago today, on 9/11/06, I finally had something wonderful happen to me. After living and working in NYC during 9/11, it was about time that something special happened on that date. Here is a picture of Tate and Reese taken right before they were implanted in my belly. This day turned out to be one of the best days of our life! (I covered my real name.)



I'm so happy that our church had that series. We prayed in earnest to have the faith we needed to make our family complete....and it worked!

For more "fro me to you" action, go to Kristen's site at "we are THAT family" and check it out. It's the best thing in the blogging world happening on Thursdays.

Wordless Wednesday

Update on Tate

Tate's surgery went as well as could be expected. He did have a cataract which had to be removed, meaning they removed his ocular lens. They were able to open his pupil which was the main goal of his procedure. They did have to make one serious decision and we're glad that opted to stop where they did. I should mention that Dr. Trese (doctor in Detroit) was aware of Tate's surgery and acted as a consultant. After removing his cataract and all the lens cavity, they wanted to make a small hole in the back of his lens chamber. After noticing that Tate still has some residual ROP scaring, they realized if they did make this hole, it would pull on his retina. This is where Dr. Trese will come in. We will be making hopefully a final trip to Detroit so he can do this delicate procedure on Tate. So all in all, this is a good thing. Tate will probably have to wear glasses or a single contact on his right eye but that is so minor.

Tate's primary doctor who lead the surgery told us that Tate's cataract was so opaque, that he didn't really think that there had been any useful vision in his right eye. What?? Here we've been so worried about this procedure since all this time we've thought it was his "good eye". After Tate's right eye was patched yesterday, we were not sure how much he could see out of his left eye which has a severely dragged macula. I tell you people, I'm so happy to report that Tate was not the least bit affected by his right eye being patched (except that he kept trying to remove it all day). He played and acted like his usual self.....so now we realize that even though his macula is dragged, he still has had very useful vision out of his left eye....who knew?

I'm looking forward to know how he sees after I take him to the doctor this morning to have the patch removed. Since his pupil is now open, he should be able to see much better. And we do know he was nearsighted in that eye and removing the lens should correct that. The reason he'll need glasses or a contact is to replace the lens and help him focus.

Thanks to everyone for your prayers. It has really meant a lot to me and our family. I'll keep everyone posted on when we make our trek back to Detroit. Maybe there's still hope for me and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!!

Sincerely Fro Me to You ~ First Time I Held Tate

This picture was taken on March 7, 2007 and it was the first time I held my son. His nurse Connie let me hold him and I was so happy that I could hardly contain myself. My parents were there with me but TBD was on his way to the hospital from work and he missed it. I was so happy that Connie took this picture and gave it to me right then and there. She was one of my favorite nurses of Tate's. I'm doing this "Fro me to you" on Tate because I found out yesterday that he is going to have his long awaited eye surgery next Monday 9/8 (my sister's birthday- Happy Mommy's mom). This is a very complicated surgery and they are expecting complications but 2 of his doctors will be there to handle any situations that may occur (ocularplastic surgeon for the iris and retinal surgeon for the retina). Please pray for my little boy, that the Lord has mercy on Tate and that there is NO cataract, hence saving his ocular lens.


This next picture was taken last Saturday when we all went to Kings Dominion for my nephew's birthday celebration. Tate loved the merry go round and I loved taking him on it...that's not completely true! I had just rode a roller coaster with Luke and my brain was a bit rattled and I felt very nauseous and going round and round didn't help!



Anyway, please be so kind and keep Tate in your prayers.

For more "Fro me to you" fun, check out Kristen's blog at "we are THAT family".

Wordless Wednesday

Dinner With Grown Ups!

Last night was a rare occasion for me!  I went to dinner with my good friend Mrs G and Sojung. We had planned to eat Mexican all week but last minute change and we ate sushi instead.  It was delicious!....and I got to eat my meal without feeding any babies.   Afterwards, Sojung asked if we could go to Super H Mart which is a huge Korean market.  It was way too cool.  We had fun walking around and looking at all the different food items.  I never realized there were so many types of fresh fish in one store.  I wanted to look at the baby food but didn't get a chance.  I wonder if they had some sort of fishy baby food or sushibaby?  Who knows...

Just wanted to brag on my grown up night!  Lots of good food and fun was had by all.

Sincerely Fro Me to You ~ Age 40 with Happy Mommy

Since I'm leaving in 30 minutes to meet Happy Mommy, Daisy and my sister Kristy (Kristy is having eye surgery), I felt it only right that I post a picture of HM and myself. This was taken October 2004. We spent the day at our nations capital walking around and having lots of fun. Daisy wasn't around yet...as a matter of fact, HM got pregnant with her a few weeks after this picture was taken. I had just moved from NYC and we all decided to spend a nice weekend together. HM came to see me and get fitted for her bridesmaid dress. Anyway, just wanted to post a pic of me and my best girl.

For more fun, head on over to "we are THAT family" enjoy!

Happy Birthday Luke!

