Better late than never!  Well even the blogmaster is allowed to take some time off.  And that we did. Our Christmas season was fun but as always way too short.  TwinMom and TwinPop took the week of Christmas off.  We started the Christmas festivities at Grandboogies home on Christmas eve. We had a fun time with Grandboogie and the "big" cousins. Granboogie did a super job of hosting and we all had a lot of fun, fellowship and a bunch to eat. We hurried home to get ready for church. We dressed up like sheep and participated in our Church Nativity Scene. Once we got home we put out the Reindeer food and Santa's milk and cookies. Santa must have thought that we were good kids because there were presents under the tree when we woke up. After opening presents and having some time with Grandboogie we packed up the van and headed to cousin Carter's home. What a blast we had! All of the little cousins were there.  We played with our new stuff and opened more presents. We had a great weekend at Carters home with Uncle Mel, Aunt Heather, Grandma and Pepe. Carter took us to his park and we had a blast wearing out the adults. Later that night we ate Cuban food from Hugo's. We had a fun week with Mom and Dad. They took us on a ferry ride and we went up to Fernandina to look for Pirates. Mr H found a few wooden Pirates. On New Years Eve we went to our friend's home for a party. We stayed up all the way to the New Year. The next day we had a Bar-B-Que feast. Grandboogie brought the greens and blackeyes....yummy...and good luck. Well Mom and Dad are back at work and the year is off to a great start. Please take a look at our pictures and come back weekly to see what we are up to. We would love to hear from you...please leave us comments. Happy New Year!!!

It is hard to believe that Christmas is upon us and that the New Year is right around the corner.  We are truly blessed.  A year ago we were in the hospital as our daughter was fighting for her life following surgery.  Everyone is healthy.  Our two little guys are growing like weeds and are anxiously awaiting Santa's arrival.   Our home is a behive of activity and anticipation!  If you are a first time visitor to the blog, please take a look around. We try to update it every week or two (on 2sDay of course). We love to get comments, it is our way of knowing that we had visitors!

Merry Christmas and Happy 2010

It is hard to believe that a year ago this week our precious daughter had a surgery that saved her life.  What a change the year has brought in terms of health, growth and development.   Every year there is a major fund-raising event that benefits the hospital where Kate had her surgery. The final event of the week is the fashion show.  All of the children in the show were patients of the hospital.  Kate was the youngest kid to take the runway. I am biased but I think she stole the show.  What a blessing to have such a wonderful resource in our community.  The following photos are of the show:

Children's Fashion Show

This video shows Kate and her beautiful escort.  Be patient as it may take a little time to load.

Our Princes on the Runway

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This is bonus material taken yesterday by the SuperNanny.  Our guys are fascinated with the various stuffed animals that play some sort of Christmas music, etc.  Here they are indoctrinating Baby Julia into the finer aspects of the Christmas season.  I think she is going to like Christmas.  Mr. H has taken to a Dog that has a Christmas themed song that "gets a little bit louder now".  O Joy....Just imagine this non-stop for 16 hours a day! What fun!

Christmas Buddies

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We want to wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy 2009! If you are a frequent visitor to the site you know that something was amiss over the past few weeks.  Our custom on this site is to post weekly on Tuesday (US+2sDay). The story  and reason for the delay in posting is included at the end of this post. We have a lot to be thankful for!

Kate was able to come home for Christmas and is on the Mend!

This was not quite the Christmas season that we had planned.  It has however allowed us to reflect on what is truly important and to take stock of our blessings. Throughout this month we have felt the thoughts and prayers poured out for her.  We have been the recipients of a lot of love and friendship over the past few weeks. We especially want to thank our family, friends and church family; the visits, cards and calls all were uplifting.  We were not able to attend church this past month, however we were able to focus on the season through daily email advent messages from our pastor (Thanks Tom)!  Grandma B and our friends took good care of Mr H while Mom and Dad took care of Kate. A special thanks to Miss Joy, Mr Tom, Carley and Riley and to Miss Andrea, Mr Randall, Olivia and Julia.  Words cant express the gratitude that we feel.  To Aunt Heather, Uncle Mel and Cousin Carter, sorry we were not able to carry out our Christmas plans with you. Thanks for being so understanding.  Here are the Christmas Pictures: (This is a slide show, navigate through it by clicking on the picture with your mouse) [Gallery not found] Kate's Story: Sonograms taken prior to the birth of our twins indicated that our daughter had Hydronephrosis. This is a collection of fluid on the  kidneys.  Shortly after her birth she had an operation that we hoped would correct this condition.  All seemed to be going ok but we had to wait for her to develop.  She was tested every six months and the yearly checkup looked promising.  However at the 18 month visit it was discovered that she had developed reflux and urine was backing up toward her kidneys. For the past few months it has been UTI after UTI.  Her urologist recommended surgery.  Two weeks before Christmas she underwent major surgery to reconstruct the path between her bladder and kidneys. The surgery lasted over four hours, but she came through like a little trooper. Here are pictures from the first visit to the hospital:

Surgery Prep

Bedside with Dad

Bedside with Mom

Scooting around the 2nd Floor

Grandmothers

Cousins

FunUncle and Mr H

Get Well Poster from our Church Friends

As planned we were released from the hospital on Sunday the 14th of December.  Our princess had a catheter removed on Wednesday, and we thought all was going well.  The next day our princess took a turn for the worse and by Friday morning we were in the ER.  Our precious daughter was gravely ill.  An infection was surging through her body and she required immediate care. By Saturday she had a fever approaching 105 degrees and the Pediatrician informed us that a full attack was needed to combat this strain of ecoli. By Sunday they better identified the bug in her system and were able to pinpoint the required antibiotic. She received three doses and a lot of care over the next few days. We are grateful for the loving care she received from all of the hospital staff.  Kate even got a bear from the Jaguar Football Players. We were finally released from our Second stay on Tuesday before Christmas. What a wonderful Christmas Gift! It is great to be back!

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