A year ago........

• A year ago today I had just talked to Dr. Rivera and Dr. Lynn (love and miss them) and they told me the best news ever. My baby girls were coming home.
• A year ago today was my last day at EduCare and had to tell my wonderful family of co-workers goodbye.
• A year ago today Jeremy asked to take a few days off of work to bring his baby girls home from 3 months in the NICU.
• A year ago today I was at Babies R Us buying the last two cases of formula and grabbing bottles.
• A year ago today I was packing my bag and Jeremy's to go spend the night in the NICU. I have never been SO EXCITED to stay in the hospital.
• A year ago today I made tons of phone calls and emails to tell EVERYONE my baby girls are coming home.
• A year ago today I was making plans with Katy Ridgeway to come take pictures of my babies coming home. And Saundra Johnson was so sweet and watched Luke so Katy could help us.
  
• A year ago today I took Heidi to the groomers so she would be all clean and shinny to meet her new friends.
• A year ago today I scrubbed my house from top to bottom. It was gleaming!
• A year ago today I made sure the car was clean and car seats were installed already for my little princesses.
• A year ago today I got to actually pack the diaper bag and place it in the car for the first time.
• A year ago today I took infant CPR and Apnea monitor training.
• A year ago today I helped one of our NICU nurses, Sara, take all the monitors off of the girls and prepare to wheel them out of the NICU bay.
• A year ago today I walked along side the girls crib as we walked down the hall of the NICU to the room-in suite. Pure joy and elation!
  
• A year ago today I got us all unpacked and ready for our first night with the girls.
• A year ago today I had my first night of every three hour feedings and trying to keep babies awake to eat.
• A year ago tomorrow I got up and got my baby girls bathed and dressed for their first trip home.
• A year ago tomorrow I said good bye to a hand full of the best nurse and our family at St. David's. ( I miss all of you so much)
• A year ago tomorrow Jeremy and I carried our baby girls out of the hospital. There are not any words that can even begin to describe that feeling.
  
• A year ago tomorrow we oh so gently strapped them in their seats and drove away from St. David's.
• A year ago tomorrow my baby girls came home for the first time after 105 days in the NICU.

I can not believe it has been a year. I think this is harder for me than their birthday. I look back at all of the older post from last year (starting with this one) and I it seems like yesterday. How fast time goes. I wish I could record every minute and watch it over and over. How much they have changed and what precious little personalities they have. To say God has blessed us doesn't even seem to cover it.

To everyone that helped us through this year and anyway, shape or form............

We are truly grateful to have you in our lives. Thank you!

Wonder how much this will cost us?

The girls have had the stomach bug for the last week and a half. They were great sick babies only fussy off and on. Mainly just spent time changing sheets and diapers but we are on the mend!! Praise God!! Kelby is back 100% and Mallory is almost there still getting sick every now and then, which brings me to the point of this post.

Over the weekend Mallory was very inconsolable to put it mildly, mainly at night. We figured it was ears, as nothing else seemed to comfort her. This morning she woke up on the complete wrong side of the crib and was not in the mood for anything. After a very unusual four hour nap I decided a doctor's visit was worth $30 to see what was wrong. Dr. Dudley did a full check up and everything looked normal. Due to her behavior over the weekend Dr. Dudley was concerned she might have a bowl obstruction. To be on the safe side we went for x-rays. After several pictures of her tummy, and three hours later we have found out that she just needs to poop! We are very thankful that everything came back normal and am guessing during all of the x-rays this is what she was trying to tell me. "Nothing is wrong! I just have to poop!" Lord only knows how much this poop cost us!

Join Team Cheatham Girls

It is that time of year again! The March of Dimes March for Babies walk is May 9th here in Austin. After walking last year we agreed that this will be something we make a point to do every year. The March of Dimes is such an amazing organization. We could tell you so many stories of how God has used them to make a difference in so many lives. It would be great to have you walk with us and if you want to donate to our team even better. We will have Daddy post a link later of how to sign up to walk with us in May. The walk is only 3.2 miles through downtown. It is so much fun and we loved it last year. So quick before you forget, grab your calendar, mark Mother's Day weekend as AUSTIN- March for Babies with the Cheatham Girls. - Hugs and Kisses to all! Mallory & Kelby

Silly Girls

Mallory and Kelby have gotten so silly lately. There are many crawling races with lots of giggles, laughing tug-a-war with toys, silly kisses to each other, love pats (or hitting we are going with love pats since they laugh during them), and spitting contest. It is so fun to listen to them laughing and squealing at each other. At night they definitely have the sleepy sillies. We always grab the camcorder and camera- and of course dead silence fills the room. But the other night we did catch a few shots. So many fun years ahead!

For you Aunt Dixie!

My Great Aunt Dixie always laughs at my Mom for buying the girls toys. She says all they want to play with is Tupperware, boxes and plastic cups, there is no need to waste money on silly toys.

I have to say she is absolutely right! Mallory finally discovered our stash of Tupperware in the pantry. And for almost 3 hours this is all she played with. So many things you can do with it. Scoot it, throw it, chew on it, attempt to stand up with it, and of course bang on it. She kept grinning at us and laughing. I had a feeling she was thinking "Gosh, why didn't I get this from Santa?"

Who looks like Who?

I have always loved looking at old pictures and seeing what traits carry down over generations. I thought it would be fun to post pictures of Jeremy and me at the girls age to see which side they favored. Over the holidays I snagged a few pictures from my childhood and Jeremy's parents are going to see if they can find some of him around the same age. In the mean time here are a few of me

1) Easter '79 (one year)
2) Guessing about 18mths-24mths
3) Fall '79

.