Today is my nephew Luke's 7th birthday! I can't believe how time has flown by. We've been very fortunate to be able to celebrate most of his birthday's with him. This year we're taking the whole Happy Mommy family to Kings Dominion to celebrate. Should be a lot of fun for all!

Today I'm sharing some goofy pictures of Luke and I. He loves it when we take these self portrait pictures and so do I. Happy Birthday Luke Skywalker....We love you! (I think we have a tongue theme going on here.... the first pic is my attempt at rolling my tongue which everyone in my whole family can do except me and my mom.)







I did find a picture of Luke's 4th birthday in 2005 when we were at Busch Gardens. We went to Water Country in the morning and Busch Gardens later that evening and back to BG the next day. This is taken at Water Country. I even found one of our sweet girl Daisy at the pool with us. Like HM said, she is only 5 weeks old but she had fun that weekend.

Frustrated!!

Our trip to Detroit was a bust! No zoo..no Rock and Roll Hall of Fame..no surgery...nothing!

We were so excited that Tate's care was now in Dr. Trese's hands only to be shut down. The appointment was Tuesday at 145p. This was our fifth trip to his office and at the most, we've waited 45 minutes. They have a great set up. You sign in and they administer the drops while you wait so when your name is called, you go straight in to see the doctor. This visit was quite a bit different...to say the least. We arrived at 140p and there was not a seat available to sit it. There were at least 50 people in this waiting room..parents along with their children all waiting to see Dr. Trese. I guess they got a little behind that day. There were at least seven blind children there and it was quite humbling for me.

We were finally seen at 430p and promptly found out that the letter from our doctor never made it to Tate's file..good thing I was prepared and had a copy myself. Dr. Trese comes in, reads the letter in front of us, looks at Tate for maybe 2 minutes (remember I said previously that Tate's eyes do not dilate so he couldn't see behind them very well), and tells us that he doesn't preform perifial iridectomys..only bilateral ones. What?? He said that we should go back to Tate's surgeon..you know, the one who sent us to Dr. Trese.. and have him preform the iridecomy and leave the lens alone. Even if Tate has a cataract or if the Dr gives him one, just leave the lens as is and then bring Tate back and Dr. Trese can remove the lens.

This could have all been found out with a simple call from our doctors to Dr. Trese. He could have given his second opinion over the phone instead of giving it to us during a 10 minute office visit. Which by the way cost us well over $600 in hotels, gas and not even counting food. We were very upset when we left there ( I did tell Dr. T that our doctor didn't want to do the surgery and wanted him to do it but it was kind of a mute point since he doesn't even do them).

The next day, we drove 12 hours home..our 8 hour drive always turns into 12 with stopping to feed our kids, and realized that now we were no longer upset but rather mad and frustrated.
We're now awaiting a call back from Tate's primary opthamologist who was rather quite surprised when I called and told him our ordeal. He's getting involved and having the surgeon fit Tate in for surgery ASAP. So, hopefully we'll know a little more next week.

Please keep little Tate in your prayers since he now has to wait even longer for this procedure....oh yeah, and pray for his frustrated mommy too!

Sincerely Fro Me to You ~ Engagement Photos

I decided to share some of my engagement photos for this weeks SFMTY. These were taken on 11/5/04 just a few months before our wedding. We had a really nice time with our photographer Brian. I especially like the last one of us walking towards the camera. My hair was on the lighter side and I prefer it darker now....but have to admit that I LOVE my jacket!

For more Fro Me To You fun, head on over to Kristen's site at "we are THAT family" and have yourself a peek.

PS..Can you guess which big city we live only 30 miles from???

Road Trip to the Motor City

We're off on another road trip...not a pleasure trip however. We are going to Detroit again to take Tate to see Dr.Trese. We haven't been to see Dr. Trese since last September. We are both relieved and anxious about this visit.

We learned in May that Tate's right eye has changed since his last eye exam in November. It was explained to us that Tate's eye is getting shallow and the fluid in his eye isn't flowing like it should. They just need to poke a little hole in his pupil to get to his iris and then make some holes in his iris which will allow the fluid to flow properly. If we do nothing, it will surely result in glaucoma. His surgeons here fear that if they do the surgery, they may cause a cataract (they think he may already have one forming) which will result in removing his ocular lens. The problem with that is he may have scar tissue behind his lens and if they even touch it, it could detach his retina. Drama right? And I forgot to mention that Tate's pupils don't dilate because they are scarred down to his iris from the ROP. His opthomologist and retina specialist have highly recommended taking Tate to Detroit to have Dr. Trese give a second opinion and ultimately have him do the surgery. They are also hoping that the doctor can loosen that scar tissue for proper dilation.

The worse thing about all this is that this is Tate's right eye which is his good eye. We know he can see out of his left but the vision in the right is much better. Dr. Trese is Tate's best hope for a successful outcome. Please keep our family in your prayers for safe traveling mercies and especially for our sweet baby boy. We know God has great plans for Tate and we just want his vision to be perfect.

