Beautiful Happiness: 15 Years Ago I Married My Best Friend

Today is Corey and my 15th anniversary. In April we celebrated our 22nd anniversary. Yes, we were married twice and YES we definitely celebrate both!

We decided soon after we re-married that we would commemorate both remembrances of our wedding vows, and even though the first one was not fulfilled in the “death do us part” part, we still have two beautiful children that were born to us through that union. And, to be perfectly honest, if we had not gone through the hardships that we went through in that first marriage we would not be the people we are today. Going through trials after trials has made us stronger. If our weathered souls had not already had to bear (and triumph through) very heavy life circumstances I am not at all sure that we would have had the power to go through the death of Calleigh Joy. Having been to hell and back already once in our lives together, we knew how to not make the same mistakes, how to keep each other informed of our feelings and emotions, and how to lean on each other while we together leaned on God for our strength. Corey is my earthly rock, my go-to guy, my best friend. Sometimes we don’t see eye to eye – I guess maybe we are both a bit stubborn! – but we always cool down and talk our differences through. I trust him with my life and with the lives of my children.

OK, enough heavy, gooey, mushy stuff. . . Last night I dropped Taylor off at youth group and had some errands to run. On my way to Super Saver I thought I would quick run in to the goodwill and see if they had any maternity tops for summer. Unfortunately all of my shirts from Calleigh are winter, long-sleeved, sweater-type tops. NOT good when I’m pregnant with twins and I already look like I’m 7 or 8 months along! :) So as I was browsing through their very tiny selection, the shelf of books caught my eye. I’m always looking to complete our collection of Berenstain Bears and Dr. Seuss books – and now I have a really good excuse to keep looking for more of them! (We already own enough books to keep these two reading for the first 10 years of their lives, but those two collections are very special to me!) Well, I didn’t see anything to add, but I did find a brand-new “Love Dare, One Year Devotional for Couples” hardback book for $1.99! We love the movie “Fireproof” (If you haven’t seen it, you MUST watch it!) and this book is from that movie. I thought this would be a really good idea to start on our anniversary! (Corey doesn’t know this yet, it’s a surprise!) Then while I was getting his lunch ready last night I put a hand-written note in his lunch box, and this morning he wrote me a note and picked me a bouquet of flowers from CJ’s garden

and put it in a vase on the counter! (ahhhhhhh!) This evening I’m going to make a Salmon/Rice dish (while Taylor eats left-over Chinese – where did she get so picky from?) and then we are darting out the door to Taylor’s softball game that is almost 1 ½ hours away. Full day, but that’s our crazy, wonderful, full life! Softball will be over in a few weeks and I’m sure we’ll fill that time up with something else!

I’ve had two doctors’ appointments since I’ve updated this last. (Sorry, I know I need to get more on the ball. . .) And I’m positive that Corey won’t mind sharing this anniversary post with pictures of our two little “mangos”. (The “fruit size” of this week!) On June 4th, I had a regular appointment: everything looked great, Taylor went with me, and when we were leaving I made my next appointment for three weeks away – which would be my 18 week anatomy ultrasound and (hopefully if they cooperate) gender reveal! The appointment was set for June 26th at 2:45 p.m. and I remarked to Taylor that I didn’t know how I would get through the next 3 weeks without seeing them. I have seen them every two weeks since they were seven weeks old, and the thought of going three weeks was kind of overwhelming. Well, then came Sunday evening. I started having some “complications” and after a totally sleepless night I called the office first thing Monday morning. They told me to come right in and Corey left work and met me there. As I explained what had happened to me a couple times Sunday night they had me lay on the table and started the ultrasound machine. I had cried all the way to Lincoln and was still crying as I lay there, unable to watch the screen. I imagined seeing these two precious little babies, that have taken over my heart, be still on the screen. I didn’t know how I could get through leaving that office through the “back door” for the second time in less than 17 months. So as I lay there, with Corey holding my hand and me closing my eyes, I was so relieved when the nurse said “well, there’s Baby A moving all around, now let’s look at Baby B”. Baby B was alive too! And then they decided to show off for daddy. (Corey hadn’t been to an appointment since they were 8 ½ weeks old) One of them arched its back and stretched its arms above its head and the other was just being plain cute. It was so much fun to watch Corey’s eyes as he watched them on the screen. Of course he’s seen the pictures each time, but it is so different to actually SEE them moving around then it is to see a couple of still shots. So after she timed each of their heartbeats and measured their fluid and checked my cervix, Dr. Kenney came in and told me everything looked good, but he wanted an amniotic swab test done just to be on the safe side. He also asked if I could come back next week for another quick check so I wouldn’t have to wait 2 weeks to check on them until my “big scan” date. Corey piped up that I would really appreciate that, and he said that he’d see me in a week. So the nurse came back in and did that test and I was free to go – she would call later when the results were back. After I had heard from her on the phone and she told me the test was negative (which is good, that’s what we wanted it to be) and I can assure you all that I have never been so thankful to have apparently wet my pants in all my life! (Ladies who have been there – you know what I’m talking about!)

I do want to give a quick “shout out” to the staff at my doctor’s office. Every single person that I have dealt with there has had a level of compassion for me that I don’t know if I could extend to a crazy lady like myself. More times than not I’ve been in tears at the start of my appointment and smiling ear to ear at the end, and every single time they are there to talk me through my fear, assure me that everything looks good so far, and to not treat me like a fanatic that is losing her mind. When my regular OB doctor decided that I should see this high risk specialist exclusively I at first felt a bit betrayed. I KNEW he was doing it for my own good, but I felt like I was going to be just a “number” in his office. Boy was I wrong. As it turns out, Dr. Kenney does not have that many of his own “exclusive” patients, as he is busy consulting and helping other doctors when their patients need more expertise then they are able to give, so the staff only sees the others very infrequently. (Where they see me sometimes every week!) It is comforting to know that anytime I want to come, I am more than welcome to!

Well, here are our pictures from the last two appointments - Here is Baby A looking right at us during my 15 week appointment on 6/4: