Songs for my Family I don't get many things right the first time In fact, I am told that a lot Now I know all the wrong turns, the stumbles and falls Brought me here And where was I before the day That I first saw your lovely face? Now I see it everyday And I know That I am I am, I am The luckiest What if I'd been born fifty years before you In a house on the street where you live? Maybe I'd be outside as you passed on your bike Would I know? And in a wide sea of eyes I see one pair that I recognize And I know That I am I am, I am The luckiest I love you more than I have ever found a way to say to you Next door there's an old man who lived to his nineties And one day passed away in his sleep His wife, she stayed for a couple of days And passed away I'm sorry, I know that's a strange way to tell you that I know we belong That I know That I am I am, I am The luckiest There are a lot of songs that I love to sing to my babies. That one is for me, I am the luckiest....I have two of the most wonderful children in the world. And I am the luckiest to have such a great husband who works hard so that I can be the mother I've always wanted to be. I don't know what we'd do without his love and support. I love to sing "Puff, the Magic Dragon" to the boys. They heard the song in utero and it seems to calm them whenever they hear it. I changed the words when I sing it from "Little Jackie Paper loved that Rascal Puff" to "Elliott and Cooper loved that Rascal Puff" "Angels are Watching Over Me" and "Baby Mine" are also favorites that I love to sing to my children. To Elliott, I love to sing "You are My Sunshine" because he brightens up a room with his charismatic smile. To Cooper, I love to sing "Hush Little Baby" and he just giggles as I tickle him when I sing "mama's gonna buy you a....." And I will end the is entry with a song you've heard from the moment you were born...we've sung our favorite version of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" to you both every day Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star How I wonder What you are Up above the world so high Like a diamond in the sky Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star Do you know How loved you are?

Remembrance This day has significant meaning in our lives, and not just because of the tragedy that occurred in NY, Pennsylvania and Virginia in 2001. It's what occured a year later, in a doctors office in Greenville. It is where for the first time, we got a glimpse that our pregnancy was solid and my beta numbers were rising. The numbers were so high in fact, I started to wonder if I was carrying multiples. I had taken two pregnancy tests at home, the first one on September 8th just after my girlfriend Sandee called me to tell me her grandmother had passed. I stumbled into the bathroom bright and early around 6:30AM and saw what appeared to be a faint positive. Surely I was seeing things. I called Jonathan, who was at work, and told him the news. I told him to look at the test when he got home, if he sees two lines then I'll start believing it. You see, I had taken a test the day before, and had a big fat negative. I went online to my chat group for support, and was quickly told that I need an early response test to pick up the hcg hormone that a woman's body puts out when she is pregnant. Silly me, I wasn't aware that were levels of pregnancy tests. So, I went out to buy one of these so called early detection tests and awaited my first mornings sample :) Ok, back to Jonathan who comes in from a hard nights work, and crawls into bed. "Did you see the test?" "Um, no.....I forgot....and I've already taken out my contacts" Great, just great.....without his contacts, Jonathan is as blind as a bat...He would never see that line. He got up and went into the bathroom and was back. Silence, I was dying....what did he see??? He curled up behind me and nuzzled my ear and said "Looks like we are going to have a baby!!" Those were the happiest words I could have ever heard.... ***I also remember I had a dream around that time, it was of me and three other people in a doctors office. I was laying on the table and the doctor was placing the doppler on my belly to hear the heartbeat. There were two other women in the room, but I could never make out their faces. We listened to the whoosh, whoosh sound of the heartbeat generated from the right side of my abdomen, when the focus turned towards the left side of my belly. The doctor said "Do you want to hear the other one?" I sat upright in bed and exclaimed out loud "THE OTHER ONE??!!" It was then that I knew that I was carrying twins. It would be weeks later before our first sonogram would confirm that I was indeed carrying twins. So, you see September 11, 2001 was a great loss for our country.....and September 11, 2002 was the birth of our family. Current Mood: thankful

Our Rendition of 'Born To Be Wild' Got our bellies filled up Headin' for our toy room Lookin' for adventure And to make things go V-Room, Oh mommy, don't come and catch us We're tearing up this space Elliott is chasing Cooper Like it's some kind of race Play food in the kitchen Books are all on the floor Elliott's saying "ge dow" Coopers standing in a drawer Oh Mommy, don't come and catch us We're tearing up this space Elliott is chasing Cooper Like it's some kind of race Like a true, nature's child We were born, born to be wild Only one thing makes us cry When our diaper’s not DRY BORN TO BE WILD!!! BORN TO BE WILD!!!

Raindrops on Roses and Whiskers on Kittens It has been awhile since my last entry so I decided to post a lengthy one. The boys and I went to VA for my nephews court case. The trip, for me, was full of quiet reflections of past to the present. I remember as if it were yesterday that my nephews Scotty and Joey were born. I remember anxiously awaiting the day that I could hold them in my arms. Watching them grow was a real treat, and I have great memories of them growing up tucked away in a special place in my heart. Scotty will turn 18 in October, and Joey will turn 17 in December. While I was in VA, I looked back on my first year as a mommy and realized there are things about Cooper and Elliott that I miss. I also reflected on their first "loves" and favorite things. I miss how Cooper used to softly cry "Ah-gee, Ah-gee". We jokingly teased that he was saying "Hungry, or Ok, Ok". His first cry is something I will always remember. I also remember how he would gently rub from the back of his head to his forehead while nursing. Sometimes he would rub the back of my arm while nursing, and from time to time, he still does. Elliott, who was the second born, quickly took the lead in being the first to do things. He was the first to roll over onto his stomach (July29). He preferred rolling from place to place to crawling. Their first trip to the beach when they were just 12 days old! Then their first vacation and putting their feet into the ocean!! Elliott quickly fell in love with the swing and would not go to sleep without it. As a result, we had to purchase a travel swing to take on trips! Nowadays, Elliott still loves a swing and we no longer have to put batteries in it, for he has taught himself how to swing, back and forth! Elliott’s favorite toys are anything that resembles a steering wheel. He will quickly turn a little tykes vehicle on its side just so he can spin the wheels!! He also loves a blonde haired boy Little People figure that we have named “Little Man” (sometimes he will not go to sleep without it). Cooper is a ball man, he loves to pick up and throw balls. We think we have a future Nascar driver and Major league pitcher!! Their first baths, ah the good ole days....back when the only thing that got wet was the tub. These days Cooper will plunge into the water and "swim" on his belly, splashing water everywhere!! I'll never forget when Cooper leaned over and began to lap up the bath water like a puppy!! Elliott loves his baths too, he carefully splashes water by doggy paddling with his hands as if he "digging" into the water! I remember the excitement I had when I felt Cooper's first upper tooth. I was on the telephone with my girlfriend Sandee and was letting Cooper gum my finger when I felt something sharp! It was interesting as their teeth came in that Cooper had 3 upper teeth going towards the left and Elliott had 3 bottom teeth going towards the right! I thought that they both were going to have snaggle-puss smiles for quite some time!! Then came the boo-boos, Elliott’s first serious boo boo came when he fell and hit his chin on his wooden activity cube. It ended up being a small scratch, but he cried as if he had broke something. Cooper never suffered many injuries; mainly he was a teething ring for Elliott. Elliott loved to chomp down on Cooper, and Cooper's back, arms and legs really took a beating. Elliott used to chomp down on me too, my upper arms looked like I was a battered woman from all his bite marks! I remember one morning Elliott had bitten Cooper on his forearm, and later that same night Cooper bit Elliott in the exact same spot (must be something to that “twin pain” theory). Elliott also fell down about 6 stairs at my mother’s house....I have mentioned gray hair before....that nearly gave me a heart attack! Elliott also was a "squirmer" while nursing in bed and twice he fell off the bed (this happened two days in a row during the week of their birthday). Cooper is our climber and he takes on any challenge without fear. His most recent climbing trophy was awarded for climbing up the metal slide at MeMaw's and PawPaw's. He didn't climb up the "ladder side", but went up the slide with a rapid crawl then standing position as he approached the top! Their baby dedication was almost cancelled due to their first time experiencing a hurricane. Hurricane Isabel quickly came and went, but left us without power for a week. We miraculously regained power the evening before your dedication! You both looked so handsome in your Quaker styled white rompers. Their first Christmas….sitting on Santa’s lap for the first time. Elliott pulled at Santa’s beard!! Watching them look at all their presents, and they loved watching their choo choo train go around the track. Their first time in the snow...Cooper just loved sitting on the ice covered snow, but Elliott didn't want to have any part of it!! Elliott was the first to sit up on his own, which he did in such an odd fashion. He would try and sit up while lying on his back, in what looked like a standard "sit up" would be performed. Cooper took the tried and true version to sitting up. The ole lean to the side and push himself until he was propped up in a sitting position. Their first big boy haircuts at the barber, watching them become my "little men". Ah, and the first birthday...they both were so tired and possibly a little sick but what a blast that first birthday was!! All their cousins (first, second and third), aunts, uncles, grandparents and closest friends of the family were there to celebrate. Elliott loved the Clown, and Cooper didn't seem to mind her much as long as she was running with him in her arms! They both loved playing in their ball pit and received so many nice gifts! They both started babbling next, and I noticed that they would "sing" to each other...."da da da ha--da da da ha". In the mornings, who ever was awake first would call out to the other with that song or they would babble ah-da da, ah-da da over and over again until the other one would echo the same! Elliott’s first word was MeMe and Cooper’s was DaDa. Cooper has learned the sign for milk and cause it “gilk” (we are not sure why). Elliott loves to babble “bye bye” and “tickle tickle tickle”. Cooper loves to say “cook cook” whenever he sees a box of vanilla wafers!! He also prefers to call anything that walks on four legs “kitty, kitty, kitty”! Cooper took the lead in taking those precious first steps, he walked 3 ft. without falling (this was on June 8th). Elliott quickly took notice and was up and walking the very next day. Elliott, in fact was walking much more frequently than Cooper for the next few weeks. Their first steps with arms held up for balance as they "toddled" to and fro was a milestone that I will always remember! Favorite foods were something else, they both loved Sweet Potato Soufflé by Beechnut. Cooper took to finger foods first and loved the banana and sweet potato puffs from Gerber. They look like little puffed daisies. They both loved Country Garden Vegetables, and I would always say "here's your green pudding" because they both wanted it with every meal! Elliott’s favorite meal was macaroni and cheese, Cooper loves everything…….we have yet to find something he dislikes!! They both love yogurt and we call that ice cream. They were not much into sweets (you barely touched your birthday cake). I miss their tiny hands, and tiny feet...Elliott had such long and skinny legs when he was born!! I love to look at their little socks and reminisce of holding their feet in the palms of my hands. I have put favorite outfits away for future use and as keepsakes. Their daddy loved the ECU and NC football jersey onsies that they were practically swimming in when they were first born, but after two months had passed, they filled them out for our first family photo. I loved so many of their outfits, it would be hard to say which one would be my favorite. I loved all their outfits with matching hats, bibs and socks! Their turtle costumes for Halloween looked so adorable on them…..especially since we had nicknamed Elliott turtle for the way he would “turtle” his forehead as he started to crawl. Speaking of nicknames…..Cooper was affectionately named “Butter Bean” and Elliott was appropriately named “String Bean”. I am sure there will be many more nicknames to follow! So many memories for just one year……and I am sure there are many I have forgotten to mention. Thank goodness for journals and baby books, for without them, these little snips of thoughts here and there could not be carefully preserved. Thanks for taking the time to stroll with me down memory lane. Feel free to add to any memories you have of the twins!