This will be our fifth trip to Detroit. I've made only one request...to stop in Cleveland on our way back to visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. We'll need a little excitement after all this. I also hope to take the babies to the zoo while we're there. We took them last summer and it was a lot of fun. Well....I better get back to packing. Just wanted to keep everyone up to date and ask for your prayers.

PS.... My 25 year high school reunion is going on as I type this and I obviously wasn't able to make a trip to Dayton Ohio (Wayne High School class of 83) to attend due to this impromptu trip. Hopefully I'll still look good for our 3oth!!!

7 Things About Me MeMe

Thanks cousin Amy for tagging me in this meme. I've had a hard time coming up with 7 things! Just wait until my 100th blog and I have to come up with 100 things! Crazy...anyway, here goes;

1) I smoked for 1 week when I was 18 - hated it!

2) I dated a rock star briefly when I was 26 and we are still friends to this day...he just turned 60! YIKES! I still get free tickets to all his band's shows..and don't call me a groupie please. Groupies aren't invited, they just show up. I'm always invited....because I'm special like that.

3) My hair is naturally wavy/curly and I use big round brushes and blow dry it straight.

4) I have a passion for running. It's my alone time to talk/pray to Jesus. So sad that I haven't ran since the babies were born and I miss it dearly. So start running again, right?

5) I have an obsession with plucking my eyebrows. I do it every day. I'm trying to stop for 1 month and it's killing me (so I've still been plucking the strays).

6) I'm a tweezer snob. I only use Vitry tweezers which I get in Paris. Every time I go to there, I come home with about 10 pair. I give them as presents and keep spares for myself. My husband and I have been to Paris 2 times together and he's been in so many pharmacies helping me look for them and he doesn't complain too much. I have about 4 spares at this time. I think I need to schedule a trip!

7) I love pedicures! They are my most favorite thing to receive. I used to have the luxury of getting one every other week but now I'm lucky if it's once a month. My girl Pham does the best job and my feet just love her.

I'm now tagging the following for this meme~
A Little Mischief
Greek Grits
Our American Life Through Korean Eyes
Kennedy's in Europe
and
Giovanna Diaries
** Sorry in advance ladies but come on..this should be fun!

Like Mother, Like Daughter

My family came for a visit a few weeks ago and we all had a very nice time with each other. My mom's sisters came to see her for a few days and my cousin Stacy brought them along with her daughter Emily. All of them along with Happy Mommy, her kids and my sister Kristy came to my house one day for lunch. I had purchased Mother/Daughter aprons a while back and planned on having them on when they arrived. When everyone saw Reese and I in matching aprons, they thought it was the cutest thing. I did it for Happy Mommy who loves aprons...I wanted to make her laugh. Miss Reese helped me prepare lunch for everyone! The Apron Queen would've been proud! Here are a few photos from that day;







My sister Kristy is facinated by that fact that I can feed 2 babies their bottles at once. She always brags on me which cracks me up. Here is a photo she took of me doing just that. Hey a twin mom has to be creative!



I'm so happy that my Aunts, counsins, mom, sister, neices and nephews came for a visit. It was short but we sure did have fun laughing with each other. Thanks for coming guys..

Sincerely Fro Me to You ~ Age 7 Months

As I mentioned a few SFMTY posts ago, I was recently at my Mom's house and went through a lot of her old photos. I saw this picture of me as a baby and nabbed it. The back says I'm 7 months old and taken in 1965. I think I look very sweet...now I know why Reese's hair has taken so long to come in thick. Anyway, just thought I'd share. For more fun, head on over to Kristen's site at "we are THAT family" and enjoy!

P.S. This may be the dress that my sister Kristy was the first to have her picture taken in, me second, Happy Mommy third, Daisy fourth and Reese will be the fifth. Happy Mommy, please confirm.

Reese's Surgery and Tate's Playdate

Reese had surgery again on Tuesday morning. Somehow the Gunderson Flap she got on 7/8 tore and she needed a few more stitches. We kept debating whether to take Tate with us again (he was so bored but very good the last time). Our good friends The G's offered to keep him for the day. So, we left our house at 400a and dropped Tate off (I told you she was a good friend) and headed to Baltimore. Reese's surgery lasted only 30 minutes this time and it was a success. She did however wake from the anesthesia in a very distraught state. She screamed, kicked and cried for over an hour and a half. I was very upset because she's never acted this way before. They gave her more and more pain medication but I don't think she was even in pain...just having a bad reaction (bad dream maybe?). Anyway, once we got her back to her own recovery room, she was back to her normal self..maybe she calmed down after seeing her daddy.



All the while, Tate was being doted on by Mrs. G, Audrey, Betty and Sojung. They took him to the park and played with him all day. Here is a picture that they took of him in his stroller. He had a great time and came back smelling lovely (Mrs. G wears Pure Grace and he smelled just like her the rest of the day). We're very blessed to have good friends who are willing to help us any hour of the day or night.