Monday, December 26, 2016

Christmas with Babies

Since Eli and Maddie are less than 8 weeks old, we decided that we would have a quiet Christmas at home. Our day was filled with the usual: feeding, changing, naps. But we still found time to enjoy the day celebrating our first Christmas as a family of four :)

Babies gave us the Christmas gift of a good night. We had a couple of longer stretches between feeds, so that was awesome. It's amazing the difference it makes to have 2-3 hour stretches of sleep compared to 1-2!

We enjoyed cinnamon rolls and coffee, along with sweet baby snuggles and smiles. Not a bad way to spend Christmas morning :)

Merry Christmas!

Long prayed-for snuggles...

Nap time with Daddy

We wanted to get the stereotypical baby-in-the-stocking photos, but when we went to put them in their stockings, we realized they had already grown too big! So we opted for the baby-under-the-tree-in-a-diaper photo instead. My photography skills leave much to be desired, but wrangling 2 newborns and a camera is harder than you think ha!


Mesmerized by the lights

Uncle Michael came over for lunch and to hang out for the afternoon. We were all excited to see him, even Sasha :)



I love my Christmas present from Mike: a twin mama t-shirt! Oh how I miss my sleep, though...


Mike also made a sweet video for us. He followed me around with a GoPro during the last few weeks of my pregnancy and then when Eli and Maddie arrived. This video, y'all...ALL the feels. All. The. Feels.

Eli + Maddie - Brand New from Michael McCullough on Vimeo.

-------

Last year, I was just so weary and heartbroken, and I just wanted to skip Christmas altogether. But the Lord was gracious to answer our prayers for a family, and we have 2 babies for Christmas this year! There really are no words to adequately describe our gratitude and just how joy-filled our hearts are.

As we celebrated the birth of our Savior, the term Emmanuel {God with us} took on a deeper meaning. The God of the universe became flesh to walk among us, to walk as one of us. And while there are so many huge spiritual implications for that, it also means that on a basic human level, the God of the universe desires to be an intimate part of our lives. As we walked the hard road of infertility, God was with us. As we grieved the loss of our first 6 babies, God was with us. As we rejoiced over the news and then arrival of Eli and Maddie, God was with us. As we wake up in the middle of the night to wrangle 2 hungry babies, God is with us. And as we walk into whatever the Lord has for us next, He will be with us.

What a precious gift our babies are. But even more, what a precious gift Emmanuel is. God with us.


No comments:

Post a Comment