I AM KNIT TOGETHER: Happy Half Birthday!

If I had been asked to write down what I thought a perfect celebration of our daughters' lives would be, I think it would be almost exactly like the party that we had for them for their half birthday. Being that it is unwise to have all of the people who know and love your children in one room during cold and flu season, we decided that a half birthday celebration would be best. I'm sure this won't be the last time we celebrate their birth in the warmer months, however, you can rest assured that a party of this magnitude won't be happening again very soon for our family. I had so much fun planning and getting it all together, and all of the people who helped were phenomenal, and I think it was worth every penny (no pun intended) that we spent....but it's just one of those things that you only do for something that's a really big deal. Let me tell you, this is a really big deal!

We had over 100 people come and celebrate with us in person and many more celebrating in spirit. The theme that we chose was "God Keeps His Promises." It was brought to my attention that this theme might communicate something different than what I meant. By "promises" I don't mean that God always wants us to be happy and have healthy children. By "promises" I mean that (just like the Bible says) God works all things together for the good of those who love him and are called according to His purpose. Not to get too theological on you, but God's ultimate purpose is to glorify Himself. Let me tell you, that promise has been fulfilled in these little lives. God has received so much glory through all of this and we have been so honored to have been used for such a thing. Yes, the girls have a positive prognosis and they are doing excellently, but even if they hadn't, God's promises would have been kept. He always keeps His promises.

Ok, on to the sugar. There was lots (read WAY TOO MUCH) sugar. I was concerned that I hadn't bought enough candy for our candy bar and I fully admit that I was wrong. We have enough candy for the next 3 Halloweens! We also had enough sno cone syrup to share with the youth at our church AND throw out about half of what I had made. There was color everywhere, laughter everywhere, silliness everywhere, and people with a joyful tear in their eye everywhere. It was amazing.

Jonathan had the fantastic idea to have a photo booth and I'm so glad that he did! We had some props for people to dress up with and boy did we get some amazing pictures! We used an app for the ipad that allows the user to email the photo strip to themselves so you will have to look at their facebooks to see if they are willing to share the silliness. Oh who am I kidding! I'll show ya!

The next 3 pictures are extra fantastic because these are our friends that we met as fellow patients in the NICU at LeBonheur. We have pretty awesome kids.

Phew...I hope you got as many giggles out of that as I did! Now for the pictures that other people took. Jonathan and I were so busy chasing babies and talking with friends that neither one of us took a single picture! I know. Amazing right? I knew that would be an issue so I enlisted some of our photog friends to help us out. The first few are from the preparation day on Friday and the last ones are from the party itself. Hopefully those of you who weren't able to be there with us can get a sense of how much fun we had celebrating the lives to of the two most amazing children I know, and the people who have made their lives possible.

Toddlers gotta toddle mom! let go! -L and P

"I feel silly" -P

"I feel pretty" -L

"I feel an arm cramp" -Kim and Christina who were holding the girls up

trying their best

Lovin on Mah Mah

Hanging out with Aunt Shelli (without her 3 boys! it's a treat!)

the color coming together thanks to my trusty team

BFF

The candy bar and balloon arch in all it's glory!

The entry way

This slide show made many a tear of joy fall

the photobooth in action

toddling to meet guests

"nom nom nom" -L

If we had any more children we would be outnumbered!

"nom nom nom again" -L (do you see a pattern?)

No preemie party is complete without a giant bottle of germ-X

I doubt all of the meaning behind the Noah's arc theme sunk in to everyone, but it sure meant a lot to me. We followed God down a scary road that didn't make much sense and had a lot of rain and confusion and in the end He reminds us that He always keeps His promises.

Penny

little

ham!

Mrs Kim sneaking Lydia some sno cone

Mrs Kim helping Penny dance on the table (again with the patterns)

"I'm so sleepy but there's still so much more sugar to be had!" -L

tutu booty!

I think I've had a dream like this before

hula hoops! fun for all ages!

"Penelope have you been working on your scales?" -Mr Chang (Jonathan's violin teacher and the girls' future violin teacher. Seriously...they are on the waiting list!)