Twelve years ago today....

at 5:33pm Parker Norman entered the world (right)

and at 5:48 Paul Noah followed (left)

God answered a prayer I'd been sending up since first grade....He gave me a set of twins! That may sound like a strange prayer for a 6 year old, but I was fascinated with twins from the time I met a set, Meredith and Michelle, in first grade. I decided then and there that I would have my own twins when I grew up....... I still stand in awe that the Lord actually granted that prayer!

My pregnancy with the boys started out like most, and at my first doctor's visit I had an ultrasound that showed only one baby. Imagine Paul's surprise, five weeks later when a second ultrasound revealed TWINS!

Around 30 weeks the boys got a little impatient (big surprise, if you know them! LOL) and I had to be hospitalized to stop labor. I was sent home 5 days later.....on strict bed rest and high doses of a horrible drug that gave me the shakes, and made me so hot that I had the temperature in the house set so low that Paul had to sleep in sweats. If you know Paul at all, you know that had to be COLD! But it worked, for 4 more weeks anyway. By then I'd gained over 70 pounds and yes, I stopped counting after that! My doctor decided we'd had enough...or maybe he'd had enough, and sent me to be induced. How ironic, one day they are stopping my labor and five weeks later they give me drugs to start it again! When it was time to deliver, I was sent to the OR, just in case I required a C-section. There were nurses lining the walls. I had no idea that labor and delivery was a spectator sport! They were there "just in case" as well. There was also a team of doctors and nurses for each baby. Talk about overwhelming!

After a little vacuum procedure (sounds lovely doesn't it), Parker was born. He cried and he breathed and he was perfect....and big! He weighed 6 pounds 1 ounce! His brother was mad. Mad that Parker got somewhere first! If you know Noah, you know I am right about this! He lodged himself butt first and insisted on being born that way! And, he was! He weighed 5 pounds 9 ounces, and yes, folks, it took 15 minutes to get him out butt first! He came out breech, black and blue from the doctor having to climb on the delivery table and push him out, and so mad that he started a scream and then refused to breath. He scored a 2 on his Apgar just for that. Turned himself purple! Let me just tell you that he has tried to be first and fast at EVERYTHING since that day.

Five days later we went home and that first year is a blur. But a happy blur! The only sad part is that they grew up too fast!

The boys are so much a like in many ways.....competitive, athletic, coordinated, honest, sensitive. They also have very similar likes and dislikes. They have always shared everything....their parents, their room, their toys, their friends and even their crib when they were little. They get along like best friends and you won't usually find one without the other.

Parker is....just like me in many ways. At home, he is a natural leader, in public, more of a follower. He is the child that leaves me love notes. The one with the patience to build with Lego's. The deep thinker, the perfectionist and the planner. He is passionate about fairness. He is also the one with a temper that has to be kept in check. But, he will give you his last dollar if you need it. He has his nose in a book a lot of the time and he loves to be outside.

Noah is....a version of his Daddy. He's the mischief maker, the jester. His mission is to make you laugh. He is in motion most of the time...always running, always trying to be first at something....anything....everything, and that means that he sometimes does things without thinking them through. He was first to crawl, first to walk and plays the piano like it's going to run away from him if he doesn't hurry! He's the one that offers to help. The one that is quick to be sure you are okay if you fall. He loves to read but it's the only thing he does slowly!

Random facts about the boys:

They are not Identical twins, but Fraternal!

You tell me.....which one is which?

Parker wore glasses 6 months before Noah needed them. He also had two minor surgeries before he turned 2 and Noah had none.

Noah was so terrified of people dressed in costume that he would hide under the table at Chuck E. Cheese when Chuck E. came out and we have no Santa pictures where he is not crying until he was four years old.

Parker rode the roller coaster before Noah, but even he had to be pulled on it!

They have played baseball for 8 years and their Daddy coached all but one of those years!

They love each other. I once sent Noah off with his Dad to run an errand, but Parker didn't know he'd left. I was standing at the door looking out (they had just driven off) when Parker came along and asked where Noah was. I had a mischievous moment and told him that a band of Gypsies had come by and I'd sold Noah to them. I had a wad of cash in my hand that Paul had handed me before he left. Parker looked at me with wide eyes and teared up. He said, "Mom! I like to play with him!" Oh, how I love that guy!

Like it or not, they are pretty much a package deal!

And today they are TWELVE!

Happy Birthday to my "baby" boys!