A Look Back.....

I CANNOT believe the girls are 3-years-old!! It just doesn't seem possible. Here are some pics in honor of "looking back" over the past 3 years.....

March 13, 2008

Jocelyn Hope enters the world at 3:19pm weighing 4 lbs 6 oz...

One minute later, Gabrielle Grace, weighing in at 4 lbs 4 oz breathes her first breath and lets out a blood-curling scream....which was a beautiful thing to hear since they were 2 months early....

They were SO tiny. These pics make me cry every time I look at them. Having IV's in their heads was not what I had envisioned....thankfully, after 2 LONG weeks, we got to bring our precious gifts home with us.

The Paci is almost bigger than Gabbie :)

Sweet sisters. It's so funny that we had such a hard time in the beginning telling them apart....seeing how now they don't even look like they are from the same country :)

Daddy with his sweet little girlies....

One month old....

Sweet Jocie

Precious Gabbie

There was still so much extra room in their crib even with both of them in it :)

6 months....

Look at these CHUNKS!!

7 months....

ONE Year Old....

18 months....

Gabbie at 2 years....

and Jocie at 2....

2 1/2 years old....flower girls :)

Christmas 2010....

3 years old!!!! They look SO grown up!

What a 3 year journey it has been sweet girls! Here are a few things to know about you right now:

*You are POLAR opposites from one another in every way :)

*You talk constantly....to each other, to mommy & daddy, to your babies, to your toys, to anything!

*Jocie- you LOVE your polka dot fitted crib sheet. You can't live without your "banket".

*Gabbie- you still are completely attached to your pink moose baby (your "pinklebaby").

*Jocie your favorite foods are any kind of fruit, bread, waffles, cheese, and anything sweet-particularly chick-fil-a ice cream and cupcakes.

*Gabbie your favorite foods are eggs, cheese, and meat. You would eat ONLY these 3 things if we would let you :). You HATE all fruit. You LOVE chick-fil-a nuggets and ice cream. You are SUPER picky when it comes to eating and drinking pretty much anything....but we are working on it :)

*You LOVE playing together. You also LOVE fighting with each other :)

*You love singing songs and dancing. Your favorite songs right now are Away in a Manger, Jesus Loves Me, Wheels on the Bus, Old MacDonald, and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.

*Jocie you love to give kisses but aren't a big hugger. You do like to be held when you are tired or upset.

*Gabbie you refuse to kiss anyone but give away the best hugs ever :)

*You LOVE playing with babies right now and everything and anything that comes along with that.

*You love dressing up and wearing your high-heels

*Potty training was a breeze with both of you (thank you JESUS). You both were potty trained a couple of months after you turned 2 which made mommy and daddy and the budget WAY happy :)

*If you could play outside on a playground with swings and slides every second of every day, you would.

*You love going to "school" two days a week. You can both say all your A,B,C's, can count to 20 and know your colors!

*You love to sing the blessing before we eat and you love to read your bibles and pray together before bedtime....it's precious.

*Books, puzzles, coloring, and flash cards are some of your favorite things to do right now.

*You LOVE your mommy and daddy so much and say their names at least a zillion times per day :)

*Gabbie you are still the more shy and reserved one but you definitely warm up to people and things A LOT faster than you used to....as long as it's on your terms :)

*Jocie you are still WIDE-OPEN and will attempt just about anything. You rarely meet a stranger.

*Gabbie you LOVE animals....you love to hold them, touch them, chase them, feed them...etc. etc. . Jocie you are fine with animals....as long as they are at a distance :)

*Gabbie there is not a day that goes by that you do not say "Mommy, I don't want to take a nap today". Jocie there is not a day that goes by that you do not say "Mommy, I'm tired. I need to take a nap."

*Gabbie you wake Jocie up way too early every single morning. She tells you to go back to sleep but you don't listen to her :)

*Jocie you are still an avid thumb-sucker...especially when you are tired or upset.

*A few of your favorite phrases right now are: "What's that?" "No, I say ME do it!" "I say wait for ME!"

*You both still LOVE bath-time....that is, "swimming" in the bathtub...not so much on the

"getting washed" part :)

*Your favorite cartoons right now are Dora, Diego, Backyardigans, and Veggie Tales.

*For the past several months you have been singing "Happy Birthday" to baby Jesus (this started about a month before Christmas and perhaps was the funniest thing I have ever seen in my life :)....However, the past two weeks it shifted to you singing "Happy Birthday" to each other since you knew your birthday was soon approaching....

I could go on and on.....but I'll end the list for now :) Bottom line is WE LOVE YOU BOTH SO MUCH. We love how very different and unique you are from each other. We thank God for entrusting you to us. There is definitely NEVER a dull moment in our lives right now but we are so grateful for this journey and look forward to another precious year with you both. This parenting thing is so very hard and we don't really have a clue about what we are doing, but we pray daily that the Lord will give us the grace and guidance to parent you well, even amidst all of our mistakes :) We love you sweet girls. We are blessed beyond words